Fighting the Format: Esper Approach

Welcome back to Fighting the Format, the series in which I lay down the strategies of the best decks in the format moving into a given weekend – what they are, how they work, how they win, and – importantly – how to beat them.

While I was busy writing my previous article on UW Approach, three GPs snuck past and took place across the world; Shanghai, Warsaw and Atlanta. Though Energy decks remain the proverbial elephant in the room (despite the lack of Greenbelt Rampagers’), a couple of emerging strategies and niche archetypes made their way into top 8s worldwide. The Hall of Famer and limited mastermind, Ben Stark, took 2nd place in Atlanta with ‘medium Red’ – a deck that in it’s own right deserves an article. Today, however, I’m going to shine a light on something different; I’m going to dispel the darkness, clear the skies, and bathe in the illuminating rays of Amonkhets’ twin suns!  

The Deck

Esper Approach – Alex Lloyd, 1st Place at GP Atlanta, November 11th-12th

 

1 Creature
1 Torrential Gearhulk
33 Spells
4 Fatal Push
4 Opt
2 Search for Azcanta
4 Censor
4 Disallow
4 Glimmer of Genius
2 Cast Out
4 Settle the Wreckage
2 Fumigate
3 Approach of the Second Sun

 

26 Lands
4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Fetid Pools
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Concealed Courtyard
2 Aether Hub
3 Plains
1 Island
Sideboard
2 Torrential Gearhulk
2 The Scarab God
4 Regal Caracal
1 Search for Azcanta
2 Negate
1 Jace’s Defeat
2 Vraska’s Contempt
1 Pull from Tomorrow

It only took six of these segments, but I’ve finally found an excuse to talk about Standard Control. Yes, fanatical blue players in my audience, I hear you.

How Does it Work?

Well, it would be foolish to start anywhere but with the namesake card:

Approach is Standard’s ultimate Control win condition. Whether the opponent has one hundred creatures in play, one thousand life, or a million cards in hand, the second Approach is always game. The first one even heals some of the wounds you’ll have sustained while waiting to cast it!

While this build respects the hefty mana cost and omits the fourth copy, three copies ensures you should comfortably be finding the second with plenty of time to spare. Still, what if you run out?

 

With all the instant speed interaction in the deck, six open mana is a nightmare for the opponent. Do they have removal? A counterspell? A wrath? Card draw? With six mana, they can have access to all of the above, attached to the biggest Snapcaster Mage they’ve ever seen.

So, we know how Approach wins. But with only four win conditions in the deck, how does it ensure it’ll see them?

Search for Azcanta is a control players’ dream, providing card filtering, mana ramp, and card draw all for the low cost of two mana. Whether it comes down on turn two or turn five alongside an interactive spell, Search is the real deal.

When you’re not so fussy for which answer you’re finding, however, Glimmer shines. Scrying two is often worth a full card – bottoming lands you don’t need, or removal that has no targets – and digging to the options you do need. The energy isn’t even wasted here either, as it lets Aether Hub do it’s multicolour thing! The full set of Opt round out the card draw suite, ensuring you’ll have the exact answer you need just when you need it.

That explains how Approach finds it’s threats or answers, but what are those answers?

Approach has you covered. Fatal Push is widely considered the best black removal spell to ever see print, and Cast Out pulls double duty as an answer to troublesome permanents and a filtering effect when it’s not needed.

What about when you need an answer to a whole horde of guys? Settle the Wreckage and Fumigate more than do the job. Just the existence of Settle puts your opponent in quite a bind – do they attack with two creatures on turn four, and risk Settle, or attack with one, and allow you to Glimmer? And what if they only attack with one creature, and you don’t cast Settle? Do they commit more to the board into a potential Fumigate, or hold back and lose to spot removal? This combination of draw-go answers asks a lot of your opponent to navigate a game correctly.

Now, for the good stuff. Approach is very much a Control deck, and it’s a Blue control deck. That means one thing: Counterspells.

Disallow may look like nothing more than a fancy Cancel, but don’t disregard it’s utility – it’s just as much at home cutting a pesky Bristling Hydra down on the stack as it is raining stones on opposing Evolving Wilds or causing Chandra, Torch of Defiances’ heroic downfall in the face of an ultimate. Censor rounds out the counterspell suite, giving the opponent another potential answer to worry about in the face of open mana, and cycling away once it’s past it’s prime.

The mana base utilises the full set of Amonkhet cycling lands and Ixalan checklands, enjoying the synergy between them. For those that don’t know, the Checklands look for basic land types, not basic lands themselves, so a Checkland looking for a Swamp will be plenty satisfied by that unassuming Fetid Pools. With so many cycling lands, there’s no universe in which Approach is flooding, and the Checklands and Concealed Courtyards ensure that early mana is smooth and reliable.

The sideboard plan matches up similarly with UW Gift’s plan; in the face of opposing Duresses and Negates, play creatures. A pair of Torrential Gearhulk and Standard’s own money rare The Scarab God can grind out a win with the best of them, while the full four Regal Caracal put the hurting on aggro strategies.

The rest of the board is comprised of versatile answers like Vraska’s Contempt, Negate and Jace’s Defeat, or extra card draw in the third Search and a singleton Pull from Tomorrow. Resolving a seven mana sorcery in a Control mirror is quite the tall order, so bringing in a bunch of extra counterspells and draw neatly solves that problem.

What is it’s Plan?

Esper Approach is the most straight-forward deck that I’ve looked at, as it is a Control deck through and through. It’s ultimate plan is the same in every matchup: stall the game out, trade off resources with the opponent, refuel with card draw, and land a win con before the opponent can get back into it.

The exact way that it goes about this differs matchup to matchup; letting a tokens deck land Anointed Procession is a problem, as is letting Temur Energy stick a Chandra or Sultai a Vraska, Relic Seeker; but the plan remains the same. Run the opponent out of cards, cast a huge spell, get the handshake.

What Are its Strengths and Weaknesses?

Strengths

Uninteractive

Aside from other Control decks, none of the decks in Standard are able to interact with Approach pre-board. Unlike the previous Standard’s UR Control lists focusing on Torrential Gearhulk and Wandering Fumarole beatdowns, opposing removal spells and creatures do entirely zilch to prevent your victory. Once you’ve gotten to the point where you’re casting Approach, you can be sure that your opponent is doing nothing to stop you.

Enigmatic

As covered above, Esper-based Standard Control lists have such a wide plethora of instant-speed plays that it’s very, very difficult to discern what open mana means. Because of this, it’s entirely possible for your opponent to make the correct play from their seat that matches up badly against your hand. You correctly played around a Settle and cast a third creature? Whoops, I guess I’ll Glimmer into Fumigate!

Versatile

The Esper colours have long been thought of as a Controlling shard, and one of the reasons for that is simple: versatility. Don’t want that Chandra to resolve? Disallow. Your opponent stuck a Scarab God? Cast Out. Getting swarmed by Vampire tokens? Fumigate. Esper Approach can (and will) answer any type of spell or permanent that gets thrown it’s way.

Weaknesses

Slow

As with most Control decks, Approach is slow to the point of Glacial (Fortress or no)! With so many potential taplands and a three-colour mana base, a quick start can put Approach away before it can find it’s feet.

Inflexible

Though Esper has answers to a variety of threats, it needs to draw those answers in the right order and at the right time, or else things can quickly go sideways. Approach plays a lot of card filtering to mitigate this, but it doesn’t change facts: Fatal Push matches up pretty badly against Whirler Virtuoso, as does Settle the Wreckage against Chandra, Torch of Defiance.

Play

Aggro

Ramunap Red and Sultai Constrictor are both prime candidates here. As Approach goes comfortably over the top of midrange strategies, get as low to the ground as possible and go under them, or play a little bigger but pack disruption in discard and countermagic (but beware the creature board plan)!

Sticky threats like Planeswalkers (Nissa, Steward of Elements), Enchantments (Bounty of the Luxa) or Artifacts (Lifecrafter’s Bestiary) are a great way of punishing an opponent who has tapped out to answer your creatures.

Control

As a certain red-headed Planeswalker can attest, ‘of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire’.

Approach is dedicated to hitting it’s seventh land drop and ending the game via a huge, sorcery speed threat. Ironically, a more instant-speed based Control deck can take advantage of this, as Approach matches up so badly with counterspells. Cut the Approaches, add a bunch of Torrential Hulks and a couple Planeswalkers, and you’ll be well on your way to crushing the matchup.

Do Not Play

Midrange

Temur, Sultai and other Energy packages are powerful due to a combination of power and variety. Pre-board, these matchups are overwhelmingly favoured for Approach, as all the Harnessed Lightnings and Abrades in the world aren’t going to prevent the coming of the Second Sun.

Post-board, things do get more interesting, as counterspells and resilient threats join the fray. This greatly increases the energy decks’ chances at victory, so have a good idea of how you’ll be boarding on both sides of the matchup – don’t be afraid to alter your plans to counter the opponents’.

Combo

Combo decks are all about sacrificing individual power for high synergy, and so are highly disruptible. Approach’s plan is entirely disruption, so be wary of sleeving up a dedicated combo deck (e.g. Tokens) in an Approach heavy field.  

Summary

And so the setting of the suns arrives. Whether you’ve decided to shut your curtains and ignore the view with Temur, or step outside and embrace the Amonkhet heat, I hope this piece has educated you on how to approach the matchup.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. As always, good luck!

By Dylan Summers
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