Hey guys,

Today I’m talking about Modern. With GP Prague in the books and Pro Tour Valencia around the corner, I feel like Modern is what should focus on, and it is my favorite constructed format!
This article is mostly a deck tech of what I Top 8ed Prague with: Junk Midrange.
Why Junk and not Jund?
While the base for both decks is very similar with cards like Deathrite Shaman, Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant and Liliana of the Veil, the only real reason I see to play Jund over Junk in this format is Lightning Bolt, which does not have an equivalent replacement in the BGw version. Dismember, Disfigure and Darkblast all have flaws that Bolt doesn’t have, and that forbids you from playing any of them as a four of in your deck. A mix of all three is therefore necessary to remedy the flaws which are: the range of the removal (which creatures it can kill) and the conditions (mana cost/life cost).
The other bonus from Lightning Bolt is the reach it brings to your deck; even though your opponent would play 0 creatures, it can always bring his life total down or work as a planeswalker removal, it is never a dead card.
Even though it is a strong reason to play red, the issue is that we tried replacing Bloodbraid Elf with a number of cards like Olivia Voldaren, Huntmaster of the Fells and other dragons…none of them which satisfies me, and that I find terrible in most matchups.
If you are playing Tron, Scapeshift, Splinter Twin or Affinity, you should be hoping for your Jund opponent to cast or draw one of these cards, since the ratio of their impact versus (mana) cost is most of the time not enough to matter against these decks. That is why I favored Lingering Souls, which I only find to be bad against Scapeshift; and it is synergic with Liliana!
Red sideboard cards are expandable, and that is the main reason to play white: the sideboard cards you have access to are much more relevant.

Why not play 4c Jund (BGrw)?
Pros:
– Lightning Bolt
– Ajani Vengeant, better replacement to Bloodbraid Elf than the Jund cards
Cons:
– Impossibility to play Tectonic Edge
– A more damaging manabase thanks to the shocklands you will have to fetch for in order to play spells from all 4 colors
– Must play Raging Ravine instead of Treetop Village (incomparable in terms of powerlevel)

Let’s play Junk!
Here is the list I started testing with:
Junk by Willy Edel

LANDS

4 Treetop Village
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
4 Tectonic Edge
2 Swamp
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
1 Twilight Mire
1 Forest
1 Godless Shrine

CREATURES

4 Dark Confidant
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf

SPELLS

4 Lingering Souls
3 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Dismember
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Liliana of the Veil

SIDEBOARD

1 Thoughtseize
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Dismember
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Aven Mindcensor
2 Creeping Corrosion
2 Disfigure
2 Stony Silence
2 Thrun, the Last Troll

 

 

Here is what I ended up registering in Prague:

LANDS

4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Treetop Village
4 Tectonic Edge
4 Marsh Flats
2 Swamp
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
1 Twilight Mire
1 Temple Garden

CREATURES

4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
4 DeathriteShaman
3 Scavenging Ooze

SPELLS

4 Lingering Souls
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Dismember
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Darkblast
4 Liliana of the Veil
1 Garruk Wildspeaker

SIDEBOARD

2 Stony Silence
2 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Kataki, War’s Wage
2 Torpor Orb
3 Aven Mindcensor
1 Seal of Primordium
2 Spellskite
1 Thoughtseize

 

 

I really like the deck for many reasons. Contrary to other versions of BG Rock, this one has a decent matchup against Affinity thanks to maindeck Lingering Souls that is its worst nightmare.
Another reason is the manabase, mainly with Tectonic Edge. You don’t get to be mana flooded anymore when you play 8 utility lands and 8 fetches. Twilight Mire is here to “transform” your Treetop Village into a Liliana.
It is also very nice and safe to have a lower curve from which you will (almost) never take 4 damage with Dark Confidant
Your lategame plan goes through Tectonic Edge; since your threats and disruption cost 1, 2 or 3 mana, you can start destroying your opponents lands as soon as possible so that they do not move forward with their gameplan. For instance, this land will make it harder for Twin to access double red or even 5 mana for Kiki-Jiki. It also makes your Tron and Scapeshift matchups favorable.
Garruk Wildspeaker was the last addition to the deck, since we did not want a fourth Scavenging Ooze. It cost only four and goes well with the land destruction plan on turn 4, while it can also curve a two mana creature or pay for a Lingering Souls‘ flashback. The purpose of this card being the use of its ultimate on your Tarmogoyfs, spirit tokens and Treetop Villages.
Liliana is rather well positioned and deserves the four of even if it is one of the cards I side out the most (affinity, pod on the draw, living end..).
The maindeck Darkblast is quite important, since it will “infinitely” deal with a number of creatures throughout the game: crucial mana accelerators from pod, Vendilion Clique, Pestermite, Dark Confidant, affinity’s manlands…It will also win you Tarmogoyf battles. Finally, you might dredge it into a Lingering Souls once in a while.
As for Lingering Souls, it is quite easy to cast since you can sometimes anticipate that you won’t be needing white mana if you have a Liliana; it is a BG deck splashing white, but you can play without it, at least in the maindeck.
Removals, Dismember and Abrupt Decay shut down Splinter Twin and its combo.
I feel like 6 maindeck discard spells is a good number at the moment.

Sideboard:

2 Stony Silence: Affinity, Tron

2 Thrun, the Last Troll: UWr and other control decks, Jund and Rock like.
Two untapped mana to avoid Supreme Verdict, and you have a plan to win the game.

2 Kataki, War’s Wage: only Affinity

2 Torpor Orb: Merfolk, Splinter Twin, Pod
Obivously good against « Come into Play » creatures from Pod, as well as Twin’s Exarch and Pestermite. It is also useful against Merfolk that plays Master of Waves, Silvergill Adept, and sideboarded Tidebinder Mage
3 Aven Mindcensor: Pod, Scapeshift
The perfect card to replace Lingering souls against Scapeshift and Pod on the play, or Liliana on the draw. It is also decent against Living end (fetches and landcycling).

1 Seal of Primordium: Splinter Twin,affinity,Tron
This allows you to fight preemptively against Splinter Twin, to be able to tap mana later on without fear, since the Kiki-Jiki plan should be shut down by Tectonic Edge anyways. It also helps fighting against Blood Moon, even though this version of Rock is less affected by it since you can fetch for basics early, being a two color splash deck.
2 Spellskite: Splinter Twin,Infect,Hexproof,Affinity
These are here to deal with two decks that are not heavily played but still quite complicated to beat (Hexproof and infect). They are also good against Splinter Twin and Affinity (Arcbound Ravager and Etched Champion).
1 Thoughtseize: Scapeshift,Tron, UWR, Combo
Pretty straight forward, you want the additional discard to slow them down even more and win before they get to stabilize into the late game/combo out.

The Matchups

Very good:
– Splinter Twin

Good:
-Affinity
-Urza Tron
-Scapeshift

50/50:
-Jund,BGx
– UWx Midrange
– Kiki Pod

Bad:
– Mono Red Burn
– Living End

Very Bad:
-Merfolk
– UR Delver

That’s all for today, hopefully this article will make you try the deck in your next tournament, don’t hesitate to modify the sideboard to fight the bad matchups more efficiently.
See you soon.
JérémyDezani