Overview:
UW spirits is a tempo deck with a fast beatdown plan sporting pushed disruptive creatures and lords. Before Watcher of the Spheres was printed Spirits was primarily Bant, with Collected Company as a top end. Now, almost a year later, spirits have found a solid niche in Azorius colors, using Watcher of the Spheres to be almost as explosive as CoCo, while enjoying a better manabase and a better post-board plan. Bant has seen a recent resurgence due to favorable metagame conditions, but UW Spirits is almost always in a decent position, enjoying good matchups against midrange and control decks and having good tools versus hyper-aggro. Learning role assignment is very important in this deck, as you’ll have to pivot quickly to turn the corner.
Decklist:
Main-deck Card Choices:
One-Drops:
Spectral Sailor is mostly filler. This deck needs around 8 one-drops to function and Spectral Sailor does the job fine. Spending 4 mana to draw a card can come up and can win some topdeck wars. You’ll be boarding it out in matchups where you don’t need it for early cheap pressure, or in matchups where it dies to Mayhem Devil.
Mausoleum Wanderer is busted in half and you’re always happy to see it in your opener. It counters most non-Supreme Verdict sweepers, and can protect you from any instant or sorcery you might want to counter. It makes life very difficult for your opponent as it constantly taxes their important instants and sorceries. If they play into it, don’t hesitate to punish them. At its best, Mausoleum Wanderer protects your important turn 2 plays from cheap removal.
Lords:
These two pump most or all of your creatures, often increasing the clock by multiple turns or landing for a massive alpha attack out of nowhere. Both are good at blocking in aggro matchups, where you often take the control role. You’ll often be boarding Empyrean Eagle out, as it’s weaker post-board where you morph into a more disruptive deck that doesn’t like too many sorcery speed 3 drops.
Watcher of the Spheres:
This card does it all. It’s a beatstick, and you use the mana discount on your creatures incredibly well, dumping your hand into play on turn 3 if it sticks. This is the best card to jam on turn 2, although you should always consider whether it’s worth blanking their mana or protecting a higher impact threat by playing this on turn 3 alongside another 2 drop. Note that it’s not a spirit, so it doesn’t get pumped by Supreme Phantom, can’t be protected with Rattlechains, and can’t be used to activate the ability of Shacklegeist.
Utility 2 Drops:
Each of these cards have a specific purpose on top of being threats that beat fast, especially when coupled with a lord. They all get discounted by Watcher of the Spheres and become extremely potent at 1 mana.
Rattlechains is incredible against any deck. It counters a removal spell, makes combat a nightmare for them, and can even be flashed in to ambush a creature in a pinch. The best feature of this card is the ability to cast all your spirit spells at instant speed. This allows you to hold up interaction and if they don’t play into it, you can flash in a lord or another beater.
Selfless Spirit is a 2 mana beater, as well as being excellent against wraths and a decent combat trick. It excels alongside Rattlechains and can lead to some awesome “gotcha” moments. It’s not as good at the moment, as a lot of the sweepers in the format are exile based (Shadow’s Verdict and Extinction Event are the most popular), but it’s still a fine creature. If Supreme Verdict decks get popular, consider adding more of these.
Shacklegeist, an addition from M21, is invaluable in this deck. Its effect, stapled to a bear, is especially good at winning races against other creature decks but it’s also amazing at tapping down a Niv-Mizzet Reborn, a Baneslayer Angel, or any other creature that you want to get past with your fliers. Don’t leave home without these. It’s important to remember that it can’t block creatures without flying, which means given the choice of which creatures to attack with and which creatures to leave back to block or tap things down, you should lean towards attacking with Shacklegeist.
Spell Queller:
Spell Queller is one of the best cards in your deck, and a tricky one to play. Being a counterspell that exiles stapled to a 2/ 3 is an incredible rate. A few tips to playing with Spell Queller:
- Be aggressive or conservative with it depending on the matchup and your position. If you are ahead, you should often hold back on countering anything but key spells. If you’re behind, be aggressive about countering anything that meets the condition. At parity, I would lean towards being aggressive, but it depends a lot on the matchup.
- Be wary of removal-heavy decks. If you counter a removal spell and they kill Spell Queller, it can lead to cascading removal and leave you in a bad position.
- Don’t be embarrassed casting this for “no” value! A 3 mana 2/3 isn’t a bad rate and can be the key to pushing those last points of damage, even if it doesn’t counter anything. It also blocks well, so if your opponent attacks into it, don’t be afraid to ambush an attacker.
- The exile clause is sometimes relevant, especially against Supreme Verdict or other spells that can’t be countered. Spell Queller can get around that nicely.
Lofty Denial:
Yet another fantastic addition from M21, this card is almost always a better mana leak. I have it as a 4 of because even though drawing multiples can hurt your beatdown plan, you need a critical mass of counterspells to keep up with the midrange and control decks that slam sweepers or haymakers turn after turn. Try to sequence it with Spell Queller so you can counter spells with mana value of 4 or less earlier in the game, and counter more expensive spells with Lofty late in the game. Don’t get too used to it being a hard counter – your opponents can occasionally pay 4 and that might bite you in the backside.
Sideboard:
Cage is one of the best hate pieces in the format. This card is excellent against a lot of decks, including the Transmogrify – Fires decks, Bolas’s Citadel, Phoenix, Cauldron Familiar / Witch’s Oven, and Collected Company in Sacrifice. Don’t bring it in vs decks with CoCo and nothing else that Cage stops, and don’t bring it in against Lurrus of the Dream Den decks with no other graveyard synergies – it does nothing against the rest of their deck and only shuts down their 8th card.
Isolate unfortunately the best cheap removal spell we have in white in this format. However, it’s quite potent against the abundance of 1 drops in the format, including Elves, the prowess 1 drops, most of the creatures in BW auras, and Cauldron Familiar. It gets around some protection spells in the auras deck and Witch’s Oven very nicely as well.
Aether Gust is excellent against any green or red deck. This card is particularly good vs Mono-Green Walkers, so if that deck is on the upswing consider playing more of this card.
Brazen Borrower is a versatile and efficient sideboard card that’s good in a variety of matchups and situations. Some examples are:
- Aggro decks that tend to play 1 spell per turn (Mono-Green Stompy, not Blitz)
- Control decks, especially ones with Shark Typhoon. It’s one of the only ways to interact with a Shark and not hold up a Shacklegeist activation, as well as being an efficient flash threat.
- Voltron decks such as Auras or Ensoul Artifact decks that try to make big creatures using lots of their cards. Borrower will serve as another removal spell, which is potentially better than a random Spectral Sailor or lord in the matchup.
Dispute is excellent against any blue deck. This makes it easy to hold up interaction and play a threat in the same turn.
Skyclave Apparition is an excellent card against most aggro decks and some midrange decks like Green Planeswalkers. Note that this doesn’t get discounted by Watcher of the Spheres or pumped by Empyrean Eagle. It can occasionally be hard to cast, but the addition of the Pathways has helped a lot.
Matchup Guide:
5C Fires Transmogrify:
This is an excellent matchup. As with most other control matchups, try to tempo them out with flash creatures then counter key sweepers or Transmogrify. All their removal is sorcery speed, so you can feel reasonably comfortable going for the kill when you have it. Selfless Spirit is quite good against their sweepers. Shacklegeist stops Shark Typhoon tokens, so remember to play around those.
In:
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
3 Mystical Dispute
2 Brazen Borrower
Out:
2 Shacklegeist
4 Empyrean Eagle
Dimir Draw-Go:
This matchup requires very tight play from both sides, and will be favored if you can play well, although sloppy play will probably cost you the game. Stopping Sharks made from Shark Typhoon is key and keeping up a Shacklegeist activation can save you from getting ambushed and brick walled for the rest of the game. Selfless Spirit isn’t great here as all their sweepers exile but can still be used to save a Spell Queller from removal or a Shark. Watcher of the Spheres is bad against Fatal Push, but so are most of the creatures in your deck.
In:
3 Mystical Dispute
2 Brazen Borrower
Out:
1 Watcher of the Spheres
4 Empyrean Eagle
Niv To Light:
Niv is a very good matchup. A really good hand from the Niv side can run you over, but in general your fast clock and disruptive pieces should keep their value engine from getting going. You’re going to counter Niv-Mizzet Reborn in most situations, but you should still keep some Shacklegeists in your deck in case they squeeze one by.
In:
2 Aether Gust
3 Mystical Dispute
Out:
2 Spectral Sailor
2 Empyrean Eagle
1 Shacklegeist
Jund Food/Citadel:
This matchup basically hinges on whether they draw Mayhem Devil, as otherwise they’re not fast enough to race your clock and you can beat other disruption. If they’re playing Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, you do have to be very aware of that as it can stone-wall you if you don’t have Shacklegeists. Selfless Spirit gives them a Mayhem Devil trigger and doesn’t help against much of their disruption. Spectral Sailor is quite bad against Mayhem Devil, and early pressure is not what this matchup is about, but the activated ability may be of some use while Selfless Spirit is actively bad in certain scenarios.
In:
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
3 Aether Gust
Out:
3 Spectral Sailor
2 Selfless Spirit
Orzhov Auras:
I’ve often found this to be a good matchup, especially post-board. You have a ton of exile removal, and your Shacklegeists are excellent at getting around their protection. You can take it pretty slow and win with a few alpha attacks after you’ve successfully built up a board and stalled their creatures. Sram, Senior Edificer is one of the only creatures that can break this lock with a constant stream of cards, so try to deal with him if possible.
In:
2 Isolate
3 Skyclave Apparition
2 Brazen Borrower
Out:
4 Spectral Sailor
3 Empyrean Eagle
Boros Burn:
Burn is one of the trickiest matchups. Ideally, you can soak up burn spells by making them target your creatures, and then landing some lords to block the prowess creatures after their burn spells are spent, but that’s difficult to do in practice and requires things to line up well. Don’t be afraid of trading away creatures, especially against Eidolon of the Great Revel. This matchup was definitely improved by the addition of Skyclave Apparition, but remains difficult.
In:
2 Isolate
3 Skyclave Apparition
2 Aether Gust
Out:
4 Watcher of the Spheres
3 Spectral Sailor
Izzet Phoenix:
This matchup can be tricky if they draw a lot of burn spells, but with the right critical mass of creatures they can have a hard time relying on their birds to get the job done. If you have a Grafdigger’s Cage, it’ll often turn into a topdeck war which you should be able to win, as they have a lot of air. If they have shown you Anger of the Gods or another sweeper, you’ll want to change the way you sideboard by keeping in some Lofty Denials and Selfless Spirits, and board out Spectral Sailors and more Empyrean Eagles instead.
In:
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Skyclave Apparition
2 Aether Gust
Out:
3 Lofty Denial
2 Selfless Spirit
1 Empyrean Eagle
Mono-Green Planeswalkers:
This is quite a good matchup as they’re not fast enough to race you, and only their fastest starts can power through interaction. Beware of Karn the Great Creator wishing for Skysovereign, Consul Flagship as that’s one way they can pull ahead.
In:
2 Isolate
3 Aether Gust
1 Brazen Borrower
Out:
2 Selfless Spirit
3 Spectral Sailor
1 Empyrean Eagle
Lotus Combo:
Enjoy your bye. They really have trouble beating your disruption with a clock. Be careful when mulliganing, as it’s actually worse to keep hands with lots of interaction as opposed to hands with a fast kill. They are much better at fighting lots of interaction than they are a quick clock and 1-2 pieces of disruption. One of their better tools against you is Fae of Wishes as it can sometimes buy them enough time by blocking, but Shacklegeist is still a bit of a liability despite being able to tap it.
In:
3 Mystical Dispute
Out:
2 Shacklegeist
1 Spectral Sailor
Mono-Black Aggro:
Black Aggro is a good matchup. You can sometimes out-race them normally, and if you can’t then your big-butt creatures are great at pulling ahead late-game. Beware of Spawn of Mayhem and Rankle, Master of Pranks as the large fliers can pose a problem, and try to have Shacklegeist or Spell Queller ready for when it comes down. Keep hands with Thoughtseize in mind and play around Fatal Push when you can. Isolate is excellent against Knight of the Ebon Legion, which can be tricky to play against. Shacklegeist is also your best friend, as it can stall the board until you can turn the corner.
In (on the play):
2 Isolate
3 Skyclave Apparition
Out (on the play):
4 Watcher of the Spheres
1 Spectral Sailor
In (on the draw):
2 Isolate
3 Skyclave Apparition
1 Brazen Borrower
Out (on the draw):
4 Watcher of the Spheres
2 Spectral Sailor
Spirits Mirror:
Mystical Dispute is your best friend in this mirror, as the matchup often comes down to a stack war. Sticking a Watcher is also excellent because you can dump your hand into play and gain a massive advantage. This matchup is very play/draw and hand dependent as well. Play to win the race, and if you can’t, you want to be the first to react to their plays. Selfless Spirit is quietly very good here, as it’s a good combat trick of sorts when coupled with Rattlechains and can put you way ahead in trades when at parity.
In:
3 Mystical Dispute
2 Skyclave Apparition
Out:
4 Spectral Sailor
1 Lofty Denial
Other Card Choices:
I’ll go through some other cards you can play in the main-deck and the sideboard, and give pros and cons for each.
Light of Hope:
This is a very versatile card, especially against Burn where it can counter a burn spell and the damage from a prowess trigger or destroy an Eidolon or Chained to the Rocks. If you want to beat Burn, this is a great sideboard option.
Devout Decree:
Devout Decree is a tolerable, if unexciting, option against decks that play black or red cards. Avoid playing this, as a 2 mana sorcery speed removal spell is often detrimental to your flash plan post-board. However, if a “bigger” B/R deck arises, this might be worth considering.
Settle the Wreckage:
This card is decent against go-wide decks such as Mono-black Aggro and can also be a good tool vs auras. Getting to 4 mana is nowhere near guaranteed, however.
Nebelgast Herald:
This card is mostly a worse Shacklegeist in Spirits decks that don’t have Collected Company. It’s possible to do a split between Shacklegeist and this, but in general I think Shacklegeist takes the cake because it’s cheaper and often (but not always) easier to repeat. Nebelgast does allow you to use all your creatures in beating down, so there are certainly good arguments for and against this card.
Conclusion:
Spirits is a powerful deck that has good matchups against many popular archetypes in pioneer and has many options available to it if it wants to beat any deck. When playing this deck, be sure to always check if you’re taking the beatdown role or the control role when you should. Remember that post-board, you’re going to be more reactive and have fewer quick kills. May you always have a turn 1 Mausoleum Wanderer!
Signups for Pioneer League are currently live on our website here. If you’d like to participate in the coming AFR Season Pioneer League, join our Discord and check out the #pioneer channel. It’s completely free and takes place on Untap.in, a website similar to Cockatrice where you can play any deck for free. You can read more about the League format here.
Great way to start of the revival