[Deck] Merfolk

Just wondering, if an equipment heavy environment suddenly makes Reality Ripple borderline playable after 15 years, which I doubt but it is certainly an interesting thought, shouldn't other, potentially better 'phase out' cards be considered?

Teferi's Realm has several applications, it is actually a kind of catch-all solution to a wide range of problematic lock type cards: Maze of Ith, Humility, Ensnaring Bridge, for example.

Vodalian Illusionist should be able to remove Batterskull before they get a chance to equip anything other than the token. If arriving too late he can always phase out whatever creature happens to be carrying dangerous equipment during combat. Can also sometimes save your own creatures, etc., and is a Merfolk.

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Originally Posted by Hof

Just wondering, if an equipment heavy environment suddenly makes Reality Ripple borderline playable after 15 years, which I doubt but it is certainly an interesting thought, shouldn't other, potentially better 'phase out' cards be considered?

Teferi's Realm has several applications, it is actually a kind of catch-all solution to a wide range of problematic lock type cards: Maze of Ith, Humility, Ensnaring Bridge, for example.

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do your coralhelms, vials, and jittes come back with their counters?

Yes comes back in just like it was

Edit

Did you guys see that massacre gives all creatures -2? Is that good in a deck full of 2/2s, even with lords?

Hello Taco. In your opinion, in a heavy aggro meta (Zoo, Affinity, WW, etc), with some Burn and almost inexistent combo decks, am I correct to say that Jitte is the best answer? If Yes, what would you replace in your last posted list? If not, what do you recommend? MD and SB. Thanks in advance.

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Originally Posted by SlopeeJ

Did you guys see that massacre gives all creatures -2? Is that good in a deck full of 2/2s, even with lords?

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To answer your rhetorical question: I'm pretty sure no, it's not gonna be. Massacre seems so wrong for this deck I actually assumed it was a mistype, but I'm not sure. Perish is, obv, a way better reason to splash black.

If you're thinking of splashing a color to have answers to Progenitus then wouldn't splashing white for Tariff be a good idea? White also of course gives you StoP, PtE, Serenity (quite nice against affinity) and many more SB options.
Though it doesn't destroy anything, wouldn't Hibernation slow your opponent down enough to be an option to Perish?

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Originally Posted by Micki

If you're thinking of splashing a color to have answers to Progenitus then wouldn't splashing white for Tariff be a good idea? White also of course gives you StoP, PtE, Serenity (quite nice against affinity) and many more SB options.
Though it doesn't destroy anything, wouldn't Hibernation slow your opponent down enough to be an option to Perish?

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What is wrong with Phyrexian Metamorph? It's fabulous as it kills the legendary monsters and Jitte and doubles as a lord or copies Batterskulls. No splash needed.

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Originally Posted by Hopo

What is wrong with Phyrexian Metamorph? It's fabulous as it kills the legendary monsters and Jitte and doubles as a lord or copies Batterskulls. No splash needed.

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Forgot that one, thanks Hopo! Metamorph might even be good enough to deserve MD slots, thoughts about that?

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Originally Posted by reale

Hello Taco. In your opinion, in a heavy aggro meta (Zoo, Affinity, WW, etc), with some Burn and almost inexistent combo decks, am I correct to say that Jitte is the best answer? If Yes, what would you replace in your last posted list? If not, what do you recommend? MD and SB. Thanks in advance.

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If those three decks are what your metagame largely consists of, go pick up another deck if you can. That's your best option. Zoo's a very hard matchup, and I've played against a few WW builds that were pretty much 90-10 in their favor.

But, yes. Umezawa's Jitte seems pretty good right there. Squeeze one main for a Daze. With the two Dismembers and the single main Jitte, and the extras in sideboard, you should have a pretty decent shot.

If your metagame's just completely sellout nonblue aggro, then ditch all your Dazes to board for more Dismembers/Jittes, and consider dropping down to 2 Aether Vials.

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Originally Posted by Hopo

What is wrong with Phyrexian Metamorph? It's fabulous as it kills the legendary monsters and Jitte and doubles as a lord or copies Batterskulls. No splash needed.

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Honestly, I have been toying around with this idea. The best part is you dont have to worry about color at all. You can get a metamorph for three colorless and two life, which can be quite relevant due to our 8 colorless producing lands. I think the utility here is pretty awesome; yet, the problem that I have encountered was what do I cut. I want to keep my other lords and my permission package. Ultimately it comes down to a lack of space in the deck. I think it is good but I am inclined to believe that we have much better options. Bounce, phasing, dismember, and pithing needle all seem like they do a better job of answering our Batterskull problem. That is my opinion, but I am open to hearing what others think.

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Originally Posted by reale

Hello Taco. In your opinion, in a heavy aggro meta (Zoo, Affinity, WW, etc), with some Burn and almost inexistent combo decks, am I correct to say that Jitte is the best answer? If Yes, what would you replace in your last posted list? If not, what do you recommend? MD and SB. Thanks in advance.

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If you just want to win, and that's your meta, I agree with Taco that you would be better off playing a different deck. Maybe it's just me, but from the description you give I think I would play some version of Storm Combo. Maybe even a fast version like Spanish Inquisition or Belcher, since it seems like there are hardly any counterspells in your meta.

Merfolk is a great deck, but from the sound of it, playing it in your meta-game is going to be an uphill climb.

