So I just played Merfolk to a T8 finish this past weekend at SCG ATL
I went 7-0-2 in the swiss, so I figured I would share my thoughts on card selection, give a quick tournament report, and provide some suggestions for what I would change.
decklist:
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=59103
main deck:
1. my biggest problem with merfolk before was that the list had about 4 free slots that usually ended up as pre-sideboarded slots (jitte, kira, spell pierce, dismember). instead I decided to just run 3 gitaxian probes so you can draw your deck a little faster, are never stuck with dead cards, and get some free information. the 4th slot went to echoing truth which is versatile enough to be in the maindeck.
2. coralhelm commander is now unplayable thanks to abrupt decay. it is a six mana investment that dies way too easily now.
3. phantasmal image is significantly better now with the new legend rules
4. I would consider running 3 FoW main and one in the side if you don't expect a heavy combo meta
5. 1 cavern of souls is like aether vial #5 in some matchups, and was decent for me all day long allowing me to cast my lords without asking for permission. Only one cavern so as not to be vulnerable to wasteland and not make my dazes too much worse.
6. standstill was great for me all day, allowing me to regain some card advantage against the grindier decks, and keep up pressure while digging for FoW against combo. play it early and play it often.
sideboard:
in the games I won I hardly drew any of my sideboard cards so I can't say much other than
1. I wouldn't leave home without at least 3x graveyard hate
2. kira came out in one game vs RUG delver and was pretty good
3. tidebinder mage does not come in vs RUG since it only hits goyf. Submerge would be better in that matchup, but I like tidebinder mage better against all the other deathrite decks which tend to be slightly worse matchups
changes to the sideboard
1. the tormod's crypts should be surgical extractions, since except for manaless dredge, relic would be strictly better, and surgical is a more versatile card vs storm, intuition, loam, punishing fire.
2. the pithing needle is intended for combo pieces like griselbrand, belcher, sneak attack, and grindstone, but in most of these cases spell pierce is almost as good, and has more versatile applications. I can see arguments for going with chalice of the void or flusterstorm as well.
Please let me know what you think
the tournament
Round 1 vs Jund Win 2-0
in game two he played choke, and I played back to basics. I ended up drawing lands and aether vial, while he ran out of deathrite shaman fodder
Round 2 vs golbins Win 2-1
game one he got a siege gang commander into play off of a turn one lackey and I scooped
game two I kept vial + 4x lords and smashed away with a pile of 5/5s
game three I attacked for lethal but he vialed in Krenko hoping to block forever with the tokens, fortunately I had echoing truth
Round 3 vs sneak and show Win 2-0
In game one I vialed in cursecatcher to counter his first show and tell and phantasmal image to copy the emrakul off of the 2nd show and tell
Round 4 vs loam pox Win 2-0
In game two I played a standstill with a mutavault and he responds with mishra's factory. several manlands and wastelands later, he cracks the standstill and I proceed to drop 5 fish into play over the course of two turns with the help of reejerey and still have mana for FoW and to pay for tabernacle of pendrell vale
Round 5 vs Grixis delver Win 2-0
he has islands nuff said. despite having more disruption than RUG their threats are smaller so the matchup is easier I think
Round 6 vs RUG delver Win 2-1
Game 1: he keeps a double probe + wasteland hand and fails to find a 2nd land for a few turns. by the time he does it is too late though I did mess up by wasting his only island then attacking into a goyf with my team.
Game 2: I keep a one island hand and fail to find a second one until it is too land and die to two flipped delvers with 2 kiras in hand.
Game 3: I play lords he runs out of removal, and I swim past for the win. he tries to wasteland his only island but it's not enough
Round 7 vs RUG delver Win 2-1
in game 3 he wipes my board with rough//tumble + forked bolt but I rebuild with kira + mutavault + lord and manage to win
Top 8 vs Omnitell Loss 1-2
Game 1: I keep a slow hand with FoW. I play two lords then a standstill, to which he responds with intuition which I force. He goes for the win next turn and I fail to draw anything off of the standstill
Game 2: I mulligan to 5 and keep a no lander with 2 probes. I am rewarded with a land on turn 2 and 3 while he fails to find the combo pieces in time
Game 3: I keep a hand with FoW and standstill. on turn two I play an adept. on turn 3 I draw a mutavault and decide that I can play standstill now and attack for 2. the next turn he passes and I attack for 4. At the end of the turn he goes for intuition. I draw a 2nd FoW off the standstill and counter the intuition. He untaps and goes for the win with pact of negation backup for my FoW. I did put a phantasmal image in off of the show and tell to copy the adept hoping to draw into a counter for enter the infinite
After thinking about it I came up with a few different choices I could've made
1. if he is tutoring for a combo piece then it is probably correct to fight over the intuition, since he cannot use pact of negation. If he uses FoW then he is has to have a spare blue card to pitch and probably cannot defend himself from the 2nd FoW.
2. if he is tutoring for permission it is probably correct to let is resolve. He is only running 3x pact of negations main deck which means either he doesn't have a pact in hand or I can give him a FoW off of the intuition, forcing him to have an additional blue card in order to beat my double FoW hand. In addition to the combo pieces this requires him to have a specific 6 card hand (he only had 6 cards in hand), and given that he hadn't yet missed a land drop this is unlikely
3. alternatively I don't play the standstill and instead play a lord. I end up being able to reduce the clock by one turn. If he decides to go for it on the next turn I can put the standstill into play off of the show and tell and still draw the 2nd FoW to counter enter the infinite except he still wins because he can cast intuition for free in response. If he waits he will probably cast intuition in response to the standstill on the next turn, and we have the choice between 1 & 2 again
What do you think is the correct decision in general?
