MTG Salvation

Quote from HagraSharpshooter »

DnT on the other hand is probably the toughest match-up for me. I never win without a TNN in play and even with one play, I don't always win. Almost as important are the PIs to either copy my TNN or their SM to fetch my Jitte.

Chalice sucks in this match-up and I always side it out for things like Sower and Manriki (when I have it in my SB, which isn't always as DnT comes and goes at my LGS). Cursecatcher doesn't seem that great either, so I sometimes side a couple out.

How are you guys finding this match-up? Are there any other tricks we can pull out our sleeve? Are there any other cards that are relevant against DnT (e.g. spreading Seas)?

I've had the same problems as you with D&T (as I imagine most Merfolk players have).

That's been the toughest matchup, heck, I'd rather play against Elves over D&T any day of the week.

Dismember, Null Rod, Manriki-Gusari, Umezawa's Jitte, Tidal Warrior, Spreading Seas.

Those are all cards I've tested bringing in against D&T and it still feels like an uphill battle as most of the stuff they play does serious work.

The only gameplan that has "worked" for me is also based upon what you said.

1) True-Name Nemesis.
2) Phantasmal Image the True-Name Nemesis' or the Stoneforge Mystic.
3) Umezawa's Jitte + True-Name Nemesis.
4) Force Of Will the Stoneforge Mystic. This play is very dependent of what's on the board, cards in hand, etc. Mother Of Runes sucks too but at least she doesn't fetch for equipment.
5) Hope they draw crap.

There are a few other options for cards in SB to use.

Pithing Needle can stop Mother Of Runes, Stoneforge Mystic from bringing the equipment in, and any of their equipment.

I personally don't care for it too much, as I feel my SB slots are better used for other things.

Cursed Totem is similar to Pithing Needle for creatures, not all that hot, however this can be used in the SB if you play against elves often.

I actually dont mind D & T all that much. Its not a great matchup but definitely not unwinnable. Here are my usual routes to a win:

1. Flood the board with Lords and just be faster than them
2. Average curve out countering one key board stalling dude (either thalia or sfm)
3. TNN in multiples thanks to PI
4. I side in 3 dismember off the board and that usually steals an insane amount of tempo by letting them stoneforge, put the equip in, equip and attack(6mana), while saving the one mana spell for the blowout.
5. I also side in 3 tidal warrior which is decent and 2 vendilion clique which can steal equipments.

The deck can be slow and clunky and if the opponent has never played the matchup before it is entirely possible to win.

A competent D&T pilot should almost never lose a match, but can drop a game (30-70). Don't develop delusions that the matchup is anywhere close to even just because you play against bad players.

Elves is far more winnable, much thanks to Chalice. More points of interaction, and our fair game dominates their fair game. We have no such advantages in the D&T matchup.

Tuxdev, I agree with you in some senses but I don't think the match-up is nearly as bad as you make it out. I am talking about my experience at GP level events. It is definitely not in our favor but I think it is much closer to 40-60 than 30-70. We probably shouldn't win the match but can with extremely tight play, a good opening hand, and a competent line of play.

Also, our fair game is better than Elves fair game. Problem is, they don't play a fair game. Chalice on one turn 2 on the play is amazing, on the draw? Not nearly good enough. By that time, they have 2-4 creatures out and are ready to cast a massive GSZ or NO.

Quote from Kamikaze360 »

if the opponent has never played the matchup before it is entirely possible to win.

Quote from Kamikaze360 »

We probably shouldn't win the match but can with extremely tight play, a good opening hand, and a competent line of play.

You can't just assume one player is new to the matchup. You can't just assume one player plays tight and gets good hands. If you come from a biased perspective as illustrated by the quotes above, you won't be able to objectively evaluate a matchup. This isn't about Merfolk or D&T or any other specific decks. Analyzing any matchup must be done on a level playing field to have meaning.

2c.

Quote from Curby »

Quote from Kamikaze360 »

if the opponent has never played the matchup before it is entirely possible to win.

Quote from Kamikaze360 »

We probably shouldn't win the match but can with extremely tight play, a good opening hand, and a competent line of play.

You can't just assume one player is new to the matchup. You can't just assume one player plays tight and gets good hands. If you come from a biased perspective as illustrated by the quotes above, you won't be able to objectively evaluate a matchup. This isn't about Merfolk or D&T or any other specific decks. Analyzing any matchup must be done on a level playing field to have meaning.

2c.

Totally agree. Merfolk is not a popular or common deck, however, and we can use that fact to our advantage when playing against unfavorable matchups who might not be as familiar as we are with certain lines of play. What I meant from the second quote is that the matchup requires a little luck on the Merfolk side, namely, in the form of carefully kept opening hands and lines of play.

[How To Absolutely Annihilate Red Black Reanimator]

All this talk about D&T has made me want to shine some light on a different deck that has become very popular, which is red black Reanimator.

At the time of writing this, it is currently the most popular deck in combo and that is a REALLY good thing because not only is it a pretty good matchup pre-board...

But with the help from bringing in hate and this mini-tutorial, you really shouldn't have a problem (aside from mulligan nightmares ((welcome to MTG)).

Now before I begin, while I might only have a little over 300 games played in Legacy...

I used to play the black and blue version of Reanimator (in case you couldn't guess from my username)...

And that allowed me to get a good idea of how the opponent thinks, what they have in their hand when they pause, what to look to expect, etc.

So if there's any deck I can help you win more against, it's definitely red black Reanimator...

And I don't mean just win, flat-out annihilate.

You'll be beating them so badly that you'll often hear things like:

"How do you have an answer to everything?!" or "That nut draw though" or my favorite "Talk about getting lucky".

The best part is that you'll probably be hearing these things even when you don't draw any hate post-board.

And while there is "luck" to MTG (as with many card games), this guide isn't about being lucky because you can't control that...

It's bout simply outplaying, outperforming, and flat out dominating your opponent where all they'll be left with are excuses and a chalked up loss for the match.

Let's begin.

Part 1: The Deck

This wouldn't be a guide without having a deck to use as an example.

So without further ado, here is the 75 I'm currently running that I'll often be referring to.

Just taking a look at the 75, you can see why it can be a nightmare for Reanimator.

Game 1 they have to deal with Cursecatcher, Daze, Force Of Will, Chalice Of The Void...

Then all of the tricks you can do with Phantasmal Image and of course Aether Vialing him in usually wins games (more on that later).

For the sideboard, 3-4 graveyard hate cards will do the trick (however I prefer 4 with so many combo decks being around).

Grafdigger's Cage I've found to be the best against Reanimator.

It's an easy 1 drop, it can't be Pithing Needled (which they can bring in), and they have to deal with it or basically lose.

Grafdigger's Cage is also great against elves (which is a tougher matchup) which is why I have 2.

Next are going to be the 2 copies of Tormod's Crypt.

Being able to play it for 0 on turn one can be extremely helpful especially if they reveal a Chancellor of The Annex, where you just pay 1.

Relic Of Progenitus is a good card but it's not turn 1 fast, which is why I don't use it.

Part 2: Sideboarding

Regardless of if you're going to be on the play or on the draw game 2...

The strategy has always been the same: bring in the hate and use (almost) as many counter cards as possible.

So by referring to my deck above...

We are bringing in 2 Grafdigger's Cage, 2 Tormod's Crypt, and 2 Spell Pierce.

We are then taking out 4 True-Name Nemesis, 1 Umezawa's Jitte (as all these cards are too slow and bulky)...

And the last solo card taken out usually comes down to 3 choices.

Here they are in the order of what I would take out first: Chalice Of The Void / Aether Vial, Echoing Truth.

I've gone over the possibilities of all of these, and there's just way too many variables, so make the best choice for you.

Note: Your build might be different from mine, so you might not come to a spot like this.

Another Note: What about Flusterstorm? How come you're not using any of them in your SB?

Well, frankly, I believe they suck.

Yes, they can play with Chalice Of The Void up (only getting the original countered)...

However, their utility against many decks I want to use them against has been dismal.

Spell Pierce can hit everything Flusterstorm can and so much more which is why I prefer them...

And they are helpful against quite a few matches where I'd be taking out Chalice Of The Void.

So now that we know what to use pre and post board, let's keep continuing.

Part 3: Hand Selection

It's game numero uno.

Let's pretend you know your opponent and know that he only plays red black Reanimator (just for the sake of example).

Here are a few random hands I drew online.

Do you keep or play (there will be 2 answers, one answer for the play, and one for the draw).

Hand: Aether Vial, Island, Island, Island, Island, Island, Island.
Hand: Mutavault, Aether Vial, Aether Vial, Cursecatcher, Umezawa's Jitte, True-Name Nemesis, True-Name Nemesis.
Hand: Island, Island, Mutavault, Umezawa's Jitte, Phantasmal Image, True-Name Nemesis, Force Of Will.
Island, Mutavault, Chalice Of The Void, Cursecatcher, Daze, Phantasmal Image, Echoing Truth.
Island, Island, Island, Lord Of Atlantis, Phantasmal Image, Phantasmal Image, Force Of Will
Alrighty then.

So those were just a few examples of hands to keep and hands to ditch game 1.

They do have a slight advantage with how fast they can go off, but as stated earlier, Merfolk comes equipped with a lot of cards that can crash their party.

Next, let's move onto game numero dos.

Here are a few random hands I drew online after bringing in SB tools.

Do you keep or play (there will be 2 answers, one answer for the play, and one for the draw).

Grafdigger's Cage, Grafdigger's Cage, Phantasmal Image, Phantasmal Image, Silvergill Adept, Silvergill Adept, Master Of The Pearl Trident.
Island, Island, Island, Island, Grafdigger's Cage, Cursecatcher, Phantasmal Image.
Island, Island, Cursecatcher, Cursecatcher, Grafdigger's Cage, Chalice Of The Void, Tormod's Crypt.
Island, Mutavault, Chalice Of The Void, Tormod's Crypt, Daze, Phantasmal Image, Phantasmal Image.
Island, Cavern of Souls, Cursecatcher, Spell Pierce, Daze, Echoing Truth, Lord Of Atlantis.
Island, Tormod's Crypt, Cursecatcher, Cursecatcher, Spell Pierce, Master Of The Pearl Necklace (lol just had to), Lord Of Atlantis
Island, Tormod's Crypt, Aether Vial, Daze, Phantasmal Image, Silvergill Adept, Master Of The Pearl Trident
Island, Tormod's Crypt, Spell Pierce, Spell Pierce, Echoing Truth, Master Of The Pearl Trident, Force Of Will
So that pretty much wraps up hand selection.

This is something you can easily test by drawing hands online (both pre and post board).

Let's move onto the last and most important section.

Part 4: Game Strategy

Planfully you got a lot of golden nuggets out of reading the spoilers when it comes to keeping or mulliganing certain hands.

In this section I'm going to talk all about specific strategies, cards, and scenarios to help give you more insight and what to do (or not to do).

So the gameplan.

What has worked the best for me is playing aggressively defensive.

What I mean by that is always making sure you have up the proper mana or Aether Vial counters in order to prevent you from losing to idiocy.

Since Reanimator is so damn fast, sometimes all it takes is tapping that island to play an Aether Vial to lose...

Or tapping out when you already have a Relic Of Progenitus in play and they have a full graveyard (that's a sin!).

Another way of seeing it in terms of priorities:

1) Get hate out (games 2 and 3)
2) Have counter magic available
3) Have mana open to use counter magic you have
4) Playing Aether Vial only when you've got nothing else going on or also have a Phantasmal Image.
5) Attack and over-lording (the Merfolk version of overload =)

As you can see from the list of priorities, playing Reanimator is certainly not like playing most decks.

And yes, I understand these priorities change from time to time, but it's a good template for most of the RB Reanimator matches you play.

Here's a bunch of useful tips of the top of my head.

1) For the most part, lead with Island turn 1.

(unless you need to use Cavern Of Souls to play Cursecatcher into their Chancellor of The Annex.

How come?

This allows you to bluff Daze or obviously even better, play Daze.

Playing Mutavault makes it easier for your opponent to play out because you're giving away information (you can't use Daze).

(Note, this is assuming you have at least 2 lands in your hand and only one of them is an Island).

2) On the play, having a Phantasmal Image with Aether Vial and Island with no hate can win you the game.

It sucks to mulligan...

But many times, the situation I just described might be all you need (if you can avoid hand disruption).

3) Most of the time you won't want to jam Aether Vial turn 1.

This goes along with playing aggressively defensive.

Grafdigger's Cage is the 1 drop you want (or Relic Of Progenitus if you play it)...

And right behind that is Cursecatcher because it's a massive threat to what your opponent plays.

Heaven forbid you play Aether Vial instead of Cursecatcher turn 1 then he reanimates Griselboy.

Aether Vial becomes worthy of turn 1 drop if you have a Phantasmal Image and none of the cards I previously mentioned.

Otherwise, pedal off the metal, for now.

4) Aether Vial on 2 and keep it there.

When you take out True-Name Nemesis games 2 and 3, this might be obvious, but I know some of you run Merrow Reejerey.

Personally, I would take him out because you don't want to tick it up to 3 counters.

This completely removes the threat of Phantasmal Imageing their fatty eot.

Also, as it might be obvious to me and many of you, make sure you activate it at the end of their turn so you can attack if needed.

Another also, if they Animate Dead their Griselbrand, then you Phantasmal Image it... we have a 7/7 and have a 6/7

5) Griselbrand aggressively.

I bring up Phantasmal Imageing their Griselboy often...

And this is something that actually comes up a good amount of time.

With that being said, you're probably at 20 or 19 life when that happens...

So do NOT be afraid to pay 14 life to dig for answers.

I once only paid 7 life (when I had plenty of life for 7 more) and ended up losing the game because of it.

BIG mistake, and it definitely won't happen again.

Don't worry though, that was game 1 and easily won games 2 and 3

6) Slow and steady wins the race.

You've got a Mutavault and a Aether Vial (on 2) in play, while holding a Lord Of Atlantis and Force Of Will.

Yes you can always vial in the Lord Of Atlantis (and sometimes it will be the right play, for example if it's for lethal)...

But always having an answer to counter a reanimate spell is much more important.

Simply wait until you get another blue card (or maybe even 2) and do the 2 damage while you can.

7) 98% of the time you want to Aether Vial at the end of their turn.

(especially if you are holding a Phantasmal Image).

This is usually how vial works with Merfolk, unless you have a Lord and want to bring them in earlier to get extra damage.

However, this damage isn't worth it as leaving your Aether Vial tapped can be a MASSIVE mistake in not being able to copy fattys eot.

Same goes with holding a Silvergill Adept and a Phantasmal Image.

Wait until their end of turn unless you need to dig for a card, land, etc.

Aggressively defensive.

8) Copying Cursecatcher with Phantasmal Image can help you win the game.

Sometimes you will holding multiples of Phantasmal Image and let me tell you...

Reanimate players hate playing against multiple Cursecatchers on the board, blue mana open, and quite a few cards in hand.

The majority of games you are going to win, are going to end up with quite a few cards in hand.

Not because you draw a ton from Griselboy...

But more so it also aligns with the overall strategy to win.

9) You don't have to play out all of your lands.

This is a strategy you can use playing against anyone.

But ask yourself (once you get past the first few turns)...

Is it worth playing this land or keeping it in hand as another unknown?

Sometimes you will want to play out lands to hard-cast Force Of Will, most times you won't.

It's very situation oriented.

10) Save counters for mostly for Reanimate, Exhume, and Animate Dead.

There will be times when you need to protect your hand from discard.

But overall, don't bite on an Entomb or Faithless Looting

And lastly.

11) Keep very close attention to how much life your opponent has.

For example, if they are at 7/8 life or under they won't be able to Reanimate many fattys and they won't be able to draw 7.

If you're like me and play bounce cards like Echoing Truth or Harbinger Of The Tides, etc.

Sometimes you want them to Reanimate Griselbrand (as long as it brings their life down to 7 or less).

Then you can bounce him back to their hand eot.

This doesn't come up as often, but often enough to help you win the game.

Part 5: The Conclusion

So that about wraps it up.

Aside from actually playing against a BR Reanimator deck and walking you through the specifics...

This is an overall outline of what has allowed me to continuously beat the deck.

1) Get hate out (games 2 and 3)
2) Have counter magic available
3) Have mana open to use counter magic you have
4) Playing Aether Vial only when you've got nothing else going on or also have a Phantasmal Image.
5) Attack and over-lording (the Merfolk version of overload =)

Agressively Defensive FTW

Feel free to leave a comment or your thoughts below.

P.S. I am not responsible for the enemies you create by manhandling this deck

P.P.S. Had to add this in after seeing it.

Quote from ReANiMaToR1

1) Play Island then Cursecatcher then Tormod's Crypt.

THE ORDER YOU PLAY YOUR CARDS CAN WIN OR LOSE YOU THE GAME.

Yes, I understand RB doesn't play Force Of Will but start thinking (more) about the order of the cards you play.

Make it a habit.

If opponent was playing oldschool Reanimator (like yours truly does) there is a possibility that they could Force Of Will Tormod's Crypt.

Not a big chance, but if they want to fight over it, you better have played your Cursecatcher first in order to fight back.

I was watching some videos the other day and a perfect example of this came up.

The person was piloting Reanimator and ended up losing the game because they didn't play a land first to play around Daze (click the link below and it will take you to the mistake).

https://youtu.be/Qsogo1SIIis?t=4m7s

While this was the reanimator making the mistake, you definitely don't want to be the person making that mistake playing against a reanimator deck.

5-0 league run!
https://www.twitch.tv/tuxdev/v/109379479

nice work tuxdev, looking forward to watching the videos!!!

Watching one and a half hour of Merfolk 5-0-ing or watching Nikachu for one and half hour losing/durdling to Miracles and Delver (while one hour of that is filled with poker)...
What to do, what to do...?

Hi, i wanted to share the list that made me won my local league (we play a series of tournaments, top 8 of the league play an especial tournament at the end of the year, i won both the league and the final tournament) and read your thoughts/critics.

First, a little context. My meta is full of Delver variations (Grixis, 4 colour, UR) and Taxes. Other prominent decks are Elves, 3/4 Colour Stoneforge variations, Nic Fit, UW Miracles, TES, S&T Variations (Reanimator, Omnitell, Sneak&Show), Shardless BUG and Burn. Sometimes a wild Enchantress or Jund appears. There is not a single Eldrazi.

Here is my current list:

Lands 20
10 Island
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
2 Wasteland

Creatures 28
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Cursecatcher
4 True-Name Nemesis
4 Silvergill Adept
3 Phantasmal Image
3 Tidal Warrior
2 Vendilion Clique

Spells 12
4 Force of Will
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Aether Vial
2 Daze

Sideboard 15
SB: 3 Misdirection
SB: 2 Hibernation
SB: 2 Dismember
SB: 1 Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 1 Manriki-Gusari
SB: 1 Chalice of the Void
SB: 1 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Sower of Temptation
SB: 2 Chill

Here i will try to explain some unorthodox cards selection.

Mainboard:

- 2 Wasteland: Wasteland is a dead card in a lot of situations, but you need a way to interact with troublesome lands. Plus screwing with their mana when you got a good tempo hand (Vial, Daze) it's always great.

- 3 Tidal Warrior: This guy can be de MVP of the game or just a 1/1 merfolk, the idea it's that in the games you need him it's awesome (against non-blue decks), and in the games you don't (most blue based decks) it's just another hitter (with a lot hidden uses). For more in-depth about Tidal Warrior, search Greg Hatch's review about him (like the deck tech video on SCG).

- 2 Vendillion Clique: I just love this card on Merfolk, it accomplishes everything you want to do, it's a heavy hitter with evasion that can protect you from the cards that wreck you (Mass Removals, uncounterable spells, key combo cards). Depending on the meta (and the manabase i'm using) i may play 3. Plus, i think the most enjoyable play i've ever made in a game of Magic was responding to a Terminus miracle trigger with Clique and putting it on the bottom of the library, it was sublime.

- 3 Chalice: Chalice it's a forced choice in my metagame (Delvers Variations, Elves, Storm, Burn, etc), plus it's an awesome card. I only run 3 copies on the main because you really don't want to draw 2 copies on game 1 in a lot of matchups (Almost anything with a high curve). The 4th copy obviusly comes against all of the low curve decks.

- 3 Aether Vial: Vial it's awesome... when you play it on Turn 1 and you don't draw 3 of them. You can survive drawing 2 of them (even if you didn't play one on turn 1), but if you draw 3 you are totally screwed. You may justify playing 4 in a more tempo oriented list (like the old ones with 4 Wastes and 4 Dazes) but on this particular approach i found that 3 are great.

- 2 Daze: Don't get me wrong, i love Daze; but in a meta full of Deathrite Shamans and Abrupt Decays, i can't justify playing a lot of them (i also wanted to minimize the dead draws after turn 4/5). Plus if you don't have the full tempo package (4 Wastes and 4 Vials) Dazes are awkward in a lot of situations, playing only 2 copies gives you the garanty that if they get stucked in your hand, you are almost always going to be able to use them as fodder for Force of Will.

Sideboard:

- 3 Misdirection: Probably the best card you have against Abrupt Decay's decks, it's extremely difficult to play around. It's also a card that can single-handed win you de match against Shardless Bug (misdirecting a Hymn to Tourach or a Ancestral Visions wins you the game most of the times).

- 2 Hibernation: The card that gives you a chance against Elves on the draw (when you are on the play, a Chalice on Turn 2 can shut them down). Almost impossible to play around for them.

- 2 Dismember: For meta reasons, i find more realiable and flexible this than Submerge, though the 4 lifes are painful sometimes.

- 1 Umezawa's Jitte: Good against a lot of decks and tutorable with Phantasmal Image against Stoneforge.

- 1 Manriki-Gusari: Tutorable with Phantasmal Image against Stoneforge.

- 1 Chalice of the Void: Explained on Main Section.

- 1 Echoing Truth: Excelent against tokens (Young Pyromancer, Monastery Mentor, Entreat the Angels, Empty the Warrens) and the only salvation you have if they managed to resolve a Moat or an Ensnaring Bridge.

- 2 Sower of Temptation: Value card that dodges Abrupt Decay and steals the Bomb that they play with Show and Tell. It's also useful in grindy matchups when your opponents has 1 cost removals and you are not siding out the Chalices (Like against Esper Stoneblade).

- 2 Chill: Best card against Burn, excelent against UR Delver and TES. Useful against various Combos.

Forgive any grammar errors, not english native, and thanks for reading.

Quote from Gruby_Jakub »

Hi. I didin't play folks since True-name nemezis was printed. Did deck changed a lot? I know the best version is "the most comfortable played by pilot" but tell me should I change something in decklist?


3 Merrow Reejerey
4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Silvergill Adept
2 True-Name Nemesis
2 Phantasmal Image

4 Daze
4 Force of Will

1 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Aether Vial
4 Standstill

4 Mutavault
3 Wasteland
13 Island

4 Tnn's are a must.

Merfolk it's too slow now for using Standstill efficiently, but you can try them on a grindy metagame (i would also recommend using 4 Mishra's Factory alongside them).

Cavern of Souls is almost a Core card right now (Playing an uncounterable TNN on Turn 3 wins a lot of games).

Aether Vial is expendable now.

Wasteland has lost a lot of power against Deathrite Shaman.

Since Wasteland has gotten worse, Daze has also been afected.

Basically, the deck has shifted from a Tempo strategy to a more Agro/Midrange plan, it' less interested on screwing the opponent and more focused on developing it's board. Of course it's up to you to use the list that makes you feel comfortable, if you like playing the old style merfolk go ahead, but i would strongly recommend switching Reejereys for TNNs.

Quote from tuxdev »

A competent D&T pilot should almost never lose a match, but can drop a game (30-70). Don't develop delusions that the matchup is anywhere close to even just because you play against bad players.

Elves is far more winnable, much thanks to Chalice. More points of interaction, and our fair game dominates their fair game. We have no such advantages in the D&T matchup.

I beg to differ, if the Taxes is playing Sword of Fire and Ice and he tutor it, it is going to be an extremely hard game. But if he does not search/have the Sword, TNN plus Lords + Tidal Warrior makes the match pretty even. And post sideboard you have things like Manriki-Gusari, Dismember, etc.

Against elves, even if you land a Chalice on time, they can search for a Reclamation Sage and **** you up. You need to do Chalice, FoW and put a good clock.

As a Elves player/bystander, I gotta say competitive decks are increasingly mainboarding 2 Decays. Combined with up to 8 Reclamation Sages and 2 Caverns, that's 9-12 cards that could destroy or weaken a Chalice.

Agreed. It is better to start killing all Elves with Dismember/Gut Shot/Warping Wail/Submerge/Tidebinder/Jitte than to rely only on Chalice.

Merry Fishmas, friends!

Jace has been performing very well for me. When I initially added him to my sideboard, the main thing I wanted was a way to win that didn't involve combat damage. But, since he's Jace, he does a lot more than just that. I noticed I was siding him in a lot more than seemed reasonable for a sideboard card and he seemed decently useful even in the matchups he doesn't especially shine in, so I've been trying him maindeck. I now somewhat think the MTGO meta has shifted to make that not as good of a choice, but he's still more than earned a spot in the 75. Due to the complexity of playing planeswalkers, I believe it's much more useful to try him out yourself over just listening to me talk him up.

It's an interesting call for fair matchups. It can help the deck grind, which is something that I've found the mainboard 60 isn't all that great at.