MTG Salvation

After watching this - http://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-98-18-tix-modern-mono-blue-faeries

I've really liked the deck and it seems that even a budget build of "Blue Faeries" can compete against decent decks and have a chance of winning.

I decided to try and build upon it and focus on a tempo-aggro version.
Since I don't have much experience in playing tempo-style decks with many counterspells I'd probably need some help.

Here is where I'm at now:



How is the deck ? What can be improved here ?
What should the SB look like for a mono blue deck ?

1. I am not sure whether or not Mutavault is better here than Faerie Conclave.
Is coming untapped and cheaper activation better than tapping for blue and flying
(works with Favorable Winds) ?

2. I wonder if I should play Stubborn Denial in the mainboard, with all the anthems and Mistbind/Vendilion "ferocious" should be rather attainable.

3. Should Pestermite or Quickling be considered for the deck ?
They seem rather useful but I'm not sure if they can replace anything in the mainboard.

4. Is Cryptic Command too slow for this version ?

Back over at U/B Faeries, we don't run Faerie Miscreant. Having it makes Spellstutter Sprite's math much better. However; being able to play mutavault, tap it for colorless, use the colorless to animate mutavault, and then cast Spellstutter Sprite with an extra faerie on board has been hugely powerful for us. Also, Mistbind Clique. Also, Familiar's Ruse.
Stubborn Denial seems very on for your deck, in comparison to ours at least. V. Clique + Anthem is all you need. I don't know if it's strong enough. Playtest it maybe?
Pestermite vs Quickling is a tough call. Neither maybe? I like Quickling a lot, but you seem to have a lot of bounce going on. If you overdue bounce it could be a problem. I've never been a fan of Pestermite, but that's just me. As a third option, Mistblade Shinobi. He's pretty cool and annoys everyone who plays manadorks. (Especially Noble Heirarchs) Faeries and Ninja's have had a working relationship before. You might take a look at the legacy deck, FaeNinjaStill.
Cryptic is a powerhouse. In UB Faeries, we use it for everything. In this list though, it might not be necessary. Tap is an effective way to bypass fliers. Otherwise, you don't have many turn 1 plays. You might want to fix that? Spell Snare & Vapor Snag are great, but they're are too situational to reliably count on turn 1.

Good luck! And nice deck!

Thanks for the reply.

What other (than 4x Faerie Miscreant, 4x Vapor Snag, 2x Spell Snare) turn-1 play options do I have ?
(I guess that Zephyr Sprite/Faerie Impostor don't really count)

1. Serum Visions/Gitaxian Probe - Do I actually need this over anything in the list ?
2. Spell Pierce - seems worse than Stubborn Denial in this deck and I'm not sure if it is maindeck-worthy.
3. More Spell Snare - does it justify a full playset ?
4. Disrupting Shoal - is it good for this deck ?
5. Swan Song - is the downside worth it ? (over Dispel)
6. Judge's Familiar - does it cut it as non-faerie 1-drop ?

What about Essence Flux to retrigger the Etb of my faeries and save them from targeted removal ?
(maybe instead of Familiar's Ruse)

With enough faeries blinking a Spellstutter Sprite is like a 1-mana Counterspell.
It is also good with Vendilion Clique, Mistbind Clique and also Faerie Miscreant sometimes.
The problem seems to be the "nonbo" with Scion of Oona.

On a similar note, is Engulf the Shore good for this deck ? (maybe as a Sb option )

Also, should I add some Ghost Quarter to the deck or is a SB Spreading Seas enough for Tron/Valakut matchups ?

With so few 1 and 2-drops, your list has a fairly high curve for being "aggro". Mana Leak and Vendillion Clique in particular feel more like "control" cards than "aggro" or "tempo". Your list also seems light on ways to recycle your faerie's ETB effects -- Mistbind Clique, 2x Familiar's Ruse, and Vapor Snag on your own guys seem to be the only ways to recycle your Spellstutter Sprites. All blue decks want to recycle spells, but we have two diverging roads to go down. One is to recycle our Spellstutter Sprites with creature-bounce effects, and the other is to recycle our spells with Snapcaster Mage. In a creature-focused blue deck, I'm definitely a big fan of Quickling and ninjitsu cards as they give you a way to advance your board and recycle your Spellstutters. Familiar's Ruse is a controversial card, but I like it a lot -- I play a more controlling version of this deck, so I run a full 4x of it, but in an aggro / tempo deck, having it as a 2x feels pretty good where you have it.

For aggro / tempo, you might want to consider looking at some of the ninja-focused lists. Cards like Ninja of the Deep Hours and Mistblade Shinobi can recycle your own Spellstutter Sprites as well as offer card advantage and tempo advantage against creature-based decks. Much of this is meta-dependent, since Mistblade is completely dead against decks like Scapeshift, Living End, and other decks without early creature drops.

If you are interested in going in this route, you may enjoy reading this tournament report:
Modern Faerie / Ninja Homebrew Tournament Report
The author is on these forums (and posts over in this thread) -- I didn't write it.

I find Gitaxian Probe to be a nice addition in my deck -- if I've got a strong suite of counterspells I usually don't need Vendillion Clique -- simply knowing what's in their hand is enough to tell me how I need to sequence my spells.

Favorable Winds is nice if everyone has flying, but it misses synergy with Mutavault. You might consider [card]Faerie Conclave[card], but overall I agree that Mutavault is better in a more aggro build.

Keep us posted with your progress and results! I'm very interested in seeing how this goes for you!

Oh and FWIW, I love 1-drops in this sort of deck, and I think Faerie Miscreant is a necessity. I also run Zephyr Sprite as a 4-of.

I don't run it, but I've seen Pestermite put in some work as a way to lock down larger creatures from your opponent -- it fits really well into the aggro / tempo archetype since you can play it to set them back from attacking for a turn and add another 2-power flier to the board.

After giving it some thought I realised that I need more creatures in the deck and Quickling seems better than Familiar's Ruse here anyway.

Another card that seems not good enough is Phantasmal Image, so I'm looking to replace it as well.
The most likely option seems to be Pestermite but maybe some more Mana Leak (or Spell Pierce) is the better option, what do you think ?

I've also replaced 2x Mutavault with 2x Faerie Conclave.

Some time ago I played a U/R tempo/fae deck quite similar to Jeff Hoogland's: http://www.themeadery.org/b/jeffhoogland/read/urx-fae-primer/ I loved playing the tempo game and casting Spellstutter Sprites! The article and video's by SaffronOlive (in the opening post) got me interested in this deck. A mono blue version of faeries looks to be viable (and fun to play of course).

For now, I have the current deck ready for playtesting:


Topics:

I'm starting with 3 Mistbind Clique. It's possible I will tick that up to 4 copies if I find myself needing one every game. Will probably cut a Pestermite for it, if that's the case.

I'm not necessarily interested in playing a budget deck, so I am also considering playing 2-3 Snapcaster Mage, although they are less powerful in a deck without Lightning Bolt. On the other hand, Snapcasters can be reused via Quickling-shenanigans..

Another point I was contemplating: playing Cryptic Command. Obviously, it's a bit mana heavy for the deck and performs better in dedicated control decks, but how do others think about this card as a 1- or a 2-of in a tempo deck like this one?

Furthermore: Ghost Quarter.. I replaced this card with a playset of Mutavault, for obvious reasons, but I've seen the card do some good stuff in the video's by SaffronOlive. Is it worth considering running a few copies? Or will 6-7 colorless land be too much? Or will a playset of Spreading Seas solve the issues in the post-sideboard games?

I'm not sure that running 4x Quickling is a great idea, while it can be very good it is also a rather risky and conditional card to use so 2x seems like a good number to me.
The sorcery-speed version, Faerie Impostor, is even less appealing to me.

I would also play the full 4x Remand as it is one of the best spells in the deck that works with the tempo gameplan.

Mistbind Clique is a tricky card to use (Mutavault helps not getting blown-out by removal with only 1 faerie on board) but certain games can't be won without it and it is the most powerful creature in the deck so 4x copies seem reasonable to me.

I'm not sure about Cryptic Command but it seems to me that you either play it or Mistbind Clique and not both as it can slow down the deck too much.
I prefer Mistbind for now, maybe Cryptic can come from the SB ?

I keep a couple of Spreading Seas in the SB, I don't think MB Ghost Quarter is worth it especially with Mutavault as well but I might be wrong here.

Here is my current list:

@D90Dennis14: Thanks for responding to my post and sharing your ideas.

I went to GP Lille and eventually played the following deck:


Friday results

1. Robots, 2-1 (won the first game with a mul to 5, lost second game due to flooding, won the third at 20 life (he had a bad hand)).
2. Bant Eldrazi, 0-2 (didn't stand a chance).
3. Jund, 2-0.
4. Robots, 1-1 (tense games).

2-1-1.

Saturday results

1. Big zoo, 2-1 (first game got smashed by Loxodon Smiter, second game was tight (I won at 1 life), won third game because of opponent's mana screw).
2. UWR Nahiri, 2-0.
3. UWR Nahiri, 1-1 (tight games, didn't get to play the third)
4. UWR Control (Nahiri?), 2-0.
5. Abzan Company, 0-2 (didn't stand a chance, he had good hands with mana dorks, I didn't have the tempo).
6. GR Tron, 2-0 (first game I kept him off tron, second game went even better with Spreading Seas).
7. GR Tron, 2-0 (first game he didn't manage to get to tron in time, second game he had tron and 30 life, but I managed to Mistbind Clique-lock him).
8. Bant Eldrazi, 2-0 (first game I tricked him with Scion of Oona and beat down, second game Vapor Snag helped a lot and I drew 3 cards from Faerie Miscreants + Faerie Impostor).
9. Robots, 2-1 (first game I died to a quick Steel Overseer, second game I got to cast Hurkyl's Recall (twice), destroying his Glimmervoid, third game he had a slow start and mana problems).

7-1-1.

Sunday results

1. Abzan, 0-2 (had a lot of trouble versus Lingering Souls, second game I Remanded Lingering Souls and even had Echoing Truth, but his Tarmogoyf went all the way).
2. Zoo, 1-2 (managed to beat him first game, second game was very tight (I died with him at 3 life), third game I never got into it).
3. Jund, 1-2 (first game I died never seeing a third land with 3 Pestermite in hand, second game I had enough tricks, third game was tight and I unfortunately wasn't able to draw a creature for a few turns to take his 4 last life points, although manlands did a lot of work here).

0-3 drop

Some conclusions

• Playing this deck was awesome! Lots of tricks, lots of tempo plays, it fits my playing style perfectly, wasn't tired of playing the deck at all.
• Opponents don't expect some cards or even know our cards, which gives the deck an edge.
• The deck seems favored against UWR Nahiri and Tron and seems to have game against a lot of other decks. I didn't get to play against combo decks like Ad Nauseam or Scapeshift, but my guess is that this deck is favored. Tough match-ups seem to be Bant Eldrazi and Abzan Company. Against the quick decks like Zoo and Robots it could go either way, is my estimation, but after sideboarding the Robots-matchup seems favorable. Also, I didn't get to play against Dredge.
• Maindeck: I wouldn't know what to change after this weekend, I was quite pleased.
• Sideboard: I would've liked Rachet Bombs and/or Dismembers to deal with the tougher match-ups.

Hello Faerie players (if there still are any), I think I've fallen in love with this as my new Modern deck.
I've been tuning my list and it feels pretty strong. It's actually incredibly skill intensive and rewards good play and knowledge of the format more than any other deck I've played. A lot of games come down to the wire and it's always a couple small decisions here and there that swing it in your favor. Deciding what to counter with what spell, when to play control and when to start putting on pressure with lords, when to play which Faerie etc. If you play the deck badly it looks like a complete pile, but I really believe if you play it perfectly you can put up great results.

Anyway, my list:



I've tried lots of different numbers but 7 one-drop Faeries feels perfect. You really want a cheap body on the field turn one to power up all your other synergies with SSS, Quickling, etc. Pestermite performs really well for me and I would have more but you risk clogging up your opener with all 3+ drops and Quicklings etc. I like it better than V-Clique in this build though. Untapping a land to hold up Spell Snare/Piece/Vapor Snag is pretty common.
2 Mistbind is where I've settled, it is a great top end in certain matchups but you don't really want to see it in your opener.
I've gone back and forth on Remand vs. Mana Leak. Remand leads to more nail-biters but the digging yourself into more gas is really needed in this deck.
Dismember is an all-star slam dunk 3-of. Let's face it: things are going to slip through the counterspell net and having 1-mana hard removal is great on the offensive and the defensive.
I feel that Ghost Quarter is also a must in a deck relying on counterspells as it hits manlands and also things like Cavern of Souls.

That's about it really, Redirect is kind of my pet card in the sideboard of blue decks as it really helps out the Burn and GBx matchups.

Hey monoblue crew, i think you guys should look into using some of the vehicles that have been printed lately. Testing with smuggler's copter in UB Faeries has shown us that it really works well with miscreant, which seems to be the backbone of the faerie deck (its the only creature card in the deck that feels inherently proactive). Plus having a 4/4 due to favorable winds is very effective. I have been playing a variant of this aswell as a pet deck with the spare cards from my UB Faeries deck and copter really helps push you into the cards you want to see. Aetherize has been really good also

Picked up the original Budget Magic decklist and have been enjoying it. Again, here's the list:



I'm thinking about trading out some Ghost Quarters for a few Islands. I just seem to get more use out of having the right mana than hitting an opponent's land (at least for Game 1). I'm also considering making some cuts to put Zephyr Sprite in. There have been quite a few opportunities where I've wanted to have another faerie on board but I just can't cast one by itself or cast it without needing to hold up counter spell mana.

Has anyone made any recent improvements or tested any good recent additions to the list? Any ideas/suggestions appreciated!

I think that for that reason you would want Aether Vial in the deck so you can hold counters and progress your board at the same time (like the "Eternal Command" deck does).
With Aether Vial I would go down to 20x lands as well (to minimize bad topdecks and have more action).

Zephyr Sprite is just so bad so I wouldn't want to use it.

I would definetly play at least 2x Spell Snare in the deck.

I agree with you that Aether Vial is probably best here but its a bit too pricey for me. Sadly still trying to keep my Magic decks "budget" at the moment.

Would I be better off running a list closer to this?:



I also agree with you that Zephyr Sprite isn't exactly a great card/creature but playing around with this version of the deck I seem to agree with what HanClinto and Luthier86 had to say -- I find myself needing/looking for the 1-drop faeries to power up my SSSs and keep my Quicklings and Mistbinds playable.

A few questions on some past suggestions:

• How has Favorable Winds worked out?
• Is there any merit in trying to make room for Curiosity (or Surveilling Sprite) to get a little bit more card draw on a budget?
• Is Reality Shift good psuedo-removal or is Dismember just a better inclusion despite the life payment?
• Psionic Blast for blue burn/removal or is it too expensive mana-wise?

Enjoying the discussion here!

The list looks solid.
I would probably go with Mutavault over Ghost Quarter though.

In my experience cards like Quickling (or Faerie Impostor/Familiar's Ruse) can be awkward to play as you might get blown out by removal or have no board so 4x seem too much as you don't want multiples in your hand.

Favorable Winds can really speed up your clock and let you close the game before your tempo advantage runs out and acts as extra copies of Scion of Oona.
4x copies are probably too much but 2x copies seem perfectly reasonable.

For card draw the 4x Remand are usually enough but if you want more I would rather go with Military Intelligence over the cards you've mentioned.

Another option can Smuggler's Copter which doesn't exactly draw cards but looting can be very useful and the 3/3 body speeds up the clock.

Dismember is probably the best removal option for the deck alongside Vapor Snag.
Reality Shift is probably not efficient enough (leaving a 2/2 behind) and Psionic Blast is too expensive at 3-mana (and 2 life) for what it does.

There is also Unsubstantiate which is like weaker modular version of Remand/Unsummon.

I agree, Mutavault seems better. It may be just me, but I never seem to use Ghost Quarter correctly and/or I never seem to need to sac it unless its for something like Tron.

I think Quickling has worked well with the inclusion of additional 1-drops. I've found myself having more of an on-board presence and when I'm ready to play it there's less of a chance that I get 2-for-1-ed.

Favorable Winds is nice, especially if I'm going with a build that has more 1-drops and 1/1s. So, this led me to test out a new and lower curve list:



Pestermites usually clogged up my starting hand so I dropped them. Spell Snare is very strong but I just rarely had the opportunity to cast it or I already had plenty of mana to play another counter. I came up with this build a bit before your reply but I could see it now transforming more into something like this:



I'm leaning more towards the Smuggler's Copter since its a decent sized threat and I can pitch any extra unwanted lands for new cards but Copter costs quite a bit more money-wise and I'm still trying to keep a budget.

Here what's I was thinking.

CREATURES: 24
- Scion of Oona
- Quickling
- Spellstutter Sprite
- Faerie Imposter
- Faerie Miscreant
- Zephyr Sprite

SUPPORT: 16
- Favorable Winds
- Remand
- Familiar's Ruse
- Spell Snare

RESOURCES: 20
- Faerie Conclave
- Island [16]

And, if going Dimir I would go this route.

- Bitterblossom
- Collective Brutality
- Peppersmoke
- Fatal Push

I like the list but I think there's way too much 'bounce' between 4 Faerie Impostor, 4 Quickling, and 4 Familiar's Ruse

I do think that Familiar's Ruse could be good in a deck with lots of 1-drops. They can be pretty easy to pick up and re-play without making it too awkward to hold up more counters when we have them.

I think Dimir could add a lot but by adding a second color you can risk consistency and mess with the tempo/aggro gameplan. And on a more personal level, I can't exactly afford to shell out cash for Bitterblossoms and lands

I'm glad you liked it! I was trying to abuse the counter and draw effects of the Fae. It would take a lot of testing to determine the right amount of bounce cards while still being effective against the opponent and non-disruptive to the deck. I tried to head your advice; however, since I cannot test it out for quite some time I reduced the mana cost for a total of 16 two costing cards plus and 24 one costing cards. The main focus is in the support section. By changing one card the deck goes from aggro to more tempo based.

CREATURES: 28
4x Scion of Oona
4x Quickling
4x Spellstutter Sprite
4x Faerie Impostor
4x Faerie Miscreant
4x Zephyr Sprite
4x Signal Pest

SUPPORT: 12
4x Favorable Winds
OR
4x Remand VS Familiar's Ruse
4x Spell Snare
4x Unsummon

RESOURCES: 20
3x Faerie Conclave
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
16x Island

I don't think that a conditional card like Quickling is worth running as 4x-of, 2x copies seem like a more appropriate number imho (same goes for Familiar's Ruse).
The sorcery speed version (Faerie Impostor) is even worse and I wouldn't run it at all as it is a bad tempo play and can't even save a creature from removal.

Zephyr Sprite is just a 1/1 for 1 (Faerie Miscreant can at least draw a card sometimes) which isn't even good in Limited, it is not worth a card slot imho.
Even a non-faerie taxing creature like Judge's Familiar/Mausoleum Wanderer seems like a better idea here as an additional 1-drop.

Signal Pest doesn't belong in the deck imho as it is not a swarm aggro deck like Goblins or an artifact deck like Affinity.
Favorable Winds is much better as a "Lord" effect in the deck and should be a 2x-of at most imho.

Overall Faeries don't have the creature quality to run 28x creatures and most of their better creatures are 3-cmc (Vendilion Clique, Scion of Oona, Pestermite) which can get clunky (but gets better with Aether Vial).

Vapor Snag is better than Unsummon as most of the time we are going to bounce the opponent's creatures and with the low power of our creatures it is important to maximize every bit of damage we can get.

Remand and Spell Snare seem like the best counterspells for the deck followed by Mana Leak (or Rune Snag) and Spell Pierce/Negate.
Another interesting option can be Disrupting Shoal which can be a great tempo play especially early on.

Quote from D90Dennis14 »

I don't think that a conditional card like Quickling is worth running as 4x-of, 2x copies seem like a more appropriate number imho (same goes for Familiar's Ruse).
The sorcery speed version (Faerie Impostor) is even worse and I wouldn't run it at all as it is a bad tempo play and can't even save a creature from removal.

Zephyr Sprite is just a 1/1 for 1 (Faerie Miscreant can at least draw a card sometimes) which isn't even good in Limited, it is not worth a card slot imho.
Even a non-faerie taxing creature like Judge's Familiar/Mausoleum Wanderer seems like a better idea here as an additional 1-drop.

Signal Pest doesn't belong in the deck imho as it is not a swarm aggro deck like Goblins or an artifact deck like Affinity.
Favorable Winds is much better as a "Lord" effect in the deck and should be a 2x-of at most imho.

Overall Faeries don't have the creature quality to run 28x creatures and most of their better creatures are 3-cmc (Vendilion Clique, Scion of Oona, Pestermite) which can get clunky (but gets better with Aether Vial).

Vapor Snag is better than Unsummon as most of the time we are going to bounce the opponent's creatures and with the low power of our creatures it is important to maximize every bit of damage we can get.

Remand and Spell Snare seem like the best counterspells for the deck followed by Mana Leak (or Rune Snag) and Spell Pierce/Negate.
Another interesting option can be Disrupting Shoal which can be a great tempo play especially early on.

I agree to disagree at this time since I cannot test my deck.

Quickling hasn't been too bad in my last few lists (bouncing/saving chump blockers or fizzling removal) but yes, having lots of bounce can be a problem. I don't like the "Sorcery speed" of the Impostor either.

I agree with Judge's Familiar and Mausoleum Wanderer being much better than Zephyr Sprite but the Sprite plays better with Spellstutter Sprites, Scion of Oonas, and Mistbind Cliques. Which is the better trade-off for our deck? Honest question.

I don't exactly like going extra-aggro with the list. I've found out that this deck likes to be patient a lot of the time. Many times I'll just ping away with a measly 1/1 instead of filling the board because my opponent is more worried about a potential counterspell I've kept up mana for.

Could Door of Destinies fit in the deck? 4 mana is a lot for us to reach but I think DoD's power level could get out of hand as the game goes longer and we keep dropping/bouncing cheap creatures.
Is Advice from the Fae viable? Found it looking through lists of cards with Faerie synergies. It may suck but it looked fun

Ancestral Vision, while very powerful, seems rather slow for a tempo deck imho.
It is more suited for a slow control deck (like Grixis Control or U/W Control) looking to prolong the games and win through card advantage.

Smuggler's Copter is much better than Bonesplitter imho as a pseudo-equipment.

Snapcaster Mage is a good addition and Ninja of the Deep Hours might be worth testing though I'm not really a fan of him.
Vendilion Clique is one of the best faeries and should probably be included.

Playing both 3x Mistbind Clique and 2x Cryptic Command seems a bit much in a 21x land deck.

I would prefer Mana Leak to Dispel (rather narrow) and Familiar's Ruse (conditional), in the early game it is almost Counterspell.
Another good option can be Disrupting Shoal which probably is the closest thing we have to Daze.

Having played variants of this deck for a while now, testing some different stuff. The list I'm currently using (which is seeing changes constantly as I test new stuff is:



List seems to be doing pretty well so far. Usually I have been playing with 3 copies of disrupting shoal, which for the most part have been pretty decent, but has to be said that it feels really bad to have to alternate cast it after mulliganing. In general I feel like the best draws of these types of decks are the ones where you go T1 1/1 flyer and then either T2 ninja or T2 spellstutter counter your spell, so the list runs 9 1-drops to try to maximise these kinds of draws. I also have never really been impressed by scion of oona as I feel like it ends up being a 3 mana 1/1 flyer a bit too often, though I have usually only tested 1-2, so I will test having a full playset at some future point in time to see if that changes much (as they probably are nice to have in multiples in general).

I ran a mono blue faeries variant in a 10$ tournament with friends a while ago. i really like the deck and the fact that i could convert it to a more agro variant with scions of oona and unstable mutation
for one mana you really get some extra "oomph" and the -1/-1 every turn doesnt matter with all the bounce effects you have