Hey all, I'm not sure if anyone here is still on the Jeskai Geist/Queller versions, but I just put out some YouTube content for the deck. You can find the link to the first match in the playlist below (out of 5 in a Modern Competitive League on Magic Online). This version of the deck is still talked about in the Primer, so I hope it is okay to discuss this version of Jeskai Control here.
I played a list very similar to the one from an SCG Classic a few weeks back, but if anyone cannot access YouTube and just wants to see the list, here it is:
I second the Nezahal, Primal Tide suggestion. Card is nuts, especially when the meta is 70%+ Baral (I play mostly on MTGO, so forgive my bias towards the matchup).
I really like Azor's Gateway with Azor, the Lawbringer in the deck. It comes up every so often to make it worth it, plus it mitigates flood in the mid-late game which I've found to be really important for a deck like this.
Time of Ice is definitely interesting, although it feels worse than other cards I'm currently playing. Helm of the Host seems pretty mana-intensive, although I can see some situations where it can get pretty nutty. 9 mana is a lot of mana to get it going though.
I think the cards I'm going to prioritize into my list are Supreme Will and Seal Away. I'm not sure there are any other cards that truly warrant the space in my list.
@diegodeschain: I would try to find room for Urza's Ruinous Blast. Card is pretty insane in this format, even if it doesn't hit opposing commanders. Baird, Steward of Argive seems like an easy cut in my opinion, but it depends on what your meta is. If you play online, it doesn't seem like a particularly good card.
As a hardcore control player in most formats, I wanted to create a deck that matched my playstyle but that would also remain competitive. With Baral, Scarab God, and Nicol Bolas being some of the top tier commanders right now, it's hard to play a straight-up control shell in UW. Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage provides that tempo angle of attack which is really helpful against the counterspell and removal-heavy decks of the format, while still having a solid foundation for a UW control shell against the non-blue decks of the format (like Ghalta).
Notable runner-ups:
1) Supreme Will: Solid counterspell that is never dead
2) Karn's Temporal Sundering: Great card to play while ahead, not so useful when behind
3) Commit // Memory: Great card, playable on most board states and can refuel in the late game
4) Lyra Dawnbringer: Good with Raff, mostly just a 5/5 for 5 with some nice keywords most of the time (which may or may not be relevant)
5) Seal Away: Very good, cheap removal, but the meta doesn't seem to favor these types of cards yet
6) Cataclysmic Gearhulk: Pseudo-wrath at instant speed with Raff, but we tend to play multiples of certain card types which may result in some awkward interactions.
The major point of this post is to get some advice on the build. I'm far from an expert on standard, so I've probably missed some cards as I've been testing the deck. If there's anything I've missed that you think may be useful, I'd be happy to hear it. Please keep suggestions in a competitive framework with Baral in mind.
I've probably missed some utility land, or have some non-optimal card choices. I'm hoping an extra set of eyes can help me differentiate between optimality and internal bias. Thanks for the read!
Hey guys! I'm an avid UW Control player and with the Jace unban I've been testing UW Control all day. While it's not legal on MTGO events, I recorded 2 of my testing matches against a friend on RG Tron. I was testing the "bennyhillz" style build with 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, although 3 may be the correct number. Anyways, I'll link them below. Hopefully it can be a solid starting point for someone who doesn't know where to begin and can help seasoned UW Control players assess Jace's role in certain matchups. Long story short: Jace is reaallllll sweet!
I was also recording with Sultai Jace Midrange earlier today, so if you see a decklist under my facecam that looks nothing like UW Control, I apologize. I forgot to update my OBS settings. Hopefully it's not too much of an inconvenience or clutter for y'all. Anyways, if you watch the videos and like what you see, let me know! If you didn't like it, provide me some constructive feedback. I am constantly trying to become a better content creator. Thanks!
