MTG Salvation

Welcome!

I always wanted to have a Blink deck, but I found the go-to UW commanders a bit worn out. Hence, I decided to add a third color. I quickly found Bant flicker too straight-forward and not very exciting (and I already have a Bant deck). After briefly considering Merieke Ri Berit, I realized the sweet synergy of flicker effects and Warstorm Surge or Purphoros, God of the Forge. The resulting deckbuilding frenzy produced this little beauty. Everyone, meet Jeskai Blink:



Unfortunately, no Jeskai legend suggests itself as commander. After briefly considering Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder (the only legend with an ETB effect in the colors) with Kraum, Ludevic's Opus I opted to go with Zedruu the Greathearted. The ETB of Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder is nice, but he isn't a great flicker target since I could get repeated activations through attacking anyways. I would rather have an additional card in the deck instead of partner commanders. I went with Zedruu the Greathearted because I expect she will be perceived as less threatening then the other Jeskai legends. I do not expect to ever cast her, and if they one day print a Jeskai legend with a nice ETB effect, I'll replace Zedruu in a heartbeat.

Most of the deck is pretty straightforward. Play a bunch of value ETB creatures and start blinking them repeatedly with Conjurer's Closet, Venser, the Sojourner and Eldrazi Displacer, while always having a couple of Ghostways or Momentary Blinks in your hand to dodge removal and wraths. Do the usual shenanigans with Gilded Drake and Venser, the Sojourner. Blink Angel of Serenity with the ETB trigger on the stack to exile six targets, three of them permanently. You know, the usual drill.

Red adds a variety of sweet tools. I already mentioned Warstorm Surge type effects. Another thing I am really excited about are threatening my opponent's best creatures with Molten Primordial, Conquering Manticore or Zealous Conscripts - and then blinking the stolen creatures with Cloudshift, Conjurer's Closet or Ghostly Flicker to keep them forever. Bonus if the stolen creature has an ETB effect.

Unfortunately, if I take three creatures with Molten Primordial, I can only Cloudshift one of them. Or can I? Enter Zada, Hedron Grinder. This is probably the card I am most excited about in this deck. With Zada on the board, every single targeted blink spell becomes Ghostway. I cannot wait to cast Acrobatic Maneuver on Zada, flicker my entire team, get a bunch of ETBs and draw a ton of cards. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Value Village. Enjoy your stay!

As always, I am happy to hear suggestions and advice!

I think...

In your Primordial/Zada example, Cloudshift gives you the creatures permanently while Acrobatic Maneuver gives them back to their owners.

Quote from MRdown2urth »

I think...

In your Primordial/Zada example, Cloudshift gives you the creatures permanently while Acrobatic Maneuver gives them back to their owners.

Yes, you are of course right. I realize now my phrasing was confusing. The flicker effects that will give me permanent control over stolen creatures are Cloudshift, Conjurer's Closet, Nephalia Smuggler and Ghostly Flicker, Restoration Angel and Deadeye Navigator (if my opponent's creature is already under my control when the Navigator enters the battlefield).

However, Zada is super sweet with any blink spell, because she will always flicker my entire team if I play a single-targeted blink spell. She is especially great with Acrobatic Maneuver because I get to draw a card for each creature I control. Sorry for being unclear due to my excitement over Zada. ;-)

Got it. I wanted to make sure you considered Insurrection. I'm sure you also know of Pandemonium (and its drawback).

Thanks for your ideas! Pandemonium is indeed on the shortlist, and I will definitely try it if I find Electropotence to be lackluster. Insurrection is indeed very powerful. Actually, it might be a tad too powerful: in my experience the card usually ends the game when it is cast. It has been a while since I played with it though, so maybe it would be different in light of the evolution of my meta. I would still rather play more ETB creatures or flicker effects instead of sorceries, because I am a sucker for themes. I am also unsure at the moment how far I want to go with the Threaten theme (e.g. by adding Zealous Conscripts), since stealing a creature every now and then is not super great if I cannot sacrifice or Cloudshift it.

One thing I would really like to include more are cards that trigger whenever a creature enters the battlefield under my control. I might end up playing Pandemonium (even though I fear the drawback will be too big) after all. I also considered Cathars' Crusade, but I don't like putting +1/+1 counters on my creatures only to lose the counters as soon as I flicker them again. Do you happen to have any suggestions here?

The deck performed great during its first few games. It's incredibly fun to dodge all removal through repeated flickering, gaining lots of value from the ETBs and dealing a bunch of damage with Impact Tremors and co.

Some changes:

- Wayfarer's Bauble
+ Oath of Lieges (better mana fixing/ramp)

- Mindclaw Shaman(I found that I am often not that interested in my opponent's spells)
+ Body Double (deck needs a bit more recursion. I didn't have any access to my dead creatures so far)

- Conquering Manticore (the effect is great, but I want to test some other cards and will try to make do with only Molten Primordial)
+ Stonehorn Dignitary (I had some trouble defending against large creature swarms. Dignitary should be helpful here. Looking to replace him with Knight-Captain of Eos once I get my hands on a copy)

Looking for something to cut for Recruiter of the Guard at the moment. Sunblast Angel, Stonecloaker, Dualcaster Mage and Legion's Initiative are on the cutting block. Any advice?

Got some more games in and still absolutely loving this deck.

Change:
- Stonecloaker
+ Vandalblast I know it is a bit risky to not run grave hate, but I definitely need noncreature artifact removal. Torpor Orb just shuts this deck down. Anything else my opponents put into play from their graveyard I should be able to handle.

- Legion's Initiative
+ Recruiter of the Guard Initiative is ok, but I like my blink to be unexpected, and I am set up well in that department. Recruiter is just really really good, especially since I want this deck to have some more ways to react to different situations.

Looks like I can't not run any graveyard hate. I want this deck to be a deck that is able to answer almost anything, and so either Stonecloaker or Angel of Finality will need to go back in.

I also found that I don't actually have lots of targets to tutor up with Recruiter of the Guard and I am looking for more suggestions here for viable toolbox elements with toughness 2 or less in Jeskai colors. Any suggestions?

- Oreskos Explorer
+ Angel of Finality

Oreskos Explorer is...just not good. The deck does need gravehate though, and Angel of Finality is about the best there is.

The deck needs a bit more defense. Hence:

- Reflector Mage
+ Kederekt Leviathan

I found the deck needs more sweepers and generally has enough spot removal. Looking to replace the Leviathan with Cataclysmic Gearhulk once I get my hands on one.

- Electropotence
+ Siege-Gang Commander

Electropotence never really did much so far. I am hoping the Siege-Gang Commander will help with having some chump blockers on the board and shoot down a Riku of Two Reflections or other troublesome 2 toughness commander every once in a while. Also, it is really cool with Panharmonicon and Purphoros, God of the Forge on the field.

Out:

• Essence Flux
  
• Otherworldly Journey
  
• Long Road Home
  
• Acrobatic Maneuver
  
• Brago, King Eternal
  
• Zada, Hedron Grinder
  
• Sunblast Angel
  
• Pilgrim's Eye
  
• Stonehorn Dignitary
  
• Strionic Resonator

In:

• Gilded Lotus
  
• Darksteel Ingot
  
• Chromatic Lantern
  
• Boreas Charger
  
• Recurring Insight
  
• Enlightened Tutor
  
• Scavenger Grounds
  
• Knight-Captain of Eos
  
• Meteor Golem
  
• Cataclysmic Gearhulk

The main change here is that I realized I needed to have some more ramp and card draw instead of going all in on blink. I cut a bunch of blink spells, which unfortunately meant that Zada became less good since I opted to keep the repeatable blink on a stick creatures rather than the single use spells at this time. Rest of the changes are upgrades of different sorts and some more answers to specific strategies such as Scavenger Ground and Meteor Golem. Also included Enlightened Tutor since my gameplan relies pretty hard on my Impact Tremors type enchantments.