Blue Commune with Nature. Does this change any opinions on 1 drops?
Very solid uncommon. Turn one dig 5 is great, it helps you not miss a beat or stumble. The second half can be good for UG, we don’t care that much of a 3/3 ground blocker if the majority of the time with have islandwalk. I defintly try some copies of this (in monoU, still don’t see that much incentive in going UG, plus you don’t need this if you play CoCo in UG)
Nikachu talked about including a playset of Botanical Sanctum for occasional use of the second half of the card. Color me unimpressed with the other Simic cards so far, except, of course, for Breeding Pool.
I'm not impressed with it. Commune with Nature has an identical effect to the front half, has been around for a long time, and rarely sees play, even in creature-centric combo decks. A non-combo deck with mostly interchangeable creatures will get even less mileage out of the effect. I don't intend to test it in Modern. Standard, on the other hand...
I'm not impressed with it. Commune with Nature has an identical effect to the front half, has been around for a long time, and rarely sees play, even in creature-centric combo decks. A non-combo deck with mostly interchangeable creatures will get even less mileage out of the effect. I don't intend to test it in Modern. Standard, on the other hand...
I’ve heard the comparison with Commune with Nature many times, I don’t think that’s completly fair though, staying mono blue is a big plus. I would never splash green for something like Commune with Nature but I can see myself staying mono coloured and playing this effect. Plus the other the one drops (except Mistcaller if the meta’s right) suck and on turn 3 we only have merrow rejeerey which sometimes we often don’t run as a 4-of.
The point is that decks more invested in finding specific creatures, like Counters Company, rarely choose this sort of effect. Why would it be any good in a deck where most creatures are similar to each other? You're right, the 1-drops are currently not good. So don't run any. That gives you room for all the good 2s we do have. It's working for me, I 5-0'd using that exact strategy last week.
The point is that decks more invested in finding specific creatures, like Counters Company, rarely choose this sort of effect. Why would it be any good in a deck where most creatures are similar to each other? You're right, the 1-drops are currently not good. So don't run any. That gives you room for all the good 2s we do have. It's working for me, I 5-0'd using that exact strategy last week.
Those decks don’t choose this kind of card because the have collected company and because they naturally run green.
And yes our creatures are similar to each other but sometimes we need a specific card for a specific boardstate, a lord if we want to close the game, MoW to stabilize against red decks, a trickster to tap something and swing.
You are a far more experienced merfolk player than me so there is a good chance you are right, but if I think it’s still worth a try, I will still try it and see how it works
So I think this card looks really decent. I could pontificate about what I think card does for us, but I think Nikachu did a good deal of that in his video and I don't think I could add much to it, except to say that I think that the removal portion of the the card is being underrated. So, I wanted to whip together a sample deck list that I think can take advantage of what this potential tool may provide.
No one spoke. There was no need. The threat of the Eldrazi presented a simple choice: lay down your arms and die for nothing, or hold them fast and die for something.
Yeah, I don't think the new Biomancer is going to work out. I don't see a world where that adapt cost is worth it. If you drop this on turn 1 or 2 (off of vial)and sure, you can hold up Trickster or Counter mana and if it's not needed you can Adapt and loot, but that seems like a best case scenario. If you play this turn 1 or 2, you can't follow up with a lord on turn 2 and still adapt without a vial for the lord which sort of negates the point of the card. And as a top deck mid to late game this is super dead. Sure, card selection is good, but is this better than Smuggler's Copter (which most of us no longer play)? I like looting as much as the next guy, but I just don't see how this is better than Mistcaller, or Cursecatcher, or even Cosi's Trickster which is going to get much larger over the coarse of more games. I'm not sure I want to spend my flex spots on him in modern.
In standard fish, however, this guy looks super solid.
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No one spoke. There was no need. The threat of the Eldrazi presented a simple choice: lay down your arms and die for nothing, or hold them fast and die for something.
I think that very well may be the correct assessment, to be honest. It's interesting but probably not quite good enough, especially given the success I've been enjoying with no 1-drops. Definitely looking forward to jamming it in Standard, though.
Ok, so the full Allegiance spoiler has been released and I believe it's fair to say that Modern Merfolk didn't get much. There are a few cards we can consider, but I think that on the whole, we were largely snubbed. Which is fine, there's a lot of archetypes and decks out there, and we can't get a new card every set. However, there are some things we can consider throughout the set.
By and large, I think Merfolk is still in good shape. The addition of Merfolk Trickster in Dominaria really gave our deck a solid shot in the arm, and while we still have gaps (specifically at the 1 drop slot--come on Wizards Stifle fish, that's all we want) we're holding our own. Should we take some time to assess what we may do.
I think it's safe to say there are only three cards we can really assess for modern Merfolk.
Incubation // Incongruity: Personally, I really like this card. I think that while Peek offers quite a bit in terms of value, many decks in the current meta are cycling through cards so fast that knowing what's in an opponent's hand is kind of irrelevant. While there's certainly something to be said for having information, I think Incubation's properties should be considered as well. Having a chance to dig moderately deep for a silver bullet like Mistcaller or Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, a needed island walk lord, or some needed bit of interactivity will allow us to keep hands that we would not be able to keep otherwise. And let's face it, we could use a bit of help smoothing out mulligans. Now let's talk about the removal half, I think we're undervaluing this half of the card. While a three mana (off color) Rapid Hybridization may not impress at first sight, let's think this through. 6-7 green sources would make this card more than castable on turn 3+, it would provide a way to turn Wurmcoils, Gurmags, 12/12 Shadows, and anything else that our fish don't tangle well with in to a very manageable 3/3. At instant speed, which can't be sneezed at. We've never had such an ability in Merfolk outside of Vapor Snag, and we probably shouldn't dismiss it out of hand. 3 Botanical Sanctums, 2 Horizon Canopy (something I've really wanted to try), and a single Breeding Pool would not tax our mana pool too much (if at all), and would allow us to have access to something I think we should consider. Also, perhaps it's worth thinking about how this could be used to exile our own creature in response to a removal spell. Perhaps it's less than desirable, but leaving a 3/3 token to block or attack with would allow us to salvage something from nothing.
