DECK EDITS:

5/17/19 - Subbed 3x Soul Diviner

             - Added 1x Thought Erasure, 1x Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord, 1x Lyra Dawnbringer

I felt the Diviner, while a useful early draw tool, generally felt like a dead draw if not pulled early. Adding in more hand control and bigger threats gives more punch to the draws in the deck. Will consider sideboarding for aggro matchups.

5/16/19 - Subbed 4x Ajani's Pridemate, 4x Ajani's Welcome, 2x Unbreakable Formation, 3 x Cast Down, 2x Revival//Revenge, 2x                             Revitalize, 1x Soul Diviner

             - Added 4x Hero of Precinct One, 3x Thought Erasure, 3x Tyrant's Scorn, 2x Oath of Kaya, 2x Enter the God-Eternals, 2x Teferi,                   Hero of Dominaria, 1x Gideon Blackblade 

             - I also tweaked the manapool.

Currently testing subbing 2x Lyra Dawnbringer for 2x Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

This is an updated take on the classic lifegain creature ramp deck that has been built around Esper Midrange's dominant shell. It is an Esper midrange deck that substitutes the tricky value of Thief of Sanity for the player-controlled value of Resplendent Angel. The longer Gideon's Company and Resplendent Angel sit on the field, the more devastating our board gets. Gideon Blackblade and Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord give our creatures lifelink, which leads to massive heals and quick board development. This deck plays remarkably well against mono aggro decks (red will beat any deck if they get the opening hand and first play).

This deck is a blast to play. To make the deck more competitive, I have borrowed heavily from the standard Esper midrange deck, cutting the Ajani's Pridemates, who were heavily dependent on Ajani's Welcome which was a burden to our cardlist, in favor of Hero of Precinct One that offers a lot of answers to creature-oriented decks, and synergizes well with Sorin. I upgraded the removal based on what has proven to be the most cost-effective in the current meta, and built in better mechanisms for controlling our opponent.

Mulligans:

The goal is to have some kind of turn 2 play, whether it be a Hero or some form of hand or board removal. Turn 3 is when the cards in our deck start to ramp in power.

Card Selection:

Creatures:

These three provide the meat of our deck, and the source of our power. Every instance of lifegain we have builds our board by adding +1/+1 counters, or proccing our Angels to generate 4/4 tokens. NOTE: our creature do not receive counters for each point of life gained, but rather for each instance of lifegain that happens to us (each lifelink creature that deals damage, each proc of Interplanar Beacon, etc). Gideon's Company grows in power incredibly fast because it generates 2 +1/+1 tokens per instance of lifegain. Resplendent Angel quickly gives us an overwhelming boardstate if left alive. For all our creatures, they gain in power the longer they remain on the board. But given our lifegain tools we don't need them to sit on the board long before they become meaningful threats.

Hero of Precinct One gives us an early ramping presence. They demand quick removal. They are not as powerful in this deck as they are in classic Esper Midrange as we run several monowhite cards; however, I find that just generating one or two tokens is enough to protect our board and throw off our opponent. As their power ramps, I have not yet seen another creature with the same impact in the early game for us.

Planeswalkers:

These are the new cards that make this deck so much fun, and we emphasize them far more than standard Esper Midrange. Lifelink with our creatures means immense lifetotals, as well as crazy boards. They work sort of like Regal Caracal did in the Amonkhet kitty deck, only with a lot more utility built into them.

our thicc bois

Gideon Blackblade is an incredibly powerful 3 drop. 4/4 that is indestructible on our turn, can provide general removal, and gives our creatures lifelink.

Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord is my favorite card in the new set. He automatically gives all our creatures lifelink (read: our board gets massive instantly), has a nice little ping to generate life and add +1/+1 counters, and best of all gives super affordable recursion from our graveyard with his minus loyalty ability (aka our Angels are not so easy to remove). He's just nuts. REMEMBER: you can return respledent angels to the battlefield during your second mainphase after you have gained life and they will still proc (meaning Sorin can keep his high loyalty through combat, so our opponent can't burn him and remove our lifelink), so time it well to avoid your opponent's removal.

I am not happy that Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is in this deck. But what am I supposed to do? He's busted. And he gives us draw. I can't not run him. I'm sorry, okay?

Other Spells and Enchantments:

Dovin's Veto for a more potent negate to help against removal and counterspells.

Tyrant's Scorn offers a cheap early clear tool, but being able to bounce bigger creatures is incredibly useful for sneaking through damage and lifelink.

Oath of Kaya is reasonably costed removal, but it also offers us some protection for our planeswalkers and more lifegain tools.

Enter the God-Eternals pairs nicely with Sorin's +2 ability as it gives us the 5 lifegain we need to proc Resplendent Angel. The card has enormous value in it as well.

Thought Erasure is a nutty hand hate card. Too good not to run, and it really helps us both protect what we want to play, remove counterspells, and mess with our opponent's plans.

Sideboard:

The sideboard generally follows Esper Midrange, but with a couple of twists.

I have sideboarded 2x Mortify rather than run them in the main deck (in terms of slots, they would make most sense to replace Oath of Kaya). While the destroy creature effect is useful, I find Oath covers a lot of the removal we need. But against any enchant-heavy deck, or Wildgrowth Walkers and other creatures that quickly get to more than 3 toughness, they are logical sub.

I am still testing Consecrate//Consume, and having fun doing so. The Consume effect is very strong for us, as it can all but ensure an Angel proc. Consecrate is less useful in the current meta, but there are still times when exiling a card from an opponent's graveyard will do a lot.

Dovin, Grand Arbiter is another useful card for us. He can generate lifegain, create tokens, and serve as a powerful draw tool if left alone. Pairs well with Hero of Precinct One as well. I like him better in control matchups where Oath of Kaya's passive ability matters less, and more creatureless decks. He is not as useful in aggro matchups where we need to leave our creatures back as blockers (but he works well with Gideon, as our opponent must choose between extra loyalty, or chumping into his indestructible bod).