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Thread: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

  1. #1
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    Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Esper Arena Rector
    (a.k.a. Esper Friends/Esper Gladiators)

    The purpose of this thread is to start building around the card Arena Rector from the Battlebond set recently released. The deck I have been working on has been in an Esper shell. I started off trying to build it in the Nyx Fit shell, just replacing the enchantments with strong planeswalkers, but the deck just didn’t work, particularly as the planeswalkers don’t lock up the game the way the enchantments did, and the deck isn’t that strong with the enchantment build. I took more of a Miracles shell and added black for sacrifice outlets (eg. cabal therapy). The deck plays primarily as a control deck with the ability to fetch out incredibly powerful planeswalkers that are appropriate for the game state. Here is where I am at with the deck so far:

    Esper Gladiators

    2 Island
    4 Flooded Strand
    1 Plains
    1 Swamp
    1 Scrubland
    4 Polluted Delta
    1 Tundra
    2 Underground Sea
    2 Phyrexian Tower – sac outlet for Rector or can add a couple black mana off of other creatures when needed
    2 Cavern of Souls – naming human, obviously
    3 Snapcaster Mage – not only an amazing card on its own, but gives another body to sac to Phyrexian Tower for mana or to a cabal therapy to clear the way
    3 Arena Rector
    2 Monastery Mentor – good finisher, human, makes guys to sac as above
    4 Force of Will
    1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ponder
    1 Far/Away – this or the 4th terminus. It deals with 20/20 avatars and spaghetti monsters, and it kills our rector for trigger
    4 Cabal Therapy
    3 Gitaxian Probe – plays well with therapy and looks for interaction from opponent (surgical on rector) when trying to trigger. Could be some other cantrip if
    you wanted to see more cards.
    1 Liliana of the Veil
    1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
    3 Fatal Push – over swords to plowshares main because it kills/triggers our rector
    1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria – quite good. Answers any permanent and draws cards.
    1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon – amazing sweeper in most match-ups
    3 Terminus
    1 Search for Azcanta

    // Sideboard
    SB: 2 Swords to Plowshares
    SB: 2 Meddling Mage – Good for the decks this type of deck isn’t naturally favored against, such as storm, eldrazi ramp, etc.
    SB: 2 Surgical Extraction
    SB: 2 Disenchant
    SB: 2 Flusterstorm
    SB: 1 Null Rod
    SB: 1 Ethersworn Canonist – anti-combo
    SB: 2 Containment Priest – anti show & tell and graveyard
    SB: 1 Lost Legacy – again, good against combo and graveyard based strategies

    As for the Planeswalker choices, I think this is a good mix and this combination can be strong against most decks in the format. Obviously, none are great against combo but Liliana’s discard effect isn’t bad. I originally had 2 Jaces and Ugin in the SB but this is definitely a mistake. Ugin is fetched for first in multiple match-ups and quickly made it to the main. I also considered Ob Nixilis due to the fact that he doesn’t die to a red blast, but he just isn’t nearly as good as Teferi or Nicol Bolas. Speaking of Teferi, this card is REALLY good. Get your copies now.

    Also, I did start with 4 copies of Deathrite Shaman since he can ramp you up a turn, sac to therapy and is a main deck answer to graveyard stuff. I ended up cutting him for the probes and the far/away as I just felt like I needed to get to the good stuff faster and therefore needed more cantrips. You might also notice that I am only playing 3 copies of rector. That very well could be wrong but most of the Planeswalkers you can just outright cast on their own and I didn’t feel like 4 were necessary. Having said that, I think making room for the 4th rector is probably right.

    I did take this list to my local LGS this week and went 3-1, beating Show & Tell, Lands, and goblins and losing in 3 to dredge. One game against show and tell my opponent plays show and tell and puts in emrakul and I put in rector. I’m at 17 life. He actually doesn’t swing for 2 turns and when he does I sac rector and get Nicol Bolas, steal his emrakul on my turn and he scoops. Against dredge, obviously the deathrites would have been good in that MU. I had Containment Priest down in one game but couldn’t find a rector before he just beat me down with the zombies he was making from just naturally playing creatures and sacrificing them. Again, I would probably just be better off playing the 4th Rector. Also considered playing Leyline of the Void in the SB vs the other cute stuff, as it is definitely better against dredge as well as BR reanimator and other turn 1 graveyard decks. However, the other stuff (surgicals, containment priest, lost legacy) goes wider so for now I’m sticking with those…judgement call.

    Anyway, looking to tune this deck further and any input would be welcome. The deck seems competitive and the union of control and combo elements make the deck much fun to play.

  2. #2

    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Hi drude1,

    it's great to see someone else trying out Arena Rector as well. I've been tickering around with a Rector Deck for a couple of weeks now. I had the crazy idea of playing all of the 4 Rectors. I've read the threads about NicFit and how they came to the conclusion, that Arena Rector is not really needed for this type of deck.
    I took your list and tested it in cockatrice and i think you are on to something. Brainstrom and Cabal Therapies are definitely the way to go with a Arena-Rector-only-Build.

