[Deck] Merfolk

[Atherion]

not good enough for legacy, probably not even modern.

[Curby]

Already seen Kiora a lot in Merfolk

In Legacy? If so, I'd love to see a list.

[Kanti]

In Legacy? If so, I'd love to see a list.

Hey, sorry man, I was thinking about Kira. And sorry to the whole thread, I thought that Merfolk had a Kira effect. Wahhh. I still love this deck and wish more people would play it.

[Curby]

Ah, right Kira used to be played in Legacy Merfolk, and she better matches the text of this card.

If Kira was still played, this might be a natural upgrade since it's a merfolk and works with Silvergill and lords. Unfortunately, since Kira isn't played, and we now have TNN to hedge a bit against targeted removal, I'm not sure that this is needed.

Regardless, thanks for sharing the spoiler. I don't keep up with such things so it's nice to get a heads up.

[Curby]

Anyone know the top64 list at GP vegas? Pardon if this is a repeat question.

[markino]

Since ehhhh was one of the placers, we can safely assume that his list was not too different from what he is currently running:
https://mtgdecks.net/Legacy/merfolk-...by-ehhh-694457

[Ehhh]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP5ELVN5x3c here ya go - I discuss my build of Legacy Merfolk vs most of the online meta

[Lazygenius]

So hello, I have been playing Merfolk for years and started playing just before Avacyn Restored was released and i mainly play in a very combo metagame and this is my list i was hoping for an opinion on the sideboard and think that two jitte's and copters are nice to have because they are major threats and drawing them is hard when you only have one in the deck.

creature
4 cursecatcher
4 master of the pearl trident
4 lord of Atlantis
4 silvergill adept
4 true-name nemisis
4 phantasamal image

instants
4 force of will

artifacts
4 aether vial
4 chalice of the void
2 umezawa's jitte
2 smugler's copter

land
9 islands
1 Oboro, palace in the Clouds
4 cavern of souls
4 Mutavault
2 Wasteland

sideboard
1 Flusterstorm
1 Gilded Drake
2 Back to Basics
2 Dismember
2 Echoing truth
2 Harbinger of the Tides
2 Grafdiggers cage
3 relic of progentsis

I will link as soon as i look up how do do it.

[Curby]

Is Oboro meant to cycle with Copter? Having only 10 blue sources is a bit low. Depending on the kind of combo you're expecting, having one or more Echoing Truth maindeck might be nice. Vendillion Clique is often good against combo as well, and I see you have none in the 75. Potential cuts include Jitte (doesn't do much against combo), Harbinger, and some number of Relic/Cage (unless you see a ton of Dredge/Reanimator/Elves over Storm/SnT/Belcher combo).

[Lazygenius]

Is Oboro meant to cycle with Copter? Having only 10 blue sources is a bit low. Depending on the kind of combo you're expecting, having one or more Echoing Truth maindeck might be nice. Vendillion Clique is often good against combo as well, and I see you have none in the 75. Potential cuts include Jitte (doesn't do much against combo), Harbinger, and some number of Relic/Cage (unless you see a ton of Dredge/Reanimator/Elves over Storm/SnT/Belcher combo).

So I replaced the wastelands with islands which makes it much safer. also i see a lot of Reanimator elves and very little storm and Belcher also the fact that i can easily win if i can draw jitte and copter can easily allow for filtering through land because i don't need more than five lands most of the time.

[Gunseng]

What do you guys think about Herald's Horn? The cost reduction effect is not really helpful in Merfolk, but the card advantage could be useful. I am worried, though, that the card is too expensive for its effect. However, I will playtest it at the next opportunity.

[Curby]

What are you taking out for Horn? I'd rather have Smuggler's Copter than Horn, and there's no room for both.

[Chronatog]

What do you guys think about Herald's Horn? The cost reduction effect is not really helpful in Merfolk, but the card advantage could be useful. I am worried, though, that the card is too expensive for its effect. However, I will playtest it at the next opportunity.

3CMC slot is pretty busy already and Herald's Horn doesn't provide much value as it decreases spell cost by one colorless. In a deck with a lot of UU spells this is not relevant. Metallic Mimic and Mirror of the Forebears are more interesting options. Mimic can boost incoming creatures and a Merfolk creature itself, and Mirror can be helpful in some situations where you need to copy or hide your creatures (e.g. copy Mutavault). Both require two colorless to cast and this can be helpful in a Wasteland heavy build.

And just to be clear, I do not suggest that Mimic and Mirror are good for the deck. I just suggest that these cards are better than Horn.

[Curby]

I don't think we need Mimic: just seems like a worse lord (no Islandwalk, dies to artifact removal, no Cavern protection, doesn't boost Merfolk already on the field) unless we also run crazy stuff like Sage of Fables to take advantage of the counters. Four Bears is interesting but wouldn't we rather run Mirage Mirror?

[Vandalize]

This has been spoiled in Ixalan, it seems like a better Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, since it's a Merfolk. What do you think? Can it shore up some matchups?

I'd run something like this:

Lands [20]
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland
12 Island

Creatures [25]
4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Silvergill Adept
4 True-Name Nemesis
3 Phantasmal Image
2 Kopala, Warden of Waves

Spells [15]
4 AEther Vial
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Standstill

Sideboard [15]
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Back to Basics
2 Dismember
2 Echoing Truth
2 Flusterstorm
2 Harbringer of the Tides
1 Pithing Needle

[Shadowwarrior346]

This has been spoiled in Ixalan, it seems like a better Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, since it's a Merfolk. What do you think? Can it shore up some matchups?

I'd run something like this:

Lands [20]
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland
12 Island

Creatures [25]
4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Silvergill Adept
4 True-Name Nemesis
3 Phantasmal Image
2 Kopala, Warden of Waves

Spells [15]
4 AEther Vial
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Standstill

Sideboard [15]
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Back to Basics
2 Dismember
2 Echoing Truth
2 Flusterstorm
2 Harbringer of the Tides
1 Pithing Needle

I could see it as a one of in the mainboard or in the sideboard, because it is very useful against Abrupt Decay and Kolaghan's Command and it is also easier to cast with Cavern of Souls. I can see that your decklist is running some older tech in the form of Wasteland instead of Cavern of Souls and Standstill instead of Chalice of the Void, may I ask why?

[Curby]

Woah there, I'm definitely not convinced that this ability is better than Kira's. Sure it's better in the mana-constrained early game, but this isn't a 1-drop. Once you get to turn 4+ when you have the mana/vial to play such an effect and the breathing room to do so, mana is less of a concern and card advantage becomes a big issue. I'm quite certain that a deck would be happy to pay 3 to Push/Bolt/Plow an important Merfolk when they have 5 or more open mana, but most decks don't run an absolute ton of removal, and they would be hard pressed to draw, and then reluctant to use, two cards on one of ours.

Kopala being a Merfolk is huge for Lords and Adept, but Kira blocks Delvers and protects Copters, Cliques, and Vensers. I'd note that he does help protect Image, as Kira is too slow to prevent Image from killing itself.

Even if Kopala were heads and shoulders better than Kira, it's far from an auto-include since Kira isn't anywhere in the 75. New cards have to be better than what we run, not better than what we don't run. I'm definitely not convinced that Kopala does more for us than say SmugCop.

[Gunseng]

What do you guys think about Chart a Course? As we normally attack every turn, it might be a decent source of card advantage. I am not sure whether it is better than Smuggler's Copter though.

[Shadowwarrior346]

I'm going to test 4x Chart a Course in my list tomorrow evening. :)

[tuxdev]

The issue I found with Chart was that there's a limit to how many 2-mana cards that don't advance the board you can get away with, and chalice pretty much uses all of those slots. It's super important that copter is a threat in addition to the card dig.