[Deck] Merfolk

[dyzzy]

2-0 against 3 Zoo in a row? Give me some of your magic Merfolk juice!

[Sleepless]

I went to the Knightware tournament in L.A. yesterday Sunday and ended up 1st out of 51 with mono-blue Merfolk. I played the list without Standstills. Before the tournament my friend and I noticed it was a huge Zoo meta and yep I decided to play Merfolk.

I was going to go to this tournament, but unfortunately, I didn't. Great to hear that the no Standstill list is doing well, since that's the build I've come to play nowadays. And of course, congratulations to you.

I'm still feeling pretty reluctant to take out Echoing Truth, just because I like some kind of answer to cards that couldn't be countered and are already on the field. Am I just being weird on this one?

[Vacrix]

I went to the Knightware tournament in L.A. yesterday Sunday and ended up 1st out of 51 with mono-blue Merfolk. I played the list without Standstills. Before the tournament my friend and I noticed it was a huge Zoo meta and yep I decided to play Merfolk.
*
My record was 7-0-2
*
Rd 1: Reanimator went 2-1
Rd 2: Zoo went 2-0
Rd 3: Zoo went 2-0
Rd 4: Zoo went 2-0
Rd 6: draw
Rd 7: draw
Top 8 consisted of me with merfolk, reanimator, zoo, zoo, dredge, ant, UBR fairies
Quarter-finals: Dredge 2-1
Semi-finals: Ant 2-1
Finals: Reanimator he dropped to me
*
The new Coralhelm Commander is amazing, it won me so many games, especially against Zoo.* I didn't lose a single game against Zoo and it wasn't a fluke since I went against 3.* All Zoo games my opponent came out blistering fast with good hands but I played the matchup different, I didn't try to stall and out-attrition my opponent, instead I was really aggressive.* I can't say enough about Kira that hasn't been said already, she's amazing.
*
I had one maindeck jitte and one sideboard jitte, if I had to do it again they would both be out.* They were too slow, I'd cast it, waste mana equiping just to have the creature removed or against Zoo they have enough creature removal and pridemages.

You played really well but you should have lost to the ANT player dude. He had 7 mana to play around the 2 cursecatchers and FoW in game 2. He played his Chrome Mox imprinting the Pact and he had another Pact and AdN in hand. He just freaked out and gave up for whatever reason.

[kitsunewarlock]

I went 2nd at Shuffle and Cut on Saturday. Only 16 people or so. I tried running Fade Away in my SB against Elves or Goblins--neither of which showed up at the tournament. I don't recommend the stradegy after rereading the card like 5 times and seeing the words "permanent" instead of "creature" at the end of the sentence. I only lost to Bant Aggro--he went "Kor Mystic into Sword of Fire and Ice" all 4 games (I played him once during tournament and again in the last match for first). What's the best stradegy against these decks? I think I just need to run Submerge and Threads, although I've been avoiding the cards for some unknown reason.

WU tempo and BANT-aggro will always be a thorn in my side..but Coralhelm was amazing and I'm definately running 4 now.

[Endrju]

Rd 2: Zoo went 2-0
Rd 3: Zoo went 2-0
Rd 4: Zoo went 2-0

Lovely, does anyone still consider any W or G splashes to improve their results against Zoo? :P
Well, like people above me, I'm curious about your list - why don't you post it?

[PanderAlexander]

You played really well but you should have lost to the ANT player dude. He had 7 mana to play around the 2 cursecatchers and FoW in game 2. He played his Chrome Mox imprinting the Pact and he had another Pact and AdN in hand. He just freaked out and gave up for whatever reason.

I punted the first game bad to him, I didn't double daze before cabal ritual, Matt(Forbiddan) pointed it out to me I got pissed at myself that my first error was so simple and at such a crucial point in the tournament.

For those asking, my decklist is nothing special, I'll post it but it's the exact list from Bazaar of Moxen but with Mishra replaced with Jitte. My sideboard was completely metagamed for Zoo but I honestly only saw the SB cards twice total in all three Zoo matches.

2-0 against 3 Zoo in a row? Give me some of your magic Merfolk juice!

My success against Zoo was more psychological than deck strategy. I had been playing Texas Hold'em a lot before the tournament so that poker mentality dragged over. Our decks have daze and wasteland, whether we have it in our hand or not we make our opponents play the way we want, to play around those. Even the non-Zoo games in Top8 were some mind-games.
For example in the quarter-finals match against dredge, we were on the third game and my opponent cabal therapied me, after giving my hand back and ending his turn he wanted to know what coralhelm commander did. I gave the card to him and told him that guy is a beast that it won me games against Zoo. When I went to level the commander I had 4 mana free to level him, I didn't just tap all 4 lands at once, I tapped each giving him a chance to respond (which dredge doesn't have any) so I can really put an emphasis him. I attacked with the commander and killed his only flying blocker, a narcomoeba, he was at 1 life and I was at 11 life. I had no blockers and he had perfect lethal with 4 zombie tokens and one ichorid, it didn't look good as I had one out left only, and that was if he punted the game to me by not attacking, which wasn't likely. When it was his turn he could only stare scared at the big flying merfolk, he stuck his hand out for a shake, I was totally confused because he didn't attack, I shook his hand and asked what's up, he says he concedes, I gave him another chance though and asked "are you really conceding?" he says ya he has no way of dealing with the commander, so I shuffle all my cards together and everyone including me tells him he had lethal on me, he asked the judge but is told he already conceded. That was the difference between two underground seas or two scrublands.

Here is my list, but I forgot what my sideboard was since I created it right before the tournament, it should be posted at: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...ead.php?17783-[Tournament]-June-27-2010-Los-Angeles-CA-Knight-Ware-Inc-20x-Duals

4 Aether Vial
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Cursecatcher
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merfolk Sovereign
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Jitte
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland

[DCTopTeam]

@DCTopTeam, I side in Jitte against Zoo for game two almost always (when I have it) the main reason being as a disenchant. Yes, it is hard to connect with it, but if they get one going you are dead. And you can bet that more Zoo decks will be packing them in the future.

I dont run any equipments in Zoo because its just slow. Real slow. I mean, early on you invest 2 to pay it and 2 to equip. You can invest that mana to cast another or two one drop, or another one drop and spot-remove something.

Its kinda easy for Merfolk because it has Vials.

[KraM7]

Hi!

I am new writing in the forum but some time ago that I read it. In last two weekends, I have played the deck doing one top4 in the LCL and one top8 in a shop tournament.

The decklist that i've played is the following one:


13 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland
4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Merfolk Sovereign
4 Coralhelm Commander
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 AEther Vial
1 Rushing River

Sideboard:
3 Mind Harness
1 Threads of Disloyalty
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
1 Echoing Truth
3 Spell Pierce

My record in LCL was 5-2-1

Rd 1: UW Fish 2-0
Rd 2: Reanimator 2-1
Rd 3: Supreme blue(teammate, ID) 2-0(we've played for fun)
Rd 4: Mystic Bant 2-0
Rd 5: UGR Control 0-2
Rd 6: UGB control(confidants, jace, consuming vapors, trygons, very nice deck) 2-0
Top8: UGR control 2-1(the same as rd 4)
Top4: UGB Landstill 1-2

The deck is amazing, for this reason i've played in the next saturday tournament. The list was the same except for -1 mind harness +1 seasinger. I want to test this merfolk in sb against reanimator, and in the shop are always 1 o 2, for this reason i put in sb.

My record was 4-2:

Rd 1: New Horizons 2-0
Rd 2: Merfolks 2-1
Rd 3: Mystic Bant 1-2
Rd 4: UGR tempo with terravores 2-0
Rd 5: Reanimator 2-1
Top8: Mystic Bant 1-2

After playing the deck in 2 tournaments and made 2 tops, I have decided to play it in a very big tournament this Saturday. What has not just convinced me is the Rushing river. I have thought about other things as Wipe away, cold-eyed selkie or a threads of disloyalty, because I don't like the mishra's factory of the original list.

Any suggestions?

KraM

[TheyCallMeTim]

After playing the deck in 2 tournaments and made 2 tops, I have decided to play it in a very big tournament this Saturday. What has not just convinced me is the Rushing river. I have thought about other things as Wipe away, cold-eyed selkie or a threads of disloyalty, because I don't like the mishra's factory of the original list.

Any suggestions?

KraM

- 1 Merfolk Sovereign (or Commander) and -1 Rushing River
+2 Wake Thrashers for more aggro
-or-
+2 Jitte for aggro/control
-or-
+2 Echoing Truth (or Wipe Away, B2B, Propaganda) for control

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

Scroll Thief

Creature - Merfolk Rogue
Whenever Scroll Thief deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.
1/3

Maybe I'm just a little tired of hearing about Cold-Eyed Selkie, but this guy honestly seems strictly-better to me. No double-blue requirement and a fatter ass beats potentially maybe drawing more cards in my book. Oh, and islandwalk. Which is semi-redundant in this deck anyways. I'm not so sure he's actually gonna make it into my 75 any time soon, but I'm glad there's finally a good alternative for people who want an "Ophidian" creature in their Merf deck.

[chokin]

They are the same if there is no Lord out. Both die to Bolt (Zoo is really popular I hear ;) ) With a Lord out, the Bolt always hits the Lord from my experience. With a Lord that lives, Selkie wins.

Double blue is required of Lord of Atlantis and Sovereign and Coralhelm. So I don't see the problem. Maybe as a super budget option? Or if you wanted to play a draw heavy Merfolk deck.

[Hanni]

The point of playing Merfolk is to stomp your blue (Counterbalance) matchups. Cold-Eyed Selkie does that, and in spades. Additional Islandwalk is in fact good, and the ability to draw multiple cards with Selkie from the lord pumps makes it a much better card drawing Merfolk.

