How ta smash Esper Control in Standard!!!?
Deck Help forum
Posted on Jan. 14, 2014, 10:39 a.m. by Prehstun
Esper. Esper. Esper. All I ever see anymore is freaking Esper Control..and it sort of makes me wanna die inside. It's yukie. TO.MUCH.ESPER. My problem with it is... I can never seem to win against it! I've done some adjusting to my deck in attempts to match the deck, what do you guys think! There's a lot of Esper around my shop, I think if I can master the smacking of Esper Control I've got a decent shot at placing! :) Only losses at my last FNM...were from Esper. The rest gave me no problem. Here's my deck!Deathrite 'The Rock' Shaman
Frimbleglim says... #3
Try playing rakdos agro. You should find esper a pushover then. It's not expensive as it's mostly commons/uncommons and it wins very very fast.
January 14, 2014 11:39 a.m.
Frimbleglim says... #4
Alternatively play selesnya as that has all the actual esper hate cards,
Loxodon smiter, skylasher, mistcutter hydra, voice of resurgence (if you can afford it) fleecemane lion, Soldier of the pantheon, dryad militant. You get the idea.
January 14, 2014 11:57 a.m.
That deck definitely has the potential to womp a control deck. Rakdos aggro will be catch Supreme Verdict usually and will run out of things to do. To beat A control deck, you have to strip them of their resources. I would try to get your hands on a playset of Thoughtseize , and until then run 4 copies of Duress . Even with 4x thoughtseizes, id stil run 2 or 3 copies of duress. maybe run Liliana's Reaver or Lifebane Zombie in SB for when you run into those control mathcups. Polukranos would be good to side out when you need to run reaver/lifebane, as control decks wont be running a lot of creatures.
Also, Grisly Salvage will help you get better use out of Deathrite Shaman and Scavenging Ooze .
January 14, 2014 12:08 p.m.
Sorry not Lifebane Zombie , i was thinking of something else
January 14, 2014 12:10 p.m.
notamardybum says... #7
More duress. Thoughtseize if you can. I run a Dega build and I destroyed esper. Literally picked him apart
January 14, 2014 1:48 p.m.
Thoughtseize and Duress are the best places to start. Opening with 2 copies of either in your opening hand might just win you the game if your opponent kept an iffy hand.
Beyond that, just go big. Deadbridge Chant is an amazingly powerful spell that'll win you the game given enough turns. Abrupt Decay and Golgari Charm are great against Control's Detention Sphere s and board-wipes.
The biggest issue I see with your deck is that you don't really have that many win-cons. The creatures you have are all decent, but you only have a handful of cards that can actually kill your opponent. Liliana's Reaver actually isn't a bad choice against control. It's just another thing they have to deal with or die to. Boon Satyr is another good one since you can flash it in right before your turn and throw your opponent off their tempo. Erebos, God of the Dead is good, too, as it prevents your opponent's Sphinx's Revelation from getting them out of the red zone and lets you draw cards. Mistcutter Hydra is very good against control as it has protection from Azorius Charm , Detention Sphere , Dissolve , Syncopate , and part of Far / Away . Witchstalker is always pretty good, too.
January 14, 2014 2:43 p.m.
I've always wondered why no one tries to beat Esper or Azorius control with Slaughter Games . Most Azorius decks I've ever seen run 1 AEtherling and 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion . Beyond that, their only way to kill you is by getting Jace, Architect of Thought up to 8 counters and popping him, then killing you with your own creature.
Then Esper runs those 2 (probably as one-ofs) and maybe a Blood Baron of Vizkopa , or something.
January 14, 2014 3:06 p.m.
I'm in the same boat. I still lose to other deck types, but at least the games are really close and exciting. Esper or Azorius Control just toys with me and locks me out of the game.
I'm going to try with Rakdos Aggro, packing a lot of Duress and Slaughter Games .
Some Read the Bones could be useful when Rakggro inevitably runs out of gas.
Things like Sire Of Insanity and Rakdos's Return are also useful.
January 14, 2014 10:19 p.m.
Well, a lot of you guys are suggestion Rakdos, but that's the thing... I WANT to play Golgari. I love my deck, I just need to adapt to playing that one deck.
January 15, 2014 10 a.m.
You're largely just going to get the same suggestions I've already listed. I've been playing Green and Black together regularly for over a year now and those really are the best anti-control cards in those colors.
January 15, 2014 1:38 p.m.
harrydemon117 says... #15
What is the problem you're having with Esper exactly? This will help to narrow down where to make suggestions from.
If the problem is board wipes, then use Golgari Charm to regenerate your creatures. This also has the benefit of destroying a Detention Sphere if need be.
If the "permission" issue is a problem (meaning they counterspell everything you cast), then you need some "card advantage"/draw of your own. A good place to start would be Whip of Erebos to "rebuy" your creatures that have been countered/destroyed
January 15, 2014 1:46 p.m.
Yeah, zandl, I got 2 more Duress and a Thoughtseize I may get one more Thoughtseize before them, I also got 2 Liliana's Reaver 's I'm SB'ing. I have Devour Flesh and Pit Fight in the SB for Blood Baron of Vizkopa Thanks for all tha suggestions guys! It's lookin a lil better for me! Oh, and Supreme Verdict isn't a problem at all, I already run 2 Golgari Charm for that, even though I would like 1 or 2 more, its not much of an issue. I'm updating the deck now if anyone wants to take a look.
January 15, 2014 8:58 p.m.
harrydemon117 says... #17
Against Blood Baron of Vizkopa there are a few options for you:
Devour Flesh (since they probably dont' run many creatures as they are a control deck, they will more than likely have to sacrifice him)
green creatures such as Deadbridge Goliath , Arbor Colossus , or Boon Satyr , etc that can block him profitably or trade with him in the case of the Satyr
Lifebane Zombie to exile him before he can hit the battlefield (not as reliable as you think)
Thoughtseize before it hits (same as Lifebane Zombie above)
Personally with your deck colors I would use Boon Satyr to throw in front of him as it has flash and you can cast it at the end of their turn (thus avoiding a Supreme Verdict ) and can keep up some pressure
January 16, 2014 8:50 a.m.
aintnothinbutmammals says... #18
My friend recently started playing esper control. I had a horrible time beating him until I realized that in order for me to win I had to out speed his deck. I was playing mono red burn, and by playing multiple spells a turn I made him choose which ones to target and still got damage in. If you can be fast and play inexpensive CMC you have a better chance of winning.
Prehstun says... #2
HERE'S THE DECK! SORRY!! Deathrite 'Tha Rock' Shaman.
January 14, 2014 10:40 a.m.