I will readily admit about the missing of Bituminous Blast. It should definitely be there on the list. The thing about it though is, in all of the drafts I've done so far, I was never passed a Blast! I don't know how this has happened. Actually I might have already been committed to my colors in Esper or Naya and seen it go by, at that point I am usually off-color blind because otherwise I get too greedy and end up with a weak deck.
With regards to people saying I should be recommending Blades - it is one of the things that I tried to recommend as a general rule for ALL of the shards. They are playable no matter what colors you pick, and as has been mentioned, there are three that you need to look out for in each shard, so mentioning them and repeating that they are good I felt was just repeating. I guess that I should have recommended them more strongly.
Thanks for the comments, I really appreciate them!
Mind funeral is not good by itself, but since its unc if you pick up multiples it can win early. Especially since almost nobody is playing more than 15 lands.
(MConstant beat me to some of this stuff, but it's already written, so...)
You got some things right, but other stuff needs expansion/correction IMO. Omitting Bituminous Blast is glaring. The important uncommons you are hoping to see if you don't open a bomb rare, roughly in order of desirability assuming pack one, pick one, are:
* Slave of Bolas
* Bituminous Blast
* Bloodraid Elf
* Behemoth Sledge
* Gloryscale Viashino
* Marisi's Twinclaws
* Vithian Renegades
* Vengeful Rebirth (only this low for me because I play so many cheap spells, and this costs 6)
* Intimidation Bolt
* Wall of Denial
The fact that only one, Wall of Denial, is not playable in Jund or Naya, says a lot about the format. Naya has more on the list, but Jund has the ones at the top, and Jund also has better commons. This is why I think Jund is clearly the best shard for the format. A good Jund deck with a reasonable draw on the play is rarely going to lose, it's simply too fast. I recently had a Jund deck that went:
T1: Post
T2: Leech
T3: Violent Outburst revealing Jund Hackblade, pump leech, hit for NINE.
T4: Bloodbraid Elf revealing a Hushblade, pump leech, hit for TEN.
T5: Drop a land, decide how I want to win
Jund says: stumble and you are dead. I happen to hit a Hushblade (the worst blde, IMO) off that Bloodbraid, but it could easily have been a Hackblade, Colossal Might, or Violent Outburst for the T4 win.
Another Jund draft I went:
T1: Post
T2: Hackblade, hit for 3
His T3: Talon Troopers
T3: Post, Leech, hit for 3 because he doesn't trade with Troopers. Why?
His T4: Play Behemoth Sledge (ah, that's why, his plan is to recover with a Sledged-up Troopers)
T4: Bloodbraid Elf into second leech, pump first leech, swing for 10
T5: He equips the Sledge, but the game is already over. I'm holding Slave of Bolas and Breath of Malfegor in my hand, but can win on the board before the life gain stacks to save him anyway.
The thing is, these reusults, while obviously insane, are not rare for a well-drafted Jund deck. The common core of Hackblade, Grimblade, Putrid Leech, Terminate, Sangrite Backlash, Colossal Might, Violent Outburst and even Demonic Dread are what make it go. Those commons in multiples with a few posts, cyclers, and hopefully some of the killer uncommons make for a deck that can win before the opposition can blink. I'm not a fan of Lava Axe, but Breath of Malfegor is actually quite good in this archetype, and I would play up to two depending on the state of my five drops. Bituminous Blast and Slave of Bolas are both much better, but sometimes, untapping for turn five with a Breath in hand is game over.
Rhox Brute and Gorger Wurm are efficient creatures, but I am generally looking for those two- and three-drop core commons first. I would rather have my five drop just win the game (Slave, Bituminous Blast, or Breath). Singe-Mind Ogre and Kathari Bombers are also both quite playable to fill out a Jund deck. Singe-Mind usually drops when they have played out their land and cheap spells, but still have 4+cc cards in hand. Not as reliable as Breath of Malfegor for filling out those last spots in a Jund deck, but sometimes better.
You need to be absolutely out of playables before running Godtrackers, even when you have some five-power dudes. A 2/2 for 3 that *might* get bigger in a few turns just doesn't cut it in a world of 3/2s with abilities for 2. For example, a third Violent Outburst, is, effectively, some extra pump on your two drop plus a Terminate, Leech, Hackblade, or if you are unlucky, a Demonspine Whip (which I also don't like, too slow and chumpable). A third Outburst will be better than a Godtracker every time in that deck, unless they don't have a target for Terminate, in which case you ought to be winning anyway.
