Nice broken cards you got there, But have you heard about the 2000s? - 5-0 1st @ Lega Pauper Lipsia 26/27 Day 5

Opening Derangement

So Zeta Set in Pauper! Broken Cards everywhere! Artifacts! Efficient Removal ! Disgustingly efficient Creatures ! This it seems is what all the rage is about these days, and you know, there is some cards I still can not believe are still in the format! So, the question is. How do you play in that format? Jam Every Broken Card? Get the Most Value out of the really broken ones? Pfft. You must be new here. Do you know about the 2000s and peak card design ?

Wait hang on you lost me here, I thought this was about you going 5-0 at a league day?

Right Sorry. So with the announcement that zeta was gonna be legal in pauper I had the obvious reaction: Annoyance. I saw the list of cards, which had so many cards that were gonna be SO good in the format, especially with colours being kind of unlocked through Giants Boulder , and went well this is gonna suck to play as and against. However after I recovered from my period of depression I realised something else. Wait Dispatch and Baleful Strix are really good against all the big boy reachers. Someone had already shown me the beautiful faeries lists with Cryoshatter and Kakerlakenkamera , which I had tried out the month before and been quite enamoured with.

So. If everyone is playing clunky unoptimized artifact dependent piles, and I have tools against my old nemeses , what is stopping Faeries from just attacking this meta so so so efficiently?

A Digression on Playing a Meta Deck vs What you know

As long as the concept of a meta deck has existed it has always been the question whether to play a meta deck or some pile you really like, to which my answer has generally been: Well why not do both. I pride myself on having a good grip on most Counterspell Decks in pauper, from the clunky control decks, over the midrange value piles, to of course, by now my true love the tempo decks represented by Mono U Faeries and Mono U Terror, and being able to parlay that into being able to adapt into most metas, as much as I may be bitching about the black centre midrange grind decks. Refurbished Familiar my beloathed etc etc. And here I am rewarded for this, I was able to go “wait I like playing faeries and wow faeries looks insane rn, lets just do that again”. So, if theres anything sensible to take from this article: Cultivate skills in a set of decks, have a bit of variety in your toolkit, and keep a lookout for when its time to swap.

Anyway the Deck

The only Strix ill ever need.

Its Mono U Faeries. You know the List. Spellstutter Sprite , Ninjas new and old , Faerie Seers , the begrudging miscreants etc. The relevant modern twist is a low number of Snaps due to the high quality of creatures with ETBs, replaced with Kakerlakenkamera for a tempo play, and the blue “Removal” of Cryoshatter (Which is actual removal now, with the amount of Tap Down available). The only truly interesting slot is the one off Durchreisegenehmigung which is tech I stole off a fellow Faeries Sicko from Chemnitz (shout outs to Magra), partially because I think its v good to get some reach into board stalls, partially because the name is so funny.

Me when i show you my Passierschein A38

Well that and the 6 Slots of Artifact Hate in the Sideboard. Keep those in mind. They will be funny.

The actual Tournament

Round 1 2-1 vs Boros Bounce

I play against a good friend Rae the Bard on something they’ve taken to calling Boros Bounce: Glint Hawk , Kor Skyfisher , Sneaky Snacker and a bunch of repeatable Rummages (Wizards give Red different card draw Challenge: Impossible). Game 1 I generate a lot of quick pressure, counter a lot of draw 2s and somehow manage to not lose to Skyfisher despite not seeing a single Cryoshatter . Well all their spells cost like 2 Mana. Beginners Mistake really to not expect to get all your spells countered. We go to the Sideboard and I opt against boarding in artifact hate, the playset Hydroblasts , the Dispel and the extra Cryoshatter seem plenty able to handle the matchups and im way more scared of getting a Faeries removed in a bad spot than letting her resolve a draw 2. Game 2 I keep a mediocre hand, and frankly do not remember much. We 1 for 1 a bunch I fail to get any card draw going and I lose. So it goes. Cryoshatters still at 0. Game 3 I keep a normal faeries hand. I get a lot of my Ninjas removed leading to me just attacking with a 1/1, but since Rae was unable to really present any threats and chose to not play into my perpetual 4 open mana, I managed to draw into some extra action and bury him in advantage. She tells me after the match there were 2 Snackers stuck in hand. What can I say. It helps if your deck can actually cast all the cards contained within it (<3).

Round 2 2-0 vs Mono U Faeries

I get matched into a local faeries afficionado. He is less than enthused about the Mirror. I am also sad but ah well, cant go as bad as the last time i played this in a competitive setting, which gave me 3 losses out of 3 matches so we start playing.

