10-14-18 - 3rd Place at IQ Invitational (2-2-1) Show
4 rounds, cut at top 4
R1 vs Golgari - Incredibly difficult matchup, but his draws in game 1 wound up being a little clunky, leading me to 2-1 win.
R2 vs Boros Aggro - Honestly it wasn't a match. He got stuck on two lands in game one, and game two he mulled to five cards. Easy 2-0.
R3 vs Esper Control - Got land screwed in both games. Game two, I mulled to five, which you just can't do against a control deck; lost 0-2.
R4 vs MonoGreen Golgari - We split since we were both guaranteed top 4.
R5 vs MonoGreen Golgari - Same guy as above. It was incredibly difficult and a grind. I won game 1, and my stupid self had a sideboard error I missed that lost me game two. Game three I got stuck on four land with one Red source and two Phoenix and Ral in hand. So. Eventually I ran out playable cards.
Finally saw a second Sacred Foundry and had to shock myself to try to survive, but it was a lose-lose turn anyway.
Aside from land issues, this version of the deck is very consistent and keeps up with most any deck in the format right now. I think the toughest matchups are Esper/Grixis control.
10-13-18 (3-0-0) Show
Edits pulling a lot of weight.
R1 vs Grixis control - Lost game 1 fairly easily, took quick control on game 2, and game 3 I lucked out they didn't see the lands they needed to keep up, won 2-1.
R2 vs Grixis Burn - forced some bad plays and pulled a win in both games for a 2-0.
R3 the player had to go. But he was playing Boros Angels, which this deck is very good against.
So far so good, no edits for today.
10-12-18 (2-2-0) Show
Adding Phoenix and Lyra main board and they pulled their weight.
R1 vs Grixis control - Game 1 he had every answer possible and it just got too grindy. A missplay on my part lost me the game. Game 2 I kept a 2 land hand with 4 counterspells (2 of which were 2CMC) and a few 3CMC cards. Never drew a third land; lost 0-2.
R2 vs Esper Control - Game 1 ended in him decking out. Game 2 ended abruptly to Knight of Malice, which I was very unprepared for. Game three we raced Knights vs Phoenix and Banefire took the game last second; win 2-1.
R3 vs White Weenie - I am blow away by how good this deck is and I came incredibly close to losing both games, but narrowly pulled the 2-0 win.
R4 vs MonoGreen Golgari - He plays black for all of maybe Assassin's Trophy and sideboard cards, so I didn't argue that name. Game 1 was a blowout on my end, game two he snuck in there with a Vinemare I didn't draw an answer to, and game 3 I missplayed a couple times because it was late and he wound up getting me right before I top decked my Cleansing Nova, haha; lost 1-2.
Did very minor edits after, added some Niv-Mizzet since he keeps killing me and he is clearly good.
10-11-18 (2-2-0) Show
Moving cards around from last week proved a good change up, but the deck still needs work.
R1 vs Grixis control - Discard is the downfall of many decks and that's all he had. 1-2 loss.
R2 vs budget Boros Aggro - Game one I got to ult Teferi and Ral! So good! Game two she just drew the nuts. Game three, I probably should not have kept my hand and wound up losing 1-2.
R3 vs Grixis Burn - this is someone I play against frequently, so we both knew each other's decks. Still a really close match and Risk Factor is the bee's knees, won 2-1.
R4 got a free win since someone dropped.
I found out I have nowhere near enough threats and too many walkers. Moved that numbers around a little.
10-5-18 (2-2-0) Show
It became quickly clear that this deck needs meta tuning. Added extra mass field removal, added counterspells, and lowered the number of targeted removal.
Four rounds:
R1 vs Izzet Tempo - Niv-Mizzet just wiped the floor with me game one because I didn't see a single removal spell, and game 2 I didn't see a single of my four Negate's which really did me in; 0-2.
R2 vs Boros Midrange - this is the best matchup in theory, and I came close to decking myself in games 1 and 2, but pulled a 2-0.
R3 vs Izzet Tempo - a more budget version, focusing more on Counter Burn backed by weenies (Guttersnipe / Electromancer). Game one he countered all of my removal, game 2 I took over but it was too late and I ran out of cards before I got the last damage in (via Explosion targeting me for both parts); 0-2.
