MTG Salvation

For a moment I couldn't tell if my subscription feed was messed up, or if I really was seeing another UR Delver matchup. Hilarious.

Very nice showing -- loved the videos, as always.

Very nice Nikachu on the wins

Some notes on the vids:
1. Leave in all Forces vs. Eldrazi, I'd rather cut 4x chalice 2x daze 2x cursecatcher for your 8 sideboard cards. It's often crucial to have force in your opener for a T2 TKS.
2. I generally bring in 1-2 dismember to handle an early flipped delver or stormchaser mage, though with the harbingers that might not be as important.
3. I leave in Dazes, even on the draw, because Chalice is so important in the matchup that I want as much insurance for it to resolve T2.
4. Even if it was miracles and not UR delver, I would have 100% vialed in the PI to copy cursecatcher to counter the removal spell rather than save PI for Force. It's pretty much never worth forcing Top out of miracles, it's too important to save Force for something like Terminus, Entreat, Mentor, Jace.

Glacial Chasm needs to be dealt with. Tidal Warrior does that.
It also removes Maze of Ith from combat equation.

This league has been pretty fun to watch. I like how the list is performing, though thus far that maindeck Wasteland is doing a whole lot of nothing. Maybe move it to the board?

You know, that point about Spreading Seas and Wasteland is a good one. I'll have to keep an eye on the ones I have sided in right now, and replace them with Tidal Warriors if need be. Thanks for that!

I know its extremely sacrilegious but I have had some decent success (albeit on Cockatrice) running a Vial-less aggressive variant. Here are my list and comments:




So, there are certain matchups where I miss Aether Vial. If I get a land light hand against Wasteland/Rishadan Port decks or black based Hymn to Tourach decks it can be trouble. But, I have come to like getting in extra damage those first few turns and putting immediate pressure on the opponent. Cosi's Trickster and Tidal Warrior both look ugly, but they can shine in very unique ways. Besides, I am not missing the uncounterable aspect as much since 4x Cavern of Souls fills that role. I am not using my lands all that effectively (in which case Aether Vial would really shine as it does in D&T and Modern Merfolk) since I am not running the full complement of Wasteland or Mutavault. Basically, I think Legacy is such a different beast than Modern that we must get in some pressure early as opposed to messing around with Aether Vial and waiting with mana open to do stuff. For Aether Vial to truly shine we need to consistently be doing stuff with our lands (8 lands as D & T does). By running 4 Aether Vial we are essentially using 24 lands in a deck with 4 3-drops as its curve topper.

So the current strategy is to flood the board with creatures backed up by free counterspells. For example, I beat D & T the other day by curving out, dumping my hand with a bunch of dudes, and making them gigantic with Lords. I still want Chalice of the Void since it can be an auto-win turn 2 against a lot of decks.

Obviously, Aether Vial has been a staple of Merfolk. But, the format has changed drastically and we can no longer rely on Daze and Wasteland as much or getting in our dudes uncounterably. I think increasing the 1-drops puts more immediate pressure on the opponent, synergizes better with Force of Will and Silvergill Adept and all our Lords.

My sideboard is in constant flux but I really like the 1-of Vendilion Clique and Echoing Truth since they can be outs to troublesome cards like Ensnaring Bridge, Moat, etc. I may have to go with Nikachu's suggestion and replace Dismember with Harbinger of the Tides. I really like Back to Basics as it can completely win games all by itself (Stoneblade, Eldrazi, MUD, Lands).

Merfolk is definitely more powerful in Legacy than people think. The low number of people actively testing and playing it, however, limits its ability to truly find a core of cards that will consistently put up results. I am testing the Aether Vial less version and so far am liking it. But, it could be wrong? Just needs more and thorough testing.

You are missing TNN in your list.
If you replace Dismembers for Harbingers you are removing good stuff against bad matchup like D&T. Harbinger does nothing there. You have 5 cards against it at this moment, and I like that number (bare minimum).
We are hungry for Merfolk-in-Legacy results, so feel free to report back if you do something good in paper tournament (Vial or no).
I will try Tidal Warrior someday, but Trickster does not seem like Legacy card (at least not without Vial, to enter in response to fetch or something).

Quote from Nikachu_ »

So I went 4-1 with this in my latest league. The Jitte Graphic is covering my 4x Chalice.

Loss Maverick
Win Grixis Delver
Win Miracles
Win Miracles
Win Shardless Bug

So I'm liking Dismember less and less and less. Probably getting replaced by more Harbingers which can help vs Eldrazi, Death and Taxes, and creature match ups in general; I just don't want to be taking damage. Reejerey still didn't shine, I don't know if I drew him though. Did not miss Phantasmal Image one bit. Unfortunately I didn't draw Tidal Warrior ever vs Maverick, he did get in for the beats game 1 vs Shardless BUG FTW. Sower of Temptation almost was a complete blowout vs Shardless BUG but I couldn't draw a 4th land in 4 turns to steal my opponent's Tarmogoyf while Ancestral Vision kept ticking down. I got my 4th land after Vision resolved and he Toxic Deluged his Tarmogoyf back

So its only worked 2 times, but my new approach to Shardless BUG is something like this:

Keep in Vial and Force of Will
Side out Chalice of the Void
Bring in creatures.

Originally I figured you needed to side out Vial and FoW here but its not the same type of attrition based deck Jund is in modern. First off, Shardless BUG has a lot of do nothing cards or under powered cards. The most critical cards are Liliana of the Viel, Toxic Deluge, Tarmogyf, and sort of Ancestral Vision. I think the rest is manageable. We can keep our head above water by keeping FoW for the high impact game ending cards I just mentioned. Keeping Vial in the deck allows us to play around Hymm the most effectively, otherwise we could be choked and ruined on mana (Hymm/Wasteland). With a Vial in play we can sandbag more lands in hand to offset the damage by Hymm. I think cards like FoW and Vial are punished by Inquisition/Thoughtsieze effects, but shardless BUG runs very few.

Just making a post for the sake of bringing life to this thread.

Interesting to see all 4 Tidal Warriors in the 75 right now. And you still couldn't draw a single one against Maverick? Brutal variance right there.

I like keeping Vial in against Shardless for the reasons you describe - you need it to grease the wheels. That said, I'm running 4 Daze, so I lean toward taking Force out. I'm also intrigued by your dissatisfaction with Dismember, since I just plugged it in because I was a bit frustrated with how narrow Submerge was. How has Harbinger of the Tides been performing? He felt a bit blah the last time I tried him, but maybe it's worth reprising.

Nikachu: While I see with your matchups why you're underwhelmed by dismember and phantasmal, I think it's a grave mistake to cut them.

Image is the one card in our deck that can steal us games we'd otherwise have no business winning, and does so on a fairly consistent basis, particularly vs. Sneak&Show, Reanimator, 12-post, nic fit. It's also crucial to have the kind of haymaker like Image in our maindeck in that matchup. Image-copying-nothing is an important but out-of-left-field line against Dredge. Image gives us the most options out of any card in our deck.

The way dismember hurts so much never feels great, but it's also consistently been my best sideboard card. Harbinger has almost always underperformed for me. Against D&T, Dismember can kill a Serra Avenger or Mom (during the window you can) and stuff equipped with a sword of fire and ice whereas harbinger does zilch. Against Maverick dismember kills KotR and scryb ranger, when again harbinger does little or nothing. Dismember is great against infect, harbinger is meh. Dismember kills Mentor, harbinger might bounce it but by then they've already untapped with it and made a bunch of tokens. We need dismember to solve problems, not just delay them with harbinger (and that's only after they've turned them sideways).

BTW I've never been a fan of tormod's crypt and it's always felt kind of odd in your SB. It's not really that big of a deal vs. lands actually as they can get their engine going again pretty easily. Relic by contrast is a much more serious problem for them because it can also keep their graveyard clear.

Kamikaze: If you want more aggression, I like having more 1-drops merfolks, but *in addition* to the vials, not *instead of*. Compare a hand with a 1 drop, 2 lords, and TNN and either 3 lands or 2 lands+vial with a third land drawn a bit later:

T1: Vial
T2: 1drop, lord
T3: lord, TNN, attack for 6
T4: attack for 14

Note that I'm not even using mana/vial the last turn and they are dead, 8 cards total used

T1: 1drop
T2: lord, attack for 2
T3: TNN, attack for 4
T4: lord, attack for 15

This scenario uses 7 cards total, and to make it lethal it needs a 4th land and either a mutvault played T3 or another lord.

What cutting vial entirely does is increase consistency, but actually *decreases* aggression. In the common scenario where we need to drop T2 chalice1, vial is even better. The important part of running more 1-drop merfolks does is make it much more likely to actually be able to put something into play with the vial on T2, not just more reliably be able to do *something* with our mana T1.

Well, Image on TNN can also block that 5/6 Goyf all day long (while the real one swings in for 3+ each turn). I am glad that you're looking for new changes though. A stagnant deck is quickly turned into a dead deck.

2 Sower in the main? 4 Mishra's Factory? No Chalices or Dazes main? This configuration is unusual, to say the least. Can I pick your brain behind the rationale for some of these choices?

So it's basically your spin on a GP Trial-winning deck. Got it. I'm surprised at so many manlands and at the relative lack of counterspells (this deck fees like it gets smashed by Miracles and Storm, and it would probably have a tough time against Burn), but I suppose that it can be a solid metagame play if you're not expecting decks like those.