Alright guys, we've seen Wafo-Tapa play his pretty good Esper list during the Pro Tour, and I've made a couple changes to his sweet list myself. Here's Wafo-Tapa's list outright.
4 Island
4 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Silence
4 Watery Grave
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Godless Shrine
2 Plains
1 AEtherling
4 Azorius Charm
4 Supreme Verdict
4 Doom Blade
4 Hero's Downfall
3 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Dissolve
2 Divination
2 Thoughtseize
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Detention Sphere
SB: 2 Detention Sphere
SB: 1 AEtherling
SB: 2 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
SB: 1 Gainsay
SB: 2 Negate
SB: 2 Sin Collector
SB: 4 Soldier of the Pantheon
SB: 1 Thoughtseize
Now, the glaring problem I see in his list is his playset of Doom Blade and Hero's Downfall. Downfall is a especially good removal spell, and it's range makes it good to have a playset (who can argue with a spell that kills walkers at instant speed?). However, a playset of Doom Blade is a meta call, and he seemed to believe that creature decks would sweep across the meta. He was right, of course, but a card which ends up making this deck fold is Blood Baron of Vizkopa, a card which is prominent in the sideboard of this deck as well. The deck answers it from the mainboard with Supreme Verdict, sometimes as a 1 for 1. Another card that sort of preempts a Baron drop is Thoughtseize, at 2-of. So off the bat, we don't have an instant speed way to deal with Baron once it has resolved. Doom Blade does nothing, Hero's Downfall does nothing, and not even our Detention Spheres do much. So right off the bat, we see a sort of "softness" against Blood Baron of Vizkopa, a weakness I feel like would be dealt with by Devour Flesh and Far // Away, which can certainly be a blowout occasionally.
Another small issue I see with this decklist is the lack of good small-scale draw spells. Divination is but a 2-of, and is a little low in numbers for my liking. Card advantage is also dealt with in Jace, Architect of Thought, but a lot of times, he nets you one card or two at best, from one activation. A repeatable source of card draw is excellent of course, but I would like one more copy of Divination in the main, as we have lost our house of a draw spell, Think Twice. However, this isn't the same format it used to be, and Divination is still rather strong.
The sideboard in Wafo-Tapa's deck is a touch of brilliance, in my humble opinion. Soldier of the Pantheon was a choice most would not have made, nor even thought of to be in this deck's sideboard. Other forms of control, usually two color control running White, use Precinct Captain in their sideboards, as a hoser for aggro lists, specifically RDW. However, with the fixing we have in this current standard, getting a Precinct Captain on turn two to deal with aggro is a bit tough. Soldier of the Pantheon comes into play there, for Esper lists. It's not mana-restrictive, being only a single white mana, is a 2 power creature for one, a la Savannah Lions, AND has protection from multicolored. The lifegain is also somewhat relevant against RDW and some midrange. The main card this deals with is Rakdos Cackler. it comes in at the same speed as the Cackler, stonewalls it and comes out on top. It's also a card that is used primarily as a chump block for Firedrinker Satyr and a the whole lot of RDW one-drops, while setting up your removal and wrath effects later. The rest of the sideboard is pretty self-explanatory, with cards for mirrors, cards against midrange, and meta calls.
Now, here's my slightly changed Esper Control list.
4 Island
4 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Silence
SB: 1 Detention Sphere
4 Island
4 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Silence
4 Watery Grave
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Godless Shrine
2 Plains
1 AEtherling
4 Azorius Charm
4 Supreme Verdict
4 Doom Blade
4 Hero's Downfall
3 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Dissolve
2 Divination
2 Thoughtseize
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Detention Sphere
SB: 2 Detention Sphere
SB: 1 AEtherling
SB: 2 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
SB: 1 Gainsay
SB: 2 Negate
SB: 2 Sin Collector
SB: 4 Soldier of the Pantheon
SB: 1 Thoughtseize
Now, the glaring problem I see in his list is his playset of Doom Blade and Hero's Downfall. Downfall is a especially good removal spell, and it's range makes it good to have a playset (who can argue with a spell that kills walkers at instant speed?). However, a playset of Doom Blade is a meta call, and he seemed to believe that creature decks would sweep across the meta. He was right, of course, but a card which ends up making this deck fold is Blood Baron of Vizkopa, a card which is prominent in the sideboard of this deck as well. The deck answers it from the mainboard with Supreme Verdict, sometimes as a 1 for 1. Another card that sort of preempts a Baron drop is Thoughtseize, at 2-of. So off the bat, we don't have an instant speed way to deal with Baron once it has resolved. Doom Blade does nothing, Hero's Downfall does nothing, and not even our Detention Spheres do much. So right off the bat, we see a sort of "softness" against Blood Baron of Vizkopa, a weakness I feel like would be dealt with by Devour Flesh and Far // Away, which can certainly be a blowout occasionally.
