@tisueboxcandy

Thanks for the playtest. I played a few games too, and went 2-1 against your deck. Game 1 was close but Elspeth, Sun's Champion closed it in the end for me. Game 2, Keranos, God of Storms kept my life total down and drew you a ton of cards before I managed to Utter End it. It was too late though, and Pearl Lake Ancient finished me off. Game 3 was extremely long and drawn out, but in the end I managed to mill you out with an Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver I cast on T3.

I've been thinking of adding Empty the Pits . It's in the maybeboard for now, because I'm not sure where I could fit it in. Your suggestion is confusing though. You want me to play it because I have a lot of land and can generate a lot of zombies, yet you want me to take out land?

This looks amazing, +1 for sure.

You dirty bastard.

When the entire game hits the fan, both players countering and destroying all possible threats, YOU AND THAT DAMN ASHIOK mill the player out for the win. It's an UN-honorable way to win unless you're playing mill.

And yes, however you can manage it, run 24-25 land and at least one Empty in the mainboard and another in the side because you really were playing too much of one thing and little of the important thing, creatures and/or field presence.

@tisueboxcandy

That doesn't sound very nice.

Winning with Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is totally legit, and I've done it countless times. If you're a little butthurt, I'll just get him to Thoughtseize you so you forget all about the traumatic experience.

I can't tell if you were being serious there or not (yay internet), but please try not to post comments that are condescending like that in the future.

I'm not taking out land to play Empty the Pits . That is just counter-intuitive. If anything comes out for it, it will be Pearl Lake Ancient , so I don't lose the chance to drop a massive amount of power onto an empty field at instant speed.

i just feel Empty the Pits isnt that strong, because you should be delving for Dig Through Time almost singularly. Also, people may side in bile blight to counteract it, and all of that delve fuel is gone. Pearl Lake Ancient is also a kill spell, because of its ability to be flashed in a blocker.

Another creature I have been testing as a replacement for ashiok, (even though I love the interactions ashiok gives and how good it is right now), is Siren of the Silent Song . The hand disruption cant be beat and it also adds to that control aspect. I felt with my u/b control version of this deck, So many dumb, ways to die (U/B Control), it was sometimes a more effective t3 play to get this guy running than something else. But that may be for a more midrangey, janky build, so disregard this if you dont think it applies.

I remember when this deck was theros block and it was the eidolon of rhetoric comboed with spirit of the labyrinth and thassa for supreme topdecks. =)

Though this is clearly a strong archetype, I cant help feel like anyone trying esper now missed the boat in terms of the amazing WU control from RTR. Still, its good to see some are trying to keep the dream alive

Yep...Death&Taxes in Standard! :D I want to build that again lol.

I agree on Empty the Pits there. I've put it in for now for testing purposes, but overall I like Pearl Lake Ancient much more so far.

@hesuskrist

Without the Holy Trinity that was Supreme Verdict , Detention Sphere , and Sphinx's Revelation , Esper control is simply way less powerful. End Hostilities , Banishing Light , and Dig Through Time are the best substitutions that can be made. Elixir of Immortality is also a big loss.

So we have to change how Esper control plays. Focusing now more on spot removal than total wipes, the deck is powerful in different ways. Pearl Lake Ancient , while no AEtherling , is certainly quite a beastly figure.

Only more testing will really show whether or not this is really competitively viable but so far my results on Cockatrice have been quite good. Aggro is obviously the toughest match, and I'd love to be able to play Anger of the Gods here, but Drown in Sorrow is adequate, and hits basically all but Mantis Rider .

@BoardFire

I played several games last night trying both 2/1 and 1/2 splits between Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and Siren of the Silent Song . It was good, and as you said the hand disruption was great. The only problem I had was that it was really slow. It hits the field T3, attacks T4, then you finally get an effect on T5. That gives the opponent a lot of time to deal with it and basically make sure I get next to no value out of it. I'm going to stick with Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver , but thanks for the suggestion! :)

hey there, great deck! have you thought about Liliana vess? for added hand disruption and also finding the card you need at the time, placing it on top.

