Maindeck differences are -1 Darklisck Shores +1 Island
SB is pretty different. I was just hoping to avoid dredge.
Burn with this maindeck is a little harder than usual, since remand, lotv and AV are not the ideal cards we want to see.
-4 AV, -4 Bitterblossom, -1 Remand
+4 Collective Brutality, +2 Damnation, + 2 EE, + 1 Liliana, the Last Hope
Pretty easy with this list. Lotv really shines here.
-3 Inquisition of Kozilek, -3 Cryptic Command
+2 Thoughtseize, +1 Disdainful Stroke, +2 Damnation, + 1 Liliana, the last hope
Same
Literally the only thing he cast first game was a Reality Smasher that I couldn't answer and won alone.
His list wasn't BW Eldrazi & Taxes, it was just eldrazi. So it didn't have Vials or Thalias, so in the other two games I was able to counter the big threats and win with Bitterblossom and manlands.
-4 AV (because of Strangler), -4 Remand, -1 Cryptic
+2 EE (for lingering souls), +2 Damnation, +2 Seize, +1 Pithing Needle, +2 Ceremonious Rejection
Same story of the other ones, but I ended up losing one of the games.
Since I was 5-0 I could ID the 6th and 7th round and still was first in standings (30 boosters yay)
This match is not as easy as I wanted it to be. Counters really shine here, but all the games were super close.
+3 CB, +1 Disdainful Stroke, +1 Liliana, the last hope, +2 Thoughtseize
-4 Fatal Push, -3 IoK
I was so tired that I don't really remember how the games were. I just remember that game 2 I lost to a turn 3 Chandra Torch of Defiance. Games 1 and 3 I managed pretty well with remands and spellstutters.
+2 Seize, +1 Disdainful Stroke
-3 IoK (I think so)
This was a very strange list, with Hazoret, Gideon Ally, Lingering Souls, Bob, Young Pyromancer. Well, obviously it was working pretty good, since he was in the finals.
Anyway, he doesn't have a good way to answer bitterblossom, so first game I just played two and rushed.
The second game was pretty back-forward and we went to top deck mode, but his lands were only basics and shocks and mine were tar pits and mutavaults.
+1 Liliana, the last hope, +2 EE, + 2 Damnation
-4 Liliana of the Veil, -1 IoK
Overall the list felt great. It was more a "test" than anything and I ended up stealing the win, so I'm really happy.
With that many 4-of's it felt very consistent.
Hello,
This is my first time posting here for advice and stuff, and I would love to know what you guys think of my list. I've been playing Faeries on and off ever since Bitterblossom was let off the B+R list, and many people at my LGS have subtly meta-gamed their decks to have an edge vs me (so I switch to Storm on occasion just to troll them).
This list borrows much from PVDDR's article from ChannelFireball, but with my own adjustments and personal takes.
3 Mutavaults??
Talk about killing a sacred cow. This is a recent change I made, and I still don't know if it's correct. I've always been of the opinion that 4 colorless lands is the max that this deck should play, regardless of the number of lists I've seen that have 1-2 Tectonic Edge/Ghost Quarter. I'm of the mind that this deck is very particular on what colors it needs and when, and far too often I've been trapped with a Mutavault that shuts off my Cryptic Command or prevents me from casting multiple spells (not as often as the Cryptic Command issue). I think that any stumble is potentially disastrous, though I do admit that Mutavault does come in hand often, be it with Spellstutter Sprite, Mistbind Clique, or even just attacking. I'm willing to sacrifice that slight edge for a little more consistency and the power offered by Pendelhaven, though I may be wrong. I'll keep testing it.
Another recent change. Originally, the Scions were a Shadow of Doubt and the third Vendilion Clique, but I wanted to test them. They have done just enough work, that I will keep them in for now, though they are the weakest creatures currently. They have mostly been just for speeding up my clock, though I have saved a creature or two with them. With less Lightning Bolts blasting around, they are poised to be better than expected, though they are the least impactfull creature of you're behind.
The Spell Suite
This is all fairly self explanatory, nothing too out of the ordinary here. I have tried to build the deck with a leaning towards playing almost solely at instant speed, which is why you don't see any Serum Visions or Collective Brutality.
Lands
Again, nothing too strange, besides the Mutavault numbers. I've got a couple of extra basics to insulate from Blood Moon/Path to Exile, a couple of extra fetchlands to help power Fatal Push. I've only got two Creeping Tar Pit, as I wanted to slim down the ETB tapped lands, but that's not too odd.
I think everything else about the deck itself is fairly obvious, but feel free to ask any questions.
Ashiok is a card I wanted to try for the long, grindy games, as it is a tough to deal with threat. It could even do work against Control, and I did bring it in against Living End the last time I played against them.
I have wanted a couple of Gifted Aetherborn in the sideboard to mitigate Burn (and possibly Eldrazi decks, I guess Reality Smashers don't like Aetherborn), but the Murk Lurker may just be better due to the bigger butt and less painful mana cost.
The Sower of Temptation is in for the Eldrazi/Tron/Big Creature decks, though I'm iffy on it's effectiveness. I have had Ceremonious Rejection in the sideboard for Eldrazi and Tron decks, but the players in my LGS who play those decks have added additional Cavern of Souls to their lists to avoid the blue players, so I wanted to find someway to fight through that.
I've been taking this deck to the weekly Modern event at my LGS (10-16 players, 4 rounds, fairly wide variety of decks and play skill), and have consistently been going 3-1 or 2-2. Much of the loses could be attributed to misplays or bad mulligan/sideboard decisions, but sometimes it feels like the deck is underpowered and lacking the proper tools to fight with.
Problem Decks
I have found Eldrazi Tron (all flavors) to be difficult if your hand doesn't match up just right. If you fail to counter an early Thought-Knot Seer or Reality Smasher, times get very tough. An early Karn or Ugin are pretty much game over (obviously), and sometimes you just draw nothing and die.
Dredge is almost an auto lose game one, but post-sideboard there are enough cards that even things out.
Burn is basically a bye for them, though sometimes you get lucky and win. The trick is pulling out a couple of the Bitterblossoms (I never take all of them out, sometimes they do good work holding off Swiftspears and Goblin Guides) and most of the Cryptic Commands for the sideboard cards.
I've yet to lose many matches to Death's Shadow. It's not an easy match, but you just need to know when to attack, when to block, and when to play around Stubborn Denial. Just watch out for Izzet Staticaster and you should be fine.
Most other matchups are pretty good. I haven't found any really easy matchups, but there are easy games, and in those games you just roll over them. It's those games where I see a glimpse of the boogeyman that plagued Standard in years past.
The Future of My List
I want to try Opt in this archetype once it becomes legal (I think I'll cut the Scion of Oonas and two Secluded Glens, though cutting land is probably really wrong). I also want to give The Scarab God a shot, as it can just take over a game in the right matchups. Torrential Gearhulk is another fun singleton I've tried, and I feel like giving it a shot again.
So, now that I'm done rambling on about my version of the deck, what do you guys think? I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have.
When I saw Yuta's list originally it seemed so fairy lite that I wasn't sure spellstutter would be very effective. How did you feel having only the 8 fae?
wanted to ask, how many games did you win with less than ~5 life? I am tempted to play 3x Thoughtseize main deck just to help fight Tron/Eldrazi. In my testing the last few weeks I mostly lose to Cavern of Souls and Reality Smasher.
