Haven of the Spirit Dragon seems like an auto include here, for it's ability to recur your primary wincon, and allow you to cast your Ojutai (although this reason is less relevant).

I love Dragonlord Ojutai, and actually have an Esper deck running 2 copies of him right now.

PeaceIsBetter - thanks for the comment. Haven of the Spirit Dragon seems like an interesting inclusion. Good for recursion; not sure what land I'd swap it out for, as I'm pretty happy with the mana base.

Dragonlord Ojutai, admittedly, is a pet card of mine. However, I think he's really solid in the right list.

Have you considered Tolaria West to help search for Minamo, School at Water's Edge or Eiganjo Castle. Love the deck, love Ojutai! Got to say I didn't think of using Blessed Alliance to save Dragonlord Ojutai, I'll have to add a couple in my Esper dragon deck.

skoobysnackz - I really like that idea of Tolaria West and will begin testing it. Could also search up a Celestial Colonnade for a wincon, or Engineered Explosives for removal. Blessed Alliance is great in this list; added removal, life gain, and of course a Dragonlord Ojutai saver if we don't have Minamo, School at Water's Edge or counterspell.

1)25 land is minimum if you play 4x Ghost Quarter

2)If you play hard control, how do you plan to play 7 counterspells? I think 10 is the optimal number!

Endy Thanks for the comments and questions.

1. I could see going to 25 lands, but 24 has been just fine especially with the amount of card draw built with Ancestral Vision, Serum Visions, and Spreading Seas. This list has a slightly lower curve than other UW control lists. Crucible of Worlds on curve is an angle too.

2. 7 counterspells have been fine, considering counterspells are not superb in modern because of Cavern of Souls and Aether Vial. If you look the UW lists that have done well at tournaments or MTGO most play between 6-8. I don't like Mana Leak because of the nonbo with Path to Exile and how dead it is late game (where we are certainly aiming toward). Logic Knot is not a turn two play and I'd need to play more fetches. My goal isn't to counter creatures but to deal with them on the battlefield. I play Negate for planeswalkers and other cards that are more difficult for me to remove once they hit the field.

I play paper magic.And if you play hard control, 7 card with mana coast 4+. You have to play a minimum 25 lands.

In composition of counter magic, I would play:2x Remand2x Mana Leak2x Spell Snare3x Cryptic Command1x Logic Knot

When against us Cavern of Souls Of course the most part counter magic leaves

Thanks for the response. 25 lands is correct, and I haven't had an issue yet, will certainly consider it.

Not really sure why a hard control list would want Remand, which has a better home in tempo of combo lists. Sure it replaces itself, but you have to deal with whatever is cast the very next turn and we don't have the kind of pressure to capitalize on the tempo play. If I'm countering something I want it to be gone.

I used to think Mana Leak was a necessary evil in UW Control. The nonbo with Path to Exile makes it lose its value quickly. Sure, drawing it early and hitting a Thought-Knot Seer or Liliana of the Veil is solid, but what about drawing it turn 10? Devoting 2+ cards to a card that loses value the longer the game goes in a list that want to go long doesn't seem like where you want to be.

I like the idea of 1x Logic Knot, but that would probably require playing 2 more fetches.

but what about drawing it turn 10?

But after all, quite large KA you will not worry for one drawing Mana Leak.

Remand is KA an early answer flashback spells! Himself before the start of testing was very disagree with the use of his!But after playing around 10 local tournaments, i believe that Remand a fairly good answer to many things. But everything depends on you meta.

Mana Leak is often dead on turn 8+. Sure, you might be able to profitably use it in conjunction with other counters, but that requires very specific situations. It just feels bad when Path to Exile is my primary spot removal.

I'm assuming KA = card advantage. How many times are we remanding a flashbacked spell? I'll admit, as an Ancestral Visions player, getting Remanded feels bad, but like I said before Remand isn't where I want to be. When I cast a counterspell, I want the thing gone.

Why not run Silumgar's Scorn? In a dragon deck this could be a functional Counterspell

I like it nice deck man.