Last week, I decided to start playtesting some four-colored Jund (for local Modern events) and preparing for the possibility of me going to Grand Prix Detroit.

Ari Lax mentioned being interested in Kiki-Pod still (for obvious reasons), and we decided to do some matches showcasing the match up.

"Ari Lax's Kiki-Pod"

• Creatures (32)
• 1 Fauna Shaman
• 1 Fiend Hunter
• 1 Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1 Izzet Staticaster
• 1 Murderous Redcap
• 1 Phantasmal Image
• 1 Qasali Pridemage
• 1 Tarmogoyf
• 1 Wall of Roots
• 1 Zealous Conscripts
• 2 Deceiver Exarch
• 2 Voice of Resurgence
• 3 Kitchen Finks
• 3 Restoration Angel
• 4 Birds of Paradise
• 4 Noble Hierarch
• 1 Spellskite
• 1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Domri Rade

• Spells (4)
• 4 Birthing Pod

• Lands (23)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Plains
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Temple Garden
• 2 Gavony Township
• 2 Rugged Prairie
• 3 Arid Mesa
• 4 Grove of the Burnwillows
• 4 Misty Rainforest

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Chalice of the Void
• 1 Ethersworn Canonist
• 1 Avalanche Riders
• 1 Aven Mindcensor
• 1 Obstinate Baloth
• 1 Tarmogoyf
• 1 Trinket Mage
• 1 Ancient Grudge
• 2 Negate
• 3 Path to Exile
• 1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
• 1 Thrun, the Last Troll

Buy This Deck

The main attraction of Kiki-Pod is that it is a combo deck that is also incidentally good at grinding people out with value guys (such as Kitchen Finks and the like) and that also has a combo kill if it just needs to try to kill its opponent out of nowhere.

"Four-Colored Jund"

• Creatures (13)
• 1 Thundermaw Hellkite
• 4 Dark Confidant
• 4 Deathrite Shaman
• 4 Tarmogoyf

• Planeswalkers (6)
• 2 Ajani Vengeant
• 4 Liliana of the Veil

• Spells (17)
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Path to Exile
• 2 Inquisition of Kozilek
• 2 Thoughtseize
• 4 Lingering Souls
• 1 Batterskull

• Lands (24)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Plains
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Arid Mesa
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 1 Stirring Wildwood
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Temple Garden
• 2 Raging Ravine
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Marsh Flats
• 4 Verdant Catacombs

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Timely Reinforcements
• 3 Stony Silence
• 2 Thoughtseize
• 4 Fulminator Mage
• 2 Slaughter Games
• 2 Grafdigger's Cage

Buy This Deck

The main attraction of four-colored Jund is that it has the best cards in its colors and hence doesn't need to rely on assembling synergies. Most of the cards in the deck are the most efficient for their casting costs.

I think the match up is favorable for Kiki-Pod. It's not necessary for him to combo-kill us to actually win the game.

Him just assembling a bunch of Kitchen Finks and Gavony Township will beat us, and if we ever tap out with Jund, that's an invitation for him to combo-kill us.

The best path to victory for Jund is to try to aggressively go after Kiki-Pod’s mana guys (since his deck is very clunky without them), and if we cannot do that, we can hope to draw a Dark Confidant to grind him out with.

I chose to bring in Thoughtseize, Stony Silence, and Grafdigger's Cage against him for varying numbers of copies of Liliana of the Veil and Lingering Souls. Liliana does almost nothing against him because of the large number of persists creatures (and Voice of Resurgence) as well as the plethora of mana creatures that he has.

We actually split the matches 1–1, but I still think he is ahead by a bit in the match up. It's a very interesting match up to play out, and a changing of a one-of here and there is a big deal for his deck given he has Birthing Pod.

Thanks for reading and/or watching, and if there are any match ups you'd like to see recorded, I'll do my best to make it happen.

I appreciate any comments or constructive criticism here or on Twitter @jkyu06.