Eventide + Fae = ?

Consider this an Eventide set review for block faeries.

Dream Fracture - This is a card I'm unsure on. It is clearly no Remand but that does not tell us much, Remand was amazing. Its main competition is Broken Ambitions and Negate. It has the advantage over those two is it hits everything. However the fact it costs three means that it doesn't counter anything on turn two (aka counter Bitterblossom) and you need seven lands to do something like Mistbind Clique+counter.
Verdict: Maybe

Inundate - This to me compares to Incremental Blight. I personally think this could be an interesting replacement. The main deck you run Blight for is Kithkin. Inundate bounces all their dudes but Thistledown Liege and blanks any Spectral Processions. That said I think six is too much and the fact that it doesn't kill anything means this won't make the cut.
Verdict: Nope

Oona's Grace - I'd love to run 26 land and two Oona's Graces in faeries. That said I don't think that will work. Cutting three spells for do nothing cards will result in too many do nothing hands.
Verdict: Maybe but think no

Wake Thrasher - I'm just mentioning this here as the deck lacks 3 drops and fatties. Despite being a Merfolk this fills both rolls. That said I think no.
Verdict: Doubtful

Necroskitter - A fine anti-Kithkin option that "combos" with Incramental Blight. That said due to a hybrid card I'll get to this won't make the cut.
Verdict: Nope

Talara's Bane - This could see sideboard play if the format shifts to lots and lots of Kithkin and green decks. Taking out a Cloudthresher or Cloudgoat Ranger seems really, really good. This is a great sideboard replacement of Thoughtseize in these matchups. It hits the cards you want and boosts your life, not lowers it.
Verdict: Doubtful

Beckon Apparition - Puppeter Clique is still the premier answer to Manneqiun decks. If non-creature graveyard stuff becomes and issue (retrace) I can see this being played. Clearly it fights for space with Faerie Macabre.
Verdict: Maybe

Stillmoon Cavalier - This is the hybrid I allued to. It pretty much has protection from Kithkin, as in the whole deck. You can even first strike it pre Mirrorweave and it keeps first strike after Mirrowweave. This is also solid v 5c decks as long as the board out firespout. I plan on running two or three in my sideboard for the rest of the PTQ season.
Verdict: Hells yeah!

Cold-Eye Selkie - An atractive sideboarding option if Peppersmoke was never printed.
Verdict: Can't wait for UGB merfolk to play this against me.

Groundling Pouncer - See last entry.
Verdict: Nope

Snakeform - The best answer yet to Chameleon Colossus. In fact I think if this card is heavily played CC will become less of a metagame threat. Also this card is gonna be almost as big of a rules pain as Mirrorweave. I want to run a pair of these some where but I don't know if I can find room.
Verdict: I think so

Cascade Bluffs et al - More filter lands make the mana in this format even more stupid. Personally I think if you want to run Cryptic Command and Chameleon Colossus in the same deck why play fish when you can play fae? Not sure if any splashing will be worth using these. If you want to play a 5c list ala GerryT then you'll be running some.
Verdict: Looks likley


Two ideas on where faeries could go:

#1 Slower, more counterspells: Oona's Grace and Dream Fracture look to me like an option to make a slower, more controling faeries deck. That said I'm not sure if faeries is the best fit for this or is Mannequin is. Also this idea probably won't work due to Kithkin and Faerie decks being good and fast.

#2 Three-five colors: I've heard or worse ideas than running some Colossi in faeries. Add in Firespout access and it might be worth diluting the synergistic core of the deck. On the other hand, probably not.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall What is the Greatest Format of Them All?

Played in another Lorwyn/Shadowmoor blocked PE online today. Like the last one I went x-1 in the swiss (3 of 5 mirror this time) then faced a RB deck in the t8. The RB decks seems like your best chance to beat faeries but honestly its not a blowout. All three matches I've played against them in the final rounds of PEs have been close three game affairs. This time I managed to pull it out though my tendency to loose Lash Out clashes did not help.

Faeries:
50% vs the mirror
60% vs other decks
40% vs RB

Seems like it is the deck to play. The mirror sucks that is clear. However I don't think it is that bad IF you know how to play it. The RB deck is the best deck vs faeries but I frankly can't see how it can't win versus some decks. Demigod of Revenge is the best card in the deck as it allows the deck to deal tons of damage very quickly. Beyond that I'm unsure on the deck's chances.



I was not playing during Affinity and I know Faeries is no Affinity. That said the deck is insane and I don't think Eventide will change that.

Preparing for EEE Drafts

Prerealeases this time around did not have EEE drafts. Why? Because Wizards is a bitch. Known fact: Wizards said we can't EEE draft. Rumor: because store owners were complaining that people got too much product and single sales suffered. Seems like a silly reason but fits with their getting rid of big prerelease events. At my local one the TO ran SEE instead of the SSE she was supposed to, nice thought if a bit random. ANYWAYS....

So yeah at some point fairly soon Eeventide will be released on Magic Online. This means it is time once again for triple small set drafting. Small set drafts are always degenerate and pretty much have one or two totally overpowering decks. In Futuresight it was Green/x getting you the best commons and uncommons while dodging most of the removal. In Morningtide it was U/W Wizard/Merfolk which I wrote about here and here.

I can tell you right now that EEE decks will be all about mimics. I'm unsure on which mimic is best thought I would lean towards the B/W mimic as a 4/4 flyer. That said I'm pretty sure on the deck I want to try. R/x or mono red. Why? Flame Jab. Flame Jab basically means for one mana you can kill all the mimics they could ever play. Another thing about the mimic decks is your mana curve will be very low meaning retrace goes up in value. In normal limited people are talking about retracing after you have six lands or so, in EEE I could see that number being 3-5 lands. This means lots of flame jabs which is a good thing.

When we have EEE drafts online I'll be sure to jump into them and post the results here.


Block Update: Went 5-1 in swiss of PE yesterday loosing to a red/black deck in r6. Lost to another red/black deck in t8. I don't think the matchup is good but it doesn't seem unwinable. In round six I lost game three to him winning the Clash on a Lash Out which put me to four for his Flame Javelin. In the quarterfinals I drew nothing in games 2&3 and it didn't really matter what deck I was playing.

Long Time No Post

Well this coming weekend there is a PTQ right down the street from me so I've been blocking a lot online. I played 5c at the first PTQ I went to but honestly at this point I see no reason to do that when I can run faeries. So far I've just run two PEs going 1-2 drop in the first one (think I mulligaed over 10 times in three matches) and am 4-0 in the second as I type this.

Something I don't think many people know is that LSV has a daily video series on Blackboarder.com. He recently talked about faeries in block and while I don't think he had everything right I think he was right on one point. Spellstutter Sprite is a win-more card. Worse it is pretty bad when you don't have Bitterblossom out. He advocates running two main deck which I am doing right now and liking it. It saves you from the awkward hands with 2+ Spellsutters where you have to cast one EOT to turn the other on.

Maindeck:
25 Land
8 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Secluded Glen
4 Sunken Ruins
4 Swamp
1 Reflecting Pool (Seems better than the 9th Island so I'm trying it out)
3 Thoughtseize
2 Peppersmoke
4 Nameless Inversion
2 Negate
4 Bitterblossom
2 Spellstutter Sprite
1 Eyeblight's Ending
4 Scion of Oona
2 Vendilion Clique
4 Cryptic Command
4 Mistbind Clique
3 Sower of Temptation

The other thing you might have noticed is the maindeck Negates and the lack of Broken Ambitions. Negate has game versus every deck often stopping key cards that cost four or more. BA is too often a dead topdeck and is awful on the draw. I'm thinking that 3 Negates is the right number, think I might trim the Eyeblight's Ending.

Otherwise I like the maindeck numbers the cards you almost always want are 4x and the semi-awkward cards are 2-3x. The only exception is Nameless Inversion, it is really awful in the 5c matchup. It makes up for this in every other matchup where it is pretty much the nuts.

Sideboard is:
1 Thoughtseize - #4
2 Peppersmoke - #3-4
2 Eyeblight's Ending - #2-3/6-7
2 Incremental Blight - Almost never want to cast this twice in a game making two a good number
1 Biting Tether - Want to run two but my sideboard is already top heavy, best answer to Chameleon Colossus in block
3 Puppeteer Clique - Great v 5c/elementals
4 Shriekmaw - removal spells 8-11

Think the Biting Tether or some Eyeblight's Endings will have to go. Honestly not sure what I want instead. 3rd Vendillion Clique would be okay as would more Neagates.

Limited Bad Beats/Eventide Limited

Not much to post on of late. Last four drafts I'm 2-4, last sealed I went 0-2 with a sick deck. So far I've done I think seven sealed events going 4-1x4, 4-2, 0-1, 0-2. The worst part is two of the 4-1s I lost a match via punt and the 4-2 I lost both that way. The 0-1 and 0-2 I just got screwed.

Eventide previews/spoilers are coming along should be a fun set. The interaction in sealed and draft should be interesting. Mono colorshould get a boost as Unmake works in mono white just as well as Plumeveil. The allied color pairs will take a hit and the enemy colored pairs will go up. That said UR might not improve in draft. UR in draft is Power of Fire+untappers. Like Pili-Palla.dek it will suffer from one fewer pack of Power of Fires.

Two things that might improve are cards that focus on all colors and five color decks. In SSS draft you could go five color if the FarhavenElves, Suttlemutts, Manamorphoses, and Flasks came. This will be goodin SSE because you can still play everything. The one issue I see is alack of mana fixing in Eventide which could kill the deck. One card that might become much better in draft and sealed is Scrapbasket. Scrapbasket is the only common which can wear any of the ten color auras equally well. I usually had only had to resort to this in sealed but it might become worth it/necessary in draft.

Eventide Spoilers Cube Edition

As with most sets at least 90% of the cards are not worth a second glance. The ones below are cards I am thinking might be cube worthy.

Red:
Very exciting. Keep in mind that a 2/2 for RR is above average in Magic's goto color for aggression. That however does not make a card cube worthy. This card has two abilities. First, wither which is a decent combat ability but not amazing. The second one is a very unusual ability as it lasts until the end of the game. Now most cube decks won't have lifegain which would make this card look bad. However you have to think about what decks lifegain would be good against. Mono red methinks? This guy seems like a fine maindeck card in a red aggressive deck to stop something like Loxodon Hierarch from blowing you out.




This card I have a harder time evaluating. It costs more than something like Ball Lightning or Blistering Firecat. It also (sometimes) lacks trample. Its major upsides are it lives past the end of turn and has persist. The living past the end of turn is not as important as one might think. The roll of Ball Lighting, etc is to end the game more often than not. You've got them to 5 or so and you summon a hasty attacker ftw. That said Thunderblust seems strong and may well make the cube.




Hybrid:

Like many people I think this is one hell of a common. I love this card. Great art, great effect, and awkward mana cost. One thing the cube fights against is 5c good stuff decks. Cards like this punish those decks because even with tons of mana fixing I'll give this a pass in a 5c deck. It also works in mono white and mono black two types of decks I'd love to push.







Sorry for the image quality on this one but I gotta work with what I got. I assume this is a scan of the prerelease card. It has no date stamp but early printings of them tend not to. As far as the card goes I'm not in love with it but there is no way I'm skipping this in the cube. Gives both red and white another good aggro one drop. Attacking for two on turn two and then four on turn three seems fine. Often you might just attack for one on turn two while playing a two drop, then start pumping it on t3. This seems most likely in a white weenie deck with lots of WW creatures.



Well thats all for now, still missing much of the set. Looks like this set will offer some good new cards in enemy colors for my revised gold section.