Faerie Aerie MTG Card


Faerie Aerie - Unstable
RarityMythic
TypeArtifact — Contraption
Released2017-12-08
Set symbol
Set nameUnstable
Set codeUST
Number181
Frame2015
Layoutnormal
Borderborderless
Illustred byRalph Horsley
Un-set :-)This card is part of an Un-set

Key Takeaways

  1. Faerie Aerie excels in generating token advantage, ideal for synergistic and tempo-driven decks.
  2. Instant speed adds flexibility, allowing players to adapt to in-game dynamics effectively.
  3. Its high mana cost and discard requirement present strategic considerations for deck builders.

Text of card

Whenever you crank Faerie Aerie, create two 1/1 blue Faerie Spy creature tokens with flying, haste, and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, draw a card." Exile them at the beginning of the next end step.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: When you deploy Faerie Aerie, its ability to repeatedly create faerie tokens can significantly enhance your hand, especially in a deck revolving around tribal synergies or token strategies. This consistent generation of faerie tokens can quickly become an engine for both offensive and defensive strategies while providing additional options with each turn.

Resource Acceleration: With each token generated, Faerie Aerie contributes to your board presence without extra investment, effectively accelerating your resource allocation. This enables you to commit mana to other spells and actions sooner, bolstering your overall tempo and enabling a swifter execution of your game plan.

Instant Speed: The fact that Faerie Aerie operates at instant speed means you can flexibly respond to your opponent’s moves. Whether you’re ambushing an attacker with an unexpected blocker, creating a faerie at the end of your opponent’s turn to maximize your mana usage, or simply increasing your on-board presence while keeping your options open, the timing of Faerie Aerie’s token creation can be a decisive factor in the duel.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: When deploying Faerie Aerie, players must consider its drawback of discarding a card, which can be particularly challenging when trying to maintain card advantage or when the hand is already depleted.

Specific Mana Cost: Faerie Aerie’s mana cost is fixed and requires a blend of colors, making it a better fit for dedicated two-color decks. This specificity can be restrictive for players looking to incorporate it into a more diverse mana base.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With its higher mana cost, Faerie Aerie might not be as mana-efficient compared to other options in the same slot. Considering the fast pace of many games, this can put players at a disadvantage if they’re trying to keep up with efficient mana spending.


Reasons to Include Faerie Aerie in Your Collection

Versatility: Faerie Aerie offers a flexible role in blue and/or green decks, enabling enchantment synergies as well as bolstering Faerie tribal strategies. Its capacity to produce faerie tokens ensures that it’s not just a one-off card but a continuous source of board presence.

Combo Potential: The tokens generated from Faerie Aerie can be used in tandem with sacrifice mechanics or as fodder for various powerful combos. They also conveniently complement strategies leveraging flying creatures, allowing for enhanced offensive and defensive maneuvers.

Meta-Relevance: With certain metas seeing prevalence in flying or token strategies, Faerie Aerie aligns neatly, providing a steady flow of creatures that can prove problematic for opponents. Its presence in a deck can adapt to various meta shifts, offering consistency in an ever-changing environment.


How to Beat

Faerie Aerie is a notable card that can be a thorn in the side of many MTG players. This card’s unique ability to create tokens can quickly tip the game’s balance if left unchecked. To tackle this enchantment, consider strategies that focus on removing it from play as soon as possible. Efficient enchantment removal spells are key. Cards like Naturalize or Disenchant, that can directly destroy enchantments, are invaluable against Faerie Aerie. Also, think about including in your deck some universal removals like Assassin’s Trophy or Bedevil, which can handle a variety of permanent types.

Another effective tactic is to limit the opponent’s opportunities to trigger Faerie Aerie’s ability. Since Faerie Aerie relies on the casting of noncreature spells to create tokens, try to minimize the impact of these spells through countermeasures. Counterspells or silence effects disrupt the casting of these spells, in turn reducing the number of tokens generated. Alternatively, leveraging discard strategies can preemptively remove potential noncreature spells from your opponent’s hand before they even get a chance to cast them, thus nullifying the effectiveness of Faerie Aerie.

Ensuring your deck is equipped to either quickly eliminate Faerie Aerie or restrict the flow of its token generation is vital to maintain control over the game. By being proactive and considering these strategies, keeping Faerie Aerie’s influence at bay is a manageable task for any well-prepared MTG player.


Cards like Faerie Aerie

Faerie Aerie joins the enchantments in Magic: The Gathering that focus on creature tokens. Like Faerie Aerie, there’s Luminarch Ascension, which also rewards players with flying tokens, but these are Angel tokens, and the conditions to activate it differ. Faerie Aerie specifically creates Faerie tokens, blending well with decks that capitalize on tribal synergies.

Another parallel can be drawn with Bitterblossom, a renowned faerie-making enchantment. Bitterblossom creates a token every upkeep at the cost of 1 life, ensuring a consistent, if costly, stream of faeries. Faerie Aerie, however, depends on the conditions set within the card to generate its tokens, making it less predictable but potentially less harmful to your life total.

Then there’s Thopter Spy Network, which not only creates Thopter tokens but also rewards you for controlling artifacts with card draw, providing a dual advantage. Unlike Faerie Aerie, the Thopter Spy Network caters to an artifact-centered strategy. Each of these cards carries unique benefits that suit different playing strategies, but within the enchantment sphere, Faerie Aerie has its niche among the faerie-loving MTG players and tribal theme decks.

Luminarch Ascension - MTG Card versions
Bitterblossom - MTG Card versions
Thopter Spy Network - MTG Card versions
Luminarch Ascension - Zendikar (ZEN)
Bitterblossom - Morningtide (MOR)
Thopter Spy Network - Magic Origins Promos (PORI)

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Mox Diamond - From the Vault: Relics (V10)
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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Faerie Aerie MTG card by a specific set like Unstable, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Faerie Aerie and other MTG cards:

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Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Faerie Aerie card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

DateText
2018-01-19 Any Contraption that’s on the battlefield and wasn’t assembled immediately heads to the scrapyard. However, if it’s a not an actual Contraption card (like Copy Artifact isn’t), it goes to your graveyard as normal. Non-Contraption cards can’t be in the scrapyard.
2018-01-19 At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control any Contraptions, move the CRANK! counter to the next sprocket. You may then crank any number of Contraptions on that sprocket, causing their abilities to trigger. Cranking a Contraption is always optional.
2018-01-19 Contraptions are artifacts. Anything that interacts with artifacts will interact with Contraptions.
2018-01-19 Contraptions aren’t put into your main deck. They go into a separate deck called the Contraption deck.
2018-01-19 If a Contraption would leave the battlefield and go to any zone other than exile, it instead goes to the scrapyard, the Contraption deck’s version of the graveyard. Things that affect the graveyard do not affect the scrapyard. You can exile Contraptions just fine.
2018-01-19 If you crank multiple Contraptions, their abilities can be put onto the stack in any order. The ability put onto the stack will resolve first.
2018-01-19 If you or a permanent you control are instructed to assemble a Contraption, reveal the top card of your Contraption deck. Put it onto the battlefield on one of the three sprockets.
2018-01-19 If you or a permanent you control assembles a Contraption and your Contraption deck is empty, nothing happens. You don’t lose the game.
2018-01-19 In Constructed formats, a Contraption deck must have at least fifteen different Contraption cards and no more than one of each.
2018-01-19 In Limited formats, a Contraption deck may include any number of Contraption cards in your card pool. You don’t have to include every Contraption card you draft or open in sealed deck. In those formats, your Contraption deck may include duplicates.
2018-01-19 In silver-bordered games using Contraptions, you have three sprockets, illustrated on the back of Contraption cards. At the start of the game, put a CRANK! counter on sprocket 3.
2018-01-19 While Contraptions you control are on the battlefield, the Contraption deck is not, even if you are using it to signify the three sprockets.

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