R4 vs Dimir Midrange - was a little hard to deal with, but him playing more creatures than not really gave me the edge and 2-0.
With rotation, the deck is renewed!
With the help of both the Izzet and the Boros guilds, Jeskai lives on!!
Teferi will more than likely continue to dominate WU control builds and the format as a whole. Our newest Ral - while not as good - is nothing to scoff at, as his abilities are very similar to Teferi's.
25 land seems like the right number for now, with one in the sideboard if it seems I need that 26th land.
1 Field of Ruin to ruin Search for Azcanta
, Legion's Landing
, Journey to Eternity
, etc.
3 Rekindling Phoenix as our primary win condition. It will look like Teferi and Ral are our wins, but they are just back up and card advantage. Plus, Phoenix plays well with a lot of our other cards.
3 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria because he is too good not to play, as we all know by now. He can win the game if left unchecked, and can slow our opponents to a snail pace otherwise.
1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy has become incredibly relevant. He is basically like a second, less threatening Teferi that is much more allowed to run rampant. I have never had the chance to use his -3 doing less than 3 damage, and thanks to Devious Cover-Up, his +1 is hardly a draw back, especially digging us 2 cards down. If he ult's, he also just wins the game.
2 Search for Azcanta
because the card advantage is just too amazing. I'm thinking about moving it up to a three copies.
1 Chemister's Insight because it only really shines against control, where you get great card advantage or force a Negate. Against the rest of the format, it's a little slow and clunky, at least in this build. It may move back up to two copies, but one is great for now - it still nets you three cards extra.
3 Opt, as I was shown the other day, this sort of cantrip is pretty much needed to make this deck properly function. On top of that, it's SOOO good with Niv-Mizzet.
2 Integrity / Intervention: on the front half, getting in with a 6/5 Phoenix or pumping it's token out of Moment of Craving range is pretty decent, but the back half as a bad Lightning Helix is where it truly shines. That measly 3 life has come in handy too many times to count already.
1 Expansion / Explosion because it has under performed greatly. I planned on stealing early card advantage cards, Assassin's Trophy's, counterspells . . . but it was never actually worth doing in the situations it came up in. So, one for good measure because it's still an incredible card with a tail end that can win you the game.
2 Justice Strike because it takes out almost every super relevant creature in the format. Steel Leaf Champion, Ghalta, Lyra, Bolas, Crackling Drake, Chromium, etc, etc.
2 Deafening Clarion; I didn't want to main board this card, but having the option against aggro is amazing. On the other side, it gives Phoenix (and other sideboard cards) lifelink, which isn't always relevant, but better than being a dead card.
3 Settle the Wreckage because truth be told, almost every day is trying to win by attacking right now. It stops all of Sultai Hexproof in it's tracks, it curves out against aggro, and it even puts Chromium and Bolas on edge.
2 Cleansing Nova because there are enough Enchantment running around main board that this modular card is worth having two of.
1 Ionize because even though I don't like this counterspell, it's easier to cast than my other double-Blue cost counterspells.
2 Sinister Sabotage because it's probably the best counterspell we have right now.
2 Devious Cover-Up because it's proving to be better and better with every edit of the deck. Getting back Phoenix, Teferi, counterspells, removal, etc is really good, especially once I have my 5-6 lands down.
2 Negate / 2 Essence Scatter because the format is wide enough to force you to run at least a 2-2 split of these.
Sideboard:
1 Detection Tower vs Hexproof (anything that plays Black or Green, it just goes in) and when I need to up my land count due to a curve change
1 Banefire vs control
2 Niv-Mizzet, Parun vs control and most Blue matchups
1 Settle the Wreckage vs aggro, midrange and Hexproof
1 Dawn of Hope vs control, graveyard, Jump-Start and midrange
2 Ashes of the Abhorrent vs aggro (x1), graveyard, Jump-Start, and non-Black decks that run a lot of removal (because it works amazing with Phoenix, netting you two life if it makes it back to your upkeep)
1 Negate vs Blue decks
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty vs White and Black decks
2 Dream Eater vs whatever it needs to be a surprise against
2 Lyra Dawnbringer vs most every deck, really. She might just be mainboard again soon.
2 Expansion / Explosion vs control and Jump-Start mostly, but I bring them in against other matches, too.
