Jund Monsters is a variant of the GR Monsters deck that became popular in Standard at Theros release. GR Monsters is a midrange deck that looks to ramp into Polukranos, Stormbreath Dragon, and a host of powerful planeswalkers and overwhelm the opponent with quality cards. It was considered Tier 1.5-2 until Born of the Gods brought two cards that would take the deck to a new level – Courser of Kruphix and Xenagos, God of Revels. The presence of these two cards quickly pushed GR Monsters to a Tier 1 deck as the deck immediately saw success in top-level tournaments. This quick success pushed many others to adopt the deck and it
quickly became one of the decks to beat. Enter Jund Monsters.
A few weeks after GR Monsters made waves in the Standard format, Cedric Phillips posted an article on StarCityGames with an idea to splash black in the GR Monsters deck and turn it into a Jund deck. The reasons were twofold: one, the inclusion of Dreadbore and Reaper of the Wilds pushed the GR matchup to be very favorable, and two, splashing black made the matchups against mono black and mono blue devotion much more favorable, the latter in particular being a match that GR Monsters classically had issues with. Kent Ketter, a GR Monsters pilot himself who made the finals of a previous SCG Open, took his version of Jund Monsters to a top 8 finish the following week, eventually losing to Chris VanMeter’s GR Monsters deck in three games due to a couple of fortunate draws on Chris’s end. VanMeter later stated how lucky he was to win that match and that he felt Jund Monsters was the deck to be playing. Many people, myself included, agreed and quickly
adopted the deck.
Why Jund Monsters?
To best answer this question, let’s analyze the GR Monsters matchups against the other Tier 1 decks in the format.
Mono black: slightly favored. The one card that can present a problem here is Desecration Demon, which can be hard to push through without a Xenagos planeswalker, Xenagos God, or Ghor-Clan Rampager. Postboard Lifebane Zombie can be an issue, but the matchup remains favorable there as well.
UWx control: slightly favored to favorable. GR tends to play more threats than UW has answers, especially postboard when GR gets access to Mistcutter Hydra, more planeswalkers, and Ruric Thar.
Mono blue: unfavorable. No removal for Master of Waves short of Polukranos, and Tidebinder Mage serves as maindeck hate for the majority of the creatures played. Almost impossible to beat if they curve out. The match becomes better postboard with access to Gruul Charm, Mistcutter Hydra, and Plummet, but still unfavorable.
Mirror: coinflip.
Whoever gets the more aggressive draw tends to win since the deck runs very little removal. Games usually end with opponents still having cards in hand.
By adopting Jund Monsters, matchups against all of these decks actually IMPROVE.
Mono black: slightly favored to favorable. Access to Dreadbore and Reaper of the Wilds makes dealing with Desecration Demon easy. Untapping with Reaper is the strongest thing you can be doing against this deck with so much of their removal being targeted. Lifebane Zombie postboard is still problematic but your answers to mono black are so much more efficient than GR Monsters that the matchup improves overall with access to the full suite of Dreadbore and some number of Ultimate Price.
UWx control: favorable. Dreadbore is never dead here and Reaper is a real pain for them to deal with. Postboard access to Sire of Insanity, Rakdos’s Return, and Golgari Charm are much more elegant solutions than GR Monsters presents.
Mono blue: slightly unfavorable to even. You still
have the same preboard issues as GR with the exception of access to Dreadbore, but postboard the matchup becomes much better since you have full access to Dreadbore and Ultimate Price, the latter of which deals with Master of Waves. You can even bring in Golgari Charm as more insurance against Master.
GR Monsters: favorable. You’ll still lose to nutdraws every so often, but you’re playing two cards that GR really doesn’t like seeing in Dreadbore and Reaper of the Wilds. They literally have no answer to the latter. It doesn’t die to Mizzium Mortars, it kills all of their threats in a straight-up fight and trades with Polukranos with black mana open, and filters your draws when creatures die off.
But isn’t your mana base worse?
No! In the words of Kent Ketter, black is actually a “free splash” here. Of course, nothing is really “free” since you have to play 12 shocks instead of 4 which is significant, but the consistency of the mana base is unaffected. You simply replace
Forests with Overgrown Tombs, Mountains with Blood Crypts, swap in 1-2 Temple of Malice, and voila!
The undisputed inclusions
Elvish Mystic – self-explanatory. The only turn one play we have, and not a terrible turn two play either. Typically a bad draw in the late game.
Sylvan Caryatid – another good mana dork. Can’t be targeted, stonewalls aggro. Another card that’s usually bad to draw in the late game, but very necessary to this deck’s strategy.
Courser of Kruphix – the card that pushed this archetype to Tier 1. This card is insane. The sheer card advantage the card offers over time is so great that it can take over the game if left unchecked. If on the field with Domri, it can get out of hand very quickly. The four toughness is great against aggro decks and also makes it a decent attacker against undersized creatures. It is also a very well-positioned card as long as mono black
continues to play maindeck Bile Blight.
Domri Rade – another card that makes this deck tick. We run a lot of creatures so Domri will hit a little less than half the time on his own, but with Courser the chances become much greater. His fight ability is also very strong in a deck that otherwise runs a little light on maindeck removal. With Reaper of the Wilds you will be able to kill almost any creature you want whether your opponent likes it or not. I’ve fought opposing Polukranoses, Desecration Demons, Arbor Colossi, and other big creatures that are typically a nuisance but easily dealt with by the Domri/Reaper combo, and it’s a great feeling.
Polukranos, World Eater – a big fat dummy that also happens to be a wonderful mana sink. He is sort of a removal spell as well if you’re playing against smaller creature decks. A bit weak to mono black and definitely weak to UWx control, but against everything else he really shines.
[card]Reaper
of the Wilds[/card] – perhaps the most unappreciated card in Theros, Reaper of the Wilds was finally able to find a home in Jund Monsters. Five toughness is huge, hexproof makes it very difficult to deal with, and it kills or trades with any threat your opponent can play short of Blood Baron of Vizkopa. The scry trigger is also a big deal to help you filter draws for the late game. Don’t forget your scry trigger!
Stormbreath Dragon – a 4/4 flying, haste, protection from white that’s also a late-game mana sink. What’s not to love?
Mizzium Mortars – good spot removal and also a fantastic sweeper. Overloading this card against mono blue or GR is almost always a game-winning move. Mostly dead to UWx control in the maindeck, so the numbers on this card will vary depending on the meta.
Dreadbore – the best removal spell in Standard at the moment. For two mana you can kill any creature this deck cares about
short of Blood Baron and Master of Waves, and the former is easily dealt with by this deck anyway. Unlike Mizzium Mortars, Dreadbore is a great card to have against UWx control. It’s a card you’re going to want in every matchup.
Other popular maindeck inclusions
Scavenging Ooze – this is a good card to fill up the 2cmc slot. It’s a decent late-game draw against most decks since it get very large, and in the early game you can use it to trade against an aggro deck with an aggressive draw. Unfortunately it has the same problems as Polukranos in that it is slow vs UWx control and is not the best against mono black postboard since it dies to Doom Blade and Ultimate Price.
Boon Satyr – if you want something else in the 3cmc slot to go alongside Courser of Kruphix and Domri Rade, this is your guy. He actually doubles as a 5cmc spell as well thanks to bestow. He’s a lot like Ghor-Clan Rampager in that your opponents have
no good blocks if you have open mana to flash it in. It’s particularly good against removal-heavy decks since it effectively 2-for-1s them, and a good card to have against control since you can flash it in at the end of their turn and force them to make a decision to counter it, therefore paving the way for you to slam down an even more threatening spell the following turn.
Xenagos, the Reveler – good against most decks because it can gum up the field with 2/2s and occasionally provide extra mana for a monstrosity activation or a big postboard Rakdos’s Return. A bit weak to mono blue due to all their fliers plus Thassa granting evasion, but average against GR and VERY good against mono black and UWx control.
Xenagos, God of Revels – the other card that pushed GR Monsters over the top, Xenagod isn’t as good here because most decks are running fewer planeswalkers to accommodate space for Dreadbore. Playing Reaper of the Wilds over Ghor-Clan
Rampager also gives Jund Monsters less overall devotion to activate him. He’s still good, just not as good as in GR Monsters which tends to be a bit faster. Some may play Xenagod as a one-of in the main, but often times you’ll see this pushed into the sideboard for the GR Monsters and UWx matchups.
The sideboard
One of the biggest draws to Jund Monsters over GR Monsters is the improved sideboard. The most popular choices are included here.