Predatory Advantage is also not good. There shouldn't be a long game in Jund, and it will only have some marginal value in a long game. In your Jund build, I go -1 Demonspine Whip, -2 Godtracker of Jund, -1 Predatory Advantage, +2 Singe-Mind Ogre, +1 Violent Outburst, +1 Monstrous Carabid.
Drafting RRR Jund is simple: "Will this card enable stupidly sick early turns, or finish them off on turn five after stupidly sick early turns?" If yes, pick it.
Finally, Mind Funeral is not a good limited card, it's an unplayable limited card. You might mill half my deck, but what does that matter? You spend your third turn milling half my deck, I'll spend my third turn cascading my Violent Outburst into a Hackblade and swinging it with my Leech for nine. Never use a slot on a card that only mills unless you intend to win by milling.
I think you missed some really key stuff on Jund. Firstly, not even mentioning Bituminous Blast is well, blastphemy (lol?).
Here is how it should have broken down:
Commons. Putrid Leech is quite amazing because it A) Is effectively a 4/4 for 2 mana and B) it can single handedly take out 3 of the 5 blades! Leeches should be your #1 target for common picks.
BLADES!! In Jund you can run: (in order of preference) Jund Hackblade, Grixis Grimblade, and Naya Hushblade. Hackblade is quite nuts in a solid Jund build. The Grimblade and Hushblade are both solid too though. I pick these up in as many numbers as I can. I have run 7 blades and 3 leeches before. I would run more if I could get them.
You mentioned Terminate and Sangrite Backlash. Violent Outburst and Demonic Dread are both pretty solid too, as is Kathari Bomber. They all fit well into the Jund deck. Breath of Malfegor is really good in the build too, just don't overdo it with them, 2 is enough. The borderposts are obviously good and the mana cyclers are necessary and sometimes you even get to hardcast them, although rarely. Singe-Mind Ogre is really solid in these builds and can be the guy that gets you that "last chunk of damage". If you brick with him and hit a land, he isn't awful at 3/2. Jund Sojurners are the best of the Sojurners cycle by quite a bit, as they are great in the mirror (Taking out Sewn-eye Drake, an unpumped blade, or Ingneous Pouncer), and they are playable as a 3/2 for 3 as well. I tend to take these a little later though if they are still around.
You said that some of the best creatures at common were "Rhox Brute, Sewn-Eye Drake and Igneous Pouncer". I really don't think this is the case, although all 3 are playable. I think the Leeches/Blades are all better in the Jund deck than these three.
Uncommons. There are 3 epic uncommons playable in Jund. Bloodbraid Elf, Bituminous Blast, and Slave of Bolas. These are all HUGE cards for the build. Bloodbraid Elf is pretty obviously amazing, same with Bituminous Blast. Slave of Bolas however is less obvious, but just as potent. You usually get your opponent down fast and are looking for that last chunk of damage to finish them off. Slave does that extremely well, removing a blocker AND giving you an extra attacker. I have first picked Slave many times and never regretted it.
Some other notable uncommons are Vengeful Rebirth (again nice for that last chunk of damage, although at 6 mana it doesn't fit all that well. Mage Slayer is pretty good, but a bit slow for the deck. Vithian Renegades are really good too, but I usually wait to see if my opponent is playing Borderposts before siding them in, as I am always trying to run about 3 posts, and don't want to get stuck blowing up my own post or holding the spell.
Rares. You covered most of these I think, but Blitz Hellion is darn good in these builds and deserves a mention.
In regards to your final build, I would easily have taken out both Godtrackers for the Singe-Mind Ogres, and also taken out a Gorger Wurm for the Violent Outburst fwiw.
I would suggest attempting to cut down the time of the initial podcast as 20 minutes is a lot of time for many to listen on what is occuring on Magic Online. The information is mostly relevant although it would be easier if you could indicate what portions of the podcast talk about certain subjects so people could easily listen to what they want to hear as some people are competitve, casual etc.
