The results are in, Esper Control is established! Rejoice, and be merry, control players! This Primer is all about Esper Walkers, not to be confused with Esper Dragons (which also performed well at the Pro Tour). It's mostly creatureless and certainly ruthless as you sweep, remove, exile and counter your enemy's threats into dust leaving them at the will of our all-star cast of Planeswalkers!
First, Seth Manfield's deck which has put us on the map by taking third place at the Shadows Over Innistrad Pro Tour in Madrid!
This deck features an all-star cast of Jace, Sorin, Narset and Ob Nixilis. They are all high utility, and serve an important purpose. The first thing you'll notice is that Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is in the sideboard. Certain to cause controversy, as he's dominated the previous rotations and it became conventional wisdom that any deck that even splashed blue needed a full play-set. Perhaps the sun has set on JVP, perhaps not. Time will tell, and the battle over his mainboard status will certainly rage on. Anywho, on to the first-string walkers!
Jace, Unraveler of Secrets is a powerhouse. He scry & draws, bounces creatures, and his ultimate pretty much locks your opponent out of casting. At that point, you're free to run roughshod over them while they futiley fizzle spells.
Narset Transcendent... I just love her. She helps make sure your hand stays stocked with counters, removal spells, and card draw. She will also rebound those spells for you, so you get two scoops! In many decks her +1 whiffs, but here you'll get a lot of hits. Her ultimate locks out other control decks entirely and prevents midrange/aggro from casting burn/removal at you.
Sorin, Grim Nemesis, he's amazing. Everything to love. The only drawback is he's expensive, so he wont show up to the party until later. BUT! He can win the game all by himself if you can protect him from removal. His +1 ability can devastate your opponents life total, his - ability can be used as removal/life gain, and his ultimate can overpower pretty much anyone.
Ob Nixilis Reignited gives you card draw, removal in a pinch, and an Emblem which can be an excellent win clock. His +1 stings a bit though, so you may not always be able to tick it safely.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar... Manfield didn't use him, but Gideon is an option as well for his token generation and 5/5 indestructible beater +1 ability. If your deck leans more white, you could justify running him over say, Ob Nixilis. The ability to generate blockers to protect himself and you can't be overlooked!
WUBCard DrawWUB
A big part of Control's power is from it's card advantage. It's even more critical in the current meta because many of the decks that aren't necessarily control have access to a lot of card advantage. We have to stay ahead of the curve! Most of our card draw is derived from all Walkers. In fact, all of them draw (save for Gideon, if you're running him)! But they could use a little help, especially earlier in the game. Manfield runs 4x Anticipate and I don't think anyone would dispute it. Most brews that were forming here also ran 4x and the ability to sift out the cards you need early on in the game is imperative. Ideally you want to drop an Anticipate on turn 2. Manfield also runs Dark Petition which is somewhat costly, but can fetch you a finisher like Sorin, Grim Nemesis or Sphinx of the Final Word late in the game should you need one. Other options include Painful Truths, Read the Bones, and Epiphany at the Drownyard should you decide to run them. I think Manfield opted out, mostly because the two best card draw spells had life loss attached and Epiphany is looty.
WUBRemoving ThreatsWUB
There's a lot of options out there for removal, and it's still early in the game to determine what combination is going to be the best long term as the meta becomes firmly established. Manfield went heavy into black for his removal, opting for the inexpensive Ultimate Price and Grasp of Darkness and general hitter Ruinous Path. The jury is still out whether these are superior to cards that exile like Declaration in Stone or Anguished Unmaking are viable in a control shell. The Clue tokens from Declaration could help your opponent recover from a sweeper and Anguished is painful at 3 life. One concern I personally had with Manfield's deck is him being unable to answer manlands, hexproof and indestructibles which is why I run 2x To the Slaughter in my deck. Again, the removal package isn't.. set in stone (see what I did there?). I think his removal package was tailored to deal with all the Flavor of the Moment Human decks that people were running. The meta going forward is going to have more complicated questions that will need more versatile answers.
WUBSweeping the CompetitionWUB
It is critical for control decks to keep the board clear, especially when facing aggro decks who quickly establish board presence and begin ramming our life total. To combat this, there are are a fair number of sweepers available in the Esper color palate. Languish is the one Manfield chose to make a 4x of, and at 4 CMC it's a pretty good deal and will clear off most creatures off the board. He also utilizes a 1x Planar Outburst which would be better for later in the game when creatures larger than 4 toughness are out on the battlefield. Other options you could choose from are Descend Upon the Sinful, Engulf the Shore, and Displacement Wave
WUBPERMISSION DENIED! All about CounterspellsWUB
Some are choosing to go lighter counterspell, some are choosing to go heavier. Manfield went on the light side, and opted for 2x Spell Shrivel to slim down his U costs. I personally prefer Void Shatter for the exile. Scatter to the Winds is an option if you want to awaken a land in the process. I think that like the removal package, the counter package will also ebb and flow with the meta and we haven't visited this section for the last time.
WUBClosing CrittersWUB
Manfield's deck features ONE, that's right, just ONE creature card in the mainboard. Sphinx of the Final Word is your insurance policy in the event your Walkers are unable to finish the match out for you. He can't be counter, he has hexproof, and he makes it so that your instants and sorceries (aka almost your whole deck) can't be countered. He's invaluable in match-ups with other control decks, and he's a pretty much guaranteed finisher. He can only be killed by something that forces you to sacrifice a creature. Other options include Dragonlord Ojutai and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet which Manfield has in the sideboard but could be mainboarded depending on your decklist. There's also some potential in Archangel of Tithes, as pointed out by Sasheen Soorani. This deck lacks the ability to consistently flip Archangel Avacyn so she's not discussed here.
WUBLastly, LandsWUB
The mana base of your deck is going to depend a lot on what you're running, as you want to ensure that you're going to be able to cast your spells as smoothly and consistently as possible. Manfield opted for a black-heavy decklist, and adjusted his mana accordingly. He also wanted to make sure that he could consistently Anticipate on Turn 2. One card that isn't optional, however, is Shambling Vent! The Vent is important for it's lifelink to claw you back from the brink after an onslaught from aggro. It fuels your spells that have life loss. It also chips away at your opponents life totals. I've had games where I Vent'd my opponent to death, as my other finishers didn't come through. You need your Vents! Other than that, special attention should be paid to insure most of your lands enter the battlefield untapped. Speed isn't as critical for Control as it is the other archetypes, but it does make a difference.
WUBNeal Oliver's Tips & TricksWUB
* Evolving Wilds can give you a shuffle with Narset if you see a land on top.
* If you plan to Narset plus, do that after your other activations to have a better chance of getting a spell. If you Narset before Sorin plus, for example, and have a land on top, you can't get past that land whereas the other order lets you get a spell if it's the second card (if a spell is first, you draw it off Sorin anyway).
* Sometimes it's right to play basics over taplands to ensure your topdecked battlelands enter untapped. For example, in Seth's game 5 versus Steve Rubin, I think he should have lead with Swamp over Shambling Vent to have an opportunity to draw a blue battleland turn 3 for his Spell Shrivels.
* Almost always fetch Swamp with Evolving Wilds if you're unsure what to get. Almost every game you want access to quad black, and occasionally you'll want 6 black sources in play.
* Don't board out so many spells that you'll have difficulty turning on spell mastery for Dark Petition. Also, consider shaving a Narset or 2 when bringing in 5-7 creatures from the board.
* The time you most want to activate Narset first is when you also have Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. If you draw a spell off Narset, you'll have a fuller and more informative hand for your Jace loot.
* You don't have to take the card off Narset. Occasionally you want to Narset before Sorin to see if you have a big card to flip for damage or need to use Sorin minus to stabilize.
WUBAdditional Links/ResourcesWUB
* Here is Neal Oliver's article on Esper Walkers, which is super informative and gives some insight on changes to the decklist you could make to suit your meta!
* Here is Manfield's post-PT write up about his deck! Definitely check it out.
* Here is a link to Seth Manfield playing against Steve Rubin in the Semi-Finals. Rubin would go on to win the Pro Tour, so watching this match-up will definitely be beneficial (since you're going to be seeing a lot of GW Tokens now).
* Here is a link to Seth Manfield playing against the legendary Jon Finkel and his break-out GB Control deck. This is beneficial to watch to see how to play against other control decks! One we will likely be seeing a lot of.
* Here is a link to other top Esper decks, so you can see what others are running and how they performed. I don't think that Manfield's decklist is the end-all-be-all, and there's plenty of room for experimentation and development!
This primer is a work-in-progress and I will do my best to keep it updated and accurate. If you have any input, please comment and I will certainly take it into consideration! Also note that this thread was started when Shadows Over Innistrad was spoiling, so there's a lot of pages of brewing and old information. Newer information starts on Page 5 if you'd like to skip there!
Anywho, good luck fellow Esperians and happy controlling!
I am not a fan of Transgress the Mind in the mainboard. Much like Negate, this card is going to have stronger applications when you know what your optimal timing is to actually use it and if it is largely necessary. Starting with it in your opening hand against something like RDW or even White Weenie, is just a total doozie. The card is strong, but I personally appreciate it out of the sideboard.
Sphinx of the Final Word might just be better as Linvala, the Preserver. You are already focusing on WW for Gideon, Ally of Zendikar - might as well trade the Hexproof and extra mana for a way more splashier effect. She is not as resilient to removal, but she can turn around games. Sphinx does not really do that. Control does not want to lose its win conditions, but sometimes it is probably better to play a better creature along with a tighter game to make sure they are safe, rather than using something like Hexproof to make sure they are safe.
WW for Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, BB for Languish, and UU for Jace, Unraveler of Secrets is daunting. I know a lot of people are going to tell you this, because it is partially true. But I am of the opinion that this mana base for Shard color set ups is pretty great, and you could even fit in colorless cards that cost pretty easily. But not if you are trying to get W, BB, and UU all in the mid game.
As for Engulf the Shore, I am a fan of the card. It is limited by requiring you to run a lot of Islands, but if you build your mana right the card is fine. You are running less removal than I am, so I suppose I am used to getting more mileage out of my early turns for a small Engulf the Shore to work - that and I am a pretty tight player, which helps when you are nickel and diming. Your sweepers are in there for the aggro decks, which are riddles with 2/1 and 2/2 creatures. You really only need 2 Islands by turn 4. Upping your spot removal will give you more mid game play for decks that run something like Sylvan Advocate while still letting you enjoy Engulf the Shore. I think our groups current test list is 2 Engulf the Shore / 1 Displacement Wave, 1 Languish. I am not certain how correct that is as it is strictly a noncommittal suite, but it is not horrible. Personally, I like a 2/2 or 3/1 split of Engulf the Shore and Languish respectively. Instant speed casts on shores against aggro with a tap out play can really put you back into the game on turns 4 and 5.
I briefly mentioned my drawing set up in the other thread, and it is still just 4 Anticipate, 2 Epiphany at the Drownyard, 3 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, 3 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, and 2 Sorin, Grim Nemesis, and against midrange or control decks, I usually end the game with a rather small library, sometimes I have even been mere cards away from decking myself. I think people are underestimating how much these colors can actually draw with such a density of cards that do other things, while drawing - that they overlook that they are actually drawing cards.
So I was in the midst of making some sweeping changes while you were commenting then made more with your advice.
There was a lot of shifting around and I'm going to have to seriously look at the mana base to figure out if the changes are sustainable and that my curve is right where it needs to be. Admittedly, my weakest area as far as deck building goes.
EDIT:
I uploaded the latest Decklist to TappedOut and it looks like I have plenty of white and black mana available (slight surplus of white) and my average CMC is only 3.1 so I think the current land set should be okay. You can view it HERE if you want to see it.
We had Narset Transcendent in our list early on as a 1 of, she was great for rebounding removal, but we ended up cutting her for more removal instead. She is a fine card, but it was rough tapping 4 for her sometimes when you wanted to leave mana up and it was worth paying the extra mana for Jace. In the late game, we wanted our counter spells to be protecting a more advantageous planeswalker as well. I am still up in the air on her as I suspect she just needs to know what the meta will settle out to in terms of speed.
We also had Gideon, Ally of Zendikar in early and he was moved to the board. He was pretty ineffective a fair amount of the time. I am sure we will come back to him, he was not bad by any means.
What matches are you struggling with and what matches are you accelerating at?
Since this threads in here i guess i'll post my thoughts here too
I'm wondering is everyone forgetting about Ultimate price?
With the format rotating and us going back to 1/2/3 color decks and a huge shift away from multicolor in general wouldn't UP be a premier piece of removal?
Are there enough decks anticipated that it's just a bad card?
I wouldn't say it's bad, I'm sure a lot of decks running black will use it, but with my build I'm going max utility and reach. My 2 drop removal is Declaration in Stone which doesn't just destroy, it exiles. And it works on any color. And it sweeps duplicates of that card off the battlefield, too. Maximum utility and reach for maximum impact.
I've been trying out Trail of Evidence and really liking it in a control shell. It gives you so much long game potential and forces opponents to try and extend in order to out race it. It's not great against aggro or ramp strategies so I've been running two in the sixty, but they are still great sideboard against midrange and other control decks.
On the Topic of Declaration in Stone
This card is nuts. You may be giving your opponent a Clue token, but you have to think about what that token actually means, and a majority of our test games, it is time. Instead of them casting cards on their turn, they spend 2 to draw a card. I am okay with that. Instead of spending 2 on their turn, they do nothing with that 2 and pop the clue on my turn. I am okay with that, better than a 2 mana creature that represents damage. It is also something that sometimes has to be severely delayed, meaning they are not getting the card right away - I am perfectly fine with that. Some of my favorite text in the game comes straight from Wall of Denial, because it points out the foundation for every control deck - time.
Is giving them a clue optimal? Not really. But neither was giving them 5 life or a basic land. Sure, this spell is not 1 white mana and instant speed, but this is also very different from those formats and can do something that those spells did not - hit multiple creatures at ones without having to pay X. There is premium value in this card that is not written on the card.
