I miss Jund.

I know such an idea is outrageous to many due to cascade's dominance over the format, but Jund was a deck of answers and a powerful one at that. If any deck was on the rise, Jund had the tools to put it back in its place and that was a comforting feeling.

Many people are excited with the rotation of a major set and the general upheaval of the standard format. Apparently for these people standard gets boring. Additionally, they want the best deck to leave with some silly assumption that there will not be another overpowered deck in the next format to complain about and I suppose some are genuinely excited for new innovation. I am living on the other side of that window screaming the end is nigh and questioning why the gods are taking away my only child. Imagine that you are a starving artist and you create a beautiful piece of art only to have the village idiot come along and smash it with a hammer. Time to start over I guess! Thanks wizards!

I experienced similar feelings with the rotation of Lorwyn. I played Doran for a while and enjoyed bringing down the Faerie menace. Then Gabriel Nassif won Pro Tour Kyoto with 5 Color Control and my interest shifted. I started playing nothing but versions of this machine until it rotated out. For some reason in the Michigan and Ohio area the deck was pretty rare. The first PTQ I played with it I ended up in 9^th with a 6-1-1 record so I knew I was on to something. Basically everything was a good matchup except for Time Sieve. Luckily, that deck was also fairly unpopular, but I still managed to get paired against the only person in the room playing it round 1. Mise!

I enjoyed another few good finishes and then Lorwyn rotated out. The power of Bloodbraid Elf was already known for a while so finding the next stepping stone was easy enough, even if it meant not being about to play any card I wanted regardless of color requirements.

Jund got a lot of undeserved criticism for being an autopilot deck that took zero thought and many felt that the mirror was a coin toss. Neither of these ideas were true and were generally created from the ignorant or the players who were frustrated by the power of the deck. It was true that cascade was a mechanic of variance and this allowed Jund players to steal games that they should have lost. I recall one game specifically against Ari Lax at a PTQ. It was my turn and I attacked with the team. His options were to throw guys under the bus/trade or pump his leech to save it and die to the Blightning in my hand. I knew he wouldn't pump and after the attack I confidently played my Putrid Leech knowing he needed to topdeck a removal spell and a way to deal me direct damage. Naturally he topdecked Bituminous Blast into Blightning for the win and attempted to ease my pain by telling me it was ok because he was one of the better Jund players in the room. If only more players could be so classy!

Despite these stories of Jund cascading its way out of a sure loss, one still needs to put themselves in the position to win. I have heard a lot of people claim that the pros just get more lucky than non pros, but the reason behind that is simple enough. To be good at the game you need to gain incremental leverage over your opponent throughout the game and put yourself in situations where you may be fortunate enough to draw that lucky topdeck for the win. Sometimes you win outright, but to be great you need to grind out the tough ones and put yourself in the position to reap the benefits. Only because you got them down to 3 would you be able to draw the Lightning Bolt for the win. If you did not play optimally you could have had zero outs instead of one and thus even decks with more variance took skill and the better player would generally come out on top.

As Shards rotation loomed over the horizon I agonized losing another deck. This was the deck that made me a lot of money. This was the deck that got me pro points! Eventually, I came to terms and considered the likely jumping of ship to U/W. Jace 2.0 seemed to be the most powerful card in standard and with Jund gone how could anything keep it in check? Soon enough I heard of a new deck that was thought to be overpowered by some and certainly had, ‘oops, I win' kind of draws. According to many, Valakut is the new autopilot deck that takes little skill to play and you randomly draw the right cards to stumble your way to victory. I hear the mirror sucks too so what could possibly keep me from adopting this as my new love? As I began to play the deck I made some mistakes, but still started to see the deck the way these people saw it as. Then one day I asked if a friend wanted to borrow the deck to play a couple games. As I watched him play I got a brief glimpse into what it would be like to be a parent watching your child going out for his first baseball practice. The following thoughts entered my mind: ‘Oh my god! Does he see it?! Oh no! Don't do that! Ah, I think he has it this time. What?! No! Sigh.'

To be fair, it was his first time ever playing with the deck, but surely if a deck was so autopilot and straight forward than any average player could run it efficiently. I would say that this player was better than average too. In the words of Jon Finkel there is the right play and the wrong play. Sure, not playing your land per turn and passing is a lot worse than the order of lands you play, but both are probably the wrong play. The point I wish to make is that most of the decks in the format are roughly at the same amount of difficultly to play very well. The thing with Valakut is that when it runs right, the interactions are so powerful immediately instead of waiting over several turns that you feel like there is something simpler occurring. Also consider that you have a card like Summoning Trap, which is a tad reminiscent of the other "autopilot deck" of Jund. Go variance!

After a so-so performance at States, I pinpointed the strengths and weaknesses, made some changes and found a build that has been winning consistently across the field.

The decklist:

[cardlist]

[Lands]

11 Mountain

6 Forest

4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

3 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Evolving Wilds

[/Lands]

[Creatures]

4 Overgrown Battlement

4 Primeval Titan

3 Oracle of Mul Daya

3 Avenger of Zendikar

2 Terastodon

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Cultivate

4 Harrow

4 Explore

3 Summoning Trap

3 Lightning Bolt

[/Spells]

[Sideboard]

4 Acidic Slime

3 Ricochet Trap

1 Gaea's Revenge

4 Pyroclasm

1 Arc Trail

2 Obstinate Baloth

[/Sideboard]

[/cardlist]

First I just want to talk about a couple cards I did not include.

1. Khalni Heart Expedition: This has seen play as a 4 of in pre-rotation lists and it has continued to show up as a 3-4 of in successful post-rotation lists. While this is an auto include for many, I grew to be quite unimpressed with it. Typically, I always wanted an Explore in my hand instead of this so that I could play a 3^rd land on turn two and then ramp turn three to have turn four Primeval Titan. In case any of you have not realized, that is the ideal draw for the deck (you're welcome). KHE does not provide true acceleration to give you turn 4 Titan, but instead allows your Valakuts to be more explosive and make your Avengers hit harder. Valakut is going to get there people – trust me. If you can resolve your big creatures as soon as possible then the ramp you do have will ensure that your Valakuts and Avengers hit hard enough. The only thing I miss about KHE is that I had an easy four cards to take out against all the aggro and some of the midrange decks.
2. Inferno Titan: I would love for someone to give me a good reason why this sees play over Wurmcoil Engine. I am going to take a wild stab in the dark and say that Inferno Titan sees play in this deck because it wipes out an aggro deck's board. Against what tier 1 aggro deck is that more important than gaining you six life every time it blocks/swings? I'm fairly certain that the six life you gain from blocking is better than killing the 3 toughness worth of creatures. You could make the argument that Inferno Titan allows you to end the game faster than Wurmcoil Engine, but I'm pretty sure that if you hit mono red with a Wurmcoil Engine then you are going to win regardless. Against midrange and control, the Titan doesn't seem much better in comparison either. Any blue deck you play will probably be packing 2-4 Flashfreeze for your Inferno Titan to battle through. In the mirror Wurmcoil Engine is a nuisance since you don't really want to trade your Primeval Titan, nor do you want to waste several Valakut activations on removing all relevant parts of it. Inferno Titan needs to be addressed, but it certainly can be easier than Engine. Then the more obvious ‘dies easier to spot/mass removal' arguments have their relevance here as well.

As for the cards I am playing, the two stand out choices are Overgrown Battlement and Terastodon. The inclusion of Battlements came after my experience at States where I went 6-3, losing two of my last three rounds like a champ. All of my losses came to Goblin Guide decks: 2 mono red and 1 boros. I easily crushed ramp variants, U/B, and U/W, but I just could not handle red's good starts.

Since then, I have yet to lose to a red deck, which is part coincidence, part me being more comfortable with the deck and ideally largely due to the inclusion of four Overgrown Battlements. Buying me a couple more turns against aggro is very significant as there were many games that I won or lost based on a single turn. As I discussed earlier, I really found more success when I was able to play Explore turn two.

Here are some numbers and starts for you to consider. Having another true accelerant on turn two opens up turn three Oracle of Mul Daya or any ramp sets up a turn four Primeval Titan and essentially the game. Playing a Battlement on turn two and three gives you eight mana on turn four. Turn four Terastodon seems pretty good! Due to this explosiveness I do not condone running less than 4 (especially just 2) as some players have accepted when trying to make room.

Here is another thing I can share with my fellow grinders about your average control players. For some reason, I have noticed that many control plays have been very trigger happy with counterspells recently and I think it might have something to do with not knowing what to counter. Some players will counter every ramp spell you play in some effort to run you out of ramp or get you stuck on lands. Other players will let your ramp resolve too often and then just lose to Valakut and ramp. Some appear to use their Mana Leaks aggressively and save their Flashfreezes, which at least shows some thought. I sense much fear and confusion in my counter wielding opponents.

Dear control players,

Please think about what you are doing when you counter a turn 2 Overgrown Battlement. Can you afford to have them Summoning Trap into a Primeval Titan or Terastodon at this point? I would assume that the opponents that did this to me will not do it again, but at the same time it will make them live in fear when the opponent does not have the Summoning Trap. At least if they are in fear they will not lose to the turn 2 Primeval Titan and at least for me I will not have to worry about them countering any of my Walls or Oracles! Also, is there a reason why you are Flashfreezing a Khalni Heart Expedition or an Explore on turn 2? To me this says, I have no Mana Leaks, no Negates, and no sense of what is important. At States (the biggest casual standard event I know) a nice gentleman sat across from me. He then asked for my last name, wrote it down, and I got the impression that perhaps I was playing against someone half decent who was going to do a report somewhere. As the game started he countered my first four plays. Those plays were a turn 2 KHE, turn 3 Explore, turn 4 Cultivate, and turn 5 Explore. It should not surprise you that he tapped out and then lost to Terastodon. I am sure most of you would not make the same mistake as this guy, but I only advise you to think about the things you are countering.

Love, Aaron

Terastodon's glory came about during Nationals. Joe Welbes and Jeremy Pinter were playing Valakut at the time and Josef was telling me of how obnoxious the mirror was. He mentioned he was playing Terastodon in the main to deal with the problem, along with being good against most of the field in general. In my initial testing with the deck I found that the mirror was as terrible as he claimed. Whoever played their Primeval Titan first won every time. Luckily Titan does not hit the board on turn four every game and Terastodon can easily end the game when given the opportunity. A lot of the time in the mirror the player sees little reason to worry about getting several forests and for good reason. They then get locked out of the game when all of their Forests are destroyed and have no way to ramp or play any of their business spells.

Also, remember that it destroys any nonland permanents. You can get out of some hectic situations with Senor Elefante. Consider helping out a Primeval Titan that was sent on a Journey to Nowhere, blowing up Jace the Mind Sculptor, and sending a Celestial Colonnade to the graveyard. I enjoy cards that steal games and that is exactly what this card does. In addition, I have noticed that a lot of opponents are surprised to read that Terastodon reads "up to three nonland permanents". You do not always have to blow up 3 targets and it is important to know when to go all out and when to be conservative. I have seen people play this card and destroy 3 opposing lands when the better play would have been to simply destroy two of his own lands. Remember that you can be more aggressive with him and trade your lands for elephants too. One of my preferred packages is to destroy one of my lands and two of their targets if they are relevant. Sometimes it is acceptable to allow them to trade 3 elephants for Terastodon and sometimes it if appropriate to only give them 2 elephants to allow him to live. It just depends on what it makes sense for your opponent to do. One final thing to consider when choosing targets for Babar is, ‘what happens if they have spot removal here?' Sure, putting them to 1 land might be optimal, but can you bounce back if they play land, Doom Blade, and swing with 3 elephants? Sometimes the answer is yes because you have a Primeval Titan or another Terastodon in hand, but if that is all you have then use him cautiously.

The sideboard is always changing to adapt, but this particular one does not have too many surprises. The Ricochet Traps, Acidic Slimes, and Gaea's Revenge are for control decks. The people that criticize the Trap generally do so with the idea that you don't want to have the single red open and want to be more proactive, but I disagree. Sometimes you can be patient and wait until they tap out for a planeswalker or where they are relying on 1 counter to stop you. This happens more than it should and you can easily punish them for it. You can also move their turn 2 Spreading Seas on to their Celestial Colonnade or their Volition Reins onto your Overgrown Battlement instead. Another play to keep in mind is if the control player plays a Preordain. Even if they have a Doom Blade for your Titan, if they have the mana then they may look back on their teachings of gaining the most information before making an action. This will lead them to Preordain first and then you can Ricochet Trap that Doom Blade from your Titan to your Wall, Oracle, or their creature ideally. I feel like a lot of players only look at Ricochet Trap as a counter when it has smaller applications that can blow your opponent out.

Gaea's Revenge is for U/B and to a lesser extent, Pyromancer's Ascension. U/B really just cannot deal with this guy unless they want to trade with Frost Titan and with how popular that deck is getting, this guy gets so much better. When U/W was the premier control deck I thought that G.R. was garbage because of Baneslayer Angel. Since U/W and Baneslayer are still around G.R. remains a 1 of, but I like the idea of him going the distance against U/B too much to not include him.

My aggro strategy includes the Pyroclasms, Arc Trail, and Obstinate Baloths. Wow, is Pyroclasm insane. Naturally against control and Valakut it is worthless and therefore regulated only to the sideboard, but against the aggro decks it is Plague Wind. I almost feel bad for Craig Wescoe's Elf deck since it seemed like as soon as he talked about it everyone was packing enough Pyroclasm effects to three for one them twice in a game en route to victory. Ideally, the aggro matchups typically unfold with ramping on turn two, wiping the board turn three, ramping turn four, wiping the board or bolting on turn five, and stabilizing on turn six. Don't be afraid to trade a Pyroclasm for a Plated Geopede. Sure, you want to get that value in, but taking five damage to the face on turn three just isn't worth it. Against red you just want to pad your life total so use removal reasonably to give yourself the time to play your bombs without instantly losing to a Threaten effect.

Valakut is a powerful engine and as long as the main components of the engine stay in place, certain cards are interchangeable to allow you to attain the same goal. There are a lot of similarities between this and Jund. The deck is powerful and has the tools to adapt (black for Memoricide is just the start), which means that it will remain a contender for quite some time. Certain decks will boast a good game against it and lose anyway. Other decks will never be able to make it because of the dominance of ramp. On the other hand, a select few will go out of their way to bring ramp with a Spread Em representation, but then fall to the rest of the meta. Valakut is here to stay and I think I have come to terms with that.

~Aaron Wilburn

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