Also I've found this list to be pretty strong against Planeswalkers and am thinking to cut the Hero's Downfall for 2x Go for the Throat
I always wonder why people choose to run EE over ratchet bomb in faeries. To me the reason's I'd want to bring in explosives or similar effects are to hit things that cost 3 like ensnaring bridge or blood moon or Liliana, Du Jour. The only real reason I can see where I'd really want EE is to set it to 1 and immediately pop it for a few death's shadows that snuck through. Can anybody elaborate on why they like one over the other? EE just seems so bad in a strictly 2 color deck.
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And on that day, Garfield said unto the world "Go ye forth and durdle!"
3 Mutavaults??
Talk about killing a sacred cow. This is a recent change I made, and I still don't know if it's correct. I've always been of the opinion that 4 colorless lands is the max that this deck should play, regardless of the number of lists I've seen that have 1-2 Tectonic Edge/Ghost Quarter. I'm of the mind that this deck is very particular on what colors it needs and when, and far too often I've been trapped with a Mutavault that shuts off my Cryptic Command or prevents me from casting multiple spells (not as often as the Cryptic Command issue). I think that any stumble is potentially disastrous, though I do admit that Mutavault does come in hand often, be it with Spellstutter Sprite, Mistbind Clique, or even just attacking. I'm willing to sacrifice that slight edge for a little more consistency and the power offered by Pendelhaven, though I may be wrong. I'll keep testing it.
Since you're running mistbind you really can't afford to cut mutavaults. I know the colorless mana can be a burden sometimes, but the cheap activation lets you sneak through important damage in almost every race. Since racing with a tempo plan is what the deck tends to do you really need the quick blocker or occasional attacker. I'd never consider cutting vaults unless I was without mistbinds and even then the assist with sprites is such a big deal that comes up often enough (either through a bonus +1 faerie or an opponent spewing off a removal spell IR to the trigger) that I'd likely never cut them regardless of my list.
Another recent change. Originally, the Scions were a Shadow of Doubt and the third Vendilion Clique, but I wanted to test them. They have done just enough work, that I will keep them in for now, though they are the weakest creatures currently. They have mostly been just for speeding up my clock, though I have saved a creature or two with them. With less Lightning Bolts blasting around, they are poised to be better than expected, though they are the least impactfull creature of you're behind.
I've tried really hard to get this card to work and I really want to like it, but it's just too slow. 3 mana for only 1 power is an awful rate which means the scion is only really good with a blossom in play which the deck doesn't want. Our whole deck goes from 0 to 9,001 with a blossom so there's no reason to make us more reliant on it than we already are. It might be worth it in the side for games when you're on the play and plan to get aggro from the start, but that's a lot of space for a very narrow application. In the end I agree that it's the weakest creature and would likely be better served as something else.
Lands
Again, nothing too strange, besides the Mutavault numbers. I've got a couple of extra basics to insulate from Blood Moon/Path to Exile, a couple of extra fetchlands to help power Fatal Push. I've only got two Creeping Tar Pit, as I wanted to slim down the ETB tapped lands, but that's not too odd.
Get your extra tar pits, no discussion. That card belongs in the "Core" of the faeries skeleton IMO because, once again, it is invaluable in a race and it is how you end up killing death's shadow players a large percentage of the time. It snipes down walkers, sneaks past spirit tokens, and forces in damage while BB spends its time blocking. If cost is an issue, you need to at least run faerie conclave. Personally I like 3 tar pit 1 conclave for my extra manlands, but a pendelhaven can also work as creature land number 8.5 which still comes in handy. If you like 25 lands then run a pendelhaven, but if you're going lighter on lands then just stick with the old 4 and 4 manlands. Trust me, the work that they do is so very subtle that even after hundreds of matches you might not fully appreciate just how critical they are to your success.
Sure hard tapped lands are super messy in the early turns and do have a real cost to playing them, it is well worth it. When we flood out we're attacking for 6 unblockable damage while the opponent is simply flooding out and taking 6 damage. Not to mention that most players are paranoid about manlands and will hold up removal and stagger their curve just so they can tag one of them when you attack. That lets you simply say Go and waste their mana while you hold up meaningful interaction.
Ashiok is a card I wanted to try for the long, grindy games, as it is a tough to deal with threat. It could even do work against Control, and I did bring it in against Living End the last time I played against them.
I have wanted a couple of Gifted Aetherborn in the sideboard to mitigate Burn (and possibly Eldrazi decks, I guess Reality Smashers don't like Aetherborn), but the Murk Lurker may just be better due to the bigger butt and less painful mana cost.
The Sower of Temptation is in for the Eldrazi/Tron/Big Creature decks, though I'm iffy on it's effectiveness. I have had Ceremonious Rejection in the sideboard for Eldrazi and Tron decks, but the players in my LGS who play those decks have added additional Cavern of Souls to their lists to avoid the blue players, so I wanted to find someway to fight through that.
Cut the murklurker, it's cute but there are better uses for that SB slot. If you're desperate for a lifelink creature then run gifted aetherborn or vampire nighthawk, but another copy of brutality is just a better use of an extra card for burn with more use outside of that match.
There aren't enough fair judh-esque decks running around for ashiok to be worthwhile. Back in the days of birthing pod and just they were amazing, but right now lili of the veil is far better against far more decks, including the ones where you'd want ashiok.
I've yet to try out sower myself, but the mana cost really does scare me. 4 mana is a lot to simply see it die to a push or, even worse, a K. Command. But if it sticks it's almost as swingy of a play as a mistbind so it just might be worth it. Personally I would never run such a card without some discard or dispels to protect it. Since you'll want it against eldrazi and you'll want thoughtseize there as well it just might be good enough. I'd love to hear about how it has performed for you so far, I've always been too gun shy to actually jam it myself.
For the graveyard hate, I'd likely want either cages or surgicals instead of the bombs. Anytime you'll want them they can typically rebuild the very next turn making it completely ineffective. Meanwhile cage also has uses against CoCo and keeps a past in flames shut off for good. Yes it clashes with snapcaster, but when you want a cage it tends to be worth either 5 turns of them fumbling around trying to remove it (and by then you likely won't care anymore) or it is simply a check mark on the game.
Faeries is like many decks in modern, we have our nut draws that win 90% of the time, we have decks that we're 3% to beat no matter what. However the main issue is that, once again like most modern decks, we are obscenely better on the play than on the draw. A mana leak on the play is awesome, on the draw, kinda meh. A turn 2 blossom on the play is like steriods for the deck, but on the draw it can literally lose you the game. Deck is solid, but immensely difficult to play, but we have enough play against the entire field that I believe it's worth it.
Problem Decks
The best card in the deck against our worst matches is actually mistbind clique. Burn is certainly not a bye for them, if we win the die roll it's slightly favorable even with 0 brutality in the list simply due to the fact that we have a strong clock and a ridiculous amount of permission. Dredge needs to actually cast a stinkweed imp to defend against a mistbind and when they get tapped out that's enough momentum to put us into the lead. Play to landing one in your worst matches and sculpt your plan around getting into a race and sticking in with a huge attack with tar pits and flyers and you'll do fine.
The Future of My List
I want to try Opt in this archetype once it becomes legal (I think I'll cut the Scion of Oonas and two Secluded Glens, though cutting land is probably really wrong). I also want to give The Scarab God a shot, as it can just take over a game in the right matchups. Torrential Gearhulk is another fun singleton I've tried, and I feel like giving it a shot again.