On the Topic of Epiphany at the Graveyard
I think people overrate this card. You have to cast it for a lot in order to get good value out of it. Most of my experience is that you roll over lands and 1 or 2 good spells that you have to split. Sometimes you get wicket piles, but not often enough that you can cast it on the cheap. Throwing lots of cards in your bin without having a quick way to kill someone, means you run the risk of decking yourself in a grindy game. I think 4 is too many, the card is not that good.
Not sure if you're looking to run a low creature count, but Reflector Mage and Linvala, the Preserver coupled with Eldrazi Displacer can provide lots of value. The life gain from Linvala can prove especially critical when running the gauntlet with aggro decks.
Third, ive found the awaken mode on scatter to the winds extremely relevant, did you find the exile clause on shatter to be that much more relevant?
I think Exile is more beneficial, for several reasons.
1) Exile removes a threat completely from the board. It's not regenerated. It's not being fetched from the graveyard. It's not counting towards delerium. It's gone.
2) Paying the Awaken cost will likely tap out my mana supply, leaving my real threats vulnerable to removal.
3) Awaken turns my land into a creature, which can be killed. My deck runs 1 creature spell. By the time that I can afford to pay the Awaken cost, they likely have at least one creature removal spell burning a hole in their hand and a 3/3 creature isn't worth protecting.
So it most likely gets removed, I'm down a land, and I may have been tapped out and unable to defend my Planeswalkers from a To The Slaughter, Anguished Unmaking or some burn spell.
Regarding creatures, I think those would be more beneficial in a tempo deck. I don't have the resources to defend those from removal AND protect my Walkers (who are the win conditions). This deck is solely focused on locking down the board so the Walkers can tick in peace. The one creature I have is an insurance policy, in the event the Walkers drop the ball or I'm matched up against another control deck. He's incredibly difficult to remove, can't be countered, and helps shut down mirror decks. I've considered Linvala in the sideboard for Aggro match-ups to help recover from an early onslaught but the jury is still out on that. She's a mana hog and her benefit is conditional. I certainly wouldn't mainboard her in this deck.
I'm going to start writing a little primer for the deck so that it's a little more clear what it's doing.
The awaken is way more relevant if you are only running Jace and Sorin. I have gotten a lot of games by getting a Jace emblem off and riding the awoken land to a close.
I can certainly see it being useful in some builds, it just doesn't fit in this build and I'm not comfortable gambling with my lands. I have Gideon and 3x Shambling Vents to DPS for me when I need them to. Turning Vents is still a gamble, but a lot of the removal they'd use on them would be sorcery speed and they turn back into lands after my turn is up.
On the Topic of Declaration in Stone
This card is nuts. You may be giving your opponent a Clue token, but you have to think about what that token actually means, and a majority of our test games, it is time. Instead of them casting cards on their turn, they spend 2 to draw a card. I am okay with that. Instead of spending 2 on their turn, they do nothing with that 2 and pop the clue on my turn. I am okay with that, better than a 2 mana creature that represents damage. It is also something that sometimes has to be severely delayed, meaning they are not getting the card right away - I am perfectly fine with that. Some of my favorite text in the game comes straight from Wall of Denial, because it points out the foundation for every control deck - time.
Is giving them a clue optimal? Not really. But neither was giving them 5 life or a basic land. Sure, this spell is not 1 white mana and instant speed, but this is also very different from those formats and can do something that those spells did not - hit multiple creatures at ones without having to pay X. There is premium value in this card that is not written on the card.
On the Topic of Epiphany at the Graveyard
I think people overrate this card. You have to cast it for a lot in order to get good value out of it. Most of my experience is that you roll over lands and 1 or 2 good spells that you have to split. Sometimes you get wicket piles, but not often enough that you can cast it on the cheap. Throwing lots of cards in your bin without having a quick way to kill someone, means you run the risk of decking yourself in a grindy game. I think 4 is too many, the card is not that good.
Perhaps. I will give it a shot and see how I feel about it.
This decklist is definitely nice, but what about dropping black?
The main trouble I see is that there isnt very much lifegain in this list, only 2 sources mainboard, a 1 of 6 drop and a 3 of man land that is somewhat dangerous. Seems like Aggro can still run through, maybe not every time, but quite a bit of the time. I see this being especially troublesome early after rotation when there are a lot of fast decks and we dont know for sure what the main threats are. Also, Anguished Unmaking is probably my favorite spoiled card so far, its freaking amazing, but I dont see this deck having enough lifegain, even with just a 2 of to use. I feel like it may just be a dead card in a lot of match ups.
Just UW leaves us with our main removal in Declaration in Stone, allows for a better/more consistent Engulf the Shore or Displacement Wave (which I like a lot, but sorc speed). It frees up 9 slots while making room for other items. For staying alive, since you dont have a single 1-drop, what about something like Prism Ring, I know it seems silly, but in my testing its added up a lot, especially in my grindy decks. It also beckons the question of it they want to waste removal for it, some decks cant remove it, and some may only have something like Anguished Unmaking. And if someone uses an Anguished Unmaking to kill a Prism Ring, I think you're doing pretty well haha.
Another card I like from the new cards is a sorcery, but cheap enough to still hold some stuff up, is Not Forgotten. Its quite a bit cheaper than Learn from the Past, and can hose the same things, though not quite as well, but does give you a token, maybe not optimal, but worth considering. I also like being able to control their draws if I choose to put it on the top. I learned that lesson from Azorius Charm in RTR making me constantly draw my freaking 1 drop or battle trick after I have no creatures.
- Losing black eviscerates our removal package. Over half of it, in fact. You can't play pure control without a solid removal package. Also nixes your Languish which is a powerful sweeper against Aggro.
- You lose Sorin, Grim Nemesis. This reason alone is enough to scuttle that idea. He's our major finisher and is a powerhouse we can't do without.
- If you want to do UW, you need to get out of control and go Tempo instead. There's some neat things going on with UW spirits and you can do some fun things with Reflector Mage and Eldrazi Displacer. The cards just aren't there to do UW pure control though, you won't be able to protect your walkers and you'll lack the finishing power.
Regarding Learn from the Past, I think you missed its purpose. This deck runs a serious risk of decking itself if the game goes long. We have card advantage out the wazoo, especially late game. This card puts your graveyard back in your library to prevent that from happening. Or it could be used aggressively to remove the opponents graveyard in event they are running Delerium or some other sort of graveyard manipulation.
You should definitely check out the stuff going on in UW Spirits/Tempo. I think that's more what you're looking for.
Just a semantic point but you have Ruinous Path listed as an instant when it is actually a sorcery (which greatly hinders it's use). I also have to echo the comment about Ultimate Price. Should be in here as decks will be returning to a less multi-color creature state with Khans/Fate rotating, and it hits Jace before he can start looting.
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Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
I am so excited to read this thread. I've been thinking a lot about an Esper control deck post rotation, and here are just a few of my thoughts after seeing your deck list:
Land Base
I really think the new shadow dual lands will be better than the battle lands. Reason being, with the rotation coming 3 color decks are going to be a lot more challenging to pull off. The old battle lands required you to have 2 copies of basic lands in play, which after the rotation is going to be a lot harder to pull off. The new shadow dual lands, however, come into play untapped if you reveal ANY type of the required land in hand. What that means is shadow lands encourage your land base to be dual lands, where the battle lands encourage your land base to be basic, and in a 3 color deck you're going to need the majority of your lands to be dual lands. My conclusion, essentially, is that any Esper deck will want the first 12 lands to be:
These first 12 lands give you all 3 colors you need with virtually no lose of tempo with the land coming into play tapped. Now, if we're running 26 lands, that leaves 14 lands left for us. Say we only run 3 Sunken Hollow and 3 Prairie Stream that leaves only 8 land slots available for basics, which means the battle lands are probably going to come into play tapped. This doesn't mean there should be no battle lands, but with so little basics that are going to be available, and no fetch lands, I think it best to try and build the land base with the knowledge that 90% of the time the battle lands are come into play tapped dual lands. Personally, I think the above 12, and a couple Shambling Vent with the rest being basics and battle lands to match the ratios of colors is the best approach. Even a little spice with something like Skyline Cascade could have a place.
After seeing the new previews the cards I am most excited about are, the ones mentioned, Declaration in Stone and Anguished Unmaking. I feel like these 2 cards are going to be huge in standard, and in all honesty are the main reason I want to make an esper control deck. I think these 2 cards are going to be the absolute best removals in the format. The only gripe I have is that Declaration in Stone is a sorcery, and not an instant, but the quality of the card is so good that I suppose the sorcery speed of it can be overlooked. A turn 2, hard exile removal is just so amazing for any control deck, and not only that but most of the time I would rather my opponent waste their next turn drawing a card from the clue it leaves them. That's basically 2 free turns for me to develop my mana get my own card draw rolling. So good!
A couple of the missing cards from the deck I need to comment on. First, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. Jace does so, so, so much more than simply fill up your graveyard. There is a reason why a turn 2 Jace is considered the strongest move one could make in the format right now, with a turn 4 rhino arguably the only move more powerful. Looting on turn 3 is actually kind of a staple for control decks. It smooths out your mana curve, lets you draw into the removal or counter you need if your a little flooded, and just generally helps you progress the game for you to make it to the later stages, which is where a control deck wants to get. His looting alone makes him valuable for a control deck, I mean your running Anticipate for just that reason. Oh and then he becomes one of the most powerful planeswalkers in the format after that! His buyback with the huge selection of instants and sorceries in your deck is just crazy! I'd strongly consider including him in the deck.
Also I think your card draw for the deck is currently a little weak. right now I'm seeing 2 copies of Epiphany at the Drownyard which I'm kind of meh on. at 6 mana it gets you 3 cards, with your opponent having a say in those cards. It's not even a decent scry, because say you spend the 6 mana on it, and make a group of 3 spells and 3 lands, guess what your opponent is going to choose for you to take. Even worse is if you put your 1 and only copy of Sphinx in one of the piles, somehow I don't see your opponent letting you keep that pile. The biggest card draw in the format now is Dig Through Time and is not easily replaced. In fact I think Dig is banned in like every format now, so once it leaves standard the card will probably never be seen again. Painful Truths on the other hand has proven itself to be the new premier card draw spell, and I think that is unlikely to change. You mentioned Read the Bones, but truths is actually a much better quality 3 mana spell when you get the 3 color converge on it. The only time you would want bones over truth, is in a 2 color deck. The 2 other cards I would consider for the top end card draw to try and mitigate the lose of Dig are Dragonlord's Prerogative and Ugin's Insight. Dragonlord's is a 6 mana for 4 cards, so already it has more value than epiphany, which would need to be 8 mana for 4 cards, and with your Sphinx in play Ugin's is a scry 7 draw 3, which is a better than Dig, but only if you have that 1 card in your deck in play. Which brings me to my next point.
Only 1 copy of Sphinx of the Final Word is simply not enough to close out the game. Don't get me wrong, I think Sphinx is an amazing card, but I think 1, possibly 2, copies of it belong in your sideboard against those annoying, grindy, control mirrors. You said it yourself, with the new rotation coming there's going to be a lot of aggro decks out there, and Sphinx just has no business being your closer against aggro decks. This deck needs that end game bomb that turns the corner for you and lets you win in a, somewhat, timely fashion. My 3 current favorite end game finishers are Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, Linvala, the Preserver, and Dragonlord Ojutai. Out of those 3 Linvala is my personal favorite. I think she is just about the most powerful card in the format right now, with the potential to just win on turn 6. 5 life and a number of flying, heavy hitting angels is how you close out a game. I think Kalitas is another amazing card, and the lifelink he has is very much so needed in this deck, but personally I think he works best in a grixis deck with Radiant Flames. Now I know you said this was a dragonless esper control deck, which I very much so love, but keep in mind that Dragonlord Ojutai is an insanely powerful card, and one that has proven itself in the format for years now. Couple this with the proven synergy of both Silumgar's Scorn and Dragonlord's Prerogative, all of which will stay in rotation, and all of which have a track record of working very well together, and it's worth considering keeping them in the deck. the 2 new bombs that I've seen in SOI are Sorin, Grim Nemesis and Archangel Avacyn. Not sure how those 2 will perform, but IMO Linvala and Ojutai are the best picks for the 5 and 6 mana finisher slots. Whichever finisher you go with however, I would definitely have at least 4 in your deck, possibly 4 and then 2 of another, for a total of 6 actual finshers.
Anyways very sorry for the long rant, hopefully something of use is in the giant wall of text.
Honestly I still like reid dukes approach to.esper as mage ring network is still legal. Put two copies in the land base and while early your just removing dudes or countering they're will be some.turns you have free mana and why not just put some.counters on it and can late pop it to cast a sorin for 3 mana basically or jace or anything really.
I guess we will have to agree to disagree on JVP. I really don't see him being valuable here, he will almost certainly be removed and I'd be dumping him as soon as I could cast JUoS.
Being able to flashback 1 spell every 3 turns assuming he doesn't get removed isn't enough card value for me. His +1 is garbage, especially considering the board SHOULD be empty by the time a Jace could flip. His milling ultimate ability is useless and as was pointed out earlier, would fuel delirium. I know Standard has had an infatuation with him but he's frankly the most overhyped card in the history of standard. When he rotates and card value falls 80 dollars, ya'll gonna have pie on ya face.
Sphinx of the Final Word isn't THE finisher, he's Plan B in the event my main finishers (Walkers) aren't able to seal the deal. I've been considering making room for 1x of him in the sideboard for when facing control decks. The sideboard will really be developed once the meta develops. Which is another point I want to make, a lot of these cards are intentionally chosen to be versatile in the early meta because we have no idea what we are going to be matched up with. Once things become more clear, I certainly intend to do some narrowing.
Regarding the mana base, I'm happy with where I'm at. I'm not comfortable with Cave of Koilos as long as aggro is common. I'm not comfortable with life loss in general, which is why I've pulled my Read the Bones copies out for now. I don't like Epiphany at the Drownyard but it's the best option until midrange stabilizes the meta.
I'll put it this way, I already preemptively ordered many of the cards you've guys have suggested for when the meta becomes clearer and their prices rise. I'm well prepared to make changes once we know what exactly we are going to be dealing with.
JVP is like everything a control decks wants. Filters your hand and casts spells from the yard not to mention his ultimate actually wins the game. The new jaces ult suse it makes it hard but it doesn't stop a man land vs casting 2-3 spells a turn and milling them 10-15 cards a turn out races probably even two manlands.
Now if you don't have them (which not to be a dick is the case most of the time argues against him) just say so instead of saying he doesn't do anything for your deck as we have miles and miles of evidence to disprove that.
Well you should have just said you can't afford JVP so you're trying to make a deck with out him
Part of the reason Jace is so popular now is entirely because of the fetchlands, which makes mana base a lot easier to splash colors in, and because they fill up the graveyard quickly, all of which results in the 4 color CoCo decks which have 4 jaces, or the abzan blue decks which have 4 jaces, etc...
Just because the current standard meta lends itself to a lot of uses for JVP, it doesn't mean he's still not a very powerful card. The last point I'll make about it is that he does, literally everything, you want to accomplish as a control deck starting on turn 3.
Also I'm not sure what you mean about Epiphany at the Drownyard being the best option until midrange stabilizes the meta? Control decks need their big card draw for A) general card advantage and B)drawing the right removal you need for a certain situation. Since Dig Through Time is being rotated out, there needs be a replacement for it, and epiphany does not seem to be it. If you're not comfortable with the life loss of Painful Truths then I would go with either Dragonlord's Prerogative or possibly either Ugin's Insight or comparative Analysis.
Also, as for the life loss issue, I would consider bording Ojutai's Command in your main. you generate great card advantage early on with it, and can get really good life gain later in the game with it. It also has great synergy with a certain 2 mana costing creature that I'm not mentioning again.
Anyways like I said I'm really excited for the new rotation and I most certainly am planning on making an Esper control. For now I'm waiting until the final release of all the cards for SOI before I decide on my deck, but once I dot I will gladly post.
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First, Seth Manfield's deck which has put us on the map by taking third place at the Shadows Over Innistrad Pro Tour in Madrid!
2 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
3 Narset Transcendent
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
2 Sorin, Grim Nemesis
Creatures (1)
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
Sorcery (9)
2 Dark Petition
4 Languish
1 Planar Outburst
2 Ruinous Path
Instants (15)
4 Anticipate
4 Grasp of Darkness
1 Silumgar's Command
2 Spell Shrivel
4 Ultimate Price
1 Choked Estuary
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Island
1 Plains
4 Prairie Stream
4 Shambling Vent
4 Sunken Hollow
6 Swamp
2 Dragonlord Ojutai
3 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Anguished Unmaking
2 Duress
1 Infinite Obliteration
2 Negate
1 Transgress the Mind
This deck features an all-star cast of Jace, Sorin, Narset and Ob Nixilis. They are all high utility, and serve an important purpose. The first thing you'll notice is that Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is in the sideboard. Certain to cause controversy, as he's dominated the previous rotations and it became conventional wisdom that any deck that even splashed blue needed a full play-set. Perhaps the sun has set on JVP, perhaps not. Time will tell, and the battle over his mainboard status will certainly rage on. Anywho, on to the first-string walkers!
A big part of Control's power is from it's card advantage. It's even more critical in the current meta because many of the decks that aren't necessarily control have access to a lot of card advantage. We have to stay ahead of the curve! Most of our card draw is derived from all Walkers. In fact, all of them draw (save for Gideon, if you're running him)! But they could use a little help, especially earlier in the game. Manfield runs 4x Anticipate and I don't think anyone would dispute it. Most brews that were forming here also ran 4x and the ability to sift out the cards you need early on in the game is imperative. Ideally you want to drop an Anticipate on turn 2. Manfield also runs Dark Petition which is somewhat costly, but can fetch you a finisher like Sorin, Grim Nemesis or Sphinx of the Final Word late in the game should you need one. Other options include Painful Truths, Read the Bones, and Epiphany at the Drownyard should you decide to run them. I think Manfield opted out, mostly because the two best card draw spells had life loss attached and Epiphany is looty.
There's a lot of options out there for removal, and it's still early in the game to determine what combination is going to be the best long term as the meta becomes firmly established. Manfield went heavy into black for his removal, opting for the inexpensive Ultimate Price and Grasp of Darkness and general hitter Ruinous Path. The jury is still out whether these are superior to cards that exile like Declaration in Stone or Anguished Unmaking are viable in a control shell. The Clue tokens from Declaration could help your opponent recover from a sweeper and Anguished is painful at 3 life. One concern I personally had with Manfield's deck is him being unable to answer manlands, hexproof and indestructibles which is why I run 2x To the Slaughter in my deck. Again, the removal package isn't.. set in stone (see what I did there?). I think his removal package was tailored to deal with all the Flavor of the Moment Human decks that people were running. The meta going forward is going to have more complicated questions that will need more versatile answers.
It is critical for control decks to keep the board clear, especially when facing aggro decks who quickly establish board presence and begin ramming our life total. To combat this, there are are a fair number of sweepers available in the Esper color palate. Languish is the one Manfield chose to make a 4x of, and at 4 CMC it's a pretty good deal and will clear off most creatures off the board. He also utilizes a 1x Planar Outburst which would be better for later in the game when creatures larger than 4 toughness are out on the battlefield. Other options you could choose from are Descend Upon the Sinful, Engulf the Shore, and Displacement Wave
Some are choosing to go lighter counterspell, some are choosing to go heavier. Manfield went on the light side, and opted for 2x Spell Shrivel to slim down his U costs. I personally prefer Void Shatter for the exile. Scatter to the Winds is an option if you want to awaken a land in the process. I think that like the removal package, the counter package will also ebb and flow with the meta and we haven't visited this section for the last time.
Manfield's deck features ONE, that's right, just ONE creature card in the mainboard. Sphinx of the Final Word is your insurance policy in the event your Walkers are unable to finish the match out for you. He can't be counter, he has hexproof, and he makes it so that your instants and sorceries (aka almost your whole deck) can't be countered. He's invaluable in match-ups with other control decks, and he's a pretty much guaranteed finisher. He can only be killed by something that forces you to sacrifice a creature. Other options include Dragonlord Ojutai and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet which Manfield has in the sideboard but could be mainboarded depending on your decklist. There's also some potential in Archangel of Tithes, as pointed out by Sasheen Soorani. This deck lacks the ability to consistently flip Archangel Avacyn so she's not discussed here.
The mana base of your deck is going to depend a lot on what you're running, as you want to ensure that you're going to be able to cast your spells as smoothly and consistently as possible. Manfield opted for a black-heavy decklist, and adjusted his mana accordingly. He also wanted to make sure that he could consistently Anticipate on Turn 2. One card that isn't optional, however, is Shambling Vent! The Vent is important for it's lifelink to claw you back from the brink after an onslaught from aggro. It fuels your spells that have life loss. It also chips away at your opponents life totals. I've had games where I Vent'd my opponent to death, as my other finishers didn't come through. You need your Vents! Other than that, special attention should be paid to insure most of your lands enter the battlefield untapped. Speed isn't as critical for Control as it is the other archetypes, but it does make a difference.
* If you plan to Narset plus, do that after your other activations to have a better chance of getting a spell. If you Narset before Sorin plus, for example, and have a land on top, you can't get past that land whereas the other order lets you get a spell if it's the second card (if a spell is first, you draw it off Sorin anyway).
* Sometimes it's right to play basics over taplands to ensure your topdecked battlelands enter untapped. For example, in Seth's game 5 versus Steve Rubin, I think he should have lead with Swamp over Shambling Vent to have an opportunity to draw a blue battleland turn 3 for his Spell Shrivels.
* Almost always fetch Swamp with Evolving Wilds if you're unsure what to get. Almost every game you want access to quad black, and occasionally you'll want 6 black sources in play.
* Don't board out so many spells that you'll have difficulty turning on spell mastery for Dark Petition. Also, consider shaving a Narset or 2 when bringing in 5-7 creatures from the board.
* The time you most want to activate Narset first is when you also have Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. If you draw a spell off Narset, you'll have a fuller and more informative hand for your Jace loot.
* You don't have to take the card off Narset. Occasionally you want to Narset before Sorin to see if you have a big card to flip for damage or need to use Sorin minus to stabilize.
* Here is Neal Oliver's article on Esper Walkers, which is super informative and gives some insight on changes to the decklist you could make to suit your meta!
* Here is Manfield's post-PT write up about his deck! Definitely check it out.
* Here is a link to Seth Manfield playing against Steve Rubin in the Semi-Finals. Rubin would go on to win the Pro Tour, so watching this match-up will definitely be beneficial (since you're going to be seeing a lot of GW Tokens now).
* Here is a link to Seth Manfield playing against the legendary Jon Finkel and his break-out GB Control deck. This is beneficial to watch to see how to play against other control decks! One we will likely be seeing a lot of.
* Here is a link to other top Esper decks, so you can see what others are running and how they performed. I don't think that Manfield's decklist is the end-all-be-all, and there's plenty of room for experimentation and development!
3x Choked Estuary
4x Evolving Wilds
2x Island
1x Plains
2x Prairie Stream
4x Shambling Vent
4x Sunken Hollow
6x Swamp
Planeswalker (8)
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
2x Narset Transcendent
1x Ob Nixilis Reignited
2x Sorin, Grim Nemesis
4x Anticipate
2x Grasp of Darkness
3x Spell Shrivel
2x To the Slaughter
3x Ultimate Price
Sorcery (11)
2x Dark Petition
2x Declaration in Stone
4x Languish
1x Planar Outburst
2x Ruinous Path
Creature (1)
1x Sphinx of the Final Word
2x Anguished Unmaking
1x Infinite Obliteration
3x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
1x Narset Transcendent
3x Negate
1x Planar Outburst
1x Sphinx of the Final Word
2x Thing in the Ice
1x Virulent Plague
This primer is a work-in-progress and I will do my best to keep it updated and accurate. If you have any input, please comment and I will certainly take it into consideration! Also note that this thread was started when Shadows Over Innistrad was spoiling, so there's a lot of pages of brewing and old information. Newer information starts on Page 5 if you'd like to skip there!
Anywho, good luck fellow Esperians and happy controlling!
WUBEsper ControlWUB
WUBEsper ControlWUB
Sphinx of the Final Word might just be better as Linvala, the Preserver. You are already focusing on WW for Gideon, Ally of Zendikar - might as well trade the Hexproof and extra mana for a way more splashier effect. She is not as resilient to removal, but she can turn around games. Sphinx does not really do that. Control does not want to lose its win conditions, but sometimes it is probably better to play a better creature along with a tighter game to make sure they are safe, rather than using something like Hexproof to make sure they are safe.
WW for Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, BB for Languish, and UU for Jace, Unraveler of Secrets is daunting. I know a lot of people are going to tell you this, because it is partially true. But I am of the opinion that this mana base for Shard color set ups is pretty great, and you could even fit in colorless cards that cost pretty easily. But not if you are trying to get W, BB, and UU all in the mid game.
As for Engulf the Shore, I am a fan of the card. It is limited by requiring you to run a lot of Islands, but if you build your mana right the card is fine. You are running less removal than I am, so I suppose I am used to getting more mileage out of my early turns for a small Engulf the Shore to work - that and I am a pretty tight player, which helps when you are nickel and diming. Your sweepers are in there for the aggro decks, which are riddles with 2/1 and 2/2 creatures. You really only need 2 Islands by turn 4. Upping your spot removal will give you more mid game play for decks that run something like Sylvan Advocate while still letting you enjoy Engulf the Shore. I think our groups current test list is 2 Engulf the Shore / 1 Displacement Wave, 1 Languish. I am not certain how correct that is as it is strictly a noncommittal suite, but it is not horrible. Personally, I like a 2/2 or 3/1 split of Engulf the Shore and Languish respectively. Instant speed casts on shores against aggro with a tap out play can really put you back into the game on turns 4 and 5.
I briefly mentioned my drawing set up in the other thread, and it is still just 4 Anticipate, 2 Epiphany at the Drownyard, 3 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, 3 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, and 2 Sorin, Grim Nemesis, and against midrange or control decks, I usually end the game with a rather small library, sometimes I have even been mere cards away from decking myself. I think people are underestimating how much these colors can actually draw with such a density of cards that do other things, while drawing - that they overlook that they are actually drawing cards.
There was a lot of shifting around and I'm going to have to seriously look at the mana base to figure out if the changes are sustainable and that my curve is right where it needs to be. Admittedly, my weakest area as far as deck building goes.
One thing I do want to point out is 1x Learn from the Past I added to the main board. That serves two purposes: either I can use it to avert decking myself OR I can snatch away a graveyard deck's graveyard. Bye bye, Delerium! I also lost 2x Read the Bones for a more conservative 2x Epiphany at the Drownyard, sideboarded 2x Ojutai's Command for 2x Ruinous Path and adopted Clash of Wills instead of Negate
Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?
EDIT:
I uploaded the latest Decklist to TappedOut and it looks like I have plenty of white and black mana available (slight surplus of white) and my average CMC is only 3.1 so I think the current land set should be okay. You can view it HERE if you want to see it.
WUBEsper ControlWUB
We had Narset Transcendent in our list early on as a 1 of, she was great for rebounding removal, but we ended up cutting her for more removal instead. She is a fine card, but it was rough tapping 4 for her sometimes when you wanted to leave mana up and it was worth paying the extra mana for Jace. In the late game, we wanted our counter spells to be protecting a more advantageous planeswalker as well. I am still up in the air on her as I suspect she just needs to know what the meta will settle out to in terms of speed.
We also had Gideon, Ally of Zendikar in early and he was moved to the board. He was pretty ineffective a fair amount of the time. I am sure we will come back to him, he was not bad by any means.
What matches are you struggling with and what matches are you accelerating at?
I'm wondering is everyone forgetting about Ultimate price?
With the format rotating and us going back to 1/2/3 color decks and a huge shift away from multicolor in general wouldn't UP be a premier piece of removal?
Are there enough decks anticipated that it's just a bad card?
WUBEsper ControlWUB
On the Topic of Declaration in Stone
This card is nuts. You may be giving your opponent a Clue token, but you have to think about what that token actually means, and a majority of our test games, it is time. Instead of them casting cards on their turn, they spend 2 to draw a card. I am okay with that. Instead of spending 2 on their turn, they do nothing with that 2 and pop the clue on my turn. I am okay with that, better than a 2 mana creature that represents damage. It is also something that sometimes has to be severely delayed, meaning they are not getting the card right away - I am perfectly fine with that. Some of my favorite text in the game comes straight from Wall of Denial, because it points out the foundation for every control deck - time.
Is giving them a clue optimal? Not really. But neither was giving them 5 life or a basic land. Sure, this spell is not 1 white mana and instant speed, but this is also very different from those formats and can do something that those spells did not - hit multiple creatures at ones without having to pay X. There is premium value in this card that is not written on the card.
On the Topic of Epiphany at the Graveyard
I think people overrate this card. You have to cast it for a lot in order to get good value out of it. Most of my experience is that you roll over lands and 1 or 2 good spells that you have to split. Sometimes you get wicket piles, but not often enough that you can cast it on the cheap. Throwing lots of cards in your bin without having a quick way to kill someone, means you run the risk of decking yourself in a grindy game. I think 4 is too many, the card is not that good.
Havent been the biggest fan of narset, where sorin wins the game vs an empty board
UWRjeskai nahiri UWR
UBRgrixis titi UBR
UBRgrixis delverUBR
UR ur kikimite UR
EDH
RUG Riku of Two Reflections RUG
UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose UBR
UBRGYidris, Maelstrom Wielder UBRG
UBRJeleva, Nephalia's ScourgeUBR
UWRjeskai nahiri UWR
UBRgrixis titi UBR
UBRgrixis delverUBR
UR ur kikimite UR
EDH
RUG Riku of Two Reflections RUG
UBR Marchesa, the Black Rose UBR
UBRGYidris, Maelstrom Wielder UBRG
UBRJeleva, Nephalia's ScourgeUBR
I think Exile is more beneficial, for several reasons.
1) Exile removes a threat completely from the board. It's not regenerated. It's not being fetched from the graveyard. It's not counting towards delerium. It's gone.
2) Paying the Awaken cost will likely tap out my mana supply, leaving my real threats vulnerable to removal.
3) Awaken turns my land into a creature, which can be killed. My deck runs 1 creature spell. By the time that I can afford to pay the Awaken cost, they likely have at least one creature removal spell burning a hole in their hand and a 3/3 creature isn't worth protecting.
So it most likely gets removed, I'm down a land, and I may have been tapped out and unable to defend my Planeswalkers from a To The Slaughter, Anguished Unmaking or some burn spell.
Regarding creatures, I think those would be more beneficial in a tempo deck. I don't have the resources to defend those from removal AND protect my Walkers (who are the win conditions). This deck is solely focused on locking down the board so the Walkers can tick in peace. The one creature I have is an insurance policy, in the event the Walkers drop the ball or I'm matched up against another control deck. He's incredibly difficult to remove, can't be countered, and helps shut down mirror decks. I've considered Linvala in the sideboard for Aggro match-ups to help recover from an early onslaught but the jury is still out on that. She's a mana hog and her benefit is conditional. I certainly wouldn't mainboard her in this deck.
I'm going to start writing a little primer for the deck so that it's a little more clear what it's doing.
WUBEsper ControlWUB
WUBEsper ControlWUB
Perhaps. I will give it a shot and see how I feel about it.
World Breaker, Relentless Dead
The main trouble I see is that there isnt very much lifegain in this list, only 2 sources mainboard, a 1 of 6 drop and a 3 of man land that is somewhat dangerous. Seems like Aggro can still run through, maybe not every time, but quite a bit of the time. I see this being especially troublesome early after rotation when there are a lot of fast decks and we dont know for sure what the main threats are. Also, Anguished Unmaking is probably my favorite spoiled card so far, its freaking amazing, but I dont see this deck having enough lifegain, even with just a 2 of to use. I feel like it may just be a dead card in a lot of match ups.
Just UW leaves us with our main removal in Declaration in Stone, allows for a better/more consistent Engulf the Shore or Displacement Wave (which I like a lot, but sorc speed). It frees up 9 slots while making room for other items. For staying alive, since you dont have a single 1-drop, what about something like Prism Ring, I know it seems silly, but in my testing its added up a lot, especially in my grindy decks. It also beckons the question of it they want to waste removal for it, some decks cant remove it, and some may only have something like Anguished Unmaking. And if someone uses an Anguished Unmaking to kill a Prism Ring, I think you're doing pretty well haha.
Another card I like from the new cards is a sorcery, but cheap enough to still hold some stuff up, is Not Forgotten. Its quite a bit cheaper than Learn from the Past, and can hose the same things, though not quite as well, but does give you a token, maybe not optimal, but worth considering. I also like being able to control their draws if I choose to put it on the top. I learned that lesson from Azorius Charm in RTR making me constantly draw my freaking 1 drop or battle trick after I have no creatures.
- Losing black eviscerates our removal package. Over half of it, in fact. You can't play pure control without a solid removal package. Also nixes your Languish which is a powerful sweeper against Aggro.
- You lose Sorin, Grim Nemesis. This reason alone is enough to scuttle that idea. He's our major finisher and is a powerhouse we can't do without.
- If you want to do UW, you need to get out of control and go Tempo instead. There's some neat things going on with UW spirits and you can do some fun things with Reflector Mage and Eldrazi Displacer. The cards just aren't there to do UW pure control though, you won't be able to protect your walkers and you'll lack the finishing power.
Regarding Learn from the Past, I think you missed its purpose. This deck runs a serious risk of decking itself if the game goes long. We have card advantage out the wazoo, especially late game. This card puts your graveyard back in your library to prevent that from happening. Or it could be used aggressively to remove the opponents graveyard in event they are running Delerium or some other sort of graveyard manipulation.
You should definitely check out the stuff going on in UW Spirits/Tempo. I think that's more what you're looking for.
WUBEsper ControlWUB
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
Land Base
I really think the new shadow dual lands will be better than the battle lands. Reason being, with the rotation coming 3 color decks are going to be a lot more challenging to pull off. The old battle lands required you to have 2 copies of basic lands in play, which after the rotation is going to be a lot harder to pull off. The new shadow dual lands, however, come into play untapped if you reveal ANY type of the required land in hand. What that means is shadow lands encourage your land base to be dual lands, where the battle lands encourage your land base to be basic, and in a 3 color deck you're going to need the majority of your lands to be dual lands. My conclusion, essentially, is that any Esper deck will want the first 12 lands to be:
4x Choked Estuary
4x Port Town
4x Caves of Koilos
These first 12 lands give you all 3 colors you need with virtually no lose of tempo with the land coming into play tapped. Now, if we're running 26 lands, that leaves 14 lands left for us. Say we only run 3 Sunken Hollow and 3 Prairie Stream that leaves only 8 land slots available for basics, which means the battle lands are probably going to come into play tapped. This doesn't mean there should be no battle lands, but with so little basics that are going to be available, and no fetch lands, I think it best to try and build the land base with the knowledge that 90% of the time the battle lands are come into play tapped dual lands. Personally, I think the above 12, and a couple Shambling Vent with the rest being basics and battle lands to match the ratios of colors is the best approach. Even a little spice with something like Skyline Cascade could have a place.