For the mana base you can check my list here in previous posts, i runs 18 lands but can safely land Blood Moon. Regarding land count,since you only play 4 Visions (effectively 23 lands) and I'll assume an average CMC of 1.8ish (snaps counted as 3 drops and growths as 0) you'll be more than fine with 20+ 4 serums. You need to keep a balance of threats vs lands and since its an aggro list I'd favor more threats over lands.
After several hundred games with my list, which has 2 Boros Charms and 2 Deflecting Palms, I'd never cut them and I'd rather cut a helix than a charm. It can one shot several planeswalkers, save you from wraths and in your list get under many decks for an absurd amount of damage. You should look at Palms as 2 mana 4+ burn spells. They work on affinity, infect, knightfall/company decks, jund, breach decks, tron decks, titanshift and are epic in aggro mirrors. At this time I'd probably keep 2 stony's in for lantern purposes if you're mostly playing online though.
Thanks for the analysis MrTzoulis. I'm not sure I'll play 2 Boros Charms to start with, but I might cut a land and add a charm. I will also re-consider 1-2 Deflecting Palm somewhere in my SB as I understand that it can be quite versatile vs. many decks.
Hey Jeskai Tempo/Delver/Prowess players. I'm usually a hardcore UW or Jeskai Control player, but after searching my soul, I figured I would play an aggressive deck as the format seems to be moving aggressively to hate out control strats (at least on Magic Online).
So, based on some old builds of the "suicide blue" deck back when Gitaxian Probe was legal, I decided to jam my own updated version and recorded a 5-match Modern Competitive League with it. The notable card being tested was Hazoret the Fervent and it was pretty awesome. You can check out the gameplay to the first match here: Jeskai Hazoret Aggro.
For those who don't want to be spoiled, I've included the decklist, results, and my thoughts below within the spoiler tags:
Overall, the deck went 4-1 in the Modern Competitive League, beating GB Elves, Ad Nauseam, Bant Knightfall, and UW Control. It lost to Dredge.
The maindeck felt great on all fronts. The land-base might need some tweaking, but was very smooth overall. The sideboard might need tweaking, as Rest in Peace, while powerful, felt weird in a 4-of Snapcaster Mage deck. Some number of Surgical Extraction may be more appropriate.
Hazoret the Fervent felt right at home and provided the aggressiveness as well as the reach necessary to close out games. I like having access to 1-2 in the 75. Geist of Saint Traft was also key in winning the Control and Ad Nauseam matchups.
Hi Paradox Omega. Thanks for the awesome post and welcome! We always love to have new players and minds helping on the deck. Also, congrats on the 4-1 finish. I do think a jeskai aggro deck is very well positioned right now so I think you will enjoy playing the deck.
I agree with a lot of what Mr.T has already said. I would definitely cut a land and go down to 20. I currently play 19 but I also run 3 serum visions, 3 opt, and a faithless looting. For that reason I wouldn't go to far below 20 with only 4 deck manipulation spells. Opt actually works really well in your list, but the only cuts I could see is cutting one mantis rider and one mutagenic growth (this is a personal preference). I am actually surprised because I am typically one of the more aggressive players on this forum and this appears to be more aggressive than my version :). It definitely fits the meta right now.
I think you are spot on with your assessment of Geist of Saint Traft. He excels in matchups where we may have problems as aggro-control list. Specifically control decks. He is basically game over against them. Mr. T has been championing Hazoret, but my pet card at the top end is Bedlam Reveler. He has been in my deck for a long time and isn't coming out. I would recommend giving him a try, especially if Bloodbraid Elf gets unbanned and we see more grindy matchups in the meta.
I totally understand what you are saying about MTGO. MTGO is very different from local metas. Similar to Mr. T I am a huge advocate of Deflecting Palm. I just love the card against some of the wierd Emrukal decks, burn, eldrazi, tron, etc.
Overall I love the list and thank you for the video. I look forward to seeing how it develops in the future. Welcome to the team!
Thanks CordBros! I do think this Jeskai build is very well positioned. Less lands and more cantrips is something I definitely considered myself. My original list had around 18 lands and 7 cantrips, but I wasn't sure if that was feasible for a Hazoret the Fervent version in the deck. I actually gave this build a shot a while back and had Bedlam Reveler as my top end (instead of Hazoret the Fervent). I only played about 10 or so matches and never got to see him, though. Faithless Looting is a card I also considered prior to making the 2nd build. The deck feels like it loses when it draws one too many lands and we don't particularly care about card advantage, so a prowess trigger + filtering could be super relevant (especially in a Bedlam Reveler build).
I'll give Deflecting Palm another chance down the road for sure. Thanks for the kind words and I look forward to jamming this deck in the future (whether I get more time to record with it is another question entirely).
I saw your post in the UWx group on FB, but forgot to save the list
From your list I'd cut a land (probably the mountain) and something else (personally I'd shave off a snap) and go with a couple of Boros Charms. Trust me on them, all modes are relevant, I've 12-14-16'd people on t2-t3 with it and a couple of Mutagenics. Also, I'd like the paths in the main. As for your SB, definitely go for RiP + Surgicals, they help in many match ups and only hose your snaps (always cut one for a RiP, unless you're playing against storm/dredge where surgical-snap-surgical is as good as RiP). I'd suggest a few Blood Moons and a Clique somewhere in there as well. Lastly, Deflecting Palm, play it, love it, make your opponents weep.
I've long been a proponent of Hazoret, so I'm glad more people are seeing her potential.
Thanks for the suggestions MrTzoulis! I'll address them one at a time.
1) My original list had a 1-of Boros Charm in the main and 1 Deflecting Palm in the SB. They were both good, but narrow in my opinion. I felt like those slots could be used better, at least for the MTGO meta (guaranteed to run into Affinity or Dredge in a league, hence the triple Stony/RIP).
2) I tried Path to Exile in the main and just didn't quite like it to be honest. Vapor Snag just has so much more utility in Game 1's, like hitting your own creatures, especially against decks where Path to Exile does nothing. I do understand that maindecking them would free up some SB slots and help against creature-heavy metas.
3) Moving forward, I was considering the exact same thing regarding Surgical Extraction. They seem to also work well with Prowess (free triggers woo!). I was thinking something like 2-1 or 2-2 Rest in Peace-Surgical.
4) Blood Moon seems greedy, but the manabase could be configured in such a way where it could work. I just don't think it's all that necessary and Molten Rain deals damage and sets our opponent back a land which I think is quite relevant to our beatdown plan.
5) Vendilion Clique is also a card I considered but decided to hold back on because double blue can be sketchy for the manabase sometimes, but I agree it's quite a solid card somewhere in the 75.
6) Is 20 lands reasonable for a deck like this? And is basic mountain not useful against aggressive decks where we take the "control" role?
I'm glad you like Hazoret too! I think she's awesome and deserves some exploration. I know Mardu Pyromancer, Affinity and even Lantern Control have been trying her out in some capacity in the 75, so in an aggressive Jeskai shell, she seems right at home.
Hey Jeskai Tempo/Delver/Prowess players. I'm usually a hardcore UW or Jeskai Control player, but after searching my soul, I figured I would play an aggressive deck as the format seems to be moving aggressively to hate out control strats (at least on Magic Online).
So, based on some old builds of the "suicide blue" deck back when Gitaxian Probe was legal, I decided to jam my own updated version and recorded a 5-match Modern Competitive League with it. The notable card being tested was Hazoret the Fervent and it was pretty awesome. You can check out the gameplay to the first match here: Jeskai Hazoret Aggro.
For those who don't want to be spoiled, I've included the decklist, results, and my thoughts below within the spoiler tags:
Overall, the deck went 4-1 in the Modern Competitive League, beating GB Elves, Ad Nauseam, Bant Knightfall, and UW Control. It lost to Dredge.
