MTG Salvation

Quote from sibin »

UG merfolk still very soft against Elves lol played against it last night, and their explosive hands are just umbeatable

it's very hard to beat.
i got blown out by a surprise EOT chord for 4 to get chameleon colossus
untap swing for 20 with islandwalk (thanks to my LoA)...

Funny thing is that we can also play C. Colossus and Islandwalk Elves (with Seas and Lord of course) in one shot.

I confess, I had forgotten about Chameleon Colossus. It's as good versus Black decks as Master of Waves was versus Red decks. Not easy to cast, though.

2GG sounds like a pain to cast in Tropical Fish, but it would be pretty great if you got it on the battlefield. I'm not entirely opposed to the card, but I can't imagine it'll be a consistent performer.

I suppose the question is whether or not it's better than Mutavault.

After abysmal 3:3 and 3:2 results, plus some number of testing games vs ETron, I decided to ditch Cursecatchers and Pierces, return to "slow" only 8 1-drops version, and play it today in a random Modern tournament. We were picking from FTV: Transform as prizes.



I am aware how stupid the numbers look like but I am in the process of testing for GP Madrid (team Unified).
Relic will need to go to another deck (unified rules) and I was thinking, since I am using the "painful" version instead of Cavern-Territory one, and Ooze works with Vial, can attack and block, maybe I can get away with it. I have no intention of substituting Relic for inferior Cage, Totem or worse. It is nice targeting specific cards in graveyard like Snap target, Conflagrate or Gift Ungiven cards without having to cash in Relic. At least no one expects THAT to enter from Vial at 2.
Also nice against Burn and as mana sink.

Anyway, 4 rounds today.

R1 vs our Nationals winner, Temur goodstuff.
Can't remember all the details, but he had no removal for the last Lord (several died) in game 1 (while Pyromancer and Goblin Rabblemaster died from 2 Dismembers) and in game 2 Vial got to 4 counters and something entered on his EOT
2:0

R2 vs Taking Turns
He entered into combo (took several turns in a row) but he was lacking draw (Howling Mine and Dictate of Kruphix), so he couldn't draw enough "turns".
Game 2 he played Thing in the Ice turn 2 and I died to it (my removal was in the sideboard obv).
Game 3 he played Howling Mine turn 2, I drew 2 cards and Natural Stated it, just as Thassa wanted. Dictate stuck but he didn't found enough gas.
2:1

R3 vs ETron
He pressured me to 2 life with Matter Reshaper (refuse to trade with that guy), Basilisk Collar and Reality Smasher, but I was racing him back, including Reej and Kira (she saved the crew from Ulamog trigger). Vial put Master of Waves out, Reej trigger tapped his Ulamog on my turn and I barely squeeked in for enough (Lords were taken with 2 TNS). Game 2 he had Collar into Walking Ballista and stayed at 3 lands. I swarmed the board, even Rejectioned his Mind Stone, Seased all 3 lands and we laughed and laughed (or I did...).
2:0

R4 vs ETron
He mulled to 5 while I had Vial into Lord into Muta + Kopala + Lord with Vial into Muta + Lord...
Then I mulled to 5 keeping Mutavault, Dismember, Seas, State, Adept. Scry on the bottom.
He started with Map into crack it into Reshaper into TNS. I was still on the lone Mutavault so I Dismembered TNS with ability on the stack. It drew me a much needed Botanical.
Seas stopped his Temple and he was stuck on 3 mana now. I drew Vial, unloaded stuff and killed him (his hand was Endbringers, Wurmcoils and who knows what).
2:0

Give a man a fish deck and he goes home with foil flip Jace and foil Werewolf Walker

I'm in the process of getting the foils for UG Merfolk and was wondering what are the cases for and against playing Cursecatcher in the new UG Merfolk lists??

Against: He's your weakest clock, is not relevant some matches, and you want space for something else.

For: He's a one-drop that helps you curve out smoothely, he provides permission and tempo-gain on a synergistic body where we otherwise lack interaction, and his absence from the battlefield with a vial on one can even still net tempo.

IMO, 3 has felt best and anything less is a meta call. But *shrug*

@jonathanveedot I think you sumarized very well what Cursecatcher is. There's no replacement for him on the U shell. On UG, I guess it's still a must, but the quantity depends on the meta, totally.

I've had the modern merfolk shell built for a year or so now but I never decided to go and actually play in a modern tournament because it seemed intimidating, from a standard player's standpoint. While I have been plying a ton of commander with my friends lately, I do miss the lgs scene but as of now standard seems pretty boring atm. My lgs has a modern event in two days so i decided that I will give it a shot. I'm thinking that I want to try the U/G version because even thought I believe cursecather is good, I just have a preference towards agressive cards. So having a 2 power one drop that will essentially be 3 power when it attacks thanks to a lord is more appealing to me.

As you can see I do not have a sideboard but I do have pieces to assemble one. I'm not going to ask anybody to build one for me but if anyone can give recommendations on what to put in going into a completely unknown meta, I can work from there. Aslo...

In terms of a manabase I'm having trouble determining which is better given my lack of experience in the format. My gut s telling me the one I'm using is better given the off chance of my store having a control meta. If someone with more experience can tell me why one might be better/more efficient than the other it would be greatly appreciated.

Also wondering if instead of 2 Kopalas, would a 1/1 split between him and Kira be better.

I think the second mana base with one more fetch is better given the number of three drops you're running. Also, the other mana base you posted would have trouble playing sideboard interaction. I think Nikachu might have provided a good description of the mana base in one of his deck techs. Look him up on YouTube.

Def Google a few articles on modern mana bases, it will make your transition easier

Also, if you end up running 19 lands, that frees up a spot for a single Kira.

Good luck! This deck has a low floor and high ceiling when it comes to piloting skill, so don't be discouraged the first time around. Modern is about knowing the format and mastering decks and archetypes. The experience will get you where you want to be with the deck.

Quote from jonathanveedot »

I think the second mana base with one more fetch is better given the number of three drops you're running. Also, the other mana base you posted would have trouble playing sideboard interaction. I think Nikachu might have provided a good description of the mana base in one of his deck techs. Look him up on YouTube.

Def Google a few articles on modern mana bases, it will make your transition easier

Also, if you end up running 19 lands, that frees up a spot for a single Kira.

Good luck! This deck has a low floor and high ceiling when it comes to piloting skill, so don't be discouraged the first time around. Modern is about knowing the format and mastering decks and archetypes. The experience will get you where you want to be with the deck.

Thanks for the advice and while im not sure if it's the best thing to do, I did some testing with the removal of one land and one Harbinger for 2 Cursecatchers, I can't recall who it was who said it here but I did like the idea of just a few more one drops for a more consistent vial. I also want to get in a cursecatcher once in a while so i can get practice with determining when and when not to use it, in case the u/g version is not for me and I go to mono U.

Definitely gonna give the fetchland manabase a shot. If I see that my lgs has a bunch of control I suppose the wise thing to do will be to change it back afterwards.


Edit: I will look up some more articles, I saw one on channel fireball yesterday that seemed decent. I have subscribed to Nikachu but never took an in-depth look at him. I'm sure my question can be answered with a bit of research but I'll ask anyway to see what other players have to say.

Why is there a split in the manabases, where some recommend a bunch of caverns and others a bunch of fetches. I'm thinking a mana base with 3 caverns and 2-3 fetches seems like a good compromise. You still have a good shot of getting ur green splash for sb cards and u have a higher chance of playing around control with cavern.

Personally, I recommend a fetch-based manabase for Tropical Fish. Having access to your colors for both creature and noncreature spells is critical, and the decks that are skipping out on fetches have lower odds of that. Here's the seminal article that I use when designing my manabase. I highly recommend it to anyone who has questions on how many mana sources they need, and also as a general reference.

Agreed, fetch base is better for playing spells. They enable green nonmerfolk spells and even Dispel or Rejection could be stuck if we load up on Mutavault, Cavern, Territory. And I am on the Scavenging Ooze in the side plan, so there is no choice for me.

For the Kiras and Kopalas of the world, I think people found most success with 1 Kira and 1 Kopala in the main, probably good enough.

I've been really happy with this mana base.

I wonder, in broad strokes, when we exchanged some blue cards for some green cards we didn't add more colored pips on the mana cost of our spells.
Why is it more ok to shave Mutavaults in UG while set is sacred cow in monoU?
For me, nothing changed regarding pressure on colored sources vs colorless mana.

In my opinion MV was a psuedo one-drop, and it is an easy cut when going down to 19 lands and an easy include when running 20. For me it's an issue of numbers, not color demand.

@FANAttIC: Mana tech in modern is primordially focused on enable useful mana for you to play stuff (unless you are playing Seismic Swans, that's another story). Basically Mutavault is in for its versatility, considering it doesn't hurt your mana base when you play it in monocolored decks. Monoblack 8-rack, Elves, U Merfolks tend to use it because you would rather be running 4 more Basic Lands, and instead you have a manland that can get you out of a trouble instead of giving you one.

Consider this example: You have a 2 lander hand on U Merfolk, with an Island and a Mutavault. Most likely I would keep that hand, with or without Vial and double blue creatures (unless you have like 3 Aether Vials and 0 action, it could happen). Odds of hitting a second blue source are high. Now you have those two lands in Tropical Fish, with some green colored creatures. Your chances of keeping those hands depends on what your other choices are, regardless of the lands. You could draw another Island, another Mutavault or even a late Aether Vial. This is when your mana teching sets its priority on first letting you play stuff, and then the rest.

My example is pretty narrow and vague, but I think you get the point of the trade-off. I'd never sacrifice consistency for versatility. Increasing your mana demands stretchs the versatility of the lands you can use. This is where you start cutting Mutavaults to fit color enablers. Even though we are somehow an aggro deck and we need beats, we need mana first.

Went 1-2 last night with this list.

With Images and Watertrap I was going for a more aggressive approach, with copying lords and tapping down blockers/potential attackers.

Game 1 vs U/R control

I will not forget the opening hand, it had vial, Kumena, 2 Botanical Sanctums, master of the pearl trident, Mutavault, Silvergill and Image. So glad to have a good hand in my first round of a modern tournament. Game one he was stuck at two lands for a while and I just swung and got through pretty well. Second Game he got some more lands but did not seem to have enough answers to deal with all the creatures. If I recall correctly I boarded out the harbingers and watertrap for 3 dispels and Disdainful Stroke. (i only realized that i should have boarded out spreading seas afterwards)

Game 2 vs Titan Shift 0-2

I am going to assume this is a bad or a hard matchup usually because not only did i feel hopeless, but I was having flashbacks to zendikar standard... I did not have a one drop on the first turn but i had a vial 2 lands and a Branchwalker so I thought it would do. before i knew it i could not get enough damage in and i was hit with a billion mountain damage. I felt it was appropriate to board out the harbingers and images. put in 3 disdainful strokes and 3 dispels. Game two primetime came out and killed my dudes with valakut triggers and eventually got me.

Game 3 vs Jund 1-2

Because there was more stuff going on in this matchup than any of the others I cant remember many specific details. Game 1 was close but I got killed by a gigantic ooze. Game 2 i put in 3 relics of progenitus and 1 dispel. This game i had more stuff than he was removal and i islandwalked to victory. a dispel saved me from removal, so I made the terrible mistake of overestimating the card and shoving the other two in, forgetting what i boarded out. I believe it was cursecatcher. Game 3 ended up in a stall for a while but then he got out 2 Bobs and was getting all the luck with lands off the bobs and spells from the draws. I was able to keep Goyf under control with relic of progenitus but eventally i got mauled by Huntmaster of the Fells a token and a Kitchen Finks... after being stuck with two dispels in hand... (lesson learned)

Despite the loss I had a good and fun time. i've noted mistakes I have made and will try to avoid them in the future. A few things to note.

Cursecatcher felt like it never pulled it's weight. against Scapeshift they can just wait to cast it for one more mana, and against jund, ther best removal in bolts and pushes are one mana anyway. I understand that there are probably some matchups where he shines but certainly not the ones from yesterday. Right now I only see it as being good if I have 4 mana and I want to play a Merrow and something a cursecatcher to tap something down. Of course it was a singleton so I did not get to try it out but I would like to keep in Watertrap to see if it will work as intended if drawn. If I were to replace 2 Cursecatchers for something else what should it be? Here are a few thoughts.

2 Spellskite: Prof. from TCC raves about this guy a lot. My only experience with the card was from Standard back in the day and I know how good it is, just not sure if it is where Merfolk wants to be. still I see potential as it provides more things to play with a 2 counter vial and can be played off of a manabase of mutavault and cavern.

2 Smuggler's Copter: I feel like it would be nice when u cant depend on Islandwalk but also at the same time, i feel it might be less effective with two less one drops to turn it on. Still the power to filter through the deck faster is pretty good.

1/1 Kopala/Kira or Kopala or Kira/Watertrap Weaver: Not sure if adding in 2 more three drops is a good idea with 19 lands. I feel like each of these cards would have helped me in some manner. Trap for tapping down attacking the Jund creatures and Kira/Kopala for making them pay more for removal or double up.

2 Dismember: I opted not to use these because of the fetches and shocks taking a toll on my life and, and used a fourth harbinger/Watertrap as a way to deal with creatures instead. to be honest I have no idea if this was the right call or not, because in the games where i did not draw the watertrap that meant I knew for sure i would not have drawn a dismember and against jund i feel like If I would have drawn it after the ooze got too big it would have been useless anyway, while the other two might have been more helpful.

All in all it was a learning experience and I had fun, looking forward to my next opportunity to play. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here

As a UG Merfolk player, what deck do you hate running into, Bogles or Titanshift? Or is there something else?