Dies to Removal

While I'm personally not a fan of the deck, I actually think the decision to play Ojutai's Command over Dig is defensible. The deck runs a bunch of burn spells that deal four damage which reduces the necessity of Dig (all your spells do roughly the same thing) and buying back Firedancer is big game. Jace slows down your clock but interacts favorably with the spells in the deck, especially Ojutai's command, so I'd definitely want to try some in that deck.

Looks decent.

I've just been so unimpressed with Ojutai when I've played with him. I've had a lot more success with Ashcloud Phoenix. Ojutai has always seemed to come down a turn too late for me.

Suck it up budgecaj!

I was mainly replying to your "strictly" statement, which was clearly incorrect usage. I guess it's my MTG trigger word.

Harbringer is a strict upgrade to stratusD.

No it isn't. The two cards serve two completely different purposes. It may very well end up being better than Stratus Dancer though, especially in a deck with Ojutai's Command. "Strict" is a word that gets thrown around far too often with incorrect usage.

I think Jerry's deck has some nice ideas, but it's kind of a mess.

I don't understand Goblin Rabblemaster in these list since you don't have many removals to clear a path and you don't have many cheap creatures to eat up opposing removals so wouldn't that slot be best served with additional fliers, burns, counters or removals?

Stoke, Lightning Strike, Valorous Stance?

Everyone's curve is wonky in Standard, and some decks aren't even doing anything meaningful until turn three. It's easy to dismiss Rabblemaster without having played the deck.

FWIW I prefer Ross's build (what's new?).

I don't agree with Cruise over Dig but everything else seems okay. 3 Command is a bit greedy though.

2 Rabblemaster can't be correct. Have you tried four SGM?

I haven't tested Phoenix since DTK so I can't say. I'm just going off what I would have changed from last week's PPTQ list.

I now realize I never posted said list in this thread, but in the clan thread instead. Here is my PPTQ list for reference (I finished 3rd/4th):

[deck]
Creatures (16)
4 Soulfire Grand Master
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Mantis Rider
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Dragonlord Ojutai

Spells (19)
3 Wild Slash
4 Lightning Strike
2 Valorous Stance
3 Jeskai Charm
4 Stoke the Flames
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Dig Through Time

Lands (25)
3 Mystic Monastery
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Temple of Epiphany
4 Flooded Strand
3 Battlefield Forge
3 Shivan Reef
2 Plains
2 Island
1 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
1 Erase
2 Glare of Heresy
1 Valorous Stance
2 Surge of Righteousness
2 Disdainful Stroke
3 Negate
1 Gainsay
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
[/deck]

I never had an issue casting him on 16 white. He's not something you typically want to cast on curve anyway with all the other turn three plays.

I think Ashcloud is far superior to Thunderbreak in a deck with 25 lands and no other dragons. It's a much better card against the best deck in the format and is something I'd much rather topdeck lategame against literally everything.

If I had it to do over again:

[deck]
Creatures (16)
4 Soulfire Grand Master
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Mantis Rider
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Ashcloud Phoenix

Spells (19)
3 Wild Slash
4 Lightning Strike
2 Valorous Stance
2 Jeskai Charm
4 Stoke the Flames
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Dig Through Time

Lands (25)
3 Mystic Monastery
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Temple of Epiphany
4 Flooded Strand
3 Battlefield Forge
3 Shivan Reef
2 Plains
2 Island
1 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
2 Glare of Heresy
1 Valorous Stance
2 Surge of Righteousness
2 Disdainful Stroke
3 Negate
1 Gainsay
3 Anger of the Gods
1 something
[/deck]

I don't like it either.

If you want another spell in that slot I much prefer Disdainful Stroke.

Yep, if everyone is playing control or Abzan durdle, just burn them out.

I don't like Ojutai's Command here. I feel like casting Ashcloud Phoenix on turn four is better. Thoughts?

LP doing it right.

No maindeck Ojutai though? I like how Roc goes wide and is evasive, but why not Ojutai instead or in conjunction with?

I don't like Anticipate in the non-Ascendancy version.

I didn't say anything about cutting Anger.

There are much more effective answers. Arc Lightning, Twin Bolt, ANGER OF THE GODS. And once he DOES have Command, you're dead on the spot. Taking care of them immediately is a much better option.

Circle of Flame looks pretty silly against Mono Red splash green.

23 lands is definitely wrong. No arguing it. Your anecdotal evidence does not refute this.

I disagree on 0 Secure. I've won games I should have lost because I could cast it for a large amount. You definitely want 1.

Yeah, in a meta like the one at this Open, having Seeker and/or Soulfire is excellent. I went creatureless at my FNM because the meta at my particular store is balanced out (usually not the case since they love Gx) but Todd made the right call for this event.

[deck]
2 wild slash
2 secure the wastes
1 valorous stance
1 roast
3 anticipate
4 dragon fodder
4 raise the alarm
3 lightning strike
4 jeskai ascendancy
1 outpost siege
4 hordeling outburst
4 stoke the flames
4 treasure cruise

3 flooded strand
4 mystic monastery
2 shivan reef
3 battlefield forge
3 temple of triumph
3 temple of epiphany
2 island
2 plains
1 mountain

2 erase
1 glare of heresy
1 valorous stance
1 roast
2 twin bolt
3 negate
3 disdainful stroke
1 outpost siege
1 end hostilities
[/deck]

Got top 4 at FNM with this. Only loss was in the Swiss to Abzan Aggro. That matchup went from 50/50 to a mess thanks to Dromoka's Command. Managed to snag a hard fought game two bbut lost one and three on the draw and mull to six each time.

I hot Commanded a few times at this event and it felt gross. If that card gets more popular I'm not even sure Ascendancy will be good. Might be better to play fair Jeskai at that point.

Yeah, neat FNM deck, which isn't a bad thing. It's just not for competitive events.

For the record I never said one card was better than the other or that I would never test Ojutai. In fact I flatly said I was considering it. I just took exception to your comment about flipping a situational card which we apparently don't see eye to eye on.

Yeah, you could use the sleep. You're overreacting.

For what it's worth, LSV is on the same plan re: two Outpost Siege postboard with countermagic.

Your post was certainly not productive.

Ojutai is simply much better then something like outpost siege fwiw in postboard games as it both works well with ascendancy and doesn't flip disdainful stroke for infinite sadness.

Based on my experience I'm not worried about the nonbo with counterspells and Outpost Siege. I have NEVER lost a game where I've resolved Outpost Siege and it stuck for two turns. There's no difference between flipping a Disdainful Stroke and your 10th land, so your point is invalid.

I'm considering it, but have to go through the theory crafting in my head first regarding why it would be better than other cards.

Also, the counter I'm looking for to Virulent Plague may be Dictate of Heliod.

[deck]
Creatures (2)
2 Soulfire Grand Master

Spells (35)
2 Secure the Wastes
2 Wild Slash
2 Anticipate
4 Raise the Alarm
3 Dragon Fodder
3 Lightning Strike
1 Valorous Stance
1 Roast
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Jeskai Ascendancy
1 Outpost Siege
4 Stoke the Flames
4 Treasure Cruise

Lands (23)
3 Flooded Strand
4 Mystic Monastery
3 Shivan Reef
3 Battlefield Forge
3 Temple of Triumph
2 Temple of Epiphany
2 Island
2 Plains
1 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
2 Erase
1 Glare of Heresy
1 Valorous Stance
1 Roast
2 Twin Bolt
3 Negate
3 Disdainful Stroke
1 Outpost Siege
1 Keranos, God of Storms
[/deck]

This is what I've been testing for the past couple of days. Either two or three Anticipate is correct. I tested three and have gone down to two because there were times where hands with Anticipate were a bit slow against aggro decks. I also went from one Soulfire Grand Master to two. I was initially testing a singleton to see its impact in this new build and with the curve being lower now you get to buyback spells a lot more often. The lifegain off burn spells is also great in aggro matchups so I decided to go up to two. It also has the upside of sometimes drawing Bile Blights away from your tokens postboard when you lead with it. The rest of the deck feels great. I have yet to test Keranos out of the board but I expect him to be good against decks leaning on Reclamation Sage and Sultai Charm to get rid of our enchantments. The only real concern is what to do against Virulent Plague. I don't think decks have enough room to run more than one in their board, and I'm willing to lose to one-ofs, but if I'm wrong and the meta warps toward token strategies I can see multiples of these in sideboards which really hoses this deck. The only real answer to it besides bringing in narrow answers like Erase (which might be dead if they don't play Plague) is to put Outpost Siege on Dragons and burn them out.

Your analysis of the control matchups is accurate. It's very hard to lose if you've constructed your 75 properly.

Looks better. I'm not sure if 3 or 4 Anticipate is correct. My gut says three but I'll need to test. Maybe you just want to find Ascendancy that badly? Guess we'll find out.

I will say that if you plan to run 4 Anticipate, you could go down to 23 lands. Might even be able to do that on 3, especially now that the curve is lower.

List seems all over the place. You definitely want four Raise the Alarm as the instant speed is huge, especially postboard when you're bringing in Negate and/or Disdainful Stroke. I'd rather run the second Valorous Stance over the first Disdainful Stroke too. Narset walker seems winmore in this deck too but warrants testing.

I'm planning on it. I don't like Myth Realized.

I'm not sure. I was hoping LSV or someone at the Pro Tour would solve that one for me.

I haven't been in the "brewing" mood lately. Rather, I've preferred to piggyback off innovations from players that are better than I am, hence playing the LSV list online and at the IQ last week.

If I had to guess, I'd say the tokens deck will look a lot more streamlined and less mana hungry than before. It could be more aggressive, but Anticipate tends to skew the deck toward a more combo-control role ala Splinter Twin, while Dragon Fodder makes it less reliant on turn-three RR if you straight-up replace Hordeling Outburst (may or may not be correct). Monastery Mentor/Goblin Rabblemaster may be ditched altogether in favor of only token-producing spells.

I found the amount of burn to be sufficient vs Abzan aggro. It's one of those 50/50 matchups except I'd say we're slightly favored to even depending on their board configuration.

I'll be playing Jeskai Tokens or Big Red/x after set release. I imagine the tokens archetype will change significantly with Dragon Fodder and Anticipate being printed.

It might push the deck toward anthems like Dictate of Heliod to counter if that card becomes popular, but I can't imagine it seeing play over more flexible answers like Drown and Anger.