Dominaria leak spoilers of interest to Merfolk players:
Merfolk Trickster
UU
Creature — Merfolk Wizard
2/2
Flash
When Merfolk Trickster enters the battlefield, tap target creature an opponent controls. It loses all abilities until end of turn.
Wizard's Retort
1UU
Instant
This spell costs 1 less to cast if you control a Wizard.
Counter target spell.
I think Merfolk Trickster is the most promising card to enter the playable pool since Harbinger of the Tides - it's far better then any of the trash green merfolk we got - interesting interactions during combat - obv needs testing
The counterspell seems too conditional given that none of our Lords are Wizards (12 of our typically 30 creatures). I know most of the other playable Folk are Wizards, but I wonder if the conditional nature of this spell would cause issues. Regardless, it definitely warrants testing.
On the other hand, Trickster seems extremely playable. 2 for a 2/2 is already on rate, having flash and a hugely relevant tempo ability is nuts. I'm very excited for this card!
So, BBE is back and could cause a Jund resurgence. I wonder if we'll soon be dusting off our Tidebinder Mages. What do you guys think? Is it too weak considering how rampant bolt, push and brutality are?
Negate may be at a premium now too what with Jace being back. I've not had a tremendous amount of trouble with U control decks though, and I wonder if his presence will change how we handle these matchups.
News flash! Ensnaring Bridge banned, JTMS unbanned in Modern on MTGO! O_O
It's one guy bull*****ting. There hasn't been a mtgo beta active since Monday.
Edit; My bad, I misread. I thought you were saying I was full of it. The original post is in question. I get you. Sorry. I was too excited at the prospect of no more bridge!
I'm still all in on 4x Catchers and 3x Dismember in the UG shell. Cursecatcher is way too good to cut. Even in a faster shell it can hold off a Whipflare, Anger, or a K Comm that would otherwise blow you out the turn before you hit lethal. As for Dismember, yeah, it hurts more now that we run Fetch / Shock, but not being able to instant kill a Baral or a Vizier can just be an instant game loss. I cut down to 2 Harbingers and 19 lands to make the room and it feels fine. I've no league results to post, but I've been jamming games with anyone at my LGS who would sit down with me and the deck feels solid.
I love seeing fish do well in any color combo, and I'm having a ton of fun experimenting and testing, but despite the result today, I remain extremely apprehensive about cutting Cursecatchers. The card is so deceptively powerful. I'd sooner cut Harbingers than Catchers. But then again, I didn't top 8 a gp...
And in terms of Islands, I run foils of #287 from Shadowmoor. It's subtle, but beautiful. I love the deep purple and it's thematically pleasing with Cursecatcher and Silvergill. As far as foil lands go, they're also pretty cheap.
Hi, can I ask you what is the general consensus on mainboard instant removal/bounce spell? Is it vapor snag or dismember? Right now its most likely dismember, but in an unknown meta what would you prefer?
Also, has anyone ever tried counterbalance? I know we can't set the top of our library, but with all those one and two drops we might have a good chance countering a lot of spells
Thanks for your help.
I'm currently running 4 Snag and 2 Dismember, all mainboard. It's a bit removal heavy for a Merfolk build, but it's been doing very well for me.
How you guys feeling about Gut Shot right now? Gives us game vs Affinity (which is always nice) as well as Elves, and it gets the new crutial creature in both of the combos in the Counters Company deck (Vizier), as well as sniping both Birds and Nobles. Considering the former 2 are our worst matchups, and all 3 decks are tier 1, would it not be worth some sideboard space?
What are your guys thoughts on Spell Pierce in the current meta? I love the potential of the card, but it's such an uncomfortable top deck. I always seem to get it at the worst times too. Should I chalk it up to variance? I feel like, if you do run it, you should be running 2-3 to make sure you always catch someone with it or have the potential to link it with a Cursecatcher if you're desperate.
In terms of a counter suite, I'm running 3 Dispel and 2 Negate in the sideboard. Nothing in the main. Sometimes I feel like that may be too few.
Hey guys. I just wanted to say hello and thank you all. I've been playing modern for about a year and a half now and never could quite find a deck that felt right. At the start of this year I finally decided to pick up Merfolk, and man has it been totally rad. Thanks to people like Nikachu (congrats on the GP btw) and rothgar13 with their articles, insight, and content, as well as everyone else here adding to the fantastic discussion on this thread, I was able to learn so much so quickly, and I finally feel like I've found the deck for me. I've scoured many a deck forum on this site, and this has to be one of the best communities on here. So thanks again everyone, and keep on swimming on.
The counterspell seems too conditional given that none of our Lords are Wizards (12 of our typically 30 creatures). I know most of the other playable Folk are Wizards, but I wonder if the conditional nature of this spell would cause issues. Regardless, it definitely warrants testing.
On the other hand, Trickster seems extremely playable. 2 for a 2/2 is already on rate, having flash and a hugely relevant tempo ability is nuts. I'm very excited for this card!
Negate may be at a premium now too what with Jace being back. I've not had a tremendous amount of trouble with U control decks though, and I wonder if his presence will change how we handle these matchups.
Edit; My bad, I misread. I thought you were saying I was full of it. The original post is in question. I get you. Sorry. I was too excited at the prospect of no more bridge!
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/21-01-17-tJT-merfolk/
And in terms of Islands, I run foils of #287 from Shadowmoor. It's subtle, but beautiful. I love the deep purple and it's thematically pleasing with Cursecatcher and Silvergill. As far as foil lands go, they're also pretty cheap.
I'm currently running 4 Snag and 2 Dismember, all mainboard. It's a bit removal heavy for a Merfolk build, but it's been doing very well for me.
In terms of a counter suite, I'm running 3 Dispel and 2 Negate in the sideboard. Nothing in the main. Sometimes I feel like that may be too few.