TheHroth

Yeah, completely kidding about being butthurt.[Yay, internet?]

I may just not have that much experience in playing Empty the Pits , seems to me a card you'd build a deck around rather than have as one of the win cons. It does really give you an advantage in playing the Ancient however, but even being moderately mana flooded could detriment the deck as a whole, I see.

And no, I'm already Traumatize d. Playing against that deck like that is to Glimpse the Unthinkable .

@Magic45

Liliana Vess is great and I used to run her in the sideboard and bring her in for those long grindy games. I took her out when I rebuilt a lot of the sideboard a little while ago, but she could very easily go back in. Maybe -1 Prognostic Sphinx to fit her in?

@tisueboxcandy

I agree. Empty the Pits would excel in a Sultai graveyard deck, but they focus on filling up the yard for delve and reanimation throughout the whole game, so it just makes sense as a bomb.

The few games I did play with it, it was good but not as good as a Pearl Lake Ancient . Not having instand speed blockers first of all was a huge loss, and it dies very easily to Bile Blight , Drown in Sorrow , and Anger of the Gods .

While certainly an amazing card, this isn't the place for it.

any updates to this deck ? what have you went up against?

@Magic45

I've just cleared the comments, but here is an answer to your question:

I want to put back in more cheap removal spells, like Last Breath and Bile Blight to the mainboard (maybe Reprisal? :s). I had taken them out for testing, and the matchup game 1 against aggro just got way too bad. I'd like to add a Drown in Sorrow or two as well. Goblin Rabblemaster is just so had to beat.

What have I gone up against? Basically everything there is. I've been playing this deck a lot on Cockatrice, and I've been very pleased with all but the aggro matchups. Losing some good removal against midrange strategies is a sacrifice I need to make to improve game 1 against aggro, because I almost never win it.

Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is a beast, against basically anything. And his interaction with Perilous Vault is supremely good. Using his -X, and then activating Perilous Vault in response to play a creature onto an empty field is a very satisfying feeling.

Yo, how did you make the greyish lines at the top of the description and the "[Show _ ]"?

@InnistradisGreaterthanlife

The lines are easy. They're just an empty line containing:

"---"

Without quotations to make

The Show/Hide feature is a complicated bit or formatting, but detailed instructions to make it work can be found on Femme_Fatale's deck: Ack! Run Hans Run! The Slivers Are Coming!.

I'm struggling with mardu aggro type decks... the first game like you said is rough. even after Sideboard I get rocked. maybe I'm just not sideboarding correctly... or not keeping a good hand..

No, the lines on the side. Sorry if I was unspecific.

Whoa. You changed your name. You had me so confused for a second! :O LOL

They're easy. Put > at the beginning of a line.

">" Hi

Without quotations, becomes:

Hi

Thanks! Yea, the name was just temporary placeholder until the upgrade. : )

HI Hroth Its me i finally got around to formatting my home page if you wanna check it out here you go WheelOCheeseps. iv now up voted this deck which i don't think i have done yet so congrats with the decks success. ah ya and i have a deck to show you check it out i think you will like it The way less Traveled

You need Empty the Pits! It is pretty much the new Sphinx's Revelation. It is truly a game finisher.

I played around with Empty the Pits for a while, but didn't really like it. I prefer the PW and Pearl Lake wincon package. was almost never an issue though, with all the dual lands I have access to (oh how I wish I could use Arcane Sanctum...).

The delve was interfering too much with Dig Through Time too. I'd much rather be able to cast Dig consistently when I need to than have to worry about how much to delve and whether or not I should wait a turn to Dig.

Really like the deck! I also play control and I'm debating on Thoughtseize vs Despise. I have no lifegain potential except for Pharika's Cure sideboard, so I'm kinda going towards despise as a winner. If you could please check my deck out and get a feel of what I'm debating that would be great, I'd love to hear your insights on it!

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/20-11-14-knowledge-is-power/

+1

@EssTea

Thanks for the comment and the +1!

That's exactly why I'm running Despise. Without good lifegain like Sphinx's Revelation, Thoughtseize just hurts too much.

I'll be sure to take a look at your deck!