THIS IS A JESKAI ASCENDANCY STORM COMBO DECK!!
(Huge thanks to Epoch for the code!!)
INTRO, OR WHAT IS THIS DECK
This deck is a "Storm" deck, which aims to play as many spells in a row to make giant creatures. It does not actually have any storm cards (example Mind's Desire) but it uses Jeskai Ascendancy instead to make giant mana dorks. It can then win either by swinging, either by using Blood on a 20/20 or larger for game.
THE PRIMER
Overview
READING THE PRIMER
Reading this decklist
Pretty simple really. Click on the part you want and it'll appear. Magic!
DECK COLORS
Deck colors
This deck has 4 colors, something very unusual for a competitive modern deck. Jeskai Ascendancy takes up three colors automatically, and we need green because it gives us access to mana dorks (Birds of Paradise, etc...) and Glittering Wish, explained later. Half of the deck is blue because it provides invaluable cantrips, such as Serum Visions, and other key pieces. White does not have any dedicated cards, but is included in arguably the two most important cards of the deck, Jeskai Ascendancy and Glittering Wish. Red offers the possibility of drawing/discarding abilities (Izzet Charm) and is also included in pivotal cards.
DECK STRENGTHS
Deck strengths
This deck, in accordance to the modern format, is usually a T4 win, which means it's fast and will catch your opponent off-guard is he/she does not react in time. It also has the option of a toolbox sideboard, thanks to Glittering Wish, and can therefore adapt to just about every situation. It's toolbox is itself very extended, because mana dorks and the general four-color theme here gives us access to all the cards. This deck equally has both non-combat and combat damage ways to win. If the combo breaks down, you can eventually use both options to finish off the opponent.
DECK WEAKNESSES
Deck weaknesses
Because this deck is almost entirely reliant on Jeskai Ascendancy, destroying/countering that card will put this build automatically a few turns behind. Our sideboard is designed to help and win the counter war, but things like Abrupt Decay hurt this deck very much. The mana dorks are also susceptible to boardwipes and can easily be bolted. Anything that can manage to keep this deck off balance for a few turns will very likely win. Because this combo depends a bit on good draws, it DOES occasionally fall dead (somewhere around 10% of the time) and you are left with the choice of swinging or getting blood and hope to rejuvenate the combo once more.
The Strategy
GENERAL STRATEGY
General strategy
As explained in the introduction, the point of this deck is to play as many spells as possible with Jeskai Ascendancy out to get giant creatures, then either swing or use Glittering Wish to fetch Blood.
EARLY GAME
MID GAME
Mid game
The mid-game, which I consider to be turns three - four, are when we want to combo off. To do this, we need Jeskai Ascendancy out, at least one mana dork, and at least a draw spell in hand (I definitely recommend that you have two however). You want to chain off until your dork(s) is(are) 20/20(s) or more, than either swing (not possible with Sylvan Caryatid) or get Blood with Glittering Wish. If your combo runs dry in the middle, swing if possible instead of using Blood. If for some reason you can't combo off, do one of the following: A) if you have neither Glittering Wish or Jeskai Ascendancy in your hand, dig for them with the draw spells B) if you DO have Glittering Wish and/or Jeskai Ascendancy but you suspect that it'll get countered/destroyed, use Glittering Wish to get an answer from the side.
LATE GAME
Late game
Late game, which I consider to be turns 5-6, usually shouldn't happen. By that time, either you've comboed off and won, either your opponent has had time to set up and you're on the defensive. Each turn after 5 decreases your chances of winning, especially against control and midrange. It is however still possible to combo off, as long as you have a pretty full library (it once took me 13 turns against a control deck, but I still won). Don't be afraid to use your life as a ressource instead of using the dorks to chump-block, because they will be invaluable if you get the chance to combo off again.
ALTERNATE PLAN
Contingency plan
Put quite simply, there is none. However, because of the sideboard-toolbox, the combo is resilient against any kind of opposition, and can win even with hate sideboarded in.
MULLIGANS
Mulligans
In your ideal opening hand, you want one mana dork, one Jeskai Ascendancy/Glittering Wish (to fetch one), one or two lands, and one draw spell. From there, you should be able to bom off turns 3-4 as planned, and win. However, if you have too many lands (usually three or more), no dorks, or no lands, you will probably want to mull. DON'T BE AFRAID TO KEEP A HAND WITH NO Jeskai Ascendancy/Glittering Wish IN IT!!! The amount of digging in this deck means you will easily find one of the seven copies in the deck. Around 75%, your hand should be good enough to keep. Mulls to five cards happen very rarely.
THE SIDEBOARD
Matchups and sideboarding
The sideboard, as previously mentioned, is a toolbox to be abused by Glittering Wish. The only true sideboard cards are the Leyline of Sanctity because there is no other efficient way of stopping burn. The reason that we do not mainboard these cards is because they disrupt the combo and are for drastically different situations. Let's take a look at them:
Abrupt Decay is removal at it's finest. It gets rid of more than half of the modern format, is multicolored, and can't be countered. The black mana is not a problem because of the dorks.
Boros Charm's three uses are very important in this deck. The first one can finish up an opponent or get rid of a chump or early rhino. The second is this deck's only response to Abrupt Decay on our Jeskai Ascendancy. The last mode can be used to double to power of one of our creatures to provide a huge blow if our combo broke down.
Epic Experiment is a card that we draw during the combo. It is not often used, but when it is, it's basically an insta-win. Getting four free cards in this deck is amazing, and this even dumps our Fatestitchers and other into the grave. It will usually happen for four or five, using the last of our mana to achieve it.
Flesh / Blood is one of the win-cons. It's not in the deck because it provides a "dead" draw, but it can be fetched with Glittering Wish, so it's basically a four-of.
Guttural Response is the way we win the counter wars. It's multi-colored and destroys control with one mana. This is an extremely important card, which is why it's a two-of: one for protecting Jeskai Ascendancy, on for protecting Glittering Wish/Blood, whichever one they counter.
Jeskai Ascendancy is another automatic side, because it provides options four to seven in our deck. The reason we don't run four of them in main is so that the combo doesn't run dry on it while functioning.
Scarscale Ritual is another very important card, and the one you're most likely to fetch during the combo. Two cards for two mana is exactly the kind of gas this deck wants so it doesn't run dry while comboing. The -1/-1 counter is insignificant, as the creatures will grow gigantic very soon. This is another two-of.
Terminate is removal, plain and simple. It hits things Abrupt Decay and Boros Charm can't get that are still good, such as Siege Rhino.
Wear / Tear are our last two sideboard spots because they are the only cards that are multi-colored and that get enchantments and artifacts. This is very helpful against things like affinity, popular in the current meta, or boggles.
THE COMBO
The combo
Here is how the combo works in detailed MTG talk:
1. You tap any amount of dorks to cast the cantrip spell.
2. As you cast it, Jeskai Ascendancy makes those creatures untap and gain +1/+1 until end of turn.
3. The spell resolves with or without the additional Jeskai Ascendancy trigger (drawing/discarding), and you draw one or more card(s).
4. Rinse and repeat!
SOME RULES ABOUT PLAYING
Playing
Below are some important rules to remember when playing the deck.
Rules with drawing/discarding: You should choose the draw/discard option with the Ascendancy when you have either lands (unless you haven't already played a land this turn), mana dorks, or cards that want to be discarded. That way, you will basically draw an extra card an keep the combo going.
Rules with Glittering Wish: Glittering Wish's first priority is to get you your Jeskai Ascendancy is you don't have one. During the combo, you can use Glittering Wish to get Scarscale Ritual to continue the combo and draw cards. If you're afraid that your Blood will get countered, you can also grab a Guttural Response.
