Legacy: Jeskai Flow Control - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Greetings, Legacy community! Another week has just begun, and we're talking about Flow State once again. This powerful sorcery from Secrets of Strixhaven is still shaking up the format and popping up in tempo, combo, and control lists, as we imagined when we reviewed this set.

In my last article, we discussed this tempo list that plays this card, but now we're moving on to the other side of the spectrum and checking out a control list that plays it!

Today, we'll use this list by morsaa as our base. This player actually got to top 8 at a Magic Online Challenge 32 with it, battling 50 other players. This is the good, old Jeskai Control we all know, but it plays a few different options to deal with the Magic Online meta. It also opened some space to play the 4 Flow States as a cheap way to create card advantage without making the same sacrifices that the Bant version needs to make to play Up the Beanstalk.

The Jeskai Control base is quite iconic. I discussed it several times in previous articles when I reviewed other versions of this strategy (like Miracles and Wizards): Force of Will, Brainstorm, Ponder, Swords to Plowshares, and some copies of Prismatic Ending, Lórien Revealed, Force of Negation, and Teferi, Time Raveler.

In addition to all these cards, this list plays 4 Flow States. A deck that plays 16 instants and 12 sorceries will have no trouble activating it. Though you can, theoretically, play and get 100% out of it on turn 2 (you can play Ponder on turn 1, then counter something with Force of Will), this is not what this list does. Instead, from turn 3 onward, this card will allow you to keep playing lands and still have mana for answers or card draw.

As with every deck like this, you'll have to win the game eventually, somehow. The two ways this deck has to end the game are 1 copy of Monastery Mentor and 1 copy of Forth, Eorlingas (which can become two thanks to Snapcaster Mage). In practice, you have 3 other win conditions because of Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student. Once transformed, you'll quickly get her emblem, and this, in turn, will win any game if it resolves. One of the few things in Legacy that can stop it is if you take an Orcish Bowmasters as an answer to its third ability.

Besides the main core and your win conditions, this list also plays a variety of answers to several threats. You'll lean on the many card draw tools in this list to find the right pieces for the right situations.

Wrath of the Skies deals with the boards Boros/Mardu Energy/Artifact decks create. It also destroys Urza's Saga and all its Constructs.

Prismari Charm is another Strixhaven addition that covers several situations, either by returning that annoying card to the opponent's hand, dealing with that annoying Ocelot Pride or Orcish Bowmasters, or simply by filtering your deck and drawing a card for you when you don't actually need it.

Back to Basics is still a great threat that can beat the right decks, particularly those centered around Planar Nexus.

Minor Misstep might not be Mental Misstep, but it deals with a lot that sees play in Legacy. Many decks that try to push mediocre hands forward solely on Brainstorm's back will struggle against this card.

Finally, Snapcaster Mage is a bit broader. It will allow you to reuse cards that are more efficient in certain matches or simply create value by giving flashback to a Brainstorm or Flow State.

One interesting detail is Karakas, which is clearly an answer to Sneak n'Show.

Whether this archetype is strong in the meta or not, control players will be a part of Legacy. This game style is quite popular, and when truly competitive control lists come up (like now), it feels like the format is full of it.

So, if you enjoy long matches, answering everything your opponent does, and eventually winning the game somehow, Jeskai is perfect for you.

As this deck doesn't stick to a well-defined game plan, it can keep a wide variety of hands. You basically need lands and ways to make your cards work, like Brainstorm, Ponder, and Flow State. Force of Will and Force of Negation will make any hand stronger, particularly if the opponent plays first.

Let's see a few examples.

This hand is quite risky. In practice, it has 2 lands because of Lórien Revealed, but 2 of the cards above cost 3, and I can't see a cantrip. You can set up some decent strategies with it, like passing turn 1 without doing anything to have mana to either play Minor Misstep or cycle Lórien Revealed and make sure you have Tamiyo once it's your turn again.

But, as this hand have cards that are useful early on, like Monastery Mentor and Wrath of the Skies, I don't believe you should keep it. You should mulligan it.

This hand is similar to the first hand above because it has Forth Eorlingas!, but it also has a guaranteed second land and Force of Will for emergencies. You should keep it.

This hand is also quite decent. It has Brainstorm so that you can find more resources, Force of Negation for emergencies, and Prismari Charm as an ace up your sleeve. You should keep it.

This hand can transform Tamiyo on turn 2, which is one of the strongest combos in Legacy. You should keep it.

Once again, as it usually happens with these decks full of cantrips (and now with Flow State as well), you can play lots of diverse answers in the sideboard because your odds of finding them are quite high.

Pyroblast/Hydroblast are the best answers against blue/red in Legacy. Surgical Extraction is the best answer against graveyards. Consign to Memory has become one of the most popular sideboard cards in Legacy because it deals with many strategies at once: Eldrazi, Forge, Tron, Initiative, Storm, to name a few.

Let's see the most interesting choices. Null Rod deals with Forge, Tron, Affinity, and Storm directly. It also hits other decks, like Red Stompy and Oops. Humility is a direct answer to decks that want to cheat out monsters in play with Show and Tell.

Ruination will destroy Planar Nexus lists. Deafening Silence stops those combo decks that try to do a lot at once, like Storm, Oops, and Doomsday.

Finally, the extra copy of Monastery Mentor is another finisher in this list, so it's great against decks that can deal with your cards, like those that play lots of discards like Smallpox. It also performs well against other control lists and is useful when you need to put more pressure on the opponent.

Dimir Tempo

Dimir lists have been either more aggressive (with Moonshadow) or more midrange (with Flow State), but they're still quite similar. Thoughtseize can break your strategy completely, so you must save Minor Misstep to avoid it whenever possible. You can deal with their main threats quite efficiently with Swords to Plowshares (with the exception of Kaito, Bane of Nightmares and Orcish Bowmasters). As this matchup will center around direct combat, your "Forces" are less effective. You'll bring up your Pyroblasts, which are much better in this sense, and an extra Mentor.

In:

Out:

Show and Tell

This matchup won't be easy because, if they have Show and Tell and Force of Will to back it up, you'll be in trouble. Both Atraxa, Grand Unifier and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn can beat you easily. Atraxa creates too much value, even if you have Swords to Plowshares, and you don't have answers to Emrakul except for Karakas or Teferi, Time Raveler. You'll remove your "aggro-centered" cards to get more Blasts and your best card against them, Humility.

In:

Out:

Boros Aggro

The best card in this matchup is Wrath of the Skies because it clears the board and takes Goblin Bombardment with it. Nonetheless, it can't deal with Ajani, Nacatl Avenger.

The most important thing you must do in this matchup is prevent them from hoarding too many resources. So, you can throw your Swords to Plowshares and Prismatic Endings on their first valid targets and lean on Wrath to reset the board when you can't trade your cards directly anymore.

Depending on the case, a Monastery Mentor creating 2 or 3 tokens can be enough to steal a win, so you'll get another copy of it.

In:

Out:

Oops

Game 1 is all about the dice: if they start playing, you need Force of Will, and if you start playing, you'll look for Minor Misstep too. There's not much we can say other than that: they'll either play their combo on turn 1, or you'll take this one home.

Post-side, you'll get more answers, both to deal with their graveyard combo and Goblin Charbelcher. You'll only keep some Swords to Plowshares and your Wrath of the Skies if they decide to get more creatures or if they build a board with Narcomoeba and Poxwalkers.

In:

Out:

Trini Tron

Game 1 is a nightmare for you because they can drown you in mana and your only valid answer is Back to Basics. Even that is vulnerable to Ugin, Eye of the Storms. If that happens, you might as well accept defeat and move on to your sideboard.

Trinisphere is problematic, but it won't end the game. Karn, the Great Creator and The One Ring, in turn, will usually beat you quite fast.

Post-side, you'll get more tools to deal with them: Consign to Memory, Null Rod, and your best threat, Ruination. Basically, your post-side plan is to force them to compromise their lands to Ruination or lock them down with Back to Basics and Consign to Memory to protect yourself from Ugin.

In:

Out:

Apparently, we'll still discuss decks with Flow State for a long time. It fits lots of decks, as we could see in this article, in my past article, and probably will see in the next articles. I really liked this list in particular, and I hope control fans like it too.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!