Introduction
Drove up Saturday morning, played Saturday with Amulet Titan to a very meh 3-4 (one of which being a no-show). Amulet currently is in this spot where your primary goal is to do a turn 3 kill. As I was executing Amulet combos & loops, most of my opponents were intrigued because they hadn't seen this "new" version of Titan. imo Shifting Woodland should be banned - it allows Amulet to pull off the infinite without too much work. Lumra + Otawara could be a replacement strategy.
Ashiok is a pain in the ass for Amulet, so right now decks are playing SB Stock Ups, then extra Otawaras, Into the Floodmaw, or Null Elemental Blast.
Anywho, we stayed overnight at the venue. Woke up with a bit of a headache, initially attributed it to sleeping posture but drank about 2L of water and was okay. I had packed all the cards necessary to pivot to one of Jeskai Blink, Esper Goryo's, or Boros Energy and decided to try Jeskai.
- The deck is a form of midrange. It has limited ability to go go aggressive with Ragavan, can close games with Arena of Glory + Phlages, but the core is ETBs & flicker effects & the 4-of Consign to Memory. The deck doesn't play a full set of Ephemerates, because it's trying to leverage the other aspects of Consign.
- ETBs in the deck: Solitude, Quantum Riddler, Phlage, *Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, SB Obsidian Charmaw
- Flickers/Blinks/interact with triggers: 4 Consign to Memory, 3 Phelia Exuberant Shepherd, 2 Ephemerate
- Consign targets: Solitude evoke sacrifice, Phlage sacrifice, Quantum Riddler EoT warp trigger, Phelia EoT return to battlefield trigger, any of the opponent's triggered abilities or colorless spells
- Phelia targets: Quantum Riddler is the big one, resetting Teferi (opens an instant speed window), Solitude eh, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, opponents stuff - then Consign their return
- Ephemerate targets: Solitude, Quantum Riddler, SB Charmaw, save own creature
- The 201 course trick with Consign is to when you can pull double duty, such as evoking Solitude in response to a trigger you don't want to resolve, then replicating it to keep Solitude & counter the other one - ex. Phlage sac, Urza's Saga Ch. 3
- Other things in the deck - Strix Serenade to fight through the other creature blink decks & stuff, can remove the token with Phelia/Teferi. 3 Fables of the Mirror-Breaker ... which can't be countered by Strix Serenade, deck glue. March of Otherworldly Light - for Urza's Saga and generally stuff incl. Elesh Norn Mother of Machines.
Swiss
- R1 Chris M on Boros Energy WLW (1-0)
Game 1 he mulligans to a one land Ragavan hand, finds a second land, but apparently had a fist full of three drops.
Generally the match was just kind of trading resources, he doesn't have many broken starts. Had a decision in G3 with a Wrath of the Skies vs a Goblin Bombardment + Ajani + cat token + Static Prison, wondering if there's a reasonable Wrath for 1 + Prismatic Ending line, but I only have 4 mana & removing the Bombardment is just too good when there's an Ajani hanging out. - R2 Owen K on UB Midrange WLW (2-0)
Not a common thing to see these days. Guy surveils a Murktide Regent into the bin turn 1 and I'm put off my game - don't have to play around the UB suite of interaction much these days. Game 2 is close, both on 2 but I lose that one. Eventually just grind him out in 3. - R3 Swiss Jeskai LWD (2-0-1)
Game 1, my opponent exerts Arena of Glory to escape a Phlage from their bin, killing my only creature (a 2/2 Strix Serenade token or something). I go to mark their +3 life and ask "then I'm assuming I'll go from 27 to 18?" My hand at this time is Ragavan + Solitude with like two open mana. Go to my turn, draw another Ragavan, dash Ragavan and bash. End up grinding out that game.
Between sideboarding they get salty about me trying to lead them into a play - which is ridiculous - you've exerted an Arena of Glory onto a Phlage with an empty board. Maybe I'm engaging in gamesmanship, "tricking" my opponent into twelve point life swing so I can get in with Ragavan... but that's dumb. 12 life vs a Ragavan hit? Not attacking with your hasted Phlage on an empty board to play around a dash Ragavan? Come on.
I did hit an Ephemerate off Ragavan and got the ruling wrong - thought it would rebound in my favor. Fortunately we called a judge who actually read the card - good reminder to always read the card and always call the judge.
I lose G2 in relatively quick fashion for the mirror. G3 my opponent ends on T5, I'm at 23 life to 4 w/ a Phlage in play & 2 spells in hand, opponent declines to concede. As they clean up, I see a peek of 2 lands in hand. - R4 Jacob T on UR Prowess LWW (3-0-1)
G1 win the die roll, then die to a super wide attack, Cori-Steel Cutter in play into double Swiftspear + Lava Dart on my Solitude.
G2 is a bit funny. Chunks in with a Swiftspear, remove it. Puts nothing out on turn 2. I cast a Phlage onto an empty board to gain some life. He Surgicals it. Some swings, some life changes, a Consign on my Solitude trigger. I'm looking down at his board with a couple of creatures, me with nothing but a bunch of lands and two Quantum Riddlers in hand. Then I check life totals, we're both at 8 and I have an Arena of Glory. Double haste warp Riddler and he gets clocked. Mostly, it only worked this because he played so fast and loose with the life totals.
G3 I do the Phelia + blink warped Riddler trick. Then the next turn cycle I consider blinking it again for value, but soul read a Consign to Memory in hand / open mana, and manage to avoid that trap. - R5 Boston S on UR Affinity LL (3-1-1)
G1 we both mulligan to 6. I'm OTP and drop a Ragavan. He goes Pinnacle Emissary + 0s into a T1 Kappa Cannoneer.
G2 my initial hand is a bit weird. A couple of Consigns, Wrath of the Skies, but my lands are Hallowed Fountain, Scalding Tarn, Arena of Glory. He goes T1 Emry, on my turn I Solitude it + Consign my evoke, hold up Tarn - but I can't Consign anything AND cast a T3 Wrath of the Skies. Fetch WR EoT, clear his board with Wrath of the Skies for 1. His cards replace themselves (Mishra's Bauble, Vexing Bauble) so I mostly just clear the Urza's Saga putting him to just Spirebluff Canal. Next turn he plays another Saga, pass. I hold off on my next Wrath thinking I can get more value, hold up Consign. He goes to his turn, uptick Saga, land, Blood Moon me. This is weird- if I had gone for Wrath 1-for-1 with Saga I wouldn't be in this problem, or if I had Consigned the Urza's Saga Ch 2. But those are weird somewhat unintuitive patterns. I do misplay additionally - I draw Fable, trade off Solitude for no reason forgetting that Fable can make me a bunch of Solitudes. He drops an EE for 0 and my Fable is now basically irrelevant. Then I die - R6 Chris C on Affinity LWW (4-1-1)
G1 I'm OTP and play a Ragavan. T1 he goes Pinnacle Emissary and I start having flashbacks, but he only puts in about 8 power & Thoughtcast... I don't win this game.
Change ups from my previous matchup, I boarded in Charmaws over Teferis as a response to the Blood Moon plan
G2 no crazy start from him, grind it out.
G3 he mulligans to 5 with a 1 lander, bottoming two Kappa Cannoneers and just kind of dies after a bunch of turns. I also Consign his first Urza's Saga mana ability trigger but he really was never in this game with that hand. - R7 Julian DP on Esper Goryo's WW (5-1-1)
Scouted him after we both ended up in the draw bracket, so knew what he was on.
G1 win the die roll and see a 7 with Ragavan + Teferi + other acceptable cards. Foreknowledge doesn't matter, but his hand seems fairly anemic - he casts Frog twice (after bounce) and Tainted Indulgence but never threatens to do the Goryo's thing.
G2 he establishes some Quantum Riddlers w/ Ephemerate. I'm on the beatdown path with Ragavan & Phelia, even blinking his Riddler with Phelia to get in for extra damage, knocking him down from 12 to 8.
I'm fairly dead here. He passes back to me after Ephemerating Riddler on upkeep, getting to 5/6 cards or so. Has something else, I forget. Go to my turn, have 4 lands in play, land in hand, 1 treasure, Phelia, Ragavan. Swing both, exile his creature. Opp blocks Phelia. Ragavan makes a treasure and hits the third Atraxa seen this game (one exiled with Ragavan T2, one pitched to Solitude). Play land, cast Atraxa, add 5 cards to hand whewee. - QF vs Eric M LL (5-2-1)
He has seed 2 vs my 7, the match was basically just him sticking Riddlers and me not. G1 kind of funny, both of us had Teferis in the midgame. I get him down to 16-3 in life but then he exert Phlages me + Riddler attack.
G2 I'm not really in it until Riddler pulls me out of a whole. Almosty back in it, he Phlages me from 11, then draws Teferi for bounce Phlage kill me. ggs
Conclusions
- Jeskai Blink is easier than Amulet Titan, and probably feels less tilting for opponents since I don't have to Amulet-splain an infinite combo with multiple outcomes.
- Strix Serenade is gas in the Jeskai mirror.
- Quantum Riddler is fairly absurd at getting out of holes.
- Sportsmanship is important.
- The format may be diverse with interaction, but I don't think that it feels healthy when people are infinite-Titaning on turn 2, Kappa Cannoneering on turn 1, Neoforming, or just playing piles that draw ten bajillion cards & then Phlage you down.