Rules with winning: It is very easy to win by swinging only with your flyers rather than using Blood from the side. Blood should be a secondary win condition mainly because it's so hard to achieve: while you can strike for fatal with two 13/13s, you need one 20/20 to end the game, which means more drawing spells and more chances that the game will end. Also, don't forget that you can also use Boros Charm in double strike mode.
Card Choices Explained
LANDS
Lands
Because the deck requires four colors to function properly, we use a punishing land base. There are shocks of each color, as well as fetches. This land base will get us down to around 13 life early, which is another reason that Leyline of Sanctity is all-important against burn. There are only 16 lands for three reasons: we only have one - three CMC spells (Fatestitcher is always cast for the unearth), we run mana dorks, and it decreases the chances of a dead draw during the combo.
CREATURES
Creatures
This deck uses one and two CMC mana dorks to function quickly and efficiently. There are currently four different types:
Birds of Paradise This is dork number one. A turn one play of this can result in a turn two combo. In addition to that, it can provide any color of mana, very important with Jeskai Ascendancy and side cards such as Abrupt Decay, and has an evasive body for swinging if for whatever reason we can't play Blood.
Sylvan Caryatid is our second dork. Much like the birds, it produces anything, another important task. However, there are some major differences. Two mana means it's slower than the birds, resulting in a later combo. It also has hexproof, extremely important against something like Lightning Bolt or other burn/destruction spells. Finally, it's a defender, meaning that it can't swing and can only work with Blood.
Fatestitcher Don't let the four CMC bother you, Fatestitcher is a one mana dork used while the combo is going. It can give us any color that our dorks/lands can provide, and as a bonus, it can shut down our opponent's lands, denying them of a counter. Finally, haste means it can swing during the combo, providing an extra seven or eight crucial damage.
Wind Zendikon is our fourth and final dork. It can be dropped on turn one, untaps with Jeskai Ascendancy, has an evasive flying body, and basically has haste. We only run three of these because they can produce two colors max and make the land susceptible to bouncing, slowing us down.
DRAWING SPELLS
Other cards
The drawing spells are the heart and soul of this deck. They link up to form a chain that makes our creatures giant. Here are all the cantrips in the deck:
Magmatic Insight is the only mono-red cantrip in this deck. It's great because it gets rid of useless draws (lands) and gives us two cards for the price of one, extremely important for keeping the combo going.
Gitaxian Probe is free cantrip. It provides a turn two combo, and also lets you see if your opponent has some kind of counter or damage prevention, so you can eventually plan for that later.
Izzet Charm is here for the utility. It can function the same as Faithless Looting, get rid of chumps or extremely annoying creatures (Dark Confidant, for example), and counter an eventual counter. While we will only usually use the first mode, the others are an important safety backup in case something goes wrong.
Manamorphose is again some free drawing power, as well as adding some important black mana to the pool for future sideboard spells. It also helps to make Epic Experiment a bit bigger, which could make a big difference.
Visions of Beyond is a good card in this deck. At the minimum, it produces a card for one mana, which is generally a bit lower than what the other cards do, but still works. However, because we play so many sorceries and instants and card that use the graveyard, this usually ends up being an Ancestral Recall. It's extremely important for keeping the gas going.
Serum Visions is probably the best one mana cantrip in the deck, as it not only gives you a card, but also prepares your next turns so that you don't draw anything dead. When in a situation where you have this in your opening hand and no Jeskai Ascendancy/Glittering Wish, this should be the first cantrip you cast to find it.
Sleight of Hand is a slightly worse Serum Visions, but has the advantage of looking at the cards before you draw, and not after.
Jeskai Ascendancy is mainly used for its untap and +1/+1 feature, but the draw/discard feature is also very important. During the combo, we will not need lands or dorks, so we can freely choose that option and basically draw an extra card with each cantrip spell. This, yet again, gives this deck some more fuel to keep going.
FEEDBACK
I will not consider Storm cards. I know that I could easily win with them too, but if I wanted to, I would make a Grapeshot deck and leave it at that. That put aside, feel free to comment and +1/+1. THANKS!!!