One card to consider that I've been running as a 4 of in the mainboard is Mistcutter Hydra. It's not insanely powerful, but the haste gives the deck more speed, the pro blue/counter protection makes control games easier, and it even curves out somewhat nice with a turn 1 scales. I think it's the best hydra effect from Gx we can get.
That's a complicated way to say target rhino. But if elves becomes a standard collected company deck I'm not sure if this guy fits in. He's extremely powerful though, remind me of Nekatrayl or whatever that card is. Lol.
Other notable thingd about this card:
-Since your creatures go to your hand, you can morph Den Protector, which I'm sure might be relevant.
-A manifest could be sac'd to this to get a real creature and the manifested card would be in the grave, retrievable by protector.
-With delve or another GY exiling mechanic you could filter out bad flips from this like late game mystics.
I don't think comparing it to Survival is completely right, as the sacrifice text is important. The sac'd creature is not shuffled back, so with Bloodsoaked Champion or some other recurring creature it can be a card drawing engine. Even if you were to get something like an Elvish Mystic, you can just cast it and sac it to repeat the cycle. There are so many little tricks you can do with sacrificing, which makes me believe this will be a Tier 1 Standard card.
I think Harbinger is excellent for the deck. Everyone keeps comparing it to snag, which is fair, but snag is not a merfolk. Snag can't be revealed from Silvergil, and it doesn't add any devotion or trigger Reejery. The most important part of this card for us is that it's good in many different situations of the game. We have enough two drops that we won't have to play this on turn two, even if it is played then it's still good for us because it advances the game plan of the deck.
Merfolk is not a reactive deck. Merfolk is a do something tempo deck, this card pushes the strategy forward. The majority of our games we win by having a critical mass of lords and fish. This card advances our game plan and disrupts most other decks plan. Expect to see this as at least a 3-of in many lists.
Hey there fellow fish players, I just got back from GP Charlotte. As my first modern event and first time playing the deck in a tournament, I was extremely satisfied with how I did. I went 3-1 in two Modern challenge events. In the main event, my first two rounds were Affinity and I didn't play any Recall's by choice, so that was rough. After going 2-3, losing to the mirror, I dropped.
At two in the morning my friend tells me we're going to play at the Sunday Super Series, and I sign up. I talk to one of the other fish players in the tournament and eventually find out it's Nickachu, which was a pretty pleasant surprise. After losing the first round, I managed to play smart and win round after round after round, playing against Burn, which was easy, Jund, which was also not too bad, Twin, which was fun and challenging but slightly in our favor, and some other decks, I had a record of 7-1.
Turns out I couldn't draw in to Top 8, so I look up at pairings to see who my win-and-in opponent is, and I find out I'm playing against Tom Ross, who was on Infect. He slaughtered game one, but games two and three my sideboard cards helped me push through, and I beat Ross 2-1. I lost immediately in the Top 8 to Affinity, but that's alright, I was honestly just ready to take my booster boxes and head home.
I'll post a full match by match report of the Super Sunday Series because I felt like my list was well prepared for the matches I played. I will say that the deck is very powerful, even deceptively so due to its painless manabase and forgiving starting hands.
How does everyone feel about the 3 Dismember in the main board of the Invitational list? It's a card I regularly sided in against a lot of decks, but it seems like it could be miserable against burn, which can be a tossup sometimes.
What's everyone's thoughts on Monastery Siege? I've found it to be really useful, but as a CMC 3 card that doesn't advance our board it's difficult for me to decide if I want it in the maindeck, sideboard, or at all. What about Phantasmal Image? I like it too, but I think it can lead to some bad situations with Silvergil, and missing the trigger off of Reejery is a pain too.
Hey fellow fish players, anybody here going to GP Charlotte? It's my first GP, so I'm trying to get my list as close to ready as I can. I expect a good amount of burn since it's a big tournament and I'm sure a lot of people will be playing the cheapest tier one deck.
Learn what the best decks are, understand why they are the best decks and understand what makes them so consistent. Then, after you've gotten a feel for what best decks out there are, then you can deviate. Netdecking isn't a bad thing, but to be a good player you have to realize that not playing a deck because it's "the most popular" and putting yourself at a disadvantage like that is not the best option.
Actually, this deck started as an Alesha build, but the combo rarely went off as every deck can kill Alesha in a turn and she doesn't trigger Ferocious, and no other creature is worth recurring.
After messing with a couple of deck ideas and desperately trying to find the right place for the very powerful Tasigur, the Golden Fang, I think I've got it. This deck is a synergy machine that combines an aggressive start with powerful late game inevitability.
There's the main deck. The sideboard is a work in progress, as I'm not sure what needs to be boarded out or in, but it includes the usual Wild Slash and Thoughtseize and Drown in Sorrow. The numbers constantly change.
Now, to the list. The deck runs on it's ability to generate a threat from cards like Bloodsoaked Champion, Vaultbreaker, and Flamewake Phoenix initially, generate cards in the graveyard with Satyr Wayfinder and Grave Strength, not to mention the seven fetches. The cards in the grave fuel the delve creatures and spells. However, all three of these things have a wonderful amount of synergy together. Many small "combos" exist within the deck that can lead to insane early aggressive plays.
Turn 1: Fetch into a Bloodsoaked Champion
Turn 2: Fetch into a Satyr Wayfinder, flip a Flamewake Phoenix
Turn 3: Delve in a Tasigur, start of combat gain the Flamewake Phoenix
Of course, that's a very powerful start that doesn't happen all the time, but the deck doesn't need that to do well. The card combinations range from...
Vaultbreaker+Flamewake Phoenix= Discarding the phoenix and drawing a card, and next turn recurring the phoenix
Tymaret+Flamewake Phoenix/Bloodsoaked Champion= Repeatable two damage
Tymaret+Tymaret= A slow loop that creates a steady stream of blockers and is resistant to removal, albeit slow
Tasigur/Mandrils+Flamewake Phoenix= All the delve creatures trigger ferocious so late game it's easy to recur
Grave Strength+Grave Strength= Yes, the possibility to whiff on one is discouraging, and getting blown out by removal sucks. However, if you play your cards right, grave strength can be a powerful engine that enables itself and can give a creature a good amount of counters while enabling delve and getting recuring cards like Champion, Phoenix, and Tymaret. Also, the two Nyx Weavers work well as they provide a bit of inevitability with the whip, if it is milled over the Weaver can retrieve it if necessary, just adding to the deck's inevitability.
-Since your creatures go to your hand, you can morph Den Protector, which I'm sure might be relevant.
-A manifest could be sac'd to this to get a real creature and the manifested card would be in the grave, retrievable by protector.
-With delve or another GY exiling mechanic you could filter out bad flips from this like late game mystics.
Merfolk is not a reactive deck. Merfolk is a do something tempo deck, this card pushes the strategy forward. The majority of our games we win by having a critical mass of lords and fish. This card advances our game plan and disrupts most other decks plan. Expect to see this as at least a 3-of in many lists.
At two in the morning my friend tells me we're going to play at the Sunday Super Series, and I sign up. I talk to one of the other fish players in the tournament and eventually find out it's Nickachu, which was a pretty pleasant surprise. After losing the first round, I managed to play smart and win round after round after round, playing against Burn, which was easy, Jund, which was also not too bad, Twin, which was fun and challenging but slightly in our favor, and some other decks, I had a record of 7-1.
Turns out I couldn't draw in to Top 8, so I look up at pairings to see who my win-and-in opponent is, and I find out I'm playing against Tom Ross, who was on Infect. He slaughtered game one, but games two and three my sideboard cards helped me push through, and I beat Ross 2-1. I lost immediately in the Top 8 to Affinity, but that's alright, I was honestly just ready to take my booster boxes and head home.
I'll post a full match by match report of the Super Sunday Series because I felt like my list was well prepared for the matches I played. I will say that the deck is very powerful, even deceptively so due to its painless manabase and forgiving starting hands.
This card is very, very good and the threat of activation can be powerful.
4 Bloodsoaked Champion
4 Flamewake Phoenix
4 Satyr Wayfinder
3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3 Hooting Mandrels
3 Vaultbreaker
2 Nyx Weaver
2 Tymaret, the Murder King
4 Lightning Strike
4 Grave Strength
2 Murderous Cut
1 Whip of Erebos
Land
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Swamp
3 Temple of Abandon
2 Temple of Malady
3 Temple of Malice
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Wooded Foothills
There's the main deck. The sideboard is a work in progress, as I'm not sure what needs to be boarded out or in, but it includes the usual Wild Slash and Thoughtseize and Drown in Sorrow. The numbers constantly change.
Now, to the list. The deck runs on it's ability to generate a threat from cards like Bloodsoaked Champion, Vaultbreaker, and Flamewake Phoenix initially, generate cards in the graveyard with Satyr Wayfinder and Grave Strength, not to mention the seven fetches. The cards in the grave fuel the delve creatures and spells. However, all three of these things have a wonderful amount of synergy together. Many small "combos" exist within the deck that can lead to insane early aggressive plays.
Turn 1: Fetch into a Bloodsoaked Champion
Turn 2: Fetch into a Satyr Wayfinder, flip a Flamewake Phoenix
Turn 3: Delve in a Tasigur, start of combat gain the Flamewake Phoenix
Of course, that's a very powerful start that doesn't happen all the time, but the deck doesn't need that to do well. The card combinations range from...
Vaultbreaker+Flamewake Phoenix= Discarding the phoenix and drawing a card, and next turn recurring the phoenix
Tymaret+Flamewake Phoenix/Bloodsoaked Champion= Repeatable two damage
Tymaret+Tymaret= A slow loop that creates a steady stream of blockers and is resistant to removal, albeit slow
Tasigur/Mandrils+Flamewake Phoenix= All the delve creatures trigger ferocious so late game it's easy to recur
Grave Strength+Grave Strength= Yes, the possibility to whiff on one is discouraging, and getting blown out by removal sucks. However, if you play your cards right, grave strength can be a powerful engine that enables itself and can give a creature a good amount of counters while enabling delve and getting recuring cards like Champion, Phoenix, and Tymaret. Also, the two Nyx Weavers work well as they provide a bit of inevitability with the whip, if it is milled over the Weaver can retrieve it if necessary, just adding to the deck's inevitability.