Hey guys, over the past two weeks I've been utilising a Singleton-Only sideboard plan which I believe to be quite effective given our cantrip density. Now I have decided that I want to hedge against big mana by upping my Blood Moon count to 2 and my Rejection count to 2. This means I have to lose 1 more Singleton from the board for 1 more Rejection.
Can you guys help me decide? I run Grixis, with 2x Brutality and 2x Surgical main, and am leaning towards cutting the Ego or Kommand, but I have liked both very much. Ego for versatile applications vs. Dredge, Amulet, and Tron, and I like Kommand due to it being the 3rd artifact removal (EE, Abrade, Kommand) and also giving me an extra sideboard slot card for GBx.
On the play, TiTi plus an Izzet Charm to stop their turn 3 Tron play is viable, even more so, or without the charm, if they turn 4 Tron. But it is tough. Much better post board.
Hello guys! first time with the deck at an FNM. Went 4-0 yesterday. I have been playtesting like crazy before going live for the first time. Played against Humans, Spirits, Elves, UR Breach(a-la Twin). 3 first felt like great matchups(especially the elf deck). The last one felt super bad. Fortunately the opponent never drew 5th land never in the game
What do you think are the deck's bad matchups? What do you think about playing vs Tron, Burn, Jund, UWx Control, other various combos(like Amulet Titan, etc)? I feel like those matchups range from bad to super bad, but let's hear it out.
Burn amd Rock are two of our toughest match-ups.
Burn - Very Difficult
Jund - Very Difficult
Amulet - Difficult
Tron - Even
UW Control - Difficult
Nassif was streaming a deck that goes all in on electrodominance/suspend plan and it was wildly inconsistent. It was sad seeing him get crushed by thalia. It seems really hard to get it to work.
Pretty sure that thhis was a UR As Foretold Deck that he streamed, not Jeskai Control.
eh, i really have no clue. atm im categorizing the av + electro combo/package as 'meh' until i see the card in action. jumping through hoops to make mediocre cards good is always a dubious proposition.
i can respect those willing to test it though. im intrigued at the idea of non-av sorcery speed options and the electro package maybe boosting their playability a bit. for instance cards like oust, flame slash, or even baby jace seem much more appealing with flash.
you are right about the colored mana restrictions though. tbh i think your 3/3 colonnade field split is probably too greedy. considering electo can go to the face, a stronger burn package makes dropping a colonnade more palatable. maybe swap in a sulfur falls or spirebluff for another untapped red source.
Excellent observations, concessions to the mana base would be needed.
The problem to me, is any time you dont have AV, or Dominance, is either one 'acceptable' to you on its own? ... the odds of holding onto both when you need it, seems slim.
This is exactly what the community (and myself) will need to test and nut out. But the potential is there, and the fact that they smooth each others floor when played together gives me hope.
In my opinion, to be competitive in Modern right now your deck has to be able to do something absurdly, stupidly strong, and for control that is Terminus.
I may be jumping the gun here, but I believe we are about to get an Izzet-Only busted strong dynamic in the upcoming set that has me excited to pick up Jeskai again.
I'm talking about a 4 Ancestral Vision + 2-4 Electrodominance Jeskai Control shell. With or without Terminus.
As clunky as it initially sounds, each card actually raises the other cards otherwise clunky floor. We all know the pain of a midgame Ancestral top-deck when we need action. Now, if we are sitting on Electrodominance, that immidiately converts into a 3 or 4 for 2. Similarly, if you're holding an Electrodominance but can't get to the mana to make it impacftul, an AV will help you 'cycle' the Domimance for as little as 2 mana.
And this is the FLOOR for that shell, assuming the deck and pilot can navigate some unfamiliar play patterns.
The ceiling of course is some busted stuff, like EoT kill your Tarmogoyf, cast Jace. Or in response to your Liutenant trigger, shoot your champ for 1 and draw 3 cards.
Or maybe you'd like to EoT shoot your UW opponent for 2 damage and follow up with a free Snapcaster Mage targeting Opt? I mean, some of this stuff is just silly good.
And MAYBE filling the deck with Ancestrals and X spells is a recipe for death in this degenerate format. OR maybe it's just the busted thing Jeskai needs to start doing to become relevant again.
Which meta would be hostile to TiTi, and does the deck have a potential alternative threat that would be more competative in that meta?
That's the question I'm asking myself.
If the hostile meta is a lot of combo and Big Mana, for example, (low numbers of creature midrange decks) then threats like Kiln Fiend might keep us competative.
I'm not convinced Alpine Moon is the only way to fight Tron and the like. If we are tempted to run counterspells anyway and have interaction with artifacts, I feel like 2x Ceremonious Rejection could fit very well. That's what I'm currently running.