After seeing the new previews the cards I am most excited about are, the ones mentioned, Declaration in Stone and Anguished Unmaking. I feel like these 2 cards are going to be huge in standard, and in all honesty are the main reason I want to make an esper control deck. I think these 2 cards are going to be the absolute best removals in the format. The only gripe I have is that Declaration in Stone is a sorcery, and not an instant, but the quality of the card is so good that I suppose the sorcery speed of it can be overlooked. A turn 2, hard exile removal is just so amazing for any control deck, and not only that but most of the time I would rather my opponent waste their next turn drawing a card from the clue it leaves them. That's basically 2 free turns for me to develop my mana get my own card draw rolling. So good!
A couple of the missing cards from the deck I need to comment on. First, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. Jace does so, so, so much more than simply fill up your graveyard. There is a reason why a turn 2 Jace is considered the strongest move one could make in the format right now, with a turn 4 rhino arguably the only move more powerful. Looting on turn 3 is actually kind of a staple for control decks. It smooths out your mana curve, lets you draw into the removal or counter you need if your a little flooded, and just generally helps you progress the game for you to make it to the later stages, which is where a control deck wants to get. His looting alone makes him valuable for a control deck, I mean your running Anticipate for just that reason. Oh and then he becomes one of the most powerful planeswalkers in the format after that! His buyback with the huge selection of instants and sorceries in your deck is just crazy! I'd strongly consider including him in the deck.
Also I think your card draw for the deck is currently a little weak. right now I'm seeing 2 copies of Epiphany at the Drownyard which I'm kind of meh on. at 6 mana it gets you 3 cards, with your opponent having a say in those cards. It's not even a decent scry, because say you spend the 6 mana on it, and make a group of 3 spells and 3 lands, guess what your opponent is going to choose for you to take. Even worse is if you put your 1 and only copy of Sphinx in one of the piles, somehow I don't see your opponent letting you keep that pile. The biggest card draw in the format now is Dig Through Time and is not easily replaced. In fact I think Dig is banned in like every format now, so once it leaves standard the card will probably never be seen again. Painful Truths on the other hand has proven itself to be the new premier card draw spell, and I think that is unlikely to change. You mentioned Read the Bones, but truths is actually a much better quality 3 mana spell when you get the 3 color converge on it. The only time you would want bones over truth, is in a 2 color deck. The 2 other cards I would consider for the top end card draw to try and mitigate the lose of Dig are Dragonlord's Prerogative and Ugin's Insight. Dragonlord's is a 6 mana for 4 cards, so already it has more value than epiphany, which would need to be 8 mana for 4 cards, and with your Sphinx in play Ugin's is a scry 7 draw 3, which is a better than Dig, but only if you have that 1 card in your deck in play. Which brings me to my next point.
Only 1 copy of Sphinx of the Final Word is simply not enough to close out the game. Don't get me wrong, I think Sphinx is an amazing card, but I think 1, possibly 2, copies of it belong in your sideboard against those annoying, grindy, control mirrors. You said it yourself, with the new rotation coming there's going to be a lot of aggro decks out there, and Sphinx just has no business being your closer against aggro decks. This deck needs that end game bomb that turns the corner for you and lets you win in a, somewhat, timely fashion. My 3 current favorite end game finishers are Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, Linvala, the Preserver, and Dragonlord Ojutai. Out of those 3 Linvala is my personal favorite. I think she is just about the most powerful card in the format right now, with the potential to just win on turn 6. 5 life and a number of flying, heavy hitting angels is how you close out a game. I think Kalitas is another amazing card, and the lifelink he has is very much so needed in this deck, but personally I think he works best in a grixis deck with Radiant Flames. Now I know you said this was a dragonless esper control deck, which I very much so love, but keep in mind that Dragonlord Ojutai is an insanely powerful card, and one that has proven itself in the format for years now. Couple this with the proven synergy of both Silumgar's Scorn and Dragonlord's Prerogative, all of which will stay in rotation, and all of which have a track record of working very well together, and it's worth considering keeping them in the deck. the 2 new bombs that I've seen in SOI are Sorin, Grim Nemesis and Archangel Avacyn. Not sure how those 2 will perform, but IMO Linvala and Ojutai are the best picks for the 5 and 6 mana finisher slots. Whichever finisher you go with however, I would definitely have at least 4 in your deck, possibly 4 and then 2 of another, for a total of 6 actual finshers.
Anyways very sorry for the long rant, hopefully something of use is in the giant wall of text.
Being able to flashback 1 spell every 3 turns assuming he doesn't get removed isn't enough card value for me. His +1 is garbage, especially considering the board SHOULD be empty by the time a Jace could flip. His milling ultimate ability is useless and as was pointed out earlier, would fuel delirium. I know Standard has had an infatuation with him but he's frankly the most overhyped card in the history of standard. When he rotates and card value falls 80 dollars, ya'll gonna have pie on ya face.
Sphinx of the Final Word isn't THE finisher, he's Plan B in the event my main finishers (Walkers) aren't able to seal the deal. I've been considering making room for 1x of him in the sideboard for when facing control decks. The sideboard will really be developed once the meta develops. Which is another point I want to make, a lot of these cards are intentionally chosen to be versatile in the early meta because we have no idea what we are going to be matched up with. Once things become more clear, I certainly intend to do some narrowing.
Regarding the mana base, I'm happy with where I'm at. I'm not comfortable with Cave of Koilos as long as aggro is common. I'm not comfortable with life loss in general, which is why I've pulled my Read the Bones copies out for now. I don't like Epiphany at the Drownyard but it's the best option until midrange stabilizes the meta.
I'll put it this way, I already preemptively ordered many of the cards you've guys have suggested for when the meta becomes clearer and their prices rise. I'm well prepared to make changes once we know what exactly we are going to be dealing with.
WUBEsper ControlWUB
Now if you don't have them (which not to be a dick is the case most of the time argues against him) just say so instead of saying he doesn't do anything for your deck as we have miles and miles of evidence to disprove that.
Part of the reason Jace is so popular now is entirely because of the fetchlands, which makes mana base a lot easier to splash colors in, and because they fill up the graveyard quickly, all of which results in the 4 color CoCo decks which have 4 jaces, or the abzan blue decks which have 4 jaces, etc...
Just because the current standard meta lends itself to a lot of uses for JVP, it doesn't mean he's still not a very powerful card. The last point I'll make about it is that he does, literally everything, you want to accomplish as a control deck starting on turn 3.
Also I'm not sure what you mean about Epiphany at the Drownyard being the best option until midrange stabilizes the meta? Control decks need their big card draw for A) general card advantage and B)drawing the right removal you need for a certain situation. Since Dig Through Time is being rotated out, there needs be a replacement for it, and epiphany does not seem to be it. If you're not comfortable with the life loss of Painful Truths then I would go with either Dragonlord's Prerogative or possibly either Ugin's Insight or comparative Analysis.
Also, as for the life loss issue, I would consider bording Ojutai's Command in your main. you generate great card advantage early on with it, and can get really good life gain later in the game with it. It also has great synergy with a certain 2 mana costing creature that I'm not mentioning again.
Anyways like I said I'm really excited for the new rotation and I most certainly am planning on making an Esper control. For now I'm waiting until the final release of all the cards for SOI before I decide on my deck, but once I dot I will gladly post.