Everyone seems to know me as the Faeries guy, and, in all fairness, for good reason. Spellstutter Sprite has carried me to two Pro Tours and won me countless matches online. However, what’s far lesser known than my alignment with the winged menace is my affiliation with the Reveillark collective. Reveillark is a deck not talked about nearly enough, and it’s always been that way. It was one of the best decks to play last year in Time Spiral-Lorwyn Standard, and it’s one of the best decks you can be playing right now. It’s often passed over because of its Faeries matchup (more on that later…) but the rest of the deck’s matchups are absurd. The deck is full of powerful plays, strong cards, and a surprisingly flexible strategy.
First, it’s only fair I cover the history of this version of Reveillark. The core was not pioneered by me; rather, it was Ben Jackson (you might know him better as aceben3) who first revisited this archetype in a PTQ early on in the season. Afterward, both Brian Kibler and Tommy Kolowith alongside Owen Turtenwald separately made their own innovations to the deck for Grand Prix: Seattle. After talking to both of them at GP: Seattle and Pro Tour: Honolulu, hearing their opinions, talking with a few other Reveillark compatriots such as Chris Jobin, and doing a lot of playtesting on Magic Online, what I have done is hybridized both of their lists into a build that has been posting a stupendous record. Since if I talk much longer without showing you the decklist I’m sure you’re going to scroll down to it anyway (if you haven’t already,) so here’s the list of Reveillark I recommend for the current Standard format. (I’ll put some thoughts on a prospective post-m10 build at the end of the article.)
Creatures (20)
Lands (19)
Spells (21)
Sideboard
Surprisingly, there is a lot of individual card choice in here people could debate. In fact, I think the only thing I think everybody can agree on are the four copies of Mulldrifter and Cryptic Command. We’ll start with the manabase.
I am using a manabase with four Borderposts and have found the most success with it built this way. Kibler liked the Borderposts, while Kolowith insisted they were just worse than something like Arcane Sanctum. I agree with Kolowith — except for one thing. The presence of Ana “The Man” Cer really makes me want to diversify my mana to avoid the extra damage. Indeed, not getting knocked around by the innocuous 2/2 has won me several matches, and is a huge deal in the R/B matchup. Kolowith is clearly not scared of facing down The Man considering his build also sports a full set of Reflecting Pools and Adarkar Wastes, but, while his mana may look sleeker, my mana has been working fine without resorting to a nonbasic-laden mana base. Borderposts have also accelerated me a few times, which has made for a nice boost.
Of course, you have to look at the downside of Borderposts. The big one is that they can be Maelstrom Pulsed. If they kill two of your Borderposts with a Maelstrom Pulse it can definitely be a problem. However, as long as you know the possibility exists, it hasn’t been a problem for me. Multiple Elves opponents have destroyed my Borderpost on turn 3, clicking with speed I only assume means excitement, only to find themselves losing to a Sower of Temptation they could have really used a removal spell for a few turns later. You can cut down to three Borderposts if you’d like, but I’ve been happy with how four have been working for me.
The two Adarkar Wastes are the other part of the manabase I’m sure people might question. Four Adarkar Wastes is simply too many. The beatdown matchup often comes down to just a few points of damage, and running the full set of Adarkar Wastes caused way too much damage. Whenever you draw two early on, your manabase just turns into a damage-taking fiesta. Brian Kibler experienced much of the same, so I reduced the numbers on them to two, and have been happy.
Moving onto the creatures, Sower of Temptation is a card people often want to shave one off. In fact, my first reaction to seeing this build of Reveillark was to cut one. Do. Not. Do. This. Sower is one of the most important cards in the deck, and I’m thrilled to draw them in almost every matchup. Sower just swings matches it looks like you’re going to lose out of absolutely nowhere. The way the deck plays is in a very attrition-like fashion, and being able to have the upper hand once your opponent is out of cards really plays to the decks strengths.
Meddling Mage is a card I didn’t like early on at first, because it was so often just a Grizzly Runeclaw Bear. I went down to three copies and put the fourth in the board, but I found myself boarding it in constantly. Meddling Mage is a flexible card, and especially excellent in the hands of better players. When you play Meddling Mage, just go back through the last three turns, figure out if your opponent had a chance to play a card you want to name and didn’t (meaning he probably doesn’t have it), and name what seems like a card he would have based on how he has been playing.
