Esper MentorBlade

[hobart]

Esper MentorBlade AKA Prowess Control


I have been getting my ass kicked on Cockatrice lately by this Monastery Mentor guy (in Legacy and Vintage) so I decided to start brewing up a control deck with him and other cards that I like:

Creatures: 10

4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Monastery Mentor
2 Baleful Strix

Spells: 29

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Thoughtseize
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Dig Through Time
1 Supreme Verdict

Artifacts: 3

1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Batterskull
1 Sensei’s Top

Lands: 18

2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra

Sideboard: 15

3 Meddling Mage
2 Disenchant
2 Duress
1 Flusterstorm
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Zealous Persecution
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Surgical Extraction

So, this Mentor fellow is a big slow 3-drop, and as such is best in a control shell. Once you have board control, however, the army he develops can put massive pressure on the opponent and win very quickly.

Some personal preference based choices:

-Lots of cantrips, light on lands as a result. Cantrips are great with prowess, so we shouldn't have to run too many lands, but we still want to fetch basics against wasteland decks because we like our land drops to stick so that we can deploy our bombs on time.

-Baleful strix. Just a solid defensive creature that slows down most aggro on us and wears equipment. Underplayed IMO.

-A combination of discard and counters. I don't like losing to combo every game. A diverse set of disruption is strongest against this. These cards are almost never dead in any matchup either. Therapy is ofcourse synergistic with things that make creatures as well as Gitaxian Probe.


A few different directions we can take this:

1. SDT + Counterbalance. SDT has great synergy with Mentor, CB has great synergy with SDT, is it worth it to try jamming this in? At the moment only could fit one Top but maybe more is better.

2. Getting rid of the SFM package. Seems powerful, but may not be necessary. In general I think it's good in white decks with creatures.

3. Planeswalkers. Maybe we want less creatures/cantrips and more hard hitting stuff like Jace/Lili.

The sideboard is ofcourse Meta dependent but maybe some obvious ones I'm missing since I don't play this color combo often.

I could be way off base but I think this could develop into a strong control deck.


All criticism welcome.

[Deckerator]

At first i really like your idea of building a deck around Monastery Mentor.
I love this card and wanna find a home for him, too.

To your list. Have you already done some testings? This list looks solid but i think not strong enough to be competitive.
You told us you wanna play a "control" deck but i only see 4 Force of Will (card disadvantage counter) no Spell Pierce no Counterspell, no Counterbalance/Sensei's Divining Top lock. There are only 4 Force, 2 Thoughtseize and 3 Cabal Therapy.
Why did you choose that 2/3 split between Thoughtseize and Theraphy? Furthermore if you wanna play a control deck, you need more lands than 18. A control deck often contains of ~22/23 lands.

I think it is clear that Monastery Mentor isn't a card for Aggro but rather for control.
But what cards are a good shell for him?
Maybe we can create a list of all useful cards of a MM - control deck

[Leduendas]

I thought about this kind of deck and I can't find a place for SFM package.

First, this use a lot of space, in thoose 6 slots you can add 2 lands 2 counters and 2 kills instead on one kill package.

Second, SFM is unusable early game in a controle shell and needs 2 turns to set up so it's too slow for end game when MM will breack the game.

Last I think that with MM and without TC we'll need jace to make it work. You'll have to go to mid game to land MM and you'll ne cards to build up an army. But runing esper you'll use your hand in early game to disrupt your oponent and will probably have an empty hand when you'll need fuel.

So I came out with this kill package for an esper control MM deck:
3 MM
3 snap
2 tasigur
2 jace

That way you have more card advantage, more chances to trigger MM and more space for the counter package. I'd suggest you to go up to 20 lands, For myself I think 21 is good.

I won't post any list beause it's pointless atm. I didn't had the chance to make any tests but I can't wait for it.

[hobart]

So I did some testing with the initial list. Not bad, and plenty of things it did great. I did actually like the stoneforge package in my testing, simply because there are still decks that have a really hard time with batterskull, although it is quite slow. I also liked that every single creature in the deck represented card advantage. Many times you'll be left with just a prowess token on board, and so many draw steps pump him that the opponent is forced to use removal on the token. The idea behind the low land count is the huge number of cantrips and pretty low curve (see Grixis control). That being said the primary threat is a 3-drop (unlike in Grixis) and even then it's nice to have another mana open to cast a spell to trigger him the turn he's played. I never really had to cast the Verdict, so I could perhaps drop that and add another basic land. Against midrangey decks I brought in the planeswalkers out of the board and they were awesome. Also, as expected, if you can untap with a Mentor you pretty much win the game right there.

[Deckerator]

Like Leduendas said, maybe you can find time to test it without the SFM package.

Have you thought about testing Jace, TNN, Snappy, V-Clique?
Maybe some more of SdT would be interesting too. So you can create a kind of loop with two of them if you have some unused mana.

For Example:
Top#1 is in play, Top#2 is on top of the library.
You draw Top#2 with Top#1 and put Top#1 back on library.
Then play Top#2 and draw Top#1 and put Top#2 back on library.
And play Top#1 again and so on..

This would be great. We would generate a lot of tokens and pimp the others.
IMO SdT should be played more than once

[Leduendas]

I builded up a deck around this idea of esper mentor.

Thanks to another player ideas I came to run 3 MM 1 snap (cause of delve spells) 2 Tasigur 2 Jace 2 tops 3 cabals 1 thoughtsieze.
The other cards are 7 counters 14 cantrips (3 dtt) 20 lands.

I don't have the chance to play actual games ATM but goldfishing the deck shows how incredible tops are!

I didn't beleive it before testing. But the fact that you can draw with top then cantrip into top then recast it and loop is awesome. So top itselfs combo with 16 cards in the deck (including jace).

Tasigur is just awesome too!!!! you'll cantrip so much that your grave will fill with good cards while you'll stack lands on top the librairy to grave them with tasigur. And with a karakas you can even protect him!

Running cavern is a very good idea too as your creatures are all human.

The kill part of the deck runs very well, but without test I can't tell about the disrupt part. I'm a bit affraid of combo decks as the discard relys on probe (or skill when you know your matchup).

I still have to build the sideboard and I don't really know what to do ATM.

[Tormod]

I think the balesful strix should be lingering souls. That's 2 triggers for the Mentor, and more evasive bodies to carry equipment.

[Dr. No Face]

I didn't have time recently to test this, but using a similar list and making a few changes, it turned out like this:

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/04-02...-mentor-blade/

Any thoughts?

[hobart]

Been jamming at least a match or two a day when I have time and making some revisions, here's my updated list:

Creatures: 9

4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Monastery Mentor
2 Baleful Strix

Spells: 28

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Thoughtseize
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Dig Through Time

Artifacts: 4

1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Batterskull
2 Sensei’s Top

Lands: 19

2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra

Sideboard: 15

3 Meddling Mage
2 Disenchant
2 Containment Priest
1 Flusterstorm
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Zealous Persecution
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Surgical Extraction


I dropped a Mentor and the Verdict, and added a land in an attempt to bring the curve more in line with the land count. In several matchups (Stifle and/or Wasteland decks in particular) the main factor for success is sticking those land drops and getting those basics. The SFM is here to stay for me. I'll happily board a few out against combo if I have to, but against creature decks it's just too powerful. SFM wins games if they don't have an answer right away. I love Tormod's suggestion about Lingering Souls instead of Baleful Strix's, makes alot of sense, but the thing is I'm just not in the market for more 3-drops at this time. Perhaps with higher curve builds it would be better! I'm also stubborn, and pretty much never upset when I draw a Strix (I'm sure this is bias of some kind). The Cabal Therapies have been incredible. I'm quite experienced with the Legacy meta game at this point so even blind I can usually make a pretty good guess, and with Gitaxian Probe or Thoughtseize to lead the way it's ofcourse EZ-mode, and I love that every creature in the deck makes flashing back the therapy very efficient. The fast combo decks have not been much of an issue with all the disruption I'm packing, however, loam and counterbalance can be problematic. I can't even really come up with a good sideboard plan against counterbalance. In some of the grindy midrange matchups I want to bring in more Planeswalkers, perhaps I could squeeze a couple more into the board.

[Jasonam8]

Here is my list:

1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Batterskull
1 Armageddon
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Vindicate
1 Detention Sphere
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Lingering Souls
1 Liliana of the Veil
4 Monastery Mentor
1 Life from the Loam
3 Dark Confidant
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Brainstorm
1 Swords to Plowshares
4 Mox Diamond
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
1 Karakas
1 Tundra
1 Savanah
1 Underground Sea
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
1 Tropical Island
1 Flooded Strand
1 Windswept Heath
1 Polluted Delta
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest

I am still developing my sideboard.

[Kyle]

I threw this together yesterday and have been enjoying it overall, as it's got that classic UW control feel, and with Mentor, a pretty cool way to end the game.

