Yea, I was a little wary of posting without the sideboard, but I was still waiting on cards and stuff, so i wasn't even sure I'd be playing it before the B&R announcement.
I played a few practice games and found the curve to be fairly good, and I didn't have many issues with the mana, though I did play a few games where I ended up flooding out.
This is the current list that I will play this week at Thursday night modern (if I don't audible into Cruel Control)
I'm wanting to rebuild Faeries, and I'm going to want to squeeze a copy of this in, maybe in a Mistbind Clique slot. i don't want to run more than one, but I think it might be great. This deck likes re-buying all it's creatures
I had ideas about Thief of Sanity as well, but I think it might be too slow/small for it's cost for modern. If it was maybe 3 power I'd be more inclined to like it, but as it is, it doesn't slot into the flash/instant speed style of deck I've built for Faeries, nor does it get any of the synergies. I can see it as a sideboard choice, but there's stronger sideboard options. Keep us informed on how it performs.
I was playing a Wizard's Retort for a few weeks but found it too cute and not pulling it's weight. I replaced it with a 25th land, Field of Ruin, which I hope will help my land light draws as well as provide a small edge vs big mana decks.
I've been able to have a slightly narrow edge against Humans, though it is a very difficult match up if you fall even a little bit behind. Tron and the Eldrazi decks are a bit of a nightmare to play against, but if you aggressively mulligan to a hand that can pressure them and they get unlucky, you can pull out a win. I haven't played against much Mardu yet, but that might be a fairly even, or slightly favored match, since Bitterblossom trumps their one for one removal, and if you're aware, you can fetch around Blood Moon. Jeskai Control is another match that I haven't gotten to face, and I'm actually not sure whose favored. I used to feel Faeries was a slight favorite in the match, but no it really depends on builds, plus Jeskai got some nice stuff lately.
At the last Modern night I played, I went 2-2. I beat a Collected Company humans deck and a newer player with a deck built of draft chaff and assorted bulk rares. I lost to both Tron and GR Scapeshift/Through the Breach, never keeping an opening hand against either. I've noticed I've needed to mulligan a huge amount of one landers, which is why i moved toward playing the 25th land. I didn't want another land that could end up coming into play tapped. Playing another colorless land is a bit worrying, but at least this one can get me a basic in a pinch, and can take down some trouble some creature lands or a Tron land. I'll see how it plays and will evaluate things after.
Hello guys. Does anybody runs smuggler's copters with faeries nowadays ? If smuggler's copter still viable, when and with witch build should I run it ?
I've never like Smuggler's Copter, as it relies on you having another threat on the battlefield along side it. Paulo Vitor explained it in his article on CFB (it's a little out of date now, what with he unbannings and all), which really resonated with me.
By the way, I can see scarab god being played right now. Is he that usefel?
As for The Scarab God, I've found that it isn't that great when behind, as it's just too slow and not overly large/cheap for it's size. It does leverage a game into your favor when at parity, and just seals it up when you're ahead. I've tested it as both a single main deck copy and a single side board copy.
I'm testing Retort as I'd rather have a full stop counterspell. This isn't the most aggressive build of Faeries that can take advantage of the tempo from Remand, so I thought an actual counterspell might be better. i struggle a lot with Tron/Big mana decks, and Remanding their spell doesn't do a whole lot unless you can kill them right away.
As for Naru Meha, I don't think she's good enough for modern. If you could copy any instant or sorcery, maybe. As is though, we aren't taking advantage of the +1/+1 pump, and there's no spells in the deck that I'd want to double at a 4 mana premium.
I took the following list to Modern night and went 1-2 drop sadly. I've played this list for a few weeks now, and I'll explain the changes I want to make at the end.
I'm fairly sure this would be a good matchup for me, but it was an interesting deck to play against. Rampaging Ferocidon would be killer vs Bitterblossom.
Round 2, I played against someone who never played modern before. They had a deck that could best be described as draft chaff from Ixalan and Kaledesh blocks, tossed in a blender and poured into some really bad quality sleeves, with a couple of Nix Fleece Rams and Ball Lightnings sprinkled to taste. It wasn't particularly close. I didn't even bother sideboarding, as he didn't have a sideboard for his deck (keeping it fair).
Round 3 was against BR Hollow One. I kept a hand that would be good against their slow draws, while he mulligans to 5 on the play. One Burning Inquiry later, I'm facing 2 Hollow Ones and a Flamewake Pheonix in the graveyard, while my hand improved, but wasn't fast enough. It's not often a deck can say it won a game turn one on a mull to 5 I guess. Game two, he had a slower draw, but still had a pair of Hollow Ones and a Bloodghast off Burning Inquiry turn 4, but drew me into Cryptic Command with 4 lands open (I ended up discarding a Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Mistbind Clique along with land #5), so I bounced a Hollow One and drew Ravenous Trap. I then draw for turn and hit Damnation, so I wipe his board and Trap him, getting a fairly stocked graveyard. He doesn't get back from that, and I manage to crawl back with Jace into the game and win. Game 3, was close to start with. I managed to exile his graveyard twice with Nihil Spellbombs and kept him off early creatures, but I hadn't been able to fetch basic lands, and he dropped a Blood Moon down mid game, and was able to walk it in after that. I did draw my second basic Island, but by then it was too late. What makes it even worse was the fact that I considered boarding in Engineered Explosives, but decided against it.
This is a matchup I hate playing, mostly due to the random 'Oops it's a non game' games, and I also think it's a tough matchup for such a synergy based deck to fight.
All in all, I've been liking this build of Faeries, though I don't love the maindeck Liliana of the Veils. They've done just enough work against combo style decks, but they've been problematic for me, as it's tough to hold instant speed stuff as you start to discard. I also want to run one more 'non-conditional' removal spell to complement the one's I have, as I feel Hero's Downfall is a little slow sometimes, but it's killed enough planeswalkers to earn it's spot. i'm thinking Cast Down as a one of. I'm also thinking of testing a singleton copy of Wizard's Retort, even though I'm trying for a less counterspell centric build.
I think this is the build I'm going with for the time being:
I'm taking a new version of Faeries to Modern Night today, and was looking for opinions. Its inspired by PVDDR's list on the mothership a week or so ago.
My only major worry with the deck is that I'm running 2 more Cryptic Command's than the standard now a days. That's probably a bad decision, but I'm not really into cutting them. I thought of cutting the Hero's Downfall to run another land, but I want to test this version to see if it will be a big issue. I do like the idea of playing a 'Jund-esque' style Faeries deck, so hopefully this works out pretty good today. I do suggest reading Paulo's article, as it's the sort of higher level visibility I think Faeries needed to get on the board in modern. I'm hoping that he may do a video on CFB soon with it or something.
I went 2-2 with the list I posted above. My wins came vs a home brew Humans deck (2-0), and a GR Shamans deck (2-1). I lost to Temur Scapeshift (1-2) and RG Titanshift (0-2).
Round 1, Temur Scapeshift.
Game one, I kept a double Bitterblossom hand with 3 lands, Fatal Push, Cryptic Command, and played turn two Bitterblossom to battle a suspended Search for Tomorrow. I try to Spellstutter Sprite the Search, but he Remands the Sprite. A few turns go by, I counter a Cryptic Command tapping my creatures, and he untaps with Scapeshift and Remand backup. I never cast the second Bitterblossom, but I’m not sure if it would’ve made a difference.
Game 2, I mulligan to 6 (Jace, Dispel, 4 assorted land). He keeps a slow hand, accelerating his lands but having not pay off. I land Jace turn 4, asking if I’m just dead. He draws, plays a land and passes with nothing. I slowly take over and go on to win after many, many brainstorms.
Game 3, my hand is a bit slow, but it had a Thoughtseize and Collective Brutality. These unfortunately could not stop a top decked Scapeshift (copy 3), after I had used a Snapcaster Mage to flash back Thoughtseize and took the second copy one from his hand.
Sideboard plan: -4 Fatal Push, -1 Go for the Throat, -1 Dismember, +2 Countersquall, +1 Dispel, +2 Collective Brutality, +1 Surgical Extraction
Round 2, GR Shamans
Game 1, I mulligan to 5. Mono Islands can’t cast Fatal Push, and I lose to triple Burning Tree Emissary into Rage Forger turn 3
Game 2, I kept the board clean with a hand of double Fatal Push and a Snapcaster, then drop a Jace on turn 5 and draw more removal. Mistbind Clique flies in to win.
Game 3, another removal heavy game. The opponent gets stuck on 3 lands, and so my removal isn’t taxed by multiple creatures. He lands a Troll Ascetic, which gives me pause. We sit at a standstill for a few turns, and then he casts a Burning Tree Emissary without using Cavern of Souls. I pounce on this and Spellstutter Sprite the Emissary, and he tilts a bit. He then swings the Troll in, which winds up getting blocked by Snapcaster, and I take over from there. He concedes when I cast Jace.
Sideboard plan: -1 Logic Knot, -1 Mana Leak, -1 Cryptic Command, +1 Damnation, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Liliana, the Last Hope
Round 3, RG Scapeshift
This match was determined by mulligans on my part. It was quick, frustrating, and unexciting.
Sideboard plan: See round 1
Round 4, Homebrew Humans
Neither of us put any effort into these games, as we were both out of prizes. Game one, he kept a single Guost Quarter as his land and quickly lost. Game 2, I had Fatal Push plus Snapcaster Mage for his early guys and Vendilion Clique plus Mistbind to end it.
All in all, I was impressed by Jace being able to win the game by itself round 1, but acutely felt the absence of more counterspells vs Scapeshift. I’ve usually had 1-3 Spell Snare in my decks, which would’ve been excellent at many points (would’ve helped resolve the Spellstutter Sprite R1G1, or stopped multiple Farseek R3). I wonder if the Dismember is really even needed, as the rest of the removal seemed like enough, especially with the Snapcaster Mages. I was hoping to squeeze in a pair of Spell Snare going forward, though maybe we only want one. The other thing I encountered, was having multiple dead cards on the library from Jace, but no way to get rid of them. There was many turns where I was Brainstorming and just putting back two Bitterblossoms, or Thoughtseize and extra land. I don’t think we need more fetch lands, but it’s something to be aware off. Brainstorm doesn’t feel as broken when you only see one new card each time.
I wish I had faced some more mainstream decks, but that’s the diversity of modern I guess.
Due to card availability, I’m playing -1 Jace, +1 Fatal Push since my local store tournament doesn’t allow proxies.
I played a couple of games vs Humans (a home brew version) in between draft rounds at FNM, going 2-3. We were just playing for fun, and I made a few errors/ plays for style points. It seemed to me, that if swarm decks like that get ahead, it’s difficult to fight through and protect a Jace. Bitterblossom is one of the best cards outside of removal in the early game. Also, there’s some hard decisions in this matchup if you need to -1 Jace, as quite a few creatures have ETBs (this version had Venser, Shaper Savant).
After those few games, I’m a little unimpressed by the discard and counterspells. I know we can Jace them away, but if we don’t have a fetch, we’re just hitting them again, and they also are kinda bad to draw off the 0 ability. I know Thoughtseize is a nessisary evil sort of card, and the counterspells help in some matches, but it just didn’t feel great hitting them when digging for action cards. It’s bad enough that we have dead Bitterblossoms in the deck, which clog up the ‘brainstorms’. Opt also feels like a nessisary evil. It helps find lands, and smooth draws out, but it also sometimes feel like spinning wheels and durdling around. What if we cut the three Opt for Ancestral Vision, the Mana Leak for Snapcaster #4 or Vendilion Clique #3, leaving one counterspell for emergencies. Is there anyone who shares these sentiments?
The question you're asking is a lot closer to "how should I sideboard?" than it is "are these cards worth playing?" Did you test sideboarded games at all? Also, how did the games play out when you won vs. when you lost? You managed to pull a 40% win rate making "a few errors," and there's every reason to believe that tightening up your play and taking a larger sample size than just 5 games might see the win rate climb closer to 50%. It's rarely correct to make major changes to your deck based on one matchup.
That said, your sideboard looks like it may want to hedge a little harder against humans. 1 Damnation and 2 Collective Brutality (and Engineered Explosives I guess) aren't enough to replace all the cards you want to take out. Maybe the Liliana's Defeat (which seems super narrow, btw) gets replaced with a second Damnation or a Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet? Maybe Ravenous trap could get cut for something similar? (unless there's a bunch of dredge in your local meta)
On Opt/Ancestral in particular, I'm firmly in the opt camp. I currently run opts in the slot that I used to devote to AV, and have no plans to change that back anytime soon. Quantity of cards rarely matters to us so long as we can use the cards to buy time and keep pressing the attack. I'd rather have 1 card that I know for sure is going to buy me a turn than 3 where (more than likely) 1-2 are irrelevant lands, and I'd certainly rather have that card now than 4 turns from now.
Yea, I was too 'knee-jerk' wanting to slice out the discard spells after just a handful of games. I'll keep the list at what it is currently until I get more games in.
As for the sideboard, the Collective Brutalitys are for the Burn match, the Damnation and Explosives are for the go wide strategies (I like to have varied solutions, especially with Meddling Mage floating about). I'm testing the Liliana's Defeat (and maybe a Jace's Defeat as well), as I expect an uptick in Liliana's, and that can be especially disastrous, especially a Liliana, the Last Hope. It's an efficient card when it get brought in, and I think one is good for now. I'm also expecting lots of strategies which don't care about the unbannings (Dredge, Storm, Tron, etc), so the sideboard has hedged with the Ravenous Trap and the Ceremonious Rejections.
I added a Scalding Tarn over Bloodstained Mire, as I only have one basic Swamp, and I’d prefer if my fetches got the most possible targets. It may be better to play a 3/2 split of basics, but I’m not sure. All I know is I wanted an extra one to help vs all the Field of Ruin and Path to Exile going around.
The other questionable choice is the full 4 Cryptic Command. I’ll admit, I’m most likely wrong here, I just love this card too much.
What do you think? Is this a good way going forward?
I'm going to be kind of critical, but don't interpret that as me not liking the list. I like a lot of the choices you've made (the removal suite and manabase in particular) in this list. Think of this as me saying "based on my experience with the deck, here's some problems I could see you having." As always, though, Faeries is one of the most customizable decks you can play, and different playstyles will want different card choices. At the end of the day you play what works for you.
I've got nothing against running 4 cryptic, it's a great card. That said, 24 lands with no opt is asking to have trouble casting your 4-drops reliably. I'm not a fan of Liliana for a similar reason. You're playing 8 4-drops, so in Liliana games you're going to be "spending" a lot of powerful cards without getting any benefit from them, especially since most of them want to sit in your hand and wait for your opponent to make a move. Liliana is best when you can proactively deploy all your threats and answers before using her to mitigate the downside of her +1. It's really anti-synergistic with Jace and the Faeries package (including cryptic), which want you to be holding cards on your opponent's turn to interact.
It's been a while since I last gave the "discard talk" on here, but the gist of it is that I think discard spells are a necessary evil in this deck, not a strong point like in jund or shadow. True you get information and can proactively deal with an opponent's cards, but you're spending your time and mana to answer a card that you opponent hasn't invested any of their time or mana into, which leaves them free to deploy something else. Think of the early game against a deck like humans (traditionally aggro decks are our hardest matchups). If you T1 discard, you may be able to take their vial or champion of the parish, but they'll just be able to play something else on their turn and you'll begin falling behind on board (that's the most common reason we lose games by far). If you have a fatal push instead, then they have to commit to playing one of their creatures and you trade their entire turn for your turn answering it, which lets you maintain board parity. Discard is also a horrible draw late, while fatal push is still live. Historically, I've had a lot of success playing with no discard in the main, so even though I think it's necessary to pack some now, it's a supplement to my tempo gameplan, not a major piece of it.
If you'd asked me to re-build your maindeck, here's how I'd do it.
and I'd swap the 2 inquisitions with the 2 collective brutality. I'd also recommend playing a 3rd tar pit as a 25th land over the 3rd opt. Bringing Brutality main over inquisition allows us to treat them as duress/disfigure split cards, which takes some pressure off our removal without compromising the discard numbers (it's also a maindeck hedge against burn, since that's still not a fun matchup). This lets us cut one fatal push for an opt, and we can cut 1 thoughtseize and 1 cryptic for the other two (the cryptic and the opts will take a lot of pressure off your manabase). I'm also cutting Liliana for Mana leak, since we want to be holding up answers and forcing our opponent to take the initiative in our interactions (we're playing tempo, not aggro or midrange). You'll notice that I've cut 3 sorcery-speed cards for instants, which allows you to play the flash game that faeries is so well-known (and feared) for. If you still want the 4th cryptic, be sure to play the 25th land and then include it as a 61st card for testing. As you test you'll figure out what card is the one you want the least.
Thanks for the critique bud!
I had worries about not playing Opt, I thought about it, I tried to make it work in the current list, and just decided to go for the discard spells and be proactive. I get your point on the discard spells, and I was probably a little too focused on 'force through Bitterblossom and Jace, or take their own Jace' thinking. I also agree with your thoughts on Liliana. Looking back now, it seems like i'm trying to make the deck more Jund like, which isn't the way to go.
I'm not the hugest person for Collective Brutality though. In the past, I haven't liked it as much in the maindeck, as I'd prefer to hold up a counterspell, or a catch all removal spell, and the escalate on Brutality sometimes meant awkward positions in the early game if you needed to deal with something quick. I've found it to be sub-optimal in some matchups, such as Humans (their stuff can grow out of range, and they have few spells), U/x control decks (two mana sorcery speed half Duress is kinda mediocre), where as I'd rather as many of my maindeck cards do something, regardless of the opponent's deck. I've found that vs Burn, game 1 is still just so bad regardless of Brutality in the main (unless its 2+, then you're good).
I do want to play the full set of Cryptic Commands though, it's a personal preference (it's gotten me out of many jams, and I love the card to death). That being said, I do like your idea of playing 25 lands. I'll see if I can make that work in a future list (of course, that means I'll need a third signed foil Tar Pit #humblebag)
I took some of your advice, and although it looks weird to me to only be playing 3 Fatal Push and 3 Opt, it's completely possible that it's correct. I also hedged a bit on the counterspells. Mana Leak is good early, and Logic Knot is good late, especially with the extra fetchland and cheap spells. I may have made a mistake cutting the Inquisitions completely out, but I think Thoughtseize is the discard spell I'd want the most, and without Liliana, we won't be discarding dead copies. I think 4 discard spells looks right. It's also totally possible that I'm misinterpreting your ideas and internalizing biases, but who knows? What do you think of this new version?
Due to card availability, I’m playing -1 Jace, +1 Fatal Push since my local store tournament doesn’t allow proxies.
I played a couple of games vs Humans (a home brew version) in between draft rounds at FNM, going 2-3. We were just playing for fun, and I made a few errors/ plays for style points. It seemed to me, that if swarm decks like that get ahead, it’s difficult to fight through and protect a Jace. Bitterblossom is one of the best cards outside of removal in the early game. Also, there’s some hard decisions in this matchup if you need to -1 Jace, as quite a few creatures have ETBs (this version had Venser, Shaper Savant).
After those few games, I’m a little unimpressed by the discard and counterspells. I know we can Jace them away, but if we don’t have a fetch, we’re just hitting them again, and they also are kinda bad to draw off the 0 ability. I know Thoughtseize is a nessisary evil sort of card, and the counterspells help in some matches, but it just didn’t feel great hitting them when digging for action cards. It’s bad enough that we have dead Bitterblossoms in the deck, which clog up the ‘brainstorms’. Opt also feels like a nessisary evil. It helps find lands, and smooth draws out, but it also sometimes feel like spinning wheels and durdling around. What if we cut the three Opt for Ancestral Vision, the Mana Leak for Snapcaster #4 or Vendilion Clique #3, leaving one counterspell for emergencies. Is there anyone who shares these sentiments?
I added a Scalding Tarn over Bloodstained Mire, as I only have one basic Swamp, and I’d prefer if my fetches got the most possible targets. It may be better to play a 3/2 split of basics, but I’m not sure. All I know is I wanted an extra one to help vs all the Field of Ruin and Path to Exile going around.
The other questionable choice is the full 4 Cryptic Command. I’ll admit, I’m most likely wrong here, I just love this card too much.
What do you think? Is this a good way going forward?
I'm going to be kind of critical, but don't interpret that as me not liking the list. I like a lot of the choices you've made (the removal suite and manabase in particular) in this list. Think of this as me saying "based on my experience with the deck, here's some problems I could see you having." As always, though, Faeries is one of the most customizable decks you can play, and different playstyles will want different card choices. At the end of the day you play what works for you.
I've got nothing against running 4 cryptic, it's a great card. That said, 24 lands with no opt is asking to have trouble casting your 4-drops reliably. I'm not a fan of Liliana for a similar reason. You're playing 8 4-drops, so in Liliana games you're going to be "spending" a lot of powerful cards without getting any benefit from them, especially since most of them want to sit in your hand and wait for your opponent to make a move. Liliana is best when you can proactively deploy all your threats and answers before using her to mitigate the downside of her +1. It's really anti-synergistic with Jace and the Faeries package (including cryptic), which want you to be holding cards on your opponent's turn to interact.
It's been a while since I last gave the "discard talk" on here, but the gist of it is that I think discard spells are a necessary evil in this deck, not a strong point like in jund or shadow. True you get information and can proactively deal with an opponent's cards, but you're spending your time and mana to answer a card that you opponent hasn't invested any of their time or mana into, which leaves them free to deploy something else. Think of the early game against a deck like humans (traditionally aggro decks are our hardest matchups). If you T1 discard, you may be able to take their vial or champion of the parish, but they'll just be able to play something else on their turn and you'll begin falling behind on board (that's the most common reason we lose games by far). If you have a fatal push instead, then they have to commit to playing one of their creatures and you trade their entire turn for your turn answering it, which lets you maintain board parity. Discard is also a horrible draw late, while fatal push is still live. Historically, I've had a lot of success playing with no discard in the main, so even though I think it's necessary to pack some now, it's a supplement to my tempo gameplan, not a major piece of it.
If you'd asked me to re-build your maindeck, here's how I'd do it.
and I'd swap the 2 inquisitions with the 2 collective brutality. I'd also recommend playing a 3rd tar pit as a 25th land over the 3rd opt. Bringing Brutality main over inquisition allows us to treat them as duress/disfigure split cards, which takes some pressure off our removal without compromising the discard numbers (it's also a maindeck hedge against burn, since that's still not a fun matchup). This lets us cut one fatal push for an opt, and we can cut 1 thoughtseize and 1 cryptic for the other two (the cryptic and the opts will take a lot of pressure off your manabase). I'm also cutting Liliana for Mana leak, since we want to be holding up answers and forcing our opponent to take the initiative in our interactions (we're playing tempo, not aggro or midrange). You'll notice that I've cut 3 sorcery-speed cards for instants, which allows you to play the flash game that faeries is so well-known (and feared) for. If you still want the 4th cryptic, be sure to play the 25th land and then include it as a 61st card for testing. As you test you'll figure out what card is the one you want the least.
Thanks for the critique bud!
I had worries about not playing Opt, I thought about it, I tried to make it work in the current list, and just decided to go for the discard spells and be proactive. I get your point on the discard spells, and I was probably a little too focused on 'force through Bitterblossom and Jace, or take their own Jace' thinking. I also agree with your thoughts on Liliana. Looking back now, it seems like i'm trying to make the deck more Jund like, which isn't the way to go.
I'm not the hugest person for Collective Brutality though. In the past, I haven't liked it as much in the maindeck, as I'd prefer to hold up a counterspell, or a catch all removal spell, and the escalate on Brutality sometimes meant awkward positions in the early game if you needed to deal with something quick. I've found it to be sub-optimal in some matchups, such as Humans (their stuff can grow out of range, and they have few spells), U/x control decks (two mana sorcery speed half Duress is kinda mediocre), where as I'd rather as many of my maindeck cards do something, regardless of the opponent's deck. I've found that vs Burn, game 1 is still just so bad regardless of Brutality in the main (unless its 2+, then you're good).
I do want to play the full set of Cryptic Commands though, it's a personal preference (it's gotten me out of many jams, and I love the card to death). That being said, I do like your idea of playing 25 lands. I'll see if I can make that work in a future list (of course, that means I'll need a third signed foil Tar Pit #humblebag)
I took some of your advice, and although it looks weird to me to only be playing 3 Fatal Push and 3 Opt, it's completely possible that it's correct. I also hedged a bit on the counterspells. Mana Leak is good early, and Logic Knot is good late, especially with the extra fetchland and cheap spells. I may have made a mistake cutting the Inquisitions completely out, but I think Thoughtseize is the discard spell I'd want the most, and without Liliana, we won't be discarding dead copies. I think 4 discard spells looks right. It's also totally possible that I'm misinterpreting your ideas and internalizing biases, but who knows? What do you think of this new version?
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I played a few practice games and found the curve to be fairly good, and I didn't have many issues with the mana, though I did play a few games where I ended up flooding out.
This is the current list that I will play this week at Thursday night modern (if I don't audible into Cruel Control)
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Mistbind Clique
2 Fallen Shinobi
Enchantment
4 Bitterblossom
Land
3 Watery Grave
4 Mutavault
2 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darkslick Shores
3 Island
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
2 Remand
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
3 Opt
1 Cast Down
Sorcery
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Countersquall
2 Dispel
2 Force of Negation
2 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Liliana of the Veil
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Mistbind Clique
2 Fallen Shinobi
Enchantment
4 Bitterblossom
Land
3 Watery Grave
4 Mutavault
2 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darkslick Shores
3 Island
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
2 Nihil Spellbomb
Instant
2 Remand
4 Cryptic Command
1 Mana Leak
4 Fatal Push
1 Cast Down
Sorcery
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Mistbind Clique
4 Bitterblossom
2 Watery Grave
1 Secluded Glen
4 Mutavault
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
4 Island
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Field of Ruin
2 Swamp
1 Hero's Downfall
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
1 Cast Down
2 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Collective Brutality
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Countersquall
1 Dispel
3 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Deathmark
1 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
2 Liliana of the Veil
I was playing a Wizard's Retort for a few weeks but found it too cute and not pulling it's weight. I replaced it with a 25th land, Field of Ruin, which I hope will help my land light draws as well as provide a small edge vs big mana decks.
I've been able to have a slightly narrow edge against Humans, though it is a very difficult match up if you fall even a little bit behind. Tron and the Eldrazi decks are a bit of a nightmare to play against, but if you aggressively mulligan to a hand that can pressure them and they get unlucky, you can pull out a win. I haven't played against much Mardu yet, but that might be a fairly even, or slightly favored match, since Bitterblossom trumps their one for one removal, and if you're aware, you can fetch around Blood Moon. Jeskai Control is another match that I haven't gotten to face, and I'm actually not sure whose favored. I used to feel Faeries was a slight favorite in the match, but no it really depends on builds, plus Jeskai got some nice stuff lately.
At the last Modern night I played, I went 2-2. I beat a Collected Company humans deck and a newer player with a deck built of draft chaff and assorted bulk rares. I lost to both Tron and GR Scapeshift/Through the Breach, never keeping an opening hand against either. I've noticed I've needed to mulligan a huge amount of one landers, which is why i moved toward playing the 25th land. I didn't want another land that could end up coming into play tapped. Playing another colorless land is a bit worrying, but at least this one can get me a basic in a pinch, and can take down some trouble some creature lands or a Tron land. I'll see how it plays and will evaluate things after.
I've never like Smuggler's Copter, as it relies on you having another threat on the battlefield along side it. Paulo Vitor explained it in his article on CFB (it's a little out of date now, what with he unbannings and all), which really resonated with me.
As for The Scarab God, I've found that it isn't that great when behind, as it's just too slow and not overly large/cheap for it's size. It does leverage a game into your favor when at parity, and just seals it up when you're ahead. I've tested it as both a single main deck copy and a single side board copy.
As for Naru Meha, I don't think she's good enough for modern. If you could copy any instant or sorcery, maybe. As is though, we aren't taking advantage of the +1/+1 pump, and there's no spells in the deck that I'd want to double at a 4 mana premium.
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Mistbind Clique
Enchantment
4 Bitterblossom
Land
2 Watery Grave
1 Secluded Glen
4 Mutavault
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
4 Island
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Swamp
3 Opt
1 Hero's Downfall
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
Sorcery
2 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
Planeswalker
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Countersquall
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Dispel
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Jace's Defeat
2 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
Round 1, I played against a Naya Dinosaur deck, piloted by the resident brewer at my store. I won game one off the back of removal and Jace, the Mind Sculptor fairly easily, so I underestimated the quality of the deck.
Game two, he came out to a fast start, though I managed to stabilize at around 7 life. He had a large amount of lands and a Kessig Wolf Run, so I had to answer every creature he played, with us both top decking. I hit a land when he got a Rampaging Ferocidon and it was over.
Game three, I kept Island, Darkslick Shores, Watery Grave, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Inquisition of Kozilek, Opt, Snapcaster Mage while he mulliganed down to 6. I took Birds of Paradise with the Inquisition, leaving Collected Company, Deathgorge Scavenger, Kinjalli's Sunwing, and a pair of fetchlands. He plays his land and passes, I draw Fatal Push, play the island, and pass. He plays a Relentless Raptor, which get's Fatal Pushed, then I Opt, keeping Thoughtseize. I draw another Jace, play my third land (no more in hand), and Thoughtseize away the Deathgorge Scavenger (leaving the Collected Company, a Sunwing, and a Temple Garden, thinking I'm still in a good spot with the Snapcaster in my hand and a Fatal Push in the graveyard. I didn't want him to eat the Fatal Push, figuring that I still had a turn to worry about the CoCo. Unfortunately, the top of his deck favored him, and he found a second Deathgorge Scavenger. I found a second Jace, the Mind Sculptor on the top of mine, and fell behind, as even though I took the CoCo with a flashed back Thoughtseize, I ended up missing land #4 for a second turn in a row.
I'm fairly sure this would be a good matchup for me, but it was an interesting deck to play against. Rampaging Ferocidon would be killer vs Bitterblossom.
Sideboard Plan: -1 Liliana, the Last Hope, -1 Cryptic Command, +1 Deathmark, +1 Damnation
Round 2, I played against someone who never played modern before. They had a deck that could best be described as draft chaff from Ixalan and Kaledesh blocks, tossed in a blender and poured into some really bad quality sleeves, with a couple of Nix Fleece Rams and Ball Lightnings sprinkled to taste. It wasn't particularly close. I didn't even bother sideboarding, as he didn't have a sideboard for his deck (keeping it fair).
Round 3 was against BR Hollow One. I kept a hand that would be good against their slow draws, while he mulligans to 5 on the play. One Burning Inquiry later, I'm facing 2 Hollow Ones and a Flamewake Pheonix in the graveyard, while my hand improved, but wasn't fast enough. It's not often a deck can say it won a game turn one on a mull to 5 I guess.
Game two, he had a slower draw, but still had a pair of Hollow Ones and a Bloodghast off Burning Inquiry turn 4, but drew me into Cryptic Command with 4 lands open (I ended up discarding a Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Mistbind Clique along with land #5), so I bounced a Hollow One and drew Ravenous Trap. I then draw for turn and hit Damnation, so I wipe his board and Trap him, getting a fairly stocked graveyard. He doesn't get back from that, and I manage to crawl back with Jace into the game and win.
Game 3, was close to start with. I managed to exile his graveyard twice with Nihil Spellbombs and kept him off early creatures, but I hadn't been able to fetch basic lands, and he dropped a Blood Moon down mid game, and was able to walk it in after that. I did draw my second basic Island, but by then it was too late. What makes it even worse was the fact that I considered boarding in Engineered Explosives, but decided against it.
This is a matchup I hate playing, mostly due to the random 'Oops it's a non game' games, and I also think it's a tough matchup for such a synergy based deck to fight.
Sideboard Plan: -2 Cryptic Command, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, -1 Liliana, the Last Hope, +2 Nihil Spellbomb, +1 Damnation, +1 Ravenous Trap
All in all, I've been liking this build of Faeries, though I don't love the maindeck Liliana of the Veils. They've done just enough work against combo style decks, but they've been problematic for me, as it's tough to hold instant speed stuff as you start to discard. I also want to run one more 'non-conditional' removal spell to complement the one's I have, as I feel Hero's Downfall is a little slow sometimes, but it's killed enough planeswalkers to earn it's spot. i'm thinking Cast Down as a one of. I'm also thinking of testing a singleton copy of Wizard's Retort, even though I'm trying for a less counterspell centric build.
I think this is the build I'm going with for the time being:
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Mistbind Clique
Enchantment
4 Bitterblossom
Land
2 Watery Grave
1 Secluded Glen
4 Mutavault
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
4 Island
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Swamp
2 Opt
1 Hero's Downfall
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
1 Wizard's Retort
1 Cast Down
Sorcery
2 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Collective Brutality
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Countersquall
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Dispel
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Jace's Defeat
1 Deathmark
1 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
Creature (10)
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Mistbind Clique
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
Sorcery (5)
3 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
3 Opt
1 Hero's Downfall
Enchantment (4)
4 Bitterblossom
Land (24)
4 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Polluted Delta
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Flooded Strand
2 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Secluded Glen
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Collective Brutality
1 Ravenous Trap
1 The Scarab God
1 Damnation
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Dispel
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Liliana's Defeat
My only major worry with the deck is that I'm running 2 more Cryptic Command's than the standard now a days. That's probably a bad decision, but I'm not really into cutting them. I thought of cutting the Hero's Downfall to run another land, but I want to test this version to see if it will be a big issue. I do like the idea of playing a 'Jund-esque' style Faeries deck, so hopefully this works out pretty good today. I do suggest reading Paulo's article, as it's the sort of higher level visibility I think Faeries needed to get on the board in modern. I'm hoping that he may do a video on CFB soon with it or something.
4 Faerie Miscreant
2 Mistbind Clique
3 Scion of Oona
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Ancestral Vision
1 Burst Lightning
2 Cryptic Command
1 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Remand
1 Spell Snare
3 Vapor Snag
2 Flooded Strand
6 Island
1 Mountain
4 Mutavault
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Spirebluff Canal
1 Steam Vents
1 Electrolyze
1 Spell Snare
3 Blood Moon
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Dispel
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Magma Spray
1 Negate
2 Relic of Progenitus
I have no idea what to think of this, and kinda want to see it in action.
Round 1, Temur Scapeshift.
Game one, I kept a double Bitterblossom hand with 3 lands, Fatal Push, Cryptic Command, and played turn two Bitterblossom to battle a suspended Search for Tomorrow. I try to Spellstutter Sprite the Search, but he Remands the Sprite. A few turns go by, I counter a Cryptic Command tapping my creatures, and he untaps with Scapeshift and Remand backup. I never cast the second Bitterblossom, but I’m not sure if it would’ve made a difference.
Game 2, I mulligan to 6 (Jace, Dispel, 4 assorted land). He keeps a slow hand, accelerating his lands but having not pay off. I land Jace turn 4, asking if I’m just dead. He draws, plays a land and passes with nothing. I slowly take over and go on to win after many, many brainstorms.
Game 3, my hand is a bit slow, but it had a Thoughtseize and Collective Brutality. These unfortunately could not stop a top decked Scapeshift (copy 3), after I had used a Snapcaster Mage to flash back Thoughtseize and took the second copy one from his hand.
Sideboard plan: -4 Fatal Push, -1 Go for the Throat, -1 Dismember, +2 Countersquall, +1 Dispel, +2 Collective Brutality, +1 Surgical Extraction
Round 2, GR Shamans
Game 1, I mulligan to 5. Mono Islands can’t cast Fatal Push, and I lose to triple Burning Tree Emissary into Rage Forger turn 3
Game 2, I kept the board clean with a hand of double Fatal Push and a Snapcaster, then drop a Jace on turn 5 and draw more removal. Mistbind Clique flies in to win.
Game 3, another removal heavy game. The opponent gets stuck on 3 lands, and so my removal isn’t taxed by multiple creatures. He lands a Troll Ascetic, which gives me pause. We sit at a standstill for a few turns, and then he casts a Burning Tree Emissary without using Cavern of Souls. I pounce on this and Spellstutter Sprite the Emissary, and he tilts a bit. He then swings the Troll in, which winds up getting blocked by Snapcaster, and I take over from there. He concedes when I cast Jace.
Sideboard plan: -1 Logic Knot, -1 Mana Leak, -1 Cryptic Command, +1 Damnation, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Liliana, the Last Hope
Round 3, RG Scapeshift
This match was determined by mulligans on my part. It was quick, frustrating, and unexciting.
Sideboard plan: See round 1
Round 4, Homebrew Humans
Neither of us put any effort into these games, as we were both out of prizes. Game one, he kept a single Guost Quarter as his land and quickly lost. Game 2, I had Fatal Push plus Snapcaster Mage for his early guys and Vendilion Clique plus Mistbind to end it.
Sideboard plan: -1 Logic Knot, -1 Mana Leak, +1 Damnation, +1 Engineered Explosives.
All in all, I was impressed by Jace being able to win the game by itself round 1, but acutely felt the absence of more counterspells vs Scapeshift. I’ve usually had 1-3 Spell Snare in my decks, which would’ve been excellent at many points (would’ve helped resolve the Spellstutter Sprite R1G1, or stopped multiple Farseek R3). I wonder if the Dismember is really even needed, as the rest of the removal seemed like enough, especially with the Snapcaster Mages. I was hoping to squeeze in a pair of Spell Snare going forward, though maybe we only want one. The other thing I encountered, was having multiple dead cards on the library from Jace, but no way to get rid of them. There was many turns where I was Brainstorming and just putting back two Bitterblossoms, or Thoughtseize and extra land. I don’t think we need more fetch lands, but it’s something to be aware off. Brainstorm doesn’t feel as broken when you only see one new card each time.
I wish I had faced some more mainstream decks, but that’s the diversity of modern I guess.
Yea, I was too 'knee-jerk' wanting to slice out the discard spells after just a handful of games. I'll keep the list at what it is currently until I get more games in.
As for the sideboard, the Collective Brutalitys are for the Burn match, the Damnation and Explosives are for the go wide strategies (I like to have varied solutions, especially with Meddling Mage floating about). I'm testing the Liliana's Defeat (and maybe a Jace's Defeat as well), as I expect an uptick in Liliana's, and that can be especially disastrous, especially a Liliana, the Last Hope. It's an efficient card when it get brought in, and I think one is good for now. I'm also expecting lots of strategies which don't care about the unbannings (Dredge, Storm, Tron, etc), so the sideboard has hedged with the Ravenous Trap and the Ceremonious Rejections.
Due to card availability, I’m playing -1 Jace, +1 Fatal Push since my local store tournament doesn’t allow proxies.
I played a couple of games vs Humans (a home brew version) in between draft rounds at FNM, going 2-3. We were just playing for fun, and I made a few errors/ plays for style points. It seemed to me, that if swarm decks like that get ahead, it’s difficult to fight through and protect a Jace. Bitterblossom is one of the best cards outside of removal in the early game. Also, there’s some hard decisions in this matchup if you need to -1 Jace, as quite a few creatures have ETBs (this version had Venser, Shaper Savant).
After those few games, I’m a little unimpressed by the discard and counterspells. I know we can Jace them away, but if we don’t have a fetch, we’re just hitting them again, and they also are kinda bad to draw off the 0 ability. I know Thoughtseize is a nessisary evil sort of card, and the counterspells help in some matches, but it just didn’t feel great hitting them when digging for action cards. It’s bad enough that we have dead Bitterblossoms in the deck, which clog up the ‘brainstorms’. Opt also feels like a nessisary evil. It helps find lands, and smooth draws out, but it also sometimes feel like spinning wheels and durdling around. What if we cut the three Opt for Ancestral Vision, the Mana Leak for Snapcaster #4 or Vendilion Clique #3, leaving one counterspell for emergencies. Is there anyone who shares these sentiments?
Thanks for the critique bud!
I had worries about not playing Opt, I thought about it, I tried to make it work in the current list, and just decided to go for the discard spells and be proactive. I get your point on the discard spells, and I was probably a little too focused on 'force through Bitterblossom and Jace, or take their own Jace' thinking. I also agree with your thoughts on Liliana. Looking back now, it seems like i'm trying to make the deck more Jund like, which isn't the way to go.
I'm not the hugest person for Collective Brutality though. In the past, I haven't liked it as much in the maindeck, as I'd prefer to hold up a counterspell, or a catch all removal spell, and the escalate on Brutality sometimes meant awkward positions in the early game if you needed to deal with something quick. I've found it to be sub-optimal in some matchups, such as Humans (their stuff can grow out of range, and they have few spells), U/x control decks (two mana sorcery speed half Duress is kinda mediocre), where as I'd rather as many of my maindeck cards do something, regardless of the opponent's deck. I've found that vs Burn, game 1 is still just so bad regardless of Brutality in the main (unless its 2+, then you're good).
I do want to play the full set of Cryptic Commands though, it's a personal preference (it's gotten me out of many jams, and I love the card to death). That being said, I do like your idea of playing 25 lands. I'll see if I can make that work in a future list (of course, that means I'll need a third signed foil Tar Pit #humblebag)
4 Bitterblossom
Planeswalkers (3)
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Creatures (9)
4 Spellstutter Sprite
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Mistbind Clique
Spells (20)
4 Cryptic Command
4 Thoughtseize
3 Opt
3 Fatal Push
1 Logic Knot
1 Mana Leak
1 Go for the Throat
1 Hero’s Downfall
1 Dismember
4 Polluted Delta
4 Mutavault
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Island
2 Watery Grave
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Flooded Strand
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Swamp
2 Collective Brutality
2 Countersquall
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Dispel
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Liliana’s Defeat
1 Damnation
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Ravenous Trap
I took some of your advice, and although it looks weird to me to only be playing 3 Fatal Push and 3 Opt, it's completely possible that it's correct. I also hedged a bit on the counterspells. Mana Leak is good early, and Logic Knot is good late, especially with the extra fetchland and cheap spells. I may have made a mistake cutting the Inquisitions completely out, but I think Thoughtseize is the discard spell I'd want the most, and without Liliana, we won't be discarding dead copies. I think 4 discard spells looks right. It's also totally possible that I'm misinterpreting your ideas and internalizing biases, but who knows? What do you think of this new version?