Jeskai has been a deck to beat in Standard ever since Battle for Zendikar entered the format. The deck has evolved over the week and months and adapted to shifts in the metagame. Do you include Mantis Rider or not? What about Seeker of the Way? Dig Through Time or Treasure Cruise? Soulfire Grand Master or no? Before Oath of the Gatewatch, Jeskai builds were tending toward being more controlling and attrition oriented. Sailrpengn seems to think one particular card from Oath of the Gatewatch may have changed the best way to build Jeskai:

Dark-Dweller Jeskai ? Oath of the Gatewatch Standard | sailrpengn, 5-0 Standard League

• Creatures (16)
• 2 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
• 2 Reflector Mage
• 4 Mantis Rider
• 4 Seeker of the Way
• 4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Chandra, Flamecaller

• Spells (16)
• 2 Dig Through Time
• 2 Dispel
• 4 Crackling Doom
• 4 Fiery Impulse
• 4 Jeskai Charm

• Lands (26)
• 1 Island
• 1 Plains
• 2 Mountain
• 1 Canopy Vista
• 1 Prairie Stream
• 1 Smoldering Marsh
• 1 Sunken Hollow
• 2 Evolving Wilds
• 4 Flooded Strand
• 4 Polluted Delta
• 4 Wandering Fumarole
• 4 Wooded Foothills

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Disdainful Stroke
• 1 Duress
• 2 Kozilek's Return
• 2 Negate
• 2 Roast
• 3 Self-Inflicted Wound
• 3 Soulfire Grand Master

Buy This Deck

On its face, this looks like a return to the more aggressive builds we saw in the beginning of the format. Seeker of the Way and Mantis Rider backed by efficient interaction and card draw. That combination will get you pretty far, especially when people are spending time trying to go big, or assemble pseudo four-color mana bases to support Thought-Knot Seer and other colorless creatures. Being aggressive is generally a good place to be when people are trying to mess around with cutesy things.

The key change here is the inclusion of Jeskai Charm as additional reach and interaction. Jeskai Charm is a card which lets you close out games very quickly, particularly in conjunction with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and Goblin Dark-Dwellers. This gives you a huge number of evasive creatures to help chip in early damage, and the ability to close out games in eight damage chunks by flashing back Jeskai Charm.

On top of that, you have the ability to go over the top of the bigger midrange and ramp strategies with Chandra, Flamecaller. Chandra is uniquely positioned in this deck because every ability is enormously valuable. Chandra can help you keep up the pressure by smashing in for six, generate value in midrange matchups, and sweep the board in more aggressive matchups.

If you’re looking for a midrange deck capable of stealing games out from under the bigger decks in the format, this deck may strike the perfect balance between aggressive creatures, card advantage and burn.