The list has been transformed a lot for the most recent meta. Lots of UW control (thanks Reid) and RW burn. Mono black is still a thing, but the simplified versions which are now running just swamps and mutavault as the landbase are doing much better (due to being smoother than the versions that use temples and splashes). Mono blue is still out there putting up some good numbers too.
MAIN
-LAND-
8 Shocks - 3 colour decks with some colour intensive spells really requires your lands to be able to tap for more than one colour of mana. The option to have the land enter untapped can be the difference between winning and losing too.
12 Temples - More multicolour lands for the reason above. Every scry is about 1/3rd of a card so it's like drawing an extra card just for playing lands. Temples are at their best in control decks because a control decks spells are better at different stages of the game.
6 Basics - Untapped lands to keep up pace without losing life is important. It will let us play turn 4 Supreme Verdict more often and less damaging to ourself.
-WIN CONDITIONS-
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion - Not only is it a board sweeper for those monster match ups, she also protects herself by making blockers. Spam 3 guys until she's at 7 or 8 loyalty and then swing for up to 27-36 damage in the air.
1 AEtherling - Great in the mirror match, almost impossible to get rid of once it sticks. Hits for 8 unblockable damage and can then block after flickering itself. Another sneaky thing you can do is reduce its power to 3 so you can -2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion.
-DRAW-
4 Sphinx's Revelation - Often, you cast one of these and you win. The card advantage with all that mana you built up is unstoppable. The life is also extremely relevent as you get into that stage of the game where often a Lightning Strike or gray merchent of asphodel could kill you.
4 Jace, Architect of Thought - 2 mini Fact or Fictions is pretty good. Plus the ability to stem some of the bleeding when your opponent is swinging with lots of creatures.
-REMOVAL-
2 Dimir Charm - Multiple functions that get used for different match ups. Kills Mutavault & weenies. Can counter the increasingly popular Planar Cleansing, Thoughtseize, Duress, Dreadbore, rakdos return.
2 Ultimate Price - Cheap, Efficient removal. Good for pretty much every match-up. Important note: Doesnt kill mutavault.
2 Hero's Downfall - Great spot removal spell with the option of killing planeswalkers (which can be a problem for this deck).
2 Thoughtseize - Great against mid-rangey decks. Information of the opponents hand so we know when to play our win condition and what we need to use our counters and removal for. Great in the mirror too. One of the main reasons to play esper over UW.
4 Supreme Verdict - Often a 3 or 4 for 1. Kills tough to remove creatures like Pack Rat, Blood Baron of Vizkopa and anything hexproof. Buys us more time and gets us to the late game.
4 Detention Sphere - removes anything awkward which slips through the net. Pack Rat, Enchantments and planeswalkers. Sometimes Pithing Needle and Whip of Erebos.
1 Banishing Light - Because 4 Detention Sphere isnt enough. Also lets us remove opposing Detention Spheres.
1 Deicide - Kills opposing Underworld Connections, Whip of Erebos, Detention Spheres & Banishing Light. Insanely good upside for killing Gods. Worst case scenario, it's killing a Courser of Kruphix or getting scryed to the bottom against burn.
-PERMISSION-
1 Syncopate - Great for countering early plays. In the late game, you typically have more mana than the opponent too. It's at it's worst in the mid game I think.
3 Dissolve - Hard counter for the mid-late game. Scry is also not irrelevant. Protects your win condition in the mirror.
1 Negate - Cheap hard counter. Stops Domri Rade, Underworld Connections on the draw. Stops other planeswalkers, burn spells and helps protect our Elspeths from removal.
SIDEBOARD
Currently being evaluated.
-- Joshua Quant Josh5591 --
