Esper Auras list I drummed up. It started as a challenge to myself to build a budget Mono-White Auras list. The list worked really well, and I quickly realized I was winning more with mono-white than I had been with my other decks. This hinted to me that Auras was actually pretty well positioned in the meta. I then started crafting this list, trying to take all the best pieces of the UW, WB, and monocolored lists. The end result is actually pretty good. You're basically a Mono-White Auras list with 2 splashes for Black and Blue - the idea is you'll always have your white mana and usually have 2 colours. You mulligan for an enchantress effect, load up auras on the enchantress to draw cards and produce a threat, and then swing in for the game.
4x
Kor Spiritdancer
4x
Sram, Senior Edificer
Are the absolute core of the deck. I think you're pretty much running both of these in full playsets in any auras list. Spiritdancer gives you the potential of turn 4 wins and is the better threat by far, but you need the redundundundancy of Sram for your deck to do its thing in games you don't see the Spiritdancer.
Lurrus of the Dream-Den
is the obvious companion for this deck. Being able to recurr Spiritdancer, Sram, and other Auras is really useful. In order to create protective loops with Lurrus and protect our Enchantress effects we're running
2x
Selfless Savior
2x
Kaya's Ghostform
Ghostform is an Aura, super useful with enchantress effects, and protects your creature (but not its auras) from most removal effects. It's especially useful to stabilize with Lurrus, and gives Spiritdancer the +2/+2, despite being less useful as an aura on the rest of your creatures. However, a couple of good boys gives you additional turn 1 plays and protects you from destruction by most means. I like casting Lurrus, looping out Savior, and then protecting Lurrus turn after turn until you make a breakthrough.
3x
Thoughtseize
3x
Spell Pierce
Gives us a nice disruption suite, and running this suite is the main reason to play Esper. Both of these spells can help you protect your enchantress, but also give you a nice bit of disruption in a variety of situations. I think 3 of each are good numbers, since we want as many Auras as possible.
The removal suite is black-based enchantments, removal you can loop with Lurrus and draw cards with enchantresses. Pretty straightforward. Since the removal is pretty narrow, a single copy of
Heliod's Punishment
helps you "remove" things that dodge your actual removal. Very rarely does a game go long enough that Heliod's Punishment falls off.
The rest of the deck is a pile of Auras the enchant your creatures, focusing on 1 mana enchantments that give +1/+1 and a bonus, with a couple copies of
All That Glitters
and a lone copy of
Staggering Insight
.
My main advice is don't mulligan for getting your mana, mulligan entirely for seeing an enchantress effect so your game can actually happen. If you remember not to keep hands without Spiritdancer or Sram the deck is pretty straightforward. You can get by with 2 colours of your mana and draw cards until you find your third in a lot of games.
