Esper Legends
Standard Deck Help forum
Posted on April 30, 2018, 6:04 p.m. by voodoogriff
First off, here's the deck: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/30-04-18-esper-legends/?cb=1525124202
The basics premise is to jam as many good legends as possible, working with the interactions between Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage and Arvad the Cursed.
This is very likely to be an FNM only deck so I don't need it to be ultra-competitive but I would like it to be good.
*Card Choices:
Creatures
Dauntless Bodyguard is a fairly easy addition here. Great early start, great late as protection for any of the various pieces of the deck.
Knight of Malice is a late addition to the deck but with all of the white permanents, I thought would be an easy choice. He's also hexproof from white so Seal Away won't be an issue, though Fatal Push is obviously a concern.
Danitha Capashen, Paragon is still questionable with the limited number of equipments and auras in the deck. A 2/2 First Strike, Vigilance, Lifelink creature is great against aggro, though, and I play in a fairly aggro meta.
Aryel, Knight of Windgrace is also on the short list of options to cut but is still in a better place than Danitha. A 4/4 with Vigilance of 4 is a great rate, and her abilities present both an opportunity to mana-dump in a stall and kill big creatures. There are several other knights in the deck, so even if I'm not able to pump the knights out at a respectable rate, she's dangerous.
Baird, Steward of Argive a 2/4 with vigilance makes for a nice blocker and he'll slow down aggro decks. If you can get a Helm of the Host on him, you can shut down attacks quickly if they can't deal with it.
Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage is present as both a flyer and a way to flash in any of my legendaries to avoid sorcery speed removal. Imagine flashing in a Helm of the Host on end step and equipping after untap.
Shalai, Voice of Plenty is a good flyer and obviously the hexproof is amazing. Get a helm of the host onboard and all of a sudden only sweepers will work. I don't have any green sources for the activation, but I'm ok with that.
Arvad the Cursed is the whole reason to jam a deck full of legendaries. He makes things huge. With Raff out, he can be a combat trick. With Helm of the Host, you have the potential to make some massive Legends and crush any opposition.
Lyra Dawnbringer or Baneslyra as I saw her referred to as, is a great angel. Make copies with Helm and each of them get bigger and bigger.
Vona, Butcher of Magan is the last creature still in testing. A 4/4 with Vigilance and Lifelink for 5 is a decent rate, and if Arvad is on the battlefield she's getting 6 life per swing and then spending 7 to kill something. A 1 life difference is something I can live with.
Non-Creatures
Fatal Push and Seal Away are obviously great for removal.
Blink of an Eye is more for saving my creatures from targeted removal since I dropped the green and don't have Blossoming Defense.
Helm of the Host on just about any of my legendaries is a beating and will close out games quickly.
On Serra's Wings is a late addition to the deck. While the legendary clause is somewhat relevant for the Bodyguard and Knight, the flying it provides makes cards like Danitha and Vona even better. The interaction with Knight of Malice (effectively making this enchantment +2/+1) is also great to remember.
Lands
I'm extremely concerned about the mana base. While I don't have a ton of cheap creatures, I'd like to be online by turn 3 at the very latest. Need to test this a lot.
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Drowned Catacombs
4 Glacial Fortress
1 Island
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Plains
5 Swamp
Sideboard
Here's where I'd like some help. Right now I have the sideboard designed to fill holes in the maindeck, but I would love to be able to convert this into more of a control-type deck if the situation requires it. My problem is that I have so little Blue in the land base that typical control spells aren't going to be feasible. So suggestions are welcome.
Duress for getting sweepers and removal out of their hand.
Negate for Approach Decks or to counter Sweepers
Seal Away for aggro decks
Lost Legacy for combo pieces and approach
Vraska's Contempt for gods.
Urza's Ruinous Blast to nuke token and reanimator decks.
Argy says... #2
You should have a think about Blackblade Reforged.
I use it in a Legends deck and it is insane.
Especially equipped to Danitha.
May 1, 2018 12:33 a.m.