I'm unconvinced by Liliana, the Last Hope. It seems like a solid card overall, but it doesn't strike me as particularly more threatening to us than something like a Dismember (especially for decks like Grixis, which have Snapcaster Mage). As for Grim Flayer... I'm skeptical. It's not nearly as easy to switch it on as it is to get a 4/5 Goyf (since it only counts their graveyard), and until then it's just a bear.
I'm unconvinced by Liliana, the Last Hope. It seems like a solid card overall, but it doesn't strike me as particularly more threatening to us than something like a Dismember (especially for decks like Grixis, which have Snapcaster Mage). As for Grim Flayer... I'm skeptical. It's not nearly as easy to switch it on as it is to get a 4/5 Goyf (since it only counts their graveyard), and until then it's just a bear.
It's much better than it seems against merfolk and other decks like infect since it acts as repeated removal, can basically defend itself by lowering damage while ticking up loyalty, and gives them card advantage. LoTV can kill bigger things, but it has to die to do so and isn't as much of an issue for merfolk to deal with. Also, because it lets them grind out the game that ult is the real deal. On the up side, racing it isn't too bad for merfolk thanks to all the lords in play, and after sideboard I was able to handle the new Lili by closing down their mana sources (tried out 8 seas, it worked like a charm), and the one time they did get it out I was already ahead and drew into spreading seas with an adept. It was still rough, though. They got out an early goyf and even closing down the mana they were able to get it up to 3/4 along with a lucky grim flayer. Harbinger of the Tides with Merrow Reejerey got me through that one.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
LtLH is not in LotV's league, though it is strong.
You're estimating Flayer, though. It's not a worse Tarmogoyf. It's a mixture of a weaker Tarmogoyf, Tarmogoyf-enabler, and Sensei's Divining Top (getting you the best of your top 3 cards as your draw each turn). The card it more likely replaces is Dark Confidant, providing arguably better card selection (though not advantage) and better offense without the life loss.
Flayer is ridiculously strong. I don't think it affects our matchup versus Jund as much, but it will make Jund better against every control or combo deck in the format.
I need to know how Ferocious works as it pertains to Stubborn Denial & Vial.
If my opponent casts a non-creature spell am I able to activate Vial, resolve a 2nd Lord and *then* cast Stubborn Denial as a hard-counter? Or is the Vial trigger still on the stack at the time I would need to cast SD? The timing is relevant.
You can allow your Vial activated (not triggered) ability to resolve and bring in a creature. Then, when you regain priority after that ability resolves, you can play Stubborn Denial.
You can allow your Vial activated (not triggered) ability to resolve and bring in a creature. Then, when you regain priority after that ability resolves, you can play Stubborn Denial.
Round 1 vs. U/B Mill (2-0)
Game 1 he managed to resolve Ensnaring Bridge, but he got stuck with 3 cards in hand. I had already found my 1 MoW and swung for lethal with 7x 2/1's and a pair of 3/3's.
Game 2 I swung for lethal - he responded by casting Crypt Incursion which I had a hard counter for with Stubborn Denial.
Round 2 vs. W/G Hatebears (2-1)
Game 1 I died to Sigarda. Not a card I see a lot of in that particular deck and my only answer would have been to clone it.
Game 2 I slow him down with Gut Shot, Spreading Seas and Tidebinder.
Game 3 played much the same as 2 - slow him down with Harbinger/Tidebinder until my board state is big enough to finish him.
Round 3 vs. Elves (1-2)
Game 1 I'm on the draw and can never catch up. Ezuri finishes me off.
Game 2 I drop T1 Vial and overrun him pretty quickly
Game 3 I made a serious mistake in boarding out Spreading Seas. We wound up in a board lock that I couldn't get around. If I swing he chumps enough to stay alive and the crackback kills me. After about 5 turns he finally finds Ezuri and rushes me. In retrospect I probably should have skipped the counter spells - they were really only relevant vs. CoCo. Ah well.
