Play More Thief of Sanity
Thief of Sanity in Jeskai?
Since Thief of Sanity is a Dimir (ergo black-blue) and Jeskai is a white-blue-red color combination… So you can’t actually play the Thief in Jeskai.
Mike briefly argues that it’s not necessarily the case that Esper is the superior control deck to Jeskai in Standard (regardless of what the Top 8s say). Patrick argues that the ability to play Thief of Sanity after sideboarding pushes black over the red three-color control version.
This three drop Specter is of course an awesome tool in Esper decks after sideboarding, offering a combination of persistent card advantage and ongoing disruption against any of the Wilderness Reclamation type powerhouse decks.
How About Thief of Sanity in Sultai?
This card can be played in the main deck or the sideboard. While we are not sure which is best… We do know that we would lean on playing more copies.
Argument For Main Deck: Llanowar Elves on turn one can potentially allow you to play your Specter on turn two!
Argument Against Main Deck: It’s awful against decks like Mono-Red and you might just lose if you draw two copies.
That said, this creature is much like the full promise of the Mono-Blue Aggro deck — currently the most successful deck in Standard — all bundled into one card. This is essentially one of Mono-Blue’s 1/1 evasion creatures that starts with Curious Obsession already in play.
It can keep you when you’re already winning. It can steal from decks that require particular spells to function. And especially coming out of the sideboard, it can help control decks put their victims on a clock.
Find out more places we think players should play more copies (and all the other current Standard trends) here:
