[Deck] Merfolk

Hi Nameless, a good set of intelligent questions!

I've been playing 'Folks for a while, and lately I prefer the /G splash for Tarmo in order to better handle Zoo. However, I understand the desire to keep playing UU version and I support that.

So, is Coralhelm worth playing over Sovereign? Yes, definitely. Why? Because he gives you a way to break parity and fly over the ground-pounders (i.e. goyfs). One of the most vexing problems for Merfolk is that it has never had reach or 'inevitability' against decks not playing islands. Coralhelm Commander isn't perfect, but he can give you that reach to 'get there' when the board is clogged up with dudes. In my book, this is an invaluable ability in a deck that has never really had a good flyer before.

Wakethrasher? Not going to get there anymore. I love him more than most but he doesn't fill the holes that this deck has. Sovereign and Coralhelm easily outclass him.

Now on to your sideboard.

No, SoFI is no decent replacement for Jitte. Yes, it is worth buying another... Immediately. So buy one more, and then move them to the Main, especially if you are concerned about Zoo and Gobbos. Everybody likes to play this deck a little differently, so I won't insult you by telling you what to cut. Just do some testing, and it will come to you.

Now you have more slots in your SB. Propaganda can stay - but IMO it's better in the mirror than it will ever be against Gobs or Zoo. They will just REB it and carry on their merry way. But if you put Jittes main, you can rest assured that you already did one of the best possible things to improve these matchups.

Echoing Truth? Meh.... Why don't you try Submerge? I know it doesn't fill the same role but I really wouldn't play E. Truth for the reasons you are advancing. Submerge is so much better in most M/U's you should actually WORRY about.

Stifle is worth adding if you are concerned about Combo, most of the other decks playing a lot of fetches we murder already, so don't play them for that reason.

I would consider what you can do against Reanimator, if you expect to face it at all. This is not a great M/U for us. LLawan "I hate blue" Cephalid Empress is great against Inkwells, one of the worst creatures you could see on turn 1/2. She also happens to be nuts in the mirror and against Progenitus. AND she works off Vial. Everyone can debate all day about "better" cards like Curfew or Gilded Drake - the truth is they are better, but also much more narrow and useless outside of that M/U. I would give Llawan a good hard look, given how many decks she can totally rape and pillage like nobody's business.

That's my 2 cents... take what you like, ditch the rest, and do some serious testing. Good luck!

@Lord_Cyrus:
1. While the ability to fly over a clogged field is nice, don't forget that the Sovereign gives you the same basic setup with his unblockability ability, which I've used quite a few times to punch those last few bits of damage through a creature wall. And the Sovereign can also play combat trick with Vial, Coralhelm cannot. Coralhelm's probably stronger on his own, but if you're facing a large number of creatures and you just have one creature on the field, there's a decent chance you're dead anyway. They both have useful abilities, which is why I've been happy with an even split.

2. I admit I don't know the reanimator matchup all that well, but it seems like if they were going to go for something quick and nasty, wouldn't Blazing Archon be what they go for? It's not like we have that much removal, and Archon stops our clock, so even if we do get rid of it Reanimator's probably had quite a few turns to find something else nasty. And Llawan doesn't really do all that much against Archon.

@ Q 221

1: You are quite correct there. What I should have said is; "Coralhelm is definitely worth including over Sovereign alone", remembering that he is currently running 4 Sovereign. There are good points to running a split of both as you do, especially in a UU build. 2/2 seems like a great place to start.

2: Again, looking at his build, he has maindeck bounce. So do many other UU builds. Blazing Archon is nasty, but much more vulnerable. Reanimator almost can't afford to hold counters to protect him against us, and even if they do, we have just as many to fight back. There are a number of reasons why a smart player might not immediately go for Archon.
Also, my main argument for Llawan is the enormous splash damage she generates against the format as a whole, not just reanimator. Certainly, one should also run additional hate. I have nothing bad to say about the fact that he included 3x Relic in his SB. If you are especially paranoid, you might want to run a mix of 2x Relic, 1x Crypt to have a chance to dodge P. Needles. All of this somewhat depends on how prevalent Reanimator is in your meta. In mine, it is a force to be feared, with solid lists piloted by some of the best Legacy players in the area. Personally, I have given serious thought to Gilded Drakes, but they are not correct for every player. This is why I hesitate to push them.

If you want to hate out reanimator, start with faerie macabre. Its seriously amazing in the matchup, and holds its own against the rest to the GY decks too

I wouldn't worry too much about Reanimator; Merfolk is one of its worst mu's. Turn 1 Cursecatcher & free counters slow them down, then you just island walk all day.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by five

I wouldn't worry too much about Reanimator; Merfolk is one of its worst mu's. Turn 1 Cursecatcher & free counters slow them down, then you just island walk all day.

---

Unless they run maindeck Blazing Archon, at which point you hope to draw into an Echoing Truth or whatever your removal of choice is. If your deck doesn't have this type of card though it can be tough, and if they get a good hand (a protected exhume into Inkwell) they can race you.

Well, I guess a leveled up Coralhelm Commander w/ a couple other lords (or Jitte) could stop Archon lol. A protected exhume into Inkwell beats any deck though.

How is seal of removal better than waterfront bouncer ?

Yep, and I would add and than Echoing Truth?

@MAV

Go back a couple of pages for Seal of Removals strengths. Taco has explained twice in the last month.

Quote:

---

3. Seal versus Snap:
-Seal of Removal's a 1-drop that curves well.
-Seal of Removal can deal with Iona, Shield of Emeria if dropped early, and Emrakul, The Aeons Torn (You -will- see this guy in Legacy. He won't break it, but he'll be around.)
-Seal of Removal, once it's down, doesn't require you keep mana open. Not keeping mana open is huge in Merfolk. This makes Seal stronger against any deck packing Aether Vial or Manlands.
-Snap is harder to defend with Daze (Or rather, you get less benefit from it), and occasionally walks into Spell Snare or Counterbalance. Seal of Removal gets down quickly in a pinch.
-Snap can't deal with a turn one Goblin Lackey.
-Snap is worse at saving your own guys against control decks (Anything with less creatures and a better long game than you) where you're likely to be tapping out at all times for aggression.

EDIT: I've also been thinking about nixing BEB in the sideboard. But I need a slot that improves both my Zoo and Goblins matchups, and I can't think of much else that does this short of Jitte. Suggestions?

---

Sorry but it does not answer my question. Except the Goblin Lackey part, I see not much a reason to prefer seal to Bouncer. And even stronger when you consider a SB tech made of Gilded Drake.

I'm not necessarily advocating either card, but there are cases where Seal is better than Bouncer. Waterfront Bounce costs 1 more, doesn't have haste, costs mana for activation, is conditional upon having a card in hand, and he's much more subject to removal. In cases where such things matter (if you find yourself in that position often), Seal could easily be better. Obviously, there are also cases where Bouncer is better than Seal. In the short term, Bouncer isn't as strong a tempo card as Seal.




peace,
4eak

I agree that bouncer isn't much of a tempo card, but he makes every draw a potential bounce card. You can't disregard that. I still prefer echoing truth over either, because it deals with so many problem tokens (e.g. - ETW).

P.S. - So sad to see stifle go. :(

By the way..is it so terrible to not play jitte?

(I'm new and don't yet know how to post my deck list with tags)

If you are playing Waterfront Bouncer or ET. Which one is better? Bouncer's new creature type is merfolk spellshaper so it has synercy with the lords. I've played 2 Sower of Temptation in my SB and last turnament those where great against reanimator when I vialed them play. But because bouncer is merfolk, so is it better play bouncer or Sower? Both are easy to remove. I think Sower is better in mirror. What do you think????

ET is more powerful against combo, but bouncer is more aggro/more consistent and also slower. Depends on your meta, but I prefer ET as it is more versatile (can hit non creatures).

As for sower...I side in so much grave hate that reanimator is never a problem. Faerie Macabre should do the trick.

Quote:

---

By the way..is it so terrible to not play jitte?

---

I don't know if it is terrible not to run it, but I find it very useful. I think Jitte is our swiss army knife. I used to run it main, but now with 16 lords, I run it in the side. The fact that turn 3 is the earliest you can use Jitte as removal is a huge strike against it, as the decks where we need removal the most actually need turn 1 removal spells.



peace,
4eak

I understand your arguments 4eak. It just seems not good enough. Let me advocate for bouncer over Seal (not ET, because the functionality switch is too big):
1/ it can be vialed = more difficult to counter.
2/ it's a merfolk = it beats down hard if you have lords.
3/ it deals with jitte (bounce every turn the equipped creature) even with SoFI if the opponent has less than 4 manas available or only 1 creature.
4/ it deals with Iona through vial although Seal has to be played before = the opponent will prefer to reanimate the Leviathan.
5/ it's a great combo with Gilded Drake (in SB only).
6/ stifle is semi useful against Bouncer.
7/ it's reusable, removing the opponent's creature each turn while you beat down with other folks.
8/ it's just insane with standstill.
9/ it cycles cards/combat tricks with Silvergil Adept.

The only big cons I can see is that it can't deal with Lavamancer.

Still haven't left UW Merfolk. I finished 3/4th (split since I didn't want to stick around to play for third prize) out of 20 yesterday, beating Bant Survival twice (once in the swiss and in the quarterfinals), storm combo and reanimator, lost against goblins (in the semi) and a version of tempothresh without Mongoose but with Jace 2.0, Crucible etc.

So in total, 4-1-2, and the second straigh top 8 with the list. Here's what I run:

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

4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Merrow Reejerey
3 Sejiri Merfolk
2 Merfolk Sovereign

3 Swords to Plowshares
4 Daze
4 Standstill
4 Force of Will
4 Aether Vial

The sideboard for this tournament was:
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Swords to Plowshares
4 Spell Pierce
1 Threads of Disloyalty
3 Submerge
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Relic of Progenitus

Sejiri Merfolk is pretty great, I like how he focuses the curve around the 2s and I like how the lifegain is relevant even in non-aggro matchups. The white splash is also relevant in more matchups than Zoo and Goblins, in the quarterfinals I played through and won against Umezawa's Jitte, Llawan and Iona, something I imagine would have been a lot harded without the added removal of Swords to Plowshares.

The problem that keeps coming up with bouncer is the lack of haste. What if you need to bounce someone NOW to alpha strike?

Other than the fact that he is subject to removal I LOVE him. I still prefer ET over either.