Merrow commerce has been a staple in the past, but in my meta its hard to make sure Drowner of Secrets sticks. Faces of the past and altar get around that. I do already own commerce though so it'll be tested for sure.
And yes, the token spitter was Stonybrook Schoolmaster, who conveniently combos with Altar and Faces. Intruder Alarm would work too I suppose, but I love the interaction faces has with grimoire thief. Might splash white now.
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Currently running:
Standard GWUBant EnchantmentsUWG BR Dos Rakis RB UW Mill WU
Reejerey is too aggro oriented, and better off if this was Commerce (remember - its a merfolk too that you can tap!).
I tried putting in Sygg in my version and it was suboptimal. Just put in some counters to protect from spot and mass removal and I think that would be better.
Put in Opposition instead of Sleep - this card is full of win for this deck, as this provides a tap outlet for Grimoire Thief and shuts down opposing creatures and even lands during your opponent's upkeep!
Sygg was subpar in my old build as well. Counterspells seem to be a better option.
I do like Opposition though, it seems perfect here. I can't complain with a white splash, it does give me access to spot removal and other trickery, and the landbase won't be hard to adjust (it also drops the monetary cost of the deck which is nice).
For removal, would Crib Swap be viable? I've always loved the card but I'm not sure if the trade off is good enough.
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Currently running:
Standard GWUBant EnchantmentsUWG BR Dos Rakis RB UW Mill WU
Opposition seems rather good as a "tap outlet" too. And so does Patron Wizard, considering most of your Merfolk are also Wizards.
Those are excellent suggestions. I used to run a similar deck with those. My secret tech was puresight merrow. You can untap it for one mana and keep tapping it again while filtering your top deck. He's a lot better than you'd think!
This is both my first post and first time building a deck so I expect lots of improvements I first started this deck as a theme off Merfolk(sirens kinda) and spirits(their human victims) haha. I found the Eldrazi enchant and I thought it would be a cool way to win. This is just a casual play-with-friends only deck so I don't need to be super good but at least stand it's ground. My budget is at most $40-50 and so far this is about ~$25 on TCGplayer.
I'm not tossing this whole idea out but could a MUC deck work well with its victory plan being Eldrazi Conscription on something? Kinda looking for a more unique victory plan than what I've found so far in the primers and whatnot...
On a side note, this merfolk deck was actually started as a MUC deck but I wanted more options so I could go aggro and do some sort of all-rounder type deck. Thanks Bifrons for all the input and hopefully I didn't just waste your time
LASTLY, does making a whole deck of just 4x feel boring? I will probably end up getting extra cards to deal with different threats but keep this deck as a whole similar... I ask because it feels like every game you go through the same strategy when I intend to just have a fun time which is why control sounded the most flexible initially.
Hey guys I would like to construct a budget merfolk deck. Unfortunately since this is for my friend I don't have a list of all the merfolks he has currently but I know he has 1/2 of the main ones. I would like it to play of the island walk ability amassing many merfolk in the process. I would like to stay under 25 dollars and ill get the list of merfolk as soon as I can. Thanks guys!
None of these cards are that pricey. $25 might not be enough to get full playsets of everything but it should be manageable. If you're lucky he'll already have some of these cards.
I havent really seen Sage's Dousing mentioned much as a viable countering-type spell in these decks. To me, it seems that it is very cheap with having Bannerets AND you stop a spell AND you draw a card AND have another element of control in making them tap lands to stop the effect. I guess if you were going to have just a couple slots taken up by countering cards, maybe you just go with Counterspell, but if you needed more I think its an imperative card to have in a merfolk-control deck. Thoughts?
That totally went over my head as I didn't play magic for the last month or so.
Yeah, it definitely works but is more of a tempo card and more for running in a wizard-ish merfolk deck, probably somewhat like millfolk and such. Aggro merfolk won't really have a place for it.
This is what I'm running currently. It's meant for mostly multiplayer but probably functions around the same in 1v1. I'm having trouble with consistancy here but I don't really see the problem (I lost my fourth reejerey :/), mainly $$. Any comments?
ALSO: I updated the opening post to include master of the pearl trident and some little grammatical things
i play with a few friends casually but i guess somewhat competatively. anyway tonight i thought about making a merfolk tribe deck that also worked around milling and islandwalking, i was wondering if you guys could give me some critique, tips, pros and cons, etc., w/e. anything useful basically. let me know what you think. it is as follows:
I've tested a lot of decks over the past few years and the best one that I've used is merfolks, its such a great tribal. You have a good start, Wake Thrasher to me is definitely 4 copies. Daze would be nice 4 of to give you some more counter spelling. Merrow Reejerey is a must have I think, along with Tidal Courier. Ponder is another good card to have, plus it has the merfolk artwork too which fits the theme. Slivergill Adept is another good card that I like to use. Oh yea I'd have 20 islands at least.
