Jenera, Asura of war in modern
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on June 6, 2015, 5:09 a.m. by Tomslipknot1
Is it viable enough? Since I don't play commander, but I would like to make a casual deck revolving around auras and untapping permanents to create an unstoppable force.
HI!
In order to establish whether a card is worth playing in modern we need to examine the metagame, in particular the removal spells that will be thrown at her.
Unfortunately Lightning Bolt is found in 50% of decks and is capable of doing 3 damage to any creatures. This is a big mark against her because she dies to the most common removal in the format, which also costs just one third of her mana cost.
The second most prevalent removal would be a between Path to Exile and Abrupt Decay. Path to Exile isn't a very good indicator oh how decent a creature is because nearly every single creature dies to it. It doesn't separate many creatures from many others. Abrupt Decay on the other hand only hits permanents with a cmc of 3 or less. She also fits into this category so dies to that as well.
In essence she dies to literally all the removal in format. HOWEVER, she does require blue to cast which means that you'll have to be in blue to get her out. If you are then you can run counterspells which will stop all of those removal spells except decay.
Personally, I would like to see her in a deck but I think it's very difficult to keep her alive, which is a problem. You can do it with counterspells but it won't be easy!
June 6, 2015 5:59 a.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #5
Since you mention you want a casual deck, then she will be fine as your opponents will not have the top-of-the-range removal present in much of the modern meta. In competitive modern, maybe she could be a 1-of in bant Geist but not much else could really use her.
June 6, 2015 7:46 a.m.
biggestmtgnerd says... #6
Dies to (in order of most played to least played removal):
Lightning Bolt when its not pumped
PTE
lilly of the veil if you don't have another creature
Lightning Helix when not it's not pumped
Cryptic Command bounces it, and gets rid of counters
Rending Volley when it's not pumped enough
Anger of the Gods when it's not pumped
Rift Bolt when it's not pumped
Dismember when it's not pumped enough
Searing Blaze with landfall
karn
That's pretty easy to kill. You will also be forced into 3 colors, which, while not impossible, is harder. Like chief said, you It probably could protect it with counterspells, but it will be harder. It does kill Siege Rhino on turn 4, which is nice, but that would require not casting anything that turn and not attacking. I like the card in general, but it might be hard to pull off in modern. I recommend that you try it anyways, just to see how it goes.
June 6, 2015 8:04 a.m.
FAMOUSWATERMELON says... #7
I think it could work as an eventual finisher in some weird Bant deck, but as others pointed out, she fails a lot of criteria that decide the viability of a creature in modern. Also, her cost means you're going to be shocking yourself pretty hard.
June 6, 2015 8:53 a.m.
Serra_Sentinel says... #8
Bant midrange with two of her, Geist, and Noble Hierarch for ramp? Of course, that might be a little over budget. Especially if you went into a competitive midrange with Green.
June 6, 2015 12:04 p.m.
Tomslipknot1 says... #9
Thanks to you all for the input. I really would like to make her work within a casual environment, I'm probably going to do a gatherer search to find some viable cards that'll work greatly alongside her. All the good cards die to removal but there's always a way to get around it. Like some of you said there's always counter spells. In a causual environment I shouldn't have to worry so much. I love the card, I'd like to give it some justice. A ramp kind of deck seems promising.
End of the day what have I got to lose, it's worth a try. All your input has been much helpful. :)
June 6, 2015 12:16 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #10
It'd be nice if there was something like Tuskguard Captain that gave protection.
June 6, 2015 4:38 p.m.
Serra_Sentinel says... #11
There is, it's just white and banned in modern and named Mother of Runes.
June 6, 2015 4:50 p.m.
MindAblaze says... #12
Not banned, just never printed in Modern. It's an important reason why Legacy D&T doesn't exist in Modern...that and the fact Jitte and SFM are banned...
June 6, 2015 4:53 p.m.
Tomslipknot1 says... #13
If only, maybe one day wizards will be nice enough to release something like Mother of Runes, it can really break any deck focusing primarily on creatures.
June 6, 2015 4:59 p.m.
ChiefBell hit all the major points. I'd just like to add on (in regards to finding other creatures you could play) to really look at Jenara, Asura of War's mana cost and compare it to other popular creatures in the format.
If we just slam her down on turn three (or turn two off of a dork), she's comparable to Geist of Saint Traft. We'd need to pump Jenara, Asura of War three times just to do the same amount of damage as an unblocked Geist of Saint Traft.
If we wait until we can pump her out of Lightning Bolt range, she essentially costs 
. Sigarda, Host of Herons costs 
and is also out of Lightning Bolt range.
Both Geist of Saint Traft and Sigarda, Host of Herons are also "out of" Path to Exile and Abrupt Decay range, since they have hexproof.
So to answer your question in TL;DR form:
Just play Geist of Saint Traft or Sigarda, Host of Herons.
June 6, 2015 5:50 p.m.
Tomslipknot1 says... #15
A 3/3 flyer for three isn't that bad, though the three colours it requires can be a stretch. Geist of Saint Traft is great and so is Sigarda, Host of Herons, good points you have there.
Ixidron says... #2
Jenara, Asura of War.
June 6, 2015 5:27 a.m.