Pauper: Jeskai Ephemerate Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

I'm Tiago Fuguete, and today we're going to talk about a control deck, which has done very well against the Pauper Metagame.

Here's the decklist

The Jeskai Ephemerate already existed, but it has improved a lot with Cleansing Wildfire and the indestructible artifact lands, which allow you to ramp and draw a card, when used together.

I even like to call the deck Jeskai Wildfire, since the deck is a bit dependent on using this ability in the first few turns to be able to have more mana than the opponent, thus managing to have more answers.

I can even say that it has practically the best of each ofs its three colors because with White we have gained life with Dawnbringer Cleric, creatures like Soul of Migration and the tokens it makes, protection with Ephemerate and recursion with Late to Dinner.

In Blue we have answers with Counterspell and Dispel, cantrip with Preordain and creatures that draw like Sea Gate Oracle and Mulldrifter, in addition to Archaeomancer which combined with Ephemerate yields a huge value.

In the Red part, we have removals like Lightning Bolt and Abrade, ramp/draw from Cleansing Wildfire, and Ardent Elementalist that plays the same role as Archaeomancer. We also have the monarch Crimson Fleet Commodore, and our sideboard with Dust to Dust, Hydroblast and Pyroblast - that is, it is a very complete deck with everything it needs to be good in the format, but this has a cost, which is being a little slow, so it suffers a bit on the early game.

As I said above, the deck is a stack of good cards. But for everything to work in sync, we need to understand a few things, like Mulligan. It's important to always have red land and Cleansing Wildfire in the starting hand to ramp up and Preordain, so we can get the things we need during the game. We know that we can't choose the starting hand, but we always must evaluate it well, so we don't get stuck on few lands and without answers.

About posture, I must confess that I've suffered in playing with this deck: I like to be aggressive in games and here it is necessary to be very calm.

We have to understand that Jeskai Ephemerate is a Control deck, and that it will take time to win. We manipulate the game, killing the right creatures, and suddenly the game will be controlled — and only then will we win.

This posture may seem strange, but this is how we should behave: with patience to be able to choose the best alternatives during the game and, of course, a good practice with the deck.

vs. Affinity

This match used to be one of our worst, but with the banning of Atog and Disciple of the Vault, it improved quite well

In Game 1, we have Abrade in main, and that can help us a lot, since Affinity nowadays has more land to target. If Archaeomancer with Ephemerate resolves, it might be even better.

In Game 2 we also have a great sideboard that can be fatal: Dust to Dust, which by exiling artifacts, can also get rid of indestructible lands.

Side in:

Side out:

vs. Dimir Faeries

Here we have a complicated game, but good for both sides. There are two decks that try to take advantage of every move, and it's a patience game.

We need to be careful with Ninja of the Deep Hours and resolve our Mulldrifter, which, in addition to stopping the faeries, will give us the card advantage our deck needs. On the post-side, we have Pyroblast to help us out.

Keep an eye out for cards from your opponent's graveyard, always trying to prevent Gurmag from hitting too soon by activating Relic of Progenitus every turn or even popping it if necessary.

Side in:

Side out:

vs. Bogles

Bogles enter as a representative of aggro decks, a type of match that is supposed to be good for our deck, as we have a removal lock with Archaeomancer, Ephemerate and Lightning Bolt.

I know it doesn't target Slippery Bogle and creatures with hexproof, but for that, we can also change the Lightning Bolt lock to Dawnbringer Cleric, which destroys enchantments when it hits the board. In this case, we still have a great side with more Dawnbringer Cleric and Circle of Protection: Green.

Side in:

Side out:

vs. Boros Synthesizer

Here we have another tricky game, as playing against either version of Boros currently is a bit difficult, but it's a 50/50 game and if you counter and kill the right cards, the game can get excellent for us.

The biggest problem or advantage can be the sideboard, since both us and our opponent use white, indestructible artifact lands and, of course, a side with Dust to Dust — which, if well played at the beginning of the game, can be very advantageous and even decide the matchup.

Side in:

Side out:

vs. Jeskai Ephemerate

Finally, you have to have a mirror, right?

Here the game is very complicated, a mistake can be fatal, missing land drops can be fatal, falling into a bait can be fatal and having to make a risky play? That's right, it can be fatal.

That's because we have the same strategy: generate more resources than the opponent and try to lock them, and it becomes a tedious game to play, and here training is critical to make the right decisions.

Side in:

Side out:

One thing I need is about the cards that go very well in the deck, and can be substituted according to your tournament or store Metagame.

You can remove:

I believe that every deck has some kind of flexible slot, and for me, these cards are a beautiful example in that list.

You can add:

Taking about why each card that can go into the deck:

Seeker of the Way is a great alternative to gaining life, as the deck has a lot of non-creature spells to trigger.

Lone Missionary is a great side against Burn.

Lose Focus is one more counterspell to help control the game. As one of our strategies is the ramp, and we will usually have more mana, it ends up being easy to use it. One thing that also helps is that it doesn't cost two blue mana like Counterspell.

Skred will be a great removal if, in addition to Lightning Bolt, you want to have more options.

The last two options are for sweepers, Electrickery and Fiery Cannonade can be great for both maindeck and sideboard.

To finish this article, I say that this deck is good, it plays well in any matchup, but it takes a lot of training because at each turn there are several possible moves. And if it's in MTGO, it takes a lot of practice not to waste time.

Any questions or suggestions, just leave it here in the comments, and I'll come back to talk about it!

Thank you very much, and I hope you enjoyed the reading.