Yuriko + Faeries

[Cyberium]

Heya.

I've been testing a new deck idea, combining Ninjas and Faeries tribals in a Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow deck. Instead of using big spells like most Yuriko decks, I decided to go small/midrange, focus on consistent card advantage via bouncing faeries and other versatile fliers such as Hypnotic Siren.

What I like about this idea versus previous decks is that when I cast Arcane Adaptation/Xenograft I could adapt depending on board state, either go Faerie (when I have faerie related spells in hand) or go Ninja (when I lack them to trigger Yuriko). There's also blink effects like Ghostly Flicker on Spellstutter Sprite/Thieving Sprite/Sower of Temptation at instant speed, or reuse Mistbind Clique's champion trigger.

One of the problem I'm facing is that Faeries (with effects) are generally more expensive than typical 1cc unblockable creatures prevalent in Yuriko builds, so I'm debating on the best creature ratio and how much more "control" do I want it to be. Yuriko on average have 28 creatures (base on EDHREC), if I replace simple unblockable creatures for Faeries I would have less creatures, therefore make rooms for more control spells, the deck would just be less explosive by comparison (most Yuriko decks aim to have her out by turn 2).

Thoughts?

[bobthefunny]

An interesting build. I also like the idea of not overloading your mana costs with big spells, and instead going for more triggers, rather than bigger ones. Afterall, the biggest gain is the pure card advantage.

Even so, you don't want to go too wide. Having too many of the 1 drops just over draws you, and leaves you susceptible to board wipes. The other use for the 1 drops is to get your ninja out cheaper... but that only really works once. I life the idea of paying more for the faeries, but then using ninjitsu to reset and reuse their etb's, as they do have powerful effects.

For how many 1 drops vs faeries you'll want, I think that will come from some playtesting, depending on how often you need to ninjutsu out the ninja early, vs resetting faeries, and how many creatures you want on the board at any given time.

[darrenhabib]

The thing is that as far as I can see Faerie tribal itself is pretty weak?

Mistbind Clique, Scion of Oona, Spellstutter Sprite, Thieving Sprite, Faerie Harbinger are the only cards I could find really?
There is no way you'd cast Arcane Adaptation/Xenograft to "Faerie" based on this (imo).

[Cyberium]

The thing is that as far as I can see Faerie tribal itself is pretty weak?

Mistbind Clique, Scion of Oona, Spellstutter Sprite, Thieving Sprite, Faerie Harbinger are the only cards I could find really?
There is no way you'd cast Arcane Adaptation/Xenograft to "Faerie" based on this (imo).

Which is why I wrote I adapt depending on board state. If I have the Faeries I need and know that I could bounce/recast, that's when I name "Faerie" for AA/Xeno. The main tribal is still Ninja, I just find it beneficial to utilize Faeries alongside it.

[hyalopterouslemur]

The thing is that as far as I can see Faerie tribal itself is pretty weak?

Mistbind Clique, Scion of Oona, Spellstutter Sprite, Thieving Sprite, Faerie Harbinger are the only cards I could find really?
There is no way you'd cast Arcane Adaptation/Xenograft to "Faerie" based on this (imo).

You also have universal tribal effects, though, yeah, every creature type has access to those.