Deck of the Day – Esper Human by Shota Takao (2nd Place Grand Prix Shizuoka Standard on Dec 22, 2013)

Esper Human – Esper Midrange
Takao, Shota
2nd place at GP Shizuoka 2013 Top 8

Lands (25)

• 4  Godless Shrine
• 4  Hallowed Fountain
• 2  Mutavault
• 3  Plains
• 1  Swamp
• 3  Temple of Deceit
• 4  Temple of Silence
• 4  Watery Grave

Creatures (24)

• 1  Cartel Aristocrat
• 3  Daring Skyjek
• 3  Desecration Demon
• 2  Imposing Sovereign
• 4  Lyev Skyknight
• 3  Obzedat, Ghost Council
• 4  Soldier of the Pantheon
• 4  Xathrid Necromancer

Other Spells (11)

• 4  Detention Sphere
• 1  Doom Blade
• 1  Far // Away
• 2  Supreme Verdict
• 1  Ultimate Price
• 2  Whip of Erebos

Sideboard

• 1  Blood Baron of Vizkopa
• 3  Doom Blade
• 1  Far // Away
• 1  Glare of Heresy
• 2  Negate
• 1  Pay No Heed
• 1  Supreme Verdict
• 3  Thoughtseize
• 2  Underworld Connections

This deck  got a lot of heads turning at Grand Prix Shizuoka on Dec. 22nd. Esper Midrandge or Humans piloted by Shota Takao, so named for its interactions between its humans paired up with Xathrid Necromancer. It is based on the more recent Orzhov Midrange strategy that evolved out of Paul Rietzl Orzhov Midrange at Pro Tour Theros. Takao was running into problems against Pack Rat so he added blue for Detention Sphere which also give him access to Lyev Skyknight. Adding the third color did not make the mana worse by taking full advantage of all the duals in Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, Godless Shrine, Temple of Deceit and Temple of Silence.

Esper Midrange has a strong match up against the three major decks in the format: Mono-Blue Devotion, Mono-Black Devotion, and Blue-White Control. The interaction between  Whip of Erebos with Obzedat, Ghost Council is very important in these matches. You use the Whip to bring Obzedat back into play from the graveyard, then by stacking the triggers properly you can exile Obzedat to his trigger and return him back into play on your next turn.

As two-drops Takao opted to make a  metagame call with a singleton Cartel Aristocrat which is strong against Domestication used mostly in Mono-Blue Devotion, Imposing Sovereign to slow down aggro decks and Daring Skyjek to speed up the clock especially when paired up with Lyev Skyknight, Desecration Demon or even Mutavault to activate Battalion. Adding a set of Detention Sphere allows him to drop the Hero’s Downfall that can get awkward to cast on the double black. Accompanied with a singleton of these removal spells Doom Blade, Ultimate Price and Far // Away again a metagame call.

Blood Baron of Vizkopa can be devastating against white and black based decks like this one, but Takao has answers like a  Far // Away and two Supreme Verdicts in the main as well as access to Thoughtseize and another Far // Away and Supreme Verdict in the sideboard. Imposing Sovereign is also interesting as it stops Blood Baron but only for the turn it was summoned.

Overall Shato Takao got a lot of attention with this deck as it kept winning him round after round giving him a 14-1 record going into Quarterfinals, but finally losing in the finals to the GP Shizuoka champion Ryo Nakada piloting Orzhov Human.