Since the release of The Hobbit, Jund Sacrifice has cemented itself as one of Standard’s best archetypes. Converting tokens into huge amounts of damage, this deck is capable of presenting a kill surprisingly quickly. Now, it seems that this deck’s core is so strong that it’s even making a splash in Pioneer, maximizing a handful of potent upgrades.
Taking Sacrifice Synergies a Step Further
Like the Standard version of the deck, Pioneer Jund Sacrifice looks to spend the early turns building out a critical mass of sacrifice fodder.
Greedy Freebooter
Greedy Freebooter
When this creature dies, scry 1 and create a Treasure token. (To scry 1, look at the top card of your library. You may put that card on the bottom. A Treasure token is an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.")
joins
Voldaren Epicure
Voldaren Epicure
When this creature enters, it deals 1 damage to each opponent. Create a Blood token. (It's an artifact with "{1}, {T}, Discard a card, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.")
as one-drops that both leave artifact tokens behind. From there,
The Sackville-Bagginses
The Sackville-Bagginses
When The Sackville-Bagginses enter, you may sacrifice another creature or artifact. If you do, draw a card and create a Treasure token.
Whenever you sacrifice a token, target opponent loses 1 life.
converts these weak 1/1 bodies into card advantage, while also leaving behind a Treasure.
While these tokens aren’t hugely impactful by themselves, they make The Sackville-Bagginses’ and
Biotech Specialist
Biotech Specialist
When this creature enters, create a Lander token. (It's an artifact with "{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: Search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.")
Whenever you sacrifice an artifact, this creature deals 2 damage to target opponent.
‘s triggered abilities extremely threatening. With the help of
Rottenmouth Viper
Rottenmouth Viper
As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may sacrifice any number of nonland permanents. This spell costs {1} less to cast for each permanent sacrificed this way.
Whenever this creature enters or attacks, put a blight counter on it. Then for each blight counter on it, each opponent loses 4 life unless that player sacrifices a nonland permanent of their choice or discards a card.
letting you sacrifice a bunch of artifacts at once, it’s easy to send a wave of unexpected damage the opponent’s way. Should that not be enough to end the game, a single Viper attack should do the trick.
Interestingly, as explosive as this deck is, a big part of this deck’s success actually comes from its Pioneer upgrades that improve resiliency. At the top of the list is Oni-Cult Anvil, which provides a steady stream of blockers to help keep you alive longer. All the while, this uncommon serves as a life-draining sacrifice outlet, synergizing perfectly with your other sacrifice payoffs.
By buying yourself more time, Oni-Cult Anvil gives you a better chance of maximizing
Deadly Dispute
Deadly Dispute
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice an artifact or creature.
Draw two cards and create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.")
and
Experimental Synthesizer
Experimental Synthesizer
When this artifact enters or leaves the battlefield, exile the top card of your library. Until end of turn, you may play that card.
{2}{R}, Sacrifice this artifact: Create a 2/2 white Samurai creature token with vigilance. Activate only as a sorcery.
without falling too far behind. These card draw elements then help dig for
Shrapnel Blast
Shrapnel Blast
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice an artifact.
Shrapnel Blast deals 5 damage to any target.
, which gives the deck plenty of extra reach in the event your two-drop payoffs die on sight.
Speed and Grinding Potential
Ultimately, being able to win via fast kills or a slow, painful grind is a huge boon considering Pioneer’s diverse metagame. When playing against combo decks like Greasefang, combining Biotech Specialist and Shrapnel Blast enables you to race even the opponent’s fastest draws. Things only get easier when you add sideboard disruption like
Soul-Guide Lantern
Soul-Guide Lantern
When this artifact enters, exile target card from a graveyard.
{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Exile each opponent's graveyard.
{1}, {T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.
into the mix.
At the same time, though, when facing decks like Mono-Red Aggro and Izzet Prowess, you have the potential to take on the control role. By using Shrapnel Blast and sideboard copies of
Fatal Push
Fatal Push
Destroy target creature if it has mana value 2 or less.
Revolt — Destroy that creature if it has mana value 4 or less instead if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn.
to keep
Sunspine Lynx
Sunspine Lynx
Players can't gain life.
Damage can't be prevented.
When this creature enters, it deals damage to each player equal to the number of nonbasic lands that player controls.
and other problematic threats in check, you enable Oni-Cult Anvil to crush the long game. Rottenmouth Viper also makes damage-based removal look silly, so you can often ride the beefy threat alone to victory.
Where this deck does run into problems, however, is when facing down board wipes that hit your creatures and artifacts simultaneously. Both
Temporary Lockdown
Temporary Lockdown
When this enchantment enters, exile each nonland permanent with mana value 2 or less until this enchantment leaves the battlefield.
out of Azorius Control and Culling Ritual out of Golgari Midrange are nightmares to play against. While Rottenmouth Viper can theoretically sidestep these tools, a simple
Get Lost
Get Lost
Destroy target creature, enchantment, or planeswalker. Its controller creates two Map tokens. (They're artifacts with "{1}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: Target creature you control explores. Activate only as a sorcery.")
or
Professor Dellian Fel
Professor Dellian Fel
+2: You gain 3 life.
0: You draw a card and lose 1 life.
−3: Destroy target creature.
−6: You get an emblem with "Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life."
messes this gameplan up.
Given the popularity of these mass removal options, Jund Sacrifice is far from broken in Pioneer. Nonetheless, the deck is consistent and extremely powerful when unimpeded. As such, expect to see this deck around quite a bit in Pioneer moving forward.
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