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U/B Faeries

Modern Control Faeries UB (Dimir)

BlackShadowWolf

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Land (24)

Value (14)

Removal (6)

Counters (8)

Cantrip (4)

HandHate (4)

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Other (15)

Faeries has been a very strong archetype since it's birth, to the point where Bitterblossom was banned upon the birth of the Modern format. After seeing an unban alongside card:Wild Nacatyl back in 2014, it saw a slow start. Even now, the deck sits in Tier 3, but has defiantly proven that it can tango with the best of them, making Day 2 of a number of Grands Prix, including Oklahoma and Sao Paulo 2017, as well as placing reasonably consistently in the top 16 of many Modern MTGO Leagues. The deck is versatile enough that it doesn't need extend beyond the base, but does so if the pilot wishes to.
The short and long of it is that Faeries are considered a flexible deck, capable of tempo builds and tap-out control. A sprinkle of counter magic, ample amounts of removal, cantrips and some hand disruption, all built around Bitterblossom as the core. It is worth noting, as a reactive deck, that you will want to go on the play, as opposed to the draw. On the draw, the game is not impossible, but you don't get the same initiative, and T1 Inquisition becomes weaker.
With Bitterblossom as the core and wincon of the deck, you want to stay in the game long enough for this to come through for the win. The beauty of the advantage this card provides is that, if left unchecked, the tokens it provides deal lethal damage within 7 turns of it being on the board. Once you jam a Blossom, the gameplan switches entirely to protecting it and your investment, and doing your best to keep your opponent out of the game.

Meanwhile, Snapcaster Mage plays a role in, essentially, doubling my spell count. When all my instants and sorceries have Flashback for , and a 2/1 body, how could I say no?

Once you hit 3 mana, Vendilion Clique is a card you almost always want in your hand, as you cam remove a threat from the opposing plan, but also use it to fix your hand.

Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize form the premier discard suite, both as 3-ofs. Turn 1, both of these cards put in a lot of work, ripping threats from the opposing hand and giving you invaluable knowledge of what you need to play around with your counter spells and removal.

Of course, depending on the match up, these can either maintain their power level or feel worse to draw into, particularly against fast or midrange decks that just enter top-deck mode and are happy to sit there.

With Fatal Push 's printing, it has quickly become one of the strongest removal spells in the format.

Go for the Throat is the second conditional removal spell, but acts like an unconditional kill spell outside of the Affinity matchup.

Serum Visions 's ability to let us dig two cards down makes it a must-use in this list. Being able to see 3 cards gives you more room to breathe when trying to be proactive, or even just trying to recover a situation.

Opt also works, but tends to be better in the tempo build. Likewise, Ancestral Vision is generally strong in this kind of build, esepcially to keep us out of top-deck mode with Liliana on board, but given how slow it can feel, Serum is the cantrip of choice.

Spellstutter Sprite is the counterspell of choice for the deck. With a heavy tribal ETB, Spellstutter fluctuates in power, but can have an important effect on the game. Mutavault can boost its counter level on it's own, with Bitterblossom quickly making Spellstutter a counter-all spell.

Cryptic Command is a great counter/tempo spell. Having access to all those modes makes it a versatile spell, which allows it to be over of the most valuable spells in the deck. More often than not, the modes I've selected are Counter and Bounce, with the bounce target being either Spellstutter Sprite or Snapcaster Mage , to recycle their critical abilities.

Mana Leak is the final counter spell in the list, and very strong in the early game. However, it does get weaker as the game continues, especially against big-mana decks like Tron and Scapeshift. Remand is in the cards, but doesn't feel as strong with Bloodbraid Elf in the format.

Liliana, the Last Hope has entered the list, replacing the archetypal favourite Liliana of the Veil . From the birth of this list, I was running a 1-of Veil, but it always felt stronger in the list when I was still running Ancestral Visions. Now that I'm running a more tempo-focused list with Opt, I found the Veil's +1 hurt me just as much as my opponent, and that her -2 just made her my second most expensive removal spell. In short, I found less reason to cast her unless I was already winning or had a hand full of lands. Last Hope functions as weenie removal, perfect for the mirror, Linger Souls tokens, etc. Her -2 feels much better for me, as she can recycle all of my creatures for reasonable amounts of value.

Mistbind Clique is a wonderful card. It's one of the strongest creatures in the archetype, as a 4 mana 4/4, but of course, it doesn't end there. With the ability to champion a Faerie, you can trade in a tapped token, or a Bitterblossom that it about to kill you to get a 4/4 that TAPS YOUR OPPONENT'S LANDS. And of course, Champion doesn't target, so if your opponent wants to respond to the Champion trigger, they need to wipe all your Faeries (including Bitterblossom) off the board to keep you from having this monstrous creature.

Jace, the Mind Sculptor is the newest threat to enter the list, and fits almost too well into a control strategy. Fatesealing someone can prove to be strong, as you can lock your opponent out of seeing their threats as best you can, but this can easily be broken by simply cracking a fetchland.

His ultimate is what wins the game, and while we want to win through attrition, Jace feels like a win-more card. However, when added to the board, his presence can either help turn a poor board state around by brainstorming, or solidify a strong board state, making our attrition win all the more guaranteed.

Game one was super clean to my opponent. I got burned out super quick, being almost completely unable to deal with Eidolon of the Great Revel early enough.

Game two was another somewhat one-sided game. A turn 1 Inquisition allowed me to safely resolve a Bitterblossom early, then spend my removal to eliminated all the threats in my way.

Game three was the most one-sided of the three games, with my opponent double Lightning Bolt ing me to the face, dropping a Skred on my Spellstutter, and resolving a Hazoret the Fervent . Not finding Dismember early enough gave him the game and sealed the round.

Game one ended super early, as a turn 3 Through the Breach resulted in a 15 damage swing from a Worldspine Wurm . 'Nuff said.

Game two, a Turn 1 Inquisition revealed a pretty monstrous hand, with me opting to take away Serum Visions , as I wanted to eliminate a turn one play for my opponent, in addition to keeping her from fixing the top of her deck. Resolving a V-Clique won me the game, as my opponent wasn't able to get it off the board. It was far more valuable than I imagine, considering I didn't see a Blossom.

Game 3, I played super loose and hard, opting to keep an amazing hand with no more than a single land. Through sheer luck, I managed to find two more lands, resolve Liliana and push her to ult, while attritioning my opponent with a pair of Spellstutters. Adding insult to injury, the final spell was my Cryptic, countering a Nourishing Shoal that would have bought her an extra turn.

I lost the first game pretty convincingly, as my opponent resolved a Saheeli Rai , which I focused my combats on, then dropped a replacement Saheeli. While he didn't get to combo, burning me consistently with her plus over Blossom triggers took me out.

Games two and three went much the same way; I resolved a Bitterblossom early in both games, with Spellstutters and Ruses keeping his spells in check. Shitty as it sounds, it was kinda satisfying watching him realise that the Dispel s he sided in couldn't target my Spellstutters.

I took Game one with relative ease, as Fatal Push eliminated all the big threats my opponent tried to drop. I did use some Spellstutters, but they mostly cleaned up after my opponent had already weakened themselves.

Game two, I found myself Thoughtseize d on the draw, and lost one of the two Blossoms I'd kept in my opening hand. When my opponent didn't tap out or cast anything on their turn 2, I should have realised that there was something going on, but instead I played my second Blossom into a Stubborn Denial . Unfortunately, this was the moment I lost the game.

Game three, I kept a hand that looked good on paper; 3 lands, 2 removal spells, an Ancestral, and a Spellstutter. Unfortunately, RNGsus wasn't smiling upon me, and I struggled to draw more than lands, resulting in a heavy loss.

Between my opponent's self-attrition to power up their Death's Shadow and my consistent casting of Push, Blossom was able to pull in a W for Game one.

Game two, my opponent destroyed my Bitterblossom before it could generate more than one Faerie. When I had finally resolved another Bitterblossom to try and close out the game, Clique-ing away a Gurmag Angler gifted my opponent a Liliana, the Last Hope , which proceeded to lock me out the game.

Game three, each creature I played was removed from the board before I could get remotely close to a combat step. Eventually, he resolved an Angler, which I just couldn't deal with, giving him the game.

Being burned out early on was extremely painful, especially when a mid-game Inquisition and V-Clique revealed two Lava Spike , a Searing Blaze and a Skullcrack . I opted to remove the Blaze and a Spike, to protect the Clique, which was quick becoming my wincon. Thankfully, my opponent never targeted it, choosing to direct it all at my face. In the end, casting Brutality from hand, then flashbacking it with Snapcaster gifted me Game one.

Game two ended in a more than stellar burn, all within the first few turns. sadface

Game three, Inquisition, Brutality and Seize all pulled together to keep the burn at bay and to a minimum. Again, V-Clique came in clutch to beat in for the game, but with help from a Mutavault.

Game 1 went pretty heavily in my favour, having kept a hand composed of three lands, two Spellstutters and two Fatal Pushes. From there on, I top-decked exactly what I needed to keep the game under control, bleeding my opponent out with relative ease.

Game 2 was extremely close, with a T1 Inquisition revealing Lightning Bolt , card:Burning-Tree Emmisary, Rest in Peace , Sacred Foundry , and card:Narnum Renegade. I opted to remove the Burning-Tree so nothing else could come down, and my opponent proceeded to get stuck down to two lands for the rest of the game. Ashiok managed to steal an Experiment One , Burning-Tree and a Renegade over the course of the game, with the Burning-Tree trading with another Burning-Tree, and Experiment adding to the beatdown. Unfortunately, my T2 Bitterblossom took it's toll, and I was stuck on 3 life with no more than two Faeries and the Experiment. Upon getting my opponent down to lethal damage on the next turn, she topdecked an Atarka's Command to steal the game.

Game 3 was a blow out, with my opponent swinging for 10 damage on turn 3. I failed to draw enough removal, or a boardwipe to deal with the problem, and promptly lost.

This was an unfortunate round for a couple of reasons; first, I was paired up against someone who had already won a match; and second, I was paired against a mate who has been helping me work on the deck for GP Sydney next year. As a result, he knows the deck reasonably well, though it didn't matter, as Naya Zoo is a bad matchup for Faeries in general.

Game 1, a card:Wild Nacatyl hit the board, and proceeded to pounce. As his board grew, my deck trolled me with a chain of Serums off the top of my deck, with nothing relevant appearing off the scrys. Didn't take long for the game to end.

Game 2 went very similarly. I managed to shut down Knight of the Reliquary with a well-timed Needle, but it didn't stop him from naturally buffing the Knight, while dropping multiple Tarmogoyf s. Again, it didn't take long for him to win in straight sets.

Ordinarily, Saheeli Combo is a reasonable matchup, and this was no different. Ultimately, it was one choice in particular that lost me the round, though I'm not convinced that it was an entirely poor decision.

Game 1 ended in a loss, with my opponent attempting to bait the Cryptic I obviously had in hand with a T3 Spell Queller . Letting it resolve was the critical choice that ended the game, as I countered a card:Felidar Guardan thereafter, allowing my opponent to resolve a Saheeli Rai and proceed to deal 3 damage a turn and scry.

Game 2, I again allowed the Queller to land, as I was adamant that it wasn't as big a threat as a Saheeli or Guardian, and that I could suffer through it. The difference between games 1 and 2 is simple, I managed to play a Tarpit early, and start taking more off my opponent than he could take off me. Eventually, upon hitting the Tarpit with a Path to Exile to survive a lethal swing, I Pushed the Queller off the board, now that Revolt was active.

Game 3 was an almost play for play repeat of Game 1, with the Queller coming down to beat me over the head each turn, until my opponent assembled the combo and swung for infinite damage.

Much as allowing the Queller to resolve feels and sounds bad, I believe that it can be the right play, so long as you see either a Tarpit or multiple Mutavaults to make sure that you can deal more damage than they can.

Eldrazi Tron is easily my single worst matchup, next to burn. Having lost my other 3 games resulted in a deflated sense of confidence, so I went into the game more than prepared to lose. As a result, I lost in straight sets, missed triggers and made poor mistakes. I recognise that I should still have played it out as I would have any other game, and I'm aiming to better learn the matchup and how to beat E-Tron.
One of the players who had earned enough points to place within the prize structure decided to drop and claim his prize. This resulted in a spare slot, which gave me my only points for the day.
Game 1 was an interesting one, as my opponent burned me down to 1 very quickly, but then crashed to a halt. This was in part due to his hand slowly filling up with lands, and me Inquisitioning him at least twice after he'd tapped out. I started chipping in with Mutavault after T4, to try and put myself in a reasonable condition. My opponent topdecked the winning Searing Blaze after I put him on 1 life to match me.

Game 2, I sided out all my Bitterblossoms to board in 2 Death's Shadow , Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet , and Surgical Extraction to make the most of him both dropping hand early and burning me below 13 fairly quickly. As luck would have it, he put me down to 4, before I resolved a Shadow and failed to draw the necessary Burn or creature presence to curb Shadow's impact.

Game 3, I kept a 1-land hand of 5 card, with 2 Shadows, Kalitas, and a Serum Visions , on the play, which seemed reasonable at the time. I didn't see my second land for 4 turns, by which point, I was already very close to dead between a handful of Lightning Bolt s, a Goblin Guide , and a pair of Monastery Swiftspear s.

Game 1, I Inquisitioned my opponent to rip out Sweltering Suns and jam a Bitterblossom on curve. My opponent spent most of the game trying to assemble a Valakut win, which I disabled with a well-time Tectonic Edge activation, while I beat into him with a growing entourage of Faeries and countering the few non-lands he attempted to cast.

Game 2 went very differently, as I Inquisitioned him to spy a pair of Primeval Titan and a Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle , all of which made me a decidedly roasted duck.

Game 3 went much the same way, as I ran out of countermagic to keep Primetime off the board, and got burned out for 36.

I didn't see much of my sideboard tech, other than the Spreading Seas I brought in to turn off Valakut, which ended up making little impact on the gamestate.

I ended up paired against a mate who is joining me at the Team Modern GP in April, so we were both well-versed in the matchup.

Game 1, my opponent mulled down to 5 on the play, which was already a bad sign for him. I Inquisitioned T1 to find 2 Ghost Quarter , a Path to Exile , and a Voice of Resurgence (which I promptly ripped from his hand). He failed to resolve anything meaningful for the rest of the game, while I jammed a Bitterblossom on curve and proceeded to beat in with them and counter the few things he drew into.

At this point, I pulled out 2 Vendilion Clique s, The Scarab God , and a single Serum Visions , to bring in Damnation , 2 Nihil Spellbomb , and a Surgical Extraction . Boarding out Clique sounds like it would feel really bad, but it actually didn't. I did it under the train of thought that anything I spy in his hand with Clique is probably gonna be something I don't want to see, but I was just as likely to draw him into yet another value card, which was less than desirable. In addition, I still have Creeping Tar Pit to get in for big damage, if I need it.

Game 2 he had to mull down again, but this time to 6. I Inquisitioned him to find, among other things, an Engineered Explosives , a card:: United Will that I knew I might have to play around, and a Scavenging Ooze , which I chose. Resolving a Bitterblossom T2, with a Tar Pit and Mutavault each ready to activate, I applied more pressure in the early game than he could combat. It didn't take long for him to fold to my boardstate, even after cracking Engineered on to wipe my tokens.

This was easily the grindiest set of games I've ever played outside of facing Blue Moon.

Game 1, I dropped Bitterblossom off-curve, thanks to a T2 Remand, to get a significant foot in the game. My opponent Flashbacked Unburial Rites a few turns later, reanimating an Iona, Shield of Emeria , which was going to prove to be nothing short of painful to deal with, until he called over . While I wasn't entirely hindered by his choice, I'd spent my first few turns cantripping, which allowed me to resolve a Murderous Cut , dealing with the minor annoyance of Iona. I proceeded to chip away with my Faeries and secure a nice win.

Game 2 was frustratingly grindy, as I was forced to drop Bitterblossom off-curve by a combination of a hand of tap-lands, and another T2 Remand. I attempted to spend the next few turns trying to get a peek at my opponent's hand, only to have it Remanded back into my hand. This time, my opponent reanimated an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite before I could get my first Faerie token, which prompted me to Cut it down in my own upkeep, before the Bitterblossom trigger could resolve. Between Bitterblossom and Tar Pit, I began to chip away at my opponent, till he found his own removal, and stripped me of my threats, before hard-casting Iona and beating me down with it.

At this point, we had used our 5 turns of overtime, and were forced to take a draw.

I was paired against a regular who sold his Grishoalbrand deck off after GP Sydney. Upon arriving, he hurried together a Mono- list loaded with janky cards. I just didn't realise how janky till he cast a Phantasmal Bear .

Game 1 went about as you'd expect. I resolved a T2 Bitterblossom , and ran away with the game.

Game 2 was slightly more degenerate. I resolved a T3 Liliana of the Veil , T4 Bitterblossom , and had him scoop after I resolved a T5 Jace, the Mind Sculptor .

Got paired against a mate from my regular weekly playgroup, on his remodelled Bant Value Town list.

Game 1 was a degenerate sweep. My opponent mulled down to 3, and I had a fairly standard hand.

Game 2 was fairly similar. This time, he mulled down to just 6 cards, but kept a single land. Ultimately, he was punished for it. Never saw another land, while I ran rampant with Bitterblossom and hand disruption.

This was tough set, but one that I really enjoyed.

Game 1, I resolved the standard T2 Bitterblossom , and then failed to see much of the removal and creatures in my list. As a result, most of what I did was chump what I could, take damage I was forced to, and eventually die to my own Bitterblossom trigger.

Game 2 was completely different. I resolved a T2 Gifted Aetherborn , then top-decked the second Aetherborn, to which my opponent scooped.

Game 3, I resolved a T3 Liliana of the Veil , and followed up with Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet . After these, my opponent struggled to make it past my board state, which steadily built with each creature he lost.

This was a fun one.

Game 1, my opponent achieved something he claims he's only ever done against me; Street Wraith x3, Fetch-Shock, Death's Shadow . Lucky for me, I kept a hand with a Fatal Push . I resolved a Bitterblossom , and stole the game from there.

Game 2, I kept an amazing opening hand; Collective Brutality , Inquisition of Kozilek x2, Liliana of the Veil , Polluted Delta , Creeping Tar Pit , and Go for the Throat . My opponent got to Thoughtseize me and see the horrors that awaited him, choosing to rob me of Lili. I Inquisitioned him back, seeing Death's Shadow x2, Inquisition of Kozilek , Traverse the Ulvenwald and Verdant Catacombs . I kept him off a board state, top-decking exactly what I needed to, seeing a Darkslick Shores early, my second Lili, and Gifted Aetherborn .

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Back to Basics — April 16, 2018
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MAIN:

+1 Ghost Quarter

+3 Ancestral Vision

+3 Inquisition of Kozilek

+3 Thoughtseize

+1 Liliana of the Veil

-3 Opt

-1 Collective Brutality

-2 Remand

-1 Hero's Downfall

-1 Murderous Cut

-2 Dire Fleet Poisoner

-1 Countersquall

I've moved the list towards a more tap-out control style list. Ancestral Vision has returned to the list with the inclusion of another LotV, to keep me out of top-deck mode, while also playing into the more patient style of control.

I've cleaned up more of the one-ofs which just added to the unfortunate variance of the deck, and returned to slightly above average numbers in hand hate, to better play into the control mindset.

SIDEBOARD

+2 Collective Brutality

+1 Negate

+1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

+2 Damping Sphere

-2 Ceremonious Rejection

-1 Flaying Tendrils

-1 Surgical Extraction

-2 Death's Shadow

Much like the mainboard, the fun-ofs have come out to make the list a bit more consistent and capable of dealing with the harder match ups. Collective Brutality has moved to the sideboard because it is more specifically useful against the Burn and Control matches, and far more efficient in comparison to Death's Shadow. Similarly, Negate has been increased in numbers.

Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet has increased by 1, to better deal with the poor Dredge match up, as well as Burn and other creature-based match ups. Room has been made for Damping Sphere to deal with the other poor match up in Tron, but also to better handle Storm. This has made Ceremonious Rejection less desirable, leading to it being cut from the list.

Ach Hans, Run! It's the [Jace, the Mind Sculptor]! — Feb. 13, 2018
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Slight change — Dec. 21, 2017
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Slight change — Aug. 28, 2017
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Return to U/B — Feb. 23, 2017
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Complete Overhaul — Oct. 27, 2016
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Slight deck change, updated description — Sept. 10, 2016
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Casual

90% Competitive

Date added 8 years
Last updated 5 years
Legality

This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)

14 - 2 Mythic Rares

20 - 5 Rares

17 - 4 Uncommons

5 - 4 Commons
Cards 60
Avg. CMC 2.06
Tokens Emblem Liliana, the Last Hope, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders Modern Inspirations, Kopier, Good, Decks to Try, Modern Possibilities, Tribal
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