Pauper: Jund Gardens - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

A few days ago, I published an article about the importance of Writhing Chrysalis in Pauper and how the Metagame has been changing with decks adopting splashes just to include the card from Modern Horizons 3.

One such deck was Black Gardens, whose efficient mana and creature setup embraced the plan of a light splash for the added value it provides to a Midrange while also being an efficient threat on its own.

In this article, we explore the current iteration of Jund Gardens and how the splash has opened the door for other cards in the Sideboard, with a guide to the top matchups in the current Metagame!

This list basically follows the same pattern as Jund Gardens in the last few months, whose splash was caused by Writhing Chrysalis, which brought with it Gorilla Shaman for the matchup against Affinity.

The notable absence of Tithing Blade is due to some Metagame changes in the last few weeks, where Faeries has been the variant with the most results from Mono Blue decks to the detriment of versions with Tolarian Terror, which, added to the way Writhing Chrysalis invalidates sacrifice effects, makes it a worse card.

Instead, we added a copy of Toxin Analysis to interact with Crypt Rats and turn it into a Damnation, and a copy of Nihil Spellbomb that can be any other card of your choice since the main reason for its inclusion was to have space for a third three-mana sweeper in the Sideboard.

Maindeck

Jund Gardens is a Midrange in the most classic shell: it wants to make one-for-one trades against the opponent until it exhausts their resources and starts to bury them with powerful threats that generate a lot of value when they enter.

Writhing Chrysalis justifies the splash of because it does everything you need: it puts two bodies on the board when cast, can become a 4/5 for , blocks well, attacks well, has Reach to deal with various threats, and sometimes makes games revolve around how many Chrysalis you managed to play.

Thorn of the Black Rose and Avenging Hunter are two ways to generate constant value as the turns go by. The Monarch mechanic may not dictate card advantage in Pauper anymore, but it is still important for slower Midranges, while Avenging Hunter combines the Initiative mechanic with an efficient clock.

Crypt Rats is our maindeck sweeper of choice and has similar interactions to Krark-Clan Shaman with Toxin Analysis. It ensures that our spot removals target the creatures that matter, since we can reset the board with it if there are too many X/1 or X/2 creatures in play.

Nyxborn Hydra provides evasion for Writhing Chrysalis and is one of the best payoffs for the mana of the Eldrazi tokens it generates, not to mention the possibility of being another big creature on the board for the opponent to deal with.

Troll of Khazad-dûm allows us to play with only 19 lands, filters our mana with Cycling and also becomes a late-game threat in attrition matchups.

Our source of card advantage involves sacrificing artifacts or creatures to secure more draws. In addition to the full set of Deadly Dispute, we tried to diversify the other effects for specific situations and/or matchups: Eviscerator’s Insight is better in longer games while Reckoner’s Bargain can save from lethal damage against Aggro, and Fanatical Offering provides another artifact token on the board for games where we lack it.

Our food for the above cards includes Ichor Wellspring, which turns Deadly Dispute into a manafixing Ancestral Recall, as well as Lembas that can be sacrificed on its own for some breathing room against Aggro and Khalni Garden, a land that guarantees a token to sacrifice on turn two, or an extra blocker against Mono Red.

Blood Fountain puts another artifact into play while its ability is an important resource in longer games, and Nihil Spellbomb is a maindeck hate aimed at archetypes like Dredge or Mono Blue Terror.

Defile is the main reason to commit to a mostly Mono Black archetype, being an effect that we can take advantage of from the second turn and that grows in scope as the game goes on.

Cast Down and Snuff Out are our unconditional cheap removals. Having a free spell to respond to a Tamiyo’s Safekeeping is essential in games against Broodscale, and it also works to play around some key cards from Faeries or other archetypes.

In addition to the basic lands, we have a copy of each Dual that has the Swamp type to search with Troll of Khazad-dûm, in addition to Witch’s Cottage as a utility land that we can also find with this card, and Twisted Landscape as a “Fetch Land” that we can cycle in longer games.

Sideboard

Deglamer is our main answer against troublesome artifacts and enchantments like Sadistic Glee or the Bridges from Modern Horizons II. There are games where a fourth copy seems necessary, but we need to diversify our answers for other games.

Gorilla Shaman complements Deglamer in the game against Affinity. If it doesn't seem necessary to have it in your list, I recommend including a fourth Deglamer and a second Drown in Sorrow.

Our sweepers are suitable for almost any go-wide game and complement or replace Crypt Rats in this category. The split between Breath Weapon and Drown in Sorrow is due to the rise of Faeries in recent weeks, which increases the demand for non-red sweepers.

Nihil Spellbomb is a safe side-in against Terror and Dredge, but it can be used in other games where the opponent has a lot of interaction with the graveyard, such as against Familiars, or even in the mirror if the opponent has Blood Fountain and/or Pulse of Murasa.

Duress is a standard answer against everything we don't want to have to deal with directly on the board. Cards like Sadistic Glee are good examples of targets and games where we want this type of effect.

Weather the Storm is our way to hold the game against Kuldotha Red until our sweepers deal with the battlefield.

Kuldotha Red

IN

OUT

Grixis Affinity

IN

OUT

Jund Broodscale

IN

OUT

Mono Blue Faeries

IN

OUT

Mono Blue Terror

IN

OUT

That’s all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!