Esper Spirits in Modern

I've reached the end of my chain of RPTQ qualifications, so I'm back on the PPTQ grind. Hopefully I can get the last pro point I need at GP Minneapolis this weekend to get to Bronze and stop playing PPTQs again.

For once I wasn't looking forward to Modern season. I've played very few games at all since the PT in February, and I was actually enjoying playing Standard. The few times I played I didn't really enjoy it. I think M19 changes that. It has a surprisingly high amount of cards that I want to play in Modern. The top of the list is Militia Bugler and Supreme Phantom.

The Deck

I played one league with an Esper Spirits list that 5-0 recently. I went 2-3, but the cards excited me and I could see with some tuning there might be a solid contender. Image, Drogskol Captain, and Lingering Souls all reminded me of one of my favorite standard decks of all time. However I was focused on Sealed prep for the GP and didn't know I would be able to play Modern PPTQ. When I found out Saturday afternoon I could go to the Sunday PPTQ, I made some adjustments to the list from some theorycrafting. This is where I ended up:

4 Mausoleum Wanderer

4 Rattlechains

4 Supreme Phantom

3 Selfless Spirit

3 Phantasmal Image

4 Spell Queller

4 Drogskol Captain

4 Lingering Souls

4 Path to Exile

4 Aether Vial

2 Mutavault

4 Seachrome Coast

4 Flooded Strand

2 Polluted Delta

2 Marsh Flats

1 Watery Grave

1 Godless Shrine

1 Hallowed Fountain

2 Island

2 Plains

1 Swamp

Sideboard:

3 Stony Silence

3 Collective Brutality

3 Unified Will

3 Damping Sphere

2 Geist of Saint Traft

1 Kataki, War's Wage

This deck has many similarities to Humans and Merfolk, but many key differences. Spell Queller is the effect that the other two decks don't have access to. Also all of your creatures except Mutavault have flying. It is slightly less explosive that either deck. It is less disruptive than Humans but better than Merfolk in that regard. It is more resilient than both. You get to play really good sideboard cards.

I have never played the Green version of Spirits, so I can't 100% say this version is better. I do think the card Collected Company is not what I want to be doing in a deck like this. I actually bought all the cards for Bant Spirits a while back and then never played it after I did a math problem. I wanted to know what the odds of a Company in response to a Supreme Verdict would find either Selfless Spirit or Spell Queller. The answer is somewhere around 65%. This is not high enough to make me want to cast the card in that situation. If you miss you probably lose, though if you hit you win. However you can use the Company after the Verdict resolves to rebuild and still possibly win. There are obviously lots of factors that go into it, but I wasn't happy with this math so I never tried it out.

The Games

Just a few quick recaps:

R1 vs RG LD - G1 I make an overly aggressive attack when I think his hand must be air, but turns out he was playing his creatures around my Wanderer activation so he drew the sixth land he "needed" to cast Stormbreath Dragon and kill me when I could survive and likely win by leaving a guy to block. I win G2 with two Vials vs his two Blood Moons. G3 is very close but I'm able to force through lethal in the air before he can take over with Pia and Kiran + Tireless Tracker.

1-0

R2 vs KCI - I have Spell Queller for his KCI G1 and he dies. G2 he has Aether Grid and I lose most of my team, then he combos me. G3 I have Stony Silence and he never finds an answer.

2-0

R3 vs Tron - We split the first two games. G3 I'm in a situation where he is at two life and I have Wanderer in play. He has Ulamog and I have 23 cards left in library. After the game I counted I had twelve outs to win but I drew Mutavault and lost to his Ghost Quarter. Moorland Haunt would have been better.

2-1

R4 vs Mardu - G1 we're both empty handed but I draw two Drogskol Captains in a row and he can't deal with them. G2 I draw two Lingering Souls and his Collective Brutality has to take one. Despite a strange judge call that I won't get into here I manage to win the game easily with the Spirits.

3-1

R5 vs KCI - Simliar to R2, I have Queller G1 and Stony G2. I turn an almost guaranteed win into a possible loss by following up with Kataki (a card I think is unplayable but only put in the SB because "it's a spirit!") allowing him to draw cards from his Stars, Terrarions, and Wellsprings. I still have a Damping Sphere and he soon dies, though it was closer that it should have been.

4-1

R6 vs Storm - Exactly 64 players so all the X-1s have to play. I have two Wanderers and Lingering Souls G1 and he can't go off. G2 I have Spell Queller for Past in Flames and my team is Hexproof so he couldn't get out without Anger, which he wasn't playing.

5-1

1st Seed

Quarterfinals vs Scapeshift - G1 his draw is slow and I can do exactly 20 the turn before he gets to seven lands. G2 I Unified Will his first Primeval Titan. He draws a Valakut and uses fetch to kill my Wanderer. I play two Supreme Phantom, hoping to untap and hold up second Unified Will. He draws another Valakut, which doesn't do anything but makes subsequent Mountain draws very scary. I Image the Phantom and put him to 1 life on the attack, and he draws a third Valakut (probably the only bricks left in the deck) and I win.

Semifinals vs Tron - G1 he doesn't draw any Tron lands that he doesn't search for, and I have two Spell Quellers to counter his searchers and he dies. G2 he has two Ugins and I don't draw a way to stop either. G3 he has turn three Wurmcoil and I put a bunch of creatures into play with Souls. I hold up Queller for a possible Oblivion Stone which he doesn't have. I play it EOT to try to draw a lord for lethal. I don't draw it but attack him to two life anyway. He has Ugin again and I lose.

The Takeaway

I liked all the spirits except Geist of Saint Traft and Kataki. These cards aren't playable in my opinion, especially Geist. I never knew when I wanted it, and lord + Lingering Souls was usually more than enough pressure that couldn't be blocked. 

Aether Vial was just fine. I sided it out quite a bit to bring in Stony Silence, and I was happy to have 22 lands to play in the games without Vial. I can see the want for a card like Noble Hierarch, as playing Spell Queller on turn two then protecting it with Rattlechains or Drogskol Captain is very appealing. 

I didn't activate Mutavault at all during the tournament. It could have been solid but only playing two means it won't come up too often. I could be interested in Moorland Haunt in a split, or just Haunt and more colored sources.

All the non-creature SB cards were great. I think I want to play a couple of Ceremonious Rejections and possible some enchantment or artifact removal. I had no answer to Ensnaring Bridge in the 75, and Blood Moon was tough. Collective Brutality was the weakest of the others and still very good, though I don't know if you need three.

I might try to play a four color version with both Noble Hierarch and Lingering Souls.

Props Slops

Props:

Spirits
Eddie Eng for lending me Supreme Phantoms

Michael for winning the PPTQ with Infect

Kyle Evans for being a great HJ and my good luck charm. I think I've top 8 the last 4 PPTQ I played where he was HJ

Slops:
Haibing and I for both losing in top 4

Tron. The games just aren't interesting on either side.

Thanks,

Ty