In a non-optimized list you'd just have to test which performs better, though I wouldn't dismiss Jeleva only because a deck lacs some of the more expensive cards, after all a lot of the power of Jeleva comes from your opponents' decks since 3/4ths of exiled cards are not yours.

In a competitive meta and with an optimized list I do think that Jeleva is much better. Not needing to spend mana and being more live early game makes the deck better at what it wants to do while Kess is more about lategame value.

You raise some good points. I'll definitely test with both as I learn the deck. Are you planning to test with Kess at all?

I'll pay extra attention to Jeleva's role and what she does in games where I cast her, and depending on that I'll test Kess. In the few games I've played since Kess got spoiled I've done that, and honestly the early game burst of gas and value has been so relevant I'm starting to doubt Kess as the commander more and more.

I switched to Kess as my commander to test a few games, making no changes to the main deck (I run an Urborg, and the Pongify slot changes sometimes depending on the meta, usually Demonic Consultation) and so far I'm actually liking it better. Outside of the combo turn I have gotten extra value out of cantrips and tutors, and one game I got to recast a Mind's Desire during my combo turn.

Jeleva is also good at what she does, but my meta is full of removal, so it's kind of risky to play her. I think it really depends on how your group plays, but they seem to be on equal footing, with Kess being more backbreaking in a lot of cases, but a little less explosive.

Rev.

Hi Reverse! I just noticed that you are not running staff of domination anymore, why is that? It seems like another way to win with infinite colorless mana.

Actually I never was on Staff of Domination. It's really only seen in Oona since it's more of a dedicated infinite mana deck. Devoting more slots to the Iso/Rev combo isn't ideal concidering the line isn't even that highly used. I use Dramatic Reversal more as a fair ritual than as a combo card. In addition the deck already has 3 outlets to the combo (Reservoir, Desire and SDT) so if the combo comes online having any of those or tutor chaining your way into something (any topdeck tutor into something that reads draw a card, Merchant Scroll for Intuition for the 3/just 3 tutors, anything really) is pretty easy.

Hello reversemermaid. Wanted to say I tried this list, and it's been pretty awesome. It's fun, and powerful. Manual storming is the best.

I have loved Rebuild. The card is super powerful. Brilliant tech.

I don't have a Grim Tutor so I played a Demonic Consultation - which has been awesome. I've got to imagine it's just better than Grim Tutor. It threatens the lab man combo and just functions as an instant-speed DT.

Also, I really like Jeleva compared to Kess. I usually see a Rest in Peace get played most games. Yesterday Opponent played RIP, I cast Jeleva, immediately flipped a nature's claim from his own deck, and got rid of the Rest in Peace. :)

I have a real newb question, as i'm perhaps far too used to running creature-heavy decks... how does a deck like this survive with no real battlefield? i'm putting a Jeleva deck together myself, but finding it hard to comprehend not putting a few bodies in like Dragonlord Silumgar, Arcanis the Omnipotent, and Sire of Stagnation. My meta is pretty friendly, but aggressive, especially now with dinosaurs running around. I feel scared without even a Propaganda to hold them back. My budget doesn't even hold a candle to that of this deck, I'm just trying to find my way. Can anyone point me in a direction, please?

This list tries to play the storm game by going off early. If your table focuses you, then it's an uphill battle and you might want to change decks, but generally you could outrun most decks in a friendly meta.

It is possible that this decks is not what you are looking for.

Hi Rev! Been trying to play against a chain veil teferi deck and have not been having good results. Do you any advice or approach to play Jeleva against a deck like that?

Really depends on their draw, however a good way to approach the match is by not trying to jam the combo but trying to grind value and riding Jeleva to victory to avoid their counter/stax package. Since honestly I haven't had much problems when playing against Teferi I can't really say what my strategy is apart from don't be dumb, but if you want to you can easily tech against the deck by slotting in the other red blast and/or By Force. Teferi as itself isn't really problematic I think but when combined with other specific decks the mono-U midrange easily 2v1's us, however if it's just Teferi since the Grixis Lady is one of the best cards in the matchup trying to tech against it too hard isn't worth it.

Thanks, Rev! I also noticed that the best approach against the deck is just to play the long game. Eventually, teferi has no more interaction and you just need to stop their win conditions. Again, thank you for your big help. What do you think of Precognition Field from dominaria?

I don't like Precognition Field, it can't be used in the Future Top combo, doesn't combo the same way with Doomsday and not being able to play lands and mana rocks hurts. It's kind of an awkward in-between of Future Sight and some other cheaper/easier to cast grind card like Dack Fayden or Fact or Fiction, and competing with Jeleva at the 4cmc slot isn't ideal either.

why not grapeshot and elixer of immortality to help it deal with artifact hate and milling out?

Artifact hate like Null Rod isn't a problem because it stops Aetherflux Reservoir, it's a problem because it stops my mana rocks from working. On the combo turn finding a Chain of Vapor or Cyclonic Rift isn't hard. Grapeshot would be fine as a 3rd wincon, however Sentinel Tower from Battlebond fills that role better than Grapeshot since it's better as random creature removal and it works as a wincon without Grapeshot-Unsub-Grapeshot-Yawgwin-Grapeshot-Unsub-Grapeshot.

No one plays infinite mill so Elixir of Immortality is just trash.

Hi there, I am playing a variant of Jeleva storm somewhere between yours and Moxnix's versions. I run Paradox Engine in all 3 of my storm decks (others being Kess and Tainted Zur). I found what you said in the comments about Engine being a win-more card kind of untrue. Almost every gamenight I play, I find myself in a situation where I have 5-6 mana, have ad nauseum or some other gas in hand, but certain that I would whiff without producing more mana. Since on a bare ad naus, there is a chance of whiffing, especially on a main phase with 1-2 mana left, in a really fast meta, I have played paradox engine first, then net a bunch of mana with any small spells, which is enough for the ad naus, which then just guarantees you the win. In short, I think paradox engine is changing the storm gameplan from a grindier into a more up and go mode, since once you slam it on and have access to gas cards, you're basically unstoppable. Also, it makes grixis storm a bit more whiff-resistant mana-wise. It's almost always in my intuition piles when I have access to yawgwin (you shouldn't play it if you dont).

Hi there, first off kudos to you and this deck as it has been my go to for the past few months. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on Mission Briefing from Guilds of Ravnica? Is it good enough to find a place in the deck or like snapcaster does it just not make the cut? How about for a more budget version?

This is in regards to your 'sEDH is dead'.

Prehaps this questions proves a point your making but what is sEDH?

Hi, are Isochron Scepter combos not worth playing anymore? I see a lot of list cutting it even though it compliments Sensei's Divining Top and list that play Aetherflux Reservoir ?

Okay so I'm new to cEDH and I was wondering why this is even a storm deck? Isn't it always easier to tutor for doomsday and go for that? It just seems like doomsday is one tutor away whereas aetherflux is a tutor and lots of rituals away.

Snapcaster isn't worth it and an identical effect with a more restrictive mana cost is just as not worth it. At 1U I could concider it since it would get discouted by Baral and Helm + the surveil is nice but in a deck/format with Ring & Crypt UU is too restrictive.

sEDH -> the s stands for slowplay. Compmemetive players are among the slowest players in any format or game I've ever seen and I just kind of got burnt out from the entire thing, hence the cheeky comment.

Isochron Scepter is after playing with it a lot more not worth it because it's such a dead card by itself anyway and not having it be a 2-card combo hurts its early win potential. It only got assembled after a mass draw in which case if you drew Dramatic Reversal using it as a ritual wins the game anyway because it's just that strong of a ritual, or in a really long game. Planning for games that go for long enough that the additional wincon value of the stick is worth it is not really a good move, even on the surface a lot worse cards like Future Sight and Bonus Round do that role better even though they are not as simple and braindead as Isochron/Reversal.

Doomsday requires BBB1U + 2 islands in play and a 1 cantrip in hand to win usually, naturally there's lots of variance in the combos you can do but it's not trivial that you have the requirements for the combo.

I want to make a storm deck, and I heard that you are the man to go to for advice. Now my issue is I want to play storm, but I do not like doomsday. I don't find Labman variants of storm fun. My play group isn't competitive, Average decks are like 250$. My first question is 1. Is it possible to play storm in EDH without doomsday successfully around a tier 2/3 level? 2. If yes, what are the cards that need to come out if I don't use Doomsday? 3. What cards would you recommend replacing doomsday, Labman, and any other card that I take out? Thanks for your time.

Question, so I'm new when it comes to this grixis storm strategy and jeleva always seemed really cool to me, how does this deck play out?

Hey ReverseMermaid, I've been following your list for a while and I wanted to get your thoughts on a couple cards if you don't mind sharing. Mind Harness Hydroblast Cremate and Fire Covenant Thanks for your time.