[Deck] UWb Esperblade

Here's my take on Esperblade, via tempo approach

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

2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Delver of Secrets/Insectile Aberration
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Lingering Souls

4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
4 Daze
4 Stifle
3 Spell Snare

4 Swords to Plowshares

1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Runechanter's Pike
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

SB: 2 Disenchant
SB: 2 Perish
SB: 2 Back to Basics
SB: 3 Surgical Extraction
SB: 3 Spell Pierce
SB: 2 Meddling Mage
SB: 1 Zealous Persection

It has a very solid game against Maverick, even more so against 3cc builds. The tech everyone seems to be missing is Back to Basics, which often is insta-win vs a couple of matches.

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Originally Posted by Kellyx

How come, everyone is coppying lingering souls build now?
I mean...its a meta-tuned deck.+there is another uwb blade on same tournament that went undefeated in swiss.And looks more relyable in my point of view.
http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/dec...4&iddeck=57343
I just cant find an exuse to not to play at least 2-3 bobs.They are kinda the main reason the deck got black splash(at least they were)

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This list was made by one of the people who I play with at local legacy sometimes. His list is very solid and he has been playing it for as long as I can remember. I've been thinking about playing it myself to see how it runs but I would recommend it to anyone who wants to try Esper.

What's up with it's sideboard though? All 1-ofs.

I like the Dark Confidants but I'm not sure if I understand the 3 Spell Snares. Discard can effectively be the same thing. Snare is a narrow spell by itself and when you play you reduce the probability of having it in your hand when you actually need it. I would think Spell Pierce in it's place. When you consider the answers suite of removal, counters, discard I think it makes sense to compliment swords and discard with pierce but I'm not basing this on any experience with the deck. Just throwing out some ideas..

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Originally Posted by bilb_o

What's up with it's sideboard though? All 1-ofs.

I like the Dark Confidants but I'm not sure if I understand the 3 Spell Snares. Discard can effectively be the same thing. Snare is a narrow spell by itself and when you play you reduce the probability of having it in your hand when you actually need it. I would think Spell Pierce in it's place. When you consider the answers suite of removal, counters, discard I think it makes sense to compliment swords and discard with pierce but I'm not basing this on any experience with the deck. Just throwing out some ideas..

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I don't understand all the choices of the deck, but I assume he wanted to hit a certain number of blue spells for force of will, where discard would just make force weaker. Since snare is a hard counter for anything at 2 it is better than Daze/Spell Pierce in his book (Maybe you could mess around with the counter suite by cutting one or two and adding Spell Pierce/Counterspell). The spell snares might be match dependent where it helps him out in a matchup that plays a lot of 2cc spells but I'm unsure. The one of's were an experiment that he was doing for the gran prix by trying to play a Nassif style sideboard minus the 4 of Leyline of the Void because he hates playing dredge. As far as I know he liked the sideboard and as he went undefeated day 1 it ran very well.

EDIT: It may also be due to the fact that his deck is pimped out and he didn't have multiple Spell Pierces ... but I don't think that is the reason as he could've gotten pimp Spell Pierces in time.

I have been testing this version and have come to like the way it curves out and plays overall as a deck I think it is very strong in the meta overall, obviously it shows with its recent liking by many. It also fits my personal play style very much and can be tweaked very well for meta depending on where you are.

4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique

3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughseize
2 Ponder
3 Lingering Souls
1 Vindicate

4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Brainstorm
3 Force of Will
1 Counterspell
1 Intuition

1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice (61st in theory, yes I play 61 cards)

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

SB- changes depending on where I am but last week I played and currently like~
1 Force of Will
1 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Spell Pierce
1 Flusterstorm (maybe 2 for heavy combo meta)
1 Vindicate
1 Disenchant (still not sure if I like this in the esper list vs UW, was using dismanteling blow, maybe vindicate #2 can do the job instead?)
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Zealous Persecution (also kills empty the warrens, elves, mom, thalia, hierarch, scryb etc)
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Path to Exile

Other meta choices I go back and forth on are
Darkblast ~ (somewhat better now that we run intuition, never liked it as a 1 of before in testing but I can see its viable uses, -1 path to exile?)
Perish ~ (I was trying Zealous persecution #2 instead of perish because of thalia, mom, and empty the warrens presence in my meta also amazing against elves if they dont see a lord or response to one)
Wrath of God ~ may be too slow for esper without using spell snare vs the decks you want to wrath without some counter or other hate - it just seems a bit to slow now


