In preparation for the StarCityGames Invitational, Reid and I decided to do a playtest video of a set of four matches with four recent Sphinx's Revelation decks that have performed reasonably well against his trusty Jund midrange deck.

The first:

"Assemble the Bant"

• Creatures (14)
• 2 Angel of Serenity
• 3 Centaur Healer
• 4 Restoration Angel
• 4 Thragtusk
• 1 Sigarda, Host of Herons

• Spells (21)
• 2 Selesnya Charm
• 3 Think Twice
• 4 Sphinx's Revelation
• 4 Farseek
• 4 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Assemble the Legion
• 3 Detention Sphere

• Lands (25)
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Steam Vents
• 2 Kessig Wolf Run
• 3 Breeding Pool
• 3 Hinterland Harbor
• 3 Sunpetal Grove
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Temple Garden

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Witchbane Orb
• 1 Assemble the Legion
• 3 Rest in Peace
• 2 Dissipate
• 2 Negate
• 3 Geist of Saint Traft
• 2 Jace, Memory Adept

Buy This Deck

This managed to place second on March 31 (last Sunday) at SCG Open: Orlando. It’s a pretty logical evolution from the Wolf Run Bant decks that I’ve previously seen and played. Assemble the Legion is another hard-to-deal-with threat that attacks from another angle, and countermagic is pretty bad in most matchups with the exception of against Junk Reanimator. The matchup versus Jund midrange should be nearly even, coming down to quality of draws and different lines of play.

Post-board, the deck has access to four counters (two Dissipates and two Negates), Assemble the Legion, Witchbane Orb, and two Jace, Memory Adept that I would want against Jund. Figuring out what to sideboard out is a bit trickier, but against Reid, I don’t think the Selesnya Charms are necessary, nor is the full boat of Supreme Verdicts.

"Esper Control"

• Creatures (7)
• 1 Snapcaster Mage
• 3 Augur of Bolas
• 3 Restoration Angel

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Jace, Memory Adept

• Spells (25)
• 1 Ultimate Price
• 2 Devour Flesh
• 2 Dissipate
• 2 Syncopate
• 2 Think Twice
• 2 Tribute to Hunger
• 4 Azorius Charm
• 4 Sphinx's Revelation
• 2 Planar Cleansing
• 4 Supreme Verdict

• Lands (27)
• 1 Island
• 1 Plains
• 3 Godless Shrine
• 3 Isolated Chapel
• 3 Watery Grave
• 4 Drowned Catacomb
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Nephalia Drownyard

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Witchbane Orb
• 2 Evil Twin
• 2 Blind Obedience
• 3 Rest in Peace
• 2 Negate
• 2 Tragic Slip
• 2 Duress

Buy This Deck

This is another solid Esper control list I’ve seen which earned fifth place at SCG Open: Orlando on March 30 (last Saturday). We are quite a bit weaker here to Slaughter Games (since the backup plan of beating down isn’t very good here). Here, I would want the pair of Evil Twins, Witchbane Orbs, and the Negates against Reid. Two Supreme Verdicts can be taken out, as can be the four Azorius Charms, which line up perfectly with the six cards I would like to side in.

"The Fog of War"

• Creatures (5)
• 2 Snapcaster Mage
• 3 Augur of Bolas

• Planeswalkers (6)
• 1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
• 1 Gideon, Champion of Justice
• 1 Jace, Architect of Thought
• 1 Jace, Memory Adept
• 2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

• Spells (24)
• 1 Clinging Mists
• 1 Selesnya Charm
• 2 Azorius Charm
• 2 Feeling of Dread
• 3 Sphinx's Revelation
• 4 Fog
• 1 Terminus
• 2 Urban Evolution
• 4 Farseek
• 4 Supreme Verdict

• Lands (25)
• 1 Alchemist's Refuge
• 1 Nephalia Drownyard
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 1 Watery Grave
• 2 Hallowed Fountain
• 3 Sunpetal Grove
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Hinterland Harbor
• 4 Temple Garden

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Nephalia Drownyard
• 2 Loxodon Smiter
• 2 Thragtusk
• 1 Pithing Needle
• 2 Witchbane Orb
• 3 Dissipate
• 1 Dispel
• 1 Oblivion Ring
• 1 Detention Sphere
• 1 Curse of Echoes

Buy This Deck

I have to admit: I don’t really understand how to play this deck to its fullest capabilities. I suspect the matchup against Jund is not that good overall since Rakdos's Return and Liliana of the Veil are both quite good against the deck. I would side in the Thragtusks, Nephalia Drownyard, Witchbane Orbs, and Dissipates for one Clinging Mists, one Selesnya Charm, two Azorius Charm, three Augur of Bolas, and one Terminus.

"Omniscience Control"

• Creatures (4)
• 3 Snapcaster Mage
• 1 Borborygmos Enraged

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

• Spells (28)
• 1 Negate
• 3 Fog
• 4 Sphinx's Revelation
• 1 Enter the Infinite
• 1 Rakdos's Return
• 1 Terminus
• 3 Increasing Ambition
• 4 Farseek
• 4 Urban Evolution
• 1 Detention Sphere
• 1 Omniscience
• 4 Chromatic Lantern

• Lands (27)
• 1 Alchemist's Refuge
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Watery Grave
• 1 Woodland Cemetery
• 2 Glacial Fortress
• 2 Hallowed Fountain
• 3 Temple Garden
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 4 Hinterland Harbor
• 4 Sunpetal Grove

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Dispel
• 1 Fog
• 1 Negate
• 4 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Psychic Spiral
• 3 Thragtusk
• 2 Terminus
• 2 Rakdos's Return

Buy This Deck

The correct board plan is:

+3 Thragtusk

−2 Fog

−1 Rakdos's Return

I initially thought that the matchup would be about whoever casts Return first, except the Omniscience deck has a lot more live top-decks, and I think I would rather try to stabilize the board instead of trying to Mind Twist the opponent.

After these playtest matches, my conclusions are as follows:

Bant control didn’t feel like a particularly good deck (the attraction of Farseek keeps going down for me).

Esper is probably just a better choice than Bant since it has a much better matchup against other slow W/U/x decks due to having a lot of Nephalia Drownyards.

The Omniscience deck is more of a metagame deck than anything else, but it struggles sometimes with Liliana of the Veil and Rakdos's Return.

I hope you enjoyed this set of videos, and I look forward to replying to any comments here or on Twitter (@jkyu06).

As a bonus, here’s a set of links to the last Legacy and Modern decklists I’ve played on Magic Online:

• Esper Stoneforge
• Eggs

I’m only playing Grapeshot in Eggs because I’m lazy and don’t want to time out while potentially playing two matches at once. It’s not actually necessary, but it’s a time saver.