UB? UW? Try Esper!

Standard Competitive Control WUB (Esper)

Dream3r

Land (25)

• 2x Concealed Courtyard
• 4x Drowned Catacomb
• 2x Evolving Wilds
• 4x Fetid Pools
• 1x Field of Ruin
• 4x Glacial Fortress
• 2x Irrigated Farmland
• 2x Island
• 2x Plains
• 2x Swamp

Instant (20)

• 4x Censor
• 3x Disallow
• 1x Essence Scatter
• 3x Fatal Push
• 2x Hieroglyphic Illumination
• 1x Hour of Glory
• 1x Pull from Tomorrow
• 2x Settle the Wreckage
• 1x Spell Swindle
• 2x Vraska's Contempt

Creature (6)

• 1x Kefnet the Mindful
• 2x The Scarab God
• 3x Torrential Gearhulk

Enchantment (6)

• 3x Cast Out
• 1x Ixalan's Binding
• 2x Search for Azcanta  ^Flip

Sorcery (3)

• 2x Fumigate
• 1x Torment of Hailfire

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Sideboard

Instant (6)

• 2x Essence Extraction
• 1x Fatal Push
• 3x Negate

Artifact (1)

• 1x Treasure Map  ^Flip

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Bontu's Last Reckoning
• 2x Duress
• 2x Harsh Scrutiny

Creature (3)

• 3x Gifted Aetherborn

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This Esper control list is designed to take the best from and shore up the weaknesses of both UB Control and UW Approach in Standard to create a control deck that can answer any situation. The deck has run excellently for me so far, going undefeated in the several local tournaments I've played with it.

White removal shores up a lot of UB's big problems, including the lack of sweepers and reliance on counterspells as the best form of interaction. Settle the Wreckage will save you in so many situations. And where the card doesn't outright save you, it still slows down your opponent by forcing them to play around it. I feel like control without a tangible wincon isn't where you want to be. UW Approach has a lot of cool things going on in it, but I do feel that The Scarab God is just too strong to not be running in control if you can afford it. I also have this attachment to Torrential Gearhulk that might make some people uncomfortable and I couldn't imagine sleeving up control in standard without my playset of these guys.

Card Choices Show

Most of the choices are rather self explanatory, but there are a few questionable pieces here I'd like to discuss.

Kefnet the Mindful has been the best 1-of in the deck I could have asked for. You can jam him early on, and he nets you card advantage any time you find yourself with open mana. And then, you can even win the game with him later. I love seeing an activated Kefnet on my side of the table because it means 2 things: 1.) I have a hand full of cards to use, and 2.) I'm in a solid spot on board.

Spell Swindle certainly does seem odd. It can feel odd to play too, because you want to wait for the perfect moment to get the most treasures possible. The card is solid, though. It's like a very expensive Mana Drain in that it allows you to do all sorts of things afterwards. It usually pays for itself, and can even help you win the game. Because we run a few more payoff cards for lots of mana than usual control decks.

Torment of Hailfire and Pull from Tomorrow are our big X payoff cards that the likes of Spell Swindle help accelerate and that makes all of the lands we end up having on the table more useful. A big torment may not always win you the game (although it definitely can), but it will either drop them a lot of life or clear their board/hand. And a lot of times it's both! Pull is a great card, and I love running it in control lists because it can help you get through tough pockets of lands early game and things like that, or it can refill your hand with a bunch of gas late. ~I've pulled for 10 with this deck, and that's just fun.~

Please feel free to ask questions and provide suggestions and comments, etc. I really feel like this deck can do well in the current standard metagame, and that this blend of two of the biggest control decks right now can perform even better than those decks. Thanks a bunch!

Date added	8 years
Last updated	8 years
Exclude colors	RG
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 31 - 2 Rares 12 - 8 Uncommons 5 - 5 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	3.43
Tokens	Copy Clone, Treasure