It’s January and Jeskai Ascendancy is still not banned so make it your New Year’s resolution to play this card before it gets banned. But seriously though if you hate losing then build this deck as described and roll over your opponents with the masterful combos.
It’s official; Jeskai Ascendancy in all formats. That card is nuts! It’s not just me. It’s nuts, nuts, nuts. Josh Utter-Leyton and company brewed up this combo-control masterpiece that many pros have hailed as breaking the format. Modern has lately lived under the looming shadow of bannable Khans cards. Ascendancy took the forefront early, it was immediately obvious that this card was busted, but the clunkiness of the four color builds allowed U/R Delver to shine. These Delver decks thrive on efficient threats and one for ones before recharging with Treasure Cruise. Wrapter’s new build eschews the green mana dorks for Fatestitcher and correctly uses all three busted Khans cards.
The Big Three; Jeskai Ascendancy, Treasure Cruise and Dig Through time. There is a pretty good chance that all of these get banned in January. That alone should be a pretty solid indication that the deck is scary good. The last time a deck was hit that hard by the ban-hammer was when Stoneforge Mystic was rubbing elbows with Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Sure we’re talking about Modern as opposed to Standard but the multi ban principle remains the same; if a deck is getting multiple cards banned, the deck is good. Shocking right?
For anyone who isn’t familiar with how the combo works you start by resolving the Ascendancy. Then you cast a non-creature spell to trigger the looting ability. You draw a card and discard Fatestitcher. Then you unearth it and for every cantrip you play thereafter he allows you to untap a land, all the while growing in power and toughness. He even allows you to tap down blockers. Truly the swiss army knife of recursive mana dorks.
This list is even getting ported to Legacy. Just upgrade all the cantrips and the manabase and you’re pretty much there. All formats. The moral of the story is this; get it while it’s hot. This combo deck won’t be a part of Modern forever!
Cards in this Deck:
1 Arid Mesa
4 Faerie Conclave
4 Flooded Strand
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Seachrome Coast
2 Steam Vents
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
22 lands
4 Fatestitcher
4 creatures
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
1 Treasure Cruise
4 Dig Through Time
4 Izzet Charm
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
3 Remand
4 Thought Scour
4 Jeskai Ascendancy
34 other spells
Sideboard
1 Deprive
3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Pact of Negation
2 Swan Song
3 Wear
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
2 Timely Reinforcements
1 Unburial Rites
15 sideboard cards
Build this deck at Card Kingdom.
Forward by: Matt Dolge
Written by: Jordan “Mana Dork” Short