Decided to put the list online. Modern Esper Control as of 5.12.2018
Update 7.3.2018
Maindeck
-1× Jace, the Mindsculptor
-1× Collective Brutality
-1× Esper Charm
+1× Tasigur, the Golden Gang
+1× Thought Scour
+1× Lingering Souls
Sideboard
-2× Rain of Tears
+1× Collective Brutality
+1× Batterskull
Update 8.30.2018
Maindeck
-2× Darkslick Shores
-1x Flooded Strand
+1x Drowned Catacomb
+1× Field of Ruin
+1× Polluted Delta
Sideboard
-1× Batterskull
-2× Ceremonious Rejection
-1x Disenchant
+1x Blood Baron of Vizkopa
+2x Stony Silence
+1x Liliana, the Last Hope
Update 11.1.2018
Haven't been able to keep up with the various tweaks from the past month. There have been quite a bit of changes and the deck in its current form has evolved into more of a Terminus focused build than one built around tasigur and lingering souls.
Maindeck
-2x Creeping Tar Pit
-1x Drowned Catacomb
-2x Liliana of the Veil
-3x Lingering Souls
-1x Path to Exile
-4x Serum Visions
-2x Tasigur the Golden Fang
-3x Thought Scour
-1x Thought Seize
+1x Flooded Strand
+1x Glacial Fortress
+3x Celestial Colonnade
+4x Opt
+2x Collective Brutality
+3x Esper Charm
+1x Jace, the Mindsculptor
+1x Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
+1x Supreme Verdict
+3x Terminus
Sideboard
-1x Celestial Purge
-2x Collective Brutality
-1x Damnation
-1x Disdainful Stroke
-1x Flaying Tendrils
-1x Liliana, the Last Hope
+2x Rest in Peace
+2x Unmoored Ego
+1x Vendilion Clique
+1x Spell Queller
+1× Dispel
Update 11.11.2018
Maindeck
-1× Esper Charm
+1× Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
Update 1.7.2019
Maindeck
-1× Fatal Push
+1× Path to Exile
Update 5.6.2019
Another rehaul following the release of War of the Spark, in particular Narset Parter of Veils. Moving away from Jace and Terminus to test out Narset and how it interacts with the Phoenix Matchups.
Maindeck
-1× Esper Charm
-2× Jace the Mind sculptor
-3× Terminus
+1× Fatal Push
+1× Supreme Verdict
+1× Hallowed Burial
+3× Narset, Parter of Veils
Sideboard
-1× Dispel
-1× Rest in Peace
-1× Timely Reinforcements
-1× Spell Queller
-1× Blood Baron of Vizkopa
+3× Nihil Spellbomb
+1× Thoughtsieze
+1× Celestial Purge
+1× Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Update 6/12/2019
With the release of Modern Horizons, there are now several toys at Espers disposal. Main ones I would like to immediately try out will be Kaya's Guile, Force of Negation, and Fact or Fiction. I've also taken the opportunity to test out Batterskull in the sideboard as a threat that can be found off of Narset. Also forgot to update the list last time to reflect Dovins Veto over Negate somehow.
Maindeck
-1x Collective Brutality
-1x Esper Charm
-1x Fatal Push
-1x Hallowed Burial
-1x Negate
-1x Search for Azcanta
-1x Glacial Fortress
+1× Jace, the Mind sculptor
+1× Kaya's Guile
+1× Fact or Fiction
+2× Force of Negation
+1× Dovin's Veto
+1× Field of Ruin
Sideboard
-1x Celestial Purge
-1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
-1x Negate
+1× Kaya's Guile
+1× Batterskull
+1× Dovin's Veto
Update 6.17.2019 Quick edit to remove duplicate Collective Brutality
Update 6.18.2019
Cut the Brutalities all together to make room for the third Force of Negation
Maindeck
-1× Collective Brutality
+1× Force of Negation
Update 7.2.2019
With Hogaak and graveyard decks being at an all time high, I've tried to experiment with various forms of maindeckable graveyard hate. Still debating the merits of maindeck Kaya's Guile in the overall metagame. Updated list to record the latest experimentations
Maindeck
-1× Dovin's Veto
-1× Fact or Fiction
-1× Search for Azcanta
+1× Jace, the Mind Sculptor
+2× Scarab Feast
Update 8.27.2019
With the banning of Faithless Looting and Hogaak, it felt safe to cut down on the over abundant graveyard hate. Moving back to trying cards like Collective Brutality, in the hopes that it's both versatile enough in the new meta in addition to an early source of life gain in the 75 to find off of Narset (always nice to have against burn). As an aside, keeping my Stoneforge Mystic brews to separate lists for the time being, as I'd like to further evaluate it's impact on Modern without just jamming the 6 card package into a deck that might not properly utilize it.
Maindeck
-2× Scarab Feast
+1× Collective Brutality
+1× Search for Azcanta
Sideboard
-1× Nihil Spellbomb
+1× Collective Brutality
Update 9.23.2019
Now that the metagame has somewhat settled, decided to keep stoneforge completely separate from the deck. The uptick in more grindy decks help justify the walker package, meaning that the stoneforge package isn't always the clear cut way to build the deck. Making the following changes to account for the new amount of Jund/Control style decks while still keeping the likes of Burn and Tron in mind.
Maindeck
-1× Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
-1× Collective Brutality
+1× Kaya's Guile
+1× Spell Snare
Sideboard
-1× Batterskull
-1× Dispel
-1× Dovin's Veto
-2× Nihil Spellbomb
+1× Celestial Purge
+1× Disenchant
+1× Anguished Unmaking
+1× Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
+1× Blood Baron of Vizkopa
Update 10.1.2019
Trying some new things with the release of Thrones of Eldraine. First priority will be to test Drown in the Loch, who's versatility I suspect will help with sideboarding in matchups were either removal/counters are bad (ex. Against something like Humans where logic knot and the like would normally come out, this still stays in). Also looking to try Murderous Rider//Swift End in the sideboard as an answer to grindy decks like Jund that also can be a sideboard slot against burn (2/3 lifelink for 3 against burn isn't amazing, but it may get the job done). Finally, looking to try a single copy of Castle Vantress. Not expecting much out of that one, but still want to give it a shot.
Maindeck
-1× Fatal Push
-1× Logic Knot
-1× Narset, Parter of Veils
-1× Celestial Colonnade
+2× Drown in the Loch
+1× Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
+1× Castle Vantress
Sideboard
-1× Anguished Unmaking
-1× Disenchant
+1× Dovin's Veto
+1× Murderous Rider//Swift End
Update 11.6.2019
Been a while since I've gotten the chance to update this. Mostly been distracted by the new Pioneer Format. It only took a week to figure out the Drown in the Loch had real potential to the point where I wanted a third copy. Murderous Rider turned out to be a bust, was only medium overall. Castle Vantress actually surprised me in how useful it was. Without Azcanta to activate it ended up providing a ton of value from a free land when I wanted to hold up mana during my opponents turn (as opposed to another Man Land that might take that slot). Also didn't miss any potential fixing that might have come from a Glacial Fortress or similar. Also, finally decided to move the Vendilion Cliques to the main. They were coming in 70% of the time anyway, and I've been wanting to speed up the clock overall.
Maindeck
-1× Search for Azcanta
-1× Path to Exile
-1× Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
-1× Spell Snare
+1× Drown in the Loch
+1× Narset, Parter of Veils
+2× Vendilion Clique
Sideboard
-1× Murderous Rider // Swift End
-1× Unmoored Ego
-1× Dovin's Veto
-2× Vendilion Clique
+1× Ashiok, Dream Render
+1× Timely Reinforcements
+1× Celestial Purge
+1× Disdainful Stroke
+1× Kambal, Consul of Allocation
Update 1.7.2020
Small update this time around. Most if my time has been on Pioneer brews, but wanted to show how I've dropped a few things to adjust to the Oko/Primeval Titan/Urza meta.
Sideboard
-1× Kambal, Consul of Allocation
-1× Unmoored Ego
+1× Noxious Grasp
+1× Damping Sphere
Update 1.28.2020
A more in depth change since the last update. Titan decks still are quite prevalent, and with field of the dead being a mainstay in their 75s a few more adjustments have to be made to the board to ensure those matchups are still winnable. Unmoored Ego makes its appearance again, despite you no longer being able do things like name Valakut to lock up that matchup. It's mostly back because the Damping Spheres and Ashioks are already there to carry the bulk of the work in those various matchups, and Ego can be suplimental instead of the game winning play it was before. And with artifact decks on the down low we can cut the Stony Silences to make room for more Spheres and Ashioks (since Tron was the only other thing hit by Stony). Other than that Noxious Grasp still has a slot, since despite losing Oko there are plenty of applications against the Titan decks, T3feri decks, and Wrenn and Six decks.
Sideboard
-1× Disdainful Stroke
-2× Stony Silence
+1× Ashiok, Dream Render
+1× Damping Sphere
+1× Unmoored Ego
Update 4.4.2020
Forgot to document the last few changes, though the metagame has adapted even further since then. Urza is still around, and there is less of a focus on big mana decks overall. As such, cards like Unmoored Ego are swapped out for things like Mystical Dispute. Collective Brutality has also once again leaned to the lower ends of the metagame, so that is swapped out while a Thoughtseize is exchanged for a Duress so that the sideboard numbers against Burn and Prowess are still kept in check.
Sideboard
-1× Unmoored Ego
-1x Collective Brutality
-1x Thoughtseize
+1x Duress
+2x Mystical Dispute
Update 6.2.2020
Now that companions have been nerfed, I feel a little more comfortable going back to brewing control shells that aren't obligated to run Yorion. Also shifting the shell to accommodate Mystical Sanctuary, which honestly should have been done long ago.
Maindeck
-1× Castle Vantress
-1× Creeping Tar Pit
-1× Celestial Colonnade
-1× Drown in the Loch
-1× Narset, Parter of Veils
+2× Mystic Sanctuary
+1× Misty Rainforest/Scalding Tarn
+1× Esper Charm
+1× Path to Exile
Sideboard
-1× Duress
-1× Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
-1× Timely Reinforcements
-1× Noxious Grasp
+1× Thoughtseize
+1× Aether Gust
+1× Kaya's Guile
+1× Unmoored Ego
Update 4.21.2021
Haven't updated in ages, mostly because of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Still can't play in paper tournaments, but updating it with my thoughts (especially because cards have been banned)
Maindeck
-2× Drown in the Loch
-1× Narset, Parter of Veils
-1× Field of Ruin
-1× Misty Rainforest
-2× Mystic Sanctuary
-1× Narset, Parter of Veils
-1× Opt
-2× Path to Exile
-2× Vendilion Clique
-1× Supreme Verdict
+1× Castle Vantress
+1× Creeping Tar Pit
+1× Celestial Colonnade
+2× Esper Charm
+1× Fatal Push
+1× Cling to Dust
+1× Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
+1× Shark Typhoon
+2× Mana Leak
+1× Vanishing Verse
Sideboard
-1× Celestial Purge
-1× Blood Baron of Vizkopa
-1× Mystical Dispute
-1× Unmoored Ego
+1× Cling to Dust
+1× Aether Gust
+1× Supreme Verdict
+1× Teferi, Time Raveler
