@StayHappyThere : you could go full on 8 fastlands and 7 temples. Or 8 fastlands, 6 temples, 1 utility land. Or 8 temples and 1 utility land. It's really up to you
Congrats to DaSneakyPete for such a good 9-0 run at PTQ ! He's the man !
Seeing that it's quiet around here, I thought I'd post some thoughts / analysis on sideboard against some decks I face :
Death Shadow - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 1 flex., 1 Dispel.
***Not always sure about this one, got to play it more.
Storm - EVEN (maybe)
Out: 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 flex.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 1 Dispel.
Jund - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Thoughtseize, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
Burn - FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Path to Exile, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Abzan Company - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 2 Thoughtseize.
Affinity - EVEN
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Wear // Tear, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Tron - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 X
In: 1 Wear//Tear, 2 Path to Exile.
UWx Control - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Slaughter Pact
In: 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All, 1 Dispel.
Zoo/Merfolk - FAVORABLE
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Humans - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Cheers!
Do you have a SB plan against Mardu Pyro? It's hard to decide what to take out... Prims is good against Blood Moon, Pact is good Against Blood Moon/Liliana.
I just have 1x Teachings to take out and 3x Bontu, 4x Leyline, 3x Seize, and 1x Path to go in
I don't really have a plan ( maybe that's why I'm not that good against it ). But seriously, it's like a hard BG/x matchup. I wouldn't take out too much mana rocks to respect Blood Moon (especially if you don't have fetches). Maybe cutting 1 Unlife, 2 Sleight, 2 Prism, 1 Teachings, a land and the rest is flex I guess. Maybe also you board in too much stuff : 4 Leyline + 2 Bontu's + 1-2 Path should be enough. Thoughseize is great, but bringing in 11 cards in the main 60 is really intense considering we're a combo deck.
Curious how my combo brethren have found boseiju in a metagame where both UW and Jeskai are sporting field of ruin. I play grishoalbrand and have cut boseiju for a third pact of negation a long time ago. Perhaps I'm missing something here.
Hey Jonathan, nice to see you around. I think with that many FoR, you'd have to run 2 Boseiju to see it being very useful. There's three way to look at it :
1) Run 2 Boseiju and no Pact.
2) Run 2 Pact.
3) Run 1 Boseiju and a counterspell (normally Pact, I run Dispel for some other reasons).
I'm not feeling very comfortable having no extra counterspells in the sideboard if I'd go with 2 Boseiju, and having no is also a downer. I guess the split is still fine, but I think also that the consensus around here should be to run 2 Boseiju maybe.
Cheers!
Thanks (y) that makes sense to me. Having 1 in an era where even jeskai is running fields seems flimsy. Curious to hear about your rationale on dispel. Because you can pay for pact or negate it with Grace, I'd think it's just better to have free counterspells. Are you playing that in addition to 4 pacts of negations, or as the fourth pact of negation?
Yes, sometimes I run 4 Pact because I have lots of control in my meta (UW, Esper, UTron). Normally I run 3 main, 1 Dispel or 1 Pact in the side. Sometimes, I run Dispel if I expect the game to get longer against instant speed decks or control decks. In the early game, you don't always have all the combo pieces, so having Dispel to disrupt the opponent without having to waste Angel's Grace is good. Is it the best configuration ? I'm not sure, I doubt. But it works most of the time for me and it prevents Surgical Extraction effects from control decks and gives early interaction without sacrificing a combo piece when you don't have either the mana or an extra Angel's Grace.
So it really is mostly for utility purposes, I'd say sticking with a 4th Pact is more classic and regular, but Dispel is not bad either.
Curious how my combo brethren have found boseiju in a metagame where both UW and Jeskai are sporting field of ruin. I play grishoalbrand and have cut boseiju for a third pact of negation a long time ago. Perhaps I'm missing something here.
Hey Jonathan, nice to see you around. I think with that many FoR, you'd have to run 2 Boseiju to see it being very useful. There's three way to look at it :
1) Run 2 Boseiju and no Pact.
2) Run 2 Pact.
3) Run 1 Boseiju and a counterspell (normally Pact, I run Dispel for some other reasons).
I'm not feeling very comfortable having no extra counterspells in the sideboard if I'd go with 2 Boseiju, and having no is also a downer. I guess the split is still fine, but I think also that the consensus around here should be to run 2 Boseiju maybe.
Congrats to DaSneakyPete for such a good 9-0 run at PTQ ! He's the man !
Seeing that it's quiet around here, I thought I'd post some thoughts / analysis on sideboard against some decks I face :
Death Shadow - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 1 flex., 1 Dispel.
***Not always sure about this one, got to play it more.
Storm - EVEN (maybe)
Out: 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 flex.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 1 Dispel.
Jund - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Thoughtseize, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
Burn - FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Path to Exile, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Abzan Company - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 2 Thoughtseize.
Affinity - EVEN
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Wear // Tear, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Tron - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 X
In: 1 Wear//Tear, 2 Path to Exile.
UWx Control - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Slaughter Pact
In: 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All, 1 Dispel.
Zoo/Merfolk - FAVORABLE
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Humans - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
So I think these matches are very good/slightly good.
However, regarding tron I have 57/43 of 46 matches, so I think is not as good as usually people thinks.
Turn 3 Karn is very frecuent, and it hurts a lot, moreover, sideboarding nature's claim make it more hard as you can only combo generally using lotus + angel's grace, because Pentad Prism and Phyrexian Unlife are too vulnerable.
I agree in the rest that Tom said.
I honestly have bad records against Burn, and I think has you said that it might be better than what I suggest. Ruben Bresler thought it was probably the best matchup for us, I just feel sometimes too much on my toes. I'm around 57% win rate against it (sample size of 43 matches in 4 years). But honestly, it should be better for me.
Storm and Affinity are very fast goldfishing matchups. I'd have a better rate against robots if I had Hurkyl's Recall (ran it in 2016, and I was like 70/30). But I'm glad you're doing fine against Storm!
For Tron, I almost never lost. 12-2-2 in 16 games. As you said, the only way to lose it T3 Karn. If it's that, you've got to have it by turn 4-5ish. If not, lights out.
Anyone know good streamers for the deck? There seems only outdated context online that I can find.
There was MTG Ad Nauseam as a streamer, last video is 5 months old. Brian Demars and Jeff Hoogland streamed multiple hours also in the last six months.
Played with a stock manabase to see how it felt : really disliked it a year go. But yesterday, I found it good! I missed not having the liberty to find the lands I wanted, so that's why I went with 6 rainbow lands, but otherwise, having 4 fastlands was fine. I'll be playing that configuration in the next events to try it out!
There's no need to be rude about being ''ignorant to the current state of the meta and the deck''. It's comment like these that don't encourage people to just share ideas, even if you would disagree.
There is likewise no need to demean the better build by calling it "easy", yet here we are. Sharing ideas is excellent but it should be in a manner that aims to actively improve the deck, not just making irrelevant points about outdated information. This is not a disagreement about anything subjective, this is - as I said - you being ignorant to the state of the deck. This likewise is a huge part of why I take breaks from this forum: There is a huge amount of wasted discussion on ideas that have minimal potential to improve the deck (e.g. Fetches, that Shared Fate thing, Leyline-less). I would much prefer we had some degree of direction as a community such that we might be able to continue to advance the deck (the shared direction being a necessity to compensate for the lack of players if we're to keep up with the rapid deck development of Tron/Humans/Jeskai).
Fetchless is provably the better manabase for the current meta. I'm being honest, not rude, you should try catching up on the years of data you're ignoring if you want to meaningfully contribute to the development of the deck.
I know the data and I'm not ignoring it. I see what wins, I know what gets played. I know fetches and shocks is not the popular choice, but that doesn't make it not viable nor bad. You implying I don't know what is happening with the deck is simply pedantic : I've contributed to this thread very intensively over the last three years. Something not being played doesn't make it unplayable.
I know that fastlands and temples have proven to be very efficient and I loved that version for a year. But, I prefer to play something different and I don't dismiss the quality of the lists we see right now. It's just not my taste and I would suggest in general for any player beginning with the deck to get the feel of it to play with 8 fastlands and 6 temples.
If by any chance you would be kind enough to share your knowledge about how to bring the deck to the next level, please enlighten us with your wisdom because our community needs a meaningful contribution to compensate for years of wasted discussion
There's no need to be rude about being ''ignorant to the current state of the meta and the deck''. It's comment like these that don't encourage people to just share ideas, even if you would disagree.
Jarred Boettcher and Bryan Gottlieb being the only ones making it to the Pro Tour in 2014 were on the exact same list with fetches and shocks. That the most high-end finish the deck ever had with 7-2 and 8-1-1 records. The only SCG ever won by the deck was last year, still on no fastland by Nicholas Byrd. However, Andreas Ganz won the only GP with a very streamlined list with fastlands and temples. To me, the 8 fastlands version of the deck and 3 Spoils is just the ''easy'' version of it : doesn't need as much decisions in regards of lands and doesn't leave space for flexibility. My taste is with fetches and I just wouldn't ever go back to anything else.
The fact is that at the moment and since 2 years, the deck as been pushed back into tier 2-3 territory. Out of the 8 most played decks in Modern, we have :
- Tron, which should be a piece of cake.
- Humans, which is impossible.
- Jeskai Control should be easy.
- Pyromancer decks seem grindy and maybe 40/60 for them.
- Hollow One decks are rough for us.
- Burn should be easy.
- KCI is faster than us.
- Affinity should be 50/50 pre-board and 60/40 post-board with Stony Silence and Recall.
And we don't perform well. Storm was the combo deck for 2017, KCI is the combo deck for 2018 and Titanshift is the most consistent combo deck all around for a couple of years. We still are doing okay, but maybe thinking about some sideboarding options for those poor matchups should be our priority over anything else at the moment (even thinking about having more maindeck cards to ease up the though matchups).
Oh and I'm running Dispel because of control decks (Boseiju is always dead with FoR).
About the manabase, I'm on the deck since 2015 and I'm running fetches and shocks. It's the optimal combination when put into the hand of a skilled Ad Nauseam player. My deck right now :
The manabase has been crafted for a long period of time. Aside the 6 temples that come into play tapped, only Tolaria West (and Boseiju out of the SB) come into play untapped which helps not being mana screwed. Also, velocity is the most important asset of this manabase : it is so fast with fetchlands, shocklands and legendary lands. Knowing that the meta is fast and aggro, I feel really good early game getting the mana I need and also late game especially because fastlands might be problematic in the long run when needing mana. Some of these lands are awesome:
1) Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth has amazing synergies with the 4 fetchlands (which can be tapped for black) as well as the 2 Gemstone Mine, which are now eternal (can be tapped for black without using a counter).
2) Tolaria West can be transmutted for any pact or Boseiju, even for a Lotus Bloom.
3) Boseiju, Who Shelters All is the ultimate control land. It gets us there.
Maindeck:
Several things are really relevant here:
1) 1 Mystical Teachings is really safe. It's surprising that in a really aggro meta how this card be relevant : CMC is slow, but it helps you having hands without the combo pieces but lots of mana rocks or useful cards coming from the sideboard. I've been keeping different starting hands with both Mystical Teachings in the deck : it needs more mana and I've been mulliganing to keep hands that are fast to increase the velocity of this tutor.
2) 2 Peer Throug Depth help really against Chalice of the Void to ensure that we still have cantrips. Also, it gets our combo pieces at instant speed.
3) Slaughter Pact becomes more and more useful with the heavy creatures meta environment.
Sideboard:
The idea of this sideboard is to find the cards. You virtualy have 3 copies of each instant cards because Mystical Teachings can find them, which is an amazing thing. Redundancy is way better than it seems and the sideboard covers a large spectrum of matchups. Mortify is surprisingly good.
In all, the manabase which is streamlined everywhere is designed around fastlands and painland, but it's very weak to Blood Moon and any sort of land destruction. Also, life is a ressource that must be used correctly in this game, so having the fetches provides a great equilibrium with the temples. Jonathan Benson, Derk Chad and Nicholas Byrd have been great in many high end tournaments with this kind of configuration and I have myself won a GPT and got to the finals of another GPT.
And if your not convince, just play what feels right for you.
This list is interesting. I'm glad to see 3 Tolaria for fetching other cards. I'm not sold on 3, it might be too much in an open meta. If you're only facing control decks however or some midrange like Hatebears, it could work well with 2 Tolaria.
Right now, I'm probably the only one running a fetch/shock list with Peer/Teachings. I know Byrd still does, but I haven't heard about Benson or Ragle lately. Benavides is on 8 temples too. Anyways, here's my list, it could be of help to smooth things :
I'm running 1 Tolaria, but I could go to 2 in extreme circumstances such as way too many control decks and/or random stuff that needs slaughter pact or pact of negation.
I played with a Snapcaster Mage in the side against discard decks and it worked so well. Even against Control, it was a good one. I'm not very familiar with Humans however, I guess Torpor Orb would be the best.
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
I don't really have a plan ( maybe that's why I'm not that good against it ). But seriously, it's like a hard BG/x matchup. I wouldn't take out too much mana rocks to respect Blood Moon (especially if you don't have fetches). Maybe cutting 1 Unlife, 2 Sleight, 2 Prism, 1 Teachings, a land and the rest is flex I guess. Maybe also you board in too much stuff : 4 Leyline + 2 Bontu's + 1-2 Path should be enough. Thoughseize is great, but bringing in 11 cards in the main 60 is really intense considering we're a combo deck.
Cheers !
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Yes, sometimes I run 4 Pact because I have lots of control in my meta (UW, Esper, UTron). Normally I run 3 main, 1 Dispel or 1 Pact in the side. Sometimes, I run Dispel if I expect the game to get longer against instant speed decks or control decks. In the early game, you don't always have all the combo pieces, so having Dispel to disrupt the opponent without having to waste Angel's Grace is good. Is it the best configuration ? I'm not sure, I doubt. But it works most of the time for me and it prevents Surgical Extraction effects from control decks and gives early interaction without sacrificing a combo piece when you don't have either the mana or an extra Angel's Grace.
So it really is mostly for utility purposes, I'd say sticking with a 4th Pact is more classic and regular, but Dispel is not bad either.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Hey Jonathan, nice to see you around. I think with that many FoR, you'd have to run 2 Boseiju to see it being very useful. There's three way to look at it :
1) Run 2 Boseiju and no Pact.
2) Run 2 Pact.
3) Run 1 Boseiju and a counterspell (normally Pact, I run Dispel for some other reasons).
I'm not feeling very comfortable having no extra counterspells in the sideboard if I'd go with 2 Boseiju, and having no is also a downer. I guess the split is still fine, but I think also that the consensus around here should be to run 2 Boseiju maybe.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Seeing that it's quiet around here, I thought I'd post some thoughts / analysis on sideboard against some decks I face :
Death Shadow - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 1 flex., 1 Dispel.
***Not always sure about this one, got to play it more.
Storm - EVEN (maybe)
Out: 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 flex.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 1 Dispel.
Jund - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Thoughtseize, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
Burn - FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Path to Exile, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Abzan Company - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 2 Thoughtseize.
Affinity - EVEN
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Wear // Tear, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Tron - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 X
In: 1 Wear//Tear, 2 Path to Exile.
UWx Control - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Slaughter Pact
In: 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All, 1 Dispel.
Zoo/Merfolk - FAVORABLE
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Humans - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
I honestly have bad records against Burn, and I think has you said that it might be better than what I suggest. Ruben Bresler thought it was probably the best matchup for us, I just feel sometimes too much on my toes. I'm around 57% win rate against it (sample size of 43 matches in 4 years). But honestly, it should be better for me.
Storm and Affinity are very fast goldfishing matchups. I'd have a better rate against robots if I had Hurkyl's Recall (ran it in 2016, and I was like 70/30). But I'm glad you're doing fine against Storm!
For Tron, I almost never lost. 12-2-2 in 16 games. As you said, the only way to lose it T3 Karn. If it's that, you've got to have it by turn 4-5ish. If not, lights out.
Cheers !
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Best matchups :
- Tron
- UW Control / Jeskai Control
- Titanshift
50/50 :
- Affinity
- Storm
- Burn
Bad matchups:
- Infect
- Jund / Pyromancer
- GDS
- Humans
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
There was MTG Ad Nauseam as a streamer, last video is 5 months old. Brian Demars and Jeff Hoogland streamed multiple hours also in the last six months.
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
I know the data and I'm not ignoring it. I see what wins, I know what gets played. I know fetches and shocks is not the popular choice, but that doesn't make it not viable nor bad. You implying I don't know what is happening with the deck is simply pedantic : I've contributed to this thread very intensively over the last three years. Something not being played doesn't make it unplayable.
I know that fastlands and temples have proven to be very efficient and I loved that version for a year. But, I prefer to play something different and I don't dismiss the quality of the lists we see right now. It's just not my taste and I would suggest in general for any player beginning with the deck to get the feel of it to play with 8 fastlands and 6 temples.
If by any chance you would be kind enough to share your knowledge about how to bring the deck to the next level, please enlighten us with your wisdom because our community needs a meaningful contribution to compensate for years of wasted discussion
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
The fact is that at the moment and since 2 years, the deck as been pushed back into tier 2-3 territory. Out of the 8 most played decks in Modern, we have :
- Tron, which should be a piece of cake.
- Humans, which is impossible.
- Jeskai Control should be easy.
- Pyromancer decks seem grindy and maybe 40/60 for them.
- Hollow One decks are rough for us.
- Burn should be easy.
- KCI is faster than us.
- Affinity should be 50/50 pre-board and 60/40 post-board with Stony Silence and Recall.
And we don't perform well. Storm was the combo deck for 2017, KCI is the combo deck for 2018 and Titanshift is the most consistent combo deck all around for a couple of years. We still are doing okay, but maybe thinking about some sideboarding options for those poor matchups should be our priority over anything else at the moment (even thinking about having more maindeck cards to ease up the though matchups).
Oh and I'm running Dispel because of control decks (Boseiju is always dead with FoR).
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
4 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Laboratory Maniac
Lands (20)
2 City of Brass
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
2 Polluted Delta
4 Temple of Deceit
2 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Plains
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Tolaria West
1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
4 Ad Nauseam
4 Angel's Grace
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Pentad Prism
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
3 Pact of Negation
3 Phyrexian Unlife
2 Peer Through Depths
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Lightning Storm
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Ethereal Haze
2 Path to Exile
1 Boseiju, who Shelters All
1 Thoughtseize
1 Echoing Truth
1 Dispel
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wear // Tear
The manabase has been crafted for a long period of time. Aside the 6 temples that come into play tapped, only Tolaria West (and Boseiju out of the SB) come into play untapped which helps not being mana screwed. Also, velocity is the most important asset of this manabase : it is so fast with fetchlands, shocklands and legendary lands. Knowing that the meta is fast and aggro, I feel really good early game getting the mana I need and also late game especially because fastlands might be problematic in the long run when needing mana. Some of these lands are awesome:
1) Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth has amazing synergies with the 4 fetchlands (which can be tapped for black) as well as the 2 Gemstone Mine, which are now eternal (can be tapped for black without using a counter).
2) Tolaria West can be transmutted for any pact or Boseiju, even for a Lotus Bloom.
3) Boseiju, Who Shelters All is the ultimate control land. It gets us there.
Maindeck:
Several things are really relevant here:
1) 1 Mystical Teachings is really safe. It's surprising that in a really aggro meta how this card be relevant : CMC is slow, but it helps you having hands without the combo pieces but lots of mana rocks or useful cards coming from the sideboard. I've been keeping different starting hands with both Mystical Teachings in the deck : it needs more mana and I've been mulliganing to keep hands that are fast to increase the velocity of this tutor.
2) 2 Peer Throug Depth help really against Chalice of the Void to ensure that we still have cantrips. Also, it gets our combo pieces at instant speed.
3) Slaughter Pact becomes more and more useful with the heavy creatures meta environment.
Sideboard:
The idea of this sideboard is to find the cards. You virtualy have 3 copies of each instant cards because Mystical Teachings can find them, which is an amazing thing. Redundancy is way better than it seems and the sideboard covers a large spectrum of matchups. Mortify is surprisingly good.
In all, the manabase which is streamlined everywhere is designed around fastlands and painland, but it's very weak to Blood Moon and any sort of land destruction. Also, life is a ressource that must be used correctly in this game, so having the fetches provides a great equilibrium with the temples. Jonathan Benson, Derk Chad and Nicholas Byrd have been great in many high end tournaments with this kind of configuration and I have myself won a GPT and got to the finals of another GPT.
And if your not convince, just play what feels right for you.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Right now, I'm probably the only one running a fetch/shock list with Peer/Teachings. I know Byrd still does, but I haven't heard about Benson or Ragle lately. Benavides is on 8 temples too. Anyways, here's my list, it could be of help to smooth things :
4 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Laboratory Maniac
Lands (20)
2 City of Brass
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
2 Polluted Delta
4 Temple of Deceit
2 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Plains
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Tolaria West
1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
4 Ad Nauseam
4 Angel's Grace
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Pentad Prism
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
3 Pact of Negation
3 Phyrexian Unlife
2 Peer Through Depths
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Lightning Storm
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Ethereal Haze
2 Path to Exile
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Thoughtseize
1 Echoing Truth
1 Dispel
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wear // Tear
I'm running 1 Tolaria, but I could go to 2 in extreme circumstances such as way too many control decks and/or random stuff that needs slaughter pact or pact of negation.
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R