Azorius Control vs Faeries | Quarterfinals 2 - Quest for the Best Deck Ever

What was the best deck ever? We started with the 27 Standard decks to win a World Championship, played five rounds of Swiss, and now bring you each match of the Top 8. Thoralf is Playing Carl here and either Teferi or Bitterblossom could be knocked out of the tournament.
🧙🏿🧚‍♀️ Decklists: bit.ly/3BN2OZO
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[@CardmarketMagic]

🧙🏿🧚‍♀️ Decklists: bit.ly/3BN2OZO

[@pr0fess0rbadass]

I would love to see the pre-top 8 matches too!

[@daolothe1043]

Oh wow, I never even thought about Bitterblossom counting as a Faerie for Spellstutter Sprite. That makes the card even more powerful than I originally thought.

[@nerdtopiade]

And dont forget u can champion bitterblossom if your life total where a little bit 2 low against mono r :)

[@Ly0n64]

Mutavault is a faerie too. :,)

[@nerdtopiade]

@@Ly0n64 yeah that is right

[@davidhickey8613]

You can also champion it out with mistbind clique to stop taking damage in the late game.

[@AAGEnzee]

Oh yea, the ideal 1, 2 ,3 was Thoughtseize, bitterblossom, then play almost everything else at instant speed for most of the game. Sometimes it was suspend ancestral visions turn 1, depending on when you were playing the deck. One of my favorite decks of all time, love decks that can operate at instant speed. Just do everything on opponent's end step. Spellstutter was basically guaranteed to hit something at some point.

[@thaneofstuff7340]

Just in case anyone else is confused as much as I was at 20:49 when the Spellstutter Sprite ability was successful, Bitterblossom is ALSO a Faerie, which gives the needed total of 4 Faeries with the Sprite, Token, Mutavault, and Bitterblossom itself. Really cool interaction there, shows the real power of the deck. Excellent games.

[@crawdaddy2004]

Having played Bitterblossom and Mutavault, I saw the play and was very impressed that he saw it, too.

[@halfwaytozero]

tysm

[@PKFat]

That interaction right there is entirely why I wish they'd make more tribal cards

[@crawdaddy2004]

@@PKFat The reason they don’t is because there’s no clear distinction between what is just a “tribal payoff” versus a “tribal” card.

[@PKFat]

@@crawdaddy2004 I know that's been their excuse, but why can't they sort it? It doesn't seem that hard - just give cards tribal that directly interact with the tribe. For example it makes sense on BB bc it makes fairies. If something only interacts w/ druids, make it druid tribal. Don't worry about reconning other cards that have already been printed, just move forward in a more concise direction.

[@kylarcheng1346]

Holy crap. The sideboard tech, and the face made in response

[@ThereIsAnExtension2UndoHandles]

22:16 its honestly perfect XD

[@samgiblett3671]

Love to see Carl so happy. It feels like he often gets the tough matchups so glad for hom to get some great hands here.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Oh yeah! And playing a deck I love :D I was mostly lucky Thoralf didn't draw an early Teferi 😅

[@jongibson4766]

@@CardmarketMagic 0 T3feri v 3 Bitterblossom kinda sums up the games lol

[@benyseus6325]

I love it when he said “It’s bitter blossoming time!” and bittered all over Thoralf’s blossom.

[@WordoftheElderGods]

Next bit

[@raymondcarter4335]

This whole crew is hilarious, I found them on Noah’s channel as guest, and followed them here a few months back 😂

[@user-yl5uo1ms2y]

Honestly guys, I do hope you really make it big time with this channell. Every piece of content is great to watch and I'd love to see more!

[@CardmarketMagic]

That's so kind of you to say :)

[@JarogniewMieszko]

I hope you guys will compile this series into a playlist, great video as always

[@CardmarketMagic]

There is already a Playlist for the 2 episodes that are now out (this one included), we'll be adding each match to the Playlist as they are released :)

[@JarogniewMieszko]

@@CardmarketMagic Wow that's great to know, been really enjoy them, looking forward for the next one 🥳

[@Soupr5]

Saw this pop up into my feed and got SO excited! This is such a wonderful idea for a series, the production value is PERFECT, it's easy to follow even with cards I haven't seen in forever, just love this! Keep up the great work, everyone!!!

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you :) I've put a lot of time and effort into this series, I'm happy you are liking it so far!

[@Soupr5]

@@CardmarketMagic It's not going unnoticed! Your hard work is really paying off, and I hope it reaches far and wide so more people can enjoy it! Thank you for all your hard work, this was an excellent episode!

