It's because the card is not even close to Silvergill, yes. In the majority of situations where it is a Silvergill, it's for the card type that I want the least (a land), and in the (much more common) case that it's not, it's a 3/2 with sort-of-scry 1, which is just not a Modern-caliber card in my opinion.
And yeah, Admiral's Order doesn't really do much for me. The U mode is nice, but it can be played around, and paying 3 mana for a counterspell just feels awful.
In U/G what are the recommendations for Cursecatcher Vs Kumenas Speaker? Must have both, 1 or the other, a bit of each? If you took out Cursecatcher could you in theory up your spell Pierce number or is the counter threat he represents to good of a tempo?
I'm jamming 4 of Catcher and Speaker, and they've both been great. Having a consistent Turn 1 play that affects the board has been one of the aspects I've been most pleased with out of Tropical Fish, and 12 1-drops (between Vial, Catcher, and Speaker) are what make that happen.
It is certainly a versatile card and can be extremely potent. It can act as a counterspell to any spell/ability that goes after your vial, mutavault, copter, spreading seas, or any creature. It can be extra reach or combat trick removal. It can be a tempo card. It requires a lot of skill to use correctly.
*Individual results may vary. Please consult your meta before making any major decisions about your flex spot usage. Be sure to consider what other flex spot cards you are using such as: dismember and/or spell pierce. Side effects of simic charm may include: not having non-creature green mana to cast it, the urge to add to the board rather than hold up 2 mana, not being able to deal with "must answer" threats that your opponent casts. The views expressed in this post are solely those of the poster. The Simic Guild has no affiliation with the poster.
It's versatile, but kind of color-intensive. Holding up 2 mana is also kind of a pain. I don't see the need for them, but you could try them and see what happens.
Just wanted to report that I attended the SCG Modern Classic in "Philadelphia" today (airquotes used because the location was a half hour away from the city - I should know, I live there), and I bagged myself a Top-16 finish! I'll be writing up the report as an article for ModernNexus, but I just felt like I had to get this info out to you now. Keep swimming!
Just wanted to report that I attended the SCG Modern Classic in "Philadelphia" today (airquotes used because the location was a half hour away from the city - I should know, I live there), and I bagged myself a Top-16 finish! I'll be writing up the report as an article for ModernNexus, but I just felt like I had to get this info out to you now. Keep swimming!
That’s awesome! Congrats on the top 16 finish! Mono U FTW!!
A) GG is incredibly hard to play in a deck that wants UU on turn 2-3, AND plays 18-20 lands, which include a number of utility/colorless lands (which Cavern of Souls is fo a Dinosaur in a merfolk deck).
B) It can't be vialed in... Ok, it can, technically, but you won't tick up to 12 on Vial in modern.
C) It's a win more card for this deck: if you have 8 power on board, you are either winning, or you want to play another lord or Spreading Seas. And if you're not, a 12/12 won't help you.
D) If you want a card they won't see coming, run CoCo.
I've been running 18 lands in Tropical Fish with lots of success. If your only 3-drops are 4 Reejereys, the deck can very easily support 18 land. That said, I am on only 2 Mutavaults, but I frankly haven't missed them much.
@Sliceydicey: Weaver was awesome. It's really making a case for being locked into my flex spots going forward.
Have you missed having the 1/1 split of kira/kopala since switching to Watertrap? I think that's what you had been running for a while after Ixalan ... if I'm not mistaken.
I'm still running kira/kopala and ended up cutting down to 2 MoW to fit the Watertrap Weavers. I have found that (since my local meta doesn't have any "must answer" creature combo) Harbinger, Reejerey, and Watertrap end up being enough creature interaction that I don't need dismember anymore, so I switched those 2 slots to spell pierce. I'm not 100% on my 4 Reejerey 2 MoW decision. MoW is great, but often felt bad back when it was a 4x. I've always built with the "don't put 4 in if you don't want to see multiples in your opening hand" adage. I'm thinking 3 might be the right number, but unsure what to cut. I still see lists with 4 MoW (like your most recent finish ... congrats btw) and I just don't think I like the marginal gain of a 4th MoW is worth the mulligans. Maybe I'm wrong though, I haven't done the math, and it's clearly still putting up results. Nikachu's newest mono-U series is running a 3/3 split of Reejerey/MoW.
@bptrumpet: I used to run 2 Kopala in the spot now occupied by Weavers. I prefer Kopala to Kira because he's less dead in removal-light matchups. I wouldn't recommend dipping below 3 Master of Waves, personally, especially if you expect attrition matchups.
@Shadowwarrior346: Good job! I'm surprised that you don't flood a fair amount with that list. I'm on 18 lands 2 Vaults (a necessary concession to make the mana work), and even then I find that I sometimes have too many. I almost never want to see more than 4 lands in a game.
And yeah, Admiral's Order doesn't really do much for me. The U mode is nice, but it can be played around, and paying 3 mana for a counterspell just feels awful.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
It is certainly a versatile card and can be extremely potent. It can act as a counterspell to any spell/ability that goes after your vial, mutavault, copter, spreading seas, or any creature. It can be extra reach or combat trick removal. It can be a tempo card. It requires a lot of skill to use correctly.
*Individual results may vary. Please consult your meta before making any major decisions about your flex spot usage. Be sure to consider what other flex spot cards you are using such as: dismember and/or spell pierce. Side effects of simic charm may include: not having non-creature green mana to cast it, the urge to add to the board rather than hold up 2 mana, not being able to deal with "must answer" threats that your opponent casts. The views expressed in this post are solely those of the poster. The Simic Guild has no affiliation with the poster.
Pioneer: Spirits
EDH: Ur-Dragon + Lord Windgrace + Arixmethes + Atla Palani + Kalamax
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Just wanted to report that I attended the SCG Modern Classic in "Philadelphia" today (airquotes used because the location was a half hour away from the city - I should know, I live there), and I bagged myself a Top-16 finish! I'll be writing up the report as an article for ModernNexus, but I just felt like I had to get this info out to you now. Keep swimming!
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
That’s awesome! Congrats on the top 16 finish! Mono U FTW!!
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
U Merfolk
UBR Delver
Sadly, no. I was never on one of the feature matches.
Thank you all for your support.
@Sliceydicey: Weaver was awesome. It's really making a case for being locked into my flex spots going forward.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
No problem!
A) GG is incredibly hard to play in a deck that wants UU on turn 2-3, AND plays 18-20 lands, which include a number of utility/colorless lands (which Cavern of Souls is fo a Dinosaur in a merfolk deck).
B) It can't be vialed in... Ok, it can, technically, but you won't tick up to 12 on Vial in modern.
C) It's a win more card for this deck: if you have 8 power on board, you are either winning, or you want to play another lord or Spreading Seas. And if you're not, a 12/12 won't help you.
D) If you want a card they won't see coming, run CoCo.
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
Lands 19
5 Islands
4 Mutavaults
4 Botanical Sanctum
2 Breeding Pool
4 Flooded Strand
I’ve only ever played the Mono U build but am very intrigued by the thought of running 16 lords.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
2 Breeding Pool
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
3 Island
2 Mutavault
U Merfolk
UBR Delver
Have you missed having the 1/1 split of kira/kopala since switching to Watertrap? I think that's what you had been running for a while after Ixalan ... if I'm not mistaken.
I'm still running kira/kopala and ended up cutting down to 2 MoW to fit the Watertrap Weavers. I have found that (since my local meta doesn't have any "must answer" creature combo) Harbinger, Reejerey, and Watertrap end up being enough creature interaction that I don't need dismember anymore, so I switched those 2 slots to spell pierce. I'm not 100% on my 4 Reejerey 2 MoW decision. MoW is great, but often felt bad back when it was a 4x. I've always built with the "don't put 4 in if you don't want to see multiples in your opening hand" adage. I'm thinking 3 might be the right number, but unsure what to cut. I still see lists with 4 MoW (like your most recent finish ... congrats btw) and I just don't think I like the marginal gain of a 4th MoW is worth the mulligans. Maybe I'm wrong though, I haven't done the math, and it's clearly still putting up results. Nikachu's newest mono-U series is running a 3/3 split of Reejerey/MoW.
4 Cavern of Souls
10 Island
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
4 Mutavault
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
Creatures:
4 Cursecatcher
4 Harbinger of the Tides
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Kopala, Warden of Waves
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
2 Master of Waves
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
2 Watertrap Weaver
4 Aether Vial
2 Spell Pierce
4 Spreading Seas
3 Dispel
2 Echoing Truth
3 Negate
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Smuggler's Copter
2 Tectonic Edge
Pioneer: Spirits
EDH: Ur-Dragon + Lord Windgrace + Arixmethes + Atla Palani + Kalamax
@Shadowwarrior346: Good job! I'm surprised that you don't flood a fair amount with that list. I'm on 18 lands 2 Vaults (a necessary concession to make the mana work), and even then I find that I sometimes have too many. I almost never want to see more than 4 lands in a game.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers: