Quick update for anyone interested. went 4-0 last Saturday with Jeskai Stoneblade beating G Tron, Grixis Control, Burn, and GB Elves. Here's the list I ran which felt really good, however I almost feel there should either be a 24th land or more cantrips. Not sure which. Tell me what you think!
Note: The Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer was in the SB mostly for fun. If I went to a bigger tournament then it would be replaced with something else.
I would definitely say to go with an additional land. You could just play the deck at 61 cards and simply add another land. With that curve I would definitely want 24 lands. I actually play most of my decks at 61 cards. If you are worried about flooding you could add a copy of fiery islet giving you an additional land and also a draw outlet later in games.
@Curdbros how do you like going 61 cards? ive been really thinking about doing it but its "frowned upon" by pros so ive kind of been putting it off. They say it really messes with consistency. But i honestly feel it depends on what that 61st card (which could be any card depending on how you look at it lol).
@mandoplhin congrats!! I was surprised to see no force of negation in your main deck! What was you reasoning behind this? and what decks do you bring it in against? Also after playing with Mu, how do you think she performs? Would you consider here for a competitive event ever?
Also new set is looking F***ING sick. the art is so so good and completely blows my preconceived notion and opinions out of the water. I am so happy to have been proven wrong about this set too. i hope we get something nice in our colors.
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Modern RUAffinityUR GMono Green StompyG CEldrazi TronC URWJeskai GeistWRU WRBoros BurnRW BRWMardu PyromancerWRB
The Royal Scions looks amazing for our deck!!!! I am super excited to try this. It's amazing with prowess creatures, with Geist, and with delver. I am super excited. Get your playset quick because this card wills skyrocket.
@Curdbros how do you like going 61 cards? ive been really thinking about doing it but its "frowned upon" by pros so ive kind of been putting it off. They say it really messes with consistency. But i honestly feel it depends on what that 61st card (which could be any card depending on how you look at it lol).
@mandoplhin congrats!! I was surprised to see no force of negation in your main deck! What was you reasoning behind this? and what decks do you bring it in against? Also after playing with Mu, how do you think she performs? Would you consider here for a competitive event ever?
Also new set is looking F***ING sick. the art is so so good and completely blows my preconceived notion and opinions out of the water. I am so happy to have been proven wrong about this set too. i hope we get something nice in our colors.
I know that pros poo poo the 61 card deck, but statistically it doesn't mess up the consistency in any noticeable way. It simply gives you very slightly higher odds to draw a land. I play nearly all of my decks at 61 cards only because I am always between 18 and 19 lands.
I totally agree ccc1522. This set looks sick. I really love what they are doing. They are really trying some new stuff in terms of gameplay and it looks really cool. Have to evolve or die. I don't mind a slight power creep because if the game remained the same forever it would get boring very fast after 20+ years.
I was just about to post about it!! it should be really good I think.
I have been generally against PW as of late bc they have been so so pushed but its hard not to be excited about them when they are playable in your fav deck lol. I would still prefer PW's didnt get pushed bc then the game will eventually be about them only and who jams them first. Also, it seems oathbreaker and historic may be getting pushed a little more so that Arena can be their #1 product. i hope thats not the case and the pessimist in me has already been proven wrong on multiple occasions.
on the scions tho. Giving a snapcaster +2, trample and first strike.. I will take that any day of the week.
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royal scions
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Modern RUAffinityUR GMono Green StompyG CEldrazi TronC URWJeskai GeistWRU WRBoros BurnRW BRWMardu PyromancerWRB
Royal Scions might be in contention to replace my Knight-Errant. Still forces Geist through and makes my Angels, Snaps etc hit harder, but the first + also helps me with consistency. It also comes down turn 3 vs turn 4.
I would definitely say to go with an additional land. You could just play the deck at 61 cards and simply add another land. With that curve I would definitely want 24 lands. I actually play most of my decks at 61 cards. If you are worried about flooding you could add a copy of fiery islet giving you an additional land and also a draw outlet later in games.
I think that's what I'm leaning towards is the 24th lands. Not so sure about the 61 card deck as I've been a firm believer in trimming as much fat as possible. Fiery Islet was exactly what I was thinking of running, great idea!
@Curdbros how do you like going 61 cards? ive been really thinking about doing it but its "frowned upon" by pros so ive kind of been putting it off. They say it really messes with consistency. But i honestly feel it depends on what that 61st card (which could be any card depending on how you look at it lol).
@mandoplhin congrats!! I was surprised to see no force of negation in your main deck! What was you reasoning behind this? and what decks do you bring it in against? Also after playing with Mu, how do you think she performs? Would you consider here for a competitive event ever?
Also new set is looking F***ING sick. the art is so so good and completely blows my preconceived notion and opinions out of the water. I am so happy to have been proven wrong about this set too. i hope we get something nice in our colors.
Force of Negation comes in against unfair decks such as Storm or even G Tron if I have enough cards to take out. I also bring it in against control if, again, there are enough dead cards that I feel it can better replace. As for Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer she was fine, but after the reveal of The Royal Scions I believe it's probably a better fit in this slot.
Just from my experience, SFM works in a Delver shell, but only as a supplément. The card plays way more like a midrange card than a tempo card, so you can’t go all in on it, but it provides a seriously powerful angle of attack the deck lacked previously. For instances of awkwardness, playing SFM T2 and then essentially skipping your third turn to play Batterkkull happens plenty of the time, and sometimes all together because you don’t have a FoN, you had to Mana Leak a play instead, etc. Missing that much early tempo can be super destructive to the Delver plan. So I play three and I’d be surprised if the deck wanted to play 4. Often times it’s correct to play a different threat first (if you have that luxury) and treat SFM as a plan "B" if the tempo plan didn’t work out for whatever reason. That said, I think Jeskai Delver with SFM is the best the deck has ever been, and I’ve played every possible Delver variant for years, mired in the deck’s natural disadvantages in a degenerate Modern format (from RUG to UR, etc). Simply having the CA from SFM and obviously undercosted threat in BSkull is pretty sick. My latest 5-0 list is the truth. Try it out!
Hi Chaughey, your list looks very good.
One question though: Can it win against Titanshift? With big mana decks on the rise I'd probably change the 2 Geist in the SB for 2 Disdainful Stroke. Geist seems a bit much with all the other CMC3 cards (I am counting Snappy and YP here) and only 18 lands.
Titanshift is extremely beatable, esp if you want to go up on the DStrokes. The sideboard really can be changed for whatever you want, I just run mine around the MTGO meta. And while I run two Dstrokes already in the board, you could certainly go up if you really want to smash them. But the combination of FoN/Dovin’s Veto for the Scapeshift or TtB, Mana Leak/DStroke for Titan, and something invincible to Lightning Bolt like Geist wrecks them. In fact, their best card against us, and the easiest way to lose is if they play an early Sakura-Tribe Elder because it can slow your early aggression down too much, is tough to counter, and bad to use removal on. Without an unflipped Delver it’s a sadly potent blocker.
So in its current congif, the list is slightly favored against TShift considering my current sideboard, and you can make it downright impossible to lose depending on how hard you want to kick them w/your sideboard. While you can lose any game to anyone, if they don’t resolve the two big ones, they very rarely will beat you (though Geist avoiding VKut pings in those horrible games that do go on for years and their plan is to Mountain you to death one turn at a time is another lil’ advantage. And for full disclosure, the random game you lose most often post-board is when they resolve a Baloth—-sometimes a 4/4 who slows you down a full turn with its life-gain is unbeatable, or forces something bad like Pathing them closer to Titan/Shift.)
I wish I could play Geist main!
Also, while I understand the logic, I don’t count Peezy-dog as a 3-drop. I think it’s unrealistic to hold onto your dudes in Delver "for value", my personal philosophy is you need to play your dudes for tempo. Make them have it! Given the speed and general degeneracy of Modern, waiting until T3, or *shudder* whenever you hit a third land, to start playing YP in fear of removal, etc, is likely playing into every other deck’s game plan. Snaps on the other hand is deffo a three drop. But with the ten cantrips, the 18 lands is not bad at all. I flood more than anything.
For what it’s worth, Damping Sphere is the worst card in my board. I gotta figure something else out there but Storm/Amulet/Tron are all over the place online too (mostly Tron). In fact, to give my sideboard some context, my most common opponents are: Burn, Tron, Titanshift, UWx Control, Stoneblade variants, Whirza, Wx creature decks (from the green ones to vial-y Flickerwispy ones), Humans and Jund. So of course change as you see fit.
Titanshift is extremely beatable, esp if you want to go up on the DStrokes. The sideboard really can be changed for whatever you want, I just run mine around the MTGO meta. And while I run two Dstrokes already in the board, you could certainly go up if you really want to smash them. But the combination of FoN/Dovin’s Veto for the Scapeshift or TtB, Mana Leak/DStroke for Titan, and something invincible to Lightning Bolt like Geist wrecks them. In fact, their best card against us, and the easiest way to lose is if they play an early Sakura-Tribe Elder because it can slow your early aggression down too much, is tough to counter, and bad to use removal on. Without an unflipped Delver it’s a sadly potent blocker.
So in its current congif, the list is slightly favored against TShift considering my current sideboard, and you can make it downright impossible to lose depending on how hard you want to kick them w/your sideboard. While you can lose any game to anyone, if they don’t resolve the two big ones, they very rarely will beat you (though Geist avoiding VKut pings in those horrible games that do go on for years and their plan is to Mountain you to death one turn at a time is another lil’ advantage. And for full disclosure, the random game you lose most often post-board is when they resolve a Baloth—-sometimes a 4/4 who slows you down a full turn with its life-gain is unbeatable, or forces something bad like Pathing them closer to Titan/Shift.)
I wish I could play Geist main!
Also, while I understand the logic, I don’t count Peezy-dog as a 3-drop. I think it’s unrealistic to hold onto your dudes in Delver "for value", my personal philosophy is you need to play your dudes for tempo. Make them have it! Given the speed and general degeneracy of Modern, waiting until T3, or *shudder* whenever you hit a third land, to start playing YP in fear of removal, etc, is likely playing into every other deck’s game plan. Snaps on the other hand is deffo a three drop. But with the ten cantrips, the 18 lands is not bad at all. I flood more than anything.
For what it’s worth, Damping Sphere is the worst card in my board. I gotta figure something else out there but Storm/Amulet/Tron are all over the place online too (mostly Tron). In fact, to give my sideboard some context, my most common opponents are: Burn, Tron, Titanshift, UWx Control, Stoneblade variants, Whirza, Wx creature decks (from the green ones to vial-y Flickerwispy ones), Humans and Jund. So of course change as you see fit.
It's great to hear from you Chaughey! It's always super helpful to hear from the players that are putting up great results like yourself. Congrats on the 5-0 and I have to say thank you for putting jeskai delver on the map again.
Your list is awesome. I do agree that the online meta is slightly different than what you will see at most local games stores so there are a few differences. I am also very interested in your preference for Young Pyromancer. I haven't played the card in a little while because I currently play a very aggressive version of the deck. I always found two drops to be very tough to play for my personal playstyle, however, that has likely changed now that FON exists. I always wanted to have Remand, Spell Snare, Spell Pierce, and/or removal on turn 2 after playing a delver (or in my case a swiftspear). I assume the advent of FON changes things a lot though. I agree with your "make them have it line". I think a lot of delver players have a tough time with that and play a little to tentatively. In my opinion, the delver deck really only functions extremely well when we are on the front foot and the opponent is on their heals.
