Champion’s Deck 

Treasure Cruise - Jeskai Stoneblade

Jeskai Stoneblade by Brian Braun-Dunn

1st at Grand Prix New Jersey Legacy on Nov. 16th 2014

It was a daily double last weekend with Treasure Cruise decks winning both this and the Modern GP in Madrid. Despite that though there was not an abundance of Treasure Cruise swarming the top 8 with a total of 10 copies between 4 decks, and they were each a distinct archetype. It wasn’t even the bogeyman UR Delver which won which was the other deck running the full 4 copies and there was an amazing diversity between all 8 decks.

The core of this deck comes from the supreme artificer Stoneforge Mystic and the two singleton targets she has with Batterskull and Umezawa’s Jitte. The main line of attack, if your coast is clear, would be to search for the Batterskull and then beat your opponent to death with it and because the Mystic will cheat it in the actual cost is irrelevant. Now there is a caveat to the end of the last statement where you may be concerned with Mystic eating a removal spell which is where you can easily search instead for Jitte which can be easily cast if necessary. A natural contender to carry said Jitte is found in the pair of True-Name Nemesis that can easily connect to start the counters accumulating on the Jitte. There is also a full set of Young Pyromancer who’s natural synergy with the 30 instants and sorceries will have little trouble finding a suitable suitor to suit up these pieces of equipment. Speaking of the spells this deck is rife with card draw sporting full sets of Brainstorm, Ponder, Gitaxian Probe and especially newcomer Treasure Cruise all there to help you burn through your deck to find all the gas. Then there is a modest counter suite with a full set of Force of Will, a pair of Spell Pierce and even a couple of maindecked Pyroblast as a concession to the abundance of Treasure Cruise expected in the meta. Then we round it off with removal finding trios of both Lightning Bolt and Swords to Plowshares as the most efficient while providing a little extra reach.
Now while this deck is certainly no new concept the appearance of Treasure Cruise has done a lot to ripple the otherwise fairly stagnant waters of Legacy. Don’t expect a huge upheaval of the format but it’s always interesting when thing change for better or for worse. If you like tempo style decks this is definitely a well rounded deck which has a ton of game and is fun to play. But don’t be surprised if the meta continues to warp hate in your direction as it continues to suppress Treasure Cruise weilding selections.
Eric J Seltzer
@ejseltzer on Twitter
Email: ejseltzer@hotmail.com