What is Faeries?
Faeries is probably the best aggro-control deck of all time. Normally, players envisioning aggro-control think of a couple of efficient creatures
backed by just enough answers to let them kill your opponent. In Faeries, your threats are your answers. Where other aggro-control decks have to
balance playing threats with managing their pseudo-Time Walks, all of your cards are Time Walks.
Faeries is the ultimate grinder deck. You’ll use every resource you have to win some games. You’ll end games at one life and no cards, but your
opponent will be exactly dead. Sometimes you’ll “Still have all these” them, but if you expect to do well, be prepared to win lots of close
ones.
Other than combo, Faeries is the furthest I have been from playing real Magic. The normal rules of when you can cast spells don’t apply to you, and
your opponent’s hand isn’t private information. At every point, you’ll know almost everything that can occur, and you have a huge number of lines of
play available to lead you to victory.
Faeries requires thought and practice. Picking the deck up the night before an event is a disaster. This isn’t to say you have to be a master to play
the deck, but unless you are one, expect to have to put in the hours to win.
Faeries is the best deck in current Extended by a mile. The matches I lost in Atlanta were due to mana issues in two games and my opponent ripping a
Titan in two games. Your worst matchup is probably the mirror, and the deck has the ability to change to face any threat.
Why listen to me about Faeries?
I have two Grand Prix top eights and a Pro Tour top sixteen with the deck. The only major event where I played Faeries and didn’t do well was the US
Nationals with 32 Great Sable Stags and 31 Volcanic Fallouts in the top eight.
The List:
Faeries is a deck that lives and dies by the balance of answers and threats it has. You don’t have a large amount of card drawing to power through
things like a traditional control deck, so you need every card to be able to provide maximum value. The perfect list is a constantly moving target and
most likely anything I say will need to be reevaluated and possibly tweaked before the next Pro Tour Qualifiers in two weeks. This is the list I played
at the Grand Prix, including the logic behind my choices, so that it can be used as a productive starting point.
Creatures (12)
Lands (25)
Spells (23)
4 Bitterblossom, 4 Mistbind Clique, 4 Cryptic Command: These cards need to be in your deck. Odds are if you’re boarding them out, you’re doing it
wrong, outside of a couple of Mistbinds in the mirror.
3 Spellstutter Sprite: This card is very good when you have an active Bitterblossom. When you don’t, it often isn’t. It’s hard to counter up their
curve with it, and once the game goes later, the cards you care about are usually more costly than you can provide Faeries for. Even in the bad cases,
you can usually find a way to use the first copy, but multiples clog up your hand real fast. Three seemed like a reasonable compromise, but if decks
without high drops like Red Deck Wins start gaining ground, going back to four copies is reasonable.
2 Vendilion Clique: I tried really hard to play three of this card, but drawing duplicates happened too often. If you were more interested in trading
for cards like Boggart Ram-Gang, this would be fine, but the current aggressive decks are too good at generating card advantage to let you play the
pure control role when you have no massive equalizer like Cruel Ultimatum. You need to draw all active cards, which the second copy of this is not.
3 Scion of Oona: The point that sold me on this card was someone correctly saying it was great against everything without Fallout. Four copies can get
awkward, as drawing too many non-answers leaves you vulnerable. I wouldn’t mind having four against the mirror or Naya, but given the rise of R/G
Valakut, I’d be more likely to cut the number.
4 Thoughtseize, 1 Inquisition of Kozilek: I don’t have any hard analysis for five discard spells being right, but I just noticed in testing the number
played right. I didn’t draw too many excessive copies but had one when I needed it. I played the full set of Thoughtseize, as I found myself wanting to
take Cryptic Command too often against other blue decks, including Wargate. It’s also is miles better against R/G Valakut and lets you attack Mythic
and G/W Trap by denying their threats rather than just their mana. Against Naya and Jund, I considered it to be about a wash between the two life and
hitting Bloodbraid Elf. So, if you’re expecting a bunch of Tempered Steel, Mono Red, and White Weenie, you probably should change the ratios, but until
then, I’d play four Thoughtseize.
2 Disfigure, 2 Smother, 1 Agony Warp: Similar to discard, I don’t have hard logic behind exactly five removal spells. It just played right. What I do
have rationale behind are the numbers of each. Disfigure I personally hated but was a concession to needing to answer Fauna Shamans in a
tempo-efficient manner. On the play, it lets you kill Shaman and have counter mana up, while on the draw, you can just play it on their end step. While
playing the Grand Prix, I found it was a lot better than expected, especially as it dealt with manlands and Scions in the mirror. Even when it couldn’t
kill something, you could set up a combat where it teamed up to do so if necessary.
That said, you still want ways to actually kill something x/3 or bigger, so more is not an option. Smother was specifically for Woolly Thoctar and
Knight of the Reliquary. Otherwise, I would play all Agony Warps. When that card works, it pulls the weight of a Cryptic Command and in the worst-case
scenario is just a kill spell. Smother trumps Grasp of Darkness and Doom Blade, as generally Faeries has no issues with sorcery-speed cards that cost
four or more. Grasp also has the issue of sometimes not being castable on turn 2 when facing down a Shaman. Once Mirrodin Besieged is released, I’d
just play Go for the Throat in those two slots unless Tempered Steel makes a big comeback. Not killing a Wurmcoil Engine is hardly a concern.
3 Mana Leak: Drawing multiple Mana Leaks early is often very awkward. The first almost always has a good target, but between wanting to cast Scions,
Vendilions, and Mistbinds to apply pressure, you often find your opponents are able to pay for the second one before you have a place to play it.
2 Preordain: This was another card I wanted to play more of but just couldn’t. Despite what all of the winning lists with zero copies suggest, the card
is absolutely unreal in the deck. It solves five of the six ways Faeries loses: mana flood, mana screw, not drawing enough four-drops, and not having
an early threat to get things going, and their drawing more lethal threats than you have appropriate answers.
The issue comes with the sixth: Your opponent curves out perfectly and overwhelms you. Very specifically, this was an issue against Naya and G/W Trap.
Almost every turn against those decks, you want to use all of your mana on a powerful, game-swinging effect. You often have a window to cast one
Preordain, but by the time you can cast the second, it’s too late to be relevant. Fortunately for deck construction purposes, Preordain is extremely
good in the matchups where Scion of Oona comes up short, so moving between the two based on the metagame makes working out the list easy. Just keep in
mind that if you run zero of this card, you need a 26th land.
0 Jace (of either variety), 0 Sower of Temptation: Expensive sorcery-speed cards have no synergy with your deck. The only reason I would want them is
if they provided a crushing advantage when cast. Jace Beleren did so in Standard when the aggressive decks ran slower threats that didn’t recur or
cascade and could legitimately be ground out in the long game. Trying to grind out Naya is a disaster, and Jund isn’t the deck you want planeswalkers
against without serious defenses. I wasn’t even that impressed in the mirror, but if you shift to be the control in the matchup with more Tectonic
Edges, I can see it being better. Sower does provide the needed swing, but you need a certain number of removal spells to interact with Fauna Shaman in
a timely manner. It’s probably the best sixth removal spell, so if you find yourself needing one, I’d start there.
4 Darkslick Shores, 4 Secluded Glen, 4 Mutavault: If you don’t run these, you’re wrong.
3 Creeping Tar Pit: It’s possible this should be four if you want to focus on the mirror, but the drawback is similar to the issues with Preordain in
the Naya matchup. The card is very good, but drawing too many copies of it and Darkslick Shores can lead to pile ups around when you want to cast
Mistbind Clique and Cryptic Command. If you cut Preordain, I’d probably move up to the full set.
2 Sunken Ruins, 0 Tectonic Edge: The issue is the same here. I wanted to minimize the number of hands where I wouldn’t have colored mana as well as the
number of hands where I couldn’t play a one-drop, especially with Preordain. If you don’t run Preordain, playing a couple of Tectonic Edges is more
reasonable, as you have to add the extra land anyway, and they’re less likely to hinder your curve.
6 Island, 2 Swamp: These numbers were chosen based on my past experience with the deck. I wanted nineteen blue sources and fifteen black sources, and
based on the above decisions, these counts let me run that. I’ve played with one less of each before, but when I did, I felt I needed about half a
source more of each.
The Sideboard:
More than anything else, this is something that has to be worked out on a list-by-list basis. The below is the sideboard I played, but any changes to
the main deck will reflect in the board based on how many cards you need for each matchup.
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Wall of Tanglecord
2 Spreading Seas
2 Peppersmoke
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Deathmark
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Consign to Dream
1 Vendilion Clique
Sower of Temptation: If your opponent is playing green and white creatures, this card destroys them. I don’t like more than two, as you want to leave
in all of your Cryptics and Mistbinds, which can clutter your four-slot. I’m also not a huge fan of it in the mirror, as too often you’ll be casting it
in a situation where you can’t win the fight over it.
Wurmcoil Engine: This card is very specifically for Red Deck and Jund. Neither of these decks has a good answer for it, and the life total swing from
one hit is often enough to shut them out of the game. I don’t like it against Naya, however. They can legitimately go bigger than it or have Path to
Exile, and the card is way too clunky against them. You can’t afford to play the game of making possibly suboptimal exchanges just to get to six and
cast Wurmcoil against them, as they’re better at grinding card advantage than you are.
Wall of Tanglecord: Again, this card is very specifically for Red Deck and Jund. It provides more than a typical removal spell against Hellspark
Elemental and Plated Geopede and holds a Great Sable Stag. Against Naya, I don’t like the card at all. If they play a Stag, you’re excited, as it isn’t
a haste creature attacking that turn, and the game shifts too fast between needing your mana to control Fauna Shamans and Knights and needing your mana
to play all your racing cards to give you time to play a two-drop wall.
Various Removal: Peppersmoke is the best answer to Scion of Oona in the mirror. It also helps control explosive draws out of the decks with mana
creatures and gives you a cheap way to gain value against Red Deck. If people move away from Scion of Oona, I could see Disfigure or other removal just
being better, as too often against non-mirror matches, you have to cast Peppersmoke on the spot whether you do or don’t have a Faerie. I played a
Deathmark, as I wanted one more removal spell against Naya, and it was the most efficient option, but that slot is very flexible.Â
Spreading Seas and Tectonic Edge: Spreading Seas is bad in the mirror but better against the two-color Valakut decks, as you can cycle it if they don’t
have Valakut, and better against 5CC and Jund, as it cuts their mana for Stag. Looking back, I’d probably switch the numbers on these, mainly as you
want a larger edge in the mirror but also because more lands are great against Jund to ensure you get to Wurmcoil mana. Tectonic Edge is also
marginally better against the G/W Trap deck, as you can leave all of your options open when using it.
Consign to Dream: This was the night-before technology to beat the card Prismatic Omen. The idea is you Consign it in response to them using a shuffle
effect as a removal spell. It turned out to be a very good singleton, pulling its weight not only against Omen but against various G/W decks. It’s even
reasonable against Naya on the play as a Time Walk for their three-drop or Shaman and against 5CC to hit their lands. There are probably better options
against the R/G Valakut deck, such as Mindlock Orb, but if you want to beat the decks that need an Omen to win, this is the card to do so.
Additional Discard: I wouldn’t want more than six one-cost discard effects post-board. You choke on them way too often with that many. The sideboarded
Inquisition could be a Duress, but I chose to leave it as is, as I wanted the card against Red decks and felt the slight loss of quality against
control was worth it. Vendilion Clique is a different story, as it’s also a threat.
Vampire Nighthawk: I really don’t like this card. I don’t think it provides enough of a swing against Naya, and if it trades, I’d rather it be an
instant. I also don’t think it’s actually good against Red and Jund, as they have a lot of good answers for it.
Mirrodin Besieged:
After looking through the cards that MBS has to offer, Go for the Throat seems to be the only card that will find an immediate home in the deck. That
said, Contested War Zone, Phyrexian Crusader, and Phyrexian Vatmother are also worth considering.
War Zone is good against control and Scapeshift, but you have much more potent weapons against those decks than just playing what amounts to a Scion of
Oona that dodges Fallout. I’d play Negate, Duress, all the Tectonic Edges, and more before considering this card.
Phyrexian Crusader and Vatmother are interesting to think about in the Nighthawk or Wall slot, but I’m not a fan. They don’t block better than Wall,
and they don’t assist with your other racing methods like a Nighthawk does. If you just want a big body, Arrogant Bloodlord exists and was reasonable
against Jund’s non-Stag creatures.
General Tips:
-You can cast your cards at any time. Mistbind Clique is not restricted to their draw step, and Vendilion Clique is not restricted to their draw step.
If taking a hit from their random guy and killing it at end of turn means you have counter mana up for their actual threat in their second main phase,
it’s considerable.
-Actually stop and think. At most points, you have near-perfect information. Do math on how many turns it takes to kill them and whether a manland
attack accelerates this or whether you should leave back blockers when the damage is irrelevant. Decide on your turn when you want to cast a Clique, so
that you don’t let them know you have it.
-Remember to sequence your lands properly. There really isn’t much to say here, but it’s an easy way to lose games.
–Cryptic Command can bounce your own cards that aren’t Bitterblossom. The most common scenarios for this are when you have Mistbind championing
Mistbind to lock them for four turns straight and when you need an answer and have Spellstutter or Vendilion available. Just be aware that it can then
be countered by a removal spell.
-When revealing to Secluded Glen, you generally don’t want to show them Mistbind Clique or Spellstutter Sprite unless you have to. Revealing Scion is
fine unless you’re trying to set up the blowout in combat. Vendilion Clique is even better, as usually their playing around it involves them casting
their big threat immediately, and if that’s a concern, you were going to draw step Clique anyway.
-For those who’ve played Faeries before, the first thing to realize is that you want to play much more aggressively than you did in the past. All of
the other decks have better card advantage engines or are one-card kills.
-Most generic creatures you can just power through. Between Bitterblossom chumps, Cryptic Command taps, and having a life total, you can just manage
them with excess resources.
-Don’t panic. Again, you have more options than any other deck. If you feel like you could be falling behind, just slow down and figure out which ones
get you back in. Even when you know you’re dead, they might not know. People are afraid of the cards you have, and oftentimes, just acting like you
have everything will get you out of unwinnable scenarios. I’ve won more than my fair share of games because my opponent didn’t pump Leech to play
around Disfigure at the wrong time or saw my untapped mana and didn’t go for their Prismatic Omen or Scapeshift.
Matchups
Sideboard strategies below don’t list numbers, as presumably the sideboard you end up running won’t match the one above. Try and make sure the numbers
line up for all of the matchups when building your sideboard.
R/G Scapeshift:
Just on percentage, this is probably a fine matchup, but I’d rather sit down across from anything else but the mirror. Too many games proceed to a
point where there’s nothing you can do but hope they don’t draw their Titan or Scapeshift in 2-3 draw steps or that you rip another counter. Obviously,
a lot of games with Faeries are going to be close, but usually the degree to which they are is in your hands, not your opponent’s.
As for actual play, Thoughtseize is your best card, but generally a hand with a clock and answers will do. Mana Leak should be used early unless you’re
planning on hitting a Titan, as it will never counter a Scapeshift. You don’t have infinite time, as they can actually just play lands and kill you,
but Faeries is a deck that can close fast. Sometimes, they just have you because they drew a ton of threats, and you drew a bunch of removal, but
sometimes, you draw multiple Mistbind Cliques. With regards to Vendilion Clique, it’s usually better to wait until end of turn to cast it unless you’re
otherwise dead to them having a Scapeshift or Titan, in which case draw step it is.
Sideboarding: Bad cards are all of the removal as well as Scions due to Volcanic Fallout. Good cards are more discard, Consign to Dream, land hate like
Tectonic Edge, and any dedicated hate like Mindlock Orb. If you expect Spellbreaker Behemoth or Vexing Shusher, you can leave in a removal spell or
two, but rely more on discard to deal with those.
Games two and three are the same, but you don’t have blanks, and they have ways to extend the game a bit. Discard gets even better, as you have
information as to whether you want to play around Fallout or Guttural Response. Multiple Mistbinds is still unbeatable.
Naya:
The “bad” matchup, but really it’s fine. You just have to remember to keep clocking them, as their deck builds incremental advantage. Fauna
Shaman has to be stopped on the spot. Their getting back Vengevines is almost impossible to race without several Cryptics. I won only one game in
testing where my opponent untapped with Shaman. If your opener isn’t the nuts and has no answer, consider if it’s worth keeping. Knight of the
Reliquary isn’t quite as bad, but their getting Sejiri Steppe and Tectonic Edge can be an issue. Remember that Cryptic on tap and bounce is countered
by a Sejiri Steppe, so they’ll always be able to get a manland in there through a Cryptic if they have an untapped Knight. Counter and bounce is a mode
that gets used a lot more on Cryptic here, especially as it trumps the play of turn 3 Woolly Thoctar into 4 four Bloodbraid Elf when you’re on the
play.
With respect to both varieties of Cliques, I’ve found being aggressive with them is the best option. Mistbind in combat is made worse by Noble
Hierarch, Vengevine, and the fact that whatever they Elf into is likely to be an issue. Vendilion wants to be cast draw step to strip a Vengevine,
though on the draw, waiting until end of turn to decide if a counter is better is reasonable. Unless you need to be able to Cryptic a big threat on
their turn, consider playing Scion on your turn to maximize damage.
Sideboarding: A Mana Leak or two and a couple discard spells can be skimmed for extra removal. I generally prefer Thoughtseize staying over
Inquisition, as it can hit a Bloodbraid Elf.
Post-board, the plan is exactly the same. Just race and kill their relevant creatures. Be prepared for Cloudthresher, Cunning Sparkmage, and Path to
Exile.
Jund:
Before the Grand Prix, I was slightly worried about this matchup. After playing it, I think it’s a joke. Game one is a cakewalk barring a very
aggressive start from them. Duress effects are surprisingly effective against them, as their curve is fairly fragile, and their removal count is low
enough that one Thoughtseize will force through a Mistbind. Fauna Shaman is also less threatening here than in Naya, as they have to get to five mana
to actually make it worth anything, but it should generally still die on the spot. Mid-combat Mistbind Cliques are common here, as all of their guys
barring Putrid Leech just die to it. Try to put the fear of removal into them when they attack with Leech. I find the phrasing that works best is
usually “Any effects before damage?” In general, their non-Shaman creatures are fairly interchangeable, and if one slips through, you can
easily find a line to race or trade with it, so planning on developing your board is often the better choice. Creeping Tar Pit really shines here, as
the games go long enough for you to have mana for attacking with it and an answer.
Sideboarding: Scions for sure come out due to Fallout, while a mix of Spellstutter Sprites and Mana Leaks make up the rest of what comes out; just
ensure to leave enough Faeries for Mistbind Clique. Any mana disruption comes in, as well as Wall of Tanglecord and Wurmcoil Engine. Extra Inquisitions
of Kozilek can be added to attack their sideboard cards. Upgrading Disfigures to Deathmarks is also good.
Game two, your plan is completely different from game one. Their board cards basically negate the standard Faeries plan of stop everything relevant
until they die to fliers. Fortunately, Jund really has no real line of action against a resolved Wurmcoil Engine. If they board in Deglamers, you can
strategically strip them with discard after they clog up the Jund player’s hand in the early game. You also can just Mistbind and Tar Pit them down the
same way as game one.
Prismatic Omen Decks:
This refers to both Wargate and the pure combo build of the deck
that Jason Ford won the Grand Prix with. Neither deck can actually win without an Omen in play, but once it resolves, their deck becomes unreal. Your
entire game plan is devoted to keeping them off that card, and if that fails, keeping them off Valakut and Scapeshift. Despite how easy it seems for
Faeries to combat this, the matchup is very close. Similar to the R/G matchup, discard is your best weapon. The order of cards to take is usually
Omens, Wargates, counters, then cantrips. Unlike R/G, they can stop a Mistbind Clique, making it much more likely you’ll want to hold it until their
end step to prevent them from catching you tapped out. This also eliminates one of your edges against R/G, which was the ability to just stop them from
playing.
If they stick an Omen, the game completely changes. You either have to race them, which can be rough, or set up a Cryptic bouncing Omen on their end
step followed by an answer. Scion is very good in the first case, especially if you can use a Vendilion Clique to pull a Valakut trigger from your dome
and respond to it.
Sideboarding: Removal out; discard, land disruption, and bounce in.
Consign to Dream shines here, as the card will demolish them by sniping an Omen. The card also answers Leyline of Sanctity, which can get marginally
annoying. On the subject of Leyline, the card is surprisingly mediocre against you. Your Vendilion Cliques suddenly start cycling your dead
Thoughtseizes; your Mistbinds were rarely upkeeped before, and you can always counter and bounce it with Cryptic it if needed. The land disruption is
also clutch, as they often are just trying to kill you with normal landfall triggers, and a single Spreading Seas sends them scrambling for another
Valakut.
UW Control:
Game one should be fairly easy. Make sure they don’t resolve a big threat; don’t play into their counters, and remember what Celestial Colonnade does.
There really isn’t much to say. Your threats are instants while theirs are sorceries; you have discard, and they don’t, and you have more
counterspells. The one thing I will say is be sure you can actually deal with their threats, as a Sun Titan or Baneslayer is hard to beat once on the
table.
Sideboarding: All the removal but two goes out (Warp and Smother stay in for now, but once Go for the Throat is around, two GftTs should stay in); Sower and Vendilion Clique come
in. A Scion is also probably shaved for the Inquisition of Kozilek.
Games two and three you’re the control. Their only real hope is to board into the main plan of Coralhelm Commanders, War Priest of Thune, Kitchen
Finks, and Baneslayer Angel, but you’re fine against mediocre creatures. You can even just race all of those except Angel. Even if they
“level” you and don’t board this way, you get to Sower their finishers and Smother their Colonnades. The one major consideration post-board
is that you might not want to run out a turn 2 Blossom, as it’s too good to let them just War Priest it. The switch to them being the beatdown is why
Tectonic Edge isn’t actually good against them.
Five Color Control:
This matchup is all about not letting them line up their answers. They do have some must-counters like Jace and Cruel Ultimatum, but most of them are
sorcery speed and cost four or more. Make sure your Bitterblossom actually resolves against them; don’t run your Vendilion Cliques into a Plumeveil,
and only Mistbind when it’s clear to do so. Holding on to discard spells to force through a threat or gain greater amounts of information is strong
unless you’re just going to take all of their relevant cards. Countering draw-two Esper Charms when it doesn’t expose you to a threat on their turn is
perfectly reasonable, as one of the ways they can win is burying you under a bunch of cards. Figure out how much mana you’ll need to fight a counter
war when debating manland attacks, and don’t run a bunch into a Fallout.
Sideboarding: Removal out and as many Scions as needed; discard and land disruption in. Consign to Dream is decent here, as it often is a pure Time
Walk when used on a Vivid land.
Games two and three, they can have Stag, but due to the increased discard, it isn’t as much of an issue as it was before in Standard. Spreading Seas
shines here, as it functions to take them off the mana to cast it or a Fallout. Same operations as game one, only sometimes you might have to race a
Stag.
GW Trap:
This deck is beyond underrated right now but is a legitimate threat. Game one is rough. The trick is to attack their mana with removal but not
counters. Those are saved for their legitimate threats. Countering a mana creature is the fastest way to die, not only due to Trap but also because
usually they’ll get to the mana to cast real threats anyway, and you’ll run out of answers. You can counter that one guy if it sets you up to chain a
bunch of Mistbinds on them or if it would activate multiple Windbrisk Heights, but otherwise, it isn’t worth the risk. Also, when I refer to mana
creatures, that means the Nest Invader token is more relevant than the bear. The one cheap creature that has to be stopped is Knight of the Reliquary,
as it just pulls them into a Hidden Emrakul. Oddly enough, their Fauna Shamans aren’t that huge of an issue. The best thing they really do is let them
have a threat every turn late game; no recursion shenanigans.
On the threat side, be prepared to just let them have Windbrisk Heights sometimes, especially if they have a bunch of cards in hand, and fighting it
would give them an opening to resolve a threat. They’re more likely to have a threat in a four-card hand than a four-card Heights. Remember to count
their manlands when planning for Mosswort Bridge and Heights.
As for casting cards, six is their critical mana point, so it might be worth waiting on Mistbind until it hits them on a turn they would get there or
using Cryptic to keep them off it. Just remember that once they hit six, they have an instant-speed threat to watch out for. The last thing to note is
that they don’t have a lot of untapped white sources once they pass the point where Razorverge Thicket comes into play untapped, so a lone Windbrisk
Heights missing another white source is going to stay lonely for at least a turn once they hit three lands.
Sideboarding: Spellstutter Sprite and Mana Leak out; removal including Sowers and Consign to Dream in. Inquisition should also swap for Vendilion
Clique.
Post-board, you actually have a critical mass of removal to attack their mana, letting you use discard and counters to attack their real threats.
Shorting their mana also lets you just clock them. Post-board, they’ll likely have Cloudthresher as their hate, so be prepared, especially when Sower
is involved. On the topic of Sower, ideally, you’ll hit a relevant body with it, but even a random Noble Hierarch is fine if it keeps them from casting
their spells. I’d advise against letting a Titan hit to take it, though. Cryptic Command on their lands becomes a lot better once you have better
control of their early mana.
Mythic:
My sample size on this matchup is small, but the goal is similar to playing against Trap with one exception: your counters are actually good. Sprite is
a little awkward, as they don’t have any cheap threats, but Mana Leak is gas. They do have Mana Leak, so don’t let yourself lose to it. Kill their mana
guys; don’t let their threats resolve, and present a clock.
Sideboarding: Sprites, Scions, Inquisition, and Preordain can be shaved for more removal and the last Vendilion Clique. If you expect Bant Charms, I’d
want to keep the Sprite and Scion count higher to combat them.
If you can’t Thoughtseize it, your answer to Stag is just attacking them. If they’re playing a Stag, it’s not an immediate, game-ending threat. I don’t
like bringing in Wall, as it’s only good against Stag, nothing else. Sower does a good job of pulling blockers for Stag, unless they don’t play any
other creatures, which is also fine. Kill their mana guys, put out a clock, and discard their threats.
Mono Red:
Unlike other matchups, there isn’t really a direct plan for this one. There’s a lot more going on each game than can really be communicated in a
primer. You need to play extremely tight and figure out how to line up your answers. Your life total should be preserved, but throwing actual cards
away to do so is sketchy when they could instead be used to trade. Bitterblossom as Forcefield is pretty good, but depending on your hand and their
board, it can be worth waiting until turn 4 to cast it with answer backup to prevent them from getting too far ahead. Consider being proactive in
getting it off the battlefield if your life starts to get low and you have an actual board presence. Some builds have maindeck Fallout, so watch out if
it doesn’t seem like they have a lot of small guys that would die to it. Despite the life loss, casting Thoughtseize when they have lots of cards in
hand is actually fine, as it will almost always trade for something that would deal more damage and lets you know what else could be coming.
Managing their creatures is probably the most important part of the matchup, as their burn is something you can handle if you start off facing it at
higher life totals. Once Figure hits 4/4, you only have Smother and Cryptic to deal with it, so expect to block a lot from there, and try to Disfigure
it. At some point, you have to turn around and start clocking them, as they’ll eventually draw enough burn spells to kill you, so keep watching for
damage you can sneak in, and watch for the moment it’s time to turn the tables and close fast.
Sideboarding: Scion and Thoughtseize out. Removal, Wall, Wurmcoil Engine, and Inquisition in. Consign to Dream is also unreal here, as it not only
exposes their guy to countermagic and answers leveled-up creatures, but it holds them off a draw step to hit burn.
Same thing post-board, but they’ll have Fallout for sure. Also, expect Guttural Response and Smash to Smithereens. Wurmcoil is an endgame they can’t
really beat, so if you have it, you can play the plan of just living on a reasonable board until it hits.
The Mirror:
Stage one is having Bitterblossom. Unless your opening seven has Blossom or an answer to it, you should probably mulligan. It’s possible to come back
from their having Blossom and your not having one but not usually. If you have it on the draw, and they pass with two up, don’t run it into the Mana
Leak. Set up to get it through.
From there, you have four possible games: they have Blossom, you have Blossom, no one has it, or you both have it.
If they have Blossom, you have a couple outs. You can aggro them out with manlands, stick random guys and Scions, and force them into chump blocking,
or extend the game and force a Mistbind through with Cryptics. The most common way is the first due to Tar Pit, but you need to know your outs. Mising
your own Blossom off the top then grinding back in is an option, but you can’t count on it. Your discard is clutch here, as you need to pull their
responses to your plan, and they’ll have a lot.
If you have Blossom and they don’t, don’t let them hit their outs. Be conservative; you already have the edge. The one case you need to be aggressive
is when you have nothing or if they have a Tar Pit you can’t answer. Otherwise, each turn you’ll pull further and further ahead, and they’ll die to
tokens.
If you both have Blossom, the game is about sticking a trump. Hitting land drops is important, as you both have the same tools, and it will come down
to who has access to more. Play on their end step, and be aware that if you start going for it, they can respond. Discard is something you should
expect to be fought over, as knowing what they have will give you a huge edge.
If no one has Blossom, things get interesting. The matchup turns into standard control draw-go, and eventually a fight occurs over a Blossom. A good
way to set up so that it resolves is to start a fight over Mistbind on their end step and then untap. If they lose the fight, you stick Blossom as
they’re tapped out, and if they win, you’ll out-mana them on your turn. Vendilion Clique is very good here, as it kills fast and gives information.
In all of these scenarios, one important thing is not playing into Cryptic Command. Whatever modes they choose, the value they gain is important.
Tectonic Edge is also huge, as it lets you gain manland advantage.
Sideboarding: A couple removal spells go out; Smother for now but Disfigures once you have Go for the Throat. A couple Mistbinds are also cut, as
they’re too expensive to realistically win a fight over. The cards you want are Peppersmoke, Tectonic Edge, and more discard. You can board Sowers if
you want, but I have found four-mana sorceries too risky. I don’t even like Spreading Seas, as your opponent has a huge opportunity to exploit you
tapping down.
Post-board is the same. Fight the Blossom war, and set up to stick a trump. Don’t open yourself up to lose a big fight, and try to trap them into doing
so. In the even games, there are more unique decision points in this matchup than any other, and the better player will almost always win. No one
practices it because there are so many games that are just over on two, but if you put time into learning how to break the stalemates, it’s very much
worth it.
The Finale:
Faeries is always so much better than anyone gives it credit for. They play with outdated lists, don’t try new plans, and in general don’t understand
how instants work. Learn to play it correctly, and you can punish them for that.