What's the time in round? [Esper Control Primer]
Modern
SCORE: 67 | 88 COMMENTS | 9419 VIEWS | IN 21 FOLDERS
FNM Update, and plans for SGC Louisville —Dec. 13, 2015
So, I went to my LGS yesterday for Modern and got first with a 2-0-1 record:
Round 1 --- Jund. 2-1 Win.
It's an interesting matchup. Game one looked favorable, but after I dealt with his last threat, a Liliana of the Veil, we were both left topdecking. I was able to Spell Snare a Scavenging Ooze, but he landed a Huntmaster of the Fells Flip which got promptly Path'd. Unfortunately, I ended up losing to the wolf. Game two, he got stuck on two lands for a few turns, and I adamantly refused to use the path he saw in my hand from an earlier Thoughtseize. I landed a Gideon Jura the same turn he found his 3rd land, and Gideon took over the game. Eventually, Lingering Souls and Gideon attacks killed him. Game three, I got a T0 Leyline of Sanctity, a Lingering Souls, and a few Esper Charms. He had dead cards in hand, and a threat light draw. I dealt with each threat in a timely manner, and beatdown with Souls and eventually White Sun's Zenith tokens for the win.
Round 2 --- Gifts Tron. 1-1-1 Draw.
G1 we played draw-go for a little while with a few Think Twices (me) and Thirst for Knowledges (him), and I eventually started shenanigans with Esper Charm and counters. However, I ended up casting my White Sun's Zenith into Remands a few times, and he hardcasted Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. Ouch. Game two, he mulled and I kept a great hand with lots of lands, a few Esper Charms, a White Sun's Zenith, and some counters. After finding a second one, I eventually started casting White Sun's Zenith to bait counters, then Remanding my own Zenith. It drained his resources, and I eventually resolved a WSZ, a Leyline of Sanctity, and started beating in w/ Snaps, Cats, and a few Souls. The last game went to turns, and those 5 turns were all about fogging away Emrakul. I Esper Charmed him on discard mode to make him discard Emrakul and use Eye of Ugin to find it again, this happened twice. Emrakul finally resolved on T4, and I Cryptic Commanded on the last turn to tap him down and and force the draw.
Round 3 --- Twin. 2-0 Win.
I had lent my friend, Paul, my Twin deck. Twin is a great matchup for me, as it turns out, so I was enthusiastic to get paired against Paul. G1, he mulled to 5, stalled on lands, and I Esper Charmed his hand away. He was still able to get a Pestermite out and put a Splinter Twin on it, but I had the removal spell. Spirit tokens and 2/2 Cats won the game. G2, I sided in one Leyline just in case I needed the utility, as Leyline isn't always very good against Twin in my experience from both sides of the matchup. Well, I drew it in my opener. I played around his Blood Moon by fetching up my basics -- I had Island, Plains, Swamp in play T3 -- and resolved a T3 Spellskite with Spell Snare backup. Eventually, I stripped his resources and left him topdecking against a Skite, an active Creeping Tar Pit, and 4 Spirit tokens. He didn't have any outs.
So, I'm going to be playing this deck at every FNM until February in preperation for StarCityGames' Louisville Open. I'm testing to find the best sideboarding option before I get there, so suggestions are welcome. What decks should I test against?
On Remand and Spell Snare:
Remand is quite poor in our bad matchups, but (similarly to Shadow of Doubt) it is a 2 mana cantrip that really wants to hit land drops. It's obviously great against blue decks and surprisingly not bad against combo in my experience. You can also get really cute with Remand. If your opponent has 2 cards in hand and they cast, say, Liliana of the Veil, you can cast Esper Charm (mind rot mode), hold priority, and Remand LoTV. Kinda fun.
Spell Snare is something that most people look at and just assume 4 (in my list) is too many. Spell Snare happens to be great against most of our bad matchups (especially Burn), which is why I opt for the full 4. It's also a crucial tempo play, which is why I advise against discard in the MB. I do end up siding 1 out against decks like Junk/Jund, but they have been very good to me thus far.
November 16, 2015 1:09 p.m.
Looks good! I like the "Don't suggest these things" section in particular. Lots of people assume cards that work for UWR/Grixis are what works for Esper, but it really isn't the case.
I've been thinking about making a primer for my list, but I'm unsure how to categorize things. I might have to steal some of your layout ;)
November 17, 2015 12:23 a.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #5
@tclaw12 I realized that I never responded to your above comment, so here goes:
Thanks! I thought I might have made the title of the "Don't Suggest These Things" section a little too harsh, but otherwise I think it's a great idea. I think the reason why it's necessary for this deck is that Esper Control isn't just control, it's creatureless, draw-go control. The deck requires different resources than Grixis or Jeskai because it's pretty much an entirely different deck/style.
Also, feel free to steal my primer/organization. I don't mind at all. (Not like I could stop you, but still. xD)
November 20, 2015 7:30 p.m.
Haha not a problem!
I actually just finished my primer if you want to check it out :)
TheAnnihilator says... #1
@Femme_Fatale Those are some excellent suggestions! I'll probably make room for an Engineered Explosives or two, and maybe Sun Droplet. (Perhaps Academy Ruins to stop Destructive Revelry from ruining my day? It's probably too cute.)
About Think Twice -- I prefer it to Serum Visions because it's not intended to be a cantrip. Think Twice is just raw card advantage, and if any deck has the time to be playing Think Twice, it's Esper. While the flashback cost on it can be cumbersome, I only ever use the flashback in the late game when my opponent is gassed out and I have excess mana or when I'm digging for lands in the early game. Either case, Think Twice is fine. The
side of it is very appropriately costed in my experience. I usually hold up a 2-mana counter on t2 and eot Think Twice or cast both Think Twice and either Spell Snare or Path to Exile on T3, meaning my curve is atually pretty efficient.
Logic Knot -- Logic Knot is actually a better Mana Leak in my experience, because I can counter T2 Goryo's Vengeance or T7 Scapeshift (while representing other counters) or even a very late-game threat because of the delve ability. In fact, I can only remember one time in the last couple months of playing the deck that I looked at Logic Knot and realized I couldn't counter my opponent's spell -- and it was T2 without a fetchland (which is VERY uncommon for this list). In addition, LK can't be hit by Spell Snare.
I also had included Remand for a little while, but cut it for a Detention Sphere and a Go for the Throat. I may end up putting it back in, I'm not sure. The issue is that it never actually answers the threat and is poor vs. Boggles/Affinity/Burn.
Spell Snare -- While I definitely wouldn't advocate more than 2 Snares for, say,
Control, in Esper the case is very different. For me, it's a one mana answer to almost every card I care about countering and I can cast it on the draw too. For example, if my opponent goes T2 Cranial Plating on the play is almost GG for me unless I have the Snare. Other things Snare hits -- 2-mana counters, Snapcaster Mage, Boros Charm, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Young Pyromancer, Tarmogoyf, Scavenging Ooze, Voice of Resurgence, Kor Spiritdancer, and Daybreak Coronet. In fact, it's so good here that I've considered a fourth, but I feel it would be too clunky.
Sorry for the long comment.
November 16, 2015 10:02 a.m.