I'd drop two of the Nabans to begin with. You don't really want to get jammed up with dupe legendaries in your hand. I'm not sure why Cursecatcher is listed with the lands, but I'd replace that with Minamo or Tec Edge. That leaves two cards to cut. I'd probably shave one of the Weavers as one of the more expensive casts, and then one more non-lord.
As for the SB, I'd jettison everything but the Mistcaller(s) and Venser(s) and maybe a PI or two, then look at Gut Shot or Dismember, and Surgical Extraction or some other type of graveyard hate.
Maybe a bad idea but now that our island count has gone up has anyone thought about Cryptic instead of Venser? I know it doesn’t have the 2/2 body and it doesn’t bounce spell to hand but it does give you even more options.
Cryptic is certainly a powerful spell, but it doesn't play nice with Vial and devotion the way Venser does. I think Venser wins out in that comparison.
If only Venser was a MERFOLK! That would be amazing. How do you feel about potentially running Deprive in the main? It seems it's regularly brought in in many match ups. Maybe worth just starting out with it?
If only Venser was a MERFOLK! That would be amazing. How do you feel about potentially running Deprive in the main? It seems it's regularly brought in in many match ups. Maybe worth just starting out with it?
Primarily because it slows board development, and there are a number of decks that it's not particularly useful against, or not as useful as having more creatures hit the board. Dredge and Tron come immediately to mind. Also, a lot of aggro decks that are swimming in small creatures (pun unintended) aren't going to be hurt much by a counter.
There's too much fast aggro out there for me to want to maindeck Deprive right now. I value it as a great sideboard card against combo and control, but I don't think I can bump it to the main. The aggro has pushed me to bringing Harbinger of the Tides back to the maindeck, and so far that's working out very well.
There's too much fast aggro out there for me to want to maindeck Deprive right now. I value it as a great sideboard card against combo and control, but I don't think I can bump it to the main. The aggro has pushed me to bringing Harbinger of the Tides back to the maindeck, and so far that's working out very well.
So do you find Spell Pierce less good at the moment then? Return of Vapor Snag perhaps? I tend to favor having Deprive in more often then I do spell pierce.
The aggro decks out there these days are pretty spell-based (Hollow One, Phoenix decks, and Dredge), so countermagic still has value. Spell Pierce has worked well because you can hold it up T1 (I've caught many a Burning Inquiry, Faithless Looting, Manamorphose, Cathartic Reunion, or Goblin Lore on either the play or the draw, and stopped my opponent cold for a turn because of it), and because it's relatively easy to sneak into a curve-out. If we had more flash creatures, Deprive would be more of a consideration. As it stands, Deprive pushes us into lines that are a bit too reactive for my taste.
I know all the bounce spells are not typical but it's a tempo theory I want to test.
Great against Affinity/Hardened Scales, not bad against Dredge/Hollow One/Phoenix or Infect (you Vined what?), tempo against D&T and E&T, useless vs. most Control except in defense. I tend to prefer it as a SB card if at all.
I know all the bounce spells are not typical but it's a tempo theory I want to test.
Great against Affinity/Hardened Scales, not bad against Dredge/Hollow One/Phoenix or Infect (you Vined what?), tempo against D&T and E&T, useless vs. most Control except in defense. I tend to prefer it as a SB card if at all.
With all the ETB we have defence is a big reason I wanna play it for a few weeks. Maybe cast silvergill, snag it back and then Vial back in. Against other ETB decks you could potentially on their turn cast Trickster tap 1 creature, snag Trickster back to hand, vial Trickster back in tap down second creature and then have Trickster open for a block. You could get some great plays with MOW and vial on 4.
Again maybe not the best idea but I wanna play it and see what happens.
With all the ETB we have defence is a big reason I wanna play it for a few weeks. Maybe cast silvergill, snag it back and then Vial back in. Against other ETB decks you could potentially on their turn cast Trickster tap 1 creature, snag Trickster back to hand, vial Trickster back in tap down second creature and then have Trickster open for a block. You could get some great plays with MOW and vial on 4.
Again maybe not the best idea but I wanna play it and see what happens.
In that case you may as well play Unsummon and save yourself the life.
Yep. If you anticipate having to bounce your own creatures for value a lot, Unsummon is probably the better call. All in all, I'm not a fan of spells that only bounce creatures. Harbinger is a bit more valuable because it brings a body, and E-Truth is also more valuable because it can hit problematic permanents.
It's well-trod ground, and I don't think it's worth it, no. Unlike Spirits, Merfolk have ways to generate card advantage without CoCo, and most of our juice is at the 2, not the 3.
There are the inevitable issues with implementation; either sitting with a useless CoCo in your hand or a forest that doesn't help cast a lot of your cards. Dual lands leave you open to Blood Moon, etc.
As for the SB, I'd jettison everything but the Mistcaller(s) and Venser(s) and maybe a PI or two, then look at Gut Shot or Dismember, and Surgical Extraction or some other type of graveyard hate.
Standard: Fileted By Fish (UG aggro Merfolk), A Fine Kettle of Fish (UG swarm Merfolk), The Deep Blue Sea-People II (Umidrange Merfolk/Wizards),
Greek Fire (UR Wizards), Riptide (U Tempo)
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Primarily because it slows board development, and there are a number of decks that it's not particularly useful against, or not as useful as having more creatures hit the board. Dredge and Tron come immediately to mind. Also, a lot of aggro decks that are swimming in small creatures (pun unintended) aren't going to be hurt much by a counter.
Standard: Fileted By Fish (UG aggro Merfolk), A Fine Kettle of Fish (UG swarm Merfolk), The Deep Blue Sea-People II (Umidrange Merfolk/Wizards),
Greek Fire (UR Wizards), Riptide (U Tempo)
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
So do you find Spell Pierce less good at the moment then? Return of Vapor Snag perhaps? I tend to favor having Deprive in more often then I do spell pierce.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Master of Waves
2 Phantasmal Image
4 Aether Vial
4 Spreading Seas
4 Vapor Snag
2 Gut Shot
Land: 20
4 Mutavault
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
15 Island
4 Deprive
2 Echoing Truth
3 Relic Of Progenitus
3 Spell Pierce
2 Mistcaller
1 Tectonic Edge
I'm debating putting 2 Faerie Conclave in the side for when Vial comes out. I'm also not sure if I want Mistcaller in the side or not. I don't own Venser, Shaper Savant yet.
I know all the bounce spells are not typical but it's a tempo theory I want to test.
Great against Affinity/Hardened Scales, not bad against Dredge/Hollow One/Phoenix or Infect (you Vined what?), tempo against D&T and E&T, useless vs. most Control except in defense. I tend to prefer it as a SB card if at all.
Standard: Fileted By Fish (UG aggro Merfolk), A Fine Kettle of Fish (UG swarm Merfolk), The Deep Blue Sea-People II (Umidrange Merfolk/Wizards),
Greek Fire (UR Wizards), Riptide (U Tempo)
With all the ETB we have defence is a big reason I wanna play it for a few weeks. Maybe cast silvergill, snag it back and then Vial back in. Against other ETB decks you could potentially on their turn cast Trickster tap 1 creature, snag Trickster back to hand, vial Trickster back in tap down second creature and then have Trickster open for a block. You could get some great plays with MOW and vial on 4.
Again maybe not the best idea but I wanna play it and see what happens.
In that case you may as well play Unsummon and save yourself the life.
Standard: Fileted By Fish (UG aggro Merfolk), A Fine Kettle of Fish (UG swarm Merfolk), The Deep Blue Sea-People II (Umidrange Merfolk/Wizards),
Greek Fire (UR Wizards), Riptide (U Tempo)
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Standard: Fileted By Fish (UG aggro Merfolk), A Fine Kettle of Fish (UG swarm Merfolk), The Deep Blue Sea-People II (Umidrange Merfolk/Wizards),
Greek Fire (UR Wizards), Riptide (U Tempo)
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Standard: Fileted By Fish (UG aggro Merfolk), A Fine Kettle of Fish (UG swarm Merfolk), The Deep Blue Sea-People II (Umidrange Merfolk/Wizards),
Greek Fire (UR Wizards), Riptide (U Tempo)
I feel like curse catcher and mistcaller are both side cards