[Esper] Ubw Tempo

[death]

When I think about tempo, I imagine :u:/:b:/:w: being on the same playing field as traditional RUG and BUG lists. If not better. And that BW is simply stronger than R- or -G combination.

I'll try to expand more on this archetype. Before anything else, here's the decklist. Below is a compilation of the most powerful spells in Magic that exist only in blue, black and white.

Lands - 21
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
3 Marsh Flats
4 Underground Sea
2 Tundra
2 Scrubland
4 Wasteland

Creatures - 8
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Dark Confidant
3 Snapcaster Mage

Spells - 31
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Stifle
4 Sinkhole
4 Vindicate
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad



http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4883/whatchamacallit.jpg?

I'd like to call it tempo at its finest.

[death]

I might need this space later on so I'ma save it for now.


EDIT-

Although Tempo decks by nature requires playing cheap spells and curve from CMC 1-3, it is imperative to mention at this point that
Dark Confidant is integral to the deck and further development have to take into account the accrued life loss from his ability.



Defining Tempo
Tempo is latin for speed or pace, it's a musical terminology that is measured in "beats per minute". In magic, it's a much broader term,

measured in actions per turn or lack thereof (tempo gain/loss) relative to board development. In a turn, there are three basic

limiting factors:

play one land per turn
draw one card per turn
attack once per turn

Any card that can break one of these restrictions alters the tempo of the game. Tempo decks seek "control" of the pace at which an

opponent's board develops while advancing their own position during the early parts of the game.


Controlling Tempo
Stifle, Wasteland, Daze, Force of Will, Tarmogoyf

Conventional RUG and BUG lists have been successful at getting around the first limitation, employing efficiency through these tools:
cheap LD tricks,
"free" counter spells
low cost/power creatures

In our case, Dark Confidant will be replacing Tarmogoyf, this means Force of Wills (and Tombstalkers) are out of the picture.

Bob single-handedly breaks the second limitation by allowing for 2 card draws a turn, an advantage exclusive to this deck.

Sinkhole trades a card and two mana for your opponent's card and a land drop, setting him or her at least one turn back.

Hymn to Tourach exemplifies card advantage. This card doesn't generate tempo alone, however, it trades 2 cards for 1.

Vindicate, a 3-mana sorcery seems awkward but the flexibility it offers is undeniable, a skill tester and a fair trade-off.

Swords to Plowshares being an inexpensive answer to every CMC 1-10 creature is arguably a tempo-generating card.

[from Cairo]

Your curve seems pretty high for a 21 land, 4 cantrip, no basics configuration. Needing Blue mana for most of the turn 1 plays, 8 double Black spells, 8 3cc spells and 3 4cc spells. Note that with Dark Confidant and 4 Force of Will you've got some pretty hefty flips that could come up. I think you're right to lean heavily on duals and fetches, but Wasteland (especially from KotR decks or paired with Stifle) still seems like it's going to be a major issue.

Daze while great, aiding your control when using your 2cc Black disruption, conflicts with the decks ability to curve into Snapcaster and Jace/Sorin. I don't know that there's much you can do though. I think the archetype definitely want's Daze, maybe dropping some of the Vindicates for Spell Pierces would synergize stronger?

One option could be dropping White (Plows/Vindicate) and getting Delver, some split of GftT, Ghastly Demise, Dismember and maybe Thoughtseize/IoK.

Or if sticking Esper I'd consider shifting some numbers to accommodate some more cantrips - Preordain or Ponder.

I don't know if these ideas will help, but I've been messing around with some Grixis, trying out some different ideas rather than the established DTBs Blade Control and BUG Control. Each of the shells offer some different tricks to Snapcaster Mage that seem worth exploring depending on one's meta.

[trivial_matters]

Needs more Tarmogoyf.

[death]

Your curve seems pretty high for a 21 land, 4 cantrip, no basics configuration. Needing Blue mana for most of the turn 1 plays, 8 double Black spells, 8 3cc spells and 3 4cc spells. Note that with Dark Confidant and 4 Force of Will you've got some pretty hefty flips that could come up. I think you're right to lean heavily on duals and fetches, but Wasteland (especially from KotR decks or paired with Stifle) still seems like it's going to be a major issue.

