Alright, so i am building esper and I personally like {psychic strike}, it's easier to play then dissipate in three colors and mills 2 cards on top of being a counter, but alot of people around my area like {dissipate} over it. could someone please explain their reasoning?
Quote from: Everforward on March 27, 2013, 11:41:41 PM
Alright, so i am building esper and I personally like {psychic strike}, it's easier to play then dissipate in three colors and mills 2 cards on top of being a counter, but alot of people around my area like {dissipate} over it. could someone please explain their reasoning?
{Dissipate} exiles the card, so there is no chance of recursion (reusing it). It is arguably easier to cast, because the notion is that any 2-3 color deck playing blue (and counterspells) is fixed first, and foremost, with blue mana. If you aren't playing blue primary, then neither {Dissipate} or {Psychic Strike} are very benefittial for you.
With graveyard recursion and flashback being a significant factor currently (see {lingering souls} and {unburial rites}), preventing the option to use the spell by exiling it will slow your opponent's plans hopefully. If you counter {unburial rites} what do you actually accomplish? Depending on your matchup {dissipate} may just save the game, although sometimes it will do nothing special for you.
Alrighty thanks :), makes alot more since now,
{Negate}, {Essence Scatter}, {Syncopate} and {Dispel} are all options for the non-blue primary decks. They're easier to fix then {Dissipate}.
Also protects sometimes against certain {snapcaster mage}s which i always forget about...
In a general sense, most Esper decks are running 2 {Dissipate} at most. The chances of them drawing it isn't early enough in the game for them to even fret about it. If they NEEDED a {Dissipate} early in the game, then it would be a 4-of. A good Esper Control deck doesn't rely on counter magic to stabilize (because counters are fairly weak in Standard format).
Some decks are built around it, most (like mine) are in the mix by turn 20+ because of {Sphinx's Revelation} and {Supreme Verdict}. But if {Psychic Strike} works for your build, by all means use it.
I personally have no clue how some Esper builds win with 2 or less {Snapcaster Mage} and 2 counterspells. It is baffling, but I also haven't play tested those builds, they're outside of my comfort zone.
Right now I'm running 6 total counters, for the most part it seems to do fairly well may lower the count later though, ill probably add a 4th {supreme verdict} so I have 6 board wipes along with{ terminus} (5 in all right now). win condition tends to be a combination of {Jace, Memory Adept} and {naphalia drown yard}, right now I am not running {sphinxes revelation} but that's because of price, my land right now is fixed. And running dissipate would be just about as easy as psychic strike. For the most part it does pretty well, the only problems it has is late game life gain. But past that its alot of fun
If your metagame is heavy with reanimator/snapcaster/other flashback stuff, play {Dissipate}.
If you are trying to mill your opponent out (I presume this is what you want to be doing) and you really don't care about graveyard shenanigans. definitely play {Psychic Strike}.
Fortunately no one around really plays reanimator or flashback, but I could definetly see it being a problem to play against. I swapped te psychic strikes for dissipate and I definetly like it alot more
Maybe mb {psychic strike} and sb {dissipate}?
I recently wrote an article on the Esper Control list I am playing at the moment. Check it out if you want to see my opinions on the whole countermana package. I am more of a permission player, so I do run more than most Esper decks at the moment. Really I just took Ben Stark's concept and formed to fit my style of play. If you like permission, I encourage you to check it out. Hopefully it will give you some ideas for your own Esper list since you said you were building it. That being said, I do not really care for Psychic Strike. Puts cards in the opponent's graveyard for Snapcaster to use and enables flashback spells. Yes it does mill them by two, but the key to winning with control is patience. The game plan is not to mill them out ASAP. You want to rip control of the game out of the other player's hands and get so far ahead in card advantage that they can't catch up. After doing this, it becomes as simple as milling them out EOT with Drownyard while they struggle to even deal damage. The first Revelation helps you stabalize and nets you come cards. The second begins to put you out of reach and lets you find the last few answers you need to take the game. If you do resolve a third one, you are probably so far out of reach that other decks aside from control will not be able to win. As vindictive as this will sound, manipulate the game to your advantage. After all the pieces are in the place that benefits you the most, then you watch your opponent squirm as they try to even hold a candle to the game that YOU have set in place. You are no longer playing a game of MtG. You are no longer playing a game of TURN CREATURES SIDEWAYS HURR DURR. You are now playing a game where you and you alone decide what the rules are. As mean, dramatic, and vindictive as it all sounds, that is the way of control whenever UB is involved.
Clearly nobody knows my favorite color combination . . .
... That was deep gaara. You should right poetry.
Thanks alot gaara, that's how I've been playing it so far and it has been very fun. At this point I'm running 4 dissipates and two syncopates, just because I like them that much more the psychic strike. Thanks alot for the advice and commentary every one!!
Quote from: MisterJH on March 29, 2013, 01:43:54 PM
... That was deep gaara. You should right poetry.
Lolol after reading that i was just like "holy mother of god"