Pauper: Jeskai Bounce - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Cryogen Relic has been one of the biggest highlights of Edge of Eternities for Pauper, and players are still exploring ways to leverage the new artifact in the Metagame.

With a reason to try a splash of again in Boros Synthesizer decks, some players are mixing the card with the already familiar combination of Kor Skyfisher and Glint Hawk, complementing Experimental Synthesizer and adding other relevant blue cards to the maindeck and sideboard, giving rise to the recent version of Jeskai Bounce.

This is the list I tested with the release of Edge of Eternities. In particular, it's too close to a Jeskai Wildfire while trying to replicate the mechanics of Boros Synthesizer, and I'm not sure if that's where we want to be with this type of strategy—cards like Custodi Squire, for example, feel dated by today's standards, especially in a list without Ephemerate.

Despite this dissonance in plans, Jeskai Bounce is more synergistic and consistent than I imagined. We traded aggressive lines, which are particularly ineffective, for more card advantage with Cryogen Relic, and the ability to use only Flying creatures with Krark-Clan Shaman provides a considerable board advantage as the game progresses, allowing us to function very similarly to Affinity/Jeskai Wildfire without the need for Dispute effects.

Maindeck

The Bounce package.

Glint Hawk and Kor Skyfisher are classic examples of this strategy in Pauper and offer cheap ways to reuse Experimental Synthesizer and Cryogen Relic and generate plenty of card advantage. Furthermore, they are our main beaters in this version.

Custodi Squire is a recursion of our creatures with a 3/3 body with Flying. We can bounce it with Kor Skyfisher to return other copies of Skyfisher, or use it to return artifacts or enchantments to play. Five mana is a steep cost, but we can mitigate it with Cleansing Wildfire.

The main targets.

Experimental Synthesizer and Cryogen Relic have basically the same function: they generate card advantage when they enter and leave play, allowing two draws each time we return them to the hand and play them again. Their extra abilities are relevant for longer games.

Lembas is the best of the two-mana colorless artifacts with ETB effects, mainly due to Scry 1 and the fact that we can sacrifice it to gain life and avoid a defeat against High Tide or force them into extra steps or to gain some extra life against Burn.

Krark-Clan Shaman also interacts well with Cryogen Relic and Experimental Synthesizer while functioning as a one-sided sweeper since our creatures have Flying. We complement its board-clearing potential with Hunter's Blowgun, which turns it into a Day of Judgment for one mana and an artifact.

Makeshift Munitions repeatedly deals with small creatures, increasing the possibility of closing out the game over the course of turns and also generating card advantage with our artifacts.

Kenku Artificer turns any artifact into a 3/3 creature with Flying and is notoriously powerful with the Bridges in our mana base. We can reuse it with Kor Skyfisher and also return it from the graveyard with Custodi Squire.

Galvanic Blast and Lightning Bolt are the best one-mana interactions in Pauper today and double at our list by increasing our clock, given that our beatdown plan is quite slow in some matchups.

Journey to Nowhere operates as unconditional removal against Writhing Chrysalis and Tolarian Terror without losing its usefulness against other creature decks.

Thraben Charm remains one of the most flexible cards in Pauper and has gained renewed relevance with the rise of Spy Walls.

Eight Bridges are required to interact with Cleansing Wildfire, transforming the card into a red Rampant Growth with Explore. It's worth noting that Cleansing Wildfire also deals with the opponent's lands, which is important for matchups against Tron or archetypes with Utopia Sprawl and Wild Growth.

Ancient Den complements the number of artifacts we need to enable Metalcraft and also allows us to play Glint Hawk "for free" if necessary, and Perilous Landscape can search for basic lands, and we have enough access to colored mana to pay for its Cycling later on.

Sideboard

The splash also grants access to Hydroblast to respond to Red Aggro and other red-dependent archetypes more effectively, complementing Pyroblast for Faeries, Terror, and High Tide.

Navigator's Compass also works against Aggro decks as a way to reuse a lifegain effect while also functioning as manafixing.

Relic of Progenitus has become more necessary with the rise of Spy Combo, but it remains a relevant tool against Tolarian Terror, High Tide, Tron, and even Madness Burn.

Dust to Dust primarily targets Affinity, but it will also be relevant if new artifact-based archetype variants emerge due to Cryogen Relic.

These two slots are flexible.

The extra copy of Krark-Clan Shaman handles strategies like Elves or even Mono Red Rally/Synthesizer Red. It's possible to include it against Dredge or Spy Walls, but it requires too much effort to work in this matchup as we also need Hunter's Blowgun or sacrifice too many artifacts, so it's not a common side-in.

This extra Shaman can be replaced with a second copy of Negate. Since we have a slower game plan, it addresses various metagame issues well without compromising our access to mana to play it, and it fits into a dozen different matchups—from combos to Jund Wildfire or Black Gardens.

Mono Blue Terror

IN

OUT

Jund Wildfire

IN

OUT

Synthesizer Burn

IN

OUT

Spy Walls

IN

OUT

Mono Blue Faeries

IN

OUT

Grixis Affinity

IN

OUT

Elves

IN

OUT

High Tide

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!