[Deck] Merfolk

[Marke]

I think 2 image, 3 rejeerey is the optimal list. 3 rejeerey will not clog your opening hand and you can cast the rejeerey so you don't have to click the vial to 3

With 2 images, it gives you 3 flex slots.

why not just keep the 4 images but play just 2 coralhelm commanders instead. 4 loa, 4 master of the pearl trident and 4 coralhelm commanders leads to problems with blue mana sources more often. If you cut some commanders (which you don't want to draw 2 of anyway) you can maintain the 4 wasteland, 4 mutavault. Image only got better with more 2 drops being a good target to copy so i don't see a reason to lower their amount.

[Angels]

Here's the list I would run when M13 is out.

13 Island
3 Mutavault
4 Wasteland

4 Cursecatcher
4 LoA
4 MPT
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Sivergil Adept
3 Merrow Reejerey
2 Phantasmal Image
1 Kira, Great Glass Spinner

2 Dismember (I would run Spell Pierce if I had 3 slots for it)
4 Force of Will
3 Daze

4 Aether Vial
1 Umezawa's Jitte

SB:
2 Surgical Extraction
4 Submerge
2 Gilded Drake
3 Spell Pierce
1 Hydroblast
1 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
2 Pithing Needle

[Lord_Mcdonalds]

Putting this deck together

Creatures:
Lord of Atlantis x4
Master of the Pearl Trident x4
Cursecatcher x4
Silvergil Adept x4
Corralhelm Commander x4
Kira x1
Merrow Reejery (cannot spell this things name)x???
Phantasmal Image x???


Spells:
Daze x4
Force of Will x4
??? x3

Lands:
Wasteland x4
Mutavault x4
Island x10

Coralhelm, LoA, Master, Cursecatcher, and Silvergil seem like auto includes, for reasons that have been stated to death, there is one question I have regarding reejery, does he trigger off vial, I've gotten different answers regarding that (one says it doesn't because it's vial, not you, putting it into play..which seems suspect to be honest)?
Looking for something besides stiffle to use (I put it in because..why not) and all it's done really is pitch to force of will. Thinking spell pierce as I see a lot of stax/mud, Bug control, rug and hive mind are there depending on the week a well.

[Sansian]

No, rejeery does not trigger off of vial activations, but the explanation you were given is almost as wrong as one can be while still being correct. Reej's oracle states that it triggers when you *cast* a spell. Aether Vial *puts a creature into play.* The creature is never cast, so Reejery doesn't trigger.

I hope that helps.

[Ertai87]

I love reading salvation. Its a joke every time someone posts. Check this one out.

"The Reejereys should be cut. They're a 3CMC lord and their ability, though theoretically extremely useful, is gimmicky in practice and (though not rarely) uncommonly relevant. I feel people keep them in since they're "smart" or "an interesting mode of interacting" when really they're an overcosted Lord that's taking up somehwere between 3 and 4 slots in lists that would be better off running them as some form of removal, and that's not even optimal."

RAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!!!!!!!!! SEA-HULK SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!!!

No, seriously, I've actually never heard something so ridiculous in my life. I may have actually become worse at Magic by reading that.

Yeah, I'm new to the thread, but I posted a bit on Sally. Amongst other things, I Day 2'd GP Providence with Merfolk (and then subsequently scrubbed out, finishing at 10-5 overall after 3 byes, which I won in a GPT, also with Merfolk).

Anyway, one of the reasons why you don't cut Reejerey is because some decks do not play Islands. Those decks incidentally beat the living crap out of Merfolk. One of the ways we deal with those decks is by tapping them down with Reejerey triggers (that is, of course, not the only thing we need to do, but without Reejerey we're often just dead, while with Reejerey we can sometimes play out of it).

An additional benefit to Reejerey is that it allows Merfolk to randomly become the "combo" deck on the aggro-control spectrum. For those not versed in the finer details, here's a basic example:

Hand: Reejerey x2, Cursecatcher, Coralhelm Commander

Board: Aether Vial (3), Island x3, maybe other (irrelevant) stuff.

1) Tap Vial for Reejerey.
2) Tap Island for Cursecatcher.
3) Untap Vial with Reejerey.
4) Tap Vial for Reejerey #2
5) Tap 2 Islands for Commander.
6) Untap 2 Islands with Reejerey.
7) Pay UU to level up Coralhelm twice.

You've just gone from an empty board to a board with 3 3/3s and a 5/5 flier, threatening 18 damage the following turn (when you levelup Coralhelm to 4 and make an even huger board). Add a Lord of Atlantis in there somewhere and an Island on your opponent's board, and that's gg.

There are, of course, multiple ways to "combo out" like this; this is just one simple example.

So, in summary, DO NOT CUT REEJEREY. 4 is the correct number. Always has been, always will be.

In case anyone cares, my current Fish list is Adam Barnello's list from his recent article, located here: http://www.channelfireball.com/home/...s-core-values/, except I've cut 2 Phantasmal Images for the last 2 Reejereys. My sideboard isn't fully tested yet (so play it at your own risk; I'm not going to claim it's ready, or even good), but I'm currently running:

2x Jitte
2x Back to Basics
1x Gilded Drake
2x Sower of Temptation
3x Relic of Progenitus
3x Submerge
2x Kira, Great Glass-Spinner

[slaydo]

Hi there,

I have been testing the following list to great success against RUG. I really like it. Any1 care to give me some feedback on it?

4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 LoA
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
2 Merrow Reejery
2 Coralhelm Commander

4 Fow
4 Daze
4 Spell Pierce
4 vial
3 Standstill

4 wasteland
4 mutavault
2 cavern of souls
11 island

sb isn't final however I like the following 15.
3 Submerge
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Echoing Truth
1 Wipeaway
2 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Dismember

Comments? I'm prepping for a post R3 meta on a GP. I managed to win a GPT before every1 reacted to Sneaky Show :)

[Einherjer]

Manabase: I believe the following to be optimal:
14 Island
4 Wasteland
2 Mutavault

We need about 14 blue sources, you play 13, might be okay but I think 14 is optimal. In addition to this, I'd never play Cavern of Souls simply because you cannot cast a Daze from it, which is a big downside if you ask me.

@Standstill: While it may not be optimal it looks good with the Spell Pierces you got there, making it 12 counters you can effectivly draw off a Standstill. Is this enough? I am not sure, but I'd prefer playing more creatures, you play 20 creatures, which definitely is a little low.

Oh wait... I just realised... you do not play any Aether Vials? Please explain this move to us. Is it because you lowered the creature-count and are playing more of a ControlAggro Merfolk?

Greetings

[Iron Buddha]

2 Mutavault looks like a big mistake to me. I would never run less than 4.

I also think that a few Cavern of Souls belong, maybe not the full playset; they're not even competing for slots with the off-color lands, as they produce colored mana, quite amazing if you ask me.

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

At everyone advocating Cavern of Souls...

I'm not saying it's necessarily wrong to use Cavern, but since when has this deck really cared about getting its creatures counterspelled?

[slaydo]

Manabase: I believe the following to be optimal:
14 Island