I wouldn't bother to add Snap and Cryptic. They are way overrated in Fae. I toom mine out ages ago.

Vendilion might be a good investment. It interacts proactively vs combo decks. Something not often seen in Blue.

The mana base could stand to use some edits. Yiu want your blue sources split between basic and nonbasic. This keeps us from being punished by Choke and Bloodmoon.

I ran 4 Mutavaults and 4 Conclave in my mono U build. It doesn't allow as aggressive as a start. But the long game is much better. It also makes better use of Sprite, Quickling and Mistbind when you need it.

You may wNt to consider removal. Even the Pongify/Rapid Hybridization spells can be helpful at times. Dismember is pretty Standard though. Aethervial and Copter give flexibility on opening hands. Pestermite and Mistbind can both wreck opponents.

Sorry the suggestions points the deck in a Merfolk style, but Mono-U aggro uses those cards to good effect, be it Fae, Fish or Illusions.

veeonix,

I very much appreciate your comments and am already considering some of your suggestions. Since you've played this style of deck before, can I get your thoughts on the inclusion of Unsubstantiate and Rune Snag over Mana Leak, the use of Phantasmal Image, my sideboard and my relative mix of creatures as a whole?

Why wouldn't 1-2 Cloudseeder be a good option for this deck? And would Ancestral Vision be too slow? I have a set and I'd hate not to use them in a mono-blue deck...

Lonely Sandbar isn't Modern Legal.

I dropped the deck a while ago between Kaladesh and Aether Revolt. My current Fae project is 3 color Fae. I'm beginnig to test Metalic Mimic. So far, I have to admit I'm impressed. Although it conflicts with Quickling a bit.

Unsubstantiate is an interesting option, how is it working out for you? Personally I have a hard time bringing myself to choose tempo cards that -1 yourself in resources over things that trade outright with opponents things. Personally, I've always hated Unsummon effects for that reason. They can be good for sure, but when a game goes long, you feel the loss of card advantage.

The creature lineup looks decent. I opted for 4 Mistbinds. The ability to softlock your opponent's mana by looping Quicklings and Mistbinds almost beats some decks outright. Most Tron variants, Aethervial decks without Vial in play, Elves that lack Chord/CoCo in hand etc.

The reason I opted for the Mistlock is due to Trons popularity, and that matchup being very difficult. Mono Blue Fae has no "over the top" cards like Wormcoil, Reality Smasher, Goyf and Primeval Titan like some decks do. If you get Wrathed, you basically lose. The comeback factor is nonexistent.

The bright side, Mistlock prevents sorcery speed Wraths from ever being cast. Scion gives Shroud. This gives you a pseudo tempo flying Boggles deck.

veeonix,

What do you think about Ancestral Vision and Cloudseeder as viable options? And would something like Serum Visions better suit the tempo?

As far as Runesnag goes, I think it's a simply worse Mana Leak. If you figure that the average game of Modern lasts 5 turns (This is variable of course) then you will see 11.5 cards on average (7 opening + 4-5 drawn in 5 turns).

You have 4 copiesof Rune Snag vs Mana Leak. That is 4/60.

12/60 > 4/60

This means many games you won't see the first copy. Odds of drawing a 2nd copy are [12/60(4/60)(4/60)] which are super low. You are less than 10% to see a single copy in a game, and much lower to see a 2nd copy. The 1st Runesnag is always 34% weaker than the first Mana Leak. And the 2nd Snag is only marginally better then the 2nd Mana Leak.

Ancestral Vision is too slow for a deck with a low power level and high tempo rate. Putting in cards that are high on value often slow down the deck. Few cards are high in tempo and high in value. That is why Tarmogoyf is expensive. How many green creatures are low cowted enough for aggro (2 mana) meaty for midrange (5/6) and can close out games quickly for a control decks wincon? (3-4 turns?)

Serum Visions would be better for quicker payoff. Tempo doesnt care about card advantage/disadvantage. It almost doesn't care about board state. Its about playing efficient cards with low investment, and riding it to victory. The spells you play (outside of your proactive plan) need to be obnoxiously efficient on mana, and provoke your opponent into durdling, or tying up their mana, attacks, or any other valuable resource.

veeonix,

I appreciate you taking the time to answer, and in such depth. Its helping me better understand the nature of the deck.

Regarding Rune Snag - I understand that most Modern games last 5 rounds, but surely, in your experience, most Modern games with a deck like this usually last longer, don't they? Much longer in some cases. I don't think Rune Snag would be an ideal replacement for Mana Leak generically, but isn't it a different case with this particular deck? Ditto to a lesser degree with Ancestral Vision - it would really only in there for the purpose of making it into your opening hand, right?

No. Rune Snag is significantly weaker than Leak on cast 1. Snag is marginally better than Leak on cast 2. On cast 3 it is considerably better.

However, let's be realistic. First, of drawing mulitples is low. Factor in that once your opponent sees the first, they assume 3 more in the deck. No one will run a mere 1-2 Snag. But some list run the Mizer's 1 of Leak. This gives them too much info, by proxy making it easier to play around.

Also, games 2 and 3, fearing Leak on cast 1 means you need an additional land. There is a big difference Casting and sticking a Death's Shadow on turn 4 (3 to pay for Leak) turn 3 (2 to pay for Snag).

Both Leak and Snag scale with the game. The longer the game goes, the worse they get. Who cares if your opponent has to pay 3 or 6 extra mana to resolve that Tasigur if they had enough lands in play to do it.

So knowing this from the get go, if you want more permanent counter Magic, Negate, Logic Knot, Cryptic, Deprive etc start looking better. However, their restrictions on cast or setup time make them less efficient for tempo. The truth is, ide of a tempo/Aggro deck, Mana Leak is trash, and its significantly worse than Leak. So no, Snag shouldn't be run unless you intend to run Leak/Snag as an 8 of in your deck.

As far as Vision, by the time you can use/resolve one, you probably already lost by then. You give up powerlevel of cards for speed and efficiency on mana. Look at Cancel vs Essence Scatter. In a Vacuum Cancel is a more powerful card. But mana efficiency is important for the pace of Modern. So some will run a lower powerlevel card for the sake of casting it in earlier turns.

Tempo decks by nature are weak in powerlevel, but fast and disruptive. If you don't like this method of play, you can change the deck for more powerful cards, but that slows the deck down as a result.

You really have little game against Tron with that sideboard. I'd say run either Ceremonious Rejection or Spreading Seas. As for the switching of one of the Vendilion Cliques, I really don't like Thassa or Pact of Negation. Thassa seems way too slow and provides rather little as you seem to want to play a tempo game. Pact of Negation is mostly used by combo decks, as the cost you eventually have to pay is huge when you want to play a fair game. You don't appear to be running any form of real card draw, so maybe something along those lines?

Nathanaiel, thanks for the input. I was thinking about Tron in particular when I asked about sideboards - do you think a handful of Spreading Seas would be adequate?

As for card draw, there is no real mechanism in place - Remand gives me some, Cryptic Command can occasionally provide a draw and from time to time I get a nice little run out of bouncing Faerie Miscreant in and out but that's about it. Can you recommend anything in particular? I originally had a full set of Ancestral Vision because I thought it was an ideal one-drop/turn one play but was advised against it, in part due to how often I ended up with cards back in my hand (via Quickling, Familiar's Ruse, etc.). I could probably replace one Vendilion Clique and the three Cryptic Command with them if that was the way to go. I suppose I could do the same with a set of Serum Visions as well...

As for the Tron matchup - you're monocolored, run a few Field of Ruin or Ghost Quarter in the mainboard? Spreading Seas certainly helps aswell. They're both catch-alls for things like Eldrazi Temple, Tron or even Emeria, The Sky Ruin.

In terms of your draw power, it really depends. If you find you get enough tempo from your counters and early fliers to finish the game before you go into topdecking mode, you don't need it. This is essentially up to playtesting though.

Metallic Mimic?

with 4 toughness becoming so popular in the format i think Oona's Gatewarden is a worthy 1 drop for scarring the more beefy bodies out there. I have a personal love/hate for Familiar's Ruse... although straying away from faerie tribal ninjas have great synergy with Fae ETB effects. Mistblade Shinobi/Ninja of the Deep Hours are interesting substitutes that can give the deck a bit more versatility.... Glaring Spotlight is also neat.

StoryArcher,
A few thoughts ...

• It's a meta call of course, but I generally prefer Ceremonious Rejection over Hurkyl's Recall ... partly because it's better vs. KCI but also because it has game vs. Tron and Eldrazi decks.
• With apologies to veeonix, I'm not a big fan of Metallic Mimic in Tribal decks. It's great in an opening hand, but gets progressively worse as the game goes on, so I think it's best as a four-of ... and that has always seemed to be more slots than I wanted to dedicate to the effect.
• I'm not sure, but looking at the Dispel, I'm wondering if Judge's Familiar might be better.
• I'm not sure on Opt vs. Anticipate, but whenever I'm trying to decide between cards like that I just run a split for a while and keep careful track of whenever I draw one but wish it was the other. And I think either would be better than Serum Visions here, just because it seems this deck wants to run at Instant speed as much as possible.

Also, Shapesharer may be too cute, but could be worth a look ... seems like it could enable some powerful shenanigans.

Good luck (and good skill) with the deck!

Awesome deck! Ive been working on my own but have only been playing in a casual environment. Have you taken this into competitive yet? Do you have amy issues with too many bounce spells with Quickling and Familiar's Ruse ? Ive been messing around with Merfolk Trickster . Mono blue faeries is my favorite deck to play and i want to make it as competitive as possible. I heard they were playtesting more faeries!!!

student-of-life,

Too much bounce has almost never been an issue for me - the key is just to not be afraid of using what you've got.

I've taken it semi-competitive (in local tournaments and the like), and its had a pleasant success rate. Some decks are clearly bad match-ups, but others dread facing this deck - as it tends to be with MTG in general.

I'd love to see a Faerie version of Merfolk Trickster . Maybe a 1/2 flyer with the same casting cost?

Yes!! I would love that! Faerie Duelist is a step in the right direction. I ran a lot more bounce when i was running ninjas in it also. Perhaps i will try it out again!

WotanubisReturned,

Thanks for the response - not sure how you found this deck, but I appreciate the thoughts. Obviously it's time to look at this deck for a few updates with the new cards that have come out since I first posted it - looking at your deck, Brazen Borrower really seems to stand out, maybe in place of Vendilion Clique or Vapor Snag?

WotanubisReturned,

Love Thing in the Ice  ^Flip for most blue decks.

Downside of Brazen Borrower is that it only targets an opponent's permanents and there's good reason to want to target your own in this one. Still, I'd like to find a place for it. Remand maybe? Hm...

For what its worth, once you get the hang of it, how all of the popping in and out can be used, this deck is an absolute blast to play and a nightmare to play against... though with all the interaction I'm not sure how easy it would be to play online, mechanically speaking.

How do you predict the reprinting of Counterspell will affect your list?

Some might say its strictly better than Familiar's Ruse but FR lets you reuse Miscreant/Mistbind/Spellstutter/Vendilion. Are you planning to replace the 4x Mana leak with 4 counterspells?

zapyourtumor

I hadn't realized that it was going to be re-printed. Interesting quandary - on the surface I'd say yes, I'd replace Mana Leak , but I'm also looking at Opt and Vapor Snag as potential replacements. That bounce IS a significant benefit, don't want to discount it, and with the Mutavault I need to be aware of the double blue cost.

Good point, although 10 counterspells seems pretty high

zapyourtumor

It's actually 14 if I go 3x Familiar's Ruse , 3x Spellstutter Sprite , 4x Mana Leak , 4x Counterspell ... even more once you consider the recursion potential of Spellstutter. Even Vendilion Clique can function as a counterspell at times.

That does seem high... though I'm never been sad to have a counterspell in hand, especially considering that they all have 2 casting cost and no restrictions regarding target. Hmmmmm...