Unified Will and Wizard's Retort. Both represent 2 cmc counters (1U and UU) respectively, however Unified Will has a chance of being blown out on the stack if they remove your creature before it resolves, unlike Retort which does its thing once cast. I really like the idea of running more counters in the sideboard instead of main for two reasons: 1. helps us hedge against cavern of souls and ending up with dead counters in hand, and 2. allows us to transition into a tempo style of deck instead of straight aggro/burn, giving us a better chance against midrange. This is one of the main reasons as to why I prefer Ghitu Lavarunner over Monastery Swiftspear: Swiftspear often represents more damage and is generally a more powerful card, but in order to maximize her effectiveness, you usually need to tap out and send bolts to their face or burn cantrips on your turn. Lavarunner, on the other hand, represents a consistent 2 damage a turn. A bunch of my games have been played on 2 lands, holding up 1 cmc spells like DispelSpell Pierce, or Bolts. Lavarunner allows me to hold up both of my mana, bash for two, then decide on THEIR end step to bolt face, Opt, or even just hold up Negate while I clock them for 2+ every turn. Had it been a swiftspear, I would have been dealing half the damage per turn. Plus, a top-decked Lavarunner in a grindy late game is basically a Shock compared to swiftspear's 1.
Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon. Honestly I could see Magus a better choice vs tron. Moon isn't an instant-win card, since they will eventually just draw enough lands/artifacts to just hard cast Wurmcoil Engine and the like. I'm also not really a fan of Moon since it costs 3 in a deck running 16-19 lands. Moon is just disruption, Magus is disruption AND a clock. I don't have much experience playing with Moons though since I don't own them in paper, but am definitely interested in trying out Magus. Don't forget that he's a wizard.
First Match: Affinity - This was rough. Had the nuts game 1 and beat me down with a huge etched champion. Game 2 I had a Kozi's Return, but missplayed against Master of Etherium thinking it would wipe the board. Cleared his Vault Skirges but was already too low to turn it around. 0 - 2 Loss.
Second Match: Jeskai Breach Moon - My opening hand was full of fetches, a Lavarunner, and two Lavamancers. Kept it and basically played the tempo game hitting for 2 or 4 damage each turn. He dropped a blood moon turn 3, but I had a fetch ready to find an island. Game 2 was similar, except I kept a Spell Pierce in my opening hand and 2 Spirebluffs. I drew the 3rd one and kept pierce up every turn, only playing out a lavarunner and soulscar as my creatures. At one point, plays a snap and clique to block, killing both of my threats and the pierce away. Unfortunately, the clique drew me another spell pierce. The next turn he tried to Breach me, but pierced it and attacked for the win. 2 - 0 Win.
Third Match: UW Control - Had good opening hand heavy on lava runners. Opened with a serum visions, then t2 thought scoured into a lava runner. Around mid-game, she had 3 Wall of Omens against my 3 lava runners & single soul scar. A lot of turns were just attacking against the walls for 1 or 2 damage, and clearing them out with bolts. She played an Elspeth, Sun's Champion and almost stabilized. I had dealt enough incremental damage that I could finish the first game with bolt snap bolt for exactsies. Game 2 was similar, but she had a Leyline of Sanctity. My opening hand was filled with creatures and cantrips, with very little burn. I drew a single burn spell, and scoured 2 of the others into the yard, and saw 3 snapcasters. One bolt was aimed at a wall of omens to push through my lava runner and soul scar mage. Other turns I snap bolted the walls with a stormchaser mage to chip in for 2/3 more damage. The 2nd to last turn was interesting when she went to path my stormchaser. I cast a dispel (1st prowess trigger), she responds with a Spell Queller. I let it hit the board and exile the dispel, and then snap bolted the queller, adding a 2nd prowess trigger and killing the queller, which then unlocked my dispel to be cast for a 3rd prowess trigger and counter the path. In desperation she played a Jace on her turn and brainstormed for an answer, it was another path. I still had the 3rd snap for a dispel to close out the game on the swing back.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the performance of the deck. I think a 1 mana counter might be necessary in the main board, so I'm thinking about going for +2 Pierces and -2 Curios Obsessions from the SB. I don't think Blood Moon is a good sideboard card for this deck, because we rarely get to 3 mana. Right now I feel like I have a few too many cantrips, and would really like a few more cards to help out in flooding. Perhaps going up to an 18th land and maybe running 1-2 faithless lootings.
Some other ideas I've been toying with was something like "12-Bolts." Fiery Temper along with wiz light and bolt. We can have decent discard outlets in faithless looting and even Chart a Course. This also opens up Lightning Axe to deal with those creatures too big for bolts to handle.
However, I'm still a firm believer that if you want to do the one punch man kind of deck, you'd be better off playing Kiln Fiend. If you want to run Adeliz, the Cinder Wind, you probably need to splash green to have access to Mutagenic Growth, but you are already putting yourself through too many hoops for the deck to be competitive. Dropping Adeliz with a couple prowess creatures and 1-2 mutagenic growths should close out the game instantly.
With straight UR Wizards, I think the deck still does have potential, and I think we should think about this deck as tempo deck and not aggro/combo one like Kiln Fiend. We have a ton of reach through 8 bolts, but we still have to play on the board. On the contrary, Kiln Fiend decks are fairly linear other than a key turn or two (holding up a dispel then one-punching them). Decisions have to be made regarding where and when to send the bolts. Bolting their face while attacking obviously deals the most damage, but sometimes it's better to hold a bolt to kill their creature on end step. It's definitely leaning on the aggressive side of tempo (like Fish), playing an honest, fair game. This is exactly why a lot of players have been suggesting Vapor Snag somewhere in the board: it just enough disruption to sneak in some extra points of damage to close out the game.
Twisted Image is a great idea, however I worry about its usefulness on an empty board. You can cast opt/scour/visions whenever you want, but say you are on a board with just a Stormchaser Mage and a twisted image in hand. You likely don't want to cast it since you can get 2-for-1'ed by having it die to path/push while on the stack, and also turns on your opponents other burn based removal (but you'd still get to draw in this case).
So this is the list I've been running for a bit, and a few comments on some cards. Sideboard is still a WIP, but I'm pretty happy with the mainboard overall.
Ghitu Lavarunner - He's the real deal. Much better than Delver of Secrets IMO. Turned off he's a 1/2, and turned on he's a 2/2 with haste. A lot more consistent in this deck than trying to flip a delver. Also nice synergies with Thought Scour and my spicy inclusion Curious Obsession.
Grim Lavamancer - A nice 2-of. Does bad in multiples, but can really take over in longer games. Feed him with thought scour and fetches.
Electrolyze - This deck has a lot of burn going face, so we need a way to refill our hand and dump extra mana. Snap-Electrolyze costs 5 and it only comes up in the longest of games. I've been impressed with this card every time I've cast it in this deck.
Opt, Thought Scour, Serum Visions - Cantrips and prowess triggers. I included Thought Scour as a combat trick, and also something to help fuel Lavarunner, Lavamancer, and Snaps.
Curious Obsession - The spicy inclusion. This deck was really lacking ways to draw cards. Throw this on a Stormchaser, he escapes bolt range permanently (and swings as a 3/5 the turn it comes down). Even works well Lavarunner, giving you a hasty 3/3 on the ground that draws a card each hit. I really cannot stress how powerful this card is when left unchecked. Paired with your hasty threats almost guarantees that this will get at least ONE hit in. Also does well on a Soul-Scar giving the opponent a lose-lose situation when deciding how to block.
I've specifically chosen not to include Adeliz, the Cinder Wind. While I think she's a great card in some situations, I can't see the benefit of playing something like Kiln Fiend instead, and not limiting yourself to Wizards. 3 Mana is a lot in a deck which wants to chuck spells and bolts as fast as possible with a super low curve. I can agree that she is a powerhouse if you are allowed to untap with her, or situationally late game when you have a ton of extra mana to drop her and one to three extra spells. The way I see it, if you already have 2/3 other wizards and untap successfully on turn 4, you have probably already won, regardless of Adeliz.
I'm curious as to how running something like 4 Delver of Secrets w/ 4 Burst Lightnings would be instead of the Sage of Epityr and Thunderous Wrath. Burst is cheaper and has a much more easily used front side, and isn't limited to miracle only. But in the videos he does hard cast many wraths so maybe it isn't that bad. Opinions?
What do you think about Venser, Shaper Savant? I ran that guy in all my other blue tempo and jank lists and have never been sad to see him. The flexibility is crazy, bouncing un-counterable spells, big blockers, or even their land or last play on end step to put them even further behind. Bounce any permanent, including enchants, artifacts, and walkers too. He's only a 4 mana 2/2, but a 2/2 is still a clock and the bounce effect can really help you turn the corner in a race, or solidify your lead. Is he worth a test?
Pull From Tomorrow just doesn't do it in modern. It doesn't really do anything besides draw cards (unlike sphinx's revelation which essentially draws the same amount of cards, but instead gains you life and keeps you alive vs aggro), and for it to be a good card advantage engine you would need to cast it for 4-5+. Then you're competing against stuff like Mistbind Clique, or Cryptic Commmand. I think slower control or midrange lists would get a lot of benefit from running Wurmcoil Engine or even Batterskull as a top end. Even Snapcaster Mage works well for late game since Snap Leak is 4 mana, or Snap Cryptic is 6.
I think a card that expensive needs to have a larger direct impact on the board, or push us closer to winning. Baral's Expertise would work since it's an insane tempo swing and could help stabilize. Pull from Tomorrow is a bit of a "win-more" card. And if we're going that route, may as well go "classic control" instead of Faeries. But that's just my opinion.
I think we definitely need a control magic type spell in the SB somewhere. We have three options:
Sower of Temptation
+ It's a creature, can get in and do damage.
+ It's a faerie, pumping up MClique, SSS, and great synergy with Scion.
- It's a creature, dies to all relevant removal, but not Abrupt Decay.
- Not instant speed.
Vedalken Shackles
+ Repeatable, reusable control magic.
+ Instant speed-ish.
+ Artifact, meaning they will need multiple kinds of removal.
+ We are mono blue, so loaded with islands.
+ Durdle with Quickling. Janktown.
- Turns on multiple artifact removal spells if run with swords, or copter.
- Cost a lot of mana.
- Dies to AD.
What do you think is the best option here? They all clearly have their pros/cons. I'm currently testing Sower, but I think Sower might be better in a build with Scion (which I do not run). Shackles is good, but I don't want to turn on all of their artifact hate since I also run copter. That leaves threads, but the 2 cmc limitation is really scary for me because Siege Rhino.
Quick Update: I'm so far unimpressed with Pestermite, and impressed with Quickling. Have not tried Expertise, and probably wont for now.
Quickling is taking the place of Scion in my build, since it was mostly used as protection. Quickling has the advatage of costing 1 less mana, and the bounce to hand actually is a benefit on every one of my creatures (except lands and copter). So now I'm running 2 Ninjas, 2 Copters, 3 Quicklings and no Scions. I'll need to test more games and see though. If I wasn't running non-Fae like snap, ninja, venser, and copters, I could see myself going back to Scion though. Scion is great with manlands.
I think Pestermite is OK as a budget card, but the 3 drop slot really should be VClique, Scion if heavy on Fae, or Snap + 1 mana instant. I run spell snare and vapor snag in my list. Spell piece is an option too.
Also, I went full aggro mode against a slower opponent and this is how it went. He spent some turns on thoughtseize, honor of the pure, and IoK.
T1 Island, Miscreant
T2 Mutavault, Copter, Swing 1.
T3 He taps out his turn 2, Island, VClique main 1 then into the copter, swing 4 (5 total). His hand was not interactive, but I took raise the alarm to make way for mutavault.
T4 Miscreant crew, activate vault, swing 8 (13 total).
T5 He's dead on board, swing for 8 (21 total).
I guess most aggro decks want to win consistantly on turn 4. That was a legit turn 5 kill with 20 damage even through a few discard spells. So, we definitely can ditch the control part some matchups and just drop the beatdown. There might be a faster win, but I am completely satisfied with this speed since we are mono blue.
Feels like we really can go aggro or control depending on the mstchup and state: true tempo deck, unlike some other "tempo decks" out there. It's also a blast to play with so many different lines at every point.
What do you guys think about Baral's Expertise? Just some spicy inclusion I thought of. Helps against lingering souls tokens, big midrange creatures, and is generally just a huge tempo play in our favor. Could definitely give us some reach against a gummed up board when faced down against some Death's Shadow, Seige Rhino, hell even Wurmcoil Engine or a late game Tarmogoyf. I think this serves a different purpose than Cryptic Command, since you could expertise them one turn, alpha strike, then next turn cryptic tap down their team for another alpha strike. And in the other direction: t4 Cryptic Command to tap their team (and bouncing their creature isn't bad, if the tap out to replay it on main 2), save yourself some beats, then t5, alpha strike and Baral's Expertise on m1 or m2. Magical Christmas land?
I could see the cast a <4cmc part being useful to perhaps hard cast a Ninja of the Deep Hours, replay a Vendilion Clique, Pestermite or Venser, Shaper Savant, or bounce/replay our own Faerie Miscreant for an extra draw. Could also consider Cryptic Command on bounce/draw for their land or another problem permanent like a walker. It's possible to use this on a Mistbind Clique for a big 4/4, but unfortunately we miss out on the land tap down. Decks that run swords can use this tempo gain to play them efficiently and have mana + protection available next turn to equip and swing.
The synergies get stronger too, since if we have an established board with a few Fae, suddenly our SSS turn into removal spells for their previously bounced 1-3 drops, and the threat of Mistbind Clique or Pestermites on their next upkeeps further pushing them behind and forcing them to spend mana inefficiently.
Might be a stretch, but maybe a 1 of in the main or sideboard?
I can honestly say that my biggest fear with this kind of deck is sweepers. Supreme Verdict is such a problem with its uncountable clause for a mono blue deck that wants to swarm with creatures. The great thing about playing a real aggro deck is usually the early threats can provide enough of a beating early that verdict merely buys them time until a second wave or burn finishes the game. Our deck is filled with a bunch of evasive 1/1s which don't really put enough pressure on the opponent. That could be why I was a big fan of Ninja of the Deep Hours, Smuggler's Copter, and Venser, Shaper Savant, and even Unsubstantiate, because in a way they all gave me a way to hedge against verdict: by stalling another turn or just drawing enough cards to not really care.
From watching the MTGGoldfish games, as well as reading around the net, I'm starting to get more and more interested in Pestermite. It seems super flexible with tons of different uses. Tapping a key land on their upkeep, tapping a big fatty attacker or blocker, or in some cases untapping one of your own creatures to block all seem extremely useful to squeeze a few more wins out. It's also a 2/1 flyer which is much better than our 1'1s.
Another card which I'm interested in trying (but haven't yet, will do later) is Quickling. I loved using Ninja since that basically reads "1U: Draw a Spellstutter Sprite, draw a card." But similar to Smuggler's Copter it's a bit of a gamble to put him out there with no information or protection. He dies to all removal, and is actually a tempo-loss in many cases. Being a non-evasive 2/2 means he gets stonewalled by pretty much everything. Quickling vs Ninja is an interesting argument. Both cards let us rebuy a good value creature like Faerie Miscreant, Snapcaster Mage, and Spellstutter Sprite, as well as buff our 1/1s into 2/2s. Benefits of Quickling are its unconditional flash usage (vs Ninjutsu), and it's ability to save a creature in response to removal, like Abrupt Decay. Benefits of Ninja are it draws a ton of cards and can easily win the game by itself, and in some rare cases we can just hard cast this guy with no creatures in play. Quickling could be a source of card advantage and tempo by bouncing a creature in response to a removal spell. With this in mind, it seems like Quickling would be the better option, but I've won so many games on the back of a single Ninja that it's really hard to make a decision. Maybe put one or two in the side against slower decks?
Edit: You can also do some really crazy shenanigans with Quickling, like using a Mistbind Clique to champion SSS, then at a later point, cast a Quickling returning the MClique back to your hand, bringing the SSS back to counter whatever they played, only to follow up with MClique again on their upkeep (with an extra Fae for protection) again.
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner is solid. But I think it depends on the build. You are right that it doesn't help against AD, but thats it. If you are running Quicklings or Scions then you should have enough protection against that. But Kira doesn't help against sweepers, and I'd think if you already have enough single-target protection throughout the deck then it might be a sub-optimal choice. Of course, I haven't tested it myself so just my own opinions and ramblings.
You also have a great point about being too artifact heavy if you decide to go the sword + copter route, plus sideboard cards. I'd argue you should only play one or the other: say 2-4 copters, or 1-3 swords, but never both, and never swords + scions. Swords fall into the same category as Ninjas. They are insanely good when they do work, but often a single removal spell or interaction from the opponent can put us way behind. Sword of Feast and Famine is good against the big stuff decks in the format, giving us ways to handle Siege Rhino, Tarmogoyf, Death's Shadow, and friends, but of course they could just AD the sword. Favorable Winds is funny, but I don't know if it does enough on it's own for modern.
Currently, I'm preparing a decklist to try online. This time, +3 pestermites, and +3 quicklings taking the place of -2 copters, -2 Ninjas, -1 Venser, and -1 Vapor Snag.
If you want an aggro synergy deck with control elements have you looked at something like u/w or bant spirits?
Alternatively you could check out u/r fae for a tempo list.
I'm also considering UW spirits. Disruptive flash creatures is the reason why I started with Fae. I started off in modern with a budget UR Delver list and threw in 4 SSS for fun, but ended up enjoying that card the most. I've also been trying to find some resources about UR Fae, but unfortunately most resources are 404'd, inactive, or very very dated. I really want to enjoy UB because it seems like the best version, but it just feels too slow/grindy for my own personal taste.
It seems like UB Fae is very flexible and has a number of ways it can be tuned either for the pilot's play style or expected meta. Looking at a number of different lists, it seems like a lot of people tend to go towards the slower, midrange-like version which wants to grind grind grind. My current modern deck is Mono U Fae which definitely plays more aggro and proactive than UB Faeries. I've tried UB online and am still forming my opinion on it, though.
So just a bit of a thought experiment for the more experienced players/brewers/pilots: If you were to build a list which strayed away from the UB Grind style, what would that look like? Say, a strict UB Aggro list, or tempo variant. As an example: instead of going for grinders like Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Liliana of the Veil, we'd opt for Vapor Snag and Remand. Is Bitterblossom even good here? 7 turns is a lot for an "aggressive" deck in my opinion.
Unified Will and Wizard's Retort. Both represent 2 cmc counters (1U and UU) respectively, however Unified Will has a chance of being blown out on the stack if they remove your creature before it resolves, unlike Retort which does its thing once cast. I really like the idea of running more counters in the sideboard instead of main for two reasons: 1. helps us hedge against cavern of souls and ending up with dead counters in hand, and 2. allows us to transition into a tempo style of deck instead of straight aggro/burn, giving us a better chance against midrange. This is one of the main reasons as to why I prefer Ghitu Lavarunner over Monastery Swiftspear: Swiftspear often represents more damage and is generally a more powerful card, but in order to maximize her effectiveness, you usually need to tap out and send bolts to their face or burn cantrips on your turn. Lavarunner, on the other hand, represents a consistent 2 damage a turn. A bunch of my games have been played on 2 lands, holding up 1 cmc spells like Dispel Spell Pierce, or Bolts. Lavarunner allows me to hold up both of my mana, bash for two, then decide on THEIR end step to bolt face, Opt, or even just hold up Negate while I clock them for 2+ every turn. Had it been a swiftspear, I would have been dealing half the damage per turn. Plus, a top-decked Lavarunner in a grindy late game is basically a Shock compared to swiftspear's 1.
Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon. Honestly I could see Magus a better choice vs tron. Moon isn't an instant-win card, since they will eventually just draw enough lands/artifacts to just hard cast Wurmcoil Engine and the like. I'm also not really a fan of Moon since it costs 3 in a deck running 16-19 lands. Moon is just disruption, Magus is disruption AND a clock. I don't have much experience playing with Moons though since I don't own them in paper, but am definitely interested in trying out Magus. Don't forget that he's a wizard.
Izzet Staticaster should really be in all SB! Crazy good synergy with Soul-Scar Mage and Grim Lavamancer.
3x Electrolyze
4x Ghitu Lavarunner
2x Grim Lavamancer
2x Island
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Mountain
3x Opt
3x Polluted Delta
4x Scalding Tarn
4x Serum Visions
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Soul-Scar Mage
3x Spirebluff Canal
3x Steam Vents
4x Stormchaser Mage
3x Thought Scour
2x Vapor Snag
4x Wizard's Lightning
1x Redirect
2x Dispel
2x Kozilek's Return
1x Magma Spray
1x Molten Rain
2x Negate
2x Smash to Smithereens
3x Spell Pierce
1x Vapor Snag
First Match: Affinity - This was rough. Had the nuts game 1 and beat me down with a huge etched champion. Game 2 I had a Kozi's Return, but missplayed against Master of Etherium thinking it would wipe the board. Cleared his Vault Skirges but was already too low to turn it around. 0 - 2 Loss.
Second Match: Jeskai Breach Moon - My opening hand was full of fetches, a Lavarunner, and two Lavamancers. Kept it and basically played the tempo game hitting for 2 or 4 damage each turn. He dropped a blood moon turn 3, but I had a fetch ready to find an island. Game 2 was similar, except I kept a Spell Pierce in my opening hand and 2 Spirebluffs. I drew the 3rd one and kept pierce up every turn, only playing out a lavarunner and soulscar as my creatures. At one point, plays a snap and clique to block, killing both of my threats and the pierce away. Unfortunately, the clique drew me another spell pierce. The next turn he tried to Breach me, but pierced it and attacked for the win. 2 - 0 Win.
Third Match: UW Control - Had good opening hand heavy on lava runners. Opened with a serum visions, then t2 thought scoured into a lava runner. Around mid-game, she had 3 Wall of Omens against my 3 lava runners & single soul scar. A lot of turns were just attacking against the walls for 1 or 2 damage, and clearing them out with bolts. She played an Elspeth, Sun's Champion and almost stabilized. I had dealt enough incremental damage that I could finish the first game with bolt snap bolt for exactsies. Game 2 was similar, but she had a Leyline of Sanctity. My opening hand was filled with creatures and cantrips, with very little burn. I drew a single burn spell, and scoured 2 of the others into the yard, and saw 3 snapcasters. One bolt was aimed at a wall of omens to push through my lava runner and soul scar mage. Other turns I snap bolted the walls with a stormchaser mage to chip in for 2/3 more damage. The 2nd to last turn was interesting when she went to path my stormchaser. I cast a dispel (1st prowess trigger), she responds with a Spell Queller. I let it hit the board and exile the dispel, and then snap bolted the queller, adding a 2nd prowess trigger and killing the queller, which then unlocked my dispel to be cast for a 3rd prowess trigger and counter the path. In desperation she played a Jace on her turn and brainstormed for an answer, it was another path. I still had the 3rd snap for a dispel to close out the game on the swing back.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the performance of the deck. I think a 1 mana counter might be necessary in the main board, so I'm thinking about going for +2 Pierces and -2 Curios Obsessions from the SB. I don't think Blood Moon is a good sideboard card for this deck, because we rarely get to 3 mana. Right now I feel like I have a few too many cantrips, and would really like a few more cards to help out in flooding. Perhaps going up to an 18th land and maybe running 1-2 faithless lootings.
Some other ideas I've been toying with was something like "12-Bolts." Fiery Temper along with wiz light and bolt. We can have decent discard outlets in faithless looting and even Chart a Course. This also opens up Lightning Axe to deal with those creatures too big for bolts to handle.
However, I'm still a firm believer that if you want to do the one punch man kind of deck, you'd be better off playing Kiln Fiend. If you want to run Adeliz, the Cinder Wind, you probably need to splash green to have access to Mutagenic Growth, but you are already putting yourself through too many hoops for the deck to be competitive. Dropping Adeliz with a couple prowess creatures and 1-2 mutagenic growths should close out the game instantly.
With straight UR Wizards, I think the deck still does have potential, and I think we should think about this deck as tempo deck and not aggro/combo one like Kiln Fiend. We have a ton of reach through 8 bolts, but we still have to play on the board. On the contrary, Kiln Fiend decks are fairly linear other than a key turn or two (holding up a dispel then one-punching them). Decisions have to be made regarding where and when to send the bolts. Bolting their face while attacking obviously deals the most damage, but sometimes it's better to hold a bolt to kill their creature on end step. It's definitely leaning on the aggressive side of tempo (like Fish), playing an honest, fair game. This is exactly why a lot of players have been suggesting Vapor Snag somewhere in the board: it just enough disruption to sneak in some extra points of damage to close out the game.
4x Ghitu Lavarunner
2x Grim Lavamancer
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Soul-Scar Mage
4x Stormchaser Mage
Instants
3x Electrolyze
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Opt
4x Thought Scour
4x Wizard's Lightning
4x Serum Visions
Enchants
2x Curious Obsession
Lands
2x Island
2x Mountain
3x Polluted Delta
4x Scalding Tarn
3x Spirebluff Canal
3x Steam Vents
2x Abrade
2x Blood Moon
1x Dismember
2x Dispel
2x Electrickery
1x Magma Spray
2x Negate
1x Smash to Smithereens
2x Spell Pierce
Ghitu Lavarunner - He's the real deal. Much better than Delver of Secrets IMO. Turned off he's a 1/2, and turned on he's a 2/2 with haste. A lot more consistent in this deck than trying to flip a delver. Also nice synergies with Thought Scour and my spicy inclusion Curious Obsession.
Grim Lavamancer - A nice 2-of. Does bad in multiples, but can really take over in longer games. Feed him with thought scour and fetches.
Electrolyze - This deck has a lot of burn going face, so we need a way to refill our hand and dump extra mana. Snap-Electrolyze costs 5 and it only comes up in the longest of games. I've been impressed with this card every time I've cast it in this deck.
Opt, Thought Scour, Serum Visions - Cantrips and prowess triggers. I included Thought Scour as a combat trick, and also something to help fuel Lavarunner, Lavamancer, and Snaps.
Curious Obsession - The spicy inclusion. This deck was really lacking ways to draw cards. Throw this on a Stormchaser, he escapes bolt range permanently (and swings as a 3/5 the turn it comes down). Even works well Lavarunner, giving you a hasty 3/3 on the ground that draws a card each hit. I really cannot stress how powerful this card is when left unchecked. Paired with your hasty threats almost guarantees that this will get at least ONE hit in. Also does well on a Soul-Scar giving the opponent a lose-lose situation when deciding how to block.
I've specifically chosen not to include Adeliz, the Cinder Wind. While I think she's a great card in some situations, I can't see the benefit of playing something like Kiln Fiend instead, and not limiting yourself to Wizards. 3 Mana is a lot in a deck which wants to chuck spells and bolts as fast as possible with a super low curve. I can agree that she is a powerhouse if you are allowed to untap with her, or situationally late game when you have a ton of extra mana to drop her and one to three extra spells. The way I see it, if you already have 2/3 other wizards and untap successfully on turn 4, you have probably already won, regardless of Adeliz.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-98-57-tix-thunderous-wizards-modern
His budget list:
4 Serum Visions
4 Ghitu Lavarunner
4 Sage of Epityr
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Soul-Scar Mage
2 Chart a Course
3 Adeliz, the Cinder Wind
4 Stormchaser Mage
4 Wizard's Lightning
4 Thunderous Wrath
4 Shivan Reef
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Spirebluff Canal
4 Island
4 Mountain
1 Negate
3 Tormod's Crypt
4 Spell Pierce
3 Searing Blood
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Roast
And non-budget list:
4 Serum Visions
4 Ghitu Lavarunner
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Soul-Scar Mage
2 Chart a Course
3 Adeliz, the Cinder Wind
4 Stormchaser Mage
4 Wizard's Lightning
1 Thunderous Wrath
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
4 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
4 Island
1 Mountain
1 Negate
3 Blood Moon
3 Spell Pierce
3 Searing Blaze
2 Smash to Smithereens
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Echoing Truth
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
I'm curious as to how running something like 4 Delver of Secrets w/ 4 Burst Lightnings would be instead of the Sage of Epityr and Thunderous Wrath. Burst is cheaper and has a much more easily used front side, and isn't limited to miracle only. But in the videos he does hard cast many wraths so maybe it isn't that bad. Opinions?
I think a card that expensive needs to have a larger direct impact on the board, or push us closer to winning. Baral's Expertise would work since it's an insane tempo swing and could help stabilize. Pull from Tomorrow is a bit of a "win-more" card. And if we're going that route, may as well go "classic control" instead of Faeries. But that's just my opinion.
Sower of Temptation
+ It's a creature, can get in and do damage.
+ It's a faerie, pumping up MClique, SSS, and great synergy with Scion.
- It's a creature, dies to all relevant removal, but not Abrupt Decay.
- Not instant speed.
Vedalken Shackles
+ Repeatable, reusable control magic.
+ Instant speed-ish.
+ Artifact, meaning they will need multiple kinds of removal.
+ We are mono blue, so loaded with islands.
+ Durdle with Quickling. Janktown.
- Turns on multiple artifact removal spells if run with swords, or copter.
- Cost a lot of mana.
- Dies to AD.
Threads of Disloyalty
+ Cheapest of the bunch
+ Hits important cards like Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, Death's Shadow.
+ Enchantment is hard to remove for some decks.
- Only grabs CMC 2 or less.
- Not instant speed.
- Dies to AD.
What do you think is the best option here? They all clearly have their pros/cons. I'm currently testing Sower, but I think Sower might be better in a build with Scion (which I do not run). Shackles is good, but I don't want to turn on all of their artifact hate since I also run copter. That leaves threads, but the 2 cmc limitation is really scary for me because Siege Rhino.
Quickling is taking the place of Scion in my build, since it was mostly used as protection. Quickling has the advatage of costing 1 less mana, and the bounce to hand actually is a benefit on every one of my creatures (except lands and copter). So now I'm running 2 Ninjas, 2 Copters, 3 Quicklings and no Scions. I'll need to test more games and see though. If I wasn't running non-Fae like snap, ninja, venser, and copters, I could see myself going back to Scion though. Scion is great with manlands.
I think Pestermite is OK as a budget card, but the 3 drop slot really should be VClique, Scion if heavy on Fae, or Snap + 1 mana instant. I run spell snare and vapor snag in my list. Spell piece is an option too.
Also, I went full aggro mode against a slower opponent and this is how it went. He spent some turns on thoughtseize, honor of the pure, and IoK.
T1 Island, Miscreant
T2 Mutavault, Copter, Swing 1.
T3 He taps out his turn 2, Island, VClique main 1 then into the copter, swing 4 (5 total). His hand was not interactive, but I took raise the alarm to make way for mutavault.
T4 Miscreant crew, activate vault, swing 8 (13 total).
T5 He's dead on board, swing for 8 (21 total).
I guess most aggro decks want to win consistantly on turn 4. That was a legit turn 5 kill with 20 damage even through a few discard spells. So, we definitely can ditch the control part some matchups and just drop the beatdown. There might be a faster win, but I am completely satisfied with this speed since we are mono blue.
Feels like we really can go aggro or control depending on the mstchup and state: true tempo deck, unlike some other "tempo decks" out there. It's also a blast to play with so many different lines at every point.
Im on mobile so sorry for the formstting.
I could see the cast a <4cmc part being useful to perhaps hard cast a Ninja of the Deep Hours, replay a Vendilion Clique, Pestermite or Venser, Shaper Savant, or bounce/replay our own Faerie Miscreant for an extra draw. Could also consider Cryptic Command on bounce/draw for their land or another problem permanent like a walker. It's possible to use this on a Mistbind Clique for a big 4/4, but unfortunately we miss out on the land tap down. Decks that run swords can use this tempo gain to play them efficiently and have mana + protection available next turn to equip and swing.
The synergies get stronger too, since if we have an established board with a few Fae, suddenly our SSS turn into removal spells for their previously bounced 1-3 drops, and the threat of Mistbind Clique or Pestermites on their next upkeeps further pushing them behind and forcing them to spend mana inefficiently.
Might be a stretch, but maybe a 1 of in the main or sideboard?
Edit: Ancestral Visions is an option too.
From watching the MTGGoldfish games, as well as reading around the net, I'm starting to get more and more interested in Pestermite. It seems super flexible with tons of different uses. Tapping a key land on their upkeep, tapping a big fatty attacker or blocker, or in some cases untapping one of your own creatures to block all seem extremely useful to squeeze a few more wins out. It's also a 2/1 flyer which is much better than our 1'1s.
Another card which I'm interested in trying (but haven't yet, will do later) is Quickling. I loved using Ninja since that basically reads "1U: Draw a Spellstutter Sprite, draw a card." But similar to Smuggler's Copter it's a bit of a gamble to put him out there with no information or protection. He dies to all removal, and is actually a tempo-loss in many cases. Being a non-evasive 2/2 means he gets stonewalled by pretty much everything. Quickling vs Ninja is an interesting argument. Both cards let us rebuy a good value creature like Faerie Miscreant, Snapcaster Mage, and Spellstutter Sprite, as well as buff our 1/1s into 2/2s. Benefits of Quickling are its unconditional flash usage (vs Ninjutsu), and it's ability to save a creature in response to removal, like Abrupt Decay. Benefits of Ninja are it draws a ton of cards and can easily win the game by itself, and in some rare cases we can just hard cast this guy with no creatures in play. Quickling could be a source of card advantage and tempo by bouncing a creature in response to a removal spell. With this in mind, it seems like Quickling would be the better option, but I've won so many games on the back of a single Ninja that it's really hard to make a decision. Maybe put one or two in the side against slower decks?
Edit: You can also do some really crazy shenanigans with Quickling, like using a Mistbind Clique to champion SSS, then at a later point, cast a Quickling returning the MClique back to your hand, bringing the SSS back to counter whatever they played, only to follow up with MClique again on their upkeep (with an extra Fae for protection) again.
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner is solid. But I think it depends on the build. You are right that it doesn't help against AD, but thats it. If you are running Quicklings or Scions then you should have enough protection against that. But Kira doesn't help against sweepers, and I'd think if you already have enough single-target protection throughout the deck then it might be a sub-optimal choice. Of course, I haven't tested it myself so just my own opinions and ramblings.
You also have a great point about being too artifact heavy if you decide to go the sword + copter route, plus sideboard cards. I'd argue you should only play one or the other: say 2-4 copters, or 1-3 swords, but never both, and never swords + scions. Swords fall into the same category as Ninjas. They are insanely good when they do work, but often a single removal spell or interaction from the opponent can put us way behind. Sword of Feast and Famine is good against the big stuff decks in the format, giving us ways to handle Siege Rhino, Tarmogoyf, Death's Shadow, and friends, but of course they could just AD the sword. Favorable Winds is funny, but I don't know if it does enough on it's own for modern.
Currently, I'm preparing a decklist to try online. This time, +3 pestermites, and +3 quicklings taking the place of -2 copters, -2 Ninjas, -1 Venser, and -1 Vapor Snag.
I'm also considering UW spirits. Disruptive flash creatures is the reason why I started with Fae. I started off in modern with a budget UR Delver list and threw in 4 SSS for fun, but ended up enjoying that card the most. I've also been trying to find some resources about UR Fae, but unfortunately most resources are 404'd, inactive, or very very dated. I really want to enjoy UB because it seems like the best version, but it just feels too slow/grindy for my own personal taste.
So just a bit of a thought experiment for the more experienced players/brewers/pilots: If you were to build a list which strayed away from the UB Grind style, what would that look like? Say, a strict UB Aggro list, or tempo variant. As an example: instead of going for grinders like Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and Liliana of the Veil, we'd opt for Vapor Snag and Remand. Is Bitterblossom even good here? 7 turns is a lot for an "aggressive" deck in my opinion.