Jeskai Ensoul (PNR)

Pioneer itsbuzzi

SCORE: 25 | 14 COMMENTS | 5410 VIEWS | IN 5 FOLDERS


Corrosive_Cat says... #1

Sick deck, playtested a bit and it absolutely wrecks house!

January 7, 2021 11:28 a.m.

itsbuzzi says... #2

Hey thanks for the comment. I've playtested this against many decks there are very few that pose a threat game 1 or 2.

January 7, 2021 3:33 p.m.

Argy says... #3

Have you played this in any tournaments, or online?

July 21, 2021 12:10 p.m.

Argy says... #4

Oh, a little note about your card grouping. Some people on TappedOut find it a little confusing if a card is mentioned more than once, in the same deck list.

For example, you have four Bomat Courier listed under Target, then the same four listed under Utility (great names, by the way).

Some people won't understand that you are saying the same four cards can do more than one thing.

I found that out from comments, over the years. I used to be a lot more active on this site.

July 21, 2021 12:33 p.m.

itsbuzzi says... #5

Hello Argy, I have played this in many events. My most notable is a preliminary for a seat in an event where the winner gets a free trip and byes at the next Grand Prix (which never happened). Essentially, there were 4 Pioneer events where the top 8 in the Pioneer play Standard for a seat at the GP. I won 1st place my second time around (3rd event) and then had my buddy pilot the deck and he won 1st place as well (4th event). Otherwise I've played many FNM's with this and fine tuned it since Pioneer (or Frontier) was announced.

Great catch there, I wasn't sure if it could be followed as easy. I'll set the default back to default then in the description mention the custom sorting to follow the below descriptions.

July 21, 2021 3:34 p.m.

itsbuzzi says... #6

Thanks for the compliment on the naming of categories. I have found that with too many targets your deck just ends up going wide, which isn't always a bad thing. With too many enablers your deck just sits there preforming subpar. It is with the right balance of these two types of cards that allows the deck to run smooth. Then I just added the Utility section for cards and abilities that don't pertain to either target nor enabler.

July 21, 2021 3:38 p.m.

Argy says... #7

I always find match reports helpful, to see what the strengths and weaknesses of a deck are.

If you take a look at any of my decks, you'll see that I include them as updates.


I really enjoyed Frontier but it wasn't very popular in my area.

I played both this deck and Cast a Shadow in it. I've been playing Cast a Shadow since Shadows Over Innistrad. I enjoy playing The Pioneer Blues much more.

July 21, 2021 9:37 p.m.

itsbuzzi says... #8

I don't have the ability to post updates but if I added every event I played in with this it would be way too long and for some reason after a night in the car ride home I essentially forget each matchup and how they went so I would only really add wins and losses. I suppose at the bottom of my description I'll add records there with date and standings but there wouldn't be any useful details.

Frontier was popular here but only lasted maybe a month but soon after Pioneer was announced which was the same thing minus the fetches.

July 22, 2021 8:32 a.m.

BishopAtavist says... #9

This deck is super cool. A lot of synergy. I've been trying to build my first Pioneer deck and I play tested it against yours... let's just say it didn't go well for my deck haha I would love some feedback/ideas to improve my deck from a more experienced player if it isn't too much of an inconvenience!

August 26, 2022 11:37 a.m.

itsbuzzi says... #10

That's for that. I've been working on this for many years. I commented on your deck tp provide you assistance.

August 26, 2022 12:15 p.m.

AleBasso says... #11

Hey, sorry to bother, but your list got me thinking. What is your opinion on cards like Ingenious Smith and Patchwork Automaton? I could not find then in the updates

September 1, 2022 6:54 a.m.

itsbuzzi says... #12

Hey Alebasso, no bother at all! I only have a free account here so I can't have fancy updates showing cards in and out so I tried my best with my update section. Glad it got you to the correct answer because, yes, they aren't there because I never considered them for the deck.

I felt like Smith's etb ability is nice to get another body but growing was a bit slow, and you can't Ensoul them. My list goes to get damage in quick. If they searched for an enchantment and put the artifacts on the bottom instead of giving me a Gingerbrute and putting my enchantments on the bottom that would be nice. Plus with the addition of Hushbringer in the side running Smith is pretty bad because no etb trigger.

Patchwork was a brief thought but I played Hangarback Walker prior and felt that they are very similar and both was too slow as well. The ward ability is nice but can still be played around. Similar to Hangarback Walker where once destroyed he made at least one body, that was then shortly destroyed as well.

Not that either is a bad card I feel they don't fit with my deck. There are a few ways to build Ensoul. UR goes for more aggressive plays, UW is more artifact heavy, Jeskai is a bit of both. There may be other color combinations but I feel these are the most popular 3 and personally the best versions. I like Jeskai because you get a bit of both sides of the coin although playing it you need to figure out which side is better for what you have.

Both Ingenious Smith and Patchwork Automaton are decent cards but better in a more artifact heavy build like the UW version. I only have some of this artifact heavy aspect here but not enough to go "all in" on the specific archtype.

Hope that helped!

September 1, 2022 8:31 a.m.

AleBasso says... #13

This helps a lot!!!!

September 1, 2022 2:35 p.m.

itsbuzzi says... #14

No problem. I updated the updates section so it's hopefully easier to follow now. Cheers

September 1, 2022 4:27 p.m.

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