I play 19 lands with no lands in my SB and there are games I still get flooded without anybody playing Path. It just happens, there are also games where 2 mutavaults and a vial carry me to victory
I'd try to sneak Ghost Quarter in the main if I were you. I'd also put Spell Pierce there - I and many others swear by it. I'd also keep the Negate - it's not always the smoothest option, but it's potent enough to be worth your while.
Thanks for the report! Let me leave a couple of comments:
1. I don't like your RG Tron sideboarding plan. Harbinger of the Tides may not be much in terms of effect against Tron (though flashing/Vialing it in against a Wurmcoil Engine can be devastating), but it's a bear for 2 with a relevant creature type, and that matters. When I play Tron, I side out all my Master of Waves, because it's too slow. Speed is of the essence against Tron.
2. I think the Grishoalbrand situation is one where you have to play it safe, personally. I'd rather not attack and wait for my land than leave myself open for the insta-kill. I only do that on turns 1-2, where he has to have the godhand to beat me. It's not a good situation to be in, and you might have lost that match going this road anyway, but safe is the name of the game against Grishoalbrand unless you know you don't have permission and your only chance is to race.
What do you guys think of playing with -1 mutavault for a seagate? I know mutavault is a key land, but dropping one shouldn't really effect our games to much.
Interestingly enough, I've been testing, for curiosity's sake: 4 mutavault, 1 cavern, 2 ghost quarter, 1 wreckage, 10 island, and its been surprisingly good, though I have flooded a few times.
As for mutavault, it's not so good as to never be considered for cutting.
Its a strong card, yes, but sometimes your list is going to go in a different direction.
What do you guys think of playing with -1 mutavault for a seagate? I know mutavault is a key land, but dropping one shouldn't really effect our games to much.
Rather than playing -1 Mutavault i would just add the land for a spell.
The real problem with this land however is, that you need to play a very creatureheavy version. You should not play many reactive cards like Dismember, or Counterspells. Because with them you rarely have a no cards in hand. This makes playing Caverns a lot easier and in reverse helps paying colorless mana again. You also need to think about when you actually use this land. More likely than not, your Mutavaults got killed and you don't have them for paying the costs. Additionally you usually get to use this land with TecEdges and Ghostquarters. These too have the bad habit of vanishing when used. This pretty much only leaves Caverns and Multiple copies of wreckage!
I switched from 19 lands to 21 lands, adding 2 Ghostquarters to the main. Still testing though. Up to now, i don't experience excessive flooding and with seagate this should be the case even less?
I've been trying a singleton sea gate wreckage, but it hasn't show up enough for anything to be conclusive.
As for the big long list of cards, here's my thoughts:
Relic is a lot worse now. I have stopped playing them, and have yet to miss it. Also a slight nonbo with chalice, but excluding storm, they're usually independant.
Kira is in the same boat here. I like sygg a lot more here, if one plays white. I've also cut kira from mono-u completely, something I haven't done since I started playing fish.
Vapor snag is still fine. I like it better than dismember right now.
I would not play surgical extraction. The only real use it serves for us is gq a tron land > surgical it, but I feel 8-seas is a better mana denial plan.
I like clique a lot here too. Bit of an issue with images too, lowering the merfolk count, but while I am not currently playing any cliques, I might toss a pair in the side.
Pithing needle is alright. I feel its used in similar matchups to chalice (tron, infect,) but needle is narrower. If you can't afford chalices though, needle might be fine.
I would not play grafdigger's cage. I don't really see the need for it at the moment.
Echoing truth is still fine. Bridge, gq, worship, etc all might see more play, and at the very least, truth does answer anything we need it to. Also getting around chalice could be useful.
Both triton tactics and mizzium skins feel like a worse version than just playing kira, and I'm not even playing kira.
Sower seems good, but too slow for us, in my mind. She also dies to all the clasm effects running around, and can't be pumped by fish.
Threads is probably too small.
See top for wreckage.
Chalice feels fantastic right now. It can get in the way of some of our cards, but not enough to greatly bother me.
