Sorry, my deck is kind of a jerk ...

Hi everybody,

So, I got to play my Esper Control deck again. I've re-dubbed it, "Sorry, my deck is kind of a jerk." I think I'm getting more comfortable playing with it, and I finished a respectable 3-1 at the Standard Win-a-Box event at Mox Mania last night. For reference, here's my list:

Land (27)
3 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Swamp
1 Island
22 (dual lands)

Creatures (8)
3 Augur of Bolas
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Restoration Angel
1 Obzedat, Ghost Council

Spells (25)
4 Azorius Charm
2 Dimir Charm
2 Devour Flesh
1 Ultimate Price
3 Think Twice
1 Syncopate
2 Dissipate
2 Detention Sphere
1 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Supreme Verdict
1 Terminus
2 Sphinx's Revelation

Sideboard (15)
1 Appetite for Brains
1 Duress
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Negate
1 Dispel
1 Psychic Spiral
1 Victim of Night
2 Purify the Grave
2 Rest in Peace
1 Planar Cleansing
1 Curse of Death's Hold

So the turnout at Mox has been pretty heavy the last couple-three weeks (30 or thereabouts), to the point where they actually ran two separate events. But for whatever reason last night, there were only 13 players. Well either way, here's how it went:

Indestructible, eh?

Round 1: vs. Mono-Green. This was a cakewalk. It didn't help my opponent that he got stuck on lands in both games and didn't really get much going either game. I was able to keep his stuff under control pretty easily. I think one game I actually went on the beatdown plan. The trickiest thing for my deck to deal with was probably Predator Ooze, since a lot of my removal is damage-based, but I never seemed to be lacking in ways to handle it (D-Sphere, Terminus, A-Charm, counter magic, etc.). 1-0.

B0rken!!1 ...or is it?

Round 2: vs. Mono-Red. So, we returned to Ravnica, and it's supposed to be this multi-colored nirvana .. so what's with the mono-color decks? And what's the deal with airline peanuts?? Anyway. This was a fun one. Esper is powerful, but it kinda keeps me on the edge of my seat sometimes. Game one, I stabilized at 1 life, but it took pretty much all of my resources to do so, and I was dead to a topdecked burn spell or hasty dood for several turns. Eventually, I landed Obzedat and got my life total out of burn range, and I think mill got there. Second game, he had the Skullcrack to finish me off. Third game was like the first. I made a pretty bad misplay, though. It was turn 3-4, and I was waiting to Verdict. He had out 5 different critters, 2 power each, two of which were a freshly-cast Rakdos Cackler and Lightning Mauler (paired with the Cackler). I was holding Dimir Charm so I didn't have to take all 10 damage, but I didn't see (what is now) the obvious play: kill the Cackler or Mauler so the other can't attack, saving myself another 2 life points. Against mono-red, life points are precious commodities. Well, either way, I Verdict'd the next turn, and he ran out of gas. He scooped after I Revelated for 4 a few turns later. 2-0.

Champion of the what now?

Round 3: vs. Naya Humans. My nemesis from the last few weeks, and the deck I've been determined not to roll over to yet again. My plan worked like a charm (no pun intended): kill early doods, wipe the board, refill my hand, and mill mill mill. It didn't help him, though, that he had to mulligan both games (to 5 and 6, respectively), and didn't get much of an aggressive start either game. I also landed a Curse on him in the second game, and I suspect that it shut off about half his deck. I was able to clean up pretty easily with spot removal and board wipes for the intermittent Frontline Medics and Burning-Tree Emissaries that he presented me with, while milling for 3 every turn (and eventually 6). 3-0.

Cool, so I'm 3-0, so now I can intentionally draw and split that box! Well, not quite. With the low turnout and odd number of players, there were other pair-downs, and enough of them lost such that I was the only 3-0. So, I got paired down, and he declined my offer to ID. Here's the thrilling conclusion:

Cool tutor.

Round 4: vs. Junk Rites. I've had very bad luck against reanimator decks of just about every sort ever since they became a "thing." I was hoping that my 4 pieces of graveyard hate (plus 3 exile-counterspells) would keep the graveyard in check. And it did. I don't think he was able to reanimate a single critter all match. Game one, I think I countered one Rites from the graveyard with a Dimir Charm (see, not just a early-game kill spell and mill finisher!), and game two I landed an early Rest in Peace. So .. the thing with this deck .. if you shut off the graveyard, it turns to plan B: Midrange. Basically, Angels and Thragtusks for value. I Dissipated a Thragtusk or two, Syncopated something else, D-Sphere'd an Angel, etc. But both games, I ran out of gas, and he didn't. Turns out, Grisly Salvage is also a decent pseudo-tutor, even when the graveyard shenanigans are stopped. Also, I had to mulligan at least one game, and I think I had weird draws in both games. Ultimately, all those things combined were too much, and I lost in two games. 3-1.
 
It's possible that I mis-sideboarded and/or mis-played. I sided out two Verdicts, because I was afraid of filling his graveyard with Unburial targets, but I overestimated his ability to deal with the RIP. I needed all the removal I could get. Maybe next time I take out a couple of Think Twices instead?

Well, I think the deck is coming along nicely. When it works, it works great. I feel .. in control. Ha! It's a good feeling. Some people don't like this kind of deck because it supposedly takes a long time to win via mill. There's some truth to that, but the length of the games seems to be more about how long it takes to stabilize more than how long it takes to win. Once I get the game under control, my turns are very fast: Land, pass turn, EOT mill, rinse, repeat. Deal with threats as needed. Of course, the real action is getting the game under control. This is what takes time. And sometimes, of course, it doesn't happen at all. But I'm getting very comfortable with the deck, so I'm able to play pretty quickly lately. I think all of my matches were done with 10 minutes or more left. The longest matches were the two lifegain decks in the room: Junk Midrange, and Prime Speaker Bant (with Trostani). Fun fact: these two decks got paired together in round 3, and they played to a 0-0-1 draw, with both players above 30 life at the end of 5 turns. Angel of Serenity loops are kinda silly.

I also played and Judged at a Modern tournament on Monday night. It wasn't terribly eventful. I went 2-2 with my Delver deck, which I affectionately refer to as "3-Color Burn." I beat a Living End deck and a U/W Tron/Gifts deck, and lost to a Melira Pod deck and a (better?) Living End deck. I made misplays all over the place, such as trying to kill a Cartel Aristocrat before he could combo off with Melira and Redcap (killing Melira was the play), and forgetting that Living End makes me sacrifice my doodz (oh hey, I just realized .. I can loot with Izzet Charm in response to Living End!). I had a couple of easy rules questions to answer, and I got to handle some of the scorekeeping duties. I was also able to trade for the rest of the cards I needed for my Judge Duty Aggro deck; I traded for the Hellriders and Ash Zealot I needed, and I cashed some store credit (that I didn't know I had) for the other two Stomping Grounds I needed. I'll probably get a chance to give it a whirl while Judging next Friday at FNM. Fun!

Also, Misty Mountain is getting a new owner. Congrats to Ben Rislove, current store manager. Well, I hadn't realized that Ben actually wasn't the owner, but hey, whatever. I'm not sure what exactly this means for the store. Hopefully, Ben will turn the passion for the store into a tidier, more friendly environment for his patrons. One thing I like about Mox Mania is that even though it gets kinda crowded in the relatively small space, it's always very clean and neat. I don't like not going to Misty, because it's where I really cut my teeth as a new (returning) player a few years ago, and where I met most of my Magic-friends, but ... Things change, I guess?

Well, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave comments/questions/jokes/whatever (okay, not spam) below. Until next time!