    Here is my List. You have to know, i'm a Chalice Player by heart. :)

    Let's play ALL THE RECTORS!!! ;-)

    // TURBO RECTOR a.k.a. Double Dragon

    // 61 Maindeck

    // 14 Artifact
    4 Mox Diamond (Quick Ramp to get T1 Chalice, Signet, Trinisphere or Recruiter)
    3 Orzhov Signet (helps to get T2 Rectors, mana fixer)
    4 Chalice of the Void (we all know what it does)
    3 Trinisphere (T1 or T2 slows down quite a lot of decks)

    // 11 Creature
    4 Academy Rector (gets all the good enchantments)
    4 Arena Rector (gets all the dragons)
    2 Recruiter of the Guard (gets the old ladies or a ballista or revoker)
    1 Walking Ballista (mana sink, deals with DRS, kills old ladies if necessary)

    // 3 Enchantment
    1 Overwhelming Splendor (shuts down creatures, fetchlands, wastelands and planeswalkers)
    1 Curse of Death's Hold (combos with Splendor)
    1 Cruel Reality (flex spot, kills really fast)

    // 25 Land
    4 Phyrexian Tower (you always need one)
    4 City of Traitors
    2 Cavern of Souls (they are all humans)
    4 Ancient Tomb
    4 Plains
    1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
    2 Swamp
    3 Wasteland
    1 Fetid Heath

    // 3 Planeswalker
    2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon (board sweeper and win con, 2 ugins because if one is in hand i can still search him up)
    1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker (vindicate on a stick and win con)

    // 5 Sorcery
    3 Collective Brutality (very important, kills DRS(!) and takes specific instants/sorceries out of opponents hands)
    2 Toxic Deluge (kills DRS)


    // 15 Sideboard (is still in the works)
    // 3 Artifact
    SB: 2 Silent Gravestone (against DRS and Extraction)
    SB: 1 Sorcerous Spyglass (against DRS and Vial)

    // 9 Enchantment
    SB: 3 Leyline of Sanctity (Storm, Burn)
    SB: 4 Leyline of the Void (Reanimator, Lands)
    SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Red (Burn)
    SB: 1 Dovescape

    // 1 Instant
    SB: 1 Disenchant

    // 1 Planeswalker
    SB: 1 Karn, Scion of Urza (great in the main board as well)

    // 1 Sorcery
    SB: 1 Collective Brutality

    ============================================

    This is more an all-in approach. I took the old Stax Idea and combined it with the 4 Rectors. It's a lot of fun to play!
    The Deck Idea is to play a lock piece as early as possible, kill early DRS and try to land a Rector turn 2 or 3.

    From playing this deck idea with different set ups i found:

    Pros:
    - T2 Ugin or Bolas!
    - T2 or T3 Overwhelming Splendor
    - Chalice and Trinisphere to stop a lot of decks
    - everything can be cast, except Nicol Bolas (unless u have a lot of mox diamonds....)

    Cons:
    - f**k DRS! ;-)
    - died to Burn many times
    - Aether Vial and Cataclysm are a huge problem
    - no Brainstorms or Ponder to get rid of PW's or Enchantments in hand
    - needs to mulligan often

    i'm still working on this deck. it has all the flaws and benefits stompy decks have.

    - Philip

  3. #3
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    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    So, we are obviously going in different directions with the deck. As for your list, I think you need more sac outlets for your rectors. I would try to squeeze in a couple Liliana of the veil. I would also run a mistveil plains so you can get the enchantments back into your library from your graveyard. I would also definitely be running a main deck omniscience. That way if other enchantments or Planeswalkers are in your hand you can just play them out. Otherwise, interesting direction to go. I'm also a fan of prison strategies and chalice is a hell of a card.

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  4. #4

    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Hello everyone, I'm interested in creating a deck around the arena rector card, the fact of taking a planeswlker from the deck is too good, to control the field and/or the opponent's hand with Jace, Ugin, Karn, Nicol Bolas, Liliana of the veil.
    this is my 4c control planeswalker version:

    3 arena rector
    4 deathrite shaman
    3 snapcaster mage

    1 abrupt decay
    4 brainstorm
    1 diaboilc edict
    4 force of will
    2 swords to plowshares

    1 bayou
    2 flooded strand
    1 forest
    2 island
    1 phyrexian tower
    1 plains
    2 polluted delta
    1 savannah
    1 scrubland
    1 swamp
    1 tropical island
    1 tundra
    1 underground sea
    2 verdant catacombs
    2 windswept heath

    2 jace, the mind sculptor
    1 karn liberated
    1 liliana of the veil
    1 nicol bolas, planeswalker
    1 ugin, the spirit dragon

    4 cabal therapy
    3 gitaxian probe
    3 hymn to tourach
    2 ponder

    Sideboard
    1 ensnaring bridge
    1 pithing needle
    1 containment priest
    1 abrupt decay
    1 blue elemental blast
    1 diabolic edict
    2 flusterstorm
    1 hydroblast
    2 surgical extraction
    1 elspeth, sun's champion
    1 nicol bolas, god-pharaoh
    1 maelstrom pulse
    1 thoughtseize


    Is still in the test phase, to be tested a lot, but in the end, for the few games I did on cockatrice, it is not badly.
    let me know what you think, thanks

  5. #5
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    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    This is very similar to my original list. I was originally playing deathrites as well. They were pretty good but I'm playing terminus so they didn't play well together. The nice thing about deathrites is they can speed up things by a turn but they usually eat a piece of early removal. I added more cantrips in their place but I can't argue against deathrites. Can't say I love the 2 ponder (vs 4). I also feel like you are a little short on ways too kill a rector. You basically have the 4 therapies and 1 edict and the 1 tower. Again, with only 2 ponder you will have a harder time finding them. Why Karn? You should look at the new teferi as well. Probably better than the second Jace.

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    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    So I've continued to work on this deck. For some reason it wasn't playing well after the ban so I tinkered with it a little and ended up adding more discard in the form of inquisition of kozilek. Since this change, the deck has performed EXTREMELY well. Admittedly, I've really only been playing it in the practice room of MTGO but it really is performing well. I'm still playing a couple numbers a little bit, but in general, here is where I'm at...

    2 Ensnaring Bridge
    3 Snapcaster Mage
    4 Arena Rector
    1 Search for Azcanta
    4 Brainstorm
    2 Fatal Push
    4 Force of Will
    1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
    1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
    1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
    4 Ponder
    4 Cabal Therapy
    4 Inquisition of Kozilek
    3 Terminus
    1 Cavern of Souls
    4 Flooded Strand
    2 Island
    2 Underground Sea
    1 Marsh Flats
    1 Phyrexian Tower
    1 Plains
    4 Polluted Delta
    1 Scrubland
    2 Swamp
    2 Tundra

    SB
    1 Null Rod
    2 Containment Priest
    1 Ethersworn Canonist
    2 Monastery Mentor
    1 Meddling Mage
    2 Disenchant
    1 Flusterstorm
    1 Echoing Truth
    3 Surgical Extraction
    1 To the Slaughter

    I had moved the 2 ensnaring bridge in and out of the deck but have recently seen a lot more eldrazi and other hyper-aggressive strategies so I've decided to keep them in. I would like to work in another copy of fatal push in to the main and would likely cut an inquisition for it, but inquisition has just been so good that it's hard to do. I have also played with cutting a land and playing and extra cantrip (4 brainstorm, 3 ponder and 2 preordain) but I end up a lot more mulligans at 20 lands. I did cut the liliana as it just was never doing enough. The only time I would fetch it is against combo and the inquisitions have solidified that match up. BTW, I actually tend to side out all of the rectors and planewalkers and bring in all the hate bears in the combo match ups (eg. storm). Could probably consider adding either a second meddling mage or canonist to the board. Finally, I ended up moving the mentors out of the main completely and bring them in as an "alt win con" when my opponent loads up on graveyard hate during sideboarding. This has worked surprisingly well. Speaking of which, the sideboard is also in flux but the esper combo has such an amazing selection of sideboard cards it's easy to plug in what you need based on meta decisions.
    Anyway, anyone else still putting any work into this deck? Always interested in seeing other ideas.

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    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    I guess I'm just going to keep replying to my own thread here. BTW, if anyone knows that someone is working on a similar deck in a different thread, please let me know. I just can't believe there isn't more interest in this deck as Arena Rector is just so powerful of an effect. I've been doing very well online with the deck and last night went 3-1 at my LGS, beating T.E.S., Esper Stoneblade and a Naya Foodchain deck. I actually lost to OmniShow which is funny because I would probably consider that my best match up. Well, I haven't lost yet to sneak and show online as I can just drop a rector or bridge to show and tell and even if they attack with Emrakul I sac rector, get Nicol Bolas and steal their monster. However, I just didn't see either card in two games and lost...variance happens. I have changed the list again a little bit, adding some more cantrips, changing the lands a little bit and changing the SB moderately...

    // Esper Rector

    // 60 Maindeck
    // 2 Artifact
    2 Ensnaring Bridge

    // 7 Creature
    3 Snapcaster Mage
    4 Arena Rector

    // 1 Enchantment
    1 Search for Azcanta

    // 11 Instant
    4 Brainstorm
    3 Fatal Push
    4 Force of Will

    // 20 Land
    1 Cavern of Souls
    4 Flooded Strand
    3 Island (added 3rd island/6th basic due to heavy number of wastelands I've been seeing)
    1 Phyrexian Tower
    1 Plains
    4 Polluted Delta
    1 Scrubland
    2 Swamp
    1 Tundra
    2 Underground Sea

    // 4 Planeswalker
    1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
    1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
    1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

    // 15 Sorcery
    3 Ponder
    4 Cabal Therapy
    3 Inquisition of Kozilek
    3 Terminus
    2 Preordain (added these by cutting one ponder and a land. Really like them)


    // 16 Sideboard

    SB: 1 Null Rod
    SB: 2 Containment Priest
    SB: 1 Ethersworn Canonist
    SB: 2 Disenchant
    SB: 2 Flusterstorm (this has been good so added a second)
    SB: 1 Echoing Truth
    SB: 3 Surgical Extraction
    SB: 1 Far // Away
    SB: 1 Lost Legacy / Meddling Mage (see below)
    SB: 1 Hoofprints of the Stag/Bitterblossom/Luminarch Ascension/Heliod, God of the Sun (see below)

    I have to questionable sideboard slots and would like some input. The first is the lost legacy vs. meddline mage. This is for combo decks like storm, sneak & show, etc. or in situtuations where I just don't want them to be able to play a certain card (eg. life from the loam, surgical extraction, etc). Meddling Mage comes down a turn faster and can hit artifacts. But it is more fragile and dies to pretty much every creature removal in legacy. A lot of times creature removal gets sided out against me, but not all of it. It is a body though so can attack against decks like storm while still producing it's effect. On the other hand, Lost Legacy gets the job done a lot better, but is a turn slower, is two black mana and can't hit artifacts (although can really only think of painter decks and chalice but chalice is usually already on the table at this point). Leaning towards lost legacy but could be talked into either.

    The last spot is for some sort of enchantment based alt win condition (thinking token generator). I have not been liking Monastery Mentor as it just dies too easily, often to my own terminus. I want to replace it with something else that produces token or wins in another way. I listed some options above. I also considered splashing red for Assemble the Legion or Keranos. The red would also allow me to cast Nicol Bolas out of my hand, which has come up once or twice. I just don't know if I want to spread my mana that thin. I like heliod because it is nearly impossible to get rid of. However, it's really slow. I'm leaning more toward hoofprints or bitterblossom. Bitterblossom works a lot faster but I'm not a huge fan of the life loss. Hoofprints is slower but makes 4/4s which is pretty good. And with 9 cantrips, jace and teferi, I am drawing a lot of cards. Again, any input is welcome.
    Guess I'll just keep plugging along....


    addendum: after a little gold fishing, it's either going to be hoofprints or bitterblossom and leaning toward hoofprints. Might even get 2 copies in the SB

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    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Quote Originally Posted by drude1 View Post
    I guess I'm just going to keep replying to my own thread here. BTW, if anyone knows that someone is working on a similar deck in a different thread, please let me know. I just can't believe there isn't more interest in this deck as Arena Rector is just so powerful of an effect. I've been doing very well online with the deck and last night went 3-1 at my LGS, beating T.E.S., Esper Stoneblade and a Naya Foodchain deck. I actually lost to OmniShow which is funny because I would probably consider that my best match up. Well, I haven't lost yet to sneak and show online as I can just drop a rector or bridge to show and tell and even if they attack with Emrakul I sac rector, get Nicol Bolas and steal their monster. However, I just didn't see either card in two games and lost...variance happens. I have changed the list again a little bit, adding some more cantrips, changing the lands a little bit and changing the SB moderately...

    // Esper Rector

    // 60 Maindeck
    // 2 Artifact
    2 Ensnaring Bridge

    // 7 Creature
    3 Snapcaster Mage
    4 Arena Rector

    // 1 Enchantment
    1 Search for Azcanta

    // 11 Instant
    4 Brainstorm
    3 Fatal Push
    4 Force of Will

    // 20 Land
    1 Cavern of Souls
    4 Flooded Strand
    3 Island (added 3rd island/6th basic due to heavy number of wastelands I've been seeing)
    1 Phyrexian Tower
    1 Plains
    4 Polluted Delta
    1 Scrubland
    2 Swamp
    1 Tundra
    2 Underground Sea

    // 4 Planeswalker
    1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
    1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
    1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

    // 15 Sorcery
    3 Ponder
    4 Cabal Therapy
    3 Inquisition of Kozilek
    3 Terminus
    2 Preordain (added these by cutting one ponder and a land. Really like them)


    // 16 Sideboard

    SB: 1 Null Rod
    SB: 2 Containment Priest
    SB: 1 Ethersworn Canonist
    SB: 2 Disenchant
    SB: 2 Flusterstorm (this has been good so added a second)
    SB: 1 Echoing Truth
    SB: 3 Surgical Extraction
    SB: 1 Far // Away
    SB: 1 Lost Legacy / Meddling Mage (see below)
    SB: 1 Hoofprints of the Stag/Bitterblossom/Luminarch Ascension/Heliod, God of the Sun (see below)

    I have to questionable sideboard slots and would like some input. The first is the lost legacy vs. meddline mage. This is for combo decks like storm, sneak & show, etc. or in situtuations where I just don't want them to be able to play a certain card (eg. life from the loam, surgical extraction, etc). Meddling Mage comes down a turn faster and can hit artifacts. But it is more fragile and dies to pretty much every creature removal in legacy. A lot of times creature removal gets sided out against me, but not all of it. It is a body though so can attack against decks like storm while still producing it's effect. On the other hand, Lost Legacy gets the job done a lot better, but is a turn slower, is two black mana and can't hit artifacts (although can really only think of painter decks and chalice but chalice is usually already on the table at this point). Leaning towards lost legacy but could be talked into either.

