The white blue 2/2 is also borderline playable. I think it deserves testing.
Renounce the guild is also tricky. Try it and if it works for you, then don't hesitate to share.
I just don't like it so much, because I want to drop Geist ASAP and this removal can stick in my hand for too long (I prefer removals that clear the path).
Thank you very much for your comment Gaka. I will try more the match up vs Jenara.
Restoration Angel is pretty average or bad. It's more a big body with flash. It's too slow for racing. So it's out !
Parallax Wave is THE card. You will enjoy it.
Well like I said, I primarily play against Animar. He's a card that if resolved, can basically win the game for the player in a turn or two. So tapping out on turn 3 to play Geist against him is almost always incorrect, unless I'm holding FOW. It's pro-white ability makes it damn near impossible for us to kill, so it's nice to have an answer to that particular general. It's purely a meta-game choice, but it has its applications.
If you have a lot of mono-colored generals in your meta as well, then it's just a dead slot in your 100.
You've inspired me to play Geist with your build, and I've drafted up something similar to your style (very tempo based). What, if any, inclusions have you considered from Dragon's Maze? The only thing I've decided to include was Renounce the Guilds (mostly due to personal preference, as my main testing partner plays Animar).
Other than that, DGM is pretty lackluster in what it offers to the Geist plan.
GTC went live on the 6th for MTGO, which basically just added shocks. But pre-releases started Friday so people have had GTC cards for a few days.
Ahh, I knew the 15th seemed a little long. Yeah didn't even notice the godless shrines in the lists during the premiers. The esper list that won the premier has 0 GTC cards though, the duals were probably cards he owned from Ravnica, CoG...haha
Yeah I think we'll see the deck develop in the next few weeks, not too drastically, but will include some staples.= (devour flesh for example).
Also, to answer one of the posters previously, you should be playing a minimum of 26 land in this deck. I think if you choose to play 27, it should be a 4th drownyard. I'm currently running 26 with 3 drownyard.
So what are the thoughts on the Sorin/Lingering Souls version vs the other Esper lists? The 2nd place SCG list has no sorin/souls, and one of the MTGO PEs was just won by a list with them (1st and 4th actually).
I've seen some replies that Sorin felt weak, but the change of ~5 cards is pretty significant in how the deck plays.
I'm running 2 Sorin and 3 Souls online atm, but havent tested Esper enough to see which is better. Bant is just not holding up atm, so I'm going to break down my paper Bant deck and rebuild Esper for a paper IQ this weekend, just not sure which way to go.
Edit: previous poster, I like the Human Frailty idea might be worth some testing.
Well GTC isn't legal on MTGO until the 15th I believe? They're still working on old tech. Lingering souls is just too slow in the current format. All it really does is say 2W: Fog...with flashback...and you might still take a point or two of damage. It just doesn't have the same effect it did 6 months ago.
Sorin is based purely on preference/meta it seems. They haven't quite defined which walkers are the best, because they each function differently in each matchup. Like I posted, I'm playing a split of 2 Tamiyo, 1 Sorin, and 1 Jace, MA. I like diversity and not being pidgeon-holed into one specific one.
@ the people who play the miser's witchbane orb in the board:
Why do you run this as a singleton? The card is only ever relevant if dropped turn 4, and even then you might already be dead against rdw. I agree that it's more useful against rakdos' return type cards, but siding it in against rdw seems like a silly idea. Do you aggressively mulligan into it? I think just trying to stabilize against them with better cards (such as blind obedience) is the way to go. You set yourself up for a better long game, instead of just eating a ton of damage before turn 4, then dropping it and hoping for the best. I honestly don't think it warrants a spot in the sideboard unless you're really afraid of stuff like Curse of Echoes. If the card cost 1-2, it'd be way more playable.
Dimir charm is pretty underwhelming. I had high hopes for it and Orzhov charm, but both don't quite fit the deck's playstyle. Devour flesh is the best removal out of GTC for us and should be run as a 2-of minimum.
Tested Human Frailty for a bit online last night as a 2-of in my SB, worked wonders against Naya-humans and Humanimator. It's an easy answer to Thalia/frontline medic and it prevents random huntmaster kills from either deck. It's definitely a card I'd take to a big tournament.
Psychic Strike has been pretty nuts as well. It combos well with azorius charm in the late game and the singleton color costs are way less restricting. In a deck that runs UU, BB, and WW spells, it can be hard to assemble 2 of each when needed. The only perks of dissipate really are against reanimator, which we have SB hate for anyway. I think only people really ballsy or really scrubby would play something like humanimator right now in a big tourney scene, so I'm willing to punt game 1 (if I can't outplay them well enough) to them if needed, then focus on smashing them game 2 and 3.
I've basically taken Osyp's list and made the following changes:
MB:
-1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
-1 Blind Obedience
SB:
-2 Restoration Angel
MB:
+1 Terminus
+1 Jace, Memory Adept
SB:
+2 Human Frailty
It's been working well in testing. The 2nd terminus felt necessary, as having 6 sweepers just feels correct to me. Verdict just doesn't do enough against the resilience of jund and some rdw creatures. Sorin is arguably the worst walker in the deck, so I replaced one with a Jace, Memory Adept for some consistent card advantage, as well as being a walker who can survive a direct hit from a boros charm. He's to make sure you never run out of cards against the control matchups as well, while also putting you ahead in the milling race. Human Frailty has been explained above.
I might end up moving one supreme verdict to the board in favor of the 4th obedience again, but I'll test it out and see which one I like more. I hate drawing supreme verdicts in multiples after I've gained control, whereas obedience in multiples actually triggers multiple extorts per spell and can win a game much quicker. Then again, I'd like to draw multiple verdicts against decks like bant auras, where you now have a 4 mana sorcery that basically says "destroy any hexproof creatures you want".
If your facing down Thalia the planeswalkers won't matter is my problem. I would rather have something to help with that situation.
Against a swarm they're both pretty lackluster in my opinion.
Against a swarm, there really isn't much this deck has anyway outside of sweepers. Jace, AoT only stalls the game a bit. It might save you 2 damage a turn if you're lucky, but as stated earlier Human Frailty might be some SB tech against things like Thalia.
I've only playtested Jace, Memory Adept in UWR control, and he's pretty nuts in there. Then again you have things like restoration angel and augur to protect him though. Sorin is pretty weak by himself, I have to admit. Sorin + Tamiyo sets up a solid wall though for aggro to try and push through. Being able to lock down a guy every turn and create a vampire is just tough, especially running 5+ sweepers maindeck. I might cut one Sorin for a Jace maindeck and test it out. Just having an extra card every turn is pretty nice and I'm all for card advantage. I don't like the other Jace though, he seems pretty lackluster as well. I think 4 walkers is the way to go though, no matter which combination you settle on. The deck needs a way to win the game against the aggro field and Drownyard just doesn't cut it.
Tamiyo is really solid if you've established some sort of control. Turn 4 Verdict >>> Turn 5 Tamiyo is a great play against the non-hastey aggro decks, but even better if you have Blind Obedience out turn 2 or 3. I don't think I'd cut Tamiyo, but Sorin is definitely on the ropes here.
Against a REALLY resilient Jund list, with a lot of life gain off of thragtusk and such, I had to extort him 35 times to kill him -_- somehow I didn't get a single Nephalia Drownyard after i drew about all but 5 cards of my deck haha
I also play against a lot of Naya Humans, so i put 3 Human Frailty in my sideboard and i definitely recommend it
Yeah, the list he's using doesn't include thragtusk. It's the more straightforward list that's been placing well in the SCG events. The games never went long enough to get that more than 5-6 extort triggers in a single game.
Human frailty seems solid against them, I've always liked cheap removal, even if it's that specific. Easy to play it and flashback with snapcaster for relatively cheap. I'd imagine cards like a resolved huntmaster of the fells would be a problem for esper.
Good stuff! I like seeing other people's success with the deck! But for me I actually love drawing Blind Obedience in multiples, as late game, you are constantly spreading the gap between you and your opponent AS you answer their threats.
I Love Tamiyo, the Moon Sage as well. Her and Blind Obedience together are just so strong. I run a single Drogskol Reaver main, but that is just because if the game gets grindy and they resolve something that might be hard to deal with, he can deal with it for at least a turn. He also just wrecks aggro decks late game, as he has 5 toughness. I run into a lot of R/x aggro at my local store, and he just wins every time i play him against them.
I like drogskol more-so in the Naya humans matchup. I side in the single obzedat SB against Jund, and he's been wonders everytime. I'd imagine if you stabilized and saw 7 mana against Jund it'd be a solid card to drop, but I'd rather have a 4 point life swing on turn 5. I feel like it's hard to run both against the hyper aggro decks. I haven't tested at all against naya humans though, so I'll have to see how it goes. It's slower than rdw or Jund, but way more resilient in combat.
Yeah blind obedience is such a nasty card against a lot of the field right now. Haste is way too heavily used in the meta and it's not a totally dead card in the control matchups. I've watched esper mirrors happen where extort triggered 15 times in a single match. That last 5 is a lot easier to obtain with a random snapcaster or sorin token.
I really feel this deck is strong against any matchup, aside from dark naya. I have been playing it on cockatrice mainly against R/x aggro and Jund, and I am 16-0 so far. My only question is : is there anything mainboard or sideboard i can do to help with the dark naya matchup? slaughter games and rakdos's return kinda kills my strategy
Yeah I fell in love with Osyp's list as well. I tested against my playtest partner last night running Jund. I won 6/10 preboard, and 3/3 post board (would have played more, but it was like 2am). He's a solid player too, so those are some good numbers to pull out for me. I'll be testing another 20-30 matches or so, then going onto R/x aggro.
Osyp is right though, you should be running 3-4 obedience MD or none at all. The people who want to try and run the miser's blind obedience are pretty greedy. I dislike drawing them in multiples though, so I may try and go down to 3x maindeck to make room for a second Terminus. That was the one card I was always hoping to topdeck against jund (facing down 2 strangleroot geists and an experiment one with regen online is annoying enough, but topdecking Verdict at that point is just salt in the wounds). I'm liking the 2/2 split of ultimate price/devour flesh, it just gives you the flexibility to answer a board how YOU want to answer it.
I've been trying to test out the different walkers, but Sorin + Tamiyo is an ultimate "screw-you" aggro play on turn 4 and 5. I know the deck isn't exactly supposed to be tapping out regularly, but if you drop an obedience on turn 2, then extort a 2 mana removal sell turn 3, you're in great shape to follow up with a walker or two. Many games I was stabilizing around 12-14 life with a Sorin and Tamiyo out, and he was basically just ready to scoop at that point.
I'm really liking Esper post GTC, I think it's going to be a more prevalent deck now.
I feel like the term "tempo" is becoming less and less applicable to these decks. People are just trying to build uwr zoo it feels like, cutting more and more disruption every day and just adding more creatures/burn to the deck.
I also think 25 land is the correct amount in this deck, because you really want to hit your land drops consistently, and you have a mana sink in the form of sphinx's revelation. Boros charm seems cute and all, but I don't think it warrants an automatic 4 of in this deck as well. I think these recent lists are going to have a very hard time trying to outrace naya humans and rdw. Their creatures are just bigger, faster, and more resilient than this decks. You have to be able to maintain disruption with azorius charm and spot removal that can handle 3 toughness dudes (3 searing spears will only carry you so far).
Just a few notes on certain changes I'm predicting/considering with a meta-shift in the near future.
Geist of Saint Traft. Let's knock the biggest one out first. I was mad in love with this card in the early stages of this deck and I thought he was amazing against everything. Turns out in some later testing, he became more lackluster than I previously thought. I play in a primarily heavy aggro meta-game and I feel like GTC has opened up the gates for a whole new level of aggro decks. Geist is an awful defensive creature against the R/x aggro out there and doesn't warrant a spot maindeck for me. If certain decks like Esper or Bant control start to make really heavy appearances, he could work his way back in to the sideboard as a 3x possibly, but as for now he's completely been cut.
Augur of Bolas. Was testing for a few hours last night against post-rotation Boros and this guy was pretty sweet. I know he's pretty established, but I still see a lot of lists not running him. He blocks a variety of early drops (Stromkirks, Ash Zealots, Lightning Maulers, Loyalists, Un-bonded Stonewrights, Artists, Gravecrawlers, and Ghouls just to name a few). It also forces the red player to spend a searing spear or swing in and burn a pillar to remove him, that saves you generally 2-5 damage to the dome if you hadn't had him out. Being able to dig for that extra pillar early game or revelation late game is not bad, not to mention his synergy with Restoration Angel for a block/flash + extra dig.
Sphinx's Revelation. A huge upgrade from playing 1 maindeck to 3. This card is essential in the control matchup and a great gamebreaker late game against anything aggro oriented. The build I was testing against was running Skullcrack maindeck though, so it forced me to play around it. The Frontline Medic really isn't that scary either. You can play around him pretty easily with azorius charm/restoration angel, assuming you know how to keep other guys off the board to remove his battalion ability. Don't fear this card guys, it's not as scary as it looks on paper.
One of the biggest problems I've found was Boros Reckoner. This guy can pose a serious problem. First strike is pretty relevant against your early blockers, and a smart aggro player can get through your angel pretty easily as well. His other ability of taking extra damage means if you have to double pillar him to remove him, he's taking a chunk of your life total with him to the exile. I've seen some lists that run Blasphemous Act and that can just win random games. It seriously is scary enough to warrant me running Searing Spear maindeck again to prevent a random 13 damage burn spell from hitting me.
Blind Obedience. This card has seemed the best to include in the sideboard post GTC. On the play it's pretty dirty against the hasty red builds out there, and the extort just adds a little icing on the cake. In one game it was able to stop Ash Zealot and Hellrider from beating my face in, as well as netting me 4-5 life on average a game (enough to negate a burn spell or two from their side). It definitely warrants further testing, but it might give us the extra turns we need to stabilize against these blitzkrieg decks.
Overall I think this deck doesn't gain a whole lot post GTC, but it forces us to take a different approach with the deck.
My list from regionals this year. I'm considering tweaking it, and testing out the obelisk, but it seems pretty damn irrelevant. Cards like Staff of Domination were played because it cost 3 mana, not 6.
Also, I'm not liking the creature-less builds very much, it just seems too damn dependent on winning game 1. Otherwise they win, and game 2 goes to a draw, or you end up drawing the entire round.
Definitely need to tweak my list, and get a 4th reflecting pool.
What decks do you bring in the scepter of fugue for?
what about identity crisis?
Also, how well did Ajani Vengeant do against the decks you faced? did he make a significant difference?
There are a lot of Turbofog decks in my meta right now, i was thinking of sideboarding sentriplets against it. what do you all think?
The scepter is for the mirror match, or any heavily control-oriented deck (reveillark, U/x, etc).
Identity crisis is pretty much the same, but you have to be more careful with it. Tapping out to resolve a 6cc spell against the mirror is incredibly unsafe, seeing as how they can counter it, then respond with their own, or a cruel ultimatum next turn. You just have to time it well, but it pretty much gives you the game against reveillark and 5cc if resolved.
The Ajani was pretty optimal all day. I used it to pop Ajani Goldmane against tokens (legend rule kicks in, they both die), and it was really useful against the reveillark deck and g/w tokens deck, keeping key lands tapped down. I never did get to use the ultimate ability, but the land tapping/lightning helix ability was quite enough to win some games.
I think Sen Triplets is a piece of junk honestly. It's worse than Teferi in a lot of regards, and I wouldn't even play more than 2 Teferi in the sideboard in this current metagame. He's just incredibly slow, doesn't do much the turn you drop him, and is incredibly easy to kill. Tapping out on turn 5 is a bad idea against a lot of key decks, especially the mirror or reveillark. It's worth a try against fog, seeing as how they only really have path to exile and wrath to kill it, but fog shouldn't be a tough matchup. It's incredibly in our favor, especially if you're playing kitchen finks main (beat up those jaces early).
Well like I said, I primarily play against Animar. He's a card that if resolved, can basically win the game for the player in a turn or two. So tapping out on turn 3 to play Geist against him is almost always incorrect, unless I'm holding FOW. It's pro-white ability makes it damn near impossible for us to kill, so it's nice to have an answer to that particular general. It's purely a meta-game choice, but it has its applications.
If you have a lot of mono-colored generals in your meta as well, then it's just a dead slot in your 100.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
You've inspired me to play Geist with your build, and I've drafted up something similar to your style (very tempo based). What, if any, inclusions have you considered from Dragon's Maze? The only thing I've decided to include was Renounce the Guilds (mostly due to personal preference, as my main testing partner plays Animar).
