[Report] Merfolk place 4th at The Inquisitive 2009-01-17
Whoops, this was last night, so it was the 16th.
Haven't done a report in a while, but this is my first decent showing with Merfstill, so let's have it.
About two dozen players, DCI-sanctioned but pretty casual. 5 rounds of swiss then tie-breaks (no top-X cut).
I was considering playing CounterSliver (just got Mutavaults!), Death and Taxes, or Merfolk (just got Mutavaults!). Since I am least familiar with merfs and didn't want all the mental anguish that D&T gives me, I decided on merfolk. I've tried the Selkie idea in the past, but I decided to try Standstill now that I have Mutavaults. There was another guy playing almost the same deck tonight, be he had additional trickery like Waterfront Bouncer. My list:
Merfstill
14 Island
3 Mutavault
3 Wasteland
4 Aether Vial
4 Daze
4 Ponder
4 Force of Will
4 Standstill
2 Vedalken Shackles
3 Tidal Warrior
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Merrow Reejery
3 Wake Thrasher
Sideboard:
3 Back to Basics
3 Propaganda
4 Relic of Progenitus
2 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Pithing Needle
Comments: I was debating using Brainstorm with Fetches, but this should be a little more robust at the expense of some power. Tidal Warrior was chosen over Cursecatcher for extra disruption along with LoA walking for non-blue decks. In my casual meta, it's not the fact that everyone plays blue. 2 Shackles main because of the creature-heavy meta.
Sideboard Comments: Propaganda for EtW/Bridge and random swarms, Jitte for life gain and additional removal, Needle for broad answers (Explosives and Deed suck), Relic cause why not. In the end my side did pretty damn well. I would have liked some Chills cause burn really sucks in spite of Standstill and countermagic, and random burnish decks are popular in casual metas. Kira would have been nice too, in hindsight, perhaps even in the main.
Round 1 vs 5 color casual wizards
Ouch, kind of a shame when someone brings a knife to a nuke fight. He had a 5 color deck with all basics and little to no search for needed land. In the first game I stuck three Standstills. In the second game I didn't go below 20.
1-0, 2-1
Round 2 vs GB Survival Reanimator
Game 1: He gets stuck on two Forests and scoops after I get an army on the board. Having seen nothing but basic land, I decided to keep my deck even though I heard he was playing Reanimator. (But Forests in Reanimator? Do people do that?)
Game 2: He drops a bunch of monsters in the yard and brings them back to eat me. He finishes at 3 life. Oh, ok. Reanimator, then. With Survival, even.
Sided: +4 Relic, +3 Needle, -3 Wakethrasher, -4 Silvergill
Game 3: I keep a hand with Relic and Needle, then end up drawing another Relic and Needle during the game. Between Relic, Needle on Survival, and Tidal Warrior denying him black, he doesn't have much to do. Cabal Therapy gets rid of Force of Will, and he drops a Deed, which would blow up Vial, Warrior, Needle, Relic, and Shackles. I use my second Needle on Deed, which makes him unhappy, then finish him off with another Merf army. Sideboards are pretty awesome.
2-0, 4-1
Round 3 vs RB aggro control (almost red death?)
Nice guy playing a pretty decent but unoptimized deck.
Game 1: I Waste his black source to keep him on red, which screws him up. He is surprised at Shackles.
Sided: -2 Wake Thrasher, +2 Jitte (I figure he has way too much removal for me to play expensive 1/1s. Rather be tricky with Jitte, and be able to gain life to counter his burn).
Game 2: This was awesome. He drops a first turn Hippie before I can Daze (no FoW). He drops a second turn Hippie after I get Daze online, but he now has two Swamps. I end my second turn with two Land in play, 2 Land, Shackles, and 2 merfs in hand. I could have cast a merf but Shackles was my ticket out of there, and I wanted as big a hand as possible to retain Shackles. His Hyppies ripped a merf and a land from my hand, leaving Shackles. I eventually drew my other Shackles and took both Hippies, leaving me with no hand and 7 life but two un-snuff-out-able evasive annoying dudes. He casts E. Plague on Specters and Null Rod so I can't take any more stuff, and I continue whittling away at him with 1/1s. I'm forced to Force of Will Ashenmoor Gouger, leaving me at 1 life, but Wakethrasher enters the fray. He has three turns to draw Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Blightning, or Mogg Fanatic, but it isn't meant to be, and I win at 1.
3-0, 6-1
Round 4 vs B Specter Deck
The fact that he went 3-0 means a little bit, but his deck was pretty unoptimized, so I thought it strange when he got so angry when he lost.
Game 1: Turns out he's got a bunch of point destruction and Edicts, and he tries to empty the board, so baiting the removal is easy, though he sure does have a lot of removal. After casting the least important Merfs, I get three Reejeries into play, and he takes 17 in two attacks. He got a little mana-screwed this game.
Sided: -2 Tidal Warrior, +2 Jitte (kills Oona's Prowlers and Specters, black doesn't like resolved Artifacts)
Game 2: So I guess he has no discard spells, just specters. Hmph. I cast some merfs and he casts removal, same as last time. Eventually I get a Jitte on a Mutavault, and his sorcery-speed and toughness-based removal does nothing. He got a little mana-flooded this game.
Aside: At one point I had two Dazes in my hand. He had 3 Swamps, and tapped two to cast an Edict. I Daze him once, expecting to need the second. He read Daze, then sighed and tossed the Edict into the yard. Wtf?
Aside: He played Warren Weirding. I so wanted to sac a Mutavault to get some Goblins on my side, but unfortunately was always tapped out when he did that.
4-0, 8-1
The other undefeated decks entering round 4 were a weird stasis-like deck, two standstill decks, and a Doran deck. Of those matchups, Doran beat landstill and landstill beat the prison deck. I was really hoping to NOT fight landstill, and got my wish! However, to lose at that point would mean that I might not place.
Round 5 vs BGW Doran
Game 1: I don't remember this game too well, but he ends up beating me down with a Kitchen Finks wielding a Jitte. My Shackles was not enough to save me as he would kill off what I tried to take with Jitte. Also, turns out he's got man-lands too, wtf.
Sided: Wow, pretty much everything's gold against him. I end up choosing to add Back to Basics and Jitte, and taking out some Tidal Warriors and Wake Thrashers. In effect, I was trying to play more control.
Game 2: My B2B shuts down a Treetop Village and a Bayou, but he's still got a Forest and a Birds of Paradise, which are enough to cast two Goyfs and a Jitte. I'm able to bring him down to 8 this game, but in the end it's not enough.
Aside: Why didn't I bring in Relics? Relics Eat Goyfs. Sigh.
4-1, 8-3
Top 5 (4-1 or better):
1st: Doran from round 5 (15 pts)
2nd: Mono-U Landstill (13 pts)
3rd: Dreadstill (12 pts)
4th: me (12 pts)
5th: BR Aggro-control from round 3 (12 pts)
Lessons learned, comments, etc.
Shackles are freaking awesome. I was glad to have them in every matchup. Sure people play Goyf, Tombstalker, and Dreadnought, but they also play smaller critters that are often useful to take. In the long game, you can sometimes expect to take Goyf and Tombstalker if not Dreadnought. =)
Kira would have helped in all of the last three matches, though I only lost one of those matches. We can't explode onto the field as quickly as Elves and Goblins can, so point removal really does suck. Question is: what do we take out for her?
I mulled quite a few 1-land hands. Some of them might arguably be keepable cause I had a Vial and a Ponder for instance, but I played against a lot of black and was afraid that discard effects would turn such a fragile opening hand into a nightmare.
At least I played a bit better tonight than usual, but I'm not always sure when I should go aggro vs control. I probably sideboarded like crap too. Any suggestions?
If I'm fearing a lot of red in the meta, and want to add Chills, what should I take out of the side? I didn't really use Propaganda, though I guess it could have helped in the last matchup too (but only if I also land Back to Basics).
Tidal Warrior pulls his weight pretty well to deny them their necessary colored mana. I would have liked to test Cursecatcher in similar matchups to compare their relative merit, but that's hard to do. Finn has expressed a dislike for Tidal Warrior's interaction with Daze, but it's not as if Islands don't give mana. My opponents would sometimes tap it and use the blue as colorless, once again opening themselves up for Daze.
All-told, I probably should have played Fetches and Brainstorm over Ponder. That said, Ponder does pretty well too, because it both shuffles and cantrips. Any thoughts one way or the other?
Thanks for reading!
Re: [Report] Merfolk place 4th at The Inquisitive 2009-01-17
Congratulations on your fine results!
But seriously, why oh why would you ever board out Silvergill Adept? Sure, if you board out two many merfolks, it's not that good but still...
Anyway, it seems to be a really strange metagame you have there...
Re: [Report] Merfolk place 4th at The Inquisitive 2009-01-17
Quote:
Originally Posted by
elof
Congratulations on your fine results!
But seriously, why oh why would you ever board out Silvergill Adept? Sure, if you board out two many merfolks, it's not that good but still...
Anyway, it seems to be a really strange metagame you have there...
My feeling was that while the Adept can replace itself, it might be difficult to play that new card in the early game after already spending 2 on the Adept itself. That matchup requires that I land a ton of disruption lest he starts dropping huge guys on the board. I figured that if I could stop his gameplan, I could then go lethal with Lords. Tidal Warrior was left in to screw with his mana. What would you have taken out instead in that MU?
I'd just say it's an undeveloped meta, which always have strange, rogue, and casual designs.
Thanks for the comments!
Re: [Report] Merfolk place 4th at The Inquisitive 2009-01-17
Nice report (the tone made it fun to read)! Nice deck!
Just a few comments/questions:
- I see you only mentioned using Wasteland once in your report, in a game 1 against a Red Death variant. What are your thoughts on Wasteland? Would you still run Wasteland if you played Merfolk again?
- I'm sure you can agree with me that Standstill is busted in this deck. That said, I've always been firm on accompanying 4 Standstill with 4 Mutavaults. Aside from obvious Merfolk synergies, you make the "resolve Standstill, win" plan much more reliable, especially when you consider your opp's Wasteland, double Vaults under Standstill, and other factors. What do you think? When I tested Merfolk, I ran 2 Wasteland, 4 Mutavault.
Other than that, your list looks tight. I never considered using Shackles since the deck ran 20 lands, but it helped you in your matches so I can't say much :)
Re: [Report] Merfolk place 4th at The Inquisitive 2009-01-17
All your questions on the deck can and have been answered in the actual Merfolks thread in Established decks (though I think they should be in DTW based off of recent results, but they get so much hate now...).
Good finish, but as we've all come to acknowledge over in merfolks thread, Relic is ridiculously good against 70% of the decks out there, and cantrips against the others, so should be mained.
Re: [Report] Merfolk place 4th at The Inquisitive 2009-01-17
Quote:
Originally Posted by
kirbysdl
tournament report
Shackles seems far too slow for merfolk. You play wake thrasher, WAKE THRASHER. A reckless 1/1 that wants to untap as many permanents as possible to race all manner of big guys (aside from 'naughts) does not combo with a 3 mana artifact that you want to either keep two lands untapped for or not untap itself while capturing very small guys and being too slow to turn the aggro MU positive.
I like tidal warrior, but think he belongs in a more controlling version with 2-4 ports, 3ish stifles, and 4 wastes, he really only shuts of decks that need double colored mana with 3+ colors. (IE tombstalker/sinkhole in TA, humility in a 3c landstill, CB in thresh, ect) Perhaps he is a better fit in your meta (I don't see any combo mentioned or in the top5, so I assume it is not played or piloted poorly in your meta, but IMO cursecatcher is superior against aggro-control, control, and combo decks.
I think you should be running more manlands, optimaly 4 mutavaults to ensure you break the synergy of standstill. In your round 5 vs doran, you mentioned he ran manlands, and I feel you should have boarded out your standstills, as lest you have vial online, he was likely able to operate under a standstill just fine, while charging his hand with deed and loading his board with lands and discard to ensure he could pummel you after breaking the standstill EOT.
Chill is a pretty narrow sideboard card, as it is often too slow for goblins, and vial goes right over it, as does incinerator and wierding. Chill is fine against burn, but so is BEB, while nuking key goblins like chief and lackey, and being relevant against combo and loam. I would recommend, for your Meta, the side of:
2 Jitte
3 misdirection (good vs hymn/discard, targeted removal, and burn- all of which seem to be heavily played in your meta)
3 B2B
3 relic (though I would advise you find room MD, possibly removing thrasher or shackles)
4 BEB/hydroblast
Re: [Report] Merfolk place 4th at The Inquisitive 2009-01-17
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Shawon
Nice report (the tone made it fun to read)! Nice deck!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Shawon
- I see you only mentioned using Wasteland once in your report, in a game 1 against a Red Death variant. What are your thoughts on Wasteland? Would you still run Wasteland if you played Merfolk again?
- I'm sure you can agree with me that Standstill is busted in this deck. That said, I've always been firm on accompanying 4 Standstill with 4 Mutavaults. Aside from obvious Merfolk synergies, you make the "resolve Standstill, win" plan much more reliable, especially when you consider your opp's Wasteland, double Vaults under Standstill, and other factors. What do you think? When I tested Merfolk, I ran 2 Wasteland, 4 Mutavault.
I actually used it more though my summaries didn't mention it often. The thing is, they keep printing nonbasics, so even if it's a casual player with Vivid lands and not fetches and duals, they're still useful. Against decks that depend on utility land such as Karakas, Academy Ruins, etc., they're also good. Against anything with manlands and Wastes, my Wastes can get rid of their manlands/Wastes before I drop my own Mutas. I'd be willing to try 2 Wastes and 4 Mutavaults though. Note: on the main thread the popular manabase seems to be
12 Island
4 Wasteland
3 Mutavault
though in my meta I really couldn't justify more Wastes than Mutas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Shawon
I never considered using Shackles since the deck ran 20 lands, but it helped you in your matches so I can't say much :)
It was good whenever I drew it, either as a threat or to actually steal their stuff. Though I don't have a ton of Islands, you really don't need too many. Really new players with their Wurm decks have huge dudes, but players quickly learn to run with undercosted weenies in the 2-4 power range. The new fad is Tombstalker, Goyf, Dreadnought, but not everyone runs those esp. in my meta, and getting rid of a key utility creature is gold. One concern is it makes people even more likely to board in artifact removal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Phoenix Ignition
All your questions on the deck can and have been answered in the actual Merfolks thread in Established decks
Relic is ridiculously good against 70% of the decks out there, and cantrips against the others, so should be mained.
See, the problem is that it wouldn't have been useful against 70% of the decks here, which is what I'm more concerned with. Would you still maindeck them if it's only useful against 20% of the decks in your meta? Wouldn't running deeper cantrips like Brainstorm and Ponder be better (especially because some recent lists don't run any cantrips, instead choosing tricks like Kira and Relic).
Similarly, though Kira's been oft-mentioned in the main Merfs thread, there aren't many lists that use it. My question is what to take out from my list, if I were to add her at all. In my burn-happy, black-heavy meta (i.e. tons of point removal), should she be maindecked or in the side?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Media314r8
Shackles seems far too slow for merfolk. You play wake thrasher, WAKE THRASHER. A reckless 1/1 that wants to untap as many permanents as possible to race all manner of big guys (aside from 'naughts) does not combo with a 3 mana artifact that you want to either keep two lands untapped for or not untap itself while capturing very small guys and being too slow to turn the aggro MU positive.
Shackles was in fact very good, so the argument that it seems like it should be slow (and I agree, it does seem that way with only 14 Islands in the deck) is pretty much irrelevant. The question is whether something would be BETTER in those slots. In my meta, I don't think they should be Relics at this time. However, Jitte, Kira, and Whirlpool Rider seem very interesting. It's been said that Rider's only good in the late game, but I'd mostly use it to almost guarantee me having Vial+Muta+Standstill on the third turn.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Media314r8
I like tidal warrior, but think he belongs in a more controlling version with 2-4 ports, 3ish stifles, and 4 wastes, he really only shuts of decks that need double colored mana with 3+ colors. (IE tombstalker/sinkhole in TA, humility in a 3c landstill, CB in thresh, ect) Perhaps he is a better fit in your meta (I don't see any combo mentioned or in the top5, so I assume it is not played or piloted poorly in your meta, but IMO cursecatcher is superior against aggro-control, control, and combo decks.
Tidal Warrior can't stop CB and is much less useful against blue in general, but I do see the appeal of Curscatcher. I'm not against trying it, but at the same time Tidal Warrior was good too. Needs more testing. =)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Media314r8
I think you should be running more manlands, optimaly 4 mutavaults to ensure you break the synergy of standstill. In your round 5 vs doran, you mentioned he ran manlands, and I feel you should have boarded out your standstills, as lest you have vial online, he was likely able to operate under a standstill just fine, while charging his hand with deed and loading his board with lands and discard to ensure he could pummel you after breaking the standstill EOT.
Strangely enough, he thought that Standstill was one of my more dangerous cards, but that's a good insight. Just the sort of feedback I'm looking for. Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Media314r8
Chill is a pretty narrow sideboard card, as it is often too slow for goblins, and vial goes right over it, as does incinerator and wierding. Chill is fine against burn, but so is BEB, while nuking key goblins like chief and lackey, and being relevant against combo and loam.
I'm more concerned with Burn than with Gobs. Even though Gobs are a worst MU for us, Burn's more popular around here. That said, BEB is rather nice. It's one of blue's few removal spells for resolved permanents (bounce doesn't really count).
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Media314r8
2 Jitte
3 misdirection (good vs hymn/discard, targeted removal, and burn- all of which seem to be heavily played in your meta)
3 B2B
3 relic (though I would advise you find room MD, possibly removing thrasher or shackles)
4 BEB/hydroblast
Why Misdirection over Divert? I mean I love the fact that they can't tap 2 for it, but 2 cards is a lot to pay when I'm already running FoWs.
As I mentioned above, I'm not sure that I should maindeck Relic for my meta. If I needed room in the side, I'd rather throw the Jittes in the main.
Re: [Report] Merfolk place 4th at The Inquisitive 2009-01-17
Well first, I'm stoked that you wrote a tournament report. I was a bit baffled by a few of your choices, especially Shackles but that seemed to be one of the more successful. Only 3 Mutavaults was also perplexing but I'm not a Merfolk expert.
I think your sideboard was excellent for our metagame but you probably would lose to a good burn deck without either Midsdirection, BEB, or Divert.
@All: Our metagame is FUBAR. We regularly have 30+ people and the week before we had enough for 6 rounds. That's quite a weekly showing, IMO!
A small correction: I piloted the third place deck, and apparently my Dreadstill deck is so feared people think I'm playing it even when I'm not. For the record I was playing ITF.
