The fact that Field of Ruin is everywhere is why I opted against Detection Tower as well but someone pointed out to me that the decks I would bring in Tower against often don't play Field of Ruin.
Welp, looks like I'm still on "Esper" AKA UB with Teferi, until further notice. Jeskai has nothing on Teferi's power level. 90% of my old deck translated to the new, there's just no replacement for Torrential Gearhulk. Trying to figure out the best win cons besides Teferi. Right now I'm on 2 Eldest Reborn and 2 Thief Of Sanity, but I don't know if that's a solid enough plan.
Welp, looks like I'm still on "Esper" AKA UB with Teferi, until further notice. Jeskai has nothing on Teferi's power level. 90% of my old deck translated to the new, there's just no replacement for Torrential Gearhulk. Trying to figure out the best win cons besides Teferi. Right now I'm on 2 Eldest Reborn and 2 Thief Of Sanity, but I don't know if that's a solid enough plan.
It doesn't have flash, but Doom Whisperer is a ******* crazy finisher
It doesn't have flash, but Doom Whisperer is a ******* crazy finisher
True, the stats are good. I think I'm spoiled by Gearhulk. Looking for something that does something busted on ETB, or has a messed up ability. I do also like Thief, because it will likely be good vs. green, which looks to be the week one deck of choice among pros. A flier that lets me cast their dudes to hold off their guys that resolve sounds like a winner.
I think we all trailed off from here with the upcoming rotation and archiving of threads. There's an Esper control thread that's sprung up in Deck Creation, so I've been hanging out in there. I've seen a couple of decks coming up, and they largely rely on Teferi and a Chromium. However, maybe a couple of Doom Whisperers might be a good plan.
So I have been running a Dimir control/midrange deck that's been fairly solid. I thought I needed another finisher, but none of the creatures or planeswalkers really hit the mark. I ended up splashing green for Vraska, Relic Seeker. The initial build tested fairly well so I'm splashing a little more green in the sideboard. List looks like this:
So far the only matchup it seems weak to is Mono Red Frenzy. I can easily switch things around to make that better. Just kinda wondering if anyone has thoughts on this build or their own builds to share.
So I have been running a Dimir control/midrange deck that's been fairly solid. I thought I needed another finisher, but none of the creatures or planeswalkers really hit the mark. I ended up splashing green for Vraska, Relic Seeker. The initial build tested fairly well so I'm splashing a little more green in the sideboard. List looks like this:
So far the only matchup it seems weak to is Mono Red Frenzy. I can easily switch things around to make that better. Just kinda wondering if anyone has thoughts on this build or their own builds to share.
Carnage Tyrant is a really good top end finisher for a deck like this. I played against a more midrange version Friday that was running Tyrant + Vine Mare + Ferox. Not a fun time for me. Thief of Sanity is an absolute house. Assassin's Trophy is an option. Disinformation Campaign was a cute limited trick....but im not sure if its gonna be strong enough to stick in standard
The deck you are referring to is essentially mono-green splashing black. That's not the same deck I'm playing. I have played Thief of Sanity, but it seems much better suited to a midrange deck than a control deck. I really don't like that it gets caught up in my Ritual of Soot either. Assassin's Trophy actually seems pretty bad. I like that's it's cheap and can hit anything, but giving your opponent a land is really bad in many scenarios. I'd rather just play Vraska's Contempt possibly with other cheap green enchantment/artifact removal than play Trophy.
The deck you are referring to is essentially mono-green splashing black. That's not the same deck I'm playing. I have played Thief of Sanity, but it seems much better suited to a midrange deck than a control deck. I really don't like that it gets caught up in my Ritual of Soot either. Assassin's Trophy actually seems pretty bad. I like that's it's cheap and can hit anything, but giving your opponent a land is really bad in many scenarios. I'd rather just play Vraska's Contempt possibly with other cheap green enchantment/artifact removal than play Trophy.
I know its not the same deck, but threats that are difficult to interact with are good in a control deck. Thief should be in the 75 imo, just not in the 60 at the same time as Ritual. In regard to Trophy, its bad when ppl dont use it properly. You dont want to be casting it turns 2-5 and ramping your opponent in to the top of their curve....but its an excellent answer to artifacts and enchantments, something UB cant really deal with and the fact that it hits everything else short of lands is great.
The deck you are referring to is essentially mono-green splashing black. That's not the same deck I'm playing. I have played Thief of Sanity, but it seems much better suited to a midrange deck than a control deck. I really don't like that it gets caught up in my Ritual of Soot either. Assassin's Trophy actually seems pretty bad. I like that's it's cheap and can hit anything, but giving your opponent a land is really bad in many scenarios. I'd rather just play Vraska's Contempt possibly with other cheap green enchantment/artifact removal than play Trophy.
I had the same reservations. It's worth it. Thief can help you keep board parity, or build a secret virtual hand while you opponent overcommits into Ritual. Thief on an empty board snowballs easy into winning. Used it to beat Izzet Burn with his own Banefire last night.
Then what would I cut? Mono red Frenzy ia a problem for me as-is.
Hard to say, as I'm completely unfamiliar with Sultai, but, from my experience vs. red so far, 3 Ritual is overkill. I've had a lot more success going 3/3 Cast Down/Moment. I also opted against Dead Weight. Better vs haste, additional life gain, no turn after Ritual to drop their hand.
I also found Discovery//Dispersal underwhelming. Iwould also pack some form of enchanment destruction, Frenzy is too dangerous to play around. Just blow it up.
If anyone is interested in my Grixis Control list, here it is.
Notables:
1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy main deck. Best planeswalker we have access to, and imo, the second best plansewalker in the format when it comes to card advantage (Teferi is #1). Our deck is all about card advantage, and if this guy sticks against control, its a huge advantage. Most of t my main deck decisions are hedging against aggro decks, things like 3 Ritual of Soot and the huge removal package. The reason for this is because from my experience, Grixis has the upper-hand in most control matchups because we simply have the best card advantage engines with Notion Rain, Thought Erasure, and Nicol Bolas, the Ravager, and The Eldest Reborn.
Notion Rain is better than Discovery // Dispersal, as its +1 card advantage. The -2 health hurts, but we do Moment of Craving to hedge. Run 3 of these if your meta isnt a lot of aggro, but my meta is, so I'm running 3 Ritual of Soot instead.
Doom Whisperer is the most overrated card in Standard, and it doesn't belong in this deck imo
So far it feels like I need another wincon or two. Wanna give Nightveil Predator a try since its difficult to interact with
I like this list. With the advent of MTG Arena: Beta, I'm finally onboard with Standard and have sold some of my collection to buy in to Standard. Being a Cruel Control player when I last played Standard, I've been looking for some type of UBx Control deck. After looking around at the top lists and what seems to be popular on MTG Arena, I've come up with this Sultai Control Build.
I'm a firm believer in playing 61 cards purely for superstitious reasons; it always seems to help me draw what I need.
The maindeck is configured to fight against Golgari Mid-Range decks, both the true Mid-Range decks and the newer Dredge-esque decks. The removal suite is configured to be as relevant as possible against the varied threats that they have while also being able to trade decently. Countering Find // Finality is key to surviving the match-up. Otherwise, you'll be able to 1-1 them pretty well and then pull away in card advantage with Chemister's Insight. The insight is the only reason that Control can work at all in this meta, is my opinion. Against opposing Control decks and Izzet Spells deck (that support the Chimera and the Drake), dig until you can find Carnage Tyrant. Otherwise, play the match conservatively and try to counter the key card advantage plays. The card I most want to find room for in this deck is Search for Azcanta. It wins any Control matchup by itself as it ensures that you're always drawing gas. The Eldest Reborn is one of the best removal spells in the format since it hits planeswalkers and can reanimate a Win Condition for you. I highly recommend finding room for this card in any UB Control deck.
Red Aggro decks are pretty tough in game 1, but winnable. The Sideboard includes additional Moment of Cravings, Root Snare, and Vraska's Contempt to help pad your life total and survive the early game rush. Ritual of Soot is an effective Wrath effect. I wish it hit 4 CMC creatures too, but I guess that would make it too good.
The Duress and Thought Erasure are for any type of Mid-Range or Control decks. Shred their hand and try to keep control of the stack with your Counterspells. Board in the extra Tyrant and windmill slam that thing to play, being sure to play around The Eldest Reborn and Plaguecrafter.
I wish that there was a finisher that had hexproof and lifelink, but they probably won't ever print that. Anyways, I've been having a lot of success with this list and wanted to share. I'm also thinking that there might be a way to create a 4 Color Control list with Rupture Spire, but that's a list for another time I guess.
Have been following the evolution of these Sultai control shells and i love what i see so far. I have all the G and BG pieces to build a deck like this and will surely test it.
I'm wondering what you all think of Green vs Red in these lists, pro's and cons to each?
I think the primary reason to go Sulati is because of Assassin's Trophy. That card is a wonderful catch-all for whatever we're facing that may have slipped through. It hurts to Rampant Growth an opponent, but I'd rather be giving them a land instead of having to deal with an opposing Doom Whisperer, The Eldest Reborn, Niv-Mizzet, Parun, etc. Carnage Tyrant is also another really good reason to be playing Green; it's hell to answer from a Control standpoint and is the primary reason why The Eldest Reborn is so good right now.
However, the appeal for Grixis is Nicol Bolas, the Ravager. I think the mana is good enough for Standard that you can actually squeeze a couple of Shocklands in order to get the Red you need. It's actually the direction that I've been experimenting on Arena since I have all the pieces for Sultai + Nicol Bolas. It's still a work in progress, though. A tentative list that I've been working on is this:
I like that the threat density is higher and that Nicol Bolas helps us to accrue card advantage. And if he survives into the late game and you can flip him, you are in a really good spot to win and take control of the game. The fact that his abilities can kill any creature (except those damned Hexproof ones) OR Planeswalker is highly relevant. I don't know if I like Lightning Strike in the sSideboard or the Mainboard OR if I like Lava Coil better instead.
This list is based of Hadesblade's list from the 5-0 on MTGO. Similar lists have been floating around MODO/Arena but his is the best I have seen. Thoughts on individual cards and their number are below though most of these should more or less make sense.
The real tech has been to adopt Unmoored Ego per Pat Chapin at SCG. Naming for it is relatively easy:
Essentially any card that I have a harder time interacting with or the threats that the opposing control decks use to win the game. The control decks don't have a high threat density so the Unmoored Ego has been doing extra work.
I'm torn over three or four Disinformation Campaign. I always want one, but the second copy feels awful. Occasionally in the U/R/x match I want a second one but its not like many decks are really interacting with this outside of Assassin's Trophy or Cleansing Nova. I'm waiting for the day someone hits it with Ixalan's Binding but people don't seem to be playing the correct amount of that card.
You need all four of The Eldest Reborn as it is essentially your only way to win (Karn tokens have got me a few but its awful). You obviously want to recur a PW but sometimes a random dude will win the game for you too. Don't get cute and force the discard on Carnage Tyrant so you can recur it with your Reborn. They always have Find or Memorial to Folly.
The SB is admittedly a mess. In Arena I seem to run into B/U/x control and aggressive decks so I've needed the extra sweepers and the extra interaction. I have not been getting value out of the Thief of Sanity as one of two things is happening. Either everyone knows and they leave in removal (other decks in the format have been doing it so its less of a surprise). Or they don't have enough to bring in against you and just have to leave in essentially dead cards that you turn on by bringing them in. That said Doom Whisperer and Nezahal, Primal Tide have been great. The CMC and body have been enough to get past the common removal spells. I'm inclined to cut Thief, add a Nezhal, and try and figure out ways to interact with onboard enchantments beyond Discovery // Dispersal (I have run into the obvious (Experimental Frenzy/Conclave Tribunal), the interesting (Firemind's Research), and the absurd (Dawn of Hope).
In regards to spalshes I don't think its worth it. The two obvious ones are Ral, Izzet Viceroy and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria but the splashes are slowing you down. The reason I have been winning games is because I get under the other control decks with Thought Erasure, Disinformation Campaign and Unmoored Ego while they are spending their time with tap lands. These two cards also shore up the cards your sweeper/removal can't answer against the aggro decks.
Overall I think this deck is well positioned in the metagame to take advantage of the existing decks.
@Jreece
Welcome to the forums, comrade! That Standard forums are a little stagnant right now because the meta-game is so wide open, but I appreciate your contributions.
I've played against a list similar to this or just like it several times on Arena. I will say that the proactive discard makes it difficult to advance your game strategy when the Campaign and Thought Erasures are eroding your hand and early plays.
I think one of the strongest reasons to splash into a different color IS to get access to the solid win conditions outside of pure Dimir. Grixis offers Nicol Bolas, the Ravager, Niv-Mizzet, Parun, and Ral, Izzet Viceroy. Each of these are solid win conditions that I think are too good to leave out. As you've indicated, depending on the 4 copies of The Eldest Reborn seems to leave you a little soft in the win condition area. I don't mean to be negatively critical, but it seems that the build you've posted has a pretty good time of clearing the opponents' board and hand without any definitive way to close the door once you've gotten them into this game state. And with only 4 Sinister Sabotage to help keep control of the game, I think that it would be easy to lose to an opponent's top-decked bomb and helplessly watch as it kills you, particularly Niv-Mizzet. That card has killed me too many times in the Control mirror to dismiss.
