Well, I have taken it upon myself to explain and demonstrate to those majority of players, that faeries are not invincible, that with a good play strategy they can indeed be beaten, crushed into the ground, and humiliated, because they were playing faeries.
First you need to take a look at the deck you are trying to beat.(Decklist courtesy of Shinjutsei and Sam Black)
| Faeries, by Sam Black - GP Barcelona Top 8Magic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Lands 1 Faerie Conclave 6 Island 4 Mutavault 4 Secluded Glen 4 Sunken Ruins 4 Swamp 2 Underground River Creatures 4 Mistbind Clique 4 Scion of Oona 1 Sower of Temptation 4 Spellstutter Sprite | Other Spells 3 Agony Warp 4 Bitterblossom 3 Broken Ambitions 4 Cryptic Command 2 Jace Beleren 3 Peppersmoke 1 Soul Manipulation 2 Terror | Sideboard 1 Broken Ambitions 2 Countersquall 2 Glen Elendra Archmage 2 Infest 1 Jace Beleren 1 Puppeteer Clique 2 Sower of Temptation 4 Thoughtseize |
Manabase and Nonbasic Lands
Mutavault is special among the animate lands currently in standard, it can turn into a 2/2 changeling beater at the cost of 1 colorless mana, and does not come into play tapped. It receives the bonus from Scion of Oona, can tap and animate itself to make it a target for Mistbind Clique's champion, adds to the X value of Spellstutter Sprite, and fufills the condition for Peppersmoke's draw.
Secluded Glen allows for the production of both blue and black mana, and the controller can choose to reveal a faerie from their hand so it comes into play untapped. An ideal turn 1 drop when they do not have a Thoughtseize against you, or a early Peppersmoke against a 1/1 you might play on your first or 2nd turn (Figure of Destiny anyone?)
Sunken Ruins and Underground River Allow for the production of both Blue and Black, allowing them to play the most of both colors early in the game.
Creatures
Mistbind Clique is considered the heavy swinger in the faeries deck. It can tap out your lands on your turn (Even the lands you animate hoping to save them from his effect), leaving you in a position where you either need to make a move then, or losing your lands for that turn. Don't forget about the championed creature if you are working on killing it.
Scion of Oona is the lord for faeries, giving them +1/+1 and shroud. Most commonly seen as the "At the end of your turn" card that faeries players use, it can also be flashed in to prevent a target spell against a faerie or faeries they control, giving them shroud and effectively countering the spell.
Sower of Temptation is one of the few faeries that do not have flash. It is used to take control of a creature you control as long as sower is in play, cutting down aggro decks and providing the faerie player a chump blocker, beater, lifegain mechanic, or whatever you might happen to have on your side of the field!
Spellstutter Sprite serves its purpose the moment it comes into play, countering a target spell with converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of faeries they control. It does count for itself, when you play it, and after it has been played it serves as a beater/blocker.
Noncreature Spells
Bitterblossom...
I'm not going to explain this one much, it is a token gen mechanic that has taken most of the heat from Anti-Faerie players.
Cryptic Command is the other card that most players blame for faeries success, but that is not true. Nearly any deck can utilize the power that is Cryptic Command. It is a counter, draw, bounce, and tap, perfect for removing any threat faeries might face and opening up the field for an attack.
Agony Warp is use primarily to stop an attack dead in its tracks, negating the damage from one attacker and killing another.
Broken Ambitions is a counterspell who's value increases the more lands you tap for a spell, be careful when playing that 5 casting cost spell when you only have 5 mana. In addition it gives the faerie player somewhat of a control over the next card they draw, with a chance to mill you for 4.
Jace Beleran is the ever drawing planeswalker, effective at refilling the faeries player's hand, drawing out a counter or burn spell, and taking damage instead of having the player lose life. The moment he casts this spell, he is creating an advantage for himself. Learn to analyze if it would be better to kill the planeswalker, preventing 2-3 damage that would go against the player, or allow him an extra draw for each turn it sits there.
Peppersmoke is a spot removal spell which has taken the place of Terror im most faerie builds. The added draw mechanic makes it worthwhile against decks with weaker creatures early on.
Soul Manipulation is a counterspell which can return a creature you thought you took care of earlier to its owners hand.
Terror is a quick removal spell for a faerie player, allowing them to control threats already on the board.
Sideboard
The sideboard will contain answers to decktypes which have a slight chance to beat the faerie deck. Extra counterspells will always be seen, allowing for better matchups against less creature based decks. Infest is for aggro decks, but is used sparingly because of the potential to wipe the faeries field. Thoughtseize is for those pestering combo decks, allowing the faerie player to remove a threat early in the game, leaving his counters for other, less important things. Thoughseize can singlehandedly end the game for you if you kept a bad hand. Puppeteer Clique is another option for Sower of Temptation, allowing control of a creature already in your graveyard. Anathemancer decks beware, I've died to my own Anathemancer before because of a Puppeteer Clique.
So that is the majority of Faerie decks out there, yes there are minor variations based on different metagames and personal preferences, but you won't see much digression from this build. Every one of these cards helps impact the game, turning it into the favor of the faerie player.
Beating the Faerie Deck
Many people have their own ideas and beliefs about how to beat faeries, but here's mine, since this is my article and not theirs.
Faeries are in essence, a control deck with enough of a stable creature base and token gen mechanic that does not require mana to allow it to both aggro intensly and control your plays. To beat them, you are going to have to take away at least one of these things, if not both. But being the excessive people that we are, lets go for both, and do it easily enough that we don't commit too much to one side. And it needs to be a list that does well against other decks of all types.
Counters are going to be needed, their versitility is needed if we ever hope to achive our goal. Very few decks have a countermeasure against a counterspell, other than another counterspell! And i see it as if they are throwing away a counter to push something through thats is not going to be drastically game changing, its a win for you. Point removal would be helpful, it can be use in many situations to provide relief from a threat and to clean out the opposing battlefield. A stable creature base is needed, along with a way to attack each turn. Little damage does add up, we dont need to win with a banefire for 12 every time against faeries. Throwing all of this together into a 60 card deck with a 15 card sideboard, and we will have the best deck for standard, almost guaranteed to win any matchup.
And Voila! It is done the decklist that can singlehandedly bring to death all faeries decks, while still destroying the countless swans, cascade, white weenie, and control decks! Once this decklist becomes known to people i expect every faerie player to take a god long look at his future magic career, and cry.
| Faerie Hate DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Lands 1 Faerie Conclave 6 Island 4 Mutavault 4 Secluded Glen 4 Sunken Ruins 4 Swamp 2 Underground River Creatures 4 Mistbind Clique 4 Scion of Oona 1 Sower of Temptation 4 Spellstutter Sprite | Other Spells 3 Agony Warp 4 Bitterblossom 3 Broken Ambitions 4 Cryptic Command 2 Jace Beleren 3 Peppersmoke 1 Soul Manipulation 2 Terror | Sideboard 1 Broken Ambitions 2 Countersquall 2 Glen Elendra Archmage 2 Infest 1 Jace Beleren 1 Puppeteer Clique 2 Sower of Temptation 4 Thoughtseize |
No faerie player will ever want to be paired up against you with this deck, and once you win nationals with it I expect to see an end to faerie decks everywhere!
Oh wait...
-
View User Profile
-
Send Message
Posted Jul 9, 2009