2-1 Vs. Hollow One
2-0 Vs. Bant Company
2-0 Vs. UW Miracles
2-1 Vs. U-Tron
I wanted to ask which sideboard plan you all like better for my list Vs. UW Control. On one hand, I enjoy keeping a high burn count post-board as I feel the red spells offer a flexible angle of attack that UW is ill equipped for over a long game. However, I have a full 10 cards that are excellent in the match up to bring in from the board, so cutting burn is tempting.
This is how I have boarded against UW in the past with this list;
Vs. UW Control
----------
-3 Helix
-3 Bolt
-3 Terminus
-1 Path
Looking to pick holes in my in and out choices here, so feedback welcome! Azcanta and Knot got cut because I expected RIP, and I have the 2 Visions as good replacements.
In the past, I've considered my post-board set up as more than up to the task of grinding a traditional Control game, but something keep telling me it's more correct to keep the burn.
I think I am still OK with trophy hitting Azcanta. It seems better that and get ramped into an early PW than play a PW on curve to get it trophied? Or, in other terms, presenting enough threats that their trophies are pressured. I may even be fine using Azcanta ad Trophy bait in that scenario.
Spell Snare basically as powerful as dispel in a UWx mirror. Dispel hits cryptic, but Snare hits Snapcaster and Azcanta. They both will basically always have a target in a counter war.
Also, a Clique in the main-deck is very, very good if you are tuning for mirrors.
Personally I like your 3 dispel 2 Geist sideboard plan for the Mirror.
I would also go -1 Negate +1 Snare.
Personally I think Detention Sphere is well worth it if you're not playing Jeskai Miracles as it gives you a main deck out to recursion and a resolved Chalic etc, but once Trophy is released this could be another Snare like Cody suggests.
I think 2 AV and 1 Search is the better set up. Remember you don't have to flip search.
I don't get the extra mana thing, but even if I do not have interaction, I will still hold my FoR till EoT to make them play around my non existent interaction. Opponents WILL make suboptimal plays occasionally if you are simply representing 3 untapped lands, one of which is blue.
I'm with Tronix here. Holding a Field activation till EoT on t3 means you're representing a 2cmc counterspell (knot, leak, remand, negate) or other interaction. I think that is not insignificant, even if it is not a game breaker.
I generally do agree that 3 FoR is fairly greedy for Jeskai, but I wouldn't run fewer than 2. Remember it's not just the actual land destruction that is always important. I often use Field activations to shuffle after a Teferi -3 Or a Jace 0 with no fetch access.
Snapcaster mage has always had the allure of a 2-for-1 that Mission Briefing does not provide. But Mission Briefing DOES provide the toolbox aspect of Snapcaster - perhaps it's even better than snap at providing a toolbox, due to Surveil. So I get the hype there. And while I think that Jeskai is less interested in it than UW, we thought the opposite of Teferi when it was released, and now both decks recognise it's value.
Regardless of other factors, I do believe it is possible to move Dredge, Hollow One and things like BridgeVine into solid positive territory for Jeskai simply by moving to Terminus. It also helps invalidate the common ways opponents will play around removal (e.g. Selfless Spirit, Thrun, Geist, Arcbound Ravager). Hollow One perhaps was even post board without Terminus already, but the other 2 were definately bad.
I have found that Opt does not noticeably affect my mana development except for single land single opt hands. In fact opt sometimes has advantages over Serum Visions when you miss a land drop, as a main-phase Opt can find you a land to play NOW.
Running high numbers of FoR is a seperate issue to ruining Terminus and affects different match-ups. FoR has an application in almost every match up though, so I feel the benefits of running For very much outweigh the negatives on the mana base.
Mission Briefing looks sweet, in my Miracles list it will replace Telling Time immidiately and another copy might even take the slot of Snapcaster #3 to take me to 2 snap 2 Mission Briefing.
interesting take. what did you think of the mana base?
also why 2x lavamancer? not that the card is bad, but you arent exactly hurting in the removal or sweepers department, and those slots seem better served with basically...anything. abrade, wear/tear, another EE, purge, more countermagic, etc.
I feel like you might be right about the Lavamancers. I didn't get the match-ups I wanted them for, though, so I may persist with them. They were mainly insurance for the lower burn count in the main 60, for Vial decks, Affinity, Vizier Combo, and Infect. Abrade is a very tempting alternative. I also wouldn't mind an extra Ancestral Vision or a Wear // Tear either.
As for the mana base, I would say I could always guarantee myself a t4 shock-free helix, with about 50% of hands being able to cast a shock-free helix on turn 2, and about 80-90% of hands are capable of casting a t2 Helix with a shock. If I were to include lightning bolt then I would have to go back to a traditional mana base with fewer basics. A middle ground I have been considering is simply going back to the full 4 scalding tarn (from my current 3) and back to 3 Islands. Other options include adding a 2nd Steam Vents, or a singleton Sulfur Falls. Having said that, I have enjoyed having a high basic count very much, and it is especially important I feel with Field of Ruin (not to mention Blood Moon).
I was pretty happy with my build for the events that I played. There was a heavy Graveyard and UWx Control presence, and for once I wasn't hoping to dodge Dredge. I would describe the list as UW splashing red for Helix, Lavamancer, Engineered Explosives and Counterflux.
Telling time felt underwhelming whenever I cast it except for my one match against Humans where it set up t3 and t4 Miracles in games 1 and 2. So even though I have reservations about it, we'll see where it goes. Possible replacements are a singleton Serum Visions, Think Twice, Hieroglyphic Illumination, or Electrolyze.
I do need to work on my G1 in a UWx mirror, as well as my play speed, and further testing will reveal if the lack of lightning bolt affects the Humans / Affinity match ups significantly. Any criticisms or questions about choices and match ups welcome.
Edit; Played a few rounds against a friend on Modular Affinity and although i went up 3-2 in games, he rolled me in game 1 and 2. The lavamancers in the board help me come back, as well as stony silence. Game 1, pre-board looks like it relies on a timely miracle or a very good path-snap-path type hand.
One-for one removal combined with Snapcaster is no longer reliable enough to grind through the contemporary creature-aggro decks. Humans post board is full of 2-for ones ranging from Bugler to Sin Collector, and Hollow One and Bridgevine laugh at snap-bolt by virtue of speed and recursion. Even if you can grind your way to a clear board, the damage is already done and the opponent is often a single hasty Vengevine, Mantis Rider or Bloodghast, or top-decked bolt or Brutality away from a stolen victory. We need to clear the board permanently earlier than ever, and need to be able to survive more damage.
The days where Jeskai can ignore the graveyard are gone, my friends!
The specific choices over my 75 that deal with this are;
Helps shut the door on Burn, which is very popular during PPTQ season here, and lets you survive those extra turns against the Hollow One or Bridgevine nuts so I can find my Miracle / Detention Spheres / Anger of the Gods.
2x Detention Sphere MD
I think we all understand the value of Exiling multiple Bloodghasts or Hollow Ones, or an army if Bridge from Below zombies. The Azprious version of Maelstrom Pulse has never been better positioned.
3x Opt / 3x Serum Visions MD
Help me dig to a terminus.
3x Terminus MD
Is better than Verdict by a margin in the current Meta.
2x Jace / 1x Teferi MD
The split is weighted towards Jace for the Miracle interaction. Fewer bolt effects also slightly weaken Teferi's +1.
3x Snapcaster Mage
Only 3 due to the removal of Bolts.
Sideboard
---------
2x Surgical SB
Graveyard decks are often too fast for RiP, and we run Snapcasters to make them even better.
1x Anger SB
Doesn't hurt my Yard and cleans up a lot of what could have gone wrong in the first two turns - very good against Bridgevine, good against Hollow One, Humans. I can see this being RiP, but Anger is very good right now. RiP does nothing against Huimans or Affinity, for example, and it's debatable whether RiP is actually better than Anger against some of the more Broken Bridgevine draws.
2x Stony Silence SB
2x Abrade SB
To shut the door on Vial decks or Affinity decks, while splashing onto KCI / Hollow One / Lantern etc.
So I've been playing Wizards brews for the past couple of months (Since Dominaria) but I'm back to Jeskai for the second half of the PPTQ season.
The rise of hyper-aggro graveyard decks has led the meta to favour Exile or Tuck style removal, hence the prominence of UW lately over Jeskai.
Before I started my brewing season there was discussion around bolt-less Jeskai. I think the idea had merit still, and if it does, now is the meta to try it in. This is my attempt at combining Jeskai dominance over critter and burn style life-matters decks with a UW approach to dealing with problematic or recursive permanents post resolution.
The MD electrolyzes were the ones I was looking at cutting for Anger in the main. But lyze has been great so far.
Most UW Miracles decks have dropped spreading seas altogether. If that's happening and both decks now have similarly abysmal Tron MU's in game 1, I would rather be on Jeskai colours against the rest of the non-Blood moon field.
Jeskai Control (U/W/R): Jeskai Control - Build (C) - Miracles
A a post-note; Electrolyze is another way to trigger a miracle during your opponents turn. This was relevant numerous times in my 3 testing sessions this week!
I enjoyed watching Hooglanf top 8 @ Indy with U/R Wizards immensely! Seeing it on camera restores my faith in Delver again!
Next up, after various iterations my current Jeskai Naban list looks like this;
Most notably I have upped the cantrip count to 6, changed the configuration to 4 Peek and 2 Opt, to go alongside 3 main deck Meddling Mages. I was missing meaningful game 1 interaction outside burn and Boros Charm, and my testing with main-deck Remand and Spell Pierce was not good. Many draws I am forced to play on curve at sorcery speed in game 1, so the Remands often were dead weight. The Peek and Meddling Mage package is creature and synergy based and has been working great!
Vendilion Clique also makes the MD for extra interaction game 1 and extra looks at their hand for Meddling Mage.
I plan on running something close to this for the first half of the pptq season.
Jeskai Wizards / Naban : Human Wizards - Peek and Meddle
Jeskai Miracle (U/W/R): Jeskai Miracle
Shared via TopDecked MTG https://www.topdecked.me/decks/ad750b48-5273-4966-9d46-75f527686d58
2-1 Vs. Hollow One
2-0 Vs. Bant Company
2-0 Vs. UW Miracles
2-1 Vs. U-Tron
I wanted to ask which sideboard plan you all like better for my list Vs. UW Control. On one hand, I enjoy keeping a high burn count post-board as I feel the red spells offer a flexible angle of attack that UW is ill equipped for over a long game. However, I have a full 10 cards that are excellent in the match up to bring in from the board, so cutting burn is tempting.
This is how I have boarded against UW in the past with this list;
Vs. UW Control
----------
-3 Helix
-3 Bolt
-3 Terminus
-1 Path
+1 Geist
+1 Clique
+1 Baneslayer
+2 Dispel
+2 Counterflux
+1 Negate
+2 Ancestral Vision
And this is how I boarded tonight (keeping all 6 burn spells).
-2 Path
-3 Terminus
-1 Cryptic
-2 Azcanta
-2 Logic Knot
+1 Geist
+1 Clique
+1 Baneslayer
+2 Dispel
+2 Counterflux
+1 Negate
+2 Ancestral Vision
Looking to pick holes in my in and out choices here, so feedback welcome! Azcanta and Knot got cut because I expected RIP, and I have the 2 Visions as good replacements.
In the past, I've considered my post-board set up as more than up to the task of grinding a traditional Control game, but something keep telling me it's more correct to keep the burn.
Just spitballing.
Back on main-deck bolts because I missed snap bolting people too much.
2-1 Vs. Jeskai Aggro
2-1 Vs. Ponza
2-0 Vs. Martyr Proc
2-0 Vs . Eldrazi Taxes
Jeskai Miracle (U/W/R): Jeskai Miracle
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
Planeswalkers (4)
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
Instants and Sorceries (24)
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Opt
4 Path to Exile
1 Secure the Wastes
1 Spell Snare
3 Lightning Helix
2 Logic Knot
1 Negate
2 Cryptic Command
3 Terminus
2 Search for Azcanta
Lands (25)
3 Celestial Colonnade
3 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Baneslayer Angel
2 Ancestral Vision
2 Dispel
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Negate
2 Counterflux
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Stony Silence
Shared via TopDecked MTG https://www.topdecked.me/decks/ad750b48-5273-4966-9d46-75f527686d58
Also, a Clique in the main-deck is very, very good if you are tuning for mirrors.
I would also go -1 Negate +1 Snare.
Personally I think Detention Sphere is well worth it if you're not playing Jeskai Miracles as it gives you a main deck out to recursion and a resolved Chalic etc, but once Trophy is released this could be another Snare like Cody suggests.
I think 2 AV and 1 Search is the better set up. Remember you don't have to flip search.
I generally do agree that 3 FoR is fairly greedy for Jeskai, but I wouldn't run fewer than 2. Remember it's not just the actual land destruction that is always important. I often use Field activations to shuffle after a Teferi -3 Or a Jace 0 with no fetch access.
I have found that Opt does not noticeably affect my mana development except for single land single opt hands. In fact opt sometimes has advantages over Serum Visions when you miss a land drop, as a main-phase Opt can find you a land to play NOW.
Running high numbers of FoR is a seperate issue to ruining Terminus and affects different match-ups. FoR has an application in almost every match up though, so I feel the benefits of running For very much outweigh the negatives on the mana base.
I feel like you might be right about the Lavamancers. I didn't get the match-ups I wanted them for, though, so I may persist with them. They were mainly insurance for the lower burn count in the main 60, for Vial decks, Affinity, Vizier Combo, and Infect. Abrade is a very tempting alternative. I also wouldn't mind an extra Ancestral Vision or a Wear // Tear either.
As for the mana base, I would say I could always guarantee myself a t4 shock-free helix, with about 50% of hands being able to cast a shock-free helix on turn 2, and about 80-90% of hands are capable of casting a t2 Helix with a shock. If I were to include lightning bolt then I would have to go back to a traditional mana base with fewer basics. A middle ground I have been considering is simply going back to the full 4 scalding tarn (from my current 3) and back to 3 Islands. Other options include adding a 2nd Steam Vents, or a singleton Sulfur Falls. Having said that, I have enjoyed having a high basic count very much, and it is especially important I feel with Field of Ruin (not to mention Blood Moon).
Jeskai Control (U/W/R): Jeskai Control - Build (C) - Miracles
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
Planeswalkers (4)
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
Spells (22)
4 Opt
4 Path to Exile
3 Lightning Helix
2 Logic Knot
2 Negate
1 Telling Time
2 Cryptic Command
1 Supreme Verdict
3 Terminus
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Detention Sphere
Lands (25)
3 Celestial Colonnade
3 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
4 Island
1 Mountain
2 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
3 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
2 Grim Lavamancer
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Ancestral Vision
2 Dispel
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Counterflux
1 Timely Reinforcements
2 Stony Silence
Shared via TopDecked MTG https://www.topdecked.me/decks/0ff923d0-a2c7-43d9-9f61-e719097e41da
4-1-2 finish in Swiss at a 70 player event, not good enough for top 8.
G/W Company: 1-1 - D
R/B BriBridgeVine: 2-0 W
U/W Control: 0-1 L
KCI: 2-0 W
Humans: 2-1 W
Jeskai Control: 1-1 D
Dredge: 2-0 W
4-1-1 finish in Swiss, at a 34 player event. My final round loss ended up being the win and in for top 8.
Traditional Affinity: 2-0 W
R/B BridgeVine: 2-1 W
U/B Infect: 2-1 W
Mono-Green Tron: 2-0 W
U/W Control: 1-1 D
Mardu Pyromancer: 0-2 L
Over my testing period and then the two PPTQs I would put my game 1 match-ups with this build as follows;
Humans: Favored
Hollow One: Heavily Favored
KCI: Favored
Affinity: Slightly Favored
Modular Affinity: Even / Slightly Unfavored
Mardu Pyro: Even
Dredge: Even
Tron: Slightly Favored
Burn: Favored
UW Control: ?
Jeskai Control: ?
Infect: Slightly Favored
Company Decks: Favored
Storm; Un-favored
BridgeVine: Even/Slightly Favored
Jund: Heavily Favored
I was pretty happy with my build for the events that I played. There was a heavy Graveyard and UWx Control presence, and for once I wasn't hoping to dodge Dredge. I would describe the list as UW splashing red for Helix, Lavamancer, Engineered Explosives and Counterflux.
Telling time felt underwhelming whenever I cast it except for my one match against Humans where it set up t3 and t4 Miracles in games 1 and 2. So even though I have reservations about it, we'll see where it goes. Possible replacements are a singleton Serum Visions, Think Twice, Hieroglyphic Illumination, or Electrolyze.
I do need to work on my G1 in a UWx mirror, as well as my play speed, and further testing will reveal if the lack of lightning bolt affects the Humans / Affinity match ups significantly. Any criticisms or questions about choices and match ups welcome.
Edit; Played a few rounds against a friend on Modular Affinity and although i went up 3-2 in games, he rolled me in game 1 and 2. The lavamancers in the board help me come back, as well as stony silence. Game 1, pre-board looks like it relies on a timely miracle or a very good path-snap-path type hand.
One-for one removal combined with Snapcaster is no longer reliable enough to grind through the contemporary creature-aggro decks. Humans post board is full of 2-for ones ranging from Bugler to Sin Collector, and Hollow One and Bridgevine laugh at snap-bolt by virtue of speed and recursion. Even if you can grind your way to a clear board, the damage is already done and the opponent is often a single hasty Vengevine, Mantis Rider or Bloodghast, or top-decked bolt or Brutality away from a stolen victory. We need to clear the board permanently earlier than ever, and need to be able to survive more damage.
The days where Jeskai can ignore the graveyard are gone, my friends!
The specific choices over my 75 that deal with this are;
Main-deck
---------
Dropping Lightning Bolt MD
Retaining 3x Helix MD
Retaining 2x Electrolyze MD
1x Timely Reinforcements MD
Helps shut the door on Burn, which is very popular during PPTQ season here, and lets you survive those extra turns against the Hollow One or Bridgevine nuts so I can find my Miracle / Detention Spheres / Anger of the Gods.
2x Detention Sphere MD
I think we all understand the value of Exiling multiple Bloodghasts or Hollow Ones, or an army if Bridge from Below zombies. The Azprious version of Maelstrom Pulse has never been better positioned.
3x Opt / 3x Serum Visions MD
Help me dig to a terminus.
3x Terminus MD
Is better than Verdict by a margin in the current Meta.
2x Jace / 1x Teferi MD
The split is weighted towards Jace for the Miracle interaction. Fewer bolt effects also slightly weaken Teferi's +1.
3x Snapcaster Mage
Only 3 due to the removal of Bolts.
Sideboard
---------
2x Surgical SB
Graveyard decks are often too fast for RiP, and we run Snapcasters to make them even better.
1x Anger SB
Doesn't hurt my Yard and cleans up a lot of what could have gone wrong in the first two turns - very good against Bridgevine, good against Hollow One, Humans. I can see this being RiP, but Anger is very good right now. RiP does nothing against Huimans or Affinity, for example, and it's debatable whether RiP is actually better than Anger against some of the more Broken Bridgevine draws.
2x Stony Silence SB
2x Abrade SB
To shut the door on Vial decks or Affinity decks, while splashing onto KCI / Hollow One / Lantern etc.
The rise of hyper-aggro graveyard decks has led the meta to favour Exile or Tuck style removal, hence the prominence of UW lately over Jeskai.
Before I started my brewing season there was discussion around bolt-less Jeskai. I think the idea had merit still, and if it does, now is the meta to try it in. This is my attempt at combining Jeskai dominance over critter and burn style life-matters decks with a UW approach to dealing with problematic or recursive permanents post resolution.
The MD electrolyzes were the ones I was looking at cutting for Anger in the main. But lyze has been great so far.
Most UW Miracles decks have dropped spreading seas altogether. If that's happening and both decks now have similarly abysmal Tron MU's in game 1, I would rather be on Jeskai colours against the rest of the non-Blood moon field.
Jeskai Control (U/W/R): Jeskai Control - Build (C) - Miracles
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
Instants and Sorceries (25)
3 Opt
4 Path to Exile
3 Serum Visions
3 Lightning Helix
2 Logic Knot
2 Negate
2 Electrolyze
1 Timely Reinforcements
2 Cryptic Command
3 Terminus
Artifacts and Enchantments (5)
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Detention Sphere
2 Celestial Colonnade
3 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Baneslayer Angel
2 Dispel
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Abrade
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Runed Halo
2 Stony Silence
Shared via TopDecked MTG https://www.topdecked.me/decks/0ff923d0-a2c7-43d9-9f61-e719097e41da
A a post-note; Electrolyze is another way to trigger a miracle during your opponents turn. This was relevant numerous times in my 3 testing sessions this week!
More edits; deck format
Next up, after various iterations my current Jeskai Naban list looks like this;
Most notably I have upped the cantrip count to 6, changed the configuration to 4 Peek and 2 Opt, to go alongside 3 main deck Meddling Mages. I was missing meaningful game 1 interaction outside burn and Boros Charm, and my testing with main-deck Remand and Spell Pierce was not good. Many draws I am forced to play on curve at sorcery speed in game 1, so the Remands often were dead weight. The Peek and Meddling Mage package is creature and synergy based and has been working great!
Vendilion Clique also makes the MD for extra interaction game 1 and extra looks at their hand for Meddling Mage.
I plan on running something close to this for the first half of the pptq season.
Jeskai Wizards / Naban : Human Wizards - Peek and Meddle
Maindeck (60)
4 Champion of the Parish
2 Grim Lavamancer
3 Meddling Mage
3 Naban, Dean of Iteration
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
1 Adeliz, the Cinder Wind
2 Reflector Mage
2 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Opt
4 Peek
1 Boros Charm
2 Wizard's Lightning
4 Aether Vial
3 Flooded Strand
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Inspiring Vantage
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Seachrome Coast
3 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
Sideboard (15)
2 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dispel
3 Path to Exile
2 Spell Pierce
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Wear // Tear
Shared via TopDecked MTG https://www.topdecked.me/decks/894c8c29-a550-44ab-a458-41d0f6267041