I like the removal suite and the discard suite you have, though. I've been particularly impressed with Disinformation Campaign on the other side of the table. It's pretty awesome, especially when you can synergize it with Thought Erasure. I can't believe I forgot/neglected Unmoored Ego. The hardest matchups for a Control deck, in my mind, are Mono-Red, Mono-Blue Tempo, and Arclight decks. Any threat that can get under our deck, as you've correctly identified Jreece, or is recursive is super hard to deal with.
FYI, you can now play Competitive Standard games with a Sideboard on Arena. There's a little toggle on the top right corner of the Play column. If you click it, it iwll open up competitive options and allow you to play best of 3 games against opponents. I thought I'd share that info so that we can get some more conclusive data for this deck instead of relying on Ladder matches from Arena.
So, after playing my Sultai list for over 25+ best of 3 games, my win/loss ratio is 15/10. I've played against a huge range of decks, which makes it SUPREMELY difficult to build a sideboard that can effectively transform our deck to fight the huge range of decks to play against. At this time, I think the only thing I can effectively add are my general observations against certain archetypes and cards. I'm hoping that these observations will help justify the decklist that I'll share at the end of this ramble.
Jeskai Contol - playing against Teferi and Niv-Mizzet makes this matchup super difficult. The most important card in this matchup is The Eldest Reborn, hands down. Their only out to it is Teferi himself and random Blink of an Eyes. The matchup comes down to who can win the counter war and the chaining of bombs and answers. We both have dead cards in the matchup because we're both relatively creatureless, so it comes down to card advantage and mana advantage. G1 can go either way, depending on how many counterspells and threats you can draw into. One of the primary reasons that I think Sultai is well-positioned because Carnage Tyrant and Assassin's Trophy. While I hate ramping my Jeskai opponent into a potentially larger Explosion with the Trophy, it usually comes as the final answer on my side of the table to win the chain of bombs that occur. And if you can keep Carny T on the board for the turn you have really good chances of winning. Their access to Expansion // Explosion is nothing to scoff at. Being able to expand Deafening Clarions is painful to watch when you've tapped out for Carny T, but it opens opportunities to land another threat that they struggle to deal with. The cards that make this matchup even in G1 are The Eldest Reborn, Carnage Tyrant, Assassin's Trophy, and Discovery // Dispersal. The Dispersal side has been very relevant a few times in bouncing their only permanent and forcing them to discard it. Having Black in our sideboard opens up G2 and G3 in our favor because of Duress, Thief of Sanity, Thought Erasure, and Unmoored Ego. While I don't play some of these cards in my sideboard, I do like how customizable the sideboard can be in Sultai.
Izzet Control - while very similar to the Jeskia matchup, they tend to lean harder on Expansion // Explosion, Benfire, and Niv-Mizzet, Parun. This is a very, very tough matchup because their mainboard Burn (Shock, Ionize, and Lightning Strike primarily) can just be pointed to our face until they draw a lethal Banefire. And they have a cheap win condition in Crackling Drake that they can easily protect in the later turns after spending 7+ turns accumulating mana and cards. G1 is decided usually by who flinches first. And it's usually me because I know that every turn that I don't do anything is simply giving them more time to build mana for a deadly Banefire. With that being said, however, they literally have no outs to a resolved Carny T. This is another point, in my mind, of why playing Sultai is so good right now. Carny T breaks open Control mirrors like a boss, especially in conjunction with the built-in recursion of The Eldest Reborn. G2 and G3 are really tough matches because they often board into 12-14+ counterspells. Trying to fight through that much countermagic is REALLY difficult, by the way. Anyways, the cards that are really helpful in this matchup are Carnage Tyrant, Thought Erasure, Vraska's Contempt, and The Eldest Reborn. From the sideboard, we'd board very similarly, prioritizing Umoored Ego to get rid of Banefire and Niv-Mizzet, Parun, in that order. This matchup, both pre and post-board is about 50/50, similar to Jeskai control from my experience in playing best of 3 matches on Arena. I win this matchup based on my experience more often than not, whenever Arena decides not to mana-f**k me.
Mono-Blue Tempo - this matchup is straight up miserable. If they get the right draw, it feels like playing against a Legacy tempo deck. And even if they don't, their threats are cheap enough in CMC that they can usually protect them in the late-game. This matchup, and the Mono-Red metchup, is why my mainboard now includes a mix of Fungal Infection and Moment of Craving. If they can land an early T1 creature and protect it through turn 4, I almost always lose. In order to give myself a fighting chance in G1, I've made concessions to these hyper aggressive matchups with my deck choices. Post-Board, board into all the cheap removal and instant speed interaction you can. If you can get into a board state where you can successfully stabilize with Carny T, you'll probably win the game. Tempest Djinn is a really unfair card even then, since it can sometimes trade with Carny T if they have enough Islands. This is, by far, the toughest match I regularly play against. It's probably 65/35 in their favor G1 and closer to 60/40 in G2 and G3. I hate seeing a T1 Siren Stormtamer more than any other card. The key cards in this matchup are Assassin's Trophy, Fungal Infection, Moment of Craving, and Vraska's Contempt. Golden Demise out of the sideboard along with Duress and additional copies of Moment of Craving and/or Fungal Infection help to give me more of a fighting chance, but it's still massively difficult to successfully win this match-up.
Mono-Red - the bane of all Control decks since the beginning of time, this matchup is definitely winnable G1 because of the maindeck concessions I have made. Fungal Infection is particularly useful, as I can often get a 2-1 out of that card when they 1st mainphase a Viashino Pyromancer and then attack with a Raging Firebrand. Moment of Craving is also really good here as well, especially in conjunction with Vraska's Contempt. Contempt is absolutely crucial to winning the matchup in my opinion. If they can resolve, and you can't answer, an Experimental Frenzy, your chances of winning go WAY down. However, I've found that with the early removal I've been running I can afford to leave up mana on T3 in order to threaten to Counter their frenzy and then just draw into more gas via Chemister's Insight and start applying my own pressure. I've actually been testing a singleton Pelakka Wurm in the maindeck just to see if I like how it stabilizes against Mono-Red and other Mid-Range variants. Board in additional early game removal and G2 and G3 become very reasonable. The MVP cards in this matchup are Vraska's Contempt, Moment of Craving, and Syncopate.