It leads to sharper plays but also synergizes with the deck, and that's a big plus in my book. Now I'm giving up a weapon VS Amulet and Valakut, but add another VS colorless decks. Certainly a meta call...
If Valakut isn't an issue this is a valid plan. If Valakut is an issue then Alpine Moon is the best we have. Disdainful Stroke is another option but 2cmc is rough to hold up if you ever need to cast 3 spells in your main phase to recur a Phoenix.
PS. How do counterspells synergise with the deck? I actually think the opposite. Sure you can sit on a TiTi and tick down 1 counter a turn by casting a counterspell, but we don't actually have enough cheap countermagic to do this.
Can you guys help me decide? I run Grixis, with 2x Brutality and 2x Surgical main, and am leaning towards cutting the Ego or Kommand, but I have liked both very much. Ego for versatile applications vs. Dredge, Amulet, and Tron, and I like Kommand due to it being the 3rd artifact removal (EE, Abrade, Kommand) and also giving me an extra sideboard slot card for GBx.
Sideboard (15)
1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Dispel
1 Duress
1 Spell Pierce
1 Thoughtseize
1 Abrade
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Beacon Bolt
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Unmoored Ego
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Bitterblossom
2 Blood Moon
Full Decklist - Shared via TopDecked MTG
https://www.topdecked.me/decks/ae757f25-7954-4045-9787-b3acf2a15551
Burn amd Rock are two of our toughest match-ups.
Burn - Very Difficult
Jund - Very Difficult
Amulet - Difficult
Tron - Even
UW Control - Difficult
If not, then maybe it's decent, but it's a turn 4 5/5 on average which is fairly slow.
Pretty sure that thhis was a UR As Foretold Deck that he streamed, not Jeskai Control.
Excellent observations, concessions to the mana base would be needed.
The easiest like for like shaves for AV in current common lists would be the opt/illumination package.
I would also want to include some sorcery speed value to attach to Dominance without AV so I like a Detention Sphere somewhere, too.
This is the quick draft I came up with.
Jeskai Control (U/W/R): Electrodominance + Ancestral Vision
4 Snapcaster Mage
Planeswalkers (2)
2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
Instants and Sorceries (27)
4 Ancestral Vision
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
1 Spell Snare
3 Electrodominance
3 Lightning Helix
2 Logic Knot
1 Negate
1 Electrolyze
3 Cryptic Command
2 Settle the Wreckage
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Detention Sphere
Lands (25)
3 Celestial Colonnade
3 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Baneslayer Angel
2 Dispel
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Negate
1 Wear // Tear
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Stony Silence
Shared via TopDecked MTG
https://www.topdecked.me/decks/38674be6-f9e9-439d-9399-5d40a3564a42
This is exactly what the community (and myself) will need to test and nut out. But the potential is there, and the fact that they smooth each others floor when played together gives me hope.
I may be jumping the gun here, but I believe we are about to get an Izzet-Only busted strong dynamic in the upcoming set that has me excited to pick up Jeskai again.
I'm talking about a 4 Ancestral Vision + 2-4 Electrodominance Jeskai Control shell. With or without Terminus.
As clunky as it initially sounds, each card actually raises the other cards otherwise clunky floor. We all know the pain of a midgame Ancestral top-deck when we need action. Now, if we are sitting on Electrodominance, that immidiately converts into a 3 or 4 for 2. Similarly, if you're holding an Electrodominance but can't get to the mana to make it impacftul, an AV will help you 'cycle' the Domimance for as little as 2 mana.
And this is the FLOOR for that shell, assuming the deck and pilot can navigate some unfamiliar play patterns.
The ceiling of course is some busted stuff, like EoT kill your Tarmogoyf, cast Jace. Or in response to your Liutenant trigger, shoot your champ for 1 and draw 3 cards.
Or maybe you'd like to EoT shoot your UW opponent for 2 damage and follow up with a free Snapcaster Mage targeting Opt? I mean, some of this stuff is just silly good.
And MAYBE filling the deck with Ancestrals and X spells is a recipe for death in this degenerate format. OR maybe it's just the busted thing Jeskai needs to start doing to become relevant again.
That's the question I'm asking myself.
If the hostile meta is a lot of combo and Big Mana, for example, (low numbers of creature midrange decks) then threats like Kiln Fiend might keep us competative.
If Valakut isn't an issue this is a valid plan. If Valakut is an issue then Alpine Moon is the best we have. Disdainful Stroke is another option but 2cmc is rough to hold up if you ever need to cast 3 spells in your main phase to recur a Phoenix.
PS. How do counterspells synergise with the deck? I actually think the opposite. Sure you can sit on a TiTi and tick down 1 counter a turn by casting a counterspell, but we don't actually have enough cheap countermagic to do this.