Background
I have been playing magic since the Lorwyn block but have taken frequent breaks from the game. This past year or so is when i really dedicated myself to learning more about this game and to how to become a better player.
This being said, I am a Johnny. I LOVE silly/cute combos and interactions between cards no one could think would exist. This is the first deck I've built using one of these interactions that I have actually done well with it in a tournament setting.
I love Magic: the Gathering, and I love this deck. So, without further adieu, here is my Esper Seance deck!
Spells
4x Seance: It's a seance deck for a reason! This card is what gives you that cheesy combo that can let you win out of no where. It also interacts with several of the creatures in this deck such as
Alchemist's Apprentice
, Snapcaster Mage, Shadowborn Demon, and
Sphinx of Uthuun
to give great card advantage!
4x Supreme Verdict: A board wipe that cannot be countered is exactly what this deck wants. All of your creatures are disposable. If you played them from your hand then they go into the graveyard ready to be Seance'd and if you created a token with seance, then its done its purpose already, as the token exile's at the end of turn anyhow. It gets rid of almost all of this deck's problem creatures and can easily set your opponent far behind.
4x Dissipate: Countering anything is okay. But countering and exiling anything is great! One of the best, if not the best counterspells of the format and this deck wants to run it! It protects your combo, it stops your opponent's threats from entering the board. Overall great spell.
3x Doom Blade: I've never gotten to play with this card in standard but I've heard great things about it. with Snapcaster Mage and lots of really great non-black creatures in the format, it's going to be tough for this card to be bad.
3x
Forbidden Alchemy
: A great card for finding what you need. At instant speed it allows you to keep your mana open for a Dissipate and if not get punished if they don't play a spell. Plus all the other cards go into your graveyard which, a lot of the time is where you want them anyways. On top of that it has flashback without snap, give you more options for the late game.
2x Azorius Charm: This spell fits in well with what this deck is trying to do. If they are putting a lot of pressure early on you, you can use this to delay them for a little while longer while you search for a verdict. If they don't do anything early then you can keep it in your hand for your combo or cycle it to find something else you need.
1x
Warped Physique
: I think this card is very underrated. It can target any color creature for the same cost as DB. But it can also kill indestructible creatures, which are something this deck really doesn't handle well. And that alone is worth giving this card a spot in my deck.
1x Think Twice: I only run one of these because I would usually rather be playing other cards, however it has flashback, which means its very useful for securing my win when i combo out. Plus it's a decent draw spell. Pretty self explanatory
Creatures
4x
Alchemist's Apprentice
: Or as i like to call it, think twice on a stick. A stick that can block some early damage. on top of that he can draw you a free card and block a bit more damage when seance comes online. This guy always ends up doing a lot of work in this deck
4x Snapcaster Mage: He's snapcaster. He's amazing. My deck runs a decent amount of instants and sorcery's so he's going to be good. He can even be seance'd to get additional value off of him.
2x Shadowborn Demon: Im very excited for this guy in M14. He has a great spot in this deck as additional removal, as well as being a 5/6 body that clogs up the board. Plus it's pretty easy to keep 6 creatures in the yard when playing this deck. And even if you dont, he is still going to be removal and a blocker probably twice.
2x
Sphinx of Uthuun
:
Fact or Fiction
on a stick isn't bad. Especially when i can use it for free with Seance. I always like seeing this guy regardless where he is because of all the great stuff he does for me. No matter what when I FoF, it's a win-win because I can make use of anything i have in my hand or graveyard. He also clogs up the board which has proven to be useful.
1x Mirror-Mad Phantasm: I love this card. It's got great flavor and a very interesting ability which makes it the #1 combo piece for the deck. And he can also act as a 5/1 flying beater which is a pretty fast clock for your opponent. And if he goes to your yard that's fine too. Just make sure your opponent does not have way to exile him or you will not be able to win by combo.
1x Laboratory Maniac: Really all this guy does in this deck is be the #2 combo piece. I'm always afraid of playing him because I don't want him to get exiled, so I always try to get him in the yard, which is easy most of the time.
Lands
For the most part we have just a lot of shock and check lands for mana fixing. But we also have cards like:
1x Nephalia Drownyard: This card can dig for your Mirror-Mad Phantasm or it can slowly mill your opponent out. Either way it's pretty good in the deck as it offers an alternate win condition.
1x Cavern of Souls: Pretty good vs control as it lets us stick the creature's we really need to stick
1x
Mutavault
: Great card being reprinted in M14. gives us an option to block or beatdown if we need it while also being a land.
The Combo
So we start be having a Seance on the board.
To put this card in simple terms, It allows you to create a creature token of any creature in your graveyard. But it is exiled at the end of the turn. However this can be done on your upkeep or your opponent's upkeep
Once we have that not only do we get a lot more options, and the combo comes online. The next step is to get Mirror-Mad Phantasm into the graveyard. After we do that, we use Seance's trigger on your OPPONENT'S turn to exile MMP and make a token of him, then at some point during their turn use his ability.
Now here is where things get interesting.
After using his ability the token get's destroyed. Because that's what happens when any token gets shuffled into a library.
Now because we have only one MMP in our deck. we reveal cards from the top of our deck until we have no more cards left.
This means our Think Twice, our Azorius Charm, Our Dissipate, and our Laboratory Maniac that were still in the deck are now in the yard.
Now, it is your turn. And here is where things get difficult. At this point you need to make a seance token of Laboratory Maniac on YOUR upkeep.
If you happen to somehow have a second seance out, you could also get an
Alchemist's Apprentice
on the board first.
Now that you have 0 cards in your deck, a Laboratory Maniac on the board and it's about to be your draw step, your opponent has to get rid of it right then and there.
But it's okay because you have a lot of options. Because in this deck you have instant speed draw. You can draw cards in response to removal, triggering Maniac before he dies.
You have a Think Twice in the yard (or in hand) which will trigger him, you have counter magic for their removal and you have snaps too, so its pretty likely that you have more ways to draw cards with all your mana untapped then they have instant speed removal.
So this is my Seance deck!
I really hope you enjoyed it. I know it's probably the most fun I've ever had playing Magic.
You never really get to hear "Wow, I've never lost that way before." I find something like that to be very satisfying to hear.
I am always looking for feedback. (such as better options to sideboard against blitz and aggro decks)
Tell me what you think about the deck and what you think should be changed or done differently. If you think it's awesome and really enjoy it let me know!
Thanks!
