The point of the deck is to fill the graveyard quickly so you can delve your Creatures out for cheap. It's not uncommon for me to drop tasigur on turn 2, delve 5 cards, and still have a Stubborn Denial back up and mana to cast it.
Mishra's Bauble will probably be removed from the archetype, what with the spoiling of Thing in the Ice. He needs specifically inst/sorceress to be cast so we'll need to tailor the deck to that style.
A little bit more of a grind game plan here but I feel like we could Sideboard things like Lingering Souls or even Supreme Verdict. The deck on its own should have great game against combo.
This thread has been quiet for a few years, but I have been brewing an esper deck based around the delve creatures and monastery mentor. The deck plays very similar to grixis shadow with a few key difference. Some of the differences between my deck and shadow include:
I don't need to pay 10+ life to enable my gameplan which helps in match-ups where I am racing and life totals are relevant
Mentor lets the deck go wide in a way that traditional shadow cannot
I'm only running 4 delve threats, so there is no stubborn denial in my list as it doesn't feel reliable enough with the shadows to also enable it. This card is really good, so its loss hurts.
Without being priced into the shadow package (4 street wraith, 2 Temur Battle Rage, 2 Dismember) I can run some different (better?) options like 3 path to exile, 4 serum visions, 4 opts
I'm not sure that what I'm working on is better than a shadow deck (it probably isn't!), but I'd like to see if anyone else is working on anything similar. I have a lot of ideas and a working list, but wanted to see if anyone was interested or working on something similar before starting a discussion here.
The problem with that logic is that by missing out on Street Wraith you're also a lot slower at slamming a delve threat. IMHO what killed this deck was the ban of Gitaxian Probe. The more free draws you have the better. Also missing out on stubborn Denial sounds like you're diluting the deck too much. Delve threat on turn two with stub up is one of the strongest plays this deck can make
You're probably right that current shadow builds are just better than esper delve without probes since shadow can so consistently end the game around turn 5 while disrupting the opponent's plan. Perhaps this deck could be built to be slightly less low to the ground and aim to have a strong mid-range plan based around sequences like discard+cantrips --> Monastery Mentor --> Hold up Snapcaster mage to re-use discard or removal to close the game out? Path to Exile is a very potent tool against phoenix, shadow, and humans so having access to it in our main-deck is also one of our edges right now.
Ironically, we don't get to really play the best white sideboard cards rest in peace and stony silence. Our graveyard is too important to exile and mishra's bauble feels like one of our most important pieces to enable fast delve threats, trigger mentor, and just increase card velocity to consistently dig to the cards we need.
The games where you clear the way for monastery mentor using discard and then cast it on 3 feel great. If you can untap with him in play I find myself often generating 3+ monks immediately due to the cantrip density (4 serums, opts, baubles, and scours) in the deck. Mentor can single-handedly take over the board in ways that the tall threats in shadow cannot do. A turn 3 mentor often leads to a turn 5 kill if not removed immediately which signifies a powerful card to me.
The deck can also be built using lingering souls which plays very well with thought scour and can be good in certain metagames. My impression is that not many opponents care about grinding for value these days, so souls is often just 5 mana for 4 power across 4 bodies which can't really race any of the top tier decks right now. If decks like U/W control and BGx become more popular souls could be used as an effective sideboard card which is always a nice option to have.
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1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
4 Gurmag Angler
3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Tombstalker
Spells (32):
3 Lingering Souls
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
4 Thought Scour
4 Path to exile
4 Mishra's Bauble
4 Stubborn Denial
2 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Spell Snare
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
2 Marsh Flats
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Shambling Vent
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Godless Shrine
2 Watery Grave
1 Swamp
2 Island
1 Plains
2 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Dispel
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Timely Reinforcements
1 Darkblast
1 Swan Song
1 Deathmark
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Languish
Mishra's Bauble will probably be removed from the archetype, what with the spoiling of Thing in the Ice. He needs specifically inst/sorceress to be cast so we'll need to tailor the deck to that style.
Here's my speculatory list
4 Thing in the Ice
3 Gurmag Angler
3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Meddling Mage
Spells (27):
4 Serum Visions
4 Thoughtseize
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Path to exile
4 Stubborn Denial
3 Thought Scour
2 Dismember
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded strand
3 Darkslick Shores
1 Watery grave
1 Hallowed fountain
1 Godless shrine
1 Creeping Tar pit
1 Shambling Vent
2 island
1 Swamp
A little bit more of a grind game plan here but I feel like we could Sideboard things like Lingering Souls or even Supreme Verdict. The deck on its own should have great game against combo.
Draft My Cube!
-2 Cryptic Command
-1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
-1 Gurmag Angler
+4 Serum Visions
Visions is a staple is just about any blue deck right now. The low price is nothing to pay for the ability to smooth out your next few turns.
Draft My Cube!
I'm not sure that what I'm working on is better than a shadow deck (it probably isn't!), but I'd like to see if anyone else is working on anything similar. I have a lot of ideas and a working list, but wanted to see if anyone was interested or working on something similar before starting a discussion here.
Draft My Cube!
Ironically, we don't get to really play the best white sideboard cards rest in peace and stony silence. Our graveyard is too important to exile and mishra's bauble feels like one of our most important pieces to enable fast delve threats, trigger mentor, and just increase card velocity to consistently dig to the cards we need.
The games where you clear the way for monastery mentor using discard and then cast it on 3 feel great. If you can untap with him in play I find myself often generating 3+ monks immediately due to the cantrip density (4 serums, opts, baubles, and scours) in the deck. Mentor can single-handedly take over the board in ways that the tall threats in shadow cannot do. A turn 3 mentor often leads to a turn 5 kill if not removed immediately which signifies a powerful card to me.
The deck can also be built using lingering souls which plays very well with thought scour and can be good in certain metagames. My impression is that not many opponents care about grinding for value these days, so souls is often just 5 mana for 4 power across 4 bodies which can't really race any of the top tier decks right now. If decks like U/W control and BGx become more popular souls could be used as an effective sideboard card which is always a nice option to have.