I don't think he's going for full aggro-folk though. He has drowner and rootwater thief and grimoire thief. I don't think he needs the extra wake thrasher or damage.
However, silvergill adept is always the best card, so i would advise you replace reef shaman or aquitect's with it. 3-4 Islandwalk enablers are good enough.
EDIT:
I just looked at your list a bit more; it seems like you need to either focus on milling or damage. Also, just 18 islands isn't good enough. If you're going to do millfolk, i think it would be a good idea to splash white for judge of currents, summon the school and oblivion ring.
Wake thrasher doesn't go very well with merrow commerce as well, btw.
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the highest mana cost of any of my cards would be 3 though, how could 18 not supply an adequate amount of land? i didnt even realize the combo of wake thrasher and merrow commerce however, thanks for the heads up, that is a pretty unhelpful combo indeed. im not really into mixing white in either and i dont see the usefulness of those white cards either in terms of achieving what i want in terms of either milling quickly or damage. id be interested in hearing your reasoning for suggesting those cards
after reading through lots of this primer I wanted to build my own version of this tribal deck. here's what I got so far. I added selkie. think he's a strong 3 drop with a good draw mechanic. input before I buy please!
the highest mana cost of any of my cards would be 3 though, how could 18 not supply an adequate amount of land? i didnt even realize the combo of wake thrasher and merrow commerce however, thanks for the heads up, that is a pretty unhelpful combo indeed. im not really into mixing white in either and i dont see the usefulness of those white cards either in terms of achieving what i want in terms of either milling quickly or damage. id be interested in hearing your reasoning for suggesting those cards
White really helps you in terms of consistency in removal and token generation late game, and that really helps you win match-ups where you can't win straight out.
I've ran merfolk with an average cmc of 2 and you still need two or three lands at least to run; with 18 lands it's a lot less consistent and i still get mana screwed with around 24 lands.
I'll edit this post later after reading the thread a bit more because I forgot what I posted, but that's basically the reason why Uw/Ux merfolk is better than mono-blue millfolk
EDIT:
I think I wasn't clear about what I was saying; I've found merfolk with a splash of mill to not be as good or win as consistently as either straight millfolk or straight aggrofolk. The reason is that Drowner of Secrets is a three-drop with 1 power that forces you to tap all your merfolk down; it won't win as fast and you won't be able to snowball like you would with aggrofolk. However, if you do go millfolk, Judge of Currents will mitigate a lot of damage over time; if you do some math and calculate how much you would gain a turn, you might gain over 20 life in one game.
A few considerations;
Coralhel Commander; is he worth it? He can provide a mana sink and leveled up he is pretty solid. However, the question is, how often will I have free mana to level him up? I could always replace him with Phantasmal Image.
The other concern is land; is 20 enough without Aether Vial? Or should I cut two cards and go up to 22?
A few considerations;
Coralhel Commander; is he worth it? He can provide a mana sink and leveled up he is pretty solid. However, the question is, how often will I have free mana to level him up? I could always replace him with Phantasmal Image.
The other concern is land; is 20 enough without Aether Vial? Or should I cut two cards and go up to 22?
Coralhelm commander is, from my experience at least, one of the best cards in the deck. Yes, you usually will have a little mana here and there to level him up, and when he gets big he is a huge problem for just about any deck. The flying really lets you push over any stalls in creature battles or keep going when someone drops a moat or stuff like it.
Without vial i would up the mana count by atleast 1, probably 2 like you said. extra mana has some use here as you can use it to fuel coralhelm commanders and still play dudes even if you get 4-5 lands a game.
It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.
Yeah I think 22 would probably work better. I think I'll cut the spell pierce; I have Misstep, Daze and Cursecatcher for counters. I'd like to keep the Dismember for removal though I may try Vapour Snag as an option.
The Commander does seem strong and I'm sure that I'll have mana free at times to level him up and with even 1 other lord out he's a 5/5 Flyer (probably with islandwalk).
I'd consider investing in the vials but I don't want the deck to be too degenerate and Merfolk are pretty strong even without it.
It's OK. the problem is its mana intensive (2 to play the counter, 2 to replay silvergill) and it sets you back in tempo by bouncing your own dude. If your looking for counters, merfolk really benefit for cheap/free counters more, such as mental mistep, daze, force of will etc. becasue they can use the early turns to dump all their creatures and still be able to play counterspells while keeping heavy aggro. Its not terrible though, and you could probably use it as a replacement for force of will if you dont have the cash.
One of the glaring problems with it is that it works ok with silvergill, but if you don't have one then it is kinda worse then a regular counterspell. I say sometimes, because you could also use it as and unsummon and a counter if you knew your opponent was going to try and throw 2 swords to plowshares out or something. You could counter the first and bounce your guy so he can't swords it again or something.
It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.
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And yes, the token spitter was Stonybrook Schoolmaster, who conveniently combos with Altar and Faces. Intruder Alarm would work too I suppose, but I love the interaction faces has with grimoire thief. Might splash white now.
Standard
GWUBant EnchantmentsUWG
BR Dos Rakis RB
UW Mill WU
Legacy
RGoblinsR
Reejerey is too aggro oriented, and better off if this was Commerce (remember - its a merfolk too that you can tap!).
I tried putting in Sygg in my version and it was suboptimal. Just put in some counters to protect from spot and mass removal and I think that would be better.
Put in Opposition instead of Sleep - this card is full of win for this deck, as this provides a tap outlet for Grimoire Thief and shuts down opposing creatures and even lands during your opponent's upkeep!
I do like Opposition though, it seems perfect here. I can't complain with a white splash, it does give me access to spot removal and other trickery, and the landbase won't be hard to adjust (it also drops the monetary cost of the deck which is nice).
For removal, would Crib Swap be viable? I've always loved the card but I'm not sure if the trade off is good enough.
Standard
GWUBant EnchantmentsUWG
BR Dos Rakis RB
UW Mill WU
Legacy
RGoblinsR
With Merrow Commerce (and/or Rogerey) in the mix it becomes downright oppressive.
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Those are excellent suggestions. I used to run a similar deck with those. My secret tech was puresight merrow. You can untap it for one mana and keep tapping it again while filtering your top deck. He's a lot better than you'd think!
2 Lord of Atlantis
3 Merfolk Spy
2 Sovereigns of Lost Alara
2 Stonybrook Banneret
2 Tallowisp
2 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1 Celestial Mantle
1 Eldrazi Conscription
2 Merrow Commerce
2 Prison Term
2 Robe of Mirrors
Spells
3 Aquitect's Will
3 Brainstorm
3 Mana Leak
3 Muddle the Mixture
2 Retether
3 Vapor Snag
4 Wanderwine Hub
12 Island
6 Plains
On a side note, this merfolk deck was actually started as a MUC deck but I wanted more options so I could go aggro and do some sort of all-rounder type deck. Thanks Bifrons for all the input and hopefully I didn't just waste your time
LASTLY, does making a whole deck of just 4x feel boring? I will probably end up getting extra cards to deal with different threats but keep this deck as a whole similar... I ask because it feels like every game you go through the same strategy when I intend to just have a fun time which is why control sounded the most flexible initially.
None of these cards are that pricey. $25 might not be enough to get full playsets of everything but it should be manageable. If you're lucky he'll already have some of these cards.
20 Island
26 Creatures:
4 Tideshaper Mystic
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
1 Stormtide Leviathan
4 Streambed Aquitects
4 Merfolk Sovereign
2 Stonybrook Banneret
3 Merrow Harbinger
4 Lord of Atlantis
2 Ponder
4 Aquitect's Will
2 Familiar's Ruse
2 Merrow Commerce
4 Spreading Seas
Follow this link to a low budget "pseudo-opposition"-Merfolk deck, costs are around 10 bucks or lower for the whole deck, playtestes and works well in casual games (but mostly multiplayer).
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=8920716&postcount=6
Yeah, it definitely works but is more of a tempo card and more for running in a wizard-ish merfolk deck, probably somewhat like millfolk and such. Aggro merfolk won't really have a place for it.
In other news
3 Drowner of secrets
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Judge of Currents
2 Merrow Harbinger
3 Merrow Reejerey
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Stonybrook Banneret
2 Merrow Commerce
4 Summon the school
12 Islands
12 Plains
This is what I'm running currently. It's meant for mostly multiplayer but probably functions around the same in 1v1. I'm having trouble with consistancy here but I don't really see the problem (I lost my fourth reejerey :/), mainly $$. Any comments?
ALSO: I updated the opening post to include master of the pearl trident and some little grammatical things
Thanks to Darth Monkey and SGT_Chubbz at Damnation Studios for the sig and banner.
i play with a few friends casually but i guess somewhat competatively. anyway tonight i thought about making a merfolk tribe deck that also worked around milling and islandwalking, i was wondering if you guys could give me some critique, tips, pros and cons, etc., w/e. anything useful basically. let me know what you think. it is as follows:
Creatures:
4 Stonybrook Banneret [maybe 3]
3 Rootwater Thief
4 Cursecatcher
4 Grimoire Thief
4 Drowner of Secrets
3 Ink Dissolver
4 Reef Shaman
4 Lord Of Atlantis
3 Wake Thrasher [maybe make this 2 or find space to make it 3?]
3 Merrow Commerce
Sorcery:
3 Aquitects Will
Instant:
4 Counterspell
thanks again for the help, i appreciate it.
However, silvergill adept is always the best card, so i would advise you replace reef shaman or aquitect's with it. 3-4 Islandwalk enablers are good enough.
EDIT:
I just looked at your list a bit more; it seems like you need to either focus on milling or damage. Also, just 18 islands isn't good enough. If you're going to do millfolk, i think it would be a good idea to splash white for judge of currents, summon the school and oblivion ring.
Wake thrasher doesn't go very well with merrow commerce as well, btw.
Thanks to Darth Monkey and SGT_Chubbz at Damnation Studios for the sig and banner.
20 Island
// Creatures
4 Cold-Eyed Selkie
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Reef Shaman
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Stonybrook Banneret
4 Wake Thrasher
4 Aquitect's Will
4 Counterspell
4 Sage's Dousing
after reading through lots of this primer I wanted to build my own version of this tribal deck. here's what I got so far. I added selkie. think he's a strong 3 drop with a good draw mechanic. input before I buy please!
Posted from MTGsalvation.com App for Android
White really helps you in terms of consistency in removal and token generation late game, and that really helps you win match-ups where you can't win straight out.
I've ran merfolk with an average cmc of 2 and you still need two or three lands at least to run; with 18 lands it's a lot less consistent and i still get mana screwed with around 24 lands.
I'll edit this post later after reading the thread a bit more because I forgot what I posted, but that's basically the reason why Uw/Ux merfolk is better than mono-blue millfolk
EDIT:
I think I wasn't clear about what I was saying; I've found merfolk with a splash of mill to not be as good or win as consistently as either straight millfolk or straight aggrofolk. The reason is that Drowner of Secrets is a three-drop with 1 power that forces you to tap all your merfolk down; it won't win as fast and you won't be able to snowball like you would with aggrofolk. However, if you do go millfolk, Judge of Currents will mitigate a lot of damage over time; if you do some math and calculate how much you would gain a turn, you might gain over 20 life in one game.
Thanks to Darth Monkey and SGT_Chubbz at Damnation Studios for the sig and banner.
4x Cursecatcher
4x Silvergill Adept
4x Lord of Atlantis
4x Master of the Pearl Trident
4x Merro Reerjerey
4x Coralhelm Commander
4x Standstill
4x Daze
4x Mental Misstep
2x Spell Pierce
2x Dismember
16x Island
4x Halimar Depths
A few considerations;
Coralhel Commander; is he worth it? He can provide a mana sink and leveled up he is pretty solid. However, the question is, how often will I have free mana to level him up? I could always replace him with Phantasmal Image.
The other concern is land; is 20 enough without Aether Vial? Or should I cut two cards and go up to 22?
U FaerieNinjaStandstill U
B Swag Flu B
In Development
BG Nightmare Survival GB
B The Gate B
BRG Jund GRB
Coralhelm commander is, from my experience at least, one of the best cards in the deck. Yes, you usually will have a little mana here and there to level him up, and when he gets big he is a huge problem for just about any deck. The flying really lets you push over any stalls in creature battles or keep going when someone drops a moat or stuff like it.
Without vial i would up the mana count by atleast 1, probably 2 like you said. extra mana has some use here as you can use it to fuel coralhelm commanders and still play dudes even if you get 4-5 lands a game.
The Commander does seem strong and I'm sure that I'll have mana free at times to level him up and with even 1 other lord out he's a 5/5 Flyer (probably with islandwalk).
I'd consider investing in the vials but I don't want the deck to be too degenerate and Merfolk are pretty strong even without it.
U FaerieNinjaStandstill U
B Swag Flu B
In Development
BG Nightmare Survival GB
B The Gate B
BRG Jund GRB
It's OK. the problem is its mana intensive (2 to play the counter, 2 to replay silvergill) and it sets you back in tempo by bouncing your own dude. If your looking for counters, merfolk really benefit for cheap/free counters more, such as mental mistep, daze, force of will etc. becasue they can use the early turns to dump all their creatures and still be able to play counterspells while keeping heavy aggro. Its not terrible though, and you could probably use it as a replacement for force of will if you dont have the cash.
One of the glaring problems with it is that it works ok with silvergill, but if you don't have one then it is kinda worse then a regular counterspell. I say sometimes, because you could also use it as and unsummon and a counter if you knew your opponent was going to try and throw 2 swords to plowshares out or something. You could counter the first and bounce your guy so he can't swords it again or something.