MPDC League Season 3 - Esper Artificers, Mark 3

Another week of the MPDC League brings...yet another victory for the Esper Artificers deck, this time piloted by the renown joekewwl. While his version is certainly similar to the one that cRUMMYdUMMY has played over the past few weeks, joekewwl's version definitely has some interesting variations. So I thought for today's post we'd take a quick look at some of his choices.

First, this version adds a couple of new cards into the mix. While earlier versions have typically included several copies of Fireforger's Puzzleknot, joekewwl also included Metalspinner's Puzzleknot, which gives the deck significantly more card draw. He also added Djeru's Resolve to presumably give it some creature protection as well as Compulsory Rest, which serves as an alternate removal spell to Unquenchable Thirst (and as such doesn't require the deck to run any Deserts).

Second, joekewwl's version is more creature light, trimming a single Thraben Inspector, Aether Swooper, and two Aviary Mechanics to make room for the full playset of Self Assembler and almost a full set of both Cartouche of Ambition and Knowledge.

Finally, while his Sideboard was fairly similar, joekewwl's version made room for Dispel, which is one of the better permission spells in a Control vs. Control matchup.

Overall, these changes definitely push the deck towards the Control end of the spectrum. It plays fewer creatures, but draws more cards, and generally will be stronger in the late-game than cRUMMYdUMMY's version. It would be interesting to read the thoughts from both of these players on which version they think is stronger, and why.

Hope my readers are enjoying this third season of the MPDC League.