Thanks for posting these! Do you play competitive or friendly leagues?
Mostly competitive, sometimes friendly.
Can I pick your brain for a second Nikachu?
On game 3 of this match you had cursecatcher and mutavault out early with double lord in hand and stopped swinging. Was there any reason you didnt bait the first verdict by playing a lord to get in a quick 5 damage then follow up with the second lord for the win? I just didnt see why you werent taking advantage of island walk since the colonades couldnt block
The video is huge, could you give me a time stamp?
I don't think the reasons he had were valid, honestly. He got so focused on playing around things and trying to cost his opponent tempo that he missed the forest for the trees. His last video was just bad variance, though. Tough breaks.
I fundamentally disagree with with the plan of trying to play long versus control. Time is a factor when you attack for *maybe* 1 a turn, and control is literally built to win the long game. Merfolk needs to be fairly aggressive because once the control player has a bunch of lands in play with cards in hand, you've pretty much lost. You want ~2 creatures in play at any given time. Your goal should be to get in at least 3-4 damage a turn.
the way you lose against control is by getting 3-for-1d
we side into a decent imitation of a control deck and play patiently until they have no life left.
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Modern U Merfolk U WUBRGPeopleGRBUW U Turbo Turns U UB Fae BU WBG Aristocrats GBW
I agree that we shouldn't look to play the long game against control, but that doesn't mean you jam every threat you have onto the board (unless you're absolutely positive they have no sweepers). You want 3-4 threats on the table at all times for the purposes of imposing a clock.
@Nikachu
In your match against Esper control, you had no kira in MD or just didn't draw it?
I'm not running Kira in this build. She's not particularly spectacular againstba frack with so many supreme verdicts and I'm not running Tectonics Edge.
Nikachu just wanna say I love your videos, you and your bro seem like really cool dudes, I've a brother myself and we watch streams of all games (street fighter, magic, halo, zelda etc) and it's awesome to have a brother to joke with. I don't play Merfolk, I play control decks usually, but your vids are just as entertaining as other MTG pros like Frank Lepore, Hoogland and Shaun Mclarens panflutes stream. I even watch your vids on the *****ter first thing in the morning lmao. #AetherVial always on 4 boys YOLO haha
Thanks for posting these! Do you play competitive or friendly leagues?
Mostly competitive, sometimes friendly.
Can I pick your brain for a second Nikachu?
On game 3 of this match you had cursecatcher and mutavault out early with double lord in hand and stopped swinging. Was there any reason you didnt bait the first verdict by playing a lord to get in a quick 5 damage then follow up with the second lord for the win? I just didnt see why you werent taking advantage of island walk since the colonades couldnt block
The video is huge, could you give me a time stamp?
21:51 is where it starts, however you had double harbinger and a loa, not loa/motpt
You have spreading seas'd his swamp, , your next turn you could go island, lord, activate muta and swing for 5 putting him at 13 on a 3ish turn clock forcing the verdict. You would have had double harbinger and mutavault to swing back with after the verdict putting him at 7 with a snag and two unified wills to counter his paths. I think the aggressive play would have won this
Im not saying you made the wrong play by any means, i just want to know your reasoning for playing the long game
Off camera I might try to calculate these finer lines, by default I run off of instinct which is just play carefully around 2 for 1s. It's possible there was a window open and this line could work. He could path the mutavault and verdict my 2 creatures away. Of course we don't know what he has.
Just some thoughts on the control deck, a lot of people say I'm playing really passively but control decks eat up decks like ours for breakfast if we play right into their sweepers/Snapcaster Mages. We hear all the time in this forum "I cant beat control, blah blah" and I think that video demonstrated an alternative approach to the match up. There are definitely moments where I want to play a lord and apply more pressure but I wasn't feeling it vs this control deck.
At 23:15 I got my opponent to exchange a Snapcaster Mage (for no value) with my lonely cursecather. What a WIN that is going long.
Some things I wish a I did differently: spreading seas the Collonade in gane 3. I also Dispelled a Esper Charm which I probably should have saved for a Sphinx's Revelation or that instant that made creatures. I don't know if there was an opportunity, but I should keep as many lands in my hand so play around Esper Charm so long as I'm not discarding to hand size. I didn't really think of this at the time.
And of course activating mutavault before MTGO passed priority for me with Unified Will That was backbreaking blunder.
Just some thoughts on the control deck, a lot of people say I'm playing really passively but control decks eat up decks like ours for breakfast if we play right into their sweepers/Snapcaster Mages. We hear all the time in this forum "I cant beat control, blah blah" and I think that video demonstrated an alternative approach to the match up. There are definitely moments where I want to play a lord and apply more pressure but I wasn't feeling it vs this control deck.
This is a strawman argument. Most of us do quite well against control, and we've explained what the formula is over and over again to the ones that don't. You played it too passively, and struggled as a result. If anything, your video was a good way to demonstrate that you have to strike a balance between vomiting your hand onto the battlefield and hanging back in fear of blowouts.
What's the rational behind the recent trend of dropping Wanderwine Hub and the legend U lands for more islands? Is Blue Moon or sideboard BM on the rise?
What's the rational behind the recent trend of dropping Wanderwine Hub and the legend U lands for more islands? Is Blue Moon or sideboard BM on the rise?
Since Blue based decks have dropped off in general, there isn't as much Choke or Boil running around. That was the main reason for the non-islands.
Yes, but they're also free points in the mirror. I run as many nonbasic U sources as the deck can reasonably carry. That still leaves me with 8 basics to laugh at Blood Moon and other nonbasic land hate cards.
Yes, but they're also free points in the mirror. I run as many nonbasic U sources as the deck can reasonably carry. That still leaves me with 8 basics to laugh at Blood Moon and other nonbasic land hate cards.
Agreed on the free points for the mirror. Lord, that match up blows.
My LGS meta has 4 other U Merfolk players out of ~20. It's tied for the most played deck with GR Valakut.
I feel like the best reason to go UW is actually to get the extra non-Island Blue sources for Merfolk heavy metas. I love U Merfolk and I don't want to start playing another deck, so I'm going to try it out on nights with high Merfolk prevalence.
If any other folks have any experience with adjusting to metas with high Merfolk prevalence, please let me know how you worked it out!
I wouldn't say my LGS metagame has a super high Merfolk prevalence, but it's definitely one of the more played decks. There are somewhere between 3-5 Merfolk players at the weekly tournaments, out of ~35 people. Hence my pile of nonbasics.
I wouldn't say my LGS metagame has a super high Merfolk prevalence, but it's definitely one of the more played decks. There are somewhere between 3-5 Merfolk players at the weekly tournaments, out of ~35 people. Hence my pile of nonbasics.
After testing the gauntlet of decks I have decided to play merfolk at GP Dallas. I was really leaning towards playing Jund/Abzan, but I figured it is time for a nice swim again
The only decision left is which vials to play...
ATTACHMENTS
vials
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Level 1 Judge
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
I also tested the Ghost Quarter in the main VERY extensively during Eldrazi Winter. I was profoundly dissatisfied with the lack of U sources I faced at times. If I ever go back to it, it will be at the expense of a Cavern of Souls.
As for the choice of Vials... I'd go for the Masterpiece art. The Darksteel art is fine, but the Masterpiece art is better IMO.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
taking out harbingers vs jund seems quite questionable to me... they are great in this matchup
U Merfolk U
WUBRGPeopleGRBUW
U Turbo Turns U
UB Fae BU
WBG Aristocrats GBW
the way you lose against control is by getting 3-for-1d
we side into a decent imitation of a control deck and play patiently until they have no life left.
U Merfolk U
WUBRGPeopleGRBUW
U Turbo Turns U
UB Fae BU
WBG Aristocrats GBW
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
In your match against Esper control, you had no kira in MD or just didn't draw it?
Just some thoughts on the control deck, a lot of people say I'm playing really passively but control decks eat up decks like ours for breakfast if we play right into their sweepers/Snapcaster Mages. We hear all the time in this forum "I cant beat control, blah blah" and I think that video demonstrated an alternative approach to the match up. There are definitely moments where I want to play a lord and apply more pressure but I wasn't feeling it vs this control deck.
At 23:15 I got my opponent to exchange a Snapcaster Mage (for no value) with my lonely cursecather. What a WIN that is going long.
Some things I wish a I did differently: spreading seas the Collonade in gane 3. I also Dispelled a Esper Charm which I probably should have saved for a Sphinx's Revelation or that instant that made creatures. I don't know if there was an opportunity, but I should keep as many lands in my hand so play around Esper Charm so long as I'm not discarding to hand size. I didn't really think of this at the time.
And of course activating mutavault before MTGO passed priority for me with Unified Will That was backbreaking blunder.
This is a strawman argument. Most of us do quite well against control, and we've explained what the formula is over and over again to the ones that don't. You played it too passively, and struggled as a result. If anything, your video was a good way to demonstrate that you have to strike a balance between vomiting your hand onto the battlefield and hanging back in fear of blowouts.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
U Merfolk
UB Tezzerator
UB Mill
Since Blue based decks have dropped off in general, there isn't as much Choke or Boil running around. That was the main reason for the non-islands.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Agreed on the free points for the mirror. Lord, that match up blows.
My LGS meta has 4 other U Merfolk players out of ~20. It's tied for the most played deck with GR Valakut.
I feel like the best reason to go UW is actually to get the extra non-Island Blue sources for Merfolk heavy metas. I love U Merfolk and I don't want to start playing another deck, so I'm going to try it out on nights with high Merfolk prevalence.
If any other folks have any experience with adjusting to metas with high Merfolk prevalence, please let me know how you worked it out!
CETronC
WUBGRHumansWUBGR
UMerfolkU
GU
InfectGURBGx
DredgeRBGxLegacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPzcXT2lOK8
Sure. Here it is:
2 Cavern of Souls
8 Island
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
4 Mutavault
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
4 Wanderwine Hub
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
The only decision left is which vials to play...
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
I also tested the Ghost Quarter in the main VERY extensively during Eldrazi Winter. I was profoundly dissatisfied with the lack of U sources I faced at times. If I ever go back to it, it will be at the expense of a Cavern of Souls.
As for the choice of Vials... I'd go for the Masterpiece art. The Darksteel art is fine, but the Masterpiece art is better IMO.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers: