Hello my jeskai brothers and sisters. I just read a great article by Jadine Klomparens that covers a topic that is not talked about often enough. The article is about how archetype specialists should attack the modern format. It's widely known that she plays Jund at every modern tournament and often does extremely well. The article is on the paid subscription side so I will give some major points of the article for those who don't have a subscription. I don't want to share too much because I do think these players deserve to be paid for their content because the pro players give a lot to magic and don't receive a lot back.
She basically writes that while archetype specialists are very attached to their decks, they need to be able to adjust to the current meta game and can't get too attached to cards (especially side board cards). She touches on a topic we have often talked about about using sideboard cards that overlap several archetypes rather than just silver bullets.
In addition, she also writes that an archetype specialist needs to be able to adjust to the meta game as a whole. Right now the meta is based on hyper aggressive combo style decks. Therefore, she said that she thinks archetype speciliasts should be playing the most aggressive version of their archetype as possible right now. You still want removal/disruption but want to make sure you are as aggressive as you are comfortable with given your archetype.
There is plenty of additional information in the article that I don't want share given that it is paid content, but those are some of the major points of the article.
I think that more articles regarding archetype specialists should be written given that most FNM modern players can't afford a ton of different modern decks and often stick to an archetype they like to play. Reid Duke (Jund), Gerry Thompson (Mardu), Caleb Sherer (Storm), Guillaume Wafo-Tapa (Control), Corey Burkhart (Grixis), and many more archetype specialists could give a great insight into competitive modern play when sticking with a specific archetype.
thanks for the shout out on the article. it was great read. She gives me hope for having luck with jeskai geist in the future lol
I haven't been to a modern event in 2 years on the 19th. Hasn't been a priority in quite some time now. I gave it up because I was having so much fun playing Pokemon Go outside with friends from like 9pm-2am, that a nerd habit had to give in order for me to stay married lol but now that im almost level 40 I think ill slowly start fading out of Pokemon go and start back up modern. I've already spoke to my wife about taking a weekend off work in June/July to go to a Modern event and see how far I get and we will go with the whole family in case crap out on saturday we will have the whole day sunday to do family things lol
I've been playing Jeskai Geist still. Haven't been to modern since December, been trying to play on Xmage when I can. So I can't offer too much in terms of Delver/tempo stuff lol
I am seeing Field of Ruin do some serious work for people when I watch Twitch streams so I'm definitely going to have 1 or 2 mainboard.
Does Spell Pierce seem as good as I think it is lately? I haven't been impressed with Spell Snare when I face vial decks, Mardu Pyro or Hollow One decks. Feel's nice against Jund, Abzan, Jeskai Control, Affinity and probably storm. But I could see spell pierce coming in handy vs most of these decks as well.
other bounce spells like echoing truth or repeal, cryptic command if you're playing enough lands. It's not easy to beat if you arent prepared for it. If you see this match up a lot, prolly ok to run something like this as a 1 of maindeck, or just get lucky and catch it with a spell pierce or spell snare. sometimes the cards get ya no matter how hard ya try though lol
After testing the UR Wizards deck I feel like I have a fun back up deck for FNM when the cards are out. With that said, I still think jeskai prowess is a superior build. It can just handle so many matchups. I may try to come up with jeskai wizards build, but it's always tough when a deck revolves around a creature type.
I tested last night against GB Tron with great results. I went 8-2 and didn't lose any preboarded games. One of my loses was from flooding so I really feel like we have a very solid Tron matchup. Here are some notes I wrote:
-Early threat is key. Games with Delver were easy wins
-Remand is a house against tron. I have said this before, but every time I play against them it reminds me how good remand is against them.
-Reach is important (Slip Through Space, lightning Bolt, flying, other burn, etc). Finished off multiple games with burn.
-Bouncing Wurmcoil Engine is awesome.
-Deflecting Palm really hurts them.
-The new Tron hate card will likely make this matchup amazing.
-Because this matchup is good and affinity is good I don't think we need Stoney Silence in the board unless lanter and tezzeret pick up.
The deck performed better than anticipated and reminded me why I still love this deck. I still want to play more Jund and will post any notes when I get to test against a good Jund player.
I'm glad you dropped stony. I don't think us jeskai players really need it to win against affinity. I dropped it a long time ago. I also have picked up 2 field of ruin in my main deck. Playing 24 land i have the ability to do that though. a delver prowess build probably would just like to run spreading sea's or molten rain.
I definitely would not worry about that tron version for sure if you are delver. The aggression swings the match heavily in your favor!
And about being a reds fan, i actually have only gone to a few games. I dont really watch baseball much. I went to that game as a family outing with my family and my nana and papal. but thats cool you only live in Indiana! I live in Dayton Ohio. I actually lived in indiana for awhile as a kid. Brookville, Osgood, Mt Caramel to name a few towns lol
I have just lost my will to go recently. Haven't been back since I went 4-0. I sold all my foils to put foil value in my edh deck, which now I think I'm 20 cards away if that from foiling everything that can be foiled which I'm pretty pumped about lol
after the unban of jace. I just have a bunch of control players up here that are going to be slamming jaces left and right. I've lost to jace multiple times before I ever owned one due to a good friend of mine just being a better deck builder than me, and he sucks to lose against. So I think that's part of why I haven't been back recently lol
hope everyone's mtg is going well.
plus I'm not on the prowess build so whats it matter anyways right? lol
Hello to the New Guy; emilan87 your deck looks good.
FNM 12-29-2017
1-3
5 color DeathShadow 1-2
G1 win, bolt for kill top deck.
G2 lost, stuck on land Mulligan1. Game went slow not in my favor, I held up removal and kill spells that never dropped, could not cast 3CMC.
G3 lost, he kills my stuff and then brings in a host of big guys I can not deal with.
Assault Formation Abazan 2-0
G1 quick win with flyers, flipped delver into Mantis Rider T4 win
G2 win, he could not develop blockers for flyers.
His deck was still developing and could have used tweaking.
Hornet deck 0-2
G1 lost, I started off fast doing damage 3 per turn, he played mana ramps to get out Hornet queen with Khans enchantment "when flyer creature etb it fights target creature" I was able to counter this combo but he drew into more of them. Killing my board and wining.
G2 lost. I misplay my fetchland and played land tapped and off mana, Unable to get the right mix of mana (no red) and he Inquisitions the cards I need to win, unable to play a creature or counter (only 1 blue source) drew into white sources. I was backpeddling most of the game.
Mono G Stompy 0-2
I do not feel bad about this lost as the deck is just good, either you have the answer or you do not. I spent both games killing off/ bouncing his spells trying to wear his hand down and not land a real threat.
Overall my counterspells were either duds or not relevant enough.
I am going to try to go more Prowess.
New Deck list
The YP were not doing enough, Geist is good but I found myself casting Rider more on T3. I wanted to go for a heavier burn package with late game attack.
I've got some words here. May seem harsh but it needs to be said.
what was the list before these changes? are you on a budget? Windswept Heath and no scalding tarns or snapcaster mage? Scalding Tarns are the optimal Land if you want the deck to run the smoothest. Snacaster mage is a modern powerhouse, and needs to be in ANY deck with blue. ANY deck with blue. At LEAST a 2 of, probably a 3 of.
- The Echoing truth is a sideboard card, you can probably drop the Zev from the 75 altogether.
- Serum Visions needs to be a 4 of. Simple as that.
- Jotun Grunt and Vexing Devil are cute cards at best, drop them altogether.
- The mana base is kind of atrocious...
something like this is going to be WAAAYYY better. This isn't tested of course, but you are guaranteed to hit the lands and the colors that you need.
- Make Mantis Rider a 4 of, you need a good attacker in the 3 spot.
- I don't like Slayers Stronghold. Your deck needs its colored sources.
- I think you need better cards in order to make Opt better. If you can't get snapcaster I wouldn't even bother running Opt. You already have Serum Visions, a singelton Faithless Looting (which looks terrible without snapcaster mage) and Chart a Course. You actually have too many draw spells and not enough spells that actually DO something. If you had monastery mentor or Young Pyromancer it wouldn't be totally bad because chaining multiple draw spells gives you creatuers. In this build you need better spells and better creatures.
- if you want a good counter spell, add mana leak, negate, or even deprive. Remand is ok but without Snapcaster, remand just looks infinitely worse than the others.
You will get suboptimal results with a suboptimal deck. Sorry man. That's just the way it is. If you can't get the more expensive cards, you should look at a deck like Suicide Bloo. It is a glass cannon but will win more than this pile.
The only "new" inclusion is Faithless Looting which has been performing very well so I am going to continue to run it. I am also giving one Negate a try in the maindeck along with 2 Remand instead of 3 remand. No recent results to talk about due to the holidays, but I have been testing the deck and so far I really like faithless looting more than I thought I would. I'm not sure about the Negate yet. I will keep you all posted.
whats your sideboard captain? lol is reveler still working well for ya as a 1 of?
:). I'm still playing mostly the same sideboard cards. I did make one slight change. Here is my current board
I have been trying Flashfreeze to deal with a greater number of Ponza and Scapeshift decks. In addition, Blood Moon decks have been on the rise. It also hits Collected Company decks and burn. It has been pretty good so far. I have seen a lot of people giving Disdainful Stroke in this spot so I may give that a try too. I cut the [a]Hallowed Moonlight[/c] because I already had options for collected company and goryo's vengeance and thought an additional Dispel would likely be better. Abrade is for all of the Aether Vial decks. I would also like to find room for a second copy of Engineered Explosives if possible.
As for Bedlam Reveler, I'm still a believer. I just love the card. Reveler is very tough to play well and can be clunky sometimes, however, the power level is off the chart to get a 3/4 prowess creatures and pseudo- Ancestral Recall. I play a second copy in my sideboard for the more grindy matchups where reveler really shines. I do think there are many options that can fill a similar role like Hazoret, the Fervant, Kia and Piran Nalar, planeswalkers, etc, however, reveler just fits with my gameplan the best.
yeah i do miss the reveler, but not the delvers lol i actually love the flashfreeze in your list for sure. if people aren't expecting it, it can snag some pretty good cards. then once they see one, they will play around it for the rest of the match which might make them make some mistakes.
