What about the Ghost Quarter / Surgical Extraction plan to slow Tron down? I know you need to devote multiple sideboard spots to accommodate it but it's the fastest way to get them off of Tron. Also, I am just a huge fan of Surgical Extraction in general for combo and control disruption.
I just wanted to post that I threw an Ensnaring Bridge in my sideboard for fun yesterday (I picked it up for use in Legacy burn) and the card would have won me the match against Bant Eldrazi but he played a Worship two turns afterwards and neither of us could find our silver bullets to win (I needed to find a Destructive Revelry and he needed to find an Engineered Explosives which ended up drawing our match. One of the more humorous games I've played as burn.
Anyways, there are multiple Fish players at my LGS meta. What do you guys think about boarding in Bridges specifically for Fish (I always play against them and I'm sick of losing even though the matchup is historically bad for Burn). I could run a couple Anger of the Gods as well specifically for Fish. Thoughts?
I was speaking with a buddy of mine and I think Atarka's Command could be really really good in the landfall zoo deck. Doing 3 damage, pumping the team, and the lesser known play a land from hand can give the deck insane landfall triggers. T2 and T3 with AC can give you up to 4 landfall triggers with the appropriate amount of fetches while doing 3 damage or pumping the team. I think the card is too good with the aggressive landfall theme this deck has going for it not to include it. What do you guys think about AC in Landfall Zoo?
Monday Night Modern Update: 2-1 Third place Deck: Boros Burn (with a splash for green)
Match 1 vs. Fish (0-2):
Game 1: I mull to 5 on the draw. Got an explosive hand but with a couple of searing blaze but didn't have enough gas in the end to catch up.
Game 2: Kept 7 on the play. Got 2 Eidolon of the Great Revels down quick after establishing the life lead. Ended up hurting me more than him because he had a Aether Vial. Probably killed myself this game.
Match 2 vs. Dredge (with Thugs instead of Trolls) (2-0):
Game 1: Kept 7 on the play. Opponent mulled to 4. Had a turn three kill.
Game 2: Sided in my additional Skullcracks to combat Gnaw to the Bone. Kept 7 on the draw. Didn't draw into a Skullcrack until it was too late. Opponent used Gnaw and gained 10 life. My draws were still giving me enough gas to keep up. Last turn I needed a top deck and I got it so I could push through the final 6 damage. I burned a Dredge player for 30. Felt good.
Match 3 vs. Fish (2-1):
Game 1: I mull to 6 on the play. Kept a one lander (which was a fetch) why my scry was a land on top. Kept because I had 3 Monastery Swiftspears in my 6 card hand. Played fetch and took off my first turn. Second turn grabbed the mountain, fetch shocked and got my two lands. Proceeded to drop my Swiftspears and overwhelm my opponent in the proceeding turns with more creatures.
Game 2: Kept 7 on the draw. Started off the ground game with a couple of Goblin Guides but the opponent was able to get his lords down while hitting my lands with 3 Spreading Seas effects (he had 3 Sea's Claims in the sideboard for a total of 7 island enchanting effects). Found a Destructive Revelry which freed up a Sacred Foundry. Got more damage in but behind. Needed a top deck which I got but I didn't have enough mana to hard cast Rift Bolt as well as a Boros Charm because he had a Cursecatcher on board.
Game 3: Kept 7 on the play. Blitzed him with 2 Goblin Guides which made him hesitant to use a Spreading Seas turn 2. He got a lord down with two Mutavaults to put me under the gun. I had 2 Eidlons down to make him think about it but had to trade one for one of his Mutavaults. Needed a top deck to win and I got while he had a Cursecatcher on board. Felt great because I never beat Fish.
My thoughts on the games: Burn vs. Fish is just a race. Interacting with Fish seems like a mistake unless you can use a Searing Blaze. With multiple Fish players at my LGS, I might board in another Stomping Grounds because of Spreading Seas (if he takes out my first one, can't use DRev unless it is in my hand). Learned some better sequencing with Fish that might help out my match up in the future. The new Dredge seems like it might have the same power level as Bant Eldrazi. It's good dredges are going to seem unfair but I would expect the deck to a whiff a little bit more because of the GGT ban. Again as Burn, you are racing against Dredge. Sideboard you want to pack in anti-life gain to stop Gnaw to the Bone. At this point though I don't know if there needs to be dedicated graveyard hate for Dredge. But I would assume its all person preference in the end.
