Esper Control

Penny Dreadful. The ultra-budget, thousands-of-cards Magic Online brewer's paradise with powerful cards, six free weekly tournaments, free 24/7 league, prizes, quarterly rotations, and a super friendly community.

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How do I get started with Magic Online?

Check out the guide to Magic Online.
Which cards are legal?

Card legality is set quarterly based on which cards are 2¢ or less at that time.
The best way to search legal cards is with Scryfall.

You can view the full legal cards list.
How do I find or brew a decklist?

Minimum 60 cards. Any number of basic lands. Max four of any other legal card. Sideboard of up to fifteen cards.

The best way to build decks is to use a search engine that supports Penny Dreadful legality (f:pd) like Scryfall.

Browse Decklists from tournaments, leagues and elsewhere

View the full legal cards list
How do I get a game and find other Penny Dreadful players?

To get a match in Magic Online go to Constructed, Specialty, Freeform Tournament Practice on Magic Online and create a Freeform game with "Penny Dreadful" in the comments.

To find the Penny Dreadful community join the Discord.
How do I enter the league?

Leagues last for roughly a month. You may enter any number of times but only one deck at a time.

You play five matches per run. You can join the league at any time.

To find a game sign up and then create a game in Constructed, Specialty, Freeform Tournament Practice with "Penny Dreadful League" as the comment.

Top 8 finishers on each month's league leaderboard win credit with Cardhoarder.

Current League
More Info

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How do I enter a tournament?

We have six free-to-enter weekly tournaments with prizes from Cardhoarder.

They are hosted on Gatherling along with a lot of other player-run Magic Online events.

More Info

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What happens if a card goes above 2¢? How does rotation work? When is the next rotation? How long are cards legal for?

Legality is determined a week after the release of a Standard-legal set on Magic Online.

Prices are checked every hour for a week. Anything 2¢ or less for half or more of all checks is legal for the season.

Any version of a card on the legal cards list is legal.

The next rotation is in 1 week.

Don't show me this again

The Penny Dreadful 500 is on Apr 20th with free entry and $500 in prizes!

Archetype Tree

Archetype	# Decks	Record	Win %	①	⑧	5–0s
Control	2564	3976–4758	45.5	6	78	89
Esper Control	118	210–190	52.5	0	4	5

Decks

Cards

Matchups

Archetype	Record	Win %
Aggro	53–49	52.0
Mono Black Aggro	1–0	100.0
Heroic	4–4	50.0
Mono White Heroic	1–4	20.0
Mono Red Blitzkrieg	2–0	100.0
Selesnya Heroic	1–0	100.0
Red Deck Wins	4–7	36.4
Tokens	2–1	66.7
Mono White Tokens	2–1	66.7
Mono Green Stompy	2–2	50.0
White Weenie	3–3	50.0
Soldiers	0–1	0.0
Kithkin	1–0	100.0
Elves	8–2	80.0
Selesnya Little Kid	1–1	50.0
Selesnya Counters	0–1	0.0
Rogues	1–2	33.3
Zombies	2–0	100.0
Gruul Aggro	1–0	100.0
Merfolk	3–2	60.0
Mono Red Swarm	3–1	75.0
Artifact Aggro	11–14	44.0
Affinity	6–12	33.3
Salvage Titan	1–0	100.0
Tempered Steel	4–2	66.7
Madness	0–1	0.0
Golgari Madness	0–1	0.0
Voltron	4–0	100.0
Hexproof	4–0	100.0
AggroSlide	0–5	0.0
Cats	2–2	50.0
Selesnya Cats	2–2	50.0
Rakdos Aggro	0–1	0.0
Combo	45–34	57.0
Storm	8–9	47.1
Dimir Tendrils	5–7	41.7
Dragonstorm	1–0	100.0
Grixis Tendrils	2–0	100.0
Izzet Storm	0–1	0.0
Reanimator	16–7	69.6
Worldgorger Dragon	4–1	80.0
Dimir Cycling Reanimator	1–1	50.0
Traditional Reanimator	11–5	68.8
Rakdos Reanimator	0–3	0.0
Dimir Reanimator	1–0	100.0
Mono Black Reanimator	10–2	83.3
Oriss Genesis	2–1	66.7
Dubious Challenge	2–0	100.0
Warp World	2–0	100.0
Maniac Combo	1–0	100.0
Hypergenesis	1–0	100.0
Jeskai Ascendancy	0–2	0.0
Four Color Jeskai Ascendancy	0–2	0.0
Myr Incubator	1–1	50.0
Turntimber Ranger	0–1	0.0
Taking Turns	1–1	50.0
Izzet Ascension	1–0	100.0
Jokulhaups Combo	1–1	50.0
Breakfast	2–1	66.7
Oops All Spells	2–1	66.7
Dredge	5–6	45.5
Dice Factory	0–1	0.0
Control	30–27	52.6
Mono Black Control	0–1	0.0
Esper Control	2–2	50.0
Demonic Rising	1–0	100.0
Dimir Control	0–1	0.0
Azorius Control	6–3	66.7
Mardu Control	2–2	50.0
Mill	0–4	0.0
Grixis Control	1–1	50.0
Cruel Control	1–0	100.0
Chandra Nalaar	1–0	100.0
Ponza	6–5	54.5
Mono White Control	1–0	100.0
Life is Ez	1–0	100.0
Dynavolt Tower	1–0	100.0
Cycling Control	2–1	66.7
Astral Slide	2–1	66.7
Five Color Control	2–1	66.7
Shrines	2–1	66.7
Pox	5–6	45.5
Aggro-Combo	14–16	46.7
Aristocrats	8–7	53.3
Mono Black Aristocrats	1–1	50.0
Orzhov Aristocrats	3–2	60.0
Golgari Aristocrats	1–0	100.0
Mardu Aristocrats	0–2	0.0
Food	1–1	50.0
Rakdos Aristocrats	2–1	66.7
Burn	1–2	33.3
Infect	2–1	66.7
Simic Infect	2–1	66.7
Izzet Blitzkrieg	0–3	0.0
Chancellor of the Forge Combo	3–0	100.0
Combo Goblins	0–3	0.0
Goblin Persist	0–3	0.0
Aggro-Control	22–20	52.4
Izzet Tempo	7–7	50.0
Azorius Skies	2–1	66.7
Lich Aggro-Control	0–2	0.0
Wizards	1–0	100.0
Ninjas	1–2	33.3
Mono Blue Tempo	3–4	42.9
Izzet Spells	6–1	85.7
Dimir Tempo	0–2	0.0
Azorius Tempo	0–1	0.0
Combo-Control	9–6	60.0
Battle of Wits	2–0	100.0
Mindcrank	2–4	33.3
Dragoncrank	1–1	50.0
Displace Loop	1–0	100.0
Zur's Weirding	3–1	75.0
Solar Flare	0–1	0.0
Mass Land Destruction	1–0	100.0
Wildfire	1–0	100.0
Borderpost Wildfire	1–0	100.0
Midrange	30–29	50.8
Abzan Midrange	1–0	100.0
Jund	1–2	33.3
Blink	1–0	100.0
Graveyard Value	1–2	33.3
Séance	0–1	0.0
Varolz Dreadnought	1–0	100.0
Enchantments Matter	1–0	100.0
Allies	0–1	0.0
Fake-Rack	0–1	0.0
Mardu Midrange	4–7	36.4
Vampires	1–1	50.0
Mono Black Vampires	0–1	0.0
Orzhov Vampires	1–0	100.0
Rakdos Midrange	1–3	25.0
Big Red	2–0	100.0
Mono Black Midrange	4–2	66.7
Mono Black Devotion	2–2	50.0
Dimir Midrange	4–2	66.7
Toughness Matters	1–0	100.0
Orzhov Midrange	1–1	50.0
Owling Mine	1–0	100.0
Prophet Glare	1–1	50.0
Ordealbreak	0–1	0.0
Neoform	5–0	100.0
Temur Neoform	1–0	100.0
Sultai Neoform	3–0	100.0
Party	0–2	0.0
Ramp	7–9	43.8
Cloudpost Ramp	5–6	45.5
Greenpost	3–6	33.3
Gruul Post	1–0	100.0
Summer Bloom Ramp	1–0	100.0
Defenders	1–0	100.0