I have 1 search and when i get a 2nd one, i want to get both in my new sideboard. My deck can go long, but having that card selection throughout the early turns and fueling logic knot and snapcaster for me seems wonderful, as well for your delvers, revelers, and other interactions.
The only "new" inclusion is Faithless Looting which has been performing very well so I am going to continue to run it. I am also giving one Negate a try in the maindeck along with 2 Remand instead of 3 remand. No recent results to talk about due to the holidays, but I have been testing the deck and so far I really like faithless looting more than I thought I would. I'm not sure about the Negate yet. I will keep you all posted.
whats your sideboard captain? lol is reveler still working well for ya as a 1 of?
*Notes about the deck:
0. Geist rocks. Seriously, It's a disgusting card and I will be picking up my foil copies now lol Promo or pack foil hmm....
1. Electrolyze is still good main deck
2. Spell Snare is great maindeck, especially against abzan AND BURN
3. Colonnade beats is legit, and great.
4. Remand wasn't bad. I did get to hit a Tasigur, the golden fang with it. Thinking of just making it a maindeck negate, we will see.
5. Sideboard is meh. I'm not excited about it. I wanna switch things up.
6. Don't underestimate the power of flashing on the end of t2 for Snapcaster mage beats or Queller beats on the end of t3. Snap beats helped me win a LOT tonight.
Blue Moon
G1
He is on the play, just a couple basics and a few serum visions. I kinda figure he is Blue moon, but he is stuttering and not doing anything except he tried to cast a Search for Azcanta and I remand it. I play geist on my t3, and honestly just ride him to victory. If he would have found an anger he prolly would have got me, but i knew he didnt have an answer just by his playstyle and body language. Luck was on my side for that one
- A cryptic, 3 lightning helix, 3 path to exiles, 1 bolt
+ PnK, V clique, 2 Molten Rain, 1 negate, 1 dispel, 1 d stroke, 1 wear
G2
Didnt know he was on through the breach. I run out Snap on t2 to get early beats. He taps out for a Desolate lighthouse and i land a V clique the next turn which gets bolted durin his tunr... HOLY CRAP ITS EMRAKUL The aeons torn, get RID OF THAT!
I run a spell queller out to hit THREE remands by him while still beating, he finally draws a bolt for the snap, and the queller after the 3 remands. He blood moon's, i fight with logic knot and negate which I lose, which is fine cuz it opens up my mana to give me double red for a fatal molten rain... yes..a blood moon actually helped me win the game
Will write more notes tomorrow gang, im pretty sleepy lol
g2
He keeps a greedy hand i find out, 1 bauble, 1 land, 1 thoughtseize, 2 lingering souls, 2 grim flayer. I mull to 6 and keep geist, snap, and a serum visions and 3 lands, all celestial colonnade lolol this game was not nearly as reactive. he takes geist on his thoughtseize, and doesnt do much else. im very off tempo with these colonnades but he's not doing anything anyways lol i get to molten rain his only land, i throw out a spell queller next turn, counter a thoughtseize with a cryptic command cuz i could, and then he finally gets a tasigur to go off and dicards down to hand size to get a lingering souls in the graveyard. I path the tasigur, but the souls are blocking my celestial colonnade from getting through. So i hold back for another spell queller and a v clique. v clique reveals a whooe bunch of crap im not worried about, and soon after he dies from the air assault.
Updated 12-22.. geeze christmas time is busy when you put it alongside a wedding in 2 weeks lol
BURN
I did not take notes down guys. This match up is difficult for me in terms of time reference. I take longer than usual on my turns, just due to the fact that there are some games you dont even want to crack your fetch land lol
I remember game 1 it was super grindy, and i kept a geist in my hand which i probably shouldnt have, in order to be more reactive. But now i know to play that geist. it was super close, i was at 4 and he was at 6, and either one of us were dead on the next turn, he got me first because i was cryptic command flooded and would have killed for spell pierce in this first game lol
2nd game i mull to 6, land geist on 3 and race him. I hit 2 helix, and a snapcaster without having skullcrack so i was out of range in this game for him. Negate and spell queller both saw play here and were good.
3rd game
he mulls to 5. he draws 3 lava spike though lol I throw a snapcaster end of t2, and get my beats started early. do the same thing with my spell queller.
he is stuck on one land for too long and has all cmc 2 in his hand. Variance win is still a win lol
Affinity
g1- annilated everything, i got down to 14. won with colonnade beats
g2- i flooded out pretty bad and he just did affinity things with cranial plating.
g3- he drew too many lands and i hit electrolyze and wear / tear with snapcaster. geist on t3 here raced him pretty well
Umm. DD Foil art is nice as well, but go for WMCQ Promo Foil for the PIMP! HAHA
Question! What does PnK good against? Looking at the stat, it's just like 4 mana creature which can shock (up to) twice? Is it worth it? If you played resto I can understand, but as a singleton? hmm
I was very skeptical of Pia and Kiran Nalaar, it looks underwhelming on face value. TRUST me. This card is GOOD. I brought it in against a LOT of different decks. Just from my recent weeks, Blue moon both times, Abzan, Affinity both times (as the colorless thopters can block an etched champion and take out an attacker with a cranial plating equipped to it for example which i have done), Tron, Bogels, Infect, Jund, Jeskai, some weird Emeria combo deck using Squadron Hawk, i know there is more but i cant remember anymore lol 2 flying attackers/blockers, 3 creatures for the opp to deal with, and the ability to ping any troublesome low toughness creature, it seriously is a FANTASTIC card.
It's going back up to 2 actually in my sideboard, I've even been considering it as a 1 of maindeck actually. I mean hell if i bring in a card in almost every match up...i feel like thats a sign lol
I dont like restoration angel right now, even if they fatal push the pia and k, i still have 2 thopters to play with and that they have to deal with. Resto comes down.. and they kill it... and there is no lingering value. i mean even if you blink a snapcaster which can be good of course, it just seems meh unless you are trying to go a jeskai flash list, resto is going to be lackluster. at least in my opinion
I have always thought flip Jace is underrated in modern. Yes there is a lot of removal. But in certain metas or our jeskai decks built with tempo/prowess in mind i think it could find a home in the 75. They are already using removal for your other threats, so it is possible to run out. When he flips he can drastically swing the game in your favor.
I think a more midrange build like mine wouldn't benefit from it cuz I can go a lot bigger than the slimmer decks, but the tempo prowess builds have a quicker closing rate especially on a beefed up seiftspear or early flipped delver.
I do like search from Azcanta as well. I have a bab promo i just got and am trying to get a 2nd one as well. This card I've been in love with since it was first spoiled.
I finally finished my updated on my tnm night. wedding + christmas is a busy time lol
hope everyone is doing well! im going to be making some major changes to my sideboard to switch things up soon.
Sideboard options:
Kira or Monastery Siege as an answer to removal
Geist as a resilient threat
Some number of Dispel, Shaft, Negate, Pierce as interaction
Stony/ Wear/ Hurkyl's for Affinity, Chalice decks etc
Relic/ RiP for grave hate
Deflecting Palm / Blessed Alliance
Celestial Purge to deal with Liliana, other people's Chandras (She's mine),Siege Rhino, Shadow, and Tasigur
Other ‘loadouts’ for the flex slots: (I decide what these will be from event to event prior to registering my list, depending on my guess for the meta)
The Midrange Killer (Designed to both protect my creatures from removal and handle larger threats more easily)
2x Valorous Stance
1x Echoing Truth
Anti-Aggro: Good against Tokens, Affinity, Goblins etc)
2x Pyroclasm
1x Forked Bolt
“BoRemandos”
3x Remand
love the electrolyze, you wont be disappointed. love the kira in the sideboard, great tech.
possible addition to the sideboard: 4 drop gideon, if you need help with the grindy match ups or even classic tron. was great for me when my curve and deck build were more delver/prowess oriented.
*Notes about the deck:
0. Geist rocks. Seriously, It's a disgusting card and I will be picking up my foil copies now lol Promo or pack foil hmm....
1. Electrolyze is still good main deck
2. Spell Snare is great maindeck, especially against abzan AND BURN
3. Colonnade beats is legit, and great.
4. Remand wasn't bad. I did get to hit a Tasigur, the golden fang with it. Thinking of just making it a maindeck negate, we will see.
5. Sideboard is meh. I'm not excited about it. I wanna switch things up.
6. Don't underestimate the power of flashing on the end of t2 for Snapcaster mage beats or Queller beats on the end of t3. Snap beats helped me win a LOT tonight.
Blue Moon
G1
He is on the play, just a couple basics and a few serum visions. I kinda figure he is Blue moon, but he is stuttering and not doing anything except he tried to cast a Search for Azcanta and I remand it. I play geist on my t3, and honestly just ride him to victory. If he would have found an anger he prolly would have got me, but i knew he didnt have an answer just by his playstyle and body language. Luck was on my side for that one
- A cryptic, 3 lightning helix, 3 path to exiles, 1 bolt
+ PnK, V clique, 2 Molten Rain, 1 negate, 1 dispel, 1 d stroke, 1 wear
G2
Didnt know he was on through the breach. I run out Snap on t2 to get early beats. He taps out for a Desolate lighthouse and i land a V clique the next turn which gets bolted durin his tunr... HOLY CRAP ITS EMRAKUL The aeons torn, get RID OF THAT!
I run a spell queller out to hit THREE remands by him while still beating, he finally draws a bolt for the snap, and the queller after the 3 remands. He blood moon's, i fight with logic knot and negate which I lose, which is fine cuz it opens up my mana to give me double red for a fatal molten rain... yes..a blood moon actually helped me win the game
Will write more notes tomorrow gang, im pretty sleepy lol
g2
He keeps a greedy hand i find out, 1 bauble, 1 land, 1 thoughtseize, 2 lingering souls, 2 grim flayer. I mull to 6 and keep geist, snap, and a serum visions and 3 lands, all celestial colonnade lolol this game was not nearly as reactive. he takes geist on his thoughtseize, and doesnt do much else. im very off tempo with these colonnades but he's not doing anything anyways lol i get to molten rain his only land, i throw out a spell queller next turn, counter a thoughtseize with a cryptic command cuz i could, and then he finally gets a tasigur to go off and dicards down to hand size to get a lingering souls in the graveyard. I path the tasigur, but the souls are blocking my celestial colonnade from getting through. So i hold back for another spell queller and a v clique. v clique reveals a whooe bunch of crap im not worried about, and soon after he dies from the air assault.
Updated 12-22.. geeze christmas time is busy when you put it alongside a wedding in 2 weeks lol
BURN
I did not take notes down guys. This match up is difficult for me in terms of time reference. I take longer than usual on my turns, just due to the fact that there are some games you dont even want to crack your fetch land lol
I remember game 1 it was super grindy, and i kept a geist in my hand which i probably shouldnt have, in order to be more reactive. But now i know to play that geist. it was super close, i was at 4 and he was at 6, and either one of us were dead on the next turn, he got me first because i was cryptic command flooded and would have killed for spell pierce in this first game lol
2nd game i mull to 6, land geist on 3 and race him. I hit 2 helix, and a snapcaster without having skullcrack so i was out of range in this game for him. Negate and spell queller both saw play here and were good.
3rd game
he mulls to 5. he draws 3 lava spike though lol I throw a snapcaster end of t2, and get my beats started early. do the same thing with my spell queller.
he is stuck on one land for too long and has all cmc 2 in his hand. Variance win is still a win lol
Affinity
g1- annilated everything, i got down to 14. won with colonnade beats
g2- i flooded out pretty bad and he just did affinity things with cranial plating.
g3- he drew too many lands and i hit electrolyze and wear / tear with snapcaster. geist on t3 here raced him pretty well
Hey Jeskai Mages,
Here is my latest deck. After testing, Muta Growth was cut in favor of more burn and midrange cards to provide late-game resiliency (and less dead cards in hand). Traft is awesome post board.
Questions:
1. Is Opt or Serum Visions the better cantrip for me?
2. Is Electrolyze best in its flex slot or is something better?
3. I think my board needs work. Opinions and suggestions welcome.
1. Serum visions digs deeper, which is relevant for you. Since you play prowess creatures you will be playing spells before combat or during to have a beefy creature. Having a spell that digs 3 instead of a possible 2 will come in handy more often than being able to flash opt on an opponents end step in my opinion. Chaining multiple serum visions together is a lot more effective than chaining multiple opt. You also need to be able to dig as deep as possible to hit that 4th land drop for Chandra.
2. I like Queller or Electrolyze. I would go with electrolyze with this build since you already are running 16 creatures, electrolyze will help out those prowess creatures. I can't speak more highly over my results over both though so you can't go wrong with either. But having electrolyze in my main has been FANTASTIC for me.
3. The sideboard is a very difficult thing to put together. First, find out what decks yours is good against and what decks you will have trouble with, and the ones that feel unwinnable. You want to focus on cards that will help you against the middle column and the more uses a card the higher likely you can use it for multiple matchups.
_____________________________
(I use the standard Jeskai Geist deck with 3 geist main deck, so my deck will be different than yours of course but...)
-Molten rain- Great against multiple decks that have greedy mana bases or rely on the Tron lands. I have 2 in my board. I like this better than sea and crumble for my personal choice.
-Relic of Progenitus- My card of choice for graveyard strategies, I use 2. Flexible and easy to use.
-Geist of Saint Traft- Great card for you to play sideboard if you dont want it main deck. Should be at least a 2 of I believe.
-I love Engineered Explosives, Dispel, and Izzet Staticaster is a HOUSE against multiple decks.
- Pia and Kiran Nalaar has also been actually pretty good against a variety of decks as well
Finally made a trade for Search for Azcanta and had a 8 hour marathon session today. I am extremely encouraged by the card.
G1 vs Abzan: Both games we went toe to toe. He T1 Thoughtseize, I recovered later with Serum Visions, Opt and/or Chart a Course. Our creatures didn't stay in play for long as both of our decks were heavy on removal. I resolved Search for Azcanta and it flipped before he got to draw his Abrupt Decay. Search for Azcanta drew me to victory. I Spell Pierce his Maelstrom Pulse that tried to take out my Fire Elementals.
G2 vs Grixis Death Shadow: Another Thoughtseize deck. Same old story. T1 Thoughtseize or IoK. My Spell Pierce is good value here as they have a very low mana base. I either Vapor Snag or Path of Exile the Delver of Secrets or Death's Shadow. One game ended with my Bolt/Snap/Bolt and another game ended with Young Pyromancer and Fire Elemental Tokens overrunning him. Serum Visions/ Opt/ Remand devalued his discard spells. A late game Search for Azcanta didn't really matter as I was ahead on the board and life total (he was at 5 and I was at 15). Lightning Helix and Spirebluff Canal rocks. I deliberately played into his Stubborn Denial for bigger plays by baiting him with cards like Path to Exile his Death's Shadow and then Snap/Path in my main phase with Spell Pierce up.
G3 vs Storm: Not the easiest deck for me to play against because they also pack Remand so I must try hard to not get blown out. Kept his Goblin Electromancer or Baral off the board to stall as long as possible. I lost one game because I drew blanks. I won the other one because I drew hot. Last game I stalled long enough to resolve Search of Azcanta and drew myself to victory. A mix of Smuggler's Copter crewed by an unflipped Delver of Secrets and Spell Queller sealed the game for me.