Mentor, in this shell, is a late-game combo that mostly gets big from chaining cantrips on T6 or so on a clear or well-managed board. Casting him on T3 normally sucks and is a terrible play. I know most of you have come to this conclusion, but I feel it necessary to drive this home. Mentor is mostly worthless unless you cast him T4 or later. He needs to get a token (or two) as soon as he hits the board. Yes, the prowess triggers are only valid when he isn't sick anymore, but he really needs that token.

Here's my list. I'm still working on refining it. I love the Zealous Persecution + Mentor interaction, and Persecution can act as a mini-sweeper in some instances. I've considered running 1 or 2 Divert or a single Misdirection, since Abrupt Decay really sucks.

//INSTANTS
4 Brainstorm
3 Force of Will
2 Zealous Persecution
4 Dig Through Time
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Counterspell
1 Flusterstorm

//SORCERIES
3 Thoughtseize
2 Cabal Therapy
4 Ponder
2 Inquisition of Kozilek

//CREATURES
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
3 Monastery Mentor

//ARTIFACTS
2 Engineered Explosives

//PLANESWALKERS
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

//LANDS
4 Flooded Strand
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
3 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
1 Marsh Flats

//SIDEBOARD
2 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Meddling Mage
2 Containment Priest
1 Path to Exile
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Disenchant
2 Rest in Peace
1 Force of Will

[KazinMtg]

This is what I was thinking:


Creatures: 7
3 Monastery Mentor
3 Dark Confidant
1 Stoneforge Mystic


Spells: 29

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
3 Lingering Souls
3 Force of Will
1 Spell Pierce
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Thoughtseize
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Dig Through Time
2 Bitterblossom
1 Intuition

Enchantments: 1
1 Opposition

Planeswalkers: 2
1 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana of the Veil

Artifacts: 1
1 Umezawa’s Jitte

Lands: 20

2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Marsh Flats
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
1 Scrubland




The intuition is really cute since it can fetch 3 lingering souls, 3 cabal therapy, or a mix of the 2. It can also grab swords in a pinch. The opposition is something I'm testing, but seems promising. Not sure about how bob + dig through time will work, but I guess we will have to see. I think the deck has some promise, it can do a lot of powerful stuff.

[hobart]

I played MentorBlade at a recent FNM and had some good results! I ran this:

Creatures: 8

4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Monastery Mentor
2 Baleful Strix

Spells: 29

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Thoughtseize
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Dig Through Time
1 Lingering Souls

Artifacts: 4

1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Batterskull
2 Sensei’s Top

Lands: 19

2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra

Sideboard: 15

3 Meddling Mage
1 Disenchant
1 Seal of Cleansing
2 Flusterstorm
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Zealous Persecution
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Submerge

Similar to my most recent posted list except -1 Mentor +1 Lingering Souls simply because I only own 2 mentors, and some sideboard changes. I was very pleased with the deck's performance as I was able to go 3-1 in Swiss, won a top 8 match, and then split the top 4.

Round 1 lost to burn 2-1: On the draw my deck was just too slow, and I was on the draw games 1 and 3. I'm pretty sure Stoneforge into Batterskull is our only hope and game 3 I had it going but the Stoneforge got melted along with my face.

Round 2 beat Bant fish type tempo deck 2-0: Game 1 I'm getting tempoed out like crazy from weenies and batterskull beats with wastelands, but I'm finally able to stabilize with some fetched basics and a mentor at 1 life. I end up getting Jitte going on a spirit token, I get a shitload of Monk tokens in play, and he basically just has a batterskull. He realizes he can't win this game since I am generating counters on Jitte and he concedes even though he is at about 50 life. Game 2 he's playing creatures on the first few turns but I'm cantripping every turn, making land drops, and tightly clutching a Supreme Verdict. I cast the verdict when I hit the right mana and I think I about 6 for 1'd him. Easily won from there with a mentor as he's out of gas.

Round 3 beat Affinity 2-1: Game 1 he's on the play and empties his hand, swings for like 17 turn 2 and I have nothing relevant to do on my 2nd turn. Game's 2 and 3 he doesn't have the nuts and I'm able to remove the relevant permanents with STP and disenchant effects and easily win with card advantage.

Round 4 beat UR Delver 2-1: Game 1 he has super aggro draw with the right mix of Daze and burn for an easy win. Games 2 and 3 I'm able to grind him a bit with STPs and Zealous Persecution before he gets me too low and I stabilize with Batterskull.

