The first draw that most people have to Faeries is
Bitterblossom. It serves as the lynchpin card in most variants of the deck. While at first glance, the card seems slightly underwhelming, Faeries players will assure you that
Bitterblossom is the real deal. With Faeries, most players opt to stick within the natural U/B color combo, giving us a fairly solid core. A core, it's worth noting, that needs to remain intact in order to capitalize on the Faeries synergy: the real reason why we play Faeries.
A basic Tempo Faeries core is going to look something very similar to this:
4x Bitterblossom
4x Spellstutter Sprite
3-4x Snapcaster Mage
2-3x Vendilion Clique
2x Mistbind Clique
3-4x Fatal Push
3-4x Opt
2-4x Inquisition of Kozilek~
2-4x Thoughtseize~
3-4x Cryptic Command
Now I'm going to get to explaining why each of these cards is considered a part of the overall core, but first it should be noted that while it is plausible to represent Faeries with wedge colors like Esper and Grixis, players often detract from this core to do so. (A detract that can and will punish you for not being committed to the core.) It is of my practiced opinion (as well as calculable fact providing recent high level event successes) that the U/B core is the essential starting point for success with this deck.
With those disclaimers out of the way, let's have a look at the core from top to bottom with a little more insight as to why these particular cards.
THE IMPLICATIONS OF Bitterblossom
Bitterblossom is the leader of our core cards. If you're not on Bitterblossom, you're not playing Faeries. When looking over the card some might think that a loss of life every turn for a single 1/1 Flying Faerie might just be too erratic without enough payoff. However, it's the rest of the core that supports Bitterblossom as the engine and focuses on making maximum use out of these fragile tokens. Most typically, a Faeries player is going to look to land their first Bitterblossom on turn two (though this can change depending on matchups and sideboards) to start churning out Faerie tokens. It's also worth noting that Bitterblossom is a Tribal Enchantment with the Faerie subtype; an important piece of card text that without, might just make our deck unplayable altogether. Bitterblossom is only just the jump in point, though, as there are numerous things to consider when opting to include the card in any deck.
The first thing you should realize right off the start is that Bitterblossom is a self-imposed clock. It's draining you in order to continually insure that you have a fresh Faerie on board every turn. Optimally, this means that as of turn four, you can start chipping away for small amounts of incremental damage. Yes, turn four is highly likely the first turn you'll be getting beats in. You've got to play a slow grindy game to get where Faeries is trying to go. While that life loss seems like it's going to make the game go faster, it actually slows it down quite well. When the deck functions optimally, your tokens are either trading with small dudes, saving chunks of life from big ones and/or at the very least being counted for Spellstutter Sprite.
When all is running at full steam, you're spending one life a turn to do one damage per turn cumulatively for each turn your opponent doesn't handle your Bitterblossom. If you've never put Bitterblossom on the board on turns two and three, you haven't truly lived!!
BONUS ~ Some Bitterblossom Math
This math assumes your tokens can attack freely as soon as possible. Math for one Bitterblossom and math for two are given below. In both instances we will assume no life loss as early game fetching isn't absolutely necessary.
Turn 2 - BB
Turn 3 - LP 19 - 1 Fae - OP 20
Turn 4 - LP 18 - 2 Fae - OP 19
Turn 5 - LP 17 - 3 Fae - OP 17
Turn 6 - LP 16 - 4 Fae - OP 14
Turn 7 - LP 15 - 5 Fae - OP 10
Turn 8 - LP 14 - 6 Fae - OP 5
Turn 9 - LP 13 - 7 Fae - OP 0
This math assumes that each turn, you are able to handle the biggest threat without losing a Faerie Token. Often times, the optimal line of play might cause you to hold back a token or two and your clock pushes further back. This is resolved by the remainder of the core being built to support Bitterblossom and push this clock. This math a simple representation of the cumulative power of Bitterblossom and the Faerie swarm it creates. Let's have a quick peek at the math with two Bitterblossom on board!
Turn 2 - BB
Turn 3 - LP 19 - 1 Fae - BB - OP20
Turn 4 - LP 17 - 3 Fae - OP 19
Turn 5 - LP 15 - 5 Fae - OP 16
Turn 6 - LP 13 - 7 Fae - OP 11
Turn 7 - LP 11 - 9 Fae - OP 4
Turn 8 - LP 9 - 11 Fae - OP 0
As you can see, a pair of unchecked Bitterblossom can be devastatingly effective. However, it's not often you want to cram two and go for it. You're shocking yourself every turn for two dudes, so you're going to be aiming to race. In this case, you probably want the rest of your hand to be Spellstutter Sprite. Double Bitterblossom can be a huge blowout when your opponent isn't prepared for it. But there's enough cards in the format that will answer Bitterblossom, so most often, you want to hold one in case you lose the first. This card could be dead later, but more likely, you should be trying to recognize how long the game is going to go and whether or not you can get the life totals to a state where you're comfortable playing without it. Recognize whether you need to have it on board immediately or tuck it away for later and you'll be on the fast track to mastering the way of Bitterblossom.
Generally speaking, if you can get the board state to a stable three Faerie tokens on board, youre functioning optimally and should be winning that game. Let's have a look at where Bitterblossom takes our core next.
THE REMAINING CORE
Creatures
Spellstutter Sprite is easily the biggest payoff card for opting to run Bitterblossom sans the card itself, as a turn two Bitterblossom can and will win games. Spellstutter Sprite is the real reason we want to cram our Bitterblossom as soon as possible. The enchantment serves to start fueling your Sprites and turning them into hard Counterspells with 1/1 Flying bodies attached. Often, the gameplan will revolve around how aggressive you can be with your Sprites as well as how efficiently you use them. While Faeries does usually play some number more of other counter spells, Spellstutter Sprite is our first core go-to because of the synergies it gets from Bitterblossom. What we're looking for is no-low cost opportunities to cram Bitterblossom and start fueling our Sprites one turn at a time. Because the vast majority of the creatures in our deck are so small, it's important to be able to recognize when you need to get damage through vs when you need to hold up tokens or mana to block. This inherently means that our games are going to go long. We want to push our opponent past their clutch turn and hopefully force them into top-deck mode as soon as possible, with as much efficient early game card advantage as possible. This brings us full circle to Spellstutter Sprite a body that comes down, answers a threat and turns into one itself. All things we're looking for.
Snapcaster Mage is a card I feel doesn't really need introductions. As the only honorary Faerie in existence (due to his tempo interactions and Faerie-esque play style) Snapcaster Mage is a must include for anyone considering Faeries as a deck option. He's basically Spellstutter Sprites 5-8 in that he's going to come down, answer a threat and present one himself. Again I will emphasize that more often than not, Faeries is going to win with incremental damage until we are 100% certain that an alpha swing will put you in the dead zone. This to say that the 2 power on Snapcaster is not negligible, nor should it be treated as such.
Vendilion Clique has been a Faeries staple since day one. While the tap out play styles of faeries often forego VClique, the tempo variants prefer to leave the card right where it's always been. Vendilion Clique sees play in a range of blue decks across numerous formats. The fact that they are the Faerie subtype (for Spellstutter Sprite) and give us interaction while also presenting a big clock are reasons enough to accept Vendilion Clique in the core. It's worth noting that you can Clique yourself if you really need to find a different card. Very versatile for a Legendary 3/1 Flying critter. However because the Clique trio is Legendary, we opt to run fewer than a full set.
The last creature in our core package is Mistbind Clique. Yet another Faerie that's been doing work for the deck since day one. The inclusion of Mistbind Clique might be debatable as there has been some success without it. However, I personally recommend the card for anyone on the Tempo plan, as most often it's the card that turns the tempo corner and puts the game out of reach for our opponent. Yes, Clique is a 4 drop. But this is why we only run 2. But those two are absolutely necessary as they provide a way to finish off a game quickly with little resistance, or can stymie the bleed off your own Bitterblossom (yes Mistbind CAN champion that enchantment). Most often when Mistbind Clique comes down, it's going to force your opponent to do things in response (often times them looking for an out to prevent the champion clause from going off) because if they dont, they're literally handing you a free turn. In this way, it can be said that Mistbind Clique is a sort of Time Walk effect that can get you from far behind into Alpha Status in just a turn or two. It's the real corner stone end piece and definitely the real deal as a 4/4 Flying even just for surprise blocks can often end the game on its own.
Spells
Moving on from the core creatures (also read: the entire creature base) we come into the core spells which, at their heart, are just tempo All-Stars. Before the printing of Fatal Push, Faeries was on the fast track to doing just about nothing in the format. What we really needed was a turn one removal spell that we could play reactively. It happened to be that Fatal Push was exactly what we were after. With enough Fetchlands and Faerie tokens coming off the board, it's almost guaranteed that we can kill any creature from just about any deck without the need to splash into a third color. This, of course doesn't include Tron variants or Gurmag Angler and Tasigur, the Golden Fang. However, having access to a card that could shore up a number of previously dismal matchups for a single mana and synergy with Snapcaster Mage pushed Faeries from the brink of death into a deck that's actually being taken (relatively) seriously because it has real options. It's worth stating that Fatal Push absolutely shifted Modern, but it did not warp the format. It's a card that's certainly necessary for Modern like its brothers Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile.
The reprint of Opt in Ixalan has given Faeries players yet another cheap tool to replace old gold staples like Ponder and Preordain. Unfortunately Storm is just too strong of a deck to allow unchecked. Especially with so many other draw spells and rituals that have been disincluded from the format because of it. Think Gitaxian Probe. This brings us to an interesting choice of remaining card draw options available.
Having a look at what's left, we see fairly slim pickin's for Tempo oriented decks that want to draw cards. Cards like Serum Visions and Ancestral Vision are format staples. Both justifyably played in hard control decks like U/W/x. They set you up for the turns ahead and net you cards. Both of those options are absolutely viable for the Tap out variant of Faeries. But the Tempo version can't use them. These draw spells are slow and clunky when we want to be finding fast cards, something Opt allows us to do. When committing to Ancestral Vision you often have to play four copies to insure that you can hit it on turn one. I'm not saying I don't like drawing three cards, but drawing an Ancestral Vision late instead of a live spell is probably game over for you. Furthermore, suspending Ancestral Vision on turn one gives your opponent a free reign turn one play with yourself on the blind. It doesn't help to set up Bitterblossom on time and can actually set you further behind tempo.
Serum Visions is much more an option than Ancestral Vision in Tempo in my opinion because it does replace itself immediately. However, it does so at sorcery speed and blindly. Opt gives us option at instant speed filter. Clearly the superior choice being in on Tempo.
Next in line are Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek. While these cards aren't exactly considered core, a large number of players swear by at least some number of early game hand disruption. Especially the tap out variants. Tempo has the flexibility to make these slots more card draw power or counter magic. But I personally like to have hand information and check to make sure that it's all clear to deploy my Bitterblossom and take out an early game piece that we don't have options to hit with our own hand. Keep in mind while playing these cards that you want to make the most efficient use out of every card, or you're going to find yourself behind. As an example: if you Thoughtseize your opponent turn one and find two one drop dudes and a problem two drop and 4 drop, don't take the early game action unless you have answers for everything else. Look closely at what you have in your hand and figure out what your opponent's choices are going to be after you take a card. If you've got a Fatal Push, a Snapcaster Mage and a Spell Snare in hand, You might be inclined to handle the big four drop problem now because the rest of your hand sets you up to interact with the rest of theirs. It's really important to know how to use your Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek properly, because taking the wrong card can cost you games!
Our last auto-include non-land card is Cryptic Command and if you need an explanation as to why, you should probably just read the card. We get a counter/draw/bounce/tempo+alpha option out of it with Snapcaster Mage to flash it back. Card is literally insane for Faeries because it can get your opponent instantly. Yes, they know the card exists and yes, they are going to try to get you to burn it. When considering your lines of play, you always want to consider Cryptic Command as a card that's going to win you the game simply for being so versatile. It's easily the best Snapcaster target in deck (matchup/sideboard depending) and most typically if you Snap-Cryptic, your opponent definitely isn't looking too good. This means that you want to save your Cryptics and burn through your other lesser spells if at all possible.
MANA BASE
4x Mutavault
4x Polluted Delta
3-4x Darkslick Shores
2x Other Blue Fetches
3x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Watery Grave
4x Island
1-2x Swamp
The mana base is the most firm of all, which is typically true of any archetype. Each card in the Mana base is actively doing something important for your game plan. I could talk about fetches and such here, but I think most people know their importance by now. I'll give them an extra nod to the ease of Revolt triggers for Fatal Push. Otherwise the base is firm at 3x Darkslick Shores, because fast lands on turns one through three are amazing but fall a little short late game and we don't want to draw too many tapped lands.
A quick mention here to the basics and one-of Watery Grave. We only really grab the Watery Grave if we absolutely need it, or we can get away with an EoT fetch that can just fix up our mana. It very much hurts to turn one Fetch->Shock->Thoughtseize, so try not to keep risky land hands that will demand you fetch your Watery Grave to Thoughtseize. As for the basics, you really need to be able to play around Blood Moon if you can't counter it.So enough basics to be able to Snap-Cryptic and cast your double black sideboard cards are necessary. 4x Island*, 2x Swamp**.
Lastly, we come to the Manlands section of the manabase. The Manlands are the true heart of the mana base and precisely why the rest of the base needs to be as it is. 3x Creeping Tar Pit shores up mana fixing for both colors and provides end game options all in a single land card. The fact that you can just push through 3 unblocked to the dome is reason enough to turn these guys on as much as possible. But don't be trying to race where you can't and should be holding up mana.
Your race Manlands are your 4x Mutavault. These guys are SO versatile. Not only can you tap them for mana, but they turn into a 2/2 Changeling, counting as a Faerie for Spellstutter Sprite or Mistbind Clique in a pinch, AND can use their own mana to do so. They can be blowout damage for both offense and defense. It's sometimes hard to keep track of when you should be spending your manlands as mana or using them to attack. But it's definitely a question you should be asking yourself each turn. Remember that you are trying to win by card quality and synergy incrementally. Sometimes not losing requires you to trade a Mutavault for a Goblin Guide. Each situation is going to vary but the fact is that Mutavault is always a constant with so much synergistic option packed into it that you CAN NOT; repeat; CAN NOT replace this card. Not with Secluded Glen not with Faerie Conclave, not at all.
It's worth noting that there are a couple of flex spots in the Mana base. Some folks like Secluded Glen because you can play it as an Underground Sea on turns one and two by revealing your Bitterblossom. However you can run into spots where you simply don't have enough Faeries at all times to compensate for the reveal and it ends up tapped. But you also might end up showing a Faerie you wanted to hide as a trick. The card gets a solid B from me as an inclusion of three at max. I'll get into more of these flexible land options in the Non-Core Cards section.
The cards listed above are a fairly strict core. There are a number of staples played among lesser cards. A lot of our dudes die to Pyroclasm. But we've still got some space to play with! In the next section, we're going to go over the rest of the Faeries build and how the cards within can fluctuate based on numerous variables such as preference, meta game, budget and synergy. If you're still reading, shoot me a +1 and head on over to the NON-CORE CARD INFO Tab!
