Gem: Are you only running 24 lands? That seems really low for Jeskai Control, even if you're only going up to 5 mana.

Other than that, thanks for the list; I've been running something similar lately but have not been happy with all my card choices; your list definitely gives some nice inspiration.

Yes, Modulo. I've tried 26 lands (because control) and found I did not like it very much. Dropped to 25 lands then to 24 lands. It feels more so like a CounterBurn deck with a light W splash for some powerful tech.

The point I've learnt is it "turn on" your 3 mana counters with very cheap removal. Draw into more counters until you land a walker and win in short order. I don't remember losing a game yet with this control deck which is odd for me in Duels. Definitely like it more than any other control deck.

I feel like you might enjoy this: https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comme ... dley_hill/

I like the Nahiri tech with finding B-Hulks; of course it helps with not having any restrictions.

Thanks, that list was very interesting. The main targets for Nahiri still are Torrential as the non-Standard-legal JVP, and two targets are definitely enough for her IMO.

Anyways, I've incorporated some of Gemini's ideas into my list; here's where I'm at now:

Creatures (2):
1 x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
1 x Torrential Gearhulk

Planeswalkers (4):
1 x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 x Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
1 x Chandra, Flamecaller

Enchantments (2):
2 x Imprisoned in the Moon

Instants (26):
4 x Galvanic Bombardment
2 x Blessed Alliance
3 x Telling Time
3 x Unsubstantiate
3 x Harnessed Lightning
2 x Scatter to the Winds
4 x Spell Shrivel
3 x Glimmer of Genius
2 x Confirm Suspicions

Lands (26)
2 x Plains
3 x Island
2 x Mountain
2 x Wandering Fumarole
2 x Needle Spires
2 x Praerie Stream
2 x Clifftop Retreat
2 x Sulfur Falls
2 x Glacial Fortress
3 x Aether Hub
4 x Evolving Wilds


Basically, Torrential>Disciple, OGW Chandra > KLD Chandra, two lands and two Blessed Alliance for Declarations and Insidious Wills.

Refer to Joly's decklist...

I feel like my tourney list ( with +1 fiery impulse,+1 kozilek's return,+1island,-1 plains,-2 declaration in stone ) is probably the most optimal version you can play of Jeskai in a diverse no sideboard meta.
I still think the deck is not good enough and it underperformed in general, despite getting 3rd place (due to running against a fully anti control teched madness deck in the semifinals, that can't win a game against aggro ever). The games often feel way to close and hard and there are just too many cheap cards that punish you too much if they resolve. Midrange-aggro (like woodland wanderer's deck) is just not beatable with a reactive deck with the current card pool

Hi guys,

I'm relatively new to Magic (been playing for a month now) and I've finally made a deck that allowed me to go past rank 20. Currently 25 I'm using mostly origins cards and I'm working on unlocking Kaladesh now so I'll really appreciate advice on what to look for and what to change in the deck. It's a thopter deck that's only splashing white but it's not so fun without the white cards.

3 Galvanic Bombardment
3 Telling Time
1 Ravaging Blaze
2 Twin Bolt
3 Thopter Engineer
2 Ghirapur Gearcrafter
3 Chief of the foundry
3 Artificer's epiphany
1 Displace
1 Exquisite Firecraft
1 Saheeli Rai (got it in like my third Kaladesh pack )
3 Whirler Rogue
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Thunderclap Wyvern
2 Reclusive Artificer
2 Valor in Akros
1 Thopter Spy Network

Lands:
4 Evolving wilds
2 Glacial fortress
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Clifftop Retreat
7 Mountain
7 Island
1 Plains

I'm using Ravaging Blaze and Firecraft as finishers and sometimes remove a planeswalker card. I'll probably replace them with Fiery Temper (can syenrgize with Artificer's epyphany) at some point, but I'm not going to purchase any Innistrad packs soon. I also was thinking to go in a bit opposite direction by dumping the Artificer's epyphany and using Glimer of Genius and Harness Lightning. Although if I do that I'll still probably include Fiery Temper. I tried using Flameshadow Conjuring but it is too slow for my taste. I like the Spy Network better because it constantly generates tokens, not only when you summon creatures and it gives you a bunch of card draw. I'm also looking into adding more cards like Displace so I can generate even more thopters, but this is the only such card I have now.

If you have it, play the second Spy Network.
When you get pia nalaar, cut the Ghirapur gearcrafters for her.
The new Aether revolt set has a bunch of cards that fit the thopter theme too, so look out for those.

Yeah, the Ghirapur gearcrafter is the first thing that's going away. I'm probably also going to add Inventor's Apprentice and Inventor's Goggles to get some Artificers synergy going. And some Aether Hubs if I go with the energy build since I sometimes find myself not having double red or double blue when I need them. What I fear when including Glimer of Genius is that the deck becomes mostly 4 drops and is going to be kinda slow IMO. I also think that Reckless fireweaver might be good for some initial draining before I can do that 45 1 turn damage with thopters. I don't know if he isn't a bit redundant though. But I see him doing great job in some ramp matchup where I need to keep a lot of chump blockers. I've found myself loosing such matches while being only a few dmg points short. Smuggler's copter is another card I'm looking to unlock, since you can crew it with only one thopter and it's like the best card ever .

I was a big fan of Wintervoid's Inevitability in its season, but hadn't played it since Kalidesh released. Have recently been revisiting old decks, and I decided to try my hand at updating it with final card pool.

This what I settled on:

4 x Galvanic Bombardment
3 x Blessed Alliance
2 x Declaration in Stone
4 x Take Inventory
1 x Kefnet the Mindful
3 x Sphinx's Tutelage
2 x Fevered Visions
1 x Geistblast
2 x Radiant Flames
2 x Collective Defiance
1 x Gideon of the Trials
3 x Cast Out
1 x Nahri, the Harbinger
2 x Planar Outburst
1 x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
1 x Chandra, Flamecaller
1 x Commit // Memory

3 x Plains
3 x Island
4 x Mountain
2 x Wandering Fumarole
2 x Needle Spires
2 x Prairie Stream
2 x Clifftop Retreat
2 x Sulfer Falls
2 x Glacial Fortress
4 x Evolving Wilds



Differences and explanations:

Reduced Geistblasts to 1 copy. It's still worth keeping 1 for the occasional geistcast with a big payoff, IMO - but as a 3cc 2 damage burn spell, it's pretty bad. Wanted/needed to be doing better things with that 3 mana.

Removed Brutal Expulsion. Was useful at times, but Cast Out is waaay better use of 4 mana.

Removed Exquisite Firecraft. Wanted to reduce the requirements at the 3 spot. Defiance is more versatile, plus Firecraft was mostly for Geistcasting (which got reduced) so Firecraft got the boot.

Removed Zendikar Gideon. His ally tokens just die right away, his emblem is effectively useless (can pump man lands, Chandra elementals, and his creature form, sure - but you're hard pressed to spend 4 loyalty on that). Realized he mostly functioned as a diversion, so wanted to do something better with the mana.

Added Kefnet. Indestructible draw engine is good here. Also being able to pick up extra lands late game to loot them with Nahiri and wheel effects is useful. His 5/5 flying body has won games, and is a decent proxy for the 5/5 body I lost when cutting Zendikar Gideon.

Added Trials Gideon. Waaay better than Zendikar Gideon in this build. Nurfing damage is very useful here and forces opp to add more to board, so sweepers can hit more targets. Rarely use emblem, but have to buy a turn, when I never used Zendikar emblem. 4/4 body an acceptable consolation prize from losing Zendikars slightly larger body. Yes, dies to Grasp, but the change has been worth that risk. Does more work here overall.

Added Cast Out. Versatile instant speed removal that can be cycled to mill harder is the best thing this deck got from the later sets. Yes please.

Added 1 Commit//Memory. Card saved my butt a few times. Commit is effectively hard removal with 1 Tutelage in play, and with 2 or more in play Memory mills like a boss while refilling hand. Plays well with Visions out. Might be worth running both copies, but having trouble seeing what to cut with its casting demands. 1 has been good enough in practice.

Added 1 land. This deck needs to hit its land drops, and there are plenty of ways to loot excess lands later game.

Reworked colors in mana base slightly. Reducing the demands from Firecraft allows me to trade mountains for island/plains, and makes it a little easier to cast everything else.


A few things considered but left unchanged:

Removing Bombardments for something else. Thought about it, but in the end it was too important to have a 1 mana removal spell. Helps to have removal you can cast for 1 mana when playing 3cc spells T4 or 4cc spells T5, etc. with the looting this deck does, I still like this better than the other 1 mana burn options.

Using Towers. Adding Cast Outs to the already notable number of planeswalker and enchantment spells just didn't feel right to run Towers. T3 I'd rather be casting other things.

Using any creatures that aren't indestructible. One of the better features of the deck is blanking opps removal and making them hold more cards for Visions damage. Every non indestructible creature I tried just helped opp cast otherwise dead cards. This a major reason Zendikar Gideon got cut.


General thoughts on the deck in post update Duels world:

This has been an absolute blast to revisit. I run into so many goofy brews on the ladder, enchantment hate hasn't been much of a problem. Think it's hard to dedicate slots to that in a meta with so much strange variety. Mill might not work in a tourney with the full cardpool (especially w/ sideboards), but on ladder it's worthy of running.