That art is gorgeous and fits the deck so perfectly, Ive been on a bridge build with Rowan and Chandra lately. Bridge feels like a fine payoff but ive been pretty disappointed with Chandra. The new standouts have been Stolen Strategy for fun reasons rather than being really good. Khorvaths fury has been pretty good as well, it gives another spell for past in flames and the hitting face adds just a bit of extra value that adds up.
I've been enjoying Stolen Strategy but I think it's likely going to get the axe.
I think it's going to be correct for me to put Past in Flames back into the list but I haven't really been missing it...
Edit:
@Weebo - I have liked the rummaging effects. While there isn't a tone of graveyard interaction there is some game there and the fact that they can generate huge card advantage off goggles / archive / filped amulet has had a really large impact in every game. I also find that the deck just has a few card effects which are must hits once in a game. I find the games I see an All is Dust / Ugin / or Blasphemous Act I have a much larger win percentage. While a swan song on a cathartic reunion makes you scoop, I've really come to like them and believe they are the best way for us to bring some level of card velocity and consistency to our game.
I think there's some good stuff in this release for Jaya. Nothing that screams auto-include, but I honestly prefer it being that way. I like having a little more variety in decks and strategies.
Thoughts on C18: Red
Emissary of Grudges - Decent as a slightly disruptive beatdown card, especially if you can reuse the activated ability somehow. Not great for Jaya - by the time you can cast it, there's a reasonable chance you're trying to wipe the board and it doesn't offer much control.
Enchanter's Bane - I'm glad to see red getting some more on color enchantment interaction. That said, punisher effects are generally not great and I don't think this is the exception. I like this a lot more if you're threatening life totals earlier, where it's more in line with your primary gameplan or serves as repeatable removal. Jaya is too much of a lategame deck for this to be anything other than chip damage most of the time.
Fury Storm - Jaya is cheap enough to recast several times throughout a game, so the red commander storm option isn't a terrible fit. I'm not a big fan of having to hold up 4 mana to take advantage of this given that my list is very much a tapout control list. If you're playing more at instant speed, this goes up in stock slightly.
Loyal Apprentice - This is much more of an aggro card than this deck wants. Incremental value is much better when it's not on a body that fragile here.
Nesting Dragon - I like that the tokens generated get better after a wipe. Landfall has always been something that seems like it would be a good fit in my list, but nothing aside from Valakut has ever made the cut. I'm not thrilled about the size of the creature, but I think there's an argument for this in some decks.
Reality Scramble - Probably my favorite card out of the set. I wouldn't be doing anything particularly abusive with it but I still like trading lands for more valuable resources late. Better if you're running heavier on things like Squee, Goblin Nabob. There are also enough polymorph effects in red that you can work in a little of a combo element. I run Jaya pretty creature light, and that could easily be taken to extremes with just a couple big bombs and some token generation.
Saheeli's Directive - Another one I like a lot. My only issue with this one is that late game is already where Jaya wants to be, so having another card that's best in that part of the game doesn't contribute much. The heavy artifact and GY themes in the list mean that this is a good one, and it does turn large amounts of mana into a boardstate without requiring a multiple card investment. Worth considering, but may just be worse than a burn spell or similar unless you have a decent number of artifacts that will threaten to end the game.
Treasure Nabber - Obviously good in metas with heavy mana rocks (most of them?). Even better with Goblin Welder, which makes it a nice inclusion for a goblin package. Dying to a stiff breeze would normally be a downside, but I think this thing draws removal just fine on its own.
Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor - More of an aggro card than this deck wants, most likely. Generating opposing tokens is great for Repercussion kills and there's a chance that the tokens are used against your opponents, but you're also unlikely to ever control them - things that kill Varchild probably kill all of the tokens, given that she's not a big enough threat to draw removal most of the time.
Artifact/Land
Ancient Stone Idol - I don't think this is actually on theme, but I kind of like it here. It's big enough to survive most damage, probably eats a creature on the way in, hits hard enough to actually threaten players (especially in conjunction with Jaya), and leaves a token that's also big enough to survive most damage. The downside is that Jaya is good at clearing small creatures, so the discount is likely to be small and it's not worth 10 mana. I'm sure I'll play this somewhere and might try it in Jaya at some point, more because I like the card than because I think it's an effect the deck needs.
Coveted Jewel - No thanks. The card draw and mana is nice, but it's going to provide more value to the rest of the table unless it can be sacced or bounced immediately.
Endless Atlas - I've wondered how cheap an "X, T: Draw a card" effect would need to be for me to play it and this is certainly the most competitively costed option we've seen. Certainly worth testing, especially if you're running ways to use the ability more than once a turn. I'm already happy to pay for Sensei's Divining Top + Rings of Brighthearth on some board states.
Geode Golem - Half the time Jaya's in the command zone, it's because I used her to blow up the board. This is too fragile for my taste and doesn't offer enough upside when it works, seeing as Jaya is only 3 CMC. Just run another mana rock.
Retrofitter Foundry - Another durdle engine. Could be a good fit in the hypothetical polymorph gimmick list. Slow token generation is probably not worth a card otherwise, even with the untap ability.
Forge of Heroes - Jaya isn't really swinging most of the time. This is going to be worse than a basic mountain.
Isolated Watchtower - I like the effect, I don't like the condition. Unless there's a dedicated ramp deck, I can usually keep up with land drops. Being able to clear the topdeck and sometimes ramp is a very nice effect and it does play nicely with fetches and Thawing Glaciers, so I'll probably still try this. I'm not really expecting it to work out well, though.
There are several possibilities for inclusion here. Treasure Nabber and Endless Atlas are obviously both strong possibilities. My pick for sleeper hit is Reality Scramble - repeatedly playing spells from the yard is good value and I have a couple ways to set up the topdeck already. I can also see scenarios where it's correct to hit basic mountains with it, either to put them back into the deck for other cards to grab or to stack additional Valakut triggers in a turn.
What does everyone else think about the set? Anything I'm missing or misevaluating?
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As much as I like Stolen Strategy and Chaos Wand as they lead to really fun games, I'll admit they aren't competitive. They sit in my fun binder for lower power games.
I dismissed Reality Scramble but you make a really good argument on it and I am now excited to hit lands with it and see what happens. More often it seems good.
As for Directive and nabber, I am so unsure on them. I love the idea of nabber but I don't feel the deck is really built to utilize all that extra mana that fast.
Directive is a bit weird, even on a miss you put them in the grave but figuring out how high to go with it is difficult. I think 5 is the sweet spot, but then is it worth 8 mana is my worry. Improvise definately helps so im looking forward to trying it.
As much as I like Stolen Strategy and Chaos Wand as they lead to really fun games, I'll admit they aren't competitive. They sit in my fun binder for lower power games.
This is pretty much where I sit on them. I'd like to at least see Strategy hit the board before I cut it - the only game I've played with it I managed to get through about 85 cards and never saw it. They're probably good enough for my meta, so I'll play around with it for a little longer. I'm definitely interested in trying Reality Scramble as well. It may take some time, because I'll be building a couple of the C18 generals.
Entirely independent of that, I managed to pick up one of the SDCC 2018 sets when they went online, so I may stick Chandra, Torch of Defiance in the deck for a bit. I'm not sure that's the best card for the slot, but it's certainly one of the most attractive. I like the idea of finding space for Ensnaring Bridge (again? not sure anymore) too, given the planeswalker density in the list.
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As much as I like Stolen Strategy and Chaos Wand as they lead to really fun games, I'll admit they aren't competitive. They sit in my fun binder for lower power games.
This is pretty much where I sit on them. I'd like to at least see Strategy hit the board before I cut it - the only game I've played with it I managed to get through about 85 cards and never saw it. They're probably good enough for my meta, so I'll play around with it for a little longer. I'm definitely interested in trying Reality Scramble as well. It may take some time, because I'll be building a couple of the C18 generals.
Entirely independent of that, I managed to pick up one of the SDCC 2018 sets when they went online, so I may stick Chandra, Torch of Defiance in the deck for a bit. I'm not sure that's the best card for the slot, but it's certainly one of the most attractive. I like the idea of finding space for Ensnaring Bridge (again? not sure anymore) too, given the planeswalker density in the list.
I love the idea of Chandra, I was running the previous SDCC Chandra for a while with the bridge as well as I had Rowan Kenrith too to try out. Unfortunately Chandra just feels very slow and awkward to plus. The deck has such a high curve she often shocked and died or gave a bit of mana. That new art though is gorgeous and I am waiting to upgrade my previous one for a newer one as I couldn't order the set myself.
Rowan also felt lackluster if you couldn't ult, however she is much easier to protect before the ult as well as provides more utility than mana or single removal.
Right now I'm struggling to close out games, recent sets have given red so much "card advantage" that draw is no longer an issue even if it is expensive which is another reason I dislike Chandra. There are better options now oddly.
Yeah, it's kind of weird to have enough options for card advantage in mono-R that I can afford to be more discriminating (especially without running goblins). I'm so used to wheels and expensive artifact options or bust that this feels like an embarrassment of riches.
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I was referred here by a thread I made on Reddit asking for help making a Jaya deck. The thread as a whole has been a huge help, and has really steered my deck in a direction I'm happy with. I haven't had a chance to try the deck out yet but I do have a list I'm happy with, so I'd love it if anyone could take a look and let me know what they think!
This is mostly using cards I already own, plus a few others I was able to pick up for cheap. There are some expensive cards I cut out because I don't own them (Rings of Brighthearth, Karn Liberated), or because I just don't like how they fit (Batterskull, Gauntlet of Power).
On the other hand, there are some cards in there that I'm either using because they are expensive/foil and I happen to own them (Dark Depths, Braid of Fire) or I'm excited to finally find a deck they sort-of fit in (Wild Ricochet, Chandra, Torch of Defiance).
I was referred here by a thread I made on Reddit asking for help making a Jaya deck. The thread as a whole has been a huge help, and has really steered my deck in a direction I'm happy with. I haven't had a chance to try the deck out yet but I do have a list I'm happy with, so I'd love it if anyone could take a look and let me know what they think!
This is mostly using cards I already own, plus a few others I was able to pick up for cheap. There are some expensive cards I cut out because I don't own them (Rings of Brighthearth, Karn Liberated), or because I just don't like how they fit (Batterskull, Gauntlet of Power).
On the other hand, there are some cards in there that I'm either using because they are expensive/foil and I happen to own them (Dark Depths, Braid of Fire) or I'm excited to finally find a deck they sort-of fit in (Wild Ricochet, Chandra, Torch of Defiance).
Glad you made it over here. Decklist on the whole looks really nice, and I'm never going to judge anyone for not including cards for budget reasons or because they don't like them. If you're not personalizing your deck in this format, I'm pretty sure you're missing the point at least a little bit (cEDH as the exception there, but that's a whole different animal).
The only card I'm questioning is Basalt Monolith. It's basically a battery, and I'm not sure how well you're making use of that. Welder/Daretti/Braid up the utility, but you're otherwise playing it as a fair card and it's not all that good in that sense. You might consider Worn Powerstone or Thran Dynamo over that, unless you have a particular use in mind for it. You also feel slightly light on lands with 35 mana producing + Sol Ring. Overall you're built to be a little more explosive than my list, which is on the grindier side, and that's going to color my feedback on it.
Aside from that, I'm mostly interested in hearing how a few cards play for you.
Jaya's Immolating Inferno is obviously a slam dunk for flavor and a solid card/win con. My concern has been how reliably it's castable. You have Squee, which probably goes a long ways towards enabling that.
Enchanter's Bane seems a little meta dependent, but I'm still curious about how much damage you can reasonably expect to get out of it. The punisher aspect is unlikely to come into play unless the enchantment's controller is already near death, which is a terrible place for them to be against a Jaya deck. I'm not expecting many players to sac an enchantment just to save a few life points, so I'm basically thinking of it as a small recurring burn spell.
I'm not sure how often Neheb, the Eternal is better than a mana rock, outside of lategame scenarios where you can protect him from Jaya. There's a pretty good chance I'm just gun shy about 6 toughness creatures and he's great. I haven't gotten around to testing him yet, so other opinions are welcome.
Thanks for posting the list!
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Someone somewhere suggested Basalt Monolith in conjunction with Braid of Fire and I was so eager to throw it in I completely forgot Thran Dynamo existed. I will most probably make that swap immediately.
I didn't get a chance to try the deck out just yet but I should be able to this Wednesday; I'm excited to give it a shot. Your mention of Enchanter's Bane actually reminds me of something I wanted to bring up to the group as a whole: Auras. During my initial testing of the deck, cards like Darksteel Mutation basically shuts Jaya down entirely. Red has very little ways to deal with enchantments, and turning Jaya into an indestructible 0/1 makes it even harder to come back from. My meta LOVES pseudo-removal like this. Has anyone found out good ways to deal with this type of effect?
Yeah, Monolith/Braid is cute but probably just worse than a more reliable mana rock. I think you have enough mana sinks that Braid will still do some good work for you, which is another thing you can keep an eye on. When I was running it, it usually ended up being either extremely good or completely dead. It almost always drew removal, too. People get worried when you have that much free mana.
Easiest way to deal with effects like Darksteel Mutation is sac outlets. Jaya already doesn't have much of a life expectancy so killing her yourself isn't much of a problem. If you're expecting that kind of aura, utility lands like High Market are definitely worth a look. The ones that turn permanents into lands, Imprisoned in the Moon and Song of the Dryads, are a little tougher. You're basically relying on Wasteland or Chaos Warp to deal with those right now. I'd actually consider cutting a mountain for another Wasteland effect - Strip Mine is obviously the best one, but I've had a lot of success with Tectonic Edge in EDH as well. Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin are probably the worst because they put you behind the table on lands, with all of the others falling somewhere in the middle. Deep Freeze and Lignify are a little easier to deal with - just put Jaya in harm's way or wait for a wrath to hit if you can't find a way to sac her. For Mutation, remember that it turns the enchanted creature into an artifact, so Welder and Daretti are both additional outs. Swords of Fire and Ice or War and Peace are also a nice answer to those if you ever add them to the deck and happen to get hit by the right colors.
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I didn't think about the fact that Darksteel Mutation makes the target into a (sacrificable) artifact. That's a good point.
I don't have a Strip Mine but I'm pretty sure I have a Tectonic Edge laying around somewhere. I may cut Enchanter's Bane for Tectonic Edge for an extra land as you suggested
Skullclamp is clearly a good card, but I never liked it in Jaya because you don't have much to clamp except for Squee and Kobald tokens. I think there is a case to be made for taking it out, but then you might ba able to put more support for it in to make a stronger card.
I played Neheb, the Eternal in my deck for a bit and while I did get some wins from afflict; he doesn't really have as much of an impact as I'd like in my own list, which is a bit disappointing because he's very good at the helm of a mono red deck. I often found him just getting removed or then small amount of mana I did get wasn't used for anything.
Wow, I never thought about the synergy between Victory Chimes and Mind's Eye . That is definitely worth considering. I do wonder if it's worth the one less Mana and ability to replace itself that Mind Stone gives.
My logic behind Skullclamp was to just attach it to any creature I have for whenever Jaya inevitably blows everything up, though now I'm starting to wonder if something like Cathartic Reunion would be better, though not repeatable.
Regarding Neheb, I really want to like him, but he hasn't actually seen play in enough games for my to really form an opinion.
I'm mixed on Victory Chimes. Synergy with Mind's Eye and Endbringer is nice (though I'm still not convinced I have enough colorless generation to make Endbringer decent), but that's not enough for me on it's own. I should probably give it another look.
I don't think it beats Mind Stone's ability to cycle late, especially with Welder/Daretti in the list. That's proved very useful in the past.
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The three maybe cards are things I'm iffy about. My usual meta is one player that uses either an Abzan +1/+1 counters deck that runs about 10 enchantments, or a Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder deck with very little change from out of the box (I think it just added Maelstrom Wanderer), or a mono-white Soldier tribal deck. The other player runs either a Zur the Enchanter deck, or a Naban, Dean of Iteration wizard tribal.
So I think the Enchanter's Bane might be a good include as a way to deal with their enchantments flying around. I'm already running Torpor Orb to deal with the Naban deck sooo?
Meekstone is also to help against the Wizard deck and the Yidris/Abzan deck, since they are frequently getting to 3+ power and in the case of the wizard deck, tapping frequently. Scrap Mastery is a choice I'm not sure about because I'm the only player running mass artefiact destruction and I'm the only artefact player.
Also what's the opinion on the new Phoenix from the 2019 gift pack? Immortal Phoenix4RR for a flying 5/3 phoenix that when it dies returns to owner's hand.
I have recently been trying Ancient Stone Idol, so far it has been pretty interesting. It closes games out well and stops most attacks, plus abusing it with welder or daretti has been fun. It is hard to tell if it is just a different wurmcoil or not, surviving inferno has popped up before. Also having flash lets me keep up jaya activation or deploy a threat that cant be removed by my wrath which has been very good so far. Finally with either of the lifelink equipment the swing is huge. Definitely better than expected but im not sure how much better it is.
TrippyGame, list looks good to me on the whole. I love seeing Obsidian Fireheart being played - it's a fun card on a couple levels. I'd be a little concerned about Alhammarret's Archive being either overkill or dead. Ignoring the lifegain part, the best case for it is looting/rummaging and you have 4 of those that I count. If you're getting the benefit from a wheel, it's kind of overkill. How has your experience with that been? I'm also interested in whether the +1/+1 counters from Ring of Valkas make enough of a difference to make it better than Swiftfoot Boots at the same CMC and equip cost.
I like Scrap Mastery and Meekstone, meta dependent. Mastery is primarily a rebuilding tool. You have a lot of artifacts that are going to draw removal and dumping all of them back in play at once is a big swing. If your meta is light on artifact hate, it's less necessary. It sounds like the wrath side of it is less helpful, which also means you don't need to worry too much about your opponents getting more benefit from you. Meekstone is great as long as it's shutting down threats. Most of your creatures aren't going to be seriously impacted by it and you have a couple ways to sac it, so I could see it doing work. On Enchanter's Bane, I gave my thoughts on the last page. The short version is that I would think of it as a recurring burn spell the majority of the time.
I've been playing Ancient Stone Idol in another list (Brudiclad) and I've liked it so far. Enormous ambush blocker that can get around pro-red and threat that survives 6 damage are nice here, and I like hearing that someone else is having some success with it.. I'm not sure what the cut for it is in my list. From the list in the second post, Vance's Blasting Cannons has been out for a while. That slot is currently Chandra, Torch of Defiance, mostly because of the SDCC promo. There's a chance I want to cut one of the Moon effects. They frequently hit me harder than my opponents, thanks to playing a number of utility lands in the deck and opponents who run a decent amount of basics/basic land ramp.
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I haven't actually gotten to play Jaya since I started running Alhammarret's Archive so I'm gonna see how it plays out, I'll probably switch it for something like Staff of Nin if I find it's not performing how I'd like. As for the Ring of Valkas, I used to run a fair few more red creatures at 6 toughness, things like Combustible Gearhulk and Inferno Titan, so the ring with one turn would put them out of inferno range. I'm probably going to switch it for the boots soon, especially if I put the Meekstone in.
All fair points. The little nonbos are great things to think about, even if they're probably not going to come up more than once or twice.
Goblin Cratermaker is a solid card. The 2 damage mode is a little small for Jaya but might still help take down a large creature. The removal option is solid. Definitely a decent inclusion if you want to go a little heavier on creatures or already run Goblin Matron. I'm more than a little surprised to see a decent card for mono-R out of a Ravnica set.
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I can say I have found Alhammarret's Archive to be one of the best cards in the deck if not The Best. Even when benefiting from a wheel effect and drawing 14 I am happy.
I've really been disapointed by Torch of Defiance but its just such a flavor win. I'll likely be cutting it for baby Karn if I can get my hands on one.
Still musing running Apex of Power over Commune with Lava It's Sorcery speed which obviously isn't great but the refund is huge.
Thoughts on Karn, Scion of Urza?
I've been enjoying Stolen Strategy but I think it's likely going to get the axe.
I think it's going to be correct for me to put Past in Flames back into the list but I haven't really been missing it...
Edit:
@Weebo - I have liked the rummaging effects. While there isn't a tone of graveyard interaction there is some game there and the fact that they can generate huge card advantage off goggles / archive / filped amulet has had a really large impact in every game. I also find that the deck just has a few card effects which are must hits once in a game. I find the games I see an All is Dust / Ugin / or Blasphemous Act I have a much larger win percentage. While a swan song on a cathartic reunion makes you scoop, I've really come to like them and believe they are the best way for us to bring some level of card velocity and consistency to our game.
UBRNicol Bolas, the RavagerUBR
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage R
2DH / Budget Commanders:
WMangara of Corondor 2DHW
BRXantcha, Sleeper Agent 2DHBR
UBRNicol Bolas, the RavagerUBR
R Jaya Ballard, Task Mage R
2DH / Budget Commanders:
WMangara of Corondor 2DHW
BRXantcha, Sleeper Agent 2DHBR
Thoughts on C18:
Red
What does everyone else think about the set? Anything I'm missing or misevaluating?
I dismissed Reality Scramble but you make a really good argument on it and I am now excited to hit lands with it and see what happens. More often it seems good.
As for Directive and nabber, I am so unsure on them. I love the idea of nabber but I don't feel the deck is really built to utilize all that extra mana that fast.
Directive is a bit weird, even on a miss you put them in the grave but figuring out how high to go with it is difficult. I think 5 is the sweet spot, but then is it worth 8 mana is my worry. Improvise definately helps so im looking forward to trying it.
Entirely independent of that, I managed to pick up one of the SDCC 2018 sets when they went online, so I may stick Chandra, Torch of Defiance in the deck for a bit. I'm not sure that's the best card for the slot, but it's certainly one of the most attractive. I like the idea of finding space for Ensnaring Bridge (again? not sure anymore) too, given the planeswalker density in the list.
I love the idea of Chandra, I was running the previous SDCC Chandra for a while with the bridge as well as I had Rowan Kenrith too to try out. Unfortunately Chandra just feels very slow and awkward to plus. The deck has such a high curve she often shocked and died or gave a bit of mana. That new art though is gorgeous and I am waiting to upgrade my previous one for a newer one as I couldn't order the set myself.
Rowan also felt lackluster if you couldn't ult, however she is much easier to protect before the ult as well as provides more utility than mana or single removal.
Right now I'm struggling to close out games, recent sets have given red so much "card advantage" that draw is no longer an issue even if it is expensive which is another reason I dislike Chandra. There are better options now oddly.
I was referred here by a thread I made on Reddit asking for help making a Jaya deck. The thread as a whole has been a huge help, and has really steered my deck in a direction I'm happy with. I haven't had a chance to try the deck out yet but I do have a list I'm happy with, so I'd love it if anyone could take a look and let me know what they think!
1 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Creature
1 Goblin Welder
1 Goblin Engineer
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Dire Fleet Daredevil
1 Anger
1 Magma Phoenix
1 Godo, Bandit Warlord
1 Skarrgan Firebird
1 Magus of the Wheel
1 Treasure Nabber
1 Kumano, Master Yamabushi
1 Hoarding Dragon
Enchantment
1 Repercussion
1 Braid of Fire
1 Gratuitous Violence
1 Experimental Frenzy
1 Tectonic Reformation
Land
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Kher Keep
1 Wasteland
1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
1 Inventors' Fair
1 Buried Ruin
1 Terrain Generator
1 Command Beacon
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Thespian's Stage
25 Mountain
1 Akroma's Memorial
1 Coercive Portal
1 Caged Sun
1 Expedition Map
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Thaumatic Compass
1 Memory Jar
1 Staff of Nin
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
1 Sol Ring
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Mox Amber
1 Darksteel Plate
1 Mind's Eye
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Endless Atlas
1 Sword of Sinew and Steel
1 Deal Broker
1 Steel Hellkite
Instant
1 Reverberate
1 Wild Ricochet
1 Commune with Lava
1 Price of Progress
1 Chaos Warp
1 Comet Storm
1 Wild Guess
1 Magmatic Insight
1 Vandalblast
1 By Force
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Past in Flames
1 Reforge the Soul
1 Tormenting Voice
1 Gamble
1 All is Dust
1 Faithless Looting
1 Light Up the Stage
Planeswalker
1 Chandra Ablaze
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Daretti, Scrap Savant
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
1 Ugin, the Ineffable
This is mostly using cards I already own, plus a few others I was able to pick up for cheap. There are some expensive cards I cut out because I don't own them (Rings of Brighthearth, Karn Liberated), or because I just don't like how they fit (Batterskull, Gauntlet of Power).
On the other hand, there are some cards in there that I'm either using because they are expensive/foil and I happen to own them (Dark Depths, Braid of Fire) or I'm excited to finally find a deck they sort-of fit in (Wild Ricochet, Chandra, Torch of Defiance).
The only card I'm questioning is Basalt Monolith. It's basically a battery, and I'm not sure how well you're making use of that. Welder/Daretti/Braid up the utility, but you're otherwise playing it as a fair card and it's not all that good in that sense. You might consider Worn Powerstone or Thran Dynamo over that, unless you have a particular use in mind for it. You also feel slightly light on lands with 35 mana producing + Sol Ring. Overall you're built to be a little more explosive than my list, which is on the grindier side, and that's going to color my feedback on it.
Aside from that, I'm mostly interested in hearing how a few cards play for you.
Thanks for posting the list!
I didn't get a chance to try the deck out just yet but I should be able to this Wednesday; I'm excited to give it a shot. Your mention of Enchanter's Bane actually reminds me of something I wanted to bring up to the group as a whole: Auras. During my initial testing of the deck, cards like Darksteel Mutation basically shuts Jaya down entirely. Red has very little ways to deal with enchantments, and turning Jaya into an indestructible 0/1 makes it even harder to come back from. My meta LOVES pseudo-removal like this. Has anyone found out good ways to deal with this type of effect?
Easiest way to deal with effects like Darksteel Mutation is sac outlets. Jaya already doesn't have much of a life expectancy so killing her yourself isn't much of a problem. If you're expecting that kind of aura, utility lands like High Market are definitely worth a look. The ones that turn permanents into lands, Imprisoned in the Moon and Song of the Dryads, are a little tougher. You're basically relying on Wasteland or Chaos Warp to deal with those right now. I'd actually consider cutting a mountain for another Wasteland effect - Strip Mine is obviously the best one, but I've had a lot of success with Tectonic Edge in EDH as well. Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin are probably the worst because they put you behind the table on lands, with all of the others falling somewhere in the middle. Deep Freeze and Lignify are a little easier to deal with - just put Jaya in harm's way or wait for a wrath to hit if you can't find a way to sac her. For Mutation, remember that it turns the enchanted creature into an artifact, so Welder and Daretti are both additional outs. Swords of Fire and Ice or War and Peace are also a nice answer to those if you ever add them to the deck and happen to get hit by the right colors.
I don't have a Strip Mine but I'm pretty sure I have a Tectonic Edge laying around somewhere. I may cut Enchanter's Bane for Tectonic Edge for an extra land as you suggested
Skullclamp is clearly a good card, but I never liked it in Jaya because you don't have much to clamp except for Squee and Kobald tokens. I think there is a case to be made for taking it out, but then you might ba able to put more support for it in to make a stronger card.
I played Neheb, the Eternal in my deck for a bit and while I did get some wins from afflict; he doesn't really have as much of an impact as I'd like in my own list, which is a bit disappointing because he's very good at the helm of a mono red deck. I often found him just getting removed or then small amount of mana I did get wasn't used for anything.
My logic behind Skullclamp was to just attach it to any creature I have for whenever Jaya inevitably blows everything up, though now I'm starting to wonder if something like Cathartic Reunion would be better, though not repeatable.
Regarding Neheb, I really want to like him, but he hasn't actually seen play in enough games for my to really form an opinion.
Budget Modern: GStompyG | R8-WhackR
I don't think it beats Mind Stone's ability to cycle late, especially with Welder/Daretti in the list. That's proved very useful in the past.
1x Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Lands // 36
1x Arcane Lighthouse
1x Arid Mesa
1x Buried Ruin
1x Command Beacon
1x Darksteel Citadel
1x Flamekin Village
1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
1x Great Furnace
1x Inventors' Fair
1x Mirrorpool
20x Mountain
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Scavenger Grounds
1x Shivan Gorge
1x Terrain Generator
1x Thespian's Stage
1x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Creatures // 13
1x Anger
1x Darksteel Colossus
1x Firewing Phoenix
1x Goblin Welder
1x Hazoret the Fervent
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
1x Kumano, Master Yamabushi
1x Magma Phoenix
1x Magmatic Force
1x Obsidian Fireheart
1x Runehorn Hellkite
1x Steel Hellkite
1x Stuffy Doll
1x Chandra Ablaze
1x Daretti, Scrap Savant
1x Jaya Ballard
1x Koth of the Hammer
1x Rowan Kenrith
1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Artifacts // 28
1x Alhammarret's Archive
1x Armillary Sphere
1x Basilisk Collar
1x Bonehoard
1x Caged Sun
1x Crawlspace
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Darksteel Plate
1x Endless Atlas
1x Expedition Map
1x Gauntlet of Power
1x Ghirapur Orrery
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Loxodon Warhammer
1x Mind Stone
1x Mirage Mirror
1x Nevinyrral's Disk
1x Pyromancer's Goggles
1x Ring of Valkas
1x Rings of Brighthearth
1x Ruby Medallion
1x Sculpting Steel
1x Sol Ring
1x Spine of Ish Sah
1x Thousand-Year Elixir
1x Thran Dynamo
1x Torpor Orb
1x Vedalken Orrery
1x Chaos Warp
1x Comet Storm
1x Reiterate
1x Reverberate
1x Urza's Rage
Sorceries // 9
1x Blasphemous Act
1x Fiery Confluence
1x Jaya's Immolating Inferno
1x Khorvath's Fury
1x Mizzium Mortars
1x Reforge the Soul
1x Tormenting Voice
1x Trash for Treasure
1x Vandalblast
Enchantments // 2
1x Gratuitous Violence
1x Repercussion
Maybe // 3
1x Enchanter's Bane
1x Meekstone
1x Scrap Mastery
The three maybe cards are things I'm iffy about. My usual meta is one player that uses either an Abzan +1/+1 counters deck that runs about 10 enchantments, or a Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder deck with very little change from out of the box (I think it just added Maelstrom Wanderer), or a mono-white Soldier tribal deck. The other player runs either a Zur the Enchanter deck, or a Naban, Dean of Iteration wizard tribal.
So I think the Enchanter's Bane might be a good include as a way to deal with their enchantments flying around. I'm already running Torpor Orb to deal with the Naban deck sooo?
Meekstone is also to help against the Wizard deck and the Yidris/Abzan deck, since they are frequently getting to 3+ power and in the case of the wizard deck, tapping frequently. Scrap Mastery is a choice I'm not sure about because I'm the only player running mass artefiact destruction and I'm the only artefact player.
Also what's the opinion on the new Phoenix from the 2019 gift pack? Immortal Phoenix 4RR for a flying 5/3 phoenix that when it dies returns to owner's hand.
I like Scrap Mastery and Meekstone, meta dependent. Mastery is primarily a rebuilding tool. You have a lot of artifacts that are going to draw removal and dumping all of them back in play at once is a big swing. If your meta is light on artifact hate, it's less necessary. It sounds like the wrath side of it is less helpful, which also means you don't need to worry too much about your opponents getting more benefit from you. Meekstone is great as long as it's shutting down threats. Most of your creatures aren't going to be seriously impacted by it and you have a couple ways to sac it, so I could see it doing work. On Enchanter's Bane, I gave my thoughts on the last page. The short version is that I would think of it as a recurring burn spell the majority of the time.
I've been playing Ancient Stone Idol in another list (Brudiclad) and I've liked it so far. Enormous ambush blocker that can get around pro-red and threat that survives 6 damage are nice here, and I like hearing that someone else is having some success with it.. I'm not sure what the cut for it is in my list. From the list in the second post, Vance's Blasting Cannons has been out for a while. That slot is currently Chandra, Torch of Defiance, mostly because of the SDCC promo. There's a chance I want to cut one of the Moon effects. They frequently hit me harder than my opponents, thanks to playing a number of utility lands in the deck and opponents who run a decent amount of basics/basic land ramp.
Goblin Cratermaker is a solid card. The 2 damage mode is a little small for Jaya but might still help take down a large creature. The removal option is solid. Definitely a decent inclusion if you want to go a little heavier on creatures or already run Goblin Matron. I'm more than a little surprised to see a decent card for mono-R out of a Ravnica set.
I've really been disapointed by Torch of Defiance but its just such a flavor win. I'll likely be cutting it for baby Karn if I can get my hands on one.
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