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Originally Posted by Justin

Yeah. Echoing Truth is the best bounce for Merfolk (and Submerge in the sideboard). Waterfront Bouncer is really only good as a one-of in a deck that you can tutor for him. For example, some Survival builds would run him before their deck got banned. Merfolk doesn't have any good tutor effects and Bouncer is not so good in multiples because of the card disadvantage.

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I'm not saying he's good in Merfolk, back when I tried him a year or so ago, he was mostly a 2/2 or a 3/3 beater, but back then the decks I played against were not nearly as aggressive as some decks now are. My main problem with Waterfront Bouncer is not that he makes for card disadvantage (because he can gain you tempo, and it's likely that you'll have excess Vials and Islands to toss to him), it's rather that he is a tad slow. At the very fastest, you can activate him on turn three, most often on turn four, and also the single blue mana required is perhaps best spent on Mutavault or Coralhelm Commander.

However, that said, he deals with stuff like Peacekeeper, Emrakul and Batterskull, and even though I don't think he should be included in all Merfolk decks, there might be some metagames where he warrants play. He can also save your own dudes from removal, though if your meta is full of that stuff, Kira is probably better.

As a side-note: I once won a game on MWS by bouncing my own LoA and turning off my opponent's Merfolk's Islandwalk. Good times.

Why people don't play anymore Merfolks with a splash of Black? At this moment I only see Mono U Merfolk....

Alex Majlatan does any report of GP Providence???

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Originally Posted by mooN_MTG

Why people don't play anymore Merfolks with a splash of Black? At this moment I only see Mono U Merfolk....

Alex Majlatan does any report of GP Providence???

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I would guess that the massive amounts of stoneforge control decks flooding the field have something to do with it. There really aren't the amount of tarmogoyfs out there that there have been the past.

Tarmogoyf's weak in Legacy now anyway. Creatures in modern Legacy have to either be absolutely huge or do something really neat. Stoneforge is a way bigger threat, and arguably is pushing to become Legacy's signature creature, even beyond Dark Confidant and Knight of the Reliquary.

Also, Mental Misstep and Dismember got printed, which means Merfolk can do a lot more than it once could without splashing a color. Specifically in the removal department.

I played this last night, borrowing it from a friend. I hadn't really played it recently, but I played it in the past and enjoyed it. This was the list used was something like this:

Creatures
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergil Adept
3 Cursecatcher
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Merfolk Sovereign

Spells
4 Mental Misstep
3 Force of Will
3 Daze
3 Dismember

Artifacts
4 AEther Vial

Lands
13 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland
1 Mishra's Factory

Sideboard
3 Hydroblast
3 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
2 Energy Flux
2 Spell Pierce
2 Submerge
2 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Dismember

Round 1 vs Mirror
Dismember was a house
2-0 (1-0)

Round 2 vs Mirror
Dismember was still a house
2-0 (2-0)

Round 3 vs Show and Tell
So many lords and counterspells won it for me
2-1 (3-0)

Round 4 vs Bant
Dismember was not as good here, but I was able to slow him down a lot
2-0 (4-0)

Round 5 vs NO RUG w/ Bloodbraid Elf
I scoop him in. Im a nice guy, what can I say
0-2 (4-1)

So, Dismember was amazing. 3 Llawan helped a lot. Jitte is really good. May be better than Kira/Sovereign in the main right now. I enjoyed the deck a lot and hope to play it at an SCG 5K soon.

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Originally Posted by videogamer99

Round 1 vs Mirror
Dismember was a house
2-0 (1-0)

Round 2 vs Mirror
Dismember was still a house
2-0 (2-0)

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Take note of this, Merfolk players with an unnatural attachment to Submerge.

Went 4-0 in Locals tonight. Playing my same maindeck list as usual, with a weird SB full of a bunch of random 1-ofs to try out. I also tried 4 Spell Pierces, which is my new favorite SB card, but then got in three aggro matchups and only got to use them one time. Whatever.

Round 1 - Brian playing UGB Dredge/Madness/Weird hybrid something.

Game 1 I counter two Careful Studies. He plays Islands while I beat him to death. No idea what he's playing, so I bring in yard hate under the assumption that Careful Study means something's hitting the yard.

Game 2 I counter yet another Careful Study. He ramps up land and hardcasts Deep Analysis, while I make dudes. I still overwhelm him without seeing what he's playing. Might make it more difficult when I face him tomorrow night.

Round 2 - Jerath playing Modern D&T.

I win the die roll and lead with an Island, Cursecatcher. He plays Plains, Vial. I let it hit due to how fast my hand is, and this turns out to be a good move, as he has a second Vial a couple turns later. And lots of land. I Force the one thing he hardcasts (A Squadron Hawk), and Misstep his one STP, and my guys crash through.

Game 2 I Misstep an Aether Vial and he gets mana stuck. By the time he stabilizes, I have guys. Lots and lots of guys.

Round 3 - Larry playing Zoo

I mulligan to six and keep a two-lander with a Silvergill. Larry has two things. Lands and dudes. I have to Wasteland a Taiga to keep two Kird Apes, a Loam Lion, and a Nacatl from steamrolling me, then get stuck hunting another land and die being unable to drop my guys out fast enough to stabilize.

Game two, I mull to 6, he thinks a long time about going to 5, but stays at 6. I stick an Aether Vial, he gets stuck on one land with me having a wall of Mental Missteps and guys.

Game three we both end up mana flooded after decent starting hands. He keeps drawing land. I get a Silvergill with an active Jitte, but he topdecks a Krosan Grip like a champion and eats my four counters. Ugh. Fortunately he hits land after that, I Dismember his Tarmogoyf (So sexy) and topdeck two straight Reejereys to seize control. I manage to win with his top card being a much needed Path to Exile.

Round 4 - Chase playing UWB Doomsday Show

Game 1 I go Mutavault, Vial with an Island in hand. He Missteps. I Misstep. He Missteps. I don't get a Vial. He then Thoughtseizes me to make the situation worse. But I get beats in with my Mutavault, and a Reejerey finally joins the show, and by the time he gets Show and Tell, he's way too low on life for Emrakul to be scary.

Game 2 I try to Force a turn 3 Plague, he Forces back, and due to lack of air conditioning I somehow don't think to sacrifice my Cursecatcher. Gah. (I really don't earn my rating sometimes. Just ask Majikal.) I drop a Coralhelm and panic-level him to 2, then Chase gets to 5 lands and sticks Plague #2. Coralhelm goes big, a 1/1 Reejerey sticks, and I beat him with subpar-sized Lords and Mutavaults while he's still hunting for Show and Tell.

Thoughts for the evening:

-Going 4-0 on die rolls with Merfolk wins tournaments. I can't even think of the last time this happened. It's been at least a year.
-Dismember is amazing. It's also amazing at not appearing when I have an aggro matchup. But it's still amazing.
-Cursecatcher belongs on the top 5 creature in Legacy list. Every matchup I played, Cursecatcher influenced my opponent to ridiculous degrees.
-Bounce spells were weak. The one random Needle was weak. The one Null Rod I had, in post-match screwing around against D&T, was great at shutting off Sword of Fire and Ice, and made Batterskull just an annoying dude to deal with rather than a game-ending problem.
-Divert is earning strong sideboard consideration for me. Divert reflects STP. Divert reflects Hymn. Divert reflects Bolt. Divert makes Mental Misstep target Divert. It's seeming better the more matches I play.
-Stoneforge Mystic is a problem. The card is seriously everywhere in Legacy right now. Absolutely everywhere.

Dismember is awesome, until you play a deck with lightning bolt/zoo or can't kill the fatty beating you. Dismember awesome or can be bad. I play 3 kira so now when mirror boards in dismember I love blanking cards in their hand.

Divert is one of those cards (merfolk loves these type of cards) that really sucks or is just a total house. I'm sure everyone can decide when it sucks and when it doesn't. I don't think merfolk has the U mana open to justify using it, for me it's in the same boat as spell snare. So basically it is awesome early game, when merfolk "doesn't" really have U available and sucks late game. I had a lot of success running misdirection, hitting hymns/bolts etc Again game breaking when awesome even pitching a card or complete suckage.

Which bounce spells are you referring to as weak?

congrats taco...dismember is getting better so much so that i have been playing 3md and cutting a cursecatcher or a wasteland for the 3rd...and with more creature based and stoneforge.dec running around in legacy dismember is becoming even better

I don't play Merfolk very often, but I thought I would pass a couple of articles along.

Scott Muir took 3rd place at the SCG Indianapolis event. He recently wrote a guide to sideboarding and I know he'd appreciate any feedback or thoughts. As he doesn't use this forum, leaving thoughts in the comments section of the article would be the easiest way to let him know your thoughts:

http://www.quietspeculation.com/2011...-sideboarding/

And this is his (entertaining!) event report.

http://www.quietspeculation.com/2011...-indianapolis/

Scott's been playing and tuning Merfolk in his meta for a couple of years now. Hope you enjoy and get something out of them!

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Originally Posted by videogamer99

I played this last night, borrowing it from a friend. I hadn't really played it recently, but I played it in the past and enjoyed it. This was the list used was something like this:

Creatures
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergil Adept
3 Cursecatcher
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Merfolk Sovereign

Spells
4 Mental Misstep
3 Force of Will
3 Daze
3 Dismember

Artifacts
4 AEther Vial

Lands
13 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland
1 Mishra's Factory

Sideboard
3 Hydroblast
3 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
2 Energy Flux
2 Spell Pierce
2 Submerge
2 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Dismember

Round 1 vs Mirror
Dismember was a house
2-0 (1-0)

Round 2 vs Mirror
Dismember was still a house
2-0 (2-0)

Round 3 vs Show and Tell
So many lords and counterspells won it for me
2-1 (3-0)

Round 4 vs Bant
Dismember was not as good here, but I was able to slow him down a lot
2-0 (4-0)

Round 5 vs NO RUG w/ Bloodbraid Elf
I scoop him in. Im a nice guy, what can I say
0-2 (4-1)

So, Dismember was amazing. 3 Llawan helped a lot. Jitte is really good. May be better than Kira/Sovereign in the main right now. I enjoyed the deck a lot and hope to play it at an SCG 5K soon.

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Close. There's four Daze and twelve Islands. Also, there's one Force of Will in the board and only two Hydroblast.

And yes, Dismember is an absolute house in the mirror and all our bad matchups. The week before, I beat Junk, Team Italia, and Affinity because of Dismember. Last time I checked, those are among our worst matchups. In fact, this list is 8-1-0 in matches not including IDs or videogamer99 scooping someone in since I added Dismember. If you're not running Dismember in the main, you're doing it wrong.

Hi everyone! I'm trying to tune my Merfolk list for a legacy tournament next week. I know my meta is really heavy GY based (Mostly dredge and a few UB Reanimator) and Stoneforge based decks, with one or two NO Elves and Painted Stone (Ironically I didn't see any Merfolk...). This is what I have right now.

