Unfortunately, they always have the ability to untap in response while the combo is out, so Harbinger isn't very helpful. The only scenario in which it can stop the combo are when the Vizier of Remedies hasn't entered the battlefield and Devoted Druid is both tapped and has a -1/-1 counter on it, which is very corner-case. I side Harbingers out against Company decks.
i think its a bit disrespectful to have Merfolk as "developing competitive" in this forum its a tier 2 deck at worst in the correct meta it can be tier 1 as we saw but not developing competitive
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i think its a bit disrespectful to have Merfolk as "developing competitive" in this forum its a tier 2 deck at worst in the correct meta it can be tier 1 as we saw but not developing competitive
Tier decks status are a matter of popularity, there's no disrespect whatsoever having decks going back and forth amid Tiers. Vizier Company is a good example of a deck that went down from Tier 1 to Dev Comp in a blitz time. One great pilot can win a GP and suddenly a Tier-nothing deck gets popular (Reid Duke crushing with Legacy BUG Leovold), sees results multiply online and leap to Tier 2 in no time. Many Dev Comp decks don't have the popularity but have the potential of being solid Tier 2 decks as Merfolk is from time to time. Let's stay humble and let numbers speak, no big deal.
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Pioneer - A bunch of stuff Modern - Humans Legacy - Grixis Phoenix / Death & Taxes
What are people's thoughts on Master of Waves these days? It seems like between aggro decks where it's too slow, Path, Fatal Push, Combo, colorless removal, and Valikut triggers, we're siding it out more often than not. Obviously, it's still one of the deck's bombs if you can cast it and get it to stick even for a turn, but has there been any thoughts of trimming down to 2-3 copies, or is the thinking still that when it's good it's so good that you want all 4?
Some folks have been trimming 1 to make room for spicy toys like Smuggler's Copter, but I'm still having good results with 4. I run into enough Burn, Dredge, Shadow, and control to make it worthwhile.
After testing Smuggler's Copter extensively online I've found that it really shouldn't be a mainboard replacement for anything. Late game when you're trying to ditch extra lands or Vials it really shines. But early on it doesn't do anything to make merfolk bigger, doesn't disrupt, and when it can attack it removes someone else from combat. Tapping someone you just played to get a 3/3 flyer isn't so bad, but when you don't have any merfolk in hand to cast precombat it means you're down an attacker.
I'm going to try putting 2 in the sideboard somewhere, maybe take out Ceremonious Rejection (still running Steel Sabotage and I'm really not too worried about Eldrazi)
We really need another 2 drop merfolk that does a thing. I know removal is rampant but maybe 2 Coralhelm Commander isn't the worst thing. He's at least good on his own making him good as a topdeck late game and gets the benefits of being a merfolk early game.
I love how little attention Merfolk gets from pro level people but it also makes me sad because I love reading content. I'm grateful for nikachu, Roth and Joe among others who are able to keep a steady stream of content coming out for us. So thank you Merfolk community! Swim on
Reide Duke made a post on channelfireball talking about Modern meta and decks to keep an eye. He didnt mention Merfolk at all, and a few people complained about it. After it, this guys posted the commentary bellow
I'm not surprised Merfolk isn't on Reid's radar - the deck had been slumping until recently. I think we threw a bunch of people off the scent.
@scubahood86: I'm VERY partial to Kira right now, it's been very good against most of the decks I'm running into. It's either been laughing at Conflagrate, blocking Vault Skirges, trolling Fatal Push, or making Walking Ballista and Dismember much less effective. A 2-drop would be nice, but after the big 7 Merfolk we all jam, it's the next best card. And bear in mind, this is coming from someone who was a Kira skeptic until recently.
@scubahood86: I'm VERY partial to Kira right now, it's been very good against most of the decks I'm running into. It's either been laughing at Conflagrate, blocking Vault Skirges, trolling Fatal Push, or making Walking Ballista and Dismember much less effective. A 2-drop would be nice, but after the big 7 Merfolk we all jam, it's the next best card. And bear in mind, this is coming from someone who was a Kira skeptic until recently.
Oh I've been running 2 Kira, great glass-spinner for years and would never consider taking them out so long as Fatal Push is modern legal. Not saying it's bannable at all, just saying I'll never be taking her out of the deck with removal like that around, and they're only ever going to print more removal.
My current list is slightly changed from the open I just played:
I'm not crazy thrilled with Clique and and seriously considering sapping it for Nimble Obstructionist. Flash 3/1 flyer still, but easier on the blue mana and basically a remand for triggers and abilities.
Yeah, the Clique doesn't seem super well positioned at the moment. I'd opt for something like the 4th Harbinger or the 3rd Master of Waves instead. I'm a bit puzzled by some of your choices (W splash with only 8 sources is too greedy, and I have no idea why Coralhelm is currently in your deck), but be sure to report back on how they do.
I've been a bit down on MoW and tried running without for a while. That was a mistake. As vulnerable as it currently is the power it represents and the ability to swing a match are still critical to our success. That said I'm currently down to 3 copies.
As for Copter... still not sold. When its good its good, but too often it just feels clunky in my hand. In skipping that one for now.
Kira is an auto include for me and Clique does not currently have a place in my 75.
Overall I think our 60 is fine; its the SB that feels incredibly tight. My local meta is packed with Tron, Control (mostly Grixis, lots of Blood Moons for some reason) and Red Decks. I typically have Seas, Relics, Dispels and Ceremonious Rejection.
But online I still want Gut Shot, Negates and maybe ET. I've always preferred having 3-4 of something in SB for consistency, but now I'm starting to think more about 1-2 of's to try and answer the plethora of threats we need to worry about. Im just worried about dilution.
Yeah, the Clique doesn't seem super well positioned at the moment. I'd opt for something like the 4th Harbinger or the 3rd Master of Waves instead. I'm a bit puzzled by some of your choices (W splash with only 8 sources is too greedy, and I have no idea why Coralhelm is currently in your deck), but be sure to report back on how they do.
8 sources have been fine for me since I typically don't want to path something before turn 3 or 4, possibly later, and by then personally I've never been left wanting for white. You posted an article of mana sources needed to cast spells when you need, it recommends 12 to cast Path to Exile on turn 3. I've got 8 lands, and counts cantrips as .25 of a land, Silvergill Adept and Spreading Seas bring me to 10 if you take the math's word for it, and I'm willing to gamble a little bit. It's a risk I can live with instead of running fastlands that slow me down on turn 4, or more shocklands that do opponents work for them.
I put the Coralhelm Commander's in instead of more harbingers or masters to try out someone that's individually good. He requires no support from the rest of the tribe, but left alone he can boost everyone up as a flying lord. He also gives something to do with extra mana. Again I think he's worth the small risk he might be pushed, because that still takes focus off a lord.
Adarkar Wastes will normally cost us more than 2 life over a game since we rely on UU so much, also if it's our only W source that's another damage.
Mystic Gate and Glacial Fortress both get worse as you add more in, and if you're running 4 that's bad. They nonbo with themselves and don't play nice with Mutavault. With a playset of either of them you're essentially running 8 colourless/tap lands unless you've got an island in play. That makes for some dodgy opening hands. Think how bad it is when you have 2 Mutavault, Island, and 4 Lord of Atlantis in an opening hand. Now imagine your odds of that type of situation just increased. Granted it's less damaging to just play with a tapland but I want to ensure I have enough mana without playing around wonky tap/untap lands.
Burn is already a fantastic match up for us, since you pretty much just have to beat their opening hand, and Spreading Seas on a Sacred Foundry can sometimes just win you the game right there. No need for lifelink shenanigans, just bounce Goblin Guide after drawing into a land and they normally know it's over. And we don't need to go cute with Aven Mindcensor or corner cards, we're in blue, we've got Negate or Unified Will that hard counter Karn or Scapeshift.
The only reason white works so well for merfolk over the other splashes is Wanderwine Hub which pretty much has no downside in the deck, and lets us run the second best removal in the format: Path to Exile. True we can also go nuts with sideboard cards like Rest in Peace and Stony Silence but that would mean I'd have to be running more white sources because you want those early. As it is, 8-10 is more than acceptable for only having 4 single mana white cards in the deck. Those few games where I don't get W before the end I consider acceptable losses for the consistency of not having to worry about land sequencing or getting stuck with a land coming into play tapped.
It's pretty well-established that the splashes are fringe at best compared to mono-U. I would never recommend that you splash. But some people seem to like them, and hearing "don't play that, it isn't good" doesn't seem to be useful to them, so I focus on making sure the splash is as consistent as possible. With that in mind, 10 W sources for a card that you want to jam on T3 is still too low, and I would consider more fetches and Fountains at the minimum if the tapland downside of Seachrome Coast is a non-starter.
Mono-U is more consistent than any splashed colour. That's an objective fact, but I am still not convinced that means it's better. A search of MTG top 8 shows most of them are not splashing, but there's the few that are, and it all comes down to numbers of players doing it. The resounding chorus says "Don't splash it's not as good" so most players don't. But it's also an objective fact that blue doesn't have the tools to deal with things that other colours do; mainly white: the hoser colour.
It becomes a pretty hairy position to defend that "mono-U is the best build" while following it up with "U lacks certain tools that other colours have access to". GB is far more consistent than GBx, why isn't it always on top?
I played mono-U for years and sure I never had mana problems but still kept losing because I felt I just never had the tools I needed to win. Vapor Snag only helps if you can win next turn, Pongify leaves a 3/3 that I've sometimes had trouble dealing with, Dismember hurts so much and gods help you if you draw 2 of them. Modern is the game of creature beat downs (except for the few decks that don't run any) and being able to permanently deal with them is something U cannot do.
By all means mono-U is a strong deck, but I don't understand why adding more colours is seen as making the deck weaker. Merfolk is the only deck in modern with people clamouring for the purity of a single colour. Even burn sometimes adds a 4th one in. And not one of those decks has the main voices in the community saying "you should stick to mono-R because it's more consistent". Why is there such pushback to adapt and use the tools provided to us?
Burn dies from Seas and Claim all the time, not like there is no downside to adding colors. When you play a bunch of fetches and shocks, plus Eidolon, there is always a chance to be punked out of game since opponent is not sitting there like goldfish.
But, Boros Charm, Helix, Deflecting Palm, Kor Firewalker, Path, Wear/Tear, Destructive Revelry, they all make a lot of sense vs mono red build.
Unlike Path, Stony, RiP in Merfolk. Path is extremely counterproductive in our deck (Cursecatcher, Seas, Pierce and ramping them in general), I wouldn't call it better than Snag or Dismember. Stony does something but then you could still die to Nexuses, Etched, Master of Etherium, Ghirapur Aether Grid, already equipped Plating by the time we cast it/find white mana, natural Tron and Wurmcoil, Bridge... and Vial has to go. Not the ultimate weapon.
RiP isn't strictly better than Relic or Cage.
It is really easy for UW Merfolk to die to Blood Moon (it's embarrassing), be more vulnerable to Burn or have one less turn because we are at 18 vs Valakut.
All this talk about 8 white mana sources being enough is deluding themselves, if your goal is to win in competitive environment. 11 or 12 is the bare minimum but that also bring other costs (life loss, tapped, Moon...). Better in the mirror though.
Mystic Gate (Cavern, Mutavault) and Glacial Fortress (onelander with Vial, Mutavault, Legendary lands, Hub, Cavern) are just bad.
Sejiri, to do anything, requires painful manabase and then dies to "nonkicked" Searing Blaze.
I would rather play Leonin Arbiter than Mindcensor, for several reasons (Vial, mana cost, quickly relevant, easier to do Path or Ghost Quarter combo while the opponent is still "setting shop").
Coralhelm and Psionic Blast are relics of the past, great cards in their time. We can do better now.
I am not against splashing, just don't see the build that makes my deck better.
Mono-U is more consistent than any splashed colour. That's an objective fact, but I am still not convinced that means it's better. A search of MTG top 8 shows most of them are not splashing, but there's the few that are, and it all comes down to numbers of players doing it. The resounding chorus says "Don't splash it's not as good" so most players don't. But it's also an objective fact that blue doesn't have the tools to deal with things that other colours do; mainly white: the hoser colour.
It becomes a pretty hairy position to defend that "mono-U is the best build" while following it up with "U lacks certain tools that other colours have access to". GB is far more consistent than GBx, why isn't it always on top?
I played mono-U for years and sure I never had mana problems but still kept losing because I felt I just never had the tools I needed to win. Vapor Snag only helps if you can win next turn, Pongify leaves a 3/3 that I've sometimes had trouble dealing with, Dismember hurts so much and gods help you if you draw 2 of them. Modern is the game of creature beat downs (except for the few decks that don't run any) and being able to permanently deal with them is something U cannot do.
By all means mono-U is a strong deck, but I don't understand why adding more colours is seen as making the deck weaker. Merfolk is the only deck in modern with people clamouring for the purity of a single colour. Even burn sometimes adds a 4th one in. And not one of those decks has the main voices in the community saying "you should stick to mono-R because it's more consistent". Why is there such pushback to adapt and use the tools provided to us?
The discussion really should have ended at "mono-U is more consistent", since that's one of our major calling cards. But, for the sake of argument, I'll play along.
Who said that mono-U has a limited toolkit? I certainly haven't - if anything, I find it remarkable that U has pretty much everything I could ever ask for without having to splash. Most of our bad matchups result from what their gameplan is relative to ours, not because our toolkit is somehow limited in ways to stop them. The other colors introduce inconsistency while not appreciably improving the toolkit - Rest in Peace isn't appreciably better than Relic of Progenitus (and by way of evidence, I present an article that I wrote highlighting an SCG Invitational-winning Taxes list that opted for Relic over RiP and was handsomely rewarded for it), Collected Company isn't better than Master of Waves in a deck that has a pile of 2-drops that cost UU, Stony Silence isn't appreciably better than Hurkyl's Recall in a deck that prominently features Aether Vial, Blood Moon isn't better than Sea's Claim in a deck that already has Spreading Seas, and Path to Exile isn't appreciably better than Dismember against anything that isn't Burn for a deck that has "tax"-style counterspells and a mana denial plan which Path flies in the face of (and frankly, we don't need it to be - our Burn matchup is great).
Speaking of Burn, the reason why they splash is because they legitimately run out of good spells to play in mono-R - you'll note that in Legacy, where they have access to Chain Lightning, Fireblast, and Price of Progress, the deck is mono-R. The same goes for BG midrange - you run out of quality removal spells to play if you stick to those 2 colors. If you run out of good cards to play, you have to splash another color to fill the gaps. We are under no such compulsion (if anything, it's the opposite - Sea's Claim and Tidebinder Mage are cards that have done well for me in the past that I simply don't have room for anymore), and thus should treasure the consistency that the mono-U manabase provides us. There's a reason that virtually every player that goes beyond the level of "FNM end boss" opts for mono-U, and it's that mono-U is the better deck. Before the writing of this primer, I ran around testing the W splash for a good half-year or so, thinking that "deeper toolbox = more power". That turned out not to be the case. Nikachu did a video series covering each splash (playlists 74-77), and they were all found to be weaker than the classic version. I'm all for experimentation, but I'd rather see the sort of thing that led to cards like Ceremonious Rejection (also highlighted in my article) and Vendilion Clique becoming part of our toolbox than barking up the splash tree that many of us have tried and found wanting, and unless dramatic changes occur in the card pool, will continue to be found wanting.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
UBRWGHumansUBRWG
UMerfolkU
Eldrazi Tron
Legacy
WDeath & TaxesW
Pauper
RGoblinsR
EDH
UGMerfolk ComboGU
Standard
UWApproachWU
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Tier decks status are a matter of popularity, there's no disrespect whatsoever having decks going back and forth amid Tiers.
Vizier Company is a good example of a deck that went down from Tier 1 to Dev Comp in a blitz time. One great pilot can win a GP and suddenly a Tier-nothing deck gets popular (Reid Duke crushing with Legacy BUG Leovold), sees results multiply online and leap to Tier 2 in no time. Many Dev Comp decks don't have the popularity but have the potential of being solid Tier 2 decks as Merfolk is from time to time. Let's stay humble and let numbers speak, no big deal.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
I'm going to try putting 2 in the sideboard somewhere, maybe take out Ceremonious Rejection (still running Steel Sabotage and I'm really not too worried about Eldrazi)
We really need another 2 drop merfolk that does a thing. I know removal is rampant but maybe 2 Coralhelm Commander isn't the worst thing. He's at least good on his own making him good as a topdeck late game and gets the benefits of being a merfolk early game.
Whats your opinion about it ?
@scubahood86: I'm VERY partial to Kira right now, it's been very good against most of the decks I'm running into. It's either been laughing at Conflagrate, blocking Vault Skirges, trolling Fatal Push, or making Walking Ballista and Dismember much less effective. A 2-drop would be nice, but after the big 7 Merfolk we all jam, it's the next best card. And bear in mind, this is coming from someone who was a Kira skeptic until recently.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Oh I've been running 2 Kira, great glass-spinner for years and would never consider taking them out so long as Fatal Push is modern legal. Not saying it's bannable at all, just saying I'll never be taking her out of the deck with removal like that around, and they're only ever going to print more removal.
My current list is slightly changed from the open I just played:
// 4 Artifact
4 Aether Vial
// 29 Creature
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Cursecatcher
3 Merrow Reejerey
3 Harbinger of the Tides
2 Master of Waves
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
2 Coralhelm Commander
4 Spreading Seas
// 4 Instant
4 Path to Exile
// 19 Land
8 Island
3 Mutavault
3 Wanderwine Hub
4 Flooded Strand
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Smuggler's Copter
2 Steel Sabotage
2 Psionic Blast
2 Echoing Truth
2 Negate
2 Ghost Quarter
I'm not crazy thrilled with Clique and and seriously considering sapping it for Nimble Obstructionist. Flash 3/1 flyer still, but easier on the blue mana and basically a remand for triggers and abilities.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
As for Copter... still not sold. When its good its good, but too often it just feels clunky in my hand. In skipping that one for now.
Kira is an auto include for me and Clique does not currently have a place in my 75.
Overall I think our 60 is fine; its the SB that feels incredibly tight. My local meta is packed with Tron, Control (mostly Grixis, lots of Blood Moons for some reason) and Red Decks. I typically have Seas, Relics, Dispels and Ceremonious Rejection.
But online I still want Gut Shot, Negates and maybe ET. I've always preferred having 3-4 of something in SB for consistency, but now I'm starting to think more about 1-2 of's to try and answer the plethora of threats we need to worry about. Im just worried about dilution.
8 sources have been fine for me since I typically don't want to path something before turn 3 or 4, possibly later, and by then personally I've never been left wanting for white. You posted an article of mana sources needed to cast spells when you need, it recommends 12 to cast Path to Exile on turn 3. I've got 8 lands, and counts cantrips as .25 of a land, Silvergill Adept and Spreading Seas bring me to 10 if you take the math's word for it, and I'm willing to gamble a little bit. It's a risk I can live with instead of running fastlands that slow me down on turn 4, or more shocklands that do opponents work for them.
I put the Coralhelm Commander's in instead of more harbingers or masters to try out someone that's individually good. He requires no support from the rest of the tribe, but left alone he can boost everyone up as a flying lord. He also gives something to do with extra mana. Again I think he's worth the small risk he might be pushed, because that still takes focus off a lord.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Mystic Gate and Glacial Fortress both get worse as you add more in, and if you're running 4 that's bad. They nonbo with themselves and don't play nice with Mutavault. With a playset of either of them you're essentially running 8 colourless/tap lands unless you've got an island in play. That makes for some dodgy opening hands. Think how bad it is when you have 2 Mutavault, Island, and 4 Lord of Atlantis in an opening hand. Now imagine your odds of that type of situation just increased. Granted it's less damaging to just play with a tapland but I want to ensure I have enough mana without playing around wonky tap/untap lands.
Burn is already a fantastic match up for us, since you pretty much just have to beat their opening hand, and Spreading Seas on a Sacred Foundry can sometimes just win you the game right there. No need for lifelink shenanigans, just bounce Goblin Guide after drawing into a land and they normally know it's over. And we don't need to go cute with Aven Mindcensor or corner cards, we're in blue, we've got Negate or Unified Will that hard counter Karn or Scapeshift.
The only reason white works so well for merfolk over the other splashes is Wanderwine Hub which pretty much has no downside in the deck, and lets us run the second best removal in the format: Path to Exile. True we can also go nuts with sideboard cards like Rest in Peace and Stony Silence but that would mean I'd have to be running more white sources because you want those early. As it is, 8-10 is more than acceptable for only having 4 single mana white cards in the deck. Those few games where I don't get W before the end I consider acceptable losses for the consistency of not having to worry about land sequencing or getting stuck with a land coming into play tapped.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
It becomes a pretty hairy position to defend that "mono-U is the best build" while following it up with "U lacks certain tools that other colours have access to". GB is far more consistent than GBx, why isn't it always on top?
I played mono-U for years and sure I never had mana problems but still kept losing because I felt I just never had the tools I needed to win. Vapor Snag only helps if you can win next turn, Pongify leaves a 3/3 that I've sometimes had trouble dealing with, Dismember hurts so much and gods help you if you draw 2 of them. Modern is the game of creature beat downs (except for the few decks that don't run any) and being able to permanently deal with them is something U cannot do.
By all means mono-U is a strong deck, but I don't understand why adding more colours is seen as making the deck weaker. Merfolk is the only deck in modern with people clamouring for the purity of a single colour. Even burn sometimes adds a 4th one in. And not one of those decks has the main voices in the community saying "you should stick to mono-R because it's more consistent". Why is there such pushback to adapt and use the tools provided to us?
But, Boros Charm, Helix, Deflecting Palm, Kor Firewalker, Path, Wear/Tear, Destructive Revelry, they all make a lot of sense vs mono red build.
Unlike Path, Stony, RiP in Merfolk. Path is extremely counterproductive in our deck (Cursecatcher, Seas, Pierce and ramping them in general), I wouldn't call it better than Snag or Dismember. Stony does something but then you could still die to Nexuses, Etched, Master of Etherium, Ghirapur Aether Grid, already equipped Plating by the time we cast it/find white mana, natural Tron and Wurmcoil, Bridge... and Vial has to go. Not the ultimate weapon.
RiP isn't strictly better than Relic or Cage.
It is really easy for UW Merfolk to die to Blood Moon (it's embarrassing), be more vulnerable to Burn or have one less turn because we are at 18 vs Valakut.
All this talk about 8 white mana sources being enough is deluding themselves, if your goal is to win in competitive environment. 11 or 12 is the bare minimum but that also bring other costs (life loss, tapped, Moon...). Better in the mirror though.
Mystic Gate (Cavern, Mutavault) and Glacial Fortress (onelander with Vial, Mutavault, Legendary lands, Hub, Cavern) are just bad.
Sejiri, to do anything, requires painful manabase and then dies to "nonkicked" Searing Blaze.
I would rather play Leonin Arbiter than Mindcensor, for several reasons (Vial, mana cost, quickly relevant, easier to do Path or Ghost Quarter combo while the opponent is still "setting shop").
Coralhelm and Psionic Blast are relics of the past, great cards in their time. We can do better now.
I am not against splashing, just don't see the build that makes my deck better.
The discussion really should have ended at "mono-U is more consistent", since that's one of our major calling cards. But, for the sake of argument, I'll play along.
Who said that mono-U has a limited toolkit? I certainly haven't - if anything, I find it remarkable that U has pretty much everything I could ever ask for without having to splash. Most of our bad matchups result from what their gameplan is relative to ours, not because our toolkit is somehow limited in ways to stop them. The other colors introduce inconsistency while not appreciably improving the toolkit - Rest in Peace isn't appreciably better than Relic of Progenitus (and by way of evidence, I present an article that I wrote highlighting an SCG Invitational-winning Taxes list that opted for Relic over RiP and was handsomely rewarded for it), Collected Company isn't better than Master of Waves in a deck that has a pile of 2-drops that cost UU, Stony Silence isn't appreciably better than Hurkyl's Recall in a deck that prominently features Aether Vial, Blood Moon isn't better than Sea's Claim in a deck that already has Spreading Seas, and Path to Exile isn't appreciably better than Dismember against anything that isn't Burn for a deck that has "tax"-style counterspells and a mana denial plan which Path flies in the face of (and frankly, we don't need it to be - our Burn matchup is great).
Speaking of Burn, the reason why they splash is because they legitimately run out of good spells to play in mono-R - you'll note that in Legacy, where they have access to Chain Lightning, Fireblast, and Price of Progress, the deck is mono-R. The same goes for BG midrange - you run out of quality removal spells to play if you stick to those 2 colors. If you run out of good cards to play, you have to splash another color to fill the gaps. We are under no such compulsion (if anything, it's the opposite - Sea's Claim and Tidebinder Mage are cards that have done well for me in the past that I simply don't have room for anymore), and thus should treasure the consistency that the mono-U manabase provides us. There's a reason that virtually every player that goes beyond the level of "FNM end boss" opts for mono-U, and it's that mono-U is the better deck. Before the writing of this primer, I ran around testing the W splash for a good half-year or so, thinking that "deeper toolbox = more power". That turned out not to be the case. Nikachu did a video series covering each splash (playlists 74-77), and they were all found to be weaker than the classic version. I'm all for experimentation, but I'd rather see the sort of thing that led to cards like Ceremonious Rejection (also highlighted in my article) and Vendilion Clique becoming part of our toolbox than barking up the splash tree that many of us have tried and found wanting, and unless dramatic changes occur in the card pool, will continue to be found wanting.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers: