Versus GDS you usually name Death's Shadow with Runed Halo - but obviously you can name whatever you like (eg. Tasigur, Gurmag or even Sanp if there are multiple on the board that are causing you problems). GDS is crippled without DS and they cant do anything to remove Halo - GDS players always take it with discard over any other card.
Versus Storm I name Grape Shot (you can name Gifts if you want). Once I have grape shot taken care of (always be mindful that they can bounce Halo), I just need to answer the goblin tokens threat - which can be done with EE, Verdict, Settle, Jace AOT, Staticaster etc.
Versus Affinity - the most common threat to name is Etched Champion. However, it could be Aether Grid depending on the game state. Sometimes if they have a creature with a ton of Ravager counters on it that I cant deal with i'll name that.
Runed Halo has many other applications as others have stated above, namely Valakut, E-Tron threats (TKS, Smasher), Dredge threats (Prized Amalgalm etc)
Can anyone give me a sideboard guide. I have been having a ton of problems playing this deck, and I just think I'm not that good at the game yet. I took a break from mtg a long time and now am back and playing this deck. I pretty much lose most of the time on MTGO and want to get better. The list I use is a stock list. Not sure when best to bring in cards like Pia and Kiran Nalaar, and what cards we are bringing out vs what deck
I like Nikolichs list a lot. I had come to almost the same conclusion with Azcanta 2 days ago. I really dislike the Aintrazi list though, 3 azcanta is too many, and his creature suite is flat out wrong IMO.
Hi all, I figured I would chime in about some recent results with the deck. I took a fairly stock list to an Iconic Masters win-a-box tournament that I hoped would serve as a warm-up to the RPTQ I planned to attend that weekend. The mainboard was exactly this configuration: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/833534#online . Sideboard differences were -1 P&K, -1 Abrade, +1 Wear//Tear, +1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. I'm having trouble identifying scenarios where I would want Abrade over Wear//Tear. Anybody have input on that?
After a 1st round loss to Titan Shift (hard to beat Carnage Tyrant), I was able to win the rest of my matches and secure a box! Needless to say, that gave me some confidence going into the RPTQ. Matchups were Titanshift (1-2 L), Elves (2-1), Burn (2-1), Jeskai Mirror (2-0), and then a T8 stint of Grixis Shadow (2-0), Ad Nauseam (2-1), and Bant Company (2-0). The Ad Naus matchup was pretty dicey as I got completely blindsided by not one but TWO Sphinx of the Final Word powered out by Lotus Bloom. G3 was a bit of struggle on a mull to 5, but fortunately I had a Dispel in hand when my opponent decided to go for it. He would have drawn a Pact of Negation had he waited...
A couple of days later I attend the RPTQ in Nashville. Swiss round matchups were UW Control (W 2-1), Burn (W 2-0), E-Tron (W 2-1), Abzan Company (L 0-2), Storm (W 2-0), UW Control (W 2-0). I felt I played fairly tight throughout the day, though I distinctly remember making a bad choice in my Rd 4 loss to Abzan Company. I had lethal swing available, but I was left one mana short of making the attack work as I could only look on in despair at my Flooded Strand while sitting at 1 life. I ended up making an attack without realizing I had Electrolyze+draw Bolt effect as an out had I attacked differently.
I wasn't sure what my Quarterfinals opponent was on, but I initially pegged him on Storm after Island plus Serum Visions Turn 1. Turns out it was the mirror! I had Geist on T3 which sealed the deal in Game 1. Game 2 was the mirror image as he had an early Geist and deflected all of my attempts to stop it. G3 was a little longer, but eventually I found a spot to resolve Geist and my opponent's hand was simply too Path heavy to get anywhere. It felt really good to back to the Pro Tour one year later playing essentially the same deck (and by winning the mirror-match!). Highly likely I run this deck at the PT, but I'll be considering some fine tuning.
I'm wondering what might be some mirror-breaker options (besides Geist of Saint Traft). Would going bigger with Verdicts and maybe Search for Azcanta be reasonable? Though dropping Geist for Verdict slows things down, it likely improves the E-Tron matchup which I think will be fairly popular.
I've been rocking a 1-of Settle the Wreckage in sideboard. At first, it caught a lot of people off-guard three weeks ago. Since then, it's just been good.
I'm more interested in your match up against Grixis Death's Shadow. How did you sideboard against it?
I've been rocking a 1-of Settle the Wreckage in sideboard. At first, it caught a lot of people off-guard three weeks ago. Since then, it's just been good.
