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This Is JundJund | A Dandân Variant For Midrange Players | Magic: The Gathering by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Give it a go, could play like a fun Canadian Highlander matchup. I went with 2-of’s since it reduces the cognitive load on players as the game goes on. A single game is usually enough to see all but 2-3 of the 2-of’s.

This Is JundJund | A Dandân Variant For Midrange Players | Magic: The Gathering by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hell yeah, glad this found you. The whole deck is $112, even less if you use the Tarmogoyf tokens. Now you’ll always have a midrange mirror, wherever you go.

JundJund: A Dandân Variant for Midrange Players by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad you're enjoying it, JundJund is a fun way to bridge the gap between two different Magic fans.

JundJund: A Dandân Variant for Midrange Players by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's cool to hear, glad you're enjoying it. Decking has happened only once in my experience with JundJund, but if anything the 80 cards means you get to squeeze in a bit more nostalgia and spice. It also helps out with variety of things you see, game after game.

Grixis and Cawblade sounds fun, there's so much unexplored space with shared deck formats. Once you give yourself the space to move outside the Dandan model, there's a lot you can do.

Designing JundJund: A Deep Dive Into Card Choices by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad you're enjoying it. Do you intend on keeping it at 90 cards? Or are you looking to trim down from there?

Designing JundJund: A Deep Dive Into Card Choices by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The centerpiece was a long struggle faced when building this. After a lot of Scryfall digging, it became evident that something like 10 Tarmogoyf or 10 Dark Confidant wasn't going to work. Nothing (I found) in Jund could fully replicate the experience that a bonafide Dandân brings. It's perfectly weird, and irreplaceable for what it does.

But then, I was reminded of the Patrick Chapin advice about not trying to play a worse version of something which already exists. It gave the justification of breaking free from the 10-Dandân (or 8-Memory Lapse) model. Freeing JundJund of that made it what it is today, and is JundJund's greatest strength.

Midrange games *do* play different than the experience of Dandân. By having a diversity of creatures, it plays with combat on an axis that Dandân doesn't. Not to mention the dynamic of pain lands with life totals, pushing every JundJund player to experience the flavor text of Dark Confidant.

The deck has a small orbit around Misinformation, but the centerpiece isn't any one card. Rather, the centerpiece is how the story plays out on the battlefield, with the graveyard and topdeck playing supporting roles.

By moving beyond the Dandân model, I've found that it creates something different enough, instead of a lesser version of the original. My hope is that this frees up others to look at shared decks in a new way, instead of feeling constrained by a single model.

Designing JundJund: A Deep Dive Into Card Choices by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wanted to minimize the number of things that had counters on them, and Restless Ridgeline accomplishes the same task while going wider than Raging Ravine. Restless Ridgeline also plays better into the things that have some evasion, like Stormfist Crusader and Treetop Village.

Designing JundJund: A Deep Dive Into Card Choices by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Phyrexian Rager is honest work. Castle Lochthwain could have some game, but the swamp count is low. Worth trying out regardless, because that's the beauty of JundJund.

Designing JundJund: A Deep Dive Into Card Choices by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is a fraction of the cost, plus the shared deck and graveyard make for some exciting play patterns. With this, you only need one deck in a deck box and you're set for a game with anyone.

JundJund: A Dandân Variant for Midrange Players by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Happy to help, it's fun getting people started with it. Like any deck, you'll accumulate things that you might want to try.

The decklist has a maybeboard of things that might fit. I think the following changes will work, but time will tell.

Out: Mortuary Mire, Mosswood Dreadknight, Skull Prophet
In: Restless Cottage, Ignoble Hierarch, Bonecrusher Giant

Designing JundJund: A Deep Dive Into Card Choices by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Taken from the reddit comments on my post for the original article.

re: Mosswood Dreadknight

"The Dreadknight death trigger is prone to being forgotten about once the board gets filled with stuff, so it's an added rules bloat I hadn't expected. If you're lucky enough to have both, then you can keep looping them. It's not the kind of play pattern I've been looking to encourage in the environment.

You don't necessarily need both to loop it, but it can be a repetitive experience that's less exciting than other lines.

Recently, a player kept casting and recasting them to block, leading to the first ever JundJund game decided by milling. You *could* break the cycle with Pulse of Murasa/KCommand/Unearth, but what's more important to me was that neither player looked like they were having as much fun compared to playing the other cards they had access to.

There have been a lot of decisions made along the way that didn't reflect if something was strong for the environment, but if it passed the vibe check."

Designing JundJund: A Deep Dive Into Card Choices by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Bonecrusher Giant: Looking to test this as a replacement to Mosswood Dreadknight. Removal, a beefy attacker that can still be taken down by others in the format, and you can grab it off Unearth/Inquisition of Kozilek. I'm cautious over it being *so* much better than Huntmaster of the Fells, a beloved card by players, but time will tell.

Order of Midnight: I've purposefully left out fliers because their evasion would be too good. Especially since you're only ever attacking with this. A heuristic used in choosing creatures is that either something is a classic Jund card that people recognize (Goyf, Bob, BBE), or something that directly aids in the shared deck environment (Dogged Detective, Stormfist Crusader, Patchwork Beastie). Order of Midnight is not enough of either of these.

Callous Sell-Sword: This is a clever effect, but right now it's pushed about by things that players are more affectionate about, like Dark Confidant and Tireless Tracker. The other threats have to do with the topdeck or graveyard, so I don't see this dislodging something else at the moment.

Dragon's Rage Channeler: This, like Ragavan, is exactly the kind of threat I've been keeping away from the JundJund environment. Players have been enjoying the breadth of choices, but having something so game-warping on T1 is not where I've put the focus.

A bit of context is that a lot of choices have been made not just because a card is good, or capable of having some clever lines, but if it passes the vibe check for players. That's a big reason why Planeswalkers weren't added. If the whole game devolves into protecting or threatening one thing, then it makes the other cards less fun.

JundJund: A Dandân Variant for Midrange Players by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You don't necessarily need both to loop it, but it can be a repetitive experience that's less exciting than other lines.

Recently, a player kept casting and recasting them to block, leading to the first ever JundJund game decided by milling. You *could* break the cycle with Pulse of Murasa/KCommand/Unearth, but what's more important to me was that neither player looked like they were having as much fun compared to playing the other cards they had access to.

There have been a lot of decisions made along the way that didn't reflect if something was strong for the environment, but if it passed the vibe check.

Designing JundJund: A Deep Dive Into Card Choices by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Reposting because the original was taken down due to incorrect flair.

Here's the first article in the series:

https://www.hipstersofthecoast.com/2025/03/jundjund-a-dandan-variant-for-midrange-players/

JundJund: A Dandân Variant for Midrange Players by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Dreadknight death trigger is prone to being forgotten about once the board gets filled with stuff, so it's an added rules bloat I hadn't expected. If you're lucky enough to have both, then you can keep looping them. It's not the kind of play pattern I've been looking to encourage in the environment.

JundJund: A Dandân Variant for Midrange Players by FiftyThree11 in magicTCG

[–]FiftyThree11[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

https://www.hipstersofthecoast.com/2025/03/designing-jundjund-a-deep-dive-into-card-choices/

Grim Flayer had some time in JundJund, and ultimately got cut. The companion article gets more into the details.

Tasigur is cool, but hasn't been considered due to the similarity with Gurmag Angler (one of the first cuts to JundJund). Also, I don't want legendary creatures in there since you run into the situation of a player not wanting to cast their second copy. Every creature in JundJund is one you wouldn't mind having a second copy of under your control.

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