28% is the same chance of getting a 1 or no land hand for Burn, and as I stated before, both talking from experience playing the deck and from talking to other players, Burn really wants that third land, and I'm not seeing them playing 22 lands. And remember, they run 8 to 10 fetch lands. The thing is, mana base is not the only thing that matters, it also matters how you play. Sincerely, I have said it before and I say it once again, I rarely have problems with mana, and that is because I don't try to flood the battlefield with creatures by turn three, nor do I try to play 3 drops and multiple other 1/2 drops instants by turn five. Massive removals are a thing, removal spells in general exist. I said it before and I am going to say it again: everything depends on meta. My meta is heavy on removal, that's why I play Dungrove Elder: it is a BOMB. You don't want to lose all your creatures to a turn three Anger of the Gods -has happened to me so many times... Luckily, I always have one creature in hand for this kind of things- That's why in my meta Treetop Village -or for that matter, most elemental lands- doesn't see play: it's going to die as soon as you transform it, and then you will have lost a land, the two mana you spend to transform it, and, depending on the turn you did it, your turn. I don't know how is the meta in other areas of the world, or in MTGO, as I only play pauper, but I do know how it is here, and I do know how the deck has worked for me for over a year playing with 20 lands. Until now, I have made several top 8 in LGS leagues -usually lost to decks that are basically our Waterloo, like Tron-, I have performed pretty well in FNMs, and I have had good experiences in other types of tournaments. So yeah, I don't think I have an unplayable deck. I think that I have a deck adapted to local meta, that maybe I would have to change in other areas, but that's part of the fun of this game: experimenting, trying new things.
Well, if I regularly had problems with my 3 drops, I would consider the mana base a problem, but since I rarely have problems to drop them -and when it happens, it's usually due to mulligans to 5 or less-, and I have lots of problems flooding with 22 lands, I don't see where is the problem. In fact, when I first entered this thread and read that most people run 22 lands I was surprised, but I got to see that there are more or less three types of decks around here: the 22 lands 4-6 3 drops decks that run Treetop Village, the no 3 drops decks that run more instants and 2 drops, and the 20-21 lands with 6-8 3 drops deck that seem to be more popular here in Spain and Portugal. Maybe it's related to meta, I don't know, but if people don't have problems with their mana base, I don't see were the problem is. Hell, we are talking about forests here, you aren’t going to lose any money adding or quitting copies and playing some friendly matches to see how it works.
And about the Burn thing. Yes, it plays 20 lands with no three drops, but it usually plays several 1 and 2 drops in the same turn. The ideal for Burn is to have at least 3 lands in play, 4 tops, so they can play several spells each turn and win as fast as possible.
Yeah, you are right. I have tested some more and I don't really like the result. Well, it did'nt even cost me 2 TIX, so it wasn't a huge loss and it was fun.
So I created this deck. Is a take of the Midnight Guard + Presence of Gond combo that already exists, but with Blue. I'm pretty new to MTGO and Pauper, so I'm not sure how to improve it. One thing that I have seen is that the lands were problematic. I changed it to what you can see here, but I still feel that there is room for improvement.
What do you think of the deck? Suggestions will be welcomed!
Yeah, you are right, I was talking about possible sideboard option, though I don' really use Beast Within. My approach has been siding in Unravel the Æther and trying to outrace them. Never really did it, though I only got to win against Tron with Naya Burn/Blue Burn, and even then, I was constantly hoping they didn't got the third Urza land.
What are the options for monogreen board vs Tron? Would we run Ghost Quarter even though we would seldom be able to use it as a mana producer (given how little generic-in-costs we run)?
Dryad Militant is simply crazy. Let's check the pairings it hurts:
Dredge. Check
Anything with Tarmo. Check
Thing with Delve. Check
Control. Check
UR Prowess. Check
And I'm leaving lots of decks behind. Seriously, this card is crazy. She should get love, not hate.
They made it very similar to the one you see in MTGO. The last updates of the software had made ir more similar to MTGO, which isn't bad. Lots of the changes were to things that needed to be polished in order to make it more accesible, and after a feew weeks playing I got used to them.
Blue Burn –or, Jeskai Aggro, or, as I prefer to call it, ‘I have no idea what you are playing, dude’- is an aggro deck, similar, as you would have guessed, to Burn, full of bolt-like spells and creatures with prowess or some kind of evasion, and also cards that allow drawing and filtering the deck. It’s also similar in card choices to other jeskai decks, like WUR Delver, but it has a different strategy. While WUR Delver plays removal and counters, Blue Burn takes an ‘all aggro’ approach.
Why play this deck?
As I have said, this deck is very similar to Burn, but it has some differences that make it interesting. While Burn plays more as an all-in deck and tries to win as fast as possible –in fact, it will find problems if it hasn’t won by the 4th or 5th turn-, this deck can also win really fast, but it runs cards that make it better in long games, because the drawing and scrying effects allow for a better stability of the deck. This, added to the fact that 8 out of the 15 creatures have prowess and haste, and 8 have flying, makes wins with just one creature in the field more viable. Long story short: you can go all aggro and at the same time stabilize the field and don’t have to see your winning possibilities decrease as the game gets longer.
Card choices
The creatures
The creatures in this deck are some of the most aggro-oriented creatures in the Jeskai colors. They tend to have some kind of evasion, prowess or haste. Grim Lavamancer is particularly good, as it allows a Shock effect as long as you have 2 cards in your graveyard, which shouldn’t be a problem. At 3 CMC, Geist of Saint Traft is the most expensive creature, and it has the drawback of being a legendary (it also can’t fly and doesn’t have haste), but attacking for 6 with just one creature is nuts, and hexproof is one of the most hated abilities out there.
The spells
The spells here fulfill two functions; making damage or drawing/scrying. The card choices may vary from meta to meta, but some of them are a must.
Core spells
Lightning Bolt is the best card in red, without discussion -at least in Modern-. Lightning Helix is bolt 4-8, and it allows you to gain back life. Boros Charm is a multifunction card, and there resides its greatness. It can deal 4 damage or save you from a board wipe. That’s really crazy for just WR. Serum Visions is also a must, because it allows you to draw and scry 2, so you can keep unwanted lands in the bottom of your deck and transform Delver of Secrets faster.
Other spells that are pretty good
Gitaxian Probe allows free drawing for just 2 life, and it can also give free prowess. It also shows you your opponent’s hand, so it’s crazy good.
Jeskai Charm is another multifunction card. It can deal 4 damage as Boros Charm does, but the +1/+1 and lifelink option is probably the best, as it can save you in certain pairings.
Skullcrack is a must nowadays, cause there are too many decks running lifegain cards. Having it in your main or in your side depends on both in the meta and your personal preferences.
Magma Jet is one of those cards that are always accompanied by a “but”. At first I ran it for the scry effect, but that was in previous lists that had more lands, and before Saheeli. I may change ir for another Skullcrack in the future, or maybe another Jeskai Charm.
Saheeli Rai When I saw it I knew this card was perfect for this deck. Let’s start with the obvious. Yes, she is a planeswalker, so running more than one doesn’t seem like a good choice, as you can end up having useless copies in your hand, something that you don’t want to happen. That’s why I only run one. That said, this card is just magnificent. The +1 effect is simply crazy. It will give you games, and it goes through Leyline of Sanctity. Sadly, you won’t be using the other effects that much (although copying a creature can be useful sometimes). That said, just her first effect makes her crazy.
Mutagenic Growth is a good card for two reasons; it can be a finisher or save your creatures from a bolt, and that’s for free. It has a problem, though. It’s basically useless if you don’t have a creature, so running more than 2 copies can be a bit risky.
The lands
My current list doesn’t run any basics, so you can basically use any fetch land that searches for red. Alternatively, you can use Flooded Strand, as it will allow you to search for the shock lands we run. My current list runs 10 fetch lands. It may seem too much, but experience has taught me that you want to have your 3 colors by turn 2, and the only way to ensure that always happens is by running a high number of fetch lands. Obviously, that means you are going to lose lots of life, but that’s something you will have to learn to play around.
About the actual mana lands, as I have said, I don’t run basics, so it comes to shock lands and fast lands. Kaladesh has been a bless, as it has given us enemy color fast lands, which help to cut the life loss of running too many shock lands. Right now I run 6 shocks and 2 fasts, but as with everything, this is up to experimentation.
About the colours, the thing is pretty easy: run only lands with red. That means no azorious lands. Why? Very easy. You will need all your lands to have red, so you can cast all your spells effectively. I gave up on Hallowed Fountain after a game where I had two Monastery Swiftspear in hand but I couldn’t cast both because I only had one red. Before that, I had had plenty of games where the Hallowed was just a pain in the ass.
Other interesting spells and creatures
I like my current list, but there is always room for experimenting. There are some interesting cards that could fit in the deck, at least as a one of. Here are some of them.
Blistercoil Weird Until Wizards gives us another 1 CMC Prowess creature, this is the best alternative. Almost every spell in the main board is a sorcery or an instant, so you are going to have its ability triggering a lot.
Seeker of the Way The lifelink part makes him very interesting, although not having haste is a big con.
Soulfire Grand Master I’ll be honest, I’m just putting her here because I love this card, but I’m not sure if it would really work. This card has a great X in the center with the text “Lighting Bolt here” under it, but when it works it’s so amazing…
Lava Spike 3 damage for R, and it goes through Spellskite. Do I have to explain why it’s pure red love?
Sudden Shock The Split Second ability makes it a really interesting choice.
Gut Shot It can trigger Prowess and deal one damage for free.
Jeskai Ascendancy At 3 CMC it’s a clear one of, but it’s still very interesting. Both abilities are good, and I’m thinking about testing it.
Sideboard
Sideboard is the hardest part of every deck, because you have to adapt it to your meta, or run more generic spells for big tournaments and MTGO, where meta is more unpredictable. I will only mention the cards I currently run, but there are plenty more that could fit in the sideboard, and being jeskai allows us to have the best sideboard options possible.
Path to Exile The best removal in modern, just for W.
Wear // Tear Similar to Disenchant, but the possibility of destroying both an enchantment and an artifact is too good not to take it. Another advantage is that you only need W to destroy an enchantment, which is really useful against Blood Moon.
Rest in Peace Oh, you play with the graveyard? It would be a pity if something happened to it turn 2…
Kataki, War's Wage He has given me so many games against Affinity/Robots that I can’t be thankful enough
Deflecting Palm Good against many pairings, and it goes over hexproof and other types of protection.
Molten Rain It’s good mainly against Tron, but it can be useful against other archetypes, such as Scapeshift and Blue Moon.
The lists
As other lists appear, I will put them here. For now, this is the list I’m currently running. I was finalist with it at a Modern League of a LGS, only that then I had basics instead of fastlands -it runs even better now. Lost 1-2 to Jund -the irony here being that I had won easily previously that day against the same player-, but I was pretty happy, as it was the first time I ran it in a tournament.
Yeah. Until you realise that the other creature will have the same ability and you end up with a mighty army of 1/3. Seems the way to have crazy games, though
I agree. I have tested the white splash, and the conclusion was that it wasn't worth it. Yeah, you have more options, but you also can have problems with the colors of mana available, something that will never happen in the mono green version.
And about the Burn thing. Yes, it plays 20 lands with no three drops, but it usually plays several 1 and 2 drops in the same turn. The ideal for Burn is to have at least 3 lands in play, 4 tops, so they can play several spells each turn and win as fast as possible.
What do you think of the deck? Suggestions will be welcomed!
4 Heliod's Pilgrim
4 Midnight Guard
4 Soul Warden
4 Soul's Attendant
4 Brainstorm
2 Counterspell
2 Mana Leak
4 Presence of Gond
4 Raise the Alarm
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spreading Seas
2 Forest
3 Island
4 Ponder
3 Plains
2 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Thornwood Falls
4 Tranquil Cove
2 Counterspell
4 Disenchant
2 Dispel
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Sunlance
Leagues in LGSs will end soon, so I'm starting to consider giving a try one again to the sideboard white splash.
That's not really an option. I guess that the best option is Beast Within, as it can destroy both the lands and the fatties.
Dredge. Check
Anything with Tarmo. Check
Thing with Delve. Check
Control. Check
UR Prowess. Check
And I'm leaving lots of decks behind. Seriously, this card is crazy. She should get love, not hate.
What is this?
Blue Burn –or, Jeskai Aggro, or, as I prefer to call it, ‘I have no idea what you are playing, dude’- is an aggro deck, similar, as you would have guessed, to Burn, full of bolt-like spells and creatures with prowess or some kind of evasion, and also cards that allow drawing and filtering the deck. It’s also similar in card choices to other jeskai decks, like WUR Delver, but it has a different strategy. While WUR Delver plays removal and counters, Blue Burn takes an ‘all aggro’ approach.
Why play this deck?
As I have said, this deck is very similar to Burn, but it has some differences that make it interesting. While Burn plays more as an all-in deck and tries to win as fast as possible –in fact, it will find problems if it hasn’t won by the 4th or 5th turn-, this deck can also win really fast, but it runs cards that make it better in long games, because the drawing and scrying effects allow for a better stability of the deck. This, added to the fact that 8 out of the 15 creatures have prowess and haste, and 8 have flying, makes wins with just one creature in the field more viable. Long story short: you can go all aggro and at the same time stabilize the field and don’t have to see your winning possibilities decrease as the game gets longer.
Card choices
The creatures
The creatures in this deck are some of the most aggro-oriented creatures in the Jeskai colors. They tend to have some kind of evasion, prowess or haste. Grim Lavamancer is particularly good, as it allows a Shock effect as long as you have 2 cards in your graveyard, which shouldn’t be a problem. At 3 CMC, Geist of Saint Traft is the most expensive creature, and it has the drawback of being a legendary (it also can’t fly and doesn’t have haste), but attacking for 6 with just one creature is nuts, and hexproof is one of the most hated abilities out there.
The spells
The spells here fulfill two functions; making damage or drawing/scrying. The card choices may vary from meta to meta, but some of them are a must.
Core spells
Lightning Bolt is the best card in red, without discussion -at least in Modern-. Lightning Helix is bolt 4-8, and it allows you to gain back life. Boros Charm is a multifunction card, and there resides its greatness. It can deal 4 damage or save you from a board wipe. That’s really crazy for just WR. Serum Visions is also a must, because it allows you to draw and scry 2, so you can keep unwanted lands in the bottom of your deck and transform Delver of Secrets faster.
Other spells that are pretty good
Gitaxian Probe allows free drawing for just 2 life, and it can also give free prowess. It also shows you your opponent’s hand, so it’s crazy good.
Jeskai Charm is another multifunction card. It can deal 4 damage as Boros Charm does, but the +1/+1 and lifelink option is probably the best, as it can save you in certain pairings.
Skullcrack is a must nowadays, cause there are too many decks running lifegain cards. Having it in your main or in your side depends on both in the meta and your personal preferences.
Magma Jet is one of those cards that are always accompanied by a “but”. At first I ran it for the scry effect, but that was in previous lists that had more lands, and before Saheeli. I may change ir for another Skullcrack in the future, or maybe another Jeskai Charm.
Saheeli Rai When I saw it I knew this card was perfect for this deck. Let’s start with the obvious. Yes, she is a planeswalker, so running more than one doesn’t seem like a good choice, as you can end up having useless copies in your hand, something that you don’t want to happen. That’s why I only run one. That said, this card is just magnificent. The +1 effect is simply crazy. It will give you games, and it goes through Leyline of Sanctity. Sadly, you won’t be using the other effects that much (although copying a creature can be useful sometimes). That said, just her first effect makes her crazy.
Mutagenic Growth is a good card for two reasons; it can be a finisher or save your creatures from a bolt, and that’s for free. It has a problem, though. It’s basically useless if you don’t have a creature, so running more than 2 copies can be a bit risky.
The lands
My current list doesn’t run any basics, so you can basically use any fetch land that searches for red. Alternatively, you can use Flooded Strand, as it will allow you to search for the shock lands we run. My current list runs 10 fetch lands. It may seem too much, but experience has taught me that you want to have your 3 colors by turn 2, and the only way to ensure that always happens is by running a high number of fetch lands. Obviously, that means you are going to lose lots of life, but that’s something you will have to learn to play around.
About the actual mana lands, as I have said, I don’t run basics, so it comes to shock lands and fast lands. Kaladesh has been a bless, as it has given us enemy color fast lands, which help to cut the life loss of running too many shock lands. Right now I run 6 shocks and 2 fasts, but as with everything, this is up to experimentation.
About the colours, the thing is pretty easy: run only lands with red. That means no azorious lands. Why? Very easy. You will need all your lands to have red, so you can cast all your spells effectively. I gave up on Hallowed Fountain after a game where I had two Monastery Swiftspear in hand but I couldn’t cast both because I only had one red. Before that, I had had plenty of games where the Hallowed was just a pain in the ass.
Other interesting spells and creatures
I like my current list, but there is always room for experimenting. There are some interesting cards that could fit in the deck, at least as a one of. Here are some of them.
Blistercoil Weird Until Wizards gives us another 1 CMC Prowess creature, this is the best alternative. Almost every spell in the main board is a sorcery or an instant, so you are going to have its ability triggering a lot.
Seeker of the Way The lifelink part makes him very interesting, although not having haste is a big con.
Soulfire Grand Master I’ll be honest, I’m just putting her here because I love this card, but I’m not sure if it would really work. This card has a great X in the center with the text “Lighting Bolt here” under it, but when it works it’s so amazing…
Lava Spike 3 damage for R, and it goes through Spellskite. Do I have to explain why it’s pure red love?
Sudden Shock The Split Second ability makes it a really interesting choice.
Gut Shot It can trigger Prowess and deal one damage for free.
Jeskai Ascendancy At 3 CMC it’s a clear one of, but it’s still very interesting. Both abilities are good, and I’m thinking about testing it.
Sideboard
Sideboard is the hardest part of every deck, because you have to adapt it to your meta, or run more generic spells for big tournaments and MTGO, where meta is more unpredictable. I will only mention the cards I currently run, but there are plenty more that could fit in the sideboard, and being jeskai allows us to have the best sideboard options possible.
Path to Exile The best removal in modern, just for W.
Wear // Tear Similar to Disenchant, but the possibility of destroying both an enchantment and an artifact is too good not to take it. Another advantage is that you only need W to destroy an enchantment, which is really useful against Blood Moon.
Rest in Peace Oh, you play with the graveyard? It would be a pity if something happened to it turn 2…
Kataki, War's Wage He has given me so many games against Affinity/Robots that I can’t be thankful enough
Deflecting Palm Good against many pairings, and it goes over hexproof and other types of protection.
Anger of the Gods Another card that gives games, and it’s super friends with Stormchaser Mage.
Molten Rain It’s good mainly against Tron, but it can be useful against other archetypes, such as Scapeshift and Blue Moon.
The lists
As other lists appear, I will put them here. For now, this is the list I’m currently running. I was finalist with it at a Modern League of a LGS, only that then I had basics instead of fastlands -it runs even better now. Lost 1-2 to Jund -the irony here being that I had won easily previously that day against the same player-, but I was pretty happy, as it was the first time I ran it in a tournament.
4 Delver of Secrets
1 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Stormchaser Mage
Spells
4 Boros Charm
4 Gitaxian Probe
1 Jeskai Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
1 Magma Jet
2 Mutagenic Growth
1 Saheeli Rai
4 Serum Visions
2 Skullcrack
2 Arid Mesa
4 Flooded Strand
1 Inspiring Vantage
3 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Spirebluff Canal
3 Steam Vents
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Deflecting Palm
1 Kataki, War's Wage
3 Molten Rain
3 Path to Exile
2 Rest in Peace
3 Wear // Tear