I'm more interested in your match up against Grixis Death's Shadow. How did you sideboard against it?
I've fared pretty well against Shadow most times I've played against it. They do a lot of the work for you! I bring in Supreme Verdict, Celestial Purge, Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, and maybe a Clique or a Relic or Negate (for LotV). I had been bringing in both Relics in the past, but I'm not as high on that plan as I used to be. I take out 2 Snare, and 3 Helix, and maybe trim a bolt. The snares only hit snap (or a 1 of Terminate), and they can play around it easily anyway since they'll probably see through their discard. The bolt effects don't kill any of the big threats, but it's good to keep a few bolts in to finish them off. Honestly, I would blame somebody for keeping the bolt effects and trimming Lyze instead.
Played Nikolich's list tonight (-1 gearhulk, +1 snap, and a couple of changes to the mana base) and went 4-0. The list feels super great, and the card advantage powerhouse known as Search for Azcanta never let me down. don't have time for a full report but here is what I played against:
R1 Elves 2-0
R2 Merfolk 2-0 (search for azcanta really helped here)
R3 Mono U turns 2-0: This is the game I want to, uh brag about. G1 I had an opener w/ helix, bolt, and snap and I already knew he was on turns so the hand looks good for trying to pressure him before he can gigadrowse + combo me. I manage to burn him down to 3, and cast secure for 5 in response to gigadrowse. He never let me untap, but he did let me pass turn after an exhaustion. I had a basic mountain in play and he had U, U, Mikokoro up. I played my basic mountain and passed (no bolt in hand). He EoT Mikokoro's and I draw the bolt I need for the win. G2 goes on for a little while, until he EoT Gigadrowses 3 of my lands. I dispel the one on my Azcanta, and allow him to tap down my red sources. He untaps and casts Time warp, leaving 1 mana up. I have 5 lands untapped and respond by casting Commandeer (had it in my SB for the local Tron player), pitching cryptic and logic knot (my hand was ******* stacked), with dispel and vClique still in hand. He is absolutely stunned when I cast it, and attempts to swan song to no avail as I drop a dispel on top of it. I untap and kill him w/ vClique, colonnade, and snap + bolt during the extra turn. I'll be riding that high all week.
R4 Affinity 2-0
$54 credit for meeeeeee, I'm loving this deck right now. The only thing I changed in the sb was -1 clique, +1 commandeer. Feels solid.
Look at the card. Now back to Jace. Now back to that card, now back to Jace! Sadly, it isn't Jace, but if it stopped being a junk rare and became relevant, it could act like it's Jace. Crack some Worldwake. What do you have? You have a Jace, the card you wish this card could be like. Look again. THE CARD IS NOW A $75 BILL. Anything possible when you play Magic with Jace and not junk rares. This is probably spam.
I like Nikolichs list a lot. I had come to almost the same conclusion with Azcanta 2 days ago. I really dislike the Aintrazi list though, 3 azcanta is too many, and his creature suite is flat out wrong IMO.
Search for Azcanta//Azcanta, The Sunken Ruin has impressed me also in a planeswalker or draw-go Jeskai shell, and I'm glad to see it put up more results! I think if the meta shifts to be a little slower, Ajani / Search for Azcanta lists will start doing better and better. Card-draw engines and good burn spell densities are a lethal combination for a control deck to possess.
As for Aintrazi's card choices in his list, some have a mediocum of logic behind them - for example the 2 Torrential Gearhulk are a nod to the singleton Nahiri, the Harbinger. I tried this configuration out once and drawing your only Gearhulk meant Nahiri's ultimate was destined for a lowly Snapcaster. Glimmer of Genius is a solid card, I would rather play it than Sphinx's Revelation in the current meta, and with 2 copies and 4 cryptics he ensures high value out of Fatcaster. Playing 1 too many Search for Azcanta is partly solved.... by playing the extra Search for Azcanta? After all, Search can 'scry' another copy of itself away. But 1 Snapcaster Mage is way, way too low, and his sideboard is a bit left-field for me.
Nikolich's list is tight as usual, I feel Search for Azcanta allows a Control shell to play 1 fewer land so 24 is fine. But I would probably play Glimmer over Rev in his list, especially after dropping a land and gaining a main-deck Lightning Helix (he has been running 2 main 1 side until now).
I'm posting this in the Jeskai Control thread as well as the UWR Midrange thread (where it was originally posted).
Why does it matter where it (edit: discussion about Jeskai Midrange/tempo) happens so long as it's happening?