Other than that, DGM is pretty lackluster in what it offers to the Geist plan.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
Think twice allows you to hit terminus pretty easily. You double your chances when playing stuff like think twice on the end step of their turn.
I don't know, I like dimir charm as a card, but I find little room in the deck to play it as of right now.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
Ahh, I knew the 15th seemed a little long. Yeah didn't even notice the godless shrines in the lists during the premiers. The esper list that won the premier has 0 GTC cards though, the duals were probably cards he owned from Ravnica, CoG...haha
Yeah I think we'll see the deck develop in the next few weeks, not too drastically, but will include some staples.= (devour flesh for example).
Also, to answer one of the posters previously, you should be playing a minimum of 26 land in this deck. I think if you choose to play 27, it should be a 4th drownyard. I'm currently running 26 with 3 drownyard.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
Well GTC isn't legal on MTGO until the 15th I believe? They're still working on old tech. Lingering souls is just too slow in the current format. All it really does is say 2W: Fog...with flashback...and you might still take a point or two of damage. It just doesn't have the same effect it did 6 months ago.
Sorin is based purely on preference/meta it seems. They haven't quite defined which walkers are the best, because they each function differently in each matchup. Like I posted, I'm playing a split of 2 Tamiyo, 1 Sorin, and 1 Jace, MA. I like diversity and not being pidgeon-holed into one specific one.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
Why do you run this as a singleton? The card is only ever relevant if dropped turn 4, and even then you might already be dead against rdw. I agree that it's more useful against rakdos' return type cards, but siding it in against rdw seems like a silly idea. Do you aggressively mulligan into it? I think just trying to stabilize against them with better cards (such as blind obedience) is the way to go. You set yourself up for a better long game, instead of just eating a ton of damage before turn 4, then dropping it and hoping for the best. I honestly don't think it warrants a spot in the sideboard unless you're really afraid of stuff like Curse of Echoes. If the card cost 1-2, it'd be way more playable.
Dimir charm is pretty underwhelming. I had high hopes for it and Orzhov charm, but both don't quite fit the deck's playstyle. Devour flesh is the best removal out of GTC for us and should be run as a 2-of minimum.
Tested Human Frailty for a bit online last night as a 2-of in my SB, worked wonders against Naya-humans and Humanimator. It's an easy answer to Thalia/frontline medic and it prevents random huntmaster kills from either deck. It's definitely a card I'd take to a big tournament.
Psychic Strike has been pretty nuts as well. It combos well with azorius charm in the late game and the singleton color costs are way less restricting. In a deck that runs UU, BB, and WW spells, it can be hard to assemble 2 of each when needed. The only perks of dissipate really are against reanimator, which we have SB hate for anyway. I think only people really ballsy or really scrubby would play something like humanimator right now in a big tourney scene, so I'm willing to punt game 1 (if I can't outplay them well enough) to them if needed, then focus on smashing them game 2 and 3.
I've basically taken Osyp's list and made the following changes:
MB:
-1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
-1 Blind Obedience
SB:
-2 Restoration Angel
MB:
+1 Terminus
+1 Jace, Memory Adept
SB:
+2 Human Frailty
It's been working well in testing. The 2nd terminus felt necessary, as having 6 sweepers just feels correct to me. Verdict just doesn't do enough against the resilience of jund and some rdw creatures. Sorin is arguably the worst walker in the deck, so I replaced one with a Jace, Memory Adept for some consistent card advantage, as well as being a walker who can survive a direct hit from a boros charm. He's to make sure you never run out of cards against the control matchups as well, while also putting you ahead in the milling race. Human Frailty has been explained above.
I might end up moving one supreme verdict to the board in favor of the 4th obedience again, but I'll test it out and see which one I like more. I hate drawing supreme verdicts in multiples after I've gained control, whereas obedience in multiples actually triggers multiple extorts per spell and can win a game much quicker. Then again, I'd like to draw multiple verdicts against decks like bant auras, where you now have a 4 mana sorcery that basically says "destroy any hexproof creatures you want".
