something amazing just happened. I will post the cockatrice logs.
[20:18:49] It is now the draw step.
juliopino12 draws 1 card(s).
[20:18:51] It is now the first main phase.
juliopino12 puts Polluted Delta into play from his hand.
juliopino12 taps Darkslick Shores.
juliopino12 taps Island.
juliopino12 puts Engineered Explosives into play from his hand.
[20:18:54] Naixin: ok
juliopino12 places 2 red counter(s) on Engineered Explosives (now 2).
[20:18:54] It is now the ending phase.
[20:18:56] It is now Naixin's turn.
[20:18:56] It is now the untap step.
Naixin untaps his permanents.
Naixin places 1 green counter(s) on AEther Vial (now 2).
[20:18:57] It is now the upkeep step.
[20:18:59] It is now the draw step.
Naixin draws 1 card(s).
[20:19:00] It is now the first main phase.
[20:19:01] Naixin: thinking
Naixin taps Oboro, Palace in the Clouds.
[20:19:03] It is now the beginning of combat step.
juliopino12 taps Island.
juliopino12 puts Polluted Delta from play into his graveyard.
juliopino12 sets counter life to 8 (-1).
juliopino12 is looking at his library.
juliopino12 puts Island into play from library.
juliopino12 stops looking at his library.
juliopino12 shuffles his library.
juliopino12 taps Island.
juliopino12 taps Vedalken Shackles.
juliopino12 points from his Vedalken Shackles to Naixin's Master of the Pearl Trident.
Naixin taps Island.
Naixin taps Island.
Naixin plays Hurkyl's Recall from his hand.
Naixin points from his Hurkyl's Recall to juliopino12.
juliopino12 moves Engineered Explosives from play to his hand.
juliopino12 moves Vedalken Shackles from play to his hand.
Naixin puts Hurkyl's Recall from the stack into his graveyard.
[20:19:09] It is now the declare attackers step.
juliopino12 sets counter life to 7 (-1).
Naixin taps Master of the Pearl Trident.
juliopino12 sets counter life to 6 (-1).
juliopino12 sets counter life to 5 (-1).
Naixin taps Mutavault.
juliopino12 sets counter life to 4 (-1).
juliopino12 sets counter life to 3 (-1).
[20:19:12] Naixin: before damage
Naixin taps AEther Vial.
Naixin puts Master of the Pearl Trident into play from his hand.
[20:19:14] Naixin: 2 more
juliopino12 sets counter life to 2 (-1).
juliopino12 sets counter life to 1 (-1).
Naixin plays Gut Shot from his hand.
Naixin sets counter life to 19 (-1).
Naixin sets counter life to 18 (-1).
Naixin points from his Gut Shot to juliopino12.
[20:19:15] juliopino12: what to think there?
tl;dr: Opponent was at 9 life, had 2 mana untapped (1 fetch), Engineered Explosives at 2, and Vedalken Shackles. I had Master of Pearl Trident, an Aether Vial on 2, a Mutavault, another Master in my hand, Hurkyl's Recall, and Gutshot. I declare for combat. He had the choice of either popping EE or use Shackles. He wanted to use Shackles for the blowout against my Mutavault (wanted to block my Mutavault with my Master under his control I guess). He cracked his fetch to go down to 8 to use Shackle. I Recall in response to shackle activation, attack for 6, vial in master before damage to make the swing for 7. Gutshot for the 8th and final damage. He was salty lol.
How salty can you be when you're playing MTG at your convenience, online, for free? Not a fan of Cockatrice, it needs to go.
Well that came out of left field. This is the first time I've heard of anyone being annoyed at the existence of those programs. Some people are more casual players, or they can't always make it out to the shop to play paper tournaments, but want to stay sharp in the downtime. The online programs cater to those niches. And it's not like they've put much of a dent in MTGO's popularity (if anything, it's gone up - lots of people I know test on Cockatrice/Untap, then implement on MTGO or paper).
That's too bad. Do you have any other notes to share? Maybe we can help you figure out what hands to keep and which to ship. In general, I keep 1-landers if they have Æther Vial (especially on the draw), and I'll keep hands that have one U source and one C source if they have a cantrip (so either Silvergill Adept or Spreading Seas).
Your list looks mostly stock, though I will point out that Kira, Great Glass-Spinner and Phantasmal Image are a bit of a nonbo (Kira's effect doesn't protect the Image).
I definitely feel as though i do not mulligan aggresively enough, especially after sideboarding.
Tron just felt like a mess. Spreading Sea's in my opener game 1 felt good for a turn or two, but waves of scrying and typical Tron eggs felt like too much.
Went 1-2 against boggles, just couldnt get in fast enough before lifelink becamd too relevant.
Burn, well I learned the hard way that Vapor Snag isnt what im looking for.
I feel like a lot of these issues could have been remedied with proper counterspells from the board, and reasonable mulligans for these cards. Obviously along with the proper hate from the sideboard.
Hand wise, I feel like I just have yet to build a trusting relationship with Vial on 1 landers, and I have not felt good about casting Dismember thus far.
I definitely feel as though i do not mulligan aggresively enough, especially after sideboarding.
Tron just felt like a mess. Spreading Sea's in my opener game 1 felt good for a turn or two, but waves of scrying and typical Tron eggs felt like too much.
Went 1-2 against boggles, just couldnt get in fast enough before lifelink becamd too relevant.
Burn, well I learned the hard way that Vapor Snag isnt what im looking for.
I feel like a lot of these issues could have been remedied with proper counterspells from the board, and reasonable mulligans for these cards. Obviously along with the proper hate from the sideboard.
Hand wise, I feel like I just have yet to build a trusting relationship with Vial on 1 landers, and I have not felt good about casting Dismember thus far.
I think very few of these sound like mulligan issues. They sound like build-tweaking and experience issues. You'll get there.
Countermagic is strong versus Tron, but not much else you listed.
I too think Dismember is overrated. I find that most important Dismember targets can be handled in other ways, and often those targets are fast enough that you don't want to be trading 1 mana and 4 life for them (eg: BoP, Skirge, etc.). However, for some of these, Gut Shot is quite nice.
Boggles are annoying. All you can do is race.
I also don't like 1 land openers, with or without Vial. There's a judgment call to be made. If your hand has 1-2 Cursecatcher and the rest is 2-mana creatures, sometimes a Vial is just fine (especially when some creatures are Silvergill). But if they don't look like that, I often mulligan them. Potentially only having two creatures on turn 3 is usually way too slow.
The match ups you listed are close to 50/50 all around, so sometimes it happens to go 1-3 or 0-4. No big deal. I would suggest cutting caverns for islands given how blue your spells are in the main and sideboard.
Played at a recent PPTQ....went 2-2-1...I beat a zoo build, and Jund, lost to a B/G control build, and a Jeskai build...and tied with a goryo's vengeance deck...generally, I played the deck list that won Columbus...but generally, there's a lot less bounce and counter spell...how are players finding this? I like the heavier lord build, because it can kill faster...but with Merfolk, usually when we get behind, we stay behind...and counter spell helps keep lords and fish on the board to swing out...the reason I lost both matches is because the B/G player played death cloud and the jeskai used nahiri to put in emrakul...annihilate six and even if I live (which I did) i'm so far behind I can't recover...just feels like if we're going more aggro on the main board we need more counters in the side...but i'm not seeing that...anyways I'm just curious...big SCG open this weekend and I was to make a splash...pun intended.
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"I hope to have such a death—lying in triumph upon the broken bodies of those who slew me."
—Radha, Keldon warlord
I'm rocking 2 counterspells in the main (Spell Pierce) and 4 in the side (2 Dispel, 2 Negate) right now, so yes, I would recommend having a healthy complement of countermagic in the current meta. Sell out on the aggro plan Game 1, then adjust as necessary. I'm not sure whether Infect or Zooicide is prevalent enough to merit bringing Chalice of the Void back, but that's also an option (especially if you opt for trimming your 1-drop count).
I usually just bumrush them with Lords and slap down a Spreading Seas to get through when I have it. Employ Harbinger of the Tides to disrupt the combo, and Dismember/Vapor Snag to either do the same or clear the way. Postboard, I bring in Dispel for the Paths and Chords, and Tidebinder Mage for the dorks/walls. In general, you want the beatdown hands with maybe a disruption card or two tossed in.
Remand is also a blowout vs Eldritch Evolution in that matchup. try to target the fire-lit thicket with your seas if it's available. it makes hard casting kiki jiki pretty difficult.
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Modern UMerfolkU WUBRGPeopleGRBUW U Turbo Turns U UB Fae BU WBG Aristocrats GBW
Hey all, I won a 33 person PPTQ with Fish this past Saturday! It's actually my second PPTQ win in a row, as I won an EMA sealed event at the end of last season and this was my first of this season. I had only played the deck at a few FNM since GP LA, where I went 8-7 (6-3 into a rough 2-4), but all the testing stuck with me.
This deck is pretty sweet but apparently we're one of its toughest matchups. The mana denial and fetch prevention does little against us. I get Kira + MoW and take g1 easily, G2 my hand gets picked apart by TKS but I draw dismember and take it handily.
R2 Dredge L 0-2
He hit 2 Narcomoeba off a faithless looting dredge to prevent lethal in G1 and I couldn't find any Spreading Seas. G2 I also had no seas, and Conflagrate kept my board down. Never resolved Seas or MoW, and both seem essential.
R3 Jeskai PyroAscension with Thing in the Ice W 2-1
His deck was pretty cool. G1 he got me with Thing in the Ice and doubled lightning bolt. G2 and 3 I countered his spells in a timely fashion and controlled the yard with Relic. Spell Pierce for Anger of the Gods won the match.
R4 Affinity 0-2
G1 I put myself in a great position and have board control on the ground. He draws a Signal Pest and then a Cranial plating to kill me a turn before I kill him. G2 he mulls to 5 but I mull to 4. He has double playing on an ornithopter and I draw 100% lands. At this point I think the tourney is over.
R5 GR Ramp 2-1
Through the Breach Primeval gets me G1. G2 I have counters for Through the Breach and G3 I have counter for Anger and Tectonic Edge to slow down Titan long enough to win.
R6 Goblins 2-0
He gets me to 1 off Goblin Guide beats + Goblin Grenade in G1, but early trades followed by MoW win the match handily.
Going into R6 my tie breakers are 5.5% back. I was sure I'd be ninth. But I somehow jump 2 people and end up 7th. I'm thrilled.
Quarters: Abzan Midrange 2-1
G1 he establishes control and Scooze clocks me. Games 2 and 3 I have hazy memories of. Silvergill Adept is MVP and Seas messes with his mana. He makes a misplay that clinches what would have been a close game, tapping wrong so he can't flashback Souls. MoW is a house, as I'm able to bait his removal on Lords earlier in the games.
Semis: Grixis Midrange. 2-1
One of the better players in the area. G1 he hits me pretty hard. I stumble on mana and he shreds me with Kolaghans Command and snapcasters. Games 2 and 3 are by the book. Relic keeps down Snapcaster and Goblin Dark Dwellers, I pressure him with Islandwalk and Silvergill outpaces him. G3 I draw a few key Lords when we're both hellbent and I get there.
Finals: Jund 2-1
Another one of the best players in the area, one who I've never beaten. G1 is super awkward. He has active Grim Lavamancer and I can never get down 2 Lords and lose to Goyf. Games 2 and 3 Kira does work. She was the unsung hero of the day, disrupting the removal heavy decks. Game 2 is no contest as he mulligans and stumbles. G3 is close but I curve out and keep drawing gas.
I'll try to get back with how I SB'd later, for now I'm tired and need to get ready for GP Portland, a format with a depressing lack of Merfolk.
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YMTC: We need a spikey red enchantment. My creations:
RR
Whenever a player taps a nonbasic land, [Card] deals 2 damage to them.
-or-
R
Whenever a player would gain life, flip a coin. If heads, that player loses that much life instead. If tails sacrifice [card] and that player gains that life as per usual.
Nicely done, Realize. When you get a chance, I'd like to ask how the 1-of Harbinger/Image/Tidebinder trio performed for you, as well as the mainboard Relic. The smattering of 1-ofs is rather unusual, so any insights are welcome.
This is a little old now, but I came across this IQ-winning decklist while searching Modern results on SCG, and I'm just. . . baffled. So many questions. Does anyone know the pilot? What would possible lead you to sleeve up this exact 75?
Yep, that's a weird one. I don't have much to say other than I think it's highly sub-optimal (no Cursecatchers? 4 Ghost Quarters? 23 creatures? 22 lands? What in the world?) and reinforces that this deck is robust enough to perform even under extreme deviations from what we consider canonical.
How salty can you be when you're playing MTG at your convenience, online, for free? Not a fan of Cockatrice, it needs to go.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
I'm still pretty new to the deck, and I feel like I cannot identify an opening hand that I want to keep, or being able to identify a solid line.
Lost to Tron, Burn, Boggles. Beat Mirror.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/fish-on-2/
Junk
Naya Burn
Naya Zoo
8-Whack
Fish (ON)
Your list looks mostly stock, though I will point out that Kira, Great Glass-Spinner and Phantasmal Image are a bit of a nonbo (Kira's effect doesn't protect the Image).
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Tron just felt like a mess. Spreading Sea's in my opener game 1 felt good for a turn or two, but waves of scrying and typical Tron eggs felt like too much.
Went 1-2 against boggles, just couldnt get in fast enough before lifelink becamd too relevant.
Burn, well I learned the hard way that Vapor Snag isnt what im looking for.
I feel like a lot of these issues could have been remedied with proper counterspells from the board, and reasonable mulligans for these cards. Obviously along with the proper hate from the sideboard.
Hand wise, I feel like I just have yet to build a trusting relationship with Vial on 1 landers, and I have not felt good about casting Dismember thus far.
Junk
Naya Burn
Naya Zoo
8-Whack
Fish (ON)
I think very few of these sound like mulligan issues. They sound like build-tweaking and experience issues. You'll get there.
Countermagic is strong versus Tron, but not much else you listed.
I too think Dismember is overrated. I find that most important Dismember targets can be handled in other ways, and often those targets are fast enough that you don't want to be trading 1 mana and 4 life for them (eg: BoP, Skirge, etc.). However, for some of these, Gut Shot is quite nice.
Boggles are annoying. All you can do is race.
I also don't like 1 land openers, with or without Vial. There's a judgment call to be made. If your hand has 1-2 Cursecatcher and the rest is 2-mana creatures, sometimes a Vial is just fine (especially when some creatures are Silvergill). But if they don't look like that, I often mulligan them. Potentially only having two creatures on turn 3 is usually way too slow.
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
It is about a year old so some of the card choices might be off, but as a general tutorial and to get a basic idea you should watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROMOUEmZ5zE
Thank you!
Junk
Naya Burn
Naya Zoo
8-Whack
Fish (ON)
—Radha, Keldon warlord
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
U
WUBRGPeopleGRBUW
U Turbo Turns U
UB Fae BU
WBG Aristocrats GBW
The list:
Creature:
4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Master of Waves
3 Merrow Reejerey
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Harbinger of the Tides
1 Tidebinder Mage
1 Phantasmal Image
Enchantment:
4 Spreading Seas
4 AEther Vial
Instant:
2 Dismember
1 Vapor Snag
1 Relic of Progenitus
Land:
9 Island
4 Mutavault
3 Cavern of Souls
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Tectonic Edge
3 Tectonic Edge
3 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Gut Shot
2 Spell Pierce
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Negate
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Tidebinder Mage
R1 WB Hatebears w/ Eldrazi and new Thalia W 2-0
This deck is pretty sweet but apparently we're one of its toughest matchups. The mana denial and fetch prevention does little against us. I get Kira + MoW and take g1 easily, G2 my hand gets picked apart by TKS but I draw dismember and take it handily.
R2 Dredge L 0-2
He hit 2 Narcomoeba off a faithless looting dredge to prevent lethal in G1 and I couldn't find any Spreading Seas. G2 I also had no seas, and Conflagrate kept my board down. Never resolved Seas or MoW, and both seem essential.
R3 Jeskai PyroAscension with Thing in the Ice W 2-1
His deck was pretty cool. G1 he got me with Thing in the Ice and doubled lightning bolt. G2 and 3 I countered his spells in a timely fashion and controlled the yard with Relic. Spell Pierce for Anger of the Gods won the match.
R4 Affinity 0-2
G1 I put myself in a great position and have board control on the ground. He draws a Signal Pest and then a Cranial plating to kill me a turn before I kill him. G2 he mulls to 5 but I mull to 4. He has double playing on an ornithopter and I draw 100% lands. At this point I think the tourney is over.
R5 GR Ramp 2-1
Through the Breach Primeval gets me G1. G2 I have counters for Through the Breach and G3 I have counter for Anger and Tectonic Edge to slow down Titan long enough to win.
R6 Goblins 2-0
He gets me to 1 off Goblin Guide beats + Goblin Grenade in G1, but early trades followed by MoW win the match handily.
Going into R6 my tie breakers are 5.5% back. I was sure I'd be ninth. But I somehow jump 2 people and end up 7th. I'm thrilled.
Quarters: Abzan Midrange 2-1
G1 he establishes control and Scooze clocks me. Games 2 and 3 I have hazy memories of. Silvergill Adept is MVP and Seas messes with his mana. He makes a misplay that clinches what would have been a close game, tapping wrong so he can't flashback Souls. MoW is a house, as I'm able to bait his removal on Lords earlier in the games.
Semis: Grixis Midrange. 2-1
One of the better players in the area. G1 he hits me pretty hard. I stumble on mana and he shreds me with Kolaghans Command and snapcasters. Games 2 and 3 are by the book. Relic keeps down Snapcaster and Goblin Dark Dwellers, I pressure him with Islandwalk and Silvergill outpaces him. G3 I draw a few key Lords when we're both hellbent and I get there.
Finals: Jund 2-1
Another one of the best players in the area, one who I've never beaten. G1 is super awkward. He has active Grim Lavamancer and I can never get down 2 Lords and lose to Goyf. Games 2 and 3 Kira does work. She was the unsung hero of the day, disrupting the removal heavy decks. Game 2 is no contest as he mulligans and stumbles. G3 is close but I curve out and keep drawing gas.
I'll try to get back with how I SB'd later, for now I'm tired and need to get ready for GP Portland, a format with a depressing lack of Merfolk.
Whenever a player taps a nonbasic land, [Card] deals 2 damage to them.
-or-
R
Whenever a player would gain life, flip a coin. If heads, that player loses that much life instead. If tails sacrifice [card] and that player gains that life as per usual.
Fires Rf Salvation
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Decklist reprinted for discussion:
1 Harbinger of the Tides
2 Master of Waves
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Cosi's Trickster
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Lord of Atlantis
Lands:
5 Island
3 Seachrome Coast
4 Mutavault
4 Wanderwine Hub
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
4 Aether Vial
1 Ojutai's Command
4 Spreading Seas
4 Path to Exile
2 Unified Will
1 Harbinger of the Tides
2 Dispel
2 Spell Pierce
1 Gut Shot
2 Pithing Needle
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Spectral Shift
3 Sun Droplet
1 Sanctimony
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers: