Introduction to Dark Jeskai & Report Top 8 IPT Cento by Tommaso Loss

Introduction

I'm Tommaso Loss, ciurlo on mtgo, of Lega Pauper Pisa, this weekend I top8'ed IPT Pauper Rangers, organized by Lega Pauper HDemia.

The deck I played has a rather unique origin. It all started at Pauper Christmas, 20 December, in Vicenza, where I witnessed for the first time Dark Jeskai in action, played by Jacopo Gennari. At first I just shared a couple of pictures of some funny hands and boardstates with my Jeskai-addicted friends then Jacopo asked to join the group and shared his list, Elia Morgese cleaned it up a bit and 5-0 the first league.

So we started testing and tweaking, it resulted shortly after in a couple of more 5-0s by Elia and Stefano Ghiara and a LPP local tournament won by Lorenzo Montana, looking promising. To be honest, we would have probably tested it even if it was bad, turn two cleansing is something that lights up our hearts.

This is the list I've played at the event:

Decklist

Maindeck

Creatures:

4 Augur of Bolas: now stronger than ever, given we play only 10 creatures + 20 lands, resulting in 30 hits.

2 Archaeomancer: Sadly relegated to secondary win-con, only needed for specific matchups where monarch and mystic are not enough (e.g turbofog, dredge).

**2 Murmuring Mystic:**Strong against both creature-based and removal-based decks.

**2 Crimson Fleet Commodore:**Necessary evil, its main purpose is to provide both a threat and a source of free card advantage against Glee combo decks. Mulldrifter is too slow for the current meta sadly.

Sorceries:

4 Lorien Revealed and 4 Cleansing Wildfire: glue of the deck.

Instants:

4 Counterspell: it has been a thousand years.

2 Ephemerate: less strong without mulldrifter, still needed for the Archemancer-lock, useful to protect Murmuring Mystic too.

4 Brainstorm: I was a strong brainstorm hater in Jeskai, but the two added shuffle effects of mh3 fetchlands and the fact that this list is full of strong but situational cards made it the cantrip of choice.

1 Dispel: needed in a Deadly Dispute meta.

2 Lightning Bolt: strong vs Fairies, Broodscale Combo and monoR.

2 Skred: originally were Cast Down, Skred is more versatile and it's easier for this deck to keep red open than black.

3 Snuff Out: Glee Combo, we are basically pre-boarded against it, also useful against big creature deck and to offset the slow tapland starts of this deck in general.

1 Thraben Charm: versatile card, main goal is to have a main deck out to Makeshift Munitions.

2 Breath Weapon: Needed to have a chance in game one against monoR.

1 Crypt Incursion: Strong life-gain effect, both vs monoR but also vs Dredge and similar GY oriented decks, also keeps blood fountains in check.

Lands:

8 Snow Basics

8 Bridges

2 Seething Landscape: Grixis fetch because black is needed earlier and in more matchups than white.

2 Blue taplands: Forgoing the white one for the reason above. In this meta you don't need more than one rebounded Ephemerate anyway.

Sideboard

**3 Pyroblast:**Terror and Faeries.

4 Hydroblast: MonoR and RB Madness.

**3 Cast Into The Fire:**Affinity and Faeries.

2 Dispel: only efficient answer to Dispute.decks.

1 Snuff Out: Glee, Terror and RG.

**1 Breath Weapon:**MonoR and Faeries.

1 Union of the Third Pact: second life-gain effect, less impactful but not weak to graveyard hate effects.

Tournament

Round 1: MonoU Faeries - Good

Game 1

I was on the draw, he t1 Faerie Seer into t2 Moon Circuit Hacker plus Faerie Seer but missed the third land-drop, I had Breath Weapon protected by Dispel and Snuff-Out, which I was able to do in his turn thanks to the missed land-drop. He went tapped out to try countering the wrath, which I forced through. Then untapped and played Murmuring Mystic with bolt up, he had no Snap so conceded.

Game 2

Same as before, but this time I had turn 2 Cast Into The Fire on Moon-circuit Hacker and Faerie Seer. The game ended shortly afterwards.

In general this match-up is favoured if you can either stop the early ninja or they stop hitting land-drops and having Snuff-Out helps with the former.

• Match: 2-0
• Score: 1-0

Round 2: BG Glee - Good - Stefano Fait

Game 1

I missed some landrops and when I dropped a Crimson Fleet Commodore it was too late, he had too much interaction and forced through the combo.

Game 2

I had a strong start with turn 2 Cleansing Wildfire, he stumbled with lands after a mulligan to 5, I had the Crimson Fleet Commodore and closed the game rapidly.

Game 3

We exchanged resources for a bit until I played Murmuring Mystic to apply some pressure. On the second to last turn I miscalculated lethal by one, he had two Tamyio's Safekeeping to stay alive plus some activations of Nadier's Nightblade. I was still fairly confident having 2 Snuff Out. Didn't need them in the end cause he never drew Sadistic Glee.

• Match: 2-1
• Score: 2-0

Round 3: Jund Midrange - Good

Game 1

We both developed our game until I played Crimson Fleet Commodore. From there it was a matter of finding threats and removal, having that and counterspell Jeskai is favoured. He had one turn to find a removal when I was shield down but down but didn't. So the game ended fairly quickly after I untap.

Game 2

4 Refurbished Familiars in the top12 cards, happens

Game 3

I had t3 Archaeomancer getting back wildfire on the play, ephemerating it with protection the turn after.

• Match: 2-1
• Score: 3-0

Round 4: Mono R - Even - Giacomo Stefanello

Game 1

Really tense resource game where he was holding bolts to kill me through counterspells after I had stabilized the board. Sadly I did not draw Crypt Incursion fast enough.

Game 2

Same as before except I played Crypt Incursion for 36.

Game 3

He started with t1 Relic Of Progenitus followed by double Goblin Tomb Raider, I somewhat managed to fend off the early aggression and exile the first relic, he drew another one right before I drew Crypt Incursion.

• Match: 1-2
• Score: 3-1

Round 5: Glee Combo - Good - Placido Amicone

Game 1

He overpowered me with draw spells, when he went for the combo I was one interactive spell short.

Game 2

I had the t3 Crimson Fleet Commodore "Scam", yet the game was not over quickly as he managed to take the monarchy with double snuff out and Sadistic Glee on a Eldrazi Spawn. Fortunately I had another Commodore that stabilized the bleeding and attacked a couple of turns for lethal.

Game 3

He mulliganed and then played duress, I had a mediocre hand but his was without dispute effects, so developed very slowly. I was able to drop Archemancer before he could threaten the combo, then a couple of turns later resolved Ephemerate with protection.

• Match: 2-1
• Score: 4-1

Round 6: Jund Glee Wildfire - Very Good - Giovanni Postorino

Intentional Draw with a fellow LPP player, we both top8'ed

• Match: ID
• Score: 4-1-1

Top 8: BG Glee - Good - Pietro Bragioto

G1: Really long war of attrition. On the pivotal turn he played Basking Broodscale and then Sadistic Glee on it. I had Skred and Double Snuff out, missing the looming threat I Skred it and died from double Nadier's Nightblade with 6 tokens to sacrifice. Had I Snuff Out the Broodscale instead, I would've had another draw step.

G2: He tried to go for the t3 combo by playing Basking Broodscale turn 2. I had the removal followed by an early Crimson Fleet Commodore that snowballed.

G3: Another war of attrition, the turn after I got back Ephemerate with Archeomancer he went duress plus Last Rites for 5 with exact mana to combo afterwards. I had a draw step to find the last Snuff Out or Thraben Charm and missed.

Props to him for winning the whole thing. Overall I had tons of fun playing good old (Dark) Jeskai, the event was well organized, and will definitely come back next year!

Sideboard Guide

Mono R - Even

G1 really depends on drawing Breath Weapon or Crypt Incursion, without them it's nearly impossible.G2/3 our deck becomes much better with more efficient spells and no dead draws. Priority number one is to contain their board and protect Augur of Bolas.

Do not cycle Lorien Revealed unless strict necessity arises, as that's the only source of card advantage, the goal would be to resolve one with the board clear and with enough lives to be safe from bolts.

Early on never counter Experimental Synthesizer, prioritize Goblin Tomb Raider, Kuldotha Rebirth/:MagicCardTooltip{name="Goblin Bushwhacker" image="https://cards.scryfall.io/grid/front/4/0/4085a5bf-a71b-4c73-9b39-0dcc328fe11b.webp?1783942145"} (unless when holding Breath Weapon) and Cast Into The Fire.

Grixis Affinity - Really Bad

The issue is that Grixis has both more mana efficient threats and card advantage spells.

The only two feasible plans are land destructions (which is much worse if they play a basic land), and Crimson Fleet Commodore plus Murmuring Mystic to stabilize the board.

It's useful in a lost game one situation to Cleansing Wildfire one of their lands, to get to know if they play the basic or not.

Glee - Good

The reason to be Dark, the key is to deploy a threat as early as possible, backed up by Snuff Out. Ideally Counterspell should only be used on Duress and Last Rites, that's the only way for them to beat a hand full of removal.

Brainstorm can be used to hide Counterspell from Duress, if your hand is stacked enough.

Even if it seems not efficient, killing deployed Basking Broodscales proactively is often the right approach, since the damage they slowly push can lead to a Nadier's Nighblade combo-less kill.

Mono U Faeries - Good

The key here is to avoid them to develop their game with ninja, then overloading their interaction to resolve a key spell: Lorien Revealed, Murmuring Mystic or Archaeomancer.

Prioritize keeping the board as empty as possible. Snuff out really helps avoid being gotten by SpellStutter Sprite.

Jund Wildfire - Good

Jund is slower than affinity in deploying threats, has less draw spells and less blood fountain. Chrysalis is also a much better Snuff Out target than Myr Enforcer.

All of this results in more time to develop your game, and playing Murmuring Mystic plus protections or Crimson Fleet Commodore plus removals.

Dredge - Good

The only real threat is turn 2 Exhume on Troll Of Khazad-dûm cause other than Counterspell on Exhume we are always going negative to resolve it. Other than that, prioritize denying them the third creature on board for Dread Return while waiting for Crypt Incursion or Thraben Charm.

RG Monsters - Even

Their stronger threat is initiative so play removal aggressively to slow its deployment if missing Counterspell (even killing spawns). Counterspell should be kept for it if possible.

Other than that is pretty much about preserving the board as clear as possible before locking the game with Archaeomancer or Murmuring Mystic.

Mono U Terror - Bad

The matchup revolves around his 12 threats and Murmuring Mystic.

In general it is better to play reactive if the board is clear, fight the turn they deploy, and then untap and play a threat of your own.

BG/Jund Gardes - Good

Basically the same deck but without Counterspell. The key is to avoid them maintaining an Emblem.

Slow-roll Murmuring Mystic as much as possible, in order to maximise the amount of Bird tokens generated the turn they try to remove it.