The best performing deck at Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar with a large sample size was probably Esper Control. Multiple teams showed up with different takes
on the deck, and it still outperformed everything else. Don’t get it confused with Esper Dragons, which did very poorly, likely due to the prevalence of
Crackling Doom.
Most Esper decks were hard control decks based around the use of planeswalkers, such as Jace, Telepath Unbound, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Ob Nixilis
Reignited, and Sorin, Solemn Visitor. Some of them chose the traditional route of counterspells and Dig Through Time, but others, like the Eureka version,
operated mostly as a B/W Control deck that splashed Jace.
Basically, all the breakout cards from the Pro Tour are here. Jace sets up your early draws and flashes back removal. Gideon holds down the fort or gives
your opponent a relentless beating. Silkwrap takes out any problematic creatures such as Hangarback Walker or Jace. Basically, this deck plays all the best
cards! Fabrizio even has Ruinous Path for mirrors, and Languish to pick up the pieces.
Instead of stretching the mana for Dig Through Time, this deck has Painful Truths, which is an incredibly potent card. Sure, you could play Treasure
Cruise, but this deck doesn’t necessarily need more card advantage — It needs cheap interaction, especially on those turns where you’re trying to protect
a planeswalker. That’s why Murderous Cut is the delve spell of choice, although Tasigur, the Golden Fang fulfills a similar role.
Going foward, I fully expect Esper Planeswalkers to be the control deck of choice.
Creatures (9)
Planeswalkers (8)
Lands (26)
Spells (17)
