This is really funny watching faerie players whine about RDW, I recently started testing faeries exclusively in preparation for my nationals, so I guess you can say I am a faerie player
The point is, its not ok to lose to magus of the moon the whole day, but it surely is fine when you beat up people with Bitterblossom the whole day
Well, the thing is -- I did prepare for it. I already said I had 8 sideboard slots for it. This deck just really can't do that much about RDW. It's less than 50% probably even after side. I went to game 3 against Tyler after going 4-0 and facing 2 mono red decks already. Then Tyler was playing mono red w/ magus as well... finally one of them beat me. Opponent directly after him? WOW MONO RED! 4-2 drop after being 4-0 and at table 1. Fine, whatever. he brought mono red and got his easiest matchups all day... whatever. But for the guys who actually sat down in BLOCK with that deck.... i don't really know what to say. Even Tyler was playing Fae at the PTQ.
edit: Also, ok ok... I'm sorry. I was just still very angry at seeing the same deck (nearly) 6 rounds in a row over the course of 2 days. I still think that Magus of the Moon is a cowardly way to win, but whatever... if that gets the win, do it. I also still think that RDW requires the least amount of skill to pilot, but whatever... I shouldn't have "whined" I guess. As far as making fun of Kentucky, I wasn't. I was making fun of RDW players. I've always referred to them as "mouth-breathers".
My only two losses in the PTQ came to guys who thought they could port RDW to block and do well... guess what, you can't. You basically paid $25 to ruin some faerie player's day. Hope it was worth it.
So wait, you're *****ing about losing to RDW, and you're a faeries player? Do you actually like to enjoy your games of magic or just have fun mulling hands that don't have vision's or bitterblossom?
I would gladly pay 25 dollars to beat 4 faeries players at a PTQ hopefully keeping them out of contention. I hate that deck with a passion.
So wait, you're *****ing about losing to RDW, and you're a faeries player? Do you actually like to enjoy your games of magic or just have fun mulling hands that don't have vision's or bitterblossom?
I would gladly pay 25 dollars to beat 4 faeries players at a PTQ hopefully keeping them out of contention. I hate that deck with a passion.
and... that's exactly why i absolutely hate most rdw players.
So wait, you're *****ing about losing to RDW, and you're a faeries player? Do you actually like to enjoy your games of magic or just have fun mulling hands that don't have vision's or bitterblossom?
I would gladly pay 25 dollars to beat 4 faeries players at a PTQ hopefully keeping them out of contention. I hate that deck with a passion.
Red Demigod isn't that cheap. Magus of the moon can go anywhere from 6-8 dollards. Demigod is ok to get. But it is cheap in comparison to other decks
Red demigod has a generally good MU against faeries, buy it depends on the skill of the players. And jeeze, what's wrong with faeries?
Below is my tournament report that I put in the MBC Control thread.
From the top 8 that was posted, it looks like I beat the RDW decklist that won in round 3 (it really was a well designed deck) and lost to "Neeley"s RG Ramp in round 4.
Finished 5-3, 3rd loss was in round 8 before cut to top 8. Had an outside shot at top 15 with a win, but lost, so probably went down to somewhere around 50th.
He took game 1 with double Scion of Oona following a slow start by me.
Game 2 he never touched me, controlled the board and finished with Oona
Game 3 dont remember much except the ending, where he could only Rune Snag (1 in GY) my Distress with my 6 lands open. I pay for it, take his other Snag, then drop Korlash. Next turn Oona. Final turn beating of Korlash, Oona and a 8+ corrupt.
Win 2-1
Round 2: R/B Husk - Kevin
This wasnt a challenge...closest he got was game one, he overextended with about 3 creatures (2 husk, 1 something else...Marsh Flitter?) and 3 tokens in play. I damnation, he sacs all to his Gargadon, brings him out, smacks me for 9. It gets Terrored, I end up Profane Commanding him for 6 with him at 7, his Bitterblossom kills him on his upkeep.
Game 2, Damnation clears the board twice. Garg gets out again. I BtQ for my 1 main deck Trip Noose, spend 4 or 5 turns tapping the Gargdon down, eventually I terror it after he casts a Mogg Fanatic. He ends up bringing out 2 Warhammers, both attached to his lone Fanatic. After tapping the Fanatic down for several turns, I knock him to lethal range with Oona, and Profane him for the win.
Win 2-0
Round 3: RDW - Scott
I know...I should slaughter RDW, right? This was the toughest "win" I had all day.
Game 1, I keep a 6 land hand with a Dusk Urchins. He takes me down to 8 the turn after I drop a 9/9 Korlash (Grandeured), and then drops a Boggart Ram Gang. I Tendrils it for 10, he concedes facing an 18-17 life total, a 10/10 Korlash, and no cards in hand.
Game 2...it gets interesting. After some early lead changes, hes up 20-17 in life around turn 5, and I've got nothing but Korlashes and Oona and a Profane in my hand. MANABARBS. Then in swings Demigod of Revenge at my head. Down to 6, I cant even cast anything in my hand, he goes double Incinerate for the win.
Game 3..He jumps out again 20-19, and drops manabarbs. I drop Oona, he Flame Javelins and sac's a Mogg Fanatic to kill her. He Demigods, I cast a Sudden Death. At 9 life, I go to 6 by casting Bottle Gnomes. Hes at 10. He casts some creature, I cast Tendrils, gaining 2 (6 swamps - 4 mana). Bottle Gnomes goes 10 straight turns, with both of us unable to cast anything else due to Manabarbs/bad draws. BOTTLE GNOMES FTW!
Win 2-1
Round 4: R/G Snow Mana Ramp - Daniel
So, before this, I was 3-0 and feeling good. And then...
Game 1 - Turn 4 or 5 Colossus, no answer. Bashes for 8, 8, and dead.
Game 2 - I might have had a chance here, but played stupidly. He starts out slow, I thoughtseize him taking his Skred, and drop a 4th turn 4/4 Korlash , him having nothing in his hand that can even get in Korlash's way. He topdecks a....Spitebellows (WTF?). Alright, next turn, I drop a 5/5 Korlash...he still has nothing in his hand that can deal with him. He topdecks a....Spitebellows. Couple turns later he drops a Colossus, attaches the Warhammer, goes for my face and its over 2 turns later
Loss 0-2
Round 5: BG Elves - Grant
Game 1 - My own Bitterblossom largely does me in, as I'm forced to Damnation away the tokens once to kill CC, and a Cloudthresher takes out the 2nd batch. Colossus drops and takes off my last 7 life.
