Since very early in its existence, control in Modern has been largely defined by the Jeskai wedge. Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile are the premier removal spells in the format, and the ability to buy them back with Snapcaster Mage is powerful enough to hold its own against most of the format. The only issue is that these decks tend to struggle to close out games. Even with Nahiri, the Harbinger in the mix, the Jeskai control decks are really bad at racing - in a format as fast as Modern, that’s not always something you can afford. So what happens if you cut all the most controlling cards and clunky win conditions in favor of a more streamlined, aggressive gameplan?

Jeskai Aggro - Modern | Dan Jessup

• Creatures (20)
• 4 Goblin Guide
• 4 Mantis Rider
• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Snapcaster Mage
• 4 Stormchaser Mage

• Spells (21)
• 4 Gitaxian Probe
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Lightning Helix
• 4 Mutagenic Growth
• 4 Vapor Snag
• 1 Twisted Image

• Lands (19)
• 1 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 4 Inspiring Vantage
• 4 Scalding Tarn
• 4 Spirebluff Canal
• 2 Arid Mesa
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Steam Vents

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Gut Shot
• 2 Path to Exile
• 2 Smash to Smithereens
• 4 Spell Pierce
• 3 Surgical Extraction
• 2 Geist of Saint Traft

Buy This Deck

It’s been awhile since a tempo deck has had what it takes to compete in Modern, but this deck may represent the revival of that style of deck. The key to this strategy is to have a one-drop on turn one. With Goblin Guide and Monastery Swiftspear as your two aggressive one-drops, this deck is much more consistent than some Delver of Secrets decks.

This is, in part, because the deck isn’t playing Delver of Secrets or Serum Visions. Certainly, this means that you don’t have the same kind of explosiveness that flipping an early Delver of Secrets provides. However, it also means you can use your mana more efficiently to threaten your opponent’s life total, which is critical in a format this aggressive. You don’t need huge openings with this deck. All of the haste creatures let you take huge chunks out of your opponent’s life total while using Vapor Snag and Lightning Bolt to keep the board relatively clear.

The raw efficiency of these cards is critical because it forces your opponent into situations where they have to play into cards like Mutagenic Growth and Vapor Snag, which can become enormous tempo swings.

If you want to be the beatdown in Modern, but don’t want to be quite as all-in as Burn, this seems like a great place to be right now. You’ll steal a surprising number of games with Snapcaster Mage and Lightning Bolt, and you have all the tools to turn close races into absolute blowouts.