Plus 21 lands as usual. I upped the threat count to 14, took out both Remands and added a Forked Bolt and yet another enchantment, bringing down the Delver enablers count to 22. Still, I had two games where my Delver flipped turn 2 but I am getting ahead of myself. For me Delver is luck factor. There were many games when I played 25 instants and sorceries and Delver still wouldn't flip 2 or even 3 turns...
Geist in play combined with either Elspeth or Steel of the Godhead is game most of the time so I wanted to have both possible combinations available.
I ended up with a 2-2 score this time (unfortunately I didn't draw Steel even once, it would have won games in several situations).
Lost the first round against Jund. Of course my opponent had the turn 3 Liliana followed up by 3! BBEs in game 1 and two Fulminators in game 2 to cut me off one color and eventually killed me with his manlands. Round 2 I won easily 2:0 against Burn. Round 3 was almost as easy against Affinity with a 2:1. Flooded the first game but after sideboard the opponent had no chance.
And round four I had to play against Jund again. Managed to win the first game with a lot of burn. Game two was long and when I finally got ahead on board with Geist and Snappy (vs 0 creatures on his side) he managed to burn me out with Bolt and K Command because I was already down to 5. I had to deal too much damage to myself that game with my lands. Game three we both had very good starting hands and the game went very long with several people watching but he resolved the two most unfair sideboard cards he could possibly bring: Choke and Thrun, the Last Troll. I still fought and got him to 5 life but then I died without blue mana and without answers for the Troll. -_-
I liked my deck that day and with Steel I could have won the last round. However, Jund with BBE is really, really difficult to beat and I want to commit more sideboard slots just to them. I am thinking about adding 2x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar because many of you wrote here that he's good against these kind of decks. Can anyone tell me if 2x Gideon of the Trials could also work? I really want to try him because I like the CMC3 cost but I guess that's also his weak point here because of Abrupt Decay. Another valid SB strategy could be mana denial with several Spreading Seas or Molten Rains.
What do you think works best against BBE Jund?
On the topic of Stony Silence: At least with my deck (running more than 20 lands and no Swiftspears) I have to strongly disagree.
Stony Silence never left my SB even once during the last two years, that's how good it is. It's a very powerful weapon against Tron, Affinity and Lantern--three of the most powerful Tier 1 decks out there.
Regarding the new Wizards: I am also really looking forward brewing with them. There are lots of possible strategies and synergies to exploit... Naban, Dean of Iteration is awesome with Snapcaster, especially if we are running 8 Bolts and he's awesome with Reflector Mage too. Bouncing two of the opponent's creatures that can't be replayed. That's backbreaking!
I also like the explosiveness of Adeliz and Stormchaser combined with Mutagenic and/or Clout of the Dominus followed up by Naru Meha, Master Wizard. Boros Reckoner, also a wizard, could also be good combined with Adeliz and Naru Meha.
Fun times ahead.
@StevomatUWR: nice that you gave delver another chance ;).
Even though I am off the deck, my match -up with Jund w/ Soul Sisters went well. Jund is very weak against flyers and multiple threats. They need to get 4 mana to gain advantage. I would try more disruption of land base with boomerang or spreading seas. worship could force them to burn you out. spectral procession gets around some of jund's hate can buy you time with chump blockers and it costs 3 White mana.
Gideons are good but need blockers to defend them. Otherwise 1 BBE (ETB with haste) hitting a bolt and by-by gideon's. Even countering or remanding BBE the cascade still triggers on the stack which could be enough to kill a Gideon.
I think the best strategy against Jund is to out value them early and force them to stabilize.
Regarding New Wizards. Yup looks dope. price of Snappy will definitely go up. $$$$$
Stevomat- I'm glad to hear you forgave your delvers. I, for one, can't play without them. I think Wicked is spot on with the Jund matchup. Aggression is really important in the jund matchup. I think a lot of jeskai decks try to out value them, but that's really not possible. I try to make sure that I get out on them early, get their life total down as low as possible and steal the games with Snapcaster Mages and Geist. Because our spells are less impactful than theirs we have to cast more spells. With that said, it is still a 50/50 matchup in the best case so it's a tough matchup regardless.
As for the sideboard I side in an additional copy of Jace, the Mindsculptor, a Celestial Purge, and the Jund Killer- Bedlam Reveler. Reveler is amazing in this matchup and is a perfect top end to the aggressive strategy against them. He can refill our hand with additional spells to finish them off. Another card that is surprisingly great against jund is Slip Through Space. They often have a goyf or scooge for blocking so slip through space lets us keep up the damage through their blockers. I have a ton of fun playing against Jund even when the outcome is not in my favor. I think it's a very fun matchup.
Wicketapp- I think your spot on here on Jund and the new wizards. There are just soo many ways to build a new wizard deck. It will be a ton of fun trying them. I'm not convinced that wizard tribal will be super competitive in modern, but like any other modern tier 3-4 deck it will be extremely awesome to play with and can win any given game. I started with a more aggro-control version (big surprise), but I also want to try a Naban and Baral list with a higher curve. It will be a lot of fun giving these new izzet toys a spin.
Hi,
Thanks for all the help regarding Jund. Personally I find it difficult to apply pressure with 1-drop creatures because they just instantly die against Jund. They play 10 removal/burn spells, in that regard they're just as crazy as we are, and then they can kill even more creatures with Liliana's ability... The "pros" in my LGS (there are a few players who really grind GPs for points) always recommend to me to board out all my Delvers against Jund. I also think you guys are right about the PWs. They need protection. Well, at least little Gideon can prevent all damage (and therefore also turn off a blocker against Geist). Maybe Spreading Seas are the best tech against them. Preventing them from getting to double black and casting Lilly should win many games with Geist in play.
@Mazeron: I think I spent about 300-400$ to play my deck on MTGO with a huge sideboard and some fun options. So far I really enjoy it. I played several hundred matches and there are only very few unpleasant people. Tournament practice room has a nice competitive mix of Tier decks and brews. I'd definitely recommend starting MTGO over foiling out your deck. You just need to be aware that you have to pay a fee for every Competitive League if you want to make the Jeskai tempo deck famous with some 5-0 results
Mazeron- I purchased the deck online and have really enjoyed it. I don't get to play on MTGO very often, but it's absolutely great for grinding a bunch of games and testing current matchups. I will say that the online meta is different from local metas most of the time. The MTGO meta is heavier on linear decks (especially burn and hollowone) because people want to go 3-2 or better all the time. With that said, If you play several leagues you definitely see a wide range of decks including midrange.
I recommend making the purchase and not buying the foils. I do prefer playing in person magic over MTGO, but the ease of just sitting down and playing a match or two in a matter of an hour rather having to drive to a store at a specific time and wait for everyone to finish. That's kind of why I like testing mostly in my playgroup.
Good catch on healing grace. If the bloodbraid zoo decks gets crazy and burn/aggro rise, this could be a sleeper.
On the jund topic, I don't think siding out delvers is a good idea unless you have a transformational sideboard into a semi-control deck. I have found the best recipe to beat jund is aggro-control. Getting a early threat and getting their life total down and then letting Geist, snap, reveler, and/or jace finish them off. You are correct Stevomat that they have a ton of removal and that delvers and swiftspears don't last long on the board, but they have to use their removal on these smaller creatures. Therefore, we get a bit of value because they are often using a 2 mana or 3 mana spell to deal with one creature. The cards that really kick out butts are Kologhan's Command and Liliana of the Veil and now Bloodbraid Elf. The good news is that remand and spell pierce do work against these spells. In the end, jund is just a tough matchup, but definitely winnable. My single best card against them is Bedlam Reveler if you wanted one card you could put in your sideboard that can really help the matchup. I assume Hazoret has a similar impact.
Hi,
different topic, but has anyone here tested Rekindling Phoenix as top end for the deck? Thundermaw Hellkite always seemed to me like the most amazing card but CMC is simply too much. Rekindling Phoenix seems like a good substitute here. 4 power in power in the air is great and the opponent needs two removal spells to deal with this card. Or is it useless because it lacks haste?
That's not off topic Stevomat. I haven't personally tried it at the top end, but I'm sure it could work, especially against grindy matchups. I have been really enjoying the one of Jace, the Mindsculptor at the top of my list. However, can run one 4 drop because I have 10 cantrips/deck manipulation spells (3 serum visions, 3 opt, 3 remand, slip through space) so I can get to my lands rather easily. In my personal list I can't really run any additional 4 drops due to my low land count. However, in the decks that run 22+ lands then rekindling phoenix could be awesome. Maybe out of the sideboard.
@StevomatUWR, I have not tried it, out of budget range.
When I did play the deck I always wanted something that had impact the turn in came into play. The rebound effect is nice but if someone is playing GY hate game 2 then you could be hurting your self. lightning angel is close and sees very little play, but mantis rider sees play for 1 less.
I have been playing Jeskai Control for a while and would like to move to a more aggro/tempo build. This deck seems to be right up my alley after doing some testing on Xmage.
I have been playing Jeskai Control for a while and would like to move to a more aggro/tempo build. This deck seems to be right up my alley after doing some testing on Xmage.
I added the soul-scar mage recently to deal with the rise in Jund decks, but I don't have too much experience so it may go back to another swiftspear. As you can see the deck is fairly tuned to my personal preference. You could just use it as a starting point and tweak it to fit your style/meta. The main question is what you want to accomplish. My deck is more aggro-control than others. I like to get out early and be aggressive in game one. Let me know if you have any other questions and let us know what you come up with. I'm always excited to see new jeskai lists.
Thanks for the list! The game plan is exactly what I am looking for in my next deck. I have been playing Jeskai Control the last few months and it is very grindy.
Are Slip Through Space, Vapor Snag and Echoing Truth specifically chosen to target your local meta?
Thoughts on my most recent iteration of Jeskai Wins? Also, I need sideboard recommendations (no clue where to start, I do know I fold hard to Affinity)
Unfortunately I can't afford Rekindling Phoenix on MTGO to test it (or I'd rather don't want to pay the crazy prize) so I am testing a version with 2 little Gideons atm and I am having a lot of fun. Haven't played against the current Tier 1 decks yet but I've already beaten Tron and a few brews.
I attached a screenshot of the current deck if you're interested. I also included 2 Slip Through Space since CurdBros is always using them
They're good with Geist AND with Gideon since he lacks evasion. What I really like about this deck is that six CMC3 threats are really hard to answer for my opponents.
@GofyTomcat1:
I like your deck and that you're finally using 21 lands
Looking at your deck it seems like Affinity would be a nice match-up. Are you loosing to their infect plan or to Ravager messing with your removal?
In both cases Stony Silence and Deflecting Palm should help. Combined with Wear/Tear and Ceremonious Rejection these cards should make this almost impossible to loose.
Thanks for the list! The game plan is exactly what I am looking for in my next deck. I have been playing Jeskai Control the last few months and it is very grindy.
Are Slip Through Space, Vapor Snag and Echoing Truth specifically chosen to target your local meta?
Sorry it took me two days to get back to you. I was not in my office too much this weekend. As for your question, they are really just choices for strategy purposes. Some of our worst matchups are the decks that go a bit wide or can put a couple of giant threats on the board to block. Slip Through Space helps us get through anything in our way and gives us an additional cantrip for Bedlam Reveler and Grim Lavamancer food and also for a prowess trigger. I have run Distortion Strike in the past as well and like both.
Echoing Truth is a kind of catch all answer for game one. It gets rid of all lingering souls tokens or any other tokens of the same name and can also bounce problematic permanents like a planewalker that is threatening ultimate, a blood moon, a chalice on 1, etc. It's a safety blanket and has been very good, but it is definitely not 100% necessary.
Vapor Snag is another great aggressive card. Again, it is not necessary and could be a fourth path to exile, but with Snapcaster Mage and Bedlam Reveler I like having the option to bounce my own permanents in the late game for value after a block or something.
My set-up right now is a bit more geared towards a jund style meta with soul-scar mage and negate. I would say the flex cards you could change for your own preference are the three you mentioned and the soul scar mage, jace, and negate. Some people like a bit more 3 and 4 ofs like an additional spell pierce, a 4th path, etc. so those are the slots I would say you could update first. I would only cut the soul-scar mage for another swiftspear though. You really want at least 7 early one drop threats. I actually just cut the jace from the mainboard and just kept the one sideboard copy for grindy matchups. I added an additional spell pierce to the main deck because it has been very good lately and has always treated me well.
Unfortunately I can't afford Rekindling Phoenix on MTGO to test it (or I'd rather don't want to pay the crazy prize) so I am testing a version with 2 little Gideons atm and I am having a lot of fun. Haven't played against the current Tier 1 decks yet but I've already beaten Tron and a few brews.
I attached a screenshot of the current deck if you're interested. I also included 2 Slip Through Space since CurdBros is always using them
They're good with Geist AND with Gideon since he lacks evasion. What I really like about this deck is that six CMC3 threats are really hard to answer for my opponents.
@GofyTomcat1:
I like your deck and that you're finally using 21 lands
Looking at your deck it seems like Affinity would be a nice match-up. Are you loosing to their infect plan or to Ravager messing with your removal?
In both cases Stony Silence and Deflecting Palm should help. Combined with Wear/Tear and Ceremonious Rejection these cards should make this almost impossible to loose.
I love the updated list Stevomat! I may have to give jeskai charm a try in my build. I'm glad you are liking Slip Through Space. Especially in game one I just want to get damage through as quickly as possible while maintaining a modicum of control. Slip is amazing with Geist and also gives us another cantrip for prowess triggers and for cards for your Grim Lavamancer to munch on.
I loved reading your list of options you have tried. I sooooo badly wanted Ral Zarek to be good. I even played a jeskai ral zarek deck for a little just to use him. It was a fun deck with Savor the Moment and Lightning Angel/Mantis Rider (once it was legal) to take extra turns. It was no where near as competitive as our current list, but it was fun.
@Stevomat:
Mainly, I lose when they go wide, and to the Inkmoth plan.
21 lands is definitely helping with my PW's as well. However, I am wondering if Vapor Snag or Path to Exile is the better main-board card in the slot. I like both because PTE is a solid removal spell, while Snag deals damage and can perform additional duty as a psuedo protection spell by bouncing my creatures. (I love bouncing Snappy for extra value :P)
Then I'd pack 2 Anger of the Gods in the SB. The card is awesome with your deck. It's a nonbo with Mantis Rider but it works perfect with your prowess creatures. Stormchasers always survive it and Swiftspears survive it if you cast a Bolt or SV first...
I like the sideboard plan GoyfTomcat. Very solid list. It has Geist for the blue matchups, chandra for grindy matchups and then great hate cards. That's about all you could ask for. I would try to get one copy of Engineered Explosives into the list for boggles, lantern, affinity, and go wide strategies. Maybe cut a ceremonious rejection or the additional chandra in the board for it.
I think Geist is always awesome but the deck needs to be build around him. I am running 4 copies because for me 3 copies aren't even enough. I don't know your current list, Mazeron, but I am always using 2 Emerge Unscathed or 2 Slip Through Space combined with Geist. In my current deck I am also running 2 Gideon of the Trials and he's amazing! I'll order 2 copies for my paper deck this week. He shuts down potential Geist blockers perfectly and is a nightmare for Jund. I just won a game online a few minutes ago where my opponent had 3 Lillys and still lost. He made me sacrifice 2 Geists and a Snapcaster during one game but he couldn't make me sacrifice Gideon
I was playing Fumarole last year for a long time and liked it, but with 21 lands I can afford one colorless land so I switched to Slayer's Stronghold. It's either that or Lighthouse or Moorland Haunt. For Moorland I think we don't run enough creatures and for Lighthouse you should run 23+ lands in my opinion.
I made a small update to my deck. I really wanted to make sure my game one deck was focused so I replaced the Jace, the Mindsculptor with a second copy of Bedlam Reveler. This allows me to be a bit more aggressive with my burn spells in game one to steal games. Since I had the second reveler in the sideboard I just swapped them and currently have two jace in the board for grindy matchups. I may make it one Chandra, Pyromaster (my favorite planeswalker card) and one Jace, but for now I will stick with two copies of Jace and see what happens.
Mazeron- Thems the breaks sometime unfortunately. It's never fun to start a tournament with a mull to 5 loss. And of course after than you get a super rough matchup. Is the spirits deck a token style deck? I have been thinking that some people on here with slightly more midrange decks could play Settle the Wreckage fairly well. Every single time I see that card played it is a blow out. It also helps with some of our worst matchups (go wide or big fatties).
I have never run enough lands to play Wandering Fumarole but I'm sure it's fine. I used to run one Faerie Conclave and a Slayer's Stronghold when I ran 23 lands. It was awesome to pump my faerie and attack with a creature that came from two lands. It's also nice to give a late Geist haste. Slayer's Stronghold won me more games than it cost me having the colorless mana.
I agree with Stevomat that Geist really has to be in a deck that is built to make him shine for him to work well in modern. I too like to run him with slip through space and emerge unscathed (underrated card) woth my geists.
[b]-1 Wandering Fumarole +1 Cavern of Souls:[/b] Fumarole felt slow every time I played it. I'd rather play something like Daredevil or Grim Lavamancer for that late in the game than tap out for a man land activation. Plus I was getting my creatures countered a lot so Cavern naming Human seems like an answer to this.
[b]-1 Elspeth +1 Chandra:[/b] Torch was doing way more than Elspeth in this more burn style tempo list. I loved casting her everytime I could whereas Elspeth was better when I had a pre-established board. (I like Ellie better with Saint Traft.)
[b]-1 Burst Lightning +1 Forked Bolt:[/b] I like Forked Bolt as a tempo play against both Bots and grixis Delver, as well as a way around souls and Young Pyromancer tokens.
[b]-1? +1 Grim Lavamancer/Dire-Fleet Daredevil:[/b] I have no idea what to cut here, but I feel like adding another late game card will help with Grixis a lot.
[b]Sideboard changes:[/b]
-2 Geist +2 Gideon Ally: Gideon felt stronger than Geist, who I maintain works best with counter-spells or protection to get him through. Plus Gideon works both offensively and defensively.
-1 Chandra +1 Wear: With Torch #2 now in my MD I wanted another Wear so I slotted that in
-2 Rejection +2 Negate: Negate is good against a lot more of the field right now
-1 Palm +1 Celestial Purge: Because Lili needs to die.
I had not thought about Thalia's Lieutenant in this style deck. I have been tinkering with a wizard tribal list and it would be interesting to see how they perform (they are all humans).
As for the jeskai prowess deck I haven't made any changes. With the meta settling in and the deck continuing to perform there hasn't been any reason to change anything. Unfortunately, that makes for less to talk about.
Are there any matchups you anyone wants to talk about in more depth?
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I forgave my Delvers (of course) and went back to FNM last Friday for revenge with this build:
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
2 Spell Pierce
1 Mana Leak
1 Izzet Charm
1 Forked Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
1 Boros Charm
1 Jeskai Charm
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Steel of the Godhead
Creatures (14)
1 Grim Lavamancer
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Plus 21 lands as usual. I upped the threat count to 14, took out both Remands and added a Forked Bolt and yet another enchantment, bringing down the Delver enablers count to 22. Still, I had two games where my Delver flipped turn 2 but I am getting ahead of myself. For me Delver is luck factor. There were many games when I played 25 instants and sorceries and Delver still wouldn't flip 2 or even 3 turns...
Geist in play combined with either Elspeth or Steel of the Godhead is game most of the time so I wanted to have both possible combinations available.
I ended up with a 2-2 score this time (unfortunately I didn't draw Steel even once, it would have won games in several situations).
Lost the first round against Jund. Of course my opponent had the turn 3 Liliana followed up by 3! BBEs in game 1 and two Fulminators in game 2 to cut me off one color and eventually killed me with his manlands. Round 2 I won easily 2:0 against Burn. Round 3 was almost as easy against Affinity with a 2:1. Flooded the first game but after sideboard the opponent had no chance.
And round four I had to play against Jund again. Managed to win the first game with a lot of burn. Game two was long and when I finally got ahead on board with Geist and Snappy (vs 0 creatures on his side) he managed to burn me out with Bolt and K Command because I was already down to 5. I had to deal too much damage to myself that game with my lands. Game three we both had very good starting hands and the game went very long with several people watching but he resolved the two most unfair sideboard cards he could possibly bring: Choke and Thrun, the Last Troll. I still fought and got him to 5 life but then I died without blue mana and without answers for the Troll. -_-
I liked my deck that day and with Steel I could have won the last round. However, Jund with BBE is really, really difficult to beat and I want to commit more sideboard slots just to them. I am thinking about adding 2x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar because many of you wrote here that he's good against these kind of decks. Can anyone tell me if 2x Gideon of the Trials could also work? I really want to try him because I like the CMC3 cost but I guess that's also his weak point here because of Abrupt Decay. Another valid SB strategy could be mana denial with several Spreading Seas or Molten Rains.
What do you think works best against BBE Jund?
On the topic of Stony Silence: At least with my deck (running more than 20 lands and no Swiftspears) I have to strongly disagree.
Stony Silence never left my SB even once during the last two years, that's how good it is. It's a very powerful weapon against Tron, Affinity and Lantern--three of the most powerful Tier 1 decks out there.
Regarding the new Wizards: I am also really looking forward brewing with them. There are lots of possible strategies and synergies to exploit...
Naban, Dean of Iteration is awesome with Snapcaster, especially if we are running 8 Bolts
I also like the explosiveness of Adeliz and Stormchaser combined with Mutagenic and/or Clout of the Dominus followed up by Naru Meha, Master Wizard. Boros Reckoner, also a wizard, could also be good combined with Adeliz and Naru Meha.
Fun times ahead.
Even though I am off the deck, my match -up with Jund w/ Soul Sisters went well. Jund is very weak against flyers and multiple threats. They need to get 4 mana to gain advantage. I would try more disruption of land base with boomerang or spreading seas. worship could force them to burn you out. spectral procession gets around some of jund's hate can buy you time with chump blockers and it costs 3 White mana.
Gideons are good but need blockers to defend them. Otherwise 1 BBE (ETB with haste) hitting a bolt and by-by gideon's. Even countering or remanding BBE the cascade still triggers on the stack which could be enough to kill a Gideon.
I think the best strategy against Jund is to out value them early and force them to stabilize.
Regarding New Wizards. Yup looks dope. price of Snappy will definitely go up. $$$$$
As for the sideboard I side in an additional copy of Jace, the Mindsculptor, a Celestial Purge, and the Jund Killer- Bedlam Reveler. Reveler is amazing in this matchup and is a perfect top end to the aggressive strategy against them. He can refill our hand with additional spells to finish them off. Another card that is surprisingly great against jund is Slip Through Space. They often have a goyf or scooge for blocking so slip through space lets us keep up the damage through their blockers. I have a ton of fun playing against Jund even when the outcome is not in my favor. I think it's a very fun matchup.
Wicketapp- I think your spot on here on Jund and the new wizards. There are just soo many ways to build a new wizard deck. It will be a ton of fun trying them. I'm not convinced that wizard tribal will be super competitive in modern, but like any other modern tier 3-4 deck it will be extremely awesome to play with and can win any given game. I started with a more aggro-control version (big surprise), but I also want to try a Naban and Baral list with a higher curve. It will be a lot of fun giving these new izzet toys a spin.
Thanks for all the help regarding Jund. Personally I find it difficult to apply pressure with 1-drop creatures because they just instantly die against Jund. They play 10 removal/burn spells, in that regard they're just as crazy as we are, and then they can kill even more creatures with Liliana's ability... The "pros" in my LGS (there are a few players who really grind GPs for points) always recommend to me to board out all my Delvers against Jund. I also think you guys are right about the PWs. They need protection. Well, at least little Gideon can prevent all damage (and therefore also turn off a blocker against Geist). Maybe Spreading Seas are the best tech against them. Preventing them from getting to double black and casting Lilly should win many games with Geist in play.
@Mazeron: I think I spent about 300-400$ to play my deck on MTGO with a huge sideboard and some fun options. So far I really enjoy it. I played several hundred matches and there are only very few unpleasant people. Tournament practice room has a nice competitive mix of Tier decks and brews. I'd definitely recommend starting MTGO over foiling out your deck. You just need to be aware that you have to pay a fee for every Competitive League if you want to make the Jeskai tempo deck famous with some 5-0 results
I recommend making the purchase and not buying the foils. I do prefer playing in person magic over MTGO, but the ease of just sitting down and playing a match or two in a matter of an hour rather having to drive to a store at a specific time and wait for everyone to finish. That's kind of why I like testing mostly in my playgroup.
Good catch on healing grace. If the bloodbraid zoo decks gets crazy and burn/aggro rise, this could be a sleeper.
On the jund topic, I don't think siding out delvers is a good idea unless you have a transformational sideboard into a semi-control deck. I have found the best recipe to beat jund is aggro-control. Getting a early threat and getting their life total down and then letting Geist, snap, reveler, and/or jace finish them off. You are correct Stevomat that they have a ton of removal and that delvers and swiftspears don't last long on the board, but they have to use their removal on these smaller creatures. Therefore, we get a bit of value because they are often using a 2 mana or 3 mana spell to deal with one creature. The cards that really kick out butts are Kologhan's Command and Liliana of the Veil and now Bloodbraid Elf. The good news is that remand and spell pierce do work against these spells. In the end, jund is just a tough matchup, but definitely winnable. My single best card against them is Bedlam Reveler if you wanted one card you could put in your sideboard that can really help the matchup. I assume Hazoret has a similar impact.
different topic, but has anyone here tested Rekindling Phoenix as top end for the deck?
Thundermaw Hellkite always seemed to me like the most amazing card but CMC is simply too much. Rekindling Phoenix seems like a good substitute here. 4 power in power in the air is great and the opponent needs two removal spells to deal with this card. Or is it useless because it lacks haste?
When I did play the deck I always wanted something that had impact the turn in came into play. The rebound effect is nice but if someone is playing GY hate game 2 then you could be hurting your self.
lightning angel is close and sees very little play, but mantis rider sees play for 1 less.
Stormbreath Dragon is a strong choice if you can go up a land.
I never solved the 4 drop slot. Elspeth knight errant was a solid card. But it was more of an enabler/ recover-er not a finisher.
I have been playing Jeskai Control for a while and would like to move to a more aggro/tempo build. This deck seems to be right up my alley after doing some testing on Xmage.
Thank you!
Here is my current list:
2 Monastery Swiftspear
1 Soul-scar Mage
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Bedlam Reveler
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
1 Boros Charm
3 Remand
1 Negate
1 Spell Pierce
3 Path to Exile
1 Vapor Snag
1 Echoing Trugh
3 Serum Visions
3 Opt
1 Slip Through Space
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Flooded Strand
2 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Deflecting Palm
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Negate
1 Dispel
1 Jace, the Mindsculptor
1 Bedlam Reveler
1 Celestial Purge
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Wear // Tear
1 Abrade
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Surgical Extraction
I added the soul-scar mage recently to deal with the rise in Jund decks, but I don't have too much experience so it may go back to another swiftspear. As you can see the deck is fairly tuned to my personal preference. You could just use it as a starting point and tweak it to fit your style/meta. The main question is what you want to accomplish. My deck is more aggro-control than others. I like to get out early and be aggressive in game one. Let me know if you have any other questions and let us know what you come up with. I'm always excited to see new jeskai lists.
Are Slip Through Space, Vapor Snag and Echoing Truth specifically chosen to target your local meta?
4 Stormchaser Mage
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Mantis Rider
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
3 Boros Charm
2 Electrolyze
1 Burst Lightning
4 Serum Visions
4 Path to Exile
4 Flooded Strand
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Spirebluff Canal
2 Inspiring Vantage
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
Unfortunately I can't afford Rekindling Phoenix on MTGO to test it (or I'd rather don't want to pay the crazy prize) so I am testing a version with 2 little Gideons atm and I am having a lot of fun. Haven't played against the current Tier 1 decks yet but I've already beaten Tron and a few brews.
I attached a screenshot of the current deck if you're interested. I also included 2 Slip Through Space since CurdBros is always using them
They're good with Geist AND with Gideon since he lacks evasion. What I really like about this deck is that six CMC3 threats are really hard to answer for my opponents.
@GofyTomcat1:
I like your deck and that you're finally using 21 lands
Looking at your deck it seems like Affinity would be a nice match-up. Are you loosing to their infect plan or to Ravager messing with your removal?
In both cases Stony Silence and Deflecting Palm should help. Combined with Wear/Tear and Ceremonious Rejection these cards should make this almost impossible to loose.
Yeah, I am working on that slot for 2 years now...
Restoration Angel
Lightning Angel
Venser, Shaper Savant
Hero of Bladehold
Ral Zarek
Ajani Vengeant
I love all these cards but they don't have enough impact in a format where your opponents are playing 5/6 Tarmogoyfs for two mana or 5/5 Gurmags or 7/7 Shadows for one mana.
Madcap Experiment
was fun too but it's just much better in a two-colored deck with Blood Moon.
Ojutai's Command
is good but only with the right 2-drops. I'd run it together with Young Pyromancer and/or Jötun Grunt.
So far I've had the best results with a 1-of
Hazoret the Fervent
or
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
in the CMC4 slot.
I think Entrancing Melody also counts as CMC4 and I am trying that one now in my SB.
Sorry it took me two days to get back to you. I was not in my office too much this weekend. As for your question, they are really just choices for strategy purposes. Some of our worst matchups are the decks that go a bit wide or can put a couple of giant threats on the board to block. Slip Through Space helps us get through anything in our way and gives us an additional cantrip for Bedlam Reveler and Grim Lavamancer food and also for a prowess trigger. I have run Distortion Strike in the past as well and like both.
Echoing Truth is a kind of catch all answer for game one. It gets rid of all lingering souls tokens or any other tokens of the same name and can also bounce problematic permanents like a planewalker that is threatening ultimate, a blood moon, a chalice on 1, etc. It's a safety blanket and has been very good, but it is definitely not 100% necessary.
Vapor Snag is another great aggressive card. Again, it is not necessary and could be a fourth path to exile, but with Snapcaster Mage and Bedlam Reveler I like having the option to bounce my own permanents in the late game for value after a block or something.
My set-up right now is a bit more geared towards a jund style meta with soul-scar mage and negate. I would say the flex cards you could change for your own preference are the three you mentioned and the soul scar mage, jace, and negate. Some people like a bit more 3 and 4 ofs like an additional spell pierce, a 4th path, etc. so those are the slots I would say you could update first. I would only cut the soul-scar mage for another swiftspear though. You really want at least 7 early one drop threats. I actually just cut the jace from the mainboard and just kept the one sideboard copy for grindy matchups. I added an additional spell pierce to the main deck because it has been very good lately and has always treated me well.
Here is my most recent list
Here is my current list:
2 Monastery Swiftspear
1 Soul-scar Mage
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Bedlam Reveler
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
1 Boros Charm
3 Remand
1 Negate
2 Spell Pierce
3 Path to Exile
1 Vapor Snag
1 Echoing Trugh
3 Serum Visions
3 Opt
1 Slip Through Space
3 Flooded Strand
2 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Deflecting Palm
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Negate
1 Dispel
1 Jace, the Mindsculptor
1 Bedlam Reveler
1 Celestial Purge
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Wear // Tear
1 Abrade
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Surgical Extraction
I love the updated list Stevomat! I may have to give jeskai charm a try in my build. I'm glad you are liking Slip Through Space. Especially in game one I just want to get damage through as quickly as possible while maintaining a modicum of control. Slip is amazing with Geist and also gives us another cantrip for prowess triggers and for cards for your Grim Lavamancer to munch on.
I loved reading your list of options you have tried. I sooooo badly wanted Ral Zarek to be good. I even played a jeskai ral zarek deck for a little just to use him. It was a fun deck with Savor the Moment and Lightning Angel/Mantis Rider (once it was legal) to take extra turns. It was no where near as competitive as our current list, but it was fun.
Mainly, I lose when they go wide, and to the Inkmoth plan.
21 lands is definitely helping with my PW's as well. However, I am wondering if Vapor Snag or Path to Exile is the better main-board card in the slot. I like both because PTE is a solid removal spell, while Snag deals damage and can perform additional duty as a psuedo protection spell by bouncing my creatures. (I love bouncing Snappy for extra value :P)
1 Deflecting Palm
2 Path to Exile (given Vapor Snag in the MD)
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dispel
2 Stony Silence
1 Wear
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Geist of Saint Traft
I was playing Fumarole last year for a long time and liked it, but with 21 lands I can afford one colorless land so I switched to Slayer's Stronghold. It's either that or Lighthouse or Moorland Haunt. For Moorland I think we don't run enough creatures and for Lighthouse you should run 23+ lands in my opinion.
Mazeron- Thems the breaks sometime unfortunately. It's never fun to start a tournament with a mull to 5 loss. And of course after than you get a super rough matchup. Is the spirits deck a token style deck? I have been thinking that some people on here with slightly more midrange decks could play Settle the Wreckage fairly well. Every single time I see that card played it is a blow out. It also helps with some of our worst matchups (go wide or big fatties).
I have never run enough lands to play Wandering Fumarole but I'm sure it's fine. I used to run one Faerie Conclave and a Slayer's Stronghold when I ran 23 lands. It was awesome to pump my faerie and attack with a creature that came from two lands. It's also nice to give a late Geist haste. Slayer's Stronghold won me more games than it cost me having the colorless mana.
I agree with Stevomat that Geist really has to be in a deck that is built to make him shine for him to work well in modern. I too like to run him with slip through space and emerge unscathed (underrated card) woth my geists.
4x Stormchaser Mage
3x Snapcaster Mage
4x Mantis Rider
1x Grim Lavamancer / Dire Fleet Daredevil
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
3 Boros Charm
2 Electrolyze
1 Forked Bolt
4 Serum Visions
4 Vapor Snag
3 Flooded Strand
2 Arid Mesa
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Inspiring Vantage
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
3 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Dispel
1 Celestial Purge
1 Negate
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Stony Silence
2 Wear // Tear
[b]Explanation of changes:[/[b]
[b]-1 Wandering Fumarole +1 Cavern of Souls:[/b] Fumarole felt slow every time I played it. I'd rather play something like Daredevil or Grim Lavamancer for that late in the game than tap out for a man land activation. Plus I was getting my creatures countered a lot so Cavern naming Human seems like an answer to this.
[b]-1 Elspeth +1 Chandra:[/b] Torch was doing way more than Elspeth in this more burn style tempo list. I loved casting her everytime I could whereas Elspeth was better when I had a pre-established board. (I like Ellie better with Saint Traft.)
[b]-1 Burst Lightning +1 Forked Bolt:[/b] I like Forked Bolt as a tempo play against both Bots and grixis Delver, as well as a way around souls and Young Pyromancer tokens.
[b]-1? +1 Grim Lavamancer/Dire-Fleet Daredevil:[/b] I have no idea what to cut here, but I feel like adding another late game card will help with Grixis a lot.
[b]Sideboard changes:[/b]
-2 Geist +2 Gideon Ally: Gideon felt stronger than Geist, who I maintain works best with counter-spells or protection to get him through. Plus Gideon works both offensively and defensively.
-1 Chandra +1 Wear: With Torch #2 now in my MD I wanted another Wear so I slotted that in
-2 Rejection +2 Negate: Negate is good against a lot more of the field right now
-1 Palm +1 Celestial Purge: Because Lili needs to die.
As for the jeskai prowess deck I haven't made any changes. With the meta settling in and the deck continuing to perform there hasn't been any reason to change anything. Unfortunately, that makes for less to talk about.
Are there any matchups you anyone wants to talk about in more depth?