Continuing my look at the decks submitted in response to Ian's open challenge for Type A format decks, today I'm going to look at XStream's "Fairies" deck. Fairies are actually quite under rated in the current Constructed scene. They start off slow, which can be a big hindrance, but once the deck gets going, the Airknight Parshaths and Mudoras can really set up some serious momentum.

XStream hit on alot of the cards in this format that I think are staples, or close to it. Let's check out the decklist he sent in:


Fairies—Type A
40 Cards

Monsters
3 Airknight Parshath
1 Exiled Force
1 Fiber Jar
3 Hysteric Fairy
3 Kelbek
3 Mudora
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
3 Zolga

Spells
2 Bait Doll
3 Book of Moon
3 Cestus of Dagla
2 Offerings to the Doomed
2 Reasoning

Traps
3 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Reckless Greed
1 Ring of Destruction
3 Sakuretsu Armor


Very cool. The deck has Magic Cylinder, Ring of Destruction, and Sakuretsu Armor, all of which are format-defining traps in Type A. They're just superb. It's also running Offerings to the Doomed and Reckless Greed, which I also think is one of the most important synergies in Type A play.

Book of Moon is yet another card that I think is virtually a staple with the first four sets and Starter Deck cards removed from the environment. If you haven't tried this card in regular current Constructed, you should—it's incredibly good and chainable, and the amount of synergy it has with commonly-played cards becomes astounding once you start experimenting a bit.

The deck looks like it would work very, very well. Almost all the pieces are here, in my opinion. The deck plays like a sort of standard Beatdown, with the extra twists of Mudora and the synergy between Zolga and Airknight Parshath. Cestus of Dagla, as Ian pointed out, is a great card, and I wouldn't be surprised if this deck often finished duels with more than 8000 life points. It's that solid. It's really a great submission, and I'm glad XStream sent it in.

That said, there are a couple small tweaks I'd make and a couple things I felt XStream missed that could make the deck just a little bit better.

I'm going to drop the two Reasonings from the deck. I understand that if it hits, it hits, and you get a monster, and that if it misses, it misses and you might get a Fairy into the graveyard. It's a nice theory, but I have issues with its viability. Let's be honest—when someone plays Reasoning against you, you say "four." You just do. Most monsters in any Constructed deck are level 4 regardless of format. This deck is no exception. Exiled Force, Hysteric Fairy, Kelbek, Mudora, Tribe-Infecting Virus, and Zolga are all level 4 monsters. That means that out of the nineteen monsters in the initial build of this deck, all but five are level 4. Which means your Reasoning is often going to be nothing but a monster in the graveyard.

Sure, that monster might be a Fairy, and might help feed stats to Mudora. But it also might be Tribe-Infecting Virus, Exiled Force, or Mudora itself, none of which are desirable to see in the graveyard. So, I'm dropping the two Reasonings.

I'm going to drop the three Bottomless Trap Holes for space reasons. I think that of all the deck's forms of monster removal, these three cards are the least proactive, and thus my least favorite. You'll lose a bit of potency against Gravekeeper decks, since they can use Rite of Spirit if the monster destroyed isn't removed from play, but I think overall, this is the best choice.

Lastly, I'm going to drop Bait Doll. I'm going to be adding more spell and trap removal to the deck, so this is an easy drop to keep it at 40 cards.

The first necessary addition is three Raigeki Breaks. Sinister Serpent is already in the deck, so we've got synergy there and besides that, three Raigeki Breaks are just a must in this format. Without Raigeki Break, most decks are going to be dependant on a single Breaker the Magical Warrior or multiple Bait Dolls for spell and trap destruction, and that really isn't enough for me. Even if Raigeki Break was just a costed Mystical Space Typhoon, it would be worthy of play in Type A Constructed. Luckily it isn't, as it can also destroy any monster on the field as desired. It's an awesome, awesome card in this format, and I'd go so far as to say that three of them in any deck is easily regarded as a staple of the environment.

Next up, another card I felt XStream missed out on that is a must or near-must in the format: Magical Scientist. Capable of negating traps via Ryu Senshi, it's extremely important in this trap-heavy environment. Though Witch of the Black Forest, Sangan, Mystic Tomato, and Cyber Jar are things of the past in this type of play, there are still alot of things worth Baltering. And lastly, Dark Flare Knight and Thousand Eyes Restrict can always take care of big, problematic beatsticks in a pinch.

A big reason I see Magical Scientist as being so important in this format is the fact that Book of Moon will see so much play. If you Book of Moon a Fusion monster brought into play via Magical Scientist, you get to keep it. Which is pretty awesome, especially in the case of Ryu Senshi. Like three Raigeki Breaks, I'd consider Magical Scientist to be a staple in this format.

Last up, I'm going to stick in a United We Stand, since I feel it's splendidly powerful in a Raigeki and Dark Hole-free environment, and another Offerings to the Doomed. I think prioritizing one more Offerings to the Doomed over Bottomless Trap Hole makes the deck alot more resilient against Ryu Senshi, lets it be more proactive, and takes more advantage of the fact that you're already running Reckless Greed to combo with Offerings to the Doomed anyways. It's a great idea, and I like it enough to ram it home to the proverbial hilt.

So, the tweak looks like this:

-2 Reasoning
-3 Bottomless Trap Hole
-1 Bait Doll

+1 United We Stand
+1 Offerings to the Doomed
+1 Magical Scientist
+3 Raigeki Break


The final deck is as follows:

Fairies—Jason's Fix
40 Cards

Monsters
3 Airknight Parshath
1 Exiled Force
1 Fiber Jar
3 Hysteric Fairy
3 Kelbek
3 Mudora
1 Sinister Serpent
1 Tribe-Infecting Virus
3 Zolga
1 Magical Scientist

Spells
1 Bait Doll
3 Book of Moon
3 Cestus of Dagla
3 Offerings to the Doomed
1 United We Stand

Traps
1 Magic Cylinder
1 Reckless Greed
1 Ring of Destruction
3 Sakuretsu Armor
3 Raigeki Break

Fusion Deck
3 Ryu Senshi
2 Dark Balter the Terrible
2 Thousand Eyes Restrict
2 Dark Flare Knight
2 Fiend Skull Dragon

The deck has one thing most decks in this format are deprived of: decent opening monsters if you go first. Fiber Jar and Kelbek are going to be great first-turn drops, and Sinister Serpent won't be bad either. That said, Sinister is about the only good opener that most decks are going to have, so the early game of this Fairy deck has a lot more oomph to it than the early game of a Fairy deck in the normal, current Constructed format.

From there, the deck only gets better. As the bodies start hitting the floor and little winged corpses start stacking up, Mudora just becomes more and more powerful. Offense is met with swift, Mudora-delt justice, and defense is met with Airknight Parshath.

Very cool.

I honestly think that in such a format, this would be one of the decks to beat. It's simple, strong at all points of the game (opening, early, mid, and late), has reliable synergies unique to it, and can utilise all the important cards and synergies of the Type A format. It's a superb deck!

Thanks for sending it in XStream, and thanks for issuing the challenge, Ian!