Jund Midrange (deck 7a in series) (Frontier)

*Continuing on my series of thri-colored midrange decks that focus primarily on playing the best possible midrange cards then building from there.

What the deck does:
Tears apart the opponents hand and fixes mana base to start.
Difficult to remove creatures, with some form of evasion in the midgame.
Strong removal package.
plays multi-purpose planeswalkers.

What inspired this deck:
part of an overall series of decks.
I want it to feel like Innistrad-RtR standard Jund, where the deck had all the answers and played deadly threats.

Step 1: What are the 4/5cmc threats: (10 cards)

a) Rekindling Phoenix. 4 copies.
recursion, evasion, haste on return.
must be answered with an exile spell.

b) Glorybringer. 3 copies.
*haste, evasion, removal.

c) Chandra, Torch of Defiance. 2 copies
card draw, ramp, removal.
puts the opponent on a clock.

d) Nissa, Vital Force. 1 copy
Aggressive up tick.
returning any permanent is just so good in this deck.

Step 2: Lets look at setting up on our first two turns. (10 card)

a) Despise. 2 copies.
Hits just about every deck hard, right out of the gate.
Gives us valuable knowledge right from the start.

b) Oath of Nissa. 2 copies.
*There are plenty of choices to fix our mana, but none of them let you grab a creature or planeswalker as alternatives.

c) Transgress the Mind. 3 copies.
*Great against everything that is not pure aggro.

d) Merfolk Branchwalker. 3 copies.
grab a land or have a 3/2, either way is alright.
getting to fix the top card of your deck really helps smooth out the opening turns.
*dumping a card in the yard is not a big deal in these colors since you can likely get it back.

Step 3: Evaluate the removal options. (8 cards)

a) Fatal Push. 3 copies.
*we are playing fetches.

b) Abrade. 2 copies.
*dual purpose removal is great for the main deck.

c) Vraska's Contempt. 2 copies.
*have to be able to exile key threats.

d) Doomfall. 1 copy.
Both options are great.
it is a rare occasion that you draw this card and it isin't useful.

Step 4: Fill the last 8 slots with quality support cards.
Card draw (3 slots)
solid 2cmc creature (2 slots)
6cmc finisher (1 slot)
solid 3cmc permanents (2 slots)

Card draw

a) Sign in Blood. 2 copies.
*The life loss is not ideal, however Cathartic Reunion is too weak against blue counterspells.

b) Tasigur, the Golden Fang. 1 copy.
Draws cards in the midgame.
difficult to remove 5 toughness creature
*low cost to cast.

2cmc creature

c) Sylvan Advocate. 2 copies.
good early or late.
great blocker.

3cmc creatures

d) Tireless Tracker. 2 copies.
extra card draw comes in handy.
gets bigger as the game progresses.

6cmc finisher

e) Chandra Flamecaller
great for any situation.
board wipe or card draw in emergencies.
*pure beatdown in most scenarios.

Step 5: Sideboard time.

a) Sorcerous Spyglass. 2 copies.
shuts off so many threats...Marvel, the Scarab God, vehicles, planeswalkers, fetch lands...
another card that lets us have a peek at what our opponent is up to.

b) Rampaging Ferocidon. 2 copies.
Our answer to Saheeli-combo.
also an answer to tokens.

c) Duress. 2 copies.
*For when things get very noncreature in nature.

d) Tormod's Crypt. 2 copies.
*I like my graveyard, but some decks may like it more.

e) Languish. 2 copies.
*It is the sweeper we have access to that kills Hazoret.

f) Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. 2 copies.
Shuts down aggro.
helps fight against graveyard shenanigans.

g) Murderous Cut. 1 copy.
*Need a cheap way to simply destroy a creature of any size.

h) Lost Legacy. 1 copy.
dismantles certain game plans.
we have a lot of ways to see what is in our opponents hands.

i) Angrath, the Flame-Chained. 1 copy.
Here mostly to disrupt control decks.
Decent against grindy midrange decks as removal.

Step 7: Building the mana base.
a great challenge since we need a minimum of 14 green sources, and roughly 18 black and red sources.
Oath of Nissa and Merfolk Branchwalker help make the mana curve roll out a little easier.

a) fetch lands.
Bloodstained Mire. 4 copies.
Wooded Foothills. 4 copies.

b) Battle Lands.
Smoldering Marsh. 2 copies.
Cinder Glade. 2 copies.

c) Basics.
Mountain. 2 copies.
Forest. 2 copies.
Swamp. 2 copies.

d) Dragonskull Summit. 3 copies.

e) Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. 1 copy.
*significant help for casting double black spells.

f) Hissing Quagmire. 2 copies.
*man lands always serve a solid purpose in a midrange deck.

Final Thoughts
A) I like the opening turns with the deck. Set up our mana base and disrupt the opponents hand.

B) I like the midgame. A nice mix of speed and recursion. We can grind things out or go for the throat.

C) The early game and the late game don't necessarily work well together. We start out by dismantling the opponents game plan, then we start playing grindy cards to finish them off. This gives the opponent an opportunity to get back into games.