Round vs. Kikki-Chord (2-0)
Game 1 Spreading Seas a pair of lands and he's stuck with Kikki in hand the entire game.
Game 2 Tidebinder does serious work early and then I flood the board with Lords off a cloned Reej.
Notes: Based on my particular strategy of playing Lords early and often Stubborn Denial was AMAZING all night long. T1 and T2 it was an effective Force Spike. It also synergized well with Cursecatcher and while a bit costly the pair saved my Lords on a few occasions. I had Ferocious online fairly consistently by T3 or T4. On one occasion I had 2 Lords in play and in response to Path I tapped Muta to activate it's own ability and effectively turned Stubborn Denial into a Negate. I'll continue to test it the rest of the week, but the early returns have it playing vastly better than either Spell Pierce or Negate in my build.
Taking out MoW was a tough decision, but I had to squeeze Harbinger back in and my strategy revolves around jamming Lords early. With 19 Lands and not wanting to tick Vial up past 2 this seemed the most reasonable cut to make. Keeping 1 in as a Silver Bullet and might try to squeeze a 2nd back into board... but so far the deck is playing *very* consistently without it.
While a tough decision to make I'm leaning back towards 3x Snag and 2x Gutshot over Dismember. Hyper-aggo was just giving me too many problems.
Overall I'm very happy with all my deck choices tonight, but I plan to hit up 2-3 more LGS this week before I finalize my decklist for GP Indy.
Gut Shot I use, and I'm pretty happy with it. Annul is flexible, though not great against Affinity. More importantly, it doesn't answer Karn or Ugin against Tron. But I guess it's better than nothing.
Gut Shot is a great option that provides a lot of value in a lot of situations. I'm trying to find some room for it in my own sideboard.
Annul I'm not a huge fan of to be honest. I don't think it helps enough in other matchups to take it over the better anti-affinity options like Steel Sabotage or Hurkyl's Recall. But that could very well be playstyle and metagame dependent.
I often feel like I randomly want to Jam a Cryptic Command in to my deck to catch people off guard (Perhaps running it over a MoW or one of the normal Spell Pierce/etc slots) I remember when I was first picking up Merfolk seeing a couple of lists run it as a one-off, but now I hardly see it. Is this just because of the way the metagame has changed, or do we just have access to better tools now?
I'm half tempted to try it at one of my LGS becuase everyone there runs interesting decks so it could be worth trying.
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Modern UMerfolkU Legacy UFishU "I Want To Believe"
R1 LOSS 0-2 VS Mike Sigrist (21): Affinity
What a way to start the day with playing our worst matchup! I won the die roll, but that didn't really matter. He had great draws both games and I had complete crap. Game 1 Vault Skirge w/ Cranial Plating came online extremely early and ended any hopes of racing. Game 2, he had a huge board state and resolved 2 Whipflares that game.
R2 WIN 2-0 VS Tannon Grace (9): Jund
Won the die roll. Had pretty much a perfect curve into Master of Waves to crush him game 1. Game 2, I tried to play patiently to ensure my attack would be lethal and I held up Negate for the 2 Master of Waves I played, which wrecked him. This is the deck I really wanted to be facing most of the day.
R3 WIN 2-1 VS Kellen Pastore (15): Infect
Lost the die roll. I was 1 turn off lethal in game 1. Game 2, I had great tempo and rode it to victory. Game 3, he kept Glistener Elf / Viridian Corrupter / Blighted Agent with 2x Forest, threw the Elf into a Silvergill Adept (thinking he'd play more guys) but never drew another land.
R4 WIN 2-1 VS Gerard Fabiano (15): Naya Evolution
Lost the die roll. He played Birds of Paradise off a Stomping Ground into Knight of the Reliquary. I Spreading Seas'd his shockland, played lords, and that was good enough to win game 1. He did a fantastic job of not showing me what his deck actually was though; I thought it was a generic Naya Midrange deck, which bit me in the ass when in game 2 he went Wall of Omens into Eldritch Evolution for Restoration Angel, Eternal Witness to get EE back, and Evo'd the witness for Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. I was much more prepared to deal with him in game 3 though; my 2 Vapor Snags created just enough tempo to keep him off any combo lines and force through damage.
R5 WIN 2-1 VS Meru Bhanot (9): Bant Collected Company
Lost the die roll. Game 1, I got him down to 8, but ran out of gas. Wasn't 100% on what his list was, just saw generic GW goodstuff (Voice of Resurgence, KotR, Noble Hierarch). Game 2, I had a strong clock and killed him fast, though I did see him play a Spell Queller (I think that was the only blue card I saw in his deck). Game 3 was long and grindy. I had 1 Seas effect on his land, but he had a Ghost Quarter to deal with it if need be, so I had to wait until I could ensure I had lethal on board. Used Harbinger of the Tides to hold off KotR until Tidebinder Mage could be deployed on it. He had KotR, Hierarch, and 2 Voices on board when he dropped Elspeth, Knight-Errant, jumped a voice, and put me to 5. I was only working with 2-3 lands for most of the game, but Vial on 2 helped put lords on board and I used Vapor Snag to push through the last bit of damage.
R6 LOSS 0-2 VS Tyler Marklyn (15): Affinity
Lost the die roll. He got a T1 Steel Overseer; I had a Cavern into Vial and got steamrolled yet again. Game 2, I had a ***** hand that mulled into a barely playable 6 and never saw a Recall. This was a hilariously bad matchup.
R7 WIN 2-1 VS Michael Robinson (12): Suicide Blitz
Lost the die roll. This was an interesting match. He had Nivmagus Elemental and Kiln Fiend out early, but only drew lands + creatures while my lords got in there. Game 2 I had nothing to interact and his Death's Shadow wrecked my face. Game 3, Tidebinder Mage gave me an opening to start chipping away by keeping Kiln Fiend at bay, and I was careful to back it up with 2x Negate + Snag. Ended up getting him to 1 life, then used Vapor Snag on his Death's Shadow for the win.
R8 LOSS 0-2 VS James Foerst (18): Infect
Lost the die roll. Infect came to play this time. He killed me on T3 while I had a slower hand. G2, I mulled and never got a second blue mana to really get in the game. At this point, I dropped as X-3 wouldn't make day 2.
Looking back, I lost twice to Affinity (every game was hilariously bad and cast exactly 0 Recalls). I went 50/50 versus Infect, which is reasonable, and beat everything else. I lost 6/8 die rolls (and 1 that I won was vs Affinity <.<) so luck wasn't terribly on my side in that regard. All things considered, I think I did pretty well. Unsubstantiate was almost always used as a bounce spell, so I think I'll replace it with a Dismember. I think that 1 Sea's Claim can also become another Dismember or a Gut Shot. I didn't play versus a single Jeskai / Grixis deck (and there were plenty going around), and didn't see any Dredge, so the Cage wasn't super relevant, though it's still a necessary evil I think.
It's good to know that Fabiano is still trying to scumbag people. Eldritch Evolution gets exiled so he wouldn't have Eternal Witnessed for it back.
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Cunning Spark Mage? $0.10
Basilisk Collar? $5.00
Shooting down a baneslayer angel? Priceless
Today started something like 6 weeks in a row of interesting Modern tournaments at my LGS. Every week is either League, GPT, PPTQ or WMCQ.
That probably means I am done with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy in this standard, while Alchemist is charging until rotation.
GP Lille was supposed to be one of those 6 but constant rise of entry fees turned me off.
Local League was on the program this Sunday.
Started match one against Island, Island, Mutavault. I thought he was just a screwed Merfolk player because he cast no spell, until Dissolve on turn 3. That is not enough.
Game 2 he took a onelander so that was quick 2:0. I looked at his deck later: Wall of Omens, S. Revelation, Verdict, Wrath, Colonnade, the usual WU Control.
Match 2 against Elves. I knew what he played but I still kept a 2 Mutavault, Island, Adept, 2 Seas, Waves hand (aka Jund killer), but he mulled to 5 and killed me with Craterhoof turn 4.
Game two he mulled to 6 and did the same on turn 4. As expected. 0:2. I could have mulled to Gut Shot, Dismember, Tidebinder, Chalice... but decided against it.
Match 3 vs Infect. Locked his Noble with Tidebinder on turn 2 (he kept a onelander) so Harbinger here and there led to a win.
Next game he had no mana problems. I seas his Nexus, he released it with N. Claim, then saved it from the second with hexproof spell, but a third Seas shut that down.
All the while Vial ticked up and gummed up the ground until it was unstoppable. 2:0.
Then mirror. He is a new player in our archetype (he lost a bet to someone which says he has to play monoIslands until end of year :D), so his play was not top notch. 2:0.
Mardu for the end. Nothing but Confidant, manlands and removal. And some more removal. I overextended in game 1 expecting no mass removal before sideboarding, Dismembered his Confidant asap, messed with his mana and won first game. Sideboard, removed some lands (opponent plays Path, lands will come) for Tec Edges, removed Vials for some counters and Gut Shots (Lavamancer or Confidant has to die).
I mulled to five and got Inq. of Kozilek for my troubles. He took Cursecatcher and I was left with Mutavault, Island and 2 Waves, with Mutavault of top.
Turn two he played Dark Confidant which lived until he drew enough.
My spells were Seas, Reej and Waves, last two were killed with K. Command and Path. But he had no solution for second Master. I won somehow. 2:0.
Affinity won the tournament and my 4:1 still leaves me at first place in the League, 3 more to go until Masters. First place is several expeditions with free entry to Masters with fun prizes.
Can't complain, fishes still rule.
R1 LOSS 0-2 VS Mike Sigrist (21): Affinity
What a way to start the day with playing our worst matchup! I won the die roll, but that didn't really matter. He had great draws both games and I had complete crap. Game 1 Vault Skirge w/ Cranial Plating came online extremely early and ended any hopes of racing. Game 2, he had a huge board state and resolved 2 Whipflares that game.
R2 WIN 2-0 VS Tannon Grace (9): Jund
Won the die roll. Had pretty much a perfect curve into Master of Waves to crush him game 1. Game 2, I tried to play patiently to ensure my attack would be lethal and I held up Negate for the 2 Master of Waves I played, which wrecked him. This is the deck I really wanted to be facing most of the day.
R3 WIN 2-1 VS Kellen Pastore (15): Infect
Lost the die roll. I was 1 turn off lethal in game 1. Game 2, I had great tempo and rode it to victory. Game 3, he kept Glistener Elf / Viridian Corrupter / Blighted Agent with 2x Forest, threw the Elf into a Silvergill Adept (thinking he'd play more guys) but never drew another land.
R4 WIN 2-1 VS Gerard Fabiano (15): Naya Evolution
Lost the die roll. He played Birds of Paradise off a Stomping Ground into Knight of the Reliquary. I Spreading Seas'd his shockland, played lords, and that was good enough to win game 1. He did a fantastic job of not showing me what his deck actually was though; I thought it was a generic Naya Midrange deck, which bit me in the ass when in game 2 he went Wall of Omens into Eldritch Evolution for Restoration Angel, Eternal Witness to get EE back, and Evo'd the witness for Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. I was much more prepared to deal with him in game 3 though; my 2 Vapor Snags created just enough tempo to keep him off any combo lines and force through damage.
R5 WIN 2-1 VS Meru Bhanot (9): Bant Collected Company
Lost the die roll. Game 1, I got him down to 8, but ran out of gas. Wasn't 100% on what his list was, just saw generic GW goodstuff (Voice of Resurgence, KotR, Noble Hierarch). Game 2, I had a strong clock and killed him fast, though I did see him play a Spell Queller (I think that was the only blue card I saw in his deck). Game 3 was long and grindy. I had 1 Seas effect on his land, but he had a Ghost Quarter to deal with it if need be, so I had to wait until I could ensure I had lethal on board. Used Harbinger of the Tides to hold off KotR until Tidebinder Mage could be deployed on it. He had KotR, Hierarch, and 2 Voices on board when he dropped Elspeth, Knight-Errant, jumped a voice, and put me to 5. I was only working with 2-3 lands for most of the game, but Vial on 2 helped put lords on board and I used Vapor Snag to push through the last bit of damage.
R6 LOSS 0-2 VS Tyler Marklyn (15): Affinity
Lost the die roll. He got a T1 Steel Overseer; I had a Cavern into Vial and got steamrolled yet again. Game 2, I had a ***** hand that mulled into a barely playable 6 and never saw a Recall. This was a hilariously bad matchup.
R7 WIN 2-1 VS Michael Robinson (12): Suicide Blitz
Lost the die roll. This was an interesting match. He had Nivmagus Elemental and Kiln Fiend out early, but only drew lands + creatures while my lords got in there. Game 2 I had nothing to interact and his Death's Shadow wrecked my face. Game 3, Tidebinder Mage gave me an opening to start chipping away by keeping Kiln Fiend at bay, and I was careful to back it up with 2x Negate + Snag. Ended up getting him to 1 life, then used Vapor Snag on his Death's Shadow for the win.
R8 LOSS 0-2 VS James Foerst (18): Infect
Lost the die roll. Infect came to play this time. He killed me on T3 while I had a slower hand. G2, I mulled and never got a second blue mana to really get in the game. At this point, I dropped as X-3 wouldn't make day 2.
Looking back, I lost twice to Affinity (every game was hilariously bad and cast exactly 0 Recalls). I went 50/50 versus Infect, which is reasonable, and beat everything else. I lost 6/8 die rolls (and 1 that I won was vs Affinity <.<) so luck wasn't terribly on my side in that regard. All things considered, I think I did pretty well. Unsubstantiate was almost always used as a bounce spell, so I think I'll replace it with a Dismember. I think that 1 Sea's Claim can also become another Dismember or a Gut Shot. I didn't play versus a single Jeskai / Grixis deck (and there were plenty going around), and didn't see any Dredge, so the Cage wasn't super relevant, though it's still a necessary evil I think.
you got hosed on that eternal witness play. evolution gets exiled.
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Modern U Merfolk U WUBRGPeopleGRBUW U Turbo Turns U UB Fae BU WBG Aristocrats GBW
Okay guys, I have something of an odd request. I am still in the process of rebuilding fish after being out of the game for a while, and I need to put together a decklist for tomorrow. I've got 56 slots so far, and a few options for what I can use to fill out the last bit, and I need feedback.
You can see the holes. Need more Curscatchers, Masters, Mutavaults, etc. But not much I can do about that in 20 hours. Here's what I have to work with:
Need 4 of these to go into the mainboard, and 15 of them for the sideboard. Open to suggestions. Leaning towards a mix of Pierces and Images for the mainboard. But not too attached to that idea.
(Meta is light on Dredge/GY decks, but pretty generic aside from that)
Okay guys, I have something of an odd request. I am still in the process of rebuilding fish after being out of the game for a while, and I need to put together a decklist for tomorrow. I've got 56 slots so far, and a few options for what I can use to fill out the last bit, and I need feedback.
You can see the holes. Need more Curscatchers, Masters, Mutavaults, etc. But not much I can do about that in 20 hours. Here's what I have to work with:
Need 4 of these to go into the mainboard, and 15 of them for the sideboard. Open to suggestions. Leaning towards a mix of Pierces and Images for the mainboard. But not too attached to that idea.
(Meta is light on Dredge/GY decks, but pretty generic aside from that)
I'm no expert so take this with a grain of salt. You do have a little room to play here, but for a new or returning player I'd advise sticking with a stock approach until you get comfortable enough with the core deck to start tinkering.
+2 Cosi Trickster: Reasonable budget replacement for Cursecatchers and plays well with your Ghost Quarters.
+2 Tidebinder Mage: Pretty much mandatory in the 75 these days and very reasonable to include in the main. Many decks are currently running a 2/2 or 3/2 split with Harbinger/Tidebinder.
SB is a little tougher, but I'd probably go with...
2x Relic
2x Negate (or Unified Will if you prefer)
2x Dispel
After that it gets kinda dicey based on your list. Hurkyl's is considered mandatory by many (or skipped entirely if you hope to dodge affinity) but I don't think 1 is enough to bother with. Fish usually wants consistency.
Do you have access to Gut Shot, Tectonic Edge, Steel Sabatoge, Graffdiggers Cage, Kira Great Glass-Spinner, Pithing Needle, Echoing Truth or Dismember?
Spell Pierce is a card I consider good main-deck as a versatile low-cost counter, but when going to board I usually want a more specific answer or a hard counter. As such I might consider slipping 1-2 in Main and moving 1-2 Vapor Snag to board. That potentially ups your counter package to 5-6 spells, leaves room for GY hate and other useful tools. If you don't have access to any of those cards then just toss in Sea's Claim and load up on as many counters as you can. Maybe 2x Annul just because you have room for it and if you are gonna go counter-heavy then might as well have specific, low-cost answers.
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Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
It's much better than it seems against merfolk and other decks like infect since it acts as repeated removal, can basically defend itself by lowering damage while ticking up loyalty, and gives them card advantage. LoTV can kill bigger things, but it has to die to do so and isn't as much of an issue for merfolk to deal with. Also, because it lets them grind out the game that ult is the real deal. On the up side, racing it isn't too bad for merfolk thanks to all the lords in play, and after sideboard I was able to handle the new Lili by closing down their mana sources (tried out 8 seas, it worked like a charm), and the one time they did get it out I was already ahead and drew into spreading seas with an adept. It was still rough, though. They got out an early goyf and even closing down the mana they were able to get it up to 3/4 along with a lucky grim flayer. Harbinger of the Tides with Merrow Reejerey got me through that one.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
What made you move away from kira? Just too slow in your meta?
You're estimating Flayer, though. It's not a worse Tarmogoyf. It's a mixture of a weaker Tarmogoyf, Tarmogoyf-enabler, and Sensei's Divining Top (getting you the best of your top 3 cards as your draw each turn). The card it more likely replaces is Dark Confidant, providing arguably better card selection (though not advantage) and better offense without the life loss.
Flayer is ridiculously strong. I don't think it affects our matchup versus Jund as much, but it will make Jund better against every control or combo deck in the format.
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
If my opponent casts a non-creature spell am I able to activate Vial, resolve a 2nd Lord and *then* cast Stubborn Denial as a hard-counter? Or is the Vial trigger still on the stack at the time I would need to cast SD? The timing is relevant.
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
4x Cursecatcher
4x Silvergil Adept
3x Harbinger of the Tides
4x Lord of Atlantis
4x Master of the Pearl Trident
4x Phantasmal Image
4x Merrow Reejery
1x Master of Waves
Spels (13)
4x Aether Vial
4x Spreading Seas
3x Stubborn Denial
2x Vapor Snag
4x Mutavault
1x Cavern of Souls
2x Wanderwine Hub
1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
10x Island
3x Tectonic Edge
3x Tidebinder Mage
2x Relic of Progenitus
2x Dispel
2x Steel Sabotage
2x Gut Shot
1x Vapor Snag
Changes from yesterday...
Round 1 vs. U/B Mill (2-0)
Game 1 he managed to resolve Ensnaring Bridge, but he got stuck with 3 cards in hand. I had already found my 1 MoW and swung for lethal with 7x 2/1's and a pair of 3/3's.
Game 2 I swung for lethal - he responded by casting Crypt Incursion which I had a hard counter for with Stubborn Denial.
Round 2 vs. W/G Hatebears (2-1)
Game 1 I died to Sigarda. Not a card I see a lot of in that particular deck and my only answer would have been to clone it.
Game 2 I slow him down with Gut Shot, Spreading Seas and Tidebinder.
Game 3 played much the same as 2 - slow him down with Harbinger/Tidebinder until my board state is big enough to finish him.
Round 3 vs. Elves (1-2)
Game 1 I'm on the draw and can never catch up. Ezuri finishes me off.
Game 2 I drop T1 Vial and overrun him pretty quickly
Game 3 I made a serious mistake in boarding out Spreading Seas. We wound up in a board lock that I couldn't get around. If I swing he chumps enough to stay alive and the crackback kills me. After about 5 turns he finally finds Ezuri and rushes me. In retrospect I probably should have skipped the counter spells - they were really only relevant vs. CoCo. Ah well.
Round vs. Kikki-Chord (2-0)
Game 1 Spreading Seas a pair of lands and he's stuck with Kikki in hand the entire game.
Game 2 Tidebinder does serious work early and then I flood the board with Lords off a cloned Reej.
Notes: Based on my particular strategy of playing Lords early and often Stubborn Denial was AMAZING all night long. T1 and T2 it was an effective Force Spike. It also synergized well with Cursecatcher and while a bit costly the pair saved my Lords on a few occasions. I had Ferocious online fairly consistently by T3 or T4. On one occasion I had 2 Lords in play and in response to Path I tapped Muta to activate it's own ability and effectively turned Stubborn Denial into a Negate. I'll continue to test it the rest of the week, but the early returns have it playing vastly better than either Spell Pierce or Negate in my build.
Taking out MoW was a tough decision, but I had to squeeze Harbinger back in and my strategy revolves around jamming Lords early. With 19 Lands and not wanting to tick Vial up past 2 this seemed the most reasonable cut to make. Keeping 1 in as a Silver Bullet and might try to squeeze a 2nd back into board... but so far the deck is playing *very* consistently without it.
While a tough decision to make I'm leaning back towards 3x Snag and 2x Gutshot over Dismember. Hyper-aggo was just giving me too many problems.
Overall I'm very happy with all my deck choices tonight, but I plan to hit up 2-3 more LGS this week before I finalize my decklist for GP Indy.
I like your SB quite a bit.
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
Annul I'm not a huge fan of to be honest. I don't think it helps enough in other matchups to take it over the better anti-affinity options like Steel Sabotage or Hurkyl's Recall. But that could very well be playstyle and metagame dependent.
I'm half tempted to try it at one of my LGS becuase everyone there runs interesting decks so it could be worth trying.
U Merfolk U
Legacy
U Fish U
"I Want To Believe"
It's good to know that Fabiano is still trying to scumbag people. Eldritch Evolution gets exiled so he wouldn't have Eternal Witnessed for it back.
Basilisk Collar? $5.00
Shooting down a baneslayer angel? Priceless
I was about to ask about this. I assumed there was another factor that wasn't mentioned, but apparently that may not be the case.
That probably means I am done with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy in this standard, while Alchemist is charging until rotation.
GP Lille was supposed to be one of those 6 but constant rise of entry fees turned me off.
Local League was on the program this Sunday.
Started match one against Island, Island, Mutavault. I thought he was just a screwed Merfolk player because he cast no spell, until Dissolve on turn 3. That is not enough.
Game 2 he took a onelander so that was quick 2:0. I looked at his deck later: Wall of Omens, S. Revelation, Verdict, Wrath, Colonnade, the usual WU Control.
Match 2 against Elves. I knew what he played but I still kept a 2 Mutavault, Island, Adept, 2 Seas, Waves hand (aka Jund killer), but he mulled to 5 and killed me with Craterhoof turn 4.
Game two he mulled to 6 and did the same on turn 4. As expected. 0:2. I could have mulled to Gut Shot, Dismember, Tidebinder, Chalice... but decided against it.
Match 3 vs Infect. Locked his Noble with Tidebinder on turn 2 (he kept a onelander) so Harbinger here and there led to a win.
Next game he had no mana problems. I seas his Nexus, he released it with N. Claim, then saved it from the second with hexproof spell, but a third Seas shut that down.
All the while Vial ticked up and gummed up the ground until it was unstoppable. 2:0.
Then mirror. He is a new player in our archetype (he lost a bet to someone which says he has to play monoIslands until end of year :D), so his play was not top notch. 2:0.
Mardu for the end. Nothing but Confidant, manlands and removal. And some more removal. I overextended in game 1 expecting no mass removal before sideboarding, Dismembered his Confidant asap, messed with his mana and won first game. Sideboard, removed some lands (opponent plays Path, lands will come) for Tec Edges, removed Vials for some counters and Gut Shots (Lavamancer or Confidant has to die).
I mulled to five and got Inq. of Kozilek for my troubles. He took Cursecatcher and I was left with Mutavault, Island and 2 Waves, with Mutavault of top.
Turn two he played Dark Confidant which lived until he drew enough.
My spells were Seas, Reej and Waves, last two were killed with K. Command and Path. But he had no solution for second Master. I won somehow. 2:0.
Affinity won the tournament and my 4:1 still leaves me at first place in the League, 3 more to go until Masters. First place is several expeditions with free entry to Masters with fun prizes.
Can't complain, fishes still rule.
you got hosed on that eternal witness play. evolution gets exiled.
U Merfolk U
WUBRGPeopleGRBUW
U Turbo Turns U
UB Fae BU
WBG Aristocrats GBW
3 Ghost Quarter
4 Vapor Snag
4 Spreading Seas
4 Æther Vial
2 Master of Waves
2 Cursecatcher
3 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
1 Phantasmal Image
You can see the holes. Need more Curscatchers, Masters, Mutavaults, etc. But not much I can do about that in 20 hours. Here's what I have to work with:
Need 4 of these to go into the mainboard, and 15 of them for the sideboard. Open to suggestions. Leaning towards a mix of Pierces and Images for the mainboard. But not too attached to that idea.
(Meta is light on Dredge/GY decks, but pretty generic aside from that)
+2 Cosi Trickster: Reasonable budget replacement for Cursecatchers and plays well with your Ghost Quarters.
+2 Tidebinder Mage: Pretty much mandatory in the 75 these days and very reasonable to include in the main. Many decks are currently running a 2/2 or 3/2 split with Harbinger/Tidebinder.
SB is a little tougher, but I'd probably go with...
2x Relic
2x Negate (or Unified Will if you prefer)
2x Dispel
After that it gets kinda dicey based on your list. Hurkyl's is considered mandatory by many (or skipped entirely if you hope to dodge affinity) but I don't think 1 is enough to bother with. Fish usually wants consistency.
Do you have access to Gut Shot, Tectonic Edge, Steel Sabatoge, Graffdiggers Cage, Kira Great Glass-Spinner, Pithing Needle, Echoing Truth or Dismember?
Spell Pierce is a card I consider good main-deck as a versatile low-cost counter, but when going to board I usually want a more specific answer or a hard counter. As such I might consider slipping 1-2 in Main and moving 1-2 Vapor Snag to board. That potentially ups your counter package to 5-6 spells, leaves room for GY hate and other useful tools. If you don't have access to any of those cards then just toss in Sea's Claim and load up on as many counters as you can. Maybe 2x Annul just because you have room for it and if you are gonna go counter-heavy then might as well have specific, low-cost answers.