Welcome to the Daily Dose of Amonkhet, where today I’ll be talking about a new Jeskai Control deck that I look to be playing in the coming weeks after the Amonkhet release.
When I make Control decks, I usually like to have them Planeswalker based. With seven sets currently in Standard, the card base provides many choices on how to build a Control deck. There is an argument to just play a straight Blue-White Control deck, but I believe that the addition of Red makes it better than its two-colour counterpart. With so many cards to choose from, it starts to come down to what type of deck you want to build. There are so many shells that you can choose from. I’ll be choosing one that involves a Planeswalker base, some Energy synergy, and a mean artifact creature to finish off my opponent. So, before I get the final deck completed, I need to go through a list of potential cards that could work in the deck.
First off, I want to talk about some of the cards from Amonkhet that could work well in a Jeskai Control deck. Here are ones that jump off the page that could be included.
- Gideon of the Trials
- Pull from Tomorrow
- Sweltering Suns
- Glyph Keeper
- By Force
- Cast Out
- Censor
- Essence Scatter
- Dusk // Dawn
- Magma Spray
Now that we know some of the new cards from Amonkhet that we want to use, let’s have a look at some of the cards already in Standard that could be put in the deck.
- Oath of Chandra
- Oath of Jace
- Radiant Flames
- Release the Gremlins
- Anticipate
- Blessed Alliance
- Chandra, Torch of Defiance
- Chandra, Flamecaller
- Disallow
- Dovin Baan
- Fumigate
- Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
- Glimmer of Genius
- Felidar Guardian
- Harnessed Lightning
- Immolating Glare
- Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
- Nahiri, the Harbinger
- Negate
- Stasis Snare
- Torrential Gearhulk
- Saheeli Rai
This deck focuses on winning the game thanks to the work done by its Planeswalkers, but it needs some other support in the deck as well. Let’s have a look at both lists of cards we’ve made and start figuring out what cards are IN, what cards are OUT, and what cards will work well in the SIDEBOARD.
CARDS THAT ARE IN
Gideon of the Trials – This new card from Amonkhet is a great shutdown card to have on turn three that can stop creatures, vehicles, and Planeswalkers from damaging you.
Pull from Tomorrow – This is great in the mid-to-late part of the game to refill your hand and give you that extra fuel you need to win the game.
Cast Out – Straight up, one of the best cards from Amonkhet. Being able to deal with anything on the battlefield is too strong to pass up.
Censor – A lot of Standard gameplay is playing cards on curve throughout the game, which makes Censor a lot better than it looks on the surface.
Oath of Chandra – Great early removal, plus works well with the multitude of Planeswalkers in the deck.
Oath of Jace – Another way to get some card advantage in the deck while also benefiting from card selection thanks to your Planeswalkers.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance – This Planeswalker is great for removal, card advantage, and mana ramp. All things that can be utilized in this deck.
Disallow – It’s good to have a hard counterspell in your deck if needed that can also deal with plenty of other unique abilities of permanents as well.
Dovin Baan – I’ve been wanting to find a good fit for this Planeswalker for a while, and I believe I’ve found it. Being played on the turn after Gideon of the Trials means you can lock down two of their threats a turn.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar – Even though the new Gideon is in town, this old Planeswalker can still do some major damage.
Glimmer of Genius – Still a great card drawing spell that also provides Energy for the deck and can be used with Torrential Gearhulk later in the game for extra value.
Harnessed Lightning – Still one of the best two mana removal spells in the format.
Immolating Glare – Wanted a removal spell that could be used against creatures that Harnessed Lightning couldn’t reach.
Jace, Unraveler of Secrets – With so many other Planeswalkers that your opponent must deal with, dropping this down on turn five will leave your opponent with a tough decision on what to kill.
Nahiri, the Harbinger – This Planeswalker allows you deal with any pesky enchantments and artifacts that might be causing you trouble. It can also help you draw into some more valuable cards as well.
Torrential Gearhulk – This is one of our main win conditions in the deck, and will provide some great value later in the game.
CARDS THAT ARE OUT
Glyph Keeper – Although this is a very hard to kill creature that could be used as a finisher, I chose to stick with Torrential Gearhulk as it can provide a bit more value in the long run.
By Force – I believe that although it costs more mana, Release the Gremlins is still the better choice.
Essence Scatter – I'd rather have a hard counterspell like Disallow or have Negate come out of the sideboard than play Essence Scatter.
Dusk // Dawn – This sweeper spell is too narrow to be played in this deck. It also can’t take advantage of bringing back creatures from your graveyard.
Magma Spray – This is a card that might need to be considered for the sideboard based on how the Standard metagame turns out. If there are a lot of aggressive decks in the format, this will probably make its way into a future version of this deck.
Radiant Flames – The cycling ability of Sweltering Suns has put this sweeper on the back burner for now.
Anticipate – This used to be played in the two-mana slot of control decks, but with the introduction of Censor, it has now been replaced.
Blessed Alliance – I’m going to be leaning towards a more targeted removal spell in Immolating Glare, which works better on a crowded battlefield if needed.
Chandra, Flamecaller – This version of Chandra just couldn’t fit in the deck, but could in the future depending if there are more control decks present in the format.
Stasis Snare – Cast Out is just the far superior choice when it comes to removal enchantments. Being two white mana to cast hurts Stasis Snare as well.
CARDS FOR THE SIDEBOARD
Sweltering Suns – I picked this over Radiant Flames as there really isn’t a reason to do 1 or 2 damage to all creatures, and if drawn later in the game, it can be cycled for something more important.
Release the Gremlins – I think that since we still see the likes of Heart of Kiran and Scrapheap Scrounger from time to time, so it’ll be nice to have this card in your sideboard.
Fumigate – You never know when you'll need a sweeper to get rid of larger creatures that Sweltering Suns can’t deal with.
Felidar Guardian – Brought in from the sideboard to get more value out of your Planeswalkers and as a combo kill with Saheeli Rai.
Negate – Great counterspell to bring in against other control decks or against Planeswalkers as well.
Saheeli Rai – This is brought in from the sideboard as card selection, copying Torrential Gearhulk, and winning the game with Felidar Guardian.
Now that I’ve figured out all the cards in the deck, let’s see what we have for Jeskai Planeswalker Control.
I am very much interested in trying out this Jeskai Planeswalker Control deck this weekend at my local gaming store. Is there a deck that you want to be play once Amonkhet comes out? Send me a message or leave a comment about it. Thanks again for reading this Standard Deck Tech on the Daily Dose of Amonkhet. I’ll be back later this week to review how some old decks will do in the upcoming format.