Possible tweaks with the deck is taking our Smuggler's Copter. I sided it out against decks with Kolaghan's Command but performs in the midgame. I am not really keen on Bedlam Reveler (a great card but I have so much cantrips I can't bare to discard my hand or ever went hellbent) and Cryptic Serpent doesn't have evasion but dodges IoK and Fatal Push. I will seriously consider a 2nd copy of Spell Queller.
Deck's great. I know I haven't played against Eldrazi/Tron or Valakut decks which pose a different set of problems for me.
I like dropping the drake and going to 2 queller. It's just stupid good lol whats the sideboard you're rocking ? I can understnad taking out the copter. Filter is nice (and letting a unflipped delver actually be freakin useful lol) but giving them another thing to throw a fatal push or k command at isn't doing you any favors.
Eldrazi is tough. for sure. when you play against it pay close attention so you can see how the deck favors vs it. I wouldn't worry as hard about valakut, its on the fringe right now. However through the breach + blood moon decks are ticking up, which can sometimes intertwine but sometimes they are completely different decks lol
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In other news with jeskai being in a huge upswing i think its important i follow suit and put a few remand in my maindeck to help combat it. so Ill be testing 3 cryptic, 2 remand, 2 logic knot, and 1 spell snare instead of 4 cryptic, 2 snare and 2 logic.
I've been pummeled by remand in counter wars lately and i miss remand anyways so here goes nothing lol
thanks for the shout out on the article. it was great read. She gives me hope for having luck with jeskai geist in the future lol
I haven't been to a modern event in 2 years on the 19th. Hasn't been a priority in quite some time now. I gave it up because I was having so much fun playing Pokemon Go outside with friends from like 9pm-2am, that a nerd habit had to give in order for me to stay married lol but now that im almost level 40 I think ill slowly start fading out of Pokemon go and start back up modern. I've already spoke to my wife about taking a weekend off work in June/July to go to a Modern event and see how far I get and we will go with the whole family in case crap out on saturday we will have the whole day sunday to do family things lol
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
I am seeing Field of Ruin do some serious work for people when I watch Twitch streams so I'm definitely going to have 1 or 2 mainboard.
Delver has never been friendly to me so that's why I don't run it. I do miss the t1 monastery swiftspear, t2 stormchaser mage +mutagenic growth, t3 mantis rider days. That deck could smash if the opponent fumbled lol
i fee l like people have forgotten about Monastery Mentor though. I'm trying to find room for it in my 75
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
I'm glad you dropped stony. I don't think us jeskai players really need it to win against affinity. I dropped it a long time ago. I also have picked up 2 field of ruin in my main deck. Playing 24 land i have the ability to do that though. a delver prowess build probably would just like to run spreading sea's or molten rain.
I definitely would not worry about that tron version for sure if you are delver. The aggression swings the match heavily in your favor!
And about being a reds fan, i actually have only gone to a few games. I dont really watch baseball much. I went to that game as a family outing with my family and my nana and papal. but thats cool you only live in Indiana! I live in Dayton Ohio. I actually lived in indiana for awhile as a kid. Brookville, Osgood, Mt Caramel to name a few towns lol
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
after the unban of jace. I just have a bunch of control players up here that are going to be slamming jaces left and right. I've lost to jace multiple times before I ever owned one due to a good friend of mine just being a better deck builder than me, and he sucks to lose against. So I think that's part of why I haven't been back recently lol
hope everyone's mtg is going well.
plus I'm not on the prowess build so whats it matter anyways right?
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
I've got some words here. May seem harsh but it needs to be said.
what was the list before these changes? are you on a budget? Windswept Heath and no scalding tarns or snapcaster mage? Scalding Tarns are the optimal Land if you want the deck to run the smoothest. Snacaster mage is a modern powerhouse, and needs to be in ANY deck with blue. ANY deck with blue. At LEAST a 2 of, probably a 3 of.
- The Echoing truth is a sideboard card, you can probably drop the Zev from the 75 altogether.
- Serum Visions needs to be a 4 of. Simple as that.
- Jotun Grunt and Vexing Devil are cute cards at best, drop them altogether.
- The mana base is kind of atrocious...
4 Scalding tarn
2 Flooded Strand
2 Steam Vents
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Spirebluff Canal
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Shinko
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
something like this is going to be WAAAYYY better. This isn't tested of course, but you are guaranteed to hit the lands and the colors that you need.
- Make Mantis Rider a 4 of, you need a good attacker in the 3 spot.
- I don't like Slayers Stronghold. Your deck needs its colored sources.
- I think you need better cards in order to make Opt better. If you can't get snapcaster I wouldn't even bother running Opt. You already have Serum Visions, a singelton Faithless Looting (which looks terrible without snapcaster mage) and Chart a Course. You actually have too many draw spells and not enough spells that actually DO something. If you had monastery mentor or Young Pyromancer it wouldn't be totally bad because chaining multiple draw spells gives you creatuers. In this build you need better spells and better creatures.
- a more 'Prowess' centered deck is going to have more than 4 prowess creatures... You need a threat in the 2 drop spot. Find some. Stormchaser Mage, Young Pyromancer, SNAPCASTER MAGE...
- if you want a good counter spell, add mana leak, negate, or even deprive. Remand is ok but without Snapcaster, remand just looks infinitely worse than the others.
You will get suboptimal results with a suboptimal deck. Sorry man. That's just the way it is. If you can't get the more expensive cards, you should look at a deck like Suicide Bloo. It is a glass cannon but will win more than this pile.
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
yeah i do miss the reveler, but not the delvers
I have 1 search and when i get a 2nd one, i want to get both in my new sideboard. My deck can go long, but having that card selection throughout the early turns and fueling logic knot and snapcaster for me seems wonderful, as well for your delvers, revelers, and other interactions.
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
whats your sideboard captain?
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
I was very skeptical of Pia and Kiran Nalaar, it looks underwhelming on face value. TRUST me. This card is GOOD. I brought it in against a LOT of different decks. Just from my recent weeks, Blue moon both times, Abzan, Affinity both times (as the colorless thopters can block an etched champion and take out an attacker with a cranial plating equipped to it for example which i have done), Tron, Bogels, Infect, Jund, Jeskai, some weird Emeria combo deck using Squadron Hawk, i know there is more but i cant remember anymore lol 2 flying attackers/blockers, 3 creatures for the opp to deal with, and the ability to ping any troublesome low toughness creature, it seriously is a FANTASTIC card.
It's going back up to 2 actually in my sideboard, I've even been considering it as a 1 of maindeck actually. I mean hell if i bring in a card in almost every match up...i feel like thats a sign lol
I dont like restoration angel right now, even if they fatal push the pia and k, i still have 2 thopters to play with and that they have to deal with. Resto comes down.. and they kill it... and there is no lingering value. i mean even if you blink a snapcaster which can be good of course, it just seems meh unless you are trying to go a jeskai flash list, resto is going to be lackluster. at least in my opinion
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
I think a more midrange build like mine wouldn't benefit from it cuz I can go a lot bigger than the slimmer decks, but the tempo prowess builds have a quicker closing rate especially on a beefed up seiftspear or early flipped delver.
I do like search from Azcanta as well. I have a bab promo i just got and am trying to get a 2nd one as well. This card I've been in love with since it was first spoiled.
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
hope everyone is doing well! im going to be making some major changes to my sideboard to switch things up soon.
love the electrolyze, you wont be disappointed. love the kira in the sideboard, great tech.
possible addition to the sideboard: 4 drop gideon, if you need help with the grindy match ups or even classic tron. was great for me when my curve and deck build were more delver/prowess oriented.
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
I'VE REACHED MY FIRST GOAL!
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spell Queller
3 Geist of Saint Traft
Spells (25)
3 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
2 Logic Knot
1 Remand
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
2 Molten Rain
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Celestial Purge
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Dispel
1 Negate
1 Wear
1 Elsepth, Sun's Champion
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Supreme Verdict
2-0 Blue Moon Breach
2-0 Abzan Delirium *Spicy
2-1 Burn
2-1 Affinity
*Notes about the deck:
0. Geist rocks. Seriously, It's a disgusting card and I will be picking up my foil copies now lol Promo or pack foil hmm....
1. Electrolyze is still good main deck
2. Spell Snare is great maindeck, especially against abzan AND BURN
3. Colonnade beats is legit, and great.
4. Remand wasn't bad. I did get to hit a Tasigur, the golden fang with it. Thinking of just making it a maindeck negate, we will see.
5. Sideboard is meh. I'm not excited about it. I wanna switch things up.
6. Don't underestimate the power of flashing on the end of t2 for Snapcaster mage beats or Queller beats on the end of t3. Snap beats helped me win a LOT tonight.
Blue Moon
G1
He is on the play, just a couple basics and a few serum visions. I kinda figure he is Blue moon, but he is stuttering and not doing anything except he tried to cast a Search for Azcanta and I remand it. I play geist on my t3, and honestly just ride him to victory. If he would have found an anger he prolly would have got me, but i knew he didnt have an answer just by his playstyle and body language. Luck was on my side for that one
- A cryptic, 3 lightning helix, 3 path to exiles, 1 bolt
+ PnK, V clique, 2 Molten Rain, 1 negate, 1 dispel, 1 d stroke, 1 wear
G2
Didnt know he was on through the breach. I run out Snap on t2 to get early beats. He taps out for a Desolate lighthouse and i land a V clique the next turn which gets bolted durin his tunr... HOLY CRAP ITS EMRAKUL The aeons torn, get RID OF THAT!
I run a spell queller out to hit THREE remands by him while still beating, he finally draws a bolt for the snap, and the queller after the 3 remands. He blood moon's, i fight with logic knot and negate which I lose, which is fine cuz it opens up my mana to give me double red for a fatal molten rain... yes..a blood moon actually helped me win the game
Will write more notes tomorrow gang, im pretty sleepy lol
Abzan Delirium
g1
Starts off with Mishra's Bauble, im thinking a death shadow variant. Marsh flats, so no shadow lol especially after he plays Traverse the ulvenwald[/card, i know what he's playing. I play t3 geist, he answers it with t4 liliana of the veil. i answer it next turn with electrolyze. He plays Siege Rhino, I path to exile it on the end step. i play my 2nd geist, he plays engineered explosives on 3 and busts it lol hold on spell queller, a path and remand, he plays tasigur i remand it, but he plays it again, then i path it. then on the end step bring in spell queller, he fatal pushes it. then i draw my 3rd geist and slam it. ride em and another spell queller to victory while he floods out.
-3 lightning helix, -2 bolt, -1 spell queller, -1 logic knot
+1 izzet staticaster, +1 elspeth sun's champion, +1 pnk,+1 Engineered Explosives +2 molten rain, +1 vendilion clique
g2
He keeps a greedy hand i find out, 1 bauble, 1 land, 1 thoughtseize, 2 lingering souls, 2 grim flayer. I mull to 6 and keep geist, snap, and a serum visions and 3 lands, all celestial colonnade lolol this game was not nearly as reactive. he takes geist on his thoughtseize, and doesnt do much else. im very off tempo with these colonnades but he's not doing anything anyways lol i get to molten rain his only land, i throw out a spell queller next turn, counter a thoughtseize with a cryptic command cuz i could, and then he finally gets a tasigur to go off and dicards down to hand size to get a lingering souls in the graveyard. I path the tasigur, but the souls are blocking my celestial colonnade from getting through. So i hold back for another spell queller and a v clique. v clique reveals a whooe bunch of crap im not worried about, and soon after he dies from the air assault.
Updated 12-22.. geeze christmas time is busy when you put it alongside a wedding in 2 weeks lol
BURN
I did not take notes down guys. This match up is difficult for me in terms of time reference. I take longer than usual on my turns, just due to the fact that there are some games you dont even want to crack your fetch land lol
I remember game 1 it was super grindy, and i kept a geist in my hand which i probably shouldnt have, in order to be more reactive. But now i know to play that geist. it was super close, i was at 4 and he was at 6, and either one of us were dead on the next turn, he got me first because i was cryptic command flooded and would have killed for spell pierce in this first game lol
-1 cryptic command, -2 lightning bolt, -1 logic knot, -1 remand, -1 path, -1 queller
+2 molten rain, +1 negate, +1 dispel, +1 purge, +1 v clique, +1 ee
2nd game i mull to 6, land geist on 3 and race him. I hit 2 helix, and a snapcaster without having skullcrack so i was out of range in this game for him. Negate and spell queller both saw play here and were good.
3rd game
he mulls to 5. he draws 3 lava spike though lol I throw a snapcaster end of t2, and get my beats started early. do the same thing with my spell queller.
he is stuck on one land for too long and has all cmc 2 in his hand. Variance win is still a win lol
Affinity
g1- annilated everything, i got down to 14. won with colonnade beats
g2- i flooded out pretty bad and he just did affinity things with cranial plating.
g3- he drew too many lands and i hit electrolyze and wear / tear with snapcaster. geist on t3 here raced him pretty well
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
1. Serum visions digs deeper, which is relevant for you. Since you play prowess creatures you will be playing spells before combat or during to have a beefy creature. Having a spell that digs 3 instead of a possible 2 will come in handy more often than being able to flash opt on an opponents end step in my opinion. Chaining multiple serum visions together is a lot more effective than chaining multiple opt. You also need to be able to dig as deep as possible to hit that 4th land drop for Chandra.
2. I like Queller or Electrolyze. I would go with electrolyze with this build since you already are running 16 creatures, electrolyze will help out those prowess creatures. I can't speak more highly over my results over both though so you can't go wrong with either. But having electrolyze in my main has been FANTASTIC for me.
3. The sideboard is a very difficult thing to put together. First, find out what decks yours is good against and what decks you will have trouble with, and the ones that feel unwinnable. You want to focus on cards that will help you against the middle column and the more uses a card the higher likely you can use it for multiple matchups.
_____________________________
(I use the standard Jeskai Geist deck with 3 geist main deck, so my deck will be different than yours of course but...)
-Molten rain- Great against multiple decks that have greedy mana bases or rely on the Tron lands. I have 2 in my board. I like this better than sea and crumble for my personal choice.
-Relic of Progenitus- My card of choice for graveyard strategies, I use 2. Flexible and easy to use.
-Geist of Saint Traft- Great card for you to play sideboard if you dont want it main deck. Should be at least a 2 of I believe.
-I love Engineered Explosives, Dispel, and Izzet Staticaster is a HOUSE against multiple decks.
- Pia and Kiran Nalaar has also been actually pretty good against a variety of decks as well
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
I like dropping the drake and going to 2 queller. It's just stupid good lol whats the sideboard you're rocking ? I can understnad taking out the copter. Filter is nice (and letting a unflipped delver actually be freakin useful lol) but giving them another thing to throw a fatal push or k command at isn't doing you any favors.
Eldrazi is tough. for sure. when you play against it pay close attention so you can see how the deck favors vs it. I wouldn't worry as hard about valakut, its on the fringe right now. However through the breach + blood moon decks are ticking up, which can sometimes intertwine but sometimes they are completely different decks lol
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In other news with jeskai being in a huge upswing i think its important i follow suit and put a few remand in my maindeck to help combat it. so Ill be testing 3 cryptic, 2 remand, 2 logic knot, and 1 spell snare instead of 4 cryptic, 2 snare and 2 logic.
I've been pummeled by remand in counter wars lately and i miss remand anyways so here goes nothing lol
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.