Creature (3)
Planeswalker (2)
Land (26)
-
4x
Godless Shrine
-
4x
Hallowed Fountain
- 4x Island
- 4x Plains
- 4x Temple of Deceit
- 2x Temple of Silence
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4x
Watery Grave
Enchantment (1)
Instant (20)
- 4x Azorius Charm
- 1x Crypt Incursion
- 2x Dissolve
- 4x Doom Blade
- 4x Hero's Downfall
- 3x Sphinx's Revelation
- 2x Syncopate
Sorcery (8)
Sideboard
Maybeboard
Enchantment (1)
Artifact (1)
Control is looking strong post-rotation. Although Theros doesn't exactly give too much for Esper control, it has all the tools to deal with almost any kind of deck archetype.
The deck relies on stalling the early game long enough to drop a bomb that's difficult to remove. It's proven strong against all but aggro that hits the curve.
Wins through AEtherling, Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Obzedat, Ghost Council.
Overall the sideboard is built against other types of control and mirror matchups. Elspeth, Sun's Champion seems excellent at breaking stalls or protecting Jace, Memory Adept against a racing opponent.
Now that we have Hero's Downfall that can combat Jace, I suggest sideboarding Negate against decks containing black, since all of them will be playing Downfall. Downfall also hits Obzedat, so that's why I'm playing it only as a 1-of.
Suggestions are welcome!
Suggestions
Updates Add
Updated the deck for Game Day, and performed well overall.
Made top 8, went 3-1-1 and ended 6th on the tournament. Lost only to the two finalists. Was surprised of the amount of aggro and midrange in our local shop's meta. I would estimate that well over 50 percent of decks were some kind of midrange decks. Hyper aggro such as RDW and white weenie performed well, RDW came close to winning, and in the top 8 there were: 2x Esper control (myself included), 3x Midrange (Naya, Gruul, Gruul) and 2x aggro (RDW, white weenie).
Round 1:
Gruul Midrange: 2-0. Nothing special happened, quite the stomp. This is the deck's most favorable matchup: clunky big creatures without haste. The deck was a bit sub-par, but came close in game 2.
Round 2:
U/W Control: 1-1-1. Played against the deck a few weeks ago in FNM and got seriously outclassed. The player is a judge at our local store, and a very experienced player. This time was able to squeeze the draw out of him. Took the first game by entering a counter-war with his Jace, Memory Adept and he tapped out, so the next turn was able to force Obzedat, Ghost Council. He lost straight up to that. Next game he took with AEtherling and the last one was a long winded struggle that ended in a draw. Funny thing was, both him and myself remembered incorrectly that Ratchet Bomb does not kill Mutavault. He realized this all but too late, and I had kept it at zero counter in hopes of destroying the vault should he attack with it. Good times, great magic playing and such a Jedi Mind Trick.
Round 3:
RDW: 0-2. Took a serious beating from the mono-red that finally took 2nd place. Very fast, very brutal. At one point he had 2 Stormbreath Dragons on board. GG. Flooded both games and was unable to find answers. Could've won though with better draw.
Round 4:
Boros Aggro: 2-1. This was a kitchen-table brew I think, it was some kind of a mixed aggro + heroic deck. Took game 1 convincingly, game 2 took a hell of a beating from T1: Soldier of the Pantheon, T2: additional 2 Soldiers. That was a no-brainer. Game three drew better and he was unable to combat Elspeth.
Round 5:
Rakdos aggro/midrange: 2-1. This deck utilized Whip of Erebos as well as Hammer of Purphoros. Otherwise seemed like a traditional Rakdos deck, with the inclusion of Fanatic of Mogis, which gave some discomfort. It also packed Ordeal of Purphoros, to which I lost to game 2 when he cast it on T1 Rakdos Cackler and was able to get two hits and a bolt to the dome. Damn that was fast! Game three was a long winded one as he got Whip of Erebos on board and it became a lifelink-match between Blood Baron of Vizkopa and his weenies. I flooded, and drew 3x Supreme Verdict in a row I could do nothing with against the Whip. I strongly think there is a place for Diabolic Tutor in this deck for times like these! In the end, however, he conceded the game.
Top 8, 1st game:
Gruul Midrange: 1-2. What a crazy deck that was. It finished first on the Game Day and was the deck Zach Stren used in SCG: Milwaukee that finished 1st there. The deck can be found here: http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=5810. First game I was able to Syncopate and kill his mana-dorks early on, and as he couldn't find the fourth land he was screwed. I got Elspeth, Sun's Champion on the board on T6, so he conceded. Game 2 and 3 were complete slaughter, although he had quite the good luck in game 3 as he was able to get 2x Burning Earth on board. Game 2 I straight up lost to my own dumb-ass-ness as I saw he had 6 mana available on T4 and played a tapped Hallowed Fountain
. Then, as he cast Ruric Thar, the Unbowed I straight up lost to that. He did admit the slight luck, and I was unable to find Supreme Verdict in any of the games.
With a bit of luck that deck too will fall to the rule of Esper ;)
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| Date added | 11 years |
| Last updated | 11 years |
| Legality | This deck is not Standard legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 7 - 2 Mythic Rares 26 - 8 Rares 10 - 2 Uncommons 9 - 3 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 3.06 |
| Tokens | Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Soldier 1/1 W |
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