Game 2 - Have limited notes on this game, but I know it ended this way: He had 2 Treetops, a Mutavault, a 4/5 Goyf and a Civic Wayfinder in play. Im at 12, and have a 9/6 Korlash in play with Warhammer attached. I was screwed even without making this mistake, but heres the mistake I made. I don't attack with Korlash, holding him back to block. He gets lethal damage on the board, attacks, and I, STUPIDLY, think that the lifelink on Korlash will save me, not knowing that it doesnt resolve with combat damage. Ouch.
Loss 0-2
Round 6: Quick N' Toast - John
Well, 3-0 turned to 3-2 pretty quick.
Game 1 - He Mindshatters away an early Korlash a turn before I can get him in play. I largely hold serve, he gets me down to 9 before I Tendrils a Cloudthresher for 8. After that I drop an 8/8 Korlash, and he goes all the way.
Game 2 - This wasnt close. He drops an early Finks. I drop Korlash, extirpating the Finks after a block. Korlash goes to 6/6, knocking him to 16 from 22. Then 9 from 16 next turn. He concedes next turn when I BtQ for Profane Command.
Win 2-0
Round 7: Faeries - Charles
Weird, weird dude. Get the feeling he doesnt get away from the computer much.
Game 1 - This was a long, intriguing match, that started with us both getting out early Bitterblossoms. I went down, 1 at a time, from 18 to 5, then to 3, then to 1. At 1, I respond to my BB trigger with Tendrils and go to 7, and catch him with an empty hand next turn, Corrupting him for 7 with him at 8, and letting his BB kill him. Whew.
Game 2 - Also a long, but this time not as close match. He knocks me to 16 early with the Conclave. I get out a turn 2 BB, and HE NEVER GETS ONE. That was the biggest key in this match. He gets out an early Mistbind Clique to save his Vendillion Clique from combat damage, but taps out to do it. Mistbind Clique gets Corrupted for 5, and he never got control back. He amasses an army of man lands, 3 Conclaves, 2 Mutavaults. I accumulate tokens, swinging in for 2 a turn, leaving a faerie back for each of his man lands (also am holding a Sudden Death and Tendrils).
My 2 attacking faeries take him from 14 to 5 over 5 turns (he did something to one of them, cant remember). Hes at 5, I send in 7 tokens with him having three conclaves left. I attempt to Tendrils one of the Conclaves in response, he Spellstutter Sprites with the Sprite being the 4 Faerie for the counter. I Sudden Death the Sprite in play, with its trigger on the stack. I should mention at this point he has his lands in a big pile and tapped, with 1 untapped. He unstacks his lands, activates his hidden Mutavault, and counters the Tendrils, leaving him at 1. This didnt matter, as he drew nothing his next turn and conceded, but still aggravated me.
Win 2-0
Round 8: WUr Revililark (w/ Combo) - Thomas (TJ)
Game 1 - He was nice enough to wait until turn 6 to combo me, going Venser + Body Double + Garg + Revililark and bouncing all my everything.
Game 2 - Much closer...he actually might have sided out the combo (didnt see Gargs in a very long game). I get an early BB, but he kills several of my Korlashes with Sower and 0 Swamps. I eventually have out a huge Korlash and several tokens, but he has 2 Body Doubles (1 Revililark and 1 Cloudthresher) and a graveyard full of stuff to Reviliark. I spend several turns avoiding killing his Body Doubled Revililark while minimizing damage, but eventually, after I block his BD'ed 'Lark with a token and his Cloudthresher with a 7/7 Korlash, he Murderous Redcaps his fake-Reviliark, killing it, and brings back both Body Doubles as Cloudthreshers, dealing the final 4 points of damage he needs to me.
This match was very frustrating. Between 4 Thoughtseize, 2 Distress, 4 Sudden Death, and 3 Extirpate, I felt like I had a chance at winning game 2. Unfortunately, the only Thoughtseize I saw was turn 1, and was forced to take his single Raking Canopy, as I had no way to remove it, and had 4 BB in my deck. Of the rest of the cards, I did see 2 Sudden Death, but was unable to use them on his Body Double'd Lark, as that would only bring on more pain. Extirpate would have been....amazing. Never even saw a BtQ to try to fetch it.
Lost 0-2
So 5-3, probably finished around 50th or so in a 225 person field.
Deck Thoughts:
Overall, I was happy with how it played, but it just has no chance as is against Colossus or Reviliark. It absolutely rips apart everything else though...had hoped to see some Merfolk, but alas, I did not.
18 Swamp 4 Desert - they certainly did their job, killing BB tokens, other small faeries, Finks 2 Leechridden Swamp - Only really got these active in the 'Lark matchup. The CIP tapped ability only affected me once, but did prevent a turn 4 4/4 Korlash when the 'Lark deck I was playing started out slow and had no way to deal with him. 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Never searched for it...useful when it showed up, but not sure I'd want to run another.
4 Dusk Urchins - Dusk Urchins flatly won me some games...they squeeze in damage, they draw cards, they draw burn spells. 4 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade - Won most games where I grandeured with him. Probably played him too early in some matchups, hoping to rush in some damage while my opp. stalled. Didnt regenerate him once all day...which is probably a sign I need to play him differently. 1 Oona, Queen of the Fae - Oona regulated when she hit play. Won everytime I untapped with her, other couple times she or I died immediately.
4 Thoughtseize - Absolute necessity in standard for this deck IMO 4 Terror - Served their purpose, never had a creature I wanted to kill that they couldnt his (Colossus the obvious exception) 3 Bitterblossom - Should have played 4. When they are good they are great, and when they are bad, they find the SB quickly 3 Beseech the Queen - Will consider playing 4 in future post-Eventide versions. Definitely changed games when I played them 4 Damnation - Changed alot of games when it got played, but got sided out alot too. (Faeries, Lark, and Toast). Still think you have to run 4 for Colossus and that surprise game 1 Damnation, but it wasnt a power card for me in games 2 and 3 often 2 Tendrils of Corruption - Worked very well, might consider playing 3. 1 Profane Command - This card was awesome, and I regretted taking out the 2nd one this AM for a 3rd Corrupt. It killed Demigods, it returned Urchins and Korlashes, it finished off several people (of course, corrupt could do that too) 3 Corrupt - Probably just by luck, didn't really need to finish anyone with this all day. It mainy was a sorcery, 2+ mana Tendrils. Might go back to 2 in future versions.
