While the Pro Tour was in full swing this weekend, there was also a pretty big event here on the mainland, and that was the Autumn State Championships. I
made the trek out to the beloved Top Deck Games in New Jersey with Erik Smith and Gerard Fabiano, and with company like that, I couldn’t have been more
excited. While I’ve known them for quite some time, Erik, Gerard, and I have grown to be closer friends over the course of this season, while still being
formidable rivals. I’ve battled Gerard a very large number of times this year in Open Series events (at least six), and each time has been a great
experience. I’ve learned a lot from him in such a short amount of time, and I’ve become much more confident in my ability because of him. Erik is one of
the most passionate competitors on the Open Series circuit and has always kept me in check when things got tough.
On the days leading up to the event, I was pretty confident in my deck choice, mostly because I had won last weekend’s Invitational Qualifier with it:
Creatures (29)
- 4 Elvish Mystic
- 4 Polukranos, World Eater
- 1 Sylvan Caryatid
- 4 Stormbreath Dragon
- 2 Boon Satyr
- 2 Courser of Kruphix
- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster
- 4 Rattleclaw Mystic
- 4 Savage Knuckleblade
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (4)
I was very happy with most of the deck, and I was confident in the matchups that mattered to me most: Jeskai and Abzan. Even though I may have won, there
were definitely issues I needed to address before entering the day on Saturday. First off, Courser of Kruphix did not belong in this shell. I want to be
attacking as hard and as efficiently as possible, and Courser isn’t too great at that. There was some strong discussion among people I trust about going
down to a single Courser, but I still felt that I wanted to attack with that spot. There were a few options available.
I could add another straight up attacker. The fourth Boon Satyr, Prophetic Flamespeaker, Fanatic of Xenagos, and Heir of the Wilds were among the cheaper
options, and Sagu Mauler, additional Sarkhans, Hooded Hydra, Genesis Hydra, Hornet Queen, and assorted planeswalkers were among the bigger choices. I
wasn’t really the biggest fan of adding more big creatures to the deck, so things like Sagu Mauler were out. While a strong card, all it does is attack,
and it isn’t the most effective against decks like Green Devotion and the various Mardu decks. I wouldn’t mind going small, since non-mana accelerant games
can be pretty brutal. Heir of the Wilds is pretty interesting in particular because of its ability to punch through or force a trade with almost anything.
My biggest concern with the deck overall is reach. While Crater’s Claws is a great fireball to have, I’m not sure if I want a third, as it doesn’t help
with your board progression. There aren’t very many cheap creatures with trample except for Fanatic of Xenagos, and that one gets outclassed pretty quickly
in green mirrors and bounces off of opposing Coursers if they’re willing to pay four life to do that (while also turning off ferocious). Every option feels
less impactful than Courser of Kruphix, but my interest in grinding out value with this deck is so low.
Another big issue with this deck is this duo:
These cards completely shut down my offensive advantage, and force me into ending the game with Temur Charm or Crater’s Claws. It’s a bit easier to do this
against a Hornet Queen, but an early Hornet Nest is a big hurdle to get through. One solution is to add a third Temur Charm, but it’s super mana intensive,
and it is pretty poor when nothing is going on. Sagu Mauler can fight through it once, but it trades up the second time. A fine way to line up against it,
but I feel that we can do better than that. Icefeather Aven is pretty interesting, as it’s a fine tempo play in general, and it also gets over the nest on
offense at the cost of less ferocious creatures and a bit of a mana commitment. Kiora is also interesting, as it’s also great in grindy matchups where I
would want Courser of Kruphix, but actually assists in getting me gas in the mid-game. She’s super fragile though, and when your four mana planeswalker
can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, that’s cause for concern.
One of the things I’m banking on is the reaction of the decks that have done well in the Standard portion of Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir. From what I’ve seen,
various Jeskai decks including, but not limited to Tempo, Aggro, and Combo, have all been featured and would attractive to a general player that would be
going to States. Various Mardu decks have also been performing well, and Abzan Midrange don’t seem to feature the dreaded Hornets. This makes me believe
that I can dodge those two cards for one more tournament, and I may not need to prepare for them at all. If that’s the case, then I’m not going to change
much from my IQ winning list. I’ve already been comfortable with my Jeskai matchups, and my Abzan matchup is close enough that a single untested card
change isn’t going to be as impactful as I want it to be. If I were to change anything for this event, I’d probably add some number of Heir of the Wilds
and make the manabase more aggressive with less temples and more untapped lands, but that’s about it.
I will continue to work on Temur decks, no matter what happens at the Pro Tour. That said, I’ve been watching very closely at what’s been going on in
Honolulu, and the big hitters were very interesting. Jeskai Tempo has been the big talk of the early parts of the weekend, as Mantis Rider, Stoke the
Flames, and Seeker of the Way continue to tear people apart. I’m very confident in my Jeskai matchup, but Brimaz is much bigger of a problem for us than
Goblin Rabblemaster. Our Boon Satyrs are far worse heads up, and our own Rabblemasters get worse as well. Racing is quite a bit harder, and I’m going to
have to lean harder on Chandra, Pyromaster, Temur Charm, and other stun effects to push through as much unmitigated damage as possible for our large
creatures. There’s also the Deflecting Palm factor.
Knowing how to play around Deflecting Palm is the most important thing about getting ahead and staying ahead in the matchup. Don’t just
get all antsy with your attackers. Figure out what happens if your opponent does have it, and how much damage you can afford to take at that time. Remember
that they can Deflecting Palm any source of yours, and that it doesn’t target, so Stormbreath Dragon is also fair game. It’s not uncommon to see players
have running Deflecting Palms to completely wipe you out, and if you’re looking to work on that matchup, learning what to do in that situation is much more
important than what cards to sideboard out and in.
The Abzan matchup has always felt close, and I’m unsure if making any major changes to help the matchup is needed. Heir of the Wilds feels like a great
option for pushing through damage early and forcing a removal spell, and it also trades with a Siege Rhino, although the trade is down. The more aggressive
versions of Abzan, like what Mike Sigrist played, feels like a worse matchup for us, but if we can drag the game out just enough to push through with Temur
Charm or Crater’s Claws (similar to the aforementioned), then I think we have a decent shot. The performance of U/B control may skew things a bit. The U/B
control matchup is what I have no experience with. I’d imagine that with Keranos, God of Storms, Stubborn Denial, Disdainful Stroke, and Temur Ascendency,
among other options, there’s definitely game. Destructive Revelry feels like a strong option if Perilous Vault becomes a thing. It also hits Courser of
Kruphix, Herald of Torment, Banishing Light, Jeskai Ascendancy, and Whip of Erebos, all major players. Dig Through Time is a huge beating for me, and the
potential of maindeck Disdainful Stroke is also a problem. Maybe it’s time to bring back Surrak Dragonclaw in the 75 to hedge, as it’s the only
uncounterable creature that’s really worth playing in my view. Mistcutter Hydra and Terra Stomper both just die and don’t have applications anywhere else,
where Surrak also helps with the Hornet Queen problem, despite also just eating a removal spell (though it demands one on the spot).
The hyper-aggressive red deck is by far our worst matchup, and I don’t think there’s much we can do about it past Hornet Nest, Anger of the Gods, Arc
Lightning, and Magma Spray. We don’t have any inherent lifegain that gives us an actual advantage as well. Nylea’s Disciple and Highland Game are fine, but
we don’t have huge chunks of devotion to really make it effective, and Hammerhand and Goblin Rabblemaster make Highland Game look pretty embarrassing. Feed
the Clan doesn’t actually do anything, since using a creature to gain life/defend is much more valuable than spending a card to gain ten, while they
continue the pressure.
Against Mardu decks, it’s very important to minimize the effect of Crackling Doom, which means no reckless pumping of your Savage Knuckleblades or
Polukranos, and timing your tempo plays for things that actually matter. Temur Charm is very important at setting the pace for the game, as Mardu is
generally a straight one for one deck, and setting them back with a counterspell is going to make things very difficult for them. Be wary of maindeck End
Hostilities as well, especially if you see no creatures in the first three to four turns. Your deck has a pretty decent amount of redundancy, since almost
all of your creatures read “attack for four”, so Thoughtseize wouldn’t be as bad against you as it would against other big creature decks.
The top 8 of the Pro Tour, and the Pro Tour in general, has really put the exclamation on the Standard format. There are so many decks to choose from, and
there really isn’t a clear best deck in the format. Even if there was, the margin is too small for it to matter, and you can go ahead and choose a deck
that fits your style. It’s what I’ve been doing this entire time, and things have been working out on the IQ level for me so far. With the Open Series
showing up to Worcester this week, I’m excited to continue working on this clan, and if you like attacking with ridiculously large creatures, most of which
have haste, then I’d highly recommend this deck!
Bonus: Modern Jeskai Delver
So, Jeskai Ascendency has really shaken things up in Modern, and it’s very clearly the best deck in the format. You can say what you want about how this
and that can beat it easily, but that doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. No matter what disruption is there for the combo, the fact that
the speed of this deck single-handedly pushes a large portion of the other decks out of major contention is format warping. Whether it gets banned or not
is not really something I care much for, as Modern tournaments will be happening before then, and until something happens, if it happens, I’ll be working
on the format as normal.
I have an IQ on Monday at Get There Games in Staten Island, and I plan on playing U/R Delver with a slight splash of white. I took a good look at Gerry Thompson’s video article on the deck, and I’m convinced that
Delver is easily one of the best decks now. B/G/x decks cannot hope to keep up with the raw power of Treasure Cruise, and when combined with early pressure
from Delver, the blistering speed and damage from Burn, the consistency and resilience of Jeskai Ascendency, and the robustness of Birthing Pod, those
green midrange decks simply can’t manage everything over the course of a decent length tournament. This allows Delver to shine, as it naturally has a
pretty decent Jeskai Ascendency matchup without needing to skew the shell to make it good. Combine that with the combo-esque properties of Monastery
Swiftspear, and the even better threat in Young Pyromancer, we now have a ridiculously powerful deck that will destroy anything that is working too hard to
beat Jeskai Ascendancy:
Creatures (13)
Lands (19)
Spells (28)
- 4 Lightning Bolt
- 4 Serum Visions
- 2 Spell Snare
- 1 Burst Lightning
- 3 Spell Pierce
- 4 Gitaxian Probe
- 2 Vapor Snag
- 1 Gut Shot
- 2 Thought Scour
- 2 Pillar of Flame
- 3 Treasure Cruise
Sideboard