Death and Taxes is a control deck with a long pedigree in legacy. It has varied and powerful disruption, a solid manabase, but always has suffered from a poor clock.

Humans retains some of the disruption of d&t but the addition of lords gives it a much improved clock. However to play sufficient powerful humans it needs to run a sketchy 5c manabase and precludes it from playing good non creature spells (removal/hate cards). The most important of these off-colour humans is noble hierarch which provides a strong tempo gain.

The recent affinity successes has shown us how much of a tempo gain Esper Sentinel can offer if you can increase its power at all.

Perhaps it is worth testing black and white humans?

  • Esper Sentinel provides a tempo positive one drop that is on colour and synergizes better with the a go wide strategy and lords.
  • With more cheap disruption instead of ramp, imperial recruiter is both less necessary and less castable.
  • Others have tried splashing blue for meddling mage and some value. Mage is very good, but not that much better than freebooter. Mage also is double coloured unlike the B slash cards which means the manabase improves less.
  • Black offers us the extra lords to consistently make sentinel a 2/2. As a 2/2 or bigger it is essentially impossible to play around for blue opponents.
  • Cutting the 5c mana to WB gains you plow, basic lands, 2 ports to complement your mana denial, and the ability to cast sideboard anti unfair cards like deafening silence or thoughtseize.

The plan is to be basically merfolk with Thalia instead of fow. Less mana means recruitering for silver bullets is worse than just killing them.

Credits:
Angry women:
4 Mother of Runes
4 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Supporting Cast:
4 Esper Sentinel
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Thalia’s Lieutenant
3 General Kudro
Props:
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Aether Vial
Elf-discriminatory Judge:
2 Orzhov Pontiff
Jarringly out of place cameo:
2 Rick, Steadfast Leader

Setting:

3 Plains
1 Scrubland
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Silent Clearing
1 Karakas
3 Flooded Strand
4 Wasteland
2 Rishadan Port