Amazing banner by DarkNightCavalier of Heroes Of the Plane Studios CASUAL MERFOLK
This thread will talk about the common archetype known as Merfolk tribal.
Merfolk are a popular tribe, dating back to the release of Lord of atlantis, from the merfolk Opposition deck in the nineties to the TimeSpiral-Lorwyn standard merfolk. It was even popular in the days of 40 card, no limit decks, with Lord of Atlantis and Merfolk of the pearl trident making up most of the deck (Lord of atlantis had the creature type Lord back then). Then came the release of opposition, which made aggro-lockdown merfolk extremely popular for a while.
There are many types of merfolk decks: Some rely on milling merfolk, while others can rely on straight beatdown or a lockdown with opposition.
We'll be talking about some popular card choices, some decklists and overall tech.
THE CARDS
Blue:
LORDS: Merrow reejerey- The basic lord, it's a staple in most merfolk decks. Not only does it buff your creatures, every time you play one you can tap down a blocker or untap a land to reuse it. Master of the pearl trident: There was a time where a merfolk that ended with "of the pearl trident" was bad. This is probably the best merfolk lord printed, and is literally strictly better than every other lord except reejerey. Lord of atlantis- The second most most cost-efficient lord out there, and is usually coupled with Aquitect's will or cards of that calibur Merfolk sovereign- A budget choice over Lord of atlantis. People usually run it only in cases where they need more slots or they can't afford LoA. Coralhelm commander- The new lord from Rise of Eldrazi, it can be used as a early game evasive flyer to a late game lord.
CA: Tidal Courier- Completely depends on the deck. In a deck with mostly merfolk, you could draw up to 4 cards, but in something like millfolk or opposition, it's better to run a normal draw spell. Silvergill adept- This is just plain great. It's a coral merfolk that allows you to draw a cost. It will always come down easily, unless your hand is empty. Seahunter: Not a merfolk, but it fetches you merfolk out of your library. Not optimal, but could be built around.
AGGRESIVE CARDS: Tidal warrior- to set up for an alpha strike. Sejiri Merfolk- Not many people run him, but he's a very good card. With white, it can become a 2/1 lifelinking first striker. Without, he becomes coral merfolk. Wake thrasher- This is a killer. When you cast him, he automatically becomes a 4/4 the next turn. After M10 removed mana-burn, it became much better, allowing players to tap down their lands at the end of their opponents down without taking any damage and making it huge the next. Stonybrook Banneret- It makes all your merfolk cheaper, allowing you to drop many of them in the same turn. It becomes explosive with Merrow Reejerey, because the reejerey can untap lands to easily let you empty your hand by turn three. Cursecatcher- In legacy, it's used to counter unexpected Force of Wills and Dazes. This can help you win counter wars.
MILLFOLK-ORIENTED: Fallowsage- It has a solid body, and whenever it swings or becomes tapped, you can draw a card. It may not seem like much, but the difference can be significant. Drowner of secrets- The card that makes Millfolk work. It may not seem very efficient at what it does, but it provides an outlet for tapping merfolk, like fallowsage and Grimoire thief. Grimoire thief- It pseudo-mills when it swings, or is tapped with drowner of secrets. It also comes with a pretty back-up counter effect, in case it pops up. ("Oh, you cast cruel ultimatum? I'll counter it.") Ink dissolver- This card isn't too bad by itself. However, I feel that it is not strong enough. Mothdust changeling- It provides a nice tap outlet for most of your creatures.
OPTIONAL: Wanderwine prophets: Sometimes people use this as a win-con. It can usually take a lot of turns in a row. The only problem is that it is easily disrupted. It combos with Summon the school, which supplies the Prophets with many merfolk to sacrifice. Kira, great glass-spinner- A 2/2 flyer that gives your creatures pseudo-shroud. The only problem is that it's not a merfolk itself, and is legendary,but that's negliable, because they'll have to dump two cards to destroy it anyways. Thada Adel, Acquisitor: A real metagame choice. It can steal your opponent's Jitte or any little gems they can use against you.
White: Stonybrook Schoolmaster- Great in millfolk. It makes more merfolk to mill, and there was a nifty combo with intruder alarm to produce infinite token, or just straight out win by mill. Judge of current: In merfolk aggro, this gains you a lot of life. In millfolk, it gains you a lot of life. Harpoon sniper- Removal on a stick, and it has a pretty effective body. Reveillark- Although it's not a merfolk itself, it gives a huge late game boost either in a 4/3 or reanimation of your weenies. Mainly used in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor standard.
Lots of merfolk decks rely on tempo, and often require a lot of disruption in the form of counterspells and spot removal. Although most counters and removal work, I'll highlight on some of the better choices.
Blue: Aquitect's will- It activates islandwalk, cantrips, and provides you with the tap effect from merrow reejerey. Counterspell- It's a simple hard counter. You can substitute this with any counter you'd like. Sage's dousing- It can be a cantripping mana leak, as many merfolk are wizards. Daze- When your opponent isn't expecting a counter and taps out, daze will often shine as a hard counter, and you can pull it out at just about any time. Spell snare- Almost every deck has two-drops. Spell pierce- It's great. This is an overpowered force spike for almost everything, except for creatures. You have removal for that. Force of will- GOD MODE. A free hard counter? That you can pull from any time? This is probably the best card in the deck. It also costs 160 a playset, so good luck if you get them. Disrupting Shoal- I haven't seen this in too many builds, but I would run this because it's a very budget version of Force of Will.
White: Summon the school- Amazing card. It can generate mass amounts of merfolk tokens, and you can always bring it back at the end of your opponent's turn, pumping up wake thrasher even more. Path to exile- Solid removal spell. Swords to plowshares- See above.
Blue: Merrow commerce- It is mostly used in millfolk, but it messes up with wake thrasher. Spreading seas- Used in conjunction with Lord of Atlantis. Opposition- An old-school choice, it usually locks people down. Standstill- With aether vial, you can chuck things out while stalling your opponent.
White: Oblivion ring- Just because. It removes anything from planeswalkers to pesky enchantments to creatures.
Colorless: Aether vial- It can make you drop your merfolk as fast as possible. Quicksilver fountain- It mana-screws others and it allows islandwalking. Umezawa's Jitte- It's used in legacy because it's generally amazing. Removal, lifegain, pump in the same package. Lands Wanderwine hub- This will not disappoint you. It is a great dual which has an almost null drawback. Riptide laboratory- If you're running a wizard heavy version, this could be a lifesaver. Mutavault- It's a manland that gets boosted by lords. DO YOU WANT MORE? Wastelandandfriends- Land disruption is good. When someone drops an urborg, tomb of yawgmoth or Valakut, the molten pinnacle, it can be a major pain. Minamo, School at water's edge- Mostly good with Wake thrasher. You can use it's ability to untap itself, pumping Wake Thrasher. Also, it has shenanigans with [CARD]Kira, Great Glass-spinner
[/CARD]
Most duals will get you there. There are not many worth mentioning.
Merfolk are very synergistic creatures. Many of abilities that make the others much better.
Merrow Commerce + Drowner of Secrets = You can mill all out on your turn, untap, save blockers, then mill again at the end of your opponents turn. Merrow Commerce + Opposition = You'll be able to swing on your turn, then lock them down at their upkeep. Merrow Commerce + Summon the School = You'll be able to tap out on your turn, make a bunch of tokens, then have blockers and survive to do it the next turn. Merrow Reejerey + Stonybrook Banneret = This allows you to chuck out 1U or 1W cost merfolk for free. If you have two stonybrook, you can just about empty your entire hand. Lord of Atlantis + Quiksilver Fountain: Your army is unblockable. Aether Vial + A lord = Negates bolts, gets in extra damage, etc. Aether Vial + Cursecatcher = A free force spike for instants and sorceries.
THE LISTS
Merfolk decks can vary from aggro to aggro-control to even control.
An example of merfolk aggro is U/x merfolk aggro.
An example of aggro-control is fish, or millfolk.
An example of control is opposition lockdown.
This deck is slightly more control. Most of the time, you'll be tapping out your creatures to mill, so judge of currents will help you stall time by gaining life. Summon the school will readily supply you with more merfolk that you can tap down/chump block with.
Merrow Commerce is probably the MVP in this deck. It works synergistically with the tapping effects, and allows you to keep blockers out after tapping out. It also stacks, so you can tap out with drowner of secrets, then untap and do it again for each merrow commerce you control. It counts as a merfolk, which you could tap for summon the school.
You could add in Intruder alarm to combo with stonybrook schoolmaster and drowner of secrets to mill for infinite an arbitrarily large number.
The Traders/Merchants, I haven't been all that thrilled with, honestly.. If I ever rebuild it, I'll start w/those.
And Rootwater Thief is basically just in their on a pure 'quality' basis and has an interesting/rather potent ability. He's randomly good but when he is, he's just really good. And telling noobs all about the infamous Mike Long is kinda fun.
Tidal Courier is severely underrated. He provides massive amounts of card advantage, and is, well, a Merfolk. If you get get out 2 Merrow Reejery and 1 Stonebrook Banneret, generally, Tidal Courier will let you play out most of your deck in one turn.
Ponder is the best drawspell for this style, because you want to dig for Bannerets quickly. Halimar Depths is another option.
If you REALLY don't like Tidal Courier, swap him for another Lord or utility spell.
Merfolk have often been in competitive since the inception of Lord of atlantis. Here I will talk about Merfolk in competitive
In the standard of Lorwyn to Alara, Merfolk made a pretty big splash as a very powerful U/w Aggro-control deck, with Meddling mages, Wake thrashers, and cryptic commands. A sample list would be sort of like:
Merfolk also made a huge splash in Legacy. Merfolk Fish is one the most popular decks, and for a good reason: It's explosive, but can still keep the board in control. The link to the Legacy thread for Fish is here.
GOING FARTHER
Also, here are some ideas that have not been implemented in this primer, because it's not a core part of the deck.
Armageddon: You can win with Armageddon because it'll disrupt their lands while you still have creatures to beat face with and Aether vial to chuck out more fishes. Stifle + Phrexian dreadnought:
Not sure if this belong in the primer, but I sometimes run the StifleNought combo in merfolk. It was somewhat popular in the early days of merfolk in legacy, but since it lessens the synergy and consistency of the deck, they stopped using it. I'd also include Brainstorm which is nice in decks using fetches, and maybe Shapesharer which is really nice in StifleNought builds.
Really good primer. thanks a lot for making this, as merfolk are a very popular archetype and I was sad that we didn't have our own primer. it can also go a long way to show that you don't need to be red or green to hit the red zone.one thing, tho. you might want to check the ruling on the Vial+Kira combo. a judge told me it didn't work because the spell is already targeted when kira comes into play.
also, I'd like to suggest the merrow theme deck from lorwyn to anyone who wants to start building a merfolk deck. considering reejereys go for 3-4 dollars now, it's a good buy if you find some cheap ones at walmart or something. Also, the unmodified theme deck is surprisingly synergetic: I've seen it crush tournament decks into last week, but thats the story of metagame decks: beat countertop and loam, die to nephilim.dec
first post!
Really good primer. thanks a lot for making this, as merfolk are a very popular archetype and I was sad that we didn't have our own primer. it can also go a long way to show that you don't need to be red or green to hit the red zone.one thing, tho. you might want to check the ruling on the Vial+Kira combo. a judge told me it didn't work because the spell is already targeted when kira comes into play.
Thanks!
The words "blue aggro" is pretty funny together.
And you're right about Kira, I didn't even see that. I deleted it now.
also, I'd like to suggest the merrow theme deck from lorwyn to anyone who wants to start building a merfolk deck. considering reejereys go for 3-4 dollars now, it's a good buy if you find some cheap ones at walmart or something. Also, the unmodified theme deck is surprisingly synergetic: I've seen it crush tournament decks into last week, but thats the story of metagame decks: beat countertop and loam, die to nephilim.dec
Yeah, my current merfolk deck is just a heavily edited bunch of merfolk precons. I was lucky to get my reejereys for 80 cents each back then.
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Quote from Bone_doc »
This virtual world is begining to feel more and more like Tron, exept with less motorcycles and more card games
Standstill also works well with manlands, plus its great against combo decks. Cosi's Trickster is a solid one drop especially if people like to play fetches or other fetches. Ambassador Laquatus could be a decent choice in a mill deck at least as an excess mana outlet. If you are making a token deck Lullmage Mentor is a solid choice.
Standstill also works well with manlands, plus its great against combo decks. Cosi's Trickster is a solid one drop especially if people like to play fetches or other fetches. Ambassador Laquatus could be a decent choice in a mill deck at least as an excess mana outlet. If you are making a token deck Lullmage Mentor is a solid choice.
Oh, wow, I did not pay nearly enough attention to the Lullmage, I play merfolk like combo and spit everything out in one turn, and that is probably the best 1-of I can sneak into the deck.
If you have a deck that pumps everything out at once, Prismwake Merrow is actually pretty useful too. I play with 2 so that when I get everything on the table, I can drop them on other players' upkeeps and tap their lands with Reejereys. Keeps them from sweeping before you can attack, or attacking if you tap creatures. Just wish its other ability was something better than color changing
The basic creature base for Merfolk is pretty cheap, the lords can be found for ~3 dollars or less, and the rest of the creatures are under a dollar except for Wake Thrasher. The counterspells/bounce spells are cheap as well, none being more than a dollar. If you have a really small budget, its pretty hard to make regular merfolk due to the lords being so important to the deck, though you can sub Merfolk Sovereign for one of the more expensive lords in a pinch.
Heres a hastily made "budget" version, I'm sure it can be improved as its just off the top of my head.
I'm surprised you don't run more lords. Also, Merfolk sovereign is cheap for a lord, although it isn't as good as lord of atlantis ._.
I originally didn't see what Arctic merfolk is for, but now I see... A nice 2/2 and you can recur tidal courier.
Yes, that or Whirlpool Rider
I could run LoA, but he never seemed right for this deck. When the deck is rolling, it already swings for massive damage. When the deck is stalling, he won't help me draw into the cards I need to get going again. When it matters, I usually have unblockable with the Mentor anyway, so islandwalk seems a little outclassed. It runs more like combo than aggro, but I hesitate to call it that because in the end its just playing tons of doods then swinging with them.
i'm looking to build a budget-ish version of Merfolk fish for legacy. i figured since im lookign for budget i'd come here.
few questions: which would be a better replacement for FoW:
Foil or Disrupting shoal?
i'm thinking foil partially becasue its not Cmc dependant and foil gives me a good reason to cut Fetchlands and wastelands.
is there any other card that could serve that same general purpose of standstill?(i.e. large cheap cards advantage)
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I really like disrupting shoal over foil, if only for two reasons:
A) Foil requires you to hold islands in your hand
B) You discard two cards over one.
When I usually play with disrupting shoal, I find that I can usually counter anything in between cmc 1-3, but that's about it.
You do run daze right? Because that's probably your best option barring those two.
Also, there's really not a lot to sub in for Standstill. But since you have 4 slots you might be able to fit in a stoneforge mystic toolbox, as I've seen that in Legacy fish.
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Quote from Bone_doc »
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Well if you're looking for a cheap card draw, Ancestral Vision is good, but it doesn't really fill the same position as Standstill.
The biggest issue with running a Stoneforge Mystic package is that most of the time you would want to fetch Umezawa's Jitte which is certainly not budget friendly.
SO I have had this Merfolk deck for a few years. It was made up of all the old merfolk from back of the day. The win condition for this deck was turning an opponent's land into an island from three different ways, turning all lands in play to islands, turning just 1 into an island, or trading lands. I will keep the same win condition, but the merfolk gotta change. This deck used to me my go to if I wanted to win and it has almost never lost, but now it sits in the dust because the newer cards are just so OP. So I am kindly asking for new cards that are good and different win conditions that I might be able to tie into this deck(such as the almost infinite turn combo). I still want the main win to be islandwalk as that was the core to this deck. I don't want the spell base to change much as it has worked excellently in the past for almost 4-5 years. I know there are alot of 1 ofs, you dont need to tell me that.
Another doosy combo was Isochron with Counterspell. I had a teacher at my school forfeit on turn like 4 because he couldn't do anything. Also for example, my brother refuses to play this deck.
Without further ado, the deck:
Cards I know I need are:
Mefolk Reejery
Merfolk Soverign
another Lord of Atlantis
3 more Coralhelms
1 counterspell
possibly 3 Isochrons
and a bunch more
Where's the consistency? Forty-sumodd cards and only three make for an opponents island, and only three grant islandwalk? This deck seems really 'slowburn', IMHO.
