With the release of the Commander 2018 decks, the Esp[er deck caught my eye. More so for the theme than the cards within it. The main card I thought looked reasonable was Yennet, Cryptic Sovereign. I have attempted to build a "top of the library matters" deck twice in the past (both Jund) but neither worked out the way I wanted it to. I think I went too far into the theme and the theme in Jund really required creatures.
I feel that Yennet can play in the same space but in a way that makes it so the overall idea is a bit more cohesive and works without the general or specific cards. Plus, it allows for a departure from just being creatures and I went with few creatures in the deck. So, here is the list I am currently running:
The main thing is that I am trying to win via Miracle cards (Entreat mostly) as well as a couple larger fliers. It is built mostly as a control deck though there are not many actual counter spells. It is mostly built with board control in mind. I am not a huge fan of the amount of tutors the deck has but they only go to the top of the library which means there is actually a bit more thought involved than just "tutor for an answer". I have played a number of games so far and the deck is working out to be pretty good and fun to play.
This is still fairly new, so there are bound to be some cards that ultimately don't make the cut. As of now, it seems to be working out pretty well though.
The most recent game I played with this deck was last night. It was me against Saheeli, Tuvasa, and Sliver Queen. The game went on forever and we got Tuvasa out after about an hour. The rest of the game was casting Rift or Devastation Tide a bunch of times to continue dealing with Slivers. I think we counted 5 Rifts in that game (Saheeli cast at least one) and I cast a Devastation Tide at one point as well.
Overall, the deck was extremely resilient and kept plugging away at trying to close out the game until I finally ended up beating down with 2 Djinn of Wishes (one was a Stunt Double). I used the Djinns' abilities to great effect with my tutors, my Scroll Rack, my Top, and my Crystal Ball (I wasn't sure about this card, but last night's game proved its power).
I do think there is something to be said about trying to speed the deck up, but the synergies in the deck are pretty good.
I can see where you are coming from with these options. The main issue I have is that these become really difficult to cast without Yennet. I am using Yennet as a way to get more value (even if it is somewhat incidental). Trying to use her to cast 9 drops just means I *need* her to cast those 9 drops. And, if she is destroyed, I end up with those cards stuck in hand.
Beyond that, I dislike Iona, Expropriate, and Blazing Archon anyway.
There may be something to this mind set though. I would prefer that I don't have anything higher than a 7 drop. There may be something there I am not using that I could add of course.
I played this last night against Athreos and Saheeli. The game started off a bit questionable as I had Mana Crypt, Terrain Generator, and a Swamp in hand. That was it for mana. But, I also have a Druidic Satchel and a Crystal Ball. I cast the Mana Crypt, played the Generator, and then cheated in the Swamp. Next turn, I drew a land and played the Crystal Ball. I scried 2 to the bottom and drew a land. Played the land and played the Satchel. From there, I was just scrying and trying to get free lands which happened a couple times. I did have to scry a lot to the bottom to ensure I hit my land drops.
I was struggling for a long time to hit white mana. As I was sitting there doing basically nothing, the other players were quickly developing their board states. Eventually, they got me down to 8 life and I Timetwistered. I drew into a Cyclonic Rift and a Resolute Archangel as well as a second white source (I have gotten Azorios Signet a turn or two earlier). Saheeli chose not to attack me and I don't remember what Athreos did. I think they hit me 2 and cast Erebos. I had no choice but to Cyclonic Rift so I did. I started my turn and Mana Crypt dealt 3 damage to me (down to 3). I activated Ancient Tomb (down to 1) and cast the Archangel. Back up to 40.
The game went on for a while longer where I got in some shots and took some damage. I did my best to stop the other two players but, again, I got down low. One turn, I attacked with Yennet and got Imperial Seal. I cast it to put Archangel on top. Over a couple turns, I kept it on top with top and other library manipulation spells so I never actually drew it for the turn. Then, at the end of Athreos's turn, I cast Aethermage's Touch to cheat it into play because I ended up getting down to 4 life. Back up to 40 again and then I put the Angel back in hand at the end of my turn.
At some point my Mana Crypt was exiled by Perilous Vault along with a my board (but, I didn't have much). I rebuilt with Future Sight and Precognition Field as well as Yennet. Over the course of the game, I hit very little off Yennet, but the things I did hit were pretty good. At one point, I hit an Enigma Sphinx which gave me some value. And, mentioned above, I hit Imperial Seal which tutored me up my Resolute Archangel (it had died and got shuffled back in or it got put on the bottom with my Terminus; I don't remember which).
One final time, I cast Archangel again while at 21. In total, I gained 94 life during the game from the Angel alone. It was a superstar.
I ended up taking out Athreos as they ran out of cards. Saheeli and I duked it out for a few turns (they were getting close to still beating me) but I managed to scrape it out with my fliers getting over their creatures on the ground.
Precognition Field was a lot better than I anticipated it to be. It got rid of some useless lands when I needed it to and it also allowed me to set up my draws/plays without telegraphing them like Future Sight does. Besides casting Resolute Archangel 3 times, I also cast Cyclonic Rift 3 or 4 times. Once was without overloading it as I just wanted to bounce Athreos before casting Timetwister or Time Spiral. None of them got me close to winning the game; they were all done to just stop myself from losing. I did get it back in hand at the end so I could have done it one more time if Saheeli had managed to find a way to stop my fliers.
I think the main thing the deck is short of is counter magic. I have 2 actual counter spells and Venser; that is it. At most, I would add one more counter (probably Disallow or Arcane Denial). I am not sure I need to, but those are the ones I like. Otherwise, I have found that Ponder is good but Portent is not good. Or, at least, the delayed draw is often detrimental. Once I put a Devastation Tide on top so I could cast it the next turn when I drew the card but, arguably, I could just put it 2 down with Ponder and then make it my card draw for next turn. I think I am going to try to find a replacement for Portent.
Personal Tutor is another card that may not be pulling its weight. It is a good card and gets me a lot of good stuff, but I don't think I have cast it in any of the games I have played. I will keep it for now since it works so well with the deck, but it is something I am keeping an eye on.
Beyond those two cards, I don't think there is anything I feel is underperforming or in need of a cut. I do think I need to do something to be more relevant in the early game. I did lose a lot of life to Mana Crypt and Ancient Tomb in this game, but I was still wide open for most of the early game where my opponents could easily deal damage to me. I am not sure what to put in to help with that but it is something worth mentioning.
I feel that Yennet can play in the same space but in a way that makes it so the overall idea is a bit more cohesive and works without the general or specific cards. Plus, it allows for a departure from just being creatures and I went with few creatures in the deck. So, here is the list I am currently running:
1 Yennet, Cryptic Sovereign
Lands
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Command Tower
1 Flooded Strand
1 Godless Shrine
1 Halimar Depths
1 Hallowed Fountain
8 Island
1 Mana Confluence
1 Marsh Flats
6 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Scrubland
5 Swamp
1 Temple of the False God
1 Terrain Generator
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Watery Grave
Instants
1 Aethermage's Touch
1 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Esper Charm
1 Long-Term Plans
1 Mana Drain
1 Mortify
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Path to Exile
1 Return to Dust
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Telling Time
1 Utter End
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Archaeomancer
1 Djinn of Wishes
1 Enigma Sphinx
1 Karmic Guide
1 Kefnet the Mindful
1 Magus of the Future
1 Mulldrifter
1 Resolute Archangel
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Stunt Double
1 Sun Titan
1 Toothy, Imaginary Friend
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
Sorceries
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 Devastation Tide
1 Dream Cache
1 Entreat the Angels
1 Imperial Seal
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Personal Tutor
1 Ponder
1 Portent
1 Terminus
1 Time Reversal
1 Time Spiral
1 Timetwister
1 Future Sight
1 Precognition Field
1 Soothsaying
Planeswalkers
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Venser, the Sojourner
Artifacts
1 Azorius Signet
1 Commander's Sphere
1 Crystal Ball
1 Dimir Signet
1 Druidic Satchel
1 Mana Crypt
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Talisman of Progress
The main thing is that I am trying to win via Miracle cards (Entreat mostly) as well as a couple larger fliers. It is built mostly as a control deck though there are not many actual counter spells. It is mostly built with board control in mind. I am not a huge fan of the amount of tutors the deck has but they only go to the top of the library which means there is actually a bit more thought involved than just "tutor for an answer". I have played a number of games so far and the deck is working out to be pretty good and fun to play.
This is still fairly new, so there are bound to be some cards that ultimately don't make the cut. As of now, it seems to be working out pretty well though.
Overall, the deck was extremely resilient and kept plugging away at trying to close out the game until I finally ended up beating down with 2 Djinn of Wishes (one was a Stunt Double). I used the Djinns' abilities to great effect with my tutors, my Scroll Rack, my Top, and my Crystal Ball (I wasn't sure about this card, but last night's game proved its power).
I do think there is something to be said about trying to speed the deck up, but the synergies in the deck are pretty good.
Beyond that, I dislike Iona, Expropriate, and Blazing Archon anyway.
There may be something to this mind set though. I would prefer that I don't have anything higher than a 7 drop. There may be something there I am not using that I could add of course.
I was struggling for a long time to hit white mana. As I was sitting there doing basically nothing, the other players were quickly developing their board states. Eventually, they got me down to 8 life and I Timetwistered. I drew into a Cyclonic Rift and a Resolute Archangel as well as a second white source (I have gotten Azorios Signet a turn or two earlier). Saheeli chose not to attack me and I don't remember what Athreos did. I think they hit me 2 and cast Erebos. I had no choice but to Cyclonic Rift so I did. I started my turn and Mana Crypt dealt 3 damage to me (down to 3). I activated Ancient Tomb (down to 1) and cast the Archangel. Back up to 40.
The game went on for a while longer where I got in some shots and took some damage. I did my best to stop the other two players but, again, I got down low. One turn, I attacked with Yennet and got Imperial Seal. I cast it to put Archangel on top. Over a couple turns, I kept it on top with top and other library manipulation spells so I never actually drew it for the turn. Then, at the end of Athreos's turn, I cast Aethermage's Touch to cheat it into play because I ended up getting down to 4 life. Back up to 40 again and then I put the Angel back in hand at the end of my turn.
At some point my Mana Crypt was exiled by Perilous Vault along with a my board (but, I didn't have much). I rebuilt with Future Sight and Precognition Field as well as Yennet. Over the course of the game, I hit very little off Yennet, but the things I did hit were pretty good. At one point, I hit an Enigma Sphinx which gave me some value. And, mentioned above, I hit Imperial Seal which tutored me up my Resolute Archangel (it had died and got shuffled back in or it got put on the bottom with my Terminus; I don't remember which).
One final time, I cast Archangel again while at 21. In total, I gained 94 life during the game from the Angel alone. It was a superstar.
I ended up taking out Athreos as they ran out of cards. Saheeli and I duked it out for a few turns (they were getting close to still beating me) but I managed to scrape it out with my fliers getting over their creatures on the ground.
Precognition Field was a lot better than I anticipated it to be. It got rid of some useless lands when I needed it to and it also allowed me to set up my draws/plays without telegraphing them like Future Sight does. Besides casting Resolute Archangel 3 times, I also cast Cyclonic Rift 3 or 4 times. Once was without overloading it as I just wanted to bounce Athreos before casting Timetwister or Time Spiral. None of them got me close to winning the game; they were all done to just stop myself from losing. I did get it back in hand at the end so I could have done it one more time if Saheeli had managed to find a way to stop my fliers.
I think the main thing the deck is short of is counter magic. I have 2 actual counter spells and Venser; that is it. At most, I would add one more counter (probably Disallow or Arcane Denial). I am not sure I need to, but those are the ones I like. Otherwise, I have found that Ponder is good but Portent is not good. Or, at least, the delayed draw is often detrimental. Once I put a Devastation Tide on top so I could cast it the next turn when I drew the card but, arguably, I could just put it 2 down with Ponder and then make it my card draw for next turn. I think I am going to try to find a replacement for Portent.
Personal Tutor is another card that may not be pulling its weight. It is a good card and gets me a lot of good stuff, but I don't think I have cast it in any of the games I have played. I will keep it for now since it works so well with the deck, but it is something I am keeping an eye on.
Beyond those two cards, I don't think there is anything I feel is underperforming or in need of a cut. I do think I need to do something to be more relevant in the early game. I did lose a lot of life to Mana Crypt and Ancient Tomb in this game, but I was still wide open for most of the early game where my opponents could easily deal damage to me. I am not sure what to put in to help with that but it is something worth mentioning.