The Jeskai Way: Meditate on the Impossible

Commander / EDH Monk Prowess RUW (Jeskai, America) Spellslinger Tokens

Temur_Frontier

Instant (22)

• 1x Akroma's Will
• 1x Anticipate
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Azorius Charm
• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Consider
• 1x Dig Through Time
• 1x Dovin's Veto
• 1x Expansion / Explosion
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Izzet Charm
• 1x Jeskai Charm
• 1x Mystic Confluence
• 1x Narset's Reversal
• 1x Prismari Command
• 1x Shadow Rift
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Thrill of Possibility

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Chain Reaction
• 1x Expressive Iteration
• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Mind's Desire
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x See the Truth
• 1x Slip Through Space

Creature (15)

• 1x Archmage Emeritus
• 1x Balmor, Battlemage Captain
• 1x Kykar, Wind's Fury
• 1x Monastery Mentor
• 1x Murmuring Mystic
• 1x Ovika, Enigma Goliath
• 1x Radiant Scrollwielder
• 1x Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest
• 1x Soulfire Grand Master
• 1x Storm-Kiln Artist
• 1x Taigam, Ojutai Master
• 1x Talrand, Sky Summoner
• 1x Third Path Iconoclast
• 1x Veyran, Voice of Duality
• 1x Young Pyromancer

Artifact (10)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Mithril Coat
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Progress
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak
• 1x Winged Boots

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Jeskai Ascendancy
• 1x Metallurgic Summonings
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Shark Typhoon
• 1x Whirlwind of Thought

Commander (1)

Land (36)

• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 9x Island
• 1x Izzet Guildgate
• 8x Mountain
• 1x Mystic Monastery
• 1x Nimbus Maze
• 8x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Triumph

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Narset Transcendent
• 1x Narset of the Ancient Way

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The Tarkir Project

This deck is part of a series of flavor-focused decks built around the plane of Tarkir. The goal is to balance flavor, power, and fun as much as possible for each deck, bringing the associated clans to life while still being playable. Here are the rough guidelines for this project, where each deck should:

• Use a commander that is from the associated clan, ideally one of the Khans for the clan.
• Include as many cards associated with the given clan as possible; it does not matter if they are specifically from the Tarkir block. Any card, whether it was from the block or some anthology, counts as long as it clearly depicts the clan in question (this includes the Dragons of Tarkir clan counterpart as they are similar enough). Realistically, the target goal is roughly around 15 flavor cards per deck.
• The deck's overall playstyle should mirror the original vision of the clan's tactics as they were represented in the Tarkir block. I personally value this slightly more than number of flavor cards used.

You can check out the other decks in this series as they are listed on the side bar of this page and on my profile.

Who were the Jeskai Way?

The Four Pillars of the Jeskai Way

The Jeskai Way is a philosophy of enlightenment and personal growth that influences all members of the Jeskai clan. The Jeskai live in secluded strongholds where they learn to craft, fight, and meditate all in the search for enlightenment. The Jeskai revere the eye of the dragon for its cunning, emulating their intelligence and evasive maneuvers in their own martial arts. The Jeskai do not fight or wage war with brute strength or raw numbers but with sharp minds and keen eyes for pressing every advantage and opportunity available to them. The Four Pillars of Jeskai philosophy:

Discipline: Every member of the Jeskai clan strives for Discipline in their lives, from commoner farmers to wandering warriors. Each clan member is expected to pick a weapon that they will attempt to master over their whole life.

Enlightenment: This is the ultimate goal of a Jeskai clan member, to attain full understanding and awareness of themselves and the world around them. This is a lifelong endeavor and the journey is more important than the destination.

Industriousness: The Jeskai clan is home to many brilliant craftsmen who have spent decades in apprenticeships mastering their trade. The Jeskai do not waste time on displays of wealth but rather focus on efficiency; grace and beauty are merely a ripple of their mastery of utility.

Traditionalism: The Jeskai believe in the practice of tradition in the pursuit of enlightenment and their craft. There are many strongholds that devote themselves to only a single way of life or martial art style, as they have done for innumerable generations.

Clan Magic

The Jeskai’s use of magic in their martial arts is what sets them apart in grace and expertise. They maintain that this magic is more of an understanding and manipulation of life forces and essences found in every living (and unliving) being on Tarkir. The types of magic correlate to the colors of magic as planeswalkers understand them:

Soulfire: This element channels the energy of the soul itself to repair or empower one’s own body.

Mistfire: This element channels the energy of the mind to conceal one's presence or outmaneuver an opponent.

Deathfire: This element channels the remaining energy leftover from the dead to invigorate oneself.

Bloodfire: This element channels the energy of one’s own blood to drive them to overcome impossible obstacles.

Vitalfire: This element channels the forces of nature to invoke the wildness of one’s own spirit.

Ghostfire: This element is extremely elusive, as very few have understood its existence let alone achieved its mastery, but it channels an energy beyond the soul to transcend the other natural elements and alter one’s fundamental nature and existence.

Notably, the Jeskai avoid Deathfire and Vitalfire, believing them to be tainted, poisoning one’s grasp on enlightenment. Deathfire is too selfish and stealing one person’s life essence to empower their own can not possibly lead to enlightenment for the Jeskai. Vitalfire is considered to be a manipulation of the natural world, marring its beauty and wisdom for personal gain, similarly impairing the way to enlightenment. Ghostfire is considered to be a state of transcendence, thus as a possible representation of enlightenment.

Important Jeskai Figures

There are many important individuals living the Jeskai Way. These are martial artists and craftsmen who stand as an inspiration on the journey toward enlightenment.

Narset, Khan of the Jeskai: Narset is the Khan of the Jeskai in the Khans of Tarkir timeline. She has mastered physical feats as a martial artist and maintains a unique, enlightened view of Tarkir. She believes that to understand the world, one must first understand the self. And not just one’s own self but also that of the individuals from other clans as well.

Shu Yun, Khan of the Jeskai: Shu yun was an ancient Khan of the Jeskai. It is said that he reached enlightenment by throwing a single stone into each of the thousand lakes and rivers of Tarkir and studying the ripples that followed, extracting wisdom that would be applied to his own life and journey.

Taigam, Jeskai Master / Sultai Wizard: Taigam has a complex history across the different timelines of Tarkir. In the original timeline, Taigam was once a student of the Jeskai who defected to the Sultai in the pursuit of power, feeling restricted by the methodical ways of the Jeskai. In the new Dragons of Tarkir timeline, he stayed with the Ojutai clan, appreciating the dragon’s cruelty and penchant for power and talent. No matter the timeline, Taigam remains a powerful mage above most of his peers, ever in pursuit of the freedom to become even stronger.

Commander Choice

The commander choice here is pretty easy. Narset, Enlightened Exile is the Khan of the Jeskai and this version of her is all about prowess, a staple of the Jeskai strategy.

Jeskai Flavor

With Narset at the helm, this deck is able to pack in a decent amount of Jeskai flavor. Barring lands and cards which could pass for being part of the Jeskai clan (stuff like Kykar, Wind's Fury and Mystic Confluence), here is a list of the Jeskai flavor cards used in the build:

• Anticipate
• Jeskai Ascendancy
• Jeskai Charm
• Monastery Mentor
• Monastery Siege
• Narset of the Ancient Way
• Narset Transcendent
• Narset's Reversal
• Ojutai Exemplars
• See the Truth
• Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest
• Soulfire Grand Master
• Taigam, Ojutai Master
• Whirlwind of Thought

Jeskai Playstyle & Power Level

The Jeskai clan of the Tarkir block used the Prowess mechanic on its creatures, making them stronger with each noncreature spell cast in a turn.

As for the deck's power level, as with all the decks in this series, the goal was to maintain a midrange style with a clear focus that was decently fast and well supported by resources such as draw and ramp. This Jeskai build fits pretty well in that range, though it can be variable in its speed. Sometimes, it is difficult to get the right pieces to setup the deck's engine, but others Narset runs away with the game as she can enable a go-wide strategy fairly quickly.

Win Conditions

This deck's win conditions mostly rely on its token generators such as Monastery Mentor or Metallurgic Summonings to swarm the board with powerful tokens. With the variety of fairly cheap instants and sorceries, it can be easy to accumulate enough tokens to swing for game once the board is setup properly. Although it's hard to pull off, using a mass burn board wipe like Chain Reaction and giving it lifelink with either Radiant Scrollwielder or Soulfire Grand Master then funneling that massive life total into Aetherflux Reservoir is a very satisfying win condition.

Date added	3 years
Last updated	10 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 0 Mythic Rares 34 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.08
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Bird Illusion 1/1 U, Construct X/X C, Drake 2/2 U, Elemental 1/1 R, Emblem Narset Transcendent, Emblem Narset of the Ancient Way, Monk 1/1 W, Phyrexian Goblin 1/1 R, Shark */* U, Soldier, Spirit 1/1 W, Treasure