Why not four Sea's Claim and four Magical Hack? Better chance of getting an opponent and island, or hack your Lord of Atlantis to walk whatever land the opponent has.
Get rid of those four, put in four Seasinger. You got the island, you got the merfolk, and now you got creature control.
I think you need to spread this deck across a table and pick up each card and ask "what the crap do I use this for?". Then take that pile and figure what you could actually use 4 ofs.
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Set a man on fire, he is warm for the rest of his life.
And, I would probably recommend my build. (of course) It is hella fun and does some of the same things you're doing here.
Technically going 'new school' merfolk probalby involves going "Millfolk" approach involving Summon the School recursion. And I will admit, it is a ☺☺☺☺ing gross deck. I just never warmed up to the idea of my Merfolk deck being anything other than mono-:symu:, but to each his own.
Broadly speaking, yes, you should definitely work on building more consistency into your deck. Yes, it becomes less unpredictable/diverse and maybe less 'fun' but it will play better overall in more games if you do this.
SO I have had this Merfolk deck for a few years. It was made up of all the old merfolk from back of the day. The win condition for this deck was turning an opponent's land into an island from three different ways, turning all lands in play to islands, turning just 1 into an island, or trading lands. I will keep the same win condition, but the merfolk gotta change. This deck used to me my go to if I wanted to win and it has almost never lost, but now it sits in the dust because the newer cards are just so OP. So I am kindly asking for new cards that are good and different win conditions that I might be able to tie into this deck(such as the almost infinite turn combo). I still want the main win to be islandwalk as that was the sore to this deck. I don't want the spell base to change much as it has worked excellently in the past for almost 4-5 years. I know there are alot of 1 ofs, you dont need to tell me that.
Another doosy combo was Isochron with Counterspell. I had a teacher at my school forfeit on turn like 4 because he couldn't do anything. Also for example, my brother refuses to play this deck.
Without further ado, the deck:
Cards I know I need are:
Mefolk Reejery
Merfolk Soverign
another Lord of Atlantis
3 more Coralhelms
1 counterspell
possibly 3 Isochrons
and a bunch more
Another doosy combo was Isochron with Counterspell. I had a teacher at my school forfeit on turn like 4 because he couldn't do anything. Also for example, my brother refuses to play this deck.
Yeah, that's an old combo. To be honest, it works a little better in a straight control deck.
My personal opinion is, you need a more easily reachable win condition. As it stands right now, you're doing entirely too much stuff all at once.
For a controlfolk deck, you could still enjoy mono blue, but I think for creatures, you should look towards more of the millfolk aspect. Ambassador Laquatus, Drowner of Secrets, Ink Dissolver, etc. In a deck like this, if you run multple Isochron Scepters, you could even imprint a Twincast and then copy your mill sorcs/instants to be extra annoying. You can also play this deck U/W and your white can run a little protection/stall, but I personally think Drowner of Secrets+Stonybrook Schoolmaster is hilarious for U/W controlfolk.
I'm not going to give you a decklist, but these are the two types of deck you seem interested in playing by your post. You really could build a strong deck if you pick one of those aspects and roll with it.
Amazing banner by DarkNightCavalier of Heroes Of the Plane Studios
CASUAL MERFOLK
This thread will talk about the common archetype known as Merfolk tribal.
Merfolk are a popular tribe, dating back to the release of Lord of atlantis, from the merfolk Opposition deck in the nineties to the TimeSpiral-Lorwyn standard merfolk. It was even popular in the days of 40 card, no limit decks, with Lord of Atlantis and Merfolk of the pearl trident making up most of the deck (Lord of atlantis had the creature type Lord back then). Then came the release of opposition, which made aggro-lockdown merfolk extremely popular for a while.
There are many types of merfolk decks: Some rely on milling merfolk, while others can rely on straight beatdown or a lockdown with opposition.
We'll be talking about some popular card choices, some decklists and overall tech.
THE CARDS
Blue:
LORDS:
Merrow reejerey- The basic lord, it's a staple in most merfolk decks. Not only does it buff your creatures, every time you play one you can tap down a blocker or untap a land to reuse it.
Master of the pearl trident: There was a time where a merfolk that ended with "of the pearl trident" was bad. This is probably the best merfolk lord printed, and is literally strictly better than every other lord except reejerey.
Lord of atlantis- The second most
mostcost-efficient lord out there, and is usually coupled with Aquitect's will or cards of that caliburMerfolk sovereign- A budget choice over Lord of atlantis. People usually run it only in cases where they need more slots or they can't afford LoA.
Coralhelm commander- The new lord from Rise of Eldrazi, it can be used as a early game evasive flyer to a late game lord.
CA:
Tidal Courier- Completely depends on the deck. In a deck with mostly merfolk, you could draw up to 4 cards, but in something like millfolk or opposition, it's better to run a normal draw spell.
Silvergill adept- This is just plain great. It's a coral merfolk that allows you to draw a cost. It will always come down easily, unless your hand is empty.
Seahunter: Not a merfolk, but it fetches you merfolk out of your library. Not optimal, but could be built around.
AGGRESIVE CARDS:
Tidal warrior- to set up for an alpha strike.
Sejiri Merfolk- Not many people run him, but he's a very good card. With white, it can become a 2/1 lifelinking first striker. Without, he becomes coral merfolk.
Wake thrasher- This is a killer. When you cast him, he automatically becomes a 4/4 the next turn. After M10 removed mana-burn, it became much better, allowing players to tap down their lands at the end of their opponents down without taking any damage and making it huge the next.
Stonybrook Banneret- It makes all your merfolk cheaper, allowing you to drop many of them in the same turn. It becomes explosive with Merrow Reejerey, because the reejerey can untap lands to easily let you empty your hand by turn three.
Cursecatcher- In legacy, it's used to counter unexpected Force of Wills and Dazes. This can help you win counter wars.
MILLFOLK-ORIENTED:
Fallowsage- It has a solid body, and whenever it swings or becomes tapped, you can draw a card. It may not seem like much, but the difference can be significant.
Drowner of secrets- The card that makes Millfolk work. It may not seem very efficient at what it does, but it provides an outlet for tapping merfolk, like fallowsage and Grimoire thief.
Grimoire thief- It pseudo-mills when it swings, or is tapped with drowner of secrets. It also comes with a pretty back-up counter effect, in case it pops up. ("Oh, you cast cruel ultimatum? I'll counter it.")
Ink dissolver- This card isn't too bad by itself. However, I feel that it is not strong enough.
Mothdust changeling- It provides a nice tap outlet for most of your creatures.
OPTIONAL:
Wanderwine prophets: Sometimes people use this as a win-con. It can usually take a lot of turns in a row. The only problem is that it is easily disrupted. It combos with Summon the school, which supplies the Prophets with many merfolk to sacrifice.
Kira, great glass-spinner- A 2/2 flyer that gives your creatures pseudo-shroud. The only problem is that it's not a merfolk itself, and is legendary,but that's negliable, because they'll have to dump two cards to destroy it anyways.
Thada Adel, Acquisitor: A real metagame choice. It can steal your opponent's Jitte or any little gems they can use against you.
White:
Stonybrook Schoolmaster- Great in millfolk. It makes more merfolk to mill, and there was a nifty combo with intruder alarm to produce infinite token, or just straight out win by mill.
Judge of current: In merfolk aggro, this gains you a lot of life. In millfolk, it gains you a lot of life.
Harpoon sniper- Removal on a stick, and it has a pretty effective body.
Reveillark- Although it's not a merfolk itself, it gives a huge late game boost either in a 4/3 or reanimation of your weenies. Mainly used in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor standard.
Multicolor:
Sygg, river guide- This is a spammable Mother of runes, which is pretty amazing.
Sygg, river cutthroat- Not many people have tried him, but he COULD generate a lot of card advantage.
Cold-eyed selkie- It has islandwalk and it is better than ophidian. It also generates huge CA.
Inkfathom infiltrator- A 2/1 unblockable is nothing to scoff at.
Lots of merfolk decks rely on tempo, and often require a lot of disruption in the form of counterspells and spot removal. Although most counters and removal work, I'll highlight on some of the better choices.
Blue:
Aquitect's will- It activates islandwalk, cantrips, and provides you with the tap effect from merrow reejerey.
Counterspell- It's a simple hard counter. You can substitute this with any counter you'd like.
Sage's dousing- It can be a cantripping mana leak, as many merfolk are wizards.
Daze- When your opponent isn't expecting a counter and taps out, daze will often shine as a hard counter, and you can pull it out at just about any time.
Spell snare- Almost every deck has two-drops.
Spell pierce- It's great. This is an overpowered force spike for almost everything, except for creatures. You have removal for that.
Force of will- GOD MODE. A free hard counter? That you can pull from any time? This is probably the best card in the deck. It also costs 160 a playset, so good luck if you get them.
Disrupting Shoal- I haven't seen this in too many builds, but I would run this because it's a very budget version of Force of Will.
White:
Summon the school- Amazing card. It can generate mass amounts of merfolk tokens, and you can always bring it back at the end of your opponent's turn, pumping up wake thrasher even more.
Path to exile- Solid removal spell.
Swords to plowshares- See above.
Blue:
Merrow commerce- It is mostly used in millfolk, but it messes up with wake thrasher.
Spreading seas- Used in conjunction with Lord of Atlantis.
Opposition- An old-school choice, it usually locks people down.
Standstill- With aether vial, you can chuck things out while stalling your opponent.
White:
Oblivion ring- Just because. It removes anything from planeswalkers to pesky enchantments to creatures.
Colorless:
Aether vial- It can make you drop your merfolk as fast as possible.
Quicksilver fountain- It mana-screws others and it allows islandwalking.
Umezawa's Jitte- It's used in legacy because it's generally amazing. Removal, lifegain, pump in the same package.
Lands
Wanderwine hub- This will not disappoint you. It is a great dual which has an almost null drawback.
Riptide laboratory- If you're running a wizard heavy version, this could be a lifesaver.
Mutavault- It's a manland that gets boosted by lords. DO YOU WANT MORE?
Wasteland and friends- Land disruption is good. When someone drops an urborg, tomb of yawgmoth or Valakut, the molten pinnacle, it can be a major pain.
Minamo, School at water's edge- Mostly good with Wake thrasher. You can use it's ability to untap itself, pumping Wake Thrasher. Also, it has shenanigans with [CARD]Kira, Great Glass-spinner
[/CARD]
Most duals will get you there. There are not many worth mentioning.
Merfolk are very synergistic creatures. Many of abilities that make the others much better.
Merrow Commerce + Drowner of Secrets = You can mill all out on your turn, untap, save blockers, then mill again at the end of your opponents turn.
Merrow Commerce + Opposition = You'll be able to swing on your turn, then lock them down at their upkeep.
Merrow Commerce + Summon the School = You'll be able to tap out on your turn, make a bunch of tokens, then have blockers and survive to do it the next turn.
Merrow Reejerey + Stonybrook Banneret = This allows you to chuck out 1U or 1W cost merfolk for free. If you have two stonybrook, you can just about empty your entire hand.
Lord of Atlantis + Quiksilver Fountain: Your army is unblockable.
