Hey Roland. I was wondering if you had done much more testing with your version of the Jeskai deck, and what your impressions were.

Is there an ETA on your GR Blood Moon article? Curious to see what you’d change.

Yeah, the Shoals have come up huge on occasion. I usually board them out for Negate and Remand against the likes of Tron and other decks whose curve doesn’t like up with mine, but it’s been really good at winning interaction wars with control and giving you breathing room against aggro decks.

Thanks for the info. I’d be interested to hear how it’s doing after more testing. Also, did you keep the four shoals? Are they working out well?

Well, I’ve beaten both Abzan and Jund with the previous version, so I’m iffy on the Colonnades, and I can definitely think of situations where the land entering the battlefield tapped would have been a big, big problem. If you’re aggressive enough and get a couple of early flips, you can take them down quickly, and so far my sideboard has proven capable of going blow for blow with their removal and Liliana.

I don’t see myself going the Jace route (though I don’t do diddly with my graveyard other than Snapcaster right now), because I feel the meta will reward me for playing a bit more aggressively. As such, I’ve actually moved to an 18-land, 4-Mantis, 4-Probe version, and it’s been working great so far (I’m undefeated in an admittedly small sample size, but the deck runs much more smoothly overall, and that has convinced me that this is the way to go).

One more quick thought – The Colonnades are a must. Without them, I’m not sure the deck can beat Abzan or Jund.

Hi Roland,

I’m glad someone else has tried it now. Your experience was similar to mine when I started with the deck. I certainly found that three Mantis Riders was the minimum. If you can land two, you win the game, period. I also found that the one Clique was essential. I can’t say how many times I have used Clique to remove that one card that was about to come down and beat me that turn. It has great utility, even if it is easy to kill and is only a one-of. I also would ask you to try a Jace if you run it again. I have really found it to give the deck just a bit more consistency and reach. Since the tournament, I traded the thought scour for a Probe and it has fit the game plan of the deck much better (especially because it feels terrible to Scour a Mantis). The extra cantrip and extra information has been very useful.

How did you feel about the Shoals? I had never thought of them and I have never played with them so I’m very curious about their performance. I was also wondering about the electrolyze as Lingering Souls has been about my least favorite card to play against.

I recently played someone who used Familiar’s Ruse to great success in their W/U control deck. I think I’m going to add one this FNM for testing.

-Colin

I’ve come to give a bit of a quick follow-up report. I promised to sleeve up and test Jeskai Delver with Mantis Rider, and now I’ve come to report my results. I played 10 matches online with the following deck:

Creatures (14)
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Mantis Rider
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Young Pyromancer

Instants (22)
4 Disrupting Shoal
2 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
2 Vapor Snag

Sorceries (4)
4 Serum Visions

Lands (20)
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Seachrome Coast
2 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls

Sideboard (15)
1 Dispel
4 Lone Missionary
2 Negate
2 Remand
2 Stony Silence
4 Wear / Tear

Here are some cliff notes of the decks I played against:

Burn: 0-1
Match 1: 0-2 (G1 mana flood, then G2 mana screw)

Abzan: 1-0
Match 1: 2-0 (G1 clutch Shoal to stop Path on Mantis Rider, G2 opponent mana screw)

Temur Flash (Brew): 0-1
Match 1: 1-2 (sided in Negate, which turned out to be a dead card)

4C Defender Combo (Brew): 1-0
Match 1: 2-0 (raced G1, mull 4 but strong draws G2)

Jund: 1-0
Match 1: 2-1 (G1 lost to triple Goyf + misplay on Bolt vs. Goyf, G2-3 Lightning Helix to the face came up huge in very grindy games)

UR Twin: 0-1
Match 1: 1-2 (G1 lost a grindfest after stopping the combo 3 times, G2 opponent missed a land drop and I flipped a Delver, G3 lost to Blood Moon)

Jeskai Midrange: 0-0
Match 1: 1-1 (G1 win with lots of Bolts, G2 lose to Geist, G3 opponent DC’d)

Infect: 0-1
Match 1: 1-2 (G1 get rushed, G2 tempo them out, G3 get rushed again)

Smallpox 8-Rack: 0-1
Match 1: 1-2 (G1 got Poxed, G2 rode the Mantis, G3 got Poxed again)

Naya Zoo: 0-1
Match 1: 0-1 (G1 mana screw, G2 won a grindy game, G3 lost a grindy game)

Overall record: 3-6 (1 incomplete)
Game Record: 12-14

Key Takeaways:
1. The deck overall was frustratingly inconsistent at times. Probably needs more cantrips to smoothen out draws. Gitaxian Probe probably needs to come back.

2. Having Mantis Rider at 2 copies doesn’t seem to be enough, as I was not drawing them consistently. They did do well when I drew them, though. Probably upping the count on these.

3. Lone Missionary lived up to its billing. I almost stole the match against Zoo thanks to it.

4. Need to make room for Forked Bolt/Sweepers. Creature swarms were a problem.

Kind of a rough first outing, but we’ll see if it gets any better.

Go for it! I had a lot of people reading the card over the tournament, so its safe to say you weren’t the only one unaware of it.

1. Metamorph feels like it doesn’t need a plan, it’s just a flexible card that helps protect hate (by copying it) or apply pressure by copying a threat. I haven’t tried Thunderbreak Regent, but I think its worth looking at. I don’t like Metamorph in the board though, since I don’t know when I’d ever want to bring it in (other than maybe against midrange). Banefire is from the original list, and I bring it in against control/scapeshift. It could probably be something else, but I have won games with it.

2. Hellrider has been solid for me in almost every situation, except for when I’m behind. As I said above, Thunderbreak Regent is worth a look, and also possibly Tarmogoyf. But it isn’t something I’ve considered cutting really (might partially be because its a pet card).

3. What’s the “Moon doesn’t do much here” plan B? Trinisphere? Potent, but there’s a lot of potential friendly fire. Torpor Orb stuffs Twin and Titan Control but they have answers for it. EE helps against Merfolk and Tokens, but is a bit narrow otherwise. I’d appreciate any thoughts you have to share on this issue.

3. Merfolk is a tough matchup. Elves is a little bit better, and burn is okay postboard. Other than that, I can’t think of a deck that Blood Moon is terrible against. Plan B against the first 2 decks is to race them, leaning on Bonfire and bolt and plan B against burn is to hope to hit sideboard cards early (Dragon’s Claw, Trinisphere).
Trinisphere doesn’t hurt the deck too much, especially with the mana dorks. I’ve only had one bad game with it where I kept a 2-lander with 2 dorks and a 3sphere, ran out the sphere turn 2, then drew running Hellriders and dragons.
EE was a meta call, as one of the regulars at the store told me to expect multiple Soul Sisters decks (I think there ended up being 4 or 5). It is narrow, so it probably depends on the meta. The one thing I found the board was missing was enchantment removal against Ad Nauseum, but that’s probably too narrow to worry about, unless you want to swap out some of the artifact removal for Destructive Revelry.

Perhaps straight control is not the exact description, but rather tempo control. The deck plays very much like Delver in Legacy. My goal is not to sit back and wait the opponent out. My goal is to drop very efficient threats while denying my opponent their own core strategy. Because the threats are so efficient, I control my opponent not just by permission, but also by significantly reducing the number of turns they have. I have found that my card choices synergize very well towards that aim.

Maybe the deck doesn’t fit a traditional category, but I have found it to have a reasonable to good match-up against most of the expected field.

Glad so many featured deckbuilders found their way to this thread! Keep an eye out in the next month for a deeper look into the Hellrider deck. I’ve also been working on GR Blood Moon decks for an eternity (my articles the last couple weeks have been about my brewing history and tournament results with them), and I see a lot of things wrong with the Hellrider build. Like you, though, big fan of BTE!

Thanks for the clarification, but if you’re aiming to play control, why even pack the Delvers in the first place? Or the Mantis Riders, who are the exact opposite of the safe threats that control thrives on using? I don’t doubt the potency of baby Jace (demonstrated in Legacy and Vintage) or Ojutai’s Command (shown in UW Titan Control), but it seems like part of the deck is pulling one way, and the other part is pulling another way.

Thanks for taking the time to response. A green Moon-based midrange deck makes a whole lot more sense than “RG Aggro”, for starters. But if that’s the case, I have a couple of questions:

1. If there’s no fixed gameplan for Phyrexian Metamorph, it feels a tad inefficient to have it in the deck over something like Thunderbreak Regent. Why not board it? I find the likes of Banefire unconvincing, for example.

2. What would you potentially replace Hellrider with if you decided it wasn’t cutting the mustard?

3. What’s the “Moon doesn’t do much here” plan B? Trinisphere? Potent, but there’s a lot of potential friendly fire. Torpor Orb stuffs Twin and Titan Control but they have answers for it. EE helps against Merfolk and Tokens, but is a bit narrow otherwise. I’d appreciate any thoughts you have to share on this issue.

Hi,

I created/played the Jeskai Delver deck. The deck at its core is a control deck that wins on diverse utility threats. It is not a tempo deck and certainly not an aggro deck.

I’m just going to give my take on the criticism of the Ojutai’s Command and Jace. The thought behind both was that the deck has problems with the long game against control/other tempo decks like Abzan.

First, Jace has been insane. When he comes down early he sticks or eats removal. If he sticks, he wins the game on value. If he comes in late usually all the opponent’s removal has been used on my faster threats and then he again generates a huge amount of value. I am seriously debating running a two/two split on Jace/Young P. He is one of the best cards in the deck. He also pairs great with Ojutai’s Command if he was killed earlier.

Second, Ojutai’s Command can sit in the hand for a couple turns, but its value is real. Again, as the game goes long, you need cards that gain advantage because cards like Siege Rhino and Tasigur outclass any single late game draw. With the Command, I have often returned a Snap to replay another spell and draw a card. I have also Snapped the Command back to return another Snap and flash another spell while drawing/countering/gaining life. It has been a very important card for me.

On the idea of the Shoals, I am skeptical of its actual value. Pitching a card is not where the deck wants to be. Then holding up 4+ mana to pay for the card is difficult as the deck wants to play up to 3 spells/turn.

First of all, thanks for the mention! I love this deck and am glad to see it get more attention. I need to give credit to Carl Wilt, the deck’s original designer. He wrote a couple of detailed articles on the list over at the Meadery.

Anyways, onto the cards in question. Hellrider is there as a hasty threat. Its true that he dies to bolt, but provided he doesn’t, he turns your mana dorks into damage, which can be relevant with the small bits of damage this deck does with things like Eidolon of the Great Revels and Burning-tree Shaman. Phyrexian Metamorph typically copies things like Burning-tree Shaman or Eidolon where they’re relevant, or Hellrider/Stormbreath when you need more pressure. I also copy my opponents creatures when necessary (at states I copied Tasigur, Siege Rhino, and Suture Priest, all to good effect). Stormbreath, as mentioned, survives Lightning Bolt and can’t be targeted by Path, and is a solid threat.

Its worth noting that SCG called this deck “R/G Aggro” but the real name is “Green Moon” and is a lot more descriptive of the game plan, turn 2 Blood Moon. Its more about resolving Blood Moon as fast as possible and then deploying large threats to close out the game before the opponent can recover.

I hate Geist, Mentor too. But you mentioned having trouble clearing the ground of fat blockers, so if that’s the issue you’re running into, give Stance a go.

I actually have not given it a try along side path to exile. However more removal + protection is always a nice thing. The combination of the 2 would actually work out very well. That being said I really don’t love Geist (at least not in this current meta)….I tested him and mentor a TON! Sadly neither really worked out in a true tempo shell. I mean if I wanted to go a little more midrangey mentor can work, however I really wanted to play more towards the aggro point.

Have you considered Valorous Stance? I think that card is really sweet in Jeskai Delver, even Geist versions since it gives the 2/2 Indestructible after gross blocks.