Heart of Light has never been played by myself as you said it isn't even close to removal or a Pacifism, and for future reference I would never play it regardless. Remove Sylvan Scrying from your vocabulary ;) as you will be much more successful if you stay away from it. Dross Crocodile isn't very playable as there is a huge difference between Lightning Elemental with haste and Dross Crocodile which will collide with a 1/1 or just be afflicted during your opponents next turn. I would suggest to think more consistent and to be much more specific on your decisions as Dreamborne Muse is unplayable regardless of what deck you use or are intending to build, if you have your mindset on winning and solely winning then ideas and mediocre cards will not allow you to think of 'other' ideas that could cost you in the end. I disliked how you built your initial GW deck and if you would like me to comment on that I can as well although will wait for your reply in regards to that. As per usual my best words of advice is stay 2 colours, or if your lucky to have 2x Terramorphic Expanses etc then you can potentially splash bombs yet in this case there wasn't anything standing out.
Although remember I enjoy your articles! That's the key ....
I think you have some very good assessments of the format, I would say that its quite a good format for drafting. The mana issues in the format are huge, and the borderposts and landcyclers are crucial. Many, Many, Many games are decided by a player stumbling to hit their third color. I personally don' t think that borderposts should be substituted 1 for 1 for basic land, as I've even had mana problems with deck with 19 mana sources and 1 land cycler. Vithian renegade can be great, but you will get caught with the only target being your own borderpost from time to time, and for jund, your missing demonic dread which is an absolute all star. I frequently win on turn 5 and 6 with an aggro jund deck. Also, I think slave of bolas is an absolute bomb, sure there might be a card better, like b sledge, or a rare or mythic, but 85% of the time plus, slave of bolas IS the strongest card in a pack. As far as esper, I find that there is a decent amount of bombs, between filgree angel, cascade sphinx, and the 8 drop sphinx. Great article though, and thanks for not dismissing the format as garbage, like many people online seem to have. Their is a ton of skill involved in building a deck with a workable mana base, and mana curve and balancing threats and removal, I love the format personally. :) Look forward to reading your next article about standard.
why are people not showing him love? I like the card because people try to draft big creatures in Ala,Con Reborn draft. when I did a sealed 3 Ala 3 Reborn I ran him and always brought a smile to my face when my opponent revealed a critter with 7 CC from his hand. And I almost went 4-0 in the sealed but last game of the final match i didn't draw into a swamp while my hand had 2 terminate and 2 grixis charm :).
Definately a casual only deck, but I can see where it could be fun.
What about Wall of Blood (I think that's the one..the pay 1 life to pump the wall by +1 for the turn).
Could you let Aria start resolving...pump the wall by 5 or 10 points (keeping yourself out of instant burn range), get the 10 life from Aria, pump the wall the rest of the way to 20, and win with Aria's third statement?
Or can you not take any actions between each statement?
Well I guess he should really proof read a bit more and his editor should really catch the contextual errors but lets be honest. The content is fantastic, he clearly knows what he is talking about and we pay nothing for being able to read it.
Well I wanna thank you for defending me but he clearly has point. English is not obviously my first language bue still I'm being paid to write articles in english so I'm supposed to do a good job. A couple of errors you pointed out are clearly typos and I should've runned the article another time before submiting,the others are miss interpretations from my part. I hope to improve for my next articles and I appreciate the support given by all. (As a side note, I wrote this article after the GP ended until almost dawn since I was in a DE at the same time so some of the fault by be given to me almost being sleepwalking at the time.)
To be honest, the Troll might be good enough - I never tried it out. If anyone wants to try out the deck then give it a shot and let me know how it goes!
it is funny because the first time i saw this card, i immediately wanted to build a deck to abuse of it with berserck... but i didnt for the moment, and your article is a pretty nice overview of what how to run it.
I am thinking about to run Primal Forcemage & Vial in order to run a build a comboish engine ...
In my experience, Pemmin's Aura is really interesting in this deck because it allows you to keep more slots available for utility stuff (like another deed for example) instead of keeping slot for creature's aura .Pemmin's provides all effect you are looking for in order to protect your Zur. But that's true, if you want to run more aura, plax is a good choice due to the cantrip effect.
Mind funeral is not good by itself, but since its unc if you pick up multiples it can win early. Especially since almost nobody is playing more than 15 lands.
One other thing is putting Madrush Cyclops in the "Good rare for Jund" category. Pretty self explanatory, but ya, he rocks in Jund.
(MConstant beat me to some of this stuff, but it's already written, so...)