Aether Vial + A lord = Negates bolts, gets in extra damage, etc.
Aether Vial + Cursecatcher = A free force spike for instants and sorceries.
THE LISTS
Merfolk decks can vary from aggro to aggro-control to even control.
An example of merfolk aggro is U/x merfolk aggro.
An example of aggro-control is fish, or millfolk.
An example of control is opposition lockdown.
4 Silvergill adept
4 Sejiri Merfolk
4 Lord of atlantis
4 Merrow reejerey
4 Judge of currents
4 Wake thrasher
4 Aquitect's will
4 Swords to plowshares
4 Wanderwine hub
4 Hallowed fountain
2 Plains
16 Islands
This is a basic aggro deck. You want to set an alpha strike by using Aquitect's will to enable island-walk from Lord of atlantis.
4 stonybrook schoolmaster
4 Drowner of secrets
4 Grimoire thief
4 Judge of currents
3 Sages dousing
3 Summon the school
4 Swords to plowshares
4 Shared discovery
4 adakar wastes
This deck is slightly more control. Most of the time, you'll be tapping out your creatures to mill, so judge of currents will help you stall time by gaining life. Summon the school will readily supply you with more merfolk that you can tap down/chump block with.
Merrow Commerce is probably the MVP in this deck. It works synergistically with the tapping effects, and allows you to keep blockers out after tapping out. It also stacks, so you can tap out with drowner of secrets, then untap and do it again for each merrow commerce you control. It counts as a merfolk, which you could tap for summon the school.
You could add in Intruder alarm to combo with stonybrook schoolmaster and drowner of secrets to mill for
infinitean arbitrarily large number.Credit goes to Morphling for this deck.
Credit to Bone_doc for this deck:
Merfolk have often been in competitive since the inception of Lord of atlantis. Here I will talk about Merfolk in competitive
In the standard of Lorwyn to Alara, Merfolk made a pretty big splash as a very powerful U/w Aggro-control deck, with Meddling mages, Wake thrashers, and cryptic commands. A sample list would be sort of like:
2 Merfolk Sovereign
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Reveillark
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Stonybrook Banneret
4 Sygg, River Guide
4 Wake Thrasher
4 Cryptic Command
4 Path to Exile
2 Sage's Dousing
8 Island
4 Mutavault
2 Mystic Gate
2 Plains
4 Wanderwine Hub
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
4 Meddling Mage
2 Sleep
3 Sower of Temptation
Merfolk also made a huge splash in Legacy. Merfolk Fish is one the most popular decks, and for a good reason: It's explosive, but can still keep the board in control. The link to the Legacy thread for Fish is here.
GOING FARTHER
Also, here are some ideas that have not been implemented in this primer, because it's not a core part of the deck.
Armageddon: You can win with Armageddon because it'll disrupt their lands while you still have creatures to beat face with and Aether vial to chuck out more fishes.
Stifle + Phrexian dreadnought:
People who've contributed:
Maelkyral
Zeromd
Hyugafan
Matchbox20
Numotflame96
acpc2203
Konkey
Morphling
Thanks to Darth Monkey and SGT_Chubbz at Damnation Studios for the sig and banner.
Really good primer. thanks a lot for making this, as merfolk are a very popular archetype and I was sad that we didn't have our own primer. it can also go a long way to show that you don't need to be red or green to hit the red zone.one thing, tho. you might want to check the ruling on the Vial+Kira combo. a judge told me it didn't work because the spell is already targeted when kira comes into play.
also, I'd like to suggest the merrow theme deck from lorwyn to anyone who wants to start building a merfolk deck. considering reejereys go for 3-4 dollars now, it's a good buy if you find some cheap ones at walmart or something. Also, the unmodified theme deck is surprisingly synergetic: I've seen it crush tournament decks into last week, but thats the story of metagame decks: beat countertop and loam, die to nephilim.dec
thanks again!
Thanks!
The words "blue aggro" is pretty funny together.
And you're right about Kira, I didn't even see that. I deleted it now.
Yeah, my current merfolk deck is just a heavily edited bunch of merfolk precons. I was lucky to get my reejereys for 80 cents each back then.
Thanks to Darth Monkey and SGT_Chubbz at Damnation Studios for the sig and banner.
Oh, wow, I did not pay nearly enough attention to the Lullmage, I play merfolk like combo and spit everything out in one turn, and that is probably the best 1-of I can sneak into the deck.
If you have a deck that pumps everything out at once, Prismwake Merrow is actually pretty useful too. I play with 2 so that when I get everything on the table, I can drop them on other players' upkeeps and tap their lands with Reejereys. Keeps them from sweeping before you can attack, or attacking if you tap creatures. Just wish its other ability was something better than color changing
360-cube - Suggestions welcome!
Saprazzan Legate can be tech against red decks, plus being evasive from the start is real nice.
Sage of Fables source of CA in millfolk since there are many Wizards in that deck.
Scroll Thief CA engine that has an easier time of getting in with a merfolk deck.
Merfolk Harbinger Tutors for other merfolk, could be nice in a combo or midrange Folk deck.
Overtaker Can steal creatures for a turn, opening up for an alpha strike.
DRum
Old school group, sometimes more beer than cards. Revised thru Tempest block (and a little of Urza), sorry if I don't know all the new cards
Ye' Olde Schoole Casual Decks: BUReanimate -- GRAggro -- BWPestilence -- G10-land Stompy -- GRElfball -- GWEnchantress -- RAnkh Sligh -- BDiscard -- MUC "Draw-go" -- BRSuicide -- UWSkies -- UHigh Tide Mill -- WWeenie -- UMutated Bombers -- URThe great land-toss -- UB Molasass
Heres a hastily made "budget" version, I'm sure it can be improved as its just off the top of my head.
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Cursecatcher
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Tidal Warrior
4 Counterspell
4 Daze
4 Into the Roil
4 Preordain
20 Islands
Best I've got is the budget aggro build that I use for MP casual. Runs about $25
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Cursecatcher
4 Tidal Courier
4 Arctic Merfolk
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Stonybrook Banneret
4 Whirlpool Rider
3 Merfolk Wayfinder
2 Prismwake Merrow
1 Deepchannel Mentor
1 Lullmage Mentor
4 Disrupting Shoal
Land
21 Island
360-cube - Suggestions welcome!
I originally didn't see what Arctic merfolk is for, but now I see... A nice 2/2 and you can recur tidal courier.
Thanks to Darth Monkey and SGT_Chubbz at Damnation Studios for the sig and banner.
Yes, that or Whirlpool Rider
I could run LoA, but he never seemed right for this deck. When the deck is rolling, it already swings for massive damage. When the deck is stalling, he won't help me draw into the cards I need to get going again. When it matters, I usually have unblockable with the Mentor anyway, so islandwalk seems a little outclassed. It runs more like combo than aggro, but I hesitate to call it that because in the end its just playing tons of doods then swinging with them.
360-cube - Suggestions welcome!
few questions: which would be a better replacement for FoW:
Foil or Disrupting shoal?
i'm thinking foil partially becasue its not Cmc dependant and foil gives me a good reason to cut Fetchlands and wastelands.
is there any other card that could serve that same general purpose of standstill?(i.e. large cheap cards advantage)
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A) Foil requires you to hold islands in your hand
B) You discard two cards over one.
When I usually play with disrupting shoal, I find that I can usually counter anything in between cmc 1-3, but that's about it.
You do run daze right? Because that's probably your best option barring those two.
Also, there's really not a lot to sub in for Standstill. But since you have 4 slots you might be able to fit in a stoneforge mystic toolbox, as I've seen that in Legacy fish.
Thanks to Darth Monkey and SGT_Chubbz at Damnation Studios for the sig and banner.
The biggest issue with running a Stoneforge Mystic package is that most of the time you would want to fetch Umezawa's Jitte which is certainly not budget friendly.
GUB [Retired Primer] The Mimeoplasm BUG
Modern: UR Storm RU
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Credit for the banner goes to DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
Another doosy combo was Isochron with Counterspell. I had a teacher at my school forfeit on turn like 4 because he couldn't do anything. Also for example, my brother refuses to play this deck.
Without further ado, the deck:
1 Coralhelm Commander
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Merfolk of the Pearl Trident
1 Clone
2 Seahunter
1 Merfolk Traders
1 Vodalian Mage
2 Vodalian Soldiers
1 Rootwater Commando
1 Rootwater Thief
3 Lord of Atlantis
3 Coral Merfolk
2 Sandbar Merfolk
1 Arctic Merfolk
Spells
1 Stifle
1 Recall
1 Faces of the Past
3 Counterspell
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Mana Vapors
1 Confiscate
1 Equilibirum
1 Distorting Wake
1 Power Sink
1 Echoing Truth
1 Dominate
1 Spelljack
1 Unsummon
1 Twiddle
1 Quicksilver Fountain
1 Sea's Claim
1 Political Trickery
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Flood
1 Lifetap
Cards I know I need are:
Mefolk Reejery
Merfolk Soverign
another Lord of Atlantis
3 more Coralhelms
1 counterspell
possibly 3 Isochrons
and a bunch more
:symw::symw::symw:Infinite Life:symw::symw::symw:
:symgu::symgu::symgu:Infinite Mana:symgu::symgu::symgu:
:symr::symr::symr:Burn, Baby Burn:symr::symr::symr:
:symg::symg::symg:Beastiality:symg::symg::symg:
:symu::symu::symu:Slippery Merfolk:symu::symu::symu:
:symb::symr::symw::symg::symu:Proxy Slivers:symu::symg::symw::symr::symb:
:symw::symu::symb::symg:Control Fungus:symg::symb::symu::symw:
:symgb::symgb::symgb:Ebola:symgb::symgb::symgb:
Why not four Sea's Claim and four Magical Hack? Better chance of getting an opponent and island, or hack your Lord of Atlantis to walk whatever land the opponent has.
Get rid of the fun little one ofs you got: Mana Vapors, Confiscate, Dominate, Twiddle. What for?
Get rid of those four, put in four Seasinger. You got the island, you got the merfolk, and now you got creature control.
I think you need to spread this deck across a table and pick up each card and ask "what the crap do I use this for?". Then take that pile and figure what you could actually use 4 ofs.
Set a man on fire, he is warm for the rest of his life.
And, I would probably recommend my build. (of course) It is hella fun and does some of the same things you're doing here.
Technically going 'new school' merfolk probalby involves going "Millfolk" approach involving Summon the School recursion. And I will admit, it is a ☺☺☺☺ing gross deck. I just never warmed up to the idea of my Merfolk deck being anything other than mono-:symu:, but to each his own.
Broadly speaking, yes, you should definitely work on building more consistency into your deck. Yes, it becomes less unpredictable/diverse and maybe less 'fun' but it will play better overall in more games if you do this.
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if yes (remember im not showing the $$ ones like FoW or a Aether Vial set)
4ofs for sure:
the quicksilver should be fun in multiplayer, i only run in that kind of game
for 1x1 games, you must run spreading seas or arquitect's will.
if you dont go for vials, go for Stonybrook Banneret
also that thread should be moved to merfolk primer...
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Another doosy combo was Isochron with Counterspell. I had a teacher at my school forfeit on turn like 4 because he couldn't do anything. Also for example, my brother refuses to play this deck.
Without further ado, the deck:
1 Coralhelm Commander
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Merfolk of the Pearl Trident
1 Clone
2 Seahunter
1 Merfolk Traders
1 Vodalian Mage
2 Vodalian Soldiers
1 Rootwater Commando
1 Rootwater Thief
3 Lord of Atlantis
3 Coral Merfolk
2 Sandbar Merfolk
1 Arctic Merfolk
Spells
1 Stifle
1 Recall
1 Faces of the Past
3 Counterspell
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Mana Vapors
1 Confiscate
1 Equilibirum
1 Distorting Wake
1 Power Sink
1 Echoing Truth
1 Dominate
1 Spelljack
1 Unsummon
1 Twiddle
1 Quicksilver Fountain
1 Sea's Claim
1 Political Trickery
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Flood
1 Lifetap
Cards I know I need are:
Mefolk Reejery
Merfolk Soverign
another Lord of Atlantis
3 more Coralhelms
1 counterspell
possibly 3 Isochrons
and a bunch more
:symw::symw::symw:Infinite Life:symw::symw::symw:
:symgu::symgu::symgu:Infinite Mana:symgu::symgu::symgu:
:symr::symr::symr:Burn, Baby Burn:symr::symr::symr:
:symg::symg::symg:Beastiality:symg::symg::symg:
:symu::symu::symu:Slippery Merfolk:symu::symu::symu:
:symb::symr::symw::symg::symu:Proxy Slivers:symu::symg::symw::symr::symb:
:symw::symu::symb::symg:Control Fungus:symg::symb::symu::symw:
:symgb::symgb::symgb:Ebola:symgb::symgb::symgb:
Wake Thrasher can become massive in this deck and be fun (for you).
Anyways, you should probably take out the vanilla merfolk, they aren't effiecient and serve no purpose.
You need 4 counterspell.
There isn't any good targets for clone, and I see no reason in running arctic merfolk.
You NEED a playset of merfolk reejerey. Also, you don't NEED Merfolk soveriegn, but it'd be nice.
Stonybrook banneret is nice. Silvergill adept is a great 2/1 body that cantrips.
Thanks to Darth Monkey and SGT_Chubbz at Damnation Studios for the sig and banner.
Also, these are all your blue merfolk to pick from http://www.magiccards.info/query?q=t%3A%22merfolk%22+c!u&v=card&s=cname
BUWGRChilds PlayGRWUB
BUWGR Highlander GRWUB
UBSquee's Shapeshifting PetBU
BW Multiplayer Control WB
RG Changeling GR
UR Mana FlareRU
UMerfolkU
B MBMC B
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Merfolk Sovereign
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
1 Clone
2 Seahunter
1 Vodalian Mage
1 Manta Riders
Spells 12
4 Counterspell
3 Isochron Scepter
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Mana Vapors
1 Confiscate
1 Distorting Wake
1 Echoing Truth
1 Spelljack
2 Quicksilver Fountain
4 Sea's Claim
1 Political Trickery
Lands
20 Island
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Flood
1 Lifetap
This will be a 63 card deck
:symw::symw::symw:Infinite Life:symw::symw::symw:
:symgu::symgu::symgu:Infinite Mana:symgu::symgu::symgu:
:symr::symr::symr:Burn, Baby Burn:symr::symr::symr:
:symg::symg::symg:Beastiality:symg::symg::symg:
:symu::symu::symu:Slippery Merfolk:symu::symu::symu:
:symb::symr::symw::symg::symu:Proxy Slivers:symu::symg::symw::symr::symb:
:symw::symu::symb::symg:Control Fungus:symg::symb::symu::symw:
:symgb::symgb::symgb:Ebola:symgb::symgb::symgb:
Yeah, that's an old combo. To be honest, it works a little better in a straight control deck.
My personal opinion is, you need a more easily reachable win condition. As it stands right now, you're doing entirely too much stuff all at once.
If you're going to go aggro, you're definitely going to want to go U/W, things like Summon the School and Harpoon Sniper are just amazing when paired with things like Deepchannel Mentor, Lord of Atlantis and Wanderwine Prophets. I'm also quite enjoying Judge of Currents and Stonybrook Schoolmaster.
For a controlfolk deck, you could still enjoy mono blue, but I think for creatures, you should look towards more of the millfolk aspect. Ambassador Laquatus, Drowner of Secrets, Ink Dissolver, etc. In a deck like this, if you run multple Isochron Scepters, you could even imprint a Twincast and then copy your mill sorcs/instants to be extra annoying. You can also play this deck U/W and your white can run a little protection/stall, but I personally think Drowner of Secrets+Stonybrook Schoolmaster is hilarious for U/W controlfolk.
I'm not going to give you a decklist, but these are the two types of deck you seem interested in playing by your post. You really could build a strong deck if you pick one of those aspects and roll with it.
Because we care about facts.
:symw::symw::symw:Infinite Life:symw::symw::symw:
:symgu::symgu::symgu:Infinite Mana:symgu::symgu::symgu:
:symr::symr::symr:Burn, Baby Burn:symr::symr::symr:
:symg::symg::symg:Beastiality:symg::symg::symg:
:symu::symu::symu:Slippery Merfolk:symu::symu::symu:
:symb::symr::symw::symg::symu:Proxy Slivers:symu::symg::symw::symr::symb:
:symw::symu::symb::symg:Control Fungus:symg::symb::symu::symw:
:symgb::symgb::symgb:Ebola:symgb::symgb::symgb: