Agreed with Crypto. Karn activation is somewhat manageable, Oblivion Stone activation is game over.
Quarter might delay Urzatron for a turn but Edge is denying them "regular" 5 mana on turn 5, blow up a Stone.
After rotation we can probably expect Kozilek´s Return to supplant Pyroclasm since it can be found with Ancient Stirrings and have "uncounterable" additional mode.
Quarter will leave them on the same amount of lands while enabling search for red mana, if they so choose. This makes it harder for Cursecatcher and Pierce.
I look at Quarter and Path to Exile mostly the same, they have utility and definitely have drawback. Even my UW Merfolk only had 2 Paths in the sideboard, with Dismembers and Snags in main.
Which is why I prefer to have Tec Edges in my sideboard (too much Scapeshift and UWx to ignore, Quarter will not help here).
Some tron list have upped the basic land count to 2, so even the 2nd ghost quarter might not slow them down like you might think. Tect edge might seem slower, but if you also see a Spreading Seas or two, this really helps throwing them off the land combo.
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Evil Beware!....We have waffles.
"In my opinion, we don't devote nearly enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks." Calvin & Hobbes Quotes
Calvin : You can't just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.
Hobbes : What mood is that?
Calvin : Last-minute panic.
Decks I'm playing:
Modern: U Merfolk
Standard: I dislike Standard ATM
No competitive RG Tron deck that I've ever seen runs Mountains. If anything, land hate combined with Chalice of the Void can outright take them off R, since the only reusable sources are 4 Grove of the Burnwillows. And the Karn Liberated in and of itself is not the problem - the problem is that now they have Tron up, and they can follow it with Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Wurmcoil Engine, Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, a cast-and-activate Oblivion Stone, et cetera. Furthermore, a cast O-stone is not as scary as Karn because (unless Tron is up and they have at least one other non-Eye of Ugin land) you still have at least one turn (and sometimes 2) where the O-Stone just sits there and you can keep pressuring your opponent. I strongly favor Ghost Quarter over Tectonic Edge in the Tron matchup (and overall, since it's less disruptive on my mainboard mana base).
As for the issue of Kozilek's Return... I'm not really afraid of that card, to be honest. Costing 2R instead of Pyroclasm's 1R is a big deal, and while the instant speed can give them a shot at bottlenecking your mana, you also get another turn to hold up/find a Cursecatcher or get out of range for it.
One last point regarding the other decks you mentioned: the URG interactive version of Scapeshift is one we can just bum-rush with Æther Vial and Cavern of Souls bypassing their counterspells and countermagic of our own stuffing their sweepers and the like (remember, they need 8 lands to kill us, because they have to deal 20 damage). I'm not terribly afraid of that deck, especially given its modest metagame share. The Khalni Heart Expedition-aided "all-in" variant is a bit more challenging to deal with because of its superior speed, but (again) the fact that we don't deal damage to ourselves and that we can put pressure on them while keeping mana up for counterspells (which are awesome against them, because they can't engage in counter wars) means that I like my chances.
WUX dropped off the map in recent months, and even then you can either outrace them or use Ghost Quarter to kill a Celestial Colonnade, which in the case of the draw-go variants robs them of a primary win condition, and in the case of the Sun Titan-fueled value engines robs them of an alternate one.
So anyone get any more matches in against Bx Eldrazi? I still haven't played against it yet despite it increasing in popularity. I know our match up is actually pretty good but just curious how everyone's experience is.
Edge is strictly better for Scapeshift, pure Time Walk.
The same for UWx, they are going to get Sun Titan turn sooner with Ghost Quarter.
GQ is better against third turn Tron but I like my LD to work in concert with Spreading Seas, CC and Pierce, not against it.
When I blow up a manland they are losing a land, not thinning their deck from useless lands.
I played against the B/W at my store and it was honestly pretty easy Relic and Bojuka Bog and all those exile cards are more or less dead since we don't really play spells so they can't process anything. Spreading Seas to shut down Eldrazi Temple, Eye of Ugin, or Urborg buys us a turn or more before they start dropping fatties. Harbinger is hilarious if they are out of things to process. We can go equally wide against Blight Herder with Master of Waves and even overpower them since if they are pathing our guys we get MoW out even earlier. I was expecting it to be a harder match up but it just felt like playing against a Delver deck with worse removal and no counterspells.
I haven't played against the mono-black version but not letting Heartless Summoning resolve seems the easiest way to win.
Most (good) tron players will side out karn against us
Ostone is definitely their strongest card against us, especially since it clears Seas as well
It's true that GQ is better versus tron even if they play 2 basics now, but tec edge is better against all the other decks you want to side it in against. It also helps keeping spell pierce live
It's been brought up before, and the answer is that it isn't synergistic enough with our list. By the time we have 4+ U sources on the table (the required amount before Nykthos ramps you at all), chances are we are already winning and not having issues casting our cards. Furthermore, the deck has Æther Vial to help spit out creatures quickly and our curve revolves around 2-drops (which are easy to cast).
Same as the rest: I like aggro, tempo, and control all rolled together. Plus, at the time, it was a budget deck (biggest regret was selling the deck when I got bored of it. I realized what a mistake that was and had to re-buy everything after their prices had gone up )
I was wondering if a Nykthos would be a consideration to add to our mana pool? Just wondering
I tried it as a way to jam Cryptic Command's into the deck (favorite card in modern and had a playset of textless ones with the merfolk hand) and utilized Coralhelm Commander to use up all that mana. It was sub-optimal at best (though the deck did take me to the semifinals of a GPT, where we all drew because none of us were actually going to go to the GP).
Look at my title? 'Tribal Master'. Haha. I love playing tribal decks, and that's the reason why I build most decks. Heck, the only deck I play in Pauper is mono-blue faeries. As for Merfolk, the art is gourgeous (accept Lord of Atlantas) and it is fun to play a mono-blue deck that can stall your opponent and beat them to death fast.
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Modern: U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
Us? Not very likely, since the next block is Innistrad. I can only hope that we will get another Summer set (a la Conspiracy or Modern Masters) with a Lord of Atlantis reprint with correct oracle text and creature type (one does not exist), hopefully with new art in the same vein as Master of the Pearl Trident, Harbinger of the Tides, or Master of Waves.
I play fish because I love the tempo play style and Lord of Atlantis has my favorite art of any card! Plus we play the most OP card in the history of Magic: Island.
Most (good) tron players will side out karn against us
Ostone is definitely their strongest card against us, especially since it clears Seas as well
It's true that GQ is better versus tron even if they play 2 basics now, but tec edge is better against all the other decks you want to side it in against. It also helps keeping spell pierce live
I would say that Tec Edge is more potent then Ghost Quarter in Merfolk overall and specifically against Tron. The reasons are that when combined with spreading seas your opponent (ie. Tron) will have to go to 4 lands ensuring that your Tec Edge hits a Tron piece. This is important as once they get to 5 lands they can O Stone your team – so keeping them down on lands is very important. Ghost quarter is pretty bad here - they will get to 5 lands sooner and that is where they really need to be to beat Merfolk. If you can delay them, even a bit on O stone the match is yours.
It sure is worse against Infect and Affinity (Merfolk wasnt winning that matchup anyway) but it is much preferable to Ghost Quarter against BGx – and it is often the difference between winning and losing..(also great against Scapeshift over GQ)
Quarter might delay Urzatron for a turn but Edge is denying them "regular" 5 mana on turn 5, blow up a Stone.
After rotation we can probably expect Kozilek´s Return to supplant Pyroclasm since it can be found with Ancient Stirrings and have "uncounterable" additional mode.
Quarter will leave them on the same amount of lands while enabling search for red mana, if they so choose. This makes it harder for Cursecatcher and Pierce.
I look at Quarter and Path to Exile mostly the same, they have utility and definitely have drawback. Even my UW Merfolk only had 2 Paths in the sideboard, with Dismembers and Snags in main.
Which is why I prefer to have Tec Edges in my sideboard (too much Scapeshift and UWx to ignore, Quarter will not help here).
Evil Beware!....We have waffles.
"In my opinion, we don't devote nearly enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks." Calvin & Hobbes Quotes
Calvin : You can't just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.
Hobbes : What mood is that?
Calvin : Last-minute panic.
Decks I'm playing:
Modern: U Merfolk
Standard: I dislike Standard ATM
As for the issue of Kozilek's Return... I'm not really afraid of that card, to be honest. Costing 2R instead of Pyroclasm's 1R is a big deal, and while the instant speed can give them a shot at bottlenecking your mana, you also get another turn to hold up/find a Cursecatcher or get out of range for it.
One last point regarding the other decks you mentioned: the URG interactive version of Scapeshift is one we can just bum-rush with Æther Vial and Cavern of Souls bypassing their counterspells and countermagic of our own stuffing their sweepers and the like (remember, they need 8 lands to kill us, because they have to deal 20 damage). I'm not terribly afraid of that deck, especially given its modest metagame share. The Khalni Heart Expedition-aided "all-in" variant is a bit more challenging to deal with because of its superior speed, but (again) the fact that we don't deal damage to ourselves and that we can put pressure on them while keeping mana up for counterspells (which are awesome against them, because they can't engage in counter wars) means that I like my chances.
WUX dropped off the map in recent months, and even then you can either outrace them or use Ghost Quarter to kill a Celestial Colonnade, which in the case of the draw-go variants robs them of a primary win condition, and in the case of the Sun Titan-fueled value engines robs them of an alternate one.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
The same for UWx, they are going to get Sun Titan turn sooner with Ghost Quarter.
GQ is better against third turn Tron but I like my LD to work in concert with Spreading Seas, CC and Pierce, not against it.
When I blow up a manland they are losing a land, not thinning their deck from useless lands.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
I haven't played against the mono-black version but not letting Heartless Summoning resolve seems the easiest way to win.
UMerfolkU
Legacy
UMerfolkU
Commander
RWBAlesha, Who Smiles At DeathRWB
4 Æther Vial
Creatures (28)
4 Cursecatcher
4 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Master of Waves
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Spreading Seas
Instants (4)
2 Spell Pierce
2 Vapor Snag
Lands (20)
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
4 Mutavault
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
10 Island
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Dispel
2 Echoing Truth
2 Negate
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Spellskite
4 Tidebinder Mage
BCX Eldrazi Processors:
+2 Chalice of the Void
+2 Dispel
+2 Echoing Truth
+2 Negate
-4 Æther Vial
-2 Spell Pierce
-2 Vapor Snag
BCX Heartless Eldrazi:
+2 Dispel
+2 Echoing Truth
-4 Æther Vial
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Ostone is definitely their strongest card against us, especially since it clears Seas as well
It's true that GQ is better versus tron even if they play 2 basics now, but tec edge is better against all the other decks you want to side it in against. It also helps keeping spell pierce live
What drew you to playing merfolk and why?
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Modern
UGWRB Humans
G Mono-Green Tron
UWBR Ad Nauseam
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Same as the rest: I like aggro, tempo, and control all rolled together. Plus, at the time, it was a budget deck (biggest regret was selling the deck when I got bored of it. I realized what a mistake that was and had to re-buy everything after their prices had gone up )
I tried it as a way to jam Cryptic Command's into the deck (favorite card in modern and had a playset of textless ones with the merfolk hand) and utilized Coralhelm Commander to use up all that mana. It was sub-optimal at best (though the deck did take me to the semifinals of a GPT, where we all drew because none of us were actually going to go to the GP).
Modern
UGWRB Humans
G Mono-Green Tron
UWBR Ad Nauseam
Look at my title? 'Tribal Master'. Haha. I love playing tribal decks, and that's the reason why I build most decks. Heck, the only deck I play in Pauper is mono-blue faeries. As for Merfolk, the art is gourgeous (accept Lord of Atlantas) and it is fun to play a mono-blue deck that can stall your opponent and beat them to death fast.
U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
EDH:
G Ezuri, Renegade Leader, Fighting for Rivendell
WU Brago, King Eternal, Long Live the King
WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon, Worship the Dragon
New question: What are the chances to you guys that we get some new fish toys to work with?
LEGACY is another story though.
Fish
0 Affinity 0
Blue Moon
I would say that Tec Edge is more potent then Ghost Quarter in Merfolk overall and specifically against Tron. The reasons are that when combined with spreading seas your opponent (ie. Tron) will have to go to 4 lands ensuring that your Tec Edge hits a Tron piece. This is important as once they get to 5 lands they can O Stone your team – so keeping them down on lands is very important. Ghost quarter is pretty bad here - they will get to 5 lands sooner and that is where they really need to be to beat Merfolk. If you can delay them, even a bit on O stone the match is yours.
It sure is worse against Infect and Affinity (Merfolk wasnt winning that matchup anyway) but it is much preferable to Ghost Quarter against BGx – and it is often the difference between winning and losing..(also great against Scapeshift over GQ)
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver