Look! Up in the Jeskai!
It’s a Bolt!
It’s a Path!
No, it’s Super Snapcaster Mage!
That’s right, dear readers, it’s Modern season, and that can only mean one thing: it’s Jeskai time. Today I’ll be discussing the archetype that is nearest and board clearest to my heart. I’ll look at all the lists I’ve been tinkering with, inside and out, and give you my thoughts on what’s hot and what’s not right now for everyone’s favorite color combination.
Jeskai’s Place in Modern
First things first, is Jeskai even a viable deck in Modern right now? It certainly hasn’t been dominating the format by any stretch of the imagination, and is not what most would recognize as a Tier One deck right now. But still not in a terrible spot, I’d say now is a fine time to be playing Jeskai overall – good, but not great.
There has been a reduction in the amount of Abzan and an increase in Jund, which is good for Jeskai. There’s still plenty to fear from Jund though, mostly Liliana of the Veil and Tarmogoyf. I think Jeskai was very well-positioned when Collected Company decks started cropping up everywhere, but now the format is shifting towards more combo and Jund style strategies, which is not what you want to be playing against. Combo decks and big things like Karn Liberated and Primeval Titan are not really what I want to see either. There should also be an uptick in the amount of Blood Moons running around, which also isn’t great for the home team.
What type of metagame is favorable for Jeskai and what is Jeskai good at doing?
Beating Creature Decks
Jeskai has a boatload of cheap spot removal, mass removal, and card advantage. It’s not hard to stabilize early and outdraw the opponent in the late game. Celestial Colonnade is the icing on the value cake, as it will finish the opponent off or trade with further creatures. Jeskai decks packing plenty of Lightning Helixes and Ajani Vengeants will also excel vs. Burn.
Drawing Cards
The best thing you can do in Magic, and Jeskai decks do a lot of it. Many of the cards cantrip and keep the deck flowing smoothly, especially thanks to fetchlands thinning the deck out over the course of a long game.
Versatility
Jeskai has a great toolbox of sideboard cards. If you don’t like having your deck invalidated by a single card and you want to be the one doing the invalidating for once, Jeskai is a great option.
Jeskai gives you plenty of room to make plays. Cryptic Command, Snapcaster Mage, Remand, and an overall low curve give you plenty of room to navigate into a winning position.
On the flipside Jeskai can be hard to play against, since it isn’t heavily played and there isn’t really an established “best” Jeskai deck, so it can be hard to be ready for what the throws at you since there are so many options.
In Modern, you can get priced into playing a deck you know really well inside and out just because the format is so complex and key cards can be so expensive. Jeskai is a good deck to run for a long time since it is adaptable and customizable, you can build it to be stronger against the metagame you expect to face.
Let’s get to some lists. First up is a chunky midrange Jeskai:
Creatures (13)
Lands (25)
Spells (22)
Whereas Splinter Twin will just kill you, this deck will bludgeon you to death over the course of twenty turns and repeated value.
This is the deck I want against Jund and other midrange strategies. The Wall of Omens + Restoration Angel engine is great for grinding out value.
The main issue the deck has is that it isn’t quite proactive enough and it can be reactive in the wrong ways. Wall of Omens is great for gumming up the ground and buying time, but it’s just a little too slow against plenty of matchups. Four toughness is great against Lightning Bolt, but Restoration Angel and Wall of Omens can still be outclassed by plenty of creatures in Modern like Dark Confidant or Tarmogoyf.
So if we want to be doing the same thing but be a bit more proactive?
Creatures (14)
Lands (25)
Spells (21)
Just add Kiki-Jiki, the Mirror Breaker!
Losing Tectonic Edge to stabilize the manabase hurts, but you’re gaining a way to just outright win and an extra surprise factor. The main problem with Kiki-Jiki is that it’s expensive and gums up your hand. It’s also very fragile and turns on lots of the removal you’re trying to invalidate. On top of that you’re still probably too slow to be comboing off against other combo decks, at least unless you’ve already taken control of the game.
So what do we do about those pesky mana ramp decks? G/R Tron and Amulet Bloom placed first and second at the Season Two Invitational, and they aren’t great matchups. Maybe this deck holds some answers:
Creatures (8)
Lands (25)
Spells (27)
Ever since Flooded Strand came out, I’ve come back to UW Control from time to time. It always seems great to me in theory but it never quite lives up to my expectations. This list could use some tinkering and fine tuning, but I like the idea behind it. Lots of land destruction and counters for the combo decks and removal and card draw for the rest of the format.
Oust is pet card of mine that’s still never had a chance on the big stage, but maybe one day. It’s a Lightning Bolt replacement that’s great against Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, Elves, and really any creature without an enters-the-battlefield effect. It also has synergy with Ghost Quarter and Path to Exile since you can pressure your opponent into shuffling a good creature away.
G/R Tron and Amulet Bloom will likely have a target on them in upcoming weeks since they are on everyone’s radar, so it might not be necessary to commit so heavily to Ghost Quarter.
It’s difficult to play a “new deck” like this one in Modern since there are so many factors to consider, from the vast amount of matchups to hate cards. Modern is often a format of razor thin edges. One card or one matchup you did or didn’t prepare for can make all the difference. Which means sometimes the best option is the deck you know best.
Creatures (4)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (26)
Spells (29)
Try the Blue White Red deck with style! Try Jeskai Classic! New look, same great cards!
This is the style of Jeskai deck I know best, and the one I feel is the most well-rounded. It is likely going to be my weapon of choice in upcoming Modern events, because it has all the fixins to beat pretty much everything.
I built the sideboard to be more focused against specific matchups than before. I consider every card there to be excellent in specific matchups (except maybe Vendilion Clique, which is more of a generally versatile card).
Don’t be afraid to mix things up and substitute your own specific card choices in. That’s one of the best ways to grow as a deckbuilder and a player, by trying new things.
I’d say the problem matchups right now are Amulet Bloom, Scapeshift, and G/W Hexproof. Nothing is particularly lopsided though, as most matchups are very close and come down to experience and how the cards fall.
I’ll give a sideboard guide for this deck since I think it’s the strongest right now. Also of note is the Jeskai deck I played to the last Pro Tour with Geist of Saint Traft. I don’t think Geist is great right now since you really don’t want to be tapping out against the combo decks of choice right now.
Remember the sideboard guide is just that, a guide, not commandments. I’m assuming we’re on the play for these, which makes Lightning Bolt less necessary and Mana Leak better.
VS Burn
Out:
In:
VS Grixis Delver
Out:
In:
VS Affinity
Out:
In:
VS Splinter Twin
Out:
In:
VS Jund/Abzan
Out:
In:
VS G/R Tron
Out:
In:
VS Amulet Bloom
Out:
In:
VS Abzan Company
Out:
In:
Thoughts On Specific Cards
Kolaghan’s Command is popping up everywhere and deserves consideration when deckbuilding. It shifts the value of a few cards for Jeskai. Crucible of Worlds gets worse against Jund and Grixis Twin where it’s otherwise very good. Vendilion Clique gets worse since it dies to the two damage mode. Relic of Progenitus gets better overall, as long as you keep Kolaghan’s Command in mind and make sure you don’t let it hit your Relic.
Vendilion Clique is one of the cards I get asked about very often. It’s a card I try to avoid in general if I’m running four copies of Snapcaster Mages as my only creature, since it’s not worth the effect if it immediately dies to an otherwise mostly-useless removal from an opponent. There are fewer Lingering Souls in the format, which is good for Clique, but more Kolaghan’s Commands. It’s great pressure against combo decks and helps you map upcoming turns. It’s also a good “glue” sideboard card that can come in against pretty much any deck. Overall, I would want to start 0-1 in the maindeck and probably want one in my sideboards.
Another card I get asked about a lot since I usually only run one in my maindecks. Spell Snare is not a card I usually want to draw multiples of, or have in the late game, but it’s an excellent card to have access to with Snapcaster Mage. I want Spell Snare less the more Collected Company decks there are (since it can’t counter Collected Company), but I think Collected Company decks have been declining in popularity which makes me happily gravitate towards playing one copy maindeck again.
Celestial Purge is a very good sideboard card right now. There are plenty of Blood Moons, Liliana of the Veils, and Tasigur, the Golden Fangs. It’s also good against Burn and its ability to exile is very relevant right now as well.
Supreme Verdict is much better against the field in general, but when Wrath of God is good, it’s essential. Against Thrun, the Last Troll and Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Wrath of God usually the difference between winning and losing. Start with at least two copies of Supreme Verdict before running a Wrath of God, but once you have two Verdicts, it’s safe to have a Wrath since you rarely need to bring in three sweepers against decks with countermagic anyways.
Just Bolt It!
There you have it, a bunch of fine options to meet your red, white, and blue needs. GP Charlotte is this weekend and I’m sure as heck going to be attending. Will I be playing Jeskai? Signs point to yes. I will very likely be a Patriotic Canadian running the Red and White colors of our flag with Blue thrown in for good measure to represent that we are the country with the largest water area.
As you can probably tell, I really enjoy playing, thinking, and writing about Jeskai decks. Tinkering and trying to get the Jeskai decks juuuust right is a never-ending challenge that I enjoy. It’s nice when I find a deck I really enjoy that can also get some wins. That’s the type of deck we’re all searching for.
All this writing has really got me itching to play some Jeskai. If you want to see these decks in action, and some antics from yours truly, come check out my stream this week and join in the fun!
Questions? Ask away and I’ll do my best to answer them, or if you happen to be at GP Charlotte, come say hi and ask me personally.