Quick update to explain why I'm running Nebelgast Herald in the control build. The objective with it isn't to tap down attackers and prevent the opponent from doing damage. Instead, the objective is to tap down defenders to allow Sun Titan to get through.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I was playing an Esper version with 4 Cavern of Souls, it was way to many. So I'm going to cut one or two of them.
It felt very good thought I made some clearly mistakes. But I loved the lock down with Eidolon of Rhetoric and Spell Queller. It goes pretty well against control and combo decks. I played also against little zoo, to overwhelming imo.
Also, many people was telling me that Supreme Verdict shouldn't be there on mainboard, maybe on sideboard.
So, after today experience, I'm going to try a UW version like this:
The more I see it, the more I like it actually. It provide us 7 counters (without counting our creatures), 25 creatures, 2 removal, and help to keep our mana untaped thanks to vial.
I was playing an Esper version with 4 Cavern of Souls, it was way to many. So I'm going to cut one or two of them.
It felt very good thought I made some clearly mistakes. But I loved the lock down with Eidolon of Rhetoric and Spell Queller. It goes pretty well against control and combo decks. I played also against little zoo, to overwhelming imo.
Also, many people was telling me that Supreme Verdict shouldn't be there on mainboard, maybe on sideboard.
So, after today experience, I'm going to try a UW version like this:
The more I see it, the more I like it actually. It provide us 7 counters (without counting our creatures), 25 creatures, 2 removal, and help to keep our mana untaped thanks to vial.
Thinking on it, if you combine Eidolon of Rhetoric with Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, the opponent can never directly target your creatures without using some kind of creature ability first to bypass the Kira counter.
Also, it might pay to reduce the number of rattlechain's or just cut it from the listing entirely. I don't think it's a super strong card in modern since we got other options to grant hexproof.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Also, it might pay to reduce the number of rattlechain's or just cut it from the listing entirely. I don't think it's a super strong card in modern since we got other options to grant hexproof.
It's not the etb hexproof but rather the flash for all spirits that's important, no?
The flash is good, but it needs to be measured up against other useful effects. Generally, Merfolk is the poster child for this sort of thing with synergies, such as Merrow Reejerey. That and we likely can already flash things in with Aether Vial, so it's not quite as important as it is in Standard. If Nebelgast Herald was printed with Merrow Reejerey's ability I'd stick two in and cut two Rattlechains. There's also a lot more spirits to go through than I realized from prior sets that could deserve a spot in the deck. Dungeon Geists are a lot less problematic with all the hexproof and target removal protection the tribe gets.
If we do want to go full Rattlechains, I'm actually tempted to splash black for AThreos, God of Passage. With Aether Vial and Rattlechains on the field, even if an opponent sweeps the board we can instantly bring back the creatures to our hand to the battlefield unless the opponent eats a bolt to the face. In addition, it lets us potentially abuse the heck out of Selfless spirit, Kami of False Hope, etc. At worst, we can use Moorland haunt to turn the old spirit into a 1/1 flying spirit. That's assuming they can get past all the hexproof and what not. I might actually take it over Favorable Winds just because it punishes the opponent for sweeping our field. He's going to have to eat a lot of lightning bolt if he wants to stop 3-4 spirits from going to our hand, not to mention let us replay them once again. I mean, the best effects we have in spirits come from sacrifice. Lets abuse it until our face goes red.
Some other ideas I've been toying with is Thassa, God of the Sea for granting unblockable and letting us get some card fixing. Spirits are great at defending themselves as we've got Selfless Spirit, Kami of False Hope, Spell Queller, Rattlechains, etc, but unlike merfolk they don't have a lot of low CC tribal options that give unblockable, or lords that have cool perks like Merrow Reejerey. We need to dig into non-spirit options to give us something.
From looking at various builds, some things we need to watch out for are Engineered Explosives, Chalice of the Void, Anger of the Gods, and possibly Rest in Peace, though we aren't as dependent on the Graveyard as some other decks are. There's also the issue that other aggro decks will trade favorably if we have to block since our deck isn't really built around pumping creatures to epic heights like Abzan Liege.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Well, bought into Aether vial today. Now just to get myself ready for the mana base.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I don't think that Athreos is good enough for the maindeck (maybe a 1x-of in the SB) as it isn't relevant and does nothing in quite a few matchups and Selfless Spirit already provides protection from sweepers while actually doing something and working with the tribe.
I don't think it is better than Favorable Winds in this deck.
I would also play Nebelgast Herald over Dungeon Geists as it is easier to cast and can trigger multiple times and has natural flash.
I don't think that Athreos is good enough for the maindeck (maybe a 1x-of in the SB) as it isn't relevant and does nothing in quite a few matchups and Selfless Spirit already provides protection from sweepers while actually doing something and working with the tribe.
I don't think it is better than Favorable Winds in this deck.
I would also play Nebelgast Herald over Dungeon Geists as it is easier to cast and can trigger multiple times and has natural flash.
In a deck full of flyers unblockability doesn't seem particulary necessary.
And Path to Exile is a better removal option than Dismember.
Dungeon Giests don't serve the same purpose that Nebelgast Herald serves. Nebel is a cantrip, where as Dungeon Giests is pseudo removal with a body. The reason I want Phantasmal Image is that it can be literally anything that is in play. It can be another copy of Drogskol captain, Mutavault, or even come into play as another Mausoleum Wanderer. It also lets me copy Dungeon Giests later on, though that is the one card I'm still debating on if it's useful. Path to Exile may be the better choice, though. We can exile a token to get a land as well as use it on the opponent.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
The ability reads:
"Whenever Nebelgast Herald or another Spirit enters the battlefield under your control, tap target creature an opponent controls."
So you tap down creatures but instead of just one with Dungeon Geists (that doesn't tntap later unless DG is removed) you can do it every time a spirit EtB.
Also coping Mutavault with P.Image is pointless as it will enter as just a land.
The ability reads:
"Whenever Nebelgast Herald or another Spirit enters the battlefield under your control, tap target creature an opponent controls."
So you tap down creatures but instead of just one with Dungeon Geists (that doesn't tntap later unless DG is removed) you can do it every time a spirit EtB.
Also coping Mutavault with P.Image is pointless as it will enter as just a land.
The point to copying a Mutavault is if you need an additional mana to cast something. Much like using Path to Exile on a token or your own creature to get an additional land. That and it still retains the ability to become a 2/2 creature of all types.
The reason why nebel is a cantrip is that it doesn't last past the next untap step. If we tap something with nebelgast, it's only going to be useful in regards to what actions can be performed on the turn the ability is used and that particular ability is very limited in scope. In D&D, we'd call it a cantrip. The ability on Dungeon Geists endures as long as the geist is present on the field, making it similar to a pacifism, which is definitely not a cantrip level spell. It permanently sticks to the creature in question and makes it so that permanent can never attack or block, or use any ability that requires itself to tap regardless of the progress of the game.
Both Nebelgast Herald and Dungeon Geists are great cards, the earlier one requires instant speed casts on the enemy turn to lock down a creature, though, while the later will remain in effect longer. I may switch to the former after I test the current build at my LGS. Nebel will work better with the Aether vial and drop the curve a bit as well.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
DnD terminology doesn't apply here. For M:tG, a "cantrip" very specifically means that it draws you a card in addition to whatever other effect it has.
I like Nebelgast Herald a little more in Lingering Souls builds, I think. In builds without Lingering Souls, I'm not sure which I think is better. 4 mana is a lot, though.
DnD terminology doesn't apply here. For M:tG, a "cantrip" very specifically means that it draws you a card in addition to whatever other effect it has.
I like Nebelgast Herald a little more in Lingering Souls builds, I think. In builds without Lingering Souls, I'm not sure which I think is better. 4 mana is a lot, though.
I'm going to give it a try with both. Given most spirits are nickels and dimes outside of Spell Queller and some other standard staples it's not hard to swap around and try things out with this deck unlike some other modern decks. At the end of the day it may all rotate back to Favorable Winds, so who knows. I'm fairly confident an all flying build is what we probably want to aim for at the moment with the Vial build.
Some lands are fillers until I can manage to get some Cavern of Souls. Also, does anyone here have experience with Rest in Peace vs Grafdigger's Cage? I'm trying to decide on which to sideboard for graveyard hate. Alternatively, there's also Relic of Progenitus.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Well, after some trial runs with friends last night on cockatrice I'm still feeling out the number of lands. Athreos, God of Passage had some interesting synergy, but I think I've been playing standard a bit too much, so I've mainboarded the two Favorable Winds. Athreos, God of Passage and Azorius Herald seemed like they worked well when I was up against burn and having the other guy decide between eating a bolt or letting me have a mausoleum wanderer back. Even Anger of the Gods wasn't too much of a problem on game 2 since I just ended up vialing in a selfless spirit and then sacrificing it.
So yeah, it's definitely fringe but a playable strategy. I never got to see Kira in action, though, and never really missed her either. I may cut it for an extra land. Also I'm switching out of Relic for Rest in Peace. Relic just wont work against dredge.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
So has anyone else been playing UW Spirits and has a listing they are using and want to post? I've been basing my own listing on Wescoe's list and it would be good to see what some other people are working with.
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Here's the list I was thinking of running. I ran something similar during Innistrad/RTR Standard and have been trying to evolve it. Sorry I'm on a mobile and can't format it.
I wanted to use more of a token strategy, with Lingering Souls, Spectral Procession, and occasionally Moorland Haunt creating flyers, Drogskol Captain and Mirror Entity pumping them up, and Selfless Spirit and Rattlechains to protect them. And Mausoleum Wanderer gets stronger the more spirits that come into play.
The mana base probably needs work and I probably need Cavern of Souls, but I was worried about casting Spectral Procession, especially with Mutavault and Moorland Haunt already in the deck. Also, I probably could use more Rattlechains, since it can stop a kill spell, besides being a two-mana 2-power flash flyer. I might go 4 Chains 2 Selfless Spirit instead. Also, I love Kira, but ran out of room at 3 CMC, but it probably deserves a spot. As for Aether Vial, I like it but not in this deck. Most of my creatures cost 2 or 3, unlike Merfolk where everything costs 1 or 2. It'd be great in an opening hand, but harder to get going after that.
I used to use Dungeon Geists in the Standard deck and I loved it. It was like a two-for-one, locking down a creature while I get a big flyer. Until they destroyed it. Then I felt like I got two-for-oned (which I guess really set the score back at one). I only mention this because Spell Queller reminds me of it. They're good, but they paint a target on themselves. However, Cavern of Souls, Rattlechains, and Drogskol Captain might give them resiliency.
6-drops are not very realistic to cast without ramp, and their abilities are good but not enough to justify playing them imho.
Even the cheaper Godhead of Awe which can be rather devastating against other creature decks isn't very playable.
As said on the comment, I loved when Eidolon of Rhetoric is on the ground and Spell Queller/any counter are on hand. You definetely lock them down. Vials give you the certanity of being untaped and play if necessary on their turn some spirits or counters.
As said on the comment, I loved when Eidolon of Rhetoric is on the ground and Spell Queller/any counter are on hand. You definetely lock them down. Vials give you the certanity of being untaped and play if necessary on their turn some spirits or counters.
Yeah, I really like the idea of having two Eidolon or Rhetoric at least in the sideboard. It's probably the safest way to deal with strategies that want to empty their hand super fast like aggro decks as it comes down a turn earlier than most board wipes we have. That and with Aether Vial we can cheat around the limitations. Have you thought about a singleton Thassa, God of the Sea to help Geist break through on the ground?
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Looks good, but I don't think it's good enough only for 1 creature. I mean, make him unblockable it's awesome, sure, but most of times you will have flying creatures, which almost always are evading all creatures. So that slot will be better for other cards.
Well, after some consideration and looking at the merfolk thread, I'm thinking that Relic of Progenitus may be the better sideboard card for this deck than RIP. Mainly, it lets us draw a card when we sacrifice it and that extra card can make a big difference in the vial version. Grafdigger's Cage should help stop Coco from running amok and in combination with Relic give a pretty broad coverage of the current meta. For burn I'm still on the fence with either Azorius Herald or the new Blessed Alliance. The multi-mode functionality of the later is pretty attractive. I'm still going towards Herald since the blue mana requirement isn't that bad and it's unblockable.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
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1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I was playing an Esper version with 4 Cavern of Souls, it was way to many. So I'm going to cut one or two of them.
It felt very good thought I made some clearly mistakes. But I loved the lock down with Eidolon of Rhetoric and Spell Queller. It goes pretty well against control and combo decks. I played also against little zoo, to overwhelming imo.
Also, many people was telling me that Supreme Verdict shouldn't be there on mainboard, maybe on sideboard.
So, after today experience, I'm going to try a UW version like this:
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
3 Selfless Spirit
4 Rattlechains
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Spell Queller
2 Nebelgast Herald
2 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Ojutai's Command
2 Cryptic Command
2 Path to Exile
2 Mana leak
2 Remand
4 x Aether Vial
Lands
22 Lands
The more I see it, the more I like it actually. It provide us 7 counters (without counting our creatures), 25 creatures, 2 removal, and help to keep our mana untaped thanks to vial.
Thinking on it, if you combine Eidolon of Rhetoric with Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, the opponent can never directly target your creatures without using some kind of creature ability first to bypass the Kira counter.
Also, it might pay to reduce the number of rattlechain's or just cut it from the listing entirely. I don't think it's a super strong card in modern since we got other options to grant hexproof.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
The flash is good, but it needs to be measured up against other useful effects. Generally, Merfolk is the poster child for this sort of thing with synergies, such as Merrow Reejerey. That and we likely can already flash things in with Aether Vial, so it's not quite as important as it is in Standard. If Nebelgast Herald was printed with Merrow Reejerey's ability I'd stick two in and cut two Rattlechains. There's also a lot more spirits to go through than I realized from prior sets that could deserve a spot in the deck. Dungeon Geists are a lot less problematic with all the hexproof and target removal protection the tribe gets.
If we do want to go full Rattlechains, I'm actually tempted to splash black for AThreos, God of Passage. With Aether Vial and Rattlechains on the field, even if an opponent sweeps the board we can instantly bring back the creatures to our hand to the battlefield unless the opponent eats a bolt to the face. In addition, it lets us potentially abuse the heck out of Selfless spirit, Kami of False Hope, etc. At worst, we can use Moorland haunt to turn the old spirit into a 1/1 flying spirit. That's assuming they can get past all the hexproof and what not. I might actually take it over Favorable Winds just because it punishes the opponent for sweeping our field. He's going to have to eat a lot of lightning bolt if he wants to stop 3-4 spirits from going to our hand, not to mention let us replay them once again. I mean, the best effects we have in spirits come from sacrifice. Lets abuse it until our face goes red.
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
3 Selfless Spirit
2 Rattlechains
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Spell Queller
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
2 Dungeon Geists
2 Dismember
2 Negate
4 Lingering Souls
Artifacts
4 Æther Vial
//Enchantments
2 Athreos, God of Passage
Planeswalkers
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Anguished Unmaking
3 Kami of False Hope
3 Azorius Herald
2 Kataki, War's Wage
3 Supreme Verdict
2 Disenchant
7 plains
9 island
5 utility
Some other ideas I've been toying with is Thassa, God of the Sea for granting unblockable and letting us get some card fixing. Spirits are great at defending themselves as we've got Selfless Spirit, Kami of False Hope, Spell Queller, Rattlechains, etc, but unlike merfolk they don't have a lot of low CC tribal options that give unblockable, or lords that have cool perks like Merrow Reejerey. We need to dig into non-spirit options to give us something.
We got a lot of good sideboard options, though. Nikko-Onna, Azorius Herald, Kataki, War's Wage.
From looking at various builds, some things we need to watch out for are Engineered Explosives, Chalice of the Void, Anger of the Gods, and possibly Rest in Peace, though we aren't as dependent on the Graveyard as some other decks are. There's also the issue that other aggro decks will trade favorably if we have to block since our deck isn't really built around pumping creatures to epic heights like Abzan Liege.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I don't think it is better than Favorable Winds in this deck.
I would also play Nebelgast Herald over Dungeon Geists as it is easier to cast and can trigger multiple times and has natural flash.
I would cut some Phantasmal Image instead of Rattlechains and Selfless Spirit for other creatures.
In a deck full of flyers unblockability doesn't seem particulary necessary.
And Path to Exile is a better removal option than Dismember.
Dungeon Giests don't serve the same purpose that Nebelgast Herald serves. Nebel is a cantrip, where as Dungeon Giests is pseudo removal with a body. The reason I want Phantasmal Image is that it can be literally anything that is in play. It can be another copy of Drogskol captain, Mutavault, or even come into play as another Mausoleum Wanderer. It also lets me copy Dungeon Giests later on, though that is the one card I'm still debating on if it's useful. Path to Exile may be the better choice, though. We can exile a token to get a land as well as use it on the opponent.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
The ability reads:
"Whenever Nebelgast Herald or another Spirit enters the battlefield under your control, tap target creature an opponent controls."
So you tap down creatures but instead of just one with Dungeon Geists (that doesn't tntap later unless DG is removed) you can do it every time a spirit EtB.
Also coping Mutavault with P.Image is pointless as it will enter as just a land.
The point to copying a Mutavault is if you need an additional mana to cast something. Much like using Path to Exile on a token or your own creature to get an additional land. That and it still retains the ability to become a 2/2 creature of all types.
Link to archived ruling: Phantasmal Image and Mutavault
The reason why nebel is a cantrip is that it doesn't last past the next untap step. If we tap something with nebelgast, it's only going to be useful in regards to what actions can be performed on the turn the ability is used and that particular ability is very limited in scope. In D&D, we'd call it a cantrip. The ability on Dungeon Geists endures as long as the geist is present on the field, making it similar to a pacifism, which is definitely not a cantrip level spell. It permanently sticks to the creature in question and makes it so that permanent can never attack or block, or use any ability that requires itself to tap regardless of the progress of the game.
Both Nebelgast Herald and Dungeon Geists are great cards, the earlier one requires instant speed casts on the enemy turn to lock down a creature, though, while the later will remain in effect longer. I may switch to the former after I test the current build at my LGS. Nebel will work better with the Aether vial and drop the curve a bit as well.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I like Nebelgast Herald a little more in Lingering Souls builds, I think. In builds without Lingering Souls, I'm not sure which I think is better. 4 mana is a lot, though.
I think Gift of Immortality is potentially a bit more useful than Athreos, God of Passage, but I do think Athreos is an interesting idea. And I like Thassa, God of the Sea in non-Tallowisp builds that are still running Geist of Saint Traft, but otherwise I don't think she's worth it.
I'm going to give it a try with both. Given most spirits are nickels and dimes outside of Spell Queller and some other standard staples it's not hard to swap around and try things out with this deck unlike some other modern decks. At the end of the day it may all rotate back to Favorable Winds, so who knows. I'm fairly confident an all flying build is what we probably want to aim for at the moment with the Vial build.
So the new build now looks something like this...
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
3 Selfless Spirit
3 Rattlechains
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Spell Queller
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
2 Nebelgast Herald
//Spells
2 Negate
4 Lingering Souls
2 Path to Exile
//Artifacts
4 Æther Vial
2 Athreos, God of Passage
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
//Lands
2 Polluted Delta
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Godless Shrine
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Nephalia Academy
4 Flooded Strand
3 Seachrome Coast
1 Watery Grave
4 Mutavault
1 Island
1 Plains
2 Anguished Unmaking
3 Azorius Herald
2 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Favorable Winds
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Tectonic Edge
Some lands are fillers until I can manage to get some Cavern of Souls. Also, does anyone here have experience with Rest in Peace vs Grafdigger's Cage? I'm trying to decide on which to sideboard for graveyard hate. Alternatively, there's also Relic of Progenitus.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
So yeah, it's definitely fringe but a playable strategy. I never got to see Kira in action, though, and never really missed her either. I may cut it for an extra land. Also I'm switching out of Relic for Rest in Peace. Relic just wont work against dredge.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Creatures
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Selfless Spirit
2 Rattlechains
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Mirror Entity
Spells
4 Serum Visions
3 Thoughtscour
4 Path to Exile
2 Dismember
4 Lingering Souls
4 Spectral Procession
Lands
4 Flooded Strand
1 Marsh Flats
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Watery Grave
1 Godless Shrine
4 Seachrome Coast
1 Plains
4 Mutavault
1 Moorland Haunt
I wanted to use more of a token strategy, with Lingering Souls, Spectral Procession, and occasionally Moorland Haunt creating flyers, Drogskol Captain and Mirror Entity pumping them up, and Selfless Spirit and Rattlechains to protect them. And Mausoleum Wanderer gets stronger the more spirits that come into play.
The mana base probably needs work and I probably need Cavern of Souls, but I was worried about casting Spectral Procession, especially with Mutavault and Moorland Haunt already in the deck. Also, I probably could use more Rattlechains, since it can stop a kill spell, besides being a two-mana 2-power flash flyer. I might go 4 Chains 2 Selfless Spirit instead. Also, I love Kira, but ran out of room at 3 CMC, but it probably deserves a spot. As for Aether Vial, I like it but not in this deck. Most of my creatures cost 2 or 3, unlike Merfolk where everything costs 1 or 2. It'd be great in an opening hand, but harder to get going after that.
I used to use Dungeon Geists in the Standard deck and I loved it. It was like a two-for-one, locking down a creature while I get a big flyer. Until they destroyed it. Then I felt like I got two-for-oned (which I guess really set the score back at one). I only mention this because Spell Queller reminds me of it. They're good, but they paint a target on themselves. However, Cavern of Souls, Rattlechains, and Drogskol Captain might give them resiliency.
Even the cheaper Godhead of Awe which can be rather devastating against other creature decks isn't very playable.
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
3 Selfless Spirit
4 Rattlechains
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Spell Queller
2 Nebelgast Herald
2 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Ojutai's Command
2 Cryptic Command
2 Path to Exile
2 Mana leak
2 Remand
4 x Aether Vial
Lands
22 Lands
As said on the comment, I loved when Eidolon of Rhetoric is on the ground and Spell Queller/any counter are on hand. You definetely lock them down. Vials give you the certanity of being untaped and play if necessary on their turn some spirits or counters.
Yeah, I really like the idea of having two Eidolon or Rhetoric at least in the sideboard. It's probably the safest way to deal with strategies that want to empty their hand super fast like aggro decks as it comes down a turn earlier than most board wipes we have. That and with Aether Vial we can cheat around the limitations. Have you thought about a singleton Thassa, God of the Sea to help Geist break through on the ground?
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!