Esper Mentor

Modern

MusicxFreak

Creature (8)

• 4x Monastery Mentor
• 2x Snapcaster Mage
• 2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang

Planeswalker (2)

• 2x Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Land (22)

• 2x Creeping Tar Pit
• 4x Flooded Strand
• 2x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 2x Hallowed Fountain
• 2x Island
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Plains
• 4x Polluted Delta
• 1x Swamp
• 2x Watery Grave

Instant (14)

• 1x Azorius Charm
• 4x Path to Exile
• 2x Slaughter Pact
• 2x Surgical Extraction
• 4x Thought Scour
• 1x Zealous Persecution

Sorcery (14)

• 4x Gitaxian Probe
• 3x Inquisition of Kozilek
• 4x Lingering Souls
• 3x Thoughtseize

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Sideboard

Creature (3)

• 1x Blood Baron of Vizkopa
• 2x Spellskite

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Curse of Death's Hold
• 3x Stony Silence

Instant (3)

• 2x Disenchant
• 1x Surgical Extraction

Sorcery (5)

• 2x Rain of Tears
• 3x Timely Reinforcements

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Esper Mentor is a deck that focuses on low-costed spells in order to take advantage of the card Monastery Mentor. It originated in Japan in the God Series on 22 February 2015, being piloted to victory by Ichikawa Yuuki. Most people believe this deck to be an aggro deck due to the fast nature of the deck. However, I would say is incorrect. My opinion is that the deck is closer to a midrange style utilizing hand disruption and kill spells in order to decide when to play a threat. Also, an important thing to know about playing the deck is that you should not attempt to jam in Mentor as fast as possible. Instead, it's better to obtain maximum value out of it by casting a flurry of spells the same turn the Mentor hits the field in order to get a few tokens immediately. Many people may ask "Why not just play Red-Blue Pyromancer?" The answer to that question is simple. The tokens have prowess. This turns the tokens into a pretty decent sized beater after only a few spells, giving you a much faster clock. Also, being in Esper colours gives you access to some of the best cards to reach a quick flurry of spells. This version of the deck is slightly different from the 75 presented by Yuuki at the God tournament. The card most of you are looking at with skepticism right now is probably the Surgical Extractions in the main board. After testing, I've found this card is never dead. The deck runs six mainboard hand disruption spells, allowing you to pick their best card from their deck (let's say Snapcaster Mage or Splinter Twin) and then Surgical Extraction it! Also, because of this change I have found that two Ghost Quarters effectively combo with Extraction against Tron to stop the assembly! Being that other versions of the deck basically lose to Tron, that's a big upside. Another difficult match is burn. The main reason being that this deck hurts your life total. A lot. The best way to combat burn is either to out race it or not hurt yourself until you find a Sorin. Esper Mentor is a brilliantly devised deck that has so many different options that each and every game is different. The deck requires more skill than most decks in the format which for me personally is the main reason to play the deck. It feels good to finish the game, win or lose, and be able to say "I won/lost because of my play, not my deck." I would suggest this deck to anyone who has played modern for a while and knows the format because it is a truly satisfying deck to play.

Date added	9 years
Last updated	9 years
Legality	This deck is not Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 22 - 8 Rares 15 - 5 Uncommons 8 - 2 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	1.89
Tokens	Emblem Sorin, Solemn Visitor, Monk 1/1 W, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 W, Vampire 2/2 B