[@AncientHydraGaming]

@@CardmarketMagic Could you do a video after the final 8 are reveal that goes over each deck and how they performed in the Swiss rounds? I'm really curious where some of these ended up. Only two more have yet to be revealed and there are some (like the infamous 1996 White Weenie, 2004 Astral Slide, 2007 Dragonstorm, and 2010 Blue Black Control) that I've always wondered how they would stack up against Standard of the last 10 years.

[@AwkwardlyBrutal]

You guys are literally my favorite magic channel. You've got some of the highest quality paper footage available and your personalities bounce off each other so well. I really enjoy the departure into more spectacle/timeless deck choices as opposed to just keeping up with the current modern/pioneer/pauper decks.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you :D all of that is so kind! We put a lot of thought and effort into our content and it always feels great to read comments like yours :)

[@bruhcalzone1275]

Karl: most of my creatures can be played at instant speed T3feri: and i took that personally

[@JazzKaioshin]

Wow! Did not expect the deck from 2008 to beat the deck from 2019. Have to say though, we didn't see Teferi, Time Raveler in either game which could have potentially swayed things Thoralf's way. Forcing the Faeries deck to play at sorcery speed makes it considerably less threatening. But with so many small fliers it would've been hard for it to stick I guess 🤔 Also, Thoralf's reaction to the Mind Shatter 😂 priceless! Keep making awesome content like this, CM!

[@denissinner4625]

Faeries was probably one of the best anti control decks to ever exist. I remember beating some trashy legacy control decks with standard fearies.

[@outputcoupler7819]

Editing on point in the intro. The last one felt like there was too much camera shake, but this time it feels like you got it _just_ right, so it feels dynamic without drawing your attention to the fact it's happening.

[@Thomas-dk6fr]

thoralfs little bite thing at 18:30 made me lose it, thanks for the great video!

[@vaclavnemec9053]

It's fun, it's relaxed, easy to comprehend even for someone whose last expansion was Homelands :D Keep up doing great work guys :-)

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you! And, welcome back :) it's been a while since homelands

[@mopanda81]

big props to toralf for reaching deep into the depths of his psyche and pulling out a great reaction face for that mind shatter. that's what it looks like when you realize all your plans for winning the game are gone.

[@godtiermtg]

I completely forgot Bitterblossom counts towards faerie count for Spellstutter. Love to see a deck 15 years old make it to top 4!

[@SagazLiam]

Bitterblossom always had a spot in my heart, and played a lot with it in BW Tokens a while back. Seeing those fairies pushing damage as they did when I played that deck was really great. Nice video, I’m rooting for the fair folk!

[@ajpbrunet]

What a great concept, this was straight up delightful you guys! Thoralf's face when Mind Shatter hit the table was just perfect. Can't wait to see the rest of the series.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you :)

[@philipblades3213]

Just wanted to say you guys actually got me back into playing Magic again. Watching you play decks that aren't always 1000euro just got me excited again.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Love to hear it! :D and if you haven't yet, I cannot recommend Pauper enough! The format is fun, diverse, challenging, open for brewing and decks never cost over 50€

[@philipblades3213]

@@CardmarketMagic As pure coincidence I was actually writing out my first ever pauper list. Now on to card market to pick up what I need haha

[@OtherSideLLC]

Mono Blue Faerie in pauper rules

[@CrazyMagicTutorial]

LOVE THIS SERIES! I do wish there was like a 5hr VOD of all the swiss rounds :(

[@CardmarketMagic]

We didn't film the Swiss rounds. We took notes though and might make a video about it afterwards if the series does well, but we don't want people to take them too seriously since only 5 rounds is high variance, and a few too many mulligans or two bad matchups could easily kick a great deck out of the top 8

[@F4xP4s]

Thoralf: I played Blue White but my list was a bit different. A bit of an understatement since he was playing Black Red!

[@CardmarketMagic]

No-no, this was his list: www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/2768924#paper

[@bondeulv]

@@CardmarketMagic The coverage overlay that was shown had him on Rakdos. I was surprised as well ^^

[@F4xP4s]

@@CardmarketMagic YES YES! CHECK THE FOOTAGE SLOW MO!

[@CardmarketMagic]

@bondeulv that was his draft deck. He did not do very well in this event so I couldn't find any footage of him with UW 😅

[@lucasrios2089]

lol! I had the same reaction. As far as I can tell the screenshot they took there is just from draft coverage.

[@blueplayer6197]

What a fun one starring my favorite card of all times bitterblossom. I admit I was skeptical but I was really really hoping for the winner to win (trying to avoid spoilers.. ) That was great can't wait to see it against Hazored

[@Kirin_the_Bouncing_Unicorn]

I absolutely love this, it's like Lithium's Cross-Banlist Cup from Yugioh and I always wanted something like it for Magic content!

[@Jamesserx10]

The thing I most appreciate about these videos is that they don't just sit down and play the decks. They don't even just explain their plays. They also take the time to explain the importance of each deck in it's period. Making this a fun way to not only find the best worlds deck ever but also a way to get your magic history lessons for the day.

[@zealcrux]

I sincerely love y'all so much; I can't wait for the rest of the series!

[@Bull_1112]

Always fun to watch these two play! Can’t wait for the next round 😊

[@nickraupp6104]

This series continues to deliver! Love it! Keep up the great work and I'm excited for the rest of the series

[@simonteesdale9752]

Awesome content, and love this series! Can't wait for more!

[@AAIIYAAA]

Absolutely loving this miniseries so far!!!

[@dimitrialberti2092]

Love the content guys! The editing is on point and thoralfs poetry is on point.

[@smokyprogg]

22:16 My boy Carl also cast Mind Shatter on Thoralf IRL

[@kevincruz-lr7rq]

This series is great, can’t wait for the next matches

[@psykemporos]

I almost forgot how devastating and ruthless UB-Faeries was. Almost. Thank youfor this beatifully nostalgic content.

[@MajestixComicsClix]

Favorite series so far! Great video

[@polishhockeyfan]

Not only do you guys have interesting ideas, the chemistry you guys have as a team as well with alot of the pros is what makes this channel fun to watch. Also the best outro song on KZbin, big love from the US!

[@CardmarketMagic]

That's so kind of you to say :) thank you

[@TaisxD]

Amazing editing, cool games and an awesome concept with the worlds decks. The best thing about this is you two though. Thoralfs reactions to the G2 mistbind clique actually had me laughing out loud and Carls enthusiasm is awesome as always

[@camberleaf2410]

Absolutely loving this series !!

[@theblakwarior]

I'm really excited for the next few weeks. Just a bounch of great cardmarked paper magic :)

[@faucetrememberly2399]

can I just say- something i LOVE about your channel’s amazing editing style is how the few animations and effects you do on cards are unobtrusive and brief as possible. Nothing worse than when they stop the flow of the video/overload your eardrums/take up time that could be spent listening to carl and thoralf’s beautiful voices.

[@davec8385]

Continuing to love this series! Can't wait for the nest one :)

[@corkimus]

I actually really like this new series of pitting famous decks up against each other. Great idea! Also, you were great, you were great, really liked the video

[@nidunha14]

Another great video. Can’t wait for more guys. Thank you for your hard work ❤️

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you for watching! :)

[@Norgorber]

Spoilers for the outcome: This video is a great showcase as to /why/ they initially banned Bitterblossom in Modern: it really is a crazy card (even if Faeries isn't really a thing in Modern anymore IIRC)

[@CardmarketMagic]

Yes! Now that modern is much faster, bitterblossom has trouble competing, but in slower formats (like standard or 2011 modern), bitterblossom on turn 2 is almost impossible to outpace

[@SiwanBouss]

I honestly think that if Thoralf had a t3 tef the games would have been very very different

[@sjdhrjrjejdhdhsh]

​@@SiwanBouss it depends if he's on the play or draw though. If he's on the draw Teferi likely just gets countered into oblivion

[@SiwanBouss]

@@sjdhrjrjejdhdhsh He was on the play both games, so if he had had the tef he would have just bounced the bitterblossom and would be so far ahead at that point

[@sjdhrjrjejdhdhsh]

@@SiwanBouss he wouldn't be on the play game 2 if he won game 1

[@millergee1215]

Woke up early for this episode, great way to start the day!

[@halmyrach]

As an Alela enjoyer in EDH it was a very fun match to watch! Thanks to the team for providing such great content.

[@thomas6831]

Brilliant und vielen Dank. Hätte nie gedacht, dass 2009 2019 besiegen kann

[@Bobbyabrams18]

Love the quality content you guys make!

[@marinusbrask8186]

Incredible Idea for a series. Love it so far!

[@georgejancosek6473]

This is the most wholesome magic channel I have ever seen. I haven't played too much modern but when you guys breakdown your plays and explain why you are doing what you do, I feel like I'm learning ALOT.

[@CardmarketMagic]

That's high praise 😃 thank you!

[@ajslade8727]

Can't wait to watch the other episodes!

[@danielaserkoff7746]

Hell yeah!! This series is looking to be awesome!!!

[@danielaserkoff7746]

Cheers guys!! So proud of the CM production team, KEEP THIS UP!!!!

[@Rnaux]

I am really excited about this series. I never got into competitive magic but now I'm super invested in knowing which is the best deck of all time 😁😁😁😁😁 Great videos!!

[@percyvile]

Great production values here, super easy to understand what's going on compared to a lot of mtg content. Well done!

[@christianfabianoldeman8714]

That was unexpected. Loved the match!

[@justinleblanc9089]

Incredible! I was genuinely surprised at the outcome

[@owendoughty2340]

Just running into this series, and I’ve wondered about this type of all-time king of standard gauntlet pretty much since I heard about the format! I’m happy that someone is actually doing it, and I love that it’s you guys!

[@nekrataali]

Check out "Gauntlet of Greatness." The most powerful Standard decks are probably Academy and Jar, with Necro and Affinity not far behind. I don't think Weissman (i.e. _The Deck_ with Power 9, Moat, Library of Alexandria, Mana Drain, etc.) was included, since it was strongest before Magic was split into Type 1 and Type 2.

[@cadukich]

Hey guys. Thanks for playing those games. It`s verry fun to watch. I have played this game for 25 years now. And I still enjoy it. In 2008, I use to play Faeries... and today still use my Spellstutter Sprite but in Pauper.

[@peruru84]

Love these videos, keep it up! 😊

[@dks6515]

22:18 i died lol, this was absolutely hilarious. What a great video! Can't wait for the next episode XD

[@joshcastro8526]

You guys definitely have the most readable easy to follow way of presenting games of magic on KZbin! I'm sure the editing is a nightmare, but for someone who isn't familiar with every card it's super helpful. Your guy's videos are awesome, thanks so much for putting in the work to make it accesible!

[@CardmarketMagic]

It's a lot of extra work, but comments like yours always make it worth the effort :D thank you!

[@heitortremor]

Haven't watched yet, but I'm cheering for Azorius Control!

[@heitortremor]

😢

[@timtanner9469]

Man have I got some bad news for you lol

[@GotchaPlaysGer]

Holy moly this video format is the best

[@masonwhitehead7203]

Loving this series!

[@whalepower]

Love that series, cant wait for the next Videos

[@KKDT]

Great video! Great game! Thanks guys! :)

[@retektereptest]

Few cards are as satisfying to resolve as Spellstutter Sprite, great stuff.

[@JohnRAyer1986]

Love the content guys!

[@submarinesailor5140]

This tourney-winning modern decks showdown was a pretty neat idea!

[@jackburdette8683]

absolutely love this series keep it up

[@andrewp6738]

This series is so dope. Stuff like this keeps me interested in Magic as a new player

[@andrewp6738]

Rewatching this video 8 months later and I’m definitely still around :D

[@OtherSideLLC]

Man the editing on this is just fantastic, i saw Carl say he put extra effort into this series and man it shows. Best paper magic on KZbin imo

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you! I did work really hard on these, so it's great to see people notice it :)

[@davodav7746]

Faeries was such a great deck, I loved watching you play it!

[@hurenopa]

Great Format, you all are great!

[@johnskelton6840]

This is the best magic channel on KZbin, hands down

[@RNeato-qk6wg]

I love Lorwyn art and universe so much, I was very happy to see that the deck was qualified for the top 8, and the games it proposed in this video ! Thanks a lot for the top notch videos of paper gameplay, always very cool to watch !

[@CardmarketMagic]

Happy you like them :) a lot of work and love goes into them

[@draconocor1309]

Love this series so far, really interested to see if the 2022 deck made it to top 8 (I'd be a bit surprised if not)

[@CSLWoodward]

Man, it's wild seeing how much power there is in decks that are 10 years apart and how the sideboards still work well for completely different matchups and metas. Great job everyone!

[@alexn188]

Morningtide was when I got back to playing Magic. So happy to see this deck still kick ass!

[@Baritone_RyanHenry]

I love these videos! More please!!!

[@alyriel123]

Such a fun series!

[@8Smoker8]

I love how the music changes to aggressive at first and then just goes chill at second xD

[@CanadianPianoMan]

I remember how miserable it was playing as control vs the Mono Blue Curious obsession decks a couple years back. I feel like Faeries could be similarly tough for a control deck to deal with. Pressure back up by counters to make sure the relevant time-buying cards from the control deck don't resolve.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Many people compared that curious obsession deck when it was popular to this old Faeries list

[@JonaLillo]

I really enjoy the video !

[@carlosRodriguez-vs5qi]

Great video guys! I love how creative you guys are and I cant wait to see how this tourney ends!! (I'm rooting for faeries but also rakdos midrange 😭😭)

[@EpicallyEvil1]

Honestly, my favourite Magic channel on KZbin right now. Everything is so good, the production quality is great, and the personalities on camera is even better. Been a long time sub since sub 10k and seeing the evolution of the channel to what it is today is incredible. Could easily see this being one of if not the most subbed MTG channel on KZbin. Keep up the great work!

[@CardmarketMagic]

That's so kind of you to say! :) you've been around since way back when Jamin & I first started the feature matches! Thank you so much :D

[@EpicallyEvil1]

@@CardmarketMagic Yeah, I still remember during when MH2 first came out the videos with the bad audio inside what looked like an attic of a house 😂

[@CardmarketMagic]

@EpicallyEvil it's actually the same room! But we've upgraded our walls, our cameras, our table, our mics... oh boy the audio used to be terrible 🤣

[@EpicallyEvil1]

@@CardmarketMagic oh wow, that's a big transformation 😱. Even with the terrible audio the content was still 🔥.

[@davioliveira7233]

Amazing series! And like the other videos I will ask again for the Swiss results of all DE decks, if possible 🙃

[@BertockLeg]

That was such a great show. It is so nice to see the channel from where I buy all my cards making such nice videos Also, spoiler: . . . I am very surprised that a deck 11 years older could not only compete but also win. This shows how the limited cardpool in standard makes it more fair to older decks

[@renzuki5830]

First of all the whole concept of this is really outstanding, very fun to watch. The only minor thing I think you could improve is show a table of the swiss results, so it is a bit easier to follow along. (Or maybe you could have had an intro/overview video showing what is what). In any case, really looking forward to more of it :)

[@CardmarketMagic]

Happy you like it! We've had a blast working on it :) We are purposely avoiding showing the Swiss results for now because this series is about the 8 decks playing the single elimination brackets. 5 rounds of Swiss is far too little to measure which deck is truly best, and some archetypes snuck into the top 8 whilst some clearly powerful decks succumbed to 2 bad matchups. We don't want anyone focusing on the standings too much. The Swiss was only to pick which 8 we get to play, not actually for determining which is truly best.

[@laphicet5706]

Love this, thank you Carl

[@CardmarketMagic]

Happy you like it :)

[@XTimTheEnchanterX]

Very cool to see some older decks holding up against the power creep.

[@alcxander]

loved the video, love the content. you guys ar e the defacto content creators to beat at the moment. so original constantly

[@xZuunes]

I love this channel so much!

[@grimgorlefort]

This is a great serie, and video !! It would be nice to continue on this theme with like standard game from old top 8 from premodern area.

[@CardmarketMagic]

We have plans to do a similar series with only decks from the 90s :)

[@nolanpearson211]

Thoralf's "no..." at the end LOL. Same feeling I always had playing against this deck

[@fr4sek]

Love the series, always happy to watch more gameplay videos from you guys

[@CardmarketMagic]

We have a new episode of the series coming out every Thursday at 6pm Berlin time :)

[@slayerofthebuzz1]

I love this series, guys! Nothing like time travel. . .

[@GraemeGunn]

I like that you guys have fun while playing the game, there's a few people at my LGS who come to play Pioneer, but like... they're SO serious about it, they never laugh, they just sit there. It's weird. Imagine playing a game and not having fun lol

[@Razomka]

Brilliant content! Really love the idea and seeing it happening is pretty exciting! I really want to see if an older desk got in. Something with silly power like mox etc.

[@CardmarketMagic]

The first deck on the list had moxes, but we actually skipped it because: A) we couldn't afford it B) it wasn't really a standard deck, because there were no formats at the time. But a deck from 1997 made the cut purely on the back of early magic unfair-colour-hosers

[@Razomka]

@CardmarketMagic That makes sense! A shame but hey-ho. Looking forward to the 1997 deck!

[@marekjurcik]

GO FAERIES!-) And thanks for the great content, guys. It is great to see you having fun too;)

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you! :)