I have never been a fan of damping sphere either. It just seemed to slow for the deck. With the SFM plan though it may be just fine. You probably have a very good Tron, Amulet, Valakut matchup with mutiple copies of Disdainful Stroke as well as sphere in your board along with the usual suspects like stony silence, etc. Your board definitely shows a preference towards MTGO and that is brilliant. In a "GP meta" would you cut the timely and additional copies of geist and helix for more "hateful" cards or would you keep it the same?
I don't want to ask you too much, but I am also interested in how Arcmage's Charm has performed for you? It's a card that is really tough to evaluate properly without playing it so I would love to hear someones thoughts who has played it a lot. Would it be something you would recommend outside of MTGO as well?
I am really excited to have you posting on here and posting a stoneblade list. I haven't personally taken the plunge into SFM yet for my go to delver deck, but I have built a back up jeskai delver SFM deck that I run also. It's is very similar to yours. Thanks for posting and welcome to the jeskai delver forum!
Meanwhile I still am enjoying my unfair deck on MTGO
I played Jeskai CopyCat for a few weeks now, first I also added Narset + Puzzle Box and a few day ago I added the SFM package since it's still affordable online and I wanted to try it.
Atm my list looks like this:
And here are my results from last week:
A 16-2 record isn't too bad right?
What I found interesting though is that seven opponents scooped after the first game. Why do people get so salty when they loose to a combo? When I was playing fair Jeskai Delver I always had to win at least two games to win a match. This is a new experience for me but I am still enjoying the deck a lot.
I love the Copy Cat list, it reminds me of the old TwinBlade lists from forever ago (probably my favorite deck of all time). Were those League results or Two-Mans? I find opponents in the 2queues quit waaaaay easier, which might explain the unusual amount of scoopage. I can’t remember the last time someone quit a match on me in a League.
@Curdbros—thanks!
1. YP (and SFM) are great because of FoN. I used to play 4x Spell Pierce and am a fanatic for the card, but while SP can sometimes have been the better choice, more often than not FoN obsoletes it, I think. At least for us. Free is cheaper than 1 and we’re a tempo deck! Not to mention bonking a Karn at 9 mana, etc. YP isn’t without disadvantage (mainly that he dies to a light breeze and can be prevented from attacking which is obviously bad), but he’s also invaluable in letting you manage board states with creature combat (while Delver flies over), as well as being a serviceable aggro threat more often than not. And I think it’s pretty close to a better follow-up threat to Delver than SFM because of the raw damage potential. I’ve tried a lot of things in the YP slot, from Taylor Swiftspear to Brineborne and even the stupid Elemental hasty dude that just came out (Like a 2/2 haste with flying for UR? Blanking on the name because it was terrible). Peezy is just the bee’s kneezy compared to the other options we have, again, esp with FoN. Not for nothing, the spread is also a unique angle for Delver that can help ease the burden against removal in a way no other cheap dude can in our archetype (ironic, given how easily he dies, but the tokens can matter!) And I tend to play extremely aggressive, so I think you’ll find he fits your preferences a little better these days.
2. As for the SB, the only "necessary" cards in my opinion are Abrade in some # (at least two) and the Dovin’s Vetos. I don’t see either of those leaving my board for a long time due to their flexibility and number of different matches they help solve. Everything else is up to preference, though I’d advise against getting too hateful, as Delver tends to be a 45-50% in most matchups, and "hating" can be tricky, when mostly you just need supplemental help to push any given matchup over the edge, if that makes sense. Sometimes hate is appropriate, don’t get me wrong, I just think the deck generally appreciates flexibility more.
3. As for my dearly beloved Archie, I think the card was great before SFM was brought back into the format, as it gave you the "top end" play of CA or stealing a Champ/Giver, being dirty with Snaps, etc. But with the introduction of SFM I think you have to choose which mana intensive cards you want, and the Kor wins for me pretty easily. Mana Leak is a fine replacement. I sort of miss Cryptic from my previous list too, but I’ve cut from 20-to-18 lands so it’s now unrealistic. My fat is now occupied by SFM/SoFI/BSkull. For what it’s worth, Archie is still the nut in straight UR.
I totally agree Chaughey about playing aggressively. I much prefer a 18-19 land list that plays aggressively. I really think FON will have a much larger affect on modern than most people think right now. When it was spoiled I bought two playsets immediately because it is so perfect for our deck.
I too have tinkered a lot. Did you every try Stormchaser Mage? I thought it was going to be awesome and it just wasn't. I will have to give Peezy a try again. I was a huge fan of spell pierce in the past so I never really played peezy, but I need to let my prior feelings not cloud my judgement :). I am also really interested to see what the new flash faerie would do in play. The one that gets a +1/+1 counter for the second card drawn each turn. *EDIT*- It's called Faerie Vandal. I think it could actually play much better than it sounds. Also speaking of the new set, I have been testing with The Royal Scions and it has been nothing short of awesome in practice so I am definitely going to run at least one main and might have 2 or one in the board.
Have you changed your list since the 5-0 finish? If so, what did you change?
Ah yes, Stormchaser too! I forgot about that one. He was a little too inconsistent for us, I think. Comparing how his prowess gets blown out by a block/removal while Peezy tokens sticks around makes all the difference.
And I haven’t changed a card! I think the main deck is extremely tight right now, the only flex spot being the singleton Lightning Helix and debatably the Sleights, though they’re extremely important for maintaining consistent land drops/Peez/FoN. You could theoretically try something like Spell Snare in the Sleight spot, but I personally find the card underwhelming.
What I’m still searching for is a reasonable way to beat Eldrazi-Tron, which in my opinion is the deck’s worst matchup. I’ve gone 4-1 in my last two leagues, losing both to E-Tron. TKS is so absurdly good against us, since they have a lot of death-knells for us anyways (Chalice and Ballista, for instance) and it usually rips the Path/etc you were hoping would save you. It’s a tough match that maybe we just need to dodge (though a T1 Delver and no Chalice on their end usually ends in our favor), but I’d love to come up with something more coherent than "get lucky". Even cards like DStroke for TKS are too often shut down by something like Cavern.
Ah yes, Stormchaser too! I forgot about that one. He was a little too inconsistent for us, I think. Comparing how his prowess gets blown out by a block/removal while Peezy tokens sticks around makes all the difference.
And I haven’t changed a card! I think the main deck is extremely tight right now, the only flex spot being the singleton Lightning Helix and debatably the Sleights, though they’re extremely important for maintaining consistent land drops/Peez/FoN. You could theoretically try something like Spell Snare in the Sleight spot, but I personally find the card underwhelming.
What I’m still searching for is a reasonable way to beat Eldrazi-Tron, which in my opinion is the deck’s worst matchup. I’ve gone 4-1 in my last two leagues, losing both to E-Tron. TKS is so absurdly good against us, since they have a lot of death-knells for us anyways (Chalice and Ballista, for instance) and it usually rips the Path/etc you were hoping would save you. It’s a tough match that maybe we just need to dodge (though a T1 Delver and no Chalice on their end usually ends in our favor), but I’d love to come up with something more coherent than "get lucky". Even cards like DStroke for TKS are too often shut down by something like Cavern.
I agree that Eldrazi-Tron is likely the worst matchup for our deck (disregarding crazy things like weird martyr proc variants and stuff). A card that I personally love that I never remove from my deck is Echoing Truth. I always try to talk people into playing a one of echoing truth in their delver decks. It has won me so many games and got my out of some tight spots spots. I have bounced two Reality Smashers, have bounced many chalices on 1 to empty my hand, have bounced Ensnaring bridge for a lethal attack, bounced planeswalkers, blood moons, you name it. I have also bounced an entire army of Lingering Souls tokens to attack for the win. It is a surprisingly versatile card.
Another card that I side in against Eldrazi tron is a card that people either seem to love or hate- Deflecing Palm. I'm in the love category. However, I do play an aggressive list and don't play against any pros. I think palm is great, but the best players can play around it a bit if they have the patience and the option to play around it. I still think it's worth testing because at its worst it's often a psuedo Lightning Helix and it hits a lot of MTGO machups like burn, eldrazi, tron, batterskull (SFM decks), and titanshift. I can't add much more personal opinions on the matchup beyond the obvious stuff you talked about like Ceremonious Rejection, Disdainful Stroke, etc. Obviously these are all just suggestions for things outside the box. We like to throw around ideas on here in the hopes to spark something that can help each other's decks.
I have also never been a fan of Spell Snare. It just always seems to be a dead card in some games and it just irks me. With Wren and Six and SFM everywhere along with the soulherder deck I have definitely warmed to spell snare lately. Snare is probably better positioned in modern right now than it has ever been before. With that said, jeskai has access to ample creature removal and counter magic so I don't feel snare is as necessary for us as it is for UW decks. It's still a great option right now, but I don't think it's a must have like FON.
On another note here are my random thoughts for the week. With the new Soulherder deck popping up everywhere it has made me add Izzet Staticaster back into my sideboard. I played against it tonight and staticaster was a house. Also with Whirza around and chalices in some matchups I put a copy of Shattering Spree back into my board in the final open slot. For it to be good it does require a somewhat heavy red mana base so I will see if it is worth the slot.
Glad to see the forum topic is going so well lately. It's a great time to be a jeskai player in modern.
You made me laugh at Martyr-Proc, correction, THAT’S our worst matchup. Thank goodness it’s a tier below even our deck (in terms of popularity).
And I hadn’t thought about Echoing Truth, but I love the suggestion. I’ve not been in love with the Wear//Tear on board and will give the TRUTH a go. Specifically in situations like Welding Jar and the like out of Whirza making my hate look silly. I also like your Staticaster suggestion, specifically in reference to the Herd. While a pile of removal backed by pressure is usually good enough, sometimes that value-train starts chugging along a little too hard without something repeatable. And of course their deck is X/1s.
And I wish you could Deflecting Palm a Karn trigger, because I’d be willing to cut those Sphere’s for it...
Thanks for the conversation! I agree it’s a great time to be a UWR player. And maybe one of the best times since the format started to play Delver (excluding the Treasure Cruise era lists, which were clearly powered by broken cards, I look back at those Romao-era RUG lists and chuckle. Thems were simpler times...).
You made me laugh at Martyr-Proc, correction, THAT’S our worst matchup. Thank goodness it’s a tier below even our deck (in terms of popularity).
And I hadn’t thought about Echoing Truth, but I love the suggestion. I’ve not been in love with the Wear//Tear on board and will give the TRUTH a go. Specifically in situations like Welding Jar and the like out of Whirza making my hate look silly. I also like your Staticaster suggestion, specifically in reference to the Herd. While a pile of removal backed by pressure is usually good enough, sometimes that value-train starts chugging along a little too hard without something repeatable. And of course their deck is X/1s.
And I wish you could Deflecting Palm a Karn trigger, because I’d be willing to cut those Sphere’s for it...
Thanks for the conversation! I agree it’s a great time to be a UWR player. And maybe one of the best times since the format started to play Delver (excluding the Treasure Cruise era lists, which were clearly powered by broken cards, I look back at those Romao-era RUG lists and chuckle. Thems were simpler times...).
I have nightmares of a battlefield full of Martyr of Sands :). I can safetly say I haven't played against that deck in over a year though so I haven't transformed my sideboard to beat it.
I really miss the Treasure Cruise days. It was our hayday even though it went so fast. I'm hoping they make one of those storybook cards on a Red or Blue creature that has a draw spell attached to it in Throne of Eldraine.
Maybe this is a good tool for the E-tron match up.
Question is, when TKS takes it away, can it be cast from exile? Or does that only work if you did the adventure ordeal??
From what I understand they can only be cast if you exiled the card yourself, but I am not 100% positive. I am having a really hard time evaluating these adventure cards. They are extremely powerful just by having two spells in one card. I really hope to see a modern playable red or blue one.
