If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Magic, it’s that there’s always more to learn. I’m just diving back into Standard, and I haven’t played the format much since PT Khans. At the Pro Tour, I played Jeskai Aggro:
PT Khans Jeskai
| Creatures (17) 4 Seeker of the Way 2 Welkin Tern 4 Mantis Rider 4 Goblin Rabblemaster 1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos 2 Stormbreath Dragon Spells (19) 4 Lightning Strike 4 Magma Jet 4 Jeskai Charm 4 Stoke the Flames 2 Suspension Field 1 Chandra, Pyromaster | Lands (24) 2 Mountain 2 Plains 1 Island 4 Flooded Strand 3 Temple of Epiphany 3 Temple of Triumph 3 Battlefield Forge 4 Shivan Reef 2 Mystic Monastery Sideboard (15) 4 Disdainful Stroke 4 Magma Spray 2 Reprisal 2 Prognostic Sphynx 1 Erase 1 Hushwing Gryff 1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos |
I like the deck well enough, but wasn’t thrilled about it. Looking at how the format has evolved, this deck has proven itself to be solidly tier two, as far as I can tell. I hunted around for more exciting, off-the radar lists before the PT: I reached out to the clever deck designers I knew who weren’t qualified who might have ideas, and Matt Ferrando sent me this about two weeks before the Pro Tour. It looked interesting, but I never actually tried it out:
Ferrando Tokens
| Creatures (16) 4 Goblin Rabblemaster 4 Monastery Swiftspear 4 Firedrinker Satyr 4 Soldier of the Pantheon Spells (44) 4 Jeskai Ascendancy 4 Stoke the Flames 4 Hordeling Outburst 4 Defiant Strike 4 Dragon Mantle 4 Raise the Alarm 20 Lands |
Looking at this now is really maddening. The heart of the current Jeskai Tokens deck is right there! Kudos to Ferrando, who sent me a number of iterations on this list leading up to the Pro Tour, for spotting this degenerate interaction between Jeskai Ascendancy, the token-maker spells, and Stoke the Flames early in the format. Ferrando’s decks often need some disciplined refining, but that’s my specialty. I’ve been testing versions of the current Jeskai Tokens deck, and I love the deck. So, 2014, thanks for the missed opportunity and the lesson that comes with it.
Next time I’m qualified for the Pro Tour: more exploring. The Pro Tour rewards risk-taking more than the PTQ and Grand Prix circuit — it’s an adjustment I need to make.
Until I qualify again, though, there’s one last season of PTQs to play. For old time’s sake, I’m thinking of taking a classic control deck to my first shot this season:
Kolos Control
| Creatures (2) 2 Pearl Lake Ancient Spells (30) 4 Dig through Time 3 Jace’s Ingenuity 4 Perilous Vault 1 Aetherspouts 4 Hero’s Downfall 3 Bile Blight 1 Murderous Cut 1 Thoughtseize 1 Despise 4 Dissolve 2 Nullify 1 Disdainful Stroke 1 Negate Land (28) 4 Radiant Fountain 4 Dismal Backwater 4 Polluted Delta 4 Temple of Deceit 1 Bloodstained Mire 1 Flooded Strand 1 Evolving Wilds 4 Swamp 4 Island 1 Urborg | Sideboard (15) 2 Pharika’s Cure 2 Thoughtseize 1 Negate 4 Grindclock 3 Drown in Sorrow 3 Jorubai Murk Lurker |
This thing is like a deck that travelled through time from the 90’s: all Counterspells, card draw, and a few invulnerable win conditions. Then again, I’m also pretty tempted by the aggressive Abzan lists: leading off with a Thoughtseize into an aggressively costed attacker feels like my Mono-Black Aggro deck from last season.
And then there’s Jeskai Tokens: a cross between a combo deck and an aggro deck, with Treasure Cruise and the ability to win from impossible-looking positions:
Watanabe's Jeskai Tokens
| Creatures (8) 4 Goblin Rabblemaster 4 Seeker of the Way Spells (28) 2 Jeskai Charm 4 Lightning Strike 4 Raise the Alarm 4 Stoke the Flames 4 Hordeling Outburst 4 Treasure Cruise 4 Jeskai Ascendancy 2 Chandra, Pyromaster | Lands (24) 3 Battlefield Forge 3 Flooded Strand 1 Island 2 Mountain 4 Mystic Monastery 2 Plains 3 Shivan Reef 2 Temple of Epiphany 4 Temple of Triumph Sideboard (15) 1 Anger of the Gods 4 Disdainful Stroke 1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion 3 End Hostilities 2 Erase 2 Glare of Heresy 2 Magma Spray |
Look at this 8-creature aggro deck! I think Magic in 2015 is going to be pretty fun.
Gabe Carleton-Barnes has been playing Magic for over 20 years, mostly as a PTQ grinder and intermittently as a Pro Tour competitor. Currently based in Portland, Oregon, where he is an Open Source web developer by day, Gabe lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for three years. While there, he failed to make a documentary about competitive Magic but succeeded in deepening his obsession with the game. Gabe is now a ringleader and community-builder for the competitive Magic scene in Portland, wielding old-timey slang and tired cliches to motivate kids half his age to drive with him to tournaments.