Thanks for the ideas everyone. I got my hands on a playset of Hero's Downfalls, so three will be going in main. I will be tuning this for my local meta, so Drown in Sorrow will be key, while Bile Blight will be riding on the side (for those occasional token decks).

13

Wow!

GrafOdin This deck started out with a full playset of Anticipate. I have found it to be completely lackluster, and have slowly trimmed them out. I will have a look at Jace's Ingenuity, early draw would help this deck and Treasure Cruise was not getting the job done.

haysmafia1 I totally agree. Anticipate should cost one less and it would be awesome. For two it's just not good enough since it doesn't net you card advantage.

Changes made, need to playtest. I'm at 61 right now, the last man out is going to be either Ajani or one of the Crux of Fates (seems to be an emergency only card, I haven't needed to use it in a match yet).

PLA Should be the last one out. As well as Ajani Steadfast. 4x Hero's Downfall.

Starting to plan ahead, there are a few interesting ORI cards that may work in this deck:

Calculated Dismissal

Psychic Rebuttal (sideboard, against burn decks)

Languish (replaces Drown in Sorrow)

Infinite Obliteration (sideboard, against Reanimator decks)

Need to work in a couple of Radiant Fountains, probably drop a couple of Temples.

honestly, Radiant Fountain is pretty unplayable with this manabase. You have Bile Blight and Silumgar's Scorn. You might be able to get away with it in just u/b cause you don't have a third colour, but Radiant Fountain works best in just u/w control.

I didn't do so well at FNM last night (1-3), so changes needed to be made. Anticipate is absolutely horrible, what a waste of a slot.

Ruthless Ripper is going to give me exactly what I need: an early game blocker with deathtouch. Since this deck doesn't have ramp, I can't get any of my dragon's out early. I need something to block the midrange (3-4 drop) creatures and this fits the bill. Plus, the morph cost is perfect for my deck (leaving my mana open) and the -2 drain for the opponent is icing on top :-)

Need everyone to give feedback quickly, so I can be ready for Sunday Night Standard tomorrow at my LGS.

Your mana base is off, you don't need a plains and you need 4x Temple of Deceit. Weave Fate indicates you want to go more ''pure control'' but you're also playing more threats than usual indicating a midrange approach, kind of anti-synergizing, also Jace's Ingenuity is well worth the 1 mana extra and better than Weave Fate, but I would simply not play any of the two. I would run 4x Dig because Esper dragons is a deck that wants to answer threats more than win through pure card advantage. Ruthless Ripper is triggering the dead removal your opponents are supposed to be having in their hand, which is bad. Dissolve is still a better option than Dissipate even in a world of megamorph, I would cut Ojutai's Command and run a playset of Dissolve.

Oh wait... now it's a netdeck X)

In all seriousness I think Esper Dragons is dead, only 4 top 8's out of 30 for abzan and 30 for G/R devo... Decks have adapted greatly to the deck and once Origins hits it will be even worse with Languish and Infinite Obliteration. I will definitely be playing pure U/B for Magic origins, here's my list : Click here. Feedback and +1s are always appreciated too!

To brush it off, I think you've made some interesting choices and it's always good to try out new things but I think Esper Dragons is a well established archetype without too much tweaking to be done. Keep up the good work!

Updated in prep for FNM. I expect a few more changes after I get my hands on some ORI cards this weekend ;-)

• Infinite Obliteration
• Dark Petition
• Day's Undoing
• Languish
• Calculated Dismissal
• Clash of Wills

Let's discuss these ORI goodies and how I should incorporate them into my Esper Dragon/Control deck.

Im not the best control player in the world, but I'm just going to share my opinions on these new cards. I think Infinite Obliteration is a very strong card, but I think it should only be in the sideboard. You already have 9 counterspells, and 11 removal cards so dealing with creatures shouldn't be an issue. I will be putting a couple in my sideboard only because my friend are threatening me with Gaea's Revenge.

I won't be playing Dark Petition because I am running 3 Dig Through Time and 4 Anticipate, so finding what I need isn't an issue in most cases. It is a good card, but im not sure how it will do in control. (Also sorcery speed).

Day's Undoing feels at home in a control deck. The fact it ends your turn after resolving isn't an issue due to the amount of instants we run. I can see this as maybe a turn-6 or 7, so you can refill your hand and leave up mana for counter magic. This may replace 1 land and a Dig though Time. Not sure, but its great.

I don't like Languish. I can see it being in a sideboard for what ever aggro decks come from origins, like goblins and elves, but I would rather pay the extra 1 mana for a Crux of Fate or an End Hostilities. It's too unreliable... And im going to say what everyone else says, it doesn't kill Siege Rhino.

Calculated Dismissal I found to be really strong. Slows down early aggro and it doesn't take much to get a scry 2. It isn't better than Dissolve, but when it rotates, this will replace it. (in my opinion)

Clash of Wills was the counterspell I was excited for, but while testing, I found it to be a let down. The argument being, it is a turn 2 counterspell! Which is great! But isn't Silumgar's Scorn better? The longer the game goes, the worse Clash of Wills becomes. But all you need is a dragon and you are running 4 copies of Counterspell.

This is just my opinion! I am not too excited about origins but man! Day's Undoing is so good!

If you wan't, could you check out my deck and leave some suggestions. Mine is a budget take on Esper Dragons (not your specific deck, just the archetype). I don't have much money at the moment. Esper-Control ft. Dragons! (POST-ROTATION)

I personally don't think Day's Undoing belongs in a control deck, the entire game you're trying to run your opponent out of threats, then get ahead with your draw spells like Jace's Ingenuity and Dig Through Time, slam 1 threat and win.

It's true that Day's Undoing fills your hand with answers again, but it also fills their hand with threats. I think you're better off having a different draw spell.

I can see Day's Undoing in a blue/red burn deck or some combo deck in another format, but not control.

iLegendGames thanks for the discussion, a lot to ponder over & playtest. I'll go check out your deck now...

-1 island/+1 dismal backwater, -2 swamp/+2 caves of koilos, -1 plains/+1 temple of enlightenment. Having a plains in your starting hand can be really bad with Bile Blight, Silumgar's Scorn and Hero's Downfall. Esper Dragons has the strongest spells at the cost of having the worse mana, you cannot afford less than 12 ETB tapped in this deck at the risk of losing games to color screw. I invite you to go check out MTG top 8 lists for mana base inspiration.

Ojutai's Command does not have all its modes active in your deck, having some Arashin Cleric in your sideboard could maybe serve as an argument for playing the command but even then Dissolve is a lot better. OC only counters creatures and you ABSOLUTELY want to be countering Elspeth, Xenagos, Sorin or any problematic enchantments (Ascendancy, Whip). Ojutai's command IS NOT Cryptic command :P.

I don't like Liliana in your list, I think she fits more in a U/B deck by playing her with 8+ mana available and leaving mana up for counterspells. Esper Dragons is more of a midrange deck than pure control and I don't think you want to be patiently waiting to hit 8+ lands to play Lili (which won't affect the board too much). Sadly enough, green decks are now on par with Esper Dragons in terms of card advantage and they will put up a surprisingly good fight in the endgame.

Just making sure that you know what you're doing, 3 Ashioks is a meta call to fight Abzan megamorph so if that ain't the case you can drop your numbers to 2 or 1 to include things to fight decks you find more problematic.

You know what I think about Esper Dragons once Origins is released but hey, lets do our best to adapt your deck to your meta! You'll probably have trouble fighting U/B decks from Origins so maybe we'll have to include stuff like Dragonlord's Prerogative and Thoughtseize to be able to resolve your threats, we'll see!

If you have up voted this deck, thank you! If you haven't left a comment, plz do so. Even a simple comment like "+1" will let me know that you up voted and that I should go to your profile and check out your decks and provide feedback.

If you have viewed this deck but didn't upvote, plz let me know why.

Thx :-)

OK,

I've decided to take this in more of a midrange approach. My local meta is extreme aggro, and they appear to have seen this type of build before and have adapted.

When I put out a Ruthless Ripper as a morph, they will lose their minds. "Wait, I thought he was playing Esper Control, what the hell could that morph be?"

Chump blocking a fatty with a morph that I can easily flip. Oh yeah, that fatty also dies now thanks deathtouch ;-)

Feedback welcome, trying to tune this deck to stand up to the fast-paced aggro decks at my LGS/FNM.

This deck is ok, I like your Abzan one better. I still upvoted tho.

I really like Ruthless Ripper in your list. I am a relatively new Control player but may i make some suggestions?

At first, what about Languish? A turn 4 board sweeper could be helpful against aggro decks.

Other cards i would suggest are Clash of Wills and Calculated Dismissal. Both only need one blue mana instead of two like most other counter spells. So it is less possible to get mana screwed and you have a counter on turn 2. But like someone said before, Clash of Wills lose value over time, so it is more a sideboard card.

The last card is Tasigur, the Golden Fang. I know about the delve-conflict between Tasigur and Dig Through Time, but against aggro decks you may in need of an early blocker which can survive some damage.

Most cards i suggested are new, so their effectiveness has to be determined but maybe some of them are helpful for your deck.

Anyway, +1 and keep working.

Thanks magicplayer3, great insights!!

I'll probably drop the Negates & Disdainful Strokes for Calculated Dismissals.

I'll also probably drop the Foul-tongue for a Tasigur, the Golden Fang.