    The last spot is for some sort of enchantment based alt win condition (thinking token generator). I have not been liking Monastery Mentor as it just dies too easily, often to my own terminus. I want to replace it with something else that produces token or wins in another way. I listed some options above. I also considered splashing red for Assemble the Legion or Keranos. The red would also allow me to cast Nicol Bolas out of my hand, which has come up once or twice. I just don't know if I want to spread my mana that thin. I like heliod because it is nearly impossible to get rid of. However, it's really slow. I'm leaning more toward hoofprints or bitterblossom. Bitterblossom works a lot faster but I'm not a huge fan of the life loss. Hoofprints is slower but makes 4/4s which is pretty good. And with 9 cantrips, jace and teferi, I am drawing a lot of cards. Again, any input is welcome.
    Guess I'll just keep plugging along....


    addendum: after a little gold fishing, it's either going to be hoofprints or bitterblossom and leaning toward hoofprints. Might even get 2 copies in the SB
    Check the Nic Fit thread.

  9. #9
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    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Quote Originally Posted by TLK View Post
    Check the Nic Fit thread.
    Yeah, I started with the nic fit shell and hated it. Esper is just much better at controlling the board and then taking over the game. This deck plays more like miracles. I would definitely consider those two very different decks.

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    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    You can play a BANT Nic Fit version of this deck.

    1 Forest
    2 Plains
    3 Island
    1 Tundra
    2 Savannah
    2 Tropical Island
    3 Windswept Heath
    3 Flooded Strand
    4 Misty Rainforest

    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ponder
    4 Perilous Research
    4 Force of Will

    3 Arena Rector
    4 Veteran Explorer

    2 Engineered Explosives

    3 Ground Seal

    1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
    1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

    2 Supreme Verdict
    4 Swords to Plowshares

    2 Living Wish

    SB: 2 Flusterstorm
    SB: 1 Negate
    SB: 1 Ethersworn Canonist
    SB: 1 Disenchant
    SB: 1 Eternal Witness
    SB: 2 Blessed Alliance
    SB: 2 Path to Exile
    SB: 1 Surgical Extraction
    SB: 1 Cavern of Souls
    SB: 1 Faerie Macabre
    SB: 1 Thragtusk
    SB: 1 Reclamation Sage

    SB is just a pile at the moment but you should get the idea.

    Perilous research is a very nice addition as it is quite synergistic with the entire deck while providing CA:
    - sac veteran
    - sac rector
    - sac ground seal
    - sac a permanent in response to a removal (land with wasteland, etc...)

    Numbers might have to be tweaked on a long run.

    From a pure PW point of view I cannot think something better than those 3.
    We could argue that none of them are good against combo decks but they will apply pressure or provide CA.

    Obviously resolving Bolas' ultimate should be game 99 % of the time.

    A light "living wish" package gives the edge against many decks by providing solutions against any archetype of the format. Here again number would have to be tweaked as should be the sideboard.

    Regards,

    Ralf

  11. #11

    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Hey all,
    I've been wanting to put together a list with arena rectors since they came out, but have not had a chance to do so until now. I'm utilizing an esper control shell for this deck, but manipulating it so the rectors can be played. I have not had any chance to test this list yet, but I really like the build, and seems like it can contend based on it's available tools.

    Esper rector friends
    Creatures
    3 baleful strix (great blocker in the early game, and replaces itself)
    3 snapcaster mage (always good to recast your spells from the GY)
    3 arena rector (the namesake of the deck)

    Enchantments
    1 bitterblossom (recurring creatures, great for continuous blockers, and sac outlet for therapy if needed.)

    Planeswalkers
    Teferi, hero of dominaria (just a bad ass dude in any control deck)
    Jace, the mind sculptor (auto include)
    Liliana of the veil (castable, and cause sometimes u need to search up a planeswalker to remove peaty creatures)
    Liliana, the last hope (can help against small creature decks, and can recur your rector or snap from the GY)
    Ugin, the spirit dragon (one of the best planeswalkers to include to finish a game)
    Nicol bolas, planeswalker (see ugin, the spirit dragon)

    Instants
    4 brainstorm (helps to put your planeswalkers back into the deck so they can be searched with rector)
    3 Fatal push (easily one of the best removal spells in the format, and can kill ur own rector)
    4 force of will (we are playing blue)
    1 spell pierce (wasn't sure if I should play flusterstorm, spell snare, or spell pierce)
    1 counterspell (its counterspell!)
    2 diabolical edict (a 2 mana way to sac our rector. Chalice is a thing, and helps against other hard to remove creatures)

    Sorcery
    3 ponder (more cantrips)
    4 cabal therapy (recurring discard, and helps us sac the rector.)
    2 supreme verdict (I see some of you with terminus, and I get it, but this is uncounterable, pitches to force, and also can kill our rector. I'm in.)

