MODERN VERSION
How does one break into modern on a budget? Several people have pointed recently to mono-blue Ninja Bear as a creative new option for breaking into modern.
But as I was looking at Ninja Bear listings, it bothered me that the listings without Snapcaster Mage and Cryptic Command seemed to be so lacking. What's needed seemed to be a way to recycle counterspells -- but without snapcasting for flashback, how does one do that?
Enter, Ninja of the Deep Hours
+
Spellstutter Sprite
! Spellstutter gives you nice evasion attacks + counterspells, and Ninja gives you a way to swing in and not only draw cards (filling that role of that part of Cryptic Command), but lets you re-cycle your counterspells for value, similar (sortof) to Snapcaster Mage.
In this way, Ninja + Spellstutter is a (admittedly inferior) more budget-conscious replacement for Snapcaster + Cryptic in current Ninja Bear deck lists.
Familiar's Ruse
+
Spellstutter Sprite
is also a killer combo, and does excellent work at providing consistent 2-mana counterspells. Play Spellstutter to counter a spell, then Familiar's Ruse to counter the next one, ready to return Spellstutter to counter the next one. 3 counters, for the price of two!
Mutavault
+
Scion of Oona
is a great combo, since Mutavault is a faerie when active. This also means that Mutavault + Spellstutter Sprite
is a combo for when you want to add another faerie to extend the reach of your Spellstutters.
All of the bounce effects do great work for Mistbind Clique to give you a great lock-down win condition. Evacuation type effects are a "reset button" to help you stabilize after reaching 4 or 5 mana, and if you can manage to play Evacuation, then you'll have enough counterspells and card advantage to be able to prevent your opponent from replaying his / her hand and control the game to the end.