Top8: beat the Monastery Mentor mirror match 2-1: This guy's deck was all over the place and it was awesome. Basically 4 color good stuff with Mentor and Dark Confidant and Jace and it was nuts. Come to think of it the deck looked a lot like one of the posters above, Jasonam8. I'd be shocked if it wasn't him. Anyway, 3 really long grindy games where we killed each other's shit over and over again and raped each other's hands with Cabal Therapies. I somehow came out on top game 3. I think I'm going to credit the basic lands I was able to fetch as he was showing Wastelands all game and they were pretty much worthless. My overall conservative manabase and cantrip style we agreed makes my deck a bit more consistent than his.

This is a strong deck guys. Stoneblade strategies are good again in this meta, and Monastery Mentor is for real. I will be running this deck for at least a few more events. If the results continue to be strong I may consider running it over my beloved Shardless at the next big event I attend.

[Jasonam8]

Esper MentorBlade AKA Prowess Control


I have been getting my ass kicked on Cockatrice lately by this Monastery Mentor guy (in Legacy and Vintage) so I decided to start brewing up a control deck with him and other cards that I like:

Creatures: 10

4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Monastery Mentor
2 Baleful Strix

Spells: 29

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Thoughtseize
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Dig Through Time
1 Supreme Verdict

Artifacts: 3

1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Batterskull
1 Sensei’s Top

Lands: 18

2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra

Sideboard: 15

3 Meddling Mage
2 Disenchant
2 Duress
1 Flusterstorm
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Zealous Persecution
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Surgical Extraction

So, this Mentor fellow is a big slow 3-drop, and as such is best in a control shell. Once you have board control, however, the army he develops can put massive pressure on the opponent and win very quickly.

Some personal preference based choices:

-Lots of cantrips, light on lands as a result. Cantrips are great with prowess, so we shouldn't have to run too many lands, but we still want to fetch basics against wasteland decks because we like our land drops to stick so that we can deploy our bombs on time.

-Baleful strix. Just a solid defensive creature that slows down most aggro on us and wears equipment. Underplayed IMO.

-A combination of discard and counters. I don't like losing to combo every game. A diverse set of disruption is strongest against this. These cards are almost never dead in any matchup either. Therapy is ofcourse synergistic with things that make creatures as well as Gitaxian Probe.


A few different directions we can take this:

1. SDT + Counterbalance. SDT has great synergy with Mentor, CB has great synergy with SDT, is it worth it to try jamming this in? At the moment only could fit one Top but maybe more is better.

2. Getting rid of the SFM package. Seems powerful, but may not be necessary. In general I think it's good in white decks with creatures.

3. Planeswalkers. Maybe we want less creatures/cantrips and more hard hitting stuff like Jace/Lili.

The sideboard is ofcourse Meta dependent but maybe some obvious ones I'm missing since I don't play this color combo often.

I could be way off base but I think this could develop into a strong control deck.


All criticism welcome.

Good games, fun too. I was impressed by the positive interaction of SDT+MM. Spin top for 1 mana to try and find a non-creature spell, draw it with top, cast it for the triggers and you have a guaranteed prowess+MM trigger next turn for 1 colorless mana (with the possible upside of knowing if you have another possible trigger to draw with SDT again).

My revised list for my Abzan, Brainstorm and Jace deck

1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang

1 Batterskull

1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Vindicate
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Monastery Mentor

4 Dark Confidant
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Life from the loam
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
2 abrupt decay

4 Cabal Therapy
4 Brainstorm
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Swords to Plowshares

4 Mox Diamond

1 Scrubland
1 Marsh Flats
1 Savanah
1 Windswept Heath
1 tropical island
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Tundra
1 Flooded Strand
1 Underground Sea
1 Polluted Delta
1 Bayou
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 karakas
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan port

Sideboard
1 Zealous Persecution
1 carpet of Flowers
1 pithing needle
1 Surgical Extraction
1 sylvan library
1 Sword of fire and ice
2 leyline of the void
1 mirran crusader
1 Sword of feast and famine
1 true-name nemesis
1 containment priest
1 leyline of sanctity
1 kor firewalker
1 Flusterstorm

I've enjoyed some fun and interactive games with this legacy deck so far.

To KazinMtg : opposition seems like it could be very good , but I discourage using dig through time and dark confidant simultaneously.

[[SLAYER]chaos]

I know this isn't the blade version but this is what I've been working on:

Creatures: 7
4 Monastery Mentor
3 Baleful Strix

Spells: 22
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Thoughtseize
1 Dig Through Time

Artifacts: 5
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Engineered Explosives

Enchantments: 3
3 Counterbalance

Planeswalkers: 4
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant

Lands: 19
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
1 Scrubland
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Creeping Tar Pit

Sideboard: 15
3 Meddling Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Duress
2 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Cursed Totem
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Path to Exile
1 Disenchant
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

[Jasonam8]

I know this isn't the blade version but this is what I've been working on:

Creatures: 7
4 Monastery Mentor
3 Baleful Strix

Spells: 22
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Thoughtseize
1 Dig Through Time

Artifacts: 5
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Engineered Explosives

Enchantments: 3
3 Counterbalance

Planeswalkers: 4
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant

Lands: 19
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
1 Scrubland
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Creeping Tar Pit

Sideboard: 15
3 Meddling Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Duress
2 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Cursed Totem
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Path to Exile
1 Disenchant
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

I like less strix and more dig. Easy to fuel delve with the deck.

[hobart]

I know this isn't the blade version but this is what I've been working on:

Creatures: 7
4 Monastery Mentor
3 Baleful Strix

Spells: 22
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Thoughtseize
1 Dig Through Time

Artifacts: 5
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Engineered Explosives

Enchantments: 3
3 Counterbalance

Planeswalkers: 4
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant

Lands: 19
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
1 Scrubland
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Creeping Tar Pit

Sideboard: 15
3 Meddling Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Duress
2 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Cursed Totem
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Path to Exile
1 Disenchant
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

I like the idea of Counter Top and no blades, I do think, however, that it needs more wrath effects if you are going to play this style. One of the main benefits of the SFM is that it holds down the fort during the early to midgame creature battles (in this sense I do like the addition Strixes). Miracles of course handles this with Terminus, but any board wiping effect would be considerable for this type of philosophy. Wrath, Verdict, maybe even more EEs or the before-mentioned Terminus. Seems like a good list to test though. Let us know how it plays out.

[[SLAYER]chaos]

That's the main idea behind the high strix count, bridge the gap between getting mentor or countertop online. I'll definitely try and see if something can be cup for a toxic deluge into the main as another sweeper. But I'll be playing this or something very close at a local tournament this saturday and report back how it does.

[[SLAYER]chaos]

Quick rundown, I went 3-3 at a local this past weekend.

Round 1 lost to Dragon Stompy 1-2. Didn't use FoW on the turn 1 Blood Moon because I had my swamp and Island in hand and thought that was good enough.

Round 2 beat Maverick 2-1. Game 1 Mentor came down on turn 6 and took over. Game 2 got blown out by turn 2 choke into thalia. Game 3 was able to use Jace to bounce his KotR 3 times until mentor was able to get online.

Round 3 lost to BWR 0-2. Game 1 he led with 3 discard spells into bob and lingering souls and eventually stoneforge. Game 2 was similar but he had all 4 wastelands to go with bob/stoneforge/grim lavamancer.

Round 4 lost 1-2 to Scapewish. Had pretty much every game in hand then a late flurry of discard into scapeshift lost game 2. Then game 3 had him on 0 cards with jace ticking up and he had 2 burning wish in a row while I couldn't find Force will after top fetch brainstorm.

Round 5 beat the guy that didn't show up!

Round 6 beat 12 Post 2-0. Game 1 a turn one probe into therapy ripped two brainstorms out of his hand leaving him with two eldrazi. That crippled him long enough to where I was able to get Jace up to ultimate before he was able to cast Ulamog. Game 2 he mulled on the play and I FoW'd his brainstorm in response to a thoughtseize taking away his candle. That slowed him down enough to let Jace and lili take over and lili's ultimate sealed the game.

Overall I feel like the deck was pretty strong. Mentor definitely flashed signs of dominance whenever he hit the table and there was a few questionable plays by me that cost me some games. I was also thrown off by the amount of non blue decks I faced, most of my sideboard was dedicated to fighting Miracles (which there are always a lot in my area), and other blue tempo and combo decks.

Here's the list for reference:

Creatures: 7
4 Monastery Mentor
3 Baleful Strix

Spells: 22
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Gitaxian Probe
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Thoughtseize
1 Dig Through Time
1 Toxic Deluge

Artifacts: 5
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Engineered Explosives

Enchantments: 3
3 Counterbalance

Planeswalkers: 4
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant

Lands: 19
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
1 Scrubland
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Creeping Tar Pit

Sideboard: 15
3 Meddling Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Zealous Persecution
1 Path to Exile
1 Disenchant
1 Flusterstorm
2 Submerge

[Krimson Viper]

Looks like a pretty interesting deck! I really like Mentor and am looking for a deck where he shines, and Esper seems to be it, really. Is the SFM package really needed though? What match ups have you guys been noticing as far as favoring and not? Would Dark Confidant of Snapcaster Mage be more appropriate?