    Lands (exact mana base can still be altered. I went with a slightly heavier basic mana base. It allows me to be able to cast everything in my deck except the nicol bolas.)
    4 flooded strand
    3 polluted delta
    1 marsh flats
    3 underground sea
    2 tundra
    1 scrubland
    2 island
    2 swamp
    2 plains

    SB will def contain atleast 3 surgicals, 2 flusterstorm, a karakas, and 2 disenchants. The rest is still up in the air.
    Thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated!

  12. #12
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    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Quote Originally Posted by Ceralyst View Post
    Hey all,
    I've been wanting to put together a list with arena rectors since they came out, but have not had a chance to do so until now. I'm utilizing an esper control shell for this deck, but manipulating it so the rectors can be played. I have not had any chance to test this list yet, but I really like the build, and seems like it can contend based on it's available tools.

    Esper rector friends
    Creatures
    3 baleful strix (great blocker in the early game, and replaces itself)
    3 snapcaster mage (always good to recast your spells from the GY)
    3 arena rector (the namesake of the deck)

    Enchantments
    1 bitterblossom (recurring creatures, great for continuous blockers, and sac outlet for therapy if needed.)

    Planeswalkers
    Teferi, hero of dominaria (just a bad ass dude in any control deck)
    Jace, the mind sculptor (auto include)
    Liliana of the veil (castable, and cause sometimes u need to search up a planeswalker to remove peaty creatures)
    Liliana, the last hope (can help against small creature decks, and can recur your rector or snap from the GY)
    Ugin, the spirit dragon (one of the best planeswalkers to include to finish a game)
    Nicol bolas, planeswalker (see ugin, the spirit dragon)

    Instants
    4 brainstorm (helps to put your planeswalkers back into the deck so they can be searched with rector)
    3 Fatal push (easily one of the best removal spells in the format, and can kill ur own rector)
    4 force of will (we are playing blue)
    1 spell pierce (wasn't sure if I should play flusterstorm, spell snare, or spell pierce)
    1 counterspell (its counterspell!)
    2 diabolical edict (a 2 mana way to sac our rector. Chalice is a thing, and helps against other hard to remove creatures)

    Sorcery
    3 ponder (more cantrips)
    4 cabal therapy (recurring discard, and helps us sac the rector.)
    2 supreme verdict (I see some of you with terminus, and I get it, but this is uncounterable, pitches to force, and also can kill our rector. I'm in.)

    Lands (exact mana base can still be altered. I went with a slightly heavier basic mana base. It allows me to be able to cast everything in my deck except the nicol bolas.)
    4 flooded strand
    3 polluted delta
    1 marsh flats
    3 underground sea
    2 tundra
    1 scrubland
    2 island
    2 swamp
    2 plains

    SB will def contain atleast 3 surgicals, 2 flusterstorm, a karakas, and 2 disenchants. The rest is still up in the air.
    Thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated!
    We are very close on our lists actually. Here's my $0.02....

    I like the baleful strix and honestly didn't really consider them. I have two ensnaring bridge main that serve a similar function. They don't draw a card but are a more solid answer to fatties from sneak & show, eldrazi, etc. and are harder to answer. Running both wouldn't be bad if we can make the room. In my list I would substitute them for the preordains. I also like the idea of edict effects and ended up adding far/away to my list. I think either is fine. Away's edict effect costs one more but the far can still answer 20/20 avatar tokens if they have another creature in play and it can bounce a meddlesome creature like scavenging ooze or our own snapcasters (or in your case baleful strix) back to hand for re-use. It is also blue so pitches to FoW. I play terminus where you play supreme verdict. I think they each have their pros and cons. I agree with your assessment of supreme verdict and I do like the fact that it pitches to FoW and kills our rectors. However, I am usually trying to "go off" at 4 mana and want to cast my board sweepers sooner than that. I also don't like the double white. In general, I think either is fine though. You have a couple more counterspells where I have inquisitions. I personally like inquisitions because they give you information about the opponent's hand, both to know that the coast is clear to sac rector (eg. no surgical) and to help the therapies hit. I love going inquisition turn 1. therapy turn 2, snapcaster inquisition and therapy turn 3. Very strong against combo decks. Problem with counterspells is they tend to get stripped from your hand by decks like storm. But again, this is a play style preference more than anything. I do like the bitterblossom a lot and as you may have seen above I was talking about either that or hoofprints in my deck as well. Had my copy in the board but main makes sense as well.

    The two cards I think you really aren't going to like are the lilianas. I started with lili of the veil main and lili of last hope in SB but have since cut them both. The benefit is that you can cast them relatively easily but I had so many turns where I wouldn't activate lili of the veil because I didn't want to discard a card. Or she would kill one creature and then get wrecked. As for answering a troublesome creature, she doesn't really do anything that one of our other planeswalkers can't already do. Also, neither would ever be a planewalker I recruit for given my other choices. Lili of last hope sadly has become much more irrelevant since this ban. She is still good against D&T and maybe against elves but really does nothing against the current popular delver decks, stoneblade decks or eldrazi and is pretty useless against combo. Yes, she can get back creatures and maybe with strix in the deck this makes more sense. Rectors get exiled though so unless they are just getting discarded by your opponent you can't recur them. The only other benefit they have is that they don't die to a red blast, but again there are probably better alternatives (eg. Ob Nix). I thought Lili of the Veil may be good against combo, and it isn't terrible. Just didn't feel like enough though, especially when we kinda play like a combo deck as well. If you are going to play Lili of the Veil I would definitely switch out the counterspells for more discard as you likely won't be able to keep the counterspells in your hand.

    Finally, I will also say that I started with 3 copies of rector and quickly moved up to 4. Also added the 2 preordain because you will find that you REALLY WANT TO FIND A RECTOR. The card is so broken. Especially against show and tell decks where you really want one in your hand by the time they cast show and tell. It's really hard for them to deal with that card (or the Nicol Bolas that you get when she goes to the yard). As for sideboard, I think we have similar ideas. Flusterstorm has been really good and I moved up to 2. Surgicals are obviously good. I also play containment priest as Silent Gravestone has become popular. The two decks that I have had trouble with are Turbo Depths and eldrazi. Both can be too fast for our usual removal. I would concentrate a couple SB cards for those MUs in particular. I've actually been playing around with Leyline of Sanctity in the board, as the real problem in those MUs is that they strip your answers from your hand before you get a chance to use them. In general I am seeing a lot of discard now (especially thoughtseize) and leylines are good against all of those and has good splash effect against burn and storm.

    Anyway, glad someone else is on esper rector. I do think the deck has some serious potential and I have been doing pretty well with it so far. Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts.

  13. #13

    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    I've been playing an abzan build but I like Diabolic Intent more than Edict in the rector builds. With looking into

  14. #14
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    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Quote Originally Posted by walked View Post
    I've been playing an abzan build but I like Diabolic Intent more than Edict in the rector builds. With looking into
    Diabolic intent is kinda spicy. You would definitely need to play more creatures so strix makes even more sense. Obvious sac outlet for rectors. Definitely a card to consider.


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  15. #15

    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Quote Originally Posted by drude1 View Post
    Diabolic intent is kinda spicy. You would definitely need to play more creatures so strix makes even more sense. Obvious sac outlet for rectors. Definitely a card to consider.


    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
    Here's my current list. Haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I am taking in some suggestions and running with them.
    https://m.imgur.com/gallery/pRDtLJ0

  16. #16
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    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Quote Originally Posted by Ceralyst View Post
    Here's my current list. Haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I am taking in some suggestions and running with them.
    https://m.imgur.com/gallery/pRDtLJ0
    We are on almost the exact same 75 now. I ended up cutting the terminus completely and am running 3/2 split of fatal push/far//gone along with 3 strix. I will probably play 1/2 sweepers main but would more likely be Marsh casualties or toxic deluge. Anyway, let me know what you think.


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    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Quote Originally Posted by drude1 View Post
    We are on almost the exact same 75 now. I ended up cutting the terminus completely and am running 3/2 split of fatal push/far//gone along with 3 strix. I will probably play 1/2 sweepers main but would more likely be Marsh casualties or toxic deluge. Anyway, let me know what you think.


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    I have no idea why anyone would run Push over STP. One of the biggest advatanges of white. Their life total doesnt matter. Let's make sure we can kill any creature. Also, We have no walkers to help against combo, God-Pharoah helps with this a bit. We can splash a Volc and cast them both.

  18. #18

    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Quote Originally Posted by Ralf View Post
    You can play a BANT Nic Fit version of this deck.

    1 Forest
    2 Plains
    3 Island
    1 Tundra
    2 Savannah
    2 Tropical Island
    3 Windswept Heath
    3 Flooded Strand
    4 Misty Rainforest

    4 Brainstorm
    4 Ponder
    4 Perilous Research
    4 Force of Will

    3 Arena Rector
    4 Veteran Explorer

    2 Engineered Explosives

    3 Ground Seal

    1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
    1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

    2 Supreme Verdict
    4 Swords to Plowshares

    2 Living Wish

    SB: 2 Flusterstorm
    SB: 1 Negate
    SB: 1 Ethersworn Canonist
    SB: 1 Disenchant
    SB: 1 Eternal Witness
    SB: 2 Blessed Alliance
    SB: 2 Path to Exile
    SB: 1 Surgical Extraction
    SB: 1 Cavern of Souls
    SB: 1 Faerie Macabre
    SB: 1 Thragtusk
    SB: 1 Reclamation Sage

    SB is just a pile at the moment but you should get the idea.

    Perilous research is a very nice addition as it is quite synergistic with the entire deck while providing CA:
    - sac veteran
    - sac rector
    - sac ground seal
    - sac a permanent in response to a removal (land with wasteland, etc...)

    Numbers might have to be tweaked on a long run.

    From a pure PW point of view I cannot think something better than those 3.
    We could argue that none of them are good against combo decks but they will apply pressure or provide CA.

