MTG Salvation

Maybe it's time to bump this deck a bit with the introduction of JTMS to the format?

Check this out guys! A very weird esper mentor list made top 8 at an RPTQ: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/rptq-top-8-decklists/melbourne-2017-11-19

Well this happened Potential to revive this deck in a higher tier level is on the horizon!

Quote from stalecookie »

How is this deck doing? I was thinking about picking it up but haven't seen many results with it. Not that that means it is a bad deck or anything.

In terms of results it is virtually non-existent

Quote from darktutor »

Quote from Ym1r »

I've been playing this deck for a few weeks now. Lately my magic skills have dropped to the ground (mostly due to the fact that I play super tired). Hence my experience with the deck has not been the best. I actually keep losing and losing and I can't figure why. Probably I am playing the deck wrongly or I can't understand its basic concepts, I don't know. I usually play Faeries or UWR control/midrange, and I though I should be able to manage this deck. Apparently I am awful and i can't. Anyway, I was playing a pretty stock list of the deck and i figured maybe I should tweak it to fit my playstyle more? What I found frustrating at times was the lack of counters so I though I'd try playing some. What do you think of this version?

Ym1r's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Lands 4 Creeping Tar Pit 4 Flooded Strand 4 Polluted Delta 1 Godless Shrine 2 Watery Grave 1 Hallowed Fountain 2 Plains 1 Swamp 2 Island 1 Vault of the Archangel	Planeswalker 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor Creatures 3 Snapcaster Mage 4 Monastery Mentor 2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang Instants 2 Remand 1 Dismember 1 Disfigure 1 Murderous Cut 4 Path to Exile 1 Spell Snare 1 Zealous Persecution 1 Slaughter Pact 3 Mana Leak	Sorcery 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Thoughtseize 4 Lingering Souls 3 Serum Visions / 3 Thought Scour

As a Fae/UWR lover, I can imagine that you're trying to play a conservative game, when the deck tries to be a bit more proactive than the ones you mentioned. Mentor will reward you more if you play a proactive game rather than reactive, it will still be good in the right situation to hold cards and resources to respond/play EoT, but more likely (and especially in the kill turn) you will want to cast 3+ spells in your own turn.

Yeah, I am probably playing way too conservative. To be real, I feel weak without counters. But I have a hard time adjusting to the game plan, which I am not sure what it is exactly. That's why I though I could try and include more counters and have the ability to play more reactive wherever I need.

I've been playing this deck for a few weeks now. Lately my magic skills have dropped to the ground (mostly due to the fact that I play super tired). Hence my experience with the deck has not been the best. I actually keep losing and losing and I can't figure why. Probably I am playing the deck wrongly or I can't understand its basic concepts, I don't know. I usually play Faeries or UWR control/midrange, and I though I should be able to manage this deck. Apparently I am awful and i can't. Anyway, I was playing a pretty stock list of the deck and i figured maybe I should tweak it to fit my playstyle more? What I found frustrating at times was the lack of counters so I though I'd try playing some. What do you think of this version?

I don't know, I feel he is running a bit low on the removal side. 6 of them, with 2 of them having some restrictions might not be enough. I would cut a Sorin for sure in order to add a removal. I also like running a single copy of Zealous persecution. Anticipates+Serum Visions vs Thought Scour is a hard choice, I think it needs to be tested a lot.

Quote from toroks »

Quote from Ym1r »

Electrolyze is not good against a creature and tokens which can dodge with a single cantrip.

If they don't know what cards you have in hand, they'll just play it when you're tapped out, in response to prowess triggers, or they'll appoint one extra damage if you have open mana and they suspect you have an instant at hand.

Yeah but it is easy for us to play around it as well. If they appoint 2 damage on a single token then I would be fine. The same things which apply for the caster of Electrolyze apply for us. If they play Electrolyze on our open mana they run the risk of getting exploited.

Electrolyze is not good against a creature and tokens which can dodge with a single cantrip.

Quote from toroks »

Quote from CorwinOfAmber »

good afternoon guys,

i've been checking this deck for a while, and as soon as i get myself some missing cards i would really like to test this deck. however there's one thing i can't figure out myself:

Geist of Saint Traft vs. Monastery Mentor : why mentor over geist?

i mean geist is hard to remove, 4-6 damage guaranteed each turn, while mentor is just 3-4 damage next turn with 1-2 tokens, and you have to cast another 1-2 spells next turn to swing for some decent damage... or am i getting it wrong?

Because some guys did well in some tournaments with Monastery Mentor, and then everyone followed

That is, of course completely not the case.

Geist needs empty road to attack, he can usually put 0-12 damage before he gets shut down by a blocker or mass removal. Then you definitely need a way of reaching your opponent which is usually done in UWR midrange deck with bolt snap bolt or restoration angels/thundermaw hellkites. In esper colors you can't get this kind of reach with burn spells.

Monastery Mentor leaves scaling tokens behind after he dies, which can attack, block, race etc. Geist leaves nothing on the board after his attack or after he dies.

We play cheap spells anyway and you can end of turn clear the path with removals (which we run 7-8) and generate tokens which can, in your turn, attack for value. Usually a Mentor with 1-2 tokens attacks for WAY more than Geist does on an empty board.

I think that Geist is better suited for a UWR midrange deck or if your meta is filled with control/scapeshift, in the SB of an esper mentor list.

I can elaborate more on the reasons to play Mentor over Geist, but "because pros did it" is not one of them.

I run a list almost 100% same in the maindeck as the one from the SCG with the difference of using 1x Zealous Persecution in exchange for 1x Slaughter Pact. I really like having at least SOME persmission in the main. For once remand is a cantrip. But mainly you can mindtrick opponents with leaving mana up because they have seen permission and they are forced to play around it. I think it adds power to the deck.

Quote from Gahouf »

Quote from rps1224 »

Here's a Esper Control list that made it to the Top 8 today.
Here's the link.

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=83416

That anti-burn sideboard... Maybe that's what we need to do to shore the matchup up.

I find it a bit weird to not have any disenchants. Do you think it is possible to make a SB w/o Disenchants?

http://www.happymtg.com/coverage/24695/ In this event there is a monastery mentor list which top8'ed. Can't really translate much but the list is there also in english