Esper aggro

greendemon · Joined: 09 Jan 2009 Posts: 2

Not too much testing on this yet, somewhat similar to the esper control in the other thread. So far the tidehollows, master of etherium, and the tower gargoyle all work very well. The rest I'm less sure about. Quietus spike is awesome when you can get it out, I may put in more. Deft duelist may be the weak link, but I'm trying to keep the deck low cost and fast. Let me know what y'all think

// Lands
4 [ALA] Esper Panorama
4 [ALA] Arcane Sanctum
5 [ALA] Plains (4)
6 [ALA] Island (3)
5 [ALA] Swamp (4)

// Creatures
2 [ALA] Tezzeret the Seeker
1 [ALA] Salvage Titan
4 [ALA] Master of Etherium
1 [ALA] Metallurgeon
4 [ALA] Ethersworn Canonist
4 [ALA] Tower Gargoyle
4 [ALA] Tidehollow Strix
4 [ALA] Tidehollow Sculler
4 [ALA] Deft Duelist

// Spells
1 [ALA] Obelisk of Esper
1 [ALA] Quietus Spike
1 [ALA] Protomatter Powder
2 [ALA] Scourglass
3 [ALA] Courier's Capsule

hestix · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 7

No o-rings?

Duelist is an allstar in my esper aggro, I haven't seen him go wrong.

1 obelisk, 1 spike, 1 powder seems weirdly inconsistent even with tezzy around.

How does scourglass play? I'm scared to run it for fear of how slow it feels.

Nate7191 · Joined: 02 Jan 2009 Posts: 1

Artifact Lands or Glaze Aggros could increase the speed of the deck and points of damage that get in

Carnubak · Joined: 21 Jul 2008 Posts: 57

darkjet17 · Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 6

I think more than anything this deck needs a better curve. You're running 21 2 drops, which is too much. Granted there are a lot of really strong 2 drops for Artifacts, but you need to cut. And the 1 Obelisk of Esper, Salvage Titan, and Protomatter Powder should not be there. Salvage Titan can't be gotten with Tezzerret, so if you want to go really aggro then up the count on him, or just cut him entirely, and Protomatter Powder just plain sucks.

Also you have no removal outside of the 2 Scourglass, which is very slow as someone said. It won't ever go off before turn 6, and that's the only removal you have. Executioners Capsule is worth consideration, as is Path to Exile once that hits. And the new white icy manipulator should certainly be included. I would also find a spot for Sanctum Gargoyle: he is weak for 4 mana, but the card advantage is well worth it. Here is a proposed deck list:

4 Executioner's Capsule
4 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Couriers Capsule
4 Deft Duelist
4 Esper Charm
1 Esper Battlemage
4 Master of Etherium
4 Sanctum Gargoyle
1 Tower Gargoyle
3 Tezzerret the Seeker
3 Scourglass

SB:
1 Quietus Spike
2 Esper Battlemage
4 Cancel
4 Hindering Light
4 Infest

It sucks you can't use Scarcrone, cause he's an allstar in my T2 Artifactory deck. Please let me know your thoughts.

r3wind · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Posts: 1197

Just to enforce some of what Darkjet17 posted.

Blue and Black caps should be 4 of. Also Esper Charm is really a must have.

Cannonist is a sideboard card at best in block. Also I don't think that Battlemage does the job. Scourglass did not test well for me.

Tower Gargolye on the other hand with Scuptor was very good. The other gargolye was only good in the mirror and vs 5 color control.

For the Naya, Jund, and Bant matches Windwright Mage was better then Deft Duelist. Deft Duelist is really good vs control.

O-Ring is going to be huge in block and I would have 6 answers to it after side. Dispeller's Cap is a great answer.

Also if you play all of the card drawing that I suggest, 1-2 Tezz would be fine in the main or side. You really only need it for the mirror and to get you out of Infest/Jund Charm range by grabing the Master.

The sideboard needs some counterspells as well. Infest is a tough call for the side as it hurts you almost as bad as them.

greendemon · Joined: 09 Jan 2009 Posts: 2

Thanks to all for the advice. I've tested a little more, here are some conclusions I've reached about the rough importance of cards:

Vital Backbone To Deck:
--
Master of Etherium - power
Tidehollow Sculler - disruption plus damage
Courier's Capsule - card advantage
Executioner's Capsule - removal

Good:
--
Tower Gargoyle - Beef
Tidehollow Strix - Fast, and the flying helps if you choose Quietus Spike. I was running Deft Duelist instead, but it's not an artifact, so it doesn't benefit from Master of etherium and friends
Esper Charm - destroys O-Ring, card advantage
Oblivion Ring - More removal
Metallurgeon - Makes a big difference. Part of the reason I chose Strix over Duelist is because I can regenerate Strix.
Sanctum Gargoyle - Card advantage, more damage
Sharuum - Stronger, more expensive Sanctum Gargoyle.

Situational:
--
Quietus Spike - great vs. slow decks, can often do 7 damage on turn 4. Not as good vs decks with creature removal.
Scourglass - very slow, but can help reset vs. non-artifact decks
Windwright Mage - Slightly underpowered, but nice if you have the mana
Deft Duelist - A strong card, but between Master of Etherium, Metallurgeon, Sanctum Gargoyle, and Sharuum, I want to max out artifact creatures, which this unfortunately isn't.

Don't Know Yet:
--
Obelisk of Esper
Ethersworn Canonist
Agony Warp
Hindering Light, Cancel, Spell Snip, etc.

Bad for this Deck:
Salvage Titan
Protomatter Powder
Sphinx Sovereign - I tried a version with 4 Heralds, but the trick never went off once, win or lose
Tezzeret - Could be good in standard or extended, but he's just not that useful here. Untapping artifacts doesn't really matter unless they have some abilities, and the activated abilites in shards aren't worth it. Searching is nice, but probably better in a control deck. His ultimate is slow, and not better than 2 Master of Etherium.

Anyway, this was a long post, but hopefully I can get some good feedback and others trying to build the deck can profit from my mistakes. Oh, and the decklist as I'm playing it now:

// Lands
4 Esper Panorama
4 Arcane Sanctum
5 Plains
5 Island
5 Swamp

// Creatures
4 Master of Etherium
4 Tower Gargoyle
4 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Metallurgeon
2 Sharuum the Hegemon
4 Tidehollow Strix
2 Sanctum Gargoyle

// Spells
4 Courier's Capsule
4 Executioner's Capsule
3 Esper Charm
3 Oblivion Ring

// Sideboard
SB: 2 Deft Duelist
SB: 3 Quietus Spike
SB: 2 Scourglass
SB: 3 Hindering Light
SB: 2 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 2 Windwright Mage
SB: 1 Sanctum Gargoyle

Trotsky1 · Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 1458

Esper Charm is 100 times better than courriers capsule, your never going to play it turn 2 as you want a dude and most of the time with 8 you will have one and when you do not one of three courriers capsules is still fine. Whilst there are not than many things you can actaully do on turn 3, apart from master so Charm is both faster and more versatile, there are alot of PW's in block and often charming your own o-ring is a good way of getting rid of two Pws in one and having to worry about your opponent having anymore orings of his own etc.

In other words 3 courriers capsule 4 esper charm