I looked through the last few sets, command 2018, battlebond and dominaria, but I didn't see much that was appealing for any legacy deck I use, which is quite a few, maybe I missed something though. Has anyone else found anything useful for legacy recently?
I guess since no one was competent enough to include an edit feature when designing the site, I'll just make a new thread with the correct spelling and a mod can delete this one.
I also don't see a basic edit button for the body of the thread which is pretty horrendous, that's definitely a downgrade and I know this site used to have that feature. All I wanted to do was change cominaria to dominaria.
I looked through the last few sets, command 2018, battlebond, cominaria, I didn't see much that was appealing for any legacy deck I use, which is quite a few, but maybe I missed something.
I would't say it "stops" combos, because what I found is most people would just thoughtseize or FOW it if they have a combo or many small spells. But, I guess running 4 Eidolon AND sideboarding for 3-4 pillars would do it.
I've been playing burn lately and man is this deck fast, it can outpace nearly anything. Chalice often seals the deal if they get it on turn 1, but I've had hands with nothing but 2-drops or 3-drops followed by fireblast and won that way as well. What I notice however is that there doesn't seem to be any reliable way to stop combos like inquisition or aluren or reanimator, has anyone come up with a solution?
I'm interested to know people's thoughts/experience on splashing green for simic merfolk. With the new ixalan set comes a few interesting options:
Merfolk Mistbinder, combined with Lord of Atlantis and Master of the Pearl Trident gives merfolk 12 2-drop creatures that boost each other. While there are still aggro decks that can bash Merfolk like Burn, Maverick, B/G Elves or Delver, if you're putting down an "All other creatures you control get +1/+1" every turn while you sit on counterspells, your opponent has to spend removal on them at some point or be inevitably overrun.
Merfolk Branchwalker can be argued as an alternative to Silvergil Adept because you don't don't have to pay 3 more if you have no merfolk to reveal, and if you don't draw something good you get a free +1/+1 counter. In a fringe possibility, its to-graveyard ability may also pair well with graveyard acceleration.
Then, there is Kumena's Speaker which isn't Goblin Guide but it will more than likely be a 3/3 on your second turn, conveniently matching the speed of Delver for only 1 mana.
Deeproot Elite is worth a glance, but it's more than likely that it is too slow for 2 mana.
Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca looks interesting, but for 3 mana I would rather play True-Name Nemesis or Vendilion Clique. However, its tapping abilities would pair well with having 12 merfolk boosters should you decide to venture down that path in Modern.
But beyond Rivals of Ixalan, splashing green opens the door to other possibilities. Simic Charm, buffs you against spot removal or swing for the win if someone decides not to block (which happens more often in legacy), but also gives you the flexibility of harbinger's effect. Sylvan Library Lets you rearrange the top cards of your library in any order and switch cards in your hand for cards in your deck every single turn, in addition to providing draw if you need it. With this, you may not even need Chart a Course or Silvergil or Smuggler's Copter. Natural State, costing only 1 green mana would make a good sideboard card against nearly any artifact-using deck like Affinity, Death and Taxes, Maverick, or Steel Stompy which typically don't run counterspells. The only drawback is that it is more vulnerable to Chalice of the Void if you don't counter it, though chalice for 1 mana is hardly a the deciding factor against merfolk to begin with. However, it can also be sideboarded against control/midrange decks that rely on key artifacts and enchantments such as Sneak Attack or Cursed Scroll where 8 counterspells in deck may not be enough to match their Thoughtseize or own Force of Will.
These kinds of cards would likely come at the cost of Harbinger of the Tides or Phantasmal Image or Silvergil which are all good cards, so you can't have everything, but if you find Merfolk is missing aggro and runs out of gas, this is how to refuel it.
Merfolk Branchwalker in possible UG Merfolk deck in Legacy can't ever be considered alternative to Adept. Nothing can be. Adept is set in stone.
If you like playing with Branchwalker or Library try finding another slot. You can even make Mono Green Merfolk if you like, but any Merfolk list that has Island in it starts with 4x Silvergill Adept.
Simic Charm is not good enough for Modern and even worse in Legacy since we play more lands like Wasteland and Cavern that can't cast it.
Copter is great in our deck, Library is too slow, doesn't attack/block and there is no space.
Natural State is not great since we are the ones playing Chalice of the Void and we don't care for Chalices on the other side.
It also doesn't work against Sneak Attack and Cursed Scroll saw play 10 years ago.
I've tried playing without adept and honestly, it's not the best but I can't say I'm disappointed either when there are other draw and aggro cards, I haven't found it to be a must-have. Copter is good early on and is also useful for adapting your hand to whether you need more aggro or control, but the problem I encounter with copter is that it isn't a great topdeck card later in the game. It is very easy for two decks that run counterspells or any kind of control to have a long drawn-out game that goes well past 4 rounds, so if all I have is a discard engine, it's not doing me any favors. The flying is nice, but there are already other flying/unblockable cards worth considering, and ones that are actually merfolk at that.
You asked a question. I gave an answer. I'm not claiming to be an oracle, but I'm not going to waste my time with what looks like a pointlessly bad idea.
You realize whatever deck you make from these cards is going to be almost exactly like a regular merfolk deck right? The rhetoric you present comes across as nothing short of childishly arrogant.
If you're so confident, then why don't you do it and go prove my assessments wrong?
I'm not confident or unconifdent, I already have the cards and tested it several times and thought it was interesting enough to put the effort into writing a semi-detailed post spelling out relevant considerations so that other people could test it and expand upon the idea. One person's testing is hardly enough for a consensus.
I await your impressive tournament reports with bated breath.
Again your aggressive ranting just comes across as immature. The burden is on you to prove your claim by the way, if you think it's a wholly crap concept that should never be considered in any way, play against it yourself. I'm just throwing it out there as an idea because I think it's interesting and considerable.
Force of would surely still stay in, I don't know anyone who would take it out.
As nice as all kinds of bounces and counter spells are, no matter what, merfolk's win condition is still getting your opponent's life to 0 using creatures, and as quickly as possible. Not all current merfolk cards let you do this quickly, but Mist and Speaker can give you more aggro to speed up this process.
Both image and harbinger can always be in the sideboard, not that you can't still have a few maindeck. You're not obligated to take them out, you could take out an Umezawa's Jitte or Echoing Truth for instance, it's simply one of the creatures that is most likely to be taken out to maintain aggro.
Non-basic hate doesn't seem to stop many people from running mutavault and cavern of souls in merfolk either. But, if you're not even going to run a single experiment, there's no reason to automatically take your word for anything, and frankly not exploring new possibilities makes you worse as a player.
I'm interested to know people's thoughts/experience on splashing green for simic merfolk. With the new ixalan set comes a few interesting options:
Merfolk Mistbinder, combined with Lord of Atlantis and Master of the Pearl Trident gives merfolk 12 2-drop creatures that boost each other. While there are still aggro decks that can bash Merfolk like Burn, Maverick, B/G Elves or Delver, if you're putting down an "All other creatures you control get +1/+1" every turn while you sit on counterspells, your opponent has to spend removal on them at some point or be inevitably overrun.
Merfolk Branchwalker can be argued as an alternative to Silvergil Adept because you don't don't have to pay 3 more if you have no merfolk to reveal, and if you don't draw something good you get a free +1/+1 counter. In a fringe possibility, its to-graveyard ability may also pair well with graveyard acceleration.
Then, there is Kumena's Speaker which isn't Goblin Guide but it will more than likely be a 3/3 on your second turn, conveniently matching the speed of Delver for only 1 mana.
Deeproot Elite is worth a glance, but it's more than likely that it is too slow for 2 mana.
Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca looks interesting, but for 3 mana I would rather play True-Name Nemesis or Vendilion Clique. However, its tapping abilities would pair well with having 12 merfolk boosters should you decide to venture down that path in Modern.
But beyond Rivals of Ixalan, splashing green opens the door to other possibilities. Simic Charm, buffs you against spot removal or swing for the win if someone decides not to block (which happens more often in legacy), but also gives you the flexibility of harbinger's effect. Sylvan Library Lets you rearrange the top cards of your library in any order and switch cards in your hand for cards in your deck every single turn, in addition to providing draw if you need it. With this, you may not even need Chart a Course or Silvergil or Smuggler's Copter. Natural State, costing only 1 green mana would make a good sideboard card against nearly any artifact-using deck like Affinity, Death and Taxes, Maverick, or Steel Stompy which typically don't run counterspells. The only drawback is that it is more vulnerable to Chalice of the Void if you don't counter it, though chalice for 1 mana is hardly a the deciding factor against merfolk to begin with. However, it can also be sideboarded against control/midrange decks that rely on key artifacts and enchantments such as Sneak Attack or Cursed Scroll where 8 counterspells in deck may not be enough to match their Thoughtseize or own Force of Will.
These kinds of cards would likely come at the cost of Harbinger of the Tides or Phantasmal Image or Silvergil which are all good cards, so you can't have everything, but if you find Merfolk is missing aggro and runs out of gas, this is how to refuel it.
"attendance for Magic the Gathering tournaments" not all magic events ever. People don't go to tournaments as much because only minimal effort is made to advertise them and it requires the most expensive cards, so people play more commander and pauper or budget legacy now, go to open play nights and of course some standard, that's where the money is going. I've seen plenty of places stay in business, so if they can't afford background checks it likely means they aren't running their store economically. But, there might also be details of the background checks that discriminate against people arbitrarily which might be the trolling they're talking about.
There's another solution: If people stop playing magic, the demand for reserved cards will fall so much that they'll be worth pennies! Well, a boycott might be a way to send a message, but there's no way to facilitate it on such a large scale when they haven't actually done anything illegal.
Or, they could make a new rule that says "If a land would require you to pay 2 life or otherwise come into play tapped, you pay 0 life instead." Then, all those shock lands like overgrown tomb become dual lands.
I would't say it "stops" combos, because what I found is most people would just thoughtseize or FOW it if they have a combo or many small spells. But, I guess running 4 Eidolon AND sideboarding for 3-4 pillars would do it.
I've tried playing without adept and honestly, it's not the best but I can't say I'm disappointed either when there are other draw and aggro cards, I haven't found it to be a must-have. Copter is good early on and is also useful for adapting your hand to whether you need more aggro or control, but the problem I encounter with copter is that it isn't a great topdeck card later in the game. It is very easy for two decks that run counterspells or any kind of control to have a long drawn-out game that goes well past 4 rounds, so if all I have is a discard engine, it's not doing me any favors. The flying is nice, but there are already other flying/unblockable cards worth considering, and ones that are actually merfolk at that.
You realize whatever deck you make from these cards is going to be almost exactly like a regular merfolk deck right? The rhetoric you present comes across as nothing short of childishly arrogant.
I'm not confident or unconifdent, I already have the cards and tested it several times and thought it was interesting enough to put the effort into writing a semi-detailed post spelling out relevant considerations so that other people could test it and expand upon the idea. One person's testing is hardly enough for a consensus.
Again your aggressive ranting just comes across as immature. The burden is on you to prove your claim by the way, if you think it's a wholly crap concept that should never be considered in any way, play against it yourself. I'm just throwing it out there as an idea because I think it's interesting and considerable.
As nice as all kinds of bounces and counter spells are, no matter what, merfolk's win condition is still getting your opponent's life to 0 using creatures, and as quickly as possible. Not all current merfolk cards let you do this quickly, but Mist and Speaker can give you more aggro to speed up this process.
Both image and harbinger can always be in the sideboard, not that you can't still have a few maindeck. You're not obligated to take them out, you could take out an Umezawa's Jitte or Echoing Truth for instance, it's simply one of the creatures that is most likely to be taken out to maintain aggro.
Non-basic hate doesn't seem to stop many people from running mutavault and cavern of souls in merfolk either. But, if you're not even going to run a single experiment, there's no reason to automatically take your word for anything, and frankly not exploring new possibilities makes you worse as a player.
Merfolk Mistbinder, combined with Lord of Atlantis and Master of the Pearl Trident gives merfolk 12 2-drop creatures that boost each other. While there are still aggro decks that can bash Merfolk like Burn, Maverick, B/G Elves or Delver, if you're putting down an "All other creatures you control get +1/+1" every turn while you sit on counterspells, your opponent has to spend removal on them at some point or be inevitably overrun.
Merfolk Branchwalker can be argued as an alternative to Silvergil Adept because you don't don't have to pay 3 more if you have no merfolk to reveal, and if you don't draw something good you get a free +1/+1 counter. In a fringe possibility, its to-graveyard ability may also pair well with graveyard acceleration.
Then, there is Kumena's Speaker which isn't Goblin Guide but it will more than likely be a 3/3 on your second turn, conveniently matching the speed of Delver for only 1 mana.
Deeproot Elite is worth a glance, but it's more than likely that it is too slow for 2 mana.
Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca looks interesting, but for 3 mana I would rather play True-Name Nemesis or Vendilion Clique. However, its tapping abilities would pair well with having 12 merfolk boosters should you decide to venture down that path in Modern.
But beyond Rivals of Ixalan, splashing green opens the door to other possibilities.
Simic Charm, buffs you against spot removal or swing for the win if someone decides not to block (which happens more often in legacy), but also gives you the flexibility of harbinger's effect.
Sylvan Library Lets you rearrange the top cards of your library in any order and switch cards in your hand for cards in your deck every single turn, in addition to providing draw if you need it. With this, you may not even need Chart a Course or Silvergil or Smuggler's Copter.
Natural State, costing only 1 green mana would make a good sideboard card against nearly any artifact-using deck like Affinity, Death and Taxes, Maverick, or Steel Stompy which typically don't run counterspells. The only drawback is that it is more vulnerable to Chalice of the Void if you don't counter it, though chalice for 1 mana is hardly a the deciding factor against merfolk to begin with. However, it can also be sideboarded against control/midrange decks that rely on key artifacts and enchantments such as Sneak Attack or Cursed Scroll where 8 counterspells in deck may not be enough to match their Thoughtseize or own Force of Will.
These kinds of cards would likely come at the cost of Harbinger of the Tides or Phantasmal Image or Silvergil which are all good cards, so you can't have everything, but if you find Merfolk is missing aggro and runs out of gas, this is how to refuel it.
Or, they could make a new rule that says "If a land would require you to pay 2 life or otherwise come into play tapped, you pay 0 life instead." Then, all those shock lands like overgrown tomb become dual lands.