Calling all Jeskai Tempo players!
Standard forum
Posted on Oct. 20, 2014, 11 a.m. by TheGamer
So, I have been trying to perfect my Jeskai Tempo deck for a while now, and I came up with some weird thoughts. I don't know if they are good, or bad. But I would LOVE any feeback.
Thought 1: Wingmate Roc . This is a very good creature. The fact that it is 2 3/4 fliers for 5 that's pretty good. And powerful.
Thought 2: Pearl Lake Ancient . I mean, a 6/7 is really good in a deck full of 2/2's and 3/3's. It does have prowess as well. The only downside is the 7 CMC coast in a 24 land deck.
Thought 3: Fated Conflagration . One of the decks largest problems is dealing with threats like Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker before they get to that 5 loyalty. Fated deals with that and the Scry 2 seems pretty relevant.
Thought 4: A 2-1 split between Dig Through Time and Jace's Ingenuity . I felt that if I'd be running 3 Digs, I wouldn't have enough cards in the grave to be worth it, so I tried out Ingenuity.
Thought 5: No Goblin Rabblemaster . Me and TheHroth talked a little bit about this, but weren't sure about it. Every game I sided it out, and it seems like a dead card a lot of the time.
Anyway, thanks guys for any feedback. Thanks guys and Happy Deckbuilding!
Thanks for the comment TheDevicer!
As far as the conflagration goes, Sarkhan doesn't get to attack. With the ability on the stack, you deal 5 to him.
Sorry, I forgot about that. I was either thinking about adding Brimaz, King of Oreskos or more burn (I don't have a full playset of Lightning Strike in my list).
October 20, 2014 11:13 a.m.
I currently run that Souljacker as a 2 of. Should I run more?
October 20, 2014 11:24 a.m.
One thing I'm looking at is taking out the "dig mechanics" (Dig Through Time
, and Steam Augury
found in some lists), and adding Ajani's Pridemate
... then changing the Temples into "Life Lands".
The life gain from the lands, Jeskai Charm (option 3), and Seeker of the Way make the Pridemate pretty big fairly fast.
Retraction Helix is also very good in the deck. It's a powerful tempo card, a cheap trigger for Seeker of the Way , can save a Goblin Rabblemaster token instead of being forced to attack into blockers, and is great with the Mantis Rider 's Vigilance as you don't lose a blocker.
Use 1 or 2 Jeskai Ascendancy to make it all that much more explosive.
October 20, 2014 11:55 a.m.
sorry.... meant "Retraction Helix ... is great with the Mantis Rider 's Vigilance as you don't lose an attacker." (Attack before casting and tapping.)
October 20, 2014 11:59 a.m.
I guess it just depends on how you want to build the deck. I wouldn't ever consider dropping Dig Through Time , for example, but I prefer the slower, more evasive, version of the deck. DTT has won me games and helped me get back into others. Jace's Ingenuity is a fine card, but with the amount of spells in the deck, DTT is going to cheaper and more impactful the vast majority of the time.
I've dropped Goblin Rabblemaster in favor of a 2/2 split between Hushwing Gryff and Ashcloud Phoenix . With the amount of Green Devotion and Abzan around, he just runs into things too often. Not entirely convinced it's correct given that he wins games quickly when you can protect him/clear a path.
I don't really like the Ajani's Pridemate /life gain idea. If I'm playing a tapped land (which is a bit of a nuisance for this deck), I would much rather scry into something useful than gain life. The lifelink mode on Jeskai Charm is the one I use least often, and when I do it's usually to either put a game away or as a combat trick.
Wingmate Roc is a great creature. The raid trigger is definitely less reliable in this deck though given we're only running 12-16 creatures. Stormbreath Dragon (as a two-of) has been my five drop flier of choice. Haste is what we want, and the protection from white is fantastic in this Standard.
I'm not even sold that Pearl Lake Ancient is good in he U/B control shell. Getting to 7 mana is not something we want to do, unless we're shifting to a control role post-board. And even then, he lacks evasion and requires a lot of mana to protect.
October 20, 2014 2:13 p.m.
My creature base right now is:
And 2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker as well for a total of "16" creatures.
Another 16 burn spells, and a full set of Dig Through Time is the rest of my deck.
With more testing done today, I think I need a 25th land. I raised my curve significantly after Game Day when I added Wingmate Roc , so the extra land feels necessary.
Overall the list has been working very well. The amount of fliers is way too much for most decks to handle.
October 20, 2014 4:58 p.m.
Ya... Thanks for all the advice guys. And TheHroth... I'm going to 25 lands too.
October 20, 2014 5:15 p.m.
I have gone the other way and lowered my curve to deal with Abzan.
4 Seeker4 Hushwing4 Mantis4 Rabblemaster
No sarkan or stormbreath/phoenix. I do have 2 Brimaz in the SB for aggro/mirror. And I also main 3 Disdainful and 3 Dig. The rest is just stock Jeskai and its really good as you can stick an early thret and then just play on the endstep as much as possible.
Arvail says... #2
1 is really conditional. You don't actually have that many creatures so the etb is kinda hit or miss. Terrible top deck when your board is wiped.
2 is too expensive. You'd rather just D2T here and get answers or straight burn here. Look for ways to close out the game.
3 is too unreliable. RRR1 is stupid to cast. Sarkhan can still attack and the tokens still hit the board.
4 is possible. I don't know how to crunsh the numbers here. I don't actually pilot one. I just play against Jeskai a lot.
5 maaaaaybbeeee... Replacements. You can't just talk about removing a piece like that and not give us something to work with.
October 20, 2014 11:09 a.m.