Why are you cutting creatures and countermagic for Seas effects? That's the exact opposite of what I would do. The Spreading Seas are bad against them (it's a durdly play that will never disrupt their mana, and islandwalk isn't particularly important against a deck that has 6-8 creatures), and Vapor Snag is also of questionable value against a deck that runs a small handful of creatures, some of whom have ETBs. Refresh me on your 75, but I think the Catchers and the Pierces have to stay in. Especially Pierce - it catches almost everything that you care about. In my case, this is my sideboard plan (list in my signature or in the primer's first page):
I run Skite in the side, but I find myself wondering why more Merfolk players don't reach for it. It protects against Bolts very well, and it can even protect your Vials (which sometimes matters). It also disrupts decks like Bogles and Infect, all the while blocking like a champ and Vialing in at 2.
List is attached, i dont have time to deck tag. Im trying out negate over spell pierce bc im noticing alot of times they can pay the mana and I have 1-2 extra mana for it.
Seas claim is mainly to slow down anger/koth/chandra, but it doesnt do a real good job of it. Chalice helps with the skred/bolt/relic(cantrip)
Why are you bringing in tidebinder? and why are you taking out Harbinger? Atleast the list im facing doesnt have red/green creatures outside of P/K. Harbinger takes out batterskull if you have a merrow, and potentially a koth'd land if its relevant.
I see your problem - your sideboard is very poor in countermagic, and you have a card that matches up horribly with the abundance of spot removal in Phantasmal Image. You need the likes of Dispel, Remand, or Unified Will to supplement your existing package. Another thing I'm noticing is the lack of 2-mana interaction, which really illustrates why I don't like Chalice of the Void right now. It hits our good stuff as well as theirs.
As for Tidebinder over Harbinger... most Skred lists run Stormbreath Dragon as a finisher, which is something that Tidebinder addresses nicely. Harbinger needs to operate at flash speed to be productive here, and you never want to be bouncing something like a Pia and Kiran Nalaar. If you do have access to flash, Koth of the Hammer makes the Mountains it +1s into creatures red, so Tidebinder can also wipe the attack off the board (not quite as good as Harbinger there, but passable).
If we have a terrible match up against Infect and high removal decks, why not run Spellskite main deck, like Elves does ?
Who says we have terrible matchup against those? At least I don't think so, my list is prepared for the likes of Infect and Jund.
We usually have about 33 creatures (including Mutavaults), no deck can kill all of them, and they usually have no solution for Master of Waves after all of that.
Agreed. Our Jund matchup is actually quite good once you get comfortable with how you have to play against them (take the Vials out, max your creature count, and pressure them relentlessly), and Infect is plenty winnable with the right 75 (hint: don't skimp on Harbingers, Tidebinders, or Dispels!).
Any deck that would have a hard time against Spellskite is 100% prepared for it, especially Infect which has Viridian Corrupter, Twisted Image, and Nature's Claim/Natural State.
Against other removal decks I would rather just have Kira. It adds to devotion, it can block fliers, and it usually requires more effort to remove.
There are definitely moments where Spellskite is stronger, but overall I have never found myself needing it or wishing I had it.
I was in a combo heavy meta at one point and played a variant that run Relic of Progenitus, Spellskite, and Aether Vial in the main with Thirst for Knowledge. It worked pretty well since I could dig for those silver bullets and ditch them when not needed.
Having said that, it wasn't balanced and I would only run it in a very specific meta. I agree with Mehgic at this point that Spellskite is quite easily handled and doesn't have the strong impact that it once had.
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Skite still works fine for me. Even the likes of Infect doesn't have that many answers for it. And all of Infect's artifact/enchantment hate is live against us anyway. Throwing a 1-of Skite in there as a lottery ticket has won me a few games, whereas Kira is mostly useless against them. Plan for the linears, because the linears are what are ruling the roost right now.
If we have a terrible match up against Infect and high removal decks, why not run Spellskite main deck, like Elves does ?
Who says we have terrible matchup against those? At least I don't think so, my list is prepared for the likes of Infect and Jund.
We usually have about 33 creatures (including Mutavaults), no deck can kill all of them, and they usually have no solution for Master of Waves after all of that.
Maybe I`m just unlucky (or bad player), because I never win a single match against Infect...they are always very well curved against me
If the infect player is competent, Skite will be a very situational answer. I promise you they are siding in Dismember, nature's claim, and twisted image. Even sadder, they don't even need pump spells. Just pendlehaven and attacked for exalted with Blighted Agent or Inkmoth Nexus. The moment we tap out to compete is when they throw the kitchen sink at us.
If Spellskite was so effective then infect wouldn't have the results they have, and they are laughing at the hate.
It's okay vs burn, better than chalice but not spectacular.
It should be important to mention that Spellskite is probably in very good shape vs Death's shadow zoo. Taking temur battle rage and become emense away is serious business while blocking basically anything except death's shadow itself. I think all they have is dismember.
If I have to choose 5 counterspell for my sideboard, considering a unknow meta, which ones you guys would recommend me ?
it's hard to pick sideboard counters for an unknown meta. you have to at least have an idea of what decks you're trying to beat with them.
2 negates and 2 dispels has done well for me as a pretty standard counter package
unified will and remand are also good but they are more useful in shoring up some specific matchups
i'd say at least 2 dispels and 2 or 3 of whichever other one you think will help against the decks you're trying to beat with them
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Modern UMerfolkU WUBRGPeopleGRBUW U Turbo Turns U UB Fae BU WBG Aristocrats GBW
2 Dispel, 2 Remand, and 1 Negate is what I'd pick. The first two are very well-positioned right now, and the latter is an old standby I'm pretty comfortable with. It could easily be a Unified Will, though.
Another point on Spellskite - clearly, Infect players will be prepared. They have access to several tools in order to deal with it. But it's a low opportunity cost for us to include it, and it's one more thing for the Infect player to be worried about. You also don't have to tap out to establish it, since it fits in with our "Vial everything on 2" postboard Infect gameplan. But the fact that it fits in nicely in our curve and does stuff against Affinity (remember, it can steal Arcbound Ravager's modular trigger), Burn, Death's Shadow, Infect, and more fringe decks like Bogles make it preferable over Kira, Great Glass-Spinner in my eyes right now.
If I have to choose 5 counterspell for my sideboard, considering a unknow meta, which ones you guys would recommend me ?
I generally run 2-3 Dispels and 2 Negates, but it really comes down to the meta. Lately I've been playing more Spell Pierce because there's been more combo decks showing up at my local game store so I need cheap interaction.
+2 Dispel
+2 Remand
+1 Spellskite
+4 Tidebinder Mage
-1 Aether Vial
-4 Harbinger of the Tides
-4 Spreading Seas
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
I see your problem - your sideboard is very poor in countermagic, and you have a card that matches up horribly with the abundance of spot removal in Phantasmal Image. You need the likes of Dispel, Remand, or Unified Will to supplement your existing package. Another thing I'm noticing is the lack of 2-mana interaction, which really illustrates why I don't like Chalice of the Void right now. It hits our good stuff as well as theirs.
As for Tidebinder over Harbinger... most Skred lists run Stormbreath Dragon as a finisher, which is something that Tidebinder addresses nicely. Harbinger needs to operate at flash speed to be productive here, and you never want to be bouncing something like a Pia and Kiran Nalaar. If you do have access to flash, Koth of the Hammer makes the Mountains it +1s into creatures red, so Tidebinder can also wipe the attack off the board (not quite as good as Harbinger there, but passable).
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
We usually have about 33 creatures (including Mutavaults), no deck can kill all of them, and they usually have no solution for Master of Waves after all of that.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Against other removal decks I would rather just have Kira. It adds to devotion, it can block fliers, and it usually requires more effort to remove.
There are definitely moments where Spellskite is stronger, but overall I have never found myself needing it or wishing I had it.
Having said that, it wasn't balanced and I would only run it in a very specific meta. I agree with Mehgic at this point that Spellskite is quite easily handled and doesn't have the strong impact that it once had.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Modern UMerfolkU
Legacy UMerfolkU
Standard XWhatever's GoodX
Maybe I`m just unlucky (or bad player), because I never win a single match against Infect...they are always very well curved against me
If Spellskite was so effective then infect wouldn't have the results they have, and they are laughing at the hate.
It's okay vs burn, better than chalice but not spectacular.
It should be important to mention that Spellskite is probably in very good shape vs Death's shadow zoo. Taking temur battle rage and become emense away is serious business while blocking basically anything except death's shadow itself. I think all they have is dismember.
it's hard to pick sideboard counters for an unknown meta. you have to at least have an idea of what decks you're trying to beat with them.
2 negates and 2 dispels has done well for me as a pretty standard counter package
unified will and remand are also good but they are more useful in shoring up some specific matchups
i'd say at least 2 dispels and 2 or 3 of whichever other one you think will help against the decks you're trying to beat with them
U
WUBRGPeopleGRBUW
U Turbo Turns U
UB Fae BU
WBG Aristocrats GBW
Another point on Spellskite - clearly, Infect players will be prepared. They have access to several tools in order to deal with it. But it's a low opportunity cost for us to include it, and it's one more thing for the Infect player to be worried about. You also don't have to tap out to establish it, since it fits in with our "Vial everything on 2" postboard Infect gameplan. But the fact that it fits in nicely in our curve and does stuff against Affinity (remember, it can steal Arcbound Ravager's modular trigger), Burn, Death's Shadow, Infect, and more fringe decks like Bogles make it preferable over Kira, Great Glass-Spinner in my eyes right now.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
I generally run 2-3 Dispels and 2 Negates, but it really comes down to the meta. Lately I've been playing more Spell Pierce because there's been more combo decks showing up at my local game store so I need cheap interaction.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers: