Does anyone know anything about esper control?
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on March 26, 2017, 4:48 p.m. by anvildust
Just looking for some advice on my deck Esper-ience the Taste of Victory. My biggest questions are what to fill the sideboard with and how necessary Snapcasters are. Any advice or comments are welcome. Thanks so much!
Snaps are damn necessary so you can cast Secure early and recast for win. They make drawing secure early much better. 3 snap seems fine. 4 is too many. With the 3 snaps, you can go down to 3 wraths as well. Evacuation seems odd. Some people prefer a split of tarpit and vent over colonnade. I'd go down on alliance and up on push.
Lingering Souls is a strong side card. So is Engineered Explosives. If your meta has lots of Death's shadow, condemn is a spicy side option. Timely Reinforcements is a great option too. Some number of negate might be decent. I don't know what your meta is like. Hard to say.
March 26, 2017 5:43 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #4
@TheDevicer A lot of your suggestions are pretty sound, but there's one that most of the experienced pilots over at MTGSalvation (myself included) agree that Lingering Souls isn't actually very good in the deck unless you're specifically targeting BGx (and even then, there are better options like Gideon Jura, Elspeth, Sun's Champion, and even Grave Titan).
Also, I would say that only the first 2 Snappys are necessary. The 3rd becomes more attractive if you're playing 3+ Pushes maindeck, and even moreso if you're on Secure as the wincon, but 2 has really the been the sweet spot for the deck for a long time.
Anyways, as for the OP's decklist -- 3 Blessed Alliance is quite too many in the main, and the Evacuation is too slow. Playing less than 4 Cryptic is not where you want to be, as Cryptic is part of this deck's late game engine. In addition, 25 lands is a no-go, especially with no Serum Visions main (which isn't a problem, Serum Visions is still a controversial topic for Esper). You really need the 4th Colonnade anyways. You also should also be playing the 3rd Knot too. Finally, I would just cut the Teachings for the 2nd Secure since only 2 possible copies of Secure in the game isn't enough, since the first Secure is usually just to chump block. That and that only having 1 Secure is weak against decks with sweepers. (You could also cut the Secure for a White Sun's Zenith and possibly leave the Teachings -- though Teachings has always been super slow in my experience. Effectively, adding 4 mana to a card's cost isn't ideal even if you tutor for the card.)
March 26, 2017 8:52 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #5
Edit: Forgot the sideboard -- Runed Halo > Meddling Mage, as Halo is harder to kill and still hoses the same cards + others like Valakut triggers, Eidolon of the Great Revel, etc. Batterksull is still a liability in the deck, since Kommand is still around Death's Shadow, Grixis, and Jund Midgrange. Also, Surgical Extraction has been working better for me and a bunch of the others on Esper since you can Ghost Quarter + Surg a tron land. Besides, you can still Snap back Surg while RiP actively hoses Think Twice, Snap, and Logic Knot. Also, Fatal Push really is the truth, and there should be at least 2 in the 75. This'd be a great place to put the extra Blessed Alliances from the mb too if you wanna keepthem around for Burn/Drazi/Boggles/Infect.
March 26, 2017 9:02 p.m.
Thank you so much! These comments will give me some thing to work with for a while. I appreciate your help, it's been really usefull. Thanks again!
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #2
No. No one knows anything about Esper Control.
March 26, 2017 5:41 p.m.