Sign in Blood is coming back for m15, so that will work as well.

Both Divination and Sign in Blood are good, but I have problems with both. First, they are sorceries, which I dislike (more in the case of Divination , Sign in Blood would actually fit the curve quite well, being one of the only 2 cmc).

I would much rather play instant-speed draw spells, so I have a choice to counterspell something if I need to, instead of drawing. I have Opportunity here now, but will swap it for Jace's Ingenuity , which is also being reprinted in M15 (Opportunity is not).

The only problem with Sign in Blood is that I have to lose life. Between Thoughtseize and Mana Confluence , I really can't afford more suicide type cards. Though with more playtesting, I am thinking of dropping one Mana Confluence .

I'd love to put Sign in Blood in, but until I figure out a good option to reliably gain loads of life (just enough to stabilize, really), it has to stay out.

Maybe Bident of Thassa it is a little high drop but lower then the other draw cards that you have so I would think about it.

Bident of Thassa is a definite no-no. I only have 4 creatures, and only one has any power. It is useless in this deck.

if you're looking for better removal than Hero's Downfall , any consideration to Silence the Believers ? really awesome card, exiles (so it helps against Voice of Resurgence , gods, graveyard strategies) and strive just gives you a lot of value as a late-game that the downfall just doesn't have. unfortunately it doesn't hit planeswalkers, but perhaps you could run a 2/2 split if you're concerned with that?

Voice of Resurgence won't be a problem, as this is a post-rotation build, but Silence the Believers is a good idea. Good to draw into late-game as well, so I can pay the strive on it.

I've been thinking of adding it, as I currently have no 4 CMC cards. It would smooth things out a little I think, I feel there are too many 3 CMC.

I'll swap out two Hero's Downfall to fit it in.

Reprisal and Silence the Believers seem like sideboard cards in my opinion. I'm sure m15 and Khans of Tarkir will have at least one or two good removal cards to mainboard in their place.

both of those are going to be relevant in just about every game, perhaps every matchup won't be their best place to shine, but there's no decks going around running 0 creatures with more than 4 power, and nothing going on that exiling a creature will be bad.

although looking at side vs main board, I could completely see Deicide in mainboard, there's really nothing in this standard that will be without enchantments, so that's a good removal spell you could include.

I'm probably going to run one Aegis Angel in my azorius deck once m15 is released. Maybe that can go in your deck, who knows.

What would I even use her ability for though?

For Elspeth, Sun's Champion or Banishing Light ?

That is so funny lol

Making Elspeth, Sun's Champion indestructable is nice, but really only protects against Hero's Downfall , because Dreadbore will be rotating out. If her loyalty reaches 0, she still dies.

As for Banishing Light , it is good except in mirror control, where they'll just Banishing Light your Banishing Light ...

It would be nice, but seems too situational to be worth it.

I agree I would not bother. How much protection do you think you need?

You play two aegis angels and give each other indestructible, and then Fated Retribution is useless against them. lol

For them to make eachother indestructable, they'd need to enter the battlefield at the same time...

Can't that new m15 card do that? Return to the ranks. Of course that wouldn't make sense in this deck.

isn't RTR first leaving when Khans is out?

Yes, this autumn. I keep changing this, and as more of M15 gets spoiled I'm changing the build every little bit.

One card I will definitely be adding is Stain the Mind, in the side and perhaps 1-of main board because yolo. Heck, I run Pithing Needle main in my current Esper control, so why not, eh? :-)

Hey man, I play a mostly Theros Block Esper control too, so I can give a little feed back. Without any really good board wipes, since you have your Prognostic Sphinx would die to the Mass Calcify , this could be tricky. I always like to have some sort of spot removal, and early game shutting down of aggro, so I play 2 Void Snare and 4 Nyx-Fleece Ram . They really help shut down aggro, and they could potentially gain you a lot of life. For me, I put the Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver in the SideBoard against control decks, so I can maybe mill them out, and get any creature win-cons they might have (I have milled a grixis control at FNM before). So, Brimaz, King of Oreskos really never helps me in the side board, either gets removed, or aganst agro, killed and flown over, so I would replace 2 of him with the 2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver , then put in 2 more Nyx-Fleece Ram . I hope your deck does well at FNM, good luck have fun GLHF!

I dig it man. One card I have liked in testing is Resolute Archangel . That bad lady can put you back on top real quick mid-late game. Another card to consider at least for side, if not main action, is Disdainful Stroke . I think it's gonna hit a lot of stuff in a lot of matchups and for a low, low cost of 1U. 4 or greater cmc could well be 25-30% of heavily played cards once the dust settles, and unconditional "NOPE" to the face of those spells is sweet.

Also Wall of Essence is a good idea. I hadn't thought of that.

+1 from me!

I would split Wall of Essence with Nyx-Fleece Ram out of the side, the wall won't do you any good against burn. I like it vs aggro though.

Liliana Vess is really good against walker decks, and works very well in the sb. Also Empty the Pits is a great win con! (I am still subbed to this deck from rtr block, lol.)

Thanks guys for the comments. I havn't really looked at the board for this deck in a while, and I feel it needs updating, and I like the suggestions being thrown around here.

@thirtydirtybirds

Resolute Archangel is something I have long pondered, and I really like it. Between it and Prognostic Sphinx , the flying threat this deck could have would be quite terrifying.

Wall of Essence is actually super good, but I really like asasinater13's suggestion of the split between it and Nyx-Fleece Ram , though I think I'd do a 3/3 split, and drop something else from the side.

And I am in love with Disdainful Stroke . It hits almost everything worth countering these days. Siege Rhino , Elspeth, Sun's Champion , Xenagos, the Reveler ...the list goes on and on. I think 2 copies in the main would be a very safe thing to do, and 2 more side.

@BoardFire

Yeah man, good to hear again. If I remember correctly, you suggested Last Breath , which I will most definitely be adding to the side as soon as I'm finished writing this comment, because killing off Goblin Rabblemaster before he can trigger will make his controller cry.

Liliana Vess is great too, mostly for her -2, to tutor up anything. Usually a boardwipe I think, but a wincon would be nice too sometimes lol. Which brings me to Empty the Pits . I really like it. I'll definitely need to play a second copy of Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in here now. ;)

Yeah I agree on Empty the Pits . If the idea of a control deck is to draw a bunch of cards and play a bunch of cards that go to the yard, then there should be no problem delving for 4, 5, 6 zombies late game, plus what you can pay for, all at instant speed for an immediate swing. It's gonna be a knockout most times you play it. The biggest danger though is not taking them out immediately with it. A single Bile Blight or Anger of the Gods could wipe it all out if your not careful.