[Undeveloped] Esper Superfriends

[Terminus]

Ever since Martell took first at GP Indy with his Esper Stoneblade list, I've been trying to construct a solid esper control list that forgoes the use of stoneforge mystic. There are a number of reasons, mostly those involving it's near-uselessness against combo decks. Two of the most powerful cards that will just win games if protected properly are Liliana and Jace, which becomes the deck's main gameplan when backed up by spirit tokens. Probably the closest comparison would be to BUG landstill/control, but this deck forgoes the flexibility of pernicious deed for value and aggression of lingering souls (and, you know, we actually get a solid removal spell). Here's a basic list:

2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Intuition
3 Lingering Souls
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Darkblast
3 Force of Will
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
1 Mana Leak
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize
2 Standstill
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Karakas
2 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
2 Scrubland
2 Swamp
2 Tundra
4 Underground Sea
2 Wasteland

Card Choices:
Snapcaster mage - Solid clock when necessary, blocks well, and gives great value with any of your 1cc spells.

Jace, the Mind Sculptor - moving on...

Liliana of the Veil - A house against aggressive decks and controlling decks alike. She protects herself well, and strips your opponent's hand, while you discard cards like darkblast and lingering souls for value.

Intuition - The most amazing tutor effect out there. Grab a card if you need it, grab 3 lingering souls if you don't.

Lingering souls - the major draw to esper. Protects your bombs, wins the game, and has an excellent interaction with liliana and intuition.

Brainstorm - Someone told me this card was good in legacy. Not sure why.

Swords to plowshares - not much to say, just a great removal spell.

Darkblast - acts as a 5th STP, but helps shut weenie decks out of the game by itself.

Force of Will - sometimes you just need that free counterspell. I'm not a huge fan of it as a 4-of right now, but if need be, it's always an option.

Spell pierce, spell snare, mana leak - all solid counterspells in their own right, not sure at all on the split/numbers.

Inquisition of Kozilek, Thoughtseize - Solid point discard. Probably some kind of split between the two.

Standstill - pretty much flex spots at this point. I love it on the play against just about any deck, not so much on the draw, especially with aggressive decks. Definitely less solid without something like mishra's factory to put a clock on.

Lands - I'm not a master of legacy manabases, but this seems fairly consistent while also giving flexibility with wasteland/karakas.


I'm going to be testing this out on Cockatrice, tell me what you think.

Also, apologies for anything I did wrong. I'm new to The Source.

[Kich867]

It's not wrong, but here, quote my post to see how to link cards for future posts:


2 Snapcaster Mage
Creatures [2]
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Liliana of the Veil
Planeswalkers [6]
Spells [28]
2 Intuition
3 Lingering Souls
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Darkblast
3 Force of Will
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
1 Mana Leak
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize
2 Standstill

Lands [24]
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Karakas
2 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
2 Scrubland
2 Swamp
2 Tundra
4 Underground Sea
2 Wasteland


This is just a good habit. I only briefly looked at the list so far but most of the card choices seem super solid. The only thing I'm wondering is where Elspeth is.

[Terminus]

The only thing I'm wondering is where Elspeth is.

I'm actually not a huge fan of elspeth in decks with a low creature count. While making a stream of tokens is solid, her buff is significantly less useful than in, say, maverick. Liliana does a better job of controlling the board (by actually killing dudes), and jace is far more powerful and flexible. Certainly possible in the sideboard against anything more controlling (like stoneblade), but liliana and jace are far better in a field of maverick and thresh (Jace and Elspeth are similar against thresh - although one is better against delver, the other better against mongoose).

[Water_Wizard]

I would add the 4th Lingering Souls, since its so essential to the deck's strategy. Mishra's Factory would also probably be stronger than Wasteland (Factory works well with Standstill). I would cut 1 land for a Ponder.

My suggestions:
-1 Intution
-1 Liliana
-1 Mana Leak
-1 Scrubland
-1 Swamp
-2 Wasteland
+1 Lingering Souls
+1 Vindicate
+3 Mishra's Factory
+1 Ponder
+1 Counterspell

You can run an extra Liliana in the board. I like Counterspell over mana leak because you need UU for Jace and usually for SCM, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Sensei's Divining Top is also worth consideration. It works well with Standstill.