On Tuesday, the next Commander 2019 deck was revealed, and this time we’re looking at Mystic Intellect – The Jeskai Flashback theme. Once again, a video was released by The Command Zone, and the deck list was released on the mothership. This time only one card seem to be missing from the list, and I think this may have something to do with exclusive reveals reserved for someone in particular. Whatever the case, I won’t be able to share Bloodthirsty Blade with you due to its non-inclusion. This deck was one that I thought I might actually want due to having brewed a few spellslinging decks in these colors recently and still needing some of the cards. I like buying the precons and playing with them a few times before breaking them down into parts. Some of the lands, artifacts and other EDH staples are great to get in chunks like this as well. Some cards won’t ever see play, but that’s the price of doing business in a CCG. Anyhow, let’s get on with the show.

Alternate Commanders:

This is the first time I can recall where the alternate commanders included in the deck aren’t all really suited for leading the precon. Clearly, Elsha of the Infinite is a damn fine card, and honestly is a card that I would use as the commander, putting Sevinne in the 99, but I also see it as being the legendary in the deck to build around. Pramikon is interesting in that it’s the first legendary wall in the game, and people are freaking out about building wall tribal with it. However it doesn’t do anything for walls unlike Arcades or even Doran, so I don’t see the point. In some weird control deck this might fit, otherwise I’m thinking it’s pretty underwhelming. Gerrard also doesn’t feel like it belongs in this deck, but I think he’ll find a spot in some Boros deck at some point. Whatever the case, there’s one alternate here that feels at home and two that feel shoehorned in.

New Cards:

There are several cards here I really like, and already see a place for in existing decks. Backdraft Hellkite would slot into Kaalia nicely as an upgrade to some other dragon and some recursion for spells. Dockside Extortionist is possibly my favorite card from this deck. I love playing mono-red Goblins with Krenko at the helm, and it’s constantly changing because new awesome Goblins keep appearing in each new set. This one is a doozy, giving you a huge amount of ramp for a turn particularly if you cast him later in the game when everyone has at least a couple of mana rocks and maybe an enchantment. I look forward to abusing this one. I’m also rather excited about Wall of Stolen Identity as well, for my Arcades wall deck. Copying a creature is something the deck couldn’t do before, and it’s also temporary removal of said creature so bonus. Otherwise these other cards are fine, just not as exciting.

Notable Reprints:

Sun Titan and Clever Impersonator are just good cards in their colors and though they have been printed a couple of times already, they always creep up in price. The original Ral Zerek was getting up there too, and is a good Planeswalker to add to the collection. That ultimate can net you crazy extra turns and that’s nothing to sneeze at! Lastly, Jace’s Sanctum is a fairly underused but awesome enchantment for spells matter decks. The mana reduction on spells is nice, being able to scry each time you cast a spell is nice too, allowing you to filter through cards that aren’t going to help your current situation, or to set up better for Elsha! It’s good in any blue deck that wants to manipulate the top of their library.

Overall this deck is getting warmer. The first deck didn’t speak to me, but I’m seeing some good stuff in this one. If this pattern continues, I’ll really like today’s deck. I’ll check in with you guys tomorrow once I know more.