@Cricco89 I looked at the most recent list you posted and it was the one with the twin sideboard and did not include a Tasigur on page 135. Is that the right list? If so, what did you cut to make room for Tasigur, and were there any other changes to made? Congratulations on your recent result!
^ Personally, I would advocate for the second list if you are just learning to play Fae. It's a tricky deck to pilot and there are a lot of subtle interactions. The first list seems less consistent with all the one ofs. That's not to say it looks bad by any means though. Since there are so many ways to build a faeries deck it's best to pick the version you are most excited about and play the hell out of it. Once you do that you'll be able to make better decisions about versions/cards that fit your play-style better.
How do you guys feel about edict effects? Like Geth's Verdict or Gatekeeper of Malakir? I don't think these are mentioned at all in the primer or in recent deck lists outside of Liliana of the Veil. I find that Deadguy Ale is pretty great at keeping the enemy board down to 1-2 creatures at a time, and edicts punish that board state so wonderfully.
I've played with gatekeeper a little bit. He wasn't bad, but he competes with Lili for the 3 drop edict spot and getting triple black was a little tricky in my build. Geth's Verdict is something that I have only played in the sideboard. I liked it there, but was nervous about main decking it for fear of souls and pyromancer tokens. I'd be curious to know if anyone else has tried it.
- No, thats not a typo: I am trying out good old Sorin, Lord of Innistrad over Sorin, Solemn Visitor. I'm quite unsure of this, but here is my reasoning: he makes tokens with his +1, so he protects himself. Contrast with Solemn Visitor, who makes tokens with -2. But, I am thinking I will switch over to Solemn Visitor for the lifelink, which the deck really needs. We lose a lot of life with Dark Confidant, Thoughtseize, Dismember, and the lands. Lord of Innistrad makes 1/1 lifelink tokens, but its not quite enough. Thoughts?
- The sideboard is a toss up - I am trying to shore up decks / cards I am soft to, but there is literally no way to cover all of the bases. There is a strong argument that certain cards should be dropped in favor of others. This is me throwing my hands up in the air.
- Thoughts on Murderous Cut? I chose Dismember over it, because I can potentially use Dismember on turn 1 to kill mana dorks, which you def can't do with Murderous Cut. The problem, of course, is the life loss on Dismember. Burn is currently competing with Junk as the most popular deck (at least on Magic Online it is, which is what I play). Dismember, along with the large amounts of life loss in the deck, can bite us in the butt in that matchup. So I'm torn. Thinking about putting Cut in the sideboard
1. I Think you'll end up liking Solemn Visitor a lot more. The deck does a good job at protecting him and the lifelink is extremely valuable.
2. Sideboarding can be real tricky since we have access to so many great cards. As you play your meta more you can fine tune it. The one thing I doubt you'll need is canonist. With all our disruption and disenchant, storm shouldn't pose much of a problem. I would suggest some number of Stony Silence and Celestial Purge for that spot.
3. I would not run Cut and Confidant in the same deck. Losing 5 to reveal a removal spell you might not be able to cast doesn't feel good. I do think it would be fine as a 1 of in the Bob-less versions of Dead Guy.
I've been running Timely Reinforcements to help with the burn match. 6 life and 3 bodies goes a long way, especially if you live the dream of following it with a Sorin. I had Leylines, but I just never saw them in my opener and I would make bad mulling decisions to try and find them.
Each time i've played against affinity, souls and spot removal keep me in game 1. Game 2 Stony Silence usually wins on the spot. I still bring in disenchant just in case.
Against tron it is tough, but winnable. Our discard goes a long way in each game, then Fulminator can usually keep them off Tron while you attack or setup walkers. Rain of Tears isn't a bad budget replacement for Fulminator if you are worried about Tron. The one upside of rain is that it can even hit basics if the need ever arises.
Here's where I'm at SB wise right now. I would appreciate any feedback/suggestions about cards or my numbers. The idea is to be prepared for a large, open meta.
So with the new metagame starting to take shape, what do we feel are our worst matchups? I'm reworking my sideboard a bit and want to make sure I'm using my spaces optimally. Burn has always been an issue, but I'd like to know what other decks you all think are difficult for us to answer without SB help. It's the blessing and the curse of playing such a non-linear deck, that sometimes, you feel like any matchup could be fine if you see the right card sequence.
How is the new Sorin? I always liked the Innistrad one.
Is Monastery Mentor actually good?
The new Sorin is fantastic. I recommend him to anyone trying to make this archetype work, especially if more aggressive decks are in your meta.
I haven't had a chance to test Mentor. I don't know if he has as much impact as out other 3 drop choices. I'd love to hear from someone who has actually tested with him though.
Yea I think I'm gonna have to go up to 2 Sorin and see how it feels. It feels blasphemous to cut Batterskull, but each time I saw it I thought to myself "I wish you were a Sorin right now."
^ I'm really digging this list. I too have been thinking about adding red. Mostly for the reach, but also to one day live the dream of casting souls while I have a pyromancer out. Red also gives us Thundermaw out of the board, which might be worth considering if your meta is full of Junk players.
I don't think that adding the red splash necessarily requires its own thread for discussion. We've always been a grindy value deck, and that's what these all look like to me.
@attractor: Thanks for the encouragement to try Sorin. I've been running him in my Baneslayer spot and I'm loving it!
I've noticed a couple lists that aren't running cryptic. I'm new to fae(finally got my 4th BB!), but I always thought that faeries and command went together like peanut butter and jelly. I'd be interested in getting some of your opinions on CC in fae. Is it sub par in newer lists or is it just a matter of personal preference/deck style? Thanks in advance.
Wow you're right! Our lists are very close. The one I'm running the same list I was able to top 8 with at Oregon's modern state championships last fall, with some minor tweaks. I will definitely give Sorin a try. He seems really nasty even if all you have out is a couple souls.
I, too, am curious about how well Mana Tithe actually performs. I never got a set because I figure the application is too narrow. What with Mana Leak being basically useless after turn six or so, I've always been leery of taxing counters that tax for even less.
I was very impressed with Mana Tithe. With all the hand disruption we run it can be extremely effective. By taking something with a Thoughtseize or an IOK and leaving them with cards they have to play on curve, it often felt like I was taking two cards from them. In game 1 your opponents never see it coming and can lead to some huge blowouts. Then in game 2 I will usually board them out for something more specialized, but your opponent then has play around it, slowing them down considerably. Obviously it becomes less relevant as the game progresses, but that's what are rats are for right?
If anyone else has a chance to try it out let me know what you're experience is.
P.S. I stole the Mana Tithe idea from a buddy of mine who was able to win the Modern States event with it in his mainboard
Played at a small 14 man event tonight with the list posted below. Ended up going 2-1, which is not amazing, but oh well. I'm really liking the list so far and it feels good to cast hand disruption again. I'm sure I'll be tweaking things a bit as the meta gets straightened out, but I highly recommend this list or, something similar to it.
I'd be interested in getting people's experiences with tide hollow lately. I used to run him, but didn't find myself missing it at all tonight.
I totaly think Monastery Mentor could have a spot in the deck. Seems really good with all the discard and removal spells aswell as Lingering Souls. We just need a cheap instant that gains enough value on it's own so that we can play it to protect the Mentor and get a little two-for-one action. I'm a big fan of Darkblast and Zealous Persecution myself but they might be too situational. Also if Monastery Mentor is to replace Pack Rat, Honor of the Pure could be a thing.
I was thinking of it more as a Brimaz replacement. Having 8 Pack Rat equivalents would be an amazing trump in the midrange matchups.
Should have looked a little bit back in the thread. I echo this sentiment. MM turns our discard into guys late game. Sure he is more fragile than Pack Rat, but we have plenty of ways to protect him with our hand disruption. Will have to test to see how well it works in practice, but I think this guy has a place in really grindy decks.
That's a good point. Not sure how I overlooked one of the best removal spells ever printed, but my mind blanked on it when considering the changes to the meta.
From my point of view, the correct line would be the "old" UR Twin. Just because with junk being the most possible tier 1 which dominates the format other strategies like affinity and tron will appear again (appart from others like the new breachshift) and the UR Tempo version has a better matchup against them. Of course thinking on the sideboard vs junk we have strong options on game 2, like having 2/3 blood moons, 1/2 batterskulls and 1/2 keranos, helped for 2 vendilion cliques and a couple cryptics from the main deck and making the tempo win a real possibility.
For sure I am talking about a list that will start with 4 pestermites, 2 exarchs and 4 snapcaster mages
I don't think UR twin is more "correct" than Tarmo Twin necessarily. Sometimes the best answer to a Goyf is a Goyf of your own.
I've played with gatekeeper a little bit. He wasn't bad, but he competes with Lili for the 3 drop edict spot and getting triple black was a little tricky in my build. Geth's Verdict is something that I have only played in the sideboard. I liked it there, but was nervous about main decking it for fear of souls and pyromancer tokens. I'd be curious to know if anyone else has tried it.
1. I Think you'll end up liking Solemn Visitor a lot more. The deck does a good job at protecting him and the lifelink is extremely valuable.
2. Sideboarding can be real tricky since we have access to so many great cards. As you play your meta more you can fine tune it. The one thing I doubt you'll need is canonist. With all our disruption and disenchant, storm shouldn't pose much of a problem. I would suggest some number of Stony Silence and Celestial Purge for that spot.
3. I would not run Cut and Confidant in the same deck. Losing 5 to reveal a removal spell you might not be able to cast doesn't feel good. I do think it would be fine as a 1 of in the Bob-less versions of Dead Guy.
Each time i've played against affinity, souls and spot removal keep me in game 1. Game 2 Stony Silence usually wins on the spot. I still bring in disenchant just in case.
Against tron it is tough, but winnable. Our discard goes a long way in each game, then Fulminator can usually keep them off Tron while you attack or setup walkers. Rain of Tears isn't a bad budget replacement for Fulminator if you are worried about Tron. The one upside of rain is that it can even hit basics if the need ever arises.
Here's where I'm at SB wise right now. I would appreciate any feedback/suggestions about cards or my numbers. The idea is to be prepared for a large, open meta.
2 Kor Firewalker
1 Timely Reinforcements
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Celestial Purge
1 Rest in Peace
1 Wrath of God
1 Damnation
1 Zealous Persecution
2 Disenchant
1 Stony Silence
The new Sorin is fantastic. I recommend him to anyone trying to make this archetype work, especially if more aggressive decks are in your meta.
I haven't had a chance to test Mentor. I don't know if he has as much impact as out other 3 drop choices. I'd love to hear from someone who has actually tested with him though.
I don't think that adding the red splash necessarily requires its own thread for discussion. We've always been a grindy value deck, and that's what these all look like to me.
@attractor: Thanks for the encouragement to try Sorin. I've been running him in my Baneslayer spot and I'm loving it!
If anyone else has a chance to try it out let me know what you're experience is.
P.S. I stole the Mana Tithe idea from a buddy of mine who was able to win the Modern States event with it in his mainboard
I'd be interested in getting people's experiences with tide hollow lately. I used to run him, but didn't find myself missing it at all tonight.
4 Pack Rat
4 Dark Confidant
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Baneslayer Angel
Instants/Sorceries:21
4 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Path to Exile
1 Dismember
1 Smother
4 Lingering Souls
3 Mana Tithe
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Batterskull
Land:24
4 Marsh Flats
2 Windswept Heath
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Godless Shrine
1 Isolated Chapel
2 Plains
2 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Mutvault
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Vault of the Archangel