Hello! Welcome back to Arena Adventures, the series where I climb up the Arena ladder and take you along with me. Last time I got to Platinum 3, and discovered some flaws in my deck construction. Today, I’d like to make those changes, and hopefully keep climbing up the Arena ranked ladder! Let’s get going.
Subtractions and Detractions
In my last article, I mentioned that Dimir Faeries as it stood had two major problems: 1) inability to deal with a wide board state (one that has a lot of creatures on it); and 2) value engines that are too slow and susceptible to removal. I’ve got plans to address both of those issues, and I’d like to start by talking about what creatures I’ll be removing.
2x Talion’s Messenger
This is exactly the kind of slow, easily-removed value engine I wanted to get rid of. If this three-mana Faerie can stick to the battlefield for a little while, it’s likely I’ll win the game. It grows our flying creatures and filters our hand, creating inevitability if left alone. But, this thing dies to just about every removal spell in Standard. While I really like the card, and think it would be great in a slower format, it’s just not good enough for this deck anymore.
4x Halo Forager
While a 3/1 flying creature for three mana is on rate, and the ability it has is certainly interesting, I find that it’s often a dead card. If drawn early in the game, I’ll only have enough mana to make X equal to one or two. Sure, that lets me reuse an interactive spell that’s been placed in the graveyard, but that’s only if one is already there. If it hits the battlefield with empty or near-empty graveyards, this is just a 3/1 flyer with no abilities at all. This card is so cool, and I really want it to work. But, it’s a slower version of Snapcaster Mage that doesn’t have flash. Unfortunately, it’s got to go.
1x Undercity Sewers and 1xInto the Flood Maw
Undercity Sewers was cut because it’s the only land in the deck that doesn’t have a chance of coming in untapped. I know it’s a great card, and that the surveil trigger it provides is really useful, but I don’t have any way to take advantage of cards in my graveyard. So, that one’s out.
I also cut one copy of Into the Flood Maw, leaving me with two copies still in the deck. This card is great, but it usually just delays my opponent’s victory instead of preventing it. It’s still really good though, and can be used to deal with almost anything an opponent throws at me. So, two copies of this bounce spell are staying in for now.
2x Cut Down
This one’s great on turn one or two. If my opponent plays a small creature to develop their board, like a Hinterland Sanctifier or a Llanowar Elves, I can get rid of it before it becomes a problem. But, if it gets drawn anywhere beyond the very start of the game, it’s frequently a useless card in my hand.
Additions and Auditions
Now that I’ve got 10 open slots, let’s talk about what’ll be filling out the rest of the list.
2x Faerie Mastermind
This is a fantastic card, and it just so happens to be a Faerie! I would have added more copies of it before the last edition of this article, but I just didn’t have enough wildcards to do so. This is a source of consistent card advantage and an evasive flyer with flash. I can’t think of a better card for this deck, and I’m quite happy to have a full playset of them now.
2x Sheoldred’s Edict
This wasn’t initially on my radar, but I’ve played against a lot of black-based decks while climbing up to Platinum 3. This card is relatively unassuming, but can act as an unconditional kill spell early in the game, and doesn’t lose too much of its utility on a slightly-more-full board either. Plus, it can hit planeswalkers. I have a feeling I’ll be grabbing more copies of this card in the near future.
2x Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
This is a weird one. It’s not a Faerie, and doesn’t synergize directly with my deck’s game plan. But, it does a lot of things really well. It can attack as a 3/4, provide both card advantage and selection, and even lock down a scary attacker. Plus, because this deck runs a good quantity of evasive, flying creatures, it’ll usually be able to Ninjutsu onto the field as early as turn 3!
2x Barrow Naughty
I know I cut this card earlier, but it’s back again. I’ve lost many games because my life total had gotten whittled down before I could get my metaphorical feet under me. This creature has lifelink and can pump itself in the late game if I’ve got nothing else in my hand. It’s certainly not the best option, but it’s getting a second try. I’m hoping that it’ll overperform and carry me to victory!
2x Aetherize
In the last edition, I made the observation that this list had a problem dealing with wide boards full of creatures. This is my attempt at addressing that problem. Aetherize is efficient, wiping the board for just four mana, and will hopefully provide me with the time I need to close out games. We’ll see if it works!
After all of those cuts and additions, this is how the decklist stands:
Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game
It’s a new month, meaning the ranked ladder has reset once again. This time, it was a bit harder than usual to climb back up to Platinum. With Foundations now fully released and its cards percolated through the player base, I’ve noticed a lot more life gain decks. Like a lot a lot.
Especially as I climbed through the Gold ranks, I estimate that 65% of all the decks I faced incorporated a high amount of lifegain and lifegain-synergies. This sometimes took the form of Angel kindred decks, sometimes the form of Orzhov (black-white) combo decks, and most often the form of generic gain-as-much-life-as-possible decks.
All of these decks gave me a good bit of trouble, as I just couldn’t put enough pressure on them with my small creatures. I’d lower my opponent’s life total a bit, then they’d begin gaining life and slamming big threats like Exemplar of Light. That would unfortunately be curtains for me. So, this week I struggled and barely climbed back up to Platinum 4.
And although I was able to claw my way up to Platinum 4 (the lowest rung of the Platinum ranks), I wasn’t able to get much higher than that. In addition to the lifegain decks, there were a lot of green decks that played big, scary creatures turn after turn. Against lifegain decks, big scary creature decks, and all other decks, I eventually ran out of removal and lost.
I think that, especially with Foundations cards strengthening strategies that already gave this hybrid (Faeries-kindred and spell-based-control) deck some trouble, it’ll continue to be harder and harder to climb through Platinum.
Bring the Ending
With another attempt to push through the Platinum ranks under my belt, what did I learn? Well, Dimir Faeries is in a weird spot. As a deck with 16 (mostly) flying creatures, it wants to chip down at opponents’ life totals over time while also preventing them from advancing their game plan. But, it becomes a lot harder to slowly reduce my opponent’s life total if they’re gaining life on every one of their turns. It may seem like I’m focusing a lot on lifegain decks, but the vast majority of the decks I faced off against were lifegain decks.
So, with that understanding of the meta, and a better understanding of my deck’s weaknesses, what’s next? I think I’d like to leave that up to you, dear readers. Is there a place for Dimir Faeries in higher ranks of the Standard ladder? Or is it time to pick a new deck? I look forward to seeing your responses to the poll below. I’ll see you next time!
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