Mono Blue Faeries Sideboard Guide

Introduction

Mono Blue Faeries makes up 3.4% of the Pauper field. It wins in the air: cheap fliers like Faerie Seer and Faerie Miscreant start attacking early, ninjutsu swaps them for Moon-Circuit Hacker and Ninja of the Deep Hours to turn those attacks into cards, and Counterspell and Spellstutter Sprite stop whatever would break the attack up.

The results are stronger than that share suggests. Beicodegeia won the September 17 Pauper Challenge with the deck, a few weeks after winning the 63-player Challenge on August 28, and other pilots have also placed near the top of the Challenge series, including two in the top four on September 11.

The deck beats spell-based tempo decks whose key plays the counters catch, combo decks that need one specific spell to resolve, and ramp decks whose expensive spells run into the counters while the ninjas keep drawing. It is favored against Blue Terror, Dimir Faeries, Spy Combo, Jund Wildfire, Gruul Ponza, Familiars, Dimir Terror, Madness Burn, Flicker Tron, and Black Sacrifice, and slightly favored against Monster Tron and Mono Red Rally.

The deck loses to opponents who flood the board faster than the counters can keep up, or who trade cheap removal for its fragile fliers one for one until the ninjas have nothing to swap in behind. It is unfavored against Mono Red Madness, Elves, Bogles, Golgari Gardens, and White Aggro.

General Strategy

The deck wants to attack with a flier the opponent cannot block, and everything else is built around keeping that attack going. A Faerie Seer or Faerie Miscreant comes down early and starts swinging; once it is unblocked, ninjutsu returns it to hand and puts Moon-Circuit Hacker or Ninja of the Deep Hours into play attacking, and the ninja draws a card when it connects. The single most important thing the pilot does is protect that loop: keep mana open for Counterspell and Spellstutter Sprite, and spend them on the spells that would actually stop the fliers from getting through, not on the first thing the opponent casts.

The engine is that every cheap Faerie banks a bonus as it enters: Faerie Seer scrys, Spellstutter Sprite counters a spell, and a second Faerie Miscreant draws a card. Ninjutsu then hands that Faerie back to you. The unblocked flier leaves combat, Moon-Circuit Hacker or Ninja of the Deep Hours arrives attacking and draws on damage, and the returned Faerie is recast for its bonus all over again, with a returned Spellstutter Sprite held to flash in when the opponent casts a spell. Each combat recycles the same cheap cards into a fresh scry, a fresh counter, or a fresh draw on top of the ninja's card, which is how a deck of one-mana creatures keeps pulling ahead on cards.

A game runs in three phases. Setup is a land and a one-mana flier, then an attack: Faerie Seer, Faerie Miscreant, or Harrier Strix, the last of which taps down a blocker on the way in. The payoff phase begins the first time a flier is unblocked and a ninja swaps in, and from there Of One Mind restocks the hand cheaply once a ninja sits next to a Faerie, while and answer the opponent's best plays. The close is plain combat: the ninjas and the fliers keep attacking, every ninja hit draws another card, and the opponent runs out of life before they run out of things to counter.

The Cards

Spellstutter Sprite

The signature card: a flash flier that counters a spell whose mana value is at most the number of Faeries you control, and it counts itself, so even alone it stops a one-mana spell. With a Seer and a Miscreant already out it catches most of what the format casts. It is a counter and a body in one card, and because ninjutsu returns it to hand, the same Sprite can counter something every other turn. The Faerie count is checked again when the trigger resolves, so if the opponent kills a Faerie in response to a Sprite that was exactly big enough, the counter fails and the spell resolves.

Faerie Seer

The best turn-one play in the deck. A one-mana flier that scrys two on entry smooths the early land drops and digs toward a ninja, and it is the flier you most want to attack with on turn two because ninjutsu returning it to hand means a second scry when you recast it. Late in the game it keeps finding action off the top while still chipping in for a point.

Faerie Miscreant

The same one-mana flier with a different bonus: it draws a card on entry if another Miscreant is already in play. The draw checks for the twin both when it enters and when the trigger resolves, so the second copy is a real cantrip and every recast after ninjutsu is one too while the other copy stays in play. On the play, turn one Miscreant, turn two attack for 1 and cast the second copy postcombat to draw. Turn three, attack with both; once they are unblocked, spend two Islands to ninjutsu Ninja of the Deep Hours, returning the first Miscreant. The Ninja and the remaining Miscreant deal 3 and the Ninja draws, then the third Island recasts the returned Miscreant, whose twin is still in play, for another card. That is three extra cards by turn three from two one-drops and one ninja.

Moon-Circuit Hacker

Role Assignment

Mono Blue Faeries is an aggro-control deck: interactive rather than linear, tempo-positive, and only medium on inevitability, since its clock is a stream of small evasive hits rather than a finisher. Its interaction is counters (Counterspell, Spellstutter Sprite, Dispel) plus a handful of creature answers (Cryoshatter, Brinebarrow Intruder). Every matchup is fought on four axes: whether the opponent's key spells can be countered, who controls the air, how their removal lines up against one-toughness creatures, and whether their clock forces you to tap out before the ninjas finish.

Vs. Aggro. Against a deck that floods the board faster than you can counter, you are the control. The six-turn clock does not race, the counters cannot stop a resolved board, and cheap removal trades up against the Faeries, so the goal is to stabilize and let the ninjas grind out card advantage. Counter only the threats you cannot block or race, and let the fliers chump or trade when they must. The play that defines the role is Cryoshatter on their best attacker rather than their biggest creature, so their next attack costs them a card while Brinebarrow Intruder waits to ambush the one that comes in behind it.

Vs. Midrange. You are the beatdown early and the control late. A midrange deck wants to trade one for one and win on card quality, so the ninjas' draws are your edge: every turn a flier goes unblocked with a ninja ready to swap in, you gain a card they have to answer. Their removal is the axis that decides it, since each cheap removal spell trades evenly with a one-mana Faerie but stops a ninjutsu turn cold, so keep the swap alive by attacking with the Faerie you least mind losing and holding Counterspell for their card-advantage spell or the one permanent you have no answer to once it resolves.

Vs. Control. You are unambiguously the beatdown. Cheap fliers get under a control deck's expensive answers, and tempo-positive plays like a one-mana ninjutsu punish every turn they spend holding mana. The two dangers are a sweeper and an opposing counter on your card-draw turn, so Counterspell is reserved for the sweeper or the engine, not their first cantrip, and protects the ninja swap or . Deploy one or two fliers at a time rather than the whole hand, since the deck rebuilds after a sweeper from the fliers and ninjas still held in hand.

Play Patterns

Hold Spellstutter Sprite with mana open and flash it in to counter something rather than casting it on your own turn. Its counter counts the Sprite itself, so even as your only Faerie it stops a one-mana spell, and each other Faerie in play raises what it can catch. Cast main-phase as a plain 1/1 it throws away the counter half of a card meant to be both a spell and a body. On the play with Faerie Miscreant attacking on turn two, pass with two Islands open; if the opponent casts nothing worth countering, flash the Sprite at their end step so it attacks on turn three. Attack with both, and once they are unblocked spend one Island to ninjutsu Moon-Circuit Hacker, returning the Sprite rather than the Miscreant. The Hacker and the Miscreant deal 3 and the Hacker draws, and the Sprite is back in hand with two Islands still untapped: the same counter is held up again on the opponent's turn, and if it is not needed it is flashed in again at their end step.
Pick the ninjutsu return for the effect you want to buy back, not just whichever flier happens to be unblocked. The bounce is a rebate. Returning Faerie Seer means a second scry when you recast it, returning Spellstutter Sprite puts another counter in your hand, and returning a Faerie Miscreant while its twin stays in play draws a card on the recast. When both a Seer and a Miscreant are unblocked, ask which bonus you need this turn (a scry to find a land or a draw to refill) before you announce Moon-Circuit Hacker or Ninja of the Deep Hours. Returning the wrong body turns the deck's main value loop into a plain creature swap.
Attack into a creature enchanted with Cryoshatter instead of around it. The aura leaves the creature on the battlefield looking like a blocker, but it has lost 5 power and is destroyed the moment it is dealt damage, so a block costs the opponent the creature and rarely costs you the Faerie. Either the attack goes through and lines up ninjutsu, or the block turns the aura into a clean kill. Holding the fliers back out of respect for a creature that can no longer profitably block is the mistake.

Black Sacrifice

Carrion Feeder - emblematic card for this matchup — Read the Black Sacrifice primer →

Matchup - Favored

Black Sacrifice is the beatdown and we take the tempo role. They goldfish a turn faster than we do, but they run out of gas against one-for-one answers backed by extra cards, so they have to win a race. Their ground creatures can't block our fliers; the only flying blocker they can produce is the Insect token Infestation Sage leaves behind. Our Faeries keep attacking and feeding ninjutsu while our mana goes to counters on their turn. Their individual cards are weak late: 1/1s and sacrifice spells that need other bodies to matter. The longer the game runs, the more our ninja draws and Of One Mind take over.

The race favors us as long as the counters land on the right spells. About three-quarters of their nonland cards cost one mana, so Spellstutter Sprite catches most of the deck as our only Faerie. Spend it and Counterspell on the payoffs first: Carrion Feeder, Mortician Beetle, Bloodthrone Vampire, Rite of Consumption and Sadistic Glee. Shambling Ghast comes next, because it is their removal for our fliers. Let the token-leaving one-drops resolve (Nested Shambler, Infestation Sage, Nezumi Linkbreaker). With no payoff to feed, they are mostly chip damage. A countered creature never dies, so it leaves no token and no trigger behind, which is why our counters line up so well against a deck built to blunt removal.

Default to attacking with the fliers rather than blocking. Ninjutsu needs the unblocked attacker, and trading a Faerie for one of their 1/1s usually hands them a death trigger plus, with Sadistic Glee in play, a counter for each creature that dies. When Shambling Ghast is in play, ninjutsu in Ninja of the Deep Hours over Moon-Circuit Hacker, since the 2/2 survives the -1/-1 and still connects for a card. Return Spellstutter Sprite with the ninjutsu when possible so it comes back as another counter for their one-drops.

Key Threats

Carrion Feeder is their main growing attacker and a free sacrifice outlet. If it resolves beside fodder, every creature they feed it adds a permanent counter, including a Shambling Ghast sacrificed to kill one of our fliers at instant speed. A lone Spellstutter Sprite counters it, and that is the best answer. Once it is in play, Cryoshatter stops it attacking but leaves the outlet working. Tapping it afterward with Sewer-veillance Cam triggers the aura and destroys it.

Shambling Ghast appears in most lists and is their most common maindeck answer to our 1-toughness creatures. With a free outlet in play (Carrion Feeder or Bloodthrone Vampire), its death trigger can kill any Faerie, Harrier Strix or Moon-Circuit Hacker mid-combat. The mistake to avoid is flashing in a lone Spellstutter Sprite against that board. They sacrifice the Ghast in response to the Sprite's trigger and kill the Sprite. With no Faerie left, the trigger no longer reaches the spell, so their spell resolves and we are down a card. Flash the Sprite in only if its counter still reaches the target after one of our Faeries dies. Otherwise use Counterspell.

Rite of Consumption is their burst finish. They attack with their biggest creature, then sacrifice it in their second main phase to deal its power to us and gain that much life, a swing our small flying hits struggle to make back. Don't tap out on our turn while they have a grown attacker. Hold Counterspell, or Spellstutter Sprite with a second Faerie in play. The sacrifice is paid before we can respond, so countering it costs them both the creature and the drain. Brinebarrow Intruder helps too. Flashed onto their biggest attacker during combat, its -2/-0 lasts through their second main phase, cutting the combat damage and then the drain if that creature is sacrificed.

Mortician Beetle grows off every sacrifice by either player. Leave it in play and each sacrifice they make to kill our creatures or dodge our removal also adds a permanent counter to it. In builds with Accursed Marauder, both halves of the edict add one as well. Counter it with a lone Spellstutter Sprite when we can. It is not a sacrifice outlet itself, so Cryoshatter aimed at it resolves unless they have a free outlet in play or mana for Village Rites.

Sideboard Plan

In:

1 Dispel

Out:

1 Harrier Strix

Dispel comes in because their spot removal is all instants: Snuff Out and Tragic Slip, plus Spinning Darkness after boarding. Village Rites and Supernatural Stamina are instants too. A second one-mana counter protects a ninja mid-combat, or counters Village Rites after the creature is already sacrificed, off a single Island.

One Harrier Strix goes out because its tap has few good targets here. The Insect token from Infestation Sage is their only possible flying blocker. Tapping a Swamp doesn't stop free sacrifice outlets, the Shambling Ghast trigger, or Snuff Out paid with life. Unlike Faerie Seer and Faerie Miscreant, it also doesn't count toward Spellstutter Sprite. Only one copy comes out because we still want nine one-mana fliers to start ninjutsu once they add more removal.

Sideboarding moves this matchup moderately toward them. They gain instant-speed removal, a sweeper and hand disruption aimed at our 1-toughness creatures and our counters, while our only change is the second Dispel. The matchup stays good for us, but post-board games are tighter than game one.

Post-board Strategy

They board into removal and disruption aimed at our small creatures and our counters, so each counter gets a narrower job. Nearly every list brings in Tragic Slip and Mesmeric Fiend. Most add extra copies of Accursed Marauder. About half have Spinning Darkness or more Snuff Out, and some run Drown in Sorrow. Dispel handles the spot removal plus Village Rites and Supernatural Stamina off a single Island. That saves Counterspell for what Dispel can't touch: the sweeper, Mesmeric Fiend, Accursed Marauder and Rite of Consumption.

The right board is two creatures, with a ninja or Spellstutter Sprite still in hand to rebuild. Drown in Sorrow kills every creature we play, while their Infestation Sage and Nezumi Linkbreaker leave tokens that arrive after it resolves. Accursed Marauder takes our only creature when we have just one, so keep a cheap Faerie beside a lone ninja and sacrifice the Faerie. Once they have three Swamps, keep two Islands open on their turn. The sweeper is a sorcery, so Counterspell is the answer, and Spellstutter Sprite reaches it only with three Faeries in play.

Counter Mesmeric Fiend on the stack rather than letting it resolve, with Counterspell or with Spellstutter Sprite and one other Faerie. With a free outlet they sacrifice it while its enter trigger is still waiting, and the card it takes stays exiled. Their extra removal also changes how we ninjutsu. Tragic Slip with morbid, Snuff Out and Spinning Darkness all kill Ninja of the Deep Hours, so surviving Shambling Ghast protects it far less than it did in game one. When the lands allow, ninjutsu with Dispel or Counterspell mana still open to protect the ninja until it connects. The life they pay for Snuff Out shortens our clock, while the life they gain from Spinning Darkness stretches it.