Esper Seance. Yeah, I said it.
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on Feb. 5, 2016, 6:39 p.m. by Serendipitous_Hummingbird
So I've been running an esper seance based of Zac Elsik's brew for a while. While it is very grindy, it is also very bad at closing out games.
This puts me in an interesting spot. Seance is an incredibly strong engine, and we win about 70% of the games where we get it online. But we lose 90% or more when we can't. Turns out a deck with Mulldrifter, Fulminator Mage, and Lone Missionary can't really fall back on the old goodstuff plan.
As I've started to realize the need for finishers, the list began to look more and more like an esper control list with a rather awkward Seance package.
Yet there is still a part of me that feels Seance is too powerful to cut completely. A turn three Fulminator Mage into a turn four Seance will blow up two lands in one go. That is absolutely backbreaking.
Evoking a mulldrifter and then playing seance means that you get a blocker and your next draw is an Ancestral Recall. These are really powerful tempo plays.
Seance allows you to do absolutely ridiculous things to the board state. A Fleshbag Marauder becomes a 3cmc Dead Drop. Fulminator Mage can completely shut people off a splashed color.
But the one thing Seance can't do is finish the game. There might be some sort of Commune with the Gods+Sundering Titan+Elesh Norn thing one could do, but that is not this deck.
So what is the solution? Perhaps we should visit MTGGoldfish. A while back they featured a budget magic article about "Evoke Control" in esper.
This makes me wonder if Seance could find a home as a 2-of in an esper list that focuses on ETB triggers. This allows the altering plays of Seance while still making room for cards like Celestial Colonnade.
Or have I just completely lost it? It's a very real possibility. I haven't slept in the past 34 hours, so I'm not so good at evaluating deck ideas at the moment
Serendipitous_Hummingbird says... #4
That seems like a lot of work just to keep 2/2 mulldrifters and 2/1 missionaries
Basically this is a value engine, not unlike sword and foundry. It is incredibly powerful, just does not have the game ending abilities to close the match out. But I do believe this can be a very real thing if we can find the proper home.
February 5, 2016 8:09 p.m.
Darkmagi1131 says... #5
How about Leveler and Laboratory Maniac? Because the Seance trigger is in the upkeep you can being back Laboratory Maniac before you lose.
February 6, 2016 12:44 a.m.
RoarMaster says... #6
Ok, although I have some hesitations on the veracity of seance in a serious modern deck, I am also a huge fan of homebrews and creativity, so Im in.
First off, if you want to go an esper evoke route(never seen the list myself), Wizard_of_the_Broke makes a good point with Sundial of the Infinite. Not only does it allow you to keep the tokens crated by seance, but it also allows you to stack your evoke triggers to maximum effect. Say you have a sundial in play and you evoke cast a Shriekmaw for 2, shriekmaw enters causing his two abilities to be put on the stack, first you put the sacrifice ability on, then the kill a non-back creature ability. The kill creature ability resolves, frying a bad guy, and at that point you activate the Sundial of the Infinite in response to the sacrifice shriekmaw ability. The turn ends, exiling the shriekmaws sacrifice effect, and he remain in play indefinately.
Just as a side note, sundial also works with things like Eater of Days, Leveller, and "champion" effects. Leveller may work with Laboratory Maniac if you decide to run him.
February 6, 2016 1:39 a.m.
PotatoeWizard says... #7
maybe Gifts Ungiven? Add the typical creatures like Norn and Iona with Unburial Rites but with the creatures you're already running plus a few high end etb value cards. Also gives you a way to seartch for Seance, so maybe a card that gets things out of your graveyard?
February 6, 2016 1:39 a.m.
RoarMaster says... #8
Ok, apparently Leveler was linked to a deck, my bad, hopefully this is theright link to the card Im talking about...
February 6, 2016 1:42 a.m.
RoarMaster says... #9
Ok, apparently Leveler was linked to a deck, my bad, hopefully this is the right link to the card Im talking about...
DrFunk27 says... #2
You need to have abilities to give your creatures haste, or have a way of using their ETB abilities.
February 5, 2016 6:44 p.m.