The Best Defense Is Offense: A Jeskai Guide

In Magic, one of the most popular tri-colored color pairings is Jeskai. Jeskai encompasses a lot of different things that Magic is most known for. Primarily, this is casting spells and turning creatures sideways. This Jeskai guide will look over everything the archetype is capable of and the cards you should be aware of.

The Pros and Cons of Jeskai

As with every color pairing, Jeskai is good at some things and weaker at others. As far as the best things the color pairing can do, it’s casting spells. There are a ton of one-mana spells available in the color pairing to cast a ton of spells in just one turn. In Jeskai, there are a lot of synergies with creatures that benefit from casting these noncreature spells as well.

On the other side of the coin, Jeskai suffers greatly with mana. There are no good options when it comes to ramp, and you’re stuck with just lands and mana rocks. As such, Jeskai tends to have to rely more heavily on mana rocks compared to other colors. Many of the best Jeskai spells are a bit costly on mana, making it harder to cast them. As such, Jeskai decks tend to naturally be slower when compared to faster color combinations like Temur or Jund.

Jeskai Staples

In Jeskai, there is a much larger focus on noncreature spells. Expect to play a lot more than the average deck in most builds of Jeskai. What the spells are doing varies and can lean on Aggro, Control, or Midrange.

Removal Staples

One of Jeskai’s strongest traits is how many good removal options it has. Removal that costs just one mana is the best, and Jeskai has that in spades. Some examples include Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Pongify, and Rapid Hybridization. Since Jeskai tends to want to cast multiple spells in a single turn, these one-mana removal spells are useful for achieving that goal while getting rid of problem creatures.

Some other, more expensive removal options include Chaos Warp and Generous Gift. Although you generally don’t want your removal spells to be too expensive, these can target any permanent, including lands. It’s one of the most efficient ways to get rid of any problem permanent on the battlefield, not just creatures.

Card Draw

Another aspect that Jeskai shines in is card draw. Perhaps most notable is Whirlwind of Thought. There are many Spellslinger decks in Jeskai, and it provides you with easy card draw so you never run out of steam. Similarly, Jeskai Ascendancy does the same, but you have to discard a card after drawing. The effect is optional as well, so you don’t accidentally mill yourself out. You also have the Blue cantrip suite of cards such as Brainstorm, Opt, Ponder, and Serum Visions.

Artifact Support

Artifacts are something that Jeskai does a great job of supporting. In artifact decks, you can find another great one-mana removal in Dispatch. There are also various cards that can discount the costs of artifacts, including Etherium Sculptor and Enthusiastic Mechanaut. You also have artifact tutors, with the best of them being Fabricate and Enlightened Tutor.

Proliferate

In many cases, Jeskai decks deal with counters. Proliferate will put an extra counter on everything, and Jeskai can do it commonly. Crimes happen when you target anything your opponents control, something that happens frequently in Commander. This is why Patrolling Peacemaker is so strong. In combination with artifacts, Surge Conductor is a constant stream of proliferation. If you have a way to constantly tap it, Kilo, Apogee Mind can proliferate consistently. For protection, Ripples of Potential phases permanents with counters out. You can get some extra proliferate triggers with Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus.

Jeskai Commanders

The rest of this Jeskai guide will look at various commanders in the color pairing to showcase what kinds of decks can be played. They’ll include a small overview of its key cards, as well as a decklist if you want a base to work off of when building your Jeskai commanders.

Kykar, Wind’s Fury (Spellslinger/Polymorph)

Polymorph is named after the titular card Polymorph. The idea is to turn weak creatures into very powerful ones such as Avacyn, Angel of Hope. The best commander for Polymorph is Kykar, Wind's Fury. Its effect turns all your noncreature spells into Spirit tokens that you use polymorph effects on.

With your commander, you want to cast a ton of noncreature spells to make Spirits to polymorph. So, it plays a variety of one-mana draw spells including Consider, Opt, and Ponder. Alternatively, you have cheap removal including Lightning Bolt and Swords to Plowshares. Then, Treasure Cruise and Whirlwind of Thought help to ensure your hand stays full of new cards.

As for creatures to polymorph into, there are a lot of great ones. Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant is one of the best, as it lets you copy instant and sorcery spells, giving you two polymorph effects for the price of one. With how many strong creatures enter, Terror of the Peaks can do devastating amounts of damage. To help protect yourself, Blazing Archon shuts off the ability of your opponents to attack you. It can be removed, but that just protects your other creatures from being priority targets.

A sample decklest can be viewed below. It has a balance of creatures and noncreature spells. Since Kykar, Wind's Fury creates tokens, you only have good creatures in the main deck, so polymorph effects always hit something good.

Satya, Aetherflux Genius (Energy)

With two Jeskai Energy precons releasing back to back, Jeskai became the face of Energy decks in Commander. This deck will utilize Satya, Aetherflux Genius as its commander, which can create copies of various creatures. Many creatures give you Energy when they enter, such as Lightning Runner and Whirler Virtuoso. You can use your commander to create a copy of them to get more Energy, and if you want to keep them around, pay some extra Energy (assuming it doesn’t die in combat).

In Energy decks, you want ways to consistently gain Energy counters instead of ones that give you a handful only when they enter. The best way is with Aetherflux Conduit, which turns all mana spent on spells into that many Energy counters. Bespoke Battlewagon can consistently give you two Energy counters every untap, but also can spend Energy for a variety of utility effects. In this build, you’re attacking a fair bit, making Stone Idol Generator a fantastic way to give yourself more Energy counters.

On top of making Energy, you want payoffs for having a lot of Energy. In a desperate pinch, Aethersquall Ancient can be used as a board wipe (and is useful for generating Energy as well). If you have a big battlefield, Sentry Bot can turn three Energy into a +1/+1 counter on all your creatures. You can really get mean with The Motherlode, Excavator by destroying nonbasic lands players control that don’t get replaced.

A sample decklist can be viewed below. There is a balance of Energy payoffs and enablers to bring the archetype together. Energy decks are fairly cheap, as many of their best cards are from precons.

Arthur, Marigold Knight (Big Creature/Blink)

Arthur, Marigold Knight is a deck heavily focused on creatures. You cheat around mana costs by putting them onto the battlefield directly with your commander’s effect, then blink the creature so you don’t have to return it to the hand with cards such as Cloudshift and Ephemerate. They return at the end of combat, so instant speed blink effects are vital.

Your deck heavily relies on your commander, so you want ways to keep it safe in combat. Reconnaissance is the best way. Once it attacks and has its effect triggered, simply remove it from combat before it ever has a chance to get damaged. A slightly worse version of this effect is Maze of Ith as it takes up a land slot and can only be used once. Whispersilk Cloak gives your commander shroud to make it untargetable and makes it unblockable to never have to worry about removal short of a board wipe.

In case you don’t have your commander, there are other ways to cheat creatures onto the battlefield. Arni Metalbrow can bring out a creature with a lower mana value than an attacking creature of just two mana. It’s great after you have already successfully cheated out another creature. Ilharg, the Raze-Boar can put any creature from your hand onto the battlefield when it attacks. A way to get multiple creatures is with Sneak Attack. The creature does have to be sacrificed at the end step, but if you blink it, then it gets to stick around.

A sample decklist can be viewed below. It is rather creature-heavy, with a sprinkling of blink spells to fully enable the strategy.

Zinnia, Valley’s Voice (Tokens)

Zinnia, Valley's Voice gives the ability to all your creatures to create a token copy with them for just two mana. So, you can create copies of useful creatures such as Arabella, Abandoned Doll and Shield Broker. The tokens are 1/1, which can synergize with other cards in the deck.

The primary way you’re dealing damage is through creatures that deal burn damage when creatures enter. This includes cards such as Agate Instigator, Witty Roastmaster, and Warleader's Call. Although it doesn’t burn, you can easily turn them into powerhouses Cathars' Crusade as more creatures enter the battlefield to beef up your battlefield.

When offspring triggers, it triggers as an enter-the-battlefield effect. So, cards like Starfield Vocalist and Virtue of Knowledge will double the effects of your offspring triggers to get two tokens for the price of one. Other ways to make more tokens include Song of the Worldsoul whenever you cast spells, and Echocasting Symposium can create a token every upkeep.

A sample decklist can be viewed below. It is mostly made up of creatures and mana rocks to ensure you can always pay for offspring when casting creatures.

Inspirit, Flagship Vessel (Artifacts)

Jeskai shines with artifacts, and there is a variety of options. In this Jeskai guide, we’ll be looking at Inspirit, Flagship Vessel. It’s a Spacecraft that, once it has eight charge counters, makes all your artifacts indestructible and hexproof to give them a deep layer of protection. It mixes traditional artifacts like Unwinding Clock with Spacecraft such as Uthros Research Craft.

A lot of the deck relies on having charging counters, so you want ways to get them onto your permanents. It can only put them on Spacecraft and Planets, but Drill Too Deep can put five on them, which is no small amount. While Spacecraft can use creatures to get charge counters, other artifacts can’t. Coretapper helps to get around this by putting charge counters onto any artifact, and can put two if you don’t mind sacrificing it. Once your artifacts have just a few charge counters, Deepglow Skate can double the number of them to put a ton of charge counters on them instead of one at a time.

There are a lot of different payoffs for artifacts. Simulacrum Synthesizer creates a token every time an artifact enters if its mana value is three or more (which most are). With Darksteel Reactor, by putting all your efforts into putting charge counters on it, you can win the game with it. It’s easy to have 30 or more counters across your artifacts and creatures, which turns Lux Artillery into another win condition. Once you have max speed, Mendicant Core, Guidelight can start copying your artifacts for just one mana.

A sample decklist can be viewed below. Practically the entire artifact is made up of artifacts, with most creatures being artifact creatures.

In Conclusion

Jeskai can do a whole lot to offer a variety of different playstyles. It’s largely focused on noncreature spells compared to other color pairings, with a lot of support cards to help that strategy. Jeskai is less about building up defenses but instead going on the offensive right from the get-go.

The Jeskai color balances aggressiveness with interaction, capable of holding back or going all-in. It reigns in the Control side of White-Blue by bringing up the aggressive nature of Red. Together, the three colors create for a very powerful color combination with lots of ways to play.