MTG Salvation

do you have the old one bookmarked? that was my issue until i updated my bookmark

Yeah, they changed how the decks were categorized, so all the old bookmarks are obsolete.

No i know they changed and i was in after Them several time but primer was 2-3 days not available to entry and doesnt showed on screen too (in categorized tempo agro arrea). Now it is again after i find it other way, try entry 10 times and wrote something...strange. No problems anymore. To be honest, i even thinked i was suspendet from primer merfolk only

I haven’t had a chance to play much lately, but had some free time this weekend. I decided to run out my current version of Mono Blue Merfolk in a MTGO Friendly League. Things started off pretty well, but quickly went south. It was a (mostly) fun learning experience though, so that’s good. I’m not very good at taking match notes, but here’s basically how it all went down.

Oh, and here’s the decklist: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/modern-u-merfolk-1/
I don’t have Caverns, but that seems to be ok since I’m running Deprive in the sideboard so I need as many U sources as posssible.

**Match 1: 2-1 vs 8 Whack**

Game 1 - On the draw, I keep a 1 land + Aether Vial hand. Ended up taking some early damage from multiple Goblin Guides, but was able to take my opponent off of red mana with 2x Spreading Seas, and Vial in Harbingers to put Guides back in their hand while blocking smaller goblins. With Vial at 3, I put in Merrow Reejerey EoT, then ticked up Vial to 4 and hardcast Master of Waves getting 9 Elemental tokens and the instant concession. Had a second MoW in hand, ready to Vial in if backup was needed

Game 2 - Opponent did usual 8 Whack things faster than I could set up my board. I was able to Echoing Truth a couple of Guides back to his hand, but they came right back out attacking on the next turn.

Game 3 - They whittled my life down to 12 with Guides and other hastey goblins, but I was able to set up a wall and block with a couple of Lords pumping each other as well as a Cursecatcher. That lasted long enough for me to land a couple of Reejereys, start tapping & untapping things, and sneak my other fish through for 15pts of damage. Opponent waited through 1 more draw step before conceding.

**Match 2: 2-1 vs Jeskai Control?**

Game 1 - I didn’t take a lot of notes during this one. Sorry about that. It was a difficult matchup for me. I’m still getting used to playing against control, and trying to hold things down with my own tempo spells. On the play, I was able to get around most of his tricks and push through big Islandwalking damage in the end.

Game 2 - I kept yet ANOTHER 1 land hand and this time is really bit me. I have to stop doing that. I had tons of gas in hand, but went until T4 before drawing my 2nd land. By then, my opponent had set up everything he needed. I sided in Deprives and that seemed to slow him down, and would have helped more if I could have played them earlier. He eventually landed a Jace and it was all over from there.

Game 3 - I had Vial on T1 and rolled with our usual plan. Deprive was great as it countered a Path aimed at one of my Lords during a big attack. I was able to get in 10pts of damage on that attack (2 Lords and a Mutavault) instead of just 5pts. On the next turn, I ticked Vial up to 3 with a Reejerey in hand and went into full attack mode again, this time with 2 Mutavaults and the 2 Lords. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting that Clique can take a creature out of your hand after Vial activation. He stripped my Reejery, bolted one of my Lords and was able to block the other with the Clique, but it was all for show as the 2 ‘vaults were enough to kill him. Lucky!

I really need to learn how to play against control decks properly. I got caught by Clique, Cryptic Command, and others way too often for my liking. I guess I just need more reps against them so I can more easily predict what they might be holding up for.

**Match 3: 1-2 vs Storm**

Game 1 - They did Storm things.

Game 2 - I was able to hold my own off of attacks by 2 Mutavaults and eventually sneak in enough damage for the win.

Game 3 - They did Storm things.

I really hate Storm. It’s just miserable to play against. I had 2x Witchbane Orb in the sideboard previously for decks like Storm and Burn. I might go back to that. Anyone else have some sneaky good tech to use against them?

**Match 4: 1-2 vs Lantern Control**

Game 1 - They did Lantern things.

Game 2 - I snuck in a win when they couldn’t lock things down.

Game 3 - Had E.Truth in my opening hand which immediately got Thoughtseized away. Was able to set up tons of creatures, but they had Ensnaring Bridge. By the time I found another E.Truth, they were able to C.Shredder it away. After the last of them were in the grave, I conceded.

Just another miserable matchup. It’s really not fun sitting around, digging through your deck, hoping to eventually find an out before they can dump it in the trash. I might need to take a break from MTGO for a while and hope that some of these decks get less popular.

**Match 5: 0-2 vs Jund**

Game 1 - On the draw, had a nice looking opening hand. But my opponent just ripped it apart with 3 consecutive Thoughtseize / Inquisition plays. Was never really able to get back on my feet after that.

Game 2 - Kept another nice looking opening hand, but only an Island and Mutavault for lands. I had Cursecatcher for a T1 play and Silvergill for T2, so I was hopeful that I’d draw into the 2nd U source. Never happened and I was pretty much toast after a few turns.

So that was that. Finished at 2-3 and got enough Play Points back to put with my other leftover points and play again in the future. Was hoping to at least finish with a positive record, but oh well. I probably won’t get to play again for a few weeks. Hopefully the meta will shake out a bit more by then and I’ll be able to sideboard better for expected matchups. I hope everyone else had a better weekend than me!

Thanks for the report, and it's too bad that you got those rough beats (especially Game 2 against Jund), and that you got paired against Lantern, which is increasingly fringe. In general, I've found Storm to demand a large amount of sideboard hate - my most successful configuration against it had 2 Dispel, 4 Negate, 4 Relic, and 2 Echoing Truth. I don't think you can really get away with that sort of thing in the current meta in terms of sideboarding, but you can mainboard more Spell Pierces to more consistently punish them if they try to go off with tight mana margins. I'd also give Tidebinder Mage a look, since that's been doing well for me (and others) of late.

Quote from rothgar13 »

Thanks for the report, and it's too bad that you got those rough beats (especially Game 2 against Jund), and that you got paired against Lantern, which is increasingly fringe. In general, I've found Storm to demand a large amount of sideboard hate - my most successful configuration against it had 2 Dispel, 4 Negate, 4 Relic, and 2 Echoing Truth. I don't think you can really get away with that sort of thing in the current meta in terms of sideboarding, but you can mainboard more Spell Pierces to more consistently punish them if they try to go off with tight mana margins. I'd also give Tidebinder Mage a look, since that's been doing well for me (and others) of late.

Thanks for the insight, Rothgar! Much appreciated! The Lantern match was funny because I had watched Nikachu's recent video vs another Lantern player just a few hours before. So I had a pretty good idea of how to play it. Unfortunately, it just didn't go my way. I feel like I did about as good as I could against Storm without having an all-in anti-Storm sideboard. Even then, it would depend on if I had the right cards at the right time. Oh well. The Jund match just definitely felt like a bad beat. It happens, and I wouldn't have felt too bad about it if it hadn't come straight off of losses to Storm and Lantern. I'll definitely take a look at Tidebinder Mage. I have them available in my collection, just haven't pulled them in yet. But with BBE pushing Jund and other BBE decks back to popularity, it might be worth a look. Thanks!

I'm thinking of fully embracing the aggro/tempo build and ditching Reej entirely to go with a stronger wiz subtheme.

8 lords
20 wiz
4 vial
4 seas
4 counters

1-2 Nabans to help double up triggers from Silvergill, Harbinger, MoW and Trickster with the new wiz-counterspell backing up our creature-based removal.

If you're playing online, I recommend the full complement of Spell Pierces. That's what I (and others, like Merfolk Joe) have been doing, and we've gotten good results out of it. I also highly recommend Tidebinder Mage in your sideboard.

Wait is there really room for Damping Sphere in the SB?

Truth be told, I'm not sure there is. I'm very comfortable with my counterspell package.

I'm not sure. It will depend on how essential you consider Tidebinder Mage, I guess. Relics, Rejections, and Negate/Stroke/Will are here to stay.

Trickster is an amazing card on its own, and has amazing synergies with the rest of the deck. The hardest part is figuring what to cut in order to make room. Harbinger seems an obvious choice, but even that synergy is amazing and I don't want to lose it.

I may just end up on 32 creatures.

I'm going to bump Harbinger to the sideboard to start. If that doesn't work, I may look at Reejerey as my next cut.

Reejerey and Harbinger are two of the best synergies with Trickster: tapping down a guy on their turn to bounce him on yours with Harbinger, or tapping two guys on their turn to balk an attack or tap a different key permanent.

But yeah, I think Harbinger is the logical first thing to try. I'm certainly not cutting Cursecatcher, Adept, Lords, or MoW.

After listening to a friend who plays UW Turns talk about some recent success he's had playing Merfolk, I decide to try it. He told me that it's good vs. Humans and Hollow One. WNM - 17 players.

Round 1 vs. UW Miracles. In the first game, he gets the pressure put on him, but Miracles Terminus. I draw a Lord 2 turns later and get lethal through. In the next game, I let him take back double Field of Ruin on Mutavaults (drew 4 this game!) because I had Kira, Glass Spinner out after a Terminus. I end up getting some pressure down and winning a few turns later, right after he did Entreat the Angels for 4. Islandwalked for lethal. Merfolk keeps on the pressure, even when your opponent is low on life. I also did Negate for his Entreat the Angels and a Terminus. 2-0.

Round 2 vs. Death and Taxes. He aggros me out in the first game after I keep on 1 land, double Silvergill Adept, and Spreading Seas with a bunch of Lords. I fail to find a 2nd land in time and he gets there with Restoration Angel on his Aven Mindcensor in response to Dismember on the Mindcensor. I lose anyway to the 2/1 flier, so I didn't mind the blowout. In the next game, I get a lot of pressure down and bounce 2 creatures with Harbinger. I get there, despite Restoration Angels again, one of which he couldn't cast. In the last game, it is close, but I get a lot of pressure and swing back when I'm at 10 life and he's at 20. He does Condemn twice to stop damage from some creatures, but I gain life to race Restoration Angels with Islandwalkers. Got there! 2-1.

Round 3 vs. RG Eldrazi. This is the guy I drove with. He's borrowing 20 cards from me for it because he hasn't done too well with Tron recently. I mull to 5 and 6, fail to draw lands in time, and lose to double Bloodbraid Elf both games. There was also a Reality Smasher in game 1 that helped him get there after I drew a 2nd and 3rd land to try to stabilize. Also Eldrazi Obligators and Bolt with the double Elves got me in game 2. 0-2.

Round 4 vs. 5 Color Shadow. In the first game, I have enough Lords to keep pressure on him, despite some removal and a Shadow. In the next game, it is similar, but I punt. I attack him to 3 life with a Mutavault after tapping out for Lord. He goes to 3, fetches EoT to 2, then does Collective Brutality into Temur Battle Rage for lethal. In the last game, he floods out and plays only removal. I play 2 Tidebinder Mage naked to get some pressure on. He only plays a Renegade Rallier, which I have Dismember for, then I swing for lethal. 2-1.

I finish 3-1, which is pretty solid for putting the deck together right before the tournament. I haven't played Fish since the beginning of Modern in 2012. I tried it at ThNM at the time and found out that 5 of 9 players there ran Affinity. After two 3-2 tournaments, I gave up on the Fish, even if it did give me my highest tournament to top 8 ratio in Standard with UW Merfolk.

Congrats on (mostly) finishing the deck. I wouldn't worry too much: I was on 3 Mutavault for a long time and still lack Minamo. I'm actually not sure either of these is a bad thing or matters that much.

Well done, and I largely agree with everything you said. Merfolk is a tremendously flexible deck, and has a lot of weird ways it can drag out and force through wins. Recently, I had one where I used Harbringer of Tides with Merrow Reejerey to return a Magus of the Moon to exactly get my arsenal of Elemental tokens under an Ensnaring Bridge. I've sealed wins against UW or UB control in the mid-game, and punched out Tron early. I love just how adaptive the strategy is.

Affinity and Lantern are still rough, but it doesn't even feel unwinnable anymore. Just unfavorable.

Quote from Cowology2 »

I'm thinking of fully embracing the aggro/tempo build and ditching Reej entirely to go with a stronger wiz subtheme.

8 lords
20 wiz
4 vial
4 seas
4 counters

1-2 Nabans to help double up triggers from Silvergill, Harbinger, MoW and Trickster with the new wiz-counterspell backing up our creature-based removal.

I'd run 4 naban. No doubt about it. He's got such a great impacton the game in merfolk's favor, it just seems silly not to want as many redundant copies as possible.

I don't think Naban will do much for us, to be honest. At this point, I don't think I can play all of the Merfolk I want to, so non-Merfolk are just out of the question. I think that once you start messing around with it, you end up in a different deck.

Got wrecked today at a 21 person FNM.

Round 1 vs. UW budget Control. No Jace, the Mind Sculptor and some other expensive options. He used to play Twin. Cool guy that I met for the first time. I eventually get there in the first game after a bunch of Path to Exile. In the next game, he flashes out Restoration Angel and gets Gideon Jura to put pressure on me. I draw a Dismember and use it on Restoration Angel to live, but he has Remand, so I would have to pay 4 life again. I will take lethal, so I scoop. In the last game, he plays a Hallowed Fountain untapped, paying 2 life, on turn 3, which makes me think that he doesn't have Supreme Verdict. Either that or he is bluffing pretty hard. I overextend a little bit and after some Cryptic Commands, I draw Spell Pierce, which gets Snapcaster Mage/Cryptic Command Spell Pierced and I have islandwalking lethal. 2-1.

Round 2 vs. Knightfall? He usually plays a Collected Company deck or Infect. I keep on 1 land, 2 Cursecatcher, 2 Silvergill Adept, 1 Harbinger of the Tides, and a Lord of Atlantis. I don't draw a land and lose on turn 9 with 1 Island still in play. A Voice of Resurgence, Tireless Tracker, and a Scavenging Ooze beat me down. In the next game, I make a sideboarding mistake of keeping in 3 Spreading Seas. It slows me down, as I don't have much pressure, and he draws just barely enough lands to use Knight of the Reliquary to find Kessig Wolf Run for lethal when I can't find a Lord to make my guys unblockable after he does Reflector Mage on one. 0-2.

Round 3 vs. RG Eldrazi. This deck is getting annoying to me right now. I have lost to it now 3 times by 3 different pilots, twice on Fish. He mulls to 5 and I Spreading Seas his first 2 lands of Grove of the Burnwillows, but he draws out of it. I kept a 2 land hand and flood out to 6 land in play and 2 land in hand. I am about to have lethal on my opening hand, but he gets Batterskull main deck. I don't draw an islandwalk creature and have to give up many creatures to block, then a Reality Smasher, then it with Batterskull on it, then I scoop with no more creatures in play because he can equip the Noble Hierarch. In the next game, 2 Tidebinder Mage tap a Noble Hierarch and a Bloodbraid Elf and I get lethal through. In the final game, I keep a 2 land hand and scry an Island to the top. I have all 2 drops. He ends up getting there with a Reality Smasher after Bolt into Dismember into Kozilek's Return. I Harbinger of the Tides the Reality Smasher, but then I draw Ceremonious Rejection the turn after he came down again. Maybe I should have gone down to 3 life, then Harbinger, hoping that I draw Ceremonious Rejection by that time? I assumed he had another Smasher, which is why I bounced it right away. Tough loss and out of prizing. 1-2.

Round 4 vs. Humans. He gets too much pressure and I just keep drawing Dismember, the 3rd of which I can't use or I die. Mantis Rider and Kessig Malcontents after Champs put early pressure make it tough to turn the corner. I get him in the next 2 games with exact lethal when I draw Lords and can use Vial to put in the lethal swingers after I put Lord in on my turn, then activate Mutavaults. 2-1.

I go 2-2, so 5-3 now after 2 tournaments. Rough Beats.

went 3-1 at FNM tonight:

notes:
chalice of the void was for my meta (affinity, boggles, infect-rich.)
4 cavern of souls helps under my own chalice.
echoing truth was a tempo catch all. i felt dismember was too painful last week (went 1-3.)
smugglers copters replaced the phantasmal images i used last week. i like the looting and evasion. never blocked fliers tho.
i got the idea of only 1-2 drops from an old list posted here a few months back. i like being able to copter away excess (3+) lands.
ravenous trap is experimental hate vs storm as i've gotten relic of progentius shattering spree'd before them going off.

r1 vs tron:
2-1
SB +4 ceremonial rejection, -4 chalice of the void

r2 vs tron:
1-2
SB +4 ceremonial rejection, -4 chalice of the void

r3 vs boggles:
2-1
SB none
notes:
game 3, boggles went: turn 1 forest fetch - Dryad Arbor.
i went turn 1 island, cursecatcher.
he went turn 2, plains, tap arbor, Rancor and white umbra.
i went turn 2, chalice for 1.
he went turn 3, land, 2-drop aura, swing.
i went turn 3, spreading seas on arbor, he auras fell off... he scooped.

r4 vs affinity:
2-0
SB +4 ceremonial rejection, -4 chalice of the void
notes:
game 1, i won the die roll and dropped chalice on 0. i won.
game 2, i switched out the chalices for rejections since it's pointless to plan on chalice for 0 going second.

afterword:
if anyone likes my build, when siding, you need the minimum of 20 creatures, regardless of match up. adepts and copters need bodies.
my only loss was to tron (which i beat as well.) i honestly can't think of what to change for next week.