Esper Mentor

[mgrinshpon]

After playing Esper Mentorblade in Legacy and being underwhelmed, I threw a modern version of the deck together.

The legacy version wants Force of Will and velocity and control which is risky with Dark Confidant. Dig Through Time is just expensive in Legacy when you're also trying to keep land count low and all of that.

In modern, however, all of that is banned or never printed so choices are easier! This is my very first, totally untested incarnation of Esper Mentor. The mana base: totally wrong, I'm sure. The mainboard numbers: likely similarly wrong. The card selection overall: possibly wrong? Sideboard: likely also wrong.

Here it is:

// Creatures (11)
4 Monastery Mentor
4 Dark Confidant
3 Snapcaster Mage

//Instants (18)
1 Azorius Charm
3 Countersquall
2 Dimir Charm
4 Path to Exile
3 Remand
1 Shadow of Doubt
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare

//Sorceries (9)
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Lingering Souls
4 Serum Visions

//Lands (22)
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Flooded Strand
1 Godless Shrine
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
1 River of Tears
2 Swamp
2 Watery Grave

//Sideboard (15)
1 Darkblast
1 Stony Silence
2 Zealous Persecution
1 Esper Charm
1 Pithing Needle
1 Thoughtseize
1 Void Snare
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Rest in Peace
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Disenchant
1 Spellskite
1 Hurkyl's Recall


Cards that I didn't put in for my first pass but are likely great:
Opt, Gitaxian Probe, Smother, many more Thoughtseizes (I was worried about the lifeloss given how burn-heavy the meta is)

Cards I included:

• Azorius Charm: The lifelink is probably a real thing with an active mentor. Failing that, it cantrips or it Time Ebbs. Seems great. Hidden mode: bounce your own creature when attacking if an opponent wants to remove it.
• Cavern of Souls: Every single creature in the deck is a human except for the singleton Spellskite.
• Lingering Souls: Liliana tech. Triggers mentor.
• SB: Esper Charm: seems sketchy, especially at 3 mana, but all of its modes are good. The enchantment mode is good in Twin, discard 2 is strong everywhere, etc. Important: can't be spell snared.
• Creeping Tar Pit: The most questionable inclusion. I added it as a one-of to handle planeswalkers. I may want to cut it for a cantrip.
• Void Snare: Blood Moon tech, mostly (only a single blue mana!)

[YamiJoey]

I was all "This kind of looks bad?" until I read your third paragraph, then I appreciated where you were at.

These are almost certainly the two decks you should be looking towards on first pass. (Ichikawa, and Matsumoto.) The burn MU can be addressed post board. The deck should be able to represent enough disruption and a fast enough clock that it's not a real issue.

Do note that Modern was a bit of a mess at the time, as Cruise had just been banned, but it's not really settled yet anyway.

[Megadeus]

I think lingering souls is one of the best cards in the deck. I'd play 4

[Timber]

There are a few 3-1 daily lists on MTGgoldfish.com that could help you out.

http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/276318#paper

Looks like a fun deck

[PhilM]

If you are going to post a deck list probably a good idea to think it over before showing it to all.... If you thought it was all wrong take a second to put something together that is in your eyes right and then have the community post their thoughts.

[YamiJoey]

Creatures: 10
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Monastery Mentor
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang

Spells: 27
4 Gitaxian Probe
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
4 Thought Scour
4 Thoughtseize
4 Lingering Souls
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

Lands: 23
1 Plains
2 Island
1 Swamp
3 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
3 Hallowed Fountain
2 Godless Shrine
1 Watery Grave

Sidebord 14
1 Deathmark
2 Disfigure
2 Dispel
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Disenchant
1 Zealous Persecution
3 Timely Reinforcements
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Stony Silence
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

This is the list I'll be playing tonight. I may look at switching the discard around, as the deck takes a lot of damage very quickly, so cutting down the 'Seizes may be correct. I play this list, only -3 Linger, +3 Remand, and -1 Timely, +1 Extraction to a 2-2 then concede my R5 opponent into T8 last weekend. The deck feels strong, but a tad misbuilt. I think I may need to take more of a controlling roll in more games, so cutting down on some numbers for some countermagic and a couple more removal Spells may be in order. I feel like I want 6 discard Spells, 6 removal Spells, and 4-5 counterspells to back up what I'm already doing, but I may be able to cut down to 4 IoK, 1 Seize to make room for some of those cards. I may need to cut down on the total number of Cantrips, but cutting any of them seems bad. They're all very powerful, and do exactly what I need. Cutting Thought Scour probably means cutting down on Snaps.

The first change I'd look at making would be:

-2 Snap
-2 Probe
-1 Scour
-3 'Seize
+1 Pact
+2 IoK
+4 Remand
+1 Cryptic

Don't know how I'll end up running it tonight.

EDIT:

Ended up running 4 Seize, 2 IoK, with the board having 2 Duress. Made the other changes. I think I want to be a much more controlling deck. Maybe pull out some of the less consistantly good cards like an additional Thought Scour and the Probes, and cut down on the Mentors to three, maybe two. Play it as UB Control, with Tasigur and Mentor as the finishers. That would also mean a move towards Mana Leak and more Cryptics, possibly cutting a Lingering Souls or two in the process.

The sideboard also needs work. I need some trump cards for Tron, and a plan against slower, more controlling decks. I want it to be Crucible or something, but an additional random 3-drop seems awkward, and not great against Decay. Batterskull may be a good answer, as I can just throw it onto tokens tofor even more value.

[PhilM]

I like the your idea in taking a more controlling side of the deck. I think taking out the Gitaxian prob is fine and leaving in 4 iok to help land a mentor. Filling up the graveyard for tasigur is great but 1 fetch and a thoughscour is a turn two play, probs i feel are a free 4 slot section u can take an advantage of. Love the deck! Im going to build off yours. Right now im on esper control no mentors

[YamiJoey]

10-person FNM report goooo!

R1 (BG Tron): This MU seems really bad. He keeps 1 Land and then gets Tron on T4, untaps into an Ugin with 2 Karns and 2 Wurmcoils in hand. In G2 I mulligan and my first Land is on T4 and it is a Vault of the Archangel. Booo! [0-1]

R2 (Grixis Delver): My opponent is a little inexperienced, but Delver + Bolt is a reasonable deck no matter how you cut it. I see his hand early and it's full of control and no pressure, so I build him as a 25 Land Cruel Ultimatum thing. I'm wrong, but it doesn't matter. I stabilise at a low life total after a late Delver of Secrets shows me what he'a planning on doing, but Lingering Souls is completely broken, and Tasigur + Vault of the Archangel gains me more life than he can manage. I board into a Control deck and there's just no way he can win. Dispel is too powerful. (He also managed to make a T4 Delver and not flip it for seven turns.) [1-1]

R3 (UR Twin): In G1 I see his hand from an early Probe, and misplay straight into a Leak I knew he had. I once again board into a Control deck (because my main deck is just baaaaad). G2/3 are a blur. In one I mull to 6 and trade 1-1 until he has no cards left and I win. Because Maths stops applying at some point. I think he flooded pretty hard. [2-1]

R4 (UW Control): G1 takes half an hour, and I manage to take it after just landing more threats than he can handle. All of my threats, even stuff like Snapcaster Mage, are 2-1's, and I just have to play around his Supreme Verdicts. He animates a Colonnade and attacks. I swing back with a Spirit putting him on 2, Flashback a Souls, then Remand his counterspell. Block untap kill you. G2 I mull pretty hard, and start missing Land drops. The key here was that he makes T1 Colonnade Vs Watery Grave tapped. T2 untapped Land. I had a Thoughtseize which I should've cast T1 which would take his Crucible. I die to Crucible eventually, but thankfully that takes more than 20-minutes and I take the match 1-0. I misplayed and - thankfully - didn't get punished. [3-1]

__________

Whilst not a good indicator of the MU, I'm not certain about the Tron MU. I want hate for it, but I've no idea what I need. Crucible loops could be effective, but I'm not sold on it. It needs to be more than just a Stone Rain, and not take up more than three slots. If it's more than that, it needs to be good in a lot of matchups. My next step is something like:

Creatures: 7
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Monastery Mentor
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang

Spells: 30
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
2 Spell Snare
2 Thought Scour
1 Thoughtseize
3 Mana Leak
4 Remand
3 Lingering Souls
2 Cryptic Command

Lands: 23
1 Plains
2 Island
1 Swamp
3 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
3 Hallowed Fountain
2 Godless Shrine
2 Watery Grave

Sideboard
1 Deathmark
2 Disfigure
2 Dispel
1 Duress
1 Disenchant
1 Zealous Persecution
4 Timely Reinforcements
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Stony Silence

A much more Blue-based control deck, with a ridiculously powerful set of Serra Angels. This version has more built-in card advantage, as well as having more general points of interaction. Again; there's not a lot against Tron. A pair of Stony Silenxe can slow them down whilst I attempt to get my win conditions online, but I am not playing a fast deck, and that is where Tron thrives.

[YamiJoey]

Modern FNM last night. Little review of the whole thing.

Decklist:

Permanents: 8
1 Bitterblossom
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Monastery Mentor
2 Tasigur, Golden Fang

Spells: 30
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Gitaxian Probe
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
2 Spell Snare
3 Thought Scour
3 Thoughtseize
4 Remand
4 Lingering Souls
1 Cryptic Command

Lands: 22
1 Plains
2 Island
1 Swamp
3 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Godless Shrine
2 Watery Grave

Sideboard
1 Deathmark
2 Disfigure
2 Dispel
2 Duress
1 Disenchant
1 Zealous Persecution
2 Timely Reinforcements
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Stony Silence
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

R1: Merfolk
G1: On the draw. I cast some number of Serum Visions for a not a lot of action and expect to lose the game quite swiftly, after he enters topdeck mode with a Cavern out Vs my Thoughtseize, double Remand, Spell Snare hand. I manage to get a Mentor onto the table, and expect that I am dead. He doesn't make a correct attack ('Everything' and 'You') so I draw, 'Seize, Remand, draw again, and find a Path to Exile. I attack for 4 (and throw a 3/3 Mentor token into his 4/4 for no reason) and pass. During combat I Path a Lord, then get to make some reasonable blocks. I untap, Seize/Remand again, and draw a second Path. Unadulterated skill pours from my every pore and he swiftly blocks incorrectly and dies a turn later.
G2: He makes Cursecatcher into Lord. He attacks for about 8 with this Cursecatcher before I finally get in the way of it. He casts two Lords in the same turn, allowing my Spell Snare to become live Vs his only 1 Cave, then Path the first Lord and he is left with no good cards. Hurray for individually powerful Spells.
(2-0)

R2: Abzan
G1: I keep a Land heavy hand and flood out grossly. I manage to hit some Paths and Spirits, but he has Township for his Spirits.
G2: I keep Bitterblossom, Sorin, 2 Lands, 2 Remand, Serum Visions. He goes T1) Duress -> Visions, T2) Thoughtseize -> Bitterblossom, T3) Thoughtseize -> Sorin. He then runs out a couple of threats. I make a Mentor and kill some guys, and he floods out a little. Mentor gets there before he can draw out of it.
G3: Makes T1) Thoughtseize, seeing Snare, Path, Path, taking something else. Plays Goyf, which gets Spell Snared. He misses his 4th LD, and I remand a Scavenging Ooze, then Thoughtseize seing Spirits, Scooze, Tarmogoyf. I take the Scooze, and make some Spirits. They mostly beat him to death, but I manage to miss a Flashback on Lingering Souls which would give me lethal with my Zealous Persecution. He plays a pair of 7/8 Tarmogoyfs. I untap, attack him to 6, Flashback, pass. He untaps, attacks me for 7 and a Spirit, makes 4 Spirits, and dies to the Zealous Persecution. Woop woop!
(2-1)

R3: Allies
G1: Thoughtseize reveals a Hada Freeblade, 2-mana Green thing, 2x 2-mana Red thing, and a 2-mana White thing. I take a 1-drop, and proceed to just kill as much as possible with my not terribly brilliant hand. I end up casting and Flashing back 2 Lingering Souls in total to block, at some point needing a Tasigur to play around some "All Allies get Pro a Colour", until I make a Mentor. I continue to block a 6/6 every turn, and at 3 Life he Untaps, Paths my Tasigur, then makes the White 'Pro Colours', which gets Remanded. I untap, Thoughtseize down to 1 to take his guy, and then attack for 5 a turn with Mentor, casting Probes for mana, and IoKing my Hellbent opponent. Yeah, Mentor!
G2: I make T2 Bitterblossom, T3 Timely, T4 Lingering Souls, Deathmark you Pro Colours dude, T5 Mentor. So many tokens!!! I love this deck. <3
(2-0)

R4: Affinity
G1: I lose the die roll and say "go to game two?". He makes turn one Signal Pest, T2 Plating meets Spell Snare, T3 attack for 1 with Blinkmoth, T4 attack for 2 with Blinkmoth and Vault Skirge. I take 2 a turn for about five turns, then cast some Spirits to trade for some Welding Jars, and then finally decide to make a play once I have about 8 Lands, when I make a Mentor and just start casting stuff. I end up killing at 3 poison and 7 life. Kill their only good card and you will win the game yaaaay.
G2: I counter two 2-drops, Path a Master, and Disenchant a Plating. He concedes after a Cryptic
(2-0)

I love this deck. I love it so much. Main takeaways:

Bitterblossom is excellent, I will play 2.
Snapcaster Mage is also excellent, I may play 3.
Gitaxian Probe is crap, I will play none.
Thought Scour was at best a reasonable card. I may be in the market for a better Cantrip.
Thoughtseizes need to be cut for some IoK, (4/1 split) but I knew that already.
Cryptic Command was cast twice. I drew it a small number of times, but wasn't ever hoping for it. Both times it was a Dimsmiss, and both times I was happy about it. It is possibly the worst card that will be left after the above changes. Not sure if it stays, goes, or I just need a second for it to be good.

Sideboard
Deathmark has always been good, and I will almost always play 1.
Dispel and Duress didn't come in at all, but they still both feel very relevant against Twin. Duress is also supposed to be a pair of Timelys, anyway.
Zealous Persecution overperformed. I love this card.
Timely Reinforcements won me every game I cast it, as it always does.
Relic of Progenitus was never needed, and I couldn't see a deck in the room where I wanted it. In hindsight, I could've brought it in against Abzan to deal with Spirits and make their Tasigur and Goyfs worse.
Sorin may be the wrong Sorin. I play LoI, as making a 1/1 and going to 4 counters is way better against decks like Jund and Twin, where they can't just Bolt the Sorin straight away, but plenty of times I wanted +2/+0 and Lifelink way more than any Vampire or an, Emblem.

[JDK]

In G2 I mulligan and my first Land is on T4 and it is a Vault of the Archangel. Booo! [0-1]

[YamiJoey]

??? Yes?

[JPoJohnson]

I have to says hat the above tournament report sounds like the most christmas Magic dreamland report. sounds like you had a lot of lucky topdecks and beneficial plays. (:

[YamiJoey]

They're only small FNMs and things, sadly. There's not big Modern event near me for a few more weeks now. :(

EDIT: FNM tonight. This is my list:

Permanents: 10
2 Bitterblossom
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Monastery Mentor
2 Tasigur, Golden Fang

Spells: 27
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
3 Thought Scour
1 Thoughtseize
4 Remand
4 Lingering Souls
1 Cryptic Command
1 Murderous Cut

Lands: 23
1 Plains
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Cavern of Souls
3 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Godless Shrine
2 Watery Grave

Sideboard
1 Deathmark
2 Disfigure
2 Dispel
1 Duress
1 Disenchant
1 Zealous Persecution
3 Timely Reinforcements
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Stony Silence
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad


Still not sure about the Sorin slot. With the added Cave, I'm not sure I need it. It could even be a second Cave. I'll make my final decision tonight.

[skipye]

I'm wondering why did you prefer "monastery mentor" over "geist of saint D" . We have a large amount of removal (more than 6/7 per deck). We can assume our geist could deal 1 Attack without been blocked no ?
playing monastery leads the deck to be more sensible to "anger of the gods/ volcanic fallout/pyroclasm

sorry i m looking to play this version over UBR and i didn't test yet since i didn t have a version to try.

[Timber]

I've been wondering what Jace, Vryn's Prodigy does for this deck. Being able to flash back discard spells and Paths seems real strong.

[Phoenix Ignition]

I've been wondering what Jace, Vryn's Prodigy does for this deck. Being able to flash back discard spells and Paths seems real strong.

I agree with this, it might be enough card advantage to push Mentor over the top. It's also a must answer threat turn 2 so that could draw some removal away from MM's face. I'm going to be trying this out alongside some free spells like Gitaxian Probe. If he flips or is flipped the turn you want to cast MM you can use his -3 and then hold priority after casting MM to get an immediate spell on the stack.

He's also pretty awesome in UB in general since draw and discard at least one of the two flashback targets will have a good use at every point in the game.

[Timber]

Here's what I was thinking (first draft)

4 Monastery Mentor
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy

2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

1 Cryptic Command
1 Murderous Cut
4 Path to Exile
1 Dispel
1 Zealous Persecution
2 Bitterblossom
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Spell Snare
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
2 Thoughtseize

2 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Darkslick Shores
3 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Flooded Strand
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Marsh Flats
4 Polluted Delta
1 Vault of the Archangel
2 Watery Grave

[Timber]

Play tested this list before the Eldrazi poop storm.

Notes:
Started with Snapcaster Mage, then tried Bob. Bob was much better. The deck plays less on your opponent's turn and having 2 different must-kill threats on turn two really taxes opponent's removal.
Deck was real good against Jund. Jace, Bob, and Lingering Souls give inevitability and leave less removal for Mentor.
Couldn't beat Blue Moon pre or post-board. Too much removal, Vedalken Shackles is a house, Pia and Kiran Nalaar laughs at Path, and Blood Moon is Blood Moon.



4x Dark Confidant
4x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
4x Monastery Mentor
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang

4x Lingering Souls
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Thoughtseize
4x Serum Visions
4x Thought Scour
4x Path to Exile
1x Slaughter Pact
2x Remand

2x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Darkslick Shores
2x Island
1x Swamp
1x Plains
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Watery Grave
1x Godless Shrine
2x Ghost Quarter
4x Polluted Delta
4x Flooded Strand
2x Marsh Flats

Preliminary Sideboard
2x Stony Silence
2x Engineered Explosives
2x Dispel
2x Kor Firewalker
2x Geist of Saint Traft
2x Rest for the Weary
1x Blood Baron of Vizkopa
1x Celestial Purge
1x Wrath of God



Haven't played it against Eldrazi yet, but I imagine it's real bad. I don't know that playing Wraths and 2 cmc counterspells like Remove Soul are good enough to stay alive.
- Blood Baron was there for Jund, Junk, and Chapin style Grixis decks. Still seems good (if you're alive to cast it) with everyone playing Path and Dismember.
- Kor Firewalker seems worse against Burn than it was 6 months ago now that everyone expects it.
- Zealous Persecution probably should have been in the sideboard anyway, but it seems even better right now against Scion tokens and Affinity.

[Phoenix Ignition]

I've tried a couple iterations of the deck but I was always just dead to any deck that used burn or had a burn backup plan (Twin, though that's not a thing anymore). Bolt Snapcaster Bolt could frequently kill me what with Bob being mean. How's your list doing against Zoo/burn/control with burn? I was looking into stuff like Azorius Charm I was so desperate. Maybe a Sorrin with lifelink would be enough, or just Vault of the Archangel.

I'm kind of not testing much though for the next couple months, until Eldrazi is gone and the meta goes back to "normal."

[Timber]

Burn was bad. Firewalker was great in my UWR Geist deck, but w/ Tar Pit instead of Colonnade, getting to WW is really painful in this deck. Was thinking about trying Timely Reinforcements or even Ojutai's Command.

Didn't get to play against any Twin before banning.

I'm kind of not testing much though for the next couple months, until Eldrazi is gone and the meta goes back to "normal."

This. No point working on the deck right now. I'm super pissed because I've been looking forward to GP Detroit since the team sealed GP this summer and now my favorite format's shit. All of the play testing I've put into this deck is wasted. I refuse to go to the GP.