Pierce also feels very strong. Excepting scapeshift, most decks are likely going to be using up most of their mana each turn. (Even against scapeshift, pierce can shut down some of the earlier things)
Unified will feels no longer maindeckable whatsoever, but likely very fine in the side.
Same deal with negate.
I would not even consider playing dispel over negate/will/pierce anymore. Even previously it was questionable, but now I don't think its really an option.
Remand is alright, but feels worse than will/negate.
Spell snare is fine if you see a lot of the smaller decks, and less of the big ones. Not impactful enough to sideboard though.
With both twin and bloom gone, unless something new pops up, steel sabatoge is a lot better than annul.
Especially with 8seas looking more enticing, tectonic edge seems fine. However, I'm currently playing ghost quarter, but I'm not convinced its better (not convinced its worse, either).
I feel harbinger is still good. Picking up eldrazi doesn't feel great, but it takes damage off the table, and it can clear away blockers. I'm currently playing more spell pierce, which means I don't want to cut harbingers.
Tidebinders feel like an auto 4-of in the 75. I've got a set sideboarded, but I can see the appeal of them mainboard, even though I would never do it. (meta too diverse)
Wake thrasher still feels bad to me. Master of waves feels a lot worse. Reejerey feels a lot better.
Currently playing 8-sea. It feels fine to me. Also only running 26-27 creatures (haven't decided on the exact list), and my sideboard has a lot of creatures in it. If I didn't play 8-seas, most of these creatures would be mainboard.
For those who have playing 8-seas longer than I, how often do you find yourself siding out some (or all) of you seas?
I feel I end up siding out atleast 2 seas every game.
Finally someone willing to discuss things
8Seas overall:
All i'm saying now is with the presumption that you play an 8seas Merfolk list as you said in the last paragraph. If not, just ignore it.
You dismiss relic because of chalice, but why doesn't that also count for 8Seas? Usually especially the small mana decks like Zoo etc, get hit by both chalice and Seas. You might want to board in both against the same matchups, don't you?
Do you side out SeasClaim for the Chalice then?
The same goes for Spell Pierce. But chalice aside, playing 8 seas reduces your clock by one turn, you are actively taking out some aggressiveness for control. But then again, the worst you can do is play SpellPierce in a Merfolklist that plans to go a bit slower. People start being able to pay the 2 mana with their "useless" seased mana and you don't even have a good boardstate established already.
I'm very willing to revert my judgement about Pierce, but i doubt that is the case for an 8seas-Merfolk!
Relic:
The reason i like Relic and Chalice in the same sideboard is simple! I don't board them in against the same matchups. Matchups in which i like Relic, usually are not the same as the ones i side in Chalice. Other than Spell Snare which i would like to board alongside Chalice.
The reason Relic is so important for me right now is the simple fact that a lot of decks use the graveyard often enough for me to board relic in against them. as of mtgotop8 the % add up to 20% of the Metagameshare. This isn't a bad number for a sideboardcard to have!
Surgical Extraction:
I want to revisit that one. Yes, i primarily brought it up against Tron and its lands. There is however a very real application for it in other matchups and synergizes well with Spell Pierce! Usually when you play Spell Pierce you can counter the first hoser they throw at you. Maybe it is a Sweeper, a Scapeshift or any other big card. But the second or third one usually hits us no matter what, because the lands just keep going up. In those situations Surgical Extraction helps us tremendously to keep the game in check. Obvioulsy you don't play this card against Attritiondecks. But Scapeshift, Ensnaring Bridge etc. can be taken care of with a 1-2 Punch for an entire game. It's effective against the all too common Hosers we have to face a fear.
Right now i would board them in in 19% of the Metagamematches. Quite some overlap with Relic though.
Triton Tactics/Mizzium Skin:
I think these to get heavily underestimated right now. I had a LOT of good experience with it. At the moment i'm facing a lot of Zoo, Burn, Infect and Affinity. Tron, to be honest has a really bad Position, because it gets crushed by them.
Right now i run Triton Tactics against any red matchup and i just recently started to use it against Infect as well(rather bad results xD).
It saves creatures from Burnspells, allows us to attack and block at the same time(usually not the mode i use it for) and also slows down the clock against any aggro deck. But it also saves my creatures from Pyroclasm quite a lot! A Boardstate of Cursecatcher, Harbinger, Lord is quite common and Tritontactics can save all of them.
Mizium Skins mainuse is actually protecting my MoWs. I won a lot of games that way.
Tidebinder:
How come that Tidebinder is so high in your list? 4off is rarely seen nowadays.
Sower:
I missed the sweeper interaction, it just never happened to me. Hm... i think you might be right on this one.
Unified Will:
Was this EVER maindeckable? Until now i didn't even think it was a good sideboardcard.
Have a nice day!
I am currently playing 8-seas.
I dismiss relic primarily because it feels less useful against eldrazi/tron/affinity/infect/bogles/zoo than agaisnt bgx and friends. Getting hit by chalice is really just icing on the cake.
As for siding out sea's claim, you'll see I asked about that. My current working theory is that chalice is such a hoser to certain decks that they suffer more than we do as it comes to sea's claim. The same is not neccessarily true for relic though, relic is very strong against grishoalbrand, storm, among other decks, where chalice may still be brought in, but relic is the bigger hate piece.
I have thought about playing other counterspells instead of pierce, but pierce does counter a lot of important spells, and while it does get worse as the game goes on, we are usually able to take explosive turns with reejerey and vial.
Back to relic, I agree that they don't always see play against the same decks, but there aren't enough decks weak to relic left that I see much play against, so out they come.
mtgtop8 is about to change a lot, I think, as the twin banning has yet to take place online, and we haven't really had any paper tournaments with the new banned list.
Surgical extraction is interesting, but I worry that with vapor snag or echoing truth, not putting things into the graveyard actually hurts a ton as far as extraction goes. Even dismember isn't perfect. By no means is it not a reasonable card, but I don't think its the best card in its space.
As for tactics/mizzium skins, they are interesting, but I'm not excited. They can save creatures from burn spells or wipes, but so can counterspells. Triton tactics can let you block too, but that hasn't been very important for me, as of late. Mizzium skins might be better/worthwhile if abrupt decay didn't just lose its best matchup and the two decks that play it didn't just lose their best matchup.
Tidebinder is nice beacause I see a fair amount of of zoo and infect, and I've been playing with 26 creatures main (very likely going up to 28 though) and I want to be able to board in a good number of creatures. Its an incredibly powerful card against certain decks, and its a 2/2 for UU, which is basically exactly what we want.
I've always liked unified will. Sometimes people just slam wurmcoils or keranos or pia and kiran on you and you wish you didn't have swan song, or negate, or spell pierce. In my opinion, its one of the best sideboard counterspells, and depending on the meta, fine maindeck (though unless you have a very slow meta, probably no longer a good maindeck choice).
Note steel sabotage is important against things like oblivion stone. That being said, I would rather run recall than it.
I think spell pierce is just the best option for our main deck. It hits the cards our linear deck has issues with and at 1cc helps our worst turn (T3) as we can play a 2cc with backup. Does the card fall apart in the long game? Sure, but I also think fish isn't really looking good if the game is to the point where our oppennet has excesses mana anyways.
Additionally I think 2cc counters are a waste. If I'm playing a 2cc I want it to be something that can awnser the current board state (ie echoing truth and hurkyl's recall) especially if said spell is coming from the top deck.
I also dropped Kira atm but more for the build Im running than anything else.
Chalice seems alright to me but I just don't see a meta where decks are jamming in the 1cc spot like last January in the treasure cruise era. The decks that chalice seems good against currently ie fast aggro, we already have a plethora of etb creatures doing work. Also as a side, I personally wouldn't side chalice in against affinity, the risk reward is too great in an already abysmal match.
Relic will always be in the 75 for me. Just because processor is a thing does not mean gbx, snapcaster/jace.dec, and fringe decks like living end won't surface at an rel event.
I've always been a fan of vapor snag but I've also been in too many spots where my t3 includes a mutavault and I need to cast a UU creature. Additionally, I think that something that gets lost in the snag/dismember debate is when harbinger was printed it made dismember even more accessible due to the diffrent line of removal it brings to the deck while not loosing a return to hand effect.
