MTG Salvation

Finally had some time to give my waveriders some play in both modern and legacy. I'll stick to modern in here.

Overall I've been very pleased. Smugglers copter does give an additional angle. All the good stuff we knew already is great. It fits us just as well or better than it did the standard flash deck, as they played stuff like reflector mage and avacyn, while we have far more etb effects and static powers than that deck ever did.

I'll likely be playing it from here on out till we get more or better merfolk aka something like a blue ember hauler that spell pierces rather than shocks. Or draws a card. I've only played a handful of matches but it definitely feels like it belongs. Right now I'm on 3 copies at the expense of a 29th creature and main board spell pierces. I also regularly run 61 cards.

My sb isn't tuned any differently from most of ours on here. 4 seas claim, 5 counter spell mix of unified will and dispel, 2 relics, 2 tide binders and 2 echo truths. Feels fine so far but if someone has a better configuration let me know.

Quote from FANAttIC »

Not sure why would Sweltering Suns see play when Anger is cleaning all the trash (Finks, Voice, Dredge stuff...)?
Enigma Drake is just bad.
What does Soul-Scar Mage do in Modern Burn and what would it replace?
Amonkhet has few charms but Kaladesh seems more fun in my book.

I think it comes down to any deck that has been Main boarding Anger of the Gods will consider moving it to the side in favor of Sweltering suns in the main so that it's never a dead card game 1. The only time it might be a problem for us is for decks that run more than 4 sweepers across the 75 as it replaces Pyroclasm which is only scary if we don't have double lord.

I don't think any of those cards will see much play. Enigma Drake is more of a UR Delver card (and that deck basically doesn't exist in this format), and Harsh Mentor will see some run as a sideboard card in Burn. Nothing else looks good enough for the format. I wouldn't expect to see Amonkhet tipping any scales in this format.

Quote from luckyone74 »

Sorry for asking too much im just new to Merfolk. Is Fatal push/iok/thoughtseize/collective brutality worth it for the black splash. My meta has a lot of Deathshadow and i just dont know how to deal with their creature

I'm really tempted to try this splash, but having just got back into MTG I don't appreciate the extra cost for all the dual/fetch mana base.

That being said, the black card I'd be most excited about having is Dark Confidant. Pushes and Inquisition are probably nice (I LOVE effects that allow you to look at your opponents hand, I think that sort of information is frequently undervalued), but with our curve, the extra draw a turn seems amazing.

Channel Fireball 1.3k GPT Report!
50 people, 6 rounds cut to Top 8
Semi-Final Finish



It was raining outside Channel Fireball on Easter sunday. Perhaps an omen of the seas to be spread in the hours to come?

I went to the Vegas GPT with two goals in mind: To emerge victorious and secure two precious byes, and to play Merfolk at the most competitive level possible aka with no mistakes.
I think for the most part I succeeded.
While I intended to take more notes during the tournament, sometimes I like to try and relax between rounds and stay loose.

Matchups and Results
1. Mono W Death and Taxes L,W,W
This deck is really fun and intense to play against because it is all creature combat and value town. Game 1 He had the perfect curve of Kython into Thailia and Thailia*new* to just beat the crap outta me. My Silver-Gil's and usually good hand was too slow with 2 lands and no vial.
Side in 3 Gutshots for Blade Splicers and Flickerwisps.
Game 2 was the best game as we both got to do our thing and build up the board, but Harbinger proved really value at provided enough tempo.
Game 3 was an unfortunate win against a land light mulligan.
1-0

2. Grixis Death's Shadow aka hotness aka pretty scary W, W
The funniest thing about every single one of my opponents this tournament with targeted discard is that they always chose the Sea's effects above all others. Even to the extent of taking a Claim over a Silvergill.
I don't remember the games too well, other than Fatal Pushes and jamming creatures. Harbinger is really good against these aggressive mana greedy decks. Also people are just throwing their life away willy nilly to get a fatty out fast these days so all it takes is a swing or two. We are also blessed in that we have have more creatures, including the wonderful Mutavault. Islands on the opponent's side reduce the effectiveness of Sea's effects a bit, but I still brought the Claim's in for Swamps and as Thoughtseize fodder. Dispels are also very good. Vials are meh.
2-0