I lose the die roll and prepare for the most stressful 50 minutes of my life. I then very quickly realise my opponent does not know how to play the mirror very well, as he very offensively taps out into my open mana to get a lot of his plays neutralised by my brinebarrows, and notably once getting his ninjutsud Ninja of the Deep Hours Snapped back to hand, opening the way for me to deploy and backup my own Ninja of the Deep Hours. It is 10 Minutes on the clock and he has conceded both games so i exit 2-0 feeling weirdly good about myself. I spend the rest of the round annoying one of our judge trainees about handling any call involving Hidden Information (you can not trust what the players tell you).

Round 3 2-0 vs Mono U Terror

This is a fairly new player who ive had the pleasure of playing against on our usual evenings a few times. She plays a pretty good terror all in all but the matchup has always been BAD for Terror. Cryoshatter definitely made that so much worse, leading me to a quick 2-0 victory, including dispelling a Turn 1 EoT selfmill leading to a delver failing to flip for 4 turns in a row. This is the point i realise i could actually finally get my first trophy for the season and i get a bit excited. Also its Lunch. V Important.

Round 4 2-0 vs UW Familiars

I continue winning the matchup lottery with a deck that struggles keeping up with my tempo and whose big butt blockers have gotten a lot worse on account of dying to Cryoshatter . Game 1 has a very exciting finish where my opponent deploys a lot to jam up the board while on 5 life including a mystic which really tells me its just about lights out next turn. But. Hes Tapped Out. And last turn i did finally get my Durchreisegenehmigung. So i hand one of my Ninjas Passierschein A38 in the upkeep, Cast Passierschein A39 (dont you know, its been published in the Circular B65) on the second one and swing for lethal, to the utter dismay of my opponent. I continue drawing from my beautiful well of hate (aka my sideboard) bring in some more dispels and Cryoshatters as well as the two spreading seas and shuffle up for game 2. I draw an average faeries hand (something my friend Aaron would call “phenotypically a nut draw”) and tempo my opponent out.

Intermezzo: Even Judges are bad at Swiss Math

I look at the standings, look at my OMW% sitting somewhere around the low to mid 40s, and dont feel great about getting rank one. i also realise our local Elves (sorry. Bant Beast) player is also 4-0 and make peace with my terrible pairing into a medium finish.

Round 5 2-1 vs 5 colour good stuff

Oh wait, i got the good pairing? Hell Yeah. its 5 colour good stuff. Its like Jund wildfire splashing UW for Baleful Strix and Dispatch ? idk. it confuses me. But i guess through God Giants Boulder and Cleansing Wildfire all things are possible. I tempo him out Game 1, manage to respond to most of his threats and dort lose too many good creatures (shout out to Cryoshatter and dispel ) leading me to the most difficult question: Wait does that deck run Makeshift Munitions ? Surely. That card is the bane of my existence so knowing my luck he must. So i board. Weirdly. I bring in 2 Hydroblasts and 2 Annuls as well as the dispel and Cryoshatter and hope. And i fail to establish tempo, get Breath Weaponed once and slooowly lose. I did not see Munitions. But who knows. And if its there it would be too devastating. I do the same thing for game 3.I look at my Hand. Harrier Strix, Land, Moon Circuit Hacker, Sprite, Sprite, Counterspell, Cryoshatter . I say keep. I then think about it and immediately regret it because that is not enough cards to not lose. But well at least this deck wont T1 Bolt my Strix. I deploy strix. I ninja. No Lands. My ninja gets bolted on opponents turn 3. I take until turn 4 or 5 to develop my second land. There is already a Chrysalis on Board, at least I had that Cryoshatter . So. I slowly play my faeries game, and pray. And. Somehow? It Works? I draw out of it, do some damage, my opponent fails to develop the board meaningfully and I win.

He then tells me he does not, in fact, play Makeshift Munitions . Oh Well.

I fully do not understand what happened there but you know. Ill Take it. I am still fully certain im gonna lose first place to tiebreakers. No Way is the other 5-0s tiebreaker equally bad.

Orga Stuff

We finish the rest of the matches, no one wants to do the closing announcements so I let myself get talked into doing it. I look at the Standings. I am first. Well this is gonna be fun. It turns out that having a 10-2 game record is good for your tiebreakers. I fail to figure out the microphone and just yell the ending announcements, who cares.

Retrospective

So whats important is that you prep for a matchup, then never face it, and basically ignore half the cards in your sideboard. Thats the key to success. That and you just gotta vibe, i guess, i spent most of my day just vibing along fully not believing in winning, enjoying my time on one of my favourite decks. And now its actually good again! Crazy! Also if youre going to the wintergeddon play Faeries! Theyre super good! Ill lend you mine! I wont need it.

I got two Floor Judge Shifts instead.