There is only so much you can do against burn, Chalice for 1 and Monastery Siege is the best defense you can have out post board...and even then if they have the nuts that might not matter. Sometimes you just need to accept a loss to burn. Tidebinders can be useless when they board out all their creatures for board wipe and just more burn or counterspells can be useless if they just board in more creatures. Its a lot of luck involved honestly
Not sure whether you already do this, but generally you should always trade if given the chance. Their Goblin Guide is worth more than your lord of atlantis. Just be very careful with Monastery Swiftspear.
I'm in the camp saying burn is one of our better matchups actually. If you manage to get to the midgame and find a Chalice, put it on 2, not on 1, since they have more powerful burn on 2 than on 1 and their artifact removal is cmc2. Don't try to Seas them out of red mana, the odds of that working is too low (although taking them off a splash color can work). Anger of the Gods is a game ender versus us but not many people run it from my experience, so if you know they run it be wary once they hit 3 mana. Vial makes the matchup miles better if you open with it, but don't keep 1 landers with it or get blown out by Destructive Revelry.
And finally, much like Infect you gotta accept that sometimes they just have it. Every draw they get is 2 damage on average but in reality it's either 3 or 0, and if they roll well you just lose (I always hate it when burn players complain about flooding out, that's how your deck works)
Favourable, maybe. But not by much. And only if you run a build that is prepared for that matchup.
Hiho, i found myself in a pretty interesting situation:
I think one of the most important but almost never talked about topics is, when to keep and when to mulligan a hand. It can make or break a match, your Top8 or Qualifier.
Keep or Mulligan?
Its the Standard Control-type Merfolk aka Dismembers instead of Snags. I ran 2 Wakethrashers instead of Rejeereys, but they don't matter with that question.
Postboard against Junk/Abzan on the Draw. I kept 2 Vials in the Deck because he choked me in Game 1 and Game 2. He boarded out a lot of his Discard, but not all of it, one Maelstrom Pulse is in the Deck too.
Obviously, this hand lacks gas. But with Vial and Mutavault we got at least some action. Vial will enable us to play Adept and draw into more action. Seas keeps him from planting an early Liliana and draws a card too. I really don't want to start a game with a card less in this Attrition-based matchup unless i absolutely have to.
Obvious Problem is... what if he draws one of his two IoKs? And even if he doesn't, we have a huge lack of pressure in hand.
Keep or Mulligan?
I mulliganed. Down to 5, i still think my decision was right. My Opponent thinks i should have kept the hand
I might have to know my opponent plays 4x choke in the sideboard to keep Aether Vial in post board. Otherwise you can end up losing more games from the Aether Vial alone (and it probably incentives you to mulligan this hand as well.) Against an Abzan deck we want to mulligan as little as possible and even keep greedier 1 land hands (so long as the hand is full of 2 drops) at 5-6 cards when on the draw. The more we mulligan the more we just play right into their game plan.
All that being said I think this hand is a good keep. Even with the Aether Vial. We have Silvergill + Spreading Seas which are 2 of the best cards vs Abzan. Seas + Tectonic Edge might cut them off an entire color. Tectonic Edge + Mutavault gives you even more choke insurance, Mutavault is great by itself. Unless he has a lot of discard you are likely to get at least one of your cantrip cards into play and help recover you from your mulligan.
Usually you should look at Mutavault like it's a creature than a land. Additionally when contemplating a mulligan you should take the worst card out of the hand (lets say Aether Vial) then ask yourself, can I keep this at 6? If the answer is yes then you should keep at 7. Especially against an attrition deck.
Not bad for a sub-$100 build. I have been tinkering with kira / siege ratio and I like the 1 kira / 2 siege I used this last weekend. I am also enjoying playing with skywatcher and coralhelm; they did some work in a couple of games against B/G/x. I feel the level up is necessary in my current build since I haven't gotten mutavaults yet, and I want something to do with my mana if I don't have something to cast during my turn.
I played against: jund (2-1), soul sisters (2-1), abzan (2-0), and B/W Tron (2-1).
Not bad for a sub-$100 build. I have been tinkering with kira / siege ratio and I like the 1 kira / 2 siege I used this last weekend. I am also enjoying playing with skywatcher and coralhelm; they did some work in a couple of games against B/G/x. I feel the level up is necessary in my current build since I haven't gotten mutavaults yet, and I want something to do with my mana if I don't have something to cast during my turn.
I played against: jund (2-1), soul sisters (2-1), abzan (2-0), and B/W Tron (2-1).
Very nice. This is a great budget version of merfolk that I reckon this primer should support for people trying to get into the deck. Thumbs up to you bptrumpet
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Modern: U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
Congrats on the 4-0 bptrumpet. You must be very skilled.
Thanks ... I mean I am a pretty good player (was a judge for almost a decade and have been playing since ice age), but a decent bit of the recent finish was luck of the draw too.
The deck I'm using is clearly not better than the normal builds (far from it). The previous two weeks I played merfolk I went 3-1 (one win was a dropout) and the other week I went 1-3. I guess I'm just trying to share how, even without some of the normal staples not being in the deck yet (silvergill, vial, mutavaults, cavern), with 12+ lords + unblockable/evasive dudes + card draw + some disruption: merfolk can do some work!
As for my luck: I remember the first game against abzan I drew into an echoing truth and vapor snag after the t1 inquisition and was able to bounce his tasigur and 4 spirit tokens a few turns later making it a pretty big blowout. The next game was more of a grind, but I was able to curve out well, tidebinder a t2 goyf, cast my kira, and resolve a bident. After that, I just kept dropping lords, dudes with evasion, and buried the opponent in card advantage.
The tron win (it was G/R tron, not sure why I typed B/W tron in the previous post) was mostly patience and luck. Game 1 was close, but he took too long to get his stuff going and I had a few lords, which ended up being faster. Game 2: I got completely crushed, not much to say, his deck got a great opener and I didn't have any answers + I durdled for a bit ... my t4 play was leveling a skywatcher ... his was dropping a Karn, lol. Game 3: I had a dispel when I needed it against an early pyroclasm. I bounced his wurmcoil twice (once with vapor snag and once with hurkyl's, haha). He was a little too slow on the draw that game vs my tempo.
The other games weren't that memorable / exciting.
If it works, it works no matter the budget. Good on your for representing merfolk without spending too much money and still doing well with it!
If anything, transitioning this via a half-janky budget build is letting me try out some tech that is most likely overlooked just because most people can afford to assemble an entire stock list and then modify from there.
Zoetic Cavern as a "manland" is the coolest budget tech ever
Yep, it's no mutavault, but late game, it's better than another island, and I've been able to bluff that my Riptide Pilferer was a Zoetic Cavern before, so that's cool despite how rarely that would ever happen. Needless to say, It'll be one of the first things I replace with my store credit when my LGS gets some mutavault in stock.
My store is doing a tournament on sunday where 1st prize is a playset of Dark Confidant and 2nd prize is a playset of snapcasters (3rd and down is other cards but yeah big money) so I really wanna bring my A-Game...and I don't have the cards to do U/W folk.
I have access to a lot of cards, not TONS but I can be pretty flexible in my build. I know for a fact there will be burn, generic abzan, infect, belcher, living end, pyromancer storm, and either monoblue or u/w tron depending on what the guy decides to play. Some other decks I am sure, but I know those for sure. Just wanted to run my list by people and get some feedback on ideas. I've done well at the store before but 1st would be nice to trade up for some force of wills
I would really like to fit 1 or 2 pithing needle into my sideboard and know I could cut it to 2-3 Vapor Snags in the main to fit in other cards...just wanted some thoughts. I do plan on playing more aggro pre-board and depending on matching up more controlling post-board so I hope this list reflects that. I'm more comfortable with the Reej-less build that has kiras and more MoWs in the main, but I can't deny the sheer power this kind of list has. Thanks in advance and I hope to hear some good feedback.
The only match up I have played that I have yet to win is against tron, I have beat the other decks before and on a few occasions went undefeated...
My store is doing a tournament on sunday where 1st prize is a playset of Dark Confidant and 2nd prize is a playset of snapcasters (3rd and down is other cards but yeah big money) so I really wanna bring my A-Game...and I don't have the cards to do U/W folk.
I have access to a lot of cards, not TONS but I can be pretty flexible in my build. I know for a fact there will be burn, generic abzan, infect, belcher, living end, pyromancer storm, and either monoblue or u/w tron depending on what the guy decides to play. Some other decks I am sure, but I know those for sure. Just wanted to run my list by people and get some feedback on ideas. I've done well at the store before but 1st would be nice to trade up for some force of wills
I would really like to fit 1 or 2 pithing needle into my sideboard and know I could cut it to 2-3 Vapor Snags in the main to fit in other cards...just wanted some thoughts. I do plan on playing more aggro pre-board and depending on matching up more controlling post-board so I hope this list reflects that. I'm more comfortable with the Reej-less build that has kiras and more MoWs in the main, but I can't deny the sheer power this kind of list has. Thanks in advance and I hope to hear some good feedback.
The only match up I have played that I have yet to win is against tron, I have beat the other decks before and on a few occasions went undefeated...
I suggest you add at least 3 Spell Pierce under removal. It stops most of the combo match ups as well as stopping critical removal or planeswalkers (as an added bonus, it has a picture of a Merfolk on it =p). I find 7-8 removal spells the sweet spot for Merfolk. You could replace the main deck Tidebinders with 2 Spell pierce to make 6 removal spells. As for Abzan, I have 2 Hibernation in my sideboard. It is hilarious as it can bounce their whole field for you to Alpha Strike them on your turn. It works well against Zoo as well.
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Modern: U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
Hmm, Hibernation does have some merits...Deathrite shaman, glistener elf+noble heirarch, random janky green dudes in living end, various zoo creatures. Flashfreeze, Hibernation, and Tidebinder Mage all basically help the same way it is just hibernation does nothing against red :/ which as we established burn in a pain, tho with chalice and Monastery Siege I personally feel safe versus burn or as safe as I can be since we dont have chill
Well, Deathrite Shaman should not be such a big problem in modern. I also think that Hibernation is not really needed at the moment.
Sry, for getting a bit off-topic. But has anyone any idea why after the firts Card-Link the second one is not shown - like here, Deathrite Shaman is linked and Hibernation is not ....
I am trying to put my deck together for the next GPT this weekend. Like always, I am a bit struggeling with my SB options. Harm's Way really is doing a good job for me, but I feel like 2 in my 75 are enough.
I recently moved out Chalice of the Void out of my SB to fill in more counters and to have no disharmony with all the 1 drops.
Also changed again my MB by moving out 1 Spell Pierce replacing it with Monastery Siege and moving 2 Spreading Seas to the SB for filling in 1 Merrow Reejery and trying again Coralhelm Commander as a 1 off. Still feel not very sure about this.
Has anyone any thoughts about what to change and why?
You have too many white lands for the amount of white you're running. I would go -1 Hub -1 Coast +2 Island. 4 Path maindeck is just too much. It often does the same thing as spell pierce given how combo works in Modern, and it more broadly applicable. I've had good success with 2 main and 1 in the board. Mainboard Spellskite is a meta call. Are you expecting burn/infect in large amounts? If not, I would move him to the board and play Phantasmal Image. Coralhelm is just too slow a lot of the time. He would be better served as a Thassa if you expect GBx or another Siege if you expect more burn. I believe Kataki to be better than Stony Silence, and I think packing 3 is correct if you're fearing Affinity. Stony Silence is useful against Tron, but Spreading Seas and a decent clock is usually enough. Remand is the board is garbage. It doesn't actually answer anything, so unless you're planning for the most narrow of circumstances where one more turn hoping the opponent can't disrupt you is your thing, ditch it. Same with Dispel. Swan Song and Spell Pierce are the best counterspells you can be running. Vapor Snag in the board doesn't do anything either. You should look into cards like Hushwing Gryff, Aven Mindcensor, Rest in Peace, and Thalia for the board. Chalice is still a really strong card, but you're going to run it, you have to run 3+ in the board or not at all. Getting it, and getting down early are the key things about it. I would also consider Kira and more Tidebinders.
THIS 100X!!! If you don't agree with this then there is no amount of logic that will ever convince you that good, non-oppressive, combos should be allowed. If you don't agree with it then just don't play this game, and you certainly shouldn't feel entitled to make any comment on ban lists ever.
No way. If you want to reliably drop your hose cards early (Stony Silence, Kitaki) the you had better have at least 10 W sources available (Flooded strand counts). I would never go lower than that in a WU build.
Hello, nice to meet you all. My name is Matteo, WillyBlake on MODO.
First of all, I wanted to thank you all specially Nikachu, as I took his decklist a month ago as a basis for playing merfolks for the first time.
LatelyI have reaped some good results with mono U merfolks but on magic online as also in paper tournaments. (Won an open here in my country last Sunday, plus have done 4-0 two days in a row on Modo) besides other 4-0's some weeks ago.
I think the deck is incredibly funny to play, and is able to "come back from the death" in amazing ways. With this I mean, despite mulligan to 5 and having mana screw, there's still a decent possibility of winning.
I want to share with you all my list, a short description about the matches during the open, and my ideas about cards in general.
4 Cursecatcher u 3.76
4 Lord of Atlantis uu 28.00
4 Master of the Pearl Trident uu 4.84
4 Silvergill Adept 1u 0.24
3 Master of Waves 3u 25.29
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner 1uu 2.32
2 Merrow Reejerey 2u 0.12
1 Phantasmal Image 1u 1.74
Spells (16)
4 Spreading Seas 1u 0.20
4 Aether Vial 1 17.04
3 Vapor Snag u 0.45
2 Dismember 1bpbp 7.00
2 Remand 1u 10.00
1 Relic of Progenitus 1 0.04
Lands (20)
13 Island 0.00
4 Mutavault 18.92
1 Cavern of Souls 11.04
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge 1.16
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds 12.37
Sideboard (15)
4 Tidebinder Mage uu 2.24
3 Chalice of the Void xx 18.03
3 Spell Pierce u 0.15
3 Tectonic Edge 2.37
1 Dismember 1bpbp 3.50
1 Relic of Progenitus 1 0.04
75 Cards Total
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This has been my decklist in general during the last couple of weeks. There were some changes I did for the open tournament. -1 Tidebinder Mage 1-Chalice of the Void -1 Dismember +1 Sower of Temptations +2 Hurky's Recall. I mostly did these changes simply out of not having those paper copies
The tournament was not only an open, but also a preliminary to a pro tour qualifier in Mexico. It was attended by around 46 people.
First match: Some Esper control 2-0 . Relatively easy match to begin the tournament against. During the first game he commited the mistake of discarding a phantasmal image instead of Kira. Next turn I play Kira, followed by a Lord and a Silvergil Adept during the next turn (plus a mutavault) he had nothing to do. Second game he mulliganed and got mana screwed.
Second match: Soul sisters 1-0. Upon seeing a Martyr of Sands in the first turn I thought I would lose. He managed to win many lives during this game, but somehow it seems the deck wasn't of his but of a friend as he had no clear idea about how to pilot it. He wasted the martyrs in stupid ways as also the proclamation. I played around Wrath effects without problem. Only issue was that late in the game he had 2 ghostly prisons in play, still, I had many lands and was able to kill him. There was no time for game 2.
Third match: Hatebears. First game I begin by playing. I start by playing two silvergil adepts, later two different lords (one got exiled) He played Loxodon, Voice along a Blade Splicer. I managed to race him out thanks to a Master of Waves at the end of his turn.
Sideboard for game 2: +1 Sower +3 tidebinder -1 Relic -2 Remand -1 Cursecatcher
I couldn't do much against two Blade Splicers (one putting a third token via Restoration Angel) plus a voice of resurgence. Despite playing the Sower of Temptations and a couple of Merfolks.
As for the third game, I started with T1 aether vial, t2 mutavault, silvergirl adept, and eot cursecatcher t3, merrow reejerey and eot phantasmal image copying reejery. T4 lord of atlantis x2 and win.
Fourth match: Good player's Soul sisters. I knew this would be a very difficult match up as the guy pilots that deck very well. Nonetheless, I managed to win game one by surprising him with a reejerey rush. When he tried the Wrath, I had the remand ready to end up with the problem. (Won in turn 5)
Didn't see the spell pierce early enough to deal with Ghostly Prison. Only thing that kept me alive was playing a Chalice of the void some turns later for 1. He had three Ghostly Prisons, and eventually played an Oblivion ring taking out my chalice.
3rd game sideboard: -2 chalice +2 Cursecatcher. I know the chalice could be more effective on the play, yet I decided to take it out as I tried to rush him. Again, he played Prison early, followed by another. The game extended for more than 20 minutes until time finished. I believe he would have won in the end despite only counting with one Serra and one Martyr (most of his creatures had been exiled) result: draw 1-1
5th Match: By winning this round it would be enough for making top 8. Match against Splinter twin. First game despite keeping a one lander I won due to two Aether Vials, plus three Vapor Snags in hand (didn't draw more lands in this game)
sideboard: +1 relic +3 spell pierce +3 tectonic - 4 Spreading Seas -1 Phantasmal Image -2 Master of Waves
Very tight match, he would have won if he had been successful at playing Teferi at the end of my turn. Nonetheless, I had Remand during two turns in a row to win.
6th Match: Intentional draw
Top 8: Abzan rock. The vapor snags proved to be fundamental in the first game as they bought me turns to race his tarmos.
sideboard: +1 Relic +1 Sower +3 Tidebinder +2 Tectonic -3 Master of Waves -2 Remand -1 island -1 Cursecatcher
I had to mulligan to 6. Kept a hand with two mutas, 2 islands, a silvergil adept, and one lord. In the first turn he discards my silvergil. His second turn plays an ooze, I draw another silvergil adept just in time for my turn 2. During the rest of the game he plays two tarmogoyfs, but a Kira, a relic, and tidebinder are enough to control him. Eventually Kira ends up giving me the win as he had to spend a dismember and a path on it.
Semifinal: Affinity. Another of the hardest match ups. Game 1 he plays first. Puts into play a small horde of small creatures. That horde is stopped some turns later by a Master of Waves, his tokens, and some lords. He topdecks cranial platting, equipping vault skirge, and I lose.
Sideboard: +2 chalice +3 Spell Pierce +2 Hurky's Recall - 2 Remand -1 Relic -4 Aether vial. We both Mulligan to 6. I play chalice for 0 in turn 1. Turns out most of his hand was cc 0. I win some turns later.
Sideboard for game 3. -2 Cursecatcher +2 Aether Vial
He gets unlucky and doesnt draw the mana he needed. I won.
Final: Knowing that my opponent was playing Affinity, I accepted his offer of splitting the prize.
Some observations:
Probably as mentioned, the top two cards that hurt this deck the most are Ghostly Prison and Esnaring Bridge. Do I believe then, that a second color should be added to deal with this? Well, not really. These two cards aren't played that much anyway. I consider staying mono blue very important for a sequitum of different match ups. I just feel the mono blue version is good enough in a field of twin and rock. If Affinity became more popular or those cards I mentioned were as well, then perhaps going to the UW version would be wise.
I have seen some people playing Monastery Siege. My advice, just don´t. I consider truly important being able to play a creature every turn. Monastery Siege is like giving time walk to your opponent. The deck is so full of lords that you don't need extra drawing against control in order for having them. Unless you're extremely unlucky, you will always draw at least two lords in a game. And you usually play around sweepers, keeping at least a lord in hand. There hasn't been a match so far against control in which I have run out of creatures. Sometimes a Silvergil Adept and one Muta are enough to give you the game. The pprotection monastery offers is poor in my opinion. The only "decent" game where it shines is against burn, and let me tell you that if you spend turn 3 by playing that, chances are you'll be dead very quickly against goblins and company. Even if he can only play a bolt per turn, it will enough to give him the game.
I play Kira instead. She can come via Vial. She deals damage and has evasion. She can stop tokens. It's enough for what I want her.
Chalice in the sideboard is an interesting card. Sure, sometimes it might seem stupid to sideboard in chalice (when you're going to play it for one) plus also copies of spell pierce. And I must say, it's a bit of a weak point for the card. Nonetheless against some matches such as Infect or Burn, having a chalice in play for 1 is so good that you don't care about keeping one or two dead cards in hand.
Last but not least: The card that shines the most for me is Vapor Snag. I feel it must be an integral part of the main deck. Not only does it buy time against things otherwise impossible to deal with (Batterskul, Wurmcoil Engine, Titan) but it also saves Master of Waves or any creature you need saving. An additional point goes for the fact that more than a couple of times the opponent can have no cards in hand, a Liliana in play and a Tarmo or Ooze. Needing to boost the Liliana he'll end up "sacrificing his own creature".
Spellskite is somewhat risky in the main because it can show up when its not needed and cost you some damage over another merfolk you would have drawn, it is safer in the SB to come in against burn, twin, infect, and random removal to protect your lords. If you are really worried about your match up for any of the listed decks pop 2 in the SB and call it a day, but if you aren't that worried you don't need to force one in.
UMerfolkU
Legacy
UMerfolkU
Commander
RWBAlesha, Who Smiles At DeathRWB
I'm in the camp saying burn is one of our better matchups actually. If you manage to get to the midgame and find a Chalice, put it on 2, not on 1, since they have more powerful burn on 2 than on 1 and their artifact removal is cmc2. Don't try to Seas them out of red mana, the odds of that working is too low (although taking them off a splash color can work). Anger of the Gods is a game ender versus us but not many people run it from my experience, so if you know they run it be wary once they hit 3 mana. Vial makes the matchup miles better if you open with it, but don't keep 1 landers with it or get blown out by Destructive Revelry.
And finally, much like Infect you gotta accept that sometimes they just have it. Every draw they get is 2 damage on average but in reality it's either 3 or 0, and if they roll well you just lose (I always hate it when burn players complain about flooding out, that's how your deck works)
I might have to know my opponent plays 4x choke in the sideboard to keep Aether Vial in post board. Otherwise you can end up losing more games from the Aether Vial alone (and it probably incentives you to mulligan this hand as well.) Against an Abzan deck we want to mulligan as little as possible and even keep greedier 1 land hands (so long as the hand is full of 2 drops) at 5-6 cards when on the draw. The more we mulligan the more we just play right into their game plan.
All that being said I think this hand is a good keep. Even with the Aether Vial. We have Silvergill + Spreading Seas which are 2 of the best cards vs Abzan. Seas + Tectonic Edge might cut them off an entire color. Tectonic Edge + Mutavault gives you even more choke insurance, Mutavault is great by itself. Unless he has a lot of discard you are likely to get at least one of your cantrip cards into play and help recover you from your mulligan.
Usually you should look at Mutavault like it's a creature than a land. Additionally when contemplating a mulligan you should take the worst card out of the hand (lets say Aether Vial) then ask yourself, can I keep this at 6? If the answer is yes then you should keep at 7. Especially against an attrition deck.
2 Zoetic Cavern
4 Triton Shorestalker
2 Skywatcher Adept
2 Coralhelm Commander
2 Inkfathom Infiltrator
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
2 Master of Waves
2 Dispel
2 Echoing Truth
4 Vapor Snag
2 Bident of Thassa
2 Monastery Siege
2 Annul
2 Dispel
2 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Riptide Pilferer
2 Swan Song
2 Tidebinder Mage
Not bad for a sub-$100 build. I have been tinkering with kira / siege ratio and I like the 1 kira / 2 siege I used this last weekend. I am also enjoying playing with skywatcher and coralhelm; they did some work in a couple of games against B/G/x. I feel the level up is necessary in my current build since I haven't gotten mutavaults yet, and I want something to do with my mana if I don't have something to cast during my turn.
I played against: jund (2-1), soul sisters (2-1), abzan (2-0), and B/W Tron (2-1).
Pioneer:
EDH:
UB Tezzerator
UBW Gifts
B 8Rack
Legacy
RB Goblins
Very nice. This is a great budget version of merfolk that I reckon this primer should support for people trying to get into the deck. Thumbs up to you bptrumpet
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
UMerfolkU
Legacy
UMerfolkU
Commander
RWBAlesha, Who Smiles At DeathRWB
Thanks ... I mean I am a pretty good player (was a judge for almost a decade and have been playing since ice age), but a decent bit of the recent finish was luck of the draw too.
The deck I'm using is clearly not better than the normal builds (far from it). The previous two weeks I played merfolk I went 3-1 (one win was a dropout) and the other week I went 1-3. I guess I'm just trying to share how, even without some of the normal staples not being in the deck yet (silvergill, vial, mutavaults, cavern), with 12+ lords + unblockable/evasive dudes + card draw + some disruption: merfolk can do some work!
As for my luck: I remember the first game against abzan I drew into an echoing truth and vapor snag after the t1 inquisition and was able to bounce his tasigur and 4 spirit tokens a few turns later making it a pretty big blowout. The next game was more of a grind, but I was able to curve out well, tidebinder a t2 goyf, cast my kira, and resolve a bident. After that, I just kept dropping lords, dudes with evasion, and buried the opponent in card advantage.
The tron win (it was G/R tron, not sure why I typed B/W tron in the previous post) was mostly patience and luck. Game 1 was close, but he took too long to get his stuff going and I had a few lords, which ended up being faster. Game 2: I got completely crushed, not much to say, his deck got a great opener and I didn't have any answers + I durdled for a bit ... my t4 play was leveling a skywatcher ... his was dropping a Karn, lol. Game 3: I had a dispel when I needed it against an early pyroclasm. I bounced his wurmcoil twice (once with vapor snag and once with hurkyl's, haha). He was a little too slow on the draw that game vs my tempo.
The other games weren't that memorable / exciting.
If anything, transitioning this via a half-janky budget build is letting me try out some tech that is most likely overlooked just because most people can afford to assemble an entire stock list and then modify from there.
Yep, it's no mutavault, but late game, it's better than another island, and I've been able to bluff that my Riptide Pilferer was a Zoetic Cavern before, so that's cool despite how rarely that would ever happen. Needless to say, It'll be one of the first things I replace with my store credit when my LGS gets some mutavault in stock.
Pioneer:
EDH:
My store is doing a tournament on sunday where 1st prize is a playset of Dark Confidant and 2nd prize is a playset of snapcasters (3rd and down is other cards but yeah big money) so I really wanna bring my A-Game...and I don't have the cards to do U/W folk.
I have access to a lot of cards, not TONS but I can be pretty flexible in my build. I know for a fact there will be burn, generic abzan, infect, belcher, living end, pyromancer storm, and either monoblue or u/w tron depending on what the guy decides to play. Some other decks I am sure, but I know those for sure. Just wanted to run my list by people and get some feedback on ideas. I've done well at the store before but 1st would be nice to trade up for some force of wills
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
13 Island
4 Spreading Seas
4 Vapor Snag
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
2 Master of Waves
2 Tidebinder Mage
2 Phantasmal Image
Sideboard
2 Swan Song
2 Monastery Siege
2 Dismember
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Tidebinder Mage
1 Master of Waves
1 Kira, Great-Glass Spinner
1 Echoing Truth
I would really like to fit 1 or 2 pithing needle into my sideboard and know I could cut it to 2-3 Vapor Snags in the main to fit in other cards...just wanted some thoughts. I do plan on playing more aggro pre-board and depending on matching up more controlling post-board so I hope this list reflects that. I'm more comfortable with the Reej-less build that has kiras and more MoWs in the main, but I can't deny the sheer power this kind of list has. Thanks in advance and I hope to hear some good feedback.
The only match up I have played that I have yet to win is against tron, I have beat the other decks before and on a few occasions went undefeated...
UMerfolkU
Legacy
UMerfolkU
Commander
RWBAlesha, Who Smiles At DeathRWB
I suggest you add at least 3 Spell Pierce under removal. It stops most of the combo match ups as well as stopping critical removal or planeswalkers (as an added bonus, it has a picture of a Merfolk on it =p). I find 7-8 removal spells the sweet spot for Merfolk. You could replace the main deck Tidebinders with 2 Spell pierce to make 6 removal spells. As for Abzan, I have 2 Hibernation in my sideboard. It is hilarious as it can bounce their whole field for you to Alpha Strike them on your turn. It works well against Zoo as well.
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
UMerfolkU
Legacy
UMerfolkU
Commander
RWBAlesha, Who Smiles At DeathRWB
You have too many white lands for the amount of white you're running. I would go -1 Hub -1 Coast +2 Island. 4 Path maindeck is just too much. It often does the same thing as spell pierce given how combo works in Modern, and it more broadly applicable. I've had good success with 2 main and 1 in the board. Mainboard Spellskite is a meta call. Are you expecting burn/infect in large amounts? If not, I would move him to the board and play Phantasmal Image. Coralhelm is just too slow a lot of the time. He would be better served as a Thassa if you expect GBx or another Siege if you expect more burn. I believe Kataki to be better than Stony Silence, and I think packing 3 is correct if you're fearing Affinity. Stony Silence is useful against Tron, but Spreading Seas and a decent clock is usually enough. Remand is the board is garbage. It doesn't actually answer anything, so unless you're planning for the most narrow of circumstances where one more turn hoping the opponent can't disrupt you is your thing, ditch it. Same with Dispel. Swan Song and Spell Pierce are the best counterspells you can be running. Vapor Snag in the board doesn't do anything either. You should look into cards like Hushwing Gryff, Aven Mindcensor, Rest in Peace, and Thalia for the board. Chalice is still a really strong card, but you're going to run it, you have to run 3+ in the board or not at all. Getting it, and getting down early are the key things about it. I would also consider Kira and more Tidebinders.
First of all, I wanted to thank you all specially Nikachu, as I took his decklist a month ago as a basis for playing merfolks for the first time.
LatelyI have reaped some good results with mono U merfolks but on magic online as also in paper tournaments. (Won an open here in my country last Sunday, plus have done 4-0 two days in a row on Modo) besides other 4-0's some weeks ago.
I think the deck is incredibly funny to play, and is able to "come back from the death" in amazing ways. With this I mean, despite mulligan to 5 and having mana screw, there's still a decent possibility of winning.
I want to share with you all my list, a short description about the matches during the open, and my ideas about cards in general.
4 Cursecatcher u 3.76
4 Lord of Atlantis uu 28.00
4 Master of the Pearl Trident uu 4.84
4 Silvergill Adept 1u 0.24
3 Master of Waves 3u 25.29
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner 1uu 2.32
2 Merrow Reejerey 2u 0.12
1 Phantasmal Image 1u 1.74
Spells (16)
4 Spreading Seas 1u 0.20
4 Aether Vial 1 17.04
3 Vapor Snag u 0.45
2 Dismember 1bpbp 7.00
2 Remand 1u 10.00
1 Relic of Progenitus 1 0.04
Lands (20)
13 Island 0.00
4 Mutavault 18.92
1 Cavern of Souls 11.04
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge 1.16
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds 12.37
Sideboard (15)
4 Tidebinder Mage uu 2.24
3 Chalice of the Void xx 18.03
3 Spell Pierce u 0.15
3 Tectonic Edge 2.37
1 Dismember 1bpbp 3.50
1 Relic of Progenitus 1 0.04
75 Cards Total
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This has been my decklist in general during the last couple of weeks. There were some changes I did for the open tournament. -1 Tidebinder Mage 1-Chalice of the Void -1 Dismember +1 Sower of Temptations +2 Hurky's Recall. I mostly did these changes simply out of not having those paper copies
The tournament was not only an open, but also a preliminary to a pro tour qualifier in Mexico. It was attended by around 46 people.
First match: Some Esper control 2-0 . Relatively easy match to begin the tournament against. During the first game he commited the mistake of discarding a phantasmal image instead of Kira. Next turn I play Kira, followed by a Lord and a Silvergil Adept during the next turn (plus a mutavault) he had nothing to do. Second game he mulliganed and got mana screwed.
Second match: Soul sisters 1-0. Upon seeing a Martyr of Sands in the first turn I thought I would lose. He managed to win many lives during this game, but somehow it seems the deck wasn't of his but of a friend as he had no clear idea about how to pilot it. He wasted the martyrs in stupid ways as also the proclamation. I played around Wrath effects without problem. Only issue was that late in the game he had 2 ghostly prisons in play, still, I had many lands and was able to kill him. There was no time for game 2.
Third match: Hatebears. First game I begin by playing. I start by playing two silvergil adepts, later two different lords (one got exiled) He played Loxodon, Voice along a Blade Splicer. I managed to race him out thanks to a Master of Waves at the end of his turn.
Sideboard for game 2: +1 Sower +3 tidebinder -1 Relic -2 Remand -1 Cursecatcher
I couldn't do much against two Blade Splicers (one putting a third token via Restoration Angel) plus a voice of resurgence. Despite playing the Sower of Temptations and a couple of Merfolks.
As for the third game, I started with T1 aether vial, t2 mutavault, silvergirl adept, and eot cursecatcher t3, merrow reejerey and eot phantasmal image copying reejery. T4 lord of atlantis x2 and win.
Fourth match: Good player's Soul sisters. I knew this would be a very difficult match up as the guy pilots that deck very well. Nonetheless, I managed to win game one by surprising him with a reejerey rush. When he tried the Wrath, I had the remand ready to end up with the problem. (Won in turn 5)
Game 2 sideboard: -2 Dismember -3 Master of Waves -1 Vapor Snag -2 Cursecatcher +2 Chalice +2 Tectonic +1 Relic + 3 Spell Pierce
Didn't see the spell pierce early enough to deal with Ghostly Prison. Only thing that kept me alive was playing a Chalice of the void some turns later for 1. He had three Ghostly Prisons, and eventually played an Oblivion ring taking out my chalice.
3rd game sideboard: -2 chalice +2 Cursecatcher. I know the chalice could be more effective on the play, yet I decided to take it out as I tried to rush him. Again, he played Prison early, followed by another. The game extended for more than 20 minutes until time finished. I believe he would have won in the end despite only counting with one Serra and one Martyr (most of his creatures had been exiled) result: draw 1-1
5th Match: By winning this round it would be enough for making top 8. Match against Splinter twin. First game despite keeping a one lander I won due to two Aether Vials, plus three Vapor Snags in hand (didn't draw more lands in this game)
sideboard: +1 relic +3 spell pierce +3 tectonic - 4 Spreading Seas -1 Phantasmal Image -2 Master of Waves
Very tight match, he would have won if he had been successful at playing Teferi at the end of my turn. Nonetheless, I had Remand during two turns in a row to win.
6th Match: Intentional draw
Top 8: Abzan rock. The vapor snags proved to be fundamental in the first game as they bought me turns to race his tarmos.
sideboard: +1 Relic +1 Sower +3 Tidebinder +2 Tectonic -3 Master of Waves -2 Remand -1 island -1 Cursecatcher
I had to mulligan to 6. Kept a hand with two mutas, 2 islands, a silvergil adept, and one lord. In the first turn he discards my silvergil. His second turn plays an ooze, I draw another silvergil adept just in time for my turn 2. During the rest of the game he plays two tarmogoyfs, but a Kira, a relic, and tidebinder are enough to control him. Eventually Kira ends up giving me the win as he had to spend a dismember and a path on it.
Semifinal: Affinity. Another of the hardest match ups. Game 1 he plays first. Puts into play a small horde of small creatures. That horde is stopped some turns later by a Master of Waves, his tokens, and some lords. He topdecks cranial platting, equipping vault skirge, and I lose.
Sideboard: +2 chalice +3 Spell Pierce +2 Hurky's Recall - 2 Remand -1 Relic -4 Aether vial. We both Mulligan to 6. I play chalice for 0 in turn 1. Turns out most of his hand was cc 0. I win some turns later.
Sideboard for game 3. -2 Cursecatcher +2 Aether Vial
He gets unlucky and doesnt draw the mana he needed. I won.
Final: Knowing that my opponent was playing Affinity, I accepted his offer of splitting the prize.
Some observations:
Probably as mentioned, the top two cards that hurt this deck the most are Ghostly Prison and Esnaring Bridge. Do I believe then, that a second color should be added to deal with this? Well, not really. These two cards aren't played that much anyway. I consider staying mono blue very important for a sequitum of different match ups. I just feel the mono blue version is good enough in a field of twin and rock. If Affinity became more popular or those cards I mentioned were as well, then perhaps going to the UW version would be wise.
I have seen some people playing Monastery Siege. My advice, just don´t. I consider truly important being able to play a creature every turn. Monastery Siege is like giving time walk to your opponent. The deck is so full of lords that you don't need extra drawing against control in order for having them. Unless you're extremely unlucky, you will always draw at least two lords in a game. And you usually play around sweepers, keeping at least a lord in hand. There hasn't been a match so far against control in which I have run out of creatures. Sometimes a Silvergil Adept and one Muta are enough to give you the game. The pprotection monastery offers is poor in my opinion. The only "decent" game where it shines is against burn, and let me tell you that if you spend turn 3 by playing that, chances are you'll be dead very quickly against goblins and company. Even if he can only play a bolt per turn, it will enough to give him the game.
I play Kira instead. She can come via Vial. She deals damage and has evasion. She can stop tokens. It's enough for what I want her.
Chalice in the sideboard is an interesting card. Sure, sometimes it might seem stupid to sideboard in chalice (when you're going to play it for one) plus also copies of spell pierce. And I must say, it's a bit of a weak point for the card. Nonetheless against some matches such as Infect or Burn, having a chalice in play for 1 is so good that you don't care about keeping one or two dead cards in hand.
Last but not least: The card that shines the most for me is Vapor Snag. I feel it must be an integral part of the main deck. Not only does it buy time against things otherwise impossible to deal with (Batterskul, Wurmcoil Engine, Titan) but it also saves Master of Waves or any creature you need saving. An additional point goes for the fact that more than a couple of times the opponent can have no cards in hand, a Liliana in play and a Tarmo or Ooze. Needing to boost the Liliana he'll end up "sacrificing his own creature".
Well.. thanks for listening
UMerfolkU
Legacy
UMerfolkU
Commander
RWBAlesha, Who Smiles At DeathRWB