4 Wasteland
4 Mutavault
12 Island

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

4 Force of Will
3 Daze
4 Mental Misstep
2 Dismember

4 AEther Vial


SB: 2 Dismember
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 2 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
SB: 2 Energy Flux
SB: 2 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Sower of Temptation
SB: 2 Umezawa's Jitte

Any idea on what I should do? I was thinking of cutting the two sovereigns and moving a third dismember and an extra island to the MD. As for the SB, any tips? I have a couple of concerns.

A) I didn't see Merfolk all tournament that I birded, but Llawan has some game against Progenitus. Should I cut it and shore up my other match ups or should I keep it on the off chance that I run into Merfolk?

B) Other SB cards I was considering were Propaganda, Pithing Needle, and Spell Pierce. Any thoughts as to how they help out in the meta I'm in? Needle especially seems to help against Stoneforge.

Thanks for everyone's help! I've been reading this thread and it's really helped me make my merfolk deck (rather, helped me decide on the flex spots).

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Originally Posted by Tacosnape

Game 2 I try to Force a turn 3 Plague, he Forces back, and due to lack of air conditioning I somehow don't think to sacrifice my Cursecatcher. Gah.

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I first just want to say that I really enjoyed reading your report. This quoted section above gave me a good chuckle.

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Originally Posted by Tacosnape

-Divert is earning strong sideboard consideration for me. Divert reflects STP. Divert reflects Hymn. Divert reflects Bolt. Divert makes Mental Misstep target Divert. It's seeming better the more matches I play.

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I had been toying around with Misdirection for this same purpose, when one of my friends who has more merfolk experience suggested Divert. I haven't tested it yet but it seems like it could really be worthwhile. I would wager 1 for 2ing people on removal/discard or 1 for 3ing on Hymn could prove to not only generate virtual card advantage, but also also in some instances just out rightly turn a game into a blowout.

I would also like to discuss the Stoneforge/Batterskull/SoFaI problem. You were exactly right in your post the SFM is everywhere right now. I honestly think that maindecking Dismembers and sideboarding pithing needles and or null rods are the way to go. Null Rods can really help shut down pesky equipment and also can help sure up affinity, painted stone, and mono artifact decks. Pithing Needles can do the same thing but are a bit more flexible. My testing has not be real intensive but that is what I have been working with at the moment.

RE Stoneforge Mystic: I wonder if Stifle's worth eyeing in sideboard now. The applications are numerous, and the card is good in several ways against Stoneforge, depending on when you have the island open:

1. You can Stifle the search for equipment trigger (Permanent fix, but bad if they have one in hand).
2. You can Stifle the Stoneforge's activation (Seems weak).
3. You can Stifle the living weapon trigger of Batterskull (Seems amazing).
4. You can Stifle any equip cost (Seems fair in a pinch if they're counting on it to stabilize.)
5. You can Stifle the triggered abilities for Jitte and/or Sword of X and Y.

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Originally Posted by SageShadows

Hi everyone! I'm trying to tune my Merfolk list for a legacy tournament next week. I know my meta is really heavy GY based (Mostly dredge and a few UB Reanimator) and Stoneforge based decks, with one or two NO Elves and Painted Stone (Ironically I didn't see any Merfolk...). This is what I have right now.

4 Wasteland
4 Mutavault
12 Island

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

4 Force of Will
3 Daze
4 Mental Misstep
2 Dismember

4 AEther Vial


SB: 2 Dismember
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 2 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
SB: 2 Energy Flux
SB: 2 Echoing Truth
SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 1 Sower of Temptation
SB: 2 Umezawa's Jitte

Any idea on what I should do? I was thinking of cutting the two sovereigns and moving a third dismember and an extra island to the MD. As for the SB, any tips? I have a couple of concerns.

A) I didn't see Merfolk all tournament that I birded, but Llawan has some game against Progenitus. Should I cut it and shore up my other match ups or should I keep it on the off chance that I run into Merfolk?

B) Other SB cards I was considering were Propaganda, Pithing Needle, and Spell Pierce. Any thoughts as to how they help out in the meta I'm in? Needle especially seems to help against Stoneforge.

Thanks for everyone's help! I've been reading this thread and it's really helped me make my merfolk deck (rather, helped me decide on the flex spots).

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Your maindeck list is identical to mine with a one card difference. Your Sower is my 13th Island. I can't recommend cutting the Sovereigns. You need a certain amount of Lords in there to win all your matchups where you just want to see nothing but land and dudes the whole time, which is quite a few of them.

A. If you aren't facing Merfolk, cut Llawan. Replace it with...

B. Spell Pierce. Oh my god Spell Pierce. It's absolutely amazing. It makes a lot of weird matchups like Enchantress and MUD and such a lot easier to deal with, and it makes your already decent matches a cakewalk. It's money against Hive Mind, it's money against TES/ANT, it's money against pretty much everything that has an alternate plan to turning dudes sideways to beat you.

Other things to note in your sideboard:

1. Consider cutting Relic of Progenitus for Surgical Extraction. Surgical improves a lot of random matchups, ranging from Hive Mind to Lands. Relic of Progenitus is a relatively weak card.

2. The fourth Daze is amazing every time you're going first post-board. I don't care what you're playing against. If you're going first, Daze is the best card in Legacy. To me, the fourth one warrants the spot in board.

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2. The fourth Daze is amazing every time you're going first post-board. I don't care what you're playing against. If you're going first, Daze is the best card in Legacy. To me, the fourth one warrants the spot in board.

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Is this really true? I am not sure I would agree, unless you said maybe if you drop vial then daze their play then wasteland etc. The key card is vial. But you are on the play go island go, you daze there play? That seems really bad, you would have no lands in play why they will have 2 the next turn. You lose the game.

Daze turn 2 is a little better, where you have 2 islands and can tap the mana or still play your 2 drops next turn when you replay your land.

Even then people are playing sower, leveling commander, more 3 drops. Going down a land drop is pretty bad unless you are countering a complete bomb, if played incorrectly you can tempo yourself out of the game.

Has anyone considered Phyrexian Metamorph main deck? Nice tool:
- Copies a lord or anything useful
- Kills opponents Emrakul or any nasty legendary stuff
- Answers to Llawan in mirrors
………

Thoughts ?

Has anyone considered Phyrexian Metamorph main deck? Nice tool:
- Copies a lord or anything useful
- Kills opponents Emrakul or any nasty legendary stuff
- Answers to Llawan in mirrors
………

Thoughts ?

@ Tacosnape

I know we once used to run 3-4 Stifles in this deck because of their widespread applications ranging from Fetchlands, to pesky creature and artifact triggers. I think that maybe some sideboard space for Stifles could be really useful at this juncture. It can help in numerous ways against the Stoneforge problem (you did a great job listing them and noting how good each would be). When complemented by Pithing Needle/Null Rod, and/or Dismember, it seems like we should have quite a few outs to take care of a Batterskull/SoFaI.

@ djeyjey

This has been discussed. Check back a page or two. The major problem would be what do you cut for the metamorph. Either you begin to lose threats and creature density (this would make the metamorph less valuable) or you start to cut parts of your permission package. I don't think either are particullarly great options. However the metamorph can be real useful so I am not sure what to tell you.

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Originally Posted by SlopeeJ

Is this really true? I am not sure I would agree, unless you said maybe if you drop vial then daze their play then wasteland etc. The key card is vial. But you are on the play go island go, you daze there play? That seems really bad, you would have no lands in play why they will have 2 the next turn. You lose the game.

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This analysis is why I think a lot more players don't steamroll opponents with Merfolk - Not knowing how to use the deck's counters. I think I'll write an article on it someday.

You don't Daze based on the time. You Daze based on what you see. Even with a Vial, I'm very hesitant to Daze turn one unless I see something that's going to cause me a huge problem if I let it hit. If I see a Grim Lavamancer? Sure, depending on my hand, I might Daze. If I see a Kird Ape? No way in hell do I Daze that.

Merfolk has to spend its counters right. Analyze every play you see and question whether or not you're still on the path to win if it resolves. Most turn one plays don't stop your plan of turning Lords sideways. Save your Daze until the absolute right moment. You'll get your chances to use it.

Let's take an example about spending counters. Let's say you're in a match. You win the die roll. You see an opening seven card hand of the following:

Island
Island
Cursecatcher
Lord of Atlantis
Lord of Atlantis
Merrow Reejerey
Daze

Which is keepable all day long on the play. Your opponent also keeps.

You lead, predictably, with Island, Cursecatcher.

Your opponent draws, plays a basic Swamp, and Thoughtseizes you. You don't know what he's playing. This gives you three options:

1. Let the Thoughtseize resolve.
2. Cursecatcher it.
3. Daze it.

I'd pick option one in this scenario. Here's why.

Using the Cursecatcher means he isn't going to lose 2 life and I'm not going to get to hit him for 2 after dropping Lord of Atlantis next turn. It means my next play is probably going to be Island, Lord, go, with him at 20.

Using the Daze means you're going to be a land drop behind. Your next turn will probably be to replay your land and swing for 1. He'll be at 19.

If you let the Thoughtseize resolve, however, you're probably either going to lose a Lord of Atlantis or a Daze. I'd be surprised if they picked the Reejerey. In either case, your next turn will result in you having two guys on the board and knocking your opponent to sixteen.

I guess what I'm saying is this: Know why you're countering something. Overspending your countermagic is the number one mistake blue players make. Merfolk is no exception. You have little room for error.

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Originally Posted by Sturtzilla

@ djeyjey

This has been discussed. Check back a page or two. The major problem would be what do you cut for the metamorph. Either you begin to lose threats and creature density (this would make the metamorph less valuable) or you start to cut parts of your permission package. I don't think either are particullarly great options. However the metamorph can be real useful so I am not sure what to tell you.

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It is a matter of preference, but what i like is a 16 lords / no standstill version… I actually intend to replace the Sovereigns (a bit useless apart from the lord effect) by the Metamorphs…*To be tested yet… Thx for answering!

The legend-killing ability probably isn't worth it on Metamorph to replace other Merfolk Lords. In exchange for this narrow but occasionally amazing ability, you get a guy who doesn't play nice with Aether Vial, hurts you in the damage race, doesn't play nice with Coralhelm Commander, and can't be Lord #1 if you don't have another one out there.

This said, the dude -does- copy Batterskull, making him an oddly nifty sideboard option, especially with a Vial at 4, where you can vial the guy in, copy Batterskull, and then bounce him to your hand and copy something else at will.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tacosnape

Your maindeck list is identical to mine with a one card difference. Your Sower is my 13th Island. I can't recommend cutting the Sovereigns. You need a certain amount of Lords in there to win all your matchups where you just want to see nothing but land and dudes the whole time, which is quite a few of them.

A. If you aren't facing Merfolk, cut Llawan. Replace it with...

B. Spell Pierce. Oh my god Spell Pierce. It's absolutely amazing. It makes a lot of weird matchups like Enchantress and MUD and such a lot easier to deal with, and it makes your already decent matches a cakewalk. It's money against Hive Mind, it's money against TES/ANT, it's money against pretty much everything that has an alternate plan to turning dudes sideways to beat you.

Other things to note in your sideboard:

1. Consider cutting Relic of Progenitus for Surgical Extraction. Surgical improves a lot of random matchups, ranging from Hive Mind to Lands. Relic of Progenitus is a relatively weak card.

2. The fourth Daze is amazing every time you're going first post-board. I don't care what you're playing against. If you're going first, Daze is the best card in Legacy. To me, the fourth one warrants the spot in board.

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Thanks for the advice. Has that 13th island been helping you, or do you think a miser Sower is better in the MD in my meta?
I might go for the Surgical Extraction route because I was blown out by a Null Rod during testing, but I don't have any copies right now. As for the sideboard, how does a change of -1 Sower, -2 Llawan, +1 Daze, +2 Spell Pierce sound? Viable enough?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by djeyjey

It is a matter of preference, but what i like is a 16 lords / no standstill version… I actually intend to replace the Sovereigns (a bit useless apart from the lord effect) by the Metamorphs…*To be tested yet… Thx for answering!

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I am by no means saying that it is wrong to try out. I am just stating that I am pretty happy with where my build is at and due to that, I don't want to cut test pieces for what I feel is mainly subpar. I guess I could maybe see boarding it and seeing where that goes. If it comes down to a matter of preference and you like them, keep playing them. I just think currently they are boardable but not up for being in my main. Tacosnape make a solid point that it both kills legenday creatures and can double as a form of Batterskull defense. Even considering these, unless your meta is nearly completely comprised of reanimator, sneak and show, and SFM then I would sideboard them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tacosnape

Take note of this, Merfolk players with an unnatural attachment to Submerge.

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I still firmly believe in Submerge, even though I play Dismember, Submerge can be such a back-breaking tempo play from your side that the opp simply can't catch up to you. Granted, it can only "kill" a creature if your opponent plays a shuffle effect, so this won't happen often, but even early in a game, having them draw the same Noble Hierarch can be worth it. Most of the time, I save my Submerges for those "oops, I win" situations, when you out of nowhere win the damage race by removing one of his blockers/threats.

My generic Merfolk sideboard would probably be:

3-4 Spell Pierce
3 Submerge
3 GY hate (Crypt, Extraction)
2 Jitte (unless they are present in the MB)
3 Metagame slots (extra Dismembers, Kira, REB, Sower etc. etc.)

hey guys..i was thinking of playing this list at scg cincinnati...what do you guys think

22 LANDS
14 Island
4 Wasteland
4 Mutavault

24 CREATURES
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
2 Sower of Temptation
2 kira great glass spinner

10 INSTANTS and SORCERIES
4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
2 Daze

4 OTHER SPELLS
4 Æther Vial

Sideboard
‎2 jitte,
3 llawan,
2 back to basics,
3 tormods crypts,
2 dismember,
3 spell pierce

i can expalin choices if you'd like..but i realy just wanted to know if you guys saw any weaknesses that stood out..i expect fish to be a huge percentage of the field..

Seems pretty normal. Your manabase matches your higher curve by going the Sower/Kira route over MD Dismember and the low Daze count fits in with how high you need to ramp.

3 Llawan seems excessive to me, though, Merfolk anticipation or not. There's so little else it helps against. I'd at least make it two and pick up a third Dismember.

Played a local tournament yesterday, 34 people attending (Munich). Went 5-1 overall.

13 Island
4 Mutavault
3 Wasteland

4 Silvergil Adept
4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Merrow Reejery
2 Kira, Great Glass Spinner
1 Sower of Temptation

4 Aether Vial
4 Mental Misstep
3 Force of Will
3 Daze
2 Dismember
1 Spell Pierce

SB:

3 Cursed Totem
3 Null Rod
3 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Spell Pierce
1 Force of Will
1 Umezawa's Jitte

Since it's a rather small tournament, it was easier to make predictions and create an appropiate sideboard. I expected Affinity, Painter, Elves and Dredge to be big. Therefor I included Cursed Totem for Elves and GW Maverick, the bane of Merfolk's existance. Null Rod was for Affinity, Painter and Storm. Needle for Painter, BUG Landstill and GW Maverick. Didn't expect a lot of aggro (was right) therefor just 1 Jitte. Spell Pierce and Force for Combo and "big-boom" matchups where the game usually revolves around them resolving a single key spell.

Some thoughts: CURSED TOTEM IS GREAT AT WHAT IT DOES! Of course you gotta side out your second best creature (Commander; Silvergil being #1) but that's easily worth it. This card shuts down like 75% of GWs creatures (Mother,QPM,KotR,SFM,Untap of Scryb Ranger etc.) and completly crushed Elves if you can resolve it asap. Going into a major tournament, Elves shouldn't of course be something to specificly address in the the sb (especially if yoou got Byes) but I think it's still prominent enough to warrant mentioning.
The only thing I really missed was 3 Mind Harness and a 2nd Sower in the sideboard but I had to squeeze in those Relics and really didn't want to cut from my pseudo-Stax suit.

Round 1: Captain America (not Team America! UWR Fish)
Game1: I have no idea what he's playing. Mountain, Lightning Bolt, then Plains, Swords to Plowshares...followed by Island->Cloud of Faeries and using SQUELCH to counter my vial activation on my turn. I just do what's best: playing dudes and attacking. He doesn't, therefor he dies.
I board Jitte and Force because I don't know what he's actually trying to do, so I'd rather play it safe and have an additonal Force. I board out Sower and one Daze.
Game2: This game was just dominated by Jitte. I'm at 11 life and could swing for lethal by removing all 4 counters from Jitte but I prefer to keep them in case I might need them. But his deck just dies to Jitte anyways...

1-0

Round 2: "Sneak Show" (silly name for a deck btw)
Game1: He goes Mountain -> SDT, which I misstep and he stalls on 1 land until turn 4. Can't beat Merfolk that way.

I already knew from the beginning he was playing this deck, and board accordingly:
+2 Spell Pierce +1 FoW +3 Needle -2 Dismember -4 Coralhelm. I favor Reejery over Coralhelm in this matchup because he's better with Show and Tell and enables sick Alpha strikes even against Emrakul

Game2: He goes for turn three SnT which I could Daze or Force but I just let it resolve. He's quite surprised. He's even more surprised when I reveal Sower. Interesting fact: Had I countered that SnT I might very likely have lost since he drew Sneak Attack on the next turn and had a protection spell ready.

2-0

Round 3: UB ANT
Game1: I keep a super fast hand with Vial, Lords, Adepts but only MMS and Wasteland as disruption. When facing lethal on turn4, he goes for it: some Cantrips, <lots of Cabal Rituals>, drops LED but doesn't have to crack it since Infernal Tutor is his last card anyways. He grabs IGG and plays it.

This is were things get fucked up. He looks up at me for some seconds, then goes through his graveyard mumbling something about having made a mistake, looks at me again for some seconds. I tell him I don't wanna respond and he tries to crack the LED claiming that he never passed priority. Since he's a guy I know I try to sort things out and ask him whether he knew he had to announce he wanted to keep priority after playing IGG. His answer was that he didn't know it and that he thinks he made a mistake there. He still insists on cracking that LED since "c'mon, you know I would have actually done that". I call a judge over and he rules in my favor after interviewing both of us.
This felt so bad. Actually, I've been opposing runnning our local tournaments on REL Competitive. On REL Competitive I try to take advantage of each and every mistake my opponent makes. This is usually ok but not appropiate for local tournaments. Therefor I really argue for REL Regular on small events. We hardlly ever gather more than 20-30 people for an event.

+2 Spell Pierce +1 FoW +2 Relic +3 Null Rod -2 Reejery -2 Dismember -4 Vial

Game 2: I keep 2 Cursecatchers, Spell Pierce, Adept and something. Made a big mistake on turn 4. I have 2 Island, 1 just played Mutavault along with 2 Cursecatcher and 1 Silvergil in play with LoA and Relic in hand. Spell Pierce is in the graveyard. Playing LoA (which I did) enables a kill on the next turn but I really think I should have just played Relic and had the mana to activate it coz I don't see him winning off Ad Nauseam anyway. On his turn he plays Brainstorm into everything proceeds to chain Rituals then goes Infernal for IGG and plays it. I return Spell Pierce + 2 sacrificed Cursecatchers. He returns Infernal, LED and Cabal Ritual. I am tapped out and can't play Spell Pierce. He has perfect information. I am dead. I know I am dead.

Enter Jedi Mind Trick.

He keeps doing math then sighs "I can't win." I immediately catch on and tell him that I know he can't win and he should just scoop already. That's what he does. Nice.

3-0

Round 4: G/W Maverick
Game 1: Bad Karma? I run into the worst matchup I could wish for. Being on the draw game1 I just can't win. I stall for some turns hoping for him to show me as many cards as possible. At least I get to know he's playing two Scryb Ranger.

+3 Cursed Totem +1 Jitte +2 Spell Pierce +1 Pithing Needle
Spell Pierce on the play to counter Green Sun's Zenith which is close to Time Walk early on.

Game 2: I drop Vial, then MMS his turn1 GSZ for 0. I develop my board quickly while he slowly manages to almost stabilize. In the end he was 1 landdrop away from turning the game around.

Game 3: I MMS his turn1 Mother of Runes, drop a Vial and Force his SFM on turn2. He's flooded with lands while I keep getting in for some damage. I still lose a lot of my creatures to StP and P2E. Once we both run out of cards he's at 8 life facing an Adept while I'm on 22 against his 6/6 KotR. Basically whoever topdecks something first will win the game. Too bad, there's just too little something in Merfolk. So I lose.

3-1

Round 5: Affinity
Game 1: He has no turn 1 play, then drops some Frogmites, an Enforcer and Thoughtcasts. Master of Etherium meets Force but Tezzeret resolves. I dismember his Enforcer and take down Tezzeret by attacking with 4 creatures (2/2 and 3/3) against his two Frogmites. He doesn't block. If he topdecks another Master, Cranial Plating or Ravager, I lose to his counter-attack. He doesn't topdeck, I win.

+3 Null Rod +1 Jitte +1 FoW +2 Spell Pierce +2 Needle -4 Mental Misstep -1 Sower -4 Vial
I sided out MMS since he doesn't play Signal Pest. Spell Pierce to mainly combat Tezzeret and Plating. I sided in FoW since all your creatures are usually better than Affinity's and you will usually just have to deal with 2 key spells they need to resolve.

Game 2:
Turn1: Land, 2x Ornithopter, Vault Skirge. I Wasteland him.
Turn2: Land, Vault Skirge. I Wasteland him.
Turn3: Land, Vault Skirge, I play an Island. He doesn't do anything on his turn, while I drop another Island and play Coralhelm Commander. He still just keeps attacking while I level Commander up to 3/3 flying, then drop Lord of Atlantis, followed by Null Rod. Affinity can't ever beat Nul Rod.

4-1

Round 5: GBu Aluren (/wo Recruiter)
Round 1: I'm quite confident about this matchups since it evolves a three color deck trying to resolve a 4 mana enchantment. But..I mulligan to FOUR and keep 2x Island, MMS and LoA. He plays Therapy on turn1 and I'm 99% sure he was going to name Lord, so I MMS it. I draw into Silvergil (drawing Lord) and another Lord. Not bad for a mulligan to four. When he's facing lethal next turn (he's at about 12) he drops Aluren. He actualy has to go down to 2 life (by paying for Harpy) before completing the combo. Close one.

+3 Cursed Totem +3 Pithing Needle +2 Spell Pierce +1 FoW +1 Jitte -4 Coralhelm Commander -4 Reejery -1 Vial -1 Sower
SBing should be pretty self-explanantory. The only thing I was afraid of was not having enough blue/Merfolk to support FoW/Adept.

Game 2: Turn 1 Vial, he drops Verdant Catacombs. I play Needle, he says "ok" so I name Verdant Catacombs. Next turn I resolve Cursed Totem and he's in a world of hurt since basicly his only out at this point is a single Chain of Vapor. Aside from swarming me with little creatures. Not.gonna.happen.

Game 3: He does some SBing so I prepare to see 2-3 Krosan Grips. In fact he boarded Seeds of Innocence. I don't remember a lot about this game except for chaining FOUR Adepts while being protected by turn1 Needle on Cavern Harpy. Doesn't really matter since all he does is trading Intuitions for Dazes while also being hit by Wasteland. Oh, Cursed Totem and Jitte show up as well, just annihilating his deck.

5-1

In the end I take only 3rd place due to TieBreakers. Dredge won the tournament at 5-0-1....

Props:
- Cursed Totem: strong sb choice. My SB was generally awesome.
- Mutavault, actually. Never run less than 4. It's just huge.
- Coralhelm Commander and Silvergil Adept -> MVP creatures
- 20 Lands. I know Bryant even tried 19 which might be quite on the low end but 20 seems really fine for now.

Slops:
- not facing Dredge
- Cutting Mind Harness. This card just turns around games.
- REL Competitive and small, local events

Worth mentioning: I only cast Dismember 2 times throughout the tournament and it was always way worth the 4 life (killing Myr Enforcer and KotR). Will stay in the main while trying a 3rd in the board soon. Although I really <3'ed my sb this tournament, I'd definitely recommend a more general approach for bigger events.

gl&hf

Recently I was thinking about trying to create a solid list of Folks with Phyrexian Dreadnought and Vision Charm to strengthen the horrible SFM-Hype which is going on for quite some time.
Vision Charm is able to "counter" opposing Mirage Tutors, with a good read important Top-activations, and can buy time by phasing out Swords/Skulls.
Its just a rough idea but it might be well placed atm.
Well, too bad that Merfolks isnt well known for its deckspace that can be filled with 2 card combos (and maybe even Cantrips/Standstill).

Funny how it can also enable Islandwalk against non-blue decks. But I guess that's just the "danger of cool things".

Hello!

I'm still testing a Uw version of Merfolk and I will attend the first tournament with this deck next Saturday, here's where my list is right now;

4 Wasteland
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
3 Tundra
3 Mutavault
4 Island

4 Aether Vial

4 Silvergill Adept
3 Cursecatcher
2 Sejiri Merfolk
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Merrow Reejerey

4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
3 Daze
3 Swords to Plowshares

Sideboard

1 Enlightened Tutor
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Energy Flux
2 Pithing Needle
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Divert
2 Dismember
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Llawan, Cephalid Empress

Some explanations; It feels like with the exception of a couple of BUG, MUC and Affinity decks, every deck in my meta runs either SFM/Batteskull or Progenitus or both, this is why I want to play a Phyrexian Metamorph MD. Sejiri Merfolk is just a card like, I don't know if Kira or something else would be better in that spot.
There's not that many Merfolk decks here right now, thus the single Llwan in my SB. I might be just stubborn when I want to splash white in this deck but I still feel that StoP, Seijiri and E Tutor is worth the splash. I also want to have more options for a sudden change in the meta without changing the core of my deck. Here's some questions;

1) Please suggest/comment on anything that might be horribly wrong or would make my deck stronger without removing the splash.

2) Cursed Totem seems like a card that could fit nicely in my meta, has anybody else (except Julian23) tested it?

3) Has anybody thought of/tried to play Stoneforge in a Merfolk deck? I'm thinking of trying -2x Seijiri, -1x Metamorph, -1x Cursecatcher for 2x SFM, 1x Jitte and 1x Batterskull. This would also give me the option to play a couple of swords in my sideboard. Does this seem like a crazy idea or something worth trying (it does cut the number of Merfolk and counterspells even more)?

I'm very grateful for every reply I get from all you experienced Merfolk pilots out there.