You know we used to have a moderator that, as well as updating the tiers regularly, cared a lot about the order and structure in this forum and he would have gasped to statements like the one you just made. I think most people knew he did an important job here, but I would never have guessed things would go completely off rails like it has after he left...
These threads on mtgsalvation are more than just chat forums. They go many years back and are valuable and important documentation of the history and tradition of the archetypes of modern magic. And now the jeskai threads are falling into complete chaos because people don't seem to care about categorization anymore. People who want to discuss hard control with 4 snaps or 3 snaps/1 gearhulk are drowning in midrange talk...
It shouldn't be so hard to understand: This thread is about jeskai/UWR midrange with a reasonable amount of creatures, while the Jeskai/UWR Control forum is about hard control with snapcaster as the main creature. The decks with ~11 creatures that are doing well these days clearly belongs in the midrange thread.
And to people who come to the midrange thread and tell people to head to the incorrect thread instead: Please stop doing that, you're not helping.
Saw a cool list that won this past weekend's modern challenge and dropped 3x geist for 1x search for azcanta, 1x archangel avacyn, and 1x ajani vengeant. Was wondering how people felt about this switch. My problem with geist is that tapping out and essentially doing nothing to affect the game can be very bad against many decks- geist also just gets stonewalled by so many blockers. I'm currently in the process of assembling jeskai and am considering building this variant to test. Here's a link to the list: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2017-11-19
The Azcanta lists puzzle me - it just seemed so incredibly slow when I tried it. I'll maybe give it another shot.
As to the people using Settle the Wreckage; where is it more useful than other wrath effects? The timing limitation is very significant if you ask me, and if I'd really want an unconditional "exile" effect I'd run Hallowed Burial. One mana more seems way better than the timing restriction and ramping the opponent 2-3 lands.
On the topic of Geist; I've been going lower on Geist as well, trying both a 2-2 geist clique split and a list without any geists, instead running one more electrolyze and a Thundermaw Hellkite. I've liked this a lot
I would have thought that the use of Settle was fairly obvious - you get to keep your own board. Instant speed and exile clauses are also very useful. Hallowed burial is not playable at 5 cmc..
Saw a cool list that won this past weekend's modern challenge and dropped 3x geist for 1x search for azcanta, 1x archangel avacyn, and 1x ajani vengeant. Was wondering how people felt about this switch. My problem with geist is that tapping out and essentially doing nothing to affect the game can be very bad against many decks- geist also just gets stonewalled by so many blockers. I'm currently in the process of assembling jeskai and am considering building this variant to test. Here's a link to the list: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2017-11-19
Geist is not great against a lot of decks - but its also essential against many others. Im testing two main deck and one sb atm. Im hoping we get a beefier flash threat at some point - and in that vein im tempted to try Archangel Avycyn - 5 cmc though..argh
Not blowing up your own creatures is marginal, we run so few and often board out a bunch against the decks where we want wraths. And one extra mana is way less restricting than STW's timing; I'd play cmc2 swords to plowshares over condemn in a heartbeat and the jump from 1 to 2 is much bigger than 4 to 5
STW also seems like a "gotcha" card to me in that it can never be good enough to see common play since it becomes so much worse one the surprise factor is gone. It's very easy to play around
Yeah two geists really makes it more of a lategame topdeck, where you jam it once you have board control instead of during establishing it. Thundermaw serves the same purpose in the "flash" list, and generally gives the opponent exactly one turn to do something about it. My preferred cantrip suite right now would be 4 Opt 2 SV, but it's tough to fit them in, and snap opt is such a great way to apply pressure I prefer it over SV; SV is killer in any grindy MU though
Hello again my fellow peeps Another 2-1 with my opponent urging to ID the last round so he can go eat out with his friend... s unfortunately I was not able to play 4 rounds... once of these freakin days ill be able to actually play 4 rounds.
Emeria R1
First Round
I think he is on soul Sisters but it turns out to be an Emeria, the sky Ruin deck. Squadran Hawks, Flickerwisp, Blase Splicer, Wrath of God maindeck, Pilgrim's Eye, Lone Missionary, mistveil plains which turned out to be really good during out grindfest of g2 that he took over with that and Sun Titan. Activating that and putting a squad hawk into the library, playing or attacking with Sun Titan to get a Squad Hawk then getting the other one back was pretty good lol All the cards that i seen, moving on.
So I see both Copies of Electrolyze this game t3, snap t5 electrolyze, then a few turns after I see the other copy. This card destroyed him lol Squad hawks and blade plicer and flickerwisp (which btw seemed pretty good to flickerwisp a bladesplicer to get another goldem)...after I played geist t4 he played his wrath but I drew another one soon after and just rode it to victory.
Took out 2 helix, a logic knot, 2 geist and a bolt,
Brought in 2 Relic, 2 Pia, 1 EE, 1 Staticaster.
G2 it starts a little worse for me. I'm partially flooding out and he is drawing into some good things this round. An unanswered Sun Titan just runs away with this game combined with the Mist plains. I saw a relic earlier this game but popped it to try to counter an Oblivion Ring that was going to target my spell queller that had snagged his flickerwisp. He makes a few more golems and I flood out not really doing too much this game.
g3 went a lot more my way. Bolt, path, geist, Izzet staticaster was in my opening hand and that single handedly won my the game lol just did the jeskai way this game, removal, a cryptic, and rode geist to the Win. Great games, a lot of fun.
2-1 = 1-0
Affinity R2
T1 he pays a blinkmoth... then passes.. sweet! My hand is FLOODED with removal. 2 lightning helix, a bolt, 1 electrolyze, 2 lands and a serum visions. He plays stuff, I kill it. He plays stuff, I kill it. He plays stuff, I keep killin it lol Steel overseer, master of etherium, arcbound ravager and he didnt have enough to get him out of helix range, then plays a vault skirge and swings with a blinkmoth nexus so i tag them with electrolyze. I see a spell queller but it eats a galvanic blast. finally i get to my Celestial Colonnade and I start working my way down. Felt like it took forever to see it this game. See geist soon after, and i win kind of easily.
-2 Geist
-2 Lightning Helix
-1 Bolt
-1 Logic Knot
+2 P and K
+1 Enginnered Explosvies
+1 Izzet Staticaster
+1 Wear
+1 Supreme Verdict
G2
mull to 6, I keep a one lander fetch on the play with a bolt and EE, a snare and a logic.
Scry doesnt matter but i fetch t1 and serum visions. got a land and set up a land for next turn so im good. He Thoughtseize my logic knot, and I hit a ravager with the spell snare, but then I soon get a cranial plating in my face. Im able to stir off a big attack with it with a few removal spells and then EE away the cranial. He just plays another with Etched Champion, balls. I dont draw my supreme verdict but it didnt matter, and lose soon after he plays Bloodmoon... i forgot they played this... lol 1-1
g3
I'm greedy and Keep a one lander but with my hand looks good. I really give this a long look, and know I shouldn't have kept it but my gut said It would work out So i trusted him lol
We trade back and forth on a couple things, nothing is stickin on his side but im staling on lands. He gets a Champion down with a plating and my heart sinks slightly, without any counter spells from me, and sets up for next turn. I play Pia and Kiran Nalaar so I have a couple blockers thankfully.
I'm running on a very short clock and i even spite him and start attacking with pia and k. I play my other one and stall longer. last turn.... SUPREME VERDICT YES! Slam it down after attacking. He draws land, the race is on. I need a land for CC.. got it! start the clock, he hits a few lands and a vault skirge but i hit that easily. THE GAME IS MINE!
2-1 = 2-0
last round... mono black Infect... he wrecks me. Just legitimately stomps me. 0-2
1st game 2 discard spells hitting a logic knot and a geist, and i top deck a lucky geist for t3 but he plays Liliana of the veil on his t3 and clears it. After getting rid of 2 geist and a logic knot I dont have too much more to do and I draw irrelevant stuff and he beats me with a Inkmoth Nexus attached to Lashwrithe... that game ended stupid quick. I also made a mistake during the game and am definitely not used to playing against Lashwrithe. I lightning helix'ed it instead of path to exile it off of a snapcaster flashback. For some reason I thought that would kill it... not really sure what was going through my mind... moving on...
I'm brought out
-4 geist -3 helix
+1 wear
+1 EE
+2 P and K
+1 Izzet Stat
+1 V Clique
+1 Celestial Purge
G2
I mull to 6 after a no lander. Keep an ok hand. He starts with 2 discard spells, hitting another login knot and a v clique.
He rides a Liliana of the Veil up to 6 since I don't draw anything i can throw at her and my spell queller and Celestial colonnade attack arent sticking around due to fatal push, and ult's Lili after I play a P and K. So i keep the pile that has 2 thopters and 2 lands which gives me all colors. I am stuck on 2 lands, I have a snap in my hand that im thinking about throwing out to try to get the damage race on since he doesn't have anything else, but i keep it hoping to hit a land so i can serum visions. I'm thinking if he top decks a lashwrithe and an infect creature he will have me in 2 turns, So i wont win the damage race anyways and need to set up my library for some kind of answer to actually win. So i keep it for 2 attacks, and throw it out anyways when i draw stuff i cant play. He plays phyrexian crusader.... SOAB.. he finds ANOTHER one a couple turns later and He rides those thoroughly to victory. I never really felt like I had a chance against this deck. I kind of think i should have left in a couple geists but i dont know.
All in all the deck still feels very good. I am going to drop geist down to 3, probably 4 my quellers. I also adjusted the mana base to have a mountain and 2 hallowed fountains.
Been considering Runed Halo, Thundermaw Hellkite, and or Gideon, Ally of Zendikar for my sideboard. Halo for a whole bunch of match ups, the other 2 I just want to have a threat I can rely on that I don't have to worry about getting fatal pushed if i side out my Geist. Gideon I had great success with in a jeskai geist shell. I havent used thundermaw with this build yet.
Hope everyone is doing well and happy thanksgiving
Not blowing up your own creatures is marginal, we run so few and often board out a bunch against the decks where we want wraths. And one extra mana is way less restricting than STW's timing; I'd play cmc2 swords to plowshares over condemn in a heartbeat and the jump from 1 to 2 is much bigger than 4 to 5
STW also seems like a "gotcha" card to me in that it can never be good enough to see common play since it becomes so much worse one the surprise factor is gone. It's very easy to play around
Well that's your opinion - many lists are adopting it and it works well in my experience. UWR has 4 quellers and 3 Geists, maybe a clique - so that is significant. UW control is even playing one copy - and they literally 'run so few creatrues' as you put it.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver
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Versus Storm I name Grape Shot (you can name Gifts if you want). Once I have grape shot taken care of (always be mindful that they can bounce Halo), I just need to answer the goblin tokens threat - which can be done with EE, Verdict, Settle, Jace AOT, Staticaster etc.
Versus Affinity - the most common threat to name is Etched Champion. However, it could be Aether Grid depending on the game state. Sometimes if they have a creature with a ton of Ravager counters on it that I cant deal with i'll name that.
Runed Halo has many other applications as others have stated above, namely Valakut, E-Tron threats (TKS, Smasher), Dredge threats (Prized Amalgalm etc)
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver
URStormRU
GRTitanshift[mana]RG/mana]
UWR Control
BR Hollow One
After a 1st round loss to Titan Shift (hard to beat Carnage Tyrant), I was able to win the rest of my matches and secure a box! Needless to say, that gave me some confidence going into the RPTQ. Matchups were Titanshift (1-2 L), Elves (2-1), Burn (2-1), Jeskai Mirror (2-0), and then a T8 stint of Grixis Shadow (2-0), Ad Nauseam (2-1), and Bant Company (2-0). The Ad Naus matchup was pretty dicey as I got completely blindsided by not one but TWO Sphinx of the Final Word powered out by Lotus Bloom. G3 was a bit of struggle on a mull to 5, but fortunately I had a Dispel in hand when my opponent decided to go for it. He would have drawn a Pact of Negation had he waited...
A couple of days later I attend the RPTQ in Nashville. Swiss round matchups were UW Control (W 2-1), Burn (W 2-0), E-Tron (W 2-1), Abzan Company (L 0-2), Storm (W 2-0), UW Control (W 2-0). I felt I played fairly tight throughout the day, though I distinctly remember making a bad choice in my Rd 4 loss to Abzan Company. I had lethal swing available, but I was left one mana short of making the attack work as I could only look on in despair at my Flooded Strand while sitting at 1 life. I ended up making an attack without realizing I had Electrolyze+draw Bolt effect as an out had I attacked differently.
I wasn't sure what my Quarterfinals opponent was on, but I initially pegged him on Storm after Island plus Serum Visions Turn 1. Turns out it was the mirror! I had Geist on T3 which sealed the deal in Game 1. Game 2 was the mirror image as he had an early Geist and deflected all of my attempts to stop it. G3 was a little longer, but eventually I found a spot to resolve Geist and my opponent's hand was simply too Path heavy to get anywhere. It felt really good to back to the Pro Tour one year later playing essentially the same deck (and by winning the mirror-match!). Highly likely I run this deck at the PT, but I'll be considering some fine tuning.
I'm wondering what might be some mirror-breaker options (besides Geist of Saint Traft). Would going bigger with Verdicts and maybe Search for Azcanta be reasonable? Though dropping Geist for Verdict slows things down, it likely improves the E-Tron matchup which I think will be fairly popular.
I'm more interested in your match up against Grixis Death's Shadow. How did you sideboard against it?
I've fared pretty well against Shadow most times I've played against it. They do a lot of the work for you! I bring in Supreme Verdict, Celestial Purge, Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, and maybe a Clique or a Relic or Negate (for LotV). I had been bringing in both Relics in the past, but I'm not as high on that plan as I used to be. I take out 2 Snare, and 3 Helix, and maybe trim a bolt. The snares only hit snap (or a 1 of Terminate), and they can play around it easily anyway since they'll probably see through their discard. The bolt effects don't kill any of the big threats, but it's good to keep a few bolts in to finish them off. Honestly, I would blame somebody for keeping the bolt effects and trimming Lyze instead.
R1 Elves 2-0
R2 Merfolk 2-0 (search for azcanta really helped here)
R3 Mono U turns 2-0: This is the game I want to, uh brag about. G1 I had an opener w/ helix, bolt, and snap and I already knew he was on turns so the hand looks good for trying to pressure him before he can gigadrowse + combo me. I manage to burn him down to 3, and cast secure for 5 in response to gigadrowse. He never let me untap, but he did let me pass turn after an exhaustion. I had a basic mountain in play and he had U, U, Mikokoro up. I played my basic mountain and passed (no bolt in hand). He EoT Mikokoro's and I draw the bolt I need for the win. G2 goes on for a little while, until he EoT Gigadrowses 3 of my lands. I dispel the one on my Azcanta, and allow him to tap down my red sources. He untaps and casts Time warp, leaving 1 mana up. I have 5 lands untapped and respond by casting Commandeer (had it in my SB for the local Tron player), pitching cryptic and logic knot (my hand was ******* stacked), with dispel and vClique still in hand. He is absolutely stunned when I cast it, and attempts to swan song to no avail as I drop a dispel on top of it. I untap and kill him w/ vClique, colonnade, and snap + bolt during the extra turn. I'll be riding that high all week.
R4 Affinity 2-0
$54 credit for meeeeeee, I'm loving this deck right now. The only thing I changed in the sb was -1 clique, +1 commandeer. Feels solid.
URURxUR
UWUWxUW
Search for Azcanta//Azcanta, The Sunken Ruin has impressed me also in a planeswalker or draw-go Jeskai shell, and I'm glad to see it put up more results! I think if the meta shifts to be a little slower, Ajani / Search for Azcanta lists will start doing better and better. Card-draw engines and good burn spell densities are a lethal combination for a control deck to possess.
As for Aintrazi's card choices in his list, some have a mediocum of logic behind them - for example the 2 Torrential Gearhulk are a nod to the singleton Nahiri, the Harbinger. I tried this configuration out once and drawing your only Gearhulk meant Nahiri's ultimate was destined for a lowly Snapcaster. Glimmer of Genius is a solid card, I would rather play it than Sphinx's Revelation in the current meta, and with 2 copies and 4 cryptics he ensures high value out of Fatcaster. Playing 1 too many Search for Azcanta is partly solved.... by playing the extra Search for Azcanta? After all, Search can 'scry' another copy of itself away. But 1 Snapcaster Mage is way, way too low, and his sideboard is a bit left-field for me.
Nikolich's list is tight as usual, I feel Search for Azcanta allows a Control shell to play 1 fewer land so 24 is fine. But I would probably play Glimmer over Rev in his list, especially after dropping a land and gaining a main-deck Lightning Helix (he has been running 2 main 1 side until now).
------------
URW Jeskai Control
GUWRB Amulet Titan
GR Ponza
You know we used to have a moderator that, as well as updating the tiers regularly, cared a lot about the order and structure in this forum and he would have gasped to statements like the one you just made. I think most people knew he did an important job here, but I would never have guessed things would go completely off rails like it has after he left...
These threads on mtgsalvation are more than just chat forums. They go many years back and are valuable and important documentation of the history and tradition of the archetypes of modern magic. And now the jeskai threads are falling into complete chaos because people don't seem to care about categorization anymore. People who want to discuss hard control with 4 snaps or 3 snaps/1 gearhulk are drowning in midrange talk...
It shouldn't be so hard to understand: This thread is about jeskai/UWR midrange with a reasonable amount of creatures, while the Jeskai/UWR Control forum is about hard control with snapcaster as the main creature. The decks with ~11 creatures that are doing well these days clearly belongs in the midrange thread.
And to people who come to the midrange thread and tell people to head to the incorrect thread instead: Please stop doing that, you're not helping.
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2017-11-19
As to the people using Settle the Wreckage; where is it more useful than other wrath effects? The timing limitation is very significant if you ask me, and if I'd really want an unconditional "exile" effect I'd run Hallowed Burial. One mana more seems way better than the timing restriction and ramping the opponent 2-3 lands.
On the topic of Geist; I've been going lower on Geist as well, trying both a 2-2 geist clique split and a list without any geists, instead running one more electrolyze and a Thundermaw Hellkite. I've liked this a lot
// 12 Creature
2 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
4 Spell Queller
// 25 Instant
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
4 Path to Exile
4 Opt
2 Electrolyze
3 Cryptic Command
2 Spell Snare
3 Logic Knot
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Celestial Colonnade
2 Steam Vents
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Spreading Seas
1 Stony Silence
1 Surgical Extraction
2 Dispel
2 Counterflux
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Timely Reinforcements
(and -2 Geist +1 Hellkite +1 Lyze in the other list).
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver
Geist is not great against a lot of decks - but its also essential against many others. Im testing two main deck and one sb atm. Im hoping we get a beefier flash threat at some point - and in that vein im tempted to try Archangel Avycyn - 5 cmc though..argh
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver
Current list is almost stock;
4 Spell Queller
1 Vendilion Clique
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Serum Visions
2 Spell Snare
4 Path to Exile
3 Cryptic Command
1 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
3 Logic Knot
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Flooded Strand
2 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
Sideboard
1 Celestial Purge
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Dispel
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Negate
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Echoing Truth
URStormRU
GRTitanshift[mana]RG/mana]
STW also seems like a "gotcha" card to me in that it can never be good enough to see common play since it becomes so much worse one the surprise factor is gone. It's very easy to play around
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Spell Queller
4 Geist of Saint Traft
Spells (25)
3 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
3 Logic Knot
4 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
4 Serum Visions
3 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Celestial Purge
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Dispel
1 Negate
1 Wear
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Supreme Verdict
Hello again my fellow peeps Another 2-1 with my opponent urging to ID the last round so he can go eat out with his friend... s unfortunately I was not able to play 4 rounds... once of these freakin days ill be able to actually play 4 rounds.
Emeria R1
First Round
I think he is on soul Sisters but it turns out to be an Emeria, the sky Ruin deck. Squadran Hawks, Flickerwisp, Blase Splicer, Wrath of God maindeck, Pilgrim's Eye, Lone Missionary, mistveil plains which turned out to be really good during out grindfest of g2 that he took over with that and Sun Titan. Activating that and putting a squad hawk into the library, playing or attacking with Sun Titan to get a Squad Hawk then getting the other one back was pretty good lol All the cards that i seen, moving on.
So I see both Copies of Electrolyze this game t3, snap t5 electrolyze, then a few turns after I see the other copy. This card destroyed him lol Squad hawks and blade plicer and flickerwisp (which btw seemed pretty good to flickerwisp a bladesplicer to get another goldem)...after I played geist t4 he played his wrath but I drew another one soon after and just rode it to victory.
Took out 2 helix, a logic knot, 2 geist and a bolt,
Brought in 2 Relic, 2 Pia, 1 EE, 1 Staticaster.
G2 it starts a little worse for me. I'm partially flooding out and he is drawing into some good things this round. An unanswered Sun Titan just runs away with this game combined with the Mist plains. I saw a relic earlier this game but popped it to try to counter an Oblivion Ring that was going to target my spell queller that had snagged his flickerwisp. He makes a few more golems and I flood out not really doing too much this game.
g3 went a lot more my way. Bolt, path, geist, Izzet staticaster was in my opening hand and that single handedly won my the game lol just did the jeskai way this game, removal, a cryptic, and rode geist to the Win. Great games, a lot of fun.
2-1 = 1-0
Affinity R2
T1 he pays a blinkmoth... then passes.. sweet! My hand is FLOODED with removal. 2 lightning helix, a bolt, 1 electrolyze, 2 lands and a serum visions. He plays stuff, I kill it. He plays stuff, I kill it. He plays stuff, I keep killin it lol
Steel overseer, master of etherium, arcbound ravager and he didnt have enough to get him out of helix range, then plays a vault skirge and swings with a blinkmoth nexus so i tag them with electrolyze. I see a spell queller but it eats a galvanic blast. finally i get to my Celestial Colonnade and I start working my way down. Felt like it took forever to see it this game. See geist soon after, and i win kind of easily.
-2 Geist
-2 Lightning Helix
-1 Bolt
-1 Logic Knot
+2 P and K
+1 Enginnered Explosvies
+1 Izzet Staticaster
+1 Wear
+1 Supreme Verdict
G2
mull to 6, I keep a one lander fetch on the play with a bolt and EE, a snare and a logic.
Scry doesnt matter but i fetch t1 and serum visions. got a land and set up a land for next turn so im good. He Thoughtseize my logic knot, and I hit a ravager with the spell snare, but then I soon get a cranial plating in my face. Im able to stir off a big attack with it with a few removal spells and then EE away the cranial. He just plays another with Etched Champion, balls. I dont draw my supreme verdict but it didnt matter, and lose soon after he plays Bloodmoon... i forgot they played this... lol 1-1
g3
I'm greedy and Keep a one lander but with my hand looks good. I really give this a long look, and know I shouldn't have kept it but my gut said It would work out So i trusted him lol
We trade back and forth on a couple things, nothing is stickin on his side but im staling on lands. He gets a Champion down with a plating and my heart sinks slightly, without any counter spells from me, and sets up for next turn. I play Pia and Kiran Nalaar so I have a couple blockers thankfully.
I'm running on a very short clock and i even spite him and start attacking with pia and k. I play my other one and stall longer. last turn.... SUPREME VERDICT YES! Slam it down after attacking. He draws land, the race is on. I need a land for CC.. got it! start the clock, he hits a few lands and a vault skirge but i hit that easily. THE GAME IS MINE!
2-1 = 2-0
last round... mono black Infect... he wrecks me. Just legitimately stomps me. 0-2
1st game 2 discard spells hitting a logic knot and a geist, and i top deck a lucky geist for t3 but he plays Liliana of the veil on his t3 and clears it. After getting rid of 2 geist and a logic knot I dont have too much more to do and I draw irrelevant stuff and he beats me with a Inkmoth Nexus attached to Lashwrithe... that game ended stupid quick. I also made a mistake during the game and am definitely not used to playing against Lashwrithe. I lightning helix'ed it instead of path to exile it off of a snapcaster flashback. For some reason I thought that would kill it... not really sure what was going through my mind... moving on...
I'm brought out
-4 geist -3 helix
+1 wear
+1 EE
+2 P and K
+1 Izzet Stat
+1 V Clique
+1 Celestial Purge
G2
I mull to 6 after a no lander. Keep an ok hand. He starts with 2 discard spells, hitting another login knot and a v clique.
He rides a Liliana of the Veil up to 6 since I don't draw anything i can throw at her and my spell queller and Celestial colonnade attack arent sticking around due to fatal push, and ult's Lili after I play a P and K. So i keep the pile that has 2 thopters and 2 lands which gives me all colors. I am stuck on 2 lands, I have a snap in my hand that im thinking about throwing out to try to get the damage race on since he doesn't have anything else, but i keep it hoping to hit a land so i can serum visions. I'm thinking if he top decks a lashwrithe and an infect creature he will have me in 2 turns, So i wont win the damage race anyways and need to set up my library for some kind of answer to actually win. So i keep it for 2 attacks, and throw it out anyways when i draw stuff i cant play. He plays phyrexian crusader.... SOAB.. he finds ANOTHER one a couple turns later and He rides those thoroughly to victory. I never really felt like I had a chance against this deck. I kind of think i should have left in a couple geists but i dont know.
All in all the deck still feels very good. I am going to drop geist down to 3, probably 4 my quellers. I also adjusted the mana base to have a mountain and 2 hallowed fountains.
Been considering Runed Halo, Thundermaw Hellkite, and or Gideon, Ally of Zendikar for my sideboard. Halo for a whole bunch of match ups, the other 2 I just want to have a threat I can rely on that I don't have to worry about getting fatal pushed if i side out my Geist. Gideon I had great success with in a jeskai geist shell. I havent used thundermaw with this build yet.
Hope everyone is doing well and happy thanksgiving
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
Well that's your opinion - many lists are adopting it and it works well in my experience. UWR has 4 quellers and 3 Geists, maybe a clique - so that is significant. UW control is even playing one copy - and they literally 'run so few creatrues' as you put it.
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver