I would make your best merfolk 4 ofs and cut your nonmerfolk creatures. turn cancel into counterspell. Add manfixing - Evolving Wilds.
creatures you should have
I understand the basic concept of 4-of's and I've considered cutting the sphinx, I'll probably never remove the squid just to have a heavy drop. Other than Sea hunter, are there and other tutor-esque cards for merfolk?
My other question, other than millfolk, are there any clever ways to play fish?
Thanks for the help given so far, it's greatly appreciated.
Hey y'all, I'm extremely new to MtG; it's a bit tough knowing where/how to start, but I've been trying to read up on stuff and figure out what I'd like to do for my first deck. Here's a rough idea for a Merfolk-themed deck - clearly, this would only be for casual play with friends at this point.
Also, since this is the first deck concept I have tried to put together, I expect that it will have quite a few major flaws to be addressed... I would appreciate any input from you guys =) thanks a lot!
Tell us what you like from reading the primer, then we can help you move your deck toward it. Most merfolk are cheap enough already that you don't need the bannerets, especially since you have aether vial. Stormtide leviathan is definitely unneeded.
The first color I'd recommend for a beginner is G, for I believe it to be the easiest of all colors to play (&, in my humble opinion, also the most enjoyable :tongue:). Ramp to lots of mana and start dropping big creatures and watch your opponents sweat. It really doesn't get much harder than that.
U is a far more challenging color, probably the hardest of all colors, as it comes complete with the most complex timing issues, as well as knowing which cards to counter to slow/stop your opponent(s). Further, U often loves to let its opponent get rolling, then turn it's own resources against them and that's not necessarily an easy decision from a timing perspective. Granted, a Merfolk deck is one of the easier of U decks to play, but still...the deck is loaded with counterspells which, by definition, brings some serious timing issues into the equation.
I think the primer on Merfolk decks is a great place to start if you are firm that you want to play a U deck
Lunaticfringe is right. Green is probably the easiest color to use, but you seem, to have it right with this build. I got a friend with Merfolks and his is similar to yours. The only card that could be a little iffy would be Grimoire Thief, it's a great card, dont get me wrong, but its a little more control. You seem to have a Aggro thing going on here. The first "Real" deck that i ever had was a Blue counter-deck. I sucked at it for the first 2 months, then i slowly got the hang of it. Nonetheless, great start to your MTG journey =D
A few things:
I thought that the Stormtide Leviathan would work well, since it limits my opponent's attacking capabilities while simultaneously bringing Islandwalk into effect (since it makes all lands islands in addition to their actual type) - a lot of the Merfolk have Islandwalk already, and if the LoA is on the field, ALL my Merfolk would have it, effectively making my whole army unblockable. I also thought that it would be good as a later-game bully creature ...am I wrong?
Also, if I were to sub out the Grimoire Thieves, what would be a good replacement? Would I be better off having 4 of something instead of 2, or getting 2 other cards? Perhaps Aquitect's Will ?
Finally, do y'all think it would be best for me to drop the spell-canceling cards in favor of something else? I know the deck is a bit more aggression-focused, but having the ability to mess with the opponent and protect myself doesn't seem like a bad thing...
I know it would probably be simpler to start with a beast deck or something, but I prefer a bit more finesse over brute force. *Shrug*
I think Seahunter should be on this list, its not a merfolk, but you can get ANY other merfolk in the deck out on the battlefield for only three mana cost. Plus, if used correctly, you could get multiple fetches per turn.
Hey everyone, I tweaked my deck idea a bit, trimming out some of the unnecessary stuff and (hopefully) getting it a bit more focused. What do you think?
Originally, I wanted to create a Stormtide Leviathan deck for multiplayer. But the deck hasn't been performing well. I used merfolk as 1-4 drops to protect myself and were also additional islandwalk for Stormtide.
As much as I love Stormtide, its just not fast enough. Perhaps, another time I'll make a deck with elvish piper and river boa....and maybe even river bear.
I added white, which is something I didn't want to do at ALL. However, Judge of Currents and Summon the School (really wish they were blue) are both excellent cards that will do well in multiplayer. White has the best removal too.
Things I'm thinking about:
-a combo with Island sanctuary to hold off attack and somewhat keep it along the lines of a Stormtide deck. No howling mine.
-really love quicksilver fountain, since its a multiplayer deck meant to disrupt all my opponents. Obviously doesn't play well with white and I'll probably have to use Aquitect's Will
Any suggestions would be appreciated...the deck seems more 1v1 now...
@Mista Reuban Samwich You should probably add in removal with white.
White is probably the greatest colour for removal, with Swords to plowshares, Oblivion ring and a crapload of others.
I'd say take out 4 Sejiri merfolk for 4 Silvergill adept. The lifelink and first strike is nice, but I think the cantrip is important.
Also, drop 6 islands for
+ 4 Wanderwine Hub
+2 Oblivion ring
This combination of cards is super, super solid. As far as forcing Islandwalk, you have Reef Shaman to work with.
Drowner= I don't want a millfolk deck and Wanderwine has too high of a mana cost. Even though its casual I try to keep the mana cost down to five at least.
My group of players rarely have cards to destroy enchantments and artifacts. So its much more viable to rely on Aquitect's Will.
I used to run Wanderwine prophets and NEVER got it out... but in MP anything goes.
It's good enough to run as a 2-of, in case of emergencies. Without a token engine, you'd still be able to take a very large amount of turns with lord of atlantis and aquitect's will... you might even kill the entire table.
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Otherwise Summon the School is fantastic recursion and I would highly recommend some more countering. I personally run Remand because I need the cantrip and it stalls if I need a few more fish tokens for countering via Mentor.
It seems like you're just a little bit too forked with a gameplan. I have found that fish can do decent with multiplayer control, but fall very short compared to the rest of the tribal stuff. Kind of like Faeries. Very good in dueling, but opposite in multiplayer.
I used to run Wanderwine prophets and NEVER got it out... but in MP anything goes.
It's good enough to run as a 2-of, in case of emergencies. Without a token engine, you'd still be able to take a very large amount of turns with lord of atlantis and aquitect's will... you might even kill the entire table.
I'll try it out, but it just seems like he'll cost a lot to get on the field and won't see the next turn. I'll take out two couriers.
I'll try it out, but it just seems like he'll cost a lot to get on the field and won't see the next turn. I'll take out two couriers.
Well, it really all depends on your group. With four bannerets, it could easily cost as little as 2UU, which isn't bad. However, cutting couriers means cutting late game reach, which is basically what wanderwine prophets is for...
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Quote from Bone_doc »
This virtual world is begining to feel more and more like Tron, exept with less motorcycles and more card games
Otherwise Summon the School is fantastic recursion and I would highly recommend some more countering. I personally run Remand because I need the cantrip and it stalls if I need a few more fish tokens for countering via Mentor.
It seems like you're just a little bit too forked with a gameplan. I have found that fish can do decent with multiplayer control, but fall very short compared to the rest of the tribal stuff. Kind of like Faeries. Very good in dueling, but opposite in multiplayer.
You need cards to deal with things that actually hit the board. Oblivion Ring is a nice answer.
Mana leak is a nice early game counter, but late game it gets less useful. Ideally you could just run Counterspell. If that is not an option, you could look at Unified Will.
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You need cards to deal with things that actually hit the board. Oblivion Ring is a nice answer.
Mana leak is a nice early game counter, but late game it gets less useful. Ideally you could just run Counterspell. If that is not an option, you could look at Unified Will.
Since they are running mill oust is just as good an answer since their life total doesn't matter.
Niv:
I can see by that stupid look on your face you're confused; "Why would I reveal this to you now?" Simply put, you have no chance to escape, I put my plan into motion 35 blocks ago.
creatures you should have
My other question, other than millfolk, are there any clever ways to play fish?
Thanks for the help given so far, it's greatly appreciated.
Also, since this is the first deck concept I have tried to put together, I expect that it will have quite a few major flaws to be addressed... I would appreciate any input from you guys =) thanks a lot!
19 Islands
5 Plains
Creatures
4 Stonybrook Bannerets
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Wake Thrasher
2 Sygg, River Guide
2 Judge of Currents
2 Merrow Reejerey
2 Grimoire Thief
2 Stormtide Leviathan
2 Aether Vial
Spells
2 Summon the School
2 Merrow Commerce
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
Tell us what you like from reading the primer, then we can help you move your deck toward it. Most merfolk are cheap enough already that you don't need the bannerets, especially since you have aether vial. Stormtide leviathan is definitely unneeded.
Awesome...
The first color I'd recommend for a beginner is G, for I believe it to be the easiest of all colors to play (&, in my humble opinion, also the most enjoyable :tongue:). Ramp to lots of mana and start dropping big creatures and watch your opponents sweat. It really doesn't get much harder than that.
U is a far more challenging color, probably the hardest of all colors, as it comes complete with the most complex timing issues, as well as knowing which cards to counter to slow/stop your opponent(s). Further, U often loves to let its opponent get rolling, then turn it's own resources against them and that's not necessarily an easy decision from a timing perspective. Granted, a Merfolk deck is one of the easier of U decks to play, but still...the deck is loaded with counterspells which, by definition, brings some serious timing issues into the equation.
I think the primer on Merfolk decks is a great place to start if you are firm that you want to play a U deck
Kokusho, The Evening Star, Exsanguinate and Glen Elendra Archmage have a restriction of 1 per deck.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=6350576#post6350576
I reject your reality and substitute my own
A few things:
I thought that the Stormtide Leviathan would work well, since it limits my opponent's attacking capabilities while simultaneously bringing Islandwalk into effect (since it makes all lands islands in addition to their actual type) - a lot of the Merfolk have Islandwalk already, and if the LoA is on the field, ALL my Merfolk would have it, effectively making my whole army unblockable. I also thought that it would be good as a later-game bully creature ...am I wrong?
Also, if I were to sub out the Grimoire Thieves, what would be a good replacement? Would I be better off having 4 of something instead of 2, or getting 2 other cards? Perhaps Aquitect's Will ?
Finally, do y'all think it would be best for me to drop the spell-canceling cards in favor of something else? I know the deck is a bit more aggression-focused, but having the ability to mess with the opponent and protect myself doesn't seem like a bad thing...
I know it would probably be simpler to start with a beast deck or something, but I prefer a bit more finesse over brute force. *Shrug*
Thanks for all the input, everyone
W/ W/R Aggro WR
W/ Levelers U/
R Dragons R
U Merfolk U
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4 merrow reejerey
4 Lord of atlantis
4 coralhelm commander
3 wake thrasher
4 rootwater theif
3 fallowsage
4 grimoire thief
3 Opposition
3 quiclsilver fountain
3 Merrow Commerce
3 ponder
Opposition is just too cool a card. I still feel a lil vulnerable though :/
EDH
WB Teysa, Orzhov Scion
4 Stonybrook Bannerets
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Wake Thrasher
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Judge of Currents
4 Sejiri Merfolk
2 Sygg, River Guide
3 Opposition
3 Aquitect's Will
19 Islands
5 Plains
As much as I love Stormtide, its just not fast enough. Perhaps, another time I'll make a deck with elvish piper and river boa....and maybe even river bear.
I added white, which is something I didn't want to do at ALL. However, Judge of Currents and Summon the School (really wish they were blue) are both excellent cards that will do well in multiplayer. White has the best removal too.
Things I'm thinking about:
-a combo with Island sanctuary to hold off attack and somewhat keep it along the lines of a Stormtide deck. No howling mine.
-really love quicksilver fountain, since its a multiplayer deck meant to disrupt all my opponents. Obviously doesn't play well with white and I'll probably have to use Aquitect's Will
Any suggestions would be appreciated...the deck seems more 1v1 now...
4 Judge of Currents
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Stonybrook Banneret
4 Tidal Courier
4 Crib Swap
3 Summon the School
Enchantments
2 Merrow Commerce
3 Oblivion Ring
Artifacts
4 Quicksilver Fountain
2 Halimar Depths
12 Island
2 Plains
4 Wanderwine Hub
This combination of cards is super, super solid. As far as forcing Islandwalk, you have Reef Shaman to work with.
Because we care about facts.
White is probably the greatest colour for removal, with Swords to plowshares, Oblivion ring and a crapload of others.
I'd say take out 4 Sejiri merfolk for 4 Silvergill adept. The lifelink and first strike is nice, but I think the cantrip is important.
Also, drop 6 islands for
+ 4 Wanderwine Hub
+2 Oblivion ring
Thanks to Darth Monkey and SGT_Chubbz at Damnation Studios for the sig and banner.
Drowner= I don't want a millfolk deck and Wanderwine has too high of a mana cost. Even though its casual I try to keep the mana cost down to five at least.
My group of players rarely have cards to destroy enchantments and artifacts. So its much more viable to rely on Aquitect's Will.
It's good enough to run as a 2-of, in case of emergencies. Without a token engine, you'd still be able to take a very large amount of turns with lord of atlantis and aquitect's will... you might even kill the entire table.
Thanks to Darth Monkey and SGT_Chubbz at Damnation Studios for the sig and banner.
Wake Thrasher/c] Doesn't play well with Merrow Commerce until you have Opposition out. I actually put him in my fish beats deck instead because of this.
Lullmage Mentor combos well with this build... so does Stonybrook Schoolmaster. I highly recommend Silvergill Douser so you don't have to keep losing your guys to bigger threats. If you're really hungry for removal, he combos with Merfolk Thaumaturgist for insta-kill goodness.
Otherwise Summon the School is fantastic recursion and I would highly recommend some more countering. I personally run Remand because I need the cantrip and it stalls if I need a few more fish tokens for countering via Mentor.
It seems like you're just a little bit too forked with a gameplan. I have found that fish can do decent with multiplayer control, but fall very short compared to the rest of the tribal stuff. Kind of like Faeries. Very good in dueling, but opposite in multiplayer.
Of course, Quicksilver Fountain is just ridiculous in that format. More cantrips that combo with that are Cold-Eyed Selkie. I have also found Spreading Seas (over Aquitect's Will or Reef Shaman-types) to be quite helpful as a early drop.
I'll try it out, but it just seems like he'll cost a lot to get on the field and won't see the next turn. I'll take out two couriers.
Well, it really all depends on your group. With four bannerets, it could easily cost as little as 2UU, which isn't bad. However, cutting couriers means cutting late game reach, which is basically what wanderwine prophets is for...
Thanks to Darth Monkey and SGT_Chubbz at Damnation Studios for the sig and banner.
Should i use spreading seas/hard counters over Ponder or what do you suggest? This is the idea after your input.
4 merrow reejerey
4 Lord of atlantis
4 Silvergill Douser
4 rootwater theif
4 fallowsage
4 Merfolk Thaumaturgist
4 Lullmage Mentor
4 Opposition
3 quiclsilver fountain
3 ponder
EDH
WB Teysa, Orzhov Scion
Mana leak is a nice early game counter, but late game it gets less useful. Ideally you could just run Counterspell. If that is not an option, you could look at Unified Will.
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Since they are running mill oust is just as good an answer since their life total doesn't matter.
"Well it's viable in EDH."
a) White removal in the form of oblivion ring most likely
b) Summon the school as a three of or a two of.
Summon the school is INSANE in millfolk. It creates ARMIES of milling power.
ARMIES.
Also, shared discovery is really good late game.
Counterspell would be good. So would Rune snag because it gets better over time, unlike mana leak.
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the only problem with oust is that it is just creatures. O-ring hits anything. Oust is a good card too. Really depends on what needs to be removed.
Memory Lapse FTW!
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Traumatize
These would maybe work well (just an idea)...
14 Island
3 Plains
2 Sejiri Refuge
4 Wanderwine Hub
Creatures (25)
4 Grimoire Thief
2 Cursecatcher
4 Drowner of Secrets
4 Judge of Currents
3 Mothdust Changeling
2 Sygg, River Guide
2 Puresight Merrow
2 Silvergill Douser
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Enclave Cryptologist
2 Merrow Commerce
Instants/Sorceries (10)
2 Preordain
1 Oust
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Spell Pierce
I tried Shared Discovery as a 2-of but I was too often just one creature short.
Puresight Merrow has been a good all rounder. He filters your card draw and combos with Drowner of Secrets.
Silvergill Douser makes the combat step very difficult for any aggressive deck.
My Cube.
Casual Decks
UG Madness GU
W Stonehewer Equipment W
WU Millfolk UW
B Necroskitter (FFA) B
WU Multi-Kicker (FFA) UW
BW Near-Death Experience (FFA) WB