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Main » Articles » Esper in Standard

Esper in Standard

Max Sjoeblom
Posted on March 28, 2013
 Reddit

Hey there! This week, I will be talking about Standard for a change. In just about one week, the first World Magic Cup Qualifiers are taking place all over the world, and Standard is the format of choice. I’m currently qualified for the National Team via the pro slot, but as it is still possible for someone to earn more points than I have, not playing would just feel silly. I’ve been trying to get into Standard recently, but no deck has really impressed me. First, I tried the W/B Zombies deck because I felt it was the best home for Obzedat, Ghost Council, but the deck had huge problems with aggressive decks, so I quickly ditched it. I tried the Junk deck build by Brian Braun-Duin. I had some success with the deck, but opposing decks with Sphinx's Revelation felt like too much of a struggle even though I had a lot of good threats. After this, I started looking into casting these aforementioned Sphinx's Revelations for myself, and I ended up with the Esper list that I will be talking about this week.

In this article, I will present the list I have been playing, then talk about some of the card choices, and finally discuss the various matchups you might face.

Mill You, Kill You!

To start things off, here is the list I have been running. The deck started off a little bit different, but after a few iterations, it ended up like this.

"Esper Control"

As you can see, this is the most controlling variant of Esper, with no creatures except for Augur of Bolas. This means that you will never win via damage, and you always need to mill your opponent out. This has not been a problem on Magic Online, but I could see it being a problem in real life if you do not play fast enough, so I urge you to practice playing at a fast pace if you pick this up. Against most decks, you can just go ahead and mill whenever you have the opportunity, but against dedicated graveyard decks such as Junk Reanimator and Humanimator, you have to be a bit more careful.

Card Choices

Detention Sphere
The core of this deck is quite standard, with four Augur of Bolas, four Think Twice, four Azorius Charm, four Supreme Verdict, and four Sphinx's Revelation as the cards you really don’t want to change. This means there is room for an additional fourteen spells if you run twenty-six lands. I’ve chosen to go with an additional two sweepers in Terminus, three planeswalkers, three counterspells, three additional removal spells, and three random answer cards. When you build this kind of deck, you will be having problems with planeswalkers, which means you need some way of getting rid of them, as you will not always have mana open for Dissipate or Syncopate. I’ve chosen to go with Detention Sphere instead of Planar Cleansing, as I really want to be playing some planeswalkers of my own, which is not a good idea if you are relying on Planar Cleansing. I am also running one Rest in Peace in the main deck as a way to have some game against Humanimator. I am not totally sure if it is worth running, as that depends a lot on the metagame. What I do know is that by just running one Rest in Peace, your win percentage against Humanimator goes from somewhere around 5% to at least decent. The main problem in the matchup is that the opposing deck always has inevitability against you, but by running just one card, you are suddenly the one with inevitability.

As for the removal spells, I run one Devour Flesh, one Dimir Charm, and one Ultimate Price. These all have their own upsides and are all decent against Naya Blitz or mono-red. Devour Flesh gets rid of Obzedat, Ghost Council while Dimir Charm can help counter Rakdos's Return or Unburial Rites. Ultimate Price is just good in general at killing threats with haste or that come down at end of turn, such as Thundermaw Hellkite, Hellrider, and Restoration Angel. I think running the additional sweepers in Terminus is a good idea with all the aggro decks running around. Terminus also has some added utility against the graveyard decks.

Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
As far as planeswalker go, the most popular choice for Esper is Jace, Memory Adept, which is present in this deck. I am also running Jace, Architect of Thought, as it is much better when you are not winning. Being able to blank Lingering Souls tokens and other small creatures and being able to use the -2 ability even once or twice can be the difference between winning and losing. It is most often correct to just try to get as much out of Jace, Architect of Thought during the two or three turns it is about to stick around, not trying to protect it too much. The third planeswalker is the best of the bunch. Tamiyo, the Moon Sage is currently criminally underplayed in Standard. While she is not super-powerful against other control decks, she is amazing against midrange and also quite solid against aggro. Against Junk Reanimator, she is among your best cards, as she handily locks down Thragtusk and Angel of Serenity.

As for sideboard cards, I have more counters and discard against the control mirror. The countermagic also comes in against most midrange decks, as the cards you are most afraid of are planeswalkers. The one Witchbane Orb is there mainly for the mirror and also against Jund since it stops Slaughter Games, Rakdos's Return, and the ultimate of Liliana of the Veil. The cheap removal spells are there for Naya Blitz and mono-red. I run a split between Dead Weight and Tragic Slip, as Tragic Slip is quite bad against mono-red. I would like to run the full three Dead Weights, but that would lower the spell count for Augur of Bolas too much. Blind Obedience also really shines in these hyper-aggro matchups and is an awesome card. Every time I draw it in the early game, it just feels as though I can’t lose. I play two more copies of Rest in Peace to help in the graveyard matchups, and Tribute to Hunger is there as just a utility card I sideboard in many matchups. Finally, the Jace, Memory Adept is there against the slower decks, and also for when you are low on time and need a quicker way to win than just grinding the opponent out with Nephalia Drownyards.

Matchups

Terminus
I think the aggressive decks are fairly good matchups. If you ever hit a miracle Terminus in the early game, you are very favored to win. In general, to win against the very good draws, you need to hit your first six or so land drops while also drawing a Supreme Verdict. The four Augur of Bolas help you hit that critical spell, and as mentioned, Terminus fills some of that same functionality. Once you are able to play Sphinx's Revelation for 3 or more, it becomes very hard to lose. Sideboarding helps you a lot more than it helps the opponent. You get some more cheap removal that is usually exactly what you need. I would rather play against Naya Blitz than mono-red, as Naya Blitz has less reach, and once you take care of the first wave, you have more time to deal with the threats, as few of them have haste.

Humanimator is tough to win against in the first game unless you hit that Rest in Peace. Once you are able to bring in more, the situation becomes a lot better. It is generally a good idea to wait a bit to play the Rest in Peace in case the opponent is playing Abrupt Decay. On the other hand, if he plays Duress, you will want to resolve a Rest in Peace as soon as possible. All the countermagic is good here, but just be sure to leave in some sweepers so that you don’t lose to the beatdown.

Domri Rade
Junk Reanimator is a similar matchup, but it’s much better. I have found this to be a very favorable matchup as long as you play tightly. The two scariest things to face down are planeswalkers and Craterhoof Behemoth. Be sure to keep the board relatively clear so that you don’t suddenly die to the Hoof. After sideboarding, the game becomes a lot about beating the opponent’s planeswalkers, so be prepared. He will also most likely be bringing in Acidic Slime, and as he has Cavern of Souls, you cannot always rely on counters. However, as long as he doesn’t get to blink the Acidic Slime with Restoration Angel too many times, you should be fine. As mentioned before, Tamiyo, the Moon Sage is just insane in this matchup, and you should try to protect her as much as possible.

Naya midrange seems to be a good matchup, once again with planeswalkers being the biggest threats. A fast Domri Rade forces you to find a Detention Sphere in a few turns; otherwise, you just die. I think this matchup is good, and I wouldn’t mind playing it for every round of a tournament. Jund and the new W/B/R deck that has been popping up are quite similar. Both have some problem cards such as Rakdos's Return and Slaughter Games that you need to be able to beat. I would bring in Duress here, as it helps against most of their problem plays, and drawing it in the late game is not a big problem, as you have better card advantage.

Summing Up

Nephalia Drownyard
I would say that Esper is good against all the decks that don’t instantly put you on the defense. When there is a threat of being killed on the fourth turn, you don’t have much room for drawing bad, and you need to interact every turn to stand a chance. But the decks that don’t start swinging until later in the game do not pose much of a problem, as that gives you time to set up even if your draw is suboptimal. The only exception here is if your opponent has some form of inevitability like Humanimator has. That is, unless you get to that Rest in Peace first.

It is a deck that can be tough to play, so I would recommend trying it out before playing it at a tournament. Like I said earlier, learning to play fast is a good idea, as the games go long. By shaving off just a few seconds per turn, you can make sure the game doesn’t go to time. Also consider conceding before you are actually dead if you don’t see any realistic scenario in which you can win. This leaves more time for the remaining games.

Grand Prix: Strasbourg is coming up in a few weeks’ time, so I will most likely be writing a bit about Legacy in the near future. If there are any other topics you would like me to write about, suggestions are always welcome. As always, if you have any other comments, ideas, or thoughts, be sure to contact me via Twitter or the comments section below.

Thanks for reading,

Max

@thebloom_ on Twitter

Maxx on Magic Online

You can find my music on: http://soundcloud.com/bloomlive

TAGS articles, standard, constructed, analysis, deck list, max sjöblom

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