Kitchen Finks is a card I have come around to. A lot of people have put Windborn Muse here, but I like Finks because it gives me something to do on turn 3 if I don’t have Mulldrifter, effectively blocks Wren’s Run Vanquisher, and lets me flip the beatdown switch when it’s time to start killing my opponent. It also significantly helps the Mono-Red matchup if you’re expecting a lot of it, and is in general an excellent card to be playing right now. (And it only gets better after M10 when people cut their Magma Sprays!)
Reveillark is a four of, but I have seen several lists with it as a three of. I just can’t justify that. Don’t you guys like returning your Mulldrifters and Sowers? Reveillark is an awesome 4/3 flier composed of pure gas. Yes, it costs five, but that just means you have more Reveillarks when you get to five mana.
The Mind Stones are important for acceleration. Skipping from two to four so you can start unloading with Sowers is a huge jump and can make all the difference, especially on the draw. Despite what some have said about Wrath, I’ve been very happy with three. Yes, it’s not the greatest versus Bloodbraid Elf, but it’s so good against B/G Elves and is a great card to lean on in several matchups. The Path to Exiles nicely supplement the Wraths by provide some early game resistance in addition to being a superb spot removal spell. Having Path means you don’t have to throw down a Wrath just to send one guy to his tombstone, and having all four after boarding can be crucial.
Finally, we get to Ponder. No, I haven’t been kidnapped by Sean McKeown. In fact, I have been anti-Ponder in pretty much every other Standard deck, including Faeries. When Tommy Kolowith first showed me his version of Reveillark with Ponder, I wanted to chuck them across the room and insert four real cards instead. I agreed to play with them though, and they have converted me. Ponder is pure kerosene in this deck. First of all, Tommy was completely right when he said that the deck’s win percentage goes way up when you have Mulldrifter, and Ponder really helps you find Mulldrifter by turn 3. Additionally, it helps you find your Wraths against beatdown, your spot removal when you need it, your Meddling Mage on turn 2, and so on. Late game, the card is still excellent. The way Reveillark plays its attrition-based style of Magic, late game you often just need to find one of two particular cards (often the deck’s namesake or Cryptic Command) to swing the game to a point where you can actively begin to win, and Ponder is absurdly good at accomplishing that goal.
I know playing Borderposts and Ponder together looks questionable, but it actually has worked great for me so far. Your only turn 2 play is Meddling Mage anyway, and even if you have one, just holding your Ponder for later on is perfectly fine. I often find myself Pondering turn 1 and then Borderposting turn 2, and very seldom do I have a problem with the way the two cards interact. I know Ponder might look like a choice different from a lot of Reveillark decks, but I urge you to try it. My results with Ponder have been significantly better compared to those of the versions I was trying without Ponder, and it has definitely earned four slots in the deck.
One of the great underlooked abilities of the Reveillark deck is to go on offense when you need to. Between Mage, Finks, and your 4/3 flier, you can often go on the attack and win games out of nowhere that leave your opponents stunned in wonder. Little items like knowing when to attack and what to name with Meddling Mage can give you a major edge, but that knowledge is mostly built inwardly through the repetition of playing the deck. Additionally, I find myself switching up how I sideboard a lot depending on who I’m playing against and what cards they’ve shown me. However, this is a general guide of I have been sideboarding and playing versus the major archetypes.
G/B Elves
-4 Meddling Mage, +2 Remove Soul, +2 Path to Exile
While Meddling Maging their two-drop is nice, Mage is pretty weak in this matchup, especially on the draw. This is generally a favorable matchup for you, although it is often close on life totals. Elves can definitely win if you’re not careful. If you’re worried about Puppeteer Clique, you can also bring in the Celestial Purge, but as-is it only hits Putid Leech.
G/W Tokens
-4 Meddling Mage, -4 Kitchen Finks, +4 Windborn Muse, +2 Remove Soul, +2 Negate
Tokens is a great matchup for you. You have Muse after sideboarding and your maindeck is generally configured favorably against them. You can also bring in the Paths over Negate if you want, but they’re generally only really great against Wilt-Leaf liege and Dauntless Escort which, if you would have just had a Negate to contain their Spectral Procession, are not nearly as dangerous. You can also cut a Reveillark and/or a Mulldrifter on the draw if you really want Path.
B/W Tokens
Same as above, except bring in Celestial Purge instead of a Negate due to Bitterblossom.. If they have Sculler, you probably want to bring Path in too.
Faeries
Transforming: -2 Ponder, -2 Mind Stone, -4 Mulldrifter, -1 Reveillark, -3 Wrath of God, -2 Sower of Temptation, +4 Paladin En-Vec, +4 Windborn Muse, +1 Celestial Purge, +2 Remove Soul, +2 Negate, +1 Path to Exile
Not transforming: -2 Ponder, -3 Wrath of God, -1 Sower of Temptation, +1 Path to Exile, +2 Remove Soul, +2 Negate, +1 Celestial Purge
I’m not going to sit here and tell you this is a good matchup: it’s not. However, it’s certainly much better than a lot of people make it out to be. Sure, if they have the Faeries fix you’re going to lose, but the matchup is very winnable if you play tightly. If you win the roll and play a turn 2 Meddling mage on Bitterblossom, it goes an especially long way toward establishing control, and Reveillark is a very hard card for them to deal with if it resolves. You just can’t walk into their countermagic, and have to use your countermagic effectively.
When sideboarding, there are two routes you can go. The first is to transform into a more aggressive strategy using Paladins and Muses. If you catch them off guard, this plan can be excellent. My problem with it, though, is that it can be risky. If you get a poor draw, you just have a disjointed bunch of cards. On the other hand, if you get a good draw, you can take advantage of how the Faeries deck wants to make the game about. Lately I’ve been sticking mostly to not transforming, and especially not against weaker Faeries opponents since I feel like I can edge games out against them. I also almost never transform on the draw. However, if you think the strategy is going to work, go for it. This is your worst matchup, but the fact that it’s still very winnable is encouraging. On Magic Online I’m about 50% against Faeries decks, although I feel like the matchup is still a little worse than that.
Swans
-1 Wrath of God, -2 Reveillark, -4 Sower of Temptation, +2 Path to Exile, +2 Negate, +2 Remove Soul, +1 Celestial Purge
This matchup is excellent. They can randomly get you if you’re not careful, but I don’t think I’ve lost a match to Swans yet. They’re often on the Crusher plan after sideboarding, so I’ve been leaving two Wraths in. Sower is good versus Crusher, but they can still combo you out if you Sower their Swans, giving Wrath the nod. Finks stays in because you don’t want to lose to Villages and Bloodbraid Elves, while buying you a ton of time versus Crusher.
That’s how I would play the deck now, but for those testing the new format, a few changes have to be made after M10. Warning: the last part of this article discusses M10 spoilers.
The major change I think people are going to want to know about is what to do without Wrath around. Can the deck survive? I feel like the answer is yes. I think the answer is Hallowed Burial. Hallowed Burial is a little miserable in this deck because you can no longer Wrath yourself with a Reveillark and a Mulldrifter in play and get them back, but if you play a little differently to make sure the creatures are dead first it doesn’t change too much. Reveillark’s ability isn’t contingent on going to the graveyard, so as long as you spend a turn blocking with your other creatures, you’ll be fine. I’m not sure exactly what to replace Mind Stone with, but I think you can play a couple of lands and some additional countermagic there to fill the two drop slot. Lastly, I think Glacial Chasm is miles better than Adarkar Wastes, and would probably play three of them (leaving one out just because I don’t think it’s necessary to take extra damage from Anathemancer if you don’t need to). You are also probably going to want more Red hate in the sideboard, namely Billstarkington Forge-Tender, due to the people who will jump on the Lightning Bolt and Ball Lightning bandwagon. Regardless, I think the deck can definitely survive the core set rotation, and without cards like Treetop Village around, it even improves a few of your matchups.
If you have any questions about the deck, I’d be happy to discuss them in the forums. I’ve played the archetype a lot, and would love to hear your thoughts. Additionally, if you’d like sideboarding strategies for a deck I didn’t cover, ask in the forums and I’d be happy to provide it. As always, you can e-mail any other thoughts or questions you have to me at gavintriesagain at gmail dot com. See you guys in the forums!
Gavin Verhey
Team Unknown Stars
Rabon on Magic Online, Lesurgo everywhere else