Greetings, traveler! Today I’ll touch on a number of topics, including Temur in Standard and why I think it’s the best deck at the moment, Jeskai in Modern, and my experience trying Commander. Let’s get to it!
Standard – Temur
Creatures (23)
- 4 Longtusk Cub
- 4 Bristling Hydra
- 4 Whirler Virtuoso
- 4 Servant of the Conduit
- 4 Rogue Refiner
- 3 Glorybringer
Lands (22)
Spells (15)
Temur Energy. Also known as: the deck I wish I had played at Pro Tour Hour of Devastation. Also known as: the deck whose only bad matchup is U/R Control. Also known as: I played U/R Control to the Pro Tour. Also known as: these tears taste salty.
The core of the deck is Aether Hub, Attune with Aether, Servant of the Conduit, and Rogue Refiner. It’s hard to beat that level of consistency. That sort of flow leads to a lot of nice smooth openers. Once you have those cards generating energy, you can toss in Harnessed Lightning as the best removal spell in the format.
The thing that really makes Temur so appealing to me at the moment is how good Whirler Virtuoso is against Ramunap Red. Even when they can stop the Virtuoso from blocking, spitting out just one Thopter token is often enough to severely halt their offensive, let alone many more. Nowadays Temur is even maindecking Aethersphere Harvester, which might be a little bit overkill but should also help beat Ramunap Red if you expect a lot of it.
Bristling Hydra is often a brick wall or a way to steal games against Control. It’s hard to sneak by it with Ahn-Crop Crasher, since you can just give it hexproof. You can even sometimes block a Hazoret the Fervent and sink nine energy into it and have it survive to tell the tale.
Glorybringer is still the top of the food chain for any midrange creature-based matchups and helps you get a solid edge against B/G and Zombies by getting to roast something every other turn. Glorybringer is just not beatable a lot of the time.
What version of Temur would I play in Standard right now? Let’s take a look:
Creatures (23)
- 2 Tireless Tracker
- 4 Longtusk Cub
- 3 Bristling Hydra
- 4 Whirler Virtuoso
- 4 Servant of the Conduit
- 4 Rogue Refiner
- 2 Glorybringer
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (22)
Spells (12)
Chandra, Torch of Defiance is still amazing and I’m not sure why Temur decks are cutting it. It bridges the gap of what the deck is lacking so well, is sometimes downright unbeatable especially when ramped out with Servant of the Conduit, and is never dead in any matchup. It’s more removal, it’s more card draw, it’s more ramp, and it’s a great win condition.
Okay, I do understand why Temur decks are cutting Chandra. It’s probably because she’s at her worst against Ramunap Red, but at this point I’m pretty much working under the assumption that Ramunap Red is beatable and everyone’s beating it by now.
If this is true, we can start targeting it a little bit less. Ramunap Red is still played a decent amount, but it’s not rolling over everything and everyone like it did at the Pro Tour. Just have some good cards for them, a low curve that can interact with some removal, and a good sideboard for them.
Post-sideboard, we have the spice of Metallic Rebuke, which is one of the best ways to counter Torrential Gearhulk. The idea is that Tireless Tracker and Whirler Virtuoso provide some incidental artifacts to reduce its cost sometimes, and you aren’t that unhappy just casting it for three mana either.
Temur has the consistency, power, and versatility to match up well against all the best decks in the format. I don’t think it’s format-breaking, but I do think it’s the best deck choice at the moment.
Next, let’s look at what’s catching my attention in Modern.
Modern – Jeskai Tempo
Creatures (11)
Lands (24)
Spells (25)
Jeskai has made a bit of a comeback in Modern lately, mostly just due to Jonathan Rosum, but also with Benjamin Nikolich cracking the Top 8 at SCG Richmond this past weekend as well thanks to a more traditional build. We’ll start with Jonathan Rosum’s list.
The most interesting additions are the creatures. Instead of just running the basic four of Snapcaster Mage, Spell Queller, Thundermaw Hellkite, Geist of Saint Traft, and even Vendilion Clique made the cut.
Adding four Spell Quellers in the maindeck really shifts the focus of the deck. Quelling an early drop on turn three and then keeping that Spell Queller alive the rest of the game can pretty much snowball the game to victory by itself. Spell Queller can also do some interesting things like eat Thought-Knot Seer even when Cavern of Souls is used to cast it or Supreme Verdict. The curve in Modern is generally lower as well, which makes for plenty of juicy spells to eat.
Similar to Spell Queller, if you land Geist of Saint Traft and protect it by clearing the other side of the battlefield and connect a few times, you can just win the game. If your opponent can easily deal with Geist or just has a creature bigger than a 2/2, it’s not great.
If you’re ahead or at parity you can make a move and ride that lead to victory, if you’re behind you probably aren’t going to come back.
Even though Jeskai decks can play many different roles, Geist of Saint Traft and Spell Queller will usually push for a tempo-oriented gameplan. This version of Jeskai isn’t trying to get a massive advantage as the game progresses; it’s trying to get an early lead and ride it to victory. Cryptic Command and Celestial Colonnade will often be used aggressively to help push the last points of damage, rather than grind an opponent out.
Thundermaw Hellkite is excellent for this plan as well. It’s particularly great against Lingering Souls, and just any fliers (reminder that it actually makes defending fliers bend the knee by tapping them, since it’s been a while since Thundermaw Hellkite ruled the skies of Standard). It’s essentially Lava Axe with wings… every turn.
Here’s my take on the deck:
Creatures (12)
Lands (24)
Spells (24)
While I do think Jeskai Tempo is a fine choice, I also think it isn’t great against a large chunk of the Modern field right now. You have some great matchups like Elves and Affinity but also some I wouldn’t particularly like to face, including U/R Gifts Storm, Grixis Death’s Shadow, Eldrazi Tron, and Dredge. These aren’t terrible matchups, but I don’t think I’d say they’re good.
So what about another option for Jeskai?
Creatures (4)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (25)
Spells (30)
What’s the difference between these two types of Jeskai builds? Good question.
The simple answer is Jonathan Rosum’s list is Jeskai Tempo, and Benjamin Nikolich’s is Jeskai Control.
Instead of trying to jockey for an early lead, we’re happy to trade one-for-one and then eventually pull ahead thanks to Think Twice and Sphinx’s Revelation.
Fatal Pushes become stranded in an opponent’s hand instead of trading for Spell Queller, which can often mean the difference between a win and a loss. This also points to which version of Jeskai is correct to pick up. If you expect lots of decks with removal, Control will probably be a better choice; if you expect lots of Combo and non-interactive decks, Tempo will provide a faster clock and better interaction.
Here’s my current build:
Creatures (4)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (25)
Spells (29)
I’m convinced you shouldn’t be looking at Torrential Gearhulk until you’ve maxed out on Snapcaster Mage. The efficiency and versatility of Snapcaster Mage is too powerful to ignore.
Lightning Bolt is a card I’ve shaved from the maindeck of Jeskai in the past, much to the surprise of pretty much everyone, but it makes sense. It’s unreliable as a removal spell against Death’s Shadow and Eldrazi Tron.
I’d prefer to put my faith in Electrolyze, which is downright fantastic against a good portion of the Modern metagame, mostly the same decks where Lightning Bolt is amazing, like Affinity, Vizier of Remedies Combo, Lingering Souls, and Elves, and it fills up your three-drop slot. The difference to Lightning Bolt is that, even against the decks where it isn’t great removal, it’s fairly easy to cycle away into a new card.
Next up, we have Commander!
1v1 Commander – Tymna the Weaver and Kraum, Ludevic’s Opus
Creatures (22)
- 1 Mother of Runes
- 1 Spiketail Hatchling
- 1 Grim Lavamancer
- 1 Meddling Mage
- 1 Mesmeric Fiend
- 1 Dark Confidant
- 1 Looter il-Kor
- 1 Aven Mindcensor
- 1 Cursecatcher
- 1 Tidehollow Sculler
- 1 Stoneforge Mystic
- 1 Snapcaster Mage
- 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 1 Baleful Strix
- 1 Judge's Familiar
- 1 Brain Maggot
- 1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
- 1 Relic Seeker
- 1 Topplegeist
- 1 Mausoleum Wanderer
- 1 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
- 1 Hope of Ghirapur
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (37)
- 1 Wooded Foothills
- 1 Underground River
- 1 Adarkar Wastes
- 1 City of Brass
- 1 Volcanic Island
- 1 Underground Sea
- 1 Tundra
- 1 Scrubland
- 1 Plateau
- 1 Badlands
- 1 Windswept Heath
- 1 Polluted Delta
- 1 Flooded Strand
- 1 Bloodstained Mire
- 1 Shivan Reef
- 1 Caves of Koilos
- 1 Sacred Foundry
- 1 Watery Grave
- 1 Godless Shrine
- 1 Steam Vents
- 1 Blood Crypt
- 1 Hallowed Fountain
- 1 Drowned Catacomb
- 1 Glacial Fortress
- 1 Arid Mesa
- 1 Marsh Flats
- 1 Misty Rainforest
- 1 Scalding Tarn
- 1 Verdant Catacombs
- 1 Celestial Colonnade
- 1 Creeping Tar Pit
- 1 Seachrome Coast
- 1 Darkslick Shores
- 1 Command Tower
- 1 Cavern of Souls
- 1 Mana Confluence
- 1 Concealed Courtyard
Spells (36)
- 1 Umezawa's Jitte
- 1 Lightning Bolt
- 1 Counterspell
- 1 Vampiric Tutor
- 1 Duress
- 1 Force of Will
- 1 Diabolic Edict
- 1 Swords to Plowshares
- 1 Demonic Tutor
- 1 Memory Lapse
- 1 Mana Leak
- 1 Force Spike
- 1 Chain Lightning
- 1 Daze
- 1 Fire Covenant
- 1 Miscalculation
- 1 Vindicate
- 1 Evasive Action
- 1 Chrome Mox
- 1 Remand
- 1 Mana Tithe
- 1 Logic Knot
- 1 Thoughtseize
- 1 Bitterblossom
- 1 Beckon Apparition
- 1 Spell Pierce
- 1 Inquisition of Kozilek
- 1 Oust
- 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
- 1 Gitaxian Probe
- 1 Dismember
- 1 Murderous Cut
- 1 Anguished Unmaking
- 1 Smuggler's Copter
- 1 Fatal Push
- 1 Abrade
This just in: Commander is secretly a really fun format. You know, for anyone wanting to give it a try.
Every deck I played against online seemed interesting and unique. I faced commanders including The Gitrog Monster, The Mimeoplasm, and Narset, Enlightened Master.
It’s cool seeing completely new strategies filled with different cards, especially if you’ve been playing a bunch of Standard and Modern and know what your opponent is doing by the second turn most of the time.
It felt like I was playing one of the more degenerate decks by running Tymna the Weaver; it had a level of efficiency built in that was hard to match. It was easy to Thoughtseize my opponent, cast a Brain Maggot, draw a bunch of cards with Tymna the Weaver, and snowball a victory.
The more casual feel of Commander was nice, even if it felt like I was a little out of place as a competitive Spike player. For example I didn’t have Wasteland online, which isn’t a big deal, but I would normally feel compelled to buy one instead of just playing without it.
Three End
Three times the formats, three times the fun!
If you have any questions about Standard, Modern, or even Commander, don’t hesitate to ask!