Esper Sliver deck, with a few cute combos that can really make your opponents wince. its almost pure sliver, which i feel suits the tribe best. there are a lot of great abilities in blue, white and black that can supplant about any enchantment or sorcery you would want to synergize with the deck.
the point of the deck is to put the shields up and win by attrition. there are some good reach abilities, so you're not just sitting on your hands while your opponents dance circles around you. unfortunately, there are not alot of offensive buffs, but ive played enough W-R-G sliver to know that offense with slivers comes at the dramatic expense of control and survivability.
Homing Sliver: i dont know why i dont see these guys more often--theyre almost mandatory, especially since you can cast it for its cycling cost in any color combination sliver deck. but one mountain and some terramorphic expanses should let you hard cast it if you feel so inclined to optimize your hand in perpetuity.
Necrotic Sliver --
Pulmonic Sliver
-- (Telekinetic Sliver) --
Psionic Sliver
: this combo works well with a couple pieces missing, but this is the optimal state. sacrifice a creature to destroy anything, then put it on your library. use another creature to do damage past tapped creatures (hopefully), and you get your sliver back. since youre gonna have alot of slivers present from all the protection, this might not be too hard to do late in the game.
Talon Sliver
--
Toxin Sliver
: this one is well known. it's a great rattlesnake tactic that makes other players not want to attack you, unless they can find a way around it, which is hard with shroud and regenerate.
Psionic Sliver
--
Watcher Sliver
--
Clot Sliver
--
Essence Sliver
: not bad for some life gain on demand, especially considering that you throw some punches at the same time. if you dont have the +0/+2 buff around, then you can regenerate your slivers instead.
Day of Judgment --
Pulmonic Sliver
--
Clot Sliver
--
Brilliant Ultimatum
: The finish move. make sure this one is ready to go from the first turn you start it, so it can resolve by the turn after. swipe the board clean, while regenerating as many slivers as you can, especially Pulmonic (you want him around when the dust settles). put all your slivers on your library, and cast Brilliant Ultimatum to get some of them back. the ones that dont, go back on your library to be drawn later. it gives you a keen, lo prodigious board advantage sooner than the other players, so you can start chipping away without qualm.
i understand that the sliver queen combo is rather popular amongst players, which is why i specifically stayed away from it. i wanted to see if i could perform the same tasks while moving at a prodigious pace rather than scramble for the win condition--keep it subtle. it takes too many slivers in too many colors to make it work without a hitch, and when other players see the queen is on her way they nab all the Go for the Throats, Cancels and Swords to Plowshares that they can get their hands on.
in light of this, i feel this deck would fare well in melee. it combines deterrence, reach, and survivability into a delightful synergy that seems harmless from a glance (except for Necrotic Sliver). unless, of course, your opponent uses some really awful tricks on you, at which time you throw his $200 mill deck out the window for playing it outside tournament.
