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Thirst for Knowledge: Two Sides of the Same CoinBy Chris Jobin on March 12th, 2009 · Filed in Thirst for Knowledge, Extended (Type 1.x) · 16 CommentsTwo Sides of the Same Coin For those of you unfortunate enough to not have attended Grand Prix Chicago this past weekend, you certainly missed out. The event turned out to be the largest domestic Grand Prix of all time, and was easily the best event I've ever had the pleasure to attend. The tournament itself went rather poorly for me (4-3 overall), but I suppose I shouldn't worry myself about it too much - after all, Legacy was a format that I had only jumped into weeks before the event. Besides, two of my losses were to game-breaking enchantments that simply turned my deck off: Blood Moon and Back to Basics. I guess I can't really argue with that, eh? Everyone you'd expect to be there did indeed make an appearance, and it was great fun as usual to watch the pros play their feature matches and do variant formats in the evenings. The hotel was simply beautiful, and our view from the tenth floor was very nice. I was slightly taken aback by the fact that our bathroom mirror had a television inside of it, but eventually I realized how genius this truly was and simply grew to embrace the wonderful idea. Me watching LSV play a match. You're probably wondering what the topic this week is, so allow me to jump right into that. Considering that it is still Extended season, I feel that it's time I wrote about that format again. I know the format very well at this point, though I myself focus primarily on playing Faeries (which should come as little surprise, naturally). I played the deck once again (the fourth time this season) at the PTQ on Day Two of the Grand Prix, facing off against 232 other players. The metagame seemed pretty diverse, though the most-played decks appeared to be Bant and Naya Zoo. Before I go on, here's the list that Gavin Verhey and I came up with the night before:
This list was based on Owen Turtenwald's version of the deck that he played in Madison in January. The maindeck is pretty traditional, with only the Damnation being out of the ordinary. I decided to mise the single copy because most decks in the current Extended metagame aren't prepared to deal with that card in the first game, thus allowing me to steal a few games. Players don't typically play around a Damnation in the first game, and the card's usefulness against Affinity only made the choice to play it maindeck even easier. I also chose to play Cryptic Command over Glen Elendra Archmage, as I feel that the latter has decreased in value over the past month or so. It is very risky to play in the mirror, and it can often be too slow against the aggressive decks. Cryptic Command, on the other hand, is very powerful in the mirror and also at just giving you an advantage overall. My sideboard is well-equipped for the current metagame. Thoughtseize and Future Sight help to make the mirror matches as smooth as possible, and additional Damnations serve as an upgrade to Firespout. Being able to clear any board (and also gain advantage by bouncing my graveyard-bound guys to my hand with Riptide Laboratory) as well as neutralize Affinity's board position entirely (Arcbound Ravager can be annoying, after all) is simply too strong to pass up. The rest of the sideboard helps deal with Loam, Storm, and Zoo. I know the Threads of Disloyalty seems out of place, but I think that with less and less Zoo players running enchantment hate in their sideboards, it might be good again. The same could be said for Faerie players and their artifact hate, also, so it might even be time for Vedalken Shackles to take center stage again. Team RIW's recent Wizards lists have been utilizing it to great effect, so I think I might be right with that assumption. I'm not writing this to discuss the tournament itself, but a small recap is in order. In the first round, I lost in game three to a random rogue deck (which I mean both literally and figuratively, mind you) which this deck is just not equipped to deal with. No amount of fine play or good draws can make up for a deck that's core strategy just trumps yours. I swept three Bant decks in the following three rounds, and then beat an Elf deck 2-1 in round five. Round six had me going toe-to-toe with Adrian Sullivan and his new concoction, which was not very good news for me. I beat him game one quite handily (due largely in part to the maindeck Damnation), but lost the next two rather quickly. I dropped afterward, but not before chatting with Adrian a bit about his new take on the format. You can read about his deck here. Gets the job done every time. Damnation As far as sweepers go, nothing does it better than this card. Being able to clear Zoo and Bant's board is just huge, and in addition the card is just insane against Affinity. Literally, with this card in your deck, you should not fear playing against Affinity as long as you can make it until turn four. With Damnation, you only fear Cranial Plating. It may be a tad slow against Elves, but being more efficient against every other deck (Tarmogoyf decks, Arcbound Ravager, etc) make it more than worth the slight handicap. Thoughtseize I should hope that this one is obvious. If you have ever played the mirror match in Extended, you should know full-well how powerful this card is (even if you've never used it or had it used on you - you should just know how it could have impacted your games). Being able to rip Sower of Temptation and the like from an opponent's hand during the first four turns or so is the equivalent to taking the Bitterblossom from their hand in Standard - it just wins games. The fact that Thoughtseize holds value for so long during the game is very crucial, and another reason why it's so much better the larger the format becomes (i. e., it's even better in Legacy). If you're playing black, it is mostly likely for this card above all else. Extirpate I myself have yet to play this card in my 75 in an actual event, but being able to use it as a sideboard option seems huge. Relic of Progenitus might end up being better most of the time (especially against Loam decks), but I can definitely see someone making an argument for Extirpate as a replacement. The card is usually better than Relic against the Martyr deck, though I'm not sure if that matters as much anymore as it used to. Bitterblossom It doesn't say "I win," but it still gets there. Terror With so many Zoo and Bant decks running around, having a spot removal spell in the maindeck or the sideboard doesn't seem like such an awful idea. Terror is the most efficient tool we can utilize in that slot, as it makes short work of Tarmogoyf, Wild Nacatl, Rhox War Monk, Figure of Destiny, and even Sower of Temptation. I don't think Faeries needs to maindeck a removal spell at this time, but if we were to do so I would imagine Terror would be the best choice. It doesn't do much of anything against Affinity, however, so maybe Slaughter Pact is worth consideration also. Manual Bucher recently wrote about Wretched Banquet, but since it usually will hit our own Sower of Temptation, it might not be optimal. Sideboard removal like Deathmark gives us further options. Dark Confidant / Phyrexian Arena Though not the first cards you'd think to play in Faeries, neither one is really that bad here. The one thing Faeries (in any format, really) wants is card advantage, and both of these cards offer that in spades. I'd inclined to say that Phyrexian Arena is a better for this deck as it only takes a single life away from us while not giving away information (after all, who wants to flip Sower of Temptation off of a Dark Confidant trigger?). I've yet to come up with a list that can truly utilize these two cards efficiently enough, but I certainly like the idea of playing Phyrexian Arena in Faeries. But what is yin without yang? Night without day? I've already explored Faeries with the red and green splash as well as Faeries with virtually no splash, so below is the final piece to the puzzle:
This version of the deck is rather new, and was largely a response to the printing of Path to Exile. Although I am personally not a huge fan of spot removal in Faeries (especially in the maindeck), it isn't hard for me to admit that this approach may be fairly strong. The maindeck is hardly that different from any other Faerie list, with the only difference being that the white splash has access to stellar removal in the form of the one-mana Path to Exile. The sideboard, on the other hand, is wildly different. Being able to play Kataki, War's Wage greatly increases the deck's match-up with Affinity (as does maindeck Path to Exile), and Kitchen Finks can turn bad Zoo match-ups into more winnable endeavors. Crovax likely sticks out the most, and for good reason - it seems counterproductive. But in reality, it's quite a powerful option for games two and three. To elaborate on the white splash, I'll go through card choices again like I did for black: The best removal in Extended? Considering that this card is the reason to play the white splash, one can conclude that it is obviously very good. The fact that this spell can take out any threat for a single mana is quite flooring, especially in a format with so few creatures that can dodge its effects. Path to Exile is very good against Affinity (since they cannot ever reap the benefits of the drawback), and also against Zoo decks (as the additional mana is usually negligible, as well as the fact that they might have already drawn the 1-2 basic lands that they play). It's pretty strong against Bant decks because the drawback is balanced out by the quality of the card's it would be trading with, but it becomes exponentially weaker in the mirror. Not only does it get Spellstuttered very easily, but it also gives them a land to beat you with. I can't think of another deck that would love more lands as much as Faeries, so giving them what they want (especially in the mirror) seems kind of bad. Of course, it's not as though that one downside is enough to dismiss the card, because otherwise I think it's very good here. Kataki, War's Wage Our worst match-up is Affinity, so it stands to reason that this card is very valuable. While resolving a Kataki by no means you win the game, it does give you a significant advantage. If you can drop this guy with any form of counter back-up I'm quite sure it would take a miracle for the Affinity player to beat you. While not worth making the splash all on his own, this guy fits right into the sideboard if you're already splashing. Kitchen Finks Gaining life is good. Absorbing damage for two turns and potentially killing two opposing creatures is good. Comboing well with Crovax, Ascendant Hero is good. Beating for three a turn is good. This card just does a lot all at once, and it's card like that that Faeries wants to utilize. It may be a tad expensive at three mana (and not having flash is definitely awkward), but I don't see how this card couldn't at least be considering when making a sideboard for a Faerie deck with a white splash. Ethersworn Canonist Much like Kataki, you should not splash white specifically for this card. However, if you're already in white, there is little reason not to play a few of these in place of Stifle effects. It doesn't require you to leave mana open on your turn, is immune to Gigadrowse, and likely will go unanswered in game two of a Faeries/TEPS match-up (after all, most storm players won't think to bring in artifact hate against Faeries). Also, since it's a creature, it will add to your clock and ultimately apply enough pressure to draw out the win. Crovax, Ascendant Hero Good in Faeries? Disenchant It's no Ancient Grudge, but it gets the job done. I personally think Kataki, War's Wage is much better, but more options is never bad. Being able to hit single artifacts like Sword of Fire and Ice as well as things like Future Sight and Sulfuric Vortex is also very strong. Wrath of God The manabase for the white splash doesn't accommodate as well for a spell with two white mana symbols in its manacost as the black splash's does for Damnation (even though we already play a few spells with WW in their cost), but the real reason to not play this is because of the other cards we ARE playing. With maindeck spot removal as well as lifegain and a Night of Souls' Betrayal effect out of the sideboard, a sweeper in addition to Engineered Explosives might be unneeded. Still, having the option is always nice, right? So which is better, the white or black splash? Both give Faeries lots of new options for combating the meta, and each does so in a way that is more efficient depending on what decks you want to beat. If you want to beat the mirror more consistently, the black splash is far superior. If Affinity and Storm are common, you might want to consider white. For ease of reference, I've broken down the pros and cons of each: Black Splash Pros: -Better match-up with the mirror -More stable manabase; easier to cast Damnation, less pain, etc etc -Bitterblossom provides board presence without tapping out -Extirpate neuters Loam strategies arguably better than Relic of Progenitus -Card advantage engine in the form of Dark Confidant or Phyrexian Arena Cons: -Cannot deal with artifacts -Typically deals a good amount of damage to itself -Cannot use Vedalken Shackles White Splash Pros -Better match-up with Affinity -Better match-up with TEPS -Most efficient spot removal -Lifegain -Can resolve Crovax, Ascendant Hero and steal games -Can still use Vedlaken Shackles Cons -Path to Exile gives the opponent a land -Unstable manabase; might need to cut copies of colorless lands like Mutavault Looking over the pros and cons, it is hard to determine which approach is better. As stated earlier, I still prefer the black splash as I feel that having a strong match-up against the mirror is the most important thing to have in this format. However, I fully respect the improved combo and Affinity match-ups that the white version has, and I look forward to testing that splash out even more in the coming weeks. Use this article as a starting point when deciding how to play Faeries at your next PTQ - if you want to beat a certain type of deck, look over the sideboard options and see which ones would help you the most. There are tons of other cards you can use in either color, too - I just outlined the ones I felt would be most useful to you. The core of each deck that I presented provide a great place to build from, as generally the splashes will only affect the sideboard anyway. Despite Affinity, Bant, and Naya Zoo becoming more and more popular with each passing event, I still think Faeries is the best deck in Extended (and I certainly don't doubt that the majority agrees with me). I know I for one will be playing it for the remaining three PTQs left in my season, and as of now it seems I will be playing it with the black splash. Being able to outplay the mirror well might be enough to influence one to play the white splash and just rely on playskill to take the mirror, and but I still think that even with an inherent, personal edge in the mirror I'd feel better playing a deck that has an edge all on its own. Both versions of the new Faerie decks is strong in its own right, and I hope I gave you plenty to think about when deciding between the two. Next week I'll be returning to Standard in anticipation for the Indianapolis 5K as well as Grand Prix: Seattle. I'm not entirely sure yet what I will be discussing at this point, but I promise it will be something interesting. Until next time, Chris "Shinjutsei" Jobin By Chris Jobin on March 12th, 2009 · Filed in Thirst for Knowledge, Extended (Type 1.x) · 16 Comments |
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