The maindeck felt great on all fronts. The land-base might need some tweaking, but was very smooth overall. The sideboard might need tweaking, as Rest in Peace, while powerful, felt weird in a 4-of Snapcaster Mage deck. Some number of Surgical Extraction may be more appropriate.
Hazoret the Fervent felt right at home and provided the aggressiveness as well as the reach necessary to close out games. I like having access to 1-2 in the 75. Geist of Saint Traft was also key in winning the Control and Ad Nauseam matchups.
Hey all, just wanted to share with you my recent 5-match MTGO Modern Competitive League with the Jeskai Flash build mentioned above (4 Snap, 4 Queller, 2 Clique, 2 Resto creature-base). I was testing out Opt over Serum Visions, Vendilion Clique over Geist of Saint Traft and 2 Restoration Angel over Cryptic #3 and #4. The main 60 can play completely at instant speed. I also try out 2 Spell Snare in the main and they overperformed in the matches I needed them (mostly Storm and even Titanshift).
The deck performed very well, being 1 game away from the glorious MTGO 5-0. You can catch the first of five matches here: Jeskai Flash Control Match 1.
For those without access to YouTube currently, I also have the 75 card decklist shown below:
And for those that don't want to watch the videos, I'll summarize my thoughts below:
1) Ultimately, Restoration Angel felt like a lot of mana for a 3/4 and its synergies didn't come up as often as I expected them to. However, 5 matches is quite a small sample size and had the games gone different slightly, it may have been relevant. I think the 3rd Cryptic Command is more important than the 2nd Restoration Angel, so that would be my first swap. I still like Restoration Angel, though.
4) Because the deck is more aggressively slanted, the Thundermaw Hellkite was actually quite cool from the SB and can often be game over in fair matchups.
5) Opt allowed for some really cool plays, like main-phase scry to the bottom to draw a potentially relevant card. End-of-turn Snapcaster Mage into Opt was also quite relevant. Whether it should be an all or nothing split between it and Serum Visions is unclear to me at this point, but it definitely added a nice angle of attack.
Hey guys! Infect is an archetype I've been meaning to get better with and I noticed there wasn't much content out there on the new versions of the build post-Git ban. I'm far from an expert with the deck (no, seriously), but if you want to watch some Infect gameplay, I've linked the first of five videos below:
I'm hoping to get a lot better and find a more tuned list so I can at least try to represent the Infect community online. If anyone has any sideboarding guides they've come across, I'd love to check it out as I think that's one of the harder parts of Infect.
If you come across any major gameplay or sideboarding errors, I'm all ears for constructive criticism. Thanks!
Hey all, I see some discussion on the As Foretold / Living End builds. I decided to brew something up based off of that and record some gameplay with it on my YouTube channel for anyone interested in seeing how that type of Living End build generally plays out.
I decided to incorporate the old Living End Twin concept back when Twin was legal. I think the As Foretold / Living End synergy is very powerful, but it's not always enough to win the game, especially against decks that don't care about your board. Having an infinite combo helps beat matchups like Tron and Storm.
For those interested, I decided to feature UW Control with Search for Azcanta and other new Ixalan cards like Settle the Wreckage and Field of Ruin on my YouTube channel this week. You can find the deck tech and second match here: Searching for Azcanta in UW Control. It starts with the second match, but if you're looking for the first match, I included it at the end of the playlist with non-live commentary (due to technical difficulties) followed by some closing statements about the deck as a whole.
I'm always looking for feedback on how to get better as a content creator and a player so constructive criticism is always appreciated. Also, if you think the build could be improved, I'd be happy to engage in discussion so we can continue to improve UW Control.
To summarize my thoughts, I still think Supreme Verdict is miles better than Settle the Wreckage, although some time of split that favors the former seems natural to me (ex. 3/1 split). Field of Ruin has also been incredible, allowing you to disrupt manabases while fixing yours and not leaving you behind on land drops. Search for Azcanta is often times the best or worst card in your deck, which leads me to believe that 0-2 copies of the card in UW Control is a safe range, depending on expected metagames.
With Jonathan Rosum's great finish at SCG Syracuse this past weekend, I decided to give his sweet Jeskai "fusion" build a try on MTGO and recorded them for your enjoyment. You can find the first of 3 matches here: Jeskai Control w/ Geist and Queller Videos.
The list performed splendidly, with only minor changes made the manabase and sideboard. I faced up against UR Gifts Storm, RG Titanshift, and KCI Combo, all of which are not the ideal matchups for Jeskai Control, but the deck showed its strength and versatility in playing multiple different roles based on the matchup. I urge you guys to check it out as I think the deck tackles some unexplored territory for Jeskai!
Hey fellow Jeskai players, for those of you on the Queller Control version, I just featured Jeskai Queller in my most recent 5-match Modern Comp League series which you can find HERE.
SB could probably be refined and I also tested out a 1-of Nimble Obstructionist. Overall underwhelming, but it was only 5 matches so it's hard to tell. Other than that, the deck felt very smooth and beat out the two "scariest" decks in the format (Grixis DS and Eldrazi-Tron). Definitely would try it again in the future.
I don't know why you let a Blood Moon stick around when you had Celestial Purge and Spell Queller in hand and the opponent at 2 cards, then 1 after a Finks. If I had two nonbasics on the field and 80% of my land base is nonbasics, I would've slammed an answer.
Hey man, it was definitely a punt. I took an aggressive line unnecessarily and I made that pretty clear later in that game and during the closing statements. Mistakes happen and I wouldn't make that play again. RG Ponza is definitely a winnable matchup if you don't make bad plays.
Can't watch your video yet but did you think running disallow instead of that one?
So Disallow doesn't quite do what I want (Nimble Obstructionist also doesn't for the time being). What I liked about the latter was that it could be a 3/1 flash flyer in a lot of matchups where we often have to race or take on an aggressive role, similar to Vendilion Clique. The issue is that you have to choose one or the other. Clique has an ETB, Obstructionist does not. I was hoping the versatility of the card would be good in that it could counter abilities while drawing cards OR be a beater. The issue is that a 3/1 flash beater on its own is pretty bad lackluster in Modern and a 3 mana stifle with draw a card is often too slow to hit anything relevant (it was 1 turn too slow against Storm on the draw with it in my hand, so that felt bad).
Hey fellow Jeskai players, for those of you on the Queller Control version, I just featured Jeskai Queller in my most recent 5-match Modern Comp League series which you can find HERE.
SB could probably be refined and I also tested out a 1-of Nimble Obstructionist. Overall underwhelming, but it was only 5 matches so it's hard to tell. Other than that, the deck felt very smooth and beat out the two "scariest" decks in the format (Grixis DS and Eldrazi-Tron). Definitely would try it again in the future.
Jeskai Geist Queller vs. Affinity
I played a list very similar to the one from an SCG Classic a few weeks back, but if anyone cannot access YouTube and just wants to see the list, here it is:
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spell Queller
2 Geist of Saint Traft
Instants/Sorceries (26):
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
4 Lightning Helix
3 Logic Knot
3 Electrolyze
4 Cryptic Command
3 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
3 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Field of Ruin
2 Celestial Purge
1 Stony Silence
2 Settle the Wreckage
1 Lyra, Dawnbringer
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Dispel
1 Negate
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Wear // Tear
1 Engineered Explosives
I really like Azor's Gateway with Azor, the Lawbringer in the deck. It comes up every so often to make it worth it, plus it mitigates flood in the mid-late game which I've found to be really important for a deck like this.
Time of Ice is definitely interesting, although it feels worse than other cards I'm currently playing. Helm of the Host seems pretty mana-intensive, although I can see some situations where it can get pretty nutty. 9 mana is a lot of mana to get it going though.
I think the cards I'm going to prioritize into my list are Supreme Will and Seal Away. I'm not sure there are any other cards that truly warrant the space in my list.
@diegodeschain: I would try to find room for Urza's Ruinous Blast. Card is pretty insane in this format, even if it doesn't hit opposing commanders. Baird, Steward of Argive seems like an easy cut in my opinion, but it depends on what your meta is. If you play online, it doesn't seem like a particularly good card.
1 Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage
Creatures (6)
1 Walking Ballista
1 Baral, Chief of Compliance
1 Skittering Surveyor
1 Azor, the Lawbringer
1 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
Planeswalkers (2)
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
Counterspells (6)
1 Censor
1 Essence Scatter
1 Negate
1 Disallow
1 Wizard's Retort
1 Spell Swindle
1 Azor's Gateway
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Thaumatic Compass
1 Treasure Map
1 Cultivator's Caravan
1 Orazca Relic
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
Removal (6)
1 Cast Out
1 Ixalan's Binding
1 Settle the Wreckage
1 Fumigate
1 Urza's Ruinous Blast
1 River's Rebuke
Draw Spells (4)
1 Hieroglyphic Illumination
1 Glimmer of Genius
1 Pull from Tomorrow
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Approach of the Second Sun
1 Gideon's Intervention
Lands (25)
1 Aether Hub
1 Arch of Orazca
1 Desert of the Mindful
1 Desert of the True
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Field of Ruin
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Ipnu Rivulet
1 Irrigated Farmland
8 Island
1 Memorial to Genius
7 Plains
Notable runner-ups:
1) Supreme Will: Solid counterspell that is never dead
2) Karn's Temporal Sundering: Great card to play while ahead, not so useful when behind
3) Commit // Memory: Great card, playable on most board states and can refuel in the late game
4) Lyra Dawnbringer: Good with Raff, mostly just a 5/5 for 5 with some nice keywords most of the time (which may or may not be relevant)
5) Seal Away: Very good, cheap removal, but the meta doesn't seem to favor these types of cards yet
6) Cataclysmic Gearhulk: Pseudo-wrath at instant speed with Raff, but we tend to play multiples of certain card types which may result in some awkward interactions.
The major point of this post is to get some advice on the build. I'm far from an expert on standard, so I've probably missed some cards as I've been testing the deck. If there's anything I've missed that you think may be useful, I'd be happy to hear it. Please keep suggestions in a competitive framework with Baral in mind.
I've probably missed some utility land, or have some non-optimal card choices. I'm hoping an extra set of eyes can help me differentiate between optimality and internal bias. Thanks for the read!
UW Jace Control vs. RG Tron (Deck Tech + Match 1)
UW Jace Control vs. RG Tron (Match 2 + Closing Comments)
I was also recording with Sultai Jace Midrange earlier today, so if you see a decklist under my facecam that looks nothing like UW Control, I apologize. I forgot to update my OBS settings. Hopefully it's not too much of an inconvenience or clutter for y'all. Anyways, if you watch the videos and like what you see, let me know! If you didn't like it, provide me some constructive feedback. I am constantly trying to become a better content creator. Thanks!
Thanks for the analysis MrTzoulis. I'm not sure I'll play 2 Boros Charms to start with, but I might cut a land and add a charm. I will also re-consider 1-2 Deflecting Palm somewhere in my SB as I understand that it can be quite versatile vs. many decks.
Thanks CordBros! I do think this Jeskai build is very well positioned. Less lands and more cantrips is something I definitely considered myself. My original list had around 18 lands and 7 cantrips, but I wasn't sure if that was feasible for a Hazoret the Fervent version in the deck. I actually gave this build a shot a while back and had Bedlam Reveler as my top end (instead of Hazoret the Fervent). I only played about 10 or so matches and never got to see him, though. Faithless Looting is a card I also considered prior to making the 2nd build. The deck feels like it loses when it draws one too many lands and we don't particularly care about card advantage, so a prowess trigger + filtering could be super relevant (especially in a Bedlam Reveler build).
I'll give Deflecting Palm another chance down the road for sure. Thanks for the kind words and I look forward to jamming this deck in the future (whether I get more time to record with it is another question entirely).
Thanks for the suggestions MrTzoulis! I'll address them one at a time.
1) My original list had a 1-of Boros Charm in the main and 1 Deflecting Palm in the SB. They were both good, but narrow in my opinion. I felt like those slots could be used better, at least for the MTGO meta (guaranteed to run into Affinity or Dredge in a league, hence the triple Stony/RIP).
2) I tried Path to Exile in the main and just didn't quite like it to be honest. Vapor Snag just has so much more utility in Game 1's, like hitting your own creatures, especially against decks where Path to Exile does nothing. I do understand that maindecking them would free up some SB slots and help against creature-heavy metas.
3) Moving forward, I was considering the exact same thing regarding Surgical Extraction. They seem to also work well with Prowess (free triggers woo!). I was thinking something like 2-1 or 2-2 Rest in Peace-Surgical.
4) Blood Moon seems greedy, but the manabase could be configured in such a way where it could work. I just don't think it's all that necessary and Molten Rain deals damage and sets our opponent back a land which I think is quite relevant to our beatdown plan.
5) Vendilion Clique is also a card I considered but decided to hold back on because double blue can be sketchy for the manabase sometimes, but I agree it's quite a solid card somewhere in the 75.
6) Is 20 lands reasonable for a deck like this? And is basic mountain not useful against aggressive decks where we take the "control" role?
I'm glad you like Hazoret too! I think she's awesome and deserves some exploration. I know Mardu Pyromancer, Affinity and even Lantern Control have been trying her out in some capacity in the 75, so in an aggressive Jeskai shell, she seems right at home.
So, based on some old builds of the "suicide blue" deck back when Gitaxian Probe was legal, I decided to jam my own updated version and recorded a 5-match Modern Competitive League with it. The notable card being tested was Hazoret the Fervent and it was pretty awesome. You can check out the gameplay to the first match here: Jeskai Hazoret Aggro.
For those who don't want to be spoiled, I've included the decklist, results, and my thoughts below within the spoiler tags:
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Stormchaser Mage
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Mantis Rider
2 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Hazoret the Fervent
Instants/Sorceries (19):
4 Serum Visions
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Mutagenic Growth
3 Vapor Snag
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
3 Spirebluff Canal
2 Seachrome Coast
3 Path to Exile
3 Stony Silence
3 Rest in Peace
2 Molten Rain
2 Wear // Tear
2 Dispel
Overall, the deck went 4-1 in the Modern Competitive League, beating GB Elves, Ad Nauseam, Bant Knightfall, and UW Control. It lost to Dredge.
The maindeck felt great on all fronts. The land-base might need some tweaking, but was very smooth overall. The sideboard might need tweaking, as Rest in Peace, while powerful, felt weird in a 4-of Snapcaster Mage deck. Some number of Surgical Extraction may be more appropriate.
Hazoret the Fervent felt right at home and provided the aggressiveness as well as the reach necessary to close out games. I like having access to 1-2 in the 75. Geist of Saint Traft was also key in winning the Control and Ad Nauseam matchups.
The deck performed very well, being 1 game away from the glorious MTGO 5-0. You can catch the first of five matches here: Jeskai Flash Control Match 1.
For those without access to YouTube currently, I also have the 75 card decklist shown below:
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spell Queller
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Restoration Angel
Instants/Sorceries (24):
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
4 Opt
2 Spell Snare
3 Lightning Helix
3 Logic Knot
2 Electrolyze
2 Cryptic Command
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Celestial Colonnade
3 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Celestial Purge
1 Rest in Peace
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dispel
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Negate
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Wear // Tear
1 Relic of Progenitus
And for those that don't want to watch the videos, I'll summarize my thoughts below:
1) Ultimately, Restoration Angel felt like a lot of mana for a 3/4 and its synergies didn't come up as often as I expected them to. However, 5 matches is quite a small sample size and had the games gone different slightly, it may have been relevant. I think the 3rd Cryptic Command is more important than the 2nd Restoration Angel, so that would be my first swap. I still like Restoration Angel, though.
2) Spell Snare overperformed.
3) Playing a flash game with Vendilion Clique over Geist of Saint Traft helps a lot in matchups like Titanshift and Storm, which I like over the occasional T3 tap-out plan with the Geist of Saint Traft builds.
4) Because the deck is more aggressively slanted, the Thundermaw Hellkite was actually quite cool from the SB and can often be game over in fair matchups.
5) Opt allowed for some really cool plays, like main-phase scry to the bottom to draw a potentially relevant card. End-of-turn Snapcaster Mage into Opt was also quite relevant. Whether it should be an all or nothing split between it and Serum Visions is unclear to me at this point, but it definitely added a nice angle of attack.
UG Infect Match 1
I'm hoping to get a lot better and find a more tuned list so I can at least try to represent the Infect community online. If anyone has any sideboarding guides they've come across, I'd love to check it out as I think that's one of the harder parts of Infect.
If you come across any major gameplay or sideboarding errors, I'm all ears for constructive criticism. Thanks!
I decided to incorporate the old Living End Twin concept back when Twin was legal. I think the As Foretold / Living End synergy is very powerful, but it's not always enough to win the game, especially against decks that don't care about your board. Having an infinite combo helps beat matchups like Tron and Storm.
You can find the deck tech and the first match (of 3) here: UR Living End Kiki Gameplay Videos.
I'm always looking for feedback on how to get better as a content creator and a player so constructive criticism is always appreciated. Also, if you think the build could be improved, I'd be happy to engage in discussion so we can continue to improve UW Control.
To summarize my thoughts, I still think Supreme Verdict is miles better than Settle the Wreckage, although some time of split that favors the former seems natural to me (ex. 3/1 split). Field of Ruin has also been incredible, allowing you to disrupt manabases while fixing yours and not leaving you behind on land drops. Search for Azcanta is often times the best or worst card in your deck, which leads me to believe that 0-2 copies of the card in UW Control is a safe range, depending on expected metagames.
The list performed splendidly, with only minor changes made the manabase and sideboard. I faced up against UR Gifts Storm, RG Titanshift, and KCI Combo, all of which are not the ideal matchups for Jeskai Control, but the deck showed its strength and versatility in playing multiple different roles based on the matchup. I urge you guys to check it out as I think the deck tackles some unexplored territory for Jeskai!
Hey man, it was definitely a punt. I took an aggressive line unnecessarily and I made that pretty clear later in that game and during the closing statements. Mistakes happen and I wouldn't make that play again. RG Ponza is definitely a winnable matchup if you don't make bad plays.
So Disallow doesn't quite do what I want (Nimble Obstructionist also doesn't for the time being). What I liked about the latter was that it could be a 3/1 flash flyer in a lot of matchups where we often have to race or take on an aggressive role, similar to Vendilion Clique. The issue is that you have to choose one or the other. Clique has an ETB, Obstructionist does not. I was hoping the versatility of the card would be good in that it could counter abilities while drawing cards OR be a beater. The issue is that a 3/1 flash beater on its own is pretty bad lackluster in Modern and a 3 mana stifle with draw a card is often too slow to hit anything relevant (it was 1 turn too slow against Storm on the draw with it in my hand, so that felt bad).
SB could probably be refined and I also tested out a 1-of Nimble Obstructionist. Overall underwhelming, but it was only 5 matches so it's hard to tell. Other than that, the deck felt very smooth and beat out the two "scariest" decks in the format (Grixis DS and Eldrazi-Tron). Definitely would try it again in the future.