I think 4 Shambling Vent is too many. I'd remove two for a Blighted Cataract and a Blighted Fen.

I'm not sure how consistent your Silumgar's Scorn will be. I might replace it with Clash of Wills.

Looks pretty good otherwise. You'll have to test for more results.

ducttapedeckbox

Yeah I wasn't sure if having 4 Shambling Vent was going to be overkill or not. Will definitely change it out and see how it goes. As far as Silumgar's Scorn goes I was honestly not sure if to include it. I had it on the list because this was to be your typical Esper Dragon Control, but I wanted to break away from the mold and not run dragons other than Ojutai.

Do you think Ob Nixilis Reignited & Dig Through Time are enough for card advantage? I am also pretty insecure about my sideboard. Should I keep Silumgar or swap it out for another removal/counter/walker?

I think you'll be better off without Scorn. It's an excellent turn 2 counter, but the chances of that coming out with Ojutai in hand are slim. Clash of Wills is an easier cost and serves the same purpose.

Now that you mention it, I might try to get another draw spell in there. Ugin's Insight or Dragonlord's Prerogative would be strong.

Don't attempt a sideboard yet. It's not worth your time until we see what the meta looks like.

Also, please, please cut your card count to 60 :)

ducttapedeckbox

Thank you for reminding me about Ugin's Insight. I originally had Treasure Cruise and pulled it out as I was going to replace it with Ugin's Insight but it must have completely escaped my mind.

Teehee! I added an extra Blighted Cataract which is why the count was at 61.

I am thinking to make room for 2 Ugin's Insight maybe I could take out 1 Dig Through Time and 1 Foul-Tongue Invocation.

Foul-Tongue is a good one to remove one of, but I think the four Digs is very good. I might just add one Insight there and see how it works before making more changes.

I'm working on a similar list actually, except I have a red splash for Radiant Flames and a few other one-ofs, and probably some sideboard tech. I'd offer to test, but I'd like to avoid knowingly playing a control mirror.

The only real Suggestion i could make thoug i know its kind of a budget issue would be 1 or 2 of Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip Hes insanely good in control decks being able to draw you cards weaken opponents creatures, and turns your graveyard into your hand for Instants and Sorceries.

Nimbus171

Yeah he is really good. I don't know if he is 100$ good though (assuming I would get 2). I am keeping my eyes out on him if I can snatch a good trade, but otherwise I am not willing to pay for it. While he is good at the last FNM I went to he got sideboarded out a lot thouhg. I don't know if it was just a bad card against my Mardu deck, but he didn't seem to get a whole lot of steam going. Regardless, what would you suggest I replaced IF I got my hands on 2 of them?

The_RiddleboxI think you could do away with 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor and 1 Dig Through Time because jace gives you early game draw power if he isnt answered immediately. And having early game draw power can allow you to cut down on 1 expensive card. Where as with sorin his ability to make 2/2 flyers is good. But hes not the best walker to be running as a control deck.

Aren't 5 Blighted Cataract a bit much?

horusemerald for whatever reason when ever I edit the deck it randomely changes the number of them. First time i made a change it bumped up the number as well.

It's only supposed to be one.

I think it looks pretty solid. Not completely sold on Sorin here though, other than for his ultimate.

Yeah sorin is in here because i thought it had a cute synergy with gideon, token gen, and some life gain. But i am likely to replace him with Narset as soon as i get my hands on a couple.

I tried to run the similar deck as your against the blue/red milling (with Sphinx's Tutelage). I got my butt kicked by that because of the stupid Sphinx's Tutelage's ability to mill my library out every time whenever he draw or cast the spell to draw more. I think more non-creature counter spell cards are better for sideboard against G/R Burn Deck and any deck which have almost none of creature spells.

levimc

I will be honest with you: I am not worried in the least about U, U/B, U/W, U/R, Esper or Sultai mill decks. Yes they can cause disruption and if thwy get their combo started then it's a problem but let's be real, it isn't the most played/popular deck so I won't sideboard against a deck I have yet to see in my shop.

My sideboard atm is a work in progresa. I pack it full of removal because I was expecting to see lots of aggro/midrange decks, which was the case in the past FNM. Plenty of Landfall and Allies decks were played.

I do thank you for the reminder as I may put 2 counters in my sideboad to be more consistant during control matchups. I'm expecting people to try more control heavy decks since the top 4 decks were at FNM were all control. So we will see how it goes.

Is G/R burn a thing? I thought burn died with the rotation, but if it is a thing still then I can just sideboard in Orbs of Warding.

Thanks for the suggestions!

The_Riddlebox

I totally understand that your sideboard is still a work in progress as well as mine. If you are lucky to draw or start out with a single Orbs of Warding before you end up to being target by a spell or ability which ruin your plan.

Like what you said earlier, I thought that Burn died with the rotation but someone else did managed to made the red/green burn to kill anyone easier such as Atarka's Command, Exquisite Firecraft, Crater's Claws, Rolling Thunder, Touch of the Void and Wild Slash. But Atarka's Command is what hurt the most especially during the combat step. That's why I am planning to put the noncreature counterspell cards into my sideboard in case if I will never know.

what do you think?

Well, yes you are right IF I am lucky to have the Orbs when I sideboard them, otherwise it might be an issue. At the same time, however, I can dig through my deck at a pretty fast rate + fetch lands help get it out of the bottom if that's where it happens to be.

The only decks I saw running Atarka's Command were Landfall and RDW splasing green. Like I said thought, I probably will throw in a couple of counters in there because I am expecting more control to be played.

I am kind of sitting around Tappedout and see what decks are uploaded to try to predict the meta that might be in my shop, and even here I really don't see any burn decks. Worst case scenario I lose one match against burn and adjust then. I might even be able to dampen burn with Sorin + anything that swings in my deck. I might add Arashin Cleric to deter burn and have early blockers.

Stasis Snare need to be cut out of the sideboard because you have several good removal cards. You may need to add one extra Orbs of Warding in case if the Orbs is on the last card of library you start out with. It may take awhile to getting there before an opponent might end up to ruin your plan. The second ability of Orbs may save your life from damage from the creature's attack even if it's little bits.

Horribly Awry need to be cut out because it isn't that great against the control, burn or milling decks. Negate are very good against them. Dispel may be more cheaper to counter any control/burn/milling instant spell but Stubborn Denial may be better only if you have a creature with a power of 4 or higher on play. Ojutai's Command may be slow to play but not fast enough to counter and not good enough for an extra draw and four life gain while you already have Sorin, Solemn Visitor's +1 ability and several ways to draw/put the card into your hand from library. Not sure if Spell Shrivel is better because of an exiled-related reason.

Not sure why you want to have Crux of Fate in your sideboard while you have Languish in your main board. Once I got Talent of the Telepath'ed by an opponent and Crux ended up to be one of the top seven cards then killed my Dragonlord Ojutai while i have no mana left to counter. Sigh....talk about an unlucky situation.

I am still working on improving the sideboard as of now.

Stasis Snare is there for more aggressive decks where I need instant speed removal. Stasis snare is so good against Atarka Red, or any combo aggro deck. They swing, use up all their land triggers and resources and then....Stasis Snare and there goes their steam. At the most I may cut one for something else.

Orbs of Warding is remaining as a one of. It is literally only there against burn, but since at my LGS I didn't see a single burn deck I am not going to add more until I see more/becomes more popular. Yes the 1 less damage from creature is neat, but we aren't getting swung at by a low of small creatures; we are being swung at with a few big creatures so taking 9 instead of 10 isn't that big of a deal. That's when instant removal is more useful.

Horribly Awry demolished allies and saved me from early triggers. If aggro dies down I will remove it, but as of now it is a pretty solid card. I did consider cutting it down to 2, but I will see.

Stubborn Denial is meh. I am not running Esper Dragons, and I often don't have a creature on the field so Stubborn Denial doesn't seem too enticing in my deck. Dispel and Negate were the counter-spells I was referring to when I mentioned I wanted to add a couple more to my SB because I am expecting more control decks to pop up. Especially Grixis.

Ojutai's Command is so good. It would be even better if I had Jace in the deck. I am sure someone looked at Cryptic Command at one point and said "Man 4 mana to counter something and draw a card? Too slow". I know, I know, this isn't at cryptic command levels, but it's good nonetheless and it's pretty much here to stop midrange decks, or late game threats while giving me card advantage or more life cushion if I need it. "I cast Dragonlord Ojutai" "No you don't, also I draw a card". Also Sorin is highly likely to be replaced by Narset Transcendent.

Crux of Fate was there if I needed more mass removal against midrange decks, and didn't want to kill my Ojutai in the process. I am however contemplating replacing Crux of Fate with Planar Outburst since it is a pretty good card.

People actually play Talent of the Telepath? It is such a hit or miss card lol. In control especially you are basically telling your opponent "Go ahead an play what you want, I tapped out for the turn."

My sideboard literally shined pretty hard during this past FNM. I just need to tweak it slightly, and add more counter-magic just in the off-chance that control is more popular this time around because of how hard it won last FNM.

Keep throwing suggestions out though, I appreciate it!

With 4 digs ditch the anticipates... I assume you don't have Jaces or they'd be there instead? I've tried clash of wills and also hate it... I tried my "awaken" version of Esper without dragons and went back to dragons mostly for the Silumgar's Scorns which is just the best counterspell. Horribly Awry is doing great in MB as is Utter End and even a Silkwrap and Complete Disregard (exiling is great with all these den protectors and crap) As for your SB I would add 2 Self-Inflicted Wound and Surge of Righteousness they have been game savers for me. I've recently refined my list and have yet to lose, 4-0 again tonight, and I've played it against the top competitive tournament decks. Check it out on my page if you wish, it's the one that has perfect in the title ;)

Slowgod

Yeah, if I had Jace it would be in the deck. Unfortunately, while i realize how good he is I can't justify spending half my deck's worth to get a few copies of just him.

Yeah, there were moments were Clash of Wills shined, but I would bet the times it sat in my hand because I was just one mana shy of actually countering something was higher. Would you suggest I MB Horribly Awry and remove clash of wills and SB Negate against control matchups instead? Also what is your opinion of Ojutai's Command?

You really think I should ditch Anticipate? They have been nothing but useful, even with 4 dig through time. Especially early game to ensure I hit my land drops.

I really like Silumgar's Scorn too, only problem is I am only running 3 dragons hehe. Only reason I have Foul-Tongue Invocation is for the instant speed removal.

Replacing the Stasis Snare with Complete Disregard pretty good idea then?

Sorry for the long reply but I'm trying to still get a feel for where my deck needs to be. I will take a look at yours and see how the two compare.

Thanks :)

As someone who played Esper for the last year I'm loving that more Esper decks are popping up around the Standard Magic scene now!

I've found that Anticipate (which I too, think is great) is only replaced by a Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip - if you don't have them, then Anticipate is worth running.

I'd agree with the cut of Sorin, Solemn Visitor for Narset Transcendent as you have said. Her card advantage is great, and being able to Rebound a Dig Through Time is insane. It can even be worth rebounding a Languish or Crux of Fate as in your opponents next turn it's pointless for them to play creatures.

I tried the Sire of Stagnation myself, but by the time you can play him most other decks will have the land they want, or close to it. He eats removal, so unless you wait until T9 to cast him and stil have counterspell mana open to protect him he's just a worse Silumgar, the Drifting Death, where as Silumgar and Ojutai together have the ability to -2/-2 all creatures when they attack; very powerful as that kills off even Gideon, Ally of Zendikar's Knight tokens.

My deck is here, if you want to take a look: Esper Draconis

GeeksterPlays

Thanks, I appreciate the suggestions!

I agree with your point about Sire of Stagnation in my deck it doesnt really impact the board a whole lot. I did initially have Silumgar, the Drifting Death in that spot while building the deck, but later it was replaced by Sire just to give it a whirl.

I will go ahead and take a look at your deck to get some ideas.

And yeah I just recently got into standard but Esper is by far my favorite color combination in most formats.

No problem, I like talking about this stuff :) I agree with Geekster on pretty much everything... I really wanted to like Sire and tried it, but unless you have a way of getting him out early and/or destroying your opponents lands then it's Drifting Death all day in his place. No Jaces, run anticipate, but you could get away with 3 I think. 1 copy of Sorin is fine, but I'd probably cut both and just run a single Narset, get 2 drifting deaths in there and with 5 dragons you can easily run scorns (i've often only ran 5 dragons without a problem)

As for Ojutai's Command I love that card but again it's better with Jace, but it's amazing with Fathom Feeder as well. I've tested the combo and it's worth using for sure. Stasis Snare is really good I think, I haven't used it, but I am still considering it. If you compare it to Ruinous Path it's very close, instant vs sorcery, exile vs destroy, just can't kill PWs or awaken.

If I were to edit your deck first I would get 2 Silumgar, the Drifting Deaths in, cut the clashes for 2 Silumgar's Scorns, maybe leave Scatter to the Winds as a 1 of, keep the commands and add 2 Fathom Feeders, MB 2 Crux of Fate and only 1-2 Languish, definitely MB at least 1 Utter End, and probably 2 Horribly Awry, try Stasis Snare, only 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited is fine, but he's a good 2 of if you wanna keep both...

And maybe consider next time you win packs to get origins instead of BFZ and go Jace hunting ;) I might do that myself even though I already have a playset. There my response was a lot longer, lemme know if you got anymore questions!

Slowgod

Thanks again for the suggestions! I just noticed my deck list showed 4 Anticipate and 3 Scatter to the Winds when it's actually the other way around SO I actually have 3 Anticipates in my deck atm.

I do like the idea of including Silumgar, the Drifting Death and I feel like I should replace the Clashes with the Scorn with that change.

I don't know what it is about Fathom Feeder that I don't like. I know it is a really useful card, and as you pointed out, it has synergy with the Command, but I just don't feel that card. I might test it out as I have exactly 2 of them, oh the coincidences, but I am not gonna MB it just yet.

I will drop my Ob Nixilis Reignited count down to 1 simply because he is neat, I think I have used him more for removal than for card draw with all the aggro decks that were played in my LGS, and often would end up SB a copy of him for something else. Might as well skip the middle man and just leave only one copy in the deck.

UNfortunately I am keeping Sorin until I get a Narset. If I can't get a hold of one by this weekend, I am gonna have to order one online. LGS has none and neither does anyone that attends there hehe, been trying to get a hold of a couple since last week heh.

I really wish I had the option to pick from which set I got my packs, or I would ahve picked packs from Origins last FNM hehe.

Just to add I think I will remove all 4 copies of Duress out of the sideboard simply because it did almost nothing last FNM. I only had them there because I had no idea what to expect, but now I will replace it for more removal/utility.

I like how this looks now, do you have a 2nd Gideon? If you do I'd swap him in the MB with one of the Obs. Despise has been effective for me lately, but don't know if your build really has room for it. Fathom Feeder was really effective at all stages of the game when I used it... People don't like to block it and it ends up exiling something good, after a few turns of this they will probably waste a spell or creature to get rid of it. There's the ojutai's command, instant return/block combo and you can still gain 4 life or draw a card. Late game that draw 1, opponent exiles 1 is a nice ability. I often leave most of my mana untapped and pass turn waiting to react to my opponent, if there's nothing I need to spend mana on before my next turn I activate the feeder.