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Esper Lich

Standard* WUB (Esper)

Maxxim0

Land (24)

Sorcery (14)

Planeswalker (6)

Instant (9)

Enchantment (3)

Artifact (4)

Sideboard

Instant (10)

Enchantment (1)

Sorcery (2)

Artifact (2)

Maybeboard

Planeswalker (10)

Instant (11)

Enchantment (6)

Creature (2)

Sorcery (14)

Artifact (5)

Land (2)

I've played this deck since the namesake card came out in DOM, and honestly I think it has everything it needs now to be a Tier contender. Very similar to Esper Control, using Lich's Mastery instead of Teferi, Hero of Dominaria . The prospect of using both sounds attractive, but at the end of the day they have very similar uses at the top end of our deck. The strength of Lich's Mastery lies in abusing the abundant 1-mana-gain-3-life spells in Standard to body light attacks in the early game, then grind out unbeatable card advantage in the late game. I change the exact numbers all the time but here's an overview of the staples:

  • Navigator's Compass fixes our 3-color-mana-base wonderfully while padding our life total in the early turns. It allows us to play Reliquary Tower and Navigator's Compass turn 1, starting us with 23 life and some insane mana-fixing throughout the rest of the game. Compass can turn the tower into any land type you need for checklands, When Mastery comes down it becomes a colorless Ancestral Recall / Omi-Mox.

  • Healing Grace Prevents 3 from any source and Gain 3 life. That's essentially countering two burn spells against aggro, and a 6 damage pad against early game beaters for a single . With Mastery, it becomes a fusion of Ancestral Recall and Healing Salve . Ancestral Salve?

  • Nightmare's Thirst combos with all our cheap lifegain to allow a consistent 2-mana "gain 4, target creature gets -4/-4" combo that will kill most anything that comes out early. The effect scales up too- Late-game, the combo gains the added effect of "Draw 4 cards" for no extra cost.

  • Dawn of Hope gives our lifegain spells some psuedo-cycling if we're desperate for draws, and makes tokens to beat down on empty boards. Worst-case, you can sac tokens to Lich's Mastery to save your hand/lands.

  • Sanguine Sacrament is overlooked for this kind of deck all the time, I've noticed. It's actually the best late-game card to play once Mastery is down. Does drawing 20 cards sound amazing? Reliquary Tower means we get to keep 'em all. In tandem with a single copy of Psychic Corrosion , you'll mill enough cards from the opponent's deck to make even Fleet Swallower blush!

  • Lich's Mastery is our win-condition, and if it successfully resolves we can usually win the game. While you'll be tempted to jam it down turn 6, be wary of your graveyard, the opponent's hand, and board-state before you cast it. Our biggest weakness aside from a few niche silver bullets is big damage, so our primary concern should always be making sure the opponent's hand and board is clear before casting Mastery.

With the help of Esper Control's usual suspects, you will regularly draw your entire deck (but not lose because of Lich's Mastery !). And what card works best with an empty deck? Nexus of Fate . Once infinite turns have been established, just beat face with Dawn of Hope soldiers or drop Psychic Corrosion and win the game!

3 tips I'd have for people wanting to try building around this card:

  • Always have a plan before you cast Lich's Mastery . If you haven't seen the opponent's hand and can't hold up a counterspell or get the engine started, don't play it.

  • Make sure you have Reliquary Tower on the field before you go TOO crazy drawing cards. Discarded cards in the graveyard can still be used to pad your life with Mastery, but being able to play them as well is much stronger.

  • Your worst enemies are Cleansing Nova and River's Rebuke . If you suspect the opponent has either of these spells, save a few Duress , Thought Erasure , Negate or Absorb just for it. there's pretty much no other way to play around these otherwise.

Suggestions

Updates Add

RNA / WAR update — April 21, 2019
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Updated with my most recent paper build

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Date added 6 years
Last updated 5 years
Splash colors UB
Legality

This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)

36 - 3 Rares

10 - 12 Uncommons

11 - 0 Commons
Cards 60
Avg. CMC 2.64
Tokens Soldier 1/1 W w/ Lifelink
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