We've all seen Jeskai decks in standard, however the lack of control in the format at the moment makes me a sad panda. I just want control so bad that i'm willing to soil Jeskai tempo for the greater good. This deck effectively plays 3 different ways.
At heart its a burn deck. Lightning Strike,
Jeskai Charm
and
Stoke the Flames
are your key burn down spells. The burn mode supports the
Seeker of the Way
fantastically. It's Prowess ability allows you to comfortably attack into
Sylvan Caryatid
. Just a quick Lightning Strike to their face and they also loose their blocker. That goes the same for attacking into Courser of Kruphix If they block then just respond with a little Magma Spray (after side-boarding) and exile the thing.
The second mode is complete creature based control (agro really, what am... who am I kidding).
Mantis Rider
is broken. A 3 drop 3/3 with flying and haste would have been good as it is. But no, give it Vig... This is your main source of pressure. Its vigilance makes it a great convoke target for your
Stoke the Flames
in their end step aswell. Another source of pressure is the beloved Goblin Rabblemaster This bad boy is just value. Couple him up with a
Jeskai Charm
pump and lead your goblins to victory.
Sadly this is Jeskai Tempo's FINAL FORM! pure control. Side in those Banishing Light, Divination and Counterspells after game 1 if need be. This deck can still counter its way to victory. Focus on finding one of those Stormbreath Dragons to finish the game up for you. Deflecting Palm is a good board in against the beat-down decks in the format. Anger of the Gods is your board choice when it comes to Sultai Whip or Red variants that run Goblin Rabblemaster it can clear the board of any pesky 1/1 deathtouch flyer insects and what not. The look on your opponents face is priceless, trust me...
I know by this point some people might be looking in that list and thinking 'WTF Jalira?' Jalira, Master Polymorphist is actually an interesting card. She's being played here for 2 reasons. One, is that I was just getting board of the whole, Rabblemaster Mantis rider domination, and i just wanted my deck to be unique. Two, is that Jalira, Master Polymorphist has a few synergies in the current meta. She can tap and Sac a goblin token that Goblin Rabblemaster generates to find another Rabblemaster or a
Mantis Rider
. Finding the rider is fantastic because this whole trigger is before attackers are declared. That's an extra 3 points of flying damage and another blocker for next turn. Another synergy is the use of Jalira, Master Polymorphist after a creature becomes the target of one of the few destruction spells in the format. We can capitalize off the lack of destruction by sacrificing the targeted creature to Jalira, before the spell resolves. This consequentially can potentially land us an upgrade on our current creature.
The different variants of the deck all have done well so far and I'm utterly in love with this colour combo. Long live control... Please tell me what you think. Advice and any other alteration ideas are greatly appreciated.
