I went 4-1 twice with a poverty (rain of tears) build of this. I have to leave the game temporarily, so if anyone wants to try this, after Aether Revolt, -2 Disfigure, -1 Go for the Throat, +3 Fatal Push.
Hi all, not sure how active this board is anymore, but I've been messing around with a bunch of Esper Tempo/Midrange variants since Aether Revolt gave us Fatal Push. I ended up pushing pretty hard to create a good shell for Geist of Saint Traft with how I developed my version of the deck.
So far from the games I played, I think I need to find some more early game pressure. So far with this list, I think that the Resto Angels have been less impactful and slower than I wanted, also I think between IoK, Thoughtseize, and Collective Brutality, I can probably shave a hand disruption spell. With ~3 slots to play with, does anyone have a suggestion for a low (1-2) CMC threat that might compliment what I am doing here? I could also likely find another cut if I wanted to bring in a full playset of something, the Steel of the Godhead is a spicy 1-of for Geist, but can probably go if I need the slot.
If you need cheap threats, tasigur, angler, and tombstalker are usually your friends.
You might not be able to consistently play them t2, but they do offer a lot.
I've also looked at building an "Esper Midrange" deck and I don't think that Narset is any good so I took the shell around it and replaced her with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy which seems better at digging for cards while filling the GY and flashing back spells.
Narset is one of the best cards in the deck. I'm actually its designer and I have a thread dedicated to it in Deck Creation. Dylan, the pilot who finished 21st, has been testing the deck extensively (he's on my team) and agrees that Narset doesn't go. Lilly + Narset is almost unbeatable. She presents an 'unfair' angle and is our card advantage/value engine who is also a win condition vs heavy non-creature spell decks. And no - Jace is not a replacement. They impact the board and game differently.
She's contributed to a lot of lopsided wins vs Midrange and Control variants. For instance, it doesn't matter how many AV's go off, or Rev's, because none of their draws will beat a resolved Narset, which ultimately leads to her locking them out. The deck has other ways to deal with their minimal threats, too. She's essentially the deck's own Rev/AV. It's quality > quantity.
In testing, he averaged close to an 85% win pct vs Grixis, Jeskai, UW, BGx, etc., going 2-0 vs most control variants. Others, including myself, have experienced similar. Then the deck has proven to be very good vs Aggro and Combo decks, too.
Its hardest MU is Eldrazi Tron and U Tron. GR/GW Tron, Lantern, and Valakut are tough G1, but the deck can steal wins because of disruption into Lilly/Narset. It's better G2/3. Dredge can be a pain in the ass, too, even without GGT.
It's definitely like a 'Blue Junk', but more on the Control end of the spectrum.
It's a Midrange deck that's immune to removal. Doing so means our opponents have more dead cards in hand, and we get to overwhelm them more easily. It forces them to board a predictable way, which you can capitalize on, and also allows you to make their average card quality much worse.
With Burn potentially on the decline because of Collective Brutality, and us having a plan vs Tron and Combo decks, dominating Midrange and Control (they're basically bye's or highly favored), and being solid vs Infect and Affinity, this deck is in great shape for the format.
Advice:
Test the deck extensively as is before making changes. A lot of work has gone into its design, card selections, gameplan, etc. It also 5-0'd in a competitive MTGO with a similar 75 (his friend), but it had Sorin, SV over Ally (inferior) and no Mage/Geist (which are great).
Don't fix what isn't broken. The core has been established. Now it's just a matter of learning it and how it navigates vs different decks.
For more, please follow the discussion about this deck in Deck Creation so we don't take away from Esper Mentor/Geist/Delver (this is NOT those decks).
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#The Ultimate is rather good but not particularly fast and can be easily kept in check by burn spells (if all the creatures are dealt with) and doesn't impact aggro decks at all. Jace, Unraveler of Secrets has a similar Ultimate which can be sometimes better and Ob Nixilis Reignited's ability will usually win the game.
#She doesn't pressure the opponent like Gideon or even Elspeth (or Sorin) that can attack or create tokens.
What I like about Jace, Vryn's Prodigy/Jace, Telepath Unbound is that it can come down earlier and start looting to generate value (and discard Lingering Souls) and then can flip to continue flashing back spells or hold back a creature.
