Local Legacy: 8/9

I played Esper Deathblade at one of my weeklies yesterday. There was a good turnout of ~30 players so it was a 5-round event.

The meta was wonderfully diverse and included:

2 A.N.T.
1 Aggro Loam
1 Aluren
1 BR Griselbrand
1 Bant Deathblade
1 Burn
1 Death & Taxes
2 Eldrazi Stompy
1 Enlightened Tutor Miracles
1 Esper Deathblade
1 Grixis Delver
1 Legend Miracles
1 Loam Pox
1 Mentor Miracles
1 Miracles
2 Moggcatcher Stompy
1 Mono-Green Cloudpost
1 Mono-White Stax
1 RG Lands
2 Shardless BUG
1 UB Reanimator
1 UG Infect
1 UR Delver


Here is my generic, somewhat "retro" list:

ESPER  DEATHBLADE, 8/9/16
Creature Spells (14) 4x Deathrite Shaman 4x Stoneforge Mystic 2x Snapcaster Mage 3x True-Name Nemesis 1x Vendilion Clique	Noncreature Spells (24) 4x Brainstorm 2x Ponder 4x Swords to Plowshares 3x Thoughtseize 1x Inquisition of Kozilek 1x Mana Leak 1x Vindicate 4x Force of Will 2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor 1x Umezawa's Jitte 1x Batterskull
Lands (22) 4x Polluted Delta 4x Flooded Strand 2x Marsh Flats 3x Underground Sea 2x Tundra 1x Scrubland 1x Tropical Island 1x Island 1x Swamp 1x Plains 2x Wasteland	SB: 2x Surgical Extraction SB: 2x Disfigure SB: 2x Meddling Mage SB: 2x Zealous Persecution SB: 1x Invasive Surgery SB: 1x Engineered Explosives SB: 1x Disenchant SB: 1x Pithing Needle SB: 1x Sword of Fire and Ice SB: 1x Rest in Peace SB: 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant

My rounds went as follows:

Round 1: Shardless BUG (2-0)

Round 2: UG Infect (2-0)

Round 3: Burn (2-0)

Round 4: Mentor Miracles (1-1)

Round 5: Aggro Loam (2-0)

Final Record: 4-0-1, putting me in 1st place for a nice chunk of store credit.


There must be something good going on with the list for me to come out on top in 3 unfavorable matchups (Shardless, Burn, Aggro Loam), but I think I also had better luck than my opponents.
My round against Miracles, another unfavorable matchup, was very close. I won the 1st game and was in a good position to win the 2nd, but lost it due to misplaying a Deathrite Shaman activation. We didn't have enough time left to finish the 3rd game.

I've been playing something pretty similar at weeklies over the last few months, and while I don't always do great with it I never do terribly. The only change I might make moving forward is cutting the Mana Leak, which I'm trying out but has been unimpressive. There are a few cards that could replace it, including Counterspell, Spell Pierce, Spell Snare, or Vendilion Clique. Another possibility is replacing the 2nd Zealous Persecution in the sideboard with a Toxic Deluge.