I don't know how I'll evaluate her knowing now that you can't play lands but at least in my playground a planeswalker doming people for two isn't going to really draw much attention and many people are now picking up walkers in there decks. It's going to be interesting because a lot of the people in my group are relatively knew with 1-2 other vet players.
My group recognizes that planeswalkers are card advantage that can be attacked by creatures. They tend to get wrecked pretty quickly so I'm usually looking for a potentially high impact first activation. How they function after that is still important, but secondary. That's the reason I cut Chandra, Pyromaster. Her 0 was basically unusable the turn she came down too often, her +1 doesn't do much, and I couldn't expect her to live around the table for multiple turn cycles. Two damage isn't really painful for anyone, but it's a constant reminder that the walker is there because people have to adjust life totals. Something like Pyromaster or Outpost Siege is easier for opponents to forget about when they're deciding attacks because they only affect you. New Chandra is potentially interacting with every opponent, every turn, which is why I'm talking about her drawing attention.
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Yeah, I respect and understand your Weebo position. I think your meta has a lot more small utility creatures then mine perhaps.
Has anyone tried out Treasonous Ogre. The card seems great here and I've been really hating my Braid of Fire I think it's only done something in like 1 game for me since the mana can only be used on instants and activated abilities.
Thoughts on Thousand-Year Elixir, I think pitching multiple cards to Jaya in a round is a bit ambitious but it does give haste without an equip cost, I notice Weebo has cut Swiftfoot Boots probably for this very reason.
Has anyone tried out Treasonous Ogre. The card seems great here and I've been really hating my Braid of Fire I think it's only done something in like 1 game for me since the mana can only be used on instants and activated abilities.
I tried Ogre for a month or two and his biggest problem is that he is a card that works very very well if and only if you're in a niche situation. He's wonderful if a lifelinked Jaya has you at over 100 life. He's got scary potential if you ramp him out with a Sol Ring while holding an Eldrazi titan that you're willing to pay 30 life for.
My problem with him was that he only really shines when you're paying life through the nose to get mana. Sometimes things line up and you can get an early 10 drop to wreck the game with, sometimes you have more life then you can use so you may as well storm out. The problem is that in my deck these situations were too few and far between; using ogre to power out something like a random Staff of Nin was just too painful for not enough game impact.
My problem with him was that he only really shines when you're paying life through the nose to get mana. Sometimes things line up and you can get an early 10 drop to wreck the game with, sometimes you have more life then you can use so you may as well storm out. The problem is that in my deck these situations were too few and far between; using ogre to power out something like a random Staff of Nin was just too painful for not enough game impact.
This is kind of what I suspected, but I was hoping it might have been better. That said I could see shifting the deck towards bigger mana skins
I'm beginning to suspect that all of the Eldrazi Titan's are going to be good here as they can easily be discarded early but provide an over the top end game with an interesting level of interaction that Red doesn't really have access to outside of Karn and Ugin. Ulamog exiling 2 things is very similar value to Karn but will always hit two things, doesn't care about counter spells or creatures cracking back to take out the planeswalker. And Promised End still seems like a sweet play even for 10 with just instant sorcery and land and we can easily count artifact. I run a little planeswalker heavy so I'll see if I can do some shifting around. Stuffy Doll and Hoarding Dragon just haven't been rocking it very lately for me.
WyvernSlayer - What do you typically search for with the Hoarding Dragon?
Not so relevant for your list, but I almost always go for Rings of Brighthearth. I like going for value cards that aren't essential for the deck, just so I don't miss them if the Dragon gets exiled or bounced. Rings fits that well - the deck runs hot with Rings down, but losing access to it isn't a big deal. I play without it on the table most of the time anyways.
If you're reasonably sure Dragon is going to die, grab whatever has the highest board impact at the time.
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WyvernSlayer - What do you typically search for with the Hoarding Dragon?
Um... whatever I want, I guess? I don't think there's a card I consistently tutor for more than any other. Rings of Brighthearth if I want to go stupid with activated abilities, Staff of Nin if I want card draw, Gauntlet of Power if I'm after a ritual, or even Batterskull if I'm in the market for a resilient threat.
Or sometimes I'll use him as a magnet for removal that won't ultimately net me the card I searched for. Tutor for something scary like Staff of Domination, draw out the Swords to Plowshares or whatever, then stick the thing you wanted to resolve in the first place. People can't resist denying you a card you searched for.
As the target audience for the Kaladesh inventions, I feel like I have to at least consider them. I think Sword of Fire and Ice, Crucible of Worlds, Scroll Rack, and Mind's Eye are both ugly and don't really fit with the rest of the deck, so those are out. I like the existing Rings of Brighthearth, so probably not that one. That leaves Lightning Greaves and Solemn Simulacrum of the stuff I run right now, both of which are pretty good looking. I'll probably just wait and see how the prices fall out and go from there. I have mixed feelings on the masterpieces in general, but this is not really the thread to talk about that.
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In an attempt to curb the direction of the Inventions into something Jaya-specific, I maintain that the real Jaya Ballard wouldn't want all of those filigree frills in her artifacts, and therefore, the inclusion of such gaudy pieces would be a massive flavor fail.
In an attempt to curb the direction of the Inventions into something Jaya-specific, I maintain that the real Jaya Ballard wouldn't want all of those filigree frills in her artifacts, and therefore, the inclusion of such gaudy pieces would be a massive flavor fail.
Fair. There's not a whole lot else to talk about out of this set yet. New Chandra is a possibility and Inventors' Fair is probably a sure thing, but that's about it. I'm still optimistic about the rest of the set, though. This has a lot of potential for Jaya playable cards.
I'm really looking forward to the durdle-tacular chain of Inventors' Fair into Crucible of Worlds into Gauntlets, though I'm not expecting to ever really pull it off.
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Any thoughts on Conspiracy: Take the Crown? Are there any cards that look promising or reprints that might make old cards more affordable?
Also, even if the list is just "Inventors' Fair" this time, I always do appreciate your set reviews as it helps me go back and find useful cards.
Sure. I know I'm slow about these, but I certainly don't mind writing them. All of the usual disclaimers apply - I'm not going to talk about every card with an appropriate color identity, but let me know if you think I missed one or if you think I'm mizevaluating something.
Conspiracy: Take the Crown
Overall, the themes red had here weren't particularly in line with Jaya. Goad and Melee are both respectable abilities (I've been having a ton of fun with an Adriana, Captain of the Guard list recently) but they're definitely combat oriented. Monarch is nice for control decks, but I wouldn't expect to be able to hold onto the crown all that long, even with Jaya running creature interference. If you're confident you can hold off creatures for a few turn cycles, those cards all get a lot better. I'm only going to talk new cards, but this could be an opportunity to pick up Gratuitous Violence on the cheap if you're more budget concious.
Besmirch - One of the better sorcery speed threaten effects. You get a swing, then there's a second swing against someone else as long as the creature survives until its owner's combat. Worth playing if you want a sorcery speed threaten, but still a little narrow and it's easier to capitalize on threaten effects in more aggressive decks.
Goblin Racketeer - Fun card, but it dies to a stiff inferno and probably won't work here.
Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - Similar to Racketeer. Most Jaya lists aren't creature heavy enough to really take advantage of his ability.
Skyline Despot - Reasonable choice if you want a monarch card, though I think the land is better. Nice payoff for staying monarch, but that also incentivizes people to hit you or kill the dragon.
Subterranean Tremors - Good card. Jaya relies too much on artifacts for me to want this though.
Throne of the High City - My favorite monarch card. Comes in untapped and only makes you the monarch if you're sure you can handle the responsibility. I'm not planning on running it because of the earlier stuff, but it's a defensible card advantage choice.
Kaladesh
The themes here work much better for Jaya, and the artifact emphasis has a lot of potential. There are a few cards that could be worthwhile and I wouldn't be surprised to see more in Aether Revolt.
Cathartic Reunion - Discarding two is a really steep cost, but two mana to draw three cards is a great CMC. If this makes it in, it's basically to turn some of the basic land card advantage into straight card advantage. I'm not sure how I feel about this over Tormenting Voice. It's obviously a worse topdeck and you're neutral on cards for either one, so it's just a question of how much digging power you want. Minus points for the art for me, too.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Already talked about quite a bit farther up the page but the quick and dirty summary is that not playing lands off the first ability is rough, the ritual is OK, the removal is pretty bad, and the ultimate is way too high profile to ever happen. She's going to be solid in some metas, but she's worse than Chandra, Flamecaller and Chandra Ablaze for me, given that none of her first three abilities are even remotely worth paying her cost for. She needs to survive around the table at least a couple times to be worthwhile, and that's realistically not going to happen here.
Combustible Gearhulk - Mill 3 for some damage isn't worth the price of admission and it's unlikely you'll get to draw most of the time. The body isn't good enough to make up for it.
Fateful Showdown - I'm not a big fan of the hand cycling effects in this deck, but stapling damage onto an instant speed version does make it a lot better. That makes up for the inherent card disadvantage, provided you kill the target. Remember to aim at a player if you really need the hand cycle so the spell doesn't get countered by removal/sac outlet.
Hijack - Worse than Besmirch if you're targeting a creature. Adding artifact as an option is nice. I don't think it's quite there unless you have some other way to take advantage of threaten effects.
Madcap Experiment - Fun but probably bad. Four mana and some life for a mana rock is a pretty bad deal and the deck is too artifact heavy to predict what's going to come out.
Pia Nalaar - Better in more aggressive decks. Decent value creature, just not in ways Jaya is looking for.
Quicksmith Genius - Has some potential. The deck is artifact heavy enough that he'll trigger fairly reliably and looting is nice. He's fragile, but that's less of an issue for value creatures like that - see Deal Broker.
Reckless Fireweaver - Poking your opponents repeatedly in this format is OK. I don't think he's worth a card, but that goes fo opponents spending removal on him too. If you're artifact and burn heavy, I could see him making the list from time to time. Not much of a control card though.
Spark of Creativity - Might consider it if it were instant speed. Pretty bad as a sorcery.
Welding Sparks - Decent enough removal. Situationally worse than Skred, Weight of Spires, and Lightning Bolt (depending on manabase, metagame, and target respectively). Scaling removal is usually nice in this format.
Aetherflux Reservoir - Combo kill a player with Jaya and lifelink or provide a little bit of a life buffer. Lifegain and storm aren't really dedicated themes here. It could occasionally be good, but will more often be mostly dead.
Aetherworks Marvel - I don't think there are enough permanents dying here to really take advantage of this, but I like the card.
Cultivator's Caravan - One of a couple potentially playable vehicles. Three CMC color mana rock is the going rate these days, and this is a potential threat later in the game. It might be difficult to crew, but isn't a bad card even if you can't.
Dynavolt Tower - Not a terrible card as long as you're running instant and sorcery heavy. Also an energy source if you go energy heavy, which could be interesting if a complete rework of the deck. I think that also wants more colors than mono-R, so Jaya probably isn't involved.
Filigree Familiar - Good value creature, better in decks that are going to be recurring it incidentally. I don't think one use is enough to make it here but it's fun with Goblin Welder.
Ghirapur Orrery - Potentially very strong if other card advantage engines aren't coming online. Has the risk of helping opponents more than you.
Key to the City - Oddly enough, playable here. Gives every card in your hand slow cycling. I don't think it's the best option, but it's a possibility.
Metalwork Colossus - Big cheap recursive beater. Survives inferno and hits hard. Does nothing else. If you need a card that fills that role, it's fine.
Panharmonicon - The new EDH darling artifact. I run Jaya ETB light enough to include Torpor Orb, so the polar opposite of what this card wants in a deck.
Smuggler's Copter - Easy to crew and the looting works with what Jaya wants. This is the best vehicle in the set and probably the most usable in Jaya (possibly tied with Caravan). I may try this one out.
Inventor's Fair - Pretty much a snap include. Incidental lifegain and tutoring in the manabase is definitely worth a nonbasic land. Has an excellently durdley combo with Crucible of Worlds, which can be kicked off by Expedition Map. Basically heaven for those of us who love slow, marginally effective combos. Also just a good card.
Sequestered Stash - Worse than Buried Ruin most of hte time you would be activating it, but recursion and/or filtering in the manabase has never been bad.
The only thing I'm going to immediately jam in the deck from both sets is Inventor's Fair, but there are a lot of potentially good cards here. Kaladesh is easily the best plane for this deck in recent memory and I'm hoping Aether Revolt keeps it up.
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I was just looking at Conspiracy cards on the Gatherer and noticed that if you look under "Sets & Legality," none of the cards printed solely in Conspiracy and/or Conspiracy: Take the Throne are listed as being legal in Commander. Is this a recent development?
I also noticed that Burning Wish just received a reprint. It seems like that might be a viable Jaya Ballard card as well.
If that's the case, Gatherer is wrong. Commander legality is a subset of vintage legality and all unique conspiracy cards (barring the conspiracies) are legal.
Burning Wish is playgroup dependent as to whether or not it's functional. If you're going by the tournament interpretation it requires you to have a sideboard, which isn't supported in Commander by default. The more casual approach of "every other card you own" does bring in some questions about singleton deck construction and time concerns. It's something to talk about with your group if you want to use it.
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Filigree Familiar - Good value creature, better in decks that are going to be recurring it incidentally. I don't think one use is enough to make it here but it's fun with Goblin Welder.
All I have ever wanted to do in a game of Magic is weld this back and forth with Solemn Simulacrum.
Could be fun what do we think might be some of the top "wish" targets if we made a "wish board" as that is something I've seen done from time to time.
You said it yourself, anything you can't squeeze into the main deck is a prime candidate. These are all sorceries that I used to play at one point, but ended up cutting.
Wishes tend to be like a build your own split card; If you're playing one, it's a good idea to make sure that you have atleast one card in your wishboard that can act as a cover for one of the areas red can handle.
So with Burning Wish in mono red, we'd want atleast one artifact removal, a single target creature or mass creature kill spell, and probably 1 Stone Rain effect.
I have some spare PucaPoints, so I'm considering trying to burn them by picking up some cards for my commander deck, which leads me to the following questions:
1) If you had to pick out the five most important/key cards for successfully running Jaya as a commander, what would they be?
2) If you had to pick out the five most important/key cards that cost under $5, what would they be?
Okay, my non-cheeky answer is that it strongly depends on the environment you play in. If you play in a mega-ramp area, you might need doublers first. If you play in a control-long-game area, phoenixes and card draw options are more important.
As always, feedback is welcome, just remember that I won't spend more than 50 cents on any individual card I play in EDH/Commander.
I like all of those changes. There are a few cards in your list I don't really like, but playstyle difference likely accounts for most of that. If you're concerned about the curve and also need to find space for GY hate, it sounds like the perfect opportunity to cut some fat. I recall Kamahl being a pet card, but my guess is you have a couple things in the 6-7 CMC range you wouldn't miss. How has Rage Thrower been doing for you?
I have some spare PucaPoints, so I'm considering trying to burn them by picking up some cards for my commander deck, which leads me to the following questions:
1) If you had to pick out the five most important/key cards for successfully running Jaya as a commander, what would they be?
2) If you had to pick out the five most important/key cards that cost under $5, what would they be?
Focusing on the least replaceable effects and obviously heavily biased towards my own list and playstyle:
All around key cards
Crucible of Worlds - No other card with this effect, basically lets you skip the discard part of Jaya's abilities and gives a ton of card advantage. Truly a shame that it's as expensive as it is.
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle - Direct damage out of the manabase. Can even be used to deal with pro-red creatures if you have a way to get multiple mountains down in a single turn.
Repercussion - Jaya can threaten a table kill a pretty good amount of the time when this is down.
Discard fodder - I know I'm cheating, but phoenix or Squee, Goblin Nabob are nice things to have to ensure that you can still activate abilities late.
Mana doublers - Still cheating. Jaya tends to win by going bigger than the table and burning everyone out. These help.
Or something along those lines. It is somewhat dependent on meta and what you feel the deck is missing so far. You really can't go too far wrong with any of those.
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Thanks for the responses! I drew Mana Geyser my last two games and was impressed with what could be done in a single turn with a burst of mana and a haste enabler. I had so much fun playing that card that I started searching for comparable rituals...but came up empty. All the other rituals that produce enough mana to be worth it are based on the number of creatures you control (e.g. Battle Hymn). It's gotten me thinking that mana doublers are a necessity to maximize the fun that can be had with Jaya, particularly if there is a mana doubler that can boost mana production the turn it comes into play. Any thoughts on Mana Flare for this purpose as well as being a budget alternative to other mana doublers?
I like all of those changes. There are a few cards in your list I don't really like, but playstyle difference likely accounts for most of that.
Which cards don't you like? They might be remnants hanging around due to budget restrictions and a limited collection rather than cards I'm completely sold on. If I know which ones they are I can at least re-think why they are included. I think I'm having trouble because I'm holding onto cards that were decent when I didn't have anything better, but now I'm having trouble cutting them because they have some synergies that I like, but just don't have a big enough impact.
If you're concerned about the curve and also need to find space for GY hate, it sounds like the perfect opportunity to cut some fat. I recall Kamahl being a pet card, but my guess is you have a couple things in the 6-7 CMC range you wouldn't miss. How has Rage Thrower been doing for you?
Kamahl was primarily included for his synergy with Butcher's Cleaver and Illusionist's Bracers. The former is basically a second Loxodon Warhammer for humans (Jaya, Kumano, Kamahl, Rage Thrower). The latter is a budget uni-directional damage doubler for Jaya--I don't own Gratuitous Violence and I'm concerned about the double-edged nature of Dictate of the Twin Gods. I'm not attached to Kamahl, I only added him because he was less than 50 cents, synergized with the equipment I was using, and has built-in haste, so at least I get one use out of him before he dies. What do you think of Dwarven Miner and/or Dwarven Blastminer instead?
Rage Thrower has been on the border of being cut for a long time. I wanted a second Vicious Shadows-type effect in the deck so I could see how well it worked. I recently drew him in a near optimal situation alongside Mana Geyser. The result was 16 dead creatures and 32 damage to opponents. Had it been Vicious Shadows in my hand instead, I would have ended the game. As it was, I merely wounded my two opponents. Unless you're playing against a token based strategy, I don't think he's worth it. However, seeing how this played out has encouraged me to keep Vicious Shadows in the deck and I'm going to see if I can locate Repercussion on the cheap. I'm definitely giving him the axe, so that opens up a slot for Tormod's Crypt.
Crucible of Worlds - No other card with this effect, basically lets you skip the discard part of Jaya's abilities and gives a ton of card advantage. Truly a shame that it's as expensive as it is.
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle - Direct damage out of the manabase. Can even be used to deal with pro-red creatures if you have a way to get multiple mountains down in a single turn.
If a deck runs no fetch lands, how much would that decrease the effectiveness of these two cards? I've seen you state that Valakut has won you more games than any other card in your deck. I certainly see the utility of Valakut, but can't see how to trigger it enough times to make it blow out a table.
The three that look the most questionable to me are Kamahl, Hidetsugu, and Rage Thrower. Kamahl is stron but very fragile, Hidetsugu is better in more aggressive decks outside of the equipment combos, and Rage Thrower seems too slow for a 6 drop (might be a different case if he hit all opponents, but one just isn't going to cut it).
Crucible is definitely better with fetches, but it's still a pretty respectable card. There are a few ways to loot on top of Jaya's discard, and Crucible turns all of that into straight card advantage. I love having it on the table and it usually draws removal. That said, it's expensive enough that I can't say it's an essential card in good conscience. If one falls out of the sky or if you're making pricier upgrades, Crucible is great. If not, it won't directly win or lose you the game most of the time. It's just an efficient value engine.
Valakut is at its best when you can either trigger multiple times in a turn (fetches [with Rings of Brighthearth], Terrain Generator, Sword of the Animist) or have multiples down via Vesuva and Thespian's Stage, but it's perfectly respectable even outside of those scenarios. Without any way to accelerate triggers, it still turn every late game basic into a free bolt and the only cost is CiPT. There's close to no opportunity cost to include it and there's substantial upside. It's not going to win the game single-handedly most of the time, though I have lived the dream and done 27 damage in a turn off of land drops. What it will do is kill utility creatures and get in for some attrition damage.
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Has anyone tried out Treasonous Ogre. The card seems great here and I've been really hating my Braid of Fire I think it's only done something in like 1 game for me since the mana can only be used on instants and activated abilities.
Thoughts on Thousand-Year Elixir, I think pitching multiple cards to Jaya in a round is a bit ambitious but it does give haste without an equip cost, I notice Weebo has cut Swiftfoot Boots probably for this very reason.
On another note I drew Kumano, Master Yamabushi for the first time today and he helped act as lieutenant gunning things down left and right and dishing out some Gratuitous Violence after my Illusionist's Bracers Jaya committed Treachery. I think he did well over 30 something damage.
UBRNicol Bolas, the RavagerUBR
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage R
2DH / Budget Commanders:
WMangara of Corondor 2DHW
BRXantcha, Sleeper Agent 2DHBR
I tried Ogre for a month or two and his biggest problem is that he is a card that works very very well if and only if you're in a niche situation. He's wonderful if a lifelinked Jaya has you at over 100 life. He's got scary potential if you ramp him out with a Sol Ring while holding an Eldrazi titan that you're willing to pay 30 life for.
My problem with him was that he only really shines when you're paying life through the nose to get mana. Sometimes things line up and you can get an early 10 drop to wreck the game with, sometimes you have more life then you can use so you may as well storm out. The problem is that in my deck these situations were too few and far between; using ogre to power out something like a random Staff of Nin was just too painful for not enough game impact.
This is kind of what I suspected, but I was hoping it might have been better. That said I could see shifting the deck towards bigger mana skins
I'm beginning to suspect that all of the Eldrazi Titan's are going to be good here as they can easily be discarded early but provide an over the top end game with an interesting level of interaction that Red doesn't really have access to outside of Karn and Ugin. Ulamog exiling 2 things is very similar value to Karn but will always hit two things, doesn't care about counter spells or creatures cracking back to take out the planeswalker. And Promised End still seems like a sweet play even for 10 with just instant sorcery and land and we can easily count artifact. I run a little planeswalker heavy so I'll see if I can do some shifting around. Stuffy Doll and Hoarding Dragon just haven't been rocking it very lately for me.
UBRNicol Bolas, the RavagerUBR
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage R
2DH / Budget Commanders:
WMangara of Corondor 2DHW
BRXantcha, Sleeper Agent 2DHBR
Budget Modern: GStompyG | R8-WhackR
I was when I had Torpor Orb in play. >__<
If you're reasonably sure Dragon is going to die, grab whatever has the highest board impact at the time.
Um... whatever I want, I guess? I don't think there's a card I consistently tutor for more than any other. Rings of Brighthearth if I want to go stupid with activated abilities, Staff of Nin if I want card draw, Gauntlet of Power if I'm after a ritual, or even Batterskull if I'm in the market for a resilient threat.
Or sometimes I'll use him as a magnet for removal that won't ultimately net me the card I searched for. Tutor for something scary like Staff of Domination, draw out the Swords to Plowshares or whatever, then stick the thing you wanted to resolve in the first place. People can't resist denying you a card you searched for.
I'm really looking forward to the durdle-tacular chain of Inventors' Fair into Crucible of Worlds into Gauntlets, though I'm not expecting to ever really pull it off.
Any thoughts on Conspiracy: Take the Crown? Are there any cards that look promising or reprints that might make old cards more affordable?
Also, even if the list is just "Inventors' Fair" this time, I always do appreciate your set reviews as it helps me go back and find useful cards.
Budget Modern: GStompyG | R8-WhackR
Conspiracy: Take the Crown
Overall, the themes red had here weren't particularly in line with Jaya. Goad and Melee are both respectable abilities (I've been having a ton of fun with an Adriana, Captain of the Guard list recently) but they're definitely combat oriented. Monarch is nice for control decks, but I wouldn't expect to be able to hold onto the crown all that long, even with Jaya running creature interference. If you're confident you can hold off creatures for a few turn cycles, those cards all get a lot better. I'm only going to talk new cards, but this could be an opportunity to pick up Gratuitous Violence on the cheap if you're more budget concious.
Besmirch - One of the better sorcery speed threaten effects. You get a swing, then there's a second swing against someone else as long as the creature survives until its owner's combat. Worth playing if you want a sorcery speed threaten, but still a little narrow and it's easier to capitalize on threaten effects in more aggressive decks.
Goblin Racketeer - Fun card, but it dies to a stiff inferno and probably won't work here.
Grenzo, Havoc Raiser - Similar to Racketeer. Most Jaya lists aren't creature heavy enough to really take advantage of his ability.
Grenzo's Ruffians - Also fun, also dies quick.
Skyline Despot - Reasonable choice if you want a monarch card, though I think the land is better. Nice payoff for staying monarch, but that also incentivizes people to hit you or kill the dragon.
Subterranean Tremors - Good card. Jaya relies too much on artifacts for me to want this though.
Throne of the High City - My favorite monarch card. Comes in untapped and only makes you the monarch if you're sure you can handle the responsibility. I'm not planning on running it because of the earlier stuff, but it's a defensible card advantage choice.
Kaladesh
The themes here work much better for Jaya, and the artifact emphasis has a lot of potential. There are a few cards that could be worthwhile and I wouldn't be surprised to see more in Aether Revolt.
Cathartic Reunion - Discarding two is a really steep cost, but two mana to draw three cards is a great CMC. If this makes it in, it's basically to turn some of the basic land card advantage into straight card advantage. I'm not sure how I feel about this over Tormenting Voice. It's obviously a worse topdeck and you're neutral on cards for either one, so it's just a question of how much digging power you want. Minus points for the art for me, too.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Already talked about quite a bit farther up the page but the quick and dirty summary is that not playing lands off the first ability is rough, the ritual is OK, the removal is pretty bad, and the ultimate is way too high profile to ever happen. She's going to be solid in some metas, but she's worse than Chandra, Flamecaller and Chandra Ablaze for me, given that none of her first three abilities are even remotely worth paying her cost for. She needs to survive around the table at least a couple times to be worthwhile, and that's realistically not going to happen here.
Combustible Gearhulk - Mill 3 for some damage isn't worth the price of admission and it's unlikely you'll get to draw most of the time. The body isn't good enough to make up for it.
Fateful Showdown - I'm not a big fan of the hand cycling effects in this deck, but stapling damage onto an instant speed version does make it a lot better. That makes up for the inherent card disadvantage, provided you kill the target. Remember to aim at a player if you really need the hand cycle so the spell doesn't get countered by removal/sac outlet.
Hijack - Worse than Besmirch if you're targeting a creature. Adding artifact as an option is nice. I don't think it's quite there unless you have some other way to take advantage of threaten effects.
Madcap Experiment - Fun but probably bad. Four mana and some life for a mana rock is a pretty bad deal and the deck is too artifact heavy to predict what's going to come out.
Pia Nalaar - Better in more aggressive decks. Decent value creature, just not in ways Jaya is looking for.
Quicksmith Genius - Has some potential. The deck is artifact heavy enough that he'll trigger fairly reliably and looting is nice. He's fragile, but that's less of an issue for value creatures like that - see Deal Broker.
Reckless Fireweaver - Poking your opponents repeatedly in this format is OK. I don't think he's worth a card, but that goes fo opponents spending removal on him too. If you're artifact and burn heavy, I could see him making the list from time to time. Not much of a control card though.
Spark of Creativity - Might consider it if it were instant speed. Pretty bad as a sorcery.
Welding Sparks - Decent enough removal. Situationally worse than Skred, Weight of Spires, and Lightning Bolt (depending on manabase, metagame, and target respectively). Scaling removal is usually nice in this format.
Aetherflux Reservoir - Combo kill a player with Jaya and lifelink or provide a little bit of a life buffer. Lifegain and storm aren't really dedicated themes here. It could occasionally be good, but will more often be mostly dead.
Aetherworks Marvel - I don't think there are enough permanents dying here to really take advantage of this, but I like the card.
Cultivator's Caravan - One of a couple potentially playable vehicles. Three CMC color mana rock is the going rate these days, and this is a potential threat later in the game. It might be difficult to crew, but isn't a bad card even if you can't.
Dynavolt Tower - Not a terrible card as long as you're running instant and sorcery heavy. Also an energy source if you go energy heavy, which could be interesting if a complete rework of the deck. I think that also wants more colors than mono-R, so Jaya probably isn't involved.
Filigree Familiar - Good value creature, better in decks that are going to be recurring it incidentally. I don't think one use is enough to make it here but it's fun with Goblin Welder.
Ghirapur Orrery - Potentially very strong if other card advantage engines aren't coming online. Has the risk of helping opponents more than you.
Key to the City - Oddly enough, playable here. Gives every card in your hand slow cycling. I don't think it's the best option, but it's a possibility.
Metalwork Colossus - Big cheap recursive beater. Survives inferno and hits hard. Does nothing else. If you need a card that fills that role, it's fine.
Panharmonicon - The new EDH darling artifact. I run Jaya ETB light enough to include Torpor Orb, so the polar opposite of what this card wants in a deck.
Skysovereign, Consul Flagship - Jaya isn't short on direct damage and crew 3 is rough for creature light decks.
Smuggler's Copter - Easy to crew and the looting works with what Jaya wants. This is the best vehicle in the set and probably the most usable in Jaya (possibly tied with Caravan). I may try this one out.
Workshop Assistant - Similar to Myr Retriever and Junk Diver, but it should be easier to track down for the time being if you want the effect.
Inventor's Fair - Pretty much a snap include. Incidental lifegain and tutoring in the manabase is definitely worth a nonbasic land. Has an excellently durdley combo with Crucible of Worlds, which can be kicked off by Expedition Map. Basically heaven for those of us who love slow, marginally effective combos. Also just a good card.
Sequestered Stash - Worse than Buried Ruin most of hte time you would be activating it, but recursion and/or filtering in the manabase has never been bad.
The only thing I'm going to immediately jam in the deck from both sets is Inventor's Fair, but there are a lot of potentially good cards here. Kaladesh is easily the best plane for this deck in recent memory and I'm hoping Aether Revolt keeps it up.
I was just looking at Conspiracy cards on the Gatherer and noticed that if you look under "Sets & Legality," none of the cards printed solely in Conspiracy and/or Conspiracy: Take the Throne are listed as being legal in Commander. Is this a recent development?
I also noticed that Burning Wish just received a reprint. It seems like that might be a viable Jaya Ballard card as well.
Budget Modern: GStompyG | R8-WhackR
Burning Wish is playgroup dependent as to whether or not it's functional. If you're going by the tournament interpretation it requires you to have a sideboard, which isn't supported in Commander by default. The more casual approach of "every other card you own" does bring in some questions about singleton deck construction and time concerns. It's something to talk about with your group if you want to use it.
All I have ever wanted to do in a game of Magic is weld this back and forth with Solemn Simulacrum.
Could be fun what do we think might be some of the top "wish" targets if we made a "wish board" as that is something I've seen done from time to time.
Anarchy
Anger of the Gods
Banefire
Boom (Boom/Bust)
Decree of Annihilation
Fiery Confluence
Fiery Gambit because you know I can't bring myself to run it in the 99...
Flowstone Slide Give red that unique way of dealing with indestructible creatures.
Goblin Game because fun.
Illicit Auction moono red's control magic.
Last Chance Because sometimes you just need one more turn?
Mizzium Mortars
I guess thats my short list.
UBRNicol Bolas, the RavagerUBR
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage R
2DH / Budget Commanders:
WMangara of Corondor 2DHW
BRXantcha, Sleeper Agent 2DHBR
You said it yourself, anything you can't squeeze into the main deck is a prime candidate. These are all sorceries that I used to play at one point, but ended up cutting.
Faithless Looting
Aftershock
Past in Flames
Insurrection
Act on Impulse
Shattering Spree
Incite Rebellion
Wake of Destruction
Molten Disaster (really good against those dekcs decks that always have instant speed flicker.)
Wishes tend to be like a build your own split card; If you're playing one, it's a good idea to make sure that you have atleast one card in your wishboard that can act as a cover for one of the areas red can handle.
So with Burning Wish in mono red, we'd want atleast one artifact removal, a single target creature or mass creature kill spell, and probably 1 Stone Rain effect.
Dragon Mage => Endbringer
----More utility and I don't have to connect with Endbringer to draw cards.
Act on Impulse => Sandstone Oracle
----Swapping low impact card for potentially high impact card, but not sure about the 7CMC.
Scuttlemutt => Solemn Simulacrum
----Scuttlemutt tends to die quickly, whereas, I like it when Solemn Simulacrum dies.
Gargoyle Castle => Kher Keep
Hellion Crucible => Spinerock Knoll
----Creature lands don't have much synergy with Jaya.
Codex Shredder => Aligned Hedron Network
----Shredder rarely did anything more than mill my deck for several turns.
Hound of Griselbrand => Duplicant
----I like the hound as a finisher, but Duplicant also provides protection.
Resulting Decklist:
1 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Creatures (16)
1 Firewing Phoenix
1 Kuldotha Phoenix
1 Magma Phoenix
1 Shard Phoenix
1 Skarrgan Firebird
1 Charmbreaker Devils
1 Duplicant
1 Heartless Hidetsugu
1 Hoarding Dragon
1 Kamahl, Pit Fighter
1 Kumano, Master Yamabushi
1 Malignus
1 Rage Thrower
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Viashino Heretic
Equipment (6)
1 Butcher's Cleaver
1 Darksteel Plate
1 Illusionist's Bracers
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Magebane Armor
1 Swiftfoot Boots
Miscellaneous Permanents (5)
1 Aligned Hedron Network
1 Distorting Lens
1 Glacial Chasm
1 Sun Droplet
1 Trading Post
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Fire Diamond
1 Mind Stone
1 Commander's Sphere
1 Pristine Talisman
1 Unstable Obelisk
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Hedron Archive
1 Dreamstone Hedron
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Expedition Map
Card Draw & Filtering (8)
1 Commune with Lava
1 Crystal Ball
1 Endbringer
1 Mindmoil
1 Outpost Siege
1 Reforge the Soul
1 Sandstone Oracle
1 Staff of Nin
Instants/Sorceries/One-Shots (10)
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Brittle Effigy (artifact)
1 Fissure
1 Grab the Reins
1 Mana Geyser
1 Devil's Play
1 Rolling Thunder
1 Reverberate
1 Wild Ricochet
1 Vandalblast
1 Fervor
1 Hammer of Purphoros
1 Pyrohemia
1 Vicious Shadows
Lands (38)
1 Blasted Landscape
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Smoldering Crater
1 Dormant Volcano
1 Ghost Town
1 Buried Ruin
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Flamekin Village
1 Kher Keep
1 Spinerock Knoll
1 Encroaching Wastes
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Mage-Ring Network
1 Temple of the False God
24 Mountain
I'm a bit concerned about my mana curve since the CMC per card continues to creep up as I try to include more impactful cards. Also, my large creature removal may have hit the overkill level with Duplicant, Aligned Hedron Network, Brittle Effigy, Fissure, Grab the Reins, Distorting Lens (in conjunction with Jaya), and, for creatures up to 13 toughness, Blasphemous Act. In the long run, I do need to find room for Tormod's Crypt and/or Relic of Progenitus.
As always, feedback is welcome, just remember that I won't spend more than 50 cents on any individual card I play in EDH/Commander.
Budget Modern: GStompyG | R8-WhackR
1) If you had to pick out the five most important/key cards for successfully running Jaya as a commander, what would they be?
2) If you had to pick out the five most important/key cards that cost under $5, what would they be?
Budget Modern: GStompyG | R8-WhackR
Jaya
Mountain
Mountain
Mountain
Mountain
2.
Ibid.
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Okay, my non-cheeky answer is that it strongly depends on the environment you play in. If you play in a mega-ramp area, you might need doublers first. If you play in a control-long-game area, phoenixes and card draw options are more important.
http://www.commandercast.com/category/articles/generally-speaking
Follow me on Twitter: @generalspeak
Focusing on the least replaceable effects and obviously heavily biased towards my own list and playstyle:
Which cards don't you like? They might be remnants hanging around due to budget restrictions and a limited collection rather than cards I'm completely sold on. If I know which ones they are I can at least re-think why they are included. I think I'm having trouble because I'm holding onto cards that were decent when I didn't have anything better, but now I'm having trouble cutting them because they have some synergies that I like, but just don't have a big enough impact.
Kamahl was primarily included for his synergy with Butcher's Cleaver and Illusionist's Bracers. The former is basically a second Loxodon Warhammer for humans (Jaya, Kumano, Kamahl, Rage Thrower). The latter is a budget uni-directional damage doubler for Jaya--I don't own Gratuitous Violence and I'm concerned about the double-edged nature of Dictate of the Twin Gods. I'm not attached to Kamahl, I only added him because he was less than 50 cents, synergized with the equipment I was using, and has built-in haste, so at least I get one use out of him before he dies. What do you think of Dwarven Miner and/or Dwarven Blastminer instead?
Rage Thrower has been on the border of being cut for a long time. I wanted a second Vicious Shadows-type effect in the deck so I could see how well it worked. I recently drew him in a near optimal situation alongside Mana Geyser. The result was 16 dead creatures and 32 damage to opponents. Had it been Vicious Shadows in my hand instead, I would have ended the game. As it was, I merely wounded my two opponents. Unless you're playing against a token based strategy, I don't think he's worth it. However, seeing how this played out has encouraged me to keep Vicious Shadows in the deck and I'm going to see if I can locate Repercussion on the cheap. I'm definitely giving him the axe, so that opens up a slot for Tormod's Crypt.
If a deck runs no fetch lands, how much would that decrease the effectiveness of these two cards? I've seen you state that Valakut has won you more games than any other card in your deck. I certainly see the utility of Valakut, but can't see how to trigger it enough times to make it blow out a table.
This list was super-helpful. Thank you!
Budget Modern: GStompyG | R8-WhackR
Crucible is definitely better with fetches, but it's still a pretty respectable card. There are a few ways to loot on top of Jaya's discard, and Crucible turns all of that into straight card advantage. I love having it on the table and it usually draws removal. That said, it's expensive enough that I can't say it's an essential card in good conscience. If one falls out of the sky or if you're making pricier upgrades, Crucible is great. If not, it won't directly win or lose you the game most of the time. It's just an efficient value engine.
Valakut is at its best when you can either trigger multiple times in a turn (fetches [with Rings of Brighthearth], Terrain Generator, Sword of the Animist) or have multiples down via Vesuva and Thespian's Stage, but it's perfectly respectable even outside of those scenarios. Without any way to accelerate triggers, it still turn every late game basic into a free bolt and the only cost is CiPT. There's close to no opportunity cost to include it and there's substantial upside. It's not going to win the game single-handedly most of the time, though I have lived the dream and done 27 damage in a turn off of land drops. What it will do is kill utility creatures and get in for some attrition damage.