Benthic Biomancer: I think that we discussed this card above. It'll be solid in standard fish, but for modern I don't think we can use him. I'm sure that we'll get something eventually, but as of right now, I think we're better off either skipping 1 drop creatures entirely, or going for something like Mistcaller.
Repudiate // Replicate is a card I think we may be able to consider as a sideboard option. Let's not be too excited, this card isn't Stifle, but there are times in which this could be really useful. Cancelling out an activated Oblivion Stone, or Ugin, or a fetch (when we're on the play) seems like it would be very powerful. And cloning a Lord or other utility creature might come in handy. For me (a guy who has had a hard time letting go of Merrow Reejerey) this may be a way to finally do that. But I don't know if this is worth main decking. Right now, it may serve as a two of in my board--Likely Replacing Damping Sphere.
Ultimately, the fact that we can even consider 3 cards in this set is pretty generous. We may not really need (or want) any of these, but I think at least 1 of them could be worth trying out. What does everyone else think?
No one spoke. There was no need. The threat of the Eldrazi presented a simple choice: lay down your arms and die for nothing, or hold them fast and die for something.
Have pages on this forum been deleted? I could have sworn we were almost 500 pages, my browser now says only 390...
So it would appear. I keep the latest page of the thread linked in my browser, and it still reads 'page=498' at the end of the link address, though when I click it, it takes me to p. 391.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
I agree with Rothgar.
Blue Commune with Nature. Does this change any opinions on 1 drops?
U
WUBRGPeopleGRBUW
U Turbo Turns U
UB Fae BU
WBG Aristocrats GBW
Very solid uncommon. Turn one dig 5 is great, it helps you not miss a beat or stumble. The second half can be good for UG, we don’t care that much of a 3/3 ground blocker if the majority of the time with have islandwalk. I defintly try some copies of this (in monoU, still don’t see that much incentive in going UG, plus you don’t need this if you play CoCo in UG)
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
Standard: Fileted By Fish (UG aggro Merfolk), A Fine Kettle of Fish (UG swarm Merfolk), The Deep Blue Sea-People II (Umidrange Merfolk/Wizards),
Greek Fire (UR Wizards), Riptide (U Tempo)
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
I’ve heard the comparison with Commune with Nature many times, I don’t think that’s completly fair though, staying mono blue is a big plus. I would never splash green for something like Commune with Nature but I can see myself staying mono coloured and playing this effect. Plus the other the one drops (except Mistcaller if the meta’s right) suck and on turn 3 we only have merrow rejeerey which sometimes we often don’t run as a 4-of.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
I ended up with this for my first run.
I was pretty happy with it
Those decks don’t choose this kind of card because the have collected company and because they naturally run green.
And yes our creatures are similar to each other but sometimes we need a specific card for a specific boardstate, a lord if we want to close the game, MoW to stabilize against red decks, a trickster to tap something and swing.
You are a far more experienced merfolk player than me so there is a good chance you are right, but if I think it’s still worth a try, I will still try it and see how it works
So I think this card looks really decent. I could pontificate about what I think card does for us, but I think Nikachu did a good deal of that in his video and I don't think I could add much to it, except to say that I think that the removal portion of the the card is being underrated. So, I wanted to whip together a sample deck list that I think can take advantage of what this potential tool may provide.
4 Aether Vial
Creatures
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Silvergill Adept
3 Merfolk Trickster
2 Harbinger of the Tides
3 Phantasmal Image
3 Master of Waves
1 Spellskite
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Spreading Seas
Instant/Sorc
3 Spell Pierce
4 Incubation // Incongruity
Land
4 Mutavault
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
9 Island
4 Botanical Sanctum
2 Horizon Canopy
The sideboard is curious to me - you have quite a bit of graveyard hate. I assume this is a metagame adjustment?
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
I'm fairly keen, although I suppose the activation cost might be a little unweildy.
Standard:
UR Ral Combo
Modern:
U Merfolk
R Goblins
Commander
RB Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
R Feldon of the Third Path
In standard fish, however, this guy looks super solid.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
By and large, I think Merfolk is still in good shape. The addition of Merfolk Trickster in Dominaria really gave our deck a solid shot in the arm, and while we still have gaps (specifically at the 1 drop slot--come on Wizards Stifle fish, that's all we want) we're holding our own. Should we take some time to assess what we may do.
I think it's safe to say there are only three cards we can really assess for modern Merfolk.
Ultimately, the fact that we can even consider 3 cards in this set is pretty generous. We may not really need (or want) any of these, but I think at least 1 of them could be worth trying out. What does everyone else think?
Standard: Fileted By Fish (UG aggro Merfolk), A Fine Kettle of Fish (UG swarm Merfolk), The Deep Blue Sea-People II (Umidrange Merfolk/Wizards),
Greek Fire (UR Wizards), Riptide (U Tempo)