What to do with Jeskai control?
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on July 16, 2015, 8:30 p.m. by kmcree
So I played Jeskai control pretty extensively for much of last year, left it for a few months, and have recently come back to it. Unfortunately, given the current meta, I haven't had much success. It seems like I get steamrolled by just about everything I run into. I've been playing this list for several weeks, and I've now scrubbed out of 4 straight events. I love the deck, but I'm just too competitive to keep losing like this.
So, I'm turning to the Tappedout community for help. Any ideas or suggestions of ways to improve the deck would be greatly appreciated. I'd also appreciate different paths I could take while maintaining a similar card base. I've considered both Grixis and Esper, but I'm just not sure. I own playsets of all shocks and fetches, as well as most of the high priced modern staples, so budget/card selection isn't really an issue. I'd just like to try to keep as close to the current playstyle as possible. Thanks for any help!
You're straight up not going to have a good time with it atm. If you're set on playing the deck, you may want to drop the batterskull because of how prevalent Kolaghan's Command is and substitute it with either Gideon Jura or Baneslayer Angel.
July 16, 2015 8:59 p.m.
If I went Grixis, what type of build would you suggest? I'm not really a fan of Grixis Delver, I just like a more control orientated play style. Is straight up Grixis control workable?
July 16, 2015 9:05 p.m.
Take a look at this. It's the list that sparked the whole thing. There's been a lot of talk over some peculiarities in the deck, namely the 21 lands and 4 mainboard commands, but it should give you an idea of what the deck looks like.
July 16, 2015 9:13 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #6
Chapin's Grixis deck is the deck I'm talking about. It's goal is to play an Angler or Tasigur and defend it with efficient counterspells and removal. No Cruel Ultimatum, just a fast delve guy and powerful value spells including Kommand and Cryptic. Grixis Delver isn't as good, but maybe I just hate Delver too much.
July 16, 2015 9:34 p.m.
lightningbolts4ever says... #7
I have been playing UWR Control for over a year and really like the deck. I think the 2 Keranos, God of Storms and the one Ajani Vengeant is too many slow cards. I also only like to play one Sphinx's Revelation just because is doesn't do enough early in the game. Consider a few Wall of Omens as a early blocker and cantrip.
July 16, 2015 9:58 p.m.
I will definitely take a look at Chapin's list. Unfortunately I don't have Creeping Tar Pits, and those just spiked so that's annoying. But I definitely think having access to hand disruption and Taz would be extremely helpful. I'd also like to play around with Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, so that'll be nice.
July 16, 2015 10:50 p.m.
Only 3x Lightning Bolts and 2x Lightning Helix seems bad. These are preferably 4-ofs each, especially when you factor in additional, unnecessary extra win conditions (i.e. 2x Keranos, God of Storms and Ajani Vengeant).
Keeping your opponent's board clean, then bolting them into range of Celestial Colonnade is a much stronger plan than trying to win with Ajani Vengeant. Keranos, God of Storms is definitely something you want to play, but two copies is excessive.
I'm not a fan of maindeck Spell Pierce. There's too many matchups where it does nothing. It really falls off late game. Condescend has the exact opposite problem. Since you already have Mana Leak, Spell Snare, and Remand, burn spells and Path to Exile do the same job.
I also think your land count is too low. I'd play at least 25 lands. I prefer 5 shocks, 8 fetches, 2~4 Tectonic Edge/Ghost Quarter, 4 Celestial Colonnade, and the rest basics. Right now, you can't cast Cryptic Command through a Blood Moon because you only have 1 Island. Affinity can very well board it in and then protect it with Spell Pierce. You probably also take too much damage from 4 copies of Steam Vents and 2 Sacred Foundry.
I'm not sure what your local meta is like or how your games have been going, but these are the things I noticed right off the bat looking over your deck.
July 17, 2015 12:01 a.m.
I originally had 4 Bolts and 4 Helixes, but with Rhino, Goyf and Taz running around they just weren't pulling their weight as far as removal goes. So I decided to go for Path to Exile and more counter spells. I've also had problems controlling games long enough to find my 1 Keranos, so I recently opted for a second. I also tried loading up on more counter spells, hence the Condescend, Spell Pierce, etc.
As far as Blood Moon goes, I'm pretty much fucked if my opponent lands it regardless. Pretty much my only hope at that point is to have fetched a Plains and be holding Wear / Tear.
Basically, I was running a build similar to the one you're suggesting, and it didn't work. So I tried what I have currently, and it hasn't really worked either. I honestly think at this point UWR just isn't competitive enough in the current meta.
July 17, 2015 12:22 a.m.
bobbibuilder says... #11
One idea I've had for a while is maybe to sideboard into some amount of Deciever Exarchs, Pestermitea and Splinter Twins when your opponent will likely take out all of their removal.
July 17, 2015 12:54 a.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #12
Hey, kmcree! I also used to play control extensively pre-Treasure Cruise bannings. Here's what I think is best right now.
Firstly, play Kiki Control with 3x Restoration Angel, 1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, and 4x Wall of Roots. This gives you beaters/blockers to win more effectively, and an infinite combo to close out games before they start to drag out of reach. Only playing one Kiki lets you easily play 3 Cryptics, but I wouldn't play 4 of them because they're often a tad too slow.
Definitely play the 4th Path to Exile, all four Bolts, and you could get away with only 2-3 Helixes. Don't play more than 2x Electrolyzes, and you prolly need a 2:3 or 2:4 Remand to Mana Leak split. I suggest testing out a one-of Roast (though I never really liked it, idk why). Vendilion Clique could be good in the right meta, and playing 3-4 Snapcaster Mage is always a good idea -- I would only play 3 Snaps in this build tho, since you have Walls, Restos, and a Kiki that all dilute your deck of Snap-targets.
Oh, and Combust in the sideboard is nice.
July 17, 2015 11:23 a.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #13
LOL, Wall of Roots should be Wall of Omens! Sorry.
July 17, 2015 11:24 a.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #14
Basically, not to self-plug, here's what I'd be running if I still wanted to be on UWR Control:
Infinite Faeries? Nono, Infinite Angels! Playtest
Modern*
SCORE: 1 | 3 COMMENTS | 74 VIEWS
July 17, 2015 11:38 a.m.
I have to say that I'm partial to the Restoration Angel/Snapcaster Mage/Wall of Omens midrange sort of plan (it's been annoying to play against as aggro, even aggro that matches up well against 
), but I'm a tad skeptical on Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. I think the 
cost combined with the fact that most of the creatures above require and Cryptic Command is 
puts a lot of pressure on your mana base.
July 17, 2015 11:47 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #16
Kiki Control is very bad, worse than straight up Jeskai.
July 17, 2015 12:26 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #17
@GlistenerAgent Considering that UWR Control is pretty bad in the meta right now, I don't think you could do too much worse. To be honest, Wall of Omens does a LOT for the deck to stave off smaller creatures (like 3/4 Goyfs, Snapcaster/Deceiver Exarch beats, Goblin guie, etc.). Resto is a gameplan on it's own, and allows you to apply non-boltable, non-abrupt-decayable pressure and block fliers such as Pestermite and Spirit tokens all at your opponbents' end step. In fact, Kiki hiself is the less defendable choice here, but I feel he's worth it to have a better out against faster aggro decks where you need to win very soon after you establish a little stability.
Without these things, UWR Control has a very difficult time keeping up with all of the opponent's threats (most of which are immune to 3-damage spells) -- and even the Snapcaster beats plan looks mediocre when the meta is full of Bolts, Abrupt Decays, Deceiver Exarchs, and other general ways to answer big ground threats. So, I feel like Kiki Control is very dependable as a viable choice in today's meta.
July 17, 2015 1:41 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #18
Or, if not dependable, at least an improvement over traditional UWR's gameplan.
July 17, 2015 1:42 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #19
@rothgar13 I agree with you on the mana being a little stressful, but with Kiki only as a one-of, he's not that big a strain on your gameplan. In fact, you can prolly side Kiki out for games 2-3 if necessary.
Also worth noting, you can almost always cast Kiki through a Blood Moon.
July 17, 2015 1:44 p.m.
I played around with Kiki-Resto a little bit, but I usually ran more than 1 Kiki. I might try going back to it. I just wish there were better counter spells available in Modern.
July 17, 2015 7 p.m.
I myself play U/W midrange. You can go on the beatdown plan fast or you can transition into a control deck if needed. The flexibility's fantastic. Oh, and can confirm, Wall of Omens saves childrens' lives.
I don't think Kiki control is any better positioned than UWR.
GlistenerAgent says... #2
It's bad. I advise Grixis, because it's a lot more powerful.
July 16, 2015 8:56 p.m.