"Control in the meta, the durdle life is the thug life"

As a control player there is nothing I like more then a long grind game. Control is all about  saying no to everything my opponent tries to do. While playing passive magic and proceeding to do almost nothing on my turn besides playing lands and passing the turn. There is something about watching the life and fun drained out of my opponents face because they believe this game is supposed to be fun and exciting. Spoiler alert; there is nothing fun when your playing against a control player. Well, its fun and exciting for the control player. Now, just because I like to win with Drownyard or Jace doesn't mean I'm not a fan of Obzedat and Sorin, maybe even a Duskmantle Seer. Pounding you in the grill and making that mid-range player hate his life.



So, I’ve been grinding out the current standard meta playing Esper control and most of the time am loving it. The deck has a lot of good match-ups and its fair share of bad ones (die in a fire jund players). I've had games where I've been beaten down to 1 and hitting the reset button with Supreme Verdict, or a miracle Terminus if I'm feeling saucy. Stabilizing by chaining Sphinx’s' Revelations together against Naya Blitz, and durdle games against Junk Reanimator where I felt bad for putting cards into his graveyard. However, the most fun I've ever had in standard is playing the control mirror. Play land-go for the first 5-6 turns and then enter the Mexican standoff of who’s going to try and cast something first and get countered, to me it's a rush on a whole different level.

Now let’s talk about my bad match-ups. Control is never fun when I have to go up against a Jund player. When I played Esper control at StarCity Seattle and went x-5 drop it was because of Jund. Rounds 1-4 went good played against Junk Reanimator and a few aggro decks ended up going into round 5 x-1, and feeling pretty good. I sit down at my table across from my opponent, we shake hands, introduce each other and exchange the usual small talk. We start the round with him on the play. My oppenent plays Overgrown Tomb tapped go and passed turn. Now when I see this play two thoughts go through my head; "Junk or Jund?" usually followed by; "PLEASE NOT JUND PLEASE GOD NOT JUND!!!". On my turn, I played Hallowed fountain tapped and passed turn. On his turn two I got my answer with my opponent playing Dragonskull Summit followed by farseek and grabbing Blood Crypt. In my head all I could think is "FUCK". The game proceeds with him tearing apart my hand and beating me down with Olivia and Thragtusks. Game 2 he boards in Slaughter Games and rips my deck apart, leaving me to cry inside. I wish I could tell you of a miracle where I win, but no matter what I did it ended up 2-0 him. This happens for the next 3 rounds. Esper just loses hard to the Jund match-up, my only options were Witchbane Orbs and maybe a Nevermore. The best tech I could come up so far is Duskmantle Seer. The reason this card is my favorite in standard right now is the utility it offers. The ability to fly over majority of standard staples with a bonus effect of making them lose life off the top of his deck and the information it provides while forcing them to play around a cards I reveal.

So let’s round this conversation out, we’ve got magic to play somewhere. Esper in the Standard Meta right now is very solid, Brad Nelson can say its dead all he wants but control will never be out of style. However be prepared to have a hard time with decks with B/R, because cards that rip your hand and deck apart are a helluva drag. If you take anything away from this article I hope that you give control another look and not just say; “too slow, not fun.” And if you are committed to that statement we can play some games and I’ll grind your deck out with the biggest smile on my face while you kick yourself for ignoring the true potential of Esper Control. 

Farewell my friends, and remember; Keep calm and untap

Lewis Hersman