The All About Games tournament series for EDH is underway! It occurs on the fifth Sunday of each month every month (assuming there is a fifth Sunday). Last month I chose to play Esper because it seemed to be a really strong control deck and counter magic just seems to be really good in the format. Along with cards like Mind Twist, Mind Shatter and Bribery, the tutors and counter magic make it easy to find what you need and stall until you can gain massive card advantage with a power spell. In this article I will delve into alternative strategies and ideas, as well as what I liked about the deck I played and what I didn't like.

In this tournament I used Sen Triplets as my general, but rather would have used Zur the Enchanter. Sen Triplets was really good against a mono-blue opponent using Vendilion Clique as his commander, but otherwise not spectacular. Without further ado here is the list I played:

1 Plains
1 Swamp
6 Island
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Underground River
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Coastal Tower
1 Salt Marsh
1 Skycloud Expanse
1 Darkwater Catacombs
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Command Tower
1 Arcane Sanctum
1 River of Tears
1 Godless Shrine
1 Watery Grave
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Polluted Delta
1 Marsh Flats
1 Flooded Strand
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Mystic Gate
1 Fetid Heath
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Academy Ruins
1 Temple of the False God
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Ancient Den

1 Brainstorm
1 Preordain
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Scroll Rack
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Opportunity
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Serum Visions
1 Counterspell
1 Negate
1 Cryptic Command
1 Spell Crumple
1 Hinder
1 Desertion
1 Dromar's Charm
1 Absorb
1 Forbid
1 Arcane Denial
1 Sol Ring
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Azorius Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Coalition Relic
1 Mind Stone
1 Mana Vault
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Path to Exile
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Copy Artifact
1 Capsize
1 Bribery
1 Treachery
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 Mind Twist
1 Mind Shatter
1 Vindicate
1 Mindslaver
1 Day of Judgment
1 Mortify
1 Identity Crisis
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Treasure Mage
1 Duplicant
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Magister Sphinx
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Trinket Mage
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Desolation Angel

I ended up 3-2 with this list, but was really impressed with the power of some of the draws I was getting. I lost to Radha, Heir to Keld land destruction and Nath of the Gilt-Leaf disruption. The land destruction matchup was really bad for me and a mulligan down to five doesn't help either. I think if you can get some early mana acceleration out with a counter or two you maybe able to outlast the initial barrage of land kill spells. Against the B/G I got stalled at three land and never recovered.

I beat a Vendilion Clique mono-blue control by making him have use resources to prevent my general from coming into play. It also helps that my start was turn 1 Island, Sol Ring, Orzhov Signet followed by turn 2 Coalition Relic into Trinket Mage for Sensei's Divining Top and then just casting Sen Triplets every turn until it resolved.

I also played against a Mayael the Anima ramp deck which seemed to be a good matchup considering the countermagic and creature control spells like Treachery and Bribery.

This list seemed to have too many threats and made some draws clunky, although it may not look like it on paper. As with any control deck, you just want to exhaust their resources until you can drop a bomb spell and take over the game. Some cards that didn't do much were Mind Slaver, Treasure Mage, Identity Crisis, Venser, Shaper Savant and Desolation Angel. If I went the Zur the Enchanter route, I would replace these with enchantments. Otherwise, some cheaper control spells like Muddle the Mixture, Crystal Ball, and Ponder might be nice to help smooth out the draws.

Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Force of Will also belong in this deck if you have them, which at the time I did not.

I will be adjusting this deck and playing at an upcoming ABU's Saturday EDH tournament to give it another go. Stay tuned for more articles on EDH.