I like the idea of Unearth but feel like most of the time without the intuition package not targeting lingering souls, and SFM, usually RFG & not in graveyard is the same reason I don't like sword of light and shadow. Maybe if 2 intuitions were in the deck and it was more of a theme, but as a 1 of, for most people replacing Elspeth, I dont think it is worth the unearth slot even if it can cycle2

1st post ~ Some of you may know me as the tall guy with the Moustache and Zombieland Cowboy hat/ dreadlocks at tournaments. East coast area ppl. or GP Rhode Island White Linen dressed as Jesus ;)

Looking forward to seeing where this deck goes in the future of legacy, I think it has a good chance of developing a good Esper deck.

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Originally Posted by bilb_o

What's up with it's sideboard though? All 1-ofs.

I like the Dark Confidants but I'm not sure if I understand the 3 Spell Snares. Discard can effectively be the same thing. Snare is a narrow spell by itself and when you play you reduce the probability of having it in your hand when you actually need it. I would think Spell Pierce in it's place. When you consider the answers suite of removal, counters, discard I think it makes sense to compliment swords and discard with pierce but I'm not basing this on any experience with the deck. Just throwing out some ideas..

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I was browsing and I saw this video. It has a segment where the player in my local meta who plays Esper Blade is discussing the deck. I thought it was interesting and you guys might want to check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi1fd7xH8ug

Ok The Source, this is your turn. Going to a trial for Annecy tomorrow fielding this deck. What I am asking for is advise on my sideboard. I really need something to fight NicFit. Let's face it, the matchup is abysmal and our lategame against them is non-existant.

I am asking for cards that have the potential to swing this matchup into my favor. I don't care if it would be of little to no value in other matchups; my meta is infested with Nic Fit and I need to fight a way of battling through it. Right now I consider adding 3-4 cards to my sb that specifically adress this matchup.

Show me what you're made of.

Against nicfit the most important is to resolve a Jace.

On other hand good cards against NicFit:
-Sword of feast and famine
-Aven Mindcensor
-Compost (for drawing a bunch of cards).
-Phyrexian revoker for naming Pernicious deed and senseis divining top (wich his very important in this deck)
-Hibernation, Perish, Submerge, Mind Harness, etc...

I like your suggestion of Revoker. I'm less concerned about Deed (for reason that is Jace) but about opposing Planeswalkers who usually tend to dominate Jace.

With phyrexian revoker vs another decks you also can name a lot of important cards like Leds and mother of runes.

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Originally Posted by Julian23

Ok The Source, this is your turn. Going to a trial for Annecy tomorrow fielding this deck. What I am asking for is advise on my sideboard. I really need something to fight NicFit. Let's face it, the matchup is abysmal and our lategame against them is non-existant.

I am asking for cards that have the potential to swing this matchup into my favor. I don't care if it would be of little to no value in other matchups; my meta is infested with Nic Fit and I need to fight a way of battling through it. Right now I consider adding 3-4 cards to my sb that specifically adress this matchup.

Show me what you're made of.

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I've only played 3 matches against Nic Fit (twice against GB, once against GBr), but it's been extremely easy for me. Perhaps I was playing against suboptimal builds, but you can easily gain incremental card advantage on them with Stoneforge and Snapcaster Mage, while burying them with Jace. It's almost impossible to lose once you resolve Jace, unless you were already getting killed on board position.

You benefit as much from their accelerant as they do. You have as much discard as they do, but yours will always hit a target, plus you can protect your bombs with cnatrips. You also have countermagic to prevent their bombs from hitting.

What variants of Nic Fit have you been playing? That might make a difference. Also, I often board out some number of Lingering Souls against them, which has been extremely profitable since my opponents seem to go out of their way to fight against it (Dread of Night, Surgical Extraction, etc.).

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Originally Posted by Tinefol

Here's my take on Esperblade, via tempo approach

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

2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Delver of Secrets/Insectile Aberration
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Lingering Souls

4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
4 Daze
4 Stifle
3 Spell Snare

4 Swords to Plowshares

1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Runechanter's Pike
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

SB: 2 Disenchant
SB: 2 Perish
SB: 2 Back to Basics
SB: 3 Surgical Extraction
SB: 3 Spell Pierce
SB: 2 Meddling Mage
SB: 1 Zealous Persection

It has a very solid game against Maverick, even more so against 3cc builds. The tech everyone seems to be missing is Back to Basics, which often is insta-win vs a couple of matches.

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This seems like a really interesting take on the archetype: Legacy seems to be shifting back towards really tenuous manabases (I was shocked to see Martell's list running only 22 land), so it seems like a great time to be running a list with manabase disruption.

Do you ever feel like you're running too few threats? I feel like this list is pretty comparable to Canadian Thresh, and while you're running one more creature than Thresh's 12, I have a hard time seeing the Stoneforge Mystics really counting as a threat, as even with a SoFI it's only a 2/3. Does the resilience of Lingering Souls compensate enough for this?

You mentioned the list is strong against Maverick: I haven't put in enough testing to confirm or deny, but I have a hard time believing this. The tempo approach seems relatively weak against Noble Hierarch and GSZ into Dryad Arbor, and your threats are outclassed pretty quickly. Perish in the SB seems strong, but there are only 2. Is that enough to consistently lock out Maverick? Maverick doesn't seem particularly great against a Jitte, but is that really enough to have a strong matchup?

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Originally Posted by lordofthepit

What variants of Nic Fit have you been playing? That might make a difference. Also, I often board out some number of Lingering Souls against them, which has been extremely profitable since my opponents seem to go out of their way to fight against it (Dread of Night, Surgical Extraction, etc.).

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It feels whatever I do, especially in game 1, doesn't really matter to them. I only lost 1 round in the swiss today - of course to Nic Fit once again. In game 1 it felt like my only chance of winning was ultimating Jace. As you mentioned, tokens are usually not long for this world despite always only having a single pair of them on the board. On the ground Thrun (4 GSZ, 2 or 3 SDT to find them) pretty much stops me cold.

Not to mention Plainswalkers. Garruk Relentless, Elspeth, Lilliana Vessa. And Recurring Nightmare & Eternal Witness. Also Sun Titan. Some even play Karn Liberated. And Choke. I remember casting Vendilion Clique on my opponent and seeing 2 Planeswalker, Choke and Recurring Nightmare with Eternal Witness on the field. I have nightmares about this deck.

I still really love the maindeck. Just my sideboard needs tweeking. Lost in the Top 8 Playoffs to TES because I just couldn't pressure him enough. Right now, I really think this deck wants around 2-3 hate bears (Pikula?) to stand a fair chance against Storm. Discard + Snapcaster is pretty good but dealing 2 damage a turn won't cut it. 4 on the other hand seems pretty decent.

For what it's worth, I played against:

Affinity 2-1
TES 1-1-1
Bant 2-0
BUG Tempo 2-0
Nic Fit 0-2
Death and Taxes 2-0

4-1-1, 5th place after Swiss. Lost to TES in the quarters, 0-2.

/edit: Of course Cannonist is not what you should be playing to combat Combo in this deck. Being unable to use Snapcaster to flashback discard is bad.

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Originally Posted by Q 221

Do you ever feel like you're running too few threats? I feel like this list is pretty comparable to Canadian Thresh, and while you're running one more creature than Thresh's 12, I have a hard time seeing the Stoneforge Mystics really counting as a threat, as even with a SoFI it's only a 2/3. Does the resilience of Lingering Souls compensate enough for this?

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3/4 under SOFI, actually, but yeah, the "too few threats" problem is solved by Lingering Souls resiliency. Even if your Delver/SFM gets removed, you're getting 4 more flying bodies out of one card. That works miracles against point removal decks.

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You mentioned the list is strong against Maverick: I haven't put in enough testing to confirm or deny, but I have a hard time believing this. The tempo approach seems relatively weak against Noble Hierarch and GSZ into Dryad Arbor, and your threats are outclassed pretty quickly. Perish in the SB seems strong, but there are only 2. Is that enough to consistently lock out Maverick? Maverick doesn't seem particularly great against a Jitte, but is that really enough to have a strong matchup?

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There're 4 types of wins you get against maverick:

1) You flip 1-2 Delvers early, and just ride them to victory, playing accordingly.
2) You go the mana denial plan and succeed at it.
3) You get an active jitte quick.
4) After SB you blow them out with Perish.

The mana denial plan is certainly possible, since you run a full set of Stifle/Wasteland/Daze, there's a great chance to Stifle a fetchland, Daze/Stp Noble/GSZ, waste their land. The key here, is that you can solidify your gain by a SFM into jitte/sofi, and unlike RUG, you have STP for a resolved KoTR. Nearly half of the games I won were won on the mana denial. Moreover if they're running Punishing Fire, Back to Basics is a blowout. If anything, mana denial is the best plan against deck as hungry for its mana, as Maverick.

This deck seems well positioned to integrate temporal mastery but what do you guys think is the best way to do it?

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Originally Posted by Tinefol

3/4 under SOFI, actually, but yeah, the "too few threats" problem is solved by Lingering Souls resiliency. Even if your Delver/SFM gets removed, you're getting 4 more flying bodies out of one card. That works miracles against point removal decks.


There're 4 types of wins you get against maverick:

1) You flip 1-2 Delvers early, and just ride them to victory, playing accordingly.
2) You go the mana denial plan and succeed at it.
3) You get an active jitte quick.
4) After SB you blow them out with Perish.

The mana denial plan is certainly possible, since you run a full set of Stifle/Wasteland/Daze, there's a great chance to Stifle a fetchland, Daze/Stp Noble/GSZ, waste their land. The key here, is that you can solidify your gain by a SFM into jitte/sofi, and unlike RUG, you have STP for a resolved KoTR. Nearly half of the games I won were won on the mana denial. Moreover if they're running Punishing Fire, Back to Basics is a blowout. If anything, mana denial is the best plan against deck as hungry for its mana, as Maverick.

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Apologies, I can't count. That seems reasonable, and I'm pretty impressed by the way the deck is put together. I've been looking for a good delivery mechanism for Back to Basics for a while now as well, nonbasic hate hasn't been seeing enough attention recently.

What have you found it to be weak to? It seems like Burn is a poor matchup just because it applies pressure faster and your only way to interact is Jitte, which seems easy to keep you off of with spot removal. Anything else?


@JBlaze: I like conventional control better than aggro-control for Temporal Mastery: Jace is a great way to get extra mileage out of the card (since the planeswalker activation on your extra turn guarantees you at least +1 off the Mastery) and you have more outs to deal with one that wasn't your first draw of the turn. I have to think he's also completely mutually exclusive with Bob, since unless you have a steady stream of deck manipulation, flipping Mastery off of Bob is absolutely awful.

There doesn't seem to be a great cut from the list, however: possibly dropping the discard package down or lowering the Snapcaster count?

I know there are a lot of different builds being discussed on this thread.
I'm playing the lingering souls version with Jace instead of bob. If Temporal mastery turns out to be as good as it seems bob may have to get cut.

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Originally Posted by Q 221

What have you found it to be weak to? It seems like Burn is a poor matchup just because it applies pressure faster and your only way to interact is Jitte, which seems easy to keep you off of with spot removal. Anything else?

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I've played a bunch of games on MTGO, and I can say, its hard as hell to lose vs burn. I'm like 12-2 in matches here. Granted, I'm playing with Batterskull in S/B (MTGO metagame justifies it), but it isn't even necessary. The deck is often able to just race, and more often than not to connect with jitte. If he spends removal on equippers, great, its not going towards your face, and a single Souls just makes it inevitable. Though usually you're just able to counter their bolt into your jitte wearer.

The deck is generally weak to Loam recursion, be it RGW Loam loaded with a bunch of removal (bolt + stp + qpm + assault) or Loam Pox (pox/stp/darkblast) or RGB Loam with Fires. You're usually unable to kill them before they start running their engine on a full scale due to high amount of removal, and after they start actively loaming you have a bunch of useless cards in your mana denial package. Assault is a nightmare.

Postboard games highly depend on your ability to get hate. B2B is great there, but Surgical Extraction is less useful, as often they can just save their loam by cycling a land.

I have some new sideboard techs to fight loam though, so its doable.

Time to bring up the Temporal Mastery topic?
http://www.magicspoiler.com/wp-conte...ed-Spoiler.jpg
I see great potential for U.control decks. The key benefit I see is that extra land drop during the early game, which is HUGE!
Discuss!

any thoughts about this list?
no fow, no batterscull, no wastelands...
cant even call it uwb blade.more like uwb fish