Golgari Mid-Range - I like seeing a tapped Overgrown Tomb on the other side of the battlefield, as it means a matchup that I actually look forward to. The only problem cards that Golgari can field are Carnage Tyrant and Vraska, Relic-Seeker. Be prepared to see these threats about a bajillion times because of Golgari Findbroker, Memorial to Folly, and their own The Eldest Reborns. If I can counter their key plays and keep the battefield manageable I've very frequently won G1, lose to mana-screw in G2, and then win a very tight G3. Unmoored Ego out of the side alongside more removal is how I like to board for this matchup. I think that Control decks usually have a pretty decent game against Mid-Range decks G1, so I'm personally encouraged whenever I see this deck. If only there was a better sweeper than Ritual of Soot... Come back, Damnation!
Izzet Drakes - this is a tricky matchup more than anything. I lost a game to a very large Crackling Drake when I had stabilized because I had forgotten about a Maximize Velocity in my opponent's 'yard. My mistake, and I died to a 13/5 hasty Drake. G1 is difficult, becuase they sometimes get the perfect draw and there's nothing you can do except die, but other times they don't hit the right mix of cantrips and do mostly nothing. Countering their Tormenting Voice and Chart a Course is actually where this matchup is won and lost because they can discard their Phoenixes to these cards and draw into more cantrips. I really like maindeck Syncopates for this reason, because it gives me a T2 play to counter their Enigma Drake or Chart a Course that is still live in the Mid-Game while being pitchable to Chemister's Insight in the late game that can also completely eliminate opposing Chemister's Insight that I come across. The MVP card out of the Sideboard is Umoored Ego naming Arclight Phoenix and Crackling Drake, in that order. They often board in some number of Niv-Mizzets and some number of counterspells, so it becomes an enjoyable game post-boards.
Boros Mid-Range/Angels - this is a matchup I like to see even more than Golgari Mid-Range because they don't have signficant recursion elements like Golgari does. 1-1 them and counter their haymaker spells and watch as The Eldest Reborn single-handedly wins you the matchup. I've only lost this matchup out of the 4 games I've played against it because Arena hated me in G2 and G3 and only let me draw a collective 5 lands out of both games. I like to board in additional The Eldest Reborn and counterspells. Disdainful Stroke is really good as is Thought Erasure. MVP's for this matchup are Vraska's Contempt[/CAARD], The Eldest Reborn, and Vraska, Relic-Seeker
Selesnya Tokens - this is another matchup that is really close G1 but becomes WAY more manageable out of the Board in G2 and G3. The maindeck Moment of Cravings and Fungal Infection are supremely useful in stabilizing this matchup and Ritual of Soot is almost always a lights out T4 play against them. The one game I've lost to Selesnya Tokens is when I didn't see any of my sideboarded cards in G2 and G3 and got mana-screwed on G3.
Anyways, that covers most of the matchups that I've taken notes for. Based on my observations of what has been effective for me, my current iteration of Sultai Control now looks like this:
My current Esper build - Nightveil Predator is the best anti-Tyrant tech imo, but I give the nod to Vona's Hunger in the sideboard because of the occasional Vine Mare. Disdainful Stroke is stone dead against monoblue so I stopped running the split and am just on two copies of Negate for game one, every deck in the metagame has important spells to counter.
My current Esper build - Nightveil Predator is the best anti-Tyrant tech imo, but I give the nod to Vona's Hunger in the sideboard because of the occasional Vine Mare. Disdainful Stroke is stone dead against monoblue so I stopped running the split and am just on two copies of Negate for game one, every deck in the metagame has important spells to counter.
I've gotten much better results vs. Carnage Tyrant with running 2 Detection Tower MD over Field Of Ruin. Little to none of the Izzet/Jeskai decks run Search For Azcanta, so it doesn't hurt. If you fear it getting hit by Trophy, hold it until the play Tyrant. They can't make you discard it. Activate, aim a Contempt at it, done. I finally started beating GB thanks to this. The multiple ways to bring Tyrant back are arguably more dangerous that Tyrant itself.
I was previously running two Detection Towers, I switched in part because of the Jeskai builds running four copies of Azor's Gateway but also because most other builds still run 1-2 Search for Azcanta in their 75 (I checked lists on mtgtop8.com when deciding). You can get punished hard if you're not prepared for those lands, it's hard to get punished for running Nightveil Predator. It's great against everything but Boros and Arclight Phoenix, and is still plenty serviceable in those matchups. It also doesn't require another (removal) card or playing around Assassin's Trophy to do its job. That said, I did swap the Vona's Hunger in my sideboard for a Detection Tower earlier today. I agree the ability to answer repeat Tyrants is huge, I don't think I can run two Fields and a Tower on 26 lands or that's what I would do (too much colorless against decks with all basic lands).
On another note, I swapped an Essence Scatter for my fourth Vraska's Contempt. Most things you want Scatter for get cleaned up by Ritual of Soot, Contempt is better against Phoenix/Niv and I want all four copies.
I was previously running two Detection Towers, I switched in part because of the Jeskai builds running four copies of Azor's Gateway but also because most other builds still run 1-2 Search for Azcanta in their 75 (I checked lists on mtgtop8.com when deciding). You can get punished hard if you're not prepared for those lands, it's hard to get punished for running Nightveil Predator. It's great against everything but Boros and Arclight Phoenix, and is still plenty serviceable in those matchups. It also doesn't require another (removal) card or playing around Assassin's Trophy to do its job. That said, I did swap the Vona's Hunger in my sideboard for a Detection Tower earlier today. I agree the ability to answer repeat Tyrants is huge, I don't think I can run two Fields and a Tower on 26 lands or that's what I would do (too much colorless against decks with all basic lands).
On another note, I swapped an Essence Scatter for my fourth Vraska's Contempt. Most things you want Scatter for get cleaned up by Ritual of Soot, Contempt is better against Phoenix/Niv and I want all four copies.
The only Jeskai to top 8 the PT ran 1 Search, 0 Gateway. So, that's what all the bandwagoners will run to. Tyrant is way more dangerous than anything Jeskai has, save for Banefire. If anything, I'd go 2 Tower, 1 Field. Also, 26 with no early cantrip/draw is dangerous. This deck cannot miss land drop 1-5. You really want to make 6 so you can Teferi with hard counter backup. This would also lessen the impact of the colorless lands.
I forgot to mention in my earlier post, Specter loses to Plaguecrafter\Eldest Reborn also. The only answer they have to Tower is Trophy, which is usually a 2 of, that they can't recur.
Welp, looks like I'm still on "Esper" AKA UB with Teferi, until further notice. Jeskai has nothing on Teferi's power level. 90% of my old deck translated to the new, there's just no replacement for Torrential Gearhulk. Trying to figure out the best win cons besides Teferi. Right now I'm on 2 Eldest Reborn and 2 Thief Of Sanity, but I don't know if that's a solid enough plan.
It doesn't have flash, but Doom Whisperer is a ******* crazy finisher
True, the stats are good. I think I'm spoiled by Gearhulk. Looking for something that does something busted on ETB, or has a messed up ability. I do also like Thief, because it will likely be good vs. green, which looks to be the week one deck of choice among pros. A flier that lets me cast their dudes to hold off their guys that resolve sounds like a winner.
I think we all trailed off from here with the upcoming rotation and archiving of threads. There's an Esper control thread that's sprung up in Deck Creation, so I've been hanging out in there. I've seen a couple of decks coming up, and they largely rely on Teferi and a Chromium. However, maybe a couple of Doom Whisperers might be a good plan.
3 Doom Whisperer
2 Dream Eater
Enchantments (8)
1 The Eldest Reborn
2 Dead Weight
4 Disinformation Campaign
1 Search for Azcanta
Instants and Sorceries (20)
2 Cast Down
2 Moment of Craving
3 Sinister Sabotage
3 Vraska's Contempt
3 Discovery // Dispersal
3 Ritual of Soot
4 Thought Erasure
2 Vraska, Relic Seeker
Land (25)
4 Drowned Catacomb
6 Island
1 Memorial to Folly
1 Memorial to Genius
5 Swamp
4 Watery Grave
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Woodland Cemetery
2 Deathgorge Scavenger
1 Dead Weight
3 Negate
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Moment of Craving
2 Golden Demise
2 Unmoored Ego
2 Duress
So far the only matchup it seems weak to is Mono Red Frenzy. I can easily switch things around to make that better. Just kinda wondering if anyone has thoughts on this build or their own builds to share.
URStormRU
GRTitanshift[mana]RG/mana]
I had the same reservations. It's worth it. Thief can help you keep board parity, or build a secret virtual hand while you opponent overcommits into Ritual. Thief on an empty board snowballs easy into winning. Used it to beat Izzet Burn with his own Banefire last night.
4x Watery Grave
4x Overgrown Tomb
4x Hinterland Harbor
4x Drowned Catacomb
4x Woodland Cemetery
4x Island
2x Swamp
Creatures (2)
2x Carnage Tyrant
Enchantment (2)
2x Dead Weight
Instant (22)
2x Moment of Craving
3x Essence Scatter
3x Assassin's Trophy
2x Cast Down
3x Chemister's Insight
4x Sinister Sabotage
2x Syncopate
3x Vraska's Contempt
3x Thought Erasure
3x Ritual of Soot
Planeswalker (2)
2x Vraska, Relic Seeker
4x Thief of Sanity
2x Deathgorge Scavenger
2x The Eldest Reborn
2x Disdainful Stroke
1x Moment of Craving
3x Negate
2x Duress
1x Thought Erasure
So far it feels like I need another wincon or two. Wanna give Nightveil Predator a try since its difficult to interact with
Hard to say, as I'm completely unfamiliar with Sultai, but, from my experience vs. red so far, 3 Ritual is overkill. I've had a lot more success going 3/3 Cast Down/Moment. I also opted against Dead Weight. Better vs haste, additional life gain, no turn after Ritual to drop their hand.
I also found Discovery//Dispersal underwhelming. Iwould also pack some form of enchanment destruction, Frenzy is too dangerous to play around. Just blow it up.
Notables:
1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy main deck. Best planeswalker we have access to, and imo, the second best plansewalker in the format when it comes to card advantage (Teferi is #1). Our deck is all about card advantage, and if this guy sticks against control, its a huge advantage. Most of t my main deck decisions are hedging against aggro decks, things like 3 Ritual of Soot and the huge removal package. The reason for this is because from my experience, Grixis has the upper-hand in most control matchups because we simply have the best card advantage engines with Notion Rain, Thought Erasure, and Nicol Bolas, the Ravager, and The Eldest Reborn.
Notion Rain is better than Discovery // Dispersal, as its +1 card advantage. The -2 health hurts, but we do Moment of Craving to hedge. Run 3 of these if your meta isnt a lot of aggro, but my meta is, so I'm running 3 Ritual of Soot instead.
Doom Whisperer is the most overrated card in Standard, and it doesn't belong in this deck imo
4 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
3 Dream Eater
Planeswalker
1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy
Instant
2 Syncopate
1 Cast Down
3 Essence Scatter
4 Moment of Craving
3 Vraska's Contempt
Sorcery
2 Notion Rain
3 Ritual of Soot
4 Thought Erasure
2 Search for Azcanta
3 The Eldest Reborn
Land
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Drowned Catacomb
3 Island
1 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
4 Swamp
4 Watery Grave
3 Duress
2 Arguel's Blood Fast
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Negate
2 Fiery Cannonade
3 Thief of Sanity
1 Unmoored Ego
URStormRU
GRTitanshift[mana]RG/mana]
I like this list. With the advent of MTG Arena: Beta, I'm finally onboard with Standard and have sold some of my collection to buy in to Standard. Being a Cruel Control player when I last played Standard, I've been looking for some type of UBx Control deck. After looking around at the top lists and what seems to be popular on MTG Arena, I've come up with this Sultai Control Build.
3x Syncopate
1x Essence Scatter
4x Sinister Sabotage
Removal (14)
3x Cast Down
2x Moment of Craving
3x Assassin's Trophy
3x Ritual of Soot
3x Vraska's Contempt
Card Advantage (7)
3x Discovery // Dispersal
4x Chemister's Insight
Win Conditions (7)
2x The Eldest Reborn
3x Carnage Tyrant
2x Vraska, Relic Seeker
4x Watery Grave
4x Overgrown Tomb
3x Drowned Catacomb
3x Hinterland Harbor
2x Woodland Cemetery
2x Memorial to Genius
2x Island
3x Swamp
2x Forest
2x Moment of Craving
3x Root Snare
2x Duress
4x Thought Erasure
1x Vraska's Contempt
1x Assassin's Trophy
1x Carnage Tyrant
1x The Eldest Reborn
I'm a firm believer in playing 61 cards purely for superstitious reasons; it always seems to help me draw what I need.
The maindeck is configured to fight against Golgari Mid-Range decks, both the true Mid-Range decks and the newer Dredge-esque decks. The removal suite is configured to be as relevant as possible against the varied threats that they have while also being able to trade decently. Countering Find // Finality is key to surviving the match-up. Otherwise, you'll be able to 1-1 them pretty well and then pull away in card advantage with Chemister's Insight. The insight is the only reason that Control can work at all in this meta, is my opinion. Against opposing Control decks and Izzet Spells deck (that support the Chimera and the Drake), dig until you can find Carnage Tyrant. Otherwise, play the match conservatively and try to counter the key card advantage plays. The card I most want to find room for in this deck is Search for Azcanta. It wins any Control matchup by itself as it ensures that you're always drawing gas. The Eldest Reborn is one of the best removal spells in the format since it hits planeswalkers and can reanimate a Win Condition for you. I highly recommend finding room for this card in any UB Control deck.
Red Aggro decks are pretty tough in game 1, but winnable. The Sideboard includes additional Moment of Cravings, Root Snare, and Vraska's Contempt to help pad your life total and survive the early game rush. Ritual of Soot is an effective Wrath effect. I wish it hit 4 CMC creatures too, but I guess that would make it too good.
The Duress and Thought Erasure are for any type of Mid-Range or Control decks. Shred their hand and try to keep control of the stack with your Counterspells. Board in the extra Tyrant and windmill slam that thing to play, being sure to play around The Eldest Reborn and Plaguecrafter.
I wish that there was a finisher that had hexproof and lifelink, but they probably won't ever print that. Anyways, I've been having a lot of success with this list and wanted to share. I'm also thinking that there might be a way to create a 4 Color Control list with Rupture Spire, but that's a list for another time I guess.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
I'm wondering what you all think of Green vs Red in these lists, pro's and cons to each?
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
However, the appeal for Grixis is Nicol Bolas, the Ravager. I think the mana is good enough for Standard that you can actually squeeze a couple of Shocklands in order to get the Red you need. It's actually the direction that I've been experimenting on Arena since I have all the pieces for Sultai + Nicol Bolas. It's still a work in progress, though. A tentative list that I've been working on is this:
4x Sinister Sabotage
2x Essence Scatter
2x Syncopate
Removal (13)
3x Assassin's Trophy
2x Moment of Craving
2x Cast Down
3x Vraska's Contempt
3x Ritual of Soot
Card Draw (6)
2x Discovery // Dispersal
4x Chemister's Insight
Win Conditions (9)
3x Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
2x The Eldest Reborn
2x Carnage Tyrant
2x Vraska, Relic Seeker
4x Watery Grave
3x Overgrown Tomb
4x Steam Vents
3x Sulfur Falls
3x Drowned Catacomb
2x Woodland Cemetery
2x Hinterland Harbor
2x Island
2x Swamp
Flip Cards
3x Nicol Bolas, the Arisen
4x Thought Erasure
2x Moment of Craving
4x Lightning Strike
1x Vraska's Contempt
2x Negate
1x The Eldest Reborn
1x Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
I like that the threat density is higher and that Nicol Bolas helps us to accrue card advantage. And if he survives into the late game and you can flip him, you are in a really good spot to win and take control of the game. The fact that his abilities can kill any creature (except those damned Hexproof ones) OR Planeswalker is highly relevant. I don't know if I like Lightning Strike in the sSideboard or the Mainboard OR if I like Lava Coil better instead.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
4x Karn, Scion of Urza
4x The Eldest Reborn
3x Disinformation Campaign
Removal
2x Dead Weight
3x Cast Down
1x Golden Demise
2x Ritual of Soot
2x Vraska's Contempt
4x Thought Erasure
2x Unmoored Ego
4x Sinister Sabotage
4x Discovery // Dispersal
Land
7x Island
7x Swamp
3x Dimir Guildgate
4x Drowned Catacomb
4x Watery Grave
3x Duress
2x Negate
1x Golden Demise
4x Thief of Sanity
1x Unmoored Ego
1x Ritual of Soot
2x Doom Whisperer
1x Nezahal, Primal Tide
This list is based of Hadesblade's list from the 5-0 on MTGO. Similar lists have been floating around MODO/Arena but his is the best I have seen. Thoughts on individual cards and their number are below though most of these should more or less make sense.
The real tech has been to adopt Unmoored Ego per Pat Chapin at SCG. Naming for it is relatively easy:
Essentially any card that I have a harder time interacting with or the threats that the opposing control decks use to win the game. The control decks don't have a high threat density so the Unmoored Ego has been doing extra work.
I'm torn over three or four Disinformation Campaign. I always want one, but the second copy feels awful. Occasionally in the U/R/x match I want a second one but its not like many decks are really interacting with this outside of Assassin's Trophy or Cleansing Nova. I'm waiting for the day someone hits it with Ixalan's Binding but people don't seem to be playing the correct amount of that card.
You need all four of The Eldest Reborn as it is essentially your only way to win (Karn tokens have got me a few but its awful). You obviously want to recur a PW but sometimes a random dude will win the game for you too. Don't get cute and force the discard on Carnage Tyrant so you can recur it with your Reborn. They always have Find or Memorial to Folly.
The SB is admittedly a mess. In Arena I seem to run into B/U/x control and aggressive decks so I've needed the extra sweepers and the extra interaction. I have not been getting value out of the Thief of Sanity as one of two things is happening. Either everyone knows and they leave in removal (other decks in the format have been doing it so its less of a surprise). Or they don't have enough to bring in against you and just have to leave in essentially dead cards that you turn on by bringing them in. That said Doom Whisperer and Nezahal, Primal Tide have been great. The CMC and body have been enough to get past the common removal spells. I'm inclined to cut Thief, add a Nezhal, and try and figure out ways to interact with onboard enchantments beyond Discovery // Dispersal (I have run into the obvious (Experimental Frenzy/Conclave Tribunal), the interesting (Firemind's Research), and the absurd (Dawn of Hope).
In regards to spalshes I don't think its worth it. The two obvious ones are Ral, Izzet Viceroy and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria but the splashes are slowing you down. The reason I have been winning games is because I get under the other control decks with Thought Erasure, Disinformation Campaign and Unmoored Ego while they are spending their time with tap lands. These two cards also shore up the cards your sweeper/removal can't answer against the aggro decks.
Overall I think this deck is well positioned in the metagame to take advantage of the existing decks.
Welcome to the forums, comrade! That Standard forums are a little stagnant right now because the meta-game is so wide open, but I appreciate your contributions.
I've played against a list similar to this or just like it several times on Arena. I will say that the proactive discard makes it difficult to advance your game strategy when the Campaign and Thought Erasures are eroding your hand and early plays.
I think one of the strongest reasons to splash into a different color IS to get access to the solid win conditions outside of pure Dimir. Grixis offers Nicol Bolas, the Ravager, Niv-Mizzet, Parun, and Ral, Izzet Viceroy. Each of these are solid win conditions that I think are too good to leave out. As you've indicated, depending on the 4 copies of The Eldest Reborn seems to leave you a little soft in the win condition area. I don't mean to be negatively critical, but it seems that the build you've posted has a pretty good time of clearing the opponents' board and hand without any definitive way to close the door once you've gotten them into this game state. And with only 4 Sinister Sabotage to help keep control of the game, I think that it would be easy to lose to an opponent's top-decked bomb and helplessly watch as it kills you, particularly Niv-Mizzet. That card has killed me too many times in the Control mirror to dismiss.
I like the removal suite and the discard suite you have, though. I've been particularly impressed with Disinformation Campaign on the other side of the table. It's pretty awesome, especially when you can synergize it with Thought Erasure. I can't believe I forgot/neglected Unmoored Ego. The hardest matchups for a Control deck, in my mind, are Mono-Red, Mono-Blue Tempo, and Arclight decks. Any threat that can get under our deck, as you've correctly identified Jreece, or is recursive is super hard to deal with.
FYI, you can now play Competitive Standard games with a Sideboard on Arena. There's a little toggle on the top right corner of the Play column. If you click it, it iwll open up competitive options and allow you to play best of 3 games against opponents. I thought I'd share that info so that we can get some more conclusive data for this deck instead of relying on Ladder matches from Arena.
So, after playing my Sultai list for over 25+ best of 3 games, my win/loss ratio is 15/10. I've played against a huge range of decks, which makes it SUPREMELY difficult to build a sideboard that can effectively transform our deck to fight the huge range of decks to play against. At this time, I think the only thing I can effectively add are my general observations against certain archetypes and cards. I'm hoping that these observations will help justify the decklist that I'll share at the end of this ramble.
Jeskai Contol - playing against Teferi and Niv-Mizzet makes this matchup super difficult. The most important card in this matchup is The Eldest Reborn, hands down. Their only out to it is Teferi himself and random Blink of an Eyes. The matchup comes down to who can win the counter war and the chaining of bombs and answers. We both have dead cards in the matchup because we're both relatively creatureless, so it comes down to card advantage and mana advantage. G1 can go either way, depending on how many counterspells and threats you can draw into. One of the primary reasons that I think Sultai is well-positioned because Carnage Tyrant and Assassin's Trophy. While I hate ramping my Jeskai opponent into a potentially larger Explosion with the Trophy, it usually comes as the final answer on my side of the table to win the chain of bombs that occur. And if you can keep Carny T on the board for the turn you have really good chances of winning. Their access to Expansion // Explosion is nothing to scoff at. Being able to expand Deafening Clarions is painful to watch when you've tapped out for Carny T, but it opens opportunities to land another threat that they struggle to deal with. The cards that make this matchup even in G1 are The Eldest Reborn, Carnage Tyrant, Assassin's Trophy, and Discovery // Dispersal. The Dispersal side has been very relevant a few times in bouncing their only permanent and forcing them to discard it. Having Black in our sideboard opens up G2 and G3 in our favor because of Duress, Thief of Sanity, Thought Erasure, and Unmoored Ego. While I don't play some of these cards in my sideboard, I do like how customizable the sideboard can be in Sultai.
Izzet Control - while very similar to the Jeskia matchup, they tend to lean harder on Expansion // Explosion, Benfire, and Niv-Mizzet, Parun. This is a very, very tough matchup because their mainboard Burn (Shock, Ionize, and Lightning Strike primarily) can just be pointed to our face until they draw a lethal Banefire. And they have a cheap win condition in Crackling Drake that they can easily protect in the later turns after spending 7+ turns accumulating mana and cards. G1 is decided usually by who flinches first. And it's usually me because I know that every turn that I don't do anything is simply giving them more time to build mana for a deadly Banefire. With that being said, however, they literally have no outs to a resolved Carny T. This is another point, in my mind, of why playing Sultai is so good right now. Carny T breaks open Control mirrors like a boss, especially in conjunction with the built-in recursion of The Eldest Reborn. G2 and G3 are really tough matches because they often board into 12-14+ counterspells. Trying to fight through that much countermagic is REALLY difficult, by the way. Anyways, the cards that are really helpful in this matchup are Carnage Tyrant, Thought Erasure, Vraska's Contempt, and The Eldest Reborn. From the sideboard, we'd board very similarly, prioritizing Umoored Ego to get rid of Banefire and Niv-Mizzet, Parun, in that order. This matchup, both pre and post-board is about 50/50, similar to Jeskai control from my experience in playing best of 3 matches on Arena. I win this matchup based on my experience more often than not, whenever Arena decides not to mana-f**k me.
Mono-Blue Tempo - this matchup is straight up miserable. If they get the right draw, it feels like playing against a Legacy tempo deck. And even if they don't, their threats are cheap enough in CMC that they can usually protect them in the late-game. This matchup, and the Mono-Red metchup, is why my mainboard now includes a mix of Fungal Infection and Moment of Craving. If they can land an early T1 creature and protect it through turn 4, I almost always lose. In order to give myself a fighting chance in G1, I've made concessions to these hyper aggressive matchups with my deck choices. Post-Board, board into all the cheap removal and instant speed interaction you can. If you can get into a board state where you can successfully stabilize with Carny T, you'll probably win the game. Tempest Djinn is a really unfair card even then, since it can sometimes trade with Carny T if they have enough Islands. This is, by far, the toughest match I regularly play against. It's probably 65/35 in their favor G1 and closer to 60/40 in G2 and G3. I hate seeing a T1 Siren Stormtamer more than any other card. The key cards in this matchup are Assassin's Trophy, Fungal Infection, Moment of Craving, and Vraska's Contempt. Golden Demise out of the sideboard along with Duress and additional copies of Moment of Craving and/or Fungal Infection help to give me more of a fighting chance, but it's still massively difficult to successfully win this match-up.
Mono-Red - the bane of all Control decks since the beginning of time, this matchup is definitely winnable G1 because of the maindeck concessions I have made. Fungal Infection is particularly useful, as I can often get a 2-1 out of that card when they 1st mainphase a Viashino Pyromancer and then attack with a Raging Firebrand. Moment of Craving is also really good here as well, especially in conjunction with Vraska's Contempt. Contempt is absolutely crucial to winning the matchup in my opinion. If they can resolve, and you can't answer, an Experimental Frenzy, your chances of winning go WAY down. However, I've found that with the early removal I've been running I can afford to leave up mana on T3 in order to threaten to Counter their frenzy and then just draw into more gas via Chemister's Insight and start applying my own pressure. I've actually been testing a singleton Pelakka Wurm in the maindeck just to see if I like how it stabilizes against Mono-Red and other Mid-Range variants. Board in additional early game removal and G2 and G3 become very reasonable. The MVP cards in this matchup are Vraska's Contempt, Moment of Craving, and Syncopate.
Golgari Mid-Range - I like seeing a tapped Overgrown Tomb on the other side of the battlefield, as it means a matchup that I actually look forward to. The only problem cards that Golgari can field are Carnage Tyrant and Vraska, Relic-Seeker. Be prepared to see these threats about a bajillion times because of Golgari Findbroker, Memorial to Folly, and their own The Eldest Reborns. If I can counter their key plays and keep the battefield manageable I've very frequently won G1, lose to mana-screw in G2, and then win a very tight G3. Unmoored Ego out of the side alongside more removal is how I like to board for this matchup. I think that Control decks usually have a pretty decent game against Mid-Range decks G1, so I'm personally encouraged whenever I see this deck. If only there was a better sweeper than Ritual of Soot... Come back, Damnation!
Izzet Drakes - this is a tricky matchup more than anything. I lost a game to a very large Crackling Drake when I had stabilized because I had forgotten about a Maximize Velocity in my opponent's 'yard. My mistake, and I died to a 13/5 hasty Drake. G1 is difficult, becuase they sometimes get the perfect draw and there's nothing you can do except die, but other times they don't hit the right mix of cantrips and do mostly nothing. Countering their Tormenting Voice and Chart a Course is actually where this matchup is won and lost because they can discard their Phoenixes to these cards and draw into more cantrips. I really like maindeck Syncopates for this reason, because it gives me a T2 play to counter their Enigma Drake or Chart a Course that is still live in the Mid-Game while being pitchable to Chemister's Insight in the late game that can also completely eliminate opposing Chemister's Insight that I come across. The MVP card out of the Sideboard is Umoored Ego naming Arclight Phoenix and Crackling Drake, in that order. They often board in some number of Niv-Mizzets and some number of counterspells, so it becomes an enjoyable game post-boards.
Boros Mid-Range/Angels - this is a matchup I like to see even more than Golgari Mid-Range because they don't have signficant recursion elements like Golgari does. 1-1 them and counter their haymaker spells and watch as The Eldest Reborn single-handedly wins you the matchup. I've only lost this matchup out of the 4 games I've played against it because Arena hated me in G2 and G3 and only let me draw a collective 5 lands out of both games. I like to board in additional The Eldest Reborn and counterspells. Disdainful Stroke is really good as is Thought Erasure. MVP's for this matchup are Vraska's Contempt[/CAARD], The Eldest Reborn, and Vraska, Relic-Seeker
Selesnya Tokens - this is another matchup that is really close G1 but becomes WAY more manageable out of the Board in G2 and G3. The maindeck Moment of Cravings and Fungal Infection are supremely useful in stabilizing this matchup and Ritual of Soot is almost always a lights out T4 play against them. The one game I've lost to Selesnya Tokens is when I didn't see any of my sideboarded cards in G2 and G3 and got mana-screwed on G3.
Anyways, that covers most of the matchups that I've taken notes for. Based on my observations of what has been effective for me, my current iteration of Sultai Control now looks like this:
3x Syncopate
1x Negate
4x Sinister Sabotage
Removal (14)
2x Fungal Infection
3x Moment of Craving
2x Assassin's Trophy
4x Vraska's Contempt
3x Ritual of Soot
Card Draw (6)
3x Discovery // Dispersal
3x Chemister's Insight
Win Conditions (8)
2x The Eldest Reborn
2x Carnage Tyrant
3x Vraska, Relic-Seeker
1x Pelakka Wurm
4x Overgrown Tomb
4x Watery Grave
4x Drowned Catacomb
4x Hinterland Harbor
3x Woodland Cemetery
1x Memorial to Genius
1x Detection Tower
2x Island
1x Swamp
1x Forest
1x Moment of Craving
3x Golden Demise
3x Unmoored Ego
2x Disdainful Stroke
1x Negate
1x The Eldest Reborn
4x Thought Erasure
I've been really pleased with this configuration and I feel like every matchup is at least winnable depending mostly on my playskill.
I hope that these notes/observations will help others as they navigate this delightful Standard meta game!
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
2 Nightveil Predator
1 Chromium, the Mutable
Counters 10
4 Sinister Sabotage
2 Essence Scatter
2 Syncopate
2 Negate
Removal 11
3 Vraska's Contempt
3 Ritual of Soot
3 Moment of Craving
2 Cast down
4 Chemister's Insight
2 Search for Azcanta
Lands 26
2 Field of Ruin
3 Island
4 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Watery Grave
3 Duress
2 Vona, Butcher of Magan
2 Tocatli Honor Guard
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Chromium, the Mutable
1 Invoke the Divine
1 Unmoored Ego
1 Profane Procession
1 Vona's Hunger
1 Fungal Infection
Esper Control
I've gotten much better results vs. Carnage Tyrant with running 2 Detection Tower MD over Field Of Ruin. Little to none of the Izzet/Jeskai decks run Search For Azcanta, so it doesn't hurt. If you fear it getting hit by Trophy, hold it until the play Tyrant. They can't make you discard it. Activate, aim a Contempt at it, done. I finally started beating GB thanks to this. The multiple ways to bring Tyrant back are arguably more dangerous that Tyrant itself.
On another note, I swapped an Essence Scatter for my fourth Vraska's Contempt. Most things you want Scatter for get cleaned up by Ritual of Soot, Contempt is better against Phoenix/Niv and I want all four copies.
Esper Control
The only Jeskai to top 8 the PT ran 1 Search, 0 Gateway. So, that's what all the bandwagoners will run to. Tyrant is way more dangerous than anything Jeskai has, save for Banefire. If anything, I'd go 2 Tower, 1 Field. Also, 26 with no early cantrip/draw is dangerous. This deck cannot miss land drop 1-5. You really want to make 6 so you can Teferi with hard counter backup. This would also lessen the impact of the colorless lands.
I forgot to mention in my earlier post, Specter loses to Plaguecrafter\Eldest Reborn also. The only answer they have to Tower is Trophy, which is usually a 2 of, that they can't recur.