OTJ Draft - Jund Them (Limited)

2-1. Solid weenie strategy. Got edged out in round 1 by blue tempo, flyers, and a Prairie Dog that got copied and just hung out. Rough scene. Good deck though. Per card:

Lotus Ring - imo, totally playable in limited. Saved me in my first game. Back against the wall, Pillage the Bog'd for ten, hit a Pest Infestation, X=1 and destroyed a white enchantment exiling my Longhorn Sharpshooter, then equipped the Lotus Ring on a pest just to stabilize and eventually win. The three mana is VERY useful in a set with so many tokens - equip to a mercenary for three, now it's a 4/4 that doesn't die to absolutely everything until your next turn, when you can swing in with vigilance then sac it post-combat. Worth 3 and 3.

At Knifepoint - once again I think this is a real winner in the right deck. Lots of outlaws and making mercenaries with repeatable crimes (cf. Deadeye Duelist) is so friggin good. Your opponent WILL misplay and block your outlaws because they forget about the first strike, and you will NOT offer a take back (but if they ask you'd probably let them. They never do, though).

Return the Favor - less useful this week, used it to bump a kill spell to a less valuable creature. Still a fun combat trick that goes crazy in the right circumstances.

Fling - obviously good, but this wasn't the deck for it - too small. I chucked a Reckless Lackey at a Hardbristle Bandit turn two and I would do that again every chance I get.

Pest Infestation - always draft this card. This EATS white enchantment removal alive, and if your opponent has artifacts or other enchantments, it's worth your while. Making that many bodies, plus the lifegain when they die, is so good. I had to pick between this and Form a Posse and after playing with it I would pick this and figure out fixing for it even if I was in Boros.

Pillage the Bog - yeah it's good. Only getting one card feels weird, but you get to go real deep, and you can plot it early and just sit on it. Only cast it once but it saved me, see the story about Lotus Ring.

Scorching Shot - 5 damage is good, but I wanted some pure removal. Between rounds I boarded in white then thought better of it and reverted. I'm sorry Scorching Shot I was wrong to think about quitting you.

Highway Robbery - real real good, real real necessary in a deck like this. I kept getting mana flooded and this was always a lifeline. Get two if you can.

Badlands Revival - only went off for me once but it returned Jolene to play and put the Generous Plunderer back in my hand. Hell yeah

Throw from the Saddle - never even drew it. probably coulda cut it

Heartless Pillage - I find my opponent is usually at zero cards in hand when I topdeck this late. It rules on turn 2 or 3 after a Reckless Lackey but it's a bit so-so otherwise, totally playable in the format though.

Mourner's Surprise - I was surprised how often this sat dead in my hand. It's not purely dead, but I wasn't getting creatures in my yard and I never needed a mercenary that bad. No regrets though I would draft two of these any time.

Generous Plunderer - yeah I still like this just be careful playing it against a blue or azorius tempo deck, unless you play it in the midgame when they're down cards in hand and you can go big or go home. Menace is relevant and so is the attack trigger. Probably best overall in an Izzet tempo shell with Kraums and shit

Reckless Lackey - I played this card a lot better this time. Had a game where it came out, swung, swung, blocked and sacced for value, returned with Mourner's Surprise and swung, blocked and sacced for value, returned with Badlands Revival alongside something else and cast and swung, then sacced for value again. It's treasure and card draw on an otherwise fairly plain 1-drop. Focus on the activated ability.

Jolene, Plundering Pugilist - I thought she was kinda shit at first, but I kept her in because of the At Knifepoint synergy - and that synergy is absolutely fuckin bonkers. Making her an aggressive 4/2 first strike who can pay 1R when she attacks to ping something for 1 AND make a mercenary - absolutely disgusting. Alongside Generous Plunderer you can have enough treasures to make the combat math real fucky, I made my third opponent sac some of his creatures just to keep the others alive after I turned the profitable blocks into straight-up kills (because again, first strike!) She's good, but she takes some setup. On her own she attacks once, makes a treasure, and fucken dies.

Voracious Varmint - would have loved to have this the game I got demolished by the train vehicle thing. 2 drop 2/2 vigilance with the ability to blow up white exile enchantments or other stuff, total all-star.

Discerning Peddler - maybe only 1 is needed, but 2 was fine. I only run 16 lands and I still kept getting flooded, which the peddlers helped with. Body is fine, especially with At Knifepoint around.

Mine Raider - didn't do much, but trades up and leaves a treasure, so sure.

Longhorn Sharpshooter - people love this card but I got real close to cutting him. Reach is relevant, and the 2 damage is good early on, but you can only get the 2 damage when you can afford to pay 4 mana and do nothing else on your turn, so it's... tough. Good value but you better have something to do with that 3/3 when you get it without haste the turn after you pay for it.

Prickly Pair - almost pared down to 1. The bodies are good, and the mercenary pumping the daddy cactus up to a 3/2 before swinging in is the way to go imo. Trade up and keep the mercenary around.

Deadeye Duelist - repeatable crimes. Reach and defense and steady damage against the opponent. Mercenaried it into a 2/3 and 3/3 some times to make blocks tough. Good card.

Spinewoods Paladin - only showed up a couple times but yeahhhhhh you run these. Very relevant body, very good mercenary target, the life gain is so key.

Overall: a decent weenie-ish deck with a lot of mindfuck tricks and come-from-behind go-wide BS. The games I lost I lost because I couldn't deal with stuff fast enough, and the games I won I won because I had five rectangles on my side of the board and I kept eating their rectangles.