With only 22-23 lands, I think 3 colonnades is alright. 2 feels a bit too low at times, and 4 will sometimes be problematic with all of the tapped lands.
I went back to the classic list with only 4 serum vision and no Opt and I think it is really the best combination! No instant speed will compensate the 3 cards that SV allows to see! I also played only 3 Celestial Colonnade because I really do not want to find that card in my opening hands, everytime I drew it I had problems, especially playing against aggro decks!
I ended up on 4 serum visions and 2 opt with my Geist/Queller list. Serum visions seems objectively more powerful whereas Opt is better in only some scenarios. However, opt does have places where it feels better than SV still so I like running both!
I think that's a huge mistake Rick, you're cutting an evasive threat. You really have to be careful with this deck, it's on the edge of being a tempo control deck, cuts like those makes the deck a slower, bad control deck.
I do not think that 3 colonnades is a mistake. It is perfectly acceptable. In fact, all the highly placing Jeskai Control (not geist) lists lately have been running 3, so to think that a geist list that values untapped lands and runs more creature threats NEEDS 4 without room for change is actually the mistake.
I'm running 4 opt 2 serum visions myself in my geist list, with the reasoning that although i want SV's power for long games, Opt's flexibility is better early and snap opt is just an excellent way to pressure
Hi All, finally got to play some UWR Geist in paper - small tournament report below. I notice there is some chat re. Colonnades and Opt - I'm on 23 lands and 3 Colonnades - and 4 SV / 1 Opt split - to be honest could cut Opt all together.
Round 1 vs Standard Deck
2-0: Lovely person new to magic - ill let them borrow one of my newbie decks like Merfolk next time
Round 2 vs Storm
2-0: Queller is so strong here - as is snap bolt. Game 2 had 2x EE in hand to wipe out attempts at making dozens of goblins
Round 3 vs Obzedat Goryo’s
2-0: Turn 3 Geist both games from memory - backed up with Quellers, snare etc
Round 4 vs RG Tron
2-1: Won game 1 through an Ullamog (countered it but kept drawing lands I needed after being left with 2) ; game 3 was able to play turn 4 Geist after countering a bunch of stuff with Rejection back up. Managed a clutch Queller on a pyroclasm.
Round 5 vs Goblins ID
Top 4 vs Obzedat Goryo’s
2-1: Same opponent - game three was pretty close, Gideon of the Trials was pretty great throughout surviving Verdicts and getting me there with Colonnade beats.
Final vs Goblins 1-2: Game three I was too impatient, should have played a slightly longer game. I flashed in Queller on 6 life, while attacking with Colonnade hoping to end it with two rounds of combat on an otherwise empty board. My opponent managed to draw a hasty goblin, attack and then goblin grenade me for lethal.
Thoughts: Really on the fence with Opt. I think I could have used an electrolyze for the goblins matchup - but otherwise I’m just not sure about that card - in general. Not sure about Jace - he would have been great against BGx, other grind and Affinity.
I made some changes to my previous draw heavy list. I was on 4/4 Opt/SV and 22 lands. Went up to 23 lands and 3/4 split of Opt/SV. I also did some minor changes in my mana base as Sulfur Falls plays so much better than the UR Fastland in the deck.
Went 2-1 at my LGS winning against Bring to Light Scapeshift (2-1), BW Eldrazi Taxes (2-1) and losing hard to UW conrol (0-2, game one stack on 3 lands and he drew 3 Spreading Seas). Overall I am very happy with the list. Not sure if I want to go down to 2/4 Opt/SV and add another spell, I think for now I ll keep it as it is. I definitely want to change my SB Gideon as it hasn't performed at all. I will try either another Supreme Verdict or a PnK Nalaar.
I also REALLY want to try a Nahiri list but I can't come up with a build that I feel is functional. Any suggestions?
Hi everyone. I'm looking for some clarification on threads here. I've been checking the old UWR Midrange thread, expecting to see a lot of activity as my favorite deck has been doing pretty well as of late. I'm finally realizing that the Jeskai Geist discussion has moved here. I always thought of this thread as the almost no creatures Draw Go and/or Nahiri Control versions of Jeskai, as the other thread has always been the more tempo/midrange/Geist version of the deck. It seems like this thread is the, whatever version of Jeskai is popular at the moment, which is fine if that's how people want it, but I thought it made sense to keep the creature versions (midrange/tempo) separated from the non creature versions (control). Is there an official word on which thread we should be using?
4 Electrolyze can never be right, your meta must be very strange.
I still think Geist is huge for the deck, hex-proof is too good in a meta with no LOTV
Also, is Jeskai's Storm matchup bad? I watched a Great Nate vid and he got crushed by the deck.
You can't win them all...
I've crushed Storm many times with Jeskai, but just because the matchup is reasonable, that doesn't mean it's a guarantee. Storm is a powerful deck, and you need to to have the right answers.
I'll be playing Modern for the first time in quite a while tonight (have been playing more Legacy lately), and am testing a 3/3 Serum Visions/Opt split. I haven't been able to trade for a third Geist, so my extra two cantrips are replacing a Colonnade and a Geist. I'm also running Counterflux in place of Negate and Remand in place of Spell Snare because my store leans towards a lot of control, and because I just like Remand. Probably not the 'best' choice but /shrug/.
Legacy:UWR Miracles (MTGS Primer) || Modern:UWR Jeskai Control Commander:UBR Jeleva/Kess Storm, UR Mizzix Combo, U Rayne/Azami Wizards
An appallingly dull fellow, unimaginative, timid, lacking in initiative, spineless, easily dominated, no sense of humour, tedious company, and irrepressibly drab and awful.
4 Electrolyze can never be right, your meta must be very strange.
I still think Geist is huge for the deck, hex-proof is too good in a meta with no LOTV
Also, is Jeskai's Storm matchup bad? I watched a Great Nate vid and he got crushed by the deck.
Plenty of lists with 4x Electrolyze had good results, including a Grand Prix Top 8 this year (if I'm not mistaken, the last GP Top 8 Jeskai had in a looong time), so such statements as "4 Electrolyze can never be right" really don't help.
The only.lists I recall that run the full set of Electrolyze were from earlier this year (the four-of lists). Have there been others more recently? I agree that the statement you're responding to isn't useful but there has been a trend away from the full set of Electrolyze for several months now. Is there some reason you still like having all of them?
Hi everyone. I'm looking for some clarification on threads here. I've been checking the old UWR Midrange thread, expecting to see a lot of activity as my favorite deck has been doing pretty well as of late. I'm finally realizing that the Jeskai Geist discussion has moved here. I always thought of this thread as the almost no creatures Draw Go and/or Nahiri Control versions of Jeskai, as the other thread has always been the more tempo/midrange/Geist version of the deck. It seems like this thread is the, whatever version of Jeskai is popular at the moment, which is fine if that's how people want it, but I thought it made sense to keep the creature versions (midrange/tempo) separated from the non creature versions (control). Is there an official word on which thread we should be using?
I think the archetypes have drifted close to eachother and the most effective deck currently is kind of this inbetween version; very low on creatures, more control based, but with a fast burn backup plan and of course Geist which has always been the namesake of the midrange lists. Personally I think good discussion is much more important than in what thread said discussion should be held, so if this one is more active I'd love to see your input here
Currently the UWR "Control" list and the UWR "Tempo" list are very close - the difference is about 3 Geists in the tempo list and a bit more burn - most lists would be within about 6-8 cards of each other.
This is the invite link to a Modern Control focused Discord I've created. There's channels for all the decks, but I thought it might be nice to have a more informal place we can talk about the deck.
I think the archetypes have drifted close to eachother and the most effective deck currently is kind of this inbetween version; very low on creatures, more control based, but with a fast burn backup plan and of course Geist which has always been the namesake of the midrange lists.
I agree. Interesting how what's best ended up being in the middle of the two. I attribute that to Queller.
Personally I think good discussion is much more important than in what thread said discussion should be held, so if this one is more active I'd love to see your input here
Yes of course. I don't care where the discussion is, so long as I am in the right place and not breaking a rule
0-2 vs. Grixis Shadow
G1: Kept a two-land hand with Path, Queller, Geist, Cryptic. Probably a bad keep, especially in retrospect as I didn't draw a third land for 5-ish turns.
G2: Mulliganed to 5 (7: one land, no cantrips; 6: no lands; 5: Island + SV + Opt; scried to bottom). Opponent kept 7. T1 I had SV into another Island. T2 I had SV + Opt to find a Scalding Tarn. But in the meantime I lost a Geist & Path to discard, and a Gurmag Angler came down. I had a Snap in hand that I had to play to try to attack back while hoping to draw a Path, but he had a Snap of his own.
We played another three games, and I won two of those, so I'll put this up to a mixture of bad play and bad luck. I forgot how punishing Modern is re: opening hands compared to Legacy!
2-0 vs. Bant Knightfall
G1: A lot of back and forth, with a T2 Voice of Resurgence that I killed on my T2. I took some hits from an exalted Elemental token for a few turns, and eventually was able to get a Snapcaster & Queller on board. I tapped out to Logic Knot a threat giving him a chance to resolve Collected Company, but I was able to kill a Queller and attack for lethal with a Queller + Colonnade (I had just scried land #6 to the top to get Colonnade online - good timing there).
G2: Opening hand was Bolt, Helix, Snap, Queller, 3 non-Colonnade lands. Felt pretty good about this. T1 Birds, Bolt. T2 Qasali Pridemage, Helix. T3 Knight (3/3), Snap-Bolt. T4 Knight (3/3), Snap-Helix. T5 UG Nissa, Queller, and he conceded.
2-0 vs. GB Tron
My opponent is a super nice guy, and both games were really close and very enjoyable. A lot more so than playing against Tron with the Nahiri decks.
G1: Tron land into Forest (/sigh of relief/). I remanded a T3 OStone to use mana efficiently, even though it's not really as critical to his plan. T3 I Quellered the OStone, and had Cryptic + Snap online a few turns later. He had an Ulamog that I was able to Cryptic, after it took my white sources (Colonnade + Fountain). Luckily I had a fetch in hand to keep my land count up and regain access to W. By this point I had another Snap for a counterspell, and was able to close out the game without him resolving a relevant threat.
G2: Kept 7 with Remand, Cryptic, 3 lands (fetch, Plains, Sacred Foundry), and two I'm forgetting. He opened on T1 Thoughtseize taking a Remand, as I didn't have a clear path to UUU for Cryptic. However, I drew the right lands to get T4 Cryptic online, and was able to counter his first big play (Ugin). I got hit with two Collective Brutalities, one killing a Snap and taking a Cryptic, leaving me with Disdainful Stroke and a land. I play a Geist, and he topdecks another Brutality, takes Stroke, resolves a Karn, and exiles my second Snapcaster. Geist's angel kills Karn on the next attack, and he fails to find an answer to Geist and is one mana short of returning and recasting World Breaker as a blocker.
2-0 vs. UW Tallowisp Spirits
This is a deck I was not familiar with at all. I never saw the Tallowisp and didn't know the deck well enough to guess what was going on even after seeing a Shining Shoal in G1, so I just assumed it was some sort of UW Spirits deck. Which I guess it is.
G1: Mausoleum Wanderer T1, followed by Rattlechains, but was able to kill both, win a counterwar and then resolve Geist. Attacking into 5+ open mana with cards in hand felt a bit scary as I was expecting Queller as an ambush blocker, but I decided to 'make him have it', and he didn't. One Angel attack got Shining Shoaled, putting me to 4, but I pushed on with Geist and was able to take the game. He ended with 4-5 cards in hand that were unplayed. Not sure what he could have had that he wasn't playing; I'm guessing he flooded pretty badly, as it seems like he should have been casting any creatures into my open mana as he didn't really have a choice otherwise. Maybe some sort of Detention Sphere effect that couldn't target Geist.
G2: Kept an opening hand with 5 lands, Bolt, and Counterflux, thinking it was Izzet Staticaster. Oops! I figured I had enough time to just make land drops and draw into action, and it worked out this way. I was able to counter a T3 Geist (thankfully), and used Counterflux to win a key counterwar. By turn 5-6, I had a Geist, Snap, and Queller on board to his nothing, and he conceded.
Overall the deck felt great. A higher density of burn spells and more instant-speed interaction feels much smoother than the Nahiri builds, at least in this wide open metagame. If Modern shifted back to more of a GBx-defined metagame, I like Nahiri a lot, but against such an open field this build feels right. Some poor keep/mull decisions in my first match, probably, but 23 lands generally felt fine, and I saw Geist fairly regularly despite only having two copies instead of three. Opt was great; despite only 'seeing' two cards, the scrying before drawing and playing at instant speed were both very useful. If I stick with 6 cantrips, I'm not sure if I'd keep a 3/3 split or move to 4/2 in either direction. Remand was pretty good against Tron, which is (as I recall) the only match where I actually saw it.
Legacy:UWR Miracles (MTGS Primer) || Modern:UWR Jeskai Control Commander:UBR Jeleva/Kess Storm, UR Mizzix Combo, U Rayne/Azami Wizards
An appallingly dull fellow, unimaginative, timid, lacking in initiative, spineless, easily dominated, no sense of humour, tedious company, and irrepressibly drab and awful.
I don't think Jeskai remotely has a target on its back
People are focusing on storm, and probably two tournaments from now, people will meta against the human deck if it does reasonable in the next tournament.
Jeskai isn't really a deck you can hate out without really targeting it. With Storm and Shadow in the meta, dredge isn't going to do well.
As long as dredge and living end aren't doing well, jeskai is a good deck without people giving it too much thought.
Im loving the shift towards Storm, Humans and Merfolk atm - UWR Geist is so well positioned - im doing really well with UWR atm so much so that Ive stopped playing my other decks completely in modern.
So, I'm split on either taking Jeskai or Eldrazi Tron to a 1k this weekend. I think I would have taken E-Tron this weekend, but the Open results has somewhat worried me that there will be a focus on aggro decks too fast for Eldrazi.
Was thinking about this list but looking for suggestions; I have no idea what this store looks like and what players are on
I'm wondering if I should squeeze in an anger of the gods or if that's absolute overkill.
There's always a tron player, whether it's in Texas or PA
I have no clue how much graveyard strategies are truly out there, part of me wants to cut it all together, but Storm is a real thing.
I am VERY much not a believer of 2x Pias. In fact, sometimes I'm not super impressed by 1. I do wonder if Sun's Champion is too expensive and if I'd be better off playing Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
I'm not a fan of either Pia and Kiran or Elspeth, Sun's Champion, and prefer less expensive sideboard options. I'd change at least one of those for another sweeper. Verdict seems a little better to me as Dredge is not as popular, and Verdict hits Death's Shadow's threat,s Etched Champion, the various humans that have grown to 4 toughness, etc.
Three pieces of graveyard hate also seems a bit much. If you do see Dredge, you have tools (Verdict, Path, Staticaster, Helix, Snapcaster, etc.). I'm a fan of Celestial Purge if you expect Grixis Shadow / GBx decks at all, as targets are plentiful and it's a clean answer to a resolved Liliana, Death's Shadow, or delve threat.
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Legacy:UWR Miracles (MTGS Primer) || Modern:UWR Jeskai Control Commander:UBR Jeleva/Kess Storm, UR Mizzix Combo, U Rayne/Azami Wizards
An appallingly dull fellow, unimaginative, timid, lacking in initiative, spineless, easily dominated, no sense of humour, tedious company, and irrepressibly drab and awful.
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I ended up on 4 serum visions and 2 opt with my Geist/Queller list. Serum visions seems objectively more powerful whereas Opt is better in only some scenarios. However, opt does have places where it feels better than SV still so I like running both!
I do not think that 3 colonnades is a mistake. It is perfectly acceptable. In fact, all the highly placing Jeskai Control (not geist) lists lately have been running 3, so to think that a geist list that values untapped lands and runs more creature threats NEEDS 4 without room for change is actually the mistake.
------------
URW Jeskai Control
GUWRB Amulet Titan
GR Ponza
I'm running 4 opt 2 serum visions myself in my geist list, with the reasoning that although i want SV's power for long games, Opt's flexibility is better early and snap opt is just an excellent way to pressure
This is the list I played
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/762904#online
Round 1 vs Standard Deck
2-0: Lovely person new to magic - ill let them borrow one of my newbie decks like Merfolk next time
Round 2 vs Storm
2-0: Queller is so strong here - as is snap bolt. Game 2 had 2x EE in hand to wipe out attempts at making dozens of goblins
Round 3 vs Obzedat Goryo’s
2-0: Turn 3 Geist both games from memory - backed up with Quellers, snare etc
Round 4 vs RG Tron
2-1: Won game 1 through an Ullamog (countered it but kept drawing lands I needed after being left with 2) ; game 3 was able to play turn 4 Geist after countering a bunch of stuff with Rejection back up. Managed a clutch Queller on a pyroclasm.
Round 5 vs Goblins ID
Top 4 vs Obzedat Goryo’s
2-1: Same opponent - game three was pretty close, Gideon of the Trials was pretty great throughout surviving Verdicts and getting me there with Colonnade beats.
Final vs Goblins 1-2: Game three I was too impatient, should have played a slightly longer game. I flashed in Queller on 6 life, while attacking with Colonnade hoping to end it with two rounds of combat on an otherwise empty board. My opponent managed to draw a hasty goblin, attack and then goblin grenade me for lethal.
Thoughts: Really on the fence with Opt. I think I could have used an electrolyze for the goblins matchup - but otherwise I’m just not sure about that card - in general. Not sure about Jace - he would have been great against BGx, other grind and Affinity.
UWx control/midrange
Bant Eldrazi
3 snapcaster mage
4 serum visions
2 supreme verdict
3 cryptic command
2 electrolyze
2 lightning bolt
2 lightning helix
3 logic knot
1 mana leak
1 negate
4 path to exile
1 sphinx's revelation
1 secure the wastes
1 chandra torch of defiance
1 elspeth sun's champion
3 celestial colonnade
1 desolate lighthouse
4 flooded strand
1 ghost quarter
1 glacial fortress
2 hallowed fountain
3 island
1 plains
1 sacred foundry
4 scalding tarn
2 steam vents
2 sulfur falls
1 celestial purge
2 disdainful stroke
2 dispel
1 engineered explosives
1 izzet staticaster
1 negate
2 runed halo
1 supreme verdict
2 vendilion clique
1 wear / tear
This is still a very rough draft, so please help me carve this into a decent deck. Thanks!
UWR Control
BR Hollow One
Went 2-1 at my LGS winning against Bring to Light Scapeshift (2-1), BW Eldrazi Taxes (2-1) and losing hard to UW conrol (0-2, game one stack on 3 lands and he drew 3 Spreading Seas). Overall I am very happy with the list. Not sure if I want to go down to 2/4 Opt/SV and add another spell, I think for now I ll keep it as it is. I definitely want to change my SB Gideon as it hasn't performed at all. I will try either another Supreme Verdict or a PnK Nalaar.
I also REALLY want to try a Nahiri list but I can't come up with a build that I feel is functional. Any suggestions?
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Spell Queller
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Opt
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
1 Spell Snare
2 Lightning Helix
2 Logic Knot
1 Mana Leak
2 Electrolyze
3 Cryptic Command
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Steam Vents
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dispel
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Runed Halo
1 Izzet Statickaster
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Celestial Purge
1 Gideon Jura
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wear // Tear
UB Faeries (15-6-0)
UWR Control (10-5-1)/Kiki Control/Midrange/Harbinger
UBR Cruel Control (6-4-0)/Grixis Control/Delver/Blue Jund
UWB Control/Mentor
UW Miracles/Control (currently active, 14-2-0)
BW Eldrazi & Taxes
RW Burn (9-1-0)
I do (academic) research on video games and archaeology! You can check out my open access book here: https://www.sidestone.com/books/the-interactive-past
I still think Geist is huge for the deck, hex-proof is too good in a meta with no LOTV
Also, is Jeskai's Storm matchup bad? I watched a Great Nate vid and he got crushed by the deck.
You can't win them all...
I've crushed Storm many times with Jeskai, but just because the matchup is reasonable, that doesn't mean it's a guarantee. Storm is a powerful deck, and you need to to have the right answers.
3 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
Creature (10)
2 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spell Queller
3 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
3 Logic Knot
3 Opt
4 Path to Exile
2 Remand
Sorcery (3)
3 Serum Visions
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Celestial Purge
1 Counterflux
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Dispel
1 Wear // Tear
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Rest in Peace
Commander: UBR Jeleva/Kess Storm, UR Mizzix Combo, U Rayne/Azami Wizards
An appallingly dull fellow, unimaginative, timid, lacking in initiative, spineless, easily dominated, no sense of humour, tedious company, and irrepressibly drab and awful.
The only.lists I recall that run the full set of Electrolyze were from earlier this year (the four-of lists). Have there been others more recently? I agree that the statement you're responding to isn't useful but there has been a trend away from the full set of Electrolyze for several months now. Is there some reason you still like having all of them?
I think the archetypes have drifted close to eachother and the most effective deck currently is kind of this inbetween version; very low on creatures, more control based, but with a fast burn backup plan and of course Geist which has always been the namesake of the midrange lists. Personally I think good discussion is much more important than in what thread said discussion should be held, so if this one is more active I'd love to see your input here
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver
This is the invite link to a Modern Control focused Discord I've created. There's channels for all the decks, but I thought it might be nice to have a more informal place we can talk about the deck.
UWR Control
BR Hollow One
I agree. Interesting how what's best ended up being in the middle of the two. I attribute that to Queller.
Yes of course. I don't care where the discussion is, so long as I am in the right place and not breaking a rule
3 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
Creature (10)
2 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spell Queller
3 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
3 Logic Knot
3 Opt
4 Path to Exile
2 Remand
Sorcery (3)
3 Serum Visions
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Celestial Purge
1 Counterflux
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Dispel
1 Wear // Tear
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Rest in Peace
3-1 last night with this list.
0-2 vs. Grixis Shadow
G1: Kept a two-land hand with Path, Queller, Geist, Cryptic. Probably a bad keep, especially in retrospect as I didn't draw a third land for 5-ish turns.
G2: Mulliganed to 5 (7: one land, no cantrips; 6: no lands; 5: Island + SV + Opt; scried to bottom). Opponent kept 7. T1 I had SV into another Island. T2 I had SV + Opt to find a Scalding Tarn. But in the meantime I lost a Geist & Path to discard, and a Gurmag Angler came down. I had a Snap in hand that I had to play to try to attack back while hoping to draw a Path, but he had a Snap of his own.
We played another three games, and I won two of those, so I'll put this up to a mixture of bad play and bad luck. I forgot how punishing Modern is re: opening hands compared to Legacy!
2-0 vs. Bant Knightfall
G1: A lot of back and forth, with a T2 Voice of Resurgence that I killed on my T2. I took some hits from an exalted Elemental token for a few turns, and eventually was able to get a Snapcaster & Queller on board. I tapped out to Logic Knot a threat giving him a chance to resolve Collected Company, but I was able to kill a Queller and attack for lethal with a Queller + Colonnade (I had just scried land #6 to the top to get Colonnade online - good timing there).
G2: Opening hand was Bolt, Helix, Snap, Queller, 3 non-Colonnade lands. Felt pretty good about this. T1 Birds, Bolt. T2 Qasali Pridemage, Helix. T3 Knight (3/3), Snap-Bolt. T4 Knight (3/3), Snap-Helix. T5 UG Nissa, Queller, and he conceded.
2-0 vs. GB Tron
My opponent is a super nice guy, and both games were really close and very enjoyable. A lot more so than playing against Tron with the Nahiri decks.
G1: Tron land into Forest (/sigh of relief/). I remanded a T3 OStone to use mana efficiently, even though it's not really as critical to his plan. T3 I Quellered the OStone, and had Cryptic + Snap online a few turns later. He had an Ulamog that I was able to Cryptic, after it took my white sources (Colonnade + Fountain). Luckily I had a fetch in hand to keep my land count up and regain access to W. By this point I had another Snap for a counterspell, and was able to close out the game without him resolving a relevant threat.
G2: Kept 7 with Remand, Cryptic, 3 lands (fetch, Plains, Sacred Foundry), and two I'm forgetting. He opened on T1 Thoughtseize taking a Remand, as I didn't have a clear path to UUU for Cryptic. However, I drew the right lands to get T4 Cryptic online, and was able to counter his first big play (Ugin). I got hit with two Collective Brutalities, one killing a Snap and taking a Cryptic, leaving me with Disdainful Stroke and a land. I play a Geist, and he topdecks another Brutality, takes Stroke, resolves a Karn, and exiles my second Snapcaster. Geist's angel kills Karn on the next attack, and he fails to find an answer to Geist and is one mana short of returning and recasting World Breaker as a blocker.
2-0 vs. UW Tallowisp Spirits
This is a deck I was not familiar with at all. I never saw the Tallowisp and didn't know the deck well enough to guess what was going on even after seeing a Shining Shoal in G1, so I just assumed it was some sort of UW Spirits deck. Which I guess it is.
G1: Mausoleum Wanderer T1, followed by Rattlechains, but was able to kill both, win a counterwar and then resolve Geist. Attacking into 5+ open mana with cards in hand felt a bit scary as I was expecting Queller as an ambush blocker, but I decided to 'make him have it', and he didn't. One Angel attack got Shining Shoaled, putting me to 4, but I pushed on with Geist and was able to take the game. He ended with 4-5 cards in hand that were unplayed. Not sure what he could have had that he wasn't playing; I'm guessing he flooded pretty badly, as it seems like he should have been casting any creatures into my open mana as he didn't really have a choice otherwise. Maybe some sort of Detention Sphere effect that couldn't target Geist.
G2: Kept an opening hand with 5 lands, Bolt, and Counterflux, thinking it was Izzet Staticaster. Oops! I figured I had enough time to just make land drops and draw into action, and it worked out this way. I was able to counter a T3 Geist (thankfully), and used Counterflux to win a key counterwar. By turn 5-6, I had a Geist, Snap, and Queller on board to his nothing, and he conceded.
Overall the deck felt great. A higher density of burn spells and more instant-speed interaction feels much smoother than the Nahiri builds, at least in this wide open metagame. If Modern shifted back to more of a GBx-defined metagame, I like Nahiri a lot, but against such an open field this build feels right. Some poor keep/mull decisions in my first match, probably, but 23 lands generally felt fine, and I saw Geist fairly regularly despite only having two copies instead of three. Opt was great; despite only 'seeing' two cards, the scrying before drawing and playing at instant speed were both very useful. If I stick with 6 cantrips, I'm not sure if I'd keep a 3/3 split or move to 4/2 in either direction. Remand was pretty good against Tron, which is (as I recall) the only match where I actually saw it.
Commander: UBR Jeleva/Kess Storm, UR Mizzix Combo, U Rayne/Azami Wizards
An appallingly dull fellow, unimaginative, timid, lacking in initiative, spineless, easily dominated, no sense of humour, tedious company, and irrepressibly drab and awful.
People are focusing on storm, and probably two tournaments from now, people will meta against the human deck if it does reasonable in the next tournament.
Jeskai isn't really a deck you can hate out without really targeting it. With Storm and Shadow in the meta, dredge isn't going to do well.
As long as dredge and living end aren't doing well, jeskai is a good deck without people giving it too much thought.
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver
Was thinking about this list but looking for suggestions; I have no idea what this store looks like and what players are on
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Geist of Saint Traft
4x Spell Queller
Spells (25)
4x Serum Visions
2x Spell Snare
4x Path to Exile
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Lightning Helix
3x Logic Knot
2x Electrolyze
3x Cryptic Command
4x Celestial Colonnade
4x Scalding Tarn
4x Flooded Strand
2x Hallowed Fountain
2x Steam Vents
1x Sacred Foundry
2x Sulfur Falls
3x Island
1x Mountain
1x Plains
1x Dispel
1x Negate
1x Disdainful Stroke
2x Ceremonious Rejection
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Izzet Staticaster
1x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1x Vendilion Clique
1x Rest in Peace
2x Relic of Progenitus
1x Wear // Tear
I'm wondering if I should squeeze in an anger of the gods or if that's absolute overkill.
There's always a tron player, whether it's in Texas or PA
I have no clue how much graveyard strategies are truly out there, part of me wants to cut it all together, but Storm is a real thing.
I am VERY much not a believer of 2x Pias. In fact, sometimes I'm not super impressed by 1. I do wonder if Sun's Champion is too expensive and if I'd be better off playing Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Three pieces of graveyard hate also seems a bit much. If you do see Dredge, you have tools (Verdict, Path, Staticaster, Helix, Snapcaster, etc.). I'm a fan of Celestial Purge if you expect Grixis Shadow / GBx decks at all, as targets are plentiful and it's a clean answer to a resolved Liliana, Death's Shadow, or delve threat.
Commander: UBR Jeleva/Kess Storm, UR Mizzix Combo, U Rayne/Azami Wizards
An appallingly dull fellow, unimaginative, timid, lacking in initiative, spineless, easily dominated, no sense of humour, tedious company, and irrepressibly drab and awful.