If you hadn't noticed from the focus of my articles lately, the evolution of Jeskai decks in Khans/Theros Standard fascinates me.

It's rather comical that a number of people referred to Kevin Jones' week 1 list as being "a few cards from perfect", only to see Jeskai strategies split in several very different directions.

Credit where it's due, Jones had Mantis Rider while there were some who were still skeptic. But the closer you are to Jones' list right now, the less likely you are to see success. Most notably because of this card:

Siege Rhino, the bane of Jeskai.

Then came Ivan Jens, who showed us a version of the deck that was lower to the ground with the possibility to combo with Jeskai Ascendancy.

Despite winning an open, Jens' list didn't really catch on. Most Jeskai players stuck with their Goblin Rabblemasters, and those trying to go heroic played closer to Tom Ross's Azorius build. Part of the reason for this deck being less enticing is that the combo comes Springleaf Drum--an affinity all-star with a reputation for being lackluster everywhere else.

Jeskai Ascendancy has a reputation for being a combo card, but it has been showing up in block constructed as part of an aggressive Jeskai shell. It's unclear whether or not these lists were Yuuya Watanabe's inspiration for his Ascendancy aggro deck, but regardless, his list is proving to be a force to be reckoned with, with multiple players playing nearly card for card, finding themselves in The top 16 of the SCG Stanadard Open in Portland this weekend.

For reference:

Rather than trying to combo, Yuuya's deck capitalizes on Jeskai Ascendancy as a Glorious Anthem that grants psuedo-vigilance and some card filtering. In particular, Yuuya's deck shows off the combination of Jeskai Ascendancy and these cards:

Tokens and anthems aren't any kind of hidden tech. Looting and delver clearly play well together. The real gem here is convoking Stoke the Flames with a Jeskai Ascendancy in play. Fireblasts that don't even require you to sacrifice lands are unreal.

Did I mention that you get to loot when you do this, too?

Obviously you can just pick up Yuuya's list and do well. Brad Nelson hardly changed anything and took second at the Portland Open this weekend. That said, there are a few slots I'm unsure of, and there are elements that are fairly easy to adapt to.

For starters, how good is Hordeling Outburst when people start showing up with more Arc Lightnings, Anger of the Gods and Drown in Sorrows? The deck is currently in a space where, without some help from Ascendancy, Drown in Sorrow actually kills all of its creatures.

In all honestly, I'm not convinced that Hordeling Outburst is better than Mantis Rider to being with. In a head-up fight, which would you rather control?

The argument in support of Hordeling Outburst is that it's better with Ascendancy, it helps you delve, and that it takes more work to kill all the tokens with spot removal. Conversely, Mantis Rider is stronger against sweepers and planeswalkers due to its haste and evasion.

I'm wary of Raise the Alarm. Token decks with access to more anthems can take advantage of cards that are as weak as Raise the Alarm, but I'm not still not entirely convinced it's the best fit here. Being an instant speed threat is nice and all, but 1/1s aren't exactly tough to deal with.

I also don't get Chandra, Pyromaster. As a card drawing engine, she's slow. As a Falter effect, she's inefficient. As a burn spell, she's underwhelming. Even with the sum total of these things, I'm not buying her as being worth the slots.

Monastery Swiftspear is a mainstay in the block constructed version of the deck, and it's been doing well in my version of Jeskai. At this point in time, I'm interested in hybridizing these decks. It's true that you get more value out of your anthem with more bodies, but I'm confident in saying that Swiftspear is stronger than Raise the Alarm and that multiple prowess triggers is comparable to multiple bodies. Against larger opposing creatures, it's often better.

As of now, this is the maindeck that I'm looking at:

From my manabase, you can see that I think basic Mountain kind of sucks, too. Hitting your colors on time is just too important when you're this low to the ground.

Notably, this list isn't much better against Drown in Sorrow than Yuuya's. The plan is to board out some of your threats that can be Drowned for post-board games, as the sideboard is where the majority of Drowns currently live.

An interesting card that sees play as a four of in the block list and was also featured in Jens' heroic version is Defiant Strike. It's awesome with Ascendancy, helps with Treasure Cruise, and it lets you be a little sneaky against Drown. It's definitely not good enough to sideboard, but it's a possible maindeck inclusion in the Magma Jet/Searing Blood slot.

Should I be Speccing on Ascendancy?

No. Probably not.

If there was going to be another Standard spike, it would have already happened:

We still don't know if it will be legal in Modern forever. And while it's arguably a passable option in Legacy, it won't be a very popular deck there, as it's not cheaper than other, better combo decks.

When they rotate out of Standard--if still legal in Modern--that would be when I would start thinking about acquiring them, but even then for only very cheap. There are just so many copies about, and, despite very high Standard demand, they're still barely over $2. They certainly aren't about to go crazy overnight.

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Have any thoughts on what the next innovation in Jeskai decks will look like? Have I hit the nail on the head or am I way off? Let me know in the comments!