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Tacosnape
05-03-2010, 12:32 PM
Writing this while half asleep, so bear with me.:)

Went 4-3 at Atlanta with Merfolk. Could've won the first loss had I played differently on the third game, though I was tired and fighting off being sick the whole day and I have no idea if I actually made a mistake or just made the better percentage play and lost on it. Played Reanimator (2-0), BGW Survival (1-2), Reanimator (2-1), Zoo (2-0), some absolutely bizarre rogue BGW deck running Goyf, Knight, Geddon, Baneslayer, Crucible, Vindicate, Thoughtseize, Swords, and Choke in board (1-2), Merfolk with white (2-1), and Bant Survival (0-2).

My list was as follows:

12 Island
4 Wasteland
4 Mutavault

4 Aether Vial
4 Standstill
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Seal of Removal
1 Echoing Truth

4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
2 Merfolk Sovereign
2 Coralhelm Commander

SB:
3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Spell Pierce
2 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Echoing Truth

Round 1: Anwar w/ Reanimator
Game 1: Very cool to finally meet him. I keep a one land seven that has Force, Daze, and Vial. I lead with Vial, topdeck a land, then a second turn Seal of Removal, which surprises him. He ends up getting Inkwell Leviathan, and I end up outracing him with Lord of Atlantis and a few other guys.
Game 2: Savage god draws net me Crypt/Daze/Force in the opening hand, and he gets stuck on one land. I get a second Crypt at some point and power through.

(1-0, 2-0)

Round 2: BGW Survival
Game 1: Can't remember the guy's name off the top of my head. Pretty cool guy. Game 1 I end up having to Mulligan to four, and actually still manage to beat him down to 2 before he stabilizes and wrecks me. Qasali Pridemages, Tarmogoyfs, Stoneforge Mystic, and a Dark Confidant all appeared, as did STP and Thoughtseize. I figure I'm playing BGW and board accordingly.
Game 2: No notes for some reason, but I remember being able to keep him off two of his colors. I see Birds and basic Forests and start to wonder if he's actually playing Survival, but I see no other evidence of it and he's already mentioned wanting Noble Hierarchs, so I assume incorrectly this is just a substitution. I fire Wastelands at him, and looking at life totals I think I got Coralhelm with a Jitte in the air. In any case, I steamroll this game.
Game 3: I figure out he's playing Survival too late when a Witness hits on turn 5, but I'm still not underprepared. I have my Needles in, I just never see one. In any case, we get to a situation where he has one card in hand, a Birds of Paradise, an Eternal Witness, and a Qasali Pridemage on the board. It's my turn, I have two Reejereys and a Cursecatcher out, and in hand I have an Echoing Truth and a Standstill. He's fairly low on life, I've already swung, and rather than pass, I elect to play the Standstill, figuring if he blows up the Pridemage, my two Reejereys and Catcher can outrace one Witness pretty easily, and if he drops a second threat to follow, I can either tap it with a topdecked Merfolk, or Echo it and swing in. I drop Standstill. He untaps, draws, swings for 3 exalted, blows up Standstill, and plays Maelstrom Pulse on both my Reejereys. Ouch. Two turns later he -finally- gets a Survival down and I can't recover.

(1-1, 3-2)

Round 3 - Reanimator
Game 1: Counters and Merfolk. He gets a Sphinx down late, I drop a Lord and Islandwalk by it.
Game 2: I mull to a four consisting of Island, Crypt, Force, Reejerey. Takes me four turns to get a clock going though, and he does the Entomb, Exhume, get Crypted, Entomb again with Exhume still on the stack thing.
Game 3: I get a Relic and some Merfolk down. He gets an Iona in the yard and plays Exhume when I have lethal next turn. I let it resolve, thinking he's trying to bait the Relic to Entomb an Archon. This is exactly what he was trying to do, and he scoops once Exhume resolves. Seal of Removal was my top card anyway, providing insurance had I made a stupid play.

(2-1, 5-3)

Round 4 - Vince w/ Zoo - My favorite matchup of the day.
Game 1: I lead with a Vial, and Force a Nacatl. I get a second Vial, then Standstill draws me cards, I counter and bounce more guys, and I win with like six or seven Lords on the table.
Game 2: He leads with Taiga, Nacatl, I have Seal of Removal but don't fire it off yet. He doesn't hit a second land, so I waste the Taiga, shrinking the Nacatl, and buying me about three turns in the process where I absolutely fail at drawing Merfolk. He finally fetches a Savannah and gets out a Loam Lion. I mention it'd be nice if my top card were a Wasteland, untap, draw a Wasteland, and wreck the Savannah. He topdecks another Taiga, so I bounce the Loam Lion, untap, and screw up. I play a Silvergill and untap my Mutavault, immediately realize I forgot to reveal, and reveal a Reejerey. He roars for a judge. Ah hell. Sleep's catching up with me. I totally know better. He tries to argue I should get a game loss for this. The judge asks if I drew already, which I didn't, ruled that the error made no difference in the game, and play continued. I play extra careful and continue stomping all over him. He looks sick, and I go off to find the 5-hour energy stash.

(3-1, 7-3)

Round 5: Ian with BGW Weirdness
Game 1: He's clearly playing something BGW, as I see the duals, get Thoughtseized in the mouth, and Daze a Tarmogoyf. He has STP for a big Merfolk, and then I'm stunned when he drops Armageddon, though, leaving us with nothing but my Cursecatcher on the board. I untap, play a Wasteland, swing for 1, and pass. He drops a Tabernacle, and I waste it. Neither of us recover well, and my Cursecatcher gets eight hits in to go the distance.
Game 2: I see Crucible, Choke, and when I've gotten him beaten down to 2, he Primal Commands to gain seven life and get Knight of the Reliquary. s;lkdfhasjkdfhalskjfs. I lose.
Game 3: I have a very solid balls to the wall aggro hand with a Daze backup, so I roll with it. Turn one Crypt, turn two Lord of Atlantis and Daze a Goyf, turn three Lord of Atlantis. He has turn three Knight of the Reliquary. I get reminded how useless Tormod's Crypt is against Knight of the Reliquary, and to make matters worse, he gets a Pernicious Deed down and sweeps me. I don't recover well against obscenely huge creatures on clear boards, and I lose.

(3-2, 8-5)

Round 6: Merfolk w/ White.
Game 1: I know this guy's playing Merfolk also. My seven is Island, Island, Cursecatcher, Cursecatcher, Seal of Removal, Seal of Removal, Merfolk Sovereign. I'm also on the draw for the first time all day. I decide to mull aggressively for the Vial, go to six, have a Vial, steal control of the Standstill superiority, and cruise.
Game 2: I mull to three, keep a hand of Cursecatcher, Vial, Force, and topdeck an Island, Neat. We both get Lords down, and his hand is slow, and I almost manage to outrace him, but he gets down a Lord that knocks me lethal when I had him at 3.
Game 3: Awesome Mirror sillyness that illicits laughter from nearby games. I have Island, Cursecatcher, he has Island, Cursecatcher. I have Island, Jitte. He drops Island, Jitte. I Daze. He Dazes my Daze. I Cursecatcher his Daze. He somehow loses track of everything and doesn't Cursecatcher my Daze back. While my hand was still pretty solid and I think I'd have won anyway, this mistake quickly costs him the game, as I drop Silvergill Adept, draw a Force, stick the Jitte on him, ready to Force the STP that never comes, and I steamroll.

(4-2, 10-6) By this point, I'm feeling pretty terrible despite the day being fun, but I've only got to stick out two more rounds, one if I lose.

Round 7: Bant Survival
I played this match like utter shit. No excuses, and nothing taken away from my excellent opponent. But I played this match like shit. Worst I've ever played in a sanctioned match.
Game 1: Over the first four turns I drop three Aether Vials and never hit more than one Merfolk to go with them. Not that it would have saved me, but I somehow don't realize my opponent has a land untapped when I Daze at one point (Wtf, Taco. Seriously.) Pridemages and Tarmogoyfs and War Monks all happen all over my face.
Game 2: I have a ton of aggression including two Mutavaults and a ton of Lords, but he has three STP's, I topdeck Islands for three turns straight, and then he drops a Tarmogoyf. I get him down low despite a bad swinging decision, and he gets a Jitte on the Goyf. Argh. I drop a lord, forcing him to use the Jitte counters on it and ignore my Mutavaults for a turn. One more lord off the top and I'll still get him. Instead it's a Standstill. Yeaaah. That helps.

(4-3, 10-8)

Props:
-Mark, for making top 8 with Goblins and being the only one of Team Laughing Hyena not to go down in a blaze of not glory.
-Brian, for somehow going 3-3 with Zoo despite facing 4 combo decks, Lands and Merfolk.
-All the people I finally got to meet from The Source. Seriously great to meet everyone.
-My round 2 and 5 opponents, for being willing to share their decklists post-tourney.
-Seal of Removal, for being amazing all day.

Slops:
-Me, for my terrible play in round 7 and being bad at remembering names.
-Jason and Jonathan, for electing to sleep rather than play in the tournament.
-Brian, for bailing on Dragon Stompy then facing 4 combo decks, Lands, and Merfolk.
-My Zoo opponent, for the judge call. Yeah, it's technically the right thing to do. But he did it with a douchy unsportsmanlike vibe.
-Echoing Truth and Spell Pierce, for being terrible and completely useless the entire day.
-Pithing Needle, for me never ever drawing it the whole entire tournament despite needing it.

Forbiddian
05-03-2010, 02:13 PM
He roars for a judge. Ah hell. Sleep's catching up with me. I totally know better. He tries to argue I should get a game loss for this. The judge asks if I drew already, which I didn't, ruled that the error made no difference in the game, and play continued. I play extra careful and continue stomping all over him. He looks sick, and I go off to find the 5-hour energy stash.

Wow, he should spend less time being a cock and more time learning the rules.

cdr
05-03-2010, 02:56 PM
At one point in time, not revealing could have been a game loss (depending on the HJ), but they fixed that after GP Denver.

Tacosnape
05-03-2010, 04:55 PM
At one point in time, not revealing could have been a game loss (depending on the HJ), but they fixed that after GP Denver.

What was the change exactly, if you don't mind me asking? I'm really solid on card interactions and rulings, but I'm less sharp on procedural things at competitive RELs.

cdr
05-03-2010, 05:20 PM
What was the change exactly, if you don't mind me asking? I'm really solid on card interactions and rulings, but I'm less sharp on procedural things at competitive RELs.

Under the IPG at the time, not revealing for that type of card could be argued to fall under Failure to Reveal, even though Failure to Reveal was not intended to cover that type of situation.

GP Denver was a large Lorwyn block torunament, so naturally it came up several times. The policy makers (L4/L5s) noticed the problem, and the IPG definition of Failure to Reveal had a section added to clarify that type of situation.

"If revealing the card was optional, treat the decision (and any resulting infraction) as though the other option was chosen."

freakish777
05-03-2010, 11:21 PM
I know Seal of Removal gives you a lot of tempo, but would you consider Waterfront Bouncer, being that it is a Merfolk?

Tacosnape
05-04-2010, 12:34 AM
I've actually tested it. Went through a phase with it. Waterfront Bouncer's actually sort of sexy in some metagames. It's decent, but it isn't a 1-drop, which is the top selling point of Seal of Removal. It's way worse against things like Zoo and Goblins, but probably would have been better in my two losses. So do I think it's playable? Sure. But I like Seal of Removal's synergy with dropping turn two Standstills, utility when tapped out, sheer speed, etc.

Loxodon Baileyarch
05-04-2010, 04:45 AM
Your Bant Survival opponent was Majikal! I think i saw you a few times, i was the tall guy with the pink polo shirt. Not like that helps or anything XD


Edit: The guy who was playing BGW Junk was Damien Blackgear i believe as well. I remember him playing some weird Geddon/Rock deck. He had the headphones in his ears i believe?

(nameless one)
05-04-2010, 08:10 AM
So, what made you chose Seal of Removal over Unsummon or Snapback? Is it because its a permanent? Is it for intimidation factor, followed by a Standstill?

Tacosnape
05-04-2010, 09:49 AM
So, what made you chose Seal of Removal over Unsummon or Snapback? Is it because its a permanent? Is it for intimidation factor, followed by a Standstill?

That's a much easier question than the last one.

First off, Snapback is terrible in this deck. There's nowhere near enough card advantage in it to warrant pitching two cards for 0, netting you a tempo loss. On occasion, the card disadvantage of any bounce at all will bite you in the ass.

1. Seal of Removal doesn't require I keep mana open. I don't like keeping mana open with Merfolk. The only times I do are if I'm anticipating a Daze war, have no good turn 2 play and may need to hardcast a Daze to hit a land drop next turn, or if I boarded in Spell Pierce, which didn't help me all day. I can't stress how important this is. It lets you, at any time, without having to worry about what you tapped or didn't tap, change the situation on the board. This allows the threat of combat tricks, the tempo of EOT-bouncing a surprise guy on the board, the ability to save your own Lord or Silvergill, etc.

2. Seal of Removal operates under a Standstill. This is crucial in any aggro matchup where you're afraid they might take your Standstill superiorty.

3. Seal of Removal can be played on the turns when Merfolk's doing the least. This is usually turns 1-2, either from lack of a better 1-drop, or because of a turn two Wasteland leaving not much to be done with the Island. It can also sometimes be just whenever you have the extra mana open for any reason, however, like if you turn two Silvergilled, then turn three Jitte'd but had one mana open. This is important in maximizing your tempo. Unsummon requires you have the mana open at the right time.

4. Seal of Removal stops Iona, Shield of Emeria if dropped early, and Emrakul, The Aeons Torn. Unsummon doesn't. Seal of Removal actually stops all of Reanimator's guys except Inkwell Leviathan (And Empyrial Archangel for the few who run it), and both of these can be outraced, especially considering all your Daze/Cursecatcher/Force shenanigans often slow down their average reanimation speed by a turn or two. Additionally, because it comes down quicker, it gives the Reanimator less time to Brainstorm/Study/Ponder for counters.


Your Bant Survival opponent was Majikal! I think i saw you a few times, i was the tall guy with the pink polo shirt. Not like that helps or anything XD

I think I did see you, actually. Sorry we didn't get a chance to talk. How'd you do?

(nameless one)
05-04-2010, 10:35 AM
I noticed that you mentioned that ETruth was useless. I guess you were depending on your permission suit just incase you encounter something like Moat? Would you have done 4 Seal of Removal main?

Also, I am guessing you were prepared to face an aggro meta. Would your opinion on Seal of Removal changed if it the meta were combo-control oriented? Would having 4 Spell Pierce on SB justify this?


SB:
3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Spell Pierce
2 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Echoing Truth

I noticed on the side that you have 3 Jittes on top of 3 Blasts. I am guessing that the Jittes are mainly there against Zoo and Goblins. Wouldnt the Blast be enough for them?

After this event, would you have changed the contents of your sideboard?

How was Commander? In your opinion, does he have a place in this deck or is he a meta-call?

<<<<EDIT: POST 666! TSTSTSTSTS!!!

Loxodon Baileyarch
05-04-2010, 11:24 AM
I think I did see you, actually. Sorry we didn't get a chance to talk. How'd you do?

I ended up going 3-2, and i was tired of getting bad matchups so i dropped. I could tell it was you because of the accent; all of us Southern boys got one haha.

sauce
05-04-2010, 11:49 AM
isnt Aether spellbomb just better than Seal vs Iona as well as well.. in general since it can draw you a card if its useless in the matchup (g1)?
yeah it costs 1 more to activate, but thats a small price to pay to not get Iona on blue kolded.

Tacosnape
05-04-2010, 03:30 PM
I noticed that you mentioned that ETruth was useless. I guess you were depending on your permission suit just incase you encounter something like Moat? Would you have done 4 Seal of Removal main?

Also, I am guessing you were prepared to face an aggro meta. Would your opinion on Seal of Removal changed if it the meta were combo-control oriented? Would having 4 Spell Pierce on SB justify this?

I noticed on the side that you have 3 Jittes on top of 3 Blasts. I am guessing that the Jittes are mainly there against Zoo and Goblins. Wouldnt the Blast be enough for them?

After this event, would you have changed the contents of your sideboard?

How was Commander? In your opinion, does he have a place in this deck or is he a meta-call?

Lots of good questions.

1. I was depending on Echoing Truth, actually. The situation -never- came up where I needed to bounce a noncreature, nonland permanent, or multiple tokens. I needed to stop Survival a few times, but Echo wouldn't have been enough. But yes, I likely would have depended on my permission suite had I not packed any ETs. I'm not entirely sure I wouldn't keep a couple in my board, honestly. As for the main, given how much Reanimator I saw, probably. That or a third Coralhelm Commander.

2. I've thought about this. And Spell Pierce is by far the one card that improves every matchup where their main strategy doesn't involve creatures. So if that was how I anticipated the meta, then most likely.

3. Jitte was a godsend all day. I'd cut the blasts first. Jitte, along with Vial, is also the defining card of the mirror.

4. Yes, but I'm still working on what to. Of all the cards I didn't run, The one I wanted the most was Misdirection. as I had several times in all of my losses where it could have swung the game irreversibly in my favor. Stopping a Swords on a lord -and- a Tarmogoyf is alluring enough that it's under testing.

5. Coralhelm Commander was not in my plans to even run. Three days prior I started testing one. Then the night before, 2. With the 2/2 split, I never once remember wishing he was any other Merfolk. He's a monster. Completely. That said, there were several situations where I hit the Sovereign where I needed the bonus just then, so right now, I like my 2/2 split. I got the one I needed at all the right times.

Coralhelm's main point is that he's the single most godly creature in Merfolk if you're mana heavy. He's the worst if you're mana light. So keep this in mind.


isnt Aether spellbomb just better than Seal vs Iona as well as well.. in general since it can draw you a card if its useless in the matchup (g1)?
yeah it costs 1 more to activate, but thats a small price to pay to not get Iona on blue kolded.

Somebody else also mentioned Aether Spellbomb while I was at the tourney. I pick Seal for the same reason I don't like Unsummon. I want the ability to tap out and maximize my resources at all times without depleting my options. Also, if Seal is useless, it pitches to Force, which Spellbomb can't do.

Rood
05-08-2010, 11:23 PM
Also Spellbomb can bounce an already resolved Iona which is kinda cool if it comes down early.

cdr
05-09-2010, 08:57 AM
Unfortunately Spell Bomb gets shut down by Null Rod as well, if they're running the LSV plan.

(nameless one)
05-09-2010, 12:44 PM
Unfortunately Spell Bomb gets shut down by Null Rod as well, if they're running the LSV plan.

Call me a noob if you wish but what exactly is LSV?

edgewalker
05-09-2010, 01:22 PM
Call me a noob if you wish but what exactly is LSV?

He's pro LSV = Luis Scott-Vargas. He runs null rod in his sb for U/B reanimator

cdr
05-09-2010, 01:24 PM
Call me a noob if you wish but what exactly is LSV?

http://strategy.channelfireball.com/videos/channel-lsv-legacy-daily-event-2/

scrumdogg
05-15-2010, 07:10 AM
Round 2, Game 3, when you had the Echoing Truth in hand after deciding to drop Standstill, how much many was available? Seems interesting to essentially trade your Standstill for the Qasali (after damage) when any blockers left back had a decent chance of being tapped anyway. Bouncing your Reejereys in response to the Pulse would have slowed you, but left you in a decent position it seems.

Vacrix
05-15-2010, 03:17 PM
But I like Seal of Removal's synergy with dropping turn two Standstills, utility when tapped out, sheer speed, etc.
Thats sounds pretty good actually. If you play, say, T1 Seal, T2 Standstill, after hitting a few land drops, would you bounce your own Standstill to drop a Vial, replay Standstill? Or just wait for the Mutavaults and save your Seal?

Forbiddian
05-15-2010, 05:11 PM
Thats sounds pretty good actually. If you play, say, T1 Seal, T2 Standstill, after hitting a few land drops, would you bounce your own Standstill to drop a Vial, replay Standstill? Or just wait for the Mutavaults and save your Seal?

Seal only bounces creatures.

Vacrix
05-15-2010, 05:50 PM
Ah, so it does.