I would just like to say thank you to you and everyone who continually updates here, from myself and a few others I'm sure. So thank you for all the discussion here and work put into the primer. Ill definitely keep an eye out for the new site.
I keep drawing frenzy but having a full hand, I personally will be replacing Frenzy with Reformation. Ive personally been having fun with new Karn and Ugin as my group is quite mana rock hungry so the static is enough for me. Ugin has been pretty sweet draw as well. Sword of Sinew seems much more powerful with new walkers my group has adopted and I might skip on Shenanigans for that. Losing a draw for artifact hate feels rough when I look at shattering pulse as a different option for that effect. But ill still probably try it. Engineer is just sweet so definitely agree on that one.
I tried out the Balefire dragon as an additional threat, just wasnt too impressed with it, but i did like having one more big thing to play. Ill be looking out for a new one for myself. I might go back to Ghirapur orrery as well, the extra land drops helped protect my valakut and combined with crucible too it was good value. Could be useful with Schenanigans if I feel too empty handed when trying it.
Sweet looking deck, ive switched to the more spell heavy version with PoP and loot effects but loved playing eldrazi and fatties for a while as well. Just didnt work well in my playgroup, too much aggro. The card im most curious about is scourge and balefire dragon, how well do those stick or work out for you?
With the addition of more spell support, I was looking a the spot of skred or lightning bolt that was previously there. I was personally going to give Volcanic Offering a try again as it uses jaya's 3 mana well and casting 2 with goggles seems back breaking for some opponents. At the same time it is just a very solid card on its own without them which makes me like it more.
I like the changes, I've been trying to fit big red spells to make Jaya planeswalker more appealing as well with the new art coming out. It just didnt have the same feel or consistency. I gave your new build a try, with the looting effects as the support for her I really like it. I just feel a bit slower without the few mana rocks that got replaced by draw effects. The dream of electrodominace doing a ton of work cheating on mana and having sweet plays fell short as well. There just arent enough situations where you want both a fireball and a free spell. Id rather more utility in that slot.
Price of progress is much better with the support as well now, I gave it a shot before and it was alright, but the possibility of goggles in addition to past in flames makes it feel better to have in the deck with two chances to cast it twice. The next card I am probably cutting is sword of the animist as my new flex slot as I struggle to use it properly in my group. Overall though, I love the changes and I can see my list following suit as I really like the small loot support to filter better rather than large artifacts to draw a ton of cards slowly.
Been loving nesting dragon myself, it sets up a board after you activate jaya which is sweet. Im a bit more landfall heavy with ghirapur orrey and dark depths in my deck so it really feels good to get the dragon. Definitely looking forward to Electrodominance the most in the upcoming set.
I have recently been trying Ancient Stone Idol, so far it has been pretty interesting. It closes games out well and stops most attacks, plus abusing it with welder or daretti has been fun. It is hard to tell if it is just a different wurmcoil or not, surviving inferno has popped up before. Also having flash lets me keep up jaya activation or deploy a threat that cant be removed by my wrath which has been very good so far. Finally with either of the lifelink equipment the swing is huge. Definitely better than expected but im not sure how much better it is.
As much as I like Stolen Strategy and Chaos Wand as they lead to really fun games, I'll admit they aren't competitive. They sit in my fun binder for lower power games.
This is pretty much where I sit on them. I'd like to at least see Strategy hit the board before I cut it - the only game I've played with it I managed to get through about 85 cards and never saw it. They're probably good enough for my meta, so I'll play around with it for a little longer. I'm definitely interested in trying Reality Scramble as well. It may take some time, because I'll be building a couple of the C18 generals.
Entirely independent of that, I managed to pick up one of the SDCC 2018 sets when they went online, so I may stick Chandra, Torch of Defiance in the deck for a bit. I'm not sure that's the best card for the slot, but it's certainly one of the most attractive. I like the idea of finding space for Ensnaring Bridge (again? not sure anymore) too, given the planeswalker density in the list.
I love the idea of Chandra, I was running the previous SDCC Chandra for a while with the bridge as well as I had Rowan Kenrith too to try out. Unfortunately Chandra just feels very slow and awkward to plus. The deck has such a high curve she often shocked and died or gave a bit of mana. That new art though is gorgeous and I am waiting to upgrade my previous one for a newer one as I couldn't order the set myself.
Rowan also felt lackluster if you couldn't ult, however she is much easier to protect before the ult as well as provides more utility than mana or single removal.
Right now I'm struggling to close out games, recent sets have given red so much "card advantage" that draw is no longer an issue even if it is expensive which is another reason I dislike Chandra. There are better options now oddly.
As much as I like Stolen Strategy and Chaos Wand as they lead to really fun games, I'll admit they aren't competitive. They sit in my fun binder for lower power games.
I dismissed Reality Scramble but you make a really good argument on it and I am now excited to hit lands with it and see what happens. More often it seems good.
As for Directive and nabber, I am so unsure on them. I love the idea of nabber but I don't feel the deck is really built to utilize all that extra mana that fast.
Directive is a bit weird, even on a miss you put them in the grave but figuring out how high to go with it is difficult. I think 5 is the sweet spot, but then is it worth 8 mana is my worry. Improvise definately helps so im looking forward to trying it.
That art is gorgeous and fits the deck so perfectly, Ive been on a bridge build with Rowan and Chandra lately. Bridge feels like a fine payoff but ive been pretty disappointed with Chandra. The new standouts have been Stolen Strategy for fun reasons rather than being really good. Khorvaths fury has been pretty good as well, it gives another spell for past in flames and the hitting face adds just a bit of extra value that adds up.
It's very close, I definitely see a reason to cut a walker, but daretti, ugin, karn and chandra flamecaller generally last one or two turns maximum I find and get their value the turn they are in play. Flamecaller usually lasting the longest which is where the most anti synergy would be. I will keep trying immortal sun but it tends to fall under the topor orb, solemn, godo and hoarding dragon issue. Someone will remove orb and if they dont you get so much value from it that the trade off is worth it.
Ive been trying out Daredevil, Sun and Arch of Orazca so far Sun and Daredevil have been really impressive. It has been hard to tell with sun however as it gets removed within a turn or two of it coming down. That just means its scary enough and strong enough though I suspect. The games it has stuck around though have been great, the minor reduction off it was pretty sweet not to meantion the draw. I personally am looking at lowering the planeswalker count myself and will likely have Chandra Abalze go for it as they fill a similar role of refueling and interrupting my opponent. Not much to say on Daredevil though, every game he has been steller, sure now and then topor orb came up butonce it was gone Ive gotten D tutors, removal, regrowths and more off him.
Arch however was lack luster, I personally cut Sanitarium for it as Ive never been a huge fan of it. Blessing is simple but having 6 mana is not to draw one card with the minimal instants to hold up in the deck.
On a sidenote I have been trying OG Karn to close games a little faster with great success. I am a bit scared of someone taking him from me and wiping my artifacts one day.
Oh and thank you for inspiring my deck, ive had it for years now and just finished foiling it and the core idea is the same but my meta requires faster closers so Ive adjusted as such. I credited you in it and hope you like my take, the sideboard is things Ive tried out in it, but mostly just saying thanks for the ideas over the years.
I keep drawing frenzy but having a full hand, I personally will be replacing Frenzy with Reformation. Ive personally been having fun with new Karn and Ugin as my group is quite mana rock hungry so the static is enough for me. Ugin has been pretty sweet draw as well. Sword of Sinew seems much more powerful with new walkers my group has adopted and I might skip on Shenanigans for that. Losing a draw for artifact hate feels rough when I look at shattering pulse as a different option for that effect. But ill still probably try it. Engineer is just sweet so definitely agree on that one.
I tried out the Balefire dragon as an additional threat, just wasnt too impressed with it, but i did like having one more big thing to play. Ill be looking out for a new one for myself. I might go back to Ghirapur orrery as well, the extra land drops helped protect my valakut and combined with crucible too it was good value. Could be useful with Schenanigans if I feel too empty handed when trying it.
Price of progress is much better with the support as well now, I gave it a shot before and it was alright, but the possibility of goggles in addition to past in flames makes it feel better to have in the deck with two chances to cast it twice. The next card I am probably cutting is sword of the animist as my new flex slot as I struggle to use it properly in my group. Overall though, I love the changes and I can see my list following suit as I really like the small loot support to filter better rather than large artifacts to draw a ton of cards slowly.
I love the idea of Chandra, I was running the previous SDCC Chandra for a while with the bridge as well as I had Rowan Kenrith too to try out. Unfortunately Chandra just feels very slow and awkward to plus. The deck has such a high curve she often shocked and died or gave a bit of mana. That new art though is gorgeous and I am waiting to upgrade my previous one for a newer one as I couldn't order the set myself.
Rowan also felt lackluster if you couldn't ult, however she is much easier to protect before the ult as well as provides more utility than mana or single removal.
Right now I'm struggling to close out games, recent sets have given red so much "card advantage" that draw is no longer an issue even if it is expensive which is another reason I dislike Chandra. There are better options now oddly.
I dismissed Reality Scramble but you make a really good argument on it and I am now excited to hit lands with it and see what happens. More often it seems good.
As for Directive and nabber, I am so unsure on them. I love the idea of nabber but I don't feel the deck is really built to utilize all that extra mana that fast.
Directive is a bit weird, even on a miss you put them in the grave but figuring out how high to go with it is difficult. I think 5 is the sweet spot, but then is it worth 8 mana is my worry. Improvise definately helps so im looking forward to trying it.
Arch however was lack luster, I personally cut Sanitarium for it as Ive never been a huge fan of it. Blessing is simple but having 6 mana is not to draw one card with the minimal instants to hold up in the deck.
On a sidenote I have been trying OG Karn to close games a little faster with great success. I am a bit scared of someone taking him from me and wiping my artifacts one day.
Oh and thank you for inspiring my deck, ive had it for years now and just finished foiling it and the core idea is the same but my meta requires faster closers so Ive adjusted as such. I credited you in it and hope you like my take, the sideboard is things Ive tried out in it, but mostly just saying thanks for the ideas over the years.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/jaya-ballard-fiery-control/