Another small issue I see with this decklist is the lack of good small-scale draw spells. Divination is but a 2-of, and is a little low in numbers for my liking. Card advantage is also dealt with in Jace, Architect of Thought, but a lot of times, he nets you one card or two at best, from one activation. A repeatable source of card draw is excellent of course, but I would like one more copy of Divination in the main, as we have lost our house of a draw spell, Think Twice. However, this isn't the same format it used to be, and Divination is still rather strong.
The sideboard in Wafo-Tapa's deck is a touch of brilliance, in my humble opinion. Soldier of the Pantheon was a choice most would not have made, nor even thought of to be in this deck's sideboard. Other forms of control, usually two color control running White, use Precinct Captain in their sideboards, as a hoser for aggro lists, specifically RDW. However, with the fixing we have in this current standard, getting a Precinct Captain on turn two to deal with aggro is a bit tough. Soldier of the Pantheon comes into play there, for Esper lists. It's not mana-restrictive, being only a single white mana, is a 2 power creature for one, a la Savannah Lions, AND has protection from multicolored. The lifegain is also somewhat relevant against RDW and some midrange. The main card this deals with is Rakdos Cackler. it comes in at the same speed as the Cackler, stonewalls it and comes out on top. It's also a card that is used primarily as a chump block for Firedrinker Satyr and a the whole lot of RDW one-drops, while setting up your removal and wrath effects later. The rest of the sideboard is pretty self-explanatory, with cards for mirrors, cards against midrange, and meta calls.
Now, here's my slightly changed Esper Control list.
4 Island
4 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Silence
2 Plains
3 Dissolve
1 Far // AwaySB: 1 Detention Sphere
SB: 1 AEtherling
SB: 2 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
SB: 1 Gainsay
SB: 2 Negate
SB: 2 Sin Collector
SB: 4 Soldier of the Pantheon
SB: 1 Thoughtseize
SB: 1 Devour Flesh
The only changes I have made here are cutting 2 Doom Blades, and a Jace, Architect of Thought in the mainboard, for a Far // Away, an extra Divination, and adding another Detention Sphere in the mainboard. In the side, I've cut out a Detention Sphere for a Devour Flesh. The reason for these changes is simple. A playset of Doom Blade in the mainboard leaves a lot of things to desire, as it really is a dead card against some decks. I cut a Jace, Architect of Thought as a lot of them really clog up your hand. They tend to die quite quickly, and I respect their sacrifice for the good of the deck, but the mana cost is a bit steep and his +1 is a bit weak against a lot of midrange decks. It does make quite the tempo advantage in that it takes away a lot of power from the board, but creature control is already spoken for in the deck. Divination however, is a whole different story. It is a mana less, gets out a turn early, and replaces itself quite well. I'm not comparing the two cards, as they do wildly different things, but Divination is a card to bring about early card advantage. The singleton Far // Away is for the corner cases of a resolved Blood Baron of Vizkopa, and to make for a 2-for-1 with a single card, at five mana. An overcosted Unsummon, or an overcosted edict effect is also quite good in certain cases. That being said, you don't really want to see it that often, as it is quite expensive, and rather underwhelming if one of the two sides is cast. This control deck is a lot more tap out oriented compared to the proactive control decks we have seen in the last couple of standard formats. Detention Sphere is a catch-all, and in some cases, could be more than a 1-for-1. It certainly is better than a Doom Blade, except for the fact that it is sorcery speed removal. I cut a Detention Sphere in the SB because of the added copy in the mainboard, and brought in a singleton Devour Flesh, to supplement our Far // Away when we have to deal with Blood Baron of Vizkopa.
Well, that's it for today, and I apologize for the wait, and until next time, have fun draft-, er, um, playing standard!
Cheers,
Brick
Brick
Well thought out!
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