So, this is another of my attempts at making a draw-go deck that works. At present, I'm trying to do two things: (1) find the right balance of card draw, removal, and counterspells; and (2) select the best card draw, removal, and counterspell effects. There's really a lot of options in Esper colors.
So, I'm trying to weigh pros and cons of individual cards and arrive at a good balance of effects overall. It's a fun process, and any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.
At present, I have 5 cards that do nothing but draw cards - Skeletal Scrying, Sphinx's Revelation, Succumb to Temptation, Jace's Ingenuity, and Moonlight Bargain - and a few others that cantrip or situationally draw - Cryptic Command, Dismiss, and Mystic Confluence). Several of those are really powerful and draw a lot of cards, and 2 of them are flexible and can either be a little bump or a huge refill. Still, I'm not sure if this is enough.
I have 9 pieces of targeted removal - Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Anguished Unmaking, Fate Forgotten (probably one of the weakest and potentially on the chopping block), Hero's Downfall, Mortify, Return to Dust, Utter End, and Grip of Desolation (also in question). I Silumgar's Command will probably also usually be used to hit a planeswalker. And I have 4 board wipes - Cyclonic Rift, Toxic Deluge, Consume the Meek, and Fated Retribution. Instant-speed board wipes aren't as rawly powerful as their sorcery-speed counterparts, but their flexibility might make up for that, and each one has a unique use.
And I have 14 counterspells - Swan Song, Disallow, Void Shatter, Cryptic Command, Dismiss, Insidious Will, Mindbreak Trap, Rewind, Summary Dismissal, Desertion, Mystic Confluence, Silumgar's Command, Spelljack, and Time Stop. I guess Commandeer probably counts as another. One problem here is choosing the highest-quality cards. I tried to go with cards that can be used in different modes depending on the game's demands, and spells that do something besides just counter - cantrip, untap, exile, steal, etc. Still, Mana Drain probably deserves a place (is that the most ridiculous thing to say - "probably"?), and maybe Force of Will and Pact of Negation, as well. There's a lot of other good counterspells to consider, too.
So, I'm trying to weigh pros and cons of individual cards and arrive at a good balance of effects overall. It's a fun process, and any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.
Deck stats. Avg. CMC = 3.19. 49% blue, 27% black, 23% white.
1 Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
//Creature (2)
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
//Instant (42)
1 Darkness
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Path to Exile
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Suffer the Past
1 Swan Song
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Anguished Unmaking
1 Disallow
1 Fate Forgotten
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Mortify
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Succumb to Temptation
1 Sudden Spoiling
1 Void Shatter
1 Comeuppance
1 Cryptic Command
1 Dismiss
1 Insidious Will
1 Mindbreak Trap
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Reins of Power
1 Return to Dust
1 Rewind
1 Summary Dismissal
1 Utter End
1 Consume the Meek
1 Desertion
1 Jace's Ingenuity
1 Moonlight Bargain
1 Mystic Confluence
1 Silumgar's Command
1 Gather Specimens
1 Grip of Desolation
1 Spelljack
1 Time Stop
1 Commandeer
1 Fated Retribution
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Toxic Deluge
//Artifact (13)
1 Mana Crypt
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Azorius Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Torpor Orb
1 Coalition Relic
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Paradox Engine
//Enchantment (4)
1 Suppression Field
1 Rest in Peace
1 Aura of Silence
1 Humility
//Land (36)
1 Academy Ruins
1 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Command Tower
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Fetid Heath
1 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
4 Island
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Kor Haven
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mystic Gate
3 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Scrubland
1 Strip Mine
1 Sunken Ruins
3 Swamp
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wasteland
1 Watery Grave
1 Windswept Heath
1 Pact of Negation
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Brainstorm
1 Epiphany at the Drownyard
1 Flusterstorm
1 Orim's Chant
1 Silence
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spoils of Blood
1 Tainted Strike
1 Tithe
1 Counterspell
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Disenchant
1 Go for the Throat
1 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Imp's Mischief
1 Malicious Affliction
1 Mana Drain
1 Mana Leak
1 Negate
1 Radiant Purge
1 Shadow of Doubt
1 Trickbind
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Victim of Night
1 Dismember
1 Dissipate
1 Dissolve
1 Faerie Trickery
1 Render Silent
1 Stroke of Genius
1 To the Slaughter
1 Unmake
1 Face or Fiction
1 Last Word
1 Mystical Teaching
1 Plagiarize
1 Evacuation
1 Force of Will
1 Hatred
1 Swift Silence
1 Misdirection
1 Murderous Cut
1 Perilous Predicament
1 Dragonlord's Prerogative
1 Opportunity
1 Overwhelming Intellect
1 Æthersnatch
1 Dig Through Time
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Propaganda
1 Rhystic Study
R.I.P. Sundering Titan (6/20/12) and Braids, Cabal Minion (9/12/14)