MTG Salvation

Misdirection is a definite as it has been played in several lists lately for legacy. I have the aquitect's wills.

As for having the deck non-foiled, I have both the legacy and modern builds in non-foil as well which is what I will typically use. The foiled versions are just for bigger tournaments or events. Adds to personal pride, not much else though.

Sadly no. I went 8-1 the first day, but scrubbed out the second day on my own accord. I made bad mistakes and should have done better. I could blame it on several things, but it was my fault.

Thanks. I actually have a fully foiled version of the deck I ran at GP Richmond complete with Sideboard. Some of the cards were pretty expensive though. Mutavualts were only $50 when I picked them up, so not horrible. I have been keeping a look out for cards, but as modern blew up, those prices have gotten higher. Because it's an eternal format they will retain the majority of their value which is also good. Even if they are reprinted, the foils will still be fewer than that of the regular version, so I looked at it as an investment. I just feel like there are cards I am missing, and want to make sure whatever build I end up going with I can go to my collection and pull out a fully foiled version of it.

Like HammerAndSickled said, I probably should focus on the cards that are in every list for both Legacy and Modern. Although money isn't really a problem, it will take me a while to get foiled wastelands. Good thing is they too are part of an eternal format I guess.

Agreed. I started fringe sb cards due to focusing on the modern side first. Legacy causes some problems as some of the cards just aren't available foiled, and most likely never will be. For a competitive version of it, the best I will be able to do is a mix as to ensure randomness since I won't be allowed to cut to the cards that are or are not foiled in the deck without a game loss. So for now I'm picking up legacy cards here and there, but the modern build is the majority of my focus. That was why I started branching out to begin with, but I probably should start looking at picking those up that do play in the deck regularly in every format. Thank you.

Wrath effects were there in some of the builds for standard when it was more tempo oriented as opposed to beatdown. I wanted them there in case it went back to the tempo option. Wasteland and Daze are absent just because of cost alone. Standstill I have, and forgot to add them, but with Wastelands being $350 each and Daze at $100 for foils they are currently out of my price range sadly. Vendilion Clique and Cryptic command are also fringe, but I haven't picked them up yet. Cliques are also $100-150 right now.

Hello everyone. Just a little background, I've been playing magic for a while. I typically play competitive so I usually avoid foils at all cost. With that said, I recently did pretty well in GP Richmond's modern event with a Merfolk build. I played merfolk back when it wasn't the best deck in the Lorwyn/Timespiral standard, and loved it then. I have it build in both Modern and Legacy. After GP Richmond, I decided I wanted to do something special for the deck that I love, I wanted to foil it out.

What I'm looking for is some help. First, I am aware that foiling out a deck is costly. Second, it's not for everyone. I'm not looking for advice on whether or not to do it. I'm looking for advice on what cards I should get. I have started already, and below are the list of cards that I have already picked up. Assume that I have purchased a full playset of the cards listed. What am I missing? What else could play into the sideboard options, or maindeck given the meta changes? What cards had seen play, but may not now? Things like that are what I'm looking for. The goal is to be able to go to my collection regardless of the cards, and put together a fully foiled deck for tournaments. Thank you.

Creatures:
Master of the Pearl Trident
Lord of Atlantis
Cursecatcher
Silvergill Adept
Merrow Reejerey
Master of Waves
Tidebinder Mage
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
Phantasmal Image
Coralhelm Commander
Spellskite
Merfolk Sovereign
Merfolk Assassin
Cosi's Trickster
Mothdust Changeling
Wake Thrasher
Thassa, God of the Sea
Sejiri Merfolk
Stonybrook Banneret
Sygg, River Guide
Meddling Mage
Sower of Temptation
Sygg, River Cutthroat
Rootwater Theif
Llawan, Cephalid Empress


Lands:
Island
Plains
Swamp
Mutavault
Cavern of Souls
Ghost Quarter
Tectonic Edge
Wonderwine Hub
Glacial Fortress
Seachrome Coast
Hallowed Fountain
Darkslick Shores
Watery Grave
Drowned Catacomb
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx


Instants:
Swan Song
Echoing Truth
Hurkyl's Recall
Vapor Snag
Spell Pierce
Spell Snare
Steel Sabotage
Unified Will
Remand
Negate
Mana Leak
Hibernation
Annul
Mental Misstep
Rune Snag
Snapback
Delay
Dispel
Mindbreak Trap
Submerge
Mutagenic Growth
Dismember
Doom Blade
Go for the Throat
Surgical Extraction
Path to Exile
Marrow Shards


Sorceries:
Wrath of God
Damnation
Aquitect's Will


Planeswaklers:
Jace Beleren


Enchantments:
Spreading Seas
Threads of Disloyalty
Standstill


Artifacts:
Chalice of the Void
Damping Matrix
Ratchet Bomb
Pithing Needle
Grafdigger's Cage
Relic of Progenitus
Aether Vial
Tormod's Crypt
Engineered Explosives
Torpor Orb
Vedalken Shackles


What else should I get?

Still Need List:
Wateland
Daze
Cryptic Command
Vendilion Clique
Misdirection

Finished day one 8-1 with my list. Another Merfolk list was at the top table of my flight when I left. There were several of us making day two.

GP Richmond is about to start. Let the fishes swim! Good luck to everyone. I hope to see you on day two!

Radnortuws,
I chose not to include them due to the number of non merfolk spells I use. It makes for awkward draws when you have anything other than merfolk in your opening hand and a cavern and mutavault. The most I would feel comfortable with running would be 1 cavern, and even then the likelihood of seeing it is low in those matchups. I just wanted a more consistent mana base over the random games where caverns mattered. Most decks aren't trying to count your spells, and for those few that do, vials are better anyway.

I've made a couple changes to my mainboard, but still putting up decent numbers against both combo and zoo which I expect to see at GP Richmond. I did add a few things to sideboard since I wanted a better covering of randomness that I am likely to see come Saturday morning. If I get byes in the events from Friday I may reconsider and tweak it for more of a stable meta, but going in with everyone else it is likely that I'll see a lot of everything given the number of people registered.

Here's my list.

The decklist from the Channel Fireball 15k tournament this weekend is finally up. Not sure how this deck did, but it was in the top 8.

@BatHickey I am thinking about dropping down to 3 vapor snags and upping to 3 spell pierce in the main. I still think that may be the best counter for this deck given the cheaper cost. I also saw a list today with mutagenic growth in the sb as a 2 of. I can see how that might be of some use as long as lightning bolt, lightning helix, and anger of the gods stay the most prevalent removal options. Not sure I'm that sold on it yet though.

Merfolk made the top 8 of the Channel Fireball modern tournament on 3/2/14. I haven't found a list yet, but they did say the player was running 3 master of waves. Once I find a list or video I'll post.

Bob definitely is something to think about. I think he would make the zoo matchup worse though. We'd be shocking ourselves most turns after 3 at the best, and bolting ourselves more often than we could handle. Blocking or snagging it would be the only way to prevent that damage too unless we just get lucky to hit lands. With only 20 in the deck though, it's a small percentage. Clique is a better add there in my opinion. It is a flier in the affinity matchup, and helps against combo and control. The only probably was it was too slow in the zoo matchup from what I saw. Threads felt like it too had a similar issue which is why I went to tidebinder mage.

Trickster is good, but not in the current meta. Very few times would you want to play it over vial turn one, and it gets infinitely worse after turn 2 when a lot of decks have fixed their mana base enough for it not to matter, and can easily still deal with it with a bolt or path. It does make us more aggressive, but it also worsens the combo matchups like storm. Cursecatcher isn't great after the first one usually, but you do want to see it early in those matchups which is why you'd run it at 3 at least.

@Frozen Fire - Ephara is an interesting choice, but we are already higher on our curve with master of waves than we'd like. Many people have already said that 2-3 master of waves is enough without messing with our play tempo. I've currently cut mine down to 2 since I am usually winning when i see that card anyway. In my opinion, a 4 mana one sided howling mine isn't what you'd want in your merfolk deck unless things drastically slow down after the next set of bannings.