The only other matchups where you want card drawing would be against non blue control decks, where the difference between Scroll Thief and Cold Eyed Selkie is mostly irrelevant anyway.

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

The point of playing Merfolk is to stomp your blue (Counterbalance) matchups. Cold-Eyed Selkie does that, and in spades. Additional Islandwalk is in fact good, and the ability to draw multiple cards with Selkie from the lord pumps makes it a much better card drawing Merfolk.

The only other matchups where you want card drawing would be against non blue control decks, where the difference between Scroll Thief and Cold Eyed Selkie is mostly irrelevant anyway.

This seems to make sense, I guess I was a little premature to call it better. The main thing I was trying to harp on (yet again), is that Selkie is pretty much unnecessary in this deck, because it only serves to shore up match-ups which are already favorable for us. I'd much rather run Wake Thrasher to help with the aggro match-ups which are actually problematic for us, rather than have yet another card in my deck that beats Counter/Top.

[Hanni]

Just for the record, I wasn't making a case for why I think Cold-Eyed Selkie should be run in the maindeck, I was simply elaborating on what matchups Scroll Thief would be good in, and how Selkie is better in those matchups.

Cold-Eyed Selkie is a great sideboard card against CounterTop and control decks like Landstill, though. I wouldn't play Merfolk unless I expected a big portion of the field to be composed of matchups like that, and Selkie would most definitely be in my sideboard in that case.

[dyzzy]

My friend and I were testing the 16 lord build vs. Zoo and it still gets stomped hard.
Then again, we only played 3 or 4 games (lack of time) without sideboards, so I don't know if those results are trustworthy.

[danyul]

I've been running the 16 lord list for a little while now and in sanctioned tournaments I'm 0/6 against Zoo. Those are full matches. Not games. Maybe I'm just terrible though. I've only won matches where they had to aggressively mull for land or something. When I lose it's always a blowout. They make 3/3 dudes for 1 mana. I make 2/2 dudes for 3 mana. Also, Steppe Lynx is for jerks.

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

The white splash still helps against Zoo. Just don't try to get too cute with it.

[kiblast]

hi everyone, i'd like to know how do you face, running MonoU version, decks like UW tempo, UWB Thopter Tempo, and the mostly feared (by me at least) Death and taxes, both in his MonoW or GW version. A friend of mine plays MonoW D&T and we tested a lot, it seems almost unbeatable for us. And i cant remember of a single sideboard card that can affect his gameplay against us (except maybe for back to basics, or stifles, but who's gonna waste 3-4 slots for 1 MU, seriously?)
I regularly reach top8 with my MonoU version -shown below-, but i simply scoop if i face this kind of deck in top8. I've been playing merfolk for quite a lot and this is the only MU that just feels really unwinnable to me.

12 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland

4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
3 Merfolk Sovereign
3 Coralhelm Commander
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner

4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 AEther Vial
3 Standstill
1 Umezawa's Jitte

Side:

1 Energy flux (great ice breaker with unknown players, have fun)
3 Mind Harness
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Submerge
3 Relic of progenitus
2 Waterfront bouncer (i'm really surprised no one plays em, they win games alone, against stiflenought, Dark Depths, Stalkers, fatties with counters on them...)


any help is welcome!

[mans0011]

I really don't like Jitte in Merfolk. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned or still a bit rusty (I'm only just getting back into Magic). Kira and Jitte have terrible synergy... not to mention that it's a mana/tempo dump. I LOVE Kira, though I've not done much testing with her. She gives our critters so much protection from bolts and swords. If only she could help against Firespout :(

Are you really liking the landstill part of your deck?

I guess with combo slowing down, we might not need to run Spell Pierce main.

[Tru3z3rox]

hi everyone, i'd like to know how do you face, running MonoU version, decks like UW tempo, UWB Thopter Tempo, and the mostly feared (by me at least) Death and taxes, both in his MonoW or GW version. A friend of mine plays MonoW D&T and we tested a lot, it seems almost unbeatable for us. And i cant remember of a single sideboard card that can affect his gameplay against us (except maybe for back to basics, or stifles, but who's gonna waste 3-4 slots for 1 MU, seriously?)
I regularly reach top8 with my MonoU version -shown below-, but i simply scoop if i face this kind of deck in top8. I've been playing merfolk for quite a lot and this is the only MU that just feels really unwinnable to me.

12 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland

4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
3 Merfolk Sovereign
3 Coralhelm Commander
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner

4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 AEther Vial
3 Standstill
1 Umezawa's Jitte

Side:

1 Energy flux (great ice breaker with unknown players, have fun)
3 Mind Harness
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Submerge
3 Relic of progenitus
2 Waterfront bouncer (i'm really surprised no one plays em, they win games alone, against stiflenought, Dark Depths, Stalkers, fatties with counters on them...)


any help is welcome!

Pull the jitte and the standstills for some spell pierce and echoing truth. It helps.