Battle of the Draw Engines
Modern forum
Posted on April 9, 2014, 11:54 p.m. by rache
Griselbrand vs Consecrated Sphinx as your draw engine/win con in an Esper control deck.
@MR H3AT 3x Thoughtseize 3x Inquisition of Kozilek 3x Surgical Extraction 4x Gitaxian Probe 4x Path to Exile 1x Sword of Feast and Famine 3x Detention Sphere 4x Mana Leak 3x Wrath of God 2x Black Sun's Zenith 2x Serum Visions 2x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
A very rough Draft so far
April 10, 2014 12:22 a.m.
NerdPounder says... #4
Grislebrand draws more, dies to less, and can immediately impact the game, whereas Consecrated Sphinx can be Pathed on end step, resulting in no gain whatsoever. Also lifegain is important in control, Grislebrand gains you 7 per turn if you let him, maybe more if for some reason they attack with something.
However, I'm more a fan of Celestial Colonnade , simply because you can cast a Wrath, then still be left with a wincon on board. Also it can't be countered.
Also, have you thought about Supreme Verdict over Wrath of God ? Verdict can't be countered, which is relevant against Delver tempo decks, Merfolk, Twin or the USA/UW control match where they're playing Snapcaster Mage , Vendilion Clique , and Restoration Angel . You should already have regen covered with Black Sun's Zenith anyway
April 10, 2014 12:31 a.m.
@corythackston I had considered Supreme Verdict and will probably run them over the Wraths. My man land of choice will be Creeping Tar Pit since it works so well with Sword of Feast and Famine
April 10, 2014 12:36 a.m.
NerdPounder says... #7
It does, but it doesn't look like you need a lot more discard considering you run so much of it anyway, you could just take the sword out. Also, Collonade has evasion as well, while admittedly not as good of evasion =)
April 10, 2014 12:41 a.m.
@corythackston The Sword of Feast and Famine is for the untap ability rather than the discard that way I'll always have mana open for answers and for the psychological effect on my opponent.
April 10, 2014 12:45 a.m.
NerdPounder says... #9
Ah okay, that's pretty cool =) good luck! Post it on here when you get the deck finished!
April 10, 2014 10:03 a.m.
I personally wouldn't want to wait until turn 8 to cast a card draw engine, nor my win-con (That should be already in hand, or on the field). Unless you're playing a Gifts Ungiven esper with Unburial Rites , then go Consecrated Sphinx . Griselbanned just takes too long to hardcast.
April 11, 2014 4:24 a.m.
@corythackston It's posted but I don't know how to link decks, the name is I'll Take That (give it a look and let me know what you think)
@BLEATH I had the same reservations with using Grisly over Sphinx but the deck has done pretty good at stalling long enough so far. It also seems that Creeping Tar Pit and Luminarch Ascension have proven to be my more reliable win cons. Also Grisly has the huge advantage of restoring the massive amounts of life I tend to spend on shocks, Thoughtseize and phyrexian mana.
April 11, 2014 4:33 a.m.
Alrighty. Whatever works for ya, man. I'm always glad to help out a fellow control player. :)
And very true, the 7 extra health per turn seems really strong.
April 11, 2014 4:35 a.m.
@BLEATH when I first started playing control was all I played (yeah I learned the hard way) but sadly moved away from it to midrange decks and then to more aggressive mono - white weenie and token decks, this is my first Crack at a true control deck in years. Thanks for the input to.
April 11, 2014 4:40 a.m.
Ew, aggro. ;)
Glad to hear you're expanding to different archetypes. It's taken four years for me to expand, and it's to the closest thing to control (being midrange).
April 11, 2014 4:42 a.m.
@BLEATH Yeah I really enjoy midrange, it has that control feel but doesn't cause people in my play group to rage quit lol. Aggro can be fun to run occasionally but I find less pleasure in playing 3 ten minute games with an aggro deck than what I get out of one 30 minute game piloting a midrange deck.
April 11, 2014 4:46 a.m.
NerdPounder says... #16
Yeah I consider myself a control player too, but control decks are expensive in every format, and I'm also as competitive of a person as you'll find, so I've been playing aggro decks for a while now, just because putting together a competitive aggro list is a lot cheaper.
April 11, 2014 2:42 p.m.
@corythackston Yeah I know what you mean, a good modern control deck can run you 500.00+ usd but I've won several local tournaments with my 120.00 usd white weenie aggro deck and even seen one won with an infect deck that could be built for under 100.00 usd. Aggro can be expensive as well though, namely because of Goyfs but in my experience he's not as good as his price tag would make someone think and can easily be substituted with other cards.
April 11, 2014 3:04 p.m.
I think you mean 500+ USD on LANDS -.- Then you need relevant spells to cast with it.
April 11, 2014 3:54 p.m.
@BLEATH I don't use fetchlands, their price tags are to ridiculous
April 11, 2014 9:44 p.m.
NerdPounder says... #20
Yeah I've heard tell that they're gonna reprint them in M15, which should drop their price tag considerably. Basically they've been trying to make Modern a thing (more so than it is), but it won't be until the average player can afford to play a competitive mana base.
April 12, 2014 12:54 a.m.
@corythackston you can build a competitive mana base without them but they do help a lot. Whatever set they reprint them in is going to have sales that are through the roof.
April 12, 2014 1:32 a.m.
I cannot WAIT for the reprints man... seriously its about time.
MR H3AT says... #2
Need to see the deck to be sure.
April 9, 2014 11:59 p.m.