Oh well, spoiler season is over. I can't say I'm surprised, this is what we all kinda knew it would bring to modern, but I can't hide I'm actually a bit disappointed. Wizards R&D made all they could to use old cards mechanics in bad creatures with high CMCs. At least it leaves the opportunity for tropical fish to try to consolidate as a more-beatdown merfolk deck. Test will tell, but it's not an encouraging start, at least for me. Personally I was expecting more mono-blue love.
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Mostly Modern Player RBridgevineB RGR/G EldraziX UBlue MoonR UU/W TronW
Not a creature, but Crashing Tide is really interesting.
3 for a vapor snag effect, even if it cantrips, makes it bad imo. It would have been better if it was a boomerang effect at least. We got the worst tribal-conditional spell of all Ixalan haha.
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Mostly Modern Player RBridgevineB RGR/G EldraziX UBlue MoonR UU/W TronW
Yeah...I too am a bit disappointed...I mean yes the new lord makes a great case for keeping vial on two and just swinging for the fences, but without proper disruption, nothing's really changed. Still, excited to see how the tropical variant does.
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"I hope to have such a death—lying in triumph upon the broken bodies of those who slew me."
—Radha, Keldon warlord
Well, the merfolk Dwynen's Elite is worth a consideration, even if it costs 3 mana: 3 power over 2 bodies, including one with Hexproof, certainly helps going wider.
Would it have been asking too much for a Cursecatcher 2.0? mausoleum wanderer but remove the flying and make it Merfolk. I know there are times where Cursecatcher Under preforms but the mausoleum wanderer effect would scale nicely with lords. Would that have been too good?
Would it have been asking too much for a Cursecatcher 2.0? mausoleum wanderer but remove the flying and make it Merfolk. I know there are times where Cursecatcher Under preforms but the mausoleum wanderer effect would scale nicely with lords. Would that have been too good?
I don't really think so.
It's just frustrating how the new printed merfolk or one mana too much or lack an ability to be on the same or better level of the other creatures in modern
-Jungleborn Pioneer is one mana more then Dwynens Elite.
-Merfolk Mistbinder is a 2 mana lord but the lack of an extra abilty can be relevant.
-Deeproot Elite is one mana too much to be a Champion of the Parrish and at the same time is a abilty short to be on the same level of Thalia Liutenant while still being only a 1/1.
So close.
It's not always possible to seed cards in previous sets. Neither Merfolk nor Dinosaurs appear on the planes of Kaladesh or Amonkhet, so it was not possible to include them there. [...] Merfolk could have made sense in those worlds, but they were a late addition to Ixalan design. By the time that tribe was added, the worldbuilding in the previous year was complete. It was too late to rebuild the world to include Merfolk.
This means Merfolk was a late design and probably a late addition, but what comes is interesting:
Sometimes it's not possible to seed (see the Merfolk and Dinosaur examples above). When we can't seed cards for certain decks, we will distribute the deck's power throughout the block or even the whole year.[...] The Vampire and Merfolk lords add significant power to the tribes, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the real world will approach these archetypes.
So Merfolks DO exist in Dominaria, so it won't be rare to have one or two additions to wait for. It doesn't relief me from disappointment but at least it gives something new to wait for.
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Mostly Modern Player RBridgevineB RGR/G EldraziX UBlue MoonR UU/W TronW
I'd like to provide a momentary diversion from these underwhelming spoilers to report a 5-0 in an MTGO competitive league! Nikachu was urging me to re-test Watertrap Weaver, and I decided to swap out Kopala for it and see how we'd do. Details below:
Game 1 (play): I keep a relatively slow hand, but so does my opponent. I invalidate their Remands with Cavern as I stack Lords and add pressure to the board, but they find a cost reducer just in time to not die to the onslaught.
Game 2 (play): A T1 Relic followed by relentless pressure makes this one rather academic.
Game 3 (draw): Unfortunately, we don't get to play this one out, as my opponent has to go attend to non-Magic related business. Friendly person, though: we chatted a bit about Rivals of Ixalan spoilers (as they were also a Merfolk player) throughout the match.
Game 1 (draw): My opponent Thoughtseizes away my Spreading Seas (?), but I find another to temporarily cut them off black. Once they do find a black source, they cast a small Shadow, which I immediately Dismember. We hit a bit of a board stall in the midgame, with a Gurmag Angler walling off a handful of my creatures, but Weaver into Harbinger render it irrelevant. My opponent lands a Shadow, but a Lord allows me to walk past it for lethal.
Game 2 (draw, mull 6): My opponent spits out a quick Shadow, and I Dismember it while holding up mana/Dispel for their Stubborn Denial. They then follow it up with a Tasigur, and I take a hit while my Silvergills draw me into a Harbinger to bounce it away. They then cast a Gurmag, which gets bounced by the combination of Reejerey and a second Harbinger. I swing for lethal with Dispel backup, but Push + Stubborn Denial buys them a turn. Fortunately, they can't really find anything that can deal with 4 attackers, and they scoop.
Game 1 (play): I fight through some early discard to slap a Seas on their black source and cast Silvergill Adept + Cursecatcher on Turn 3. My opponent taps out to cast an Angler, and I respond by playing a late Vial and a Lord to crack them for 5. I land a Master of Waves on the following turn, but it gets Dismembered. I decide to make my opponent have the answer and bash with my creatures for lethal with islandwalk, but they have the Push. My opponent casts a second Angler and attacks with the first, but I have the Harbinger to send it away. They then tap out to recast it, which allows me to flash in a second Harbinger, fire up my Mutavault, and tag them for exactsies.
Game 2 (draw): I start somewhat slowly due to my opponent finding Inquisition into Snap-Inquisition on turns 2 and 3 as well as a Fatal Push for my first Lord, but I eventually stick a Reejerey into Master of Waves. My opponent finds an Izzet Staticaster to ping away my tokens, but I take advantage of their tapping out for it to Echoing Truth away their Gurmag Angler. They tap out to recast it, and a topdecked Master of the Pearl Trident seals their fate.
Game 1 (play): I never quite turn the corner on this one, as I had a double Reejerey hand to explode on my opponent, but couldn't find the 4th land to vomit out all of my 2-drops on Turn 4. Because of this stumble, I end up being one turn away when my opponent's double Ravager hand cracks in for lethal in the air.
Game 2 (play, mull 6): My opponent starts relatively slowly (Vault Skirge T1, Steel Overseer T2), which gives my Reejerey-fueled plan time to develop. A pair of 2/2 Vault Skirges with a bit of Galvanic Blast backup are racing my Lord-fueled onslaught, and they fall just short when Echoing Truth wipes their attack for lethal off the board.
Game 3 (draw): My opponent mulls to 5, and their only threat for a time is an Inkmoth Nexus, which I find a Seas for. I develop my board somewhat awkwardly while casting one Lord or Silvergill per turn (stuck on 3 lands), but my opponent's Ornithopter with a Cranial Plating on it isn't quite enough to outrace me.
Game 1 (play): I keep a 7 with a single Mutavault and a Vial, and I find another Vault before an Abrupt Decay takes the Vial out. Luckily, I topdeck an Island and slam a Reejerey, which my opponent Liliana -2's away. I find a second Vial with a Silvergill Adept, and we settle into midgame board stall in which his 2nd Liliana (and his meager life total of 5) are being protected by a massive Shadow and Goyf. Liliana -2s eat away at my board and allow the Shadow to attack me twice, but a topdecked Watertrap Weaver taps down the Goyf and gives me the board presence to double-chump a Shadow and a topdecked Grim Flayer, then crack back for lethal.
Game 2 (draw, mull 6): I land a T1 Relic, which eventually baits out a Maelstrom Pulse. My opponent's Goyf eventually reaches a solid size and starts cracking in, but a Harbinger sends that back and gives me the tempo edge. I start cracking my opponent with random creatures and Mutavaults, which baits out their Fatal Push. They recast their Goyf, but it's no match for Master of Waves, 3 Mutavaults, and a full complement of tokens, and we seal the deal.
I was obviously fortunate here, as I faced Shadow (which I consider to be a pretty good matchup) 3 times, got a freebie Game 3 from my Storm opponent (though I feel very confident about how my sideboard lines up against that deck), and my Affinity opponent mulled to 5 in Game 3 (that said, I was somewhat unfortunate in the Game 1 we played). Weaver was surprisingly solid in the Shadow matchups, but was either not drawn or not cast elsewhere in the league. I'm not sold on it yet, but I'll continue to test and see how it does. Keep swimming!
