Ninja Faerie Standstill post Ravnica

[qubeley]

hey, guys:
You are probably familiar with the Ninja-Faeries deck. Since I haven't seen any discussion of this deck lately, I thought I would start a new thread.
I feel the deck has received a major boost in power and synergy from the last two sets, actually two cards in particular: Favorable Winds from Avacyn Restored and Faerie Impostor from Return to Ravnica.
On Faerie Impostor: I feel this card is custom made for Ninja-Fae deck. The deck traditionally suffer from inablility to get back the Ninja or Spellstutter once played. The Imposter solves this. Play Impostor post combat, you get to recycle your card draw or counter for next turn at the same time leave a decent evasive body on the battlefield. You can even loop the Ninja/Spellstutter with Impostor turn after turn if you opponent is unable to block flying creatures.
On Favorable Winds: With so many flying 1/1s in this deck, this card is an Honor of the Pure in blue. Here's a situation I had once: Turn 1: Ornithopter, Ornithopter, Ornithopter, Faerie Impostor. Turn 2: Favorable Winds, with Daze and Spellstutter Sprite in hand. You get the idea...

Here's the list I am currently running, since it is a casual deck, I didn't focus too much on the sideboard, probably just some needles, graveyard hates, storm hates.

Creatures(23):
4 Ornithopter
4 Faerie Impostor
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Ninja of the Deep Hours
3 Mistblade Shinobi

Instants(11):
4 Daze
3 Spell Pierce
4 Force of Will

Enchantment(6):
4 Standstill
2 Favorable Winds

Lands(20):
4 Mishra Factory
16 Island

Just wondering if any other out there running this deck. What do you think of this deck, anyway to make it better?
Appreciate any constructive comments.

[Esper3k]

Mutavault is probably better than Factory since it's a faerie and helps Spellstutters out.

[bruizar]

Faerie Imposter is very good in this deck.

I would develop the list differently though. For one, Mistblade Shinobi is your most important ninja. Drawing a card isn't as good as resetting the tempo on someone's creatures. (investing mana again, summoning sickness again, and being able to counter the threat when it is recast). You definitely want Mistblade Shinobi.

Meanwhile, some new Ninjitsu cards have been printed in Planechase. Now, I have no idea how good they are, because I haven't tested them but it is worth considering:

Sakashima's Student
http://static.starcitygames.com/sales/cardscans/MAG_PC2/Sakashima_s_Student.jpg

Silent-Blade Oni
http://static.starcitygames.com/sales/cardscans/MAG_PC2/Silent_Blade_Oni.jpg

Silent-Blade Oni requires a colorsplash. Sakashima's Student definitely seems viable though.

The build that I ran used Soaring Seacliff with 2 Student of Elements which worked pretty well. I think I also used 1 Forbid so that I could lock someone out, but I'm sure there are better options.

I would not play this build without Soaring Seacliff though. I would also not play Favorable Winds over Signal Pest. Signal pest basically serves the same purpose but acts as a way to trigger Ninjutsu as well.

I would also play atleast 1 Higure, the Still Wind. This card will win any aggro matchup because he ensures your Mistblades connect and his trigger ensures that you get Mistblades and Deep Hours in your hand.

[Smea.gol.lum]

I'd definately run Judge's Familiar in this deck because it has got nice synergy with the ninjutsu warriors and helps to slow your opponent down.

Dismember helps to overcome blue's lack of good removal, so it could fit in nicely.

Mutavault > Mishra's Factory due to Spellstutter Sprite like already mentioned

[Esper3k]

Vendilion Clique might be another card to test. Another great evasive flyer that loves being reset via Ninjutsu.

[metamet]

Needs more Patron Wizard. :)

[Purgatory]

Thalakos Seer was the glue that held together my old blue-black casual ninja deck, so it might have a home here. Ninjutsu swing almost guaranteed, and it generates card advantage!

[qubeley]

Thanks for the great suggestions, all of which are valid.
The problem is we only have so much space in this deck, every card we put in, something has to come out.
I feel that the deck as is seems rather streamlined, with all the 4 ofs and 11 counters which I do not want to change.
There is almost no room for wiggle. The card I want to put in most is a mainboard Jitte or two, not sure what to take out for Jitte though...

[bruizar]

cloud of faeries seems rather weak. 1/1 for '0 mana', even with evasion, is just not enough of a clock imo. The untap is actually quiet useless because you'd ideally want to use that to Ninjutsu but that's impossible since it has summoning sickness. So the only thing you could do is play it, and untap for spellstutter sprite or standstill (but that always used mishra's factory and that was always enough so why is cloud of faeries neccessary here), but it doesn't have flash which sort of signals your opponent as to what may happen. It also doesn't play as a control card, regardless of the Spellstutter Sprite interaction. Daze is not that good of a counterspell, because you'll be playing Ortnithopter on the first turn anyway. I would opt for hard counters or stuff like Spell Pierce / Swords to Plowshares. If you splash white you can also maindeck Geist of Saint Traft which is a good card by itself. Favorable Winds is nothing but a Crusade for this deck which, if it really threathens the opponent, it will just eat an abrupt decay, but 1/3 ornithopters are not impressive at all. The problem with these type of effects is that it just makes you more liable to Supreme Verdict. Standstill is nice and all, but if a Supreme Verdict is cast, you will lose your board regardless of the 3 Ornithopters/Cloud of Faeries you will draw from Standstill. Standstill is as powerful as the 3 cards you draw from it. Even Faerie Imposter is pretty bad. 2/1 Flying may sound strong. I mean, Savannah Lions was a thing right? Well, Delver of Secrets is a 3/2 for the same mana-cost.

This deck is filled with cuteness, but I don't think legacy as a format has place for low-impact decks. You are obviously not going to win the aggro matchup through the power/toughness of your creatures, so every creature needs to have enough utility so that you don't need a high power/toughness. That means, no vanilla's. THis is not to say that there is no future for the ninjutsu mechanic, but you have to be aware of the fact that you are currently running too many cards that do nothing. Also, if the reason you are playing this deck is ninja of the deep hours, you would do well to look at dark confidant as that card nets you a draw every turn without the need to jump through hoops to connect every turn. That sort of leaves Mistblade Shinobi as the MVP of the deck (which is also why I think you should play 4 Mistblades).

You have to ask yourself, what does this deck offer that other decks don't or do less effectively. IMO the answer is tie up mana / control the board with creatures. I'd almost compare Mistblade Shinobi's effect to Tangle Wire.

Sakashima's Student atleast gives you the ability to copy goyfs, confidants or Emrakul's. That means you have a fighting chance against Sneak/Show. Mistblade Shinobi is also very valuable against that deck because it sort of hoses the SnT path.

I would also consider the splash for black. It gives you Baleful Stryx which is very strong because it does a lot of things: 1) creature removal 2) card draw without the need to connect 3) evasion for ninjutsu which lets you recast and draw another card.
It also gives you much more options for black ninjutsu cards.

[kiblast]

Ok, I think that you can go down two different directions:

-Uw in a UWtempo.dec shell, (ab)using Vial, Stoneforge Mystic (because all these critters are desperately asking for a jitte and a backup lategame plan in the form of Bskull), Weathered Wayfarer fetching Mutavault and Wastelands, and a Faerie/Ninja side plan.

-Ub just because you have Baleful Strix which is (alongside with SSS) arguably your best ninja enabler/tool (way better than Ornithopter) and possibly Thoughtseize and other hand control tools (cabal therapy comes to mind).

Regardless which splash you choose, I think that 4 Wastelands / 4 Daze is where you want to start from. Otherwise it's useless to play a fish deck in legacy. There is no competitive fish strategy that doesn't rely on mana denial.

[bruizar]

--
UW focus could be something like this:
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Spellstutter Sprite
1 Gilded Drake
3 Snapcaster Mage
X Mistblade Shinobi
3 ninja of the Deep Hours
2 or 3 Venser, Shaper Savant / Vendilion Clique
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Saving Grasp
4 STP
1 Path to Exile
Jitte
Skull
Karakas and soaring seacliff
Buncha counters and cantrips.

Saving grasp would be the mvp in this build. Snapcastermage on plow clears the way, grasp and ninjutsu recycle snapcastermage and all the other utility creatures. Geist can get in multiple times with a grasp. Mother of runes perhaps

[Pastorofmuppets]

So I'm post #12, and so far there's only one suggestion forAether Vial, in a blue-based tempo deck with Standstill. Impostor definitely seems really good in this type of deck, but it also seems like a bad topdeck late game. I never liked this deck because it runs Ornithopters just for cute interactions, often with no equipment to make it useful.
You say the deck has limited room, but you're running a card that isn't particularly efficient, in a format (and especially an archetype) where efficiency is everything. Winds might be an Honor of the Pure, but how many decks do you see in top 8's running Honor of the Pure? In a deck with limited space, I'd say Winds would be the first thing to cut. Now, if you want to run a U/B version with Bitterblossom, that might work. But even then, Scion of Oona seems the better choice as it also protects your Fae.
Then there's the issue of whether or not this is better than Merfolk, a comparable deck. What advantages does this have over Merfolk? Obviously, you're trading faster wins for more card draw, but even if you draw more all of your creatures are tiny with no equipment to buff them up and you don't have a whole lot of removal. Perhaps a white splash for Stoneforge Mystic, Batterskull, Swords to Plowshares, and Rest in Peace in the sideboard.
I'd suggest finding space for Vial if at all possible. A big draw for it is that, with Impostor in hand, it can be used to protect any of your guys from removal.