Daze while great, aiding your control when using your 2cc Black disruption, conflicts with the decks ability to curve into Snapcaster and Jace/Sorin. I don't know that there's much you can do though. I think the archetype definitely want's Daze, maybe dropping some of the Vindicates for Spell Pierces would synergize stronger?

One option could be dropping White (Plows/Vindicate) and getting Delver, some split of GftT, Ghastly Demise, Dismember and maybe Thoughtseize/IoK.

Or if sticking Esper I'd consider shifting some numbers to accommodate some more cantrips - Preordain or Ponder.

I don't know if these ideas will help, but I've been messing around with some Grixis, trying out some different ideas rather than the established DTBs Blade Control and BUG Control. Each of the shells offer some different tricks to Snapcaster Mage that seem worth exploring depending on one's meta.

Thanks for your input. I would agree that FoW is a tempo card, but if you'll look closely the list in the primer don't play Force of Wills precisely because of the point you have made. Aside from a slightly higher curve, another reason is that the deck just want to play answers, naturally draw into them or through Bob. The absence of Ponder or Preordain and the low blue count makes it hard to find a card to pitch for Force. I have not been a fan of the card lately and I dislike losing an extra card to it tbh.

Stifle > Waste > Sinkhole > Snapcaster+Stifle/Vindicate your land > Hymn > Bob = Tempo wet dream

[Greenpoe]

1 random Clique? 1 random Sorin? 2 Jace? Care to explain? I get that you (may) want Planeswalkers because they don't die to creature removal, but why not try 3 Geist? StP+Snapcaster with Vindicate should be enough removal to keep the board clear enough for Geist to keep swinging. WUB is a really strong combination for the powerful spells that can also act as LD (Hymn, Vindicate), but I think you should lower the curve and cut a land or two-maybe try and fit in some Forces or more Cliques.

[death]

Needs more Tarmogoyf.

For the same cost, I'd take the other card that allows for two draws a turn, thank you!


1 random Clique? 1 random Sorin? 2 Jace? Care to explain? I get that you (may) want Planeswalkers because they don't die to creature removal, but why not try 3 Geist? StP+Snapcaster with Vindicate should be enough removal to keep the board clear enough for Geist to keep swinging. WUB is a really strong combination for the powerful spells that can also act as LD (Hymn, Vindicate), but I think you should lower the curve and cut a land or two-maybe try and fit in some Forces or more Cliques.

Geist is borderline. No doubt he'd be a quick clock on an empty board when everything is under control. This makes him too situational, perfect in a deck that packs 8 cheap removal spells (4 StP + 3/4 Snapcaster + 4 Bolt) such as this one: [Deck] UWR Snapcaster Control (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?22801-Deck-UWR-Snapcaster-Control). A deck that allows you to get rid of surprise blockers.

For that matter Jace 2.0 is obviously more versatile and conforms to the game plan of denying threats, providing CA+CQ, and eventually sealing the game by taking over opponent's draws. The only problem is drawing multiples suck in a deck that doesn't pitch blue cards. A split is necessary and the best substitute for this shell would be Sorin 2.0 because he invalidates the combat step, the steady supply of chump blockers and life gain are both relevant. Sorin's ability to kill-steal an opposing Jace is also noteworthy. Vendilion Clique is potent, a 1-of doesn't automatically makes it a random card.

[death]

Found this decklist in the archives.

http://www.mtgTop8.com/event=Legacy (http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=2402&d=215842)

Antonio Manjon, Top 4/158

8 CREATURES
4 Dark Confidant
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique

28 SPELLS
4 Sinkhole
4 Vindicate
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Stifle
4 Daze
4 Brainstorm

3 PLANESWALKERS
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

21 LANDS
4 Wasteland
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
3 Flooded Strand
3 Tundra
2 Scrubland
1 Marsh Flats


I updated my manabase because I've had issues finding double black source, no problems since then. My manabase now looks like this:
21 lands
9 fetchlands
4 underground sea
2 tundra
2 scrubland
4 wasteland

[lordofthepit]

I haven't played this deck, but it's strange to see a deck with such heavy tempo elements (Stifle, Daze, Sinkhole, etc.) without a fast clock to capitalize (most notably Delver of Secrets but also Tombstalker).

Don't get me wrong, this is a "good stuff" deck that can be competitive, but I don't see the synergy.

[death]

By fast clock you mean vanilla (Delver, Goyf, Stalker). These are the creatures you usually go for when you want to Stifle > Waste > drop creature and protect. No doubt this strategy can end games in 4-5 turns. The problem with this is that in mirror matches, there's a possibility of a standoff, like Goyf vs Goyf. Delver doesn't flip consistently without Ponders and 4 BS are not enough. Also, vanilla creatures can be outclassed by KotR, Mom, Stoneforge Mystic & co.

This deck has a different approach. Dark Confidant allows you to overwhelm an opponent with card advantage and with Snapcasters, all your "good stuff" virtually have flashback. As you can see, there's synergy but on a different level.

[Valarne]

Hello old thread. I have been having some recent success with Esper Tempo, and I feel really good about the list. That said, there is always room for improvement.

I am playing Stoneforge Mystic, and even though it isn't the fastest threat, it gives the deck some punch against aggro, which is traditionally a tough match-up for Tempo. Furthermore, the equipment and lifegain work well with small duders Bob and Snap. The bigger challenges for the deck seem to be Nimble Mongoose, Aether Vial and maybe UW Miracles with a non-greedy manabase, but I haven't faced the latter yet. I don't like Stoneforge in more controlish builds, where it traditionally is played, but it is just so good with discard and Daze.

Would Geist be better than Clique? I'm interested in testing that.
Any sweet comments?
Here is my current list:

4 Dark Confidant
4 Stoneforge
4 Snapcaster
2 Clique
1 Batterskull
1 Jitte
4 Stifle
4 Daze
4 Thoughtseize
4 STP
4 Brainstorm
3 Vindicate
21 land, 3 basics, 3 Underground Sea, 3 Tundra, 4 Wasteland, 8 fetch, Delta, Strand, Flats (Flats look like the least Stifle-ish).

SB:
3 Surgical (combo maybe and the usual suspects)
3 FoW (combo, more or less exclusively)
3 Lingering Souls (control matchups with infinite spotremoval)
1 SoFaF (control and combo)
3 Zealous Persecution (Maverick, Elves and so on but also against Baleful Strix and opposing Cliques/Snapcasters)
2 Diabolic Edict (Nimble Mongoose and so on)

[KobeBryan]

Hello old thread. I have been having some recent success with Esper Tempo, and I feel really good about the list. That said, there is always room for improvement.

I am playing Stoneforge Mystic, and even though it isn't the fastest threat, it gives the deck some punch against aggro, which is traditionally a tough match-up for Tempo. Furthermore, the equipment and lifegain work well with small duders Bob and Snap. The bigger challenges for the deck seem to be Nimble Mongoose, Aether Vial and maybe UW Miracles with a non-greedy manabase, but I haven't faced the latter yet. I don't like Stoneforge in more controlish builds, where it traditionally is played, but it is just so good with discard and Daze.

Would Geist be better than Clique? I'm interested in testing that.
Any sweet comments?
Here is my current list:

4 Dark Confidant
4 Stoneforge
4 Snapcaster
2 Clique
1 Batterskull
1 Jitte
4 Stifle
4 Daze
4 Thoughtseize
4 STP
4 Brainstorm
3 Vindicate
21 land, 3 basics, 3 Underground Sea, 3 Tundra, 4 Wasteland, 8 fetch, Delta, Strand, Flats (Flats look like the least Stifle-ish).

SB:
3 Surgical (combo maybe and the usual suspects)
3 FoW (combo, more or less exclusively)
3 Lingering Souls (control matchups with infinite spotremoval)
1 SoFaF (control and combo)
3 Zealous Persecution (Maverick, Elves and so on but also against Baleful Strix and opposing Cliques/Snapcasters)
2 Diabolic Edict (Nimble Mongoose and so on)

anything with SFM is not tempo. Same with Planeswalkers.

I think a tempo deck would be 3 snapcasters, 4 dark confidants, 3 vendillion cliques, maybe even that U/B manland.

Also, i think i would rather play 1 CMC discard over hymn.

[KobeBryan]

13 CREATURES
4 Dark Confidant
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
4 delver of secrets

27 SPELLS
4 Sinkhole
3 Vindicate
4 thoughtseize
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 FOW
4 Daze
4 Brainstorm

20 LANDS
4 Wasteland
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
2 Flooded Strand
2 Tundra
1 Scrubland
1 Marsh Flats
1 Island
1 swamp

I would like to play stifle, but there isn't enough space.

[godofallu]

Yeah you absolutely need some sort of low cost high power aggro beater in order to play tempo.

