JLand13! it has been a minute lol. I agree with the advice that has already been given, but Id say you want to go -1 Azorius charm +1 Far/Away. I play a similar list with 4 drownyards and 2main 2 side lingering souls for aggressive matchups. I am on the drownyard plan but the token plan can be good support if you flip the sorin/jace number (but thats only if you feel like running 2-3 more sphinx's revelation...the card is THAT good lol). If you are trying to game1 control threats I would go to 2 AEtherling main (IMO Blood baron is maindeckable but better sb unless you are in aggro central)
Decks I have in my bag of tricks- Needless to say, someone who wants to play will probably have a deck UB/x Faeries UR Storm XURWB Affinity G Elves UW control
Thanks for tha advice guys, like I said been out of it so it's much appreciated, (always a pleasure ThatStoryTeller120, been discussing UW with you since ALA/ZEN). Here's what I have after feedback, going to test it now:
Thanks for tha advice guys, like I said been out of it so it's much appreciated, (always a pleasure ThatStoryTeller120, been discussing UW with you since ALA/ZEN). Here's what I have after feedback, going to test it now:
It looks better to me. A little more focused which is really critical right now. A couple of things still jump out at me.
You cut a Verdict! I already thought you were verdict light with three. Get rid of the 2x Jace AoT and replace with two Verdicts. Jace is pretty mediocre right now -- it's a lot better in a metagame where you are going to see a lot of other control decks.
I also like running Renounce in the MD -- if you scroll back a few pages you'll see a really impressive list of things Renounce kills in the current format (it's better than Doom Blade). I run them in the slots you have Warped Physique in. If you do the same thing then swap the Sphere's out for O-Rings. Every now and then you can catch multiple copies of something with a Sphere, which is cool but you really don't want to give your oppo something back when you kill your own Sphere with Renounce.
/M
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Some people like to win MtG matches in the Red Zone. I prefer to win the way God intended: on the stack.
Interesting, I know I hate cutting a Supreme Verdict. I'm not sure on cutting Jace yet, guess I will test it. As far as Sphere goes, i would prob swap them out for ORing if I brought in Renounce.
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Check out my music at J-Xile.com | Me on the sig My Decks, Haves & Wants, Buy/Wish List, and Worksheets:
Interesting, I know I hate cutting a Supreme Verdict. I'm not sure on cutting Jace yet, guess I will test it. As far as Sphere goes, i would prob swap them out for ORing if I brought in Renounce.
When it comes to sweepers there are two ways to go with this deck.
1) You can all in on Terminus and hope to Miracle one early. That's what some of the successful decks have done. It should be noted that such an approach is only viable if you run a tremendous amount of point removal. You may also want to run a couple of miser's Verdicts.
2) You go with a full boat of Verdicts and run a couple of Terminus as Sweepers 5 & 6 (and they give the Miracle bonus if it comes up). Some people run a Planar Cleansing as Sweeper #7 and of course, Far/Away is like a mini sweeper all on it's own, so that brings you to 10-ish. Plus the point removal. You should never lose to aggro. The mirror is kind of crappy though as you have all these blanks in your deck. That's like though. The format is still so aggro intensive that this isn't all that likely.
Personally, I prefer the second option. It has the charm of minimizing the luck factor. I am never sad to see two or three Verdicts early on. And Far/Away is insane. The number of times I have bounced a Thragtusk/Huntmaster token and forced my oppo to sac something relevant (like Huntmaster) is crazy. This is a really, really good card.
One thing I would caution you against. When you build your sideboard, don't overdo the mirror. This is just a general piece of advice. I often see people come to tourney with a sideboard full of hate for their own deck despite the fact that the field is heavily favoring another strategy. A few Appetite for Brains, Jace MA and a couple more Aetherlings should be plenty for the mirror and those cards are also good against decks like reanimator (still a thing, but it may be dying out with Scavenger Ooze. We'll see.)
/M
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Some people like to win MtG matches in the Red Zone. I prefer to win the way God intended: on the stack.
Jace, AoT is very much a subjective choice. Against Junk 'Crats decks it is amazing--it reduces most of their creatures to 1 or 0 toughness. It is also good against other weenie or fast aggro strategies and, of course, control. However, it is really pretty poor against Naya Midrange decks packing Lightning Maulers, Flinthoof Boars, Hellriders, and/or Thundermaws, and it is also not very good against Flash decks like UW or the more common UWR (which often packs Thundermaws at least out of the SB). So, in many ways it is a meta decision.
I haven't played esper since rtr but I feel its well positioned in my local meta as I expect a lot of junk aristocrats, aggro like slivers and g/r, and bant hexproof.
IVe taken sooranis list and made a few changes here and there. Can I get some feedback? (please note that there are no negates in my sb. unsure if that's a big mistake only running 2 counterspells in my 75)
Additionally, are silence and render silent subpar choices? Someone in m lcs runs UWR with render silent and its really a powerful bomb late in turns. Wondering what the reason is it doesn't see play in the mainstream.
I am surprised Shawn did not mb doom blades. I thought that would surely be something all esper guys were excited about. I've put three in sb although I do feel they warrant at least 2 spots mb.
I haven't played esper since rtr but I feel its well positioned in my local meta as I expect a lot of junk aristocrats, aggro like slivers and g/r, and bant hexproof.
IVe taken sooranis list and made a few changes here and there. Can I get some feedback? (please note that there are no negates in my sb. unsure if that's a big mistake only running 2 counterspells in my 75)
Additionally, are silence and render silent subpar choices? Someone in m lcs runs UWR with render silent and its really a powerful bomb late in turns. Wondering what the reason is it doesn't see play in the mainstream.
I am surprised Shawn did not mb doom blades. I thought that would surely be something all esper guys were excited about. I've put three in sb although I do feel they warrant at least 2 spots mb.
(btw, to name your deck just do {deck="my name here"} except use braces instead of curly braces)
Silence doesn't do a lot and render silent's inferior to dissipate because it's harder to cast and doesn't exile.
Doom blade is almost worthless in the jund matchup (the majority of the current meta) and can't kill the important cards in aristocrats either while being unimportant in the control and bant hexproof matches too.
I played planeswalker control for a while, but it wasn't as successful for me. Giving up all those kill cards for planeswalkers and souls means you generally must play a boardwipe turn 4-5 followed by a sorin/tamiyo turn 5-6 or lose. Jund is terrible because they have so many ways to kill planeswalkers cheaply and the hexproof match is pretty much unwinnable the second they draw rancor because your 2/1 spirit tokens don't have first strike.
In the end, I switched to planeswalker-lite (2 architect and 1 tamiyo with 1 memory adept (and sometimes 1 gideon) in the sideboard). The added kill spells give me a much better chance of getting to turn 4 where I verdict (and pretty much win) against most aggro or can start generating card advantage vs jund and control.
I think 2 fatties is fine. Personally I run 2 and I've seen a lot of people get by with 1. You also have Sorin (which I think is less effective than Aetherling) and Souls and a couple of Snaps which can be pretty decent. So you don't really have 2 "finishers" you have 13, spread across two routes to victory (3 DY for Mill, and 10 dorks/PW/Lingering Souls for counting to 20).
I am not a fan of the Sorin/tokens approach myself , but I do see the value of making blockers and hanging on for Sweepers. That's probably more about play style than anything else.
/M
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Some people like to win MtG matches in the Red Zone. I prefer to win the way God intended: on the stack.
Jace, AoT is very much a subjective choice. Against Junk 'Crats decks it is amazing--it reduces most of their creatures to 1 or 0 toughness. It is also good against other weenie or fast aggro strategies and, of course, control. However, it is really pretty poor against Naya Midrange decks packing Lightning Maulers, Flinthoof Boars, Hellriders, and/or Thundermaws, and it is also not very good against Flash decks like UW or the more common UWR (which often packs Thundermaws at least out of the SB). So, in many ways it is a meta decision.
I certainly see merits in some matchups, but I guess my lens is skewed by my meta game, which is heavily Naya/Jund. Both matchup he is nothing more than a main phase 3-card Fact or Fiction. I love me some FoF, but Jace AoT is not nearly so good.
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Some people like to win MtG matches in the Red Zone. I prefer to win the way God intended: on the stack.
I think for Esper decks to be competitive they need to find room for some more counters. I know personally I am running three Dissiaptes and two Syncopates. This is mostly a hedge against Jund since counters really wreck that deck. I also have continued to run at least three copies of Think Twice, since I really want to stay ahead on cards in all match ups, but mostly Jund.
Has anyone tested Obzedat, Ghost Council? In my 75 i pack blood baren, Ætherling and him. Right now i have 1 blood baron and 2 Ætherling in the main, and an additional blood baron along with a singleton ghost dad, in the sideboard.
Obzedat has his uses in some situations and used to be the finisher of choice. I moved on to blood baron because he's better against aggro and I can ALWAYS cast him. I play 2 baron in main and 2 aetherling in sideboard. Aetherling only comes in against slower midrange (normally just one) and control decks (both, removing one or two barons depending on their deck).
