[Deck] Merfolk

Yeah, Unified Will is terrible.

Under the radar, however, is Narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy
:1::u:
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
At the beginning of each upkeep, if enchanted creature is untapped, tap it.

Is this a potential anti-aggro sideboard card? It shuts down Tarmogoyf/Tombstalker/most midrange beaters, while being inefficient against things like Grim Lavamancer, Iona, and not particularly great against other tribal decks. But it's two mana, it's mono blue, and it essentially takes care of business.

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Originally Posted by pi4meterftw

... lol? Are you guys just trying to be politically correct, or do you not see that unified will is retarded? It's not like: oh, maybe it's good in some corner cases. It's always bad, because there's counterspell and mana leak, which haven't even made your lists.

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Yeah, I was just being retarded and sleep-deprived.

RE: Narcolepsy
Doesn't seem really good. There are already quite a few enchant creatures that just don't let them untap, and none of them see play...

Been testing against Zoo extensively (only Game 1 so far) - while Kira "helps" (ie, eats two removal), its still been an absolute beating. I assume our best bet is to assume the control role? All attempts to race have failed. Even then their removal eats my Lords while their creatures bash me into burn range, and thats all she wrote.

Anyways I'm looking for a decent SB plan to test games 2 & 3 - what are peoples thoughts on this:
+3 Relic, +3 Submerge, +3 Propaganda
-4 Force, -3 Standstill, -2 ET

Theory is that Force isn't that great since all their cards are either removal or cheap dudes. Propaganda stops them swarming, Relics to shrink Goyf/stop Lavamancer/eat a Pridemage, while ET swaps for Submerge. I'd save my Spell Snare (3 MD) for Jitte/Goyfs.

Opinions?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tacosnape

Yeah, Unified Will is terrible.

Under the radar, however, is Narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy
:1::u:
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
At the beginning of each upkeep, if enchanted creature is untapped, tap it.

Is this a potential anti-aggro sideboard card? It shuts down Tarmogoyf/Tombstalker/most midrange beaters, while being inefficient against things like Grim Lavamancer, Iona, and not particularly great against other tribal decks. But it's two mana, it's mono blue, and it essentially takes care of business.

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Pridemage can kill it, and when it does goyf gets +2/+2, or at the very least +1/+1. I think the way merfolk should try to deal with zoo is to not have their creatures be interdependent. (So run like vexing sphinx, fathom seer, etc.) Or perhaps to play things like mind harness and threads. The matchup seems pretty hopeless; you may just want to punt it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pi4meterftw

Pridemage can kill it, and when it does goyf gets +2/+2, or at the very least +1/+1. I think the way merfolk should try to deal with zoo is to not have their creatures be interdependent. (So run like vexing sphinx, fathom seer, etc.) Or perhaps to play things like mind harness and threads. The matchup seems pretty hopeless; you may just want to punt it.

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Jitte is the thing you need versus zoo or chain standstill. If you don't have it, you loose, if you do, you might win.
Siding out FOW is not a good idea IMO. Forcing their early drop is crucial, I wouldn't drop it.

You can still try the white splash for zoo.
Either run 3 swords main + 3 Sejiri main + 1 Sword SB + 3 Path SB
or try 3 Swords main + 3 stoneforge mystic.

It might still not be a good match up, but it should come close to even.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pi4meterftw

Pridemage can kill it, and when it does goyf gets +2/+2, or at the very least +1/+1. I think the way merfolk should try to deal with zoo is to not have their creatures be interdependent. (So run like vexing sphinx, fathom seer, etc.) Or perhaps to play things like mind harness and threads. The matchup seems pretty hopeless; you may just want to punt it.

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Vexing Sphinx? Seriously?

I don't know why all of a sudden Merfolk should start running the cards that weren't good enough to make it into NoGoyf... :rolleyes:

IMO, the best way to beat Goyf more consistently is to splash white, possibly sort of heavily. Yes, you will take somewhat of a hit in mana-base consistency-- this is just what happens when you add a splash to a mono-color deck...

Or, if your meta is just Zoo-infested, you should probably run a different deck. (I linked these because they're the things that thrash Zoo the most, just off the top of my head that is).

I believe Sphinx made it into the latest UW Tempo builds. It is interesting as the 4 toughness makes it that much harder for Zoo to remove, blocks+kills all their guys bar Goyf etc.

At this point I'm desperate so I might give it a go. Still wouldn't mind some feedback on how Propaganda goes, and how valuable people think FoW is against a deck full of Kird Apes and Lightning Bolts.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pi4meterftw

(So run like vexing sphinx, fathom seer, etc.) Or perhaps to play things like mind harness and threads. The matchup seems pretty hopeless; you may just want to punt it.

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Wait, merfolk should use the same creatures that UW Tempo runs to beat a deck that UW tempo doesn't? Strong logic sir.

My attempts at beating zoo are: Use stifle and wasteland, and hope they kept a mana light hand and get screwed. This usually wins 1 of 3 games. That or get ridiculous lord drops and possibly chain standstills.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tacosnape

Yeah, Unified Will is terrible.

Under the radar, however, is Narcolepsy.

Narcolepsy
:1::u:
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant Creature
At the beginning of each upkeep, if enchanted creature is untapped, tap it.

Is this a potential anti-aggro sideboard card? It shuts down Tarmogoyf/Tombstalker/most midrange beaters, while being inefficient against things like Grim Lavamancer, Iona, and not particularly great against other tribal decks. But it's two mana, it's mono blue, and it essentially takes care of business.

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Curse of Chains

seriously wtf?? Take out FOW ???? How is seriji Merfolk any good vs zoo??? You guys seriously just need to play magic vs these matchups instead of posting random jank cards. narcolepy?? curse of chains... All are very bad including relic which is okay at best. You lose to their 1 drops and burn, not just goyf. Its best to run answers and you def need the counters to try to stop their burn

You can potentially side out 12 cards vs zoo, 4 standstill 4 daze and up to 4 cursecatcher. I play white splash so I bring in 4 submerge, 2 Jotun Grunt, 2-3 echoing truth, 1 mind harness while taking out the standstills and cursecatchers. Losing a land vs zoo isn't really good either.

My plan vs zoo is to try to swords there cats while tapping out to play fish. Hopefully having a daze/force to save a lord. Using submerge for free is awesome. grunt is awesome vs zoo

I think you don't give Sejiri enough credit.

First strike and lifelink really hurts zoo, it's yust a great aggro card.

Also, against Zoo and Gobs, Absolute Law kicks ass.

Pair Law with the sejirri and it gets even better.

explain to me how a 2/1 first strike with lifelink really hurts zoo? esp if you are not maxed out on lords. I have tested absolute law and it is okay at best. Can it work sometimes, yes it can but pridemage/grips are a bitch. Even with pro red the green creatures are bigger, I just don't think it works.

As mentioned an active jitte works while trying to play the tempo game.

What do you cut for cool cards like Sejirri Merfolk?

A sejiri with a single lord out kills lions/apes/cats/pridemages and gains you life.

my list looks like this ATM

4#Flooded Strand
1#Scalding Tarn
4#Tundra
3#Island
4#Mutavault
4#Wasteland
4#Cursecatcher
4#Silvergill Adept
3#Sejiri Merfolk
4#Lord of Atlantis
4#Merrow Reejerey
2#Merfolk Sovereign
4#Standstill
4#Æther Vial
4#Force of Will
4#Daze
3#Swords to Plowshares

// sideboard

4#Absolute Law
4#Spell Pierce
1#Swords to Plowshares
2#Path to Exile
2#Relic of Progenitus
2#Tormod’s Crypt

Just posted this in the RoE discussion thread:
New Merfolk Lord
UU
Level up 1
[Level 2-3] : Flying | 3/3
[Level 4+] : Flying, other Merfolk you control get +1/+1. | 4/4.
2/2

So he starts as a 2/2 for 2. Then becomes a 3/3 flyer for 2 more. Then becomes a 4/4 pumping monstrosity for 2 more. I think he warrants some testing, the only problem is what to take out?

Has anyone tried MD Propaganda(s) for the mono blue build.

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Originally Posted by pingveno

New Merfolk Lord

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Zoo will be happy to bolt hits one after you sink 2-4 mana in it.

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Originally Posted by eq.firemind

Zoo will be happy to bolt hits one after you sink 2-4 mana in it.

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There needs to be a point when a card that can actually win the game by itself outweighs the argument of 'it dies to removal' Of course there is the chance he dies to bolt after 4 mana is spent on him. There is also the chance you vial in a lord in response, or you waste their red source, or you force it, or they dont have a bolt, etc etc. Not to mention the fact that this guy laughs a Lavamancer. Seems good, at the very least worth Testing first.

I think part of being a good magic player is learning to evaluate cards and know what fits with the gameplan of the deck you are playing. I can't see a Merfolk that costs so much being played, like you said what can you cut for it... Nothing and flying seems irrelevant.

As far as the list with Sejiri that list is sub par. Swords is a 4 of and I would much rather have all the lords and a 4th swords maindeck or 2 jitte. Jitte is 100x's better and it even gives you life...... Not to mention removal, jitte wins games not Sejirir Merfolk. We are not playing standard. Of course a lord and Senjiri can kill a cat, but I hear zoo has a little bit of removal. That is the main reason why more Lords are better.

I also see that you are in the Netherlands so I would assume that you have 4 spell pierce because of tendrils. What turn does tendrils usually combo off on and in Merfolk are you not tapping out to caste creatures etc in the first 1-4 turn? Spell pierce isn't that great and +if you are really that worried about tendrils there are better cards such as mindbreak trap. Merfolk already has a descent matchup with 4 fow daze cursecatcher and the fast clock. SB needs some help, no bounce such as echoing truth and path doesn't play nice with daze/wasteland....

-3 Senjiri
+2 Jitte
+1 Swords

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Originally Posted by Tacosnape

Narcolepsy

Is this a potential anti-aggro sideboard card?

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Splashing white for Swords to Plowshares and/or Path to Exile is probably still a better way to go.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SlopeeJ

seriously wtf?? Take out FOW ???? How is seriji Merfolk any good vs zoo??? You guys seriously just need to play magic vs these matchups instead of posting random jank cards. narcolepy?? curse of chains... All are very bad including relic which is okay at best. You lose to their 1 drops and burn, not just goyf. Its best to run answers and you def need the counters to try to stop their burn

You can potentially side out 12 cards vs zoo, 4 standstill 4 daze and up to 4 cursecatcher. I play white splash so I bring in 4 submerge, 2 Jotun Grunt, 2-3 echoing truth, 1 mind harness while taking out the standstills and cursecatchers. Losing a land vs zoo isn't really good either.

My plan vs zoo is to try to swords there cats while tapping out to play fish. Hopefully having a daze/force to save a lord. Using submerge for free is awesome. grunt is awesome vs zoo

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Sejiri merfolk is good versus zoo if you are able to vial in a lord, or to attack for 3. The first strike is relevant if you have a wasteland or a lord and the much life is good enough to buy 1 turn. The problem with your white build is that you probally won't have enough creatures to fight zoo, -3 creatures because you don't play sejiri cost you games, especially if you side out creatures to enter Grunt. Jitte probally won't ever connect because zoo have a LOT of removal. That's why sejiri can be good versus zoo in a white shell.


I'm going to playest this week a version of UW 'folks with 1-2Jitte, 1 SoFIce and 3 stoneforge Mystic. I'll see how good it will be versus zoo with 3 swords to plowshares main, 4 sword effect side and 3 grunt in the side.
Submerge is probally worth testing as 3-4 of in the side, but I'm not sold on it yet for merfolks... It's often too narrow and doesn't help versus goblins and merfolks.