Took this deck earlier this week to a local tournament to a 3-1 finish, losing to Nykthos green due to some cringeworthy misplays like not playing the right land to have Cryptic Command mana on critical turns but beating Goryo's reanimator, Abzan Hatebears, and UR Twin.
The maindeck Jace, Architect of Thought and Gideon Jura performed well, mitigating Lingering Souls, which I found to be one of the biggest problems for this deck in the past, while not being completely cold to Splinter Twin. The sideboard Curse of Death's Hold got discarded before I could play it against Lingering Souls but seemed like it would have been very good against not just the spirit tokens but the rest of the Abzan Hatebears deck.
The Onslaught fetches made a big difference from when I played Esper Teachings before the release of Khans. I am taking far less pain off of my mana base, and playing around Blood Moon has become far easier.
I think it's disingenuous to call an aggro-control deck a control deck.
We may have different definitions for a control deck is then. The Stoneblade archetype plays lots of removal, counters, and sometimes maindeck sweepers with a handful of win conditions. Sounds like a control deck to me. By the way, I'm not referring to Deathblade decks, which I agree are aggro-control.
Pox
Stax
UBx Standstill
UB Tezzerator
None of these are viable.
UB Tezzerator winning a Legacy Open and making a name for Caleb Durward and occasionally showing up in top 8s seems viable to me. For the other three, you don't see them consistently in the top 8s but they definitely exist and put up decent results. Perhaps we have a different idea of what constitutes a "viable" deck?
I think the potential of getting blown out by an Abrupt Decay mid-combat is a huge deterrent to its viability. Valorous Stance, on the other hand, seems quite good against BGx, answering Abrupt Decay on your creatures and hitting exactly the creatures that Lightning Bolt can't, barring the corner case of a Tarmogoyf being under just the right conditions to dodge both removal spells.
The biggest problem with Bant in Modern is not having Swords to Plowshares for early game removal. The drawback of Path to Exile is really noticeable when it is your only source of early game removal. I do see Bant colored spells like Bant Charm in Modern four for five color zoo decks, however.
Teachings has likely lived out its days, but its totally plausible a deck like this could make a comeback if the meta changes in its favor. We'll see.
Sadly I have to agree with you here. From playing an Esper control deck with Dig Through Time in place of Mystical Teachings for the last few months, I find that increasingly rarely do I find myself in situations that a flash creature or instant can solve. I will probably be playing Think Twice in place of Mystical Teachings and a deck consisting of more sorcery speed spells moving forward.
Draw-go style control decks which aim to answer everything and win with a small win condition don't seem that well supported by Wizards anymore. I think tap-out control decks, which instead stall the game until it plays a bigger threat than the deck that it is facing will always be viable. Taking the tap-out approach and being more proactive by playing more win conditions in the 5-cmc slot has worked out very well for me.
With the printing of Sphinx's Revelation, Esper colors no longer held what was close to a monopoly on the only instant speed card advantage spells in the format. I think that is part of the reason (Deathrite Shaman is another reason) why we saw UWR control pop up around that time. That said, moving forward I think Esper control has great potential. With Birthing Pod out of the way, Lightning Bolt isn't looking nearly as useful as it used to be and Esper Charm remains one of the best instant speed draw spells in the format. I see Electrolyze as the equivalent of Esper Charm for URx control decks, but that function is dependent heavily whether there are good targets for it in the opponent's deck.
I don't know what kind of deck it would go in, but I do like that they are starting to hate on exile effects like Path to Exile and making black removal more viable.
esper has no chance of surviving against fast agro, since it lacks the most important tool for that: bolt
I don't doubt that Jeskai and Grixis have the advantage over Esper against fast aggro because of Lightning Bolt and Electrolyze. Nevertheless, historically Esper Teachings control decks have done well against Zoo. They were heavy on removal and ran multiple copies of Timely Reinforcements in the sideboard.
and don't rejoice for a format full of bgx, if Liliana resolves your chances of winning are drastically decreasing and disruption can take care of that
Liliana of the Veil is a problem indeed, but from playing both Grixis and Esper control decks for some time I find that you can often outdraw and go over the top of the disruption of a BGx deck, and I think UBx does a better job of that than Jeskai does.
I wonder if this deck will make a resurgence next week. It will be the first time the Onslaught fetches were in Modern but Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time are not.
So do we just swap in Mystical Teachings now that dig is gone?
Possibly, depending on your build. Mystical Teachings is a build around card and is only good in a deck with lots of instants and flash creatures and a low level of redundancy.
I am excited that more people will be incentivized to try out Mystical Teachings see and just how powerful the card is. I've found it to be much better than it looks.
I played the below deck tonight in a tournament of about 30 people and went 3-1. Beat URw delver 2-0, lost to Abzan Pod 1-2, beat UWR Control 2-0, and UWR Control again 2-0.
I'm pretty happy with the deck and can't think of any changes for now, although by its very nature control decks need to be carefully tuned to the metagame.
I've been quite impressed with Obzedat, Ghost Council. Some obvious benefits of it is that it can be immune to sorcery speed removal, is maindeckable lifegain, and puts on a 9 point life swing per turn. Some less obvious benefits I found through experience is that the fact that it flickers back in during your upkeep means that you have mana untapped to protect it against removal after tapping out to play it the turn before. Unlike Baneslayer Angel, it can be protected with Restoration Angel, a situation that has been relevant a few times already. Finally, it can get around the relatively uncommon but potentially gamebreaking Ensnaring Bridge and can put up a decent clock against a board of Lingering Souls.
One notable card that I have not missed is Path to Exile. The land has been very relevant against most matchups I've faced and I see my Mana Leaks being much more effective because I am not running any Path to Exile.
The maindeck Jace, Architect of Thought and Gideon Jura performed well, mitigating Lingering Souls, which I found to be one of the biggest problems for this deck in the past, while not being completely cold to Splinter Twin. The sideboard Curse of Death's Hold got discarded before I could play it against Lingering Souls but seemed like it would have been very good against not just the spirit tokens but the rest of the Abzan Hatebears deck.
The Onslaught fetches made a big difference from when I played Esper Teachings before the release of Khans. I am taking far less pain off of my mana base, and playing around Blood Moon has become far easier.
Moving forward, I would cut the Condemn in the sideboard for a Disfigure and maybe one Spell Snare in the maindeck for something else, like an Oust or another Restoration Angel. With how prevalent Lingering Souls are right now, I am loathe to put Vendilion Clique in the main.
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Restoration Angel
Instants
2 Cryptic Command
3 Mana Leak
3 Spell Snare
4 Esper Charm
2 Mystical Teachings
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Disfigure
1 Dismember
1 Smother
1 Go for the Throat
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Murderous Cut
1 Consume the Meek
1 White Sun's Zenith
Sorceries
2 Damnation
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Gideon Jura
Lands
2 Celestial Colonnade
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Fetid Heath
1 Flooded Strand
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
2 Marsh Flats
1 Mystic Gate
2 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Watery Grave
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Celestial Purge
1 Curse of Death's Hold
1 Deathmark
1 Disenchant
1 Condemn
1 Duress
1 Countersquall
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Rest for the Weary
2 Stony Silence
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Vendilion Clique
We may have different definitions for a control deck is then. The Stoneblade archetype plays lots of removal, counters, and sometimes maindeck sweepers with a handful of win conditions. Sounds like a control deck to me. By the way, I'm not referring to Deathblade decks, which I agree are aggro-control.
UB Tezzerator winning a Legacy Open and making a name for Caleb Durward and occasionally showing up in top 8s seems viable to me. For the other three, you don't see them consistently in the top 8s but they definitely exist and put up decent results. Perhaps we have a different idea of what constitutes a "viable" deck?
There are far more than two viable control decks in Legacy. Off the top of my head:
Miracles
Lands
UWx Stoneblade
Death and Taxes
Pox
Stax
UBx Standstill
UB Tezzerator
As for Stoic Angel itself, I see it as mainly good against other aggressive creature decks and it competes with Elspeth, Knight-Errant for the 4-drop slot. Other creatures in Bant like Knight of the Reliquary, Rhox War Monk, and Loxodon Smiter already do a good job of blocking small creatures.
Sadly I have to agree with you here. From playing an Esper control deck with Dig Through Time in place of Mystical Teachings for the last few months, I find that increasingly rarely do I find myself in situations that a flash creature or instant can solve. I will probably be playing Think Twice in place of Mystical Teachings and a deck consisting of more sorcery speed spells moving forward.
Draw-go style control decks which aim to answer everything and win with a small win condition don't seem that well supported by Wizards anymore. I think tap-out control decks, which instead stall the game until it plays a bigger threat than the deck that it is facing will always be viable. Taking the tap-out approach and being more proactive by playing more win conditions in the 5-cmc slot has worked out very well for me.
With the printing of Sphinx's Revelation, Esper colors no longer held what was close to a monopoly on the only instant speed card advantage spells in the format. I think that is part of the reason (Deathrite Shaman is another reason) why we saw UWR control pop up around that time. That said, moving forward I think Esper control has great potential. With Birthing Pod out of the way, Lightning Bolt isn't looking nearly as useful as it used to be and Esper Charm remains one of the best instant speed draw spells in the format. I see Electrolyze as the equivalent of Esper Charm for URx control decks, but that function is dependent heavily whether there are good targets for it in the opponent's deck.
Dies to bolt and no real relevant abilities.
I don't doubt that Jeskai and Grixis have the advantage over Esper against fast aggro because of Lightning Bolt and Electrolyze. Nevertheless, historically Esper Teachings control decks have done well against Zoo. They were heavy on removal and ran multiple copies of Timely Reinforcements in the sideboard.
Liliana of the Veil is a problem indeed, but from playing both Grixis and Esper control decks for some time I find that you can often outdraw and go over the top of the disruption of a BGx deck, and I think UBx does a better job of that than Jeskai does.
Possibly, depending on your build. Mystical Teachings is a build around card and is only good in a deck with lots of instants and flash creatures and a low level of redundancy.
I am excited that more people will be incentivized to try out Mystical Teachings see and just how powerful the card is. I've found it to be much better than it looks.
Now Urban Evolution is playable in Scapeshift again! (at least as sideboard material)
I second this sentiment.
From my experience playing Esper Teachings in the past, the BGx matchup was quite good after the Deathrite Shaman ban. There was a memorable game of mine against Jund where my opponent resolved a Thrun, the Last Troll, discarded 2 Cryptic Commands with Liliana of the Veil while he was hellbent, and blew up at least one of my lands with Fulminator Mage, yet I still easily won by going over the top with Mystical Teachings, Sphinx's Revelation, and White Sun's Zenith.
I'm pretty happy with the deck and can't think of any changes for now, although by its very nature control decks need to be carefully tuned to the metagame.
I've been quite impressed with Obzedat, Ghost Council. Some obvious benefits of it is that it can be immune to sorcery speed removal, is maindeckable lifegain, and puts on a 9 point life swing per turn. Some less obvious benefits I found through experience is that the fact that it flickers back in during your upkeep means that you have mana untapped to protect it against removal after tapping out to play it the turn before. Unlike Baneslayer Angel, it can be protected with Restoration Angel, a situation that has been relevant a few times already. Finally, it can get around the relatively uncommon but potentially gamebreaking Ensnaring Bridge and can put up a decent clock against a board of Lingering Souls.
One notable card that I have not missed is Path to Exile. The land has been very relevant against most matchups I've faced and I see my Mana Leaks being much more effective because I am not running any Path to Exile.
2x Augur of Bolas
2x Obzedat, Ghost Council
2x Restoration Angel
2x Snapcaster Mage
Instants
2x Cryptic Command
2x Dig Through Time
1x Dimir Charm
2x Disfigure
1x Doom Blade
4x Esper Charm
1x Go for the Throat
3x Mana Leak
1x Smother
3x Spell Snare
1x Sphinx's Revelation
1x Utter End
2x Supreme Verdict
2x Thoughtseize
Lands
4x Celestial Colonnade
3x Darkslick Shores
1x Flooded Strand
1x Godless Shrine
1x Hallowed Fountain
3x Island
1x Isolated Chapel
2x Marsh Flats
2x Plains
4x Polluted Delta
2x Swamp
1x Tectonic Edge
1x Watery Grave
1x Celestial Purge
1x Condemn
1x Deathmark
1x Disenchant
1x Dispel
1x Duress
1x Flashfreeze
1x Shadow of Doubt
1x Sin Collector
2x Stony Silence
1x Surgical Extraction
1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1x Timely Reinforcements
1x Wrath of God