MTG Salvation

Quote from Dasro20 »

Is there any reason why people are running Mentors still? Literally every report I've seen sides them out G2. Anyways, here's the list I've been trying out.

I went down to 3 because drawing multiples is often bad, but I still believe Mentor has a place in a deck like this. He allows you to really turn on the gas and be offensive, or threaten a very quick lethal attack, when the situation permits. He is almost like Splinter Twin in that you can play a solid, grindy game without him, but you can also present this threat that will just take over and win in a turn or two.

(Now obviously, he's not as fast or as infinite as twin, but from an abstract perspective, he is presenting another must-answer threat.)

One of the better qualities of this deck (Esper Mentor / Midrange) is it's ability to attack in several ways. You can go off with Mentor, or you can protect a Tasigur while removing, or you can grind with Souls / Tar-Pit. Even while you are on plan B or C, the threat of Mentor is there. Personally, I almost never side him out, and the deck has done very well for me at a small-tournament level against other very real decks.

Anyway, I have tested the delve fatties version, and Geist of Saint Traft, as well. I am still back on 3x Monastery Mentor. I think that running the full set of 8 cantrips with Serum Visions and Thought Scour is where the deck wants to be, and I am also playing 2 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy in lieu of Gurmag Angler.

I am down to 21 land, because for Mentor to be worth it, we want an effective, like, at least 30~ noncreature spells. I say effective because I am counting Snapcaster as another trigger, and Jace as potential triggers- although Jace often gets removed, that still makes me want to play him, because he eats a removal spell so that Mentor can possibly live. If he doesn't get removed, he just sits there and gets insane value in this deck. Cards in the yard is almost like drawing cards for us, and all we want to do is cast a ton of spells and get value from all of them.

I find this deck has a good amount of inevitability, too, with Tar-Pit and Souls. I am still a believer in 4x Tar-Pit.

Anyway, still very interesting to see that people are thinking about and playing this archetype as much as I am. I do think it will be around, hovering near tier 2. Maybe something in a new set can bump it up, or the meta can elevate it. Personally, I feel that it actually has a lot of very solid matchups right now, especially in the varieties of Grixis running around. Also as a deck with many decisions and lines of play, I feel that you can gain significant advantage in most "fair" matchups by simply knowing it well.

Placed 1st in a (very) small FNM level event today with this build of Esper Mentor. I played against:

Round 1: R/U/G Delver.

Won in 3, games were grindy. Got a clutch Timely Reinforcements off that won me a game. Won Game 3 in another grindy game. Souls / Tasigur / Tar-Pit. Lost game 1 to a quick Delver flip into a second Delver / Bolts.

Round 2: Grixis Control


Won in 2, matchup felt great. He just didn't stick creatures and lost to Mentor in game 1. In Game 2 he Slaughter Pact-ed naming Mentor and I won with Spirits, Sorin, and Tar-Pit. Games were pretty slow. Felt good.

I have a lot of sideboard action against this deck, and I hit both my Celestial Purges and also cast Blood-Baron, although it got Rending Volley'd. Feels like a good matchup, though.


Round 3: Infect

Won in 3.

In game 1 I went Serum Visions into double Slaughter Pact after casting an Inquisition and a Thoughtseize to pick apart his hand. It got me there for eventual Lingering Souls / Snap / Tar-Pit victory. I really shouldn't be winning game 1 of this matchup, in my opinion, but it was a very ideal draw.


In game 2 he had a reasonable hand and ended up winning with a might of old krosa on Inkmoth, after vapor snagging my spirit blocker. This was a good game, though, and still pretty close. If I had kept one more spirit up to block I may have still won.



In game 3 I cast "away" to make him sacrifice his inkmoth and he just like, never drew another land. I won with Snap / Spirit beats.



All in all, the deck felt good. Far / Away kind of Overperformed, Monastery Mentor was barely cast, and Jace was cast once, eating a removal spell immediately. I am okay with him eating a removal spell, though.



I am feeling good about running 21 lands with 4 tar-pits. I think the Pit is a super important piece of the deck, and I also think that 4x Serum Visions with 4x Thought Scour is enough to hit with 21 lands consistently. It also gives us more room for spells while also playing Jace. I like 3 Mentor because we don't NEED him to win, and we don't necessarily want to draw 2, but his power is there.



Anyway, I need to test this build more, but I like it and will keep playing it for now. Sorry for my crappy tournament report, but I'm tired, and it was a tiny tournament anyway.

Hello, I've been lurking this thread for months while playing Esper Mentor. I have tried builds without Mentor, running 2x Geist of Saint Traft and 2-3x Gurmag Angler. I've also tried some Restoration / Blade Splicer builds of a similar deck.


There are so many cards available to Esper colors that do interested and varied things, I really believe in this archetype's potential to become something.


I think that Jace, Vryn's Prodigy might have a place in a more traditional Esper Mentor build, so I put together this list last night:





Some choices:

• This build is more interested in recurring spells for Mentor triggers or value than it is in delve fatties.
• I think that Sorin, Lord of Innistrad provides more consistent benefit than Solemn Visitor in a harder Mentor / Tokens build. Solemn Visitor seems better in a Gurmag Angler build. That being said, they are of relatively comparable strength and I still don't think it's clear that one is strictly better all of the time. Getting an emblem or two is great, though, as it can't be interacted with at all. When Solemn Visitor dies, his buff goes too. This may be a reason to play 2x Solemn Visitor, or one of each Sorin. Lord of Innistrad has some easy-to-overlook synergy with Creeping Tar-Pit, which I still believe is one of the stronger cards in this archetype.
• A playset of Serum Visions is why this deck can even attempt to run off of 21 lands. If I was not playing Serum Visions, I would be playing 23-24 lands. It's not clear to me which approach is actually better, but I think that Jace, Vryn's Prodigy incentivizes you to play sorcery speed cantrips, as an easy thing to recur for value.

Cards I kind of want to be playing but don't know where they fit:

• Remand: Maybe just better in that cantrip slot than Serum Visions, but interacts poorly with Jace in comparison, and makes mana harder.
• Darkblast: Another piece to throw into our graveyard engine. I could see a one-of being worth it, when our graveyard is functioning as an extension of our hand, being the " pseudo 6 snapcaster mage" deck.
• Cryptic Command: Grixis Control, a similar deck in some ways, plays this awesome card. It seems like we should be playing it?
• Ojutai's Command: Grixis Control also plays Kolaghans Command. This card is worse than that card, but with Jace and Snapcaster, Ojutai's Command may have some legit value applications in a deck with a slightly larger manabase. I think it's interesting.
• Geist of Saint Traft: An amazing threat in a deck with this much "unconditional" removal. Maybe even a one-of in a Mentor build, just to be a threat that lives through many of the easy answers to Mentor.
• Gideon Jura: I think he's strong. I dunno. Maybe in a bigger build.