1 Trip Noose - Couldn't ever get this in a Colossus matchup, and for some reason, the 2nd Faerie deck I played countered it. Tutored for it with BtQ in the R/B Husk matchup, and it was AWESOME, but thats probably an anomoly. Will probably move to SB, as I doubt this deck will beat Elves, Rock or G Ramp on game 1 anyways, so might as well put it as part of the SB package. 1 Loxodon Warhammer - This was not useful at all. AT ALL. Surprised me too, but I never needed to bash through Faerie tokens, and never needed the lifegain in a situation where I had a creature to bash with. Couldnt tutor it up to play defense with either. Probaby just too expensive given what else is at 6 mana, and too slow for a 3 and 4 turn play.
4 Bottle Gnomes - As much fun as it was to beat down RDW with them, they did little for me against Colossus. 3 Extirpate - Only boarded them in twice. They wrecked Kitchen Finks in the Toast matchup, and didnt show up for Revililark. 1 Bitterblossom 2 Distress - Everyone says to take out this card, but I love it, and it helped against Faeries and Lark and Toast. I didnt play it as a 2-drop often, but usually as a "Distress, take you counterspell, Corrupt or Profane you FTW" 4 Sudden Death - Invaluable against Faeries, didnt do much if anything in any other matchup 1 Loxodon Warhammer - Rarely brought it in, didnt use it when I did.
and... that's exactly why i absolutely hate most rdw players.
At least that deck is relatively fun to play. I'm just saying you can't ***** about a boring deck when you play faeries yourself. I'd rather play a pre-con than faeries at a competitive tournament.
RDW winning warms my heart a little. I'm more Elves, but I also contemplated running RDW since I like good, cheap, but effective decks. And I also hate faeries passionately. Magus of the Moon is no more a "cheap" kill than any other card, it simply works good in a meta where almost everyone has their decks loaded down with non-basic lands. When you see an advantage, you grab it. If I'm paying money to participate in a tourney I want to know that I have some chance of winning, or at least of performing well. RDW did it, Faeries failed to hit the top spot. David put that rock right between Goliath's eyes and he went down like a heap, it happens. And it just goes to show that you do not need an astronomically expensive deck to win, and I love seeing that. I'd need to scrounge up some necessary components, but this kind of makes me want to try RDW since my own meta is so chock full of bugs (faeries).
EDIT: Well, just because I was curious I priced the winning list through my local shop, and it tops out as a $140 deck, which I guess is cheap anymore, but the Demigods really up the price - they also obviously up the awesome.
Ezuri, Renegade Leader (Aggro/Combo - Favorite) Skullbriar, the Walking Grave (Sac and Grave hijinks) Azusa, Lost but Seeking (Landfall hijinks) Kaalia of the Vast (Heavily modded)
a) rdw has ALWAYS beaten faeries. that still doesnt make it a good deck choice for any big tourney. dude got insanely lucky with matchups, plain and simple.
b) magus of the moon is "cheaper" than brine elemental lock.
c) rdw is by far.. BY FAR.. the most BORING DECK TO PLAY ever. period. i tried it once and was bored after the 3rd game. every single person that tries it at my local shop is done within 2-3 weeks because they're already bored with it. the way you talk about faeries proves that you've never played it, so you're basically lying. faeries is the only deck i've ever played that i didnt get bored with after 3months... 6months.. 9months. still not the least bit bored w/ the deck. i'm sorry you could never afford it, its a very fun deck to mod and play with. keep making that decision of burn to the face, or burn that creature. real fun.
at this rate, you're just further proving the mouth-breather theory.
a) rdw has ALWAYS beaten faeries. that still doesnt make it a good deck choice for any big tourney. dude got insanely lucky with matchups, plain and simple.
b) magus of the moon is "cheaper" than brine elemental lock.
c) rdw is by far.. BY FAR.. the most BORING DECK TO PLAY ever. period. i tried it once and was bored after the 3rd game. every single person that tries it at my local shop is done within 2-3 weeks because they're already bored with it. the way you talk about faeries proves that you've never played it, so you're basically lying. faeries is the only deck i've ever played that i didnt get bored with after 3months... 6months.. 9months. still not the least bit bored w/ the deck. i'm sorry you could never afford it, its a very fun deck to mod and play with. keep making that decision of burn to the face, or burn that creature. real fun.
at this rate, you're just further proving the mouth-breather theory.
a) rdw has ALWAYS beaten faeries. that still doesnt make it a good deck choice for any big tourney. dude got insanely lucky with matchups, plain and simple.
If a player knows the metagame well enough, it can be the correct choice. The only time I'd ever consider playing RDW myself would be at an FNM or something similar where I could guarantee that I knew at least 90% of the field would be Faeries. I do agree with you here, that RDW is normally a very poor choice for a tournament. BUT. One thing you have to remember (and I don't know where you live so I could be slightly out of line here...) is that the local players of any large-scale tournament, regardless of skill, tend to have a rather large effect on the outcome because versions of decks and metagames tend to have unique little niches in each region. Look at Japanese Grand Prix's for example. I can't remember the last time a non-resident has won a Japanese Grand Prix. There are other factors involved, yes (travel, costs, barriers in language and other things), but a large part of it has to do with unique metagames.
b) magus of the moon is "cheaper" than brine elemental lock.
How is Brine Lock cheap? It takes a lot of skill to pilot efficiently, especially against competent players. I fail to see how one of the most skill-intensive decks I've seen in a little while (Pickles, not Magus) is "cheap". Is it because you fail to effectively play around the lock? Because you can't see the lock coming? Did you just have bad beats against the lock? There are tons of ways to beat a pickles deck. Tons of them. That's one of the reasons I quit that deck so long ago (and because I just liked Teachings more, for its power and enjoyability).
Magus might be "cheap" in the sense that it can single-handedly shut down a deck that isn't properly prepared for it, but it is none-the-less a very powerful and popular card, both of which means you should prepare yourself against it.
c) rdw is by far.. BY FAR.. the most BORING DECK TO PLAY ever. period. i tried it once and was bored after the 3rd game. every single person that tries it at my local shop is done within 2-3 weeks because they're already bored with it. the way you talk about faeries proves that you've never played it, so you're basically lying. faeries is the only deck i've ever played that i didnt get bored with after 3months... 6months.. 9months. still not the least bit bored w/ the deck. i'm sorry you could never afford it, its a very fun deck to mod and play with. keep making that decision of burn to the face, or burn that creature. real fun.
at this rate, you're just further proving the mouth-breather theory.
I both agree and disagree with you here. I agree that (personally, I think) RDW is an un-fun deck to play. There are, however, a lot of people who hate playing control decks, or any deck that isn't aggressively structured. I have a few good friends of mine (who are great players, and have money'd at numerous American GP's an continue to Top 8 PTQ's) who swear by their aggressively-based decks, like Domain Zoo, Gruul, and the original Sligh before all of them. I disagree with them because I do not find aggro decks to be entertaining and they also do not give me the ability to just outplay and trap my opponents like many Blue decks do. However, I disagree with your degrading comments towards these "mouth-breathers", simply because you disagree with their deck playing choices and style. Just because you suffered some bad beats you do not have the right to insult these people. If you just said something like "I went playing faeries but got trounced by that annoying Magus all day. Oh well. It's a game of luck and skill." I'm sure most people wouldn't even have much of a quarrel with you if you said something like that. It's just your arrogant, self-righteous tone of entitlement that is aggravating us.
a) rdw has ALWAYS beaten faeries. that still doesnt make it a good deck choice for any big tourney. dude got insanely lucky with matchups, plain and simple.
b) magus of the moon is "cheaper" than brine elemental lock.
c) rdw is by far.. BY FAR.. the most BORING DECK TO PLAY ever. period. i tried it once and was bored after the 3rd game. every single person that tries it at my local shop is done within 2-3 weeks because they're already bored with it. the way you talk about faeries proves that you've never played it, so you're basically lying. faeries is the only deck i've ever played that i didnt get bored with after 3months... 6months.. 9months. still not the least bit bored w/ the deck. i'm sorry you could never afford it, its a very fun deck to mod and play with. keep making that decision of burn to the face, or burn that creature. real fun.
at this rate, you're just further proving the mouth-breather theory.
Tyler Winn is one of the best players in the state of Kentucky, Hes top8'ed Many different big money events in Louisville, the fact that he won isn't a fluke. I know the guy could pilot any T2 deck in the field, because hes that good. He knew faeries and merfolk were going to be the most played decks, and he prepared accordingly, all of Team Ramrod (except Neeley) were playing RDW For a reason.
Also, did it ever accur to you that he might have been a better player?
a) rdw has ALWAYS beaten faeries. that still doesnt make it a good deck choice for any big tourney. dude got insanely lucky with matchups, plain and simple.
So you're mad because he got good matchups and metagamed correectly? Guess what? Faeries and merfolk malk up like 2/3 of the metagame. So you're mad because he metagamed correctly? I suppose a faeries player doesn't really know what metagaming is since the deck never changes.
b) magus of the moon is "cheaper" than brine elemental lock.
So you're mad because magus is "cheap"? I have an idea, play this card from future sight. I think it's called slaughter pact. It requires no mana to kill a creature that isn;t black and then during your upkeep you have to pay 2 and a black. I hear it kills magus good.
c) rdw is by far.. BY FAR.. the most BORING DECK TO PLAY ever. period. i tried it once and was bored after the 3rd game. every single person that tries it at my local shop is done within 2-3 weeks because they're already bored with it. the way you talk about faeries proves that you've never played it, so you're basically lying. faeries is the only deck i've ever played that i didnt get bored with after 3months... 6months.. 9months. still not the least bit bored w/ the deck. i'm sorry you could never afford it, its a very fun deck to mod and play with. keep making that decision of burn to the face, or burn that creature. real fun.
at this rate, you're just further proving the mouth-breather theory.
Faeries is the least fun deck to play in the history of magic. Let's see, let's look at a typical game:
does my opener have bitterblossom or visions? No? Mull. Yes? Keep. If visions gets countered or blossom gets blown up, scoop the game.
That's fun.
At least RDW requires thinking in the combat step. The only hard part about faeries is mulling. And that comes down to whether or not you have 3 lands and a blossom or visions. The only matchup that requires thinking is the mirror-match. That matchup comes down to who gets more blossoms and 3 cryptic commands.
Also, I love how you just presume that I can't afford faeries. Wanna know what? I could if I really desired to. Instead, I built decks that are fun to play like merfolk and reveillark. you know, decks that I can stand playing 4 or 5 rounds of FNM with.
And I don't understand you calling people "mouth breathers". yeah, I breath through my mouth. So what?
And I heard that Shuhei Nakamura made that RDW list. Is he a kentucky "mouth breather" too? Oh wait, that's right, he's one of the best players in the world. People play RDW because of the metagame, not because they have no playskill. I think if you were good at metagaming properly you would have not scrubbed out against all the kentucky retards. Unfortunately, you're stuck in your little faerie bubble and can't escape.
1. Faeries is still one of the most powerful decks in the format. Yes, it's the most boring deck to play in the history of the game ever. It STILL is incredibly powerful.
2. RDW is boring and, in some cases, very easy to play. However, in the right meta, it can be very good. The list that won this event was good and had a good pilot. His match-ups may have been lucky, but results don't lie.
3. Everyone in this entire thread needs to CALM DOWN. This is the Kentucky Open, people. It's not a Pro Tour. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, it's absolutely meaningless. I'm not saying that the results don't matter at all, but just that you all don't need to scream at each other and have a cow over them.
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3. Everyone in this entire thread needs to CALM DOWN. This is the Kentucky Open, people. It's not a Pro Tour. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, it's absolutely meaningless. I'm not saying that the results don't matter at all, but just that you all don't need to scream at each other and have a cow over them.
Actually you have to admit that it's pretty amazing that RDW won this tournament. It's hard enough to win at FNM with the deck. I know that I definitely couldn't win with this deck at a big tournament.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Actually you have to admit that it's pretty amazing that RDW won this tournament. It's hard enough to win at FNM with the deck. I know that I definitely couldn't win with this deck at a big tournament.
It's a good deck in my opinion. IMO, it should only lose to lark. But depending on pilots, it can lose to anything.
Actually you have to admit that it's pretty amazing that RDW won this tournament. It's hard enough to win at FNM with the deck. I know that I definitely couldn't win with this deck at a big tournament.
I don't really disagree with you, see.
What bothers me is that this thread is basically fives pages of people *****ing at each other about RDW and Faeries. A tournament of this insignificance should not cause this much drama.
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Maybe I needed a better choice of words. Let me eelaborate:
The deck (Faeries of the Blue and black variety) was not capable of winning any competitive magic: the gathering tournaments before morningtide was released. In fact, it wasn't capable of winning ANY tournaments. As Darksteel Puppy pointed out the U/G version of the deck outclassed it due to it's ability to disrupt tempo while playing little 1/1 and 2/2 faeries and snakes. Once morningtide was released, hoewever, this all changed. There was this card named bitterblossom. The new breed of faeries which is more of a control deck relies on getting an early blossom or ancestral visions, and if it does not, it struggles greatly.
If anyone disagrees, go watch a mirror match sometime or something.
Maybe I needed a better choice of words. Let me eelaborate:
The deck (Faeries of the Blue and black variety) was not capable of winning any competitive magic: the gathering tournaments before morningtide was released. In fact, it wasn't capable of winning ANY tournaments. As Darksteel Puppy pointed out the U/G version of the deck outclassed it due to it's ability to disrupt tempo while playing little 1/1 and 2/2 faeries and snakes. Once morningtide was released, hoewever, this all changed. There was this card named bitterblossom. The new breed of faeries which is more of a control deck relies on getting an early blossom or ancestral visions, and if it does not, it struggles greatly.
If anyone disagrees, go watch a mirror match sometime or something.
U/B Faeries top 8'd around 20 times at States last year. It wasn't a dominant deck by any means, but definitely capable of performing well.
Not to mention since then, Faeries has been tweaked into optimal form. Without a visions or blossom, it is MUCH weaker, no argument their, but you must be playing some bad opponents if they scoop without a visions or blossom.
And everyone knows the Faeries mirror is decided by bitterblossom, that doesn't make the same argument valid for every other matchup.
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The point is, its not ok to lose to magus of the moon the whole day, but it surely is fine when you beat up people with Bitterblossom the whole day
So wait, you're *****ing about losing to RDW, and you're a faeries player? Do you actually like to enjoy your games of magic or just have fun mulling hands that don't have vision's or bitterblossom?
I would gladly pay 25 dollars to beat 4 faeries players at a PTQ hopefully keeping them out of contention. I hate that deck with a passion.
and... that's exactly why i absolutely hate most rdw players.
constructed record**: 191 - 81 - 8 68.2%
limited record *****: 65 - 33 - 2 65%
my dci
my trade stuffs
current decklist ***
Proud Supporter of...
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obviously completely unable to play constructed w/o cryptic command. i'd be lost w/o you, baby.
Red Demigod isn't that cheap. Magus of the moon can go anywhere from 6-8 dollards. Demigod is ok to get. But it is cheap in comparison to other decks
Red demigod has a generally good MU against faeries, buy it depends on the skill of the players. And jeeze, what's wrong with faeries?
Awesome banner and avatar thanks to spiderboy4 from highlight studios!
$25 is the tourney entry fee.
constructed record**: 191 - 81 - 8 68.2%
limited record *****: 65 - 33 - 2 65%
my dci
my trade stuffs
current decklist ***
Proud Supporter of...
GWU Rock
obviously completely unable to play constructed w/o cryptic command. i'd be lost w/o you, baby.
From the top 8 that was posted, it looks like I beat the RDW decklist that won in round 3 (it really was a well designed deck) and lost to "Neeley"s RG Ramp in round 4.
Hope someone finds this interesting
_________________________________________________________________
Thanks for all the help guys.
Heres a quick writeup from todays tourney:
Finished 5-3, 3rd loss was in round 8 before cut to top 8. Had an outside shot at top 15 with a win, but lost, so probably went down to somewhere around 50th.
4 Desert
2 Leechridden Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Dusk Urchins
4 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
4 Terror
3 Bitterblossom
3 Beseech the Queen
4 Damnation
2 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Profane Command
3 Corrupt
1 Loxodon Warhammer
4 Bottle Gnomes
3 Extirpate
1 Bitterblossom
2 Distress
4 Sudden Death
1 Loxodon Warhammer
Round 1: Faeries - Jaye
He took game 1 with double Scion of Oona following a slow start by me.
Game 2 he never touched me, controlled the board and finished with Oona
Game 3 dont remember much except the ending, where he could only Rune Snag (1 in GY) my Distress with my 6 lands open. I pay for it, take his other Snag, then drop Korlash. Next turn Oona. Final turn beating of Korlash, Oona and a 8+ corrupt.
Win 2-1
Round 2: R/B Husk - Kevin
This wasnt a challenge...closest he got was game one, he overextended with about 3 creatures (2 husk, 1 something else...Marsh Flitter?) and 3 tokens in play. I damnation, he sacs all to his Gargadon, brings him out, smacks me for 9. It gets Terrored, I end up Profane Commanding him for 6 with him at 7, his Bitterblossom kills him on his upkeep.
Game 2, Damnation clears the board twice. Garg gets out again. I BtQ for my 1 main deck Trip Noose, spend 4 or 5 turns tapping the Gargdon down, eventually I terror it after he casts a Mogg Fanatic. He ends up bringing out 2 Warhammers, both attached to his lone Fanatic. After tapping the Fanatic down for several turns, I knock him to lethal range with Oona, and Profane him for the win.
Win 2-0
Round 3: RDW - Scott
I know...I should slaughter RDW, right? This was the toughest "win" I had all day.
Game 1, I keep a 6 land hand with a Dusk Urchins. He takes me down to 8 the turn after I drop a 9/9 Korlash (Grandeured), and then drops a Boggart Ram Gang. I Tendrils it for 10, he concedes facing an 18-17 life total, a 10/10 Korlash, and no cards in hand.
Game 2...it gets interesting. After some early lead changes, hes up 20-17 in life around turn 5, and I've got nothing but Korlashes and Oona and a Profane in my hand. MANABARBS. Then in swings Demigod of Revenge at my head. Down to 6, I cant even cast anything in my hand, he goes double Incinerate for the win.
Game 3..He jumps out again 20-19, and drops manabarbs. I drop Oona, he Flame Javelins and sac's a Mogg Fanatic to kill her. He Demigods, I cast a Sudden Death. At 9 life, I go to 6 by casting Bottle Gnomes. Hes at 10. He casts some creature, I cast Tendrils, gaining 2 (6 swamps - 4 mana). Bottle Gnomes goes 10 straight turns, with both of us unable to cast anything else due to Manabarbs/bad draws. BOTTLE GNOMES FTW!
Win 2-1
Round 4: R/G Snow Mana Ramp - Daniel
So, before this, I was 3-0 and feeling good. And then...
Game 1 - Turn 4 or 5 Colossus, no answer. Bashes for 8, 8, and dead.
Game 2 - I might have had a chance here, but played stupidly. He starts out slow, I thoughtseize him taking his Skred, and drop a 4th turn 4/4 Korlash , him having nothing in his hand that can even get in Korlash's way. He topdecks a....Spitebellows (WTF?). Alright, next turn, I drop a 5/5 Korlash...he still has nothing in his hand that can deal with him. He topdecks a....Spitebellows. Couple turns later he drops a Colossus, attaches the Warhammer, goes for my face and its over 2 turns later
Loss 0-2
Round 5: BG Elves - Grant
Game 1 - My own Bitterblossom largely does me in, as I'm forced to Damnation away the tokens once to kill CC, and a Cloudthresher takes out the 2nd batch. Colossus drops and takes off my last 7 life.
Game 2 - Have limited notes on this game, but I know it ended this way: He had 2 Treetops, a Mutavault, a 4/5 Goyf and a Civic Wayfinder in play. Im at 12, and have a 9/6 Korlash in play with Warhammer attached. I was screwed even without making this mistake, but heres the mistake I made. I don't attack with Korlash, holding him back to block. He gets lethal damage on the board, attacks, and I, STUPIDLY, think that the lifelink on Korlash will save me, not knowing that it doesnt resolve with combat damage. Ouch.
Loss 0-2
Round 6: Quick N' Toast - John
Well, 3-0 turned to 3-2 pretty quick.
Game 1 - He Mindshatters away an early Korlash a turn before I can get him in play. I largely hold serve, he gets me down to 9 before I Tendrils a Cloudthresher for 8. After that I drop an 8/8 Korlash, and he goes all the way.
Game 2 - This wasnt close. He drops an early Finks. I drop Korlash, extirpating the Finks after a block. Korlash goes to 6/6, knocking him to 16 from 22. Then 9 from 16 next turn. He concedes next turn when I BtQ for Profane Command.
Win 2-0
Round 7: Faeries - Charles
Weird, weird dude. Get the feeling he doesnt get away from the computer much.
Game 1 - This was a long, intriguing match, that started with us both getting out early Bitterblossoms. I went down, 1 at a time, from 18 to 5, then to 3, then to 1. At 1, I respond to my BB trigger with Tendrils and go to 7, and catch him with an empty hand next turn, Corrupting him for 7 with him at 8, and letting his BB kill him. Whew.
Game 2 - Also a long, but this time not as close match. He knocks me to 16 early with the Conclave. I get out a turn 2 BB, and HE NEVER GETS ONE. That was the biggest key in this match. He gets out an early Mistbind Clique to save his Vendillion Clique from combat damage, but taps out to do it. Mistbind Clique gets Corrupted for 5, and he never got control back. He amasses an army of man lands, 3 Conclaves, 2 Mutavaults. I accumulate tokens, swinging in for 2 a turn, leaving a faerie back for each of his man lands (also am holding a Sudden Death and Tendrils).
My 2 attacking faeries take him from 14 to 5 over 5 turns (he did something to one of them, cant remember). Hes at 5, I send in 7 tokens with him having three conclaves left. I attempt to Tendrils one of the Conclaves in response, he Spellstutter Sprites with the Sprite being the 4 Faerie for the counter. I Sudden Death the Sprite in play, with its trigger on the stack. I should mention at this point he has his lands in a big pile and tapped, with 1 untapped. He unstacks his lands, activates his hidden Mutavault, and counters the Tendrils, leaving him at 1. This didnt matter, as he drew nothing his next turn and conceded, but still aggravated me.
Win 2-0
Round 8: WUr Revililark (w/ Combo) - Thomas (TJ)
Game 1 - He was nice enough to wait until turn 6 to combo me, going Venser + Body Double + Garg + Revililark and bouncing all my everything.
Game 2 - Much closer...he actually might have sided out the combo (didnt see Gargs in a very long game). I get an early BB, but he kills several of my Korlashes with Sower and 0 Swamps. I eventually have out a huge Korlash and several tokens, but he has 2 Body Doubles (1 Revililark and 1 Cloudthresher) and a graveyard full of stuff to Reviliark. I spend several turns avoiding killing his Body Doubled Revililark while minimizing damage, but eventually, after I block his BD'ed 'Lark with a token and his Cloudthresher with a 7/7 Korlash, he Murderous Redcaps his fake-Reviliark, killing it, and brings back both Body Doubles as Cloudthreshers, dealing the final 4 points of damage he needs to me.
This match was very frustrating. Between 4 Thoughtseize, 2 Distress, 4 Sudden Death, and 3 Extirpate, I felt like I had a chance at winning game 2. Unfortunately, the only Thoughtseize I saw was turn 1, and was forced to take his single Raking Canopy, as I had no way to remove it, and had 4 BB in my deck. Of the rest of the cards, I did see 2 Sudden Death, but was unable to use them on his Body Double'd Lark, as that would only bring on more pain. Extirpate would have been....amazing. Never even saw a BtQ to try to fetch it.
Lost 0-2
So 5-3, probably finished around 50th or so in a 225 person field.
Deck Thoughts:
Overall, I was happy with how it played, but it just has no chance as is against Colossus or Reviliark. It absolutely rips apart everything else though...had hoped to see some Merfolk, but alas, I did not.
Individual card thoughts below:
4 Desert - they certainly did their job, killing BB tokens, other small faeries, Finks
2 Leechridden Swamp - Only really got these active in the 'Lark matchup. The CIP tapped ability only affected me once, but did prevent a turn 4 4/4 Korlash when the 'Lark deck I was playing started out slow and had no way to deal with him.
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Never searched for it...useful when it showed up, but not sure I'd want to run another.
4 Dusk Urchins - Dusk Urchins flatly won me some games...they squeeze in damage, they draw cards, they draw burn spells.
4 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade - Won most games where I grandeured with him. Probably played him too early in some matchups, hoping to rush in some damage while my opp. stalled. Didnt regenerate him once all day...which is probably a sign I need to play him differently.
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae - Oona regulated when she hit play. Won everytime I untapped with her, other couple times she or I died immediately.
4 Thoughtseize - Absolute necessity in standard for this deck IMO
4 Terror - Served their purpose, never had a creature I wanted to kill that they couldnt his (Colossus the obvious exception)
3 Bitterblossom - Should have played 4. When they are good they are great, and when they are bad, they find the SB quickly
3 Beseech the Queen - Will consider playing 4 in future post-Eventide versions. Definitely changed games when I played them
4 Damnation - Changed alot of games when it got played, but got sided out alot too. (Faeries, Lark, and Toast). Still think you have to run 4 for Colossus and that surprise game 1 Damnation, but it wasnt a power card for me in games 2 and 3 often
2 Tendrils of Corruption - Worked very well, might consider playing 3.
1 Profane Command - This card was awesome, and I regretted taking out the 2nd one this AM for a 3rd Corrupt. It killed Demigods, it returned Urchins and Korlashes, it finished off several people (of course, corrupt could do that too)
3 Corrupt - Probably just by luck, didn't really need to finish anyone with this all day. It mainy was a sorcery, 2+ mana Tendrils. Might go back to 2 in future versions.
1 Loxodon Warhammer - This was not useful at all. AT ALL. Surprised me too, but I never needed to bash through Faerie tokens, and never needed the lifegain in a situation where I had a creature to bash with. Couldnt tutor it up to play defense with either. Probaby just too expensive given what else is at 6 mana, and too slow for a 3 and 4 turn play.
4 Bottle Gnomes - As much fun as it was to beat down RDW with them, they did little for me against Colossus.
3 Extirpate - Only boarded them in twice. They wrecked Kitchen Finks in the Toast matchup, and didnt show up for Revililark.
1 Bitterblossom
2 Distress - Everyone says to take out this card, but I love it, and it helped against Faeries and Lark and Toast. I didnt play it as a 2-drop often, but usually as a "Distress, take you counterspell, Corrupt or Profane you FTW"
4 Sudden Death - Invaluable against Faeries, didnt do much if anything in any other matchup
1 Loxodon Warhammer - Rarely brought it in, didnt use it when I did.
3 Sudden Spoiling
3 Extirpate
3 Distress
4 Sudden Death
2 Trip Noose
Will be happy to answer any questions or reply with thoughts.
Thanks for reading
Istravis
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=127528
Thanks for kicking his ass
Just so you know, Faerie Macabre is much better Vs. Reveillark. I would probably switch them out.
Extendo
Read my Blog!
At least that deck is relatively fun to play. I'm just saying you can't ***** about a boring deck when you play faeries yourself. I'd rather play a pre-con than faeries at a competitive tournament.
EDIT: Well, just because I was curious I priced the winning list through my local shop, and it tops out as a $140 deck, which I guess is cheap anymore, but the Demigods really up the price - they also obviously up the awesome.
Commander
Ezuri, Renegade Leader (Aggro/Combo - Favorite)
Skullbriar, the Walking Grave (Sac and Grave hijinks)
Azusa, Lost but Seeking (Landfall hijinks)
Kaalia of the Vast (Heavily modded)
Standard
Waiting for Innistrad...
Extended
Hah!
Modern
Living End Cascade (RGB)
Legacy
Burn
Vintage
None
Casual
WB Aggro-Control
Green Stompy
Pink Floyd (UWr Wall Control)
Lunch Box (Fatty ramp)
D-Bag (White Control)
Level 13 Task Mage
b) magus of the moon is "cheaper" than brine elemental lock.
c) rdw is by far.. BY FAR.. the most BORING DECK TO PLAY ever. period. i tried it once and was bored after the 3rd game. every single person that tries it at my local shop is done within 2-3 weeks because they're already bored with it. the way you talk about faeries proves that you've never played it, so you're basically lying. faeries is the only deck i've ever played that i didnt get bored with after 3months... 6months.. 9months. still not the least bit bored w/ the deck. i'm sorry you could never afford it, its a very fun deck to mod and play with. keep making that decision of burn to the face, or burn that creature. real fun.
at this rate, you're just further proving the mouth-breather theory.
constructed record**: 191 - 81 - 8 68.2%
limited record *****: 65 - 33 - 2 65%
my dci
my trade stuffs
current decklist ***
Proud Supporter of...
GWU Rock
obviously completely unable to play constructed w/o cryptic command. i'd be lost w/o you, baby.
Someone's mad that RDW won...
If a player knows the metagame well enough, it can be the correct choice. The only time I'd ever consider playing RDW myself would be at an FNM or something similar where I could guarantee that I knew at least 90% of the field would be Faeries. I do agree with you here, that RDW is normally a very poor choice for a tournament. BUT. One thing you have to remember (and I don't know where you live so I could be slightly out of line here...) is that the local players of any large-scale tournament, regardless of skill, tend to have a rather large effect on the outcome because versions of decks and metagames tend to have unique little niches in each region. Look at Japanese Grand Prix's for example. I can't remember the last time a non-resident has won a Japanese Grand Prix. There are other factors involved, yes (travel, costs, barriers in language and other things), but a large part of it has to do with unique metagames.
How is Brine Lock cheap? It takes a lot of skill to pilot efficiently, especially against competent players. I fail to see how one of the most skill-intensive decks I've seen in a little while (Pickles, not Magus) is "cheap". Is it because you fail to effectively play around the lock? Because you can't see the lock coming? Did you just have bad beats against the lock? There are tons of ways to beat a pickles deck. Tons of them. That's one of the reasons I quit that deck so long ago (and because I just liked Teachings more, for its power and enjoyability).
Magus might be "cheap" in the sense that it can single-handedly shut down a deck that isn't properly prepared for it, but it is none-the-less a very powerful and popular card, both of which means you should prepare yourself against it.
I both agree and disagree with you here. I agree that (personally, I think) RDW is an un-fun deck to play. There are, however, a lot of people who hate playing control decks, or any deck that isn't aggressively structured. I have a few good friends of mine (who are great players, and have money'd at numerous American GP's an continue to Top 8 PTQ's) who swear by their aggressively-based decks, like Domain Zoo, Gruul, and the original Sligh before all of them. I disagree with them because I do not find aggro decks to be entertaining and they also do not give me the ability to just outplay and trap my opponents like many Blue decks do. However, I disagree with your degrading comments towards these "mouth-breathers", simply because you disagree with their deck playing choices and style. Just because you suffered some bad beats you do not have the right to insult these people. If you just said something like "I went playing faeries but got trounced by that annoying Magus all day. Oh well. It's a game of luck and skill." I'm sure most people wouldn't even have much of a quarrel with you if you said something like that. It's just your arrogant, self-righteous tone of entitlement that is aggravating us.
--Edit--
Sarnath'd by Mikey
Tyler Winn is one of the best players in the state of Kentucky, Hes top8'ed Many different big money events in Louisville, the fact that he won isn't a fluke. I know the guy could pilot any T2 deck in the field, because hes that good. He knew faeries and merfolk were going to be the most played decks, and he prepared accordingly, all of Team Ramrod (except Neeley) were playing RDW For a reason.
Also, did it ever accur to you that he might have been a better player?
Extendo
Read my Blog!
So you're mad because he got good matchups and metagamed correectly? Guess what? Faeries and merfolk malk up like 2/3 of the metagame. So you're mad because he metagamed correctly? I suppose a faeries player doesn't really know what metagaming is since the deck never changes.
So you're mad because magus is "cheap"? I have an idea, play this card from future sight. I think it's called slaughter pact. It requires no mana to kill a creature that isn;t black and then during your upkeep you have to pay 2 and a black. I hear it kills magus good.
Faeries is the least fun deck to play in the history of magic. Let's see, let's look at a typical game:
does my opener have bitterblossom or visions? No? Mull. Yes? Keep. If visions gets countered or blossom gets blown up, scoop the game.
That's fun.
At least RDW requires thinking in the combat step. The only hard part about faeries is mulling. And that comes down to whether or not you have 3 lands and a blossom or visions. The only matchup that requires thinking is the mirror-match. That matchup comes down to who gets more blossoms and 3 cryptic commands.
Also, I love how you just presume that I can't afford faeries. Wanna know what? I could if I really desired to. Instead, I built decks that are fun to play like merfolk and reveillark. you know, decks that I can stand playing 4 or 5 rounds of FNM with.
And I don't understand you calling people "mouth breathers". yeah, I breath through my mouth. So what?
And I heard that Shuhei Nakamura made that RDW list. Is he a kentucky "mouth breather" too? Oh wait, that's right, he's one of the best players in the world. People play RDW because of the metagame, not because they have no playskill. I think if you were good at metagaming properly you would have not scrubbed out against all the kentucky retards. Unfortunately, you're stuck in your little faerie bubble and can't escape.
WTF? Uhh, seriously, I hate faeries as much as the next guy, but your statement couldn't be farther from the truth.
1. Faeries is still one of the most powerful decks in the format. Yes, it's the most boring deck to play in the history of the game ever. It STILL is incredibly powerful.
2. RDW is boring and, in some cases, very easy to play. However, in the right meta, it can be very good. The list that won this event was good and had a good pilot. His match-ups may have been lucky, but results don't lie.
3. Everyone in this entire thread needs to CALM DOWN. This is the Kentucky Open, people. It's not a Pro Tour. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, it's absolutely meaningless. I'm not saying that the results don't matter at all, but just that you all don't need to scream at each other and have a cow over them.
Read my Constructed column on Star City, Thirst for Knowledge!
View my MTGS-era TFK articles here!
Actually you have to admit that it's pretty amazing that RDW won this tournament. It's hard enough to win at FNM with the deck. I know that I definitely couldn't win with this deck at a big tournament.
EDIT> (Hopefully I'm not adding fuel to a fire.)
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)It's a good deck in my opinion. IMO, it should only lose to lark. But depending on pilots, it can lose to anything.
Awesome banner and avatar thanks to spiderboy4 from highlight studios!
I don't really disagree with you, see.
What bothers me is that this thread is basically fives pages of people *****ing at each other about RDW and Faeries. A tournament of this insignificance should not cause this much drama.
Read my Constructed column on Star City, Thirst for Knowledge!
View my MTGS-era TFK articles here!
Really? Why do you think the deck sucked pre-morningtide.
Not the best deck in the format =/= sucked
Well, it wasn't a great deck. It would be outclassed by it's UG version. It got much better when it became more control oriented and slower.
I still agree that the deck doesn't scoop if it does not get bitterblossom or ancestral visions.
Awesome banner and avatar thanks to spiderboy4 from highlight studios!
Maybe I needed a better choice of words. Let me eelaborate:
The deck (Faeries of the Blue and black variety) was not capable of winning any competitive magic: the gathering tournaments before morningtide was released. In fact, it wasn't capable of winning ANY tournaments. As Darksteel Puppy pointed out the U/G version of the deck outclassed it due to it's ability to disrupt tempo while playing little 1/1 and 2/2 faeries and snakes. Once morningtide was released, hoewever, this all changed. There was this card named bitterblossom. The new breed of faeries which is more of a control deck relies on getting an early blossom or ancestral visions, and if it does not, it struggles greatly.
If anyone disagrees, go watch a mirror match sometime or something.
U/B Faeries top 8'd around 20 times at States last year. It wasn't a dominant deck by any means, but definitely capable of performing well.
Not to mention since then, Faeries has been tweaked into optimal form. Without a visions or blossom, it is MUCH weaker, no argument their, but you must be playing some bad opponents if they scoop without a visions or blossom.
And everyone knows the Faeries mirror is decided by bitterblossom, that doesn't make the same argument valid for every other matchup.