Desecration Demon isn't really on the level that AEtherling , Blood Baron of Vizkopa and Obzedat, Ghost Council are. He's very easy to remove or to play around.

I have no experience with Debt to the Deathless , but that card also seems unnecessary. I'd take out the Demon and the Debt and get a 4th Azorius Charm , Far / Away , Supreme Verdict and some other removal(s) you already have 3 of.3 Jace, Memory Adept is also excessive, 2 is more than enough.

Other awesome things you could consider are: Haunted Plate Mail , Celestial Flare , Jace, Architect of Thought and I want to encourage you to do your absolute best you can to aquire 4 Sphinx's Revelation !

Take a look at my Esper Control: Esper Mind Games for some ideas, read my description and there's a lot of good comments on it to read and consider too.

Oh and +1. (:

Grenthox, Thanks for the advice! I agree with you completely on the Desecration Demon , they have to go. They rarely work out in play testing, amd they have to go. Also, since it's a control, I have TONS of mana floating around, I thought Debt to the Deathless would me worth it, it has won me some games. Of course, it is still in the testing phases so it's still changeable.

I agree with most everything gacde says. The only thing I have to add is maybe throw Dimir Charm in somewhere. Great early game removal, a counter, and pseudo card advantage. Celestial Flare is another card that he mentioned that I highly recommend.

You're welcome, glad I could help.

Also, just because you float on mana and it can win you games, doesn't mean it's a necessary card to put in. What you have to consider is, what do you do with it when you draw it early game, while you could've drawn (and maybe needed to draw) cheap removal or card advantage? Granted, same goes for AEtherling about drawing it early, but you'll play it much sooner and has a lot more impact.

It could be a finisher against Control Mirrors, but drawing it early game vs. Aggro(or anything really) will potentially lose you a game. For this reason I would limit its use to the sideboard and even then there are better cards to be used against Control mirrors.

It's also a sorcery, if you got your opponent to below 10 life you basically already won with probably AEtherling or Obzedat, Ghost Council , tapping out on a sorcery is not recommended, it'll be unblockable AEtherling (Or 10/10 flying Blood Baron) damage versus tapping out for a sorcery with a chance to get countered, I rather tap 5 for 8 unblockable damage, or tap while doing 10/10 flying.

As for Dimir Charm , it's not really worth it. I've played it a lot when I first made my Dimir deck, but it falls short. I never countered a sorcery, as far as I've seen, sorceries aren't being played that much either. The 2 power removal is just bad versus other 2 cmc removals, the 3rd option might be the only thing that could have its uses, but weighing up against other control options, is just not enough.

Tap nothing while doing 10/10 flying* I meant to say.

Grenthox after play testing some more, I can't help but agree with you on the Debt to the Deathless . I would find myself desperately needing a removal card, and drawing it, or it would just be in my opening hand and sit there, never being used. What do you suggest I replace it with? I do have 63 cards in the deck, maybe just take it out for nothing?

Shaotic, Dimir Charm isn't amazing for this kind of deck, it has a LOT of removal by itself, and I don't want to totally clog it up, but Celestial Flare is an interesting idea.

Also, threw together a starting sideboard, it mainly counters Control decks, which is by far my weakest match up, with all my creature removal. Let me know what you think!

Celestial Flare is a card I highly recommend, it really is amazing, it's more selective and cheaper than Far / Away sacrifice and it just punishes aggressive decks.

Looking at your mainboard as it is, I think you're safe taking out the Debts for no replacement.

An interesting card that someone suggested to me to side in against control mirrors is Notion Thief , using it to steal their Sphinx's Revelation draw.

I would also put 2 Blind Obedience in your sideboard as it's amazing against Aggro. Other than that, I'm still working on my sideboard and the sideboard is mostly something to be tweaked towards your local meta.

I would recommend Opportunity In the place of Sphinx's Revelation that's what works for my U/W/R control

flyers33 I did use Opportunity as a filler card at a recent FNM I went to, (Placed 4th), and I found that sometimes I would draw it in the early stages of the game, and it would just sit there until I could use it, 7-8 turns later. While it is okay, I wouldn't put more then 1 in the mainboard. Is there any more draw cards you use?

Sadly not anything for post-rotation. Great deck though.

If you're looking for a lower costing draw spell there is Inspiration

In my Esper control I run 3 Opportunity and 1 Inspiration and it works great.

If you're going to use Gates, you might as well use Scry lands instead, where you can.

Whip of Erebos has a ridiculously awesome interaction with AEtherling and Obzedat, Ghost Council .

The lifelink it gives your creatures can also occasionally swing the game.

Just saying that a "one of" might not be a bad idea.

Whip of Erebos is a interesting idea GVand, it might be a interesting sideboard option, but I don't think it would get much use in the main board.

Why are you contemplating Opportunity and not running 3-4 Sphinx's Revelation ?? That is the card draw and life gain you need in mid-late games to stabilize. That card IS control decks.

Itzmogz I do have 1 Sphinx's Revelation and replaced the Opportunity with it, but they're somewhat outside of my price range. I got my one with a trade I made, but I am definitely looking to get some more.

Ahhhh ok, because that is the card you need man. I personally run 3-4 and I probably wouldn't play control in this format without them, as it's too hard to stabilize and re-coop at the same time without it, since that's exactly what it does lol. Good job on going 4-1 without it though! Check out my control build I'm playing if you want, it's U/W only, and took 2nd on Friday with it. Azorius Control FTW +1 to you, cheers!

Sphinx's Rev is way too easily shut down, people who run two Erebos, God of the Dead, can give you cards in hand with no life, and sometimes it is better to have the life. as far as your counter spells, why not try using dissolve? counter target spell and scry, its a good card. the deck itself looks pretty stable and balanced, id love to see it run irl instead of on here like i will do.

Detention Sphere answers Erebos, God of the Dead . Even if you don't have the sphere in hand, rev'ing for it isn't the worst play in the world if it's all you've got. An opponent being able to negate the lifegain doesn't mean you shouldn't run Sphinx's Revelation , it just means you might have to answer it.

I agree about Dissolve , it's pretty much the de facto counter spell in standard right now. I'd definitely run it over Essence Scatter in the main board. You rarely need to fear a two drop as Esper control and Dissolve hits everything, plus it has scry which is awesome.

Played this deck at fnm tonight and got top 8 for the first time ever! Thanks for the awesome decklist

flyers33 Hey, thanks for playing the deck list! And congrats on placing in the top 8! I'm glad it worked out for you. :)

You guys make above make it sound like top 8'ing an FNM is something difficult to do, and this decklist is way too raw. Only 1x Sphinx's Revelation isn't gonna cut it in a control deck my friend, 3-4 only!

Itzmogz While top 8'ing in FNM isn't like winning, it is still an accomplishment, and should be recognized. Not trying to be disrespectful, just saying. Also, I do agree with you on the Sphinx's Revelation , they're not only somewhat out of my price range, they're quite hard to get in my Shop, since every other guy plays Control. The deck does lack some draw power, but I'm working on it. Do you have any suggestions?