After testing this deck for the past several weeks and fine tuning it to a degree I will now provide a detailed description of the deck and how its intended to play out.
First, this decks foundation is Faeries. I have tailored the deck to be counter heavy and to rely on my cards for slow and steady win. I want to maximize the utility of my cars and I want the hard counters, therefore I do not play Mana Leak or Spell Pierce in this deck. Finally, I want to do nearly everything on my opponents turn.
Lets Start with the creatures:
Spellstutter Sprite is used to counter my enemies shenanigans and provide additional defense if its needed. It works well with Bitterblossom and Mutavault. It's biggest strength is its ability to be played on my opponents turn. I also like using it as a combo with
Familiar's Ruse
and Cavern of Souls.
Vendilion Clique if you don't know the versatility of this card then you haven't been around long enough. This card is great in a pinch and can be used either to rip a card from my opponent or help me get something better than what I have. Also its a great card to start an offensive attack with because it has flash.
Scion of Oona
is there to save my Faeries in a pinch. I initially ran 4 of these but it proved to be lackluster in its over all performance. Running one of these though ensures that I can shroud an important Faerie to have an answer for an Abrupt Decay or Lightning Bolt.
Snapcaster Mage, initially I was against playing this card in this deck because I wanted it to be a straight Faerie tribal deck. I soon realized that it was more a Wizard tribal deck and decided there was a place for it. Once again, if you haven't seen this card and know what it does then you've been living under a rock. It has a lot of potential to shine in this deck because of the many instants I play. Particularly, I enjoy playing
Familiar's Ruse
in combination with this card with Cavern of Souls. I play the Snapcaster Mage which cant be countered play the
Familiar's Ruse
returning the Snapcaster Mage to my hand. Like the title suggests, I like the ability to reuse my cards multiple times, and this is one of the cards that allows me to do it. I also enjoy the ability to play it on my turn or my opponents.
Mistbind Clique is great for turning off Bitterblossom if its hurting me to much. It's also a nice 4/4 flyer to have out for offense and defense. Finally, it has flash allowing me to play on my opponents turn.
Instants and Sorcery:
Familiar's Ruse
is just an awesome counter to have in this deck. It allows me the opportunity to replay my creatures giving me a chance to reuse their abilities, which can come in handy. Also it is a hard counter for 2U. The downside is that if I don't have a creature I cannot play it, but Mutavault comes in handy to rectify that problem or a Faerie token. Ideally I want to target Snapcaster Mage,Spellstutter Sprite, or even Vendilion Clique to maximize the benefits of this card.
Dispel is a great card and hits many things I want to counter for just 1U. I can't count how many times I have countered a Cryptic Command with this or another vital instant like Collected Company. This is a great target for Snapcaster Mage as well.
Spell Snare is there to counter a lot of cards generally encountered in modern such as Tarmogoyf.
Damnation is a single in the main deck because I encounter a lot of token decks in my meta and Collected Company decks. I also have 2 in the sideboard to bring in against these decks. I really want to see this card in those match ups.
Geth's Verdict
was chose over other creature control because I want a way to deal with creatures such as Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. I also like it because it does not target a creature.
Disfigure is there to have a cheap instant that can handle an early threat.
Murderous Cut is a singleton in the deck because it has the potential to be cast for 1B and kills any creature that can be targeted and destroyed.
Inquisition of Kozilek is run to get a glimpse of my opponents hand and get an early advantage. I did not go heavy on discard and only run 2 of these currently. If I see it early it is nice but not necessary.
Cryptic Command is what it is. Not as powerful as it once was but still deserving a place within this deck. With a cc of 4 it is kind of expensive but being able to draw and counter off one card is worth the cc.
Mana Leak is a great counter and I have tried the deck a lot with Remand. Remand was good, but I have decided to test out Mana Leak. This because in the end I'd rather have countered it to begin with than give my opponent the opportunity to cast it later. Mana Leak also has it's set backs but I hope they are less than Remand.
I do not play Thoughtseize because of the aggressiveness of the current meta. I reduce my life loss caused by my actions as much as possible.
Enchantments and Artifacts:
Sword of Light and Shadow
is run to negate the negative aspects of Bitterblossom. It also gives me another route to reuse my creatures if they get killed or countered by my opponent. I will note that every time I have equipped this sword I have won the match.
Sword of Fire and Ice
is ran to provide a draw engine and increase the swiftness of my faeries. Equipped to Vendilion Clique I can do 8 damage to my opponent per turn potentially and generally I have a swarm of faeries already by this point.
Which of these swords is better in this deck is currently unclear, though I feel each is equally strong and serves a unique purpose within it.
Bitterblossom you cannot play Faeries unless you play this. This is the bread and butter of the deck. Churning out faeries every turn building an army of flying tokens with a
Scion of Oona
or a sword equipped brings a lot of pain to my opponent. Though the current meta has many answers my deck responds in kind to ensure the safety of my swarm.
Land
Secluded Glen
is used because its nice to have a dual colored land that comes in play untapped.
Sunken Ruins
is nice to have so I can filter land into the combination I need and it also comes into play untapped.
Drowned Catacomb is played because it has the potential to come in play untapped as well.
Cavern of Souls is there to ensure all my Wizards land ensure that their effects go off.
Pendelhaven
this is a card I had not thought about playing in this deck but some people suggested it to me on several occasions and the more I thought about it the more I felt I could fit it in. It gives me a way to beef up a token or Spellstutter Sprite, making them slightly better blockers or attackers.
Mutavault is important because it counts as a Faerie and is the card I usually look to bounce back to my hand from Deprive. It also allows for an alternate endgame should my Faeries fail to overwhelm.
Creeping Tar Pit is a second man land option, which is nice because it cannot be blocked. I dislike playing tapped lands but made room for this because it has proven valuable to me in other decks I play.
River of Tears is an awesome card ensuring that I have a swamp anytime I play a card. It also counts itself when it comes into play. It is also a major reason why playing a full set of Mutavault is not as negative to this deck as many people think.
Bojuka Bog is there to put some graveyard hate on my opponent. It's also a nice target for Deprive for the opportunity to play the bog twice.
Island and Swamp are there in case of a Blood Moon, which is a very real threat.
I do not play Watery Grave or Polluted Delta because I am minimizing the downside of Bitterblossom by reducing my life loss to things that are within my control.
Sideboard
Damnation was discussed earlier.
Batterskull and
Sword of Fire and Ice
are brought in against burn taking out either another sword or a Bitterblossom.
Countersquall is brought in against burn removing discard cards.
Pithing Needle would generally be brought in against cards like Lilian of the Veil.
Tomod's Crypt and Nihil Spellbomb are brought in against decks heavily reliant on their graveyards.
Sower of Temptation
comes in when my opponent plays nasty creatures I'd like to have swinging for me. It has some downsides because it doesn't have flash and is a 2/2, but when you steal something and know they can't take it back the feeling is great.
Spellskite is brought in against burn as well or other decks with target spells or abilities.
I seek to reuse as much of my deck as possible and making my board state part of my hand whenever possible. Utilizing cheap CC cards whenever possible with very few cards having CC over 3, ensures I almost always have a counter available for nearly every circumstance. More play testing is necessary, but the deck has done well against many decks. I'll continue tweaking and updating this deck's performance as I play it. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.
