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- patbou
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Member for 9 years, 7 months, and 25 days
Last active Fri, Oct, 6 2023 20:42:19
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So far, I like playing 3 Buglers (along with 3 Thalia and 3 RefMage). I prefer not reducing the count of Phantasmal Image because it's a valid target for Bugler's ability, and the only way for Bugler to fetch a « Mantis Rider » (by copying one already on the battlefield).
I didn't had a great night yesterday, losing to Ad Nauseum and never recognizing the deck until opponent played Phyrexian Unlife (note to self : Lotus Bloom is only played in Ad Nauseum). Thus I lost game 1 with Meddling Mage in my hand, uncast the turn before losing because I didn't know what to name with it. Won game 2, but lost game 3 after a serious mistake. Freebooter exiled a removal instead of Combo piece because I had another Freebooter (which was supposed to take care of the combo without fear of the removal). Turns out the removal was Slaughter Pact, and Freebooter was immuned to it anyway (should have read the card more carefully). Freebooter #2 never resolved, thanks to Pact if Negation. Lesson learned.
Also learned to watch out for Anger of the Gods against RG Aggro that plays Baloth post SB...
Well... my losses were both 1-2 (not 0-2), losing to mistakes on game 3. After the tournament was over, I got to play an off the record match against the undefeated winner of the nigh (WB Death & Taxes), and won 2-0. Felt good.
And what should Meddling Mage name in the Tron matchup? Karn Liberated is the most numerous removal in their deck, but Ugin and Oblivion Stone can sweep our board. Walking Ballista is another problem I've seen from the SB, and sometimes maindeck (makes sense, as it can win a game by itself with tons of mana). And then there is also Spatial Contortion... Tron can overload our Freebooters and MedMages, and don't much care about Thalia. And if they untap with Wurmcoil Engine, it's pretty much game over, unless we have Reflector Mage to delay what may be inevitable.
Speaking of Reflector Mage... is it just me or has the metagame shifted a bit away from creatures deck? If so, maybe we should cut a copy (and rely on Militia Bugler to find the 3 others), and revert back to 4 Thalia in the main deck. What do you think?
If we need a Human with 2 power, Flying and Haste, then we should consider swapping Mantis Rider for Skynight Legionnaire or Adeliz, the Cinder Wind. But I doubt we want to go there. After all, Bugler is more likely to put the next Rider closer to the top deck, than farther away. Hypergeometric Calculator tells us that Bugler will only reveal Mantis Rider 24.7% of the time. This means that 75.3% of the time, Rider will get closer to the top of the deck through a Bugler activation. I'm fine with these numbers, and will accept the few frustrating times it *is* the needed card and I have to put it at the bottom of the deck.
I admit I may have to put Sylvan Caryatid in there, for removal protection...
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Fatestitcher
Spells (28)
3 Cerulean Wisps
4 Opt
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Glittering Wish
3 Manamorphose
3 Saproling Migration
3 Sprout Swarm
3 Jeskai Ascendancy
Lands (18)
1 Breeding Pool
2 Gemstone Mine
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Mana Confluence
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Young Pyromancer
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Beck // Call
1 Izzet Charm
1 Scarscale Ritual
1 Wear // Tear
1 Slaughter Games
2 Stoke the Flames
1 Flesh // Blood
1 Jeskai Ascendancy
I got my inspiration from Sam Pardee's article, Almost There. Like he said, the deck was almost there, but something was missing. As much as I wanted Young Pyromancer, or Monastery Mentor, to be the right card for this deck, I realized it was not the case. Drawing it mid combo was frustrating more often than not, as it doesn't trigger Ascendancy, and isn't triggered by it.
I believe the missing piece Sam was talking about isn't one-drop, but rather Saproling Migration. Go ahead and laught... I, too, was skeptical at first. But it ended up being 100% better than Young Pyromancer in game 1. That game 1 is supposed to be a free win for JAC, and only post-SB do we need a plan B (even Ensnaring Bridge can be bypassed with Wear//Tear or Flesh//Blood). It's a cheap Sorcery, that can be cast with two mana dorks, will trigger Ascendancy, and spawn green tokens (this helps Convoke on Sprout Swarm). It's also possible to pay the Kick cost when you accumulate mana (with multiple dorks, Fatestitcher, Cerulean Wisps, Manamorphose, etc.). I decided to avoid Sylvan Caryatid, and this could be a mistake. But I think Hierarch can fix the mana (almost no need for red), and I prefer to focus on the dorks that only cost one mana, for sake of proper acceleration. Maybe I'll put Caryatid in the SB for the matchups that sport a lot of removals...
Beck//Call, tutored with Glittering Wish, is surprisingly awesome. I ended up tutoring this card more often than Scarscale Ritual. Casting the full price of 8 mana is sometimes possible (drawing four cards in the process). But just casting the 2 mana Beck side is often very fine. That way, each extra dorks you're drawing while you Combo is an extra card, as is Fatestitcher when you Unearth it. Saproling Migration becomes pure card advantage, and is amazing when you Kick it for four tokens and four cards! If you Combo off (with infinite tokens) but can't finish the opponent for some reasons the same turn while Beck is on, be sure to refill your hand to 7 good cards before passing the turn. You’ll be full of ammo if something goes wrong during opponent's turn (like a sweeper).
I've put 4 Young Pyromancer and 2 Stoke the Flames in the SB, to somewhat transform the deck for game 2 and be able to have a win throught Meddling Mage naming Ascendency, or any enchantment hate.
About Sylvan Awakening : it was exciting trying it, but ended up a dead card most of the time. Just not for JAC...
T1 Faithless Looting
T2 Young Pyro
T3 Flashback Lingering Souls (now 4 creatures) + EOT Buyback Sprout Swarm (using 3rd land and 4 creatures ; now at 6 creatures)
T4 With 3 lands and 6 creatures in play, you can Buyback Sprout Swarm TWICE, adding 4 creatures in the process, and soon gaining inevitably.
Sylvan Awakening is indeed weak without Ascendency. It may come in as useful vs Control in very long games with 6+ lands. I’ll watch that card.
The manlands you proposed could be useful. But I’m afraid they’ll be a bit slow.
The mana base is surprisingly good. Fetching basics as early as turn 1 makes sense also, thanks to Abundant Growth, which also helps hitting the 3rd and 4th land drop. Faithless Looting and Take Inventory are good at that too. During my testings, 4th land drop on turn 4 was the norm, not the exception.
But I yet have to test the deck in real conditions. I’ll post results as soon as I have them.
+4 Young Pyromancer, -1 Mountain , -3 Monastery Mentor : We have enough red sources as it is, so no need for the basic Mountain. I really wanted to play Mentor in Modern, but I have to admit Young Pyromancer is better for this deck. Because it costs less, it is easier to Combo with it. And Prowess matters not once we hit the combo.
+1 Fatal Push, +1 Path to Exile, -2 Lightning Bolt : Some diversification in our removals suite to make Meddling Mage's life horrible.
I am tempted to remove Artful Dodge to make room for the 4th Inquisition of Kozilek. But I fear I'll soon regret sending a single infinitely large creature in combat if it can just be chumped block by the smallest creature. Of course, if that happens, I can always attack next turn with INFINITE Tokens of INFINITE power and toughness for SQUARED INFINITE damage (which is, with certainty, the highest damage ever achieved in Magic's history). But this is at the risk of getting sweeped next turn (and Inquisition can't hit any sweepers, except Anger of the Gods).
QUESTION (USERS/MODERATORS) : Does this new deck belongs to another thread? Or does it still qualify to stay in this conversation? It feels very different from Classic JAC, playing no mana dorks (Birds, Fatestitcher, Caryatid), no cantrips (Sleight, Serum, Opt), no Glittering Wish. At least 26 cards are different, and the deck doesn't try to Storm off to win, but go infinite triggers. I don't want to start another thread and be told it belongs here, or continue here and only annoy people interested in Classic JAC.
Can you share a link?
Gut Shot and Izzet Staticaster are very useful in the mirror. Both kills Hierarch, Champion, Lieutenant, Image and Thalia... copy it with Image to kill Freebooter and Meddling Mage. Considering Humans is the most popular deck in Modern, having good cards for the mirror is important. Note that Staticaster is also good vs Mardu Pyromancer, Affinity, Infect, Elves, etc. I dream of pairing Staticaster with something that could grant it Deathtouch... if you have a good idea to achieve that goal, be my guest.
About Big Thalia : I'll play 2 copies in the main deck for the time being (taking the flex spot, and Reflector Mage down to 3). I believe she could be very good against Mardu Pyromancer and Hollow One, as well as slowing down Tron, Control, Toolbox Company and Krark-Clan Ironworks. These decks dominate the format, and having a main deck card that is universally good is an important asset we should not disregard. Her ability is continuous, unlike Reflector Mage. She's like a repeatable pseudo-removal, because she effectively prevents creatures from blocking (Reflector Mage main use). Combine with Hierarch to play on T2 (Reflector Mage is very rarely what we want to play on turn 2).
You may be right about Meddling Mage. It's harder naming the right removal. Freebooter makes it easier, however. Maybe playing 3 is the right number... with Kytheon or Confidant taking the vacant spot?
3 Monastery Mentor
Enchantments (8)
4 Abundant Growth
4 Jeskai Ascendancy
Spells (27)
1 Artful Dodge
4 Faithless Looting
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Sprout Swarm
4 Take Inventory
4 Lingering Souls
4 Sylvan Awakening
2 Mana Confluence
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Blood Crypt
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp
I don't like the usual Jeskai Ascendency list (featuring Glittering Wish and tons of cantrips to Combo). A 17 lands deck that relies on fragile manadorks, trying to perform in a metagame dominated by Thalias, Freebooters and Meddling Mages? That features close to no answers to whatever the field is playing? With a Combo that takes forever to conclude, is not fun to watch and play against? Not for me.
With the above list, your goal is to go infinite *triggers* on Jeskai Ascendency with Sprout Swarm. We don't win by attacking with a million tokens, but with other huge attackers, thanks to Ascendency's triggers. These other attackers could be 2/2 haste and indestructible lands (Sylvan Awakening), 1/1 Flying Spirits (Lingering Souls) or 2/2 and 1/1 Prowess Monks (Monastery Mentor).
Note that if plan A fails, we do have plans B and C in Monk and Spirit Tokens to simply grind opponent's life the usual way. Also, playing removals (Lightning Bolt) and disruption (Inquisition of Kozilek) in the main deck makes us a lot less fragile to other decks.
To put together the Combo, we have Faithless Looting, Take Inventory and Abundant Growth. The later should be used to enchant a Fetch Land or Mana Confluence if life is an issue, or else basic lands. The first Take Inventory is a relevant option to discard when you're Looting (others are Lingering Souls, extra Faithless Looting, and Artful Dodge). The second and third Inventory are pure gold.
Artful Dodge is interesting, because for UU, you can have two unblockable creatures, and double triggers on Monastery Mentor and Jeskai Ascendency.
When we hit the Sylvan Awakening Combo, it is easy to go lethal even without Sprout Swarm. All the flashback spells in the graveyard don't cost a card to cast. They will add triggers to Ascendency to pump up and untap your lands, and to dig your deck for card advantage spells (rinse and repeat until lethal). But most likely, you'll hit Sprout Swarm before you know it.
Sylvan Awakening Combo (8 cards to start chaining, 9 cards required, seen 14+):
T1 Land + Faithless Looting
T2 Land + Flashbacked Lingering Souls (this doesn't cost a card) or hard cast Sprout Swarm (if extra in your hand)
T3 Land + Jeskai Ascendency
T4 Land + Sylvan Awakening ; with 4th Land, cast any of the 15 one-mana spells (Bolt/Inquisition/Growth/Looting/Dodge). This will untap your 4 creature lands. With 5+ creatures, you can go infinite right away with Sprout Swarm.
Alternate Sylvan Awakening Combo (7 cards to start chaining, 9 cards required, seen 12+):
T1 Land + skip (or Inquisition?)
T2 Land + skip (or Inventory?)
T3 Land + Jeskai Ascendency
T4 Land + Sylvan Awakening ; with 4th Land, cast any of the 15 one-mana spells (Bolt/Inquisition/Growth/Looting/Dodge). This will untap your 4 creature lands. Pool 4 mana and spend 1-3 to cast any spell and untap. With 5 mana available and 4 creatures (lands), you can go infinite with Sprout Swarm.
Monastery Mentor Combo (8 cards, seen 12) :
T1 Land + Faithless Looting
T2 Land + Flashbacked Lingering Souls (this doesn't cost a card)
T3 Land + Monastery Mentor
T4 Land + Jeskai Ascendency (trigger Mentor for a Token) ; with 4 creatures and 4th land, go infinite with Sprout Swarm and attack with two infinitely large flying spirits and a Mentor with power and toughness equal to 2 times infinity (thanks to Prowess).
Lingering Souls Combo (8 cards, seen 12) :
T1 Land + Faithless Looting
T2 Land + Flashbacked Lingering Souls (this doesn't cost a card)
T3 Land + Lingering Souls
T4 Land + Jeskai Ascendency ; with 4 creatures and 4th land, go infinite with Sprout Swarm and attack with four infinitely large flying spirits.
There are tons of variations to any of these combos. Sylvan Awakening is the one that requires the most cards, but the one that allows you to chain spell as you're used to with JAC.
Playing 22 lands is fine. You want to hit the 4th land drop on turn 4, and any extra lands can be looted away with Faithless Looting and Jeskai Ascendency.
This version of the deck is lot less an headache to play than classic JAC, and you can kill kill opponent quite fast on turn 4. Considering that this deck plays Inquisition of Kozilek, I feel safe delaying the Combo until turn 4 or 5. And since Mentor and Souls can win the game on their own, I believe I've brewed a nice reliable deck.
I still have to put together a SB... with access to 5 colors, this will be an interesting SB!!!
Also, I would group and tag my creatures (including land creatures) with Post-it Flags and use a spin down counter of the appropriate color to keep track of the number of +1/+1 triggers each group has received. These flags won’t damage your cards, and they're reusable.
Finally, be sure to have basic lands nearby (Forest, Island, Mountain and Plains) to keep track of the pooled mana. Again, I would use a spin down counter instead of a d6 for that purpose.
Spin down counters (these d20 dice that we get at prerelease events and in fat packs) have all the numbers sorted in the right order. Manipulating a d6 is sometimes frustrating, and you have to use multiple dice if you get above 6 triggers. So I'll always use these special d20 as a faster and more efficient way to keep track of things.
Hopefully this helps!
Edit : What about To Arms! as a beefed up Cerulean Wisps? With Sylvan Awakening, it seems pretty sick...