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Intro
Fai is a good deck. I have been making this claim for so many weeks now that I wasn’t even sure if I believed it anymore. After hundreds of games and countless hours of testing, my addiction had become insatiable. I saw 0 for 3s when I’d go to sleep and the words “go again” would echo through my mind like a long lost memory. So I had to put it to the test and show the world that Fai is not a C tier hero! Enter ProQuest Singapore. I played the event this past weekend and got 2nd. Ultimately, I failed in my pursuit to earn a piece of the pie chart but as I sat in the top 4 surrounded by an Enigma, Florian and Aurora, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Little Fai was out of the slums of Volcor and shared the table with the titans of the meta. This is my story.
The ProQuest
This ProQuest was held at Chupacabra Games in Naperville, IL. They have a very healthy Fab scene and have been hosting Armories/PQs for some years now. So I knew it was not going to be easy with many of the top players in the area attending. But it would be a much more formidable environment to test the limits of Fai. Going into the event, my goal was to hopefully pair into Enigma and the earth heroes. I think those are good matchups and primarily the meta you want to be bringing Fai for. With this being the last PQ Engima would be legal, I assumed there would be plenty for me to target. I really did not want to play into Prism or Aurora. Although you can win, those matchups are unfavored. Their math is better and they just do far more unfair things than the humble Fai. The event ended up being 24 players which totals out to 5 rounds of swiss.
Round 1 (Loss)
I played against one of my good friends, Brandon, piloting Fang. Brandon has also put many hours into Fang and is one of the best players in our local area. Generally, Fang is a favored matchup for Fai but I knew it wouldn’t be easy. Brandon went first and on turn 0, he generated 2 Fealty. Not good for me. By turn 1 he was fully online and I just got beaten into the ground with 2 Hunting Ground, 2 Long Whisker Loyalty, and an overwhelming presence of damage. I also drew one of the greatest brick hands of my life which consisted of Warmonger’s Diplomacy, Salt the Wound, Tenacity, and Prowess of Agility. A highroll for him and a lowroll for me. Needless to say, I lost that round. My spirit was crushed and I was about ready to throw in the towel. But the submarine was still alive and I had the fire of the phoenix on my side.
Round 2 (Win)
This round I played against Ira. He did not have a lot of experience against Fai and I drew incredibly hot to start the game. I was able to arsenal a Rake turn 0 and throw a big 5 card hand on turn 1. After that, the damage was too much and I won the race in the end. Not too much more to say, I just did the Fai thing and he didn’t find proper disruption to stop me.
Round 3 (Win)
I got to play against one of my locals named Nick for this round. He was piloting Verdance, a deck he has played quite a bit at this point. I finally found one of the matchups I was hoping to get. A little back story about me, I was an avid Iyslander hater. She was one of my least favorite heroes that existed in this game. As I tested more against Verdance, I realized she was the natural successor to Iyslander. This in turn created an unnecessary hostility in my soul towards this deck and I refused to play any deck this meta that would lose to Verdance. In conclusion, Verdance is somewhat of a punching bag for Fai. Your offensive output is extremely overwhelming and if you never arsenal, they do not have much meaningful disruption. It requires them to find Felling or Mind Warp to earn tempo back but that requires them to hold a hand. After about 6 turns, my damage output was too much and he was unable to find any Fellings to slow me down. This matchup is extremely favored for Fai, I have yet to drop a game to a Verdance.
Round 4 (Win)
This game was very scary. I sat down to face my local, Chris, playing blue line Cindra. He has been playing this deck since she came out and I have gotten some really good advice for my own Cindra list from our conversations. I lost the dice roll and had to go first. Already being at a disadvantage, I hoped my opening hand would do some good damage. It did not but I find a Rake Over the Coals, put it in arsenal, and pass. Our game is very fast and after a few turns we are both sub 20 life. I am able to chain together some high damage turns back to back and get to the point where he has to block with one card or armor. He is forced to block with his Mask and Flick Knives. His next turn is strong but he needed to draw a blue from his ancestral to push enough damage to threaten lethal. Fortunately for me, he draws a red and I am able to close the game in the next 2 turns. This matchup is very close and requires you to use your armor very efficiently to block mask triggers. If you are able to successfully deny Mask of Momentum twice, you are usually able to get ahead due to Lynx mask being 6-9 value on average.
Round 5 (Loss)
Hoping to find some more of the good matchups I wanted, I end up facing an Aurora. I have not had any luck in this matchup over the last two tournaments I played but I’m hoping some luck will be on my side. I lost the dice roll again, bad start. Turn 0 I attack with my whole hand and he blocks out with his entire hand and Grasp, I take this as an opportunity to push big damage turn 0 so I search Tenacity with Lynx and throw it for 8 at the end of the chain. Now starting with a 9 damage life lead, I was feeling pretty good. Turns out Aurora math is still better and I was unable to win the game. My opponent didn’t find a CLV but a big Arc Lightning turn was enough to close the gap and I ultimately died to a Sigil of Suffering when I was at 1 life. Frustrating but expected.
The standings go up and I am placed at 7th seed which was exactly what I wanted. Unsurprisingly, the Enigmas at the event were winning and ended at 1st and 2nd seed. So my first game going in the top 8 was against Enigma. Finally!
1. Enigma
2. Enigma
3. Florian
4. Fang
5. Aurora
6. Nuu
7. Fai
8. Aurora
Top 8 (Win)
I sit down across from another one of my local legends, Sean. He has been playing FaB as long as I have and is a very strong illusionist player. We have played many sets over the years and it could really go either way. Although I am favored into Enigma, the deck is so strong I am not guaranteed any free wins. The game starts off pretty standard but I am not really drawing any of my finishers or able to do anything above rate. So life totals are being traded at a pretty even exchange until we both hit sub 20. This is when things get very scary for me. He is able to establish a Restless Coalescence with 2 counters and 3 Spectral Shields on the board. I have my work cut out for me but I come back with a pretty powerful hand. Unfortunately for me, he finds a second Restless and is able to build an even bigger board of Spectral Shields. We are now both sub 10 life and the board is quickly getting out of control. I have only one more shot to close the gap, so I go to 1. I begin my assault and Sean starts blocking out hard. I can tell he wants to preserve his board. I drop my last attack, it’s a Lava Burst for 6 unpreventable damage from Shuko. He only has one card left in hand, a tunic, Restless with three Shields, and 7 life. He begins to sweat, I lean forward in my chair. Did I just bring this game back? He declares no blocks, his whole board gets wiped and he goes to one. His crack back is Miraging Metamorph for 7 off of Tunic. I have to block. I try to cheese a win by swinging my Emberblade then playing a Rake Over the Coals in reactions but he has the D-react. We end up trading a few more hands until I am eventually able to steal the game. It was my favorite game of the day and a true nail bitter from start to finish.
Top 4 (Win)
Now I finally get my Florian matchup against another local legend, Ryan. This event was his first time playing Florian and he was destroying everyone. Great for him but even better for me. The Florian matchup is another pretty favored matchup for Fai but it can be a little more difficult than Verdance. His armor is way better and his offensive options are also much better. But the gameplan is simple, never arsenal and just keep attacking. So that’s what I did (except for one time where I arsenal’d because it was more efficient and then immediately got Plowed. Never Arsenal!!). The matchup played out in a very standard fashion. Fortunately for me, he did not see a Felling throughout the game and I was able to draw back to back Tenacity hands in the end game to finish him off. The other table was finishing their game and it would be either Enigma or Aurora as my final opponent. I was really hoping it would be Enigma.
Finals (Loss)
Well it wasn’t Engima.
Not much to say about this game really. I had to go first yet again since I was the lower seed. Before the game started, I talked with some of the other players and I explained the upcoming the matchup. In order for me to win, I would need to play a Prowess out turn 0 and keep an arsenal. Simultaneously I would need my opponent not to play a CLV turn 0, have Sigil of Suffering, or play arc lightning in the first 3 hands. One of those outcomes occurred…… The game was not close and I got high rolled to oblivion. But the better deck definitely won and I could walk away from the table knowing I played to the best of my ability. My opponent, Arjun, is also one of the best players in our local area and was planning on going to Singapore if he won. I would not have used my invite anyways so it went to the right player, the game is meant to be played right?
Conclusion
Was I salty after that last game? Hell yeah I was! I was saltier than the Pacific Ocean. But I knew what I was getting into when I registered Fai for the event. If I wanted to play the best aggro deck in the room, I would have played Aurora. But did I accomplish what I set out to do? Kinda? Maybe? I proved to myself that Fai is a good deck. He can compete and stand up to a large portion of the meta. All the hours I had been putting in have not been wasted and I can be proud of that. I have always been somebody that wants to win on my terms and winning with the best deck in the format doesn’t really mean much to me. But winning with a deck that people think is trash, that’s something to strive for. I don’t know what the future meta will hold for Fai (Extremely Questionable) but I know that over the last couple of months, Fai has made me fall in love with Fab again. That is worth more than any gold foil or invite.
Play what you love and stay salty.
-Dando
https://fabrary.net/decks/01JS8RNJX9DTXP0T9W1S7TC7R5
