Modern Jeskai Delver/Geist

Modern* Aggro Competitive Delver Midrange RUW (Jeskai, America) Tempo

CurdBrosBrewingCo

Creature (13)

• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 4x Delver of Secrets  ^Flip
• 3x Geist of Saint Traft
• 1x Grim Lavamancer
• 1x Keranos, God of Storms
• 3x Snapcaster Mage

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Chandra, Pyromaster

Land (20)

• 2x Arid Mesa
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Celestial Colonnade
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 2x Flooded Strand
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 2x Island
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Plains
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 2x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Slayers' Stronghold
• 2x Steam Vents
• 1x Sulfur Falls

Artifact (1)

• 1x Sword of Fire and Ice

Instant (19)

• 2x Boros Charm
• 2x Dig Through Time
• 4x Lightning Bolt
• 3x Lightning Helix
• 3x Path to Exile
• 2x Remand
• 1x Spell Pierce
• 2x Spell Snare

Sorcery (6)

• 2x Gitaxian Probe
• 4x Serum Visions

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Sideboard

Creature (2)

• 1x Spellskite
• 1x Vendilion Clique

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Stony Silence

Artifact (4)

• 1x Batterskull
• 2x Engineered Explosives
• 1x Sword of Feast and Famine

Instant (7)

• 1x Combust
• 2x Counterflux
• 1x Deflecting Palm
• 1x Hibernation
• 2x Wear / Tear

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Sowing Salt

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Maybeboard

Creature (3)

• 1x Restoration Angel
• 1x Stormbreath Dragon
• 1x Thundermaw Hellkite

Instant (1)

• 1x Deprive

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In celebration of the recent July 4th holiday I (Gavin) have made a deck that I have been dreaming about for months but never thought would work. It's a little early to celebrate Independence Day, but I had to share this deck.

The deck is built around my favorite color combination (America); but features my favorite creature of all time:

Geist of Saint Traft.

The only problem is that I love tempo and aggro control decks and typically don't like playing full out control. I have always wanted Geist of Saint Traft in an aggro/control or tempo style build, but was always told that Geist only really fits a "pure" UWR control shell. I tinkered with that deck for ever and just never fell in love.

I also liked the U/R Delver of Secrets   / Young Pyromancer deck. However, I felt it had too many really bad matchups, not nearly enough late game, and too many "flat" cards like Vapor Snag. I also never loved playing with Young Pyromancer in my deck even though I love the flavor and the card. I didn't fall in love with this deck either.

The point of the deck is very simple....it is simply to play the most efficient deck possible. The deck simply wants to get a quick and cheap threat out and protect it until it's done about 12 damage (as you can burn / snap-burn the rest out).

That, and you really want an answer for whatever they throw at you. The trick is to simply play more spells than the opponent. You do this by:

• Playing less lands than your opponent. Since our average CMC is lower; if we both draw and play 20 cards in a game; but 8 of yours are lands and only 4 of mine are...I was able to play 4 more (20% more) spells.

• Playing cards with "dual use". Grim Lavamancer has a built in Shock....Snapcaster Mage lets us flash back a spell, Vendilion Clique has a built in "quasi-thoughtseize", Chandra, Pyromaster represents multiple spells, Remand, Cryptic Command, and Electrolyze all draw a card, Restoration Angel will always have a second use (even if it is just keeping a creature from being destroyed) and Geist of Saint Traft basically casts his own 4/4 creature every time he attacks...basically, we want as many cards as possible that represent two spells.

• Have CHEAP answers. Spell Snare and Spell Pierce are important because they can counter a very large spell for very little mana. This allows us to more efficiently utilize our mana (especially given the amount of Flash creatures and instants we have). Often times, brewers will simply jam 4 Remand and 4 Mana Leak which can cost you a full turn (in a format that rarely sees turn 8).

• Play cards on BOTH turns. By doing so, we get the most out of what little mana we have. By using a bunch of Flash creatures, instants, and by using "free" cards like Gitaxian Probe; we make the most of our mana. We may only end up playing 4-5 lands in an entire match yet still end up casting 25-30 "mana worth" of spells to our opponents 12-15...

• By putting on a heavy amount of "pressure" on the opponent; we often can force them to play sub-optimally. They may have to cast a removal spell when they weren't planning on it. They may have to get a creature down to block, etc. This forces them to use their mana and spells less efficiently.

Simply put, this deck wins by being the most efficient deck. It's answers are cheaper than your threats, we get to use mana on both turns, and (due to the card draw and "extras" within the cards) often we are often playing 2-3 "spells / effects" for every 1 of our opponents...Even "draw a card" would cost 1-mana at its cheapest!

The addition of Chandra, Pyromaster and Restoration Angel on the top end has given this deck the little "push" it needed. Chandra can tap down creatures so Geist of Saint Traft can get through, she represents a ton of card draw (given the low CMC), and MUST be dealt with (as she doesn't negative herself). Restoration angel can save a creature on the board and can re-trigger Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique...While we don't cast much at 4-CMC; these two and Cryptic Command are about as good as it gets.

While there are a few one-ofs (especially at the top end); there is a method to this madness :) We have a LOT of digging and drawing in this deck; and it's far more important that we have a plethora of answers rather than multiple "broad" answers that may miss (so we can build our strategy based on this as we often will get to see the opponent's hand as well as what we have coming up with Gitaxian Probe and Serum Visions). It is a slightly complicated deck to play at times...but once you get the hang of it; you can pretty much play anything they throw at you (ESPECIALLY post sideboard where we have even bigger and better answers :)

The following is a breakdown of each "section" of the deck and how each card was chosen.

Early Pressure

The deck plays as an classic aggro/control build. You can land an early Delver of Secrets   and protect with counter spells and other threats. You can play an early Grim Lavamancer and follow with burn and Geist of Saint Traft to finish them off.

In addition, if things don't start as planned you can play on defense to start the game, stick a Geist of Saint Traft protect it and/or play the long game with the Cryptic Command and Chandra, Pyromaster to re-apply pressure.

The addition of white gives this deck two huge advantages over the U/R Delver list in Path to Exile as well as a much better sideboard against bad matchups.

The advantage this deck has over the UWR midrange/control decks is that it puts early pressure on and dictates the action. It doesn't start on the back foot/defense like the UWR decks have been known to do.

Here is a breakdown:

1. Delver of Secrets  - This is the classic "beater". If you have an opening hand with him and Serum Visions and Spell Snare and/or Mana Leak/Spell Pierce you're in Izzet heaven! Flip him with the 20+ instant/sorceries in the deck and go to town on your opponent's life total.

2. Grim Lavamancer- He is truly an under played gem. He can clean up the board to protect life total, he can clear the way for attacking creatures (especially Mr. Saint Traft), or he can just burn face. Graveyard hate hurts him bunches, but we will cover this later in the description.

3. Geist of Saint Traft- One of, if not the most, efficient creature of all time. Hexproof makes him nearly impossible to deal with for most builds. He is a control player's worst nightmare and can win games all by himself. In this deck is acts as a finisher so the 2/2 body isn't as big as a drawback as it can be in other builds.

4. Vendilion Clique- I just couldn't leave these ladies out of the battle. They disrupt the opponent's hand/gamplan, can help with a terrible grip, and can beat down after then land. Not to mention they can be cast at instant speed with flash to allow for a player to hold up counter magic.

Late Game

If you haven't killed the opponent with your early damage; there are a few cards meant to deal that final death blow or to keep us in the grindy match-ups. Of course, you can always "burn" the last few points of damage with bolts and helix's; but if they are needed for creature removal; the "late game players" come in.

These include:

1. Chandra, Pyromaster - No deck of mine is complete without at least one Planeswalker. I tried my hardest to build a deck without one; but she just fits so darn well!! She can help us dig for a land, given our curve is so low (average CMC of 1.5) any spell she draws us usually playable, and her allowing us to get rid of a blocker so Geist of Saint Traft can attack is HUGE. Also, sometimes the 1-3 damage she can create is all that is needed to win! She is something the opponent must deal with immediately (which creates pseudo life gain). Too good to pass up. May even end up playing two of her!

2. Sword of Fire and Ice- I love swords. I just love them. This one in particular. It draws cards, pumps our creatures, and offers additional burn. All things we are trying to accomplish with this deck. Sword of Fire and Ice also offers a little late game power if we need it. The board also contains Sword of Feast and Famine if it suits the match-up better.

The Counter Magic

A portion of the strategy of this deck is to keep the opponent on their heals..this is done with efficient counter magic. The counter magic in this deck include:

1. Spell Snare- They never see this one coming. Spell Snare can protect your delver for Lightning Helix and Terminate. It can also answer a million creatures including, but not limited too; Tarmogoyf and this decks dreaded enemy Scavenging Ooze. It can counter Daybreak Coronet in the terrible Boggles match up and can even counter other counter spells like Mana Leak and Remand. This one may become a three of in the near future.

2. Remand - This is the "tempo counter". Because of the style of deck we are playing, this works extremely well as a counter and a cantrip! There is a very fine line between this and Mana Leak but for this deck I feel like Remand is a better fit.

3. Cryptic Command- I originally had two of these in the deck and may to back to that. It is simply the most versatile counter spell of all time. It can counter, tap down defenders for geist, get rid of a pesky permanent, or just do what izzet players love to do and draw cards. Not much has to be said about this one.

4. Boros Charm - While this also falls within the "burn" section; the indestructible function of the charm is one I use just as often. It protects our creatures (namely Giest) from nearly every single boardwiipe in Modern. This function is just as amazing as the other two options and provides answers to cards that other simply can't.

The Burn

The deck (as any deck with red in it) of course runs Lightning Bolt along with a few other spells to either control the board or simply hit the opponent for that last 3-9 damage needed. Our burn spells include:

1. Lightning Bolt- Best red card ever and a top 5 magic card. 3 damage for 1 mana at instant speed will never be reprinted so run play these. I only run three because I have an unnatural love for Lightning Helix, but if you don't share my affection for Lightning Helix, run 4 bolts.

2. Lightning Helix- The largest single life swing for the mana. a 6 life difference for two mana at instant speed can't be ignored. Casting this card can often be the difference between a lose and a win, especially in aggro matchups. As stated above, this card ranks just below Geist of Saint Traft on my favorites list.

3. Electrolyze- This is highly meta dependent, but is always good as a fun of. I can handle opposing Vendilion Cliques, Birds of Paradise, noble heirarch , Grim Lavamancer, etc. It can also offer the final two damage in aggro matches. Just an awesome utility card.

4. Boros Charm - Four is a LOT of damage. This is often the last peice of damage needed. And I can't tell you how many Liliana of the Veil I've killed with this function of the charm!

5. Path to Exile- The best removal in Modern. Period.

The Cantrips

This deck likes cheap spells and spells that can fill the graveyard quickly. It also likes to know what's coming up next :)

1. Serum Visions- Because we can't play Ponder, Preordain, and Brainstorm, we are left with the best modern cantrip- Serum Visions. This card is particularly effective in this deck because it helps set up delver flips, helps find lands (we only run 22), and adds spells to the graveyard for Grim Lavamancer snacks. Must have 4 of in this build.

2. Gitaxian Probe- This sorcery is highly underrated by most control players. Having information on the opponent's hand is in valuable to any deck running counter spells. In addition, it allows us to know when our threats are best to cast. In addition, it too is one of Grim Lavamancer's favorite meals.

3. Remand - funnily enough, Remand works as one of the best cantrips in the deck simply because it replaces itself instantly.

The Sideboard

As many of you already know, I like a tool box approach to my sideboards, because many of the decks I play are midrange or aggro/control. So here goes:

1. Aven Mndscensor - This card destorys many decks including Pod, Scapeshift, and Tron. Obviously, it can also be used to nuke a fetch-land. It has to be played carefully, but "Flash" allows for blowouts that opponents aren't ready for.

2. Batterskull- Good against aggressive decks and also a late game push if we are playing uber control.

3. Meddling Mage - This card has a TON of uses. We can use it to protect (name Anger of the Gods), to keep the opponent from playing their deck (name Living End, Splinter Twin, Scapeshift, etc.), or simply to keep them from playing something you don't like (name Liliana of the Veil). This is a great sideboard card once you know what the opponent is playing...and is especially great with Gitaxian Probe!

4. Celestial Purge - Deals with our biggest threat, Liliana, as well as dozens of others. Simply amazing when sided in against a multitude of Black and Red decks.

5. Counterflux- Great a answer to storm and just a straight end to a counter war.

6. Rest in Peace- This card is very helpful against Tarmogoyf, Snapcaster Mage, and is extremely good if your meta has re-animator decks. Best graveyard hate there is. Reanimator decks are not huge right now; but it never hurts to have a little hate for them.

7. Molten Rain- Awesome against Tron decks and manlands; but effective against anything with utility lands. Also great against Scapeshift, Control, I would add another if tron was a larger portion of your meta. Tron has been gaining some steam recently.

8. Spellskite- Super efficient card. Very helpful agains the boggles matchup and against Spinter Twin. It also protects our Delver of Secrets   and Grim Lavamancers. I wanted this in the main board, but it just didn't fit the game plan in game one.

9. Leyline of Sanctity - Storm, Rack, Thoughtseize, Scapeshift...anything that would damage me would damage it.

Other sideboard options-

Engineered Explosives- Also good against boggles or anything with a ton of two drops. We only have snapcaster as a two drop permanent so this puppy set on two can do some work.

Tempest of Light- This one is a bit off the beaten path, but if you meta has a ton of enchantment heavy decks, this is a great option for any deck not running green.

Detention Sphere- a great utility card for an unknown meta.

Summary

That's the deck. I hope you enjoy it. Build it, test it, and let me know what you think. At CurdBros Brewing Co. we love to hear how you think our decks can be better. We value the tapped out community member's opinions highly and always welcome recommendations, opinions, and constructive criticism. Thanks for looking and as always we appreciate your +1's if the deck warrants them. Have a happy 4th of July!

P.S.- I always run 61 cards in my decks. It's a superstitious thing. Also, if you follow any of my other decks I rarely run 4 of's and often like "tool box" style decks with several 1 of's. I know the deck is 61 cards and I know that there are very few 4 of's. I am sorry if that bothers some players and I totally understand that I am crazy (it bothers Taylor every time I build a deck).

Top Ranked	Achieved #10 position overall 10 years ago
Date added	10 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is not Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 3 Mythic Rares 18 - 7 Rares 25 - 5 Uncommons 3 - 0 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.02
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Phyrexian Germ 0/0 B
Folders	modern, D, Deck Inspiration, Modern, Reference decks, Modern, Modern, Like, Modern deck, America