I like Boros a lot. Match 3 game 2 against Fish I took 0 damage off of my mana base with the Inspiring Vantage and basic mountain. Being able to save life instead of having to have to fetchshock at least once most of the time with Naya Burn feels like it give me an extra turn to try and top deck a winning spell in tough matchups. I understand peoples opinions about Naya vs. Boros but Boros has felt better and put up better results for me than Naya was. The increased probability of taking less damage off of the land base is worth it to me more than the +1/+1 mode on Atarka's Command.
I think that's where the comparison should be when comparing Naya to Boros. Is the probably of taking extra damage off of the mana base with Naya worth having the option of choosing the +1/+1 mode on Atarka's Command (because Skullcrack is almost the same as the first two modes of AC). With Naya, you have a greater probability of taking 2-3 more damage off of your mana base than Boros Burn. So, if we are strictly looking at the +1/+1 mode on AC, you would need to attack with 3 or more unblocked damage solely with the +1/+1 counters added from AC to make Naya worth it (which to me, on the surface seems unlikely). However, if you already have a hand with so many creatures from the get go that can make use of the +1/+1 counters, you are already probably going to have T3 or T4 kill as those types of draws tend to be the most explosive for burn with or without AC. Hopefully this helps contribute to the discussion. I will keep playing Boros with a splash for green and might consider an additional Stomping Grounds in the main or side for the Fish matchup strictly for my LGS
Played last night with Boros Burn and went 3-0. I used Gerry Thompson's main deck of 60 last night with some alterations for my sideboard.
I beat CoCo Temur (2-0), Dredge (2-0), and Fish (2-1).
With the Golgari Grave-Troll ban, I am hoping the Boros version of Burn will be just as fast as Dredge to where we will will not have to dedicate as many sideboard cards to hate out Dredge. Boros felt very fast last night as I was previously playing Naya Burn with Nacatls and I never felt under the gun against Dredge (although he didn't have very successful dredges but the Boros list felt lightning fast).
The CoCo Temur deck wasn't much of a fight as he was playing sub optimal cards.
I beat Fish on the draw game 1, lost on the draw game 2 (he hit me with 2 Spreading Seas), and won on the play game 3. Fish continues to be an awful matchup for Burn and the only advice I have is to try to outrace them. Game 1 I was lucky enough to get an Eidolon of the Great Revel down while I had the life lead as well as the opponent not having an Aether Vial on board. Playing Inspiring Vantages feels great against aggressive decks like fish or the mirror match as it will helps getting an extra draw to get those final points of burn that you may have to top deck. Shard Volley as a one of feels good in the fish matchup as you can sac a land that has been hit with Spreading Seas. The minor splash for green in this deck allows for the one of the best sideboard cards against fish to be played, Destructive Revelry. The matchup felt a lot better as Boros than Naya Burn.
All in all Boros Burn feels like the best version of Burn in the current meta. With Fatal Push being a thing in 10 days, going away from full Naya and Nacatls seems like the right thing to do. Burn is in the best position out of all the aggro decks to come out on top and become the premier aggro deck deck again. However, burn just doesn't seem as fun as it once was when I first started playing the deck. It will always be my most competitive deck but when I started to play Jeskai Aggro, I had a lot more fun playing that deck than I did with Burn. I have started to by the pieces for a Grixis deck to I'm hoping with burn and Grixis I can rotate between the two to keep Modern fun for me. Ya it was fun to win tonight but I didn't really feel like I played Magic. Felt more like I was playing poker and my starting hands were just better than my opponents.
Today's bans makes Burn look like it's going to be the premier aggro deck of the format. Hopefully Dredge goes away to open up some sideboard slots for some of that secret spicy tech
Do these bans slow down the format? Yes
Was something from Dredge expected to be banned? Yes
Was the Probe ban unexpected AND reasonable? Yes
People know WotC doesn't like the Dredge mechanic therefore these types of bans now and in the future shouldn't be 'shocking' to anyone. If I had to give an honest opinion about the next ban announcement, I would expect Wizards to go after Dredge again until it is nowhere to be seen in Modern. Dredge bans are to be expected and if people think otherwise, then they are only fooling themselves.
As for Probe, it was too good for what it did. Banning it will slow down the format a quarter of a turn and hurt most linear aggro decks. Cantripping and getting hand information for essentially free is simply too good of a card. Anyone who plays Modern consistently will attest that these bans are more than reasonable. Getting probed by an aggro deck feels bad and playing against dredge feels helpless in general. Then again, playing against an opponent with t3 Tron is no fun as well which is a different discussion on its own.
With Fatal Push coming in and Probe/GGT leaving, I am very excited to see what Modern will look like starting January 20th.
Sideboard is a little different than what Jim Davis brought a month ago. I wanted to hear his thoughts at the end of the video and he basically says that the deck feels like it is missing something. He says the Goblin Guides and Vapor Snags are the awkward parts of the deck but the rest of the deck feels good outside of Mantis Rider getting bolted.
Hey gang. I have been absent for quite some time. Glad to see all the action in the thread though. I have done a lot of testing recently.
I played 4 games against:
-Grim flayer jund 4-0 no sideboard
-Bant eldrazi 2-2, won 1 pre, 1 post sideboard, I mistakingly brought in spell pierce, dont do that against eldrazi, it's not good lol also 1 match i drew 9 land and not much else, then scooped to him having a handful of awesome eldrazi cards for time sake lol
-U/R Kilnfiend combo 2-1 regular round of magic, I kept a questionable hand game 2 and he got me t3 easily.
Notes about the matches will be in here. They might not be super detailed, but if anyone is curious, here ya go.
Flayer Jund:
-Respect Discard. Make sure you aren't leaning on one certain card t1/t2. Too much discard will gladly poke holes through your hand. First game I was hit with a Iok and a TS turn by turn, but I still won that match.
-1 play I remember specifically, He attacked with a 6/6 raging ravine and a kalitus, traitor of ghet, I could vapor snag either one, decided on Kal due to the lifegain, and I ended up winning the game precisely at the right damage. That raging ravine hit me 3 , but I knew that Kal was coming down so I held my vapor snag. I also drew 2 lightning helix this game which helped prompt me to this decision.
Bant Eldrazi:
1. This match up feels much worse for me, pending what I draw at what time. For craps and giggles, most of the time i didn't bolt the t1 noble hierarch and most of the time it didnt really hurt me at all. T2 eldrazi skyspawner was never that scary, and i always had a vapor snag to answer his token which was really nice.
2. Drowner of hope never meant end of game for me. There were numerous times it was just him stalling to find better things, some times it worked wit hreality smasher, others it didnt and i ended burning him out anyways.
3. Deflecting Palm is amazing against them. 8/8 to 9/9 eldrazi due to nobles? no problem, take 9, thanks lol
Heres my list. Not as aggro as the Goblin Guide build, but I honestly think this deck has some chops without it and prefer this build right now.
1. The reveler is a flex spot. I am not sure if I like him or not, but I do like having a prowess threat such as himself. He has come in handy in most situations, I would say after seeing him in about 6 games, He helped me win 4 of those. One I was stuck on lands and the other I was dead before I could cast him lol
2. I put a 2nd basic island in the deck as a concession to blood moon strategies, but it may turn into another fast land if i see it too much. The 20th land feels right through so I will stay at 20 lands.
3. I LOVE Vapor Snag. It is SOOO good. Seriously.
4. The 4th probe I don't miss. I already tax my life total enough as is, and I rarely ever not see at least 1 probe a game.
I have notes about sideboard but my kid is crying, so I have to go for now lol update later with other notes!
I really think having 4 Goblin Guides in the aggro shell is the way to go even though I would love to find a way to work in Serum Visions and/or Bedlam Reveler. Having a one drop t1 in the aggro shell really puts the pressure on your opponent to have an answer. I have aggressively mulled to 6 with keepable 7 card hands but was lacking the t1 threat. Having a t1 one threat makes the game feel like I have the nut draw from the get-go.
I need to playtest but I think going down on the number of Mantis Riders to 2 and the amount of Gitaxian Probes to 3 would free up space for 3 Serum Visions which would allow you to setup your turn 3 and turn 4 draws or helping get through a mulligan which would help make the deck more reliable on the crucial turns of the game. Bedlam Reveler feels like it should be in a Jeskai modern deck but I don't think the card quite makes the cut.
Second week in a row I played the Jim Davis version of Jeskai Aggro. I went 3-1 beating Slivers, Madcap Moon, and Grixis Control while losing to GR Tron. Deck still feels great and I am preferring it over playing Naya Burn.
When I was watching Davis on camera playing at the SCG open, the commentator made mention that he looked to be aggressively mulliganing if he didn't have a one drop creature to play turn one. I kept this in mind while playing this deck and it feels like my results reflect this observation. I was way ahead when I was able to drop creatures turn one and two while being behind if I didn't have the turn one creature play. I also like that I can fight through lightning bolts because of Mutagenic Growth (I was able to do this a couple of times while playing).
The only card that feels slightly out of place in the deck is Mantis Rider. Don't get me wrong, I love playing it and getting a good laugh when my opponent sees the card but I just feel very meh about the card. It has won me games where I had to go over the top to get the damage in but the card just feels average. I don't know, maybe I need more play with the card to feel better about it.
I'm hoping to develop an aggro/tempo build that has been discussed in this thread and I look forward to the continuation of the conversation. I have this gut feeling that there is a right mix of aggro, tempo, and control in Jeskai that hasn't been refined yet to make an awesome Jeskai deck.
After playing the deck at a recent Modern FNM some of the people I play with pointed out that Geist of Saint Traft, while powerful, may not really be what the version I was playing wants to be doing. Even such a powerful card makes it hard to justify tapping out on turn 3 since it means you can't make any tempo plays that turn. I really like running the card, but I see their point...does anyone share the doubt that the Geist may not be the right card for the deck or am I overlooking an angle that makes it good enough to override this concern?
I'm not convinced the version that Jim Davis' crew ran at the SCG is the right version. It seems very all-in on the aggro plan, not really making use of the strengths of playing blue and white. It feels like they would have done better playing either Kiln-Fiend aggro or Naya Zoo or some other similar deck.
The reason I like the Jeskai Prowess / Aggro decks are that you get Serum Visions, Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile in a deck with a solid aggressive game plan. I'm still indecisive about picking the exact version and chances are I'll end up with a slightly more mid-range version than most because of my card preferences. Perhaps I'll try a hybrid of our more aggressive build and a more Jeskai Control build.
I played last night using Davis's list. Deck felt great. I typically run Naya Burn but I felt like I more options with the Jeskai Aggro list as well as not living on the top decks as much. I love the evasion you get with Stormchaser Mage and Mantis Rider. I beat Infect and Jund but lost to UB Faeries because of mulligans. I really do want to experiment with the deck and see if cards like Serum Visions, Day's Undoing, other prowess creatures, and/or other more controlly blue can work in possibly a more tempo oriented deck. I feel like Jim's list is on the right track but it is far from being optimized.
Just wanted to chime in and say I appreciate your guys' comments in this thread related to everything Jeskai Aggro / Tempo. I've been hooked on Jeskai aggro ever since I saw Hoogland debut the deck and am finally going to be able to play it tonight with all of the pieces (outside of the expensive fetches). I have a comment and a question related to the aggro portion of the deck:
Curious Homunculus seems too slow of a card in an aggro shell. You can't make sure of its tapping ability and best case scenario the card flips turn 3 because of three probes. Any other instant/sorcery combination means no creature action turn 1 or 2. CH seems best in a midrangy / controlly blue deck that can use of its tapping ability with the added upside of being a 2 mana 3/4 that reduces spell cost.
Thoughts on reducing the number of Mantis Riders (to 2) in favor of Serum Visions and/or a 1 or 2 of Day's Undoing? I like the idea of puking out the hand and reloading with a Day's Undoing if it doesn't get countered.
In the pure aggro section of the deck th Homunculus will be no good as your right it's not where the aggro deck wants to be. Tempo on the other hand he might fit into (have to test still) not so much for his first face but his second, he is probably best as a turn 3 drop unless you didn't get a delver turn 1.
As for the dropping of Mantis riders, if your playing for the aggro game I am not sure you want to lower that as he is your strongest creature in the last game albeit I do believe Serum deserves a spot on any build. Without seeing your list specifically it is hard to offer suggestions on where you could fit this in. As for days undoing it is a good card with the downside of giving your opponent back their grave (although hilarious against dredge) personally I think the Bedlam reveler would be better for Hooglands list (again not seeing yours) as he works great in games that maybe go longer then expected and then give you 3 cards. With him also have a prowess body I think he fits he aggro plan better.
My comments are based off of Jim Davis's deck that he piloted at SCG
Anyways, there are multiple Fish players at my LGS meta. What do you guys think about boarding in Bridges specifically for Fish (I always play against them and I'm sick of losing even though the matchup is historically bad for Burn). I could run a couple Anger of the Gods as well specifically for Fish. Thoughts?
Hoogland Testing Out Post Ban Modern
I was speaking with a buddy of mine and I think Atarka's Command could be really really good in the landfall zoo deck. Doing 3 damage, pumping the team, and the lesser known play a land from hand can give the deck insane landfall triggers. T2 and T3 with AC can give you up to 4 landfall triggers with the appropriate amount of fetches while doing 3 damage or pumping the team. I think the card is too good with the aggressive landfall theme this deck has going for it not to include it. What do you guys think about AC in Landfall Zoo?
Match 1 vs. Fish (0-2):
Game 1: I mull to 5 on the draw. Got an explosive hand but with a couple of searing blaze but didn't have enough gas in the end to catch up.
Game 2: Kept 7 on the play. Got 2 Eidolon of the Great Revels down quick after establishing the life lead. Ended up hurting me more than him because he had a Aether Vial. Probably killed myself this game.
Match 2 vs. Dredge (with Thugs instead of Trolls) (2-0):
Game 1: Kept 7 on the play. Opponent mulled to 4. Had a turn three kill.
Game 2: Sided in my additional Skullcracks to combat Gnaw to the Bone. Kept 7 on the draw. Didn't draw into a Skullcrack until it was too late. Opponent used Gnaw and gained 10 life. My draws were still giving me enough gas to keep up. Last turn I needed a top deck and I got it so I could push through the final 6 damage. I burned a Dredge player for 30. Felt good.
Match 3 vs. Fish (2-1):
Game 1: I mull to 6 on the play. Kept a one lander (which was a fetch) why my scry was a land on top. Kept because I had 3 Monastery Swiftspears in my 6 card hand. Played fetch and took off my first turn. Second turn grabbed the mountain, fetch shocked and got my two lands. Proceeded to drop my Swiftspears and overwhelm my opponent in the proceeding turns with more creatures.
Game 2: Kept 7 on the draw. Started off the ground game with a couple of Goblin Guides but the opponent was able to get his lords down while hitting my lands with 3 Spreading Seas effects (he had 3 Sea's Claims in the sideboard for a total of 7 island enchanting effects). Found a Destructive Revelry which freed up a Sacred Foundry. Got more damage in but behind. Needed a top deck which I got but I didn't have enough mana to hard cast Rift Bolt as well as a Boros Charm because he had a Cursecatcher on board.
Game 3: Kept 7 on the play. Blitzed him with 2 Goblin Guides which made him hesitant to use a Spreading Seas turn 2. He got a lord down with two Mutavaults to put me under the gun. I had 2 Eidlons down to make him think about it but had to trade one for one of his Mutavaults. Needed a top deck to win and I got while he had a Cursecatcher on board. Felt great because I never beat Fish.
My thoughts on the games: Burn vs. Fish is just a race. Interacting with Fish seems like a mistake unless you can use a Searing Blaze. With multiple Fish players at my LGS, I might board in another Stomping Grounds because of Spreading Seas (if he takes out my first one, can't use DRev unless it is in my hand). Learned some better sequencing with Fish that might help out my match up in the future. The new Dredge seems like it might have the same power level as Bant Eldrazi. It's good dredges are going to seem unfair but I would expect the deck to a whiff a little bit more because of the GGT ban. Again as Burn, you are racing against Dredge. Sideboard you want to pack in anti-life gain to stop Gnaw to the Bone. At this point though I don't know if there needs to be dedicated graveyard hate for Dredge. But I would assume its all person preference in the end.
I like Boros a lot. Match 3 game 2 against Fish I took 0 damage off of my mana base with the Inspiring Vantage and basic mountain. Being able to save life instead of having to have to fetchshock at least once most of the time with Naya Burn feels like it give me an extra turn to try and top deck a winning spell in tough matchups. I understand peoples opinions about Naya vs. Boros but Boros has felt better and put up better results for me than Naya was. The increased probability of taking less damage off of the land base is worth it to me more than the +1/+1 mode on Atarka's Command.
I think that's where the comparison should be when comparing Naya to Boros. Is the probably of taking extra damage off of the mana base with Naya worth having the option of choosing the +1/+1 mode on Atarka's Command (because Skullcrack is almost the same as the first two modes of AC). With Naya, you have a greater probability of taking 2-3 more damage off of your mana base than Boros Burn. So, if we are strictly looking at the +1/+1 mode on AC, you would need to attack with 3 or more unblocked damage solely with the +1/+1 counters added from AC to make Naya worth it (which to me, on the surface seems unlikely). However, if you already have a hand with so many creatures from the get go that can make use of the +1/+1 counters, you are already probably going to have T3 or T4 kill as those types of draws tend to be the most explosive for burn with or without AC. Hopefully this helps contribute to the discussion. I will keep playing Boros with a splash for green and might consider an additional Stomping Grounds in the main or side for the Fish matchup strictly for my LGS
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/10-01-17-boros-burn/
I beat CoCo Temur (2-0), Dredge (2-0), and Fish (2-1).
With the Golgari Grave-Troll ban, I am hoping the Boros version of Burn will be just as fast as Dredge to where we will will not have to dedicate as many sideboard cards to hate out Dredge. Boros felt very fast last night as I was previously playing Naya Burn with Nacatls and I never felt under the gun against Dredge (although he didn't have very successful dredges but the Boros list felt lightning fast).
The CoCo Temur deck wasn't much of a fight as he was playing sub optimal cards.
I beat Fish on the draw game 1, lost on the draw game 2 (he hit me with 2 Spreading Seas), and won on the play game 3. Fish continues to be an awful matchup for Burn and the only advice I have is to try to outrace them. Game 1 I was lucky enough to get an Eidolon of the Great Revel down while I had the life lead as well as the opponent not having an Aether Vial on board. Playing Inspiring Vantages feels great against aggressive decks like fish or the mirror match as it will helps getting an extra draw to get those final points of burn that you may have to top deck. Shard Volley as a one of feels good in the fish matchup as you can sac a land that has been hit with Spreading Seas. The minor splash for green in this deck allows for the one of the best sideboard cards against fish to be played, Destructive Revelry. The matchup felt a lot better as Boros than Naya Burn.
All in all Boros Burn feels like the best version of Burn in the current meta. With Fatal Push being a thing in 10 days, going away from full Naya and Nacatls seems like the right thing to do. Burn is in the best position out of all the aggro decks to come out on top and become the premier aggro deck deck again. However, burn just doesn't seem as fun as it once was when I first started playing the deck. It will always be my most competitive deck but when I started to play Jeskai Aggro, I had a lot more fun playing that deck than I did with Burn. I have started to by the pieces for a Grixis deck to I'm hoping with burn and Grixis I can rotate between the two to keep Modern fun for me. Ya it was fun to win tonight but I didn't really feel like I played Magic. Felt more like I was playing poker and my starting hands were just better than my opponents.
Was something from Dredge expected to be banned? Yes
Was the Probe ban unexpected AND reasonable? Yes
People know WotC doesn't like the Dredge mechanic therefore these types of bans now and in the future shouldn't be 'shocking' to anyone. If I had to give an honest opinion about the next ban announcement, I would expect Wizards to go after Dredge again until it is nowhere to be seen in Modern. Dredge bans are to be expected and if people think otherwise, then they are only fooling themselves.
As for Probe, it was too good for what it did. Banning it will slow down the format a quarter of a turn and hurt most linear aggro decks. Cantripping and getting hand information for essentially free is simply too good of a card. Anyone who plays Modern consistently will attest that these bans are more than reasonable. Getting probed by an aggro deck feels bad and playing against dredge feels helpless in general. Then again, playing against an opponent with t3 Tron is no fun as well which is a different discussion on its own.
With Fatal Push coming in and Probe/GGT leaving, I am very excited to see what Modern will look like starting January 20th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IGRgFKvVf0&index=1&list=PL04lbfeNAaS9jpLOXTDo6lwWYv5Z8hOLL
Sideboard is a little different than what Jim Davis brought a month ago. I wanted to hear his thoughts at the end of the video and he basically says that the deck feels like it is missing something. He says the Goblin Guides and Vapor Snags are the awkward parts of the deck but the rest of the deck feels good outside of Mantis Rider getting bolted.
I really think having 4 Goblin Guides in the aggro shell is the way to go even though I would love to find a way to work in Serum Visions and/or Bedlam Reveler. Having a one drop t1 in the aggro shell really puts the pressure on your opponent to have an answer. I have aggressively mulled to 6 with keepable 7 card hands but was lacking the t1 threat. Having a t1 one threat makes the game feel like I have the nut draw from the get-go.
I need to playtest but I think going down on the number of Mantis Riders to 2 and the amount of Gitaxian Probes to 3 would free up space for 3 Serum Visions which would allow you to setup your turn 3 and turn 4 draws or helping get through a mulligan which would help make the deck more reliable on the crucial turns of the game. Bedlam Reveler feels like it should be in a Jeskai modern deck but I don't think the card quite makes the cut.
When I was watching Davis on camera playing at the SCG open, the commentator made mention that he looked to be aggressively mulliganing if he didn't have a one drop creature to play turn one. I kept this in mind while playing this deck and it feels like my results reflect this observation. I was way ahead when I was able to drop creatures turn one and two while being behind if I didn't have the turn one creature play. I also like that I can fight through lightning bolts because of Mutagenic Growth (I was able to do this a couple of times while playing).
The only card that feels slightly out of place in the deck is Mantis Rider. Don't get me wrong, I love playing it and getting a good laugh when my opponent sees the card but I just feel very meh about the card. It has won me games where I had to go over the top to get the damage in but the card just feels average. I don't know, maybe I need more play with the card to feel better about it.
I'm hoping to develop an aggro/tempo build that has been discussed in this thread and I look forward to the continuation of the conversation. I have this gut feeling that there is a right mix of aggro, tempo, and control in Jeskai that hasn't been refined yet to make an awesome Jeskai deck.
You need the Sacred Foundry for the Wild Nacatl. If you aren't running Nacatls, then by all means use a few Inspiring Vantages.
Which version of the deck are you running?
I played last night using Davis's list. Deck felt great. I typically run Naya Burn but I felt like I more options with the Jeskai Aggro list as well as not living on the top decks as much. I love the evasion you get with Stormchaser Mage and Mantis Rider. I beat Infect and Jund but lost to UB Faeries because of mulligans. I really do want to experiment with the deck and see if cards like Serum Visions, Day's Undoing, other prowess creatures, and/or other more controlly blue can work in possibly a more tempo oriented deck. I feel like Jim's list is on the right track but it is far from being optimized.
My comments are based off of Jim Davis's deck that he piloted at SCG