Green does this the best but I suppose delver is a good start. Maybe if you can find another 1-2 drop in esper colors since Dark Confidant and Snapcaster both barely count as an attacker.

[Valarne]

anything with SFM is not tempo. Same with Planeswalkers.

I think a tempo deck would be 3 snapcasters, 4 dark confidants, 3 vendillion cliques, maybe even that U/B manland.

Also, i think i would rather play 1 CMC discard over hymn.


I think your rubrication of Stoneforge Mystic as non-tempo is rather silly. The so-called tempo is delivered by the Stifle, Daze and Wasteland package. Apart from that, a threat is needed to capitalize on the tempo, sure. But being a 2 cmc creature (like Tarmogoyf) doesn't automatically disqualify. Classic Team America (before Delver) played its threats conservatively, protecting them from spot removal with Hymn to Tourach, besides the blue package. Tombstalker is a good creature to compare to Mystic (as opposed to Delver). It is slow, turn 3 at the earliest, but its impact is huge (if it doesn't die immediately.). It doesn't directly provide tempo, it is just an effective beater in the air.
The thing about Mystic and Confidant is, that they often take over the game if they untap. They don't just pressure the life total, therebye being annulled by a single removal spell.

I would like to add, that the concept I am going for (here and in general) is not to make a theme deck porting the essence of TEMPO to Esper. That is also why I am not very interested in Sinkhole. It is so narrow, that you end up with virtual mulligans in different situations (landheavy or aggro-heavy opposition). Stifle, Wasteland and Vindicate all serve purposes beyond simple land destruction.

On Delver - it is nice, but also very fragile and simple (in a world of Abrupt Decay and Swords, it just dies easily, without contributing much) and it requires the slots of Ponder as well. It might be the way to go, but for now I don't see the attraction.

Am I wrong? :)

[Oiolosse]

Delver may be fragile but as stated above; efficient, cheap beaters are essential if the tempo plan is to be carried out successfully. Daze, stifle, wasteland, sinkhole, etc are narrow, weak cards on their own but when paired together we can create a temporary yet exaggerated advantage that if not promptly exploited is lost.

The advantage we have is Confidant. Keep him alive and the CA is too much to handle. I see Esper Tempo as being slower than RUG because it would do better to replace it's aggro elements with control elements.

[KobeBryan]

I think your rubrication of Stoneforge Mystic as non-tempo is rather silly. The so-called tempo is delivered by the Stifle, Daze and Wasteland package. Apart from that, a threat is needed to capitalize on the tempo, sure. But being a 2 cmc creature (like Tarmogoyf) doesn't automatically disqualify. Classic Team America (before Delver) played its threats conservatively, protecting them from spot removal with Hymn to Tourach, besides the blue package. Tombstalker is a good creature to compare to Mystic (as opposed to Delver). It is slow, turn 3 at the earliest, but its impact is huge (if it doesn't die immediately.). It doesn't directly provide tempo, it is just an effective beater in the air.
The thing about Mystic and Confidant is, that they often take over the game if they untap. They don't just pressure the life total, therebye being annulled by a single removal spell.

I would like to add, that the concept I am going for (here and in general) is not to make a theme deck porting the essence of TEMPO to Esper. That is also why I am not very interested in Sinkhole. It is so narrow, that you end up with virtual mulligans in different situations (landheavy or aggro-heavy opposition). Stifle, Wasteland and Vindicate all serve purposes beyond simple land destruction.

On Delver - it is nice, but also very fragile and simple (in a world of Abrupt Decay and Swords, it just dies easily, without contributing much) and it requires the slots of Ponder as well. It might be the way to go, but for now I don't see the attraction.

Am I wrong? :)

Yes. You are wrong.

Tempo requires disruption and a clock. You cannot bring a clock agianst anyone with 2/1 snapcasters, 2/1 dark confidants.

Also with SFM. you waiting a turn to drop a sword is not tempo.

[Valarne]

I tried cutting Snapcasters and adding Delvers plus making room for 3 Ponders. It felt good! Not having to reach 3 mana is sweet. Besides that, I tried out 2 Pithing Needle main, since Deathrite Shaman is everywhere in my meta. It was super relevant in the one little tournament I have yet to played with that configuration. Stoneforge still gets my thumbs up btw ;).

So as of now my list is:
4 Delver
4 Confidant
4 Stoneforge

4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
4 Stifle
4 Thoughtseize
4 Daze
1 Vindicate
1 Batterskull
1 Jitte
2 Pithing Needle
4 STP
20 land: 1 Island, 3 U Sea, 3 Tundra, 1 Scrubland, 8 fetch, 4 Waste

SB:
2 Darkblast
2 Perish
2 Rest in Peace
2 Surgical
3 FoW
3 Lingering Souls
1 SoFaF

removal in the board is not set in stone. Needles metagame-choices... Maybe I should cut a land for Ponder, but I just like 20 land, I gotta admit. Thoughts?

Oh yeah, and I rarely board in Forces. It is sweet not having them main.

Tier 1/enemies of the state targets for Needle:
Aether Vial, SDTop, Mother of Runes, Deathrite Shaman, Griselbrand/Sneak Attack, Grim Lavamancer. Plus with the peaking of discard, it can sometimes name a fetchland they have in hand ;)

[kiblast]

Tempo requires disruption and a clock.
Also with SFM. you waiting a turn to drop a sword is not tempo.

Just for you to understand how wrong you are,earlier this year Vladimir Padve (the guy is on thesource as well, dunno if it's ok to reveal his nickname though) top4'ed BoM with Esper Tempo and guess what? He was playing 4 Stoneforge Mystic. ''You waiting a turn to drop a sword is not tempo'' is obviously coming from someone who never played a tempo deck, or maybe who never played a blue deck. Stoneforge is a cheap non graveyard-based threat (Nimble Mongoose and Goyf are so much worse now that Deathrite Shaman is being played so estensively) that provides an immediate clock if not answered immediately (just like Goyf, or wait, if not answered is even better than goyf because batterskull is an overall better threat and is harder to deal with) or provides a late-game plan. And is a free shuffle effect.
Actually is one of the best creatures to capitalize on tempo advantage after Delver and Clique, now that Deathrite is everywhere and Mongoose and Stalker/Goyf are worse than they were 2 months ago.

Edit for reference, this is the list I feel you should use as a starting point for your testing:

Tempo Blade by Vladimir Padve.

2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Stoneforge Mystic

3 Spell Snare
3 Stifle
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Ponder
3 Lingering Souls
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Umezawa's Jitte

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

Oviously it was geared towards a slightly older meta (hence Snares md over Pierce ) but it's still pretty darn effective and an example of very smart deckbuilding skills.

[Valarne]

Thanks for reminding me of that list Kiblast. It is, among other things, interesting that he gets away with such a large amount of basics.

How do you (everyone) feel about running Inquisition instead of Thoughtseize in a Daze deck such as this? I am thinking that it might be worth it improving the red matchups, since people will have difficulty resolving 4mana spells anyway. Notable exceptions Sneak Attack, Force of Will and fatties.

[kiblast]

Thanks for reminding me of that list Kiblast. It is, among other things, interesting that he gets away with such a large amount of basics.

How do you (everyone) feel about running Inquisition instead of Thoughtseize in a Daze deck such as this? I am thinking that it might be worth it improving the red matchups, since people will have difficulty resolving 4mana spells anyway. Notable exceptions Sneak Attack, Force of Will and fatties.

Yeah when I was testing the list online I immediately cutted the third basic Island for a Scrubland (although blue duals are better sine you can bluff Daze) or at least for another fetchland. The basic Swamp I guess was for sideboard choices since the sb was full of black cards.

Regarding Iok vs Seize:

I'd never run Inquisition over Thoughtseize. Being able to discard: Batterskull, Jace, Fow, Terminus, Tombstalker (could return back in meta now that Abrupt Decay exists) Griselbrand / Omniscience... is too important right now. Sneak Attack is not really played anymore so I'd worry about the other cards I just mentioned. If you think about it, you never want Inquisition over Thoughtseize in any matchup which is not Mono Red Burn, and if you are building your deck thinking about ''how to beat mono red burn'' you're doing incredibly wrong (for example,lots of decks fold to a turn one Chalice at 1 on the play, but nobody builds decks thinking on how to beat a Chalice at 1 because we all now Chalice decks tend to be bad and die to themselves more often than not). Probably it's just personal taste but I feel that right now every pointed discard maindeck which is not Thoughtseize is suboptimal. I'd never play 4 in Brainstorm+ Snapcaster.decks anyway and I feel 3 is the optimal number. On average, on the long term you are going to win more games because you could hit that Jace/fow, in comparison to how many games you lost simply because you shocked yourself with Thoughtseize.

Also, please play Mirran Crusader if your meta is Rock /Bug based or play Geist of Saint Traft if it's more Ux control/Stoneblade / Miracle based. Those guys are really strong and see not enough play right now.

[kiblast]

Sorry for double posting. Is anyone playing/testing Esper Tempo?

Yesterday I played few games in a local small tournament with this list:

4 Delver
4 Stoneforge
2 Snapcaster

4 Fow
4 Stifle
4 Daze
4 Brainstorm
4 StP
3 Pierce
2 Ponder
2 Lingering Souls

1 SoFaI
1 Jitte
1 Bskull

3 Tundra
2 Usea
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Plains
4 Wasteland
------
2 Perish
1 Darkblast
1 Zealous Persecution
3 Surgical
1 Relic
2 Disenchant
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Flusterstorm
1 Smother

Played vs

UWb Miracle (basically he had a stock list with sb Counterbalance, but with no Duals, this only helps him in not getting Waste'd) win 2-0

UWr Miracle lose 0-2. G1 I Stifle his first fetch, Pierce his 1st Top and land a Delver. Then I Waste him twice and Fow another Top. I'm beating with my Delver, he resolves a CB and eventually finds his 3rd Top. Through top he finds Terminus for my Delver+ SfM, and he can easily make land drops. I heard that drawing 3 tops in the first 12 cards is good when you are in screw... G2 He takes control of the game despite me Stifling a Fetchland and Wasting 3 lands. Top again was a winner.

Team America Aggro/tempo build (the one with Delver Goyfs, Stalker, Tourach and Daze/Fow) I win 2-1. Stifle and Wasteland were obviously all star in this matchup.

Shardless BUG (BUG aggro with Goyfs,Shardless Agent, sweet cascades into A Visions, Tourach Decays etc...) I win 2-1. Could have easily won 2-0 If I didn't draw 5 lands in a row during g2. Again the Tempo package was awesome here.

The Sfm package+ Tempo package is outstanding. I just think I need some kind of additional clock Vs Control, so I probably want to fit some number of Geist of Saint Traft between the Md and Sb. Anyway the control matchup is horribly in their favour.

[SpeznaFlex]

Sorry for double posting. Is anyone playing/testing Esper Tempo?

I am testing Esper Tempo lately. This is my current decklist:


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

4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
2 Lim-Dul's Vault

4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Vindicate

4 Stifle
4 Daze
4 Force of Will

4 Delver of Secrets
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Phyrexian Dreadnought

1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull


Board
======
2 Misdirection
2 Flusterstorm
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Submerge
2 Jace, the Mindsculptor


Please let me know what You think of it.

[Final Fortune]

anything with SFM is not tempo. .

I really disagree with this, there's no reason SFM can't be played in a tempo shell, it's only a question of how SFM can be played in a tempo shell. If you concentrate on SFM as a tutor and outlet for Battering Skull then you're concentrated on playing cost efficient beaters that can provide virtual tempo with Lifelink vs deck X. vs some decks, Goblins for instance, SFM can play the tempo role better than Tarmogoyf.

[Mister M.]

Since I am tinkering with an Esper Tempo list myself for about 4 months now, I thougth chiming in might be a good idea. I switched from non-blue decks (mostly NicFit) to Esper Tempo when my combo heavy meta swung to a "wtf-combo-is-everywhere" meta after the rise of Jund.

I'd love to discuss card choices in the future but since I am short on time right now, I will only post my list that is putting up better and better results for me.

UWb Delverblade

4 Delver of secrets
4 Stoneforge mystic
4 Lingering Souls
4 Brainstorm
4 Stifle
4 Swords to plowshares
4 Cabal therapy
4 Force of will
4 Spell pierce
1 Ponder
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawas jitte
1 Sword of feast and famine

4 Flooded strand
3 Polluted delta
1 Marsh flats
1 Island
1 Plains
3 Tundra
2 Underground sea
1 Scrubland
4 Wasteland

Sideboard (matter of constant change)

3 Pithing needle
3 Surgical extractions
1 Disfigure
2 Perish
2 Detention sphere
1 Vindicate
1 Elspeth, knight errant
2 Duress


Best