This is what I've ran for a couple of weeks. Been on a run with it, with the last game I lost being to a UWR Tempo deck a couple of weeks back. That was the reason for the third Essence Scatter and the Dispel in the sideboard.
I thought I'd post it since it's radically different than every other list on the thread. What I realized is that the deck basically won games off Sphinx's Revelation and Supreme Verdict, so the rest of the cards are just support for those 8. I call the Jace, the "Architect of Mana" since my primary goal with him is to hit land drops 5 and 6, and tear through the deck for more copies of Verdict and Revelation. Against most creature decks, the win comes when you can have a 2 mana disruption spell along with a Verdict or Jace at 6 mana. That alone is reason enough for me to not bother with Syncopate, since it's hardly ever going to work in that situation. Ætherling is in the sideboard since it proved to be awful on defense and has no synergy with the strategy. The singleton Jace is enough to win in 2 turns once you cast Revelation for 7; Ætherling is much slower and unnecessary. I left a copy in the board because it's better than a third Jace against midrange green decks, and sometimes random people show up with outdated decks that run Psychic Spiral, or Witchbane Orb.
You don't have enough cards to discard to liliana. Almost every other deck in the format has better topdecks than Esper, so if liliana's not securing you flashback advantage, you are just giving up your hard-earned card advantage for nothing.
1.) Mono-G Predator Ooze decks have become quite popular with its recent Top 8 showings, and Dustini's deck has no problem with it. Azorius Charm + Nephalia Drownyard or Terminus deals with it quite easily, and thats assuming they can get past the countermagic.
2.) 4x Kraken Hatchling in the board followed by 4x Augur of Bolas and 4x Restoration Angel is pretty decent for the Naya Humans matchup. Blocking with Augur then flickering with Restoration Angel is so much value.
3.) Really fun but tense deck to play, especially Game 1 when you haven't had a chance to sideboard.
I can't believe anyone is excited about this card. It is absolutely unplayable. I wouldn't even play her in LIMITED. Easily the worst walker printed since the green elf one. Absolutely terrible.
I tested Dustini's deck myself a couple of weeks ago and came away feeling it was two steps away from just playing turbo fog. The matches felt really boring and I missed having a bit more interactivity that other Esper builds have. However I LOVED the Krakens in the SB and they were key to a ton of matches, esp against Boros Reckoner.
7 sweepers + 4 Restoration Angels? 2 Sphinx's Revelation and no Forbidden Alchemy? It looks like a good MODO deck. I guess it makes sense if you think you're going to play against only small creature decks. The Restoration Angels are so good against them that you run them instead of Sphinx's Revelation, knowing that you're cold to midrange.
Also, Sensory Deprivation should just about do the Kraken thing, without getting removed by Searing Spear or Ghor-Clan Rampager. Andrew Cuneo used to run it, but decided it all just wasn't worth it. I can see the hatchling in a spot removal deck, but with mono-sweepers it's just blocking the same creature until it dies.
7 sweepers + 4 Restoration Angels? 2 Sphinx's Revelation and no Forbidden Alchemy? It looks like a good MODO deck. I guess it makes sense if you think you're going to play against only small creature decks. The Restoration Angels are so good against them that you run them instead of Sphinx's Revelation, knowing that you're cold to midrange.
Also, Sensory Deprivation should just about do the Kraken thing, without getting removed by Searing Spear or Ghor-Clan Rampager. Andrew Cuneo used to run it, but decided it all just wasn't worth it. I can see the hatchling in a spot removal deck, but with mono-sweepers it's just blocking the same creature until it dies.
Yeah, its a MODO deck. Dustini has been going 4-0 and 3-1 multiple times with this deck.
Sensory Deprivation is good, but it's vulnerable to Restoration Angels, of which a lot of decks still play. Kraken has done the job for me so far, protecting me from a Naya Human Blitz deck long enough to Verdict., and also being a wall to Strangleroot Geist and even Wolfir Avenger.
The midrange matchup improves vastly after sideboarding. Against Jund and Naya, I board in the full playset of Dissipates. Counters are quite powerful now that Cavern of Souls is less popular.
I did feel that Dustini's deck was very weak to planeswalkers though, hence the 2x Planar Cleansings in the board. Midrange is slow enough that you'll almost always survive to 6 mana.
No Forbidden Alchemy because it won't trigger Miracle for the 4x Terminus. More than 1 game was won by Thinking Twice on the opponents turn and Miracle-ing a Terminus.
I can't believe anyone is excited about this card. It is absolutely unplayable. I wouldn't even play her in LIMITED. Easily the worst walker printed since the green elf one. Absolutely terrible.
Sensory Deprivation is good, but it's vulnerable to Restoration Angels, of which a lot of decks still play. Kraken has done the job for me so far, protecting me from a Naya Human Blitz deck long enough to Verdict., and also being a wall to Strangleroot Geist and even Wolfir Avenger.
I assumed the Krakens were only for GRx Aggro decks. If you would board it against a deck with Angels, I'm completely lost.
I can't believe anyone is excited about this card. It is absolutely unplayable. I wouldn't even play her in LIMITED. Easily the worst walker printed since the green elf one. Absolutely terrible.
Played in my first PTQ yesterday (and first "big" tournament). Although I "only" went 5-3 (which I was pumped about) I thought I'd share my list and brief report.
Round 1 vs. Gruul Aggro (2-0)
Easy matchup really. Found out my opponent was sitting at X-2 later on that day so he ended up doing well throughout the tourney. I was able to answer everything he did and Sorin took over Game 1. I boarded in the Lifebane Zombies and pulled one in Game 2, stripping a Boros Reckoner. Controlled the board and ticked him for 3 until he scooped after I cast a big Sphinx.
Round 2 vs. Bant Hexproof (2-1)
Game 1 was pretty crazy. He had a good start but a Verdict and 2 Devour Flesh later he was low on cards and I was able to get Jace, AoT, Sorin and Tamiyo on the board and it got pretty silly. I ended up ultimating Tamiyo with a Sphinx and Dissipate (among a couple others) in hand and he conceded immediately. Game 2 I mulled to 5 and kept 1 land w/ two Think Twice's, Devour Flesh and Dissipate. 3 turns in a row couldn't draw a land and we moved to Game 3. Game 3 played out similar to Game 1. Lifebane Zombie stripped a GoST and I hit the beats w/ Zombie and 2/1 Vampire tokens.
Round 3 vs. UWR Flash (0-2)
Game 1 was quite long and he killed my Drownyard w/ a Ghost Quarter and I couldn't find a threat before he just burned me to death. Game 2 much of the same...couldn't find a threat and I didn't have the counter for Hellkite.
Round 4 vs. Jund Midrange (2-0)
My opponent flooded Game 1 so I was able to just 1-for-1 his threats until Tamiyo and Aetherling hit the field. Game 2 he mulled to 5 and my starting hand had: Appetite for Brains, 2 Lifebane Zombies, Pithing Needle and land. I Appetite his Vraska and I see he has 2 Tusks and a land left. I Lifebane both of his Tusks away...turn 5 Memory Adept and mill him out pretty quickly. Tough break on draws for him which made it really easy for me to take advantage of.
Round 5 vs. Mono Green (0-2)
Game 1: Three Acidic Slimes in a row turns 5, 6 and 7. Bout all for that one. Game 2: I didn't see Craterhoof Game 1 so I didn't expect it in his deck and it cost me big time in Game 2 as he slapped it down and swung for a ton when I wasn't expecting it at all.
Round 6 vs. Junk Tokens (2-1)
Game 1: Active Sorin and Tamiyo did the work for me as he just ran out of gas. Game 2: Voice of Resurgence and Sin Collector got the best of me (Sin Collector taking a much needed Verdict from my hand). Game 3: Miracle Terminus followed by an Aetherling sealed the deal.
Round 7 vs. Bant Hexproof (2-1)
This seriously played out very similar to the 1st Hexproof deck I played. I mulled to 5 and got stuck on 1 land forcing a Game 3, but I stabilized fairly easily and Jace, MA went to work.
Round 8 vs. Jund Midrange (0-2)
Both games lasted a while but neither game did I see Aetherling, Sphinx, Counterspells, Jaces, Drownyards....I felt I was drawing pretty well most of the day and I just didn't get what I needed here. My opponent was a very solid player and it did take him some time to grind me down, but I just ran out of gas to his constant threats since I couldn't find my own.
I expected a lot of Hexproof and Jund and half of my matches were against them.
Possible changes: Adding another Aetherling main, or maybe 1 Obzedat. Probably want the 3rd Sphinx as well. Lifebane was awesome and I didn't catch wind of any Reanimator all day. My friend nor I played it and the matches I caught glimpses of throughout the day didn't have any either...maybe Rest in Peace isn't needed in the SB for now? Detention Sphere was a freaking rock star and since I saw plenty of Walkers yesterday I may want 1 more in the SB.
Had a really great time and all of my opponents were really nice guys.
Edit: How do you all feel about some combination of Fiendslayer Paladin and Lifebane Zombie in maindeck and/or sideboard for those lists that are on the Sorin, Lord of Innistrad plan?
UB/x Faeries
UR Storm
XURWB Affinity
G Elves
UW control
:symu::symw::symb: Control :symb::symw::symu:
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Watery Grave
3 Godless Shrine
3 Hallowed Fountain
3 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Island
Instants [16]
3 Azorius Charm
3 Far // Away
3 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Think Twice
2 Dissipate
2 Warped Physique
4 Lingering Souls
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Terminus
Creatures [4]
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 AEtherling
1 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
Planneswalkers [4]
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Enchantments [2]
2 Detention Sphere
2 Crypt Incursion
2 Doom Blade
2 Negate
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace
2 Renounce the Guilds
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Supreme Verdict
Deckstats
Thoughts?
My Decks, Haves & Wants, Buy/Wish List, and Worksheets:
Standard:
:symu::symw::symb:Control:symb::symw::symu:
:symu::symw::symr:Flash:symr::symw::symu:
Modern:
:symu::symb: Tezzfinty :symb::symu:
Legacy:
:symu::symw::symr:Stoneblade:symr::symw::symu:
It looks better to me. A little more focused which is really critical right now. A couple of things still jump out at me.
You cut a Verdict! I already thought you were verdict light with three. Get rid of the 2x Jace AoT and replace with two Verdicts. Jace is pretty mediocre right now -- it's a lot better in a metagame where you are going to see a lot of other control decks.
I also like running Renounce in the MD -- if you scroll back a few pages you'll see a really impressive list of things Renounce kills in the current format (it's better than Doom Blade). I run them in the slots you have Warped Physique in. If you do the same thing then swap the Sphere's out for O-Rings. Every now and then you can catch multiple copies of something with a Sphere, which is cool but you really don't want to give your oppo something back when you kill your own Sphere with Renounce.
/M
My Decks, Haves & Wants, Buy/Wish List, and Worksheets:
Standard:
:symu::symw::symb:Control:symb::symw::symu:
:symu::symw::symr:Flash:symr::symw::symu:
Modern:
:symu::symb: Tezzfinty :symb::symu:
Legacy:
:symu::symw::symr:Stoneblade:symr::symw::symu:
When it comes to sweepers there are two ways to go with this deck.
1) You can all in on Terminus and hope to Miracle one early. That's what some of the successful decks have done. It should be noted that such an approach is only viable if you run a tremendous amount of point removal. You may also want to run a couple of miser's Verdicts.
2) You go with a full boat of Verdicts and run a couple of Terminus as Sweepers 5 & 6 (and they give the Miracle bonus if it comes up). Some people run a Planar Cleansing as Sweeper #7 and of course, Far/Away is like a mini sweeper all on it's own, so that brings you to 10-ish. Plus the point removal. You should never lose to aggro. The mirror is kind of crappy though as you have all these blanks in your deck. That's like though. The format is still so aggro intensive that this isn't all that likely.
Personally, I prefer the second option. It has the charm of minimizing the luck factor. I am never sad to see two or three Verdicts early on. And Far/Away is insane. The number of times I have bounced a Thragtusk/Huntmaster token and forced my oppo to sac something relevant (like Huntmaster) is crazy. This is a really, really good card.
One thing I would caution you against. When you build your sideboard, don't overdo the mirror. This is just a general piece of advice. I often see people come to tourney with a sideboard full of hate for their own deck despite the fact that the field is heavily favoring another strategy. A few Appetite for Brains, Jace MA and a couple more Aetherlings should be plenty for the mirror and those cards are also good against decks like reanimator (still a thing, but it may be dying out with Scavenger Ooze. We'll see.)
/M
IVe taken sooranis list and made a few changes here and there. Can I get some feedback? (please note that there are no negates in my sb. unsure if that's a big mistake only running 2 counterspells in my 75)
Additionally, are silence and render silent subpar choices? Someone in m lcs runs UWR with render silent and its really a powerful bomb late in turns. Wondering what the reason is it doesn't see play in the mainstream.
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Evil Twin
2 AEtherling
Spells:28
4 Azorius Charm
2 Think Twice
2 Warped Physique
1 Detention Sphere
2 Dissipate
2 Far // Away
2 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Jace, Architect of Thought
4 Supreme Verdict
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
2 Terminus
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Nephalia Drownyard
3 Watery Grave
1 Appetite for Brains
3 Doom Blade
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Rest in Peace
2 Notion Thief
1 Curse of Death's Hold
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Psychic Spiral
1 AEtherling
I am surprised Shawn did not mb doom blades. I thought that would surely be something all esper guys were excited about. I've put three in sb although I do feel they warrant at least 2 spots mb.
(btw, to name your deck just do {deck="my name here"} except use braces instead of curly braces)
Silence doesn't do a lot and render silent's inferior to dissipate because it's harder to cast and doesn't exile.
Doom blade is almost worthless in the jund matchup (the majority of the current meta) and can't kill the important cards in aristocrats either while being unimportant in the control and bant hexproof matches too.
I played planeswalker control for a while, but it wasn't as successful for me. Giving up all those kill cards for planeswalkers and souls means you generally must play a boardwipe turn 4-5 followed by a sorin/tamiyo turn 5-6 or lose. Jund is terrible because they have so many ways to kill planeswalkers cheaply and the hexproof match is pretty much unwinnable the second they draw rancor because your 2/1 spirit tokens don't have first strike.
In the end, I switched to planeswalker-lite (2 architect and 1 tamiyo with 1 memory adept (and sometimes 1 gideon) in the sideboard). The added kill spells give me a much better chance of getting to turn 4 where I verdict (and pretty much win) against most aggro or can start generating card advantage vs jund and control.
:symu::symw::symb: Control :symb::symw::symu:
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Watery Grave
3 Godless Shrine
3 Hallowed Fountain
3 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Island
Instants [16]
4 Azorius Charm
3 Far // Away
3 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Dissipate
2 Think Twice
2 Warped Physique
4 Lingering Souls
3 Supreme Verdict
2 Terminus
Creatures [4]
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 AEtherling
Planneswalkers [4]
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Enchantments [1]
1 Detention Sphere
2 Crypt Incursion
2 Doom Blade
2 Negate
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace
2 Renounce the Guilds
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Supreme Verdict
Deckstats
My Decks, Haves & Wants, Buy/Wish List, and Worksheets:
Standard:
:symu::symw::symb:Control:symb::symw::symu:
:symu::symw::symr:Flash:symr::symw::symu:
Modern:
:symu::symb: Tezzfinty :symb::symu:
Legacy:
:symu::symw::symr:Stoneblade:symr::symw::symu:
I think 2 fatties is fine. Personally I run 2 and I've seen a lot of people get by with 1. You also have Sorin (which I think is less effective than Aetherling) and Souls and a couple of Snaps which can be pretty decent. So you don't really have 2 "finishers" you have 13, spread across two routes to victory (3 DY for Mill, and 10 dorks/PW/Lingering Souls for counting to 20).
I am not a fan of the Sorin/tokens approach myself , but I do see the value of making blockers and hanging on for Sweepers. That's probably more about play style than anything else.
/M
I certainly see merits in some matchups, but I guess my lens is skewed by my meta game, which is heavily Naya/Jund. Both matchup he is nothing more than a main phase 3-card Fact or Fiction. I love me some FoF, but Jace AoT is not nearly so good.
Obzedat has his uses in some situations and used to be the finisher of choice. I moved on to blood baron because he's better against aggro and I can ALWAYS cast him. I play 2 baron in main and 2 aetherling in sideboard. Aetherling only comes in against slower midrange (normally just one) and control decks (both, removing one or two barons depending on their deck).
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
3 Godless Shrine
3 Isolated Chapel
3 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Ghost Quarter
Sorceries and Instants (25)
3 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Supreme Verdict
2 Think Twice
1 Warped Physique
2 Far // Away
2 Terminus
3 Azorius Charm
2 Dissipate
2 Syncopate
1 Doom Blade
2 Cremate
2 Renounce the Guilds
2 Lifebane Zombie
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Augur of Bolas
2 Restoration Angel
2 Negate
2 Appetite for Brains
2 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
2 Rest in Peace
2 Feeling of Dread
1 Ætherling
1 Dispel
1 Curse of Death's Hold
2 Sin Collector
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
4 Augur of Bolas
2 Snapcaster Mage
Spells (25)
2 Essence Scatter
3 Dissipate
4 Azorius Charm
2 Far
4 Supreme Verdict
2 Detention Sphere
4 Think Twice
4 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Island
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
3 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Ætherling
1 Dispel
1 Essence Scatter
1 Dissipate
2 Duress
2 Appetite for Brains
4 Terminus
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Crypt Incursion
This is what I've ran for a couple of weeks. Been on a run with it, with the last game I lost being to a UWR Tempo deck a couple of weeks back. That was the reason for the third Essence Scatter and the Dispel in the sideboard.
I thought I'd post it since it's radically different than every other list on the thread. What I realized is that the deck basically won games off Sphinx's Revelation and Supreme Verdict, so the rest of the cards are just support for those 8. I call the Jace, the "Architect of Mana" since my primary goal with him is to hit land drops 5 and 6, and tear through the deck for more copies of Verdict and Revelation. Against most creature decks, the win comes when you can have a 2 mana disruption spell along with a Verdict or Jace at 6 mana. That alone is reason enough for me to not bother with Syncopate, since it's hardly ever going to work in that situation. Ætherling is in the sideboard since it proved to be awful on defense and has no synergy with the strategy. The singleton Jace is enough to win in 2 turns once you cast Revelation for 7; Ætherling is much slower and unnecessary. I left a copy in the board because it's better than a third Jace against midrange green decks, and sometimes random people show up with outdated decks that run Psychic Spiral, or Witchbane Orb.
:symu::symw::symb: Control :symb::symw::symu:
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Watery Grave
3 Godless Shrine
3 Hallowed Fountain
3 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Island
Instants [15]
4 Azorius Charm
3 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Dissipate
2 Far // Away
2 Think Twice
2 Warped Physique
3 Lingering Souls
3 Supreme Verdict
2 Terminus
Planneswalkers [6]
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Creatures [4]
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 AEtherling
Enchantments [1]
1 Detention Sphere
2 Crypt Incursion
2 Doom Blade
2 Negate
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace
2 Renounce the Guilds
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Supreme Verdict
Deckstats
My Decks, Haves & Wants, Buy/Wish List, and Worksheets:
Standard:
:symu::symw::symb:Control:symb::symw::symu:
:symu::symw::symr:Flash:symr::symw::symu:
Modern:
:symu::symb: Tezzfinty :symb::symu:
Legacy:
:symu::symw::symr:Stoneblade:symr::symw::symu:
You don't have enough cards to discard to liliana. Almost every other deck in the format has better topdecks than Esper, so if liliana's not securing you flashback advantage, you are just giving up your hard-earned card advantage for nothing.
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Isolated Chapel
3 Nephalia Drownyard
5 Island
5 Plains
Sorceries and Instants (25)
2 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Supreme Verdict
4 Think Twice
4 Terminus
4 Azorius Charm
2 Dissipate
4 Syncopate
2 Renounce the Guilds
4 Augur of Bolas
4 Restoration Angel
4 Kraken Hatchling
2 Dissipate
2 Rest in Peace
2 Negate
2 Essence Scatter
2 Planar Cleansing
1 Vanishment
Notes:
1.) Mono-G Predator Ooze decks have become quite popular with its recent Top 8 showings, and Dustini's deck has no problem with it. Azorius Charm + Nephalia Drownyard or Terminus deals with it quite easily, and thats assuming they can get past the countermagic.
2.) 4x Kraken Hatchling in the board followed by 4x Augur of Bolas and 4x Restoration Angel is pretty decent for the Naya Humans matchup. Blocking with Augur then flickering with Restoration Angel is so much value.
3.) Really fun but tense deck to play, especially Game 1 when you haven't had a chance to sideboard.
7 sweepers + 4 Restoration Angels? 2 Sphinx's Revelation and no Forbidden Alchemy? It looks like a good MODO deck. I guess it makes sense if you think you're going to play against only small creature decks. The Restoration Angels are so good against them that you run them instead of Sphinx's Revelation, knowing that you're cold to midrange.
Also, Sensory Deprivation should just about do the Kraken thing, without getting removed by Searing Spear or Ghor-Clan Rampager. Andrew Cuneo used to run it, but decided it all just wasn't worth it. I can see the hatchling in a spot removal deck, but with mono-sweepers it's just blocking the same creature until it dies.
Yeah, its a MODO deck. Dustini has been going 4-0 and 3-1 multiple times with this deck.
Sensory Deprivation is good, but it's vulnerable to Restoration Angels, of which a lot of decks still play. Kraken has done the job for me so far, protecting me from a Naya Human Blitz deck long enough to Verdict., and also being a wall to Strangleroot Geist and even Wolfir Avenger.
The midrange matchup improves vastly after sideboarding. Against Jund and Naya, I board in the full playset of Dissipates. Counters are quite powerful now that Cavern of Souls is less popular.
I did feel that Dustini's deck was very weak to planeswalkers though, hence the 2x Planar Cleansings in the board. Midrange is slow enough that you'll almost always survive to 6 mana.
No Forbidden Alchemy because it won't trigger Miracle for the 4x Terminus. More than 1 game was won by Thinking Twice on the opponents turn and Miracle-ing a Terminus.
I assumed the Krakens were only for GRx Aggro decks. If you would board it against a deck with Angels, I'm completely lost.
Ah, good point. I blame the lack of sleep
Here's what I registered:
1 Aetherling
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
4 Azorius Charm
2 Detention Sphere
2 Devour Flesh
2 Dissipate
1 Far // Away
1 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Supreme Verdict
2 Terminus
2 Think Twice
3 Warped Physique
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
3 Isolated Chapel
3 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Plains
3 Watery Grave
Sideboard:
2 Appetite for Brains
1 Curse of Death's Hold
2 Doom Blade
1 Far // Away
2 Lifebane Zombie
2 Negate
1 Obzedat, Ghost Council
1 Pithing Needle
2 Rest in Peace
1 Terminus
Round 1 vs. Gruul Aggro (2-0)
Easy matchup really. Found out my opponent was sitting at X-2 later on that day so he ended up doing well throughout the tourney. I was able to answer everything he did and Sorin took over Game 1. I boarded in the Lifebane Zombies and pulled one in Game 2, stripping a Boros Reckoner. Controlled the board and ticked him for 3 until he scooped after I cast a big Sphinx.
Round 2 vs. Bant Hexproof (2-1)
Game 1 was pretty crazy. He had a good start but a Verdict and 2 Devour Flesh later he was low on cards and I was able to get Jace, AoT, Sorin and Tamiyo on the board and it got pretty silly. I ended up ultimating Tamiyo with a Sphinx and Dissipate (among a couple others) in hand and he conceded immediately. Game 2 I mulled to 5 and kept 1 land w/ two Think Twice's, Devour Flesh and Dissipate. 3 turns in a row couldn't draw a land and we moved to Game 3. Game 3 played out similar to Game 1. Lifebane Zombie stripped a GoST and I hit the beats w/ Zombie and 2/1 Vampire tokens.
Round 3 vs. UWR Flash (0-2)
Game 1 was quite long and he killed my Drownyard w/ a Ghost Quarter and I couldn't find a threat before he just burned me to death. Game 2 much of the same...couldn't find a threat and I didn't have the counter for Hellkite.
Round 4 vs. Jund Midrange (2-0)
My opponent flooded Game 1 so I was able to just 1-for-1 his threats until Tamiyo and Aetherling hit the field. Game 2 he mulled to 5 and my starting hand had: Appetite for Brains, 2 Lifebane Zombies, Pithing Needle and land. I Appetite his Vraska and I see he has 2 Tusks and a land left. I Lifebane both of his Tusks away...turn 5 Memory Adept and mill him out pretty quickly. Tough break on draws for him which made it really easy for me to take advantage of.
Round 5 vs. Mono Green (0-2)
Game 1: Three Acidic Slimes in a row turns 5, 6 and 7. Bout all for that one. Game 2: I didn't see Craterhoof Game 1 so I didn't expect it in his deck and it cost me big time in Game 2 as he slapped it down and swung for a ton when I wasn't expecting it at all.
Round 6 vs. Junk Tokens (2-1)
Game 1: Active Sorin and Tamiyo did the work for me as he just ran out of gas. Game 2: Voice of Resurgence and Sin Collector got the best of me (Sin Collector taking a much needed Verdict from my hand). Game 3: Miracle Terminus followed by an Aetherling sealed the deal.
Round 7 vs. Bant Hexproof (2-1)
This seriously played out very similar to the 1st Hexproof deck I played. I mulled to 5 and got stuck on 1 land forcing a Game 3, but I stabilized fairly easily and Jace, MA went to work.
Round 8 vs. Jund Midrange (0-2)
Both games lasted a while but neither game did I see Aetherling, Sphinx, Counterspells, Jaces, Drownyards....I felt I was drawing pretty well most of the day and I just didn't get what I needed here. My opponent was a very solid player and it did take him some time to grind me down, but I just ran out of gas to his constant threats since I couldn't find my own.
I expected a lot of Hexproof and Jund and half of my matches were against them.
Possible changes: Adding another Aetherling main, or maybe 1 Obzedat. Probably want the 3rd Sphinx as well. Lifebane was awesome and I didn't catch wind of any Reanimator all day. My friend nor I played it and the matches I caught glimpses of throughout the day didn't have any either...maybe Rest in Peace isn't needed in the SB for now? Detention Sphere was a freaking rock star and since I saw plenty of Walkers yesterday I may want 1 more in the SB.
Had a really great time and all of my opponents were really nice guys.
My DCI ELO Ratings - May they rest in peace :'(