[Deck] Merfolk Aggro

[xTrainx]

Well...since no one seems to like my other merfolk deck, why dont I try this one...

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x4 Wanderwine Hub
x4 Hallowed Fountain
x4 Flooded Strand
x3 Terraformic Expanse
x4 Island
x3 Plains

x4 Cursecatcher
x3 Grimoire Thief
x3 Inkfathom Infiltrator
x4 Silvergill Adept
x4 Lord of Atlantis
x4 Merrow Reejerey

x4 Unstable Mutation
x3 Swords to Plowshares
x4 Ponder - would be x2 Ancestral Vision and x2 of Brainstorm but...>_>
x3 Counterspell - I wish it was force of will or shoal
x2 Daze or Oblivion Ring?

Total: 60 cards

Main idea is to amp up Inkfathom Infiltrator with Reejerey and LoA and drop Unstable for 14 damage on top of the 6 i should already have dealt. Ideally wins on T4, chance of T3 with the right draws.

I dont have any Brainstorm available at the moment.

Going to try and get Shoal's to replace the Counterspells as the Shoal's are cheaper than FoW.

I feel as though in order to block countertop, I need Grimoire over Sygg for the moment.

[rockout]

Try upping your fetch count to 6-8 and run brainstorm instead of ponder.
This deck screams for daze with a fairly low mana curve and aggro-ish build.

No force? I'll chalk that up to a money issue since I see you aren't running tundras, which I can understand.

I would personally run go -1 Sygg, River Cutthroat for +2 Sygg, River Guide and run less unstable mutations and Merrow Whitsniper. Sygg, River Guide is just better in almost every instance. Consider him a mana dump.

x4 Cursecatcher
x2 Sygg, River River Guide
x4 Silvergill Adept
x4 Lord of Atlantis
x4 Merrow Reejerey

I'm a huge fan of Grimoire Thief, but it's your call.

I'll let someone else say the "omg you deck is vulnerable to counter-top," mainly because I'm sick of hearing it.

[xTrainx]

The Force and Tundra missing is a money issue.

I'll test River Guide, because he seems to be good vs. monocolor decks or could save your cards from a nasty spell.

More fetches? The cheapest one I can think of is Terraformic Expanse, because I really cant afford to buy Polluted Delta on top of the rest.

I already know that the deck is vulnerable to countertop, but I can't figure a way around it besides hoping to counter it.

The only reason I shyed away from Daze was that it could mess up my early curve, but I'll test it.

EDIT: Deck updated.

[rufus]

You might consider:
Wake Thrasher
Leech Bonder
Puresight Merrow

[Captain_Morgan]

Why isn't accumulated knowledge used much in blue these days?

[xTrainx]

I like Wake Thrasher, its just that 4.50 for a playset is too steep to pay for me on top of the rest of it.

Leech Bonder just really doesnt seem to fit in with my deckbuild.

Puresight is a cool idea, but he just doesnt seem to fit.

[lunar_eternal_blue]

Spell Snare is a good answer for counterbalance, its cheap (money-wise) plus it's just a really good card, especially for tempo based decks like this one. If you wanted to go more control, then the other solution to countertop is, of course, running it yourself. Pretty much every deck that uses it is vulnerable to it (a lot of them run Krosan Grip though).

[thefreakaccident]

I would splash green in this deck.. as it gives you:

a. Tarmogoyf
b. grip in the board
c. Chameleon collosus (Just kidding)


But goyf is going to most likely outclass these creatures, and paired with a removal spell and/or a supplementing creature will simply turn sideways gladly...

Black threshold has plague (awesome against this deck) and red has clasm/burn (even worse for this deck)...

If you are going to stay mono-blue, run B2B and vedalken shackles, trust me its' tech, as you can play both roles very well (agro control, or strict control)... But I would much rather play the faerie tribe in Legacy than Merfolk... it could be just me.

[Sims]

Aside from the disenchant effect (which white can give aswell along with better removal in STP) there is no real reason to go green. Goyf is not as good here except as a wall against other Goyfs since your creatures cannot pump him, and that is the only other compelling reason to run green. Between the LoA and Reej you get a decent amount of pump for your buck, ontop of LoA allowing cards such as Wake Thrasher to Islandwalk past *most* opposing Goyfs. Yes, I know, not every deck with Goyf runs blue, but a decent percentage of them do. You also have cards such as Aquitects Will, Tidal Warrior, Reef Shaman, and the like to allow your cards to sneak past. Conditional, perhaps, but not out of the question. If I were to give up my manabase to splash, it would be either for White or Black, not Green.

Back to Basics is a very strong card in most metas and is even maindeck worthy, though there are metagames where you'd be siding it out a lot so that's probably a call to be maid when you see your field. Other considerations for that spot would be Propaganda (yes, even maindeck depending on the metagame), or other Merfolk like Stonybrook Banneret or Sage of Fables.

A creature base I would consider would be something along the lines of this:

4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Wake ThrasherThis allows room for a playset of Force of Wills (I know they are out of your price range, but we should set a goal on an optimal list and worry about substitutions after), Daze/Spellsnare, Brainstorms/Ponder/Draw, and even Counter-Top if you wish. If you want to go more aggro you can add in Sage of Fables (you run 8 wizards in this setup), Banneret, or your Sygg's.

Another option would be to go more "Goblin-esque" in your aggro and fill the deck up with Merfolk with a few countermagic spells, adding in Tidal Courier as a Ringleader and card advantage engine.

So many directions, most importantly up to how you want to play the deck. My largest two suggestions are to get Wake Thrashers and get Force of Wills when you can afford them as they will help your deck greatly.

[Cabal-kun]

...Sage of Fables (you run 8 wizards in this setup), Banneret, or your Sygg's.

Sage of Fables is horrible. It really doesn't provide anything for the deck, even if you are running 8 wizards. The +1/+1 tokens are negligible, and if you want to make the most out of them you have to 'hold' your other wizards in your hand until you get Sage of Fables down. The permanent counters it gives aren't worth the fancy footwork you have to do, and the draw feature from Sage is not something you're likely to use often.

In short, the +1/+1 counters aren't worth it, and you have many other ways to draw cards that are better (Standstill, Ancestral Visions, Accumulated Knowledge, Cold-Eyed Selkie, Tidal Courier, and Syygg, River Cutthroat).

[Sims]

Was only an option, sir, and I apologize for forgetting to mention Cold-Eyed Selkie, but the point still remains that it is an option. Admittedly, I haven't tested Sage of Fables and normally I also get on peoples for suggesting cards without testing, but after Selkie and Sage, the power level of the other merfolk starts to drop off very rapidly. I merely suggested the cards that I felt the best fit for the strategy.

[Cabal-kun]

Was only an option, sir, and I apologize for forgetting to mention Cold-Eyed Selkie, but the point still remains that it is an option. Admittedly, I haven't tested Sage of Fables and normally I also get on peoples for suggesting cards without testing, but after Selkie and Sage, the power level of the other merfolk starts to drop off very rapidly. I merely suggested the cards that I felt the best fit for the strategy.

I know. :tongue:

My own pet version of of Merfolk started out as an attempt to take advantage of Sage of Fables with Wizard/Merfolk creatures. Needless to say, it isn't really feasible. Like you said, an option nonetheless. But not a particularly good one.