I've got 2 tickets to value town, namely the recently unbanned Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Bloodbraid Elf. Bellow are some of my thoughts behind building this list as well as some general ramblings and questions. If you can make it to the end and share your thoughts I would be grateful.
I have tried to build the deck around Bloodbraid Elf and getting as much value as possible from the cascade trigger. I really like the synergy of using Jace, the Mind Sculptor to set up extra value from cascades (had already been doing this in my Maelstrom Wanderer EDH deck - What have I got in my pockets?) - so as a result I have gone for a similar deck building strategy and not put any cards in the main deck that can flop completely when cascaded into. Beyond that, the strategy I'm going for is simple - generate card advantage and crack some skulls.
Reasoning behind some card choices:
Mishra's Bauble - for the extra card type in the graveyard for the 'goyfs and to help get through the deck, could potentially inform potential cascades too.
Ancestral Vision - chosen to go for 3 as I feel like this deck just wants it there to cascade into or suspend on turn 1, as it can be slow/next to useless late game, and with only 2 Jace's to put it back on top/back in the deck this number feels right, but I could be wrong.
Sword of Light and Shadow + Sword of Fire and Ice - saw this in a decklist from a recent modern challenge (deck by YAMAKILLER). I had already been toying with idea of fire & ice, but really liked the idea of buying back creatures with light & shadow and protecting my expensive 'goyfs from Fatal Push - can also get a Birds of Paradise or plant token tooled up in a pinch.
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar - originally wanted to try and fit Bloodbraid Elf into a ponza shell and had this card in mind, but I like it in this deck as it pumps the team but can also create chump blockers to protect a Jace.
Tireless Tracker - big fan of this guy for generating card advantage and as flood protection.
Thundermaw Hellkite - large hasty threat to close out games, but also kills Lingering Souls and Bitterblossom tokens, but also has the potential to kill opposing Jaces who think they are safe from Lightning Bolt - maybe better in the sideboard?
Sideboard plan is pretty simple, bring in Blood Moon. When its good, its good. It can potentially pick up some cheesy wins, or just slow down opponents. The other sideboard plan is just add relevant removal for problematic opposing permanents and hopefully not brick on cascade. Unsure whether I want card: dampening sphere in here, bit of a nonbo with BBE, but deals with quite a few archetypes for only 1 sideboard slot. The whole sideboard is a bit of a mess of silver bullets atm, more testing needed before I can figure out what needs to change.
Current dilemma: is 3x knuckle blades better than 2x knuckles and an Electrolyze? Can think of arguments for both...
I am also not very experienced with constructing a competitive mana base for a modern deck, so would appreciate any pointers/advice on that, basically have I fucked it up somewhere?
Really interested to hear card suggestions and criticisms of my deck building.