3. Jund Death Shadow L W L
I can't really detail out the exact plays of this match, because it was intense and grindy. This matchup is like a constant back and forth of creatures followed by removal spells, and weird disruption on our part. I personally love these grindy value based matches because it tests the balance of playing aggressive while avoiding getting blown out by well timed removal.
Tempo plays are real if you can get a clock or a Kira down to protect your clock. Also Kira is really amazing in all these three color Shadow match ups. Except for Abrupt Decay
Took out the Vials, sided in the Sea's and maybe one dispel... It feels bad taking out creatures for spells against such a removal heavy deck. I was questioning if Sea's was actually good, because it is kinda like card disadvantage, but was surprised when as I said they always took the Sea's. Opponent even mentioned a need for a mulligan due to a hand being ill positioned against Sea's effects.
Won game two with an aggressive clock and Seas.
Game three was really close and I'll admit that I made the biggest mistake of the night attacking a Mutavault into a death's Shadow thinking I had a Sea's effect when I didn't. It came down to me having a lethal attack if his last card wasn't removal and it was. Fun games though! Intense sweaty magic.
2-1

4. G/W Tron W, W
My opponent was a Pro level player who was scary to play against, but super nice off the battlefield. Afterword he talked with me about the matchup and drafting I am thankful for his wise insights. This deck is really scary and I really have no right going 2-0. It is really, really easy to lose to this deck if you are not decisive in your plan of action. I won game one by top decking a Spreading Sea's on the turn before Tron. I had already seen O-Stone with a Stirrings. That one turn was enough to swing for exactly 16 after committing most of my hand to the board including a Master of Waves.
It is the tight wins, with just a sprinkle of interaction and tempo that make Merfolk easily my favorite deck to play.
Brought in the Sea's Claim cuz why not? I am here to make beautiful Islands for my fish! 3 Unified Will, which are pretty much my best spell against them.
Game Two was very close and I was just able to squeeze out a Mutavault fueled victory the turn after Karn came down. The pivotal play of the game was correctly timing adding to the board, disrupting lands, and when to hold up countermagic. A Unified Will to counter a Thragtusk left the door open for some aggression and a win even through a Karn.
3-1

5. Merfolk W W
Fish brother I know you are out there and I hope you are well because we fought the good fight today and only one of us could take the W. A round or two previous I had noticed a Merfolk mirror match happening on the table next to me and announced that finally I was with my people. It was unfortunate to see a fight amongst family but the mirror is always an interesting one. Imagine the pain when again my opponent is faced with the difficult task of beating the mirror.
After talking with the fellows after the last round about Kira and Lighting Storm interactions, I knew that they hadn't gotten the chance to practice the mirror much. The mirror is a tight tight game that sometimes you just can't win with a certain hand. Spells like Merrow Reejerey, Vapor Snag (Dismember), Aether Vial, and Islandwalk effects provide minute chances to gain advantage. Any spell which can be used to interact with the board state is crucial for gaining the winning edge. All mana usage is relevant be cause the game could be over in a few turns.
Game 1 was because of the die roll.
Game 2 I was able to use Vapor Snag to get a 1 attack step advantage to swing for barely lethal.
4-1

6. Burn 0-0-3
ID'd at 4-1-1 to get into Top 8. I think there was a possible matchup setup that could have resulted in me not making it, but it was pretty complicated. Ended up in 7th

Quarterfinals
Abzan "Jund" with Lingering Souls
Game 1 is a story of patience and and spicy one-of Echoing Truth that made its way into my hand. I got the best hand you could hope for, mana and two Silvergills and a Spreading Seas and Harbinger. After the initial discard effects I found myself the Truth and waited for all four souls to make an appearance. Definitely surprised him with the main deck truth. After a little back and forth I was able to swing ahead in tempo. It isn't really that truth provides value in getting rid of the souls, since it's still a card for a card, but that they just spent 5 mana getting all the little buggers. Add that to possible mana problems and bounce effects and you have yourself some play.
Game 2 I think I kept a hand light on direct action but had a single Sea's Claim and a Silvergill in hand. Turn 1 Inquisition he takes the Seas Claim after Fetch-Shocking into B/G. Neptune blessed me with the most comedic draw in another Sea's claim for a turn one play. My opponent exclaimed "I am going to lose this match to a main boarded Echoing Truth and a topdecked Sea's Claim.” Don't you know it that is exactly what happened.

Semi-Finals
Gifts Storm
This matchup is terrible and overall just boring because Merfolk can't really do much. Maybe I could of mulliganed more aggressively in game 2 for sideboard cards, but my hand was a perfect Merfolk hand you know. Hard to toss that away.
Got stormed out through 2 Cursecaters game one, and died on turn 3 game 2. Brought in all the counters and relics, but couldn't get there.

Overall Record 5-2-1

It was a good showing for Merfolk. It was a 50 person 1k GPT at CFB so I am confident in saying it was a tough crowd. I think I accomplished my goal of playing Merfolk as tight as possible and finishing strong. Top 8 split the prize pool so got some money for Caverns and the rare Islands. Wish I could of got the byes to solidify my decision to attend GP Vegas but it wasn't so. A couple of things I learned:
- I got lucky that most of the matchups I got were favorable to my sideboard plan. In many matchups I sized in Sea's claim, and was able to get some value out of it. I noticed a direct correlation with Claim and Thoughtseize not only in that it was often first to be discarded, but also that TS in general requires our opponent to play right into mana disruption in general by forcing them to fetch greedy mana sources early.
- Harbinger felt really amazing during most of my matchups, because most were relying heavily on creature tempo and presence to win.
-I really like the simplicity of this sideboard. I think I might personally be a little bias about unified will, since it really only saw play in two matchups, but Dispel is an all star right now. I was really happy I had Gutshot in the Mono White matchup and it is really good against robits, elves, and anything with dorks. Relic is just necessary.
-I will forever keep the mainboard Echoing Truth in spite of logical reasons as a shout out to Merfolk Joe and those rare, but sweet situations in which that extra little bit of text and targeting gets you there. Also I am an optimist and need the hope against Ensnaring Bridge.
-Fish is the best deck ever pretty much, and can do as well as any Modern deck with tight piloting.

I still think my level of play has room for improvement, but I feel happy with my preformance. The list was like bread and butter Merfolk to me at this point, as I have been playing a lot with the Sea's version.
Thanks for reading and Neptune's blessing to all my Fishy folk out there in the seas!
Also I know format wise and general grammar wise this post is meh but it already took long enough so back to video games!

What do people think of spell pierce vs Dispel right now in the meta? I have been doing work with spell recently but it definitely loses effect quickly. I feel like dispel could still be good with a negate/will back up for troublesome things like tron but I worry about not hitting things like pyroclasm or anger or planeswalkers. Is this worry unfounded or is spell pierce a better option?

Nicely done, MonsterCC! Too bad about not finding hate to beat back Storm, though. I've had some success of late by rocking 4 Relics.

As for Pierce vs. Dispel... there are definitely arguments to be made on both sides. I've had Pierces rot in my hand at times, but more often than not it's been effective.

Thirst for Knowledge costs far too much mana. 3-drop draw spells are not where we want to be.

Hey guys. New Merfolk player here. Recently got into modern with 2 of my best friends and decided Fish was the deck for me! I've been watching a lot of Nikachu's videos to learn the deck and some of the more advanced plays, and it's been great so far. However I'm struggling against my friends who play Controlish type decks so I'm looking for some help there.

We haven't started going to tournaments yet, so I can't tell you what my meta will look like, (although through videos and research I have an idea sort of what to be on the lookout for), but right now I'm looking for MB/SB options just to beat my friends in kitchen table games. One of them plays a Bant list, relying on kitchen finks, restoration angel, and goyfs etc. The counterspells really hurt me here, and it's hard to answer his sticky creatures. My other friend plays a Jeskai list that is much more control oriented, and has a lot of sweepers/counter magic.

I'm extremely inexperienced still, but I'm wondering if anyone has some hard and fast tips or SB cards that really help against the control match-up.

Thanks!

Edit: Will post my list later when I am home from work.

Hey there. The Bant deck isn't really a combo list, it uses Snapcaster mage to reuse counterspells/path of exile, goyf, resto angel, kitchen finks, & eternal witness to reuse cards in the 'yard, and just generally beat me down, while using things like mana leak, crpytic command, to stall my gameplan. It's basically bant midrange.

The jeskai list I'm not to sure on I have to see if my buddy has a list.

Quote from Merfolk182 »

Hey there. The Bant deck isn't really a combo list, it uses Snapcaster mage to reuse counterspells/path of exile, goyf, resto angel, kitchen finks, & eternal witness to reuse cards in the 'yard, and just generally beat me down, while using things like mana leak, crpytic command, to stall my gameplan. It's basically bant midrange.

The jeskai list I'm not to sure on I have to see if my buddy has a list.

sounds like you want to load up on relics, counterspells (dispel?), and Kira. tectonic edge sounds pretty solid against both of those decks too.

are you running 2 caverns?

I am, and I've even considered running more to be honest. That's how bad I feel when he counters an important creature drop that I desperately need to stabilize. I'm going to move to running 2 kira MB as opposed to 2 clique to help with the issue.

Also, Vapor Snag, and Harbinger are just absolute trash in this match-up due to everything having some type of ETB effect. Spreading Sea's/Claim is also tough here because he's already on Islands so it virtually does nothing.

Sounds like Dismember and Relic of Progenitus need to be prominently involved.

Er... what do you mean by "Dredge isn't a thing"? Was that a hypothetical? Because it's literally the #2 deck in the format right now. Between that at Tier 1 and Abzan Company at Tier 2, I expect Sweltering Suns to see 0 play. Not that it matters overly much for Merfolk - 3 damage sweepers for 1RR are bad for us, regardless of the particulars.

I agree, but at the same time I don't see any major shakeups to this metagame coming. We might have an unban here or there, but the current balance is holding pretty steady. I think the card is going to be consigned to the bulk bin, barring it being great in Standard or something.

He then proceeds to go 4-0, haha. We will convert him yet. That kind of winrate is just too good to ignore.

Quote from CoBTyrannon »

Just for your information.
In Nikachus recent Vid there was quite some news/
Nikachu just got banned from MTGs so we won't hear from him in this forum anymore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EssWUAE5Cfg

not only did he get banned. they went back through this thread and edited out all his links.

this site sucks...

Hey everyone

Where are we standing with Chalice of the Void in the side atm?

Playing it on 1 could shutdown quite a number of decks doing well in the meta at the moment.
Replacing Cursecatcher perhaps in games 2 and 3?

From the infraction notice earlier it was for soliciting.

There must be some T&C's on MTGS about advertising other sites.

He basically went on the Burn thread using a similar MO to the one he had used here and they were having none of it. It's unfortunate, given that his videos were good for our community, but we can just link to them ourselves going forward.

I'd also like to share a mini-report of sorts with my current testing, which involves packing 4 Relic of Progenitus in the sideboard. I've gone 4-1 and 5-0 in my last 2 MTGO friendly leagues involving it, and the Relics have definitely helped. Drawing one (or more) against the likes of Shadow and Dredge have won me games in landslide fashion. I intend to test in competitive leagues soon, but in my experience the gap in play quality there is relatively small. I heartily recommend them.