Discussion Forum

We're looking at one of a few types here. (my findings and predictions are based off the two combo decks that most people agree will be the best: Valakut and Splinter Twin)

:manab::manab: control: weak because it lacks counters and pro black like mirran crusader will be rough, not to mention it will have a hard time with no counter-magic. Still - it can play things like obliterator and kalstria highborn. Still, spot removal and how proactive it can be with discard spells and still running spellskite is awesome.
:manab::manau: control: probably better than mono black because it can run tarpits, bounces, card advantage (CA), and still has its strength of being so proactive by running those same things black runs, and with 4 dual lands, you can still run obliterator.
:manab::manau::manaw: control: Has a huge amount of options, including gideon, day of judgement, baneslayer angel, and artifact hate, which :manau: and :manab: don't have access too like :manaw: does. It also has a nice mana base, with 2 different man lands, 4 dual lands, and 1 tapsac land. Not to mention in a Valakut matchup you have sun titan and tec edge, which will help against any control (besides :manab::manab: control) just to give you mana advantage.
:manaw::manaw: control: very weak, but can now run artifacts that are proactive against creatures, such as revoker and porcelain legion, with tempered steel to help out, not to mention you have mirran crusader and inkmoth, into suntitan and tec edge combo, also you have condemn, oust, dispatch, lots of creatures just with hawks, and once m12 comes out you'll have 1 :manaw: with 1 :manaw: and tap to tap target creature. however, it doesn't have the spot removal that :manab: does, nor the counters or card advantage that :manab: offers. even your finishers like baneslayer are pro artifact, as it has first strike... though you do have artifact hate too.....
:manaw::manau: control: now have the CA that :manau: gives you, and the tec edge and sun titan that :manaw: offers. :manaw::manaw: couldn't really run day as it didn't have enough bounces / counters to hold off past turn 4 or 5 with day, as other decks can just combo out. you can also run baby jace venser to keep up the draw, and can 100% definitely run day and should. people might try colonnade, but it's probably a bade choice. also gets some nice artifact hate.
:manau::manau: control: with JTMS out, and all you really having is a few unblockable, bounce, and counter-magic spells, you'll have to rely on cards like consecrated sphinx, the awesome island walk leviathan (not a bad choice,) and frost titan (or wurmcoil / batterskull [though you can't cheat it out]), :manau::manau: will be fairly weak, though with artifacts and grand architect it could hold off decently. but that means you'll be tapping out a lot for shit and won't be very "control."





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TL;DR
:manab::manab: looks fairly weak, but probably doable, and depending on what shows up in the meta could be awesome.
:manau::manab: definitely powerful as it has many angels to attack from, but lacks artifact hate, and probably has as much hate as :manab::manab:
:manau::manab::manaw: very, very versatile, and can run the suntitan tec edge combo (though tec edge in a 3 color deck is iffy.) just has a lot more options as it's 3 colors, but has a nice mana base in t2 right now to support it.
:manaw::manau: looks powerful, with heavy CA, artifact hate, and has counter-magic and creature hate.
:manaw::manaw: seems iffy and fairly weak, but can 100% get the suntitan tec edge combo out, could be very aggro, or defensive, with lots of options, though a fair amount of it's bombs (basically everything besides baneslayer and suntitan) are artifacts, easy to hate. also. no counter-magic or CA from :manau: and none of the preemptive attacks that :manab: gives.
:manau::manau: doesn't seem playable to me, as it's only real wincons are artifacts, which are too easy to hate on, but could see mono blue proliferate infect, or grand architect, but both involve heavy tapping out (though the prolif is tapping out at their EOT)

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So what did I pick? I like esper (:manau::manab::manaw:), but only being able to run 9 basic lands, and 25 land total is rough. also 3 tec edge in a 3 colored deck is fit in. but the win cons are very versatile and so is it's SB. :) also i can get away with day which is awesome, and I run tarpits, darkslick shores, drowned catacombs, seachrome coast, glacial fortress, and tec edge, plus basic lands. The land base is there to support it imo, but bad draws can always happen, which is a shame.

Check out my esper deck here, and let me know what you think? Also, it'd be great if someone could let me know what they made post-ban and how they approached it. Also, what color type do you think will reign supreme?