I suppose, but you won’t always have a Banneret either, and if you run both you’re neutering the other one and turning it into a dead draw when instead it could be either control, advantage or a threat - which basically means you should pick one or the other and AEther Vial is just superior in every way. Besides, if it’s a good hand I have no problem hard casting my creatures… if it’s a poor hand, well, I mulligan.
No, not at all. Having BOTH in your opening hand is pretty scary. Generally its:
Turn 1 Aether Vial
Turn 2: tap vial to put a 1 drop into play and cast banneret
Maybe, but to me the whole point of playing AEther Vial is so that you can Vial Merfolk into play leaving mana available to counter your opponents spells. It’s all very well emptying your hand but lets be realistic inasmuch as Modern is a format in which Wrath of God, Damnation and Day of Judgment exist and are real threats against us.
My deck runs 0 counterspells. That's why you nuke every plains you see from orbit via Sea's Claim and Spreading Seas. They can't board wipe you without their mana.
Intense land disruption over counterspells is an interesting way to attempt to put off board wipes. Just curious, what board wipes that see play in modern only require 1 colored mana to cost? If there are any your strategy doesn't work so well because they can just play a land and nuke on their turn and you have no way to stop it since you can't cast your enchants at instant speed.
Intense land disruption over counterspells is an interesting way to attempt to put off board wipes. Just curious, what board wipes that see play in modern only require 1 colored mana to cost? If there are any your strategy doesn't work so well because they can just play a land and nuke on their turn and you have no way to stop it since you can't cast your enchants at instant speed.
Main deck, I'm sure none of them do. But, I'm sure they're in sideboards somewhere, especially with all of the Affinity lists cropping up, one of them is sure to try and use Whipflare in the board.
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People won't be running either of those when they can run Firespout. In a format that is likely to have Zoo as the most played deck you need a sweeper that actually kills their 1 drops. And this one kills your board with two lords out.
It depends on what deck you’re up against if control then 9/10 hell yeah! If not, it doesn’t really matter. Well really it depends on what hand you have to start with, if it’s good but doesn’t have a Vial I’d still keep it.
A valid point, I suppose 4 spell pierces would be a good idea to run, the question is, what would be a good card to take out? I'm thinking a harbinger and something else that isn't as useful.
Edit: Considering we're running aggro merfolk, wouldn't that just overall make Spell syphon a better card? I generally hit 3-4 merfolk on board turn 3, which would mean it'd already be a slightly better mana leak.
opening the game without vial = mull ? in all situations i mean
no... Why would you even ask this question? Nothing is correct in all situations.
But to hopefully answer your question, no. Especially against creature-heavy decks, or decks with lots of removal, Vial is pretty terrible compared to just about anything else you could draw.
Maybe against burn, Vial can be good just to barf out as many lords as you can, but that generally doesn't work since unless you have a nut draw, all they need is more than one burn spell to keep your guys in burn range.
Even against black-based control, Vial isn't great. Most of the time I'd rather just have another creature.
Vial is good, but it's not necessary (nowhere near as good as in Legacy). It's only really good against mono blue. Since their only sweepers are over four mana, which you can race.
People really need to stop looking/quoting that event. ONLY 20 players participated in that event. Think of it as a small FNM event with what looks like a bad metagame with people porting either their legacy stuff or their standard stuff. Now given that context, is being 12th place in a 20 man event a good place to be for the Merfolk list?
After a good bit of playtesting, I feel that Spreading Seas and Ghost Quarter are both going into my main. The Seas just help so much in disrupting just about everything that isn't monocolored, helps make my fish unblockable, and replaces itself. The unblockable part is especially relevant in not only putting the opponent on a clock, but also ensuring that I get the draw effect from Sygg, River Cutthroat. The Quarter does the same, but has the bonus effect of making my Cosi's Trickster a bit bigger. I know that this is quite the different direction to go in from the typical Legacy build of using countermagic, and essentially becomes Fish Tapout Control, but without access to FoW, MM, and Daze, this appears to be the best option.