You got some things right, but other stuff needs expansion/correction IMO. Omitting Bituminous Blast is glaring. The important uncommons you are hoping to see if you don't open a bomb rare, roughly in order of desirability assuming pack one, pick one, are:
* Slave of Bolas
* Bituminous Blast
* Bloodraid Elf
* Behemoth Sledge
* Gloryscale Viashino
* Marisi's Twinclaws
* Vithian Renegades
* Vengeful Rebirth (only this low for me because I play so many cheap spells, and this costs 6)
* Intimidation Bolt
* Wall of Denial
The fact that only one, Wall of Denial, is not playable in Jund or Naya, says a lot about the format. Naya has more on the list, but Jund has the ones at the top, and Jund also has better commons. This is why I think Jund is clearly the best shard for the format. A good Jund deck with a reasonable draw on the play is rarely going to lose, it's simply too fast. I recently had a Jund deck that went:
T1: Post
T2: Leech
T3: Violent Outburst revealing Jund Hackblade, pump leech, hit for NINE.
T4: Bloodbraid Elf revealing a Hushblade, pump leech, hit for TEN.
T5: Drop a land, decide how I want to win
Jund says: stumble and you are dead. I happen to hit a Hushblade (the worst blde, IMO) off that Bloodbraid, but it could easily have been a Hackblade, Colossal Might, or Violent Outburst for the T4 win.
Another Jund draft I went:
T1: Post
T2: Hackblade, hit for 3
His T3: Talon Troopers
T3: Post, Leech, hit for 3 because he doesn't trade with Troopers. Why?
His T4: Play Behemoth Sledge (ah, that's why, his plan is to recover with a Sledged-up Troopers)
T4: Bloodbraid Elf into second leech, pump first leech, swing for 10
T5: He equips the Sledge, but the game is already over. I'm holding Slave of Bolas and Breath of Malfegor in my hand, but can win on the board before the life gain stacks to save him anyway.
The thing is, these reusults, while obviously insane, are not rare for a well-drafted Jund deck. The common core of Hackblade, Grimblade, Putrid Leech, Terminate, Sangrite Backlash, Colossal Might, Violent Outburst and even Demonic Dread are what make it go. Those commons in multiples with a few posts, cyclers, and hopefully some of the killer uncommons make for a deck that can win before the opposition can blink. I'm not a fan of Lava Axe, but Breath of Malfegor is actually quite good in this archetype, and I would play up to two depending on the state of my five drops. Bituminous Blast and Slave of Bolas are both much better, but sometimes, untapping for turn five with a Breath in hand is game over.
Rhox Brute and Gorger Wurm are efficient creatures, but I am generally looking for those two- and three-drop core commons first. I would rather have my five drop just win the game (Slave, Bituminous Blast, or Breath). Singe-Mind Ogre and Kathari Bombers are also both quite playable to fill out a Jund deck. Singe-Mind usually drops when they have played out their land and cheap spells, but still have 4+cc cards in hand. Not as reliable as Breath of Malfegor for filling out those last spots in a Jund deck, but sometimes better.
You need to be absolutely out of playables before running Godtrackers, even when you have some five-power dudes. A 2/2 for 3 that *might* get bigger in a few turns just doesn't cut it in a world of 3/2s with abilities for 2. For example, a third Violent Outburst, is, effectively, some extra pump on your two drop plus a Terminate, Leech, Hackblade, or if you are unlucky, a Demonspine Whip (which I also don't like, too slow and chumpable). A third Outburst will be better than a Godtracker every time in that deck, unless they don't have a target for Terminate, in which case you ought to be winning anyway.
Predatory Advantage is also not good. There shouldn't be a long game in Jund, and it will only have some marginal value in a long game. In your Jund build, I go -1 Demonspine Whip, -2 Godtracker of Jund, -1 Predatory Advantage, +2 Singe-Mind Ogre, +1 Violent Outburst, +1 Monstrous Carabid.
Drafting RRR Jund is simple: "Will this card enable stupidly sick early turns, or finish them off on turn five after stupidly sick early turns?" If yes, pick it.
Finally, Mind Funeral is not a good limited card, it's an unplayable limited card. You might mill half my deck, but what does that matter? You spend your third turn milling half my deck, I'll spend my third turn cascading my Violent Outburst into a Hackblade and swinging it with my Leech for nine. Never use a slot on a card that only mills unless you intend to win by milling.
I think you missed some really key stuff on Jund. Firstly, not even mentioning Bituminous Blast is well, blastphemy (lol?).
Here is how it should have broken down:
Commons. Putrid Leech is quite amazing because it A) Is effectively a 4/4 for 2 mana and B) it can single handedly take out 3 of the 5 blades! Leeches should be your #1 target for common picks.
BLADES!! In Jund you can run: (in order of preference) Jund Hackblade, Grixis Grimblade, and Naya Hushblade. Hackblade is quite nuts in a solid Jund build. The Grimblade and Hushblade are both solid too though. I pick these up in as many numbers as I can. I have run 7 blades and 3 leeches before. I would run more if I could get them.
You mentioned Terminate and Sangrite Backlash. Violent Outburst and Demonic Dread are both pretty solid too, as is Kathari Bomber. They all fit well into the Jund deck. Breath of Malfegor is really good in the build too, just don't overdo it with them, 2 is enough. The borderposts are obviously good and the mana cyclers are necessary and sometimes you even get to hardcast them, although rarely. Singe-Mind Ogre is really solid in these builds and can be the guy that gets you that "last chunk of damage". If you brick with him and hit a land, he isn't awful at 3/2. Jund Sojurners are the best of the Sojurners cycle by quite a bit, as they are great in the mirror (Taking out Sewn-eye Drake, an unpumped blade, or Ingneous Pouncer), and they are playable as a 3/2 for 3 as well. I tend to take these a little later though if they are still around.
You said that some of the best creatures at common were "Rhox Brute, Sewn-Eye Drake and Igneous Pouncer". I really don't think this is the case, although all 3 are playable. I think the Leeches/Blades are all better in the Jund deck than these three.
Uncommons. There are 3 epic uncommons playable in Jund. Bloodbraid Elf, Bituminous Blast, and Slave of Bolas. These are all HUGE cards for the build. Bloodbraid Elf is pretty obviously amazing, same with Bituminous Blast. Slave of Bolas however is less obvious, but just as potent. You usually get your opponent down fast and are looking for that last chunk of damage to finish them off. Slave does that extremely well, removing a blocker AND giving you an extra attacker. I have first picked Slave many times and never regretted it.
Some other notable uncommons are Vengeful Rebirth (again nice for that last chunk of damage, although at 6 mana it doesn't fit all that well. Mage Slayer is pretty good, but a bit slow for the deck. Vithian Renegades are really good too, but I usually wait to see if my opponent is playing Borderposts before siding them in, as I am always trying to run about 3 posts, and don't want to get stuck blowing up my own post or holding the spell.
Rares. You covered most of these I think, but Blitz Hellion is darn good in these builds and deserves a mention.
In regards to your final build, I would easily have taken out both Godtrackers for the Singe-Mind Ogres, and also taken out a Gorger Wurm for the Violent Outburst fwiw.
I would suggest attempting to cut down the time of the initial podcast as 20 minutes is a lot of time for many to listen on what is occuring on Magic Online. The information is mostly relevant although it would be easier if you could indicate what portions of the podcast talk about certain subjects so people could easily listen to what they want to hear as some people are competitve, casual etc.
Well done in general.
Wow, nice article.
Basic Land,
As per usual here is what I would've ran:
1cc:
1x Shock
1x Leonin Scimitar
2cc:
2x Goblin Piker
2x Gorilla Tactics
1x Spitting Earth
1x Hate Weaver
3cc:
1x Arcane Teachings
2x Looming Shade
1x Phyrexian Rager
1x Assassinate
4cc:
2x Anaba Bodyguard
1x Lightning Elemental
1x Viashino Runner
1x Bog Wraith
1x Gravedigger
2x Highway Robber
5cc:
1x Essense Drain
6cc:
Nothing
7cc:
1x Platinum Angel
Lands:
1x Ghitu Encampment
1x Quicksand
2x Terramorphic Expanse
7x Swamps
6x Mountains
Comments:
Heart of Light has never been played by myself as you said it isn't even close to removal or a Pacifism, and for future reference I would never play it regardless. Remove Sylvan Scrying from your vocabulary ;) as you will be much more successful if you stay away from it. Dross Crocodile isn't very playable as there is a huge difference between Lightning Elemental with haste and Dross Crocodile which will collide with a 1/1 or just be afflicted during your opponents next turn. I would suggest to think more consistent and to be much more specific on your decisions as Dreamborne Muse is unplayable regardless of what deck you use or are intending to build, if you have your mindset on winning and solely winning then ideas and mediocre cards will not allow you to think of 'other' ideas that could cost you in the end. I disliked how you built your initial GW deck and if you would like me to comment on that I can as well although will wait for your reply in regards to that. As per usual my best words of advice is stay 2 colours, or if your lucky to have 2x Terramorphic Expanses etc then you can potentially splash bombs yet in this case there wasn't anything standing out.
Although remember I enjoy your articles! That's the key ....
The MOCS Season 2 Championship takes place at 1pm PST this Saturday May 30, not 9 am as you announced.
The times for the Championships rotate each season to be fair to players in all time zones.
Otherwise, great work as always!
Mike Gills
MTGO Community and Org Play Manager
I think you have some very good assessments of the format, I would say that its quite a good format for drafting. The mana issues in the format are huge, and the borderposts and landcyclers are crucial. Many, Many, Many games are decided by a player stumbling to hit their third color. I personally don' t think that borderposts should be substituted 1 for 1 for basic land, as I've even had mana problems with deck with 19 mana sources and 1 land cycler. Vithian renegade can be great, but you will get caught with the only target being your own borderpost from time to time, and for jund, your missing demonic dread which is an absolute all star. I frequently win on turn 5 and 6 with an aggro jund deck. Also, I think slave of bolas is an absolute bomb, sure there might be a card better, like b sledge, or a rare or mythic, but 85% of the time plus, slave of bolas IS the strongest card in a pack. As far as esper, I find that there is a decent amount of bombs, between filgree angel, cascade sphinx, and the 8 drop sphinx. Great article though, and thanks for not dismissing the format as garbage, like many people online seem to have. Their is a ton of skill involved in building a deck with a workable mana base, and mana curve and balancing threats and removal, I love the format personally. :) Look forward to reading your next article about standard.
Unfortunately you can't take any actions in between steps of a card's resolution.
why are people not showing him love? I like the card because people try to draft big creatures in Ala,Con Reborn draft. when I did a sealed 3 Ala 3 Reborn I ran him and always brought a smile to my face when my opponent revealed a critter with 7 CC from his hand. And I almost went 4-0 in the sealed but last game of the final match i didn't draw into a swamp while my hand had 2 terminate and 2 grixis charm :).
Definately a casual only deck, but I can see where it could be fun.
What about Wall of Blood (I think that's the one..the pay 1 life to pump the wall by +1 for the turn).
Could you let Aria start resolving...pump the wall by 5 or 10 points (keeping yourself out of instant burn range), get the 10 life from Aria, pump the wall the rest of the way to 20, and win with Aria's third statement?
Or can you not take any actions between each statement?
I'm sorry, we can not extend the deadline, judging has already begun for the contest.
Anyone have a link to the official announcement that Necropotence is restricted?
Thanks.
Hi, I missed the deadline, is it possible you guys could extend the deadline? Thanks.
Rush of Knowledge treats you better when you cackle as it resolves.
Well I guess he should really proof read a bit more and his editor should really catch the contextual errors but lets be honest. The content is fantastic, he clearly knows what he is talking about and we pay nothing for being able to read it.
Well I wanna thank you for defending me but he clearly has point. English is not obviously my first language bue still I'm being paid to write articles in english so I'm supposed to do a good job. A couple of errors you pointed out are clearly typos and I should've runned the article another time before submiting,the others are miss interpretations from my part. I hope to improve for my next articles and I appreciate the support given by all. (As a side note, I wrote this article after the GP ended until almost dawn since I was in a DE at the same time so some of the fault by be given to me almost being sleepwalking at the time.)
Give him a break, English is clearly not his first language.
love the lists man!!!
To be honest, the Troll might be good enough - I never tried it out. If anyone wants to try out the deck then give it a shot and let me know how it goes!
Very good article once again!
it is funny because the first time i saw this card, i immediately wanted to build a deck to abuse of it with berserck... but i didnt for the moment, and your article is a pretty nice overview of what how to run it.
I am thinking about to run Primal Forcemage & Vial in order to run a build a comboish engine ...
i will work on it :)
In my experience, Pemmin's Aura is really interesting in this deck because it allows you to keep more slots available for utility stuff (like another deed for example) instead of keeping slot for creature's aura .Pemmin's provides all effect you are looking for in order to protect your Zur. But that's true, if you want to run more aura, plax is a good choice due to the cantrip effect.