MTG Salvation

Quote from CurdBros »

Quote from RafiqEDH »

Hey Guys, i've been trying to find the right Tempo deck to play my Geist of Saint Traft in as I cannot afford the snapcasters for the midrange version. Here is my Shell so far and it needs some tweaking (i've not included a Sideboard as I have no decided on one yet, Mainboard first) also to note: Steel of the Godhead I know this Only affect my Geist but that is what the deck originally is for is my geist, it is a pet card and I do not plan to remove it.

DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Creatures 12 4 Geist of Saint Traft 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Stormchaser Mage Enchantment 2 2 Steel of the Godhead Instant 20 4 Path to Exile 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Lightning Helix 4 Remand 2 Boros Charm 2 Emerge Unscathed	Sorcery 7 4 Serum Visions 3 Gitaxian Probe Planeswalker 1 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant Land 18 4 Flooded Strand 4 Polluted Delta 2 Hallowed Fountain 2 Steam Vents 2 Island 2 Plains 2 Mountain

Any advice to help make this better is appreciated. I've been play testing it and I'm not sure if it has been bad draws but the deck so far ends up being just 1 creature and me drawing a lot of land or spells, if i get all spells then i sit with just Delver on the field and cant do anything, if i get all land then Stormchaser becomes useless

Welcome to the topic Rafiq!

This is a very good start for a Geist of Saint Traft deck. I can see exactly why you are having the problems you are having and I am excited that we can help. A lot of what other have said I will be repeating, but I just want to be thorough. I will start with a quick list of what I think you could do (only recommendations) and then the reasoning if you want to read it. I tend to be a little verbose sometimes. So here are my recommendations:

- 1x remand
- 1x lightning helix
- 2x steel of the godhead
- 2x stormchaser mage
- 1x geist of saint traft
- 1x Path to Exile

+ 1x Izzet Charm
+ 1x Spell Pierce
+ 2-4x Monastery Swiftspear
+ 2x Distortion Strike
+ 1-2x Abbot of Keral Keep


Your creature count was too low for a more aggressive version of the deck to start. 12 creatures works in midrange/control, but in a more aggressive/tempo version you often want 14-16 although this isn't a hard or fast rule. In addition, an early threat is key so adding swiftspear on top of delver makes a lot of your spells more valuable (serum visions, probe, distortion strike, emerge unscathed, boros charm, etc). If you don't want to run 4 you could run 2-3 and run 1-2 abbot of keral keep for the late game applications. Typically three Geist of Saint Trafts is the correct number because he has hexproof and is legendary, but if you keep steel of the godhead he seems very important so there is no problem running 4.

As for the counter magic, I think one mana counter magic is very good right now and in our deck so I think spell pierce is definitely needed. I am a huge fan of remand. I love the card and think it's much better than mana leak in a vacuum. However, it takes a very specific type of deck to utilize remand. The good news is that remand is a great card in the more aggressive version of the deck. However, it isn't great all of the time so 2 is probably enough. Adding Izzet Charm gives a great way to add counter magic to the deck while also having a spell that abbot can use. It's not the most powerful card, but it's very versatile. If you prefer a bit more consistency I would cut two remands and just add two spell pierce instead of one pierce and one izzet charm.

For other spells, I'm not a huge fan of Steel of the Godhead if you only have one good target. Distortion Strike works great if you add any of the prowess creatures. If you don't add them, I would suggest cutting it down to one steel of the godhead.

As for the planeswalker's there are a lot of people that love elspeth on her. If you like how she pairs with Geist, stick with her. I personally prefer Chandra because she fits the more aggressive strategy and is also good when we are behind. When we are ahead she clears blockers out of the way and does direct damage. When we are behind she can give us card advantage from her draw ability. Elspeth is a powerhouse all by herself. She is slightly better than Chandra when your ahead, but slightly worse when your behind. I would suggest testing both and deciding which one you prefer. I would only run one because of the 4 mana CMC.

Finally, I would add a Sulfur Falls[/s] and/or Glacial Fortress to your mana base and cut a plains and mountain. I would also add a Sacred Foundry to go up to 19 lands. Even if it means playing 61 cards I think 19 lands at 61 cards is more consistent than 18 lands at 60 cards.

It's always great to get another player on the jeskai team (especially a geist player!). I can't wait to see how your deck evolves. In the end the decision for your deck is yours and play whatever you like. These are only suggestions so don't feel bad simply saying "Curdbros I disagree with this and your crazy, but thanks for trying to help." I can't wait to see how it goes. Welcome to the topic.

Quote from xweto »

Hey Rafiq, first of all, really cool to see another jeskai player! To start with I would probably go down to 3 Geist of Saint Traft, so you dont get flooded with them. If this were my deck I would cut the Stormchaser Mage´s for Monastery Swiftspear, I think that card is better overall, although with delver you might want to run 3 instead of 4. Furthermore I would remove 1 remand, for 1 Spell Pierce, it is nice to have some diversity and there is nothing better than spell piercing a planeswalker. Speaking of planeswalkers, you really should try out Chandra, Pyromaster, that card fits our game plan perfectly. Lastly with those changes you would go down to around 10 creatures, which isn´t alot, so I would recommend you fit in a couple more. Lightning angel could be great to top off your curve, but you could also go for young pyromancer or my personal favorite Abbot of Keral Keep. Also I think 18 land is a little too risky in a deck with multiple cards that cost 3 or 4 mana. I would probably go with 19 or even 20 land, depending on the changes you make. Good luck and have fun playing this deck! I hope to hear more of you soon.