Has anyone had recent success with running 4 thoughtseize mainboard? I feel like between fatal push, mana leak, and spellstutter sprite we have a lot of interaction in the early game and with Low CMC decks in general, but big mana decks continue to be a serious issue. I realize that the life loss is not insignificant and drawing multiple can sting, but I feel like it can be mitigated with some Collective Brutality in the mainboard, as well.
Previously I was running 4x IoK mainboard, but I think I'm going to switch to 4x Thoughtseize and see how it affects things. I'm also curious to know if anyone has tips for beating Eldrazi Tron. I feel like pre-board is heavily in their favor, and I'm not even sure what's best to bring in against them. Right now I feel comfortable using 2x Ceremonious Rejection, 2x Go for the Throat, and 2x Damnation, but I'm wondering if there are more narrow cards that just make the match-up more manageable.
Looking over this particular decklist, I really like that they minimized the number of potential dead draws by playing a pretty even removal/counter/discard assortment with the full 4x serum vision main board. Starting with game 2, the deck looks like it has a lot of room to swap into whatever package is most effective without severely changing the game plan. I also really like that the risk of untimely citp-tapped lands is somewhat mitigated by playing a couple of river of tears. I haven't yet played with the card, and I'm sure I'll make mistakes, but it definitely seems powerful.
I'm still learning the ins and outs of the deck, but I think my biggest challenge is sideboarding correctly. It's usually pretty obvious which cards come in, but it can be tough to know what comes out. Is it ever correct to mess with the faerie counts? Or do you really only tinker with the spells?
Finally, I think I'm going to make a slight change to the list I posted by replacing one mistbind and the murderous cut with a faerie harbinger and one nameless inversion. I'm sure that's too cute to actually work in practice, but I feel like an almost-vampiric-tutor with legs could be decent in a counter heavy build. I'll keep you guys posted!
Has anyone tried running Faerie Harbinger with any kind of success? I feel like there is some merit to having a pseudo "fifth BB" that we can cast end of turn, while holding up counter magic. I often find myself making it to turn 4+ without seeing a BB and being able to tutor for one at instant speed seems like it could be good. I think I'm going to give it a shot.
Hey guys! Long-time lurker, first time poster that just played my first modern tournament this weekend piloting U/B Faeries! It was an awesome introduction to the format and I played 6 rounds, finishing 3-2-1. I'll work on uploading the list that I played, but it was one of the high-ranked list posted on MTGGoldfish within the past month.
Here's a brief tournament recap (hopefully I'll take better notes as I keep playing!):
Round 1: Burn (L 1-2)
Talk about an introduction to modern! Turn 1 Goblin guide and we are off to the races! I remember I kept a relatively interactive hand and was able to Fatal Push one or more creatures before Spellstutter Sprite-ing a burn spell and then landing a Mistbind. I won a very close Game 1.
Game 2 he keeps a 2 land hand with 4 one drops and I quickly lose to some hasty beats.
Game 3 was a little bit more even. I believe I played inquisition turn 1 and took away 1 of 2 goblin guides in his opener. After that I landed a bitterblossom and proceeded to get very close to winning, but it finally came down to him topdecking a burn spell for 3 damage, and we all know that's what burn does best.
Round 2: U/B Mill (W 2-0)
After a pretty tough first round, this match up was pretty soft. My opponent was a really nice guy who didn't have all the pieces for his deck and had to play a couple of sub-optimal budget cards. After a Jace's Phantasm gave me a scare in the first couple of turns, I found a fatal push and then landed a Vendilion Clique that cleared out his remaining milk spell. This match-up definitely makes you pay more attention to land sequencing when playing around archive trap.
Round 3: Norin Sisters (Draw)
This was a really weird match that I don't remember very well because it went on forever. Game 1 he had 3 Soul Wardens on the field by turn 3 and I played a bitterblossom to keep him off of attacking me with an army of 1/1's. What I didn't realize was that my army of faeries could only barely out-run his lifegain, and I eventually lost when I alpha-striked with perfectly lethal, and he topdecked a path for my tar pit. That one stung.
Game 2 was very strange because I still didn't really understand what I was playing against (it was my first modern tournament!), but it finally made sense when he played a turn 1 Norin the Wary and then landed a Purphoros. Needless to say I was in big trouble, but I was able to cryptic bounce and then tap his lands down with a Mistbind to buy enough time for a win.
Game 3 started off way in my favor, but we went to turns and I couldn't close it out in time.
Round 4: Merfolk (W 2-0)
Even though I won both games, I feel like this was a really tough matchup. Between aether vial and cavern of souls, I really felt like half of my deck was dead cards. Unfortunately my opponent was still new to the deck, so I was able to win some games that didn't really feel like victories (he traded his team for a manland and some faerie tokens, and then he played spreading seas on a non-basic and then died to a manland the next turn). This definitely feels like a tricky matchup.
Round 5: Bant Spirits (L 0-2)
These games were miserable. Game 1 he played cavern into the curse catcher spirit, another on turn 2, and drogskol captain on turn 3. My hand of mana leaks and spellstutter sprites was sorely mismatched.
Game 2 I landed a bitterblossom and felt like I might be able to get into things, but a spell queller nabbed my mistbind and he flashed in a rattlechains when I went to catch him with a murderous cut the following turn. Rough beats!
Round 6: Mono Black Something? (W 2-0)
This was another pretty easy match. Game 1 my opponent kept a weak hand and I played inquisition into bitterblossom. After looking at his hand, he was on some kind of crazy graveyard strategy with bloodghasts and demigod of revenge. After tar pits made quick work of a pair of Lilianas, I eventually rode bitterblossom to victory.
Game 2 I sided in leyline of the void and opened a hand with two of them. Luckily i decided to only play one, as he wrench mind-ed me the following turn. I stuck another turn 2 bitterblossom and it seemed like his deck never really took off.
All things considered, I had a really fun time playing the deck. Modern is definitely an awesome format and I felt really excited to play a deck that felt like it had a lot of game against a lot of decks. Aether Vial/Cavern decks definitely feel like a tough matchup, but I'm hoping I can tune the deck to perform a little bit better with a proper sideboard.
Speaking of sideboards, I could definitely use some help with common sideboarding plans. I ran 4x serum visions maindeck and often found myself siding them out, but that feels like it must have been wrong. I was always pleased to draw into my Collective Brutalities, and leyline seems like it would be great against dredge and other strategies, but are there any good ways to shore up the matchups where counter magic is bad?
On a final note, I was really impressed every time I drew snapcaster mage (I ran 2), as buying back a mana leak felt like innistrad standard, and even replaying a discard spell felt like good value. Are any builds running more than 2? How does that feel for people?
Anyways, long story short, Faeries is a sick deck and I hope I can get better and help others as well! Thanks guys!
I just finished reading your blog and checking out the visual spoilers. Very cool concept, and I'm very excited to build one myself. How many basic energy typically make it into 50 card draft decks? And is 50 the magic number for draft decks?
Would you mind sharing your list? I've been trying to build a tribal cube for a while, and I had similar concerns that you seemed to address. I'd love to see your choices for cards to eliminate/create drafting tension
Has anybody tested Jace in this deck? I can't afford the Tezzerets at the moment, but I've got 3 Jace's sitting around, and I'd love to put them to good use...I realize that his abilities might not be exactly what we're looking for, but I still think he can do a lot for us. Any thoughts?
Has anyone considered Darklit Gargoyle? It seems to be a perfect fit in this deck, and with tempered steel out you can pump all of your unused mana to make him a huge threat in the air
Previously I was running 4x IoK mainboard, but I think I'm going to switch to 4x Thoughtseize and see how it affects things. I'm also curious to know if anyone has tips for beating Eldrazi Tron. I feel like pre-board is heavily in their favor, and I'm not even sure what's best to bring in against them. Right now I feel comfortable using 2x Ceremonious Rejection, 2x Go for the Throat, and 2x Damnation, but I'm wondering if there are more narrow cards that just make the match-up more manageable.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/610009#paper
Looking over this particular decklist, I really like that they minimized the number of potential dead draws by playing a pretty even removal/counter/discard assortment with the full 4x serum vision main board. Starting with game 2, the deck looks like it has a lot of room to swap into whatever package is most effective without severely changing the game plan. I also really like that the risk of untimely citp-tapped lands is somewhat mitigated by playing a couple of river of tears. I haven't yet played with the card, and I'm sure I'll make mistakes, but it definitely seems powerful.
I'm still learning the ins and outs of the deck, but I think my biggest challenge is sideboarding correctly. It's usually pretty obvious which cards come in, but it can be tough to know what comes out. Is it ever correct to mess with the faerie counts? Or do you really only tinker with the spells?
Finally, I think I'm going to make a slight change to the list I posted by replacing one mistbind and the murderous cut with a faerie harbinger and one nameless inversion. I'm sure that's too cute to actually work in practice, but I feel like an almost-vampiric-tutor with legs could be decent in a counter heavy build. I'll keep you guys posted!
Here's a brief tournament recap (hopefully I'll take better notes as I keep playing!):
Round 1: Burn (L 1-2)
Talk about an introduction to modern! Turn 1 Goblin guide and we are off to the races! I remember I kept a relatively interactive hand and was able to Fatal Push one or more creatures before Spellstutter Sprite-ing a burn spell and then landing a Mistbind. I won a very close Game 1.
Game 2 he keeps a 2 land hand with 4 one drops and I quickly lose to some hasty beats.
Game 3 was a little bit more even. I believe I played inquisition turn 1 and took away 1 of 2 goblin guides in his opener. After that I landed a bitterblossom and proceeded to get very close to winning, but it finally came down to him topdecking a burn spell for 3 damage, and we all know that's what burn does best.
Round 2: U/B Mill (W 2-0)
After a pretty tough first round, this match up was pretty soft. My opponent was a really nice guy who didn't have all the pieces for his deck and had to play a couple of sub-optimal budget cards. After a Jace's Phantasm gave me a scare in the first couple of turns, I found a fatal push and then landed a Vendilion Clique that cleared out his remaining milk spell. This match-up definitely makes you pay more attention to land sequencing when playing around archive trap.
Round 3: Norin Sisters (Draw)
This was a really weird match that I don't remember very well because it went on forever. Game 1 he had 3 Soul Wardens on the field by turn 3 and I played a bitterblossom to keep him off of attacking me with an army of 1/1's. What I didn't realize was that my army of faeries could only barely out-run his lifegain, and I eventually lost when I alpha-striked with perfectly lethal, and he topdecked a path for my tar pit. That one stung.
Game 2 was very strange because I still didn't really understand what I was playing against (it was my first modern tournament!), but it finally made sense when he played a turn 1 Norin the Wary and then landed a Purphoros. Needless to say I was in big trouble, but I was able to cryptic bounce and then tap his lands down with a Mistbind to buy enough time for a win.
Game 3 started off way in my favor, but we went to turns and I couldn't close it out in time.
Round 4: Merfolk (W 2-0)
Even though I won both games, I feel like this was a really tough matchup. Between aether vial and cavern of souls, I really felt like half of my deck was dead cards. Unfortunately my opponent was still new to the deck, so I was able to win some games that didn't really feel like victories (he traded his team for a manland and some faerie tokens, and then he played spreading seas on a non-basic and then died to a manland the next turn). This definitely feels like a tricky matchup.
Round 5: Bant Spirits (L 0-2)
These games were miserable. Game 1 he played cavern into the curse catcher spirit, another on turn 2, and drogskol captain on turn 3. My hand of mana leaks and spellstutter sprites was sorely mismatched.
Game 2 I landed a bitterblossom and felt like I might be able to get into things, but a spell queller nabbed my mistbind and he flashed in a rattlechains when I went to catch him with a murderous cut the following turn. Rough beats!
Round 6: Mono Black Something? (W 2-0)
This was another pretty easy match. Game 1 my opponent kept a weak hand and I played inquisition into bitterblossom. After looking at his hand, he was on some kind of crazy graveyard strategy with bloodghasts and demigod of revenge. After tar pits made quick work of a pair of Lilianas, I eventually rode bitterblossom to victory.
Game 2 I sided in leyline of the void and opened a hand with two of them. Luckily i decided to only play one, as he wrench mind-ed me the following turn. I stuck another turn 2 bitterblossom and it seemed like his deck never really took off.
All things considered, I had a really fun time playing the deck. Modern is definitely an awesome format and I felt really excited to play a deck that felt like it had a lot of game against a lot of decks. Aether Vial/Cavern decks definitely feel like a tough matchup, but I'm hoping I can tune the deck to perform a little bit better with a proper sideboard.
Speaking of sideboards, I could definitely use some help with common sideboarding plans. I ran 4x serum visions maindeck and often found myself siding them out, but that feels like it must have been wrong. I was always pleased to draw into my Collective Brutalities, and leyline seems like it would be great against dredge and other strategies, but are there any good ways to shore up the matchups where counter magic is bad?
On a final note, I was really impressed every time I drew snapcaster mage (I ran 2), as buying back a mana leak felt like innistrad standard, and even replaying a discard spell felt like good value. Are any builds running more than 2? How does that feel for people?
Anyways, long story short, Faeries is a sick deck and I hope I can get better and help others as well! Thanks guys!
I just finished reading your blog and checking out the visual spoilers. Very cool concept, and I'm very excited to build one myself. How many basic energy typically make it into 50 card draft decks? And is 50 the magic number for draft decks?