- Commander(s): Jhoira ageless innovator
- Color Identity: Izzet
- Game Plan: Breach & artifact synergies
Moxfield Link: https://moxfield.com/decks/7rde2WsI2UukFFPqcWmgnQ
“i’m not sure how jhoira works”
Jhoira Ageless Innovator is a C tier fringe deck that rewards brewing and skilled play. Brewers advantage doesn’t exist here. “I’m not sure how jhoira works so i’ll cut it off at the knees” is how many mid range and control decks will play against it. Turbo decks can fly right under us. With all those negatives not many decks can give you the dopamine the plays this deck offers. The most compelling aspect of this deck is its customability; with no solved gameplan. it can lean turbo, stax, control, or midrange.
My Version:
I have a love affair with sensei’s divinig top and it’s play patterns. Add powerbalance and counterbalance. Rhystic and Fish. Thought Lash at the top end. Reality chip, Mystic Forge, Crystal skull. The core of the sensei package that enables decision trees on the cast of every opponent spells. Add the cost reducer’s etherium sculptor and cloud key for a win line.
I lean hard into underworld breach. Going so far as to finding room for Dragon’s rage channeler and codex shredder. Grinding station is obvious.
One of the key questions when brewing jhoira is how many untappers to play. Right now I’m at 8 for jhoira plus manifold key.
What are the best Big Drops? I’ve kept my jhoira as low to the ground as possible. Chimil is insane. its jhoira’s grand abolisher. Early God pharoah’s statue can secure a win. Nexus of becoming is deceptively good, draws a card, puts nearly any permanent into play, and adds a creatue. coveted jewel draws cards and makes mana.
Jhoira is basically a mana engine. which means drawing cards is the bottleneck of the deck. I deal with this by playing wheels. Wheel of fortune, timetwister, and memory jar. i’ve tested memory vessel as it has a neat effect playing against rhystic study. and i’ve been looking for slots to cram in misfortune or windfall.
Your meta and build will determine your stax package. because i went with sensei top package i’ve crippled my version’s ability to play effective stax. A lot of builds will play symmetrical tax effects, evading them with jhoira and artifact synergies. As i’ve played the deck and leaned more into breach synergies i’ve narrowed my stax package down to 5. Mindlock Orb is low key one of the best stax pieces in the format. it hits every deck and changes games. I’ve decreased my tutor density so it hurts less, but it’s not fully one sided. i’ve rationalized it by looking at the sub optimal tutor options for breach. i think the best in izzet is muddle the mixture. well besides gamble. Tormod’s crypt is just fast. needing to deal with T2 and T3 breaches and lumra’s. if it slows the game a turn it does its job. disruptor flute is a beast of a stax piece. turn off thrasios kinnan or sisay. i also ran pithing needle when i played more stax. god phaoroah’s statue is nearly an auto in any jhoira build. and i include spellskite as a stax piece able to disrupt targeting combos. Goblin welder and engineer mitigate symmetrical stax effects and when i played more stax i leaned into these effects with trash for treasure and daretti.
Everyone has been cutting interaction. i try to keep it tight, but i find it hard to go too low. right now at 11 counterspells, 3 bounce, and counterbalance.
Started playing this deck with 28 lands. As i’ve played i’ve cut and cut and seen only gains. Right now at 20 land with 2 MDFC.
Play Patterns and Gameplan:
The average good hand, not the nuts, goes like this
- Two pips and cast jhoira
- activate jhoira for a 3 mana payoff like inuition. or just advance board
- activate jhoira with an untapper get 6 drop. statue stalls game. chimil setups protected T4.
- Good hands can attempt a win get 6 drop without untapper
- Average hand can attempt win.
It can definitely can be hard to gain enough advantage without a rhystic or fish to break through. There is a decision crux with this deck. we really aim for a T1 jhoira but with out payoff theres nothing wrong with a T2 jhoira. When we do. we cant play Fish T1 or T2. If we can make it that far though we can be in really good position no matter the seat order. Many Jhoiras cut some mana rocks, I dont. I want my T1 jhoira activating on T2 for an acane signet to play rhystic. i go even further playing lotus bloom and mox tantalite rocks i can only play with jhoira.
Without a draw engine or a resovled wheel this deck will stall out. this is where the fun is though. board actions with goblin welder, sensei’s top, and the balances. Though Lash is special with the top of library strategy. it obviously goes with thassa’s oracle, but with just sensei’s top it clears the way. with a balance and a topdeck look its a hard lock or free spells. with just a topdeck look you can basically tainted pact for any artifact. it also prevents damage!
thx for checking the thread, its a work in progress. i’ll make it better. peace out.
