June 8th, 2020
If you are a die-hard aristocrats player like I am, then this tier one standard deck is the one for you. Probably the best aristocrats deck since the Shadow Over Innistrad era, this deck is extremely resilient against many of the tier one decks out there and can hold it's own against both control and aggro alike.
What makes this deck so powerful is the ability to change it's strategy based upon the current threat. If paired up against a controlling, late-game deck, Jund Sacrifice can easily aggro out the opponent with early creatures, or finish them off late game with an out of nowhere combo finish using Bolas's Citadel. If paired up against a faster, more aggressive deck, Jund Sacrifice is able to use it's Cauldron Familiar plus Witch's Oven combo to keep away attackers and gain life, all while creating enough food tokens to gain a necessary life advantage over your opponent.
With a field dominated by Hydroid Krasis, Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath, and flying shark tokens, a card that really shines in this deck is Claim the Firstborn. The ability to steal your opponent's most powerful creature, hit them with it, and then either sacrifice it to Witch's Oven or Priest of Forgotten Gods is an incredibly powerful ability, and, if executed correctly usually just ends the game on the spot.
The deck's newest tech was the addition of Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger. Originally the deck ran an additional Korvold, Fae-Cursed King and a Migration Path in order to ramp to Bolas's Citadel, but Kroxa is everything that this deck needs. Using it at face value, which is playing it out on turn two, and then being able to easily revive it later in the game with the fodder from sacrificed creatures, the card provides the deck with a lot of value. Now take into account that if you play a Witch's Oven on turn 1, then cast Kroxa on turn two, and with the sacrifice trigger on the stack sacrifice Kroxa with the Witch's Oven, you not only take a card out of your opponent's hand but also get two food tokens in the process. The card is a great addition to the deck, and I'm always surprised when I play against a Jund Sacrifice deck that does not run it. Sometimes it fights with the Woe Striders to be reanimated, but there is usually enough resources in your graveyard that this isn't too much of an issue.
The sideboard plan for this deck is straightforward, against the Temur Reclamation Decks you are usually going to bring in the Cindervines and Duress, cutting the Priest and a combination of Woe Strider and Trail of Crumbs. You would do a similar thing against the ramp decks, but you would also bring in the Soul-Guide Lanterns to turn off their graveyard. Against faster aggro decks, bringing in the additional Claim the Firstborn and the Lava Coils are a must, cutting the heavier cards like Bolas's Citadel and Kroxa. In the mirror, you pretty much want to bring in everything but the Duress, and cut the cards that lose a lot of value, such as the Priests, Kroxa, and Woe Strider.
Overall, the deck is the perfect combination of aggro and combo, and, in my opinion, it is a lot of fun to play. If you ask my fiance, she will tell you that the deck is just as annoying as playing against control, since sometimes there's just nothing the opponent can do as you keep on killing your cats and reanimating them over and over again. But hey, if your into that sort of thing, then this is the deck for you!
Creatures (23)
4x Gilded Goose
4x Mayhem Devil
4x Woe Strider
Sorceries (3)
Artifacts (7)
4x Witch's Oven
Enchantments (4)
Lands (23)
4x Blood Crypt
2x Forest
1x Mountain
3x Swamp
Sideboard (15)
4x Duress
4x Cindervines
2x Lava Coil
Comments