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
Against a swarm, there really isn't much this deck has anyway outside of sweepers. Jace, AoT only stalls the game a bit. It might save you 2 damage a turn if you're lucky, but as stated earlier Human Frailty might be some SB tech against things like Thalia.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
Tamiyo is really solid if you've established some sort of control. Turn 4 Verdict >>> Turn 5 Tamiyo is a great play against the non-hastey aggro decks, but even better if you have Blind Obedience out turn 2 or 3. I don't think I'd cut Tamiyo, but Sorin is definitely on the ropes here.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
Yeah, the list he's using doesn't include thragtusk. It's the more straightforward list that's been placing well in the SCG events. The games never went long enough to get that more than 5-6 extort triggers in a single game.
Human frailty seems solid against them, I've always liked cheap removal, even if it's that specific. Easy to play it and flashback with snapcaster for relatively cheap. I'd imagine cards like a resolved huntmaster of the fells would be a problem for esper.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
I like drogskol more-so in the Naya humans matchup. I side in the single obzedat SB against Jund, and he's been wonders everytime. I'd imagine if you stabilized and saw 7 mana against Jund it'd be a solid card to drop, but I'd rather have a 4 point life swing on turn 5. I feel like it's hard to run both against the hyper aggro decks. I haven't tested at all against naya humans though, so I'll have to see how it goes. It's slower than rdw or Jund, but way more resilient in combat.
Yeah blind obedience is such a nasty card against a lot of the field right now. Haste is way too heavily used in the meta and it's not a totally dead card in the control matchups. I've watched esper mirrors happen where extort triggered 15 times in a single match. That last 5 is a lot easier to obtain with a random snapcaster or sorin token.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
Yeah I fell in love with Osyp's list as well. I tested against my playtest partner last night running Jund. I won 6/10 preboard, and 3/3 post board (would have played more, but it was like 2am). He's a solid player too, so those are some good numbers to pull out for me. I'll be testing another 20-30 matches or so, then going onto R/x aggro.
Osyp is right though, you should be running 3-4 obedience MD or none at all. The people who want to try and run the miser's blind obedience are pretty greedy. I dislike drawing them in multiples though, so I may try and go down to 3x maindeck to make room for a second Terminus. That was the one card I was always hoping to topdeck against jund (facing down 2 strangleroot geists and an experiment one with regen online is annoying enough, but topdecking Verdict at that point is just salt in the wounds). I'm liking the 2/2 split of ultimate price/devour flesh, it just gives you the flexibility to answer a board how YOU want to answer it.
I've been trying to test out the different walkers, but Sorin + Tamiyo is an ultimate "screw-you" aggro play on turn 4 and 5. I know the deck isn't exactly supposed to be tapping out regularly, but if you drop an obedience on turn 2, then extort a 2 mana removal sell turn 3, you're in great shape to follow up with a walker or two. Many games I was stabilizing around 12-14 life with a Sorin and Tamiyo out, and he was basically just ready to scoop at that point.
I'm really liking Esper post GTC, I think it's going to be a more prevalent deck now.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
I also think 25 land is the correct amount in this deck, because you really want to hit your land drops consistently, and you have a mana sink in the form of sphinx's revelation. Boros charm seems cute and all, but I don't think it warrants an automatic 4 of in this deck as well. I think these recent lists are going to have a very hard time trying to outrace naya humans and rdw. Their creatures are just bigger, faster, and more resilient than this decks. You have to be able to maintain disruption with azorius charm and spot removal that can handle 3 toughness dudes (3 searing spears will only carry you so far).
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
4x Steam Vents
4x Sulfur Falls
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Clifftop Retreat
2x Island
1x Mountain
1x Moorland Haunt
1x Desolate Lighthouse
4x Augur of Bolas
4x Restoration Angel
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Azorius Charm
4x Pillar of Flame
2x Izzet Charm
1x Think Twice
3x Sphinx's Revelation
1x Dissipate
2x Counterflux
1x Supreme Verdict
2x Runechanter's Pike
4x Thought Scour
2x Blind Obedience
2x Purify the Grave
2x Detention Sphere
2x Negate
2x Dispel
2x Supreme Verdict
Just a few notes on certain changes I'm predicting/considering with a meta-shift in the near future.
Geist of Saint Traft. Let's knock the biggest one out first. I was mad in love with this card in the early stages of this deck and I thought he was amazing against everything. Turns out in some later testing, he became more lackluster than I previously thought. I play in a primarily heavy aggro meta-game and I feel like GTC has opened up the gates for a whole new level of aggro decks. Geist is an awful defensive creature against the R/x aggro out there and doesn't warrant a spot maindeck for me. If certain decks like Esper or Bant control start to make really heavy appearances, he could work his way back in to the sideboard as a 3x possibly, but as for now he's completely been cut.
Augur of Bolas. Was testing for a few hours last night against post-rotation Boros and this guy was pretty sweet. I know he's pretty established, but I still see a lot of lists not running him. He blocks a variety of early drops (Stromkirks, Ash Zealots, Lightning Maulers, Loyalists, Un-bonded Stonewrights, Artists, Gravecrawlers, and Ghouls just to name a few). It also forces the red player to spend a searing spear or swing in and burn a pillar to remove him, that saves you generally 2-5 damage to the dome if you hadn't had him out. Being able to dig for that extra pillar early game or revelation late game is not bad, not to mention his synergy with Restoration Angel for a block/flash + extra dig.
Sphinx's Revelation. A huge upgrade from playing 1 maindeck to 3. This card is essential in the control matchup and a great gamebreaker late game against anything aggro oriented. The build I was testing against was running Skullcrack maindeck though, so it forced me to play around it. The Frontline Medic really isn't that scary either. You can play around him pretty easily with azorius charm/restoration angel, assuming you know how to keep other guys off the board to remove his battalion ability. Don't fear this card guys, it's not as scary as it looks on paper.
One of the biggest problems I've found was Boros Reckoner. This guy can pose a serious problem. First strike is pretty relevant against your early blockers, and a smart aggro player can get through your angel pretty easily as well. His other ability of taking extra damage means if you have to double pillar him to remove him, he's taking a chunk of your life total with him to the exile. I've seen some lists that run Blasphemous Act and that can just win random games. It seriously is scary enough to warrant me running Searing Spear maindeck again to prevent a random 13 damage burn spell from hitting me.
Blind Obedience. This card has seemed the best to include in the sideboard post GTC. On the play it's pretty dirty against the hasty red builds out there, and the extort just adds a little icing on the cake. In one game it was able to stop Ash Zealot and Hellrider from beating my face in, as well as netting me 4-5 life on average a game (enough to negate a burn spell or two from their side). It definitely warrants further testing, but it might give us the extra turns we need to stabilize against these blitzkrieg decks.
Overall I think this deck doesn't gain a whole lot post GTC, but it forces us to take a different approach with the deck.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
My list from regionals this year. I'm considering tweaking it, and testing out the obelisk, but it seems pretty damn irrelevant. Cards like Staff of Domination were played because it cost 3 mana, not 6.
Also, I'm not liking the creature-less builds very much, it just seems too damn dependent on winning game 1. Otherwise they win, and game 2 goes to a draw, or you end up drawing the entire round.
Definitely need to tweak my list, and get a 4th reflecting pool.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
The scepter is for the mirror match, or any heavily control-oriented deck (reveillark, U/x, etc).
Identity crisis is pretty much the same, but you have to be more careful with it. Tapping out to resolve a 6cc spell against the mirror is incredibly unsafe, seeing as how they can counter it, then respond with their own, or a cruel ultimatum next turn. You just have to time it well, but it pretty much gives you the game against reveillark and 5cc if resolved.
The Ajani was pretty optimal all day. I used it to pop Ajani Goldmane against tokens (legend rule kicks in, they both die), and it was really useful against the reveillark deck and g/w tokens deck, keeping key lands tapped down. I never did get to use the ultimate ability, but the land tapping/lightning helix ability was quite enough to win some games.
I think Sen Triplets is a piece of junk honestly. It's worse than Teferi in a lot of regards, and I wouldn't even play more than 2 Teferi in the sideboard in this current metagame. He's just incredibly slow, doesn't do much the turn you drop him, and is incredibly easy to kill. Tapping out on turn 5 is a bad idea against a lot of key decks, especially the mirror or reveillark. It's worth a try against fog, seeing as how they only really have path to exile and wrath to kill it, but fog shouldn't be a tough matchup. It's incredibly in our favor, especially if you're playing kitchen finks main (beat up those jaces early).
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End