Being a 2-cmc spell leaves you more mana to work with instead of tapping out for a PW like Narset.
So Narset does protect herself in the form of having high loyalty on entry (like Gideon Jura). Even if your opponent attacks out at her, they are unlikely to kill her in a swing or two. Her ultimate is a real lock against decks far better than Jace's because they can't "overload" it by casting 2 spells in a turn to resolve the one they want. Sure her card draw isn't automatic and yeah that's a bit of a drawback but it's still CA and it plays extremely well with Serum Visions. Lastly her rebound ability is EXTREMELY underutilized by folks I see playing the deck. Getting any of the modular spells (or Lingering Souls) a bonus cast is crazy strong. It let's you spam discard spells against control opponents and flood out removal spells with Lingering Souls. It lets you gain great amounts of life off Blessed Alliance or Collective Brutality while forcing your opponent to make bad decisions. She isn't like LotV where you want multiple copies to guarantee she is always in your hand to be played on curve but she has a job in this deck and she excels at it. Furthermore, it's a job that almost no other card can do well in Modern. If we had JTMS we'd just play that, but we don't so we will make do with our 1-2 of Narset. The problem with JVP is that it dies to all the creature removal the rest of our deck dodges. This means he will very rarely flip (if ever). The other major downside is that on a completely empty board (which this deck forces a lot) JVP is forced to downtick for CA and that means you can't just spam it every turn while you close out the game. Narset however can and does. She is the card that will grind your GBx and other midrange opponents out of the game while also giving you the versatility to lock certain archetypes out of the game while you pound them with discard (Burn, Tron, Ad Nauseum for examples).
For more, please follow the discussion about this deck in Deck Creation so we don't take away from Esper Mentor/Geist/Delver (this is NOT those decks).
Feel free to discuss this variant in this thread. I created this primer as an Esper Midrange thread and the variations mentioned in it are the ones that were rising to the top (reached Tier 2) back in end of 2014/beginning of 2015, then the metagame shifted and they were no longer prevalent (nor any other midrange deck in esper colors).
Esper Trascendent and Esper Delve are the new two decks I'm looking to use to update this primer, as they are the new decks that are slowly creeping up in play and are proving themselves successful.
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In Lorwyn's brief evenings, the sun pauses at the horizon long enough for a certain species of violet to bloom with the fragrance of mischief.
For more, please follow the discussion about this deck in Deck Creation so we don't take away from Esper Mentor/Geist/Delver (this is NOT those decks).
Feel free to discuss this variant in this thread. I created this primer as an Esper Midrange thread and the variations mentioned in it are the ones that were rising to the top (reached Tier 2) back in end of 2014/beginning of 2015, then the metagame shifted and they were no longer prevalent (nor any other midrange deck in esper colors).
Esper Trascendent and Esper Delve are the new two decks I'm looking to use to update this primer, as they are the new decks that are slowly creeping up in play and are proving themselves successful.
Glad to hear that, I've been toying with Esper Delve recently on xmage and at my store and it deffinitly has potential.
The numbers are a little bit rough at the minute (on the cantrips, Thoughtseize/Inquisition ratio and Fetchlands specifically, I want at least 1-2 Marsh Flats).
Why are you playing fast lands and playing death's shadow? With no built in burn or street wraiths, thoughtseize and shocklands are the only way to lower your life total to actually use deaths shadow
Sideboard still needs to be worked on, but Stony Silence, Negate, and Blessed Alliance have all earned their two spots. I'm thinking about Nihil Spellbomb because it's much friendlier graveyard hate than Rest in Peace. Maybe a third Anguished Unmaking or a one-of Detention Sphere as an extra catch-all? I do need something to hedge against matchups that will be difficult, like combo decks.
This deck was built to fight midrange and creature based decks, as you can tell by the 11 removal spells. I have a stellar record against Death's Shadow Jund and Grixis Delver, though I need to play against more variety. Lingering Souls is amazing, as always. Tasigur's great, a big cheap creature that can net me card advantage; one of my few wins against Tron was due to an early Tasigur backed up by removal and counterspells. Gurmag on the other hand has underperformed. He never comes down on turn 2 and he's almost always outclassed as a body. I'm thinking about replacing him with something sturdier, like Geist of Saint Traft, who will probably close games super fast with all my removal getting rid of blockers. Mana Leak has it's moments, it's always a hard counter early, but past that it's usually meh, especially considering I run 4 Path. I like having a little bit of countermagic, I guess Leak can be replaced with Countersquall, since I have enough answers for creatures anyway.
thoughts? I'm open to suggestions, I really feel like Esper's got legs in this format
I like the list as it reminds of Esper transcendent - without Narset . Would Sorin, solemn vistor be an option as you have quite a bit of tokens? Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is pet card of mine but I left him out in my Esper Narset build. How does he fare for you?
I guess Countersquall makes sense because you are playing a tempo list with delver, which should frequently give you the edge, but i do not think detention sphere and anguised are what you are looking for against combo. It is clunky and slow, though sphere is great against eldrazi in most iterations. And I think you should still be playing some hard counters to prevent ETB triggers for instance from Primeval Titan, in which case Mana Leak most probably serves you better to finish the game in time.
sorry! I didn't mean that Anguished Unmaking/D-Sphere were combo answers, I meant to say they they're maindeck catch-alls that can remove hard to hit permanents like Planeswalkers, Enchantments, and artifacts or just remove creatures. I was wondering if I needed another Anguished, or possibly a D-Sphere since Anguished hurts a little, in the side as another answer to these threats. I actually have no clue what I should side in against combo oriented decks like Storm or Ad Nauseum, which sucks because they're terrible matchups to begin with. Maybe, like, Meddling Mage? I have no idea
I like the list as it reminds of Esper transcendent - without Narset . Would Sorin, solemn vistor be an option as you have quite a bit of tokens? Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is pet card of mine but I left him out in my Esper Narset build. How does he fare for you?
Hey! My list does run a ton of tokens, but Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is better when my board state is behind or even, as he's an immediate swing towards bringing the board state under control. Sorin, Solemn Rockstar is way more aggressive and can close games faster, but worse when I'm on the backfoot.
Jace is interesting, he fuels my delve spells and helps me churn through cards I don't need, plus if I can Thought Scour he flips basically immediately. My main concern is that he'll just die before I can do anything with him, since he'll only ever flip on turn 3 at the earliest. I'll try him out though!
I like the list as it reminds of Esper transcendent - without Narset . Would Sorin, solemn vistor be an option as you have quite a bit of tokens? Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is pet card of mine but I left him out in my Esper Narset build. How does he fare for you?
I have tried Solemn visitor before, but he is really only good when i have already established a board presence. At that point I am mostly winning anyway and the lifegain is not all that relevant. Lord of innistrad on the other hand provides for a great amount of value against any creature heavy build. Life+board presence+ cheap anthem+ ultimate are all threatening and i would argue sorin is even better in this shell than Gideon is. As for Jace, Vryn's Prodigy he is overperforming in every matchup aside from jund and grixis and becomes even stronger after boarding. And since we are not playing draw-go all of the time, i would argue Jace perfectly complements snapcaster. Also because i do not like to use snapcaster to inquisition for a second time and esper charming from graveyard every 2 turns provides a lot of value
I forgot Sorin, Lord of Innistrad was a thing. He's definitely easier to cast against Gideon and provides about the same amount of advantage. I will say that the 2/2 body on the Allies and the 5/5 swings from Gideon himself have had moments where they were very relevant, but Sorin's anthem doesn't cost all his loyalty so he can stick around immediately after pumping. I think I'll definitely give him a try. Esper Charm has also been a card I've been interested in, but I just can't find the room for it
So I'm not sure how many people are on Esper Delve(Hi by the way, finally found an Esper Midrange thread!), but is Creeping Tar Pit the best/only option on man-lands? I suppose that's a valid question for anyone's list here really. Colonnade is always my go to but I suppose he's more pushed for control.
Ive been cycling through builds like crazy after Push was released. I started on flash, then tempo, then delver and now delve. I'll post my current list in a bit since this is probably the best place for feedback. It's a variant of the Delve list from GP Brisbane above. I think Cryptic is a bit strange and I love Esper Charm so the only real difference is 3 charms, and one Jace, VP and a Lili, the Last Hope. Not sure if either of those are optimal but Jace seemed great if protected/happens to live past removal and I was having trouble recurring Delve threats so Lili seemed like a solution.
Anyway sorry for not posting a list when referencing it and ranting. Thanks!
Thanks for the advice! I've been through so many builds lately I totally overlooked I was only on 20 lands. Here's the list below, I actually switched Esper Charm for Cryptic Command after playing a couple games and losing due to the lack of Command.
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Polluted Delta
4 Marsh Flats
1 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Watery Grave
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Godless Shrine
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Lingering Souls
3 Snapcaster Mage
Spells (26)
2 Disfigure
2 Dismember
4 Serum Visions
4 Thought Scour
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
1 Go for the Throat
2 Countersquall
2 Hero's Downfall
3 Cryptic Command
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Collective Brutality
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Damnation
3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
I went 4-1 twice with a poverty (rain of tears) build of this. I have to leave the game temporarily, so if anyone wants to try this, after Aether Revolt, -2 Disfigure, -1 Go for the Throat, +3 Fatal Push.
1x Concealed Courtyard
3x Creeping Tar Pit
2x Darkslick Shores
1x Eiganjo Castle
4x Flooded Strand
1x Godless Shrine
2x Hallowed Fountain
1x Island
2x Plains
4x Polluted Delta
1x Swamp
1x Watery Grave
Creature (14)
4x Geist of Saint Traft
1x Restoration Angel
3x Snapcaster Mage
4x Spell Queller
2x Vendilion Clique
1x Collective Brutality
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Serum Visions
3x Thoughtseize
Instant (10)
2x Esper Charm
4x Fatal Push
4x Path to Exile
Planeswalker (2)
1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Blessed Alliance
3x Countersquall
1x Disenchant
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3x Meddling Mage
1x Supreme Verdict
2x Surgical Extraction
1x Wrath of God
Leave your suggestions!
bit.ly/thecezare
So far from the games I played, I think I need to find some more early game pressure. So far with this list, I think that the Resto Angels have been less impactful and slower than I wanted, also I think between IoK, Thoughtseize, and Collective Brutality, I can probably shave a hand disruption spell. With ~3 slots to play with, does anyone have a suggestion for a low (1-2) CMC threat that might compliment what I am doing here? I could also likely find another cut if I wanted to bring in a full playset of something, the Steel of the Godhead is a spicy 1-of for Geist, but can probably go if I need the slot.
Is Delver of secrets a decent option here? I was thinking maybe even some seeker of the way.
Besides the changes I am looking to make, anyone else have suggestions for an Esper Geist list like mine?
Here is my current list:
1x Celestial Colonnade
2x Creeping Tar Pit
2x Darkslick Shores
1x Eiganjo Castle
4x Flooded Strand
1x Godless Shrine
2x Hallowed Fountain
1x Island
1x Plains
4x Polluted Delta
1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1x Swamp
1x Watery Grave
Sorcery (13)
2x Collective Brutality
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Lingering Souls
4x Serum Visions
2x Thoughtseize
2x Fatal Push
4x Path to Exile
4x Remand
2x Spell Snare
Creature (10)
4x Geist of Saint Traft
2x Restoration Angel
3x Snapcaster Mage
1x Vendilion Clique
Enchantment (1)
1x Steel of the Godhead
Planeswalker (2)
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1x Anguished Unmaking
2x Timely Reinforcements
2x spreading seas
2x blessed alliance
1x supreme verdict
1x aven mindcensor
1x Elspeth, sun's champion
2x negate
1x flashfreeze
1x disdainful stroke
1x dispel
Modern : RGTitanshiftGR / UGWKnightfallWGU
You might not be able to consistently play them t2, but they do offer a lot.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/576116#online
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/576125#online
Here is the deck idea:
2x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
3x Snapcaster Mage
Planeswalkers (4)
1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Instant (10)
3x Fatal Push
3x Path to Exile
3x Esper Charm
1x Anguished Unmaking
Sorcery (17)
4x Serum Visions
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Thoughtseize
1x Collective Brutality
4x Lingering Souls
2x Supreme Verdict
4x Flooded Strand
4x Polluted Delta
2x Watery Grave
2x Godless Shrine
2x Hallowed Fountain
3x Shambling Vent
2x Creeping Tar Pit
2x Island
2x Plains
1x Swamp
2x Stony Silence
1x Collective Brutality
2x Countersquall
2x Engineered Explosives
2x Geist of Saint Traft
1x Supreme Verdict
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Timely Reinforcements
1x Batterskull
What do you think ?
This deck also blanks a lot of removal.
Here's how his Day 1 & 2 MU's went down:
https://i.imgur.com/mRqzza2.jpg
She's contributed to a lot of lopsided wins vs Midrange and Control variants. For instance, it doesn't matter how many AV's go off, or Rev's, because none of their draws will beat a resolved Narset, which ultimately leads to her locking them out. The deck has other ways to deal with their minimal threats, too. She's essentially the deck's own Rev/AV. It's quality > quantity.
In testing, he averaged close to an 85% win pct vs Grixis, Jeskai, UW, BGx, etc., going 2-0 vs most control variants. Others, including myself, have experienced similar. Then the deck has proven to be very good vs Aggro and Combo decks, too.
Its hardest MU is Eldrazi Tron and U Tron. GR/GW Tron, Lantern, and Valakut are tough G1, but the deck can steal wins because of disruption into Lilly/Narset. It's better G2/3. Dredge can be a pain in the ass, too, even without GGT.
It's definitely like a 'Blue Junk', but more on the Control end of the spectrum.
It's a Midrange deck that's immune to removal. Doing so means our opponents have more dead cards in hand, and we get to overwhelm them more easily. It forces them to board a predictable way, which you can capitalize on, and also allows you to make their average card quality much worse.
With Burn potentially on the decline because of Collective Brutality, and us having a plan vs Tron and Combo decks, dominating Midrange and Control (they're basically bye's or highly favored), and being solid vs Infect and Affinity, this deck is in great shape for the format.
Advice:
Test the deck extensively as is before making changes. A lot of work has gone into its design, card selections, gameplan, etc. It also 5-0'd in a competitive MTGO with a similar 75 (his friend), but it had Sorin, SV over Ally (inferior) and no Mage/Geist (which are great).
Don't fix what isn't broken. The core has been established. Now it's just a matter of learning it and how it navigates vs different decks.
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Esper Transcendent's Favored, Fair, & Unfavored MU's:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-gnPUq35a84Pg0XSSMMv_5WIOCX9GqapWlqh_nZ8wjQ
For more, please follow the discussion about this deck in Deck Creation so we don't take away from Esper Mentor/Geist/Delver (this is NOT those decks).
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#Her +1 has less than 50% of hitting which is much worse than Jace, Unraveler of Secrets/Ob Nixilis Reignited +1, Dovin Baan -1 or Jace, Architect of Thought -2.
#Her -2 is rather situational (and win-more), I would prefer Jace, Telepath Unbound -3.
#The Ultimate is rather good but not particularly fast and can be easily kept in check by burn spells (if all the creatures are dealt with) and doesn't impact aggro decks at all.
Jace, Unraveler of Secrets has a similar Ultimate which can be sometimes better and Ob Nixilis Reignited's ability will usually win the game.
#She doesn't protect herself unlike Ob Nixilis Reignited which destroys a creature,Jace, Unraveler of Secrets which can bounce a creature (or your own Snapcaster) or Jace, Telepath Unbound/Jace, Architect of Thought/Dovin Baan which can weaken opposing creatures.
#She doesn't pressure the opponent like Gideon or even Elspeth (or Sorin) that can attack or create tokens.
What I like about Jace, Vryn's Prodigy/Jace, Telepath Unbound is that it can come down earlier and start looting to generate value (and discard Lingering Souls) and then can flip to continue flashing back spells or hold back a creature.
Being a 2-cmc spell leaves you more mana to work with instead of tapping out for a PW like Narset.
Feel free to discuss this variant in this thread. I created this primer as an Esper Midrange thread and the variations mentioned in it are the ones that were rising to the top (reached Tier 2) back in end of 2014/beginning of 2015, then the metagame shifted and they were no longer prevalent (nor any other midrange deck in esper colors).
Esper Trascendent and Esper Delve are the new two decks I'm looking to use to update this primer, as they are the new decks that are slowly creeping up in play and are proving themselves successful.
Glad to hear that, I've been toying with Esper Delve recently on xmage and at my store and it deffinitly has potential.
Why are you playing fast lands and playing death's shadow? With no built in burn or street wraiths, thoughtseize and shocklands are the only way to lower your life total to actually use deaths shadow
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Gurmag Angler
4 Lingering Souls
4 Serum Visions
4 Thought Scour
4 Path to Exile
4 Fatal Push
2 Anguished Unmaking
2 Mana Leak
1 Murderous Cut
2 Gideon, Ally of Zenikar
Sideboard still needs to be worked on, but Stony Silence, Negate, and Blessed Alliance have all earned their two spots. I'm thinking about Nihil Spellbomb because it's much friendlier graveyard hate than Rest in Peace. Maybe a third Anguished Unmaking or a one-of Detention Sphere as an extra catch-all? I do need something to hedge against matchups that will be difficult, like combo decks.
This deck was built to fight midrange and creature based decks, as you can tell by the 11 removal spells. I have a stellar record against Death's Shadow Jund and Grixis Delver, though I need to play against more variety. Lingering Souls is amazing, as always. Tasigur's great, a big cheap creature that can net me card advantage; one of my few wins against Tron was due to an early Tasigur backed up by removal and counterspells. Gurmag on the other hand has underperformed. He never comes down on turn 2 and he's almost always outclassed as a body. I'm thinking about replacing him with something sturdier, like Geist of Saint Traft, who will probably close games super fast with all my removal getting rid of blockers. Mana Leak has it's moments, it's always a hard counter early, but past that it's usually meh, especially considering I run 4 Path. I like having a little bit of countermagic, I guess Leak can be replaced with Countersquall, since I have enough answers for creatures anyway.
thoughts? I'm open to suggestions, I really feel like Esper's got legs in this format
I like the list as it reminds of Esper transcendent - without Narset . Would Sorin, solemn vistor be an option as you have quite a bit of tokens?
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is pet card of mine but I left him out in my Esper Narset build. How does he fare for you?
There is actually a (relatively) new thread for "Esper Delver" here - http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/768224-esper-delver
sorry! I didn't mean that Anguished Unmaking/D-Sphere were combo answers, I meant to say they they're maindeck catch-alls that can remove hard to hit permanents like Planeswalkers, Enchantments, and artifacts or just remove creatures. I was wondering if I needed another Anguished, or possibly a D-Sphere since Anguished hurts a little, in the side as another answer to these threats. I actually have no clue what I should side in against combo oriented decks like Storm or Ad Nauseum, which sucks because they're terrible matchups to begin with. Maybe, like, Meddling Mage? I have no idea
Hey! My list does run a ton of tokens, but Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is better when my board state is behind or even, as he's an immediate swing towards bringing the board state under control. Sorin, Solemn Rockstar is way more aggressive and can close games faster, but worse when I'm on the backfoot.
Jace is interesting, he fuels my delve spells and helps me churn through cards I don't need, plus if I can Thought Scour he flips basically immediately. My main concern is that he'll just die before I can do anything with him, since he'll only ever flip on turn 3 at the earliest. I'll try him out though!
Thanks! I'll post my list there too
I forgot Sorin, Lord of Innistrad was a thing. He's definitely easier to cast against Gideon and provides about the same amount of advantage. I will say that the 2/2 body on the Allies and the 5/5 swings from Gideon himself have had moments where they were very relevant, but Sorin's anthem doesn't cost all his loyalty so he can stick around immediately after pumping. I think I'll definitely give him a try. Esper Charm has also been a card I've been interested in, but I just can't find the room for it
Ive been cycling through builds like crazy after Push was released. I started on flash, then tempo, then delver and now delve. I'll post my current list in a bit since this is probably the best place for feedback. It's a variant of the Delve list from GP Brisbane above. I think Cryptic is a bit strange and I love Esper Charm so the only real difference is 3 charms, and one Jace, VP and a Lili, the Last Hope. Not sure if either of those are optimal but Jace seemed great if protected/happens to live past removal and I was having trouble recurring Delve threats so Lili seemed like a solution.
Anyway sorry for not posting a list when referencing it and ranting. Thanks!
Esper Delve List