+1 Nothing more to say about this perfect deck.

Miracles-and-Charms-of-Alara Thank you! I appreciate it.

How do you do against Tron?

RingweMakil Tron is one of our more difficult MU's, but it's manageable - even winnable. We have the tools and gameplan against it:

Hand disruption/Negate + Surgical Extraction while applying pressure via Lingering Souls, Geist of Saint Traft (if youre on it), Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, and Narset Transcendent (her -2 can allow us to flood the board with Spirit Tokens or cripple their hand with Esper Charm. Her final threatens to lock them out of the game). Tip: Dont blow your Esper Charms. Its one of the best cards vs them since they play at Sorcery speed. Its especially clutch to instant speed Mind Rot them at their draw step to prevent being blown out by their strong top decks. Its especially clutch after they Sanctum of Ugin. Its a similar strategy that I used in Esper Twix vs Twin and Bloom. Last but not least, remember to Rebound and Flashback!

The 2nd Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is a viable option out of the SB over Elspeth, Sun's Champion if the meta shifts to more Combo/Control (including Tron).

Perhaps 2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar in the maindeck over 2 Gideon Jura? I have to imagine coming down a turn earlier and making a blocker is at least as good as Jura's plus one, and it is a faster clock against combo/control.

And you're on the pressure strategy against Tron, which I really respect a lot of the best control decks for being able to do - I don't think my deck would recognise applying quick early pressure if pressure danced in front of it wearing a tea cozy. My Tron strategy is 4 Ghost Quarter, 2 Thoughtseize, 1 Transgress the Mind, 3 Extirpate, and 8 counterspells one of which is a Summary Dismissal. 3 Hero's Downfall deals with Karn/Ugin, while the Geth's Verdict can dig me out of a pinch with Ulamog. Kalitas and Aetherling are how I beat resolved Wurmcoil Engine. 3 Deprive is actually pretty good against their land exile cast triggers, and Cryptic Command can often save a planeswalker/Kalitas from Ulamog. If the game has progressed in such a way that I feel secure enough to tap out (such as if they only have two Tron lands on the board because of Ghost Quarter), Tamiyo the Moon Sage can keep them off Tron indefinitely.

A friend of mine showed me this list recently and I love it. Esper draw-go has been my Modern deck for quite a while, so I already had most of the pieces, and I decided to give it a shot. I've been bringing it to my LGS for a while and it's tons of fun to play, and it does really well against a lot of the matchups there (tons of Jund, plenty of Nahiri, Grixis, and Infect).

I was wondering if you could talk a little about your gameplan against Bant Eldrazi? In all my games and testing I've literally never won a single game against them with this deck, not to mention come close the 50/50 win ratio you advertise in your tier 1&2 matchup ratios section. Every one of their creatures is just a nightmare - Reality Smasher tramples through Lingering Souls, Thought-Knot Seer demands an answer but plucks it out of your hand first, Displacer blinks your tokens away, and all the Scion tokens get past Blessed Alliance. The only card that stabilize is Supreme Verdict, but even after that my wincons never seem to be enough.

Thanks! I love the deck and I hope it continues to be strong in the meta past whatever changes (if any) come to the banlist in January so I can keep playing it.

Man, I love this so much. I recently found out I love Esper, and saw this deck and fell in love with it. Then I lost it, but am glad to have found it again! Also a little surprised to not see a Celestial Colonnade, but a Creeping Tar Pit. Most Esper decks I have seen prefer Collonade.

+1

Walker2148 Thank you! Bant Eldrazi can be tough, but you can improve this MU by including a 4th sweeper in 75, 2nd Gideon Jura, Elspeth, Sun's Champion (over Elspeth, Knight-Errant, and possibly 2 Runed Halo (naming Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher). These are all cards I had when I was referring to that ratio. We are about 40/60 without them. I also navigate vs Bant Eldrazi with Surgical Extraction/Extirpate with Thoughtseize to be proactive vs Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! I've tried not to stray too far from the 75 listed in the article my friend showed me because I haven't been with the deck for very long, but I'll take a look at your recommendations, especially Runed Halo, which can also come in against Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle decks.

Additionally, there are some matchups where I would play more than four copies of Lingering Souls if I could - what are your opinions on Bitterblossom as a sideboard card to fill this role?

I used to play u/b faeries and Bitterblossom is a huge double edged sword. Unless you have ways to turn it off Mistbind Clique/Cryptic Command, it can put you in worse of conditions and get you killed

What's your opinion of Sphinx's Revelation even as a one-of?

I'm playing the deck in MOTO and really love it, but it's to slow against a lot of the meta.

Dredge, Tron and Burn are impossible, I played a couple games against RG Breach/Scapeshift, and the same feeling.

D&T with Selfless Spirit and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is rough.

I just don't like Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, is too aggressive.

In the first turns I'm always on defend, trying to survive, he feels too clunky.

We have really good matchups agains other control decks.

Thats are my thought for now.

@urufolks - Dredge and Tron I can understand, but that is a bit of a surprise about burn. Between Sorin, Collective Brutality, and Blessed Alliance, it shouldn't be impossible.

You might not like Gideon, but that does not make it a bad card. A well-timed Gideon steals games. The way this deck is set up, I think it's capable of being a bit more aggressive than that. It should almost play out like Jund, but with a lot more card advantage. Discard, removal spell, Lingering Souls, planeswalker, and then the plan is to out-tempo/out-pace them with the help of boardwipes and planeswalkers.

However, all that said, a bit more removal might not be out of order, Neo7hinker. Just the Blessed Alliance and Path does not feel like it is enough against Infect, Kiln Fiend aggro, potentially even Death's Shadow and other variants of Zoo. Burn with its creature heavy draws might also give trouble. Funnily enough, all those Lingering Souls should be great against affinity :D Suggestions include Immolating Glare, Go for the Throat, Murderous Cut, Victim of Night, Bile Blight, and perhaps even Zealous Persecution.

Also, I just realised this list does not have Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. Yes, he's a creature. But some creatures are worth playing, and you still have enough noncreature spells that Narset is not made worse. Kalitas wins a lot of matchups singlehandedly. Burn folds to him, all the creature based matchups break open in your favour with a Kalitas on board, he races like few things can, he is card advantage, he shuts down dredge, Melira combo - trust us, precious. He's good. Very, very, very good. At least a 2 of. Kalitas with Supreme Verdict is also quite sweet.

What are your thoughts on Sphinx's Revelation? Do you just feel as if you don't need it, given your walker package, and the amount of pressure you capable of presenting? Also, as a control/tempo deck, may I recommend Think Twice over Serum Visions?

Hey guys -

Thanks for your input/feedback. Tron and Dredge are tough, but Tron improved with my configuration. Burn can be tough, but requires practice. We are actually fine vs that MU. Focus on discard (i.e. Esper Charm) and even Geist of Saint Traft, along with our life gain sources and removals. We're actually solid vs Infect, Zooicide, Suicide Bloo, etc. - even Valakut.dec. Practice, practice, practice.

I do agree, though, that the deck could benefit from at least 2 more spot removals, maybe 1 more sweeper, and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet seems wonderful as a 2 of in the 75, especially since adding more sources. Great suggestion. Thank you.

Sphinx's Revelation isn't necessary here. I'd rather play a 4th Serum Visions before any other draw spell.

Someone at my local gamestore played against me with this Esper Transcendent deck against my Grixis Counterburn in the finals -- best out of five. I'll write about it later, but I barely beat it by top deck Lightning Bolt, used it to kill a discouraged Sorin, and beat the last few points of damage with a Batterskull Snapcaster. This deck is extremely good, I tell you what. Especially against control since it takes a more aggressive front when need be.

Miracles-and-Charms-of-Alara Thanks for the feedback. Looking forward to your report. I don't want to seem like I'm tooting my own horn, but the deck is a legitimate archetype in this format. I can only hope it continues to reach out, which will only help its representation and performances in big events.

What do you take out for the pair of Kalitas and kill spells?

With the Advent of Fatal Push as the possible premier black 1 mana removal, how would this change the deck?

I'm in general curious how that card will change up the game.

Flex Spots for 3-4 Fatal Push:

4th Path to Exile

3rd/4th Supreme Verdict (3rd must go in SB)

4th Serum Visions (if you're on 4)

2nd Blessed Alliance (less inclined to remove any, but move 2nd in SB if you do)

1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor/Batterskull/Anguished Unmaking/Murderous Cut spot

Any reason why you have moved away from the collected brutality package? I'd reckon it was what kept our chances vs. burn somewhat decent? Having 4 cards that are actively detrimental vs burn in Thoughtseize and Anguished unmaking when brutality is useful vs a lot of other matchups as well outside of tron seemed a bit strange to me, but I'm also new to the deck and control in modern in general.

Ixiaz I still play 1 Collective Brutality in the side. 1-2 is fine. The Anguished Unmaking is just being tested right now as a catch-all in the main. It's typically in the SB.

I've been keeping up with the deck for the past few days since it piqued my interest and I'd like to build it for myself as soon as reasonably possible. However, I noticed that you've been changing a few cards everyday. I assume it's due to testing and trying to refine. I was hoping that maybe you'd be able to give us some insight as to why you've made the changes you have so that everyone else can get a better understanding of what is and isn't working.

Just for example, Gideon Jura was previously considered a crucial card but is no longer mainboard, having been replaced by Elspeth. But why? What changed? What did you not like about Gideon jura and what is it that you think makes Elspeth better in that slot.

The reasonings don't have to be every day or for every change (though that would be nice) but at the very least it could help others get a handle on your thought processes and understand the deck better. Or debate you on why a certain card is better and you can take that with you and use it to improve yourself.