The Spreading Seas help me race Zoo and Sligh decks by making my fish unblockable. Of course, they also help to keep Zoo off of their mana for Lions, Apes, and Nacatls, and they help immensely in the 12post matchup. There is an immense amount of draw in the deck, between the Adepts, Seas, Syggs, and Scrying Sheets as a backup. I would love to replace the Sheets with Mutavaults, but I'm at a point where I can't afford them irl. I originally had them in here for the draw, but with the Adepts, Seas, and Syggs, I'm not sure that it's necessary any more.
Well for one I have never played with Rune Snag, so I'm just used to mana leak. Also, it's not set in stone that you will draw multiple mana leaks or rune snags, and for the one time I have it they might be able to recounter a rune snag. I'll have to test them out some time, but atm I probably will not be playing modern merfolk any time soon, mainly because I'm working on a little secret deck of my own.
Clearly, Torpor Orb would be sided in so Emrakul wouldn't gain the Time Walk effect as long as I manage to get it into play in time, I should have stated but that would be the plan.
Still doesn't stop an emrakul off of through the breach.
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It can't if you tapped out for a merfolk sovereign. I don't think merfolk is fast enough to actually deal with 12post.
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In life all we can do is try to make things better. Sitting lost in old ways and fearing change only makes us outdated and ignorant.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity.
Clearly, Torpor Orb would be sided in so Emrakul wouldn't gain the Time Walk effect as long as I manage to get it into play in time, I should have stated but that would be the plan
Uh, you do realize that Emrakul's extra turn ability triggers off of the Eldrazi simply being cast, not coming into play, right?. Emrakul doesn't have a Comes-into-play trigger, which is the only thing which Torpor Orb shuts down. If you want to shut down the timewalk, Trickbind / Voidslime is about your only choice in this format besides Time Stop, which will not only exile the extra turn trigger, but Emrakul as well.
@leh1982: As someone who's been playing Merfolk for a while, your land base seems a bit stingy. Seeing as you actually have to pay mana for your counterspells, I'd consider it dangerous to go below 22 lands with that sort of curve. Even Legacy Merfolk decks rarely go below 21, and we don't have to deal with the asymmetry of Ghost Quarter or the mana costs of counterspells.
Clearly, Torpor Orb would be sided in so Emrakul wouldn't gain the Time Walk effect as long as I manage to get it into play in time, I should have stated but that would be the plan.
Umm you do realise that Emrakul triggers on cast right? Torpor Orb doesn't stop the Time Walk...
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No, not at all. Having BOTH in your opening hand is pretty scary. Generally its:
Turn 1 Aether Vial
Turn 2: tap vial to put a 1 drop into play and cast banneret
Turn 3: Empty your hand onto the field and stomp.
My deck runs 0 counterspells. That's why you nuke every plains you see from orbit via Sea's Claim and Spreading Seas. They can't board wipe you without their mana.
Currently Playing:
R Mono Red Goblins R
UW Charitable Donations WU
U Merfolk U
Commander
G Verdeloth Token G
RGW Uril, the Mist Stalker WGR
Pyroclasm and Whipflare?
Currently Playing:
R Mono Red Goblins R
UW Charitable Donations WU
U Merfolk U
Commander
G Verdeloth Token G
RGW Uril, the Mist Stalker WGR
Main deck, I'm sure none of them do. But, I'm sure they're in sideboards somewhere, especially with all of the Affinity lists cropping up, one of them is sure to try and use Whipflare in the board.
EDH
WBG Karador's Sepulcher GBW
A valid point, I suppose 4 spell pierces would be a good idea to run, the question is, what would be a good card to take out? I'm thinking a harbinger and something else that isn't as useful.
Edit: Considering we're running aggro merfolk, wouldn't that just overall make Spell syphon a better card? I generally hit 3-4 merfolk on board turn 3, which would mean it'd already be a slightly better mana leak.
no... Why would you even ask this question? Nothing is correct in all situations.
But to hopefully answer your question, no. Especially against creature-heavy decks, or decks with lots of removal, Vial is pretty terrible compared to just about anything else you could draw.
Maybe against burn, Vial can be good just to barf out as many lords as you can, but that generally doesn't work since unless you have a nut draw, all they need is more than one burn spell to keep your guys in burn range.
Even against black-based control, Vial isn't great. Most of the time I'd rather just have another creature.
Vial is good, but it's not necessary (nowhere near as good as in Legacy). It's only really good against mono blue. Since their only sweepers are over four mana, which you can race.
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck_search_result.asp?Location=TCGplayer+75k+Championship+-+Modern+2k+-+8%2F14%2F11
4 Cursecatcher
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Lord of Atlantis
2 Merfolk Sovereign
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Wake Thrasher
3 Cryptic Command
2 Remand
4 Spreading Seas
17 Island
4 Mutavault
2 Coralhelm Commander
1 Cryptic Command
1 Remand
1 Sower of Temptation
2 Spell Pierce
4 Spell Snare
2 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Vendilion Clique
4 Cursecatcher
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merfolk Sovereign
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
1 Sower of Temptation
4 Cryptic Command
2 Dismember
17 Island
4 Mutavault
2 Tectonic Edge
3 Ratchet Bomb
4 Spell Pierce
3 Spell Snare
1 Sygg, River Cutthroat
2 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Vendilion Clique
Rafiq of the Many UWG
Sedris, the Traitor King URB
Kaalia of the Vast RWB
Savra, Queen of Golgari GB
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice GW
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails EquipmentW
People really need to stop looking/quoting that event. ONLY 20 players participated in that event. Think of it as a small FNM event with what looks like a bad metagame with people porting either their legacy stuff or their standard stuff. Now given that context, is being 12th place in a 20 man event a good place to be for the Merfolk list?
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
Right now (other than a dedicated manabase), this is the only card in the deck that is killing me on budget. Is there an option to do without for now?
Or, another way to look at the question:
What happens if Aether Vial goes back on the banlist? Is this deck just dead without it?
4 Scrying Sheets
4 Aether Vial
4 Spell Pierce
4 Spreading Seas
4 Cosi's Trickster
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Sygg, River Cutthroat
4 Merrow Reejerey
The Spreading Seas help me race Zoo and Sligh decks by making my fish unblockable. Of course, they also help to keep Zoo off of their mana for Lions, Apes, and Nacatls, and they help immensely in the 12post matchup. There is an immense amount of draw in the deck, between the Adepts, Seas, Syggs, and Scrying Sheets as a backup. I would love to replace the Sheets with Mutavaults, but I'm at a point where I can't afford them irl. I originally had them in here for the draw, but with the Adepts, Seas, and Syggs, I'm not sure that it's necessary any more.
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
2 Merfolk Sovereign
1 Kira, the Great Glass Spinner
1 Sower of Temptation
4 Aether Vial
4 Spell Pierce
4 Mana Leak
3 Cryptic Command
Land:
13 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Tectonic Edge
2 Spell Snare
2 Hibernation
2 Relic of Progentius
4 Spreading Seas
5 Others
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
Well for one I have never played with Rune Snag, so I'm just used to mana leak. Also, it's not set in stone that you will draw multiple mana leaks or rune snags, and for the one time I have it they might be able to recounter a rune snag. I'll have to test them out some time, but atm I probably will not be playing modern merfolk any time soon, mainly because I'm working on a little secret deck of my own.
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
Still doesn't stop an emrakul off of through the breach.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
It can't if you tapped out for a merfolk sovereign. I don't think merfolk is fast enough to actually deal with 12post.
Albert Einstein
Thomas Jefferson
@leh1982: As someone who's been playing Merfolk for a while, your land base seems a bit stingy. Seeing as you actually have to pay mana for your counterspells, I'd consider it dangerous to go below 22 lands with that sort of curve. Even Legacy Merfolk decks rarely go below 21, and we don't have to deal with the asymmetry of Ghost Quarter or the mana costs of counterspells.
Umm you do realise that Emrakul triggers on cast right? Torpor Orb doesn't stop the Time Walk...