So, now that I'm done rambling on about my version of the deck, what do you guys think? I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have.
I've tried the god and can confirm it is super bad. I briefly tried the hulk, but after a couple matches of it rotting in my hand with nothing worthwhile to flash back I was off it pretty quick. If you want a generic giant monster I like gurmag angler because it blocks reality smasher and other zombie fish. But if you're looking for a battle of wits type of threat (i.e. untap with this in play and you win the game) the best one I've found has been grave titan. Still 6 mana sorcery speed threats are not exactly what the deck is all about, but if you want some hardcore, nuclear level closing power then hop on the gravy train.
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I always wonder why people choose to run EE over ratchet bomb in faeries. To me the reason's I'd want to bring in explosives or similar effects are to hit things that cost 3 like ensnaring bridge or blood moon or Liliana, Du Jour. The only real reason I can see where I'd really want EE is to set it to 1 and immediately pop it for a few death's shadows that snuck through. Can anybody elaborate on why they like one over the other? EE just seems so bad in a strictly 2 color deck.
From my personal opinion, I've tried both EE and Ratchet Bomb and I've found cases where obviously both shine. I personally play EE because I believe this deck has many ways to deal with cmc3+ threats out of the sideboard, and I like that it can come down late-game and function as a board-wipe, where ratchet bomb cannot and it requires set-up.
One deck I've found where ratchet bomb really shines is with decks that play Renegade Rallier, because they can constantly get it back after it's been used.
I think EE is good for us because it deals with low-cost threats and forces our opponents to play around it while it's in play, while ratchet bomb requires a large amount of set-up. There are arguments that could be made for both though.
While ensnaring bridge is really annoying, its somewhat unique.
I don't fear lilianas all that much, we have vendilion cliques, bitterblossoms, and tarpits, all of which are historically planeswalker slayers. This is in addition to all of the counterspells we have.
On the other hand, engineered explosives is a lot faster than ratchet bomb, and thats really important to me. Sometimes I just want a quick 2 for 1 against merfolk, or lantern, or something. I don't want to slowly tick up to where I want to get.
Also, pendelhaven provides a 3 color, in rare circumstances.
While ensnaring bridge is really annoying, its somewhat unique.
I don't fear lilianas all that much, we have vendilion cliques, bitterblossoms, and tarpits, all of which are historically planeswalker slayers. This is in addition to all of the counterspells we have.
On the other hand, engineered explosives is a lot faster than ratchet bomb, and thats really important to me. Sometimes I just want a quick 2 for 1 against merfolk, or lantern, or something. I don't want to slowly tick up to where I want to get.
Also, pendelhaven provides a 3 color, in rare circumstances.
FWIW I was referring to The Last Hope which is very good against our typical problem solvers aside from manlands.
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Hey, thanks for the input. I'll try and clarify my thoughts a bit more.
Since you're running mistbind you really can't afford to cut mutavaults. I know the colorless mana can be a burden sometimes, but the cheap activation lets you sneak through important damage in almost every race. Since racing with a tempo plan is what the deck tends to do you really need the quick blocker or occasional attacker. I'd never consider cutting vaults unless I was without mistbinds and even then the assist with sprites is such a big deal that comes up often enough (either through a bonus +1 faerie or an opponent spewing off a removal spell IR to the trigger) that I'd likely never cut them regardless of my list.
I've yet to have an issue with just the 3 Mutavaults (though I've only played ~25 games with this build). I kinda look at it like the 'play 3 Geist of Saint Traft' way of thinking, where drawing one is great, but multiple have diminishing returns. I hate the idea of relying on Mutavault for a Mistbind Clique or Spellstutter, as an opponent who is savvy enough can blow you out. I'll admit, some games it's wonderful, but the risk is too high in my mind. I think three at least garners a fair amount of testing. Even if it turns out it's incorrect, at least we've experimented.
I've tried really hard to get this card to work and I really want to like it, but it's just too slow. 3 mana for only 1 power is an awful rate which means the scion is only really good with a blossom in play which the deck doesn't want. Our whole deck goes from 0 to 9,001 with a blossom so there's no reason to make us more reliant on it than we already are. It might be worth it in the side for games when you're on the play and plan to get aggro from the start, but that's a lot of space for a very narrow application. In the end I agree that it's the weakest creature and would likely be better served as something else.
I'm inclined to agree with you on this point, Scion has been mediocre or worse each time.
Get your extra tar pits, no discussion. That card belongs in the "Core" of the faeries skeleton IMO because, once again, it is invaluable in a race and it is how you end up killing death's shadow players a large percentage of the time. It snipes down walkers, sneaks past spirit tokens, and forces in damage while BB spends its time blocking. If cost is an issue, you need to at least run faerie conclave. Personally I like 3 tar pit 1 conclave for my extra manlands, but a pendelhaven can also work as creature land number 8.5 which still comes in handy. If you like 25 lands then run a pendelhaven, but if you're going lighter on lands then just stick with the old 4 and 4 manlands. Trust me, the work that they do is so very subtle that even after hundreds of matches you might not fully appreciate just how critical they are to your success.
Sure hard tapped lands are super messy in the early turns and do have a real cost to playing them, it is well worth it. When we flood out we're attacking for 6 unblockable damage while the opponent is simply flooding out and taking 6 damage. Not to mention that most players are paranoid about manlands and will hold up removal and stagger their curve just so they can tag one of them when you attack. That lets you simply say Go and waste their mana while you hold up meaningful interaction.
I think this could fall under the Mutavault argument I provided above. There haven't been many games where the Tar Pit won and no other card would, and other times it's been a liability. There's a lot of Ghost Quarters and Tectonic Edges floating around to prey on the land based strategies, and I don't think I really need to make the mana base worse. 2 Tar Pits has been my normal number for years now, and I haven't felt the need for the third just yet. I may try one in the future, but I think the amount of time the deck wants an open mana source on turn one may mean I stick to 2. I do not like the idea of Faerie Conclave, to me it is just a worse Mutavault. Sure, it adds U, but it can't activate by itself like Mutavault, dies to more things (that 1 toughness opens it up to being shot by Staticaster or any -1/-1 effect) and it comes in tapped (I actually like being able to suspend Ancestral Vision turn one, and don't really want a hand with my 3 lands being Conclave, Tar Pit, and Mutavault or similar for example).
Cut the murklurker, it's cute but there are better uses for that SB slot. If you're desperate for a lifelink creature then run gifted aetherborn or vampire nighthawk, but another copy of brutality is just a better use of an extra card for burn with more use outside of that match.
There aren't enough fair judh-esque decks running around for ashiok to be worthwhile. Back in the days of birthing pod and just they were amazing, but right now lili of the veil is far better against far more decks, including the ones where you'd want ashiok.
I've yet to try out sower myself, but the mana cost really does scare me. 4 mana is a lot to simply see it die to a push or, even worse, a K. Command. But if it sticks it's almost as swingy of a play as a mistbind so it just might be worth it. Personally I would never run such a card without some discard or dispels to protect it. Since you'll want it against eldrazi and you'll want thoughtseize there as well it just might be good enough. I'd love to hear about how it has performed for you so far, I've always been too gun shy to actually jam it myself.
For the graveyard hate, I'd likely want either cages or surgicals instead of the bombs. Anytime you'll want them they can typically rebuild the very next turn making it completely ineffective. Meanwhile cage also has uses against CoCo and keeps a past in flames shut off for good. Yes it clashes with snapcaster, but when you want a cage it tends to be worth either 5 turns of them fumbling around trying to remove it (and by then you likely won't care anymore) or it is simply a check mark on the game.
Faeries is like many decks in modern, we have our nut draws that win 90% of the time, we have decks that we're 3% to beat no matter what. However the main issue is that, once again like most modern decks, we are obscenely better on the play than on the draw. A mana leak on the play is awesome, on the draw, kinda meh. A turn 2 blossom on the play is like steriods for the deck, but on the draw it can literally lose you the game. Deck is solid, but immensely difficult to play, but we have enough play against the entire field that I believe it's worth it.
Problem Decks
The best card in the deck against our worst matches is actually mistbind clique. Burn is certainly not a bye for them, if we win the die roll it's slightly favorable even with 0 brutality in the list simply due to the fact that we have a strong clock and a ridiculous amount of permission. Dredge needs to actually cast a stinkweed imp to defend against a mistbind and when they get tapped out that's enough momentum to put us into the lead. Play to landing one in your worst matches and sculpt your plan around getting into a race and sticking in with a huge attack with tar pits and flyers and you'll do fine.
First, I think I will swap Murk Lurker for Aetherborn, though the mana cost has me a little worried about trying to line it up on the curve without having to take too much damage.
Ashiok is just something to test, I've only had a couple of games with it so far. I'm not a huge fan of Liliana of the Veil in Faeries, as we want cards in our hand (we're a permission deck, not a Jund Atrrtion deck). I'll keep testing with it, but I don't expect to keep it in for any high level tournaments, I think FNM modern is as far as it goes.
The Nihil Spellbombs have been excellent for me each time I've played the matches they come in against. They've provided me with the space to breathe against Dredge and the like, as sure they can rebuild but I've already gotten them on the back foot and am pressing the advantage. The issue with cage is it mucks up our Snapcaster, and if they sneak a spell that gets rid of it through counters or something, they have a full graveyard to play with. Also, some decks are too redundant to crumble to Surgical Extraction, so I prefer just blasting the whole graveyard over single cards (I've seen Dredge and Storm go off through Surgical a few times)
I've tried the god and can confirm it is super bad. I briefly tried the hulk, but after a couple matches of it rotting in my hand with nothing worthwhile to flash back I was off it pretty quick. If you want a generic giant monster I like gurmag angler because it blocks reality smasher and other zombie fish. But if you're looking for a battle of wits type of threat (i.e. untap with this in play and you win the game) the best one I've found has been grave titan. Still 6 mana sorcery speed threats are not exactly what the deck is all about, but if you want some hardcore, nuclear level closing power then hop on the gravy train.
Yea, I don't have the highest of hopes for the Scarab God, the activated ability is a little slow, and I know what you mean about Gearhulk rotting in the hand. Grave Titan might be interesting to try, I never thought of that.
One issue I've kinda seen is the willingness to lock onto the 'Core' of the faeries deck and shy away from and variation on that core 12-16 cards. There may be merit to locking in 4 Mutavault, 4 Spellstutter, 3-4 Tar Pits, etc. but times are changing. That core of cards may have been good when Faeries was in Standard or when it was starting to pop up in Modern, but maybe its worth looking at it again and maybe thinking about changing some numbers around. I'll admit, I'm never going to cut down to less than 4 Spellstutter Sprites, or overhaul the mana base too much, but maybe playing 4 Mutavault isn't correct anymore? I think changing things once thought 'untouchable' is something worth attempting.
My current thinking is that lists that want to run Scion probably don't want to run Cryptic, Snapcaster, or Tar Pit, and vice versa. Scions are best for creature-heavy midrange and aggro/tempo lists that favor a fast clock over inevitability. Cryptic, Snapcaster, and Pit seem better in grindier, more spell-heavy builds that people generally run Liliana in. This is in many ways an implicit criticism of Scion - running Scion means choosing it and other cards (e.g. swords and more cliques) that are, in general terms, worse cards than Cryptics and Snapcasters.
That said, it can still be the right call depending on the meta. I've had good luck with a Scion/Sword/Clique list so far in a relatively aggro/combo-heavy meta because of the combination of pressure it creates and it's ability to stall other decks temporarily. As a tradeoff, it's match up against midrange decks and control decks is worse.
My current thinking is that lists that want to run Scion probably don't want to run Cryptic, Snapcaster, or Tar Pit, and vice versa. Scions are best for creature-heavy midrange and aggro/tempo lists that favor a fast clock over inevitability. Cryptic, Snapcaster, and Pit seem better in grindier, more spell-heavy builds that people generally run Liliana in. This is in many ways an implicit criticism of Scion - running Scion means choosing it and other cards (e.g. swords and more cliques) that are, in general terms, worse cards than Cryptics and Snapcasters.
That said, it can still be the right call depending on the meta. I've had good luck with a Scion/Sword/Clique list so far in a relatively aggro/combo-heavy meta because of the combination of pressure it creates and it's ability to stall other decks temporarily. As a tradeoff, it's match up against midrange decks and control decks is worse.
Yea, I think that's the proper way of thinking. Maybe in a deck that's running a full set of Faerie Miscreant and just going full aggressive. I have been underwhelmed by Scion in my current builds, with the times it's good coming few and far between. Probably better served taking it right out for some other stuff.
I don't think Scions need to go as far as running miscreants. With the discard, removal, and counters in a UB faerie deck, you do have some time to find a threat, and with a deck with a few swords, a few mistbinds, and a clutch of Scions, even a resolved Spellstutter can turn into a lot of pressure very quickly.
EDIT: For example, here's my current list, which mainly oriented towards an aggro/combo/midrange-heavy meta:
I don't think Scions need to go as far as running miscreants. With the discard, removal, and counters in a UB faerie deck, you do have some time to find a threat, and with a deck with a few swords, a few mistbinds, and a clutch of Scions, even a resolved Spellstutter can turn into a lot of pressure very quickly.
EDIT: For example, here's my current list, which mainly oriented towards an aggro/combo/midrange-heavy meta:
The problem with running Swords and Scions is if the sword becomes unequipped, it can't be attached to another faerie (due to Shroud). That's probably a corner case, cause how are your Shrouded flying, Pro W+B beaters dying, but it's something to watch for. I've been burned by it, since most similar lords in modern magic give Hexproof now, it's easy to overlook.
As for your list, the Discard suite looks odd. I would prefer a second Thoughtseize before the second Brutality myself, as there's many decks where the discard on Brutality might miss. I'd also be inclined to play another Remand, and dip a little further into the Tempo side of things. Maybe play 4 Remand, 2 Thoughtseize, 0 Mana Leak.
Really liking it, the Lili + AV package feels amazing. Feel free to ask about the list, but I really just want to ask about a sideboard plan against storm.
I'm trying to formulate a solid plan with this list to side against storm and my question is - how good is LoTV in the matchup exactly?? As good as the +1 can be, it feels very underwhelming compared to the other interaction in the deck. The plan I've formulated sideboards heavily, but I feel like all the swaps are strict upgrades. Let me know what you think.
+1 Engineered Explosives (For EtW tokens)
+1 Damnation (A second wipe for Warrens, but don't want to be drawing more than one)
+3 Leyline of the Void (A very good hoser, tough for them to go off without bouncing it first)
+2 Surgical Extraction (Also a great answer, pairs well with the hand disruption, keeps us from having to mull deep for leylines)
+2 Countersquall (Relevant, sometimes that 2 life is all you need to close out early, especially when combined with Brutality)
+2 Collective Brutality (My favorite sideboard card period. The flexibility is amazing, irrelevant cards become relevant.)
-2 Cryptic Command (Too slow. We need to shut them down early and start clocking early)
-4 Liliana of the Veil (As stated above, doesn't punish as hard, and we can't risk tapping out T3 in the matchup)
-4 Ancestral Vision (We need to slam turn 1 thoughtseize, not this. If this resolves we were already in pretty good shape.)
-1 Murderous Cut (We need early interaction. Brutality also is an ok replacement because it can still hit Electromancer.)
What do you guys think? Am I overboarding/reading the matchup wrong? Hopefully I can get some reps in at FNM tonight.
I personally wouldn't bring in the damnation I don't think.
We've gotta kind of hope we can beat them down most of the time, IMO, and that requires creatures in play.
EE is find though.
I also like liliana in theory here, because she can edict away their guys, and otherwise pressure their hand.
In practice though, hard to say. I haven't played liliana faeries vs the new storm at all, I don't think, so its possible it needs to go.
Otherwise, I might cut a creeping tarpit. You've only got 24 lands, so its a bit tougher for you, but when you're cutting lilis, cut, cryptic, etc, you're lowering your curve a good deal.
Plus, tarpit entering tapped makes it one of the worst lands in the deck, and we don't want to be tapping out to activate manlands every turn vs storm.
If I were running 6 1CMC and 2 2CMC discard spells I would definitely be trying to curve into liliana. If you have played one discard spell you should be able to judge if you can tap out for liliana.
Another thing to consider is that combo decks prepare for longer games after sideboard by bringing in stuff like echoing truth which makes lily even better.
Just a few small nit picks about the list that I strongly feel are incorrect. Sunken ruins isn't that great even though it helps to enable lili on turn 3 easier. The problem is that you often want to use a discard spell on your turn and sprite/leak/removal on theirs, but the mana split from ruins can make that difficult or impossible. If you want another untapped dual land you can use another drowned catacomb or extra copies of river of tears or another blue fetch to help further enable revolt. I never liked the tribal lands because they come out tapped far more often than I like and the information is actually quite important.
Also 6 discard spells is an incredibly large amount and is certainly too many in a deck without a super fast clock like DS has. I'd want to cut one or two in favor of another mana leak and/or a cryptic.
Lastly, I still prefer go for the throat to cuts. You're only punished against affinity and being a hard 2 mana rather than a maybe 1 or 2 or 3 has been critical for me. I've tried dismember in the past as well, but the life loss was far too great to be worth it and if you can't afford to cast it for 1 mana and 4 life then you're playing a much worse GftT that is only marginally playable against affinity.
RE: Storm
I also cut some cryptic, but I never get rid of them all. If we don't get a clock down early (which does happen) it's important to have a hard counter for a late game PiF that wins the game. Keep the liliana's, she does far too much work against them. I also cut all of my AV's because that's not what the game is about. You want pressure and disruption, card advantage is meaningless on both ends. The ultimate goal here is to prevent them from enacting their game plan by any means possible which lili excels at greatly. So long as you can do that it doesn't matter what else you do so long as you're attacking with literally anything.
Lastly I hate leylines as GY hate of choice because it's only good on turn 0 since it doesn't nuke their yard like RiP does. You don't want to tap out on turn 4 to cast it because you'll just die and if you wait until much later their yard is likely already lethal off of a PiF. That means you have to fight over a bounce spell and leave them with a full yard. I'd much rather go with spell bombs or relics because against their graveyard you have to shut it down completely rather than simply disable it.
Thanks for the suggestion; the second Brutality is really nice against aggro-heavy lists, which my local meta has a lot of. I'll try moving the thoughtseize and remand back to mainboard in place of the leaks. I've also thought of running two Ghost Quarters instead of the Pendlehaven and a basic island; I'm less sure about that change. Finally, I may just put a spell snare or two in the sideboard to be able to consistently resolve an early bitterblossom, particularly when on the draw.
Thanks for the suggestion; the second Brutality is really nice against aggro-heavy lists, which my local meta has a lot of. I'll try moving the thoughtseize and remand back to mainboard in place of the leaks. I've also thought of running two Ghost Quarters instead of the Pendlehaven and a basic island; I'm less sure about that change. Finally, I may just put a spell snare or two in the sideboard to be able to consistently resolve an early bitterblossom, particularly when on the draw.
Not really a fan of the GQ change, just too many colorless lands to be able to reliably function. Brutality is amazing and I run between 2 and 3 copies depending on the rest of the SB. I'd never go without them because it's just a card that I actively want in a lot of matches rather than "well it does something sometimes" or is only good against 3 decks which I may not even run into. #ModernProblems
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I've already posted this in Discord but I'll post here too.
I basically played Yuta's list with a different sideboard:
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spellstutter Sprite
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Spells
4 Ancestral Vision
4 Cryptic Command
4 Remand
4 Bitterblossom
4 Fatal Push
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Darkslick Shores
2 Flooded Strand
4 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
2 Ceremonious Rejection
4 Collective Brutality
2 Damnation
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Thoughtseize
Maindeck differences are -1 Darklisck Shores +1 Island
SB is pretty different. I was just hoping to avoid dredge.
Burn with this maindeck is a little harder than usual, since remand, lotv and AV are not the ideal cards we want to see.
-4 AV, -4 Bitterblossom, -1 Remand
+4 Collective Brutality, +2 Damnation, + 2 EE, + 1 Liliana, the Last Hope
Pretty easy with this list. Lotv really shines here.
-3 Inquisition of Kozilek, -3 Cryptic Command
+2 Thoughtseize, +1 Disdainful Stroke, +2 Damnation, + 1 Liliana, the last hope
Same
Literally the only thing he cast first game was a Reality Smasher that I couldn't answer and won alone.
His list wasn't BW Eldrazi & Taxes, it was just eldrazi. So it didn't have Vials or Thalias, so in the other two games I was able to counter the big threats and win with Bitterblossom and manlands.
-4 AV (because of Strangler), -4 Remand, -1 Cryptic
+2 EE (for lingering souls), +2 Damnation, +2 Seize, +1 Pithing Needle, +2 Ceremonious Rejection
Same story of the other ones, but I ended up losing one of the games.
Since I was 5-0 I could ID the 6th and 7th round and still was first in standings (30 boosters yay)
This match is not as easy as I wanted it to be. Counters really shine here, but all the games were super close.
+3 CB, +1 Disdainful Stroke, +1 Liliana, the last hope, +2 Thoughtseize
-4 Fatal Push, -3 IoK
I was so tired that I don't really remember how the games were. I just remember that game 2 I lost to a turn 3 Chandra Torch of Defiance. Games 1 and 3 I managed pretty well with remands and spellstutters.
+2 Seize, +1 Disdainful Stroke
-3 IoK (I think so)
This was a very strange list, with Hazoret, Gideon Ally, Lingering Souls, Bob, Young Pyromancer. Well, obviously it was working pretty good, since he was in the finals.
Anyway, he doesn't have a good way to answer bitterblossom, so first game I just played two and rushed.
The second game was pretty back-forward and we went to top deck mode, but his lands were only basics and shocks and mine were tar pits and mutavaults.
+1 Liliana, the last hope, +2 EE, + 2 Damnation
-4 Liliana of the Veil, -1 IoK
Overall the list felt great. It was more a "test" than anything and I ended up stealing the win, so I'm really happy.
With that many 4-of's it felt very consistent.
If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.
This is my first time posting here for advice and stuff, and I would love to know what you guys think of my list. I've been playing Faeries on and off ever since Bitterblossom was let off the B+R list, and many people at my LGS have subtly meta-gamed their decks to have an edge vs me (so I switch to Storm on occasion just to troll them).
This list borrows much from PVDDR's article from ChannelFireball, but with my own adjustments and personal takes.
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Mistbind Clique
2 Scion of Oona
4 Ancestral Vision
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
2 Mana Leak
2 Go for the Throat
1 Murderous Cut
1 Spell Snare
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Polluted Delta
3 Secluded Glen
3 Island
3 Mutavault
2 Watery Grave
2 Flooded Strand
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Swamp
1 Pendelhaven
So let's talk about the list:
3 Mutavaults??
Talk about killing a sacred cow. This is a recent change I made, and I still don't know if it's correct. I've always been of the opinion that 4 colorless lands is the max that this deck should play, regardless of the number of lists I've seen that have 1-2 Tectonic Edge/Ghost Quarter. I'm of the mind that this deck is very particular on what colors it needs and when, and far too often I've been trapped with a Mutavault that shuts off my Cryptic Command or prevents me from casting multiple spells (not as often as the Cryptic Command issue). I think that any stumble is potentially disastrous, though I do admit that Mutavault does come in hand often, be it with Spellstutter Sprite, Mistbind Clique, or even just attacking. I'm willing to sacrifice that slight edge for a little more consistency and the power offered by Pendelhaven, though I may be wrong. I'll keep testing it.
Scion of Oona
Another recent change. Originally, the Scions were a Shadow of Doubt and the third Vendilion Clique, but I wanted to test them. They have done just enough work, that I will keep them in for now, though they are the weakest creatures currently. They have mostly been just for speeding up my clock, though I have saved a creature or two with them. With less Lightning Bolts blasting around, they are poised to be better than expected, though they are the least impactfull creature of you're behind.
The Spell Suite
This is all fairly self explanatory, nothing too out of the ordinary here. I have tried to build the deck with a leaning towards playing almost solely at instant speed, which is why you don't see any Serum Visions or Collective Brutality.
Lands
Again, nothing too strange, besides the Mutavault numbers. I've got a couple of extra basics to insulate from Blood Moon/Path to Exile, a couple of extra fetchlands to help power Fatal Push. I've only got two Creeping Tar Pit, as I wanted to slim down the ETB tapped lands, but that's not too odd.
I think everything else about the deck itself is fairly obvious, but feel free to ask any questions.
2 Collective Brutality
2 Damnation
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Jorubai Murk Lurker
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Countersquall
Sideboard Notes
Pretty obvious choices here, Spellbomb's for Dredge and graveyard shenanigans, Jorubai Murk Lurker and Collective Brutality for Burn (with Collective Brutality helping out in combo matches alongside Thoughtseize).
Ashiok is a card I wanted to try for the long, grindy games, as it is a tough to deal with threat. It could even do work against Control, and I did bring it in against Living End the last time I played against them.
I have wanted a couple of Gifted Aetherborn in the sideboard to mitigate Burn (and possibly Eldrazi decks, I guess Reality Smashers don't like Aetherborn), but the Murk Lurker may just be better due to the bigger butt and less painful mana cost.
The Sower of Temptation is in for the Eldrazi/Tron/Big Creature decks, though I'm iffy on it's effectiveness. I have had Ceremonious Rejection in the sideboard for Eldrazi and Tron decks, but the players in my LGS who play those decks have added additional Cavern of Souls to their lists to avoid the blue players, so I wanted to find someway to fight through that.
I've been taking this deck to the weekly Modern event at my LGS (10-16 players, 4 rounds, fairly wide variety of decks and play skill), and have consistently been going 3-1 or 2-2. Much of the loses could be attributed to misplays or bad mulligan/sideboard decisions, but sometimes it feels like the deck is underpowered and lacking the proper tools to fight with.
Problem Decks
I have found Eldrazi Tron (all flavors) to be difficult if your hand doesn't match up just right. If you fail to counter an early Thought-Knot Seer or Reality Smasher, times get very tough. An early Karn or Ugin are pretty much game over (obviously), and sometimes you just draw nothing and die.
Dredge is almost an auto lose game one, but post-sideboard there are enough cards that even things out.
Burn is basically a bye for them, though sometimes you get lucky and win. The trick is pulling out a couple of the Bitterblossoms (I never take all of them out, sometimes they do good work holding off Swiftspears and Goblin Guides) and most of the Cryptic Commands for the sideboard cards.
I've yet to lose many matches to Death's Shadow. It's not an easy match, but you just need to know when to attack, when to block, and when to play around Stubborn Denial. Just watch out for Izzet Staticaster and you should be fine.
Most other matchups are pretty good. I haven't found any really easy matchups, but there are easy games, and in those games you just roll over them. It's those games where I see a glimpse of the boogeyman that plagued Standard in years past.
The Future of My List
I want to try Opt in this archetype once it becomes legal (I think I'll cut the Scion of Oonas and two Secluded Glens, though cutting land is probably really wrong). I also want to give The Scarab God a shot, as it can just take over a game in the right matchups. Torrential Gearhulk is another fun singleton I've tried, and I feel like giving it a shot again.
So, now that I'm done rambling on about my version of the deck, what do you guys think? I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have.
When I saw Yuta's list originally it seemed so fairy lite that I wasn't sure spellstutter would be very effective. How did you feel having only the 8 fae?
I am taking Yuta's list to a big modern event this weekend (~200 players) with these changes:
MD: -1 Inquisition +1 Thoughtseize
SB:
1x Nihil Spellbomb
2x Cage
3x Brutality
3x Ceremonious Rejection
2x Hero's Downfall
1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2x Ensnaring Bridge
1x Damnation
wanted to ask, how many games did you win with less than ~5 life? I am tempted to play 3x Thoughtseize main deck just to help fight Tron/Eldrazi. In my testing the last few weeks I mostly lose to Cavern of Souls and Reality Smasher.
Also I've found this list to be pretty strong against Planeswalkers and am thinking to cut the Hero's Downfall for 2x Go for the Throat
Since you're running mistbind you really can't afford to cut mutavaults. I know the colorless mana can be a burden sometimes, but the cheap activation lets you sneak through important damage in almost every race. Since racing with a tempo plan is what the deck tends to do you really need the quick blocker or occasional attacker. I'd never consider cutting vaults unless I was without mistbinds and even then the assist with sprites is such a big deal that comes up often enough (either through a bonus +1 faerie or an opponent spewing off a removal spell IR to the trigger) that I'd likely never cut them regardless of my list.
I've tried really hard to get this card to work and I really want to like it, but it's just too slow. 3 mana for only 1 power is an awful rate which means the scion is only really good with a blossom in play which the deck doesn't want. Our whole deck goes from 0 to 9,001 with a blossom so there's no reason to make us more reliant on it than we already are. It might be worth it in the side for games when you're on the play and plan to get aggro from the start, but that's a lot of space for a very narrow application. In the end I agree that it's the weakest creature and would likely be better served as something else.
Get your extra tar pits, no discussion. That card belongs in the "Core" of the faeries skeleton IMO because, once again, it is invaluable in a race and it is how you end up killing death's shadow players a large percentage of the time. It snipes down walkers, sneaks past spirit tokens, and forces in damage while BB spends its time blocking. If cost is an issue, you need to at least run faerie conclave. Personally I like 3 tar pit 1 conclave for my extra manlands, but a pendelhaven can also work as creature land number 8.5 which still comes in handy. If you like 25 lands then run a pendelhaven, but if you're going lighter on lands then just stick with the old 4 and 4 manlands. Trust me, the work that they do is so very subtle that even after hundreds of matches you might not fully appreciate just how critical they are to your success.
Sure hard tapped lands are super messy in the early turns and do have a real cost to playing them, it is well worth it. When we flood out we're attacking for 6 unblockable damage while the opponent is simply flooding out and taking 6 damage. Not to mention that most players are paranoid about manlands and will hold up removal and stagger their curve just so they can tag one of them when you attack. That lets you simply say Go and waste their mana while you hold up meaningful interaction.
Cut the murklurker, it's cute but there are better uses for that SB slot. If you're desperate for a lifelink creature then run gifted aetherborn or vampire nighthawk, but another copy of brutality is just a better use of an extra card for burn with more use outside of that match.
There aren't enough fair judh-esque decks running around for ashiok to be worthwhile. Back in the days of birthing pod and just they were amazing, but right now lili of the veil is far better against far more decks, including the ones where you'd want ashiok.
I've yet to try out sower myself, but the mana cost really does scare me. 4 mana is a lot to simply see it die to a push or, even worse, a K. Command. But if it sticks it's almost as swingy of a play as a mistbind so it just might be worth it. Personally I would never run such a card without some discard or dispels to protect it. Since you'll want it against eldrazi and you'll want thoughtseize there as well it just might be good enough. I'd love to hear about how it has performed for you so far, I've always been too gun shy to actually jam it myself.
For the graveyard hate, I'd likely want either cages or surgicals instead of the bombs. Anytime you'll want them they can typically rebuild the very next turn making it completely ineffective. Meanwhile cage also has uses against CoCo and keeps a past in flames shut off for good. Yes it clashes with snapcaster, but when you want a cage it tends to be worth either 5 turns of them fumbling around trying to remove it (and by then you likely won't care anymore) or it is simply a check mark on the game.
Faeries is like many decks in modern, we have our nut draws that win 90% of the time, we have decks that we're 3% to beat no matter what. However the main issue is that, once again like most modern decks, we are obscenely better on the play than on the draw. A mana leak on the play is awesome, on the draw, kinda meh. A turn 2 blossom on the play is like steriods for the deck, but on the draw it can literally lose you the game. Deck is solid, but immensely difficult to play, but we have enough play against the entire field that I believe it's worth it.
Problem Decks
The best card in the deck against our worst matches is actually mistbind clique. Burn is certainly not a bye for them, if we win the die roll it's slightly favorable even with 0 brutality in the list simply due to the fact that we have a strong clock and a ridiculous amount of permission. Dredge needs to actually cast a stinkweed imp to defend against a mistbind and when they get tapped out that's enough momentum to put us into the lead. Play to landing one in your worst matches and sculpt your plan around getting into a race and sticking in with a huge attack with tar pits and flyers and you'll do fine.
I've tried the god and can confirm it is super bad. I briefly tried the hulk, but after a couple matches of it rotting in my hand with nothing worthwhile to flash back I was off it pretty quick. If you want a generic giant monster I like gurmag angler because it blocks reality smasher and other zombie fish. But if you're looking for a battle of wits type of threat (i.e. untap with this in play and you win the game) the best one I've found has been grave titan. Still 6 mana sorcery speed threats are not exactly what the deck is all about, but if you want some hardcore, nuclear level closing power then hop on the gravy train.
From my personal opinion, I've tried both EE and Ratchet Bomb and I've found cases where obviously both shine. I personally play EE because I believe this deck has many ways to deal with cmc3+ threats out of the sideboard, and I like that it can come down late-game and function as a board-wipe, where ratchet bomb cannot and it requires set-up.
One deck I've found where ratchet bomb really shines is with decks that play Renegade Rallier, because they can constantly get it back after it's been used.
I think EE is good for us because it deals with low-cost threats and forces our opponents to play around it while it's in play, while ratchet bomb requires a large amount of set-up. There are arguments that could be made for both though.
FULL TIME FAERIES
I don't fear lilianas all that much, we have vendilion cliques, bitterblossoms, and tarpits, all of which are historically planeswalker slayers. This is in addition to all of the counterspells we have.
On the other hand, engineered explosives is a lot faster than ratchet bomb, and thats really important to me. Sometimes I just want a quick 2 for 1 against merfolk, or lantern, or something. I don't want to slowly tick up to where I want to get.
Also, pendelhaven provides a 3 color, in rare circumstances.
FWIW I was referring to The Last Hope which is very good against our typical problem solvers aside from manlands.
I've yet to have an issue with just the 3 Mutavaults (though I've only played ~25 games with this build). I kinda look at it like the 'play 3 Geist of Saint Traft' way of thinking, where drawing one is great, but multiple have diminishing returns. I hate the idea of relying on Mutavault for a Mistbind Clique or Spellstutter, as an opponent who is savvy enough can blow you out. I'll admit, some games it's wonderful, but the risk is too high in my mind. I think three at least garners a fair amount of testing. Even if it turns out it's incorrect, at least we've experimented.
I'm inclined to agree with you on this point, Scion has been mediocre or worse each time.
I think this could fall under the Mutavault argument I provided above. There haven't been many games where the Tar Pit won and no other card would, and other times it's been a liability. There's a lot of Ghost Quarters and Tectonic Edges floating around to prey on the land based strategies, and I don't think I really need to make the mana base worse. 2 Tar Pits has been my normal number for years now, and I haven't felt the need for the third just yet. I may try one in the future, but I think the amount of time the deck wants an open mana source on turn one may mean I stick to 2. I do not like the idea of Faerie Conclave, to me it is just a worse Mutavault. Sure, it adds U, but it can't activate by itself like Mutavault, dies to more things (that 1 toughness opens it up to being shot by Staticaster or any -1/-1 effect) and it comes in tapped (I actually like being able to suspend Ancestral Vision turn one, and don't really want a hand with my 3 lands being Conclave, Tar Pit, and Mutavault or similar for example).
First, I think I will swap Murk Lurker for Aetherborn, though the mana cost has me a little worried about trying to line it up on the curve without having to take too much damage.
Ashiok is just something to test, I've only had a couple of games with it so far. I'm not a huge fan of Liliana of the Veil in Faeries, as we want cards in our hand (we're a permission deck, not a Jund Atrrtion deck). I'll keep testing with it, but I don't expect to keep it in for any high level tournaments, I think FNM modern is as far as it goes.
The Nihil Spellbombs have been excellent for me each time I've played the matches they come in against. They've provided me with the space to breathe against Dredge and the like, as sure they can rebuild but I've already gotten them on the back foot and am pressing the advantage. The issue with cage is it mucks up our Snapcaster, and if they sneak a spell that gets rid of it through counters or something, they have a full graveyard to play with. Also, some decks are too redundant to crumble to Surgical Extraction, so I prefer just blasting the whole graveyard over single cards (I've seen Dredge and Storm go off through Surgical a few times)
Yea, I don't have the highest of hopes for the Scarab God, the activated ability is a little slow, and I know what you mean about Gearhulk rotting in the hand. Grave Titan might be interesting to try, I never thought of that.
One issue I've kinda seen is the willingness to lock onto the 'Core' of the faeries deck and shy away from and variation on that core 12-16 cards. There may be merit to locking in 4 Mutavault, 4 Spellstutter, 3-4 Tar Pits, etc. but times are changing. That core of cards may have been good when Faeries was in Standard or when it was starting to pop up in Modern, but maybe its worth looking at it again and maybe thinking about changing some numbers around. I'll admit, I'm never going to cut down to less than 4 Spellstutter Sprites, or overhaul the mana base too much, but maybe playing 4 Mutavault isn't correct anymore? I think changing things once thought 'untouchable' is something worth attempting.
That said, it can still be the right call depending on the meta. I've had good luck with a Scion/Sword/Clique list so far in a relatively aggro/combo-heavy meta because of the combination of pressure it creates and it's ability to stall other decks temporarily. As a tradeoff, it's match up against midrange decks and control decks is worse.
Yea, I think that's the proper way of thinking. Maybe in a deck that's running a full set of Faerie Miscreant and just going full aggressive. I have been underwhelmed by Scion in my current builds, with the times it's good coming few and far between. Probably better served taking it right out for some other stuff.
EDIT: For example, here's my current list, which mainly oriented towards an aggro/combo/midrange-heavy meta:
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Island
4 Mutavault
1 Pendelhaven
4 Polluted Delta
4 Secluded Glen
1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
Artifacts
2 Sword of Light and Shadow
Enchantments
4 Bitterblossom
Instants
3 Fatal Push
1 Hero's Downfall
2 Mana Leak
3 Remand
2 Collective Brutality
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Serum Visions
1 Thoughtseize
Creatures
3 Mistbind Clique
4 Scion of Oona
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Vendilion Clique
3 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Collective Brutality
2 Countersquall
2 Damnation
1 Echoing Truth
1 Never // Return
2 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Thoughtseize
The problem with running Swords and Scions is if the sword becomes unequipped, it can't be attached to another faerie (due to Shroud). That's probably a corner case, cause how are your Shrouded flying, Pro W+B beaters dying, but it's something to watch for. I've been burned by it, since most similar lords in modern magic give Hexproof now, it's easy to overlook.
As for your list, the Discard suite looks odd. I would prefer a second Thoughtseize before the second Brutality myself, as there's many decks where the discard on Brutality might miss. I'd also be inclined to play another Remand, and dip a little further into the Tempo side of things. Maybe play 4 Remand, 2 Thoughtseize, 0 Mana Leak.
3 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darkslick Shores
1 Drowned Catacomb
3 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Polluted Delta
1 River of Tears
1 Sunken Ruins
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
2 Mana Leak
1 Murderous Cut
Sorceries
4 Ancestral Vision
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
Enchantments
4 Bitterblossom
Planeswalkers
4 Liliana of the Veil
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Collective Brutality
2 Countersquall
2 Damnation
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
3 Leyline of the Void
2 Surgical Extraction
Really liking it, the Lili + AV package feels amazing. Feel free to ask about the list, but I really just want to ask about a sideboard plan against storm.
I'm trying to formulate a solid plan with this list to side against storm and my question is - how good is LoTV in the matchup exactly?? As good as the +1 can be, it feels very underwhelming compared to the other interaction in the deck. The plan I've formulated sideboards heavily, but I feel like all the swaps are strict upgrades. Let me know what you think.
+1 Engineered Explosives (For EtW tokens)
+1 Damnation (A second wipe for Warrens, but don't want to be drawing more than one)
+3 Leyline of the Void (A very good hoser, tough for them to go off without bouncing it first)
+2 Surgical Extraction (Also a great answer, pairs well with the hand disruption, keeps us from having to mull deep for leylines)
+2 Countersquall (Relevant, sometimes that 2 life is all you need to close out early, especially when combined with Brutality)
+2 Collective Brutality (My favorite sideboard card period. The flexibility is amazing, irrelevant cards become relevant.)
-2 Cryptic Command (Too slow. We need to shut them down early and start clocking early)
-4 Liliana of the Veil (As stated above, doesn't punish as hard, and we can't risk tapping out T3 in the matchup)
-4 Ancestral Vision (We need to slam turn 1 thoughtseize, not this. If this resolves we were already in pretty good shape.)
-1 Murderous Cut (We need early interaction. Brutality also is an ok replacement because it can still hit Electromancer.)
What do you guys think? Am I overboarding/reading the matchup wrong? Hopefully I can get some reps in at FNM tonight.
We've gotta kind of hope we can beat them down most of the time, IMO, and that requires creatures in play.
EE is find though.
I also like liliana in theory here, because she can edict away their guys, and otherwise pressure their hand.
In practice though, hard to say. I haven't played liliana faeries vs the new storm at all, I don't think, so its possible it needs to go.
Otherwise, I might cut a creeping tarpit. You've only got 24 lands, so its a bit tougher for you, but when you're cutting lilis, cut, cryptic, etc, you're lowering your curve a good deal.
Plus, tarpit entering tapped makes it one of the worst lands in the deck, and we don't want to be tapping out to activate manlands every turn vs storm.
Another thing to consider is that combo decks prepare for longer games after sideboard by bringing in stuff like echoing truth which makes lily even better.
Just a few small nit picks about the list that I strongly feel are incorrect. Sunken ruins isn't that great even though it helps to enable lili on turn 3 easier. The problem is that you often want to use a discard spell on your turn and sprite/leak/removal on theirs, but the mana split from ruins can make that difficult or impossible. If you want another untapped dual land you can use another drowned catacomb or extra copies of river of tears or another blue fetch to help further enable revolt. I never liked the tribal lands because they come out tapped far more often than I like and the information is actually quite important.
Also 6 discard spells is an incredibly large amount and is certainly too many in a deck without a super fast clock like DS has. I'd want to cut one or two in favor of another mana leak and/or a cryptic.
Lastly, I still prefer go for the throat to cuts. You're only punished against affinity and being a hard 2 mana rather than a maybe 1 or 2 or 3 has been critical for me. I've tried dismember in the past as well, but the life loss was far too great to be worth it and if you can't afford to cast it for 1 mana and 4 life then you're playing a much worse GftT that is only marginally playable against affinity.
RE: Storm
I also cut some cryptic, but I never get rid of them all. If we don't get a clock down early (which does happen) it's important to have a hard counter for a late game PiF that wins the game. Keep the liliana's, she does far too much work against them. I also cut all of my AV's because that's not what the game is about. You want pressure and disruption, card advantage is meaningless on both ends. The ultimate goal here is to prevent them from enacting their game plan by any means possible which lili excels at greatly. So long as you can do that it doesn't matter what else you do so long as you're attacking with literally anything.
Lastly I hate leylines as GY hate of choice because it's only good on turn 0 since it doesn't nuke their yard like RiP does. You don't want to tap out on turn 4 to cast it because you'll just die and if you wait until much later their yard is likely already lethal off of a PiF. That means you have to fight over a bounce spell and leave them with a full yard. I'd much rather go with spell bombs or relics because against their graveyard you have to shut it down completely rather than simply disable it.
Not really a fan of the GQ change, just too many colorless lands to be able to reliably function. Brutality is amazing and I run between 2 and 3 copies depending on the rest of the SB. I'd never go without them because it's just a card that I actively want in a lot of matches rather than "well it does something sometimes" or is only good against 3 decks which I may not even run into. #ModernProblems