So now that Ixalan is all revealed. Out of both sets, which green Merfolk are actually worth playing or testing? And while we are at it, going tropical, which blue cards are most likely to be dropped? Koppola, Reejerey, MOW, anything else worth dropping?
How has everyone’s testings of Kumeena and Branchwalker gone?
Mtgo will be my platform to try green folk in Standard first, then jump into UG Modern if results show up, but mono U until then.
Anyway, had the Masters Finals today in paper magic, 24 best qualified for the last tournament of 2017. season.
Managed to top8 but lost to Green Tron. It wasn’t nice matchup because he had unusual green monsters and Natural State for every Seas. I could never pass for enough dmg, and then Ulamog, huge Ballista and even second version of Emrakul showed up (?!), so loss in QF.
That guy went to finals where he lost to another Merfolk deck, so my day wasn’t all ruined
And now I can relax and watch two big Modern tournaments without Merfolk decks (I guess...)
For anyone thinking of jumping into fish in Standard, you might need a third color (either red or black) for removal. Straight up UG is terrible in the meta without removals against Mono Red and Temur Energy.
For anyone thinking of jumping into fish in Standard, you might need a third color (either red or black) for removal. Straight up UG is terrible in the meta without removals against Mono Red and Temur Energy.
i expect energy will be neutered in the B/R announcement
but this thread is for modern so i'll probably get a nastygram for even talking about standard...
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Modern U Merfolk U WUBRGPeopleGRBUW U Turbo Turns U UB Fae BU WBG Aristocrats GBW
Considering Swift Warden at some point in my UG build going forward...it's not the disruption I really wanted, but flash and protection on a 3/3 body, especially if we run 12 loads could be critical turn 4-5.
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"I hope to have such a death—lying in triumph upon the broken bodies of those who slew me."
—Radha, Keldon warlord
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RBridgevineB
RGR/G EldraziX
UBlue MoonR
UU/W TronW
3 for a vapor snag effect, even if it cantrips, makes it bad imo. It would have been better if it was a boomerang effect at least. We got the worst tribal-conditional spell of all Ixalan haha.
RBridgevineB
RGR/G EldraziX
UBlue MoonR
UU/W TronW
—Radha, Keldon warlord
WBC Eldrazi & Taxes CBW
UR Keep on Cantripin' (UR Phoenix) RU
WU Surprise! It's not UW Control! (UW Midrange) UW
BG The Rock, Straight BG
U Mono-Blue Fish U
RBW Mardu Pyromancer BWR
RG Rabble! Rabble! (GR Blood Moon Aggro) GR
Legacy
W Death & Taxes W
I don't really think so.
It's just frustrating how the new printed merfolk or one mana too much or lack an ability to be on the same or better level of the other creatures in modern
-Jungleborn Pioneer is one mana more then Dwynens Elite.
-Merfolk Mistbinder is a 2 mana lord but the lack of an extra abilty can be relevant.
-Deeproot Elite is one mana too much to be a Champion of the Parrish and at the same time is a abilty short to be on the same level of Thalia Liutenant while still being only a 1/1.
So close.
It's not always possible to seed cards in previous sets. Neither Merfolk nor Dinosaurs appear on the planes of Kaladesh or Amonkhet, so it was not possible to include them there. [...] Merfolk could have made sense in those worlds, but they were a late addition to Ixalan design. By the time that tribe was added, the worldbuilding in the previous year was complete. It was too late to rebuild the world to include Merfolk.
This means Merfolk was a late design and probably a late addition, but what comes is interesting:
Sometimes it's not possible to seed (see the Merfolk and Dinosaur examples above). When we can't seed cards for certain decks, we will distribute the deck's power throughout the block or even the whole year.[...] The Vampire and Merfolk lords add significant power to the tribes, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the real world will approach these archetypes.
So Merfolks DO exist in Dominaria, so it won't be rare to have one or two additions to wait for. It doesn't relief me from disappointment but at least it gives something new to wait for.
RBridgevineB
RGR/G EldraziX
UBlue MoonR
UU/W TronW
Zombies were printing in Shadows over Innistrad but were never a thing until Amonkhet. There could be more fish on the way in later sets.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
I'd like to provide a momentary diversion from these underwhelming spoilers to report a 5-0 in an MTGO competitive league! Nikachu was urging me to re-test Watertrap Weaver, and I decided to swap out Kopala for it and see how we'd do. Details below:
List here.
Matchups Faced
Gifts Storm (2-1)
Game 1 (play): I keep a relatively slow hand, but so does my opponent. I invalidate their Remands with Cavern as I stack Lords and add pressure to the board, but they find a cost reducer just in time to not die to the onslaught.
Game 2 (play): A T1 Relic followed by relentless pressure makes this one rather academic.
Game 3 (draw): Unfortunately, we don't get to play this one out, as my opponent has to go attend to non-Magic related business. Friendly person, though: we chatted a bit about Rivals of Ixalan spoilers (as they were also a Merfolk player) throughout the match.
Sideboarding: +2 Dispel, +2 Echoing Truth, +4 Negate, +4 Relic of Progenitus, -4 Harbinger of the Tides, -4 Master of Waves, -4 Spreading Seas
Grixis Shadow (2-0)
Game 1 (draw): My opponent Thoughtseizes away my Spreading Seas (?), but I find another to temporarily cut them off black. Once they do find a black source, they cast a small Shadow, which I immediately Dismember. We hit a bit of a board stall in the midgame, with a Gurmag Angler walling off a handful of my creatures, but Weaver into Harbinger render it irrelevant. My opponent lands a Shadow, but a Lord allows me to walk past it for lethal.
Game 2 (draw, mull 6): My opponent spits out a quick Shadow, and I Dismember it while holding up mana/Dispel for their Stubborn Denial. They then follow it up with a Tasigur, and I take a hit while my Silvergills draw me into a Harbinger to bounce it away. They then cast a Gurmag, which gets bounced by the combination of Reejerey and a second Harbinger. I swing for lethal with Dispel backup, but Push + Stubborn Denial buys them a turn. Fortunately, they can't really find anything that can deal with 4 attackers, and they scoop.
Sideboarding: +2 Dispel, +2 Echoing Truth, +4 Relic of Progenitus, -4 Aether Vial, -4 Spreading Seas
Grixis Shadow (2-0)
Game 1 (play): I fight through some early discard to slap a Seas on their black source and cast Silvergill Adept + Cursecatcher on Turn 3. My opponent taps out to cast an Angler, and I respond by playing a late Vial and a Lord to crack them for 5. I land a Master of Waves on the following turn, but it gets Dismembered. I decide to make my opponent have the answer and bash with my creatures for lethal with islandwalk, but they have the Push. My opponent casts a second Angler and attacks with the first, but I have the Harbinger to send it away. They then tap out to recast it, which allows me to flash in a second Harbinger, fire up my Mutavault, and tag them for exactsies.
Game 2 (draw): I start somewhat slowly due to my opponent finding Inquisition into Snap-Inquisition on turns 2 and 3 as well as a Fatal Push for my first Lord, but I eventually stick a Reejerey into Master of Waves. My opponent finds an Izzet Staticaster to ping away my tokens, but I take advantage of their tapping out for it to Echoing Truth away their Gurmag Angler. They tap out to recast it, and a topdecked Master of the Pearl Trident seals their fate.
Sideboarding: +2 Dispel, +2 Echoing Truth, +4 Relic of Progenitus, -4 Aether Vial, -4 Spreading Seas
Affinity (2-1)
Game 1 (play): I never quite turn the corner on this one, as I had a double Reejerey hand to explode on my opponent, but couldn't find the 4th land to vomit out all of my 2-drops on Turn 4. Because of this stumble, I end up being one turn away when my opponent's double Ravager hand cracks in for lethal in the air.
Game 2 (play, mull 6): My opponent starts relatively slowly (Vault Skirge T1, Steel Overseer T2), which gives my Reejerey-fueled plan time to develop. A pair of 2/2 Vault Skirges with a bit of Galvanic Blast backup are racing my Lord-fueled onslaught, and they fall just short when Echoing Truth wipes their attack for lethal off the board.
Game 3 (draw): My opponent mulls to 5, and their only threat for a time is an Inkmoth Nexus, which I find a Seas for. I develop my board somewhat awkwardly while casting one Lord or Silvergill per turn (stuck on 3 lands), but my opponent's Ornithopter with a Cranial Plating on it isn't quite enough to outrace me.
Sideboarding: +3 Ceremonious Rejection, +2 Echoing Truth, -1 Cursecatcher, -4 Master of Waves
Sultai Shadow (2-0)
Game 1 (play): I keep a 7 with a single Mutavault and a Vial, and I find another Vault before an Abrupt Decay takes the Vial out. Luckily, I topdeck an Island and slam a Reejerey, which my opponent Liliana -2's away. I find a second Vial with a Silvergill Adept, and we settle into midgame board stall in which his 2nd Liliana (and his meager life total of 5) are being protected by a massive Shadow and Goyf. Liliana -2s eat away at my board and allow the Shadow to attack me twice, but a topdecked Watertrap Weaver taps down the Goyf and gives me the board presence to double-chump a Shadow and a topdecked Grim Flayer, then crack back for lethal.
Game 2 (draw, mull 6): I land a T1 Relic, which eventually baits out a Maelstrom Pulse. My opponent's Goyf eventually reaches a solid size and starts cracking in, but a Harbinger sends that back and gives me the tempo edge. I start cracking my opponent with random creatures and Mutavaults, which baits out their Fatal Push. They recast their Goyf, but it's no match for Master of Waves, 3 Mutavaults, and a full complement of tokens, and we seal the deal.
Sideboarding: +2 Echoing Truth, +4 Relic of Progenitus, -4 Aether Vial, -2 Dismember; in retrospect, I should have sided out Seas for Dispel and perhaps a couple of Negates as well.
Notes and Observations:
I was obviously fortunate here, as I faced Shadow (which I consider to be a pretty good matchup) 3 times, got a freebie Game 3 from my Storm opponent (though I feel very confident about how my sideboard lines up against that deck), and my Affinity opponent mulled to 5 in Game 3 (that said, I was somewhat unfortunate in the Game 1 we played). Weaver was surprisingly solid in the Shadow matchups, but was either not drawn or not cast elsewhere in the league. I'm not sold on it yet, but I'll continue to test and see how it does. Keep swimming!
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
It never did. It's basically a vanilla bear, there's too many better creatures to play.
How has everyone’s testings of Kumeena and Branchwalker gone?
Mtgo will be my platform to try green folk in Standard first, then jump into UG Modern if results show up, but mono U until then.
Anyway, had the Masters Finals today in paper magic, 24 best qualified for the last tournament of 2017. season.
Managed to top8 but lost to Green Tron. It wasn’t nice matchup because he had unusual green monsters and Natural State for every Seas. I could never pass for enough dmg, and then Ulamog, huge Ballista and even second version of Emrakul showed up (?!), so loss in QF.
That guy went to finals where he lost to another Merfolk deck, so my day wasn’t all ruined
And now I can relax and watch two big Modern tournaments without Merfolk decks (I guess...)
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
unsummon
watertrap weaver
combat tricks (blossoming defense, river heralds' boon)
i expect energy will be neutered in the B/R announcement
but this thread is for modern so i'll probably get a nastygram for even talking about standard...
U Merfolk U
WUBRGPeopleGRBUW
U Turbo Turns U
UB Fae BU
WBG Aristocrats GBW
This time it was:
11x Island
4x Mutavault
2x Cavern of Souls
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
Creatures: 30
4x Cursecatcher
4x Silvergill Adept
4x Lord of Atlantis
4x Master of the Pearl Trident
2x Phantasmal Image
4x Harbinger of the Tides
3x Merrow Reejerey
1x Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1x Kopala, Warden of Waves
3x Watertrap Weaver
4x Aether Vial
Instants: 3
3x Dismember
Enchantments: 4
4x Spreading Seas
2x Pithing Needle
3x Relic of Progenitus
3x Ceremonious Rejection
2x Echoing Truth
2x Dispel
3x Mana Leak
—Radha, Keldon warlord