Hi, not sure how many readers of this threat are interested in my Jeskai CopyCat deck with SFM but I'm still playing the list I posted above and meanwhile I'm 24-3 on MTGO. This deck is really insane, it feels like it's almost impossible to loose.
I just plaed twice in Two-Player-Queues an won against Jeskai Midrange with Geist & SFM and against Grixis DS.
I love this deck
I started playing a simple copy cat jeskai went 2-1 monday.
Beat storm 2-1, beat aggro element/devils 2-0, lost to titan shift 0-2. Everyone played around Force of negations, which I do not own. I found that I had trouble casting the combo, I always needed to hold up mana to either counter or burn the next thing.
Storm was one of the funner match-ups as the game became more of a do you have it. Lots of decisions to be made, my Opponent confessed to being a poor Storm pilot. G2 T4 He casts 2 goblin electro mages and storm counts to 4, I have Dovin, Hand of Control in play. He chooses not to grapeshot Dovin (he believes he can win next turn). I cast pyroclasm and hold my counter/helix/bolt I have sahilea and feldar in hand. T5 I bolt his Baral. I keep giving him the wrong sides of his Gifts. I jam a Sahelia and counter a few more spells, I Gift him 2 three drops leaving him with 1 blue mana open. I do some quick math (the only card he can have to stop me would have to be a FON, Dovin was still on board) I play Feldar and ask if he has the counter? GG he says. G3 I Narset + Puzzle boxed him, and he concedes.
Elemental/Devils a homebrew I think, R+B aggro that has lots of high damage cheap creatures. G1 he gets stuck on 1 land but spits out a dangerous critters. I spend the next 5 turns burning and countering, until I find a Spreading Seas. I puzzle box + Narset him into conceding. G2 I play a T3 Geist, I take lots of damage but stabilize with helix + Lavamancer.
I had no good answers for TitanShift as the cards were Search not draw. Early lose G1 T4. I set up Sahelia and he mountains her to death, ruining my combo. Game 2 plays out longer as I counter his searches, but he gets his pact out with plenty of mana to pay for it and then shifts his next turn, dropping 36 damage on me.
I retooled my deck/sideboard and added Ashiok + Dovin
Any other advice on Titan shift? T3 Ashiok (to prevent searching) seems too slow.
I hear the meta is mostly tron and Grix Death Shadow.
I am always interested in what you guys are doing and how well it's working for you. That deck sounds like a ton of fun and that records is insane! I can't lie, magic is more fun when you are winning :). It's a fun game all the time, but winning is a nice cherry on top.
I haven't changed anything with my deck. I am testing a copy of The Royal Scions in my build over the next couple of weeks to see how it goes. I do think it will do very well.
SFM definitely changed the meta completely. I believe in a very good way. I am really enjoying playing against all of the value decks and midrange decks. Having a break from tron and graveyard decks makes them way more fun to play against then when you are playing them every single round. I am a little worried that Once upon a time will be push Tron and possibly neoform to crazy levels, but we will have to wait and see. Fortunately those are both good matchups for us.
I have built a jeskai stoneforge deck to play when I don't feel like playing my go to deck. I am just one of those people that likes playing something a little off the beaten path. Winning is super important, but because it's not the main goal for me (I only play on MTGO and locally), I prefer to play the cards that I love (Geist, Delver, Reveler, etc). I wouldn't play something that was just plain bad. Abbot of Keral Keep is my second favorite card, but it just doesn't work for my deck. If you love the Saheeli deck and are winning Stevo that is a great combination!
WickedApp, it's true, the deck is almost as expensive as Jund with the SFM package -_-
However, since the results are so great and since I am really enjoying the deck I bought 3x SFM + Skull + Sword of F&F yesterday
I am really looking forward to play with these cards in paper.
Btw, I love The Royal Scions! I'll definitely build another really aggressive deck with them centered around Geist.
I am very happy with the new Modern!
Wow it's been a while since I've been able to post anything. School has been rough this last week and I barely managed to get out and play last Saturday. Seems like I've got a lot to catch up on from everyone!
@StevomatUWR: Ok, now you've got me excited to want to try CopyCat. I own a playset of Stoneforge Mystics as well as a Batterskull and Sword of Feast and Famine so I've been jamming Jeskai Stoneblade decks. I NEED to give your deck a try because if it's anything like Jeskai Twinblade then I'll be hooked. I also wanted to note that the article you posted got my brewing gears turning once again. Here's the list that I played last weekend to a 3-1 finish. I'll try and type a more accurate report, but that'll come later. Thanks for posting the article SteomatUWR! Really got me thinking how powerful Spell Queller can be with SFM.
I would definitely say to go with an additional land. You could just play the deck at 61 cards and simply add another land. With that curve I would definitely want 24 lands. I actually play most of my decks at 61 cards. If you are worried about flooding you could add a copy of fiery islet giving you an additional land and also a draw outlet later in games.
@mandoplhin congrats!! I was surprised to see no force of negation in your main deck! What was you reasoning behind this? and what decks do you bring it in against? Also after playing with Mu, how do you think she performs? Would you consider here for a competitive event ever?
Also new set is looking F***ING sick. the art is so so good and completely blows my preconceived notion and opinions out of the water. I am so happy to have been proven wrong about this set too. i hope we get something nice in our colors.
RUAffinityUR
GMono Green StompyG
CEldrazi TronC
URWJeskai GeistWRU
WRBoros BurnRW
BRWMardu PyromancerWRB
I know that pros poo poo the 61 card deck, but statistically it doesn't mess up the consistency in any noticeable way. It simply gives you very slightly higher odds to draw a land. I play nearly all of my decks at 61 cards only because I am always between 18 and 19 lands.
I totally agree ccc1522. This set looks sick. I really love what they are doing. They are really trying some new stuff in terms of gameplay and it looks really cool. Have to evolve or die. I don't mind a slight power creep because if the game remained the same forever it would get boring very fast after 20+ years.
I have been generally against PW as of late bc they have been so so pushed but its hard not to be excited about them when they are playable in your fav deck lol. I would still prefer PW's didnt get pushed bc then the game will eventually be about them only and who jams them first. Also, it seems oathbreaker and historic may be getting pushed a little more so that Arena can be their #1 product. i hope thats not the case and the pessimist in me has already been proven wrong on multiple occasions.
on the scions tho. Giving a snapcaster +2, trample and first strike.. I will take that any day of the week.
RUAffinityUR
GMono Green StompyG
CEldrazi TronC
URWJeskai GeistWRU
WRBoros BurnRW
BRWMardu PyromancerWRB
I think that's what I'm leaning towards is the 24th lands. Not so sure about the 61 card deck as I've been a firm believer in trimming as much fat as possible. Fiery Islet was exactly what I was thinking of running, great idea!
Force of Negation comes in against unfair decks such as Storm or even G Tron if I have enough cards to take out. I also bring it in against control if, again, there are enough dead cards that I feel it can better replace. As for Mu Yanling, Sky Dancer she was fine, but after the reveal of The Royal Scions I believe it's probably a better fit in this slot.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-league-2019-09-06#chaughey_-
One question though: Can it win against Titanshift? With big mana decks on the rise I'd probably change the 2 Geist in the SB for 2 Disdainful Stroke. Geist seems a bit much with all the other CMC3 cards (I am counting Snappy and YP here) and only 18 lands.
GreatNate posted something after quite a long time. You can read his article about Jeskai Stoneblade here.
So in its current congif, the list is slightly favored against TShift considering my current sideboard, and you can make it downright impossible to lose depending on how hard you want to kick them w/your sideboard. While you can lose any game to anyone, if they don’t resolve the two big ones, they very rarely will beat you (though Geist avoiding VKut pings in those horrible games that do go on for years and their plan is to Mountain you to death one turn at a time is another lil’ advantage. And for full disclosure, the random game you lose most often post-board is when they resolve a Baloth—-sometimes a 4/4 who slows you down a full turn with its life-gain is unbeatable, or forces something bad like Pathing them closer to Titan/Shift.)
I wish I could play Geist main!
Also, while I understand the logic, I don’t count Peezy-dog as a 3-drop. I think it’s unrealistic to hold onto your dudes in Delver "for value", my personal philosophy is you need to play your dudes for tempo. Make them have it! Given the speed and general degeneracy of Modern, waiting until T3, or *shudder* whenever you hit a third land, to start playing YP in fear of removal, etc, is likely playing into every other deck’s game plan. Snaps on the other hand is deffo a three drop. But with the ten cantrips, the 18 lands is not bad at all. I flood more than anything.
For what it’s worth, Damping Sphere is the worst card in my board. I gotta figure something else out there but Storm/Amulet/Tron are all over the place online too (mostly Tron). In fact, to give my sideboard some context, my most common opponents are: Burn, Tron, Titanshift, UWx Control, Stoneblade variants, Whirza, Wx creature decks (from the green ones to vial-y Flickerwispy ones), Humans and Jund. So of course change as you see fit.
It's great to hear from you Chaughey! It's always super helpful to hear from the players that are putting up great results like yourself. Congrats on the 5-0 and I have to say thank you for putting jeskai delver on the map again.
Your list is awesome. I do agree that the online meta is slightly different than what you will see at most local games stores so there are a few differences. I am also very interested in your preference for Young Pyromancer. I haven't played the card in a little while because I currently play a very aggressive version of the deck. I always found two drops to be very tough to play for my personal playstyle, however, that has likely changed now that FON exists. I always wanted to have Remand, Spell Snare, Spell Pierce, and/or removal on turn 2 after playing a delver (or in my case a swiftspear). I assume the advent of FON changes things a lot though. I agree with your "make them have it line". I think a lot of delver players have a tough time with that and play a little to tentatively. In my opinion, the delver deck really only functions extremely well when we are on the front foot and the opponent is on their heals.
I have never been a fan of damping sphere either. It just seemed to slow for the deck. With the SFM plan though it may be just fine. You probably have a very good Tron, Amulet, Valakut matchup with mutiple copies of Disdainful Stroke as well as sphere in your board along with the usual suspects like stony silence, etc. Your board definitely shows a preference towards MTGO and that is brilliant. In a "GP meta" would you cut the timely and additional copies of geist and helix for more "hateful" cards or would you keep it the same?
I don't want to ask you too much, but I am also interested in how Arcmage's Charm has performed for you? It's a card that is really tough to evaluate properly without playing it so I would love to hear someones thoughts who has played it a lot. Would it be something you would recommend outside of MTGO as well?
I am really excited to have you posting on here and posting a stoneblade list. I haven't personally taken the plunge into SFM yet for my go to delver deck, but I have built a back up jeskai delver SFM deck that I run also. It's is very similar to yours. Thanks for posting and welcome to the jeskai delver forum!
I played Jeskai CopyCat for a few weeks now, first I also added Narset + Puzzle Box and a few day ago I added the SFM package since it's still affordable online and I wanted to try it.
Atm my list looks like this:
And here are my results from last week:
A 16-2 record isn't too bad right?
What I found interesting though is that seven opponents scooped after the first game. Why do people get so salty when they loose to a combo? When I was playing fair Jeskai Delver I always had to win at least two games to win a match. This is a new experience for me but I am still enjoying the deck a lot.
@Curdbros—thanks!
1. YP (and SFM) are great because of FoN. I used to play 4x Spell Pierce and am a fanatic for the card, but while SP can sometimes have been the better choice, more often than not FoN obsoletes it, I think. At least for us. Free is cheaper than 1 and we’re a tempo deck! Not to mention bonking a Karn at 9 mana, etc. YP isn’t without disadvantage (mainly that he dies to a light breeze and can be prevented from attacking which is obviously bad), but he’s also invaluable in letting you manage board states with creature combat (while Delver flies over), as well as being a serviceable aggro threat more often than not. And I think it’s pretty close to a better follow-up threat to Delver than SFM because of the raw damage potential. I’ve tried a lot of things in the YP slot, from Taylor Swiftspear to Brineborne and even the stupid Elemental hasty dude that just came out (Like a 2/2 haste with flying for UR? Blanking on the name because it was terrible). Peezy is just the bee’s kneezy compared to the other options we have, again, esp with FoN. Not for nothing, the spread is also a unique angle for Delver that can help ease the burden against removal in a way no other cheap dude can in our archetype (ironic, given how easily he dies, but the tokens can matter!) And I tend to play extremely aggressive, so I think you’ll find he fits your preferences a little better these days.
2. As for the SB, the only "necessary" cards in my opinion are Abrade in some # (at least two) and the Dovin’s Vetos. I don’t see either of those leaving my board for a long time due to their flexibility and number of different matches they help solve. Everything else is up to preference, though I’d advise against getting too hateful, as Delver tends to be a 45-50% in most matchups, and "hating" can be tricky, when mostly you just need supplemental help to push any given matchup over the edge, if that makes sense. Sometimes hate is appropriate, don’t get me wrong, I just think the deck generally appreciates flexibility more.
3. As for my dearly beloved Archie, I think the card was great before SFM was brought back into the format, as it gave you the "top end" play of CA or stealing a Champ/Giver, being dirty with Snaps, etc. But with the introduction of SFM I think you have to choose which mana intensive cards you want, and the Kor wins for me pretty easily. Mana Leak is a fine replacement. I sort of miss Cryptic from my previous list too, but I’ve cut from 20-to-18 lands so it’s now unrealistic. My fat is now occupied by SFM/SoFI/BSkull. For what it’s worth, Archie is still the nut in straight UR.
I too have tinkered a lot. Did you every try Stormchaser Mage? I thought it was going to be awesome and it just wasn't. I will have to give Peezy a try again. I was a huge fan of spell pierce in the past so I never really played peezy, but I need to let my prior feelings not cloud my judgement :). I am also really interested to see what the new flash faerie would do in play. The one that gets a +1/+1 counter for the second card drawn each turn. *EDIT*- It's called Faerie Vandal. I think it could actually play much better than it sounds. Also speaking of the new set, I have been testing with The Royal Scions and it has been nothing short of awesome in practice so I am definitely going to run at least one main and might have 2 or one in the board.
Have you changed your list since the 5-0 finish? If so, what did you change?
And I haven’t changed a card! I think the main deck is extremely tight right now, the only flex spot being the singleton Lightning Helix and debatably the Sleights, though they’re extremely important for maintaining consistent land drops/Peez/FoN. You could theoretically try something like Spell Snare in the Sleight spot, but I personally find the card underwhelming.
What I’m still searching for is a reasonable way to beat Eldrazi-Tron, which in my opinion is the deck’s worst matchup. I’ve gone 4-1 in my last two leagues, losing both to E-Tron. TKS is so absurdly good against us, since they have a lot of death-knells for us anyways (Chalice and Ballista, for instance) and it usually rips the Path/etc you were hoping would save you. It’s a tough match that maybe we just need to dodge (though a T1 Delver and no Chalice on their end usually ends in our favor), but I’d love to come up with something more coherent than "get lucky". Even cards like DStroke for TKS are too often shut down by something like Cavern.
I agree that Eldrazi-Tron is likely the worst matchup for our deck (disregarding crazy things like weird martyr proc variants and stuff). A card that I personally love that I never remove from my deck is Echoing Truth. I always try to talk people into playing a one of echoing truth in their delver decks. It has won me so many games and got my out of some tight spots spots. I have bounced two Reality Smashers, have bounced many chalices on 1 to empty my hand, have bounced Ensnaring bridge for a lethal attack, bounced planeswalkers, blood moons, you name it. I have also bounced an entire army of Lingering Souls tokens to attack for the win. It is a surprisingly versatile card.
Another card that I side in against Eldrazi tron is a card that people either seem to love or hate- Deflecing Palm. I'm in the love category. However, I do play an aggressive list and don't play against any pros. I think palm is great, but the best players can play around it a bit if they have the patience and the option to play around it. I still think it's worth testing because at its worst it's often a psuedo Lightning Helix and it hits a lot of MTGO machups like burn, eldrazi, tron, batterskull (SFM decks), and titanshift. I can't add much more personal opinions on the matchup beyond the obvious stuff you talked about like Ceremonious Rejection, Disdainful Stroke, etc. Obviously these are all just suggestions for things outside the box. We like to throw around ideas on here in the hopes to spark something that can help each other's decks.
I have also never been a fan of Spell Snare. It just always seems to be a dead card in some games and it just irks me. With Wren and Six and SFM everywhere along with the soulherder deck I have definitely warmed to spell snare lately. Snare is probably better positioned in modern right now than it has ever been before. With that said, jeskai has access to ample creature removal and counter magic so I don't feel snare is as necessary for us as it is for UW decks. It's still a great option right now, but I don't think it's a must have like FON.
On another note here are my random thoughts for the week. With the new Soulherder deck popping up everywhere it has made me add Izzet Staticaster back into my sideboard. I played against it tonight and staticaster was a house. Also with Whirza around and chalices in some matchups I put a copy of Shattering Spree back into my board in the final open slot. For it to be good it does require a somewhat heavy red mana base so I will see if it is worth the slot.
Glad to see the forum topic is going so well lately. It's a great time to be a jeskai player in modern.
And I hadn’t thought about Echoing Truth, but I love the suggestion. I’ve not been in love with the Wear//Tear on board and will give the TRUTH a go. Specifically in situations like Welding Jar and the like out of Whirza making my hate look silly. I also like your Staticaster suggestion, specifically in reference to the Herd. While a pile of removal backed by pressure is usually good enough, sometimes that value-train starts chugging along a little too hard without something repeatable. And of course their deck is X/1s.
And I wish you could Deflecting Palm a Karn trigger, because I’d be willing to cut those Sphere’s for it...
Thanks for the conversation! I agree it’s a great time to be a UWR player. And maybe one of the best times since the format started to play Delver (excluding the Treasure Cruise era lists, which were clearly powered by broken cards, I look back at those Romao-era RUG lists and chuckle. Thems were simpler times...).
I have nightmares of a battlefield full of Martyr of Sands :). I can safetly say I haven't played against that deck in over a year though so I haven't transformed my sideboard to beat it.
I really miss the Treasure Cruise days. It was our hayday even though it went so fast. I'm hoping they make one of those storybook cards on a Red or Blue creature that has a draw spell attached to it in Throne of Eldraine.
Question is, when TKS takes it away, can it be cast from exile? Or does that only work if you did the adventure ordeal??
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GMono Green StompyG
CEldrazi TronC
URWJeskai GeistWRU
WRBoros BurnRW
BRWMardu PyromancerWRB
From what I understand they can only be cast if you exiled the card yourself, but I am not 100% positive. I am having a really hard time evaluating these adventure cards. They are extremely powerful just by having two spells in one card. I really hope to see a modern playable red or blue one.
I just plaed twice in Two-Player-Queues an won against Jeskai Midrange with Geist & SFM and against Grixis DS.
I love this deck
I started playing a simple copy cat jeskai went 2-1 monday.
Beat storm 2-1, beat aggro element/devils 2-0, lost to titan shift 0-2. Everyone played around Force of negations, which I do not own. I found that I had trouble casting the combo, I always needed to hold up mana to either counter or burn the next thing.
Storm was one of the funner match-ups as the game became more of a do you have it. Lots of decisions to be made, my Opponent confessed to being a poor Storm pilot. G2 T4 He casts 2 goblin electro mages and storm counts to 4, I have Dovin, Hand of Control in play. He chooses not to grapeshot Dovin (he believes he can win next turn). I cast pyroclasm and hold my counter/helix/bolt I have sahilea and feldar in hand. T5 I bolt his Baral. I keep giving him the wrong sides of his Gifts. I jam a Sahelia and counter a few more spells, I Gift him 2 three drops leaving him with 1 blue mana open. I do some quick math (the only card he can have to stop me would have to be a FON, Dovin was still on board) I play Feldar and ask if he has the counter? GG he says. G3 I Narset + Puzzle boxed him, and he concedes.
Elemental/Devils a homebrew I think, R+B aggro that has lots of high damage cheap creatures. G1 he gets stuck on 1 land but spits out a dangerous critters. I spend the next 5 turns burning and countering, until I find a Spreading Seas. I puzzle box + Narset him into conceding. G2 I play a T3 Geist, I take lots of damage but stabilize with helix + Lavamancer.
I had no good answers for TitanShift as the cards were Search not draw. Early lose G1 T4. I set up Sahelia and he mountains her to death, ruining my combo. Game 2 plays out longer as I counter his searches, but he gets his pact out with plenty of mana to pay for it and then shifts his next turn, dropping 36 damage on me.
I retooled my deck/sideboard and added Ashiok + Dovin
Any other advice on Titan shift? T3 Ashiok (to prevent searching) seems too slow.
I hear the meta is mostly tron and Grix Death Shadow.
I haven't changed anything with my deck. I am testing a copy of The Royal Scions in my build over the next couple of weeks to see how it goes. I do think it will do very well.
SFM definitely changed the meta completely. I believe in a very good way. I am really enjoying playing against all of the value decks and midrange decks. Having a break from tron and graveyard decks makes them way more fun to play against then when you are playing them every single round. I am a little worried that Once upon a time will be push Tron and possibly neoform to crazy levels, but we will have to wait and see. Fortunately those are both good matchups for us.
I have built a jeskai stoneforge deck to play when I don't feel like playing my go to deck. I am just one of those people that likes playing something a little off the beaten path. Winning is super important, but because it's not the main goal for me (I only play on MTGO and locally), I prefer to play the cards that I love (Geist, Delver, Reveler, etc). I wouldn't play something that was just plain bad. Abbot of Keral Keep is my second favorite card, but it just doesn't work for my deck. If you love the Saheeli deck and are winning Stevo that is a great combination!
However, since the results are so great and since I am really enjoying the deck I bought 3x SFM + Skull + Sword of F&F yesterday
I am really looking forward to play with these cards in paper.
Btw, I love The Royal Scions! I'll definitely build another really aggressive deck with them centered around Geist.
I am very happy with the new Modern!
@StevomatUWR: Ok, now you've got me excited to want to try CopyCat. I own a playset of Stoneforge Mystics as well as a Batterskull and Sword of Feast and Famine so I've been jamming Jeskai Stoneblade decks. I NEED to give your deck a try because if it's anything like Jeskai Twinblade then I'll be hooked. I also wanted to note that the article you posted got my brewing gears turning once again. Here's the list that I played last weekend to a 3-1 finish. I'll try and type a more accurate report, but that'll come later. Thanks for posting the article SteomatUWR! Really got me thinking how powerful Spell Queller can be with SFM.
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Spell Queller
2 Geist of Saint Traft
Instant/Sorcery(20)
4 Opt
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
2 Lightning Helix
3 Logic Knot
2 Cryptic Command
Artifacts (2)
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Batterskull
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Arid Mesa
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Steam Vents
1 Sacred Foundry
3 Celestial Colonnade
1 Fiery Islet
4 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
3 Alpine Moon
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Path to Exile
2 Abrade
1 Dovin's Veto
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Force of Negation
1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Truth and Justice