Adam Haggerty's Jeskai Control
 
Type: Deck Idea
Format (invalid) staStandard
Approx. Value:
$219.04
Buy

0 Likes 0 Comments
Avg. CMC 3.0
Card Color Breakdown
Card Type Breakdown

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Main Deck - 60 cards, 22 distinct
Columns
Name  Edition $ Type Cost
Rarity Color
Instant (18)
1 Blink of an Eye
$0.10 Instant
3 Chemister's Insight
$0.06 Instant
3 Lightning Strike
$0.13 Instant
1 Negate
$0.16 Instant
3 Settle the Wreckage
$2.40 Instant
4 Sinister Sabotage
$0.08 Instant
3 Syncopate
$0.06 Instant
Sorcery (6)
3 Cleansing Nova
$0.40 Sorcery
3 Fight with Fire
$0.02 Sorcery
Artifact (4)
2 Primal Amulet // Primal Wellspring
$11.75 Artifact // Land
2 Thaumatic Compass // Spires of Orazca
$2.59 Artifact // Land
Enchantment (2)
2 Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin
$2.11 Legendary Enchantment // Legendary Land
Planeswalker (4)
4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
$7.34 Legendary Planeswalker - Teferi
Land (26)
3 Clifftop Retreat
$0.74 Land
2 Field of Ruin
$0.19 Land
4 Glacial Fortress
$0.71 Land
4 Island
$0.13 Basic Land - Island
1 Mountain
$0.10 Basic Land - Mountain
2 Plains
$0.06 Basic Land - Plains
4 Sacred Foundry
$17.46 Land - Mountain Plains
4 Steam Vents
$12.44 Land - Island Mountain
2 Sulfur Falls
$0.77 Land
Sideboard - 35 cards, 16 distinct
Name  Edition $ Type Cost
Rarity Color
Creature (10)
4 Electrostatic Field
$0.98 Creature - Wall
2 Lyra Dawnbringer
$4.02 Legendary Creature - Angel
3 Rekindling Phoenix
$0.98 Creature - Phoenix
1 Shield Mare
$0.07 Creature - Horse
Instant (9)
1 Blink of an Eye
$0.10 Instant
2 Disdainful Stroke
$0.06 Instant
2 Fiery Cannonade
$0.06 Instant
4 Revitalize
$0.03 Instant
Sorcery (3)
2 Banefire
$0.52 Sorcery
1 Lava Coil
$0.06 Sorcery
Artifact (3)
2 Silent Gravestone
$0.37 Artifact
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
$0.20 Artifact
Enchantment (9)
3 Ashes of the Abhorrent
$0.52 Enchantment
2 Ixalan's Binding
$0.07 Enchantment
4 Seal Away
$0.06 Enchantment
Land (1)
1 Arch of Orazca
$0.26 Land

Notes
 
Before I can go into my sweet deck, I do have to consider what instant speed destroy a permanent does to my deck, which was revealed today. So format warping. Really pulls into question any of the flip lands. In Theory I should be able to exhaust them. In theory. It will require a mixture of overtaxing and adequate counterspells.

So I put a list together and it's pretty sweet. The maindeck feels like the control decks from the last format that lean on search and Teferi but with a little more game and efficiency. This version eschews all Enchantments maindeck to not get blown out by removal, and the artifacts and enchantments that do exist all flip. Going into Jeskai gives me access to Lightning strike and Fight fire with fire which helps against opposing walkers and is fine early removal. Being free of Abrade specifically allows us to use Primal Amulet, but merits having a maindeck negate or 2 to be able to cast it with protection. The amulet is amazing with the lifegain cantrips and big spell targets, and the flip side is amazing. It turns the life gain cantrips into cheap kiss of the amesha, and fight with fire into a one shot fireball. It also makes nexus of fate sick.

I don't know why all control lists don't run 1-2 nexus. It's not an expensive fog only, taking two turns and forcing action randomly is a pretty big advantage. 1-2 allows you to just end the race and play unimpeded unexpectedly. People calculate there resources and this messes all that up.

Sinister sabotage is amaze balls. The removal suite is very good, albeit a little slow, would have to drive it down if the format is aggressive. Cantrips make it so I can cheat a land (27-26), cheat a sweeper or 2, and go lower on the power pieces like Teferi, and the flip cards. Will have to test to play around with the numbers, I could see going four of any of those cards.

The engine of the deck is still what it was, but with teeth now too. Thaumatic compass is just so amazing with a control deck: ensures land drops, card advantage, easily cast, low mana, turns into a ramp spell and maze of ith. Maze of Ith and Settle create quite the dilemma, and cleansing nova punishes trying to play around it. Combine with removal, counter spells, and constant life gain creates a very difficult board state to navigate. Fight fire with fire also can be a bad wrath when needed as well, or a medium piece of removal, which is great.

The manabase is actually really good. After listening to a few sources about the mana, I crafted a Jeskai manabase that is not centered in red. Rather I did the inverse, making red extremely redundant, but making it so everything types for either White or Blue, aside from one Mountain. The mana is SO easy, all the spells come on time, as I'm also not trying to curve hard on color weighted spells. Playing mostly 1 or less color weight turns 1-3, then have a series of card that can be cast after that with more color weight, when the mana is trivial anyway. Sabotage on 3 is pretty easy, as long as we are not stranded on sacred foundry's. Field of ruin and Thaumatic Compass help to regulate that, and the lifegain cantrips smooth all draws.

My current sideboard features a really excellent transformational sideboard. 4 Guttersnipe, 1 Niv Miz, 1 Banefire, 3 Negate, 1 Sorcerous Spyglass, 1 Ixalan's Binding, 3 Ashes of The Abhorrent, 1 Cleansing Nova. Obviously this will evolve with the meta, and would need specific cards for aggressive decks. A creature plan post board is sweet, and the low investment ones are where it's at right now. Guttersnipe with amulet and all those cantrips will be amazing. Niv Miz is hard to cast, but I think in the games I want it it will be able to be cast on 7 or 8 mana. So much better than Nezrahal. Should really take over the game. Banefire is probably overkill, as fight with fire is much better than I thought. The rest is just goodstuff which ill play around with. Ashes of the Abhorrent will be my graveyard hate of choice as it turns cleansing nova into fumigate +, which helps all those midrange and aggro match ups. hence the third Nova. Nova and Ixalan provide answers to problem permanents, and burn. The dream is amulet on 5 with negate up, then turn 6 cast guttersnipe and have negate +cantrips/burn/counterspells. The game will close so quickly from the "setup". They have to fight inefficiently on so many fronts.

Sideboard update: -1 banefire, -1 Cleansing Nova, +2 Deafening Clarion. Adding a low level sweeper to the sideboard was precisely what I was in the market for, and pairs beautifully with Ashes of the Abhorrent. The second clause is nonsense, but should I be in a position to bring them in with Niv or guttersnipe, it will be sick.

Ionize- Pretty sweet, but definitely not better than sinister sabotage or negate. My Burn plan is more of a one shot fireball, so ionize is not as good main. Might be good in conjunction with other incidental burn like guttersnipe.

Removal: Need to assess as the format comes together what my early removal is. Lightning strike, Shock, Response, Seal Away, Blink of an Eye.

Trying a new angle. The lifegain cantrips are where my hearts at, but part of me wonders if there are not better suited to be other cantrips. For example, one could turn all the ritual's into the 4th teferi and 3 Chemister's Insight. Insight is mediocre on face, but absolutely insane with Primal Wellspring. Late game I go from no cards to turning a land into 4 cards. Drawing 2 is often what I want that card to do anyway. If those are out, then a straight cantrip seems natural to replace the revitalize. Anticipate is the same mana cost and makes the deck much more consistent. It will be worth trying Opt instead, as it allows a higher efficency while still making the deck more consistent. The lifegain cantrip package is still good, but probably best in aggro heavy meta's. The buffered life total is not to be unappreciated. Also, I adjusted the manabase from a 1 clifftop to 1 Sulfur. Switching the 8 cantrips from white to blue seemed to merit it. Finding the right balance will be needed between this draw and still casting the sweepers on time.

As I was writing in the Favorable winds deck, I commented on the need to turn the corner decisively, and my perception that recovery/stumble windows are smaller due to card quality and consistency. The implications for control decks is that they need then definite closers, not incremental damage or card advantage, as card advantage is just not a blue ability exclusively anymore. As an aside, one-for-one answers are also seriously devalued unless on a critical piece or time, and that sweepers just by neccessity have to do more work. Jeskai has this fight with fire plan which is good, and also Nexus as a multiplier of the "good card do gooder" concept as you just get to do more. Esper has Chromium, which seems okay. Settle and Cleansing Nova seem so good in this new meta, and Emma noted that Bant Nexus has survived in it's entirety. Teferi is much worse, but exploring artifact ramp options to pull ahead to the lategame seems interesting. There's just a bar with these control decks that you have to commit enough to the board to spread the high quality removal that's currently available. Field, Trophy, Incidental Naturalizes, Incidental Planeswalker hate is just really overextending in the problems the deck needs to manage, as well as maintaining card advantage and dealing with all the hexproof/uncounterable running around. WOTC has made an effort to quell control even with the presence of awesome tools at the moment. Finding the best deck that use Settle or Cleansing Nova in this current meta will be valuable.

Still need to hone in for this week one counterspell suite. Syncopate is likely very good, as is essence scatter, blink of an eye, and the lifegain cantrips. Also, after reading Ari Lax's mana article, it was interesting to consider pushing the Jeskai manabase, as sinister sabotage on 3 is hard, double white on 4-5 can be hard, but double red is easy. For this reason, I may consider Ionize, and will give hard Consideration to Rekindling Phoenix. Noted by aggro opponents in the past, the best part of the phoenix is that it can block, and definitely overtaxes whatever removal my opponent has post G1. It also plays fine with sweepers as it recurs itself, but I have to be careful of creating a window when they have removal in hand. Have to see what I like more, guttersnipe or rekindling phoenix.
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