    Obviously resolving Bolas' ultimate should be game 99 % of the time.

    A light "living wish" package gives the edge against many decks by providing solutions against any archetype of the format. Here again number would have to be tweaked as should be the sideboard.

    Regards,

    Ralf
    I like this list. I think it's important to have veteran explorer or at least noble hierarch (maybe both?). At what point does sacrificing ground seal become important?

    Almost begs the question of why not play nic fit? How is this deck, esper or bant, better? That shell would be the best for the rector with more mana and sac outlets.

  19. #19
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    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    First, if you want to play nic fit Rector, play nic fit rector. There are all sorts of posts in that thread. Go check it out. I just like playing with brainstorm, ponder, FoW, etc. Again, I did initially start my testing of Arena Rector with the nic fit build but personally didn't like it. I also tried playing nyx fit for a month or so but eventually gave up on that deck as well.

    Second, the reason I play a split between 2 Swords/2 fatal push over 4 swords (in my most recent iteration of the deck) is that I can target my own rector with fatal push, and this is something that certainly comes up (it did this weekend).

    I have updated my list a little bit (see below). I played in the side events at GP Minneapolis with this deck and went 5-0-1 on the day, beating URW stoneblade, burn, sneak and show, grixis (4 color) control and goblins. I.D.'d the last round of the last event against burn. Here is the list I played...

    2 Ensnaring Bridge
    3 Snapcaster Mage
    4 Arena Rector
    3 Baleful Strix
    4 Brainstorm
    2 Fatal Push
    4 Force of Will
    2 Swords to Plowshares
    1 Echoing Truth
    4 Flooded Strand
    3 Island
    1 Phyrexian Tower
    1 Plains
    4 Polluted Delta
    1 Scrubland
    2 Swamp
    1 Tundra
    2 Underground Sea
    1 Karakas
    1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
    1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
    3 Ponder
    4 Cabal Therapy
    3 Inquisition of Kozilek
    2 Preordain

    Sideboard:
    1 Silent Gravestone
    2 Containment Priest
    2 Vendilion Clique
    2 Disenchant
    2 Flusterstorm
    2 Surgical Extraction
    1 Far // Away
    1 Liliana, the Last Hope
    1 Lost Legacy
    1 Toxic Deluge

    As you can see, quite a few changes here. I cut the terminus for a few more spot removal spells and strix. I've actually cut down to 3 planewalkers in the main, as I really only ever found myself searching for these 3. As such, I actually moved the echoing truth to the main in order to deal with annoying things like chalice or main deck rest in peace (enchantress).

    As for not having a planeswalker that's good against combo, I kind of agree. I do think N.B. God-Pharaoh could be good but I'm not sure how to slot it in. You would basically have to choose which Nicol Bolas you want to use. You definitely want the other Nicol Bolas against decks like sneak and show or eldrazi, but otherwise either could be good I guess. In truth, I generally side out the rector package entirely against decks like storm in order to bring in the hate pieces and would just win with small creature beats (this is how I beat burn).

    I changed my mind on lili of last hope in the board. She is actually a pretty good "alternative win condition" against sideboarded games where your opponent is really just concentrating on not letting you resolve a rector trigger. One of the biggest benefits of this deck right now is that people just don't know how to deal with it. Also, the discard in the deck is crucial. I always try to hold one discard spell for the turn I go off in order to clear the way of surgicals, etc. It is also really good against the combo decks. This is why I would not personally switch to the bant list, as it looks to have a horrible combo match up.

    The deck really performed extremely well for me over the weekend and I think I am pretty close to where I want to be. A couple changes I would make would be to cut the silent gravestone from the sideboard for either a third surgical or a grafdigger's cage. Surgical is better against reanimator decks and other combo decks (storm) but grafdigger's cage is definitely better against dredge and has splash damage against decks like elves. But I also already have the containment priests for that. Will probably play the third surgical for now as the cage also does not play well with snapcaster.

  20. #20

    Re: Esper Arena Rector (Esper friends/Esper gladiators)

    Quote Originally Posted by drude1 View Post
    First, if you want to play nic fit Rector,...
    Some comments and feedback from playing this deck.

    1. Why not play thoughtseize, maybe 1 or 2? I had a situation in a game where I Inquisition them and they respond with a brainstorm. After they brainstorm they reveal 2 Force of Wills and a Jace. Was a very feel bad situation.

    2. This deck feels like it wants Cavern of Souls, however the mana is very color specific so not sure how I would fit that in.

    3. I had trouble with sideboarding, maybe you could do a write up? I wasn't sure if I take the combo out or not.

    4. Drawing your 2 powerful planswalkers is a nightmare. However, Brainstorm and Jace help with that.

    5. Sometimes I felt very threat light.

    6. I get why your playing Ensaring Bridge, but that to me feels more like a sideboard card? I'm going to try moving them to the side and swap them for Liliana and a Clique.


    Other than that the deck felt very powerful. The Phyrexian Tower was amazing and definitely a great include.

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