On the subject of gq, tec edge, and 8ish seas; I am a proponent of using seas. I was using gq up to the summer bloom ban as I think having gq for that match was detrimental. I also like gq for the tron matchup but seas claim does the same job as well as adds to devotion and doesn't suffer the draw back of giving the oppennet a +1 card advantage
Like some I also play 19 lands currently and I do not play additional lands in the sideboard. I've rationalized this by looking at lands and aether vials as mutually exclusive in terms of curving properly (with the one exception of an opening hand of 1 land aether vial).
What is everyones experiences playing against Infect with our Merfolk?
Well, for every Elf, Nexus and unblockable dude there is equal amount of Tidebinder, Seas and Harbinger. They have protection, we have Snag, Dismember, Pierce...
It comes down to if we can align our answers to their threats. This is all if we don't draw (or play at all) Chalice.
Good thing is they can't stop our attacks.
Do you think Spell Pierce is good in the main at the moment?
How do you rate Relic of Progenitus right now? Mainboardmaterial again?
No Kira, don't you have concerns about Grixiscontrol, Delver and maybe Jund?
Can you explain your choice to not run Vapor Snag?
To be honest, i don't belive in your 2 pierces main and 3 negates seem to be too many. On the other hand i strongly miss Chalice. I just can't help but feel like this card will be good with Delver, Bogles and Infect having an easier time.
General style questions
Would you play 8 seas over 4 seas?
I don't want to put words into others mouths, so i will post my own answers a few hours later!
cya CoBTyrannon
Finally getting around to answering (some of) these:
I feel like Echoing Truth - Dismember - Vapor Snag is like a Rock-Paper-Scissors situation right now in some ways. Each of them has a strength and a weakness. I'm currently playing 3 Chalice main deck, so Snag is not something I want to have. I find that Echoing Truth does what Snag does almost all of the time, but it also hits permanents like Pyromancer's Ascension, Ensnaring Bridge, Oblivion Stone, etc, so it feels like a Time Walk in that sense. Dismember is still good IMO because it gets around Chalice and hits Rhino (after I've Phimage'd it), Goyf (usually), Infect creatures, etc but I don't run it main because I don't find that I NEED it G1. Very easily could be wrong here (running 2 Echoing Truth MD). I can see where Vapor Snag is really helpful, I just haven't had enough games where I wished it was in my hand instead of Echoing Truth.
I've kept 2 Relic of Progenitus in my SB for Goyf and Storm decks since I've been facing them a lot on MTGO and they're definitely pulling their weight, but I can see those spots being better used for something else in the future.
Currently running 0 Kira anywhere in my 75 and I haven't missed it. I don't think the shield is helpful enough against Abrupt Decay, Rending Volley (Storm, Grixis Control), or the sweepers in Tron.
I could see Clique being helpful, and I've tested running 2 in the 75 from time to time, but right now I haven't felt a big need for it. If Delver becomes popular again and Phimage isn't enough to give us a flyer, then maybe Clique is important. Same goes for if we start seeing a lot of Ad Nauseum or other combo decks come back.
I'd echo the comments made above about Chalice doing the work of Pithing Needle/Grafdigger's Cage frequently, but not always. There's definitely times where I'd like a Pithing Needle for a Planeswalker, but such is life.
I do run 2 MD Ghost Quarter, so I've explored running Surgical Extraction (I have 2 in my Legacy deck which runs Wasteland), but I think it's more helpful for combo and I still haven't seen enough combo to be worried.
With regard to counterspells - I run 3 Negate in my sideboard and I think it's far and away the best counterspell for the build I have (with Chalice) and probably Merfolk in general. I'm worried about sweepers, planeswalkers, and artifacts. Dispel is a non-bo with Chalice and Spell Pierce is in my MD for now, but often comes out in favor of Negate G2/G3. I've dropped Spell Pierce from the main in favor of Chalice, since holding up blue mana for it is rarely efficient. I don't have confidence in Unified Will (yet), but I'm interested in everyone else's experience.
Again, super thankful for all the great discussion here. I've benefitted tremendously from it and am looking forward to us fish slapping our way to a successful 2016.
Again, super thankful for all the great discussion here. I've benefitted tremendously from it and am looking forward to us fish slapping our way to a successful 2016.
Yep.
Interesting that we managed to ramble on for 63 pages after reset to zero in November (we were close to 400 then).
So much to say about linear deck.
Again, super thankful for all the great discussion here. I've benefitted tremendously from it and am looking forward to us fish slapping our way to a successful 2016.
Yep.
Interesting that we managed to ramble on for 63 pages after reset to zero in November (we were close to 400 then).
So much to say about linear deck.
Not to toot my own horn, but this is why I love playing and try to play nothing but tribal. It may seem linear, but different synergies in a linear strategy makes for a complex deck.
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Modern: U Merfolk | GR Tron | WUR Jeskai Control | WBG Abzan Company
There weren't many notable plays, but I do think I'm going to remove the Dispels in my sideboard for a 4th Negate and 4th Tidebinder or potentially Unified Will. I don't think I ever brought them in and there were times I would have rather had a Negate or Tidebinder when they were in my hand. The only time I wished for a Unified Will was when Scapeshift played Primeval Titan. *sigh* Also, Echoing Truth saved me against burn multiple times as I was able to bounce one creature with Harbinger and Echoing Truth whatever he had two of during his attack step, saving me a lot of life and often allowing me time to cast a Chalice or drop a few creatures the following turn.
Finally getting around to answering (some of) these:
I feel like Echoing Truth - Dismember - Vapor Snag is like a Rock-Paper-Scissors situation right now in some ways. Each of them has a strength and a weakness. I'm currently playing 3 Chalice main deck, so Snag is not something I want to have. I find that Echoing Truth does what Snag does almost all of the time, but it also hits permanents like Pyromancer's Ascension, Ensnaring Bridge, Oblivion Stone, etc, so it feels like a Time Walk in that sense. Dismember is still good IMO because it gets around Chalice and hits Rhino (after I've Phimage'd it), Goyf (usually), Infect creatures, etc but I don't run it main because I don't find that I NEED it G1. Very easily could be wrong here (running 2 Echoing Truth MD). I can see where Vapor Snag is really helpful, I just haven't had enough games where I wished it was in my hand instead of Echoing Truth.
I've kept 2 Relic of Progenitus in my SB for Goyf and Storm decks since I've been facing them a lot on MTGO and they're definitely pulling their weight, but I can see those spots being better used for something else in the future.
Currently running 0 Kira anywhere in my 75 and I haven't missed it. I don't think the shield is helpful enough against Abrupt Decay, Rending Volley (Storm, Grixis Control), or the sweepers in Tron.
I could see Clique being helpful, and I've tested running 2 in the 75 from time to time, but right now I haven't felt a big need for it. If Delver becomes popular again and Phimage isn't enough to give us a flyer, then maybe Clique is important. Same goes for if we start seeing a lot of Ad Nauseum or other combo decks come back.
I'd echo the comments made above about Chalice doing the work of Pithing Needle/Grafdigger's Cage frequently, but not always. There's definitely times where I'd like a Pithing Needle for a Planeswalker, but such is life.
I do run 2 MD Ghost Quarter, so I've explored running Surgical Extraction (I have 2 in my Legacy deck which runs Wasteland), but I think it's more helpful for combo and I still haven't seen enough combo to be worried.
With regard to counterspells - I run 3 Negate in my sideboard and I think it's far and away the best counterspell for the build I have (with Chalice) and probably Merfolk in general. I'm worried about sweepers, planeswalkers, and artifacts. Dispel is a non-bo with Chalice and Spell Pierce is in my MD for now, but often comes out in favor of Negate G2/G3. I've dropped Spell Pierce from the main in favor of Chalice, since holding up blue mana for it is rarely efficient. I don't have confidence in Unified Will (yet), but I'm interested in everyone else's experience.
Again, super thankful for all the great discussion here. I've benefitted tremendously from it and am looking forward to us fish slapping our way to a successful 2016.
mind sharing your SB?
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EDH:ShatterStax, Only The Strong Survive
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir Mono-U Control
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
Sen Triplets
Mizzix of the Izmagnus
Derevi Stax
VolThrun
Marchesa, The Black Rose
Olivia Voldaren, Vampire Tribal
I have 2 infect players at my store, if there isnt a Wild Definace in play Chalice on 1 is basically an auto win. Dismember and Harbinger help alot, so does Kira to block the Nexus. If I'm not lazy and keep a meh hand I usually win pretty easily. Because of fetching, shocking, and phyrexian mana we can win on turn 4 pretty easily if they dont scoop on the spot to a chalice or killing their last infect guy.
You cant play too carefully against the Grisleshoalbrand deck, I've been killed by him untapping into his second turn where I played a vial instead of held up spell pierce mana. He had the kill in hand so he wasn't gonna go for it until he could. My spell pierce didnt matter. You have to play aggressively, sometimes they dont have it and have to dig for it or they whiff on their draws with grislebrand and due to you attacking them they cant keep going deeper. Holding up mana for counter magic is fine, but not if you aren't deploying any threats since you are giving them more draw steps and time to set up.
Merfolk did very well in Atlanta, and two quite different builds. Also, Temur Delver reappearing is interesting. I expected some kind of Delver Tempo deck to be back, and there it is.
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Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Fish keeping tron/eldrazi in check. Delver rising is very good for us; Chalice on 1 GG Homie.
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Level 1 Judge
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
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UMerfolkU
Legacy
UMerfolkU
Commander
RWBAlesha, Who Smiles At DeathRWB
I'd try to sneak Ghost Quarter in the main if I were you. I'd also put Spell Pierce there - I and many others swear by it. I'd also keep the Negate - it's not always the smoothest option, but it's potent enough to be worth your while.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Played against young Padawan in mirror match
He dismantled me 2:0 so my 8-year streak of never losing Merfolk mirror in any format ended.
I have many mixed feelings
1. I don't like your RG Tron sideboarding plan. Harbinger of the Tides may not be much in terms of effect against Tron (though flashing/Vialing it in against a Wurmcoil Engine can be devastating), but it's a bear for 2 with a relevant creature type, and that matters. When I play Tron, I side out all my Master of Waves, because it's too slow. Speed is of the essence against Tron.
2. I think the Grishoalbrand situation is one where you have to play it safe, personally. I'd rather not attack and wait for my land than leave myself open for the insta-kill. I only do that on turns 1-2, where he has to have the godhand to beat me. It's not a good situation to be in, and you might have lost that match going this road anyway, but safe is the name of the game against Grishoalbrand unless you know you don't have permission and your only chance is to race.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Interestingly enough, I've been testing, for curiosity's sake: 4 mutavault, 1 cavern, 2 ghost quarter, 1 wreckage, 10 island, and its been surprisingly good, though I have flooded a few times.
As for mutavault, it's not so good as to never be considered for cutting.
Its a strong card, yes, but sometimes your list is going to go in a different direction.
I am currently playing 8-seas.
I dismiss relic primarily because it feels less useful against eldrazi/tron/affinity/infect/bogles/zoo than agaisnt bgx and friends. Getting hit by chalice is really just icing on the cake.
As for siding out sea's claim, you'll see I asked about that. My current working theory is that chalice is such a hoser to certain decks that they suffer more than we do as it comes to sea's claim. The same is not neccessarily true for relic though, relic is very strong against grishoalbrand, storm, among other decks, where chalice may still be brought in, but relic is the bigger hate piece.
I have thought about playing other counterspells instead of pierce, but pierce does counter a lot of important spells, and while it does get worse as the game goes on, we are usually able to take explosive turns with reejerey and vial.
Back to relic, I agree that they don't always see play against the same decks, but there aren't enough decks weak to relic left that I see much play against, so out they come.
mtgtop8 is about to change a lot, I think, as the twin banning has yet to take place online, and we haven't really had any paper tournaments with the new banned list.
Surgical extraction is interesting, but I worry that with vapor snag or echoing truth, not putting things into the graveyard actually hurts a ton as far as extraction goes. Even dismember isn't perfect. By no means is it not a reasonable card, but I don't think its the best card in its space.
As for tactics/mizzium skins, they are interesting, but I'm not excited. They can save creatures from burn spells or wipes, but so can counterspells. Triton tactics can let you block too, but that hasn't been very important for me, as of late. Mizzium skins might be better/worthwhile if abrupt decay didn't just lose its best matchup and the two decks that play it didn't just lose their best matchup.
Tidebinder is nice beacause I see a fair amount of of zoo and infect, and I've been playing with 26 creatures main (very likely going up to 28 though) and I want to be able to board in a good number of creatures. Its an incredibly powerful card against certain decks, and its a 2/2 for UU, which is basically exactly what we want.
I've always liked unified will. Sometimes people just slam wurmcoils or keranos or pia and kiran on you and you wish you didn't have swan song, or negate, or spell pierce. In my opinion, its one of the best sideboard counterspells, and depending on the meta, fine maindeck (though unless you have a very slow meta, probably no longer a good maindeck choice).
Note steel sabotage is important against things like oblivion stone. That being said, I would rather run recall than it.
Additionally I think 2cc counters are a waste. If I'm playing a 2cc I want it to be something that can awnser the current board state (ie echoing truth and hurkyl's recall) especially if said spell is coming from the top deck.
I also dropped Kira atm but more for the build Im running than anything else.
Chalice seems alright to me but I just don't see a meta where decks are jamming in the 1cc spot like last January in the treasure cruise era. The decks that chalice seems good against currently ie fast aggro, we already have a plethora of etb creatures doing work. Also as a side, I personally wouldn't side chalice in against affinity, the risk reward is too great in an already abysmal match.
Relic will always be in the 75 for me. Just because processor is a thing does not mean gbx, snapcaster/jace.dec, and fringe decks like living end won't surface at an rel event.
I've always been a fan of vapor snag but I've also been in too many spots where my t3 includes a mutavault and I need to cast a UU creature. Additionally, I think that something that gets lost in the snag/dismember debate is when harbinger was printed it made dismember even more accessible due to the diffrent line of removal it brings to the deck while not loosing a return to hand effect.
On the subject of gq, tec edge, and 8ish seas; I am a proponent of using seas. I was using gq up to the summer bloom ban as I think having gq for that match was detrimental. I also like gq for the tron matchup but seas claim does the same job as well as adds to devotion and doesn't suffer the draw back of giving the oppennet a +1 card advantage
Like some I also play 19 lands currently and I do not play additional lands in the sideboard. I've rationalized this by looking at lands and aether vials as mutually exclusive in terms of curving properly (with the one exception of an opening hand of 1 land aether vial).
Modern
UGWRB Humans
G Mono-Green Tron
UWBR Ad Nauseam
Well, for every Elf, Nexus and unblockable dude there is equal amount of Tidebinder, Seas and Harbinger. They have protection, we have Snag, Dismember, Pierce...
It comes down to if we can align our answers to their threats. This is all if we don't draw (or play at all) Chalice.
Good thing is they can't stop our attacks.
Finally getting around to answering (some of) these:
I feel like Echoing Truth - Dismember - Vapor Snag is like a Rock-Paper-Scissors situation right now in some ways. Each of them has a strength and a weakness. I'm currently playing 3 Chalice main deck, so Snag is not something I want to have. I find that Echoing Truth does what Snag does almost all of the time, but it also hits permanents like Pyromancer's Ascension, Ensnaring Bridge, Oblivion Stone, etc, so it feels like a Time Walk in that sense. Dismember is still good IMO because it gets around Chalice and hits Rhino (after I've Phimage'd it), Goyf (usually), Infect creatures, etc but I don't run it main because I don't find that I NEED it G1. Very easily could be wrong here (running 2 Echoing Truth MD). I can see where Vapor Snag is really helpful, I just haven't had enough games where I wished it was in my hand instead of Echoing Truth.
I've kept 2 Relic of Progenitus in my SB for Goyf and Storm decks since I've been facing them a lot on MTGO and they're definitely pulling their weight, but I can see those spots being better used for something else in the future.
Currently running 0 Kira anywhere in my 75 and I haven't missed it. I don't think the shield is helpful enough against Abrupt Decay, Rending Volley (Storm, Grixis Control), or the sweepers in Tron.
I could see Clique being helpful, and I've tested running 2 in the 75 from time to time, but right now I haven't felt a big need for it. If Delver becomes popular again and Phimage isn't enough to give us a flyer, then maybe Clique is important. Same goes for if we start seeing a lot of Ad Nauseum or other combo decks come back.
I'd echo the comments made above about Chalice doing the work of Pithing Needle/Grafdigger's Cage frequently, but not always. There's definitely times where I'd like a Pithing Needle for a Planeswalker, but such is life.
I do run 2 MD Ghost Quarter, so I've explored running Surgical Extraction (I have 2 in my Legacy deck which runs Wasteland), but I think it's more helpful for combo and I still haven't seen enough combo to be worried.
With regard to counterspells - I run 3 Negate in my sideboard and I think it's far and away the best counterspell for the build I have (with Chalice) and probably Merfolk in general. I'm worried about sweepers, planeswalkers, and artifacts. Dispel is a non-bo with Chalice and Spell Pierce is in my MD for now, but often comes out in favor of Negate G2/G3. I've dropped Spell Pierce from the main in favor of Chalice, since holding up blue mana for it is rarely efficient. I don't have confidence in Unified Will (yet), but I'm interested in everyone else's experience.
Again, super thankful for all the great discussion here. I've benefitted tremendously from it and am looking forward to us fish slapping our way to a successful 2016.
Interesting that we managed to ramble on for 63 pages after reset to zero in November (we were close to 400 then).
So much to say about linear deck.
Not to toot my own horn, but this is why I love playing and try to play nothing but tribal. It may seem linear, but different synergies in a linear strategy makes for a complex deck.
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
4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergil Adept
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Lord of Atlantis
3 Harbinger of the Tides
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Merrow Reejery
4 Master of Waves
Not Fish
4 Aether Vial
4 Spreading Seas
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Echoing Truth
4 Mutavault
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
10 Island
2 Dismember
2 Dispel
3 Negate
3 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Tidebinder Mage
Matchups were:
There weren't many notable plays, but I do think I'm going to remove the Dispels in my sideboard for a 4th Negate and 4th Tidebinder or potentially Unified Will. I don't think I ever brought them in and there were times I would have rather had a Negate or Tidebinder when they were in my hand. The only time I wished for a Unified Will was when Scapeshift played Primeval Titan. *sigh* Also, Echoing Truth saved me against burn multiple times as I was able to bounce one creature with Harbinger and Echoing Truth whatever he had two of during his attack step, saving me a lot of life and often allowing me time to cast a Chalice or drop a few creatures the following turn.
mind sharing your SB?
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir Mono-U Control
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
Sen Triplets
Mizzix of the Izmagnus
Derevi Stax
VolThrun
Marchesa, The Black Rose
Olivia Voldaren, Vampire Tribal
Modern: Fish, JUND/Junk
--------
RIP Twin
You cant play too carefully against the Grisleshoalbrand deck, I've been killed by him untapping into his second turn where I played a vial instead of held up spell pierce mana. He had the kill in hand so he wasn't gonna go for it until he could. My spell pierce didnt matter. You have to play aggressively, sometimes they dont have it and have to dig for it or they whiff on their draws with grislebrand and due to you attacking them they cant keep going deeper. Holding up mana for counter magic is fine, but not if you aren't deploying any threats since you are giving them more draw steps and time to set up.
UMerfolkU
Legacy
UMerfolkU
Commander
RWBAlesha, Who Smiles At DeathRWB
Nice.
I really like how well this deck is positioned moving forward. I think Merfolk has all of the tools to deal with a changing meta.
Sideboard
2 Dismember
2 Dispel
3 Negate
3 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Tidebinder Mage
Though moving forward I'll be switching out the Dispel for something else.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
here we go.
3 merfolks on TOP 16, 2 of them TOP 8
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas