I don't really like the list though as he doesn't run Evolution and Meddling Mage seems worse and harder to cast than Gaddock Teeg. Spreading Sea's seems a little weird and the manabase seems weird as well.
I'm a friend of Cory's, spreading seas was a meta call because he expected alot more tron. I said the same thing about Teeg but he said he things that Mage is better because it is never dead, it can cut off bolt and push. He changed his mana alot recently and moved the seas to the board. I intend to start grinding Leagues with his new list and will report back if it is any good.
Hi guys, im picking the deck after a few months and I was thinking about trying Collective Brutality main replacing a disfigure. Anyone had success with it?
Seems like it could be good as the 6th removal/6th discard/lifegain splitcard (Im playing 3 Inquisition 2 Thoughtseize and 1 Slaughter pact, 1 Cut, 1 Go for the throat, 1 Dismember, 1 Disfigure).
Collective Brutality is a pretty sweet card but I don't know that I'd actually want to replace disfigure for it. Black is in a weird spot because we have a wealth of options available to us at 2 mana but we have very little quality removal available at 1. Being able to interact on turn 1 can be pretty crucial sometimes against things like Infect or when you need to bolt the bird.
I think if you run AV in the main the card is nutty, even without AV its good. It allows you to convert extra cards (like extra BB's) into cards. Infect is really the main deck where it is SO much better. Against Burn Brutality is insane, versus decks where you do not want disfigure Brutality has text. It is at the VERY WORST 2 extra BB turns. I think the card is GREAT! I have been testing 2 main and really liking it.
G1: I keep him off threats till he is at 2 life staring down a mutavault. He Draws Ulamog exiling Vault and another land, I cryptic counter Bounce Vault. Replay vault and he plays wurmcoil. I draw bad removal spells and Die.
G2: Same thing, I keep him off threats and have perfect knowledge of his hand. He slips in a Thrag to threaten my Ashiok and make it hard to race. This is where I think I messed up, I have a clique/ashiok on the field and 4 mana, he has a Tusk with a land and a mystery card in hand. I attack with Clique, play bitterblossom and pass. He tries to kill Ashiok and I tapout to kill tusk. He slams the ugin he drew and I die. I should have traded Clique for thrag holding up Negate but I go greedy and punished. This deck is very hard to play, it takes some getting used to.
0-1
Round 2 Jund:
G1: We trade resources and he resolves lily. Thoughtseize for visions decay for blossom and GG.
G2: We trade resouces but at the end we are left with Liliana versus 2 tar pits and a vault. He draws and slams Blood Moon. I die.
0-2
Round 3:Abzan Delirium
G1: He draws 3 lingering souls versus my BitterBlossom that eventually gets decayed. I get overwhelmed and die.
G2: He draws 2 lingering souls, A liliana the last hope and a Distended Mindbender alongside 2 fulminator mages for my tar pits. Liliana is hard to beat let alone souls and fulminator. This game is closer than the last because I get aggressive with Mistbind and Creeping but Siege Rhino pulls him out of range of the Clique. I was actually impressed how long I was able to hang in versus multiple souls and fulminators.
0-3
Round 4: Andrew Cuneo on elves
G1: Cavern of souls + 2 lead the stampede and being on the play is to much.
G2: Flaying Tendrils
G3: 2 Damnations and a Bitterblossom take over the game. I concede with a lethal swing because he can cash and I can't.
1-3
Round 5: Majors Abzan list
G1: Multiple lingering souls into Lili seal the dead
G2: Super close game and I think another punt. We trade cards and life till we are both at 4. I cliqued him last turn so I know his hand it Tasigur/***/***. He has a goyf and 2 souls in play. I have a Clique, a tar pit on the field, a tar pit in hand and a damnation. I attack with tar pit and pass. He draws and slams Rhino and kills me. It might have been better to Damnation there. Neither line beats the 2nd Rhino of the game but I think Damnation and then double tar pit next turn is a safer line.
1-4
I ended 1-4 but I feel like I learned alot. Lingering Souls is an issue for this deck. Thats why I really want to try Scion of Oona. I know the buddy who lent me the deck told me it was bad but I feel like I want to figure that out on my own. It saves Bitterblossm from Decay/World Breaker, Mutavault and Clique from Ulamog, creatures from trading with souls and increases the clock. I also want to try collective Brutality, with Visions we have extra cards and Brutality has been impressive in every deck I have played it. I also flooded a fair amount so down to 25 lands I go. This is the list I want to try tonight:
Ooh rough beats - sounds like you got a lot out of it though.
The anti Jundy Abzan card I'm going to try and run is Sword of Light and Shadow. Most lists aren't going to run more than 3 Abrupt Decays and can really only expect to see 2, and we overload Abrupt Decay pretty hard. Playing a late game SOLAS makes Lingering Souls tokens look terrible, and recurs your threats. Also helps a ton against Rhino, opposing Kalitas, Olivia, Terminate, Path, etc. Paired with Mistbind it's not too hard to have at least one turn where your opponent will be completely tapped out so you can cast + equip.
On your manabase - are you purposefully not playing the fourth Polluted Delta? I can't help but think I'd rather have that over the fourth Secluded Glen.
On lingering souls - I've also found Engineered Explosives to do some work against ANY tokens - it also hits the multitude of 2 drops in the format (killing 2 goyfs for 2 mana is great).
How was Hero's Downfall?
Let us know how your testing with Scion goes! I still have my doubts, but it could work out.
The Sword seems GREAT. It helps versus lingering souls too which is super sweet, I am totally into it. I am purposely playing the 4th Glen over Delta, given my list has 16 Faeries playing a painless duel seems great. Every point matters when you are playing Bitterblossom. Its possible the 2nd Grave should be the 4th Delta for Blood moon but we also like hitting land drops so thinning our deck of lands is medium. Not a super important choice I think its more of a preference.
Hero's downfall seemed fine, I had a turn where I could kill a Liliana but it seemed like I wanted cheaper interaction so I could cast 2 spells a turn or animate vault/tar pit and also kill something. It requires more testing but I want to try the Scions and the Brutality's and see how they are 1st.
G1: I keep him off threats till he is at 2 life staring down a mutavault. He Draws Ulamog exiling Vault and another land, I cryptic counter Bounce Vault. Replay vault and he plays wurmcoil. I draw bad removal spells and Die.
G2: Same thing, I keep him off threats and have perfect knowledge of his hand. He slips in a Thrag to threaten my Ashiok and make it hard to race. This is where I think I messed up, I have a clique/ashiok on the field and 4 mana, he has a Tusk with a land and a mystery card in hand. I attack with Clique, play bitterblossom and pass. He tries to kill Ashiok and I tapout to kill tusk. He slams the ugin he drew and I die. I should have traded Clique for thrag holding up Negate but I go greedy and punished. This deck is very hard to play, it takes some getting used to.
0-1
Round 2 Jund:
G1: We trade resources and he resolves lily. Thoughtseize for visions decay for blossom and GG.
G2: We trade resouces but at the end we are left with Liliana versus 2 tar pits and a vault. He draws and slams Blood Moon. I die.
0-2
Round 3:Abzan Delirium
G1: He draws 3 lingering souls versus my BitterBlossom that eventually gets decayed. I get overwhelmed and die.
G2: He draws 2 lingering souls, A liliana the last hope and a Distended Mindbender alongside 2 fulminator mages for my tar pits. Liliana is hard to beat let alone souls and fulminator. This game is closer than the last because I get aggressive with Mistbind and Creeping but Siege Rhino pulls him out of range of the Clique. I was actually impressed how long I was able to hang in versus multiple souls and fulminators.
0-3
Round 4: Andrew Cuneo on elves
G1: Cavern of souls + 2 lead the stampede and being on the play is to much.
G2: Flaying Tendrils
G3: 2 Damnations and a Bitterblossom take over the game. I concede with a lethal swing because he can cash and I can't.
1-3
Round 5: Majors Abzan list
G1: Multiple lingering souls into Lili seal the dead
G2: Super close game and I think another punt. We trade cards and life till we are both at 4. I cliqued him last turn so I know his hand it Tasigur/***/***. He has a goyf and 2 souls in play. I have a Clique, a tar pit on the field, a tar pit in hand and a damnation. I attack with tar pit and pass. He draws and slams Rhino and kills me. It might have been better to Damnation there. Neither line beats the 2nd Rhino of the game but I think Damnation and then double tar pit next turn is a safer line.
1-4
I ended 1-4 but I feel like I learned alot. Lingering Souls is an issue for this deck. Thats why I really want to try Scion of Oona. I know the buddy who lent me the deck told me it was bad but I feel like I want to figure that out on my own. It saves Bitterblossm from Decay/World Breaker, Mutavault and Clique from Ulamog, creatures from trading with souls and increases the clock. I also want to try collective Brutality, with Visions we have extra cards and Brutality has been impressive in every deck I have played it. I also flooded a fair amount so down to 25 lands I go. This is the list I want to try tonight:
For merfolk:
Copied and pasted from the primer in progress' comment section:
This is almost exactly 50/50, mostly coming down to who goes first and if they get a turn one vial.
Our counterspells suck against caven/vial but if we very carefully avoid playing islands, they can't easily islandwalk for the win.
Personal favourite plays are:
1. Bouncing my only island with a cryptic command then blocking and killing all his suddenly no longer islandwaslking creatures.
2. Smashing in with two 4/4 islandwalking mutavaults for the win. Yes, lord of atlantis buffs YOUR mutavaults too
I believe it was MTGPrice who said that, and I agree. Not necessarily for the reasons he stated. At least, I feel that many current Faerie decks are too island dense. That said, being tricky with islands is important, when it's possible. Niche use for Ghost Quarter.
And an addendum from this forum:
>Mefolk - I've heard Merfolk was a counter pick to Faeries. I've personally found this match up really rough due to them blanking our counters through Cavern of Souls and Aether Vial on top of all the unblockable fish. I think our postboard matchup is a bit better if we trim the counters for more sweeper effects, but I had the match up mostly in their favour.
The trick with Merfolk is to never play an island unless you absolutely have to - fetch swamps if you need to fetch and prioritize any other land over an island. I sometimes skip land drops entirely if it means skipping an island. Counter their spreading seas too. You need to put a clock on them or they will draw out.
Remember to Vendilion Clique in response to Vial activation - you can sometimes take their only card with that casting cost. Also, very important: Lord of Atlantis makes your Mutavault's 3/3 islandwalkers!
Once you do that, assuming you run 6-7 removal, you can do okay.
Post-board, I size out most but not all my of counterspells for 3xDamnation, 2xEngineered Explosives and a Dismember. I also run three maindeck Kalitas. Mistbind Clique is pretty weak as well because of Vial.
Yes, it's crazy tight. But every time I've played against them, I feel like I could've won. I just don't know the matchup well enough to put out results.
Also, I think that Faeries is easily the most agile tempo deck. It's just that deck+(resolved)Aether Vail is often more agile than anything else.
--
Bant Eldrazi...
Dunno, never had trouble with them. That said, I've only had occasion to face them 3-4 times. I did once say, that Tron was a good matchup. And that's true, but only when they get mana screwed.
--
As to the Primer. I've been working on it, but not as much as I like. I've been pretty crazy busy getting ready for school. I think that's it's mostly done, it just needs a few cards added, Bant Eldrazi and Nahiri Jeskia added. And then it needs to be reorganized. Hopefully, I'll have a chance once things settle down at school.
This is great merfolk advice - I think I was up against a pretty nuts draw from my opponent and I need some more practice with the matchup. Thanks everyone for the tips. Also - pretty pumped to see the finished primer!
Here's my current list that I'm planning on bringing to a PPTQ this weekend - if anyone wants to weigh in I'd appreciate it:
Have you ever felt like you have to many 4 drops? How are you liking 25 lands? I never got slaughter pact in a deck that wants to be purely instant speed almost. I guess it is decent with double Kalitas but it still seems a little awkward. Have you been able to delve enough with 2 delve spells and only 4 fetches?
I think Ashiok deserves to be a 2 of. Faeries is a deck full of removal spells, small creatures and other disruption. Normally your plan in a game is to either slowly ping them to death and then finish them with lands, resolve bitterblossom , or outgrind them with visions. With my original list there was also the chance to have the kalitas game plan of resolving him and killing everything. Ashiok is yet another gameplan that synergy's well with all the blockers and disruption we have, but is great versus decks that are better in combat than us.
Honestly I have no idea how to beat Eldrazi. Damnation seems like it would have been great at any point. I feel like there has to be A card that wrecks them, I just have to find it. More removal that is good versus them might also be an answer, stuff like doom blade. I intend to work on it and at least attempt to figure it out.
Great write up and list! I'm considering changing up my list to be a bit less controlly and up the faerie count from 12 to 14 ish with the same creatures as you. I actually feel like ashiok can beat eldrazi at least in my experience as long as you don't let them resolve displacer or kill it before it can blink itself. I feel game 1 is a bit helpless considering nearly all our counters are dead cards but removal is better and damnation definitely crushes their deck. Eldrazi feels like an aggro midrange deck in that the threats that it plays are big enough for us not to ignore but can also be played quickly and efficiently which is frustrating.
Edit: By the way, how did ancestral vision hold up for you? I'm still torn whether I want to run 3 main, side or any at all?
I bring Ashiok in against them, it just sucks that counters and spellstutter sprite are kinda dead. I have a new list I am trying with a hopefully better SB plan versus them.
Visions was pretty decent for me throughout the day. I had some really bad ones (Clique Clique land) (Mist Mist Land) but overall we want every land drop so drawing 2 lands and a removal spell is right where we want to be.
Our deck gets a little clunkier but we have alot better cards versus them. They are pretty Squishy versus Damnation and if we keep them off displacer Ashiok can take over the game. We leave in the disfigure to tag a Noble but I dont wanna cut a Spellstutter for a second one. Maybe it is correct though. Spellstutter can protect Bitterblossom from removal and mistbind from blowouts.
I am new to the world of Fae, If you keep reading I say "I have no idea but I am at least going to attempt to figure it out". Sudden Spoiling is A++ Great. Seems SUPER sweet versus Eldrazi and Merfolk.
I think Ashiok deserves to be a 2 of. Faeries is a deck full of removal spells, small creatures and other disruption. Normally your plan in a game is to either slowly ping them to death and then finish them with lands, resolve bitterblossom , or outgrind them with visions. With my original list there was also the chance to have the kalitas game plan of resolving him and killing everything. Ashiok is yet another gameplan that synergy's well with all the blockers and disruption we have, but is great versus decks that are better in combat than us.
Honestly I have no idea how to beat Eldrazi. Damnation seems like it would have been great at any point. I feel like there has to be A card that wrecks them, I just have to find it. More removal that is good versus them might also be an answer, stuff like doom blade. I intend to work on it and at least attempt to figure it out.
Hiya!
I ended up running Faeries at the SCG Somerset open this past weekend. I played what I normally play (BTL Scapeshift) in the invi and did really bad despite good matchups so I wanted to change. My buddies only extra deck that sounded fun was Faeries and I said **** it, why not live the dream I never got to live and curve visions into bitterblossom. Below is the list I ran:
A few Quick things about the list from what I learned talking to him. I basically deferred to him on all decisions since this was his pet deck and I knew very little about it. We basically tuned the deck to be slanted towards Infect, Burn, Affinity, Dredge, Jund, Nahiri, and GWx decks. That’s why we have cheap fast removal like dismember, only 2 cryptics, and 2 Kalitas’s in the main. The way he talked about it Kalitas was the godsend the deck needed, a powerful tool for medium to bad matchups like burn, dredge and Abzan Coco that was pretty much always okay. He wanted 15 Faeries for Glen which is why there is a nameless inversion, very important because post board we go down to 13 Faeries which is still fine. We started with 3 leylines in the board but I talked him down to 2 Nihil because I was not THAT afraid of dredge. Ashiok was my card, I love it so much. Its great against all the Gx decks and the control decks and to be honest I bring it in vs most of the bad MU’s (Tron, Bant Eldrazi) because it is just another plan that might do something sweet. Here is a very basic synopsis of the Matchups:
Round 1: GW Tron (Longer than the rest because game 2 and 3 were GREAT!!!!)
G1: Keep an okay hand of removal spells, sprite and lands. Get tron’ed on turn 3. He casts world breaker wrecking a land. I am on the play so I set up turn 5 Kalitas into Go for the throat to hopefully beat him down with. He casts path on Ulamog and that’s that.
G2: This game is super sweet. I get turn 2 Blossom into turn 3 counter something with sprite into Clique away the ulamog he was gonna cast on 4. From here he resolves Wurmcoil and I spend the next 6 turns hitting for 6 and blocking it with a token. Except while I am doing this I am also ticking up Ashiok. When Ashiok hits 11 I cryptic bounce the wurm and ult her. That’s the game.
G3: I mull to 4. You might ask, what game versus tron is sweet when you mull to 4? The one where your keep is Mutavault, BitterBlossom, Visions, Thoughseize and you scry delta to the top. I cast visions into Blossom into thoughtseize with his only actions being drawing cards and turn 4 ugin. His hand was cantrips and Path to Exiles. He warping Wails my Visons and I proceed to chain Cliques and Mistbinds until he dies.
1-0
Round 2: Jund
G1: His hand is the nuts (Bolt Lili Huntmaster Decay Bob). I am still able to trade resources with hand disruption and counters to the point I resolve a blossom and counter Lili. I try to trap him with 1 token, blossom, 1 Mutavault and sprite in hand to counter the huntmaster but he is smart and decays the Blossom EOT saying he played Faeries back in the day. I topdeck Nameless for the huntmaster and Mistbind to end the game.
G2. He plays lots of creatures and I mull to 5. I play to drawing the 1 damnation, I don’t.
G3: Super close game. I resolve an early blossom but gets a lily to resolve and shreads my hand. I eventually deal with lily but I am behind on board. I am faced with countering a bob or not countering it and trying to go for Bob flips to be lethal. Given the 2 goyfs on the board and the active blossom I go for the race. Hit him down to 7, leaving 2 blockers for 5/6 goyfs and hope that he takes 4 damage from bob over 2 turns. He hits K command, draws terminate and kills me.
1-1
Round 3: RG Titanshift
G1: Mull to 6 and keep 3 lands nameless kalitas dismember. Die to turn 4 titan.
G2: Go Blossom into vault sprite to counter a courser. He casts 2 summoning traps, 1 for prime time and 1 for Baloth. I die.
1-2
Round 4: UW control:
G1 & G2: Games were not close. He had clunky hands with Gideon Elspeth Hallowed Burial Timely Reinforcements and I just killed Bitterblossomed him a bunch. Got to counted a Gideon with Spellstutter which was sweet.
2-2
Round 5: Abzan Doran
G1: Super odd game, he cast 2 treefolk harbingers for lands and never drew any dorans/Assault formations. HE did draw lingering souls. After about 17 turns I eventually killed him with Faeries.
G2: Mulled to 5 died to double tower defense with assault formation out.
G3: Ashiok did work. I just held him back with Faeries, countered and milled all his dorans and eventually killed him with flyers.
3-2
Round 6: Taking Turns
G1: Mulled to 5 and both go for the throats and disfigure in hand. I conceded to elixir for time.
G2: He can’t Beat Vendilion Clique.
G3: Still can’t Beat Vendilion Clique
4-2
Round 7: Bant Eldrazi
G1 & G2: I truly felt outclassed in this Matchups. It feels really really hopless. They are fast, Sprites are dead cards, all my counters are dead cards, displacer counter blossom, Displacer also counters ashiok (Bounce their creatures back to their side of the board). I do not see my list ever winning a reasonable game.
4-3 ()
Round 8: Burn
G1: He wins the die roll and has a guide on turn one. I die pretty fast.
G2: I have IOK into Blossom into sprite into mistbind to beat him down
G3: I have Blossom (Gets Destroyed my Revelry) into clique beats. I end up at 6 life staring down a mentor with a monk. He draws and main phases a helix., I counter tap the team, untap and rev up tar pit and mutavault for lethal.
5-3
Round 9: Bant Eldrazi (Sam Pardee)
G1 & G2: I was super siked to play a very skilled player but I was sad it had to be Sam. I knew going in he was on Bant and I knew that this was not going to be close. It wasn’t. I tried to lean on Kalitas but it always died before it could take over. He Drowns me in Scions.
5-4 ENDING RECORD
Kinda garbage ending record but I played almost none of the matchups I planned for and 2 UNWINABLE matchups. All in all the deck felt pretty great, it was by far the most fun I have had playing magic in a very long time. Going forward I think I am actually going to build this deck and test it some more, it did some pretty impressive things that I was not aware it could do. The second Kalitas main should be either a removal spell or a hand disruption spell. The kalitas should be moved to the SB, there should also be a second Damnation there. Other than that I need to find a reasonable way to beat bant eldrazi.
Here is or close to the 75 I will be most likely playing at Baltimore. I really want to play a Chandra/Archangel deck but I think it is better to be aggressive and consistent Day 1 Week 1. The biggest difference I see here compared to other lists is Surrak>Archangel and the warrior subtheme. I think if there are going to be alot of slow grindy decks and alot of groundpoundy aggro decks A BIG creature that grants haste is great. His Stats are Close to perfect, 1 more point of toughness would be nice but he does punch through an Archangel (of tithes). It is trivial to turn him on with this deck between tracker and Lambholt (Which I will bring up later)and haste is not something people expect from a green deck.
Arishin foremost on the other hand I am a little less sure about. For curve purposes I wanted another 3 drop and she fit the bill best. We have 10 other warriors and as a vanilla 2/2 Doublestrike human for 3 she is almost good enough. Between Always watching, Thalia's Lieutenant and Dromoka's command we have plenty of ways to pump her into an abyss or die. Plus she allows for nutty free win starts (1 drop, 2 drop warrior swing for 1, Her hit for 5, Surrak swing for 17).
Lambholt Pacifist is another one that is odd to see but as a 3/3 potential 4/4 for 2 that is also a human she has been great. We have 11 ways to turn her into a 4/4 pre flip and 5 (9 if you count Tracker) other creatures that turn her on. I wanted to play more but the other 2 drops are way too strong.
On a final note I think Dromoka's Command went from being good to being insane again. I feel like there will not only be alot of creature combat where it excels but there will also be alot of enchantments. It breaks the Always watching mirror wide open.
Surfkatt: how is the martial coup doing for you? is the only card i think i have never tested (in this deck) and in theory id ont like it, but if some people are doing x1 that it must be for something.
I have only drawn it a few times but it seems great. Its nice to have more powerful spells for Jace to flashback.
This is where I am at right now, this list feels very nice. The amount of 4 drops might seem awkward on paper but it plays out pretty well given their impact on the gamestates. SB is kinda random, I need to test more to see what I like/dislike. Jace has been fantastic, works really well with Wall of omens (most things with -2/-0 are small enough for the wall to block) and turns your commands into threats.
I've been working on the decklist that 5-0'ed a league. It's basically a UW superfriends deck with very little counter magic and maximum haymakers.
I have heavily modified the deck and once I'm satisfied with it will post the list. I've not yet played it in a competitive way but have been doing solidly against tier decks in the mtgo practice room.
The main draw to it is 4x ghost quarter 4x spreading seas maindeck as well as a huge number of wraths and removal for eldrazi (elspeth, gideon). It feels like the eldrazi match is positive unless they have a blistering turn 3 kill draw (I'm 5-1 only lost to the UR version). If you untap on turn 4 with 6 life it feels quite hard to lose. I've also got to imagine affinity is positive though I've only played it once (1-0).
Some of the pulls of the deck -
8 maindeck land hate cards to attack eldrazi and tron
stony silence for lantern/affinity
maindeck timely for burn/zoo
4 supreme verdicts for merfolk
jace, elspeth and gideon to take over the game against GBx
rest in peace for graveyard shenanigans
colonnade as a win con is at an all time poor position with all these ghost quarters, blood moons, spreading seas and dismembers running around. Walkers provide a massively different attack angle that people are not properly prepared for.
Downsides -
Deck has so many enchantments between seas and Dsphere + 7 walkers that snapcaster just isn't great so you can't really justify running more than 1 or 2
It's a slow tap out deck. You can't win at instant speed at all so other control decks will be hard to beat (and you have very limited counter magic)
Combo matchup is not great. Again since you have to tap out for your win cons you can just die when they untap.
The curve is really high. There's 14 or 15? 4+ cmc cards so opening hands can certainly look very clunky.
Where is this sweet sounding list you are speaking about?
Now it looks like there's endless tron and eldrazi decks to prey on.
So lately I was trying some Twin variants, now I guess I can try Scapeshift again ...I think it might be tier 1 again, but I kind of fear the eldrazi deck. How is that matchup guys? I can't really imagine we would prey on a deck with a bilion of discard and "when you cast" effects that can't be countered
I honestly think that playing Think Twice in the main is the first step, because there are so many discard spells and Lilis going around. Mainboard Anger/Firespout or Electrolyze deals with Blight Herder (somewhat), but as for OSower, I guess we just ignore the ability and counter the creature half.
My thoughts are to run Mana Leak, counter the giant bodies, and pick off whatever's left over.
I think our biggest problems against the Eldrazi deck are Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Oblivion Sower. Game One you just have to hope they don't have it/ hope they don't hit your lands as it feels like you can ignore everything else that they do. For sideboard games, I've found that Leyline of Sanctity does a really good job at crippling them as their creatures are slow enough that they don't pose much of a threat. Black has less options but I always bring in slaughter games and typically name Oblivion Sower and that usually buys me enough time to find Scapeshift for the win.
I may be crazy but I'm testing 1-2 Voidslimes maindeck. At worst it's a Cancel but I really like the clutchness of being able to counter Oblivion Sower and Ulamog's triggers. Additionally, being able to counter Ghost Quarters and Tectonic Edges will be nice as we will probably be seeing an uptick in land destruction effects.
I have been wanting to try Voidslime! Leyline has been pretty great for me, let me know how the Voidslimes work out!
I'm curious to any others testing Surfkat's list or a list like it: Has Abazan been a challenging matchup for you and also Eldrazi Ramp? Eldrazi Ramp seemed pretty hard to respond to though I was pleased with how well the deck worked consistently against the fastest deck in the format "GR Deck wins" and the slowest "Esper Control"
Eldrazi Ramp will always be semi challenging to beat as a midrange deck. You have to hope they stumble. Abzan is a fine Matchup IF they do not curve out perfectly. Very few decks have a good gameplan versus the old Warden/level/anafenza/rhino/Roc draws which I lose to frequently. If they play off curve or take time to draw cards/do den protector things we are way ahead. We are the better long game deck by alot, they have to be aggressive and beat us down before we get going. Raptor is fantastic when they do not have anafenza. Having good removal for Anafenza and stroke for Roc are super key, hence the roasts and wound. Might be going up on wounds for the Dragons MU too (which is great to begin with).
I finished the League 3-2 losing to the abzan nuts and the played another one going 4-1. My lose there was to RG Landfall turn 3 with him going Swift-Sliderunner-Fetch Strength Battlerage to my mull to 5 den protector turn 2. Game 2 he killed me with full combo turn 4 as I drew no removal. My wins where against abzan, abzan red, jeskai black and Mardu tokens.
I'm a friend of Cory's, spreading seas was a meta call because he expected alot more tron. I said the same thing about Teeg but he said he things that Mage is better because it is never dead, it can cut off bolt and push. He changed his mana alot recently and moved the seas to the board. I intend to start grinding Leagues with his new list and will report back if it is any good.
I think if you run AV in the main the card is nutty, even without AV its good. It allows you to convert extra cards (like extra BB's) into cards. Infect is really the main deck where it is SO much better. Against Burn Brutality is insane, versus decks where you do not want disfigure Brutality has text. It is at the VERY WORST 2 extra BB turns. I think the card is GREAT! I have been testing 2 main and really liking it.
The Sword seems GREAT. It helps versus lingering souls too which is super sweet, I am totally into it. I am purposely playing the 4th Glen over Delta, given my list has 16 Faeries playing a painless duel seems great. Every point matters when you are playing Bitterblossom. Its possible the 2nd Grave should be the 4th Delta for Blood moon but we also like hitting land drops so thinning our deck of lands is medium. Not a super important choice I think its more of a preference.
Hero's downfall seemed fine, I had a turn where I could kill a Liliana but it seemed like I wanted cheaper interaction so I could cast 2 spells a turn or animate vault/tar pit and also kill something. It requires more testing but I want to try the Scions and the Brutality's and see how they are 1st.
4 Spellstutter Sprite
3 Mistbind Clique
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Bitterblossom
1 Nameless Inversion
3 Ancestral Vision
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
1 Disfigure
2 Dismember
1 Spell Snare
2 Mana Leak
2 Go for the Throat
2 Cryptic Command
1 Hero's Downfall
4 Secluded Glen
3 Darkslick Shores
1 River of Tears
3 Polluted Delta
2 Watery Grave
4 Mutavault
4 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Damnation
1 Duress
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
2 Flaying Tendrils
1 Negate
1 Thoughtseize
1 Sudden Spoiling
Round 1: Tron
G1: I keep him off threats till he is at 2 life staring down a mutavault. He Draws Ulamog exiling Vault and another land, I cryptic counter Bounce Vault. Replay vault and he plays wurmcoil. I draw bad removal spells and Die.
G2: Same thing, I keep him off threats and have perfect knowledge of his hand. He slips in a Thrag to threaten my Ashiok and make it hard to race. This is where I think I messed up, I have a clique/ashiok on the field and 4 mana, he has a Tusk with a land and a mystery card in hand. I attack with Clique, play bitterblossom and pass. He tries to kill Ashiok and I tapout to kill tusk. He slams the ugin he drew and I die. I should have traded Clique for thrag holding up Negate but I go greedy and punished. This deck is very hard to play, it takes some getting used to.
0-1
Round 2 Jund:
G1: We trade resources and he resolves lily. Thoughtseize for visions decay for blossom and GG.
G2: We trade resouces but at the end we are left with Liliana versus 2 tar pits and a vault. He draws and slams Blood Moon. I die.
0-2
Round 3:Abzan Delirium
G1: He draws 3 lingering souls versus my BitterBlossom that eventually gets decayed. I get overwhelmed and die.
G2: He draws 2 lingering souls, A liliana the last hope and a Distended Mindbender alongside 2 fulminator mages for my tar pits. Liliana is hard to beat let alone souls and fulminator. This game is closer than the last because I get aggressive with Mistbind and Creeping but Siege Rhino pulls him out of range of the Clique. I was actually impressed how long I was able to hang in versus multiple souls and fulminators.
0-3
Round 4: Andrew Cuneo on elves
G1: Cavern of souls + 2 lead the stampede and being on the play is to much.
G2: Flaying Tendrils
G3: 2 Damnations and a Bitterblossom take over the game. I concede with a lethal swing because he can cash and I can't.
1-3
Round 5: Majors Abzan list
G1: Multiple lingering souls into Lili seal the dead
G2: Super close game and I think another punt. We trade cards and life till we are both at 4. I cliqued him last turn so I know his hand it Tasigur/***/***. He has a goyf and 2 souls in play. I have a Clique, a tar pit on the field, a tar pit in hand and a damnation. I attack with tar pit and pass. He draws and slams Rhino and kills me. It might have been better to Damnation there. Neither line beats the 2nd Rhino of the game but I think Damnation and then double tar pit next turn is a safer line.
1-4
I ended 1-4 but I feel like I learned alot. Lingering Souls is an issue for this deck. Thats why I really want to try Scion of Oona. I know the buddy who lent me the deck told me it was bad but I feel like I want to figure that out on my own. It saves Bitterblossm from Decay/World Breaker, Mutavault and Clique from Ulamog, creatures from trading with souls and increases the clock. I also want to try collective Brutality, with Visions we have extra cards and Brutality has been impressive in every deck I have played it. I also flooded a fair amount so down to 25 lands I go. This is the list I want to try tonight:
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Mistbind Clique
2 Scion of Oona
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Bitterblossom
1 Nameless Inversion
3 Ancestral Vision
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Dismember
1 Spell Snare
2 Mana Leak
2 Go for the Throat
2 Cryptic Command
1 Collective Brutality
4 Secluded Glen
3 Darkslick Shores
1 River of Tears
3 Polluted Delta
2 Watery Grave
4 Mutavault
4 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Disfigure
1 Collective Brutality
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Damnation
1 Duress
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
2 Flaying Tendrils
1 Negate
1 Thoughtseize
1 Sudden Spoiling
Have you ever felt like you have to many 4 drops? How are you liking 25 lands? I never got slaughter pact in a deck that wants to be purely instant speed almost. I guess it is decent with double Kalitas but it still seems a little awkward. Have you been able to delve enough with 2 delve spells and only 4 fetches?
I bring Ashiok in against them, it just sucks that counters and spellstutter sprite are kinda dead. I have a new list I am trying with a hopefully better SB plan versus them.
Visions was pretty decent for me throughout the day. I had some really bad ones (Clique Clique land) (Mist Mist Land) but overall we want every land drop so drawing 2 lands and a removal spell is right where we want to be.
Heres my new list:
4 Spellstutter Sprite
3 Mistbind Clique
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Bitterblossom
1 Nameless Inversion
3 Ancestral Vision
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
1 Disfigure
2 Dismember
1 Spell Snare
2 Mana Leak
2 Go for the Throat
2 Cryptic Command
1 Hero's Downfall
4 Secluded Glen
3 Darkslick Shores
1 River of Tears
3 Polluted Delta
2 Watery Grave
4 Mutavault
4 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Damnation
1 Duress
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Darkblast
2 Flaying Tendrils
1 Negate
1 Thoughtseize
1 Sudden Spoiling
Currently the idea versus bant Eldrazi is:
-1 SpellStutter
-1 Mistbind
-2 IOK
-1 Spell Snare
-2 Mana Leak
+1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
+2 Damnation
+2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
+1 Thoughtseize
+1 Sudden Spoiling
Our deck gets a little clunkier but we have alot better cards versus them. They are pretty Squishy versus Damnation and if we keep them off displacer Ashiok can take over the game. We leave in the disfigure to tag a Noble but I dont wanna cut a Spellstutter for a second one. Maybe it is correct though. Spellstutter can protect Bitterblossom from removal and mistbind from blowouts.
I am new to the world of Fae, If you keep reading I say "I have no idea but I am at least going to attempt to figure it out". Sudden Spoiling is A++ Great. Seems SUPER sweet versus Eldrazi and Merfolk.
Honestly I have no idea how to beat Eldrazi. Damnation seems like it would have been great at any point. I feel like there has to be A card that wrecks them, I just have to find it. More removal that is good versus them might also be an answer, stuff like doom blade. I intend to work on it and at least attempt to figure it out.
I ended up running Faeries at the SCG Somerset open this past weekend. I played what I normally play (BTL Scapeshift) in the invi and did really bad despite good matchups so I wanted to change. My buddies only extra deck that sounded fun was Faeries and I said **** it, why not live the dream I never got to live and curve visions into bitterblossom. Below is the list I ran:
4 Spellstutter Sprite
3 Mistbind Clique
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Bitterblossom
1 Nameless Inversion
3 Ancestral Vision
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
1 Disfigure
2 Dismember
2 Spell Snare
1 Mana Leak
2 Go for the Throat
2 Cryptic Command
4 Secluded Glen
3 Darkslick Shores
1 River of Tears
3 Polluted Delta
2 Watery Grave
4 Mutavault
4 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Disfigure
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Damnation
1 Duress
1 Dispel
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Darkblast
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Flaying Tendrils
1 Negate
A few Quick things about the list from what I learned talking to him. I basically deferred to him on all decisions since this was his pet deck and I knew very little about it. We basically tuned the deck to be slanted towards Infect, Burn, Affinity, Dredge, Jund, Nahiri, and GWx decks. That’s why we have cheap fast removal like dismember, only 2 cryptics, and 2 Kalitas’s in the main. The way he talked about it Kalitas was the godsend the deck needed, a powerful tool for medium to bad matchups like burn, dredge and Abzan Coco that was pretty much always okay. He wanted 15 Faeries for Glen which is why there is a nameless inversion, very important because post board we go down to 13 Faeries which is still fine. We started with 3 leylines in the board but I talked him down to 2 Nihil because I was not THAT afraid of dredge. Ashiok was my card, I love it so much. Its great against all the Gx decks and the control decks and to be honest I bring it in vs most of the bad MU’s (Tron, Bant Eldrazi) because it is just another plan that might do something sweet. Here is a very basic synopsis of the Matchups:
Round 1: GW Tron (Longer than the rest because game 2 and 3 were GREAT!!!!)
G1: Keep an okay hand of removal spells, sprite and lands. Get tron’ed on turn 3. He casts world breaker wrecking a land. I am on the play so I set up turn 5 Kalitas into Go for the throat to hopefully beat him down with. He casts path on Ulamog and that’s that.
G2: This game is super sweet. I get turn 2 Blossom into turn 3 counter something with sprite into Clique away the ulamog he was gonna cast on 4. From here he resolves Wurmcoil and I spend the next 6 turns hitting for 6 and blocking it with a token. Except while I am doing this I am also ticking up Ashiok. When Ashiok hits 11 I cryptic bounce the wurm and ult her. That’s the game.
G3: I mull to 4. You might ask, what game versus tron is sweet when you mull to 4? The one where your keep is Mutavault, BitterBlossom, Visions, Thoughseize and you scry delta to the top. I cast visions into Blossom into thoughtseize with his only actions being drawing cards and turn 4 ugin. His hand was cantrips and Path to Exiles. He warping Wails my Visons and I proceed to chain Cliques and Mistbinds until he dies.
1-0
Round 2: Jund
G1: His hand is the nuts (Bolt Lili Huntmaster Decay Bob). I am still able to trade resources with hand disruption and counters to the point I resolve a blossom and counter Lili. I try to trap him with 1 token, blossom, 1 Mutavault and sprite in hand to counter the huntmaster but he is smart and decays the Blossom EOT saying he played Faeries back in the day. I topdeck Nameless for the huntmaster and Mistbind to end the game.
G2. He plays lots of creatures and I mull to 5. I play to drawing the 1 damnation, I don’t.
G3: Super close game. I resolve an early blossom but gets a lily to resolve and shreads my hand. I eventually deal with lily but I am behind on board. I am faced with countering a bob or not countering it and trying to go for Bob flips to be lethal. Given the 2 goyfs on the board and the active blossom I go for the race. Hit him down to 7, leaving 2 blockers for 5/6 goyfs and hope that he takes 4 damage from bob over 2 turns. He hits K command, draws terminate and kills me.
1-1
Round 3: RG Titanshift
G1: Mull to 6 and keep 3 lands nameless kalitas dismember. Die to turn 4 titan.
G2: Go Blossom into vault sprite to counter a courser. He casts 2 summoning traps, 1 for prime time and 1 for Baloth. I die.
1-2
Round 4: UW control:
G1 & G2: Games were not close. He had clunky hands with Gideon Elspeth Hallowed Burial Timely Reinforcements and I just killed Bitterblossomed him a bunch. Got to counted a Gideon with Spellstutter which was sweet.
2-2
Round 5: Abzan Doran
G1: Super odd game, he cast 2 treefolk harbingers for lands and never drew any dorans/Assault formations. HE did draw lingering souls. After about 17 turns I eventually killed him with Faeries.
G2: Mulled to 5 died to double tower defense with assault formation out.
G3: Ashiok did work. I just held him back with Faeries, countered and milled all his dorans and eventually killed him with flyers.
3-2
Round 6: Taking Turns
G1: Mulled to 5 and both go for the throats and disfigure in hand. I conceded to elixir for time.
G2: He can’t Beat Vendilion Clique.
G3: Still can’t Beat Vendilion Clique
4-2
Round 7: Bant Eldrazi
G1 & G2: I truly felt outclassed in this Matchups. It feels really really hopless. They are fast, Sprites are dead cards, all my counters are dead cards, displacer counter blossom, Displacer also counters ashiok (Bounce their creatures back to their side of the board). I do not see my list ever winning a reasonable game.
4-3 ()
Round 8: Burn
G1: He wins the die roll and has a guide on turn one. I die pretty fast.
G2: I have IOK into Blossom into sprite into mistbind to beat him down
G3: I have Blossom (Gets Destroyed my Revelry) into clique beats. I end up at 6 life staring down a mentor with a monk. He draws and main phases a helix., I counter tap the team, untap and rev up tar pit and mutavault for lethal.
5-3
Round 9: Bant Eldrazi (Sam Pardee)
G1 & G2: I was super siked to play a very skilled player but I was sad it had to be Sam. I knew going in he was on Bant and I knew that this was not going to be close. It wasn’t. I tried to lean on Kalitas but it always died before it could take over. He Drowns me in Scions.
5-4 ENDING RECORD
Kinda garbage ending record but I played almost none of the matchups I planned for and 2 UNWINABLE matchups. All in all the deck felt pretty great, it was by far the most fun I have had playing magic in a very long time. Going forward I think I am actually going to build this deck and test it some more, it did some pretty impressive things that I was not aware it could do. The second Kalitas main should be either a removal spell or a hand disruption spell. The kalitas should be moved to the SB, there should also be a second Damnation there. Other than that I need to find a reasonable way to beat bant eldrazi.
Thanks for reading my word Vomit :)
2 Lambholt Pacifist
4 Duskwatch Recruiter
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
3 Den Protector
4 Tireless Tracker
3 Arashin Foremost
3 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
2 Archangel Avacyn
4 Dromoka's Command
4 Canopy Vista
4 Fortified Village
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Forest
7 Plains
2 Westvale Abbey
3 Clip Wings
3 Bygone Bishop
2 Evolutionary Leap
1 Declaration in Stone
1 Archangel Avacyn
3 Hallowed Moonlight
2 Lantern Scout
Here is or close to the 75 I will be most likely playing at Baltimore. I really want to play a Chandra/Archangel deck but I think it is better to be aggressive and consistent Day 1 Week 1. The biggest difference I see here compared to other lists is Surrak>Archangel and the warrior subtheme. I think if there are going to be alot of slow grindy decks and alot of groundpoundy aggro decks A BIG creature that grants haste is great. His Stats are Close to perfect, 1 more point of toughness would be nice but he does punch through an Archangel (of tithes). It is trivial to turn him on with this deck between tracker and Lambholt (Which I will bring up later)and haste is not something people expect from a green deck.
Arishin foremost on the other hand I am a little less sure about. For curve purposes I wanted another 3 drop and she fit the bill best. We have 10 other warriors and as a vanilla 2/2 Doublestrike human for 3 she is almost good enough. Between Always watching, Thalia's Lieutenant and Dromoka's command we have plenty of ways to pump her into an abyss or die. Plus she allows for nutty free win starts (1 drop, 2 drop warrior swing for 1, Her hit for 5, Surrak swing for 17).
Lambholt Pacifist is another one that is odd to see but as a 3/3 potential 4/4 for 2 that is also a human she has been great. We have 11 ways to turn her into a 4/4 pre flip and 5 (9 if you count Tracker) other creatures that turn her on. I wanted to play more but the other 2 drops are way too strong.
On a final note I think Dromoka's Command went from being good to being insane again. I feel like there will not only be alot of creature combat where it excels but there will also be alot of enchantments. It breaks the Always watching mirror wide open.
I have only drawn it a few times but it seems great. Its nice to have more powerful spells for Jace to flashback.
4x Flooded Strand
3x Ghost Quarter
2x Glacial Fortress
2x Hallowed Fountain
5x Island
3x Plains
2x Polluted Delta
1x Prairie Stream
2x Detention Sphere
3x Spreading Seas
2x Dismember
3x Ojutai's Command
1x Pact of Negation
4x Path to Exile
1x Sphinx's Revelation
3x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2x Restoration Angel
2x Snapcaster Mage
4x Wall of Omens
1x Martial Coup
3x Supreme Verdict
2x Disenchant
2x Gut Shot
3x Lone Missionary
1x Negate
1x Spreading Seas
3x Stony Silence
1x Supreme Verdict
2x Vendilion Clique
This is where I am at right now, this list feels very nice. The amount of 4 drops might seem awkward on paper but it plays out pretty well given their impact on the gamestates. SB is kinda random, I need to test more to see what I like/dislike. Jace has been fantastic, works really well with Wall of omens (most things with -2/-0 are small enough for the wall to block) and turns your commands into threats.
Where is this sweet sounding list you are speaking about?
I have been wanting to try Voidslime! Leyline has been pretty great for me, let me know how the Voidslimes work out!
Eldrazi Ramp will always be semi challenging to beat as a midrange deck. You have to hope they stumble. Abzan is a fine Matchup IF they do not curve out perfectly. Very few decks have a good gameplan versus the old Warden/level/anafenza/rhino/Roc draws which I lose to frequently. If they play off curve or take time to draw cards/do den protector things we are way ahead. We are the better long game deck by alot, they have to be aggressive and beat us down before we get going. Raptor is fantastic when they do not have anafenza. Having good removal for Anafenza and stroke for Roc are super key, hence the roasts and wound. Might be going up on wounds for the Dragons MU too (which is great to begin with).
I finished the League 3-2 losing to the abzan nuts and the played another one going 4-1. My lose there was to RG Landfall turn 3 with him going Swift-Sliderunner-Fetch Strength Battlerage to my mull to 5 den protector turn 2. Game 2 he killed me with full combo turn 4 as I drew no removal. My wins where against abzan, abzan red, jeskai black and Mardu tokens.