Mistcutter Hydra – hate for blue. GR Monsters runs this for the mono blue and UWx matchups. Jund Monsters can sometimes afford to run more flexible cards in its place since it has access to more hate for these matchups, but some will still find room for this card in their sideboard because it’s just so effective against the decks you want it against.
Ultimate Price – Master of Waves and Desecration Demon are meany heads. Let’s kill them. Also good in the GR Monsters matchup and
aggro decks.
Dreadbore – we don’t typically run the full suite in the maindeck, so we allocate a couple of sideboard slots to complete the playset.
Gruul Charm – a lot of people like this card against GR Monsters but I’m not a fan of it in that matchup because we’re already running so much efficient removal that we shouldn’t have to falter one turn to win the game. I actually like this card against mono blue because with all of their fliers it’s almost a sweeper against them. It can also get your Domesticated Courser of Kruphix back which can be a big deal.
Golgari Charm – enchantment hate, regeneration, and a weenie sweeper all rolled up into one card. At its best against control since two modes are relevant. Insane against Wx aggro with all their x/1s and it bypasses Brave the Elements.
Abrupt Decay – uncounterable destruction for cards like Nightveil Specter, Detention Sphere,
Brimaz, Domri Rade, Courser of Kruphix, etc.
Xenagos, the Reveler – really shines against mono black and UWx. Not bad against GR Monsters since they run no Dreadbore or burn but can still get trampled through by Ghor-Clan Rampager so use with caution.
Xenagos, God of Revels – if not in the main, usually in the side for GR Monsters, mono black, and UWx (occasionally). No more than one in the 75.
Sire of Insanity – this card is insane against control (heyoooo!). Resolve this and enjoy the look of despair of your UWx control opponent’s face when he has to discard his perfectly sculpted hand and live off the top of his deck to try and answer your 6/4. I played with this card a bit during INN/RTR Standard and I never lost a matchup against control where I resolved this card.
Ruric Thar, the Unbowed – adopting tech from GR Monsters, this is another card that can be tough for UWx to deal with.
We can get away with a singleton since we get to run Sire of Insanity, so we no longer have to worry about drawing the second one.
[card]Rakdos’s Return[/card] – another devastating card for UWx control. I’ve also had this resolved against me in a Jund Monsters mirror match. Turns out this card is pretty good on the play against GRx Monsters if you can ramp into it.
Decklists
[deck=Kent Ketter’s Jund Monsters – SCG Open St. Louis – 5th place]
Creatures (26)
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Reaper of the Wilds
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Polukranos, World Eater
Planeswalkers (4)
4 Domri Rade
Spells (6)
2 Dreadbore
4 Mizzium Mortars
Lands (24)
4 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Blood Crypt
2 Mutavault
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple of Abandon
1 Temple of Malice
Sideboard (15)
1 Sire of Insanity
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Golgari Charm
2 Gruul Charm
2 Ultimate Price
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1
Xenagos, God of Revels
2 Dreadbore
2 Rakdos’s Return
[/deck]
[deck=Valdarith’s Jund Monsters]
Creatures (25)
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Sylvan Caryatid
1 Boon Satyr
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Reaper of the Wilds
4 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Stormbreath Dragon
Planeswalkers (6)
4 Domri Rade
2 Xenagos, the Reveler
Spells (5)
2 Dreadbore
3 Mizzium Mortars
Lands (24)
2 Mutavault
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Blood Crypt
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple of Abandon
2 Temple of Malice
4 Forest
Sideboard (15)
2 Mistcutter Hydra
2 Golgari Charm
1 Gruul Charm
2 Ultimate Price
2 Dreadbore
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
2 Sire of Insanity
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1 Rakdos’s Return
[/deck]
Playing the Deck
Coming soon
Sideboarding strategy
Coming soon
Additional Resources
Cedric Phillips's original decklist:
http://www.starcitygames.com/article/27 ... ditor.html
The Industry Standard: Jund Monsters At #SCGSTL:
http://www.starcitygames.com/article/27 ... CGSTL.html
#SCGSTL Deck Tech: Jund Monsters with Kent Ketter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOVIAXjH7rM
BBD vs. CVM: Mono-Black Aggro vs. Jund Monsters:
http://www.starcitygames.com/article/28 ... sters.html
Control 
