In RUG, Anger of the Gods is a pretty solid card versus Merfolk. Has plenty of play against other decks as well. Grim Lavamancer also does A LOT of work against Merfolk and can be tough to deal with if we don't draw a Dismember or have a Tidebinder on hand the turn it comes out.
So I've been testing this list a little bit and I've been very happy with the results so far. It's improved a couple matchups I had trouble with in the past (namely anafenza's company and Grixis control) The increased threat density has been a huge help and the added seas are really killer against three color decks. The increased activation of Islandwalk is also really huge. I made some sideboard changes and in the mainboard I dropped 2 land as I've found 19 to really be a sweet spot as I regularly hit the required amount of land but rarely get flooded. I also took out Thassa and put in 3x Phantasmal Image. I really love image and I can't say how many games I've one on the spot by dropping two lords and an image in one turn. I still feel like the side needs some tweaking but otherwise I really like how all-in this is g1 and then it can mix it up for g2.
Tarmogoyf and burn spells work really well
Huntmaster of the Fells
Anger of the Gods
Engineered Explosives
Threads of Disloyalty
Destructive Revelry (probably)
maybe Pyroclasm if it doesn't kill your creatures or Rough/Tumble if you have fliers.
Hey new here. I started playing competitive Standard recently, invested in BU control and .. control just died. I figured out how Standard tricks you into spending way more money - this week you need to drop $200 on Abzan, next week its GR Devotion, next week Abzan Rally, next week Thopters. I started getting rid of my standard cards to start a Merfolk deck and try Modern instead. I've been reading a lot and watching videos, Merfolk just seems like a fun deck, lots of synergy.
According to MTGgoldfish, It's weakest match up is Boggles and Elves. I see all these posts about winning tournaments against these big decks like Giraxis Control and Splinter Twin, but very little about getting stuck against Boggles and Elves (which are the next two most popular after Merfolk). I guess since Merfolk is fairly strong against the other top 8 decks, the meta for Merfolk is just really strong right now.
I like the concept of mono U for consistency and defense against blood moon. I just don't see the need for white, Sejiri Merfolk is neat but not a reason to add a new color. Path to Exile is neat but similar tool to Dismember but you're trading 4 life instead of giving them a free land. Of course PtE is a great card, being that it exiles and can work on creatures with 6T+ but again not a reason to add in a new color. Leyline of Sanctity on the other hand is an amazing card however I don't have experience if its even necessary, this seems like a deck with a wall of creatures that burn will want to focus on more. UW is fine but truth be told I'm not that into white. Seeing as how I have already invested in BU for control, I am more interested in investigating the darker side of merfolk with even more reliable removal cards and discard like Thoughtseize. Making opponents sac their boggles might be a good thing. I was looking at Inkfathom Witch - aether it in on turn 4 when you're about to attack with some unblocked merfolk, then activate the ability for the win. Unfortunately since I seen very little about BU Merfolk, I assume people have had bad results.
If we do go for more control spell build, the new Jace, Vryn's Prodigy might fit in nicely, being as he is a 2 mana U creature like most of this deck. We can vial him in in our opponents turn and flip him right away. But if were not casting a lot of spells hes not going to be worth it. I have one copy of Thassa, God of the Sea is she worth it? Seems like a sweet card.
Is anybody seriously playing Choke? Even if that were to happen its not the end of the game with Merrow and Vial anyway. They are even hurting themselves due to spreading seas. I would be shocked if I saw one. It would have to be someone who just really hates on merfolk.
Hey new here. I started playing competitive Standard recently, invested in BU control and .. control just died. I figured out how Standard tricks you into spending way more money - this week you need to drop $200 on Abzan, next week its GR Devotion, next week Abzan Rally, next week Thopters. I started getting rid of my standard cards to start a Merfolk deck and try Modern instead. I've been reading a lot and watching videos, Merfolk just seems like a fun deck, lots of synergy.
According to MTGgoldfish, It's weakest match up is Boggles and Elves. I see all these posts about winning tournaments against these big decks like Giraxis Control and Splinter Twin, but very little about getting stuck against Boggles and Elves (which are the next two most popular after Merfolk). I guess since Merfolk is fairly strong against the other top 8 decks, the meta for Merfolk is just really strong right now.
