Jeskai Control was very popular at SCG Louisville last weekend and actively
did very well for itself, as there were five copies of the deck in the Top
32. That may not seem like a whole lot, but it’s a reactive deck in Modern
and one that I happen to be familiar with. Therefore, it deserves to be
talked about!
Why Jeskai Control?
Jeskai Control in its current form is very good at having game against most
of the Modern format. The deck in its current iteration is efficient at
dismantling the bogeyman of the format (Humans) while also being heavily
favored against a variety of other archetypes (Affinity, G/W Company,
Abzan, Bant Company, and Elves). Jeskai also has a fine game plan against
Grixis Death’s Shadow, B/R Hollow One, U/R Gifts Storm, and Burn. I could
continue to list off decks that Jeskai has game against, but it would take
a bit before I would be able to name all of them. The point I’m trying to
get across is that the popular decks in Modern all either struggle or are
slightly behind when paired against Jeskai, and that’s a great place to be.
The deck obviously has bad matchups too, like G/W Hexproof, Ad Nauseum,
Tron (to an extent), and Amulet Titan, but these are decks that don’t
dominate Modern currently, which allows Jeskai to prey on the popular decks
in the format and not be outcasted. Going into SCG Louisville, Humans was
the de facto best deck, with Hollow One as a close second. Knowing this,
people brought all forms of creature decks like Affinity, various takes on
Collected Company, and Elves to combat this menace, and Jeskai absolutely
decimates in that kind of metagame.
Within my last eight leagues of Competitive Modern Leagues on Magic Online,
my record with Jeskai Control is 29-11, which translates into a 72.5%-win
percentage with a reactive control deck in a format dominated by being
proactive. That’s extraordinarily impressive to me.
Creatures (4)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (24)
Spells (30)
The Heavy Hitters
The bread and butter of Jeskai Control, Search for Azcanta will effectively
win you most of your games. Jeskai has plenty of two-for-ones, but you also
trade one-for-one a lot against the popular decks in the format, and Search
for Azcanta allows you to translate those one-for-ones into an unstoppable
card advantage engine in the late game. Search for Azcanta also acts as a
card-filtering mechanism while being critical in being able to out grind
the other midrange decks in the format. Playing it on turn two and flipping
it on turn five or six is often the lock that will result in burying your
opponent quickly. I use “win” in quotes because the deck takes a while to
end the game, but once you have Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin on the
battlefield, it’s nigh impossible to lose the game.
These are the late game win conditions that make Jeskai very well
positioned in topdeck wars. The games that Jeskai wins often progress to a
point in which you have 7-10 lands on the battlefield, and drawing one of
these powerful instants often wins the game on its own. You can’t fill your
deck with too many of these effects as they’re quite clunky, but having the
out to draw one of these creates a powerful upside.
These are your late game grind cards that come in most of the slower
matchups. It turns out that most of the topdecks in Modern are just cold to
Baneslayer Angel and having it on the battlefield usually ends the game on
the spot. Elspeth, Sun’s Champion is much better in the U/W/x and B/G/x
matchups which allows you to diversify your threats through a planeswalker
that isn’t very easily dealt with.
I know I made a huge stink about Jace, the Mind Sculptor on my Twitter a
few months ago, and I was very wrong on that regard. I can assure you,
however; that Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is a very messed up Magic
card. Let’s segue into…
Jace, the Mind Sculptor vs. Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
The clash of the Jeskai planeswalkers has just begun…
The major issue with Jace, the Mind Sculptor is that it’s clunky in the
regard that it’s difficult to engineer a game state that allows Jace to
live, and by the time you reach that game state you’re often just winning
that game already. Jace is better in the non-Bolt blue mirrors, but being
very mediocre against Humans, Hollow One, Affinity, and other proactive
decks makes it too clunky and more of a four-mana do-nothing rather than a
dominant planeswalker.
The main argument against Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is that it costs an
extra mana while not accruing as much card advantage as Jace. But the real
bonus of Teferi revolves around the second part of the +1 ability “Untap
two target lands at the end of turn.” That secondary part is what makes
Teferi better than Jace in Jeskai. Let’s look at what we can cast off that
two-extra mana on two five at instant speed:
That’s a lot of spells and they all protect your Teferi from even coming
close to dying on your opponent’s turn. Teferi also gets better as the game
progresses, and playing Teferi with seven lands on the battlefield and
leaving up every instant in your deck and having a planeswalker at five
loyalty often leads to victory. Teferi feels like a three-mana planeswalker
in this regard, and Jeskai is the perfect shell to be able to maximize this
ability. I would strongly recommend not registering Jeskai without the
card, as it adds a unique dynamic to a control deck.
Sideboarding
VS Five-Color Humans
Out:
In:
This matchup is extremely favorable for Jeskai Control, but you need to
ensure that you properly time your removal spells. Getting blown out by
casting Lightning Bolt or Lightning Helix on a three-toughness creature
while they have an Aether Vial on two and flashing in Thalia’s Lieutenant
is by far the easiest way to lose. Luckily, most of your openers after
sideboard will just naturally be very good against Humans. Just be wary
that they do have Kitesail Freebooter and/or Meddling Mage when using your
removal spells.
VS B/R Hollow One
Out (on the draw):
In (on the draw):
Out (on the play):
In (on the play):
This matchup feels pretty draw dependent in game one, but you have a lot of
tools that allow you to slow down their game plan. In my experience, things
are completely reliant on how many Bloodghasts they draw, but being a Path
to Exile + Snapcaster Mage deck really shines in this matchup. After
sideboard, your deck is full of better spot removal against Hollow One and
either Baneslayer Angel or Elspeth, Sun’s Champion usually means game over
if either of them hit the battlefield.
I would sideboard in Wear//Tear if I saw Blood Moon or if I saw that they
had double basic Swamp. If I saw either of those, I would take out a
Lightning Helix on the play and I would cut a Lightning Bolt on the draw.
VS Jeskai Control
Out:
In:
The way I like to approach the mirror is to just slow things down and
attempt to just gain complete control of the game. It’s entirely possible
to fluctuate in your sideboard plans in this matchup, and you can generally
tell what role the opponent is trying to take pending on how aggressive
their lines are in game one. I like having some copies of both Path to
Exile and Lightning Helix after sideboard just in case; it’s just about
evaluating what role your opponent is playing that will decide what those
numbers are.
VS Affinity
Out (on the draw):
In (on the draw):
Out (on the play):
In:
Another matchup that Jeskai Control is favored against. Affinity can be
tricky in the sense that on the draw you could just get cheesed out if you
don’t have early spot removal. Their best card in the matchup is Etched
Champion and if that card gets paired with either Arcbound Ravager or
Cranial Plating, the game usually ends. Fortunately, you have a plethora of
spot removal and countermagic that, if sequenced properly, will make this a
non-issue. I sideboard in the Celestial Purge to hedge against Ghiraphur
Aether Grid and a potential Blood Moon.
VS G/W Hexproof
Out:
In:
This matchup game one is probably around 20%. After sideboard is still
rough, but you have more answers to their hexproof threats. Be cognizant of
the fact that they still have Kor Spiritdancer and sideboard in Gaddock
Teeg, so you can’t take out all your removal. I would mulligan aggressively
after sideboard to either find a Runed Halo or Logic Knot and just hope
their draw is a mess.
VS U/R Gift Storm
Out:
In:
This matchup is very difficult to master because the situations in which
you might just die if you don’t counter a specific spell changes from game
to game. I like having three answers to Empty the Warrens after sideboard,
and I leave in Path to Exile just to ensure that I can kill a cost reducer.
You can generally beat giving them the extra mana after sideboard, but
being on the draw with Lightning Helix as your only removal spell can be a
death sentence.
Celestial Purge is to hedge against potential Blood Moon, Pyromancer
Ascension, or Chandra, Torch of Defiance while also doubling as a removal
spell for Goblin Electromancer. If your opponent is playing fetchlands, I
would probably trim one more Cryptic Command for another Celestial Purge
because it’s more likely that they have Blood Moon.
VS Mardu Pyromancer
Out (on the draw):
In (on the draw):
Out (on the play):
In (on the play):
A grindy Lingering Souls matchup, Blood Moon is generally a huge concern,
and the matchup revolves around Bedlam Reveler. If you can get past the
Blood Moon phase and efficiently answer their Young Pyromancers, I think
the matchup is fine. You’re just trying to generate as many two-for-ones as
possible. Aggressively fetch your basics if you can afford to do so.
VS Jund
Out (on the draw):
In (on the draw):
Out (on the play):
In (on the play):
The Jund matchup is much better than the Mardu Pyromancer matchup. Jund’s
cards don’t actively shut you down as much as they do from Mardu, and it’s
much easier to segue into the mono two-for-one fest when they don’t have
Lingering Souls in their deck. This is a matchup that Jeskai Control
actively wants to be paired against.
VS Burn
Out:
In:
This matchup is not the greatest, but after sideboard you have a bunch of
tools that allow you to fight on an axis that Burn isn’t equipped to beat.
Don’t play a Lightning Helix into open mana unless you have a way of
protecting it (Logic Knot, Negate, or Dispel) and never shock yourself with
your lands unless necessary. Sphinx’s Revelation is just too clunky for
this matchup to do anything, and I’d rather just have the creatures from
Secure the Wastes that present an actual clock.
VS Tron
Out:
In:
This matchup is dependent on how many counterspells, Snapcaster Mages, and
Vendilion Cliques you draw. Game one can be rough, but you often just lob
burn spells at them until they’re eventually dead. This plan isn’t the
greatest plan, but drawing multiple counterspells and Path to Exiles in
combination with Snapcaster Mage can be the difference between a win and a
loss.
After sideboard I think you have enough tools to stall the game to a point
in which either Sphinx’s Revelation or Secure the Wastes take over. There
are some games in which you’ll have three or four lands blown up from their
Eldrazi; in those games it’s important to change your role quickly and try
to find any threat to close the game before they bury you under expensive
spells.
I could write another five pages on sideboarding on specific matchups in
Modern, but these matchups will probably be the most commonm and
understanding how they play out while also knowing how to sideboard is
crucial in a deck like this.
I honestly think that this weekend will be another great weekend for Jeskai
Control, but I would recommend that if you want to bring this deck to SCG
Minneapolis that you’re efficient in how the mirror plays out. Jeskai
Control will benefit the individuals that put in the time and effort to
learn all the ins and outs of the Modern format.
I hope this article has helped you in some way, and good luck to everybody
this weekend in your events!