I like the concept of mono U for consistency and defense against blood moon. I just don't see the need for white, Sejiri Merfolk is neat but not a reason to add a new color. Path to Exile is neat but similar tool to Dismember but you're trading 4 life instead of giving them a free land. Of course PtE is a great card, being that it exiles and can work on creatures with 6T+ but again not a reason to add in a new color. Leyline of Sanctity on the other hand is an amazing card however I don't have experience if its even necessary, this seems like a deck with a wall of creatures that burn will want to focus on more. UW is fine but truth be told I'm not that into white. Seeing as how I have already invested in BU for control, I am more interested in investigating the darker side of merfolk with even more reliable removal cards and discard like Thoughtseize. Making opponents sac their boggles might be a good thing. I was looking at Inkfathom Witch - aether it in on turn 4 when you're about to attack with some unblocked merfolk, then activate the ability for the win. Unfortunately since I seen very little about BU Merfolk, I assume people have had bad results.
If we do go for more control spell build, the new Jace, Vryn's Prodigy might fit in nicely, being as he is a 2 mana U creature like most of this deck. We can vial him in in our opponents turn and flip him right away. But if were not casting a lot of spells hes not going to be worth it. I have one copy of Thassa, God of the Sea is she worth it? Seems like a sweet card.
Is anybody seriously playing Choke? Even if that were to happen its not the end of the game with Merrow and Vial anyway. They are even hurting themselves due to spreading seas. I would be shocked if I saw one. It would have to be someone who just really hates on merfolk.
i've seen lots of people try choke against me online but have never seen a paper one
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Modern UMerfolkU WUBRGPeopleGRBUW U Turbo Turns U UB Fae BU WBG Aristocrats GBW
I've seen plenty of paper chokes, but have never lost a game solely to choke (it would be choke with nutty flips in coco-combo, etc) Choke definitely slows us down, but doesn't win the game on the spot.
Choke is also good against twin, grixis, or usa, and not just for us.
A better card than anger of the gods against us is firespout, as the exile clause doesn't matter, and 1 red is a lot easier to cast in three colors vs spreading seas.
The eight seas really slaughter multicolor decks, I have not lost a single game to Jund yet
There were five affinity decks at my LGS last night so I played another deck that made them very sad lol
I'll be playing in two regular modern events and a PPTQ next week. I'll report back with my results.
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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
With Merfolk taking down GP Copenhagen (and sending two players to the Top 8), it was clear this deck was well positioned going into July. The July tournament scene only confirmed this, with Merfolk exploding from a mere 3.5% of the paper metagame to 6.5%. No other deck enjoyed this gain during July, which is a testament both to Merfolk's innate strengths and to the Magic Origins addition of the mighty Harbinger of the Tides. Merfolk also enjoyed similar gains on MTGO: 3.6% up to 5.1% over the month. This deck is very well positioned going into the rest of the summer, and I wouldn't be surprised if Merfolk became a more regular member of Tier 1. Here's hoping for some more months at the top!
What is the best card to bring in vs you guys? I was thinking it was probably it was engineered explosives. I also like nature's claim but is ancient grudge even worth bringing in?
Most important question first, what archetype are you playing?
Anyone crying about Supreme Verdict is obviously not playing around it. Vs Supreme Verdict decks you can be very patient and just attack with 1 creature over and over until they deal with it. Put them in a position to use sweepers at 1 for 1 value. Sure if you put 3-4 creatures out at once you're asking to lose the game. The only problem is when a deck you don't suspect has supreme verdict ends up playing it (like ad nauseam). Usually it's obvious.
I have access to RUG colors
If you're playing RUG, getting early pressure followed by counters is important. An early goyf or perhaps Hooting Mandrills backed up by counters is really good since it takes a while for this deck to get set up sometimes. Bolt is bad against Master of Waves and any of our guys once they're 4/4s, so Dismember and Simic Charm are important. Against most decks, if you let us build a board state, we will win.
This deck just seems like a lot of fun, I dont mean to be contributing to its sudden growth in popularity. I was just doing research on how to get into modern and found some cool videos. I am surprised to see it suddenly growing in popularity. I assume new additions to established modern decks are somewhat rare, so Harbinger of the Tides just boosted it a bit. The fact that it matches up very well to the current meta is helping. But from what I see Boggles has some really good win ratios as well, better than Merfolk - and is nearly a hard counter to merfolk. All it will take is a new flood of Boggles and Merfolk will be a pain to play.
This deck just seems like a lot of fun, I dont mean to be contributing to its sudden growth in popularity. I was just doing research on how to get into modern and found some cool videos. I am surprised to see it suddenly growing in popularity. I assume new additions to established modern decks are somewhat rare, so Harbinger of the Tides just boosted it a bit. The fact that it matches up very well to the current meta is helping. But from what I see Boggles has some really good win ratios as well, better than Merfolk - and is nearly a hard counter to merfolk. All it will take is a new flood of Boggles and Merfolk will be a pain to play.
I'm a relatively new player, but I have never lost a match against Bogles. This includes my experiences in PPTQs and a GP. I may have been extremely lucky, but with two hibernations, one spellskite, spell pierces and a chalice of the void in the sideboard, I'm very well positioned against Bogles. All of these cards (with variance of course) are staples in many merfolk sideboards.
This deck just seems like a lot of fun, I dont mean to be contributing to its sudden growth in popularity. I was just doing research on how to get into modern and found some cool videos. I am surprised to see it suddenly growing in popularity. I assume new additions to established modern decks are somewhat rare, so Harbinger of the Tides just boosted it a bit. The fact that it matches up very well to the current meta is helping. But from what I see Boggles has some really good win ratios as well, better than Merfolk - and is nearly a hard counter to merfolk. All it will take is a new flood of Boggles and Merfolk will be a pain to play.
The thing is boggles is super inconsistent and requires a very specific set of cards to beat us. They're super fragile to spreading seas due to a low land count and get wrecked by the current meta. Modern Nexus has them as 1% of the paper meta and not really worth playing around. It's a difficult match-up if you're not prepared for it( I would get wrecked with my current sideboard) but the majority of boggle players are just not very good in my experience. If you have a high elf meta then play tidebinder's mainboard over harbinger or have a split.
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Standard Selesnya Collected Company Modern Merfolk Azorious Titan Control Legacy Merfolk
Well it's been a while since I popped in... busy with work and all that.
Congrats all! Sigh... going Tier 1 is bitter sweet for me. The hard work 's paid off but it's not without it's consequences. We're on the radar now...Let's give me a good show!
So... have we totally replaced TBM with Harry? (harbinger? Need to 'snag' me a playset. Lol
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
So, I've watched a lot of Nikachu's videos and noticed something interesting.
You'll often have a Vial on 2, some fish on the board, and a lord in hand, then go to combat. You'll attack with the fish, but not flash in the lord for more damage this swing, opting to flash in at opponent's EOT. Is this to avoid sorcery speed sweeps? Would you only do this if it meant a lethal swing? I am antsy to develop the board and will often over-commit dudes when maybe the extra 1 point of damage really isn't worth flashing in a guy and baiting removal for a guy who can't attack.
Typing this out really made me rethink things, but I'd like for any input anyway. TL;DR: Is best Aether Vial usage for sticking most fish ALWAYS at EoT, unless it makes a lethal swing?
So, I've watched a lot of Nikachu's videos and noticed something interesting.
You'll often have a Vial on 2, some fish on the board, and a lord in hand, then go to combat. You'll attack with the fish, but not flash in the lord for more damage this swing, opting to flash in at opponent's EOT. Is this to avoid sorcery speed sweeps? Would you only do this if it meant a lethal swing? I am antsy to develop the board and will often over-commit dudes when maybe the extra 1 point of damage really isn't worth flashing in a guy and baiting removal for a guy who can't attack.
Typing this out really made me rethink things, but I'd like for any input anyway. TL;DR: Is best Aether Vial usage for sticking most fish ALWAYS at EoT, unless it makes a lethal swing?
Often times, the extra lord wont change the clock. For example the difference between swinging for 10 and for 13 while your opponent is at 20 isn't worth flashing the Lord in for because they will die in 2 turns regardless so its not necessarily worth flashing in the lord just for the sake of extra damage. You could potentially flash it in to block or play around a board wipe (most decks in modern don't REALLY play them, BUT Tron will play Pyroclasm/Firespout, Twin SOMETIMES plays Anger, Affinity will play Whipflare, and finally UWx plays Verdict/Wrath/Day of Judgment). If they're not playing board wipes, it's probably safe to go ham, but play around removal spells. Sometimes, a benefit of waiting to flash in a lord is that a lord would sometimes get bolted and I'd flash in another one to make everyone 4 toughness and make them waste a bolt.
Other times, your opponent can make unfavorable blocks and you can catch them off guard. Say you attack with a Lord while they're tapped out and they block with their Snapcaster Mage. You can flash in a Lord to make your lord a 3/3 and beat the Snapcaster Mage in combat, but you have to judge if it is better to do this than just Islandwalk and miss out on 3 points of damage.
One more thing, say you have a MotPT, a Cursecatcher, and a LoA and they are at 20. That's 9 damage. While they're not dead in 2 turns with just these creatures, you don't have to commit another Lord until the turn you actually kill them because it will add 3 damage on that turn (12 total). You dealt a total of 21 if you brought in a Lord on the kill turn, but you would have dealt 12 on the first turn and 16 on the second turn (a total of 28) if you brought it in the turn earlier (since you are attacking with the new Lord you brought in last turn). Now the difference between 21 and 28 doesn't matter because they're dying in 2 turns either way right?
On top of this, you will need to consider removal spells and blockers as well and it can get pretty complex, but you will get better with practice.
So I've been testing this list a little bit and I've been very happy with the results so far. It's improved a couple matchups I had trouble with in the past (namely anafenza's company and Grixis control) The increased threat density has been a huge help and the added seas are really killer against three color decks. The increased activation of Islandwalk is also really huge. I made some sideboard changes and in the mainboard I dropped 2 land as I've found 19 to really be a sweet spot as I regularly hit the required amount of land but rarely get flooded. I also took out Thassa and put in 3x Phantasmal Image. I really love image and I can't say how many games I've one on the spot by dropping two lords and an image in one turn. I still feel like the side needs some tweaking but otherwise I really like how all-in this is g1 and then it can mix it up for g2.
7 Island
3 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
4 Wanderwine Hub
Fish
4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Harbinger of the Tides
2 Master of Waves
3 Phantasmal Image
4 Æther Vial
4 Spreading Seas
4 Sea's Claim
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Master of Waves
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Hibernation
2 Tidebinder Mage
2 Spell Pierce
2 Swan Song
2 Monastery Siege
Tarmogoyf and burn spells work really well
Huntmaster of the Fells
Anger of the Gods
Engineered Explosives
Threads of Disloyalty
Destructive Revelry (probably)
maybe Pyroclasm if it doesn't kill your creatures or Rough/Tumble if you have fliers.
According to MTGgoldfish, It's weakest match up is Boggles and Elves. I see all these posts about winning tournaments against these big decks like Giraxis Control and Splinter Twin, but very little about getting stuck against Boggles and Elves (which are the next two most popular after Merfolk). I guess since Merfolk is fairly strong against the other top 8 decks, the meta for Merfolk is just really strong right now.
I like the concept of mono U for consistency and defense against blood moon. I just don't see the need for white, Sejiri Merfolk is neat but not a reason to add a new color. Path to Exile is neat but similar tool to Dismember but you're trading 4 life instead of giving them a free land. Of course PtE is a great card, being that it exiles and can work on creatures with 6T+ but again not a reason to add in a new color. Leyline of Sanctity on the other hand is an amazing card however I don't have experience if its even necessary, this seems like a deck with a wall of creatures that burn will want to focus on more. UW is fine but truth be told I'm not that into white. Seeing as how I have already invested in BU for control, I am more interested in investigating the darker side of merfolk with even more reliable removal cards and discard like Thoughtseize. Making opponents sac their boggles might be a good thing. I was looking at Inkfathom Witch - aether it in on turn 4 when you're about to attack with some unblocked merfolk, then activate the ability for the win. Unfortunately since I seen very little about BU Merfolk, I assume people have had bad results.
If we do go for more control spell build, the new Jace, Vryn's Prodigy might fit in nicely, being as he is a 2 mana U creature like most of this deck. We can vial him in in our opponents turn and flip him right away. But if were not casting a lot of spells hes not going to be worth it. I have one copy of Thassa, God of the Sea is she worth it? Seems like a sweet card.
Is anybody seriously playing Choke? Even if that were to happen its not the end of the game with Merrow and Vial anyway. They are even hurting themselves due to spreading seas. I would be shocked if I saw one. It would have to be someone who just really hates on merfolk.
i've seen lots of people try choke against me online but have never seen a paper one
U
WUBRGPeopleGRBUW
U Turbo Turns U
UB Fae BU
WBG Aristocrats GBW
Choke is also good against twin, grixis, or usa, and not just for us.
A better card than anger of the gods against us is firespout, as the exile clause doesn't matter, and 1 red is a lot easier to cast in three colors vs spreading seas.
The eight seas really slaughter multicolor decks, I have not lost a single game to Jund yet
There were five affinity decks at my LGS last night so I played another deck that made them very sad lol
I'll be playing in two regular modern events and a PPTQ next week. I'll report back with my results.
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
With Merfolk taking down GP Copenhagen (and sending two players to the Top 8), it was clear this deck was well positioned going into July. The July tournament scene only confirmed this, with Merfolk exploding from a mere 3.5% of the paper metagame to 6.5%. No other deck enjoyed this gain during July, which is a testament both to Merfolk's innate strengths and to the Magic Origins addition of the mighty Harbinger of the Tides. Merfolk also enjoyed similar gains on MTGO: 3.6% up to 5.1% over the month. This deck is very well positioned going into the rest of the summer, and I wouldn't be surprised if Merfolk became a more regular member of Tier 1. Here's hoping for some more months at the top!
For more information on the update, check out the Metagame Thread post here:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/566735-modern-metagame-breakdown-and-discussion-updated-7?page=31#c759
If you're playing RUG, getting early pressure followed by counters is important. An early goyf or perhaps Hooting Mandrills backed up by counters is really good since it takes a while for this deck to get set up sometimes. Bolt is bad against Master of Waves and any of our guys once they're 4/4s, so Dismember and Simic Charm are important. Against most decks, if you let us build a board state, we will win.
I told you guys all along.
But hang on, doesn't that mean the price of all are cards are about to sky rocket so other players can't get into it?
U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
EDH:
G Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Fighting for Rivendell
WU Brago, King Eternal, Long Live the King
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Worship the Dragon
:X
Modern UMerfolkU
Legacy UMerfolkU
Standard XWhatever's GoodX
I'm a relatively new player, but I have never lost a match against Bogles. This includes my experiences in PPTQs and a GP. I may have been extremely lucky, but with two hibernations, one spellskite, spell pierces and a chalice of the void in the sideboard, I'm very well positioned against Bogles. All of these cards (with variance of course) are staples in many merfolk sideboards.
The thing is boggles is super inconsistent and requires a very specific set of cards to beat us. They're super fragile to spreading seas due to a low land count and get wrecked by the current meta. Modern Nexus has them as 1% of the paper meta and not really worth playing around. It's a difficult match-up if you're not prepared for it( I would get wrecked with my current sideboard) but the majority of boggle players are just not very good in my experience. If you have a high elf meta then play tidebinder's mainboard over harbinger or have a split.
Modern
Legacy
Congrats all! Sigh... going Tier 1 is bitter sweet for me. The hard work 's paid off but it's not without it's consequences. We're on the radar now...Let's give me a good show!
So... have we totally replaced TBM with Harry? (harbinger? Need to 'snag' me a playset. Lol
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
You'll often have a Vial on 2, some fish on the board, and a lord in hand, then go to combat. You'll attack with the fish, but not flash in the lord for more damage this swing, opting to flash in at opponent's EOT. Is this to avoid sorcery speed sweeps? Would you only do this if it meant a lethal swing? I am antsy to develop the board and will often over-commit dudes when maybe the extra 1 point of damage really isn't worth flashing in a guy and baiting removal for a guy who can't attack.
Typing this out really made me rethink things, but I'd like for any input anyway. TL;DR: Is best Aether Vial usage for sticking most fish ALWAYS at EoT, unless it makes a lethal swing?
Often times, the extra lord wont change the clock. For example the difference between swinging for 10 and for 13 while your opponent is at 20 isn't worth flashing the Lord in for because they will die in 2 turns regardless so its not necessarily worth flashing in the lord just for the sake of extra damage. You could potentially flash it in to block or play around a board wipe (most decks in modern don't REALLY play them, BUT Tron will play Pyroclasm/Firespout, Twin SOMETIMES plays Anger, Affinity will play Whipflare, and finally UWx plays Verdict/Wrath/Day of Judgment). If they're not playing board wipes, it's probably safe to go ham, but play around removal spells. Sometimes, a benefit of waiting to flash in a lord is that a lord would sometimes get bolted and I'd flash in another one to make everyone 4 toughness and make them waste a bolt.
Other times, your opponent can make unfavorable blocks and you can catch them off guard. Say you attack with a Lord while they're tapped out and they block with their Snapcaster Mage. You can flash in a Lord to make your lord a 3/3 and beat the Snapcaster Mage in combat, but you have to judge if it is better to do this than just Islandwalk and miss out on 3 points of damage.
One more thing, say you have a MotPT, a Cursecatcher, and a LoA and they are at 20. That's 9 damage. While they're not dead in 2 turns with just these creatures, you don't have to commit another Lord until the turn you actually kill them because it will add 3 damage on that turn (12 total). You dealt a total of 21 if you brought in a Lord on the kill turn, but you would have dealt 12 on the first turn and 16 on the second turn (a total of 28) if you brought it in the turn earlier (since you are attacking with the new Lord you brought in last turn). Now the difference between 21 and 28 doesn't matter because they're dying in 2 turns either way right?
On top of this, you will need to consider removal spells and blockers as well and it can get pretty complex, but you will get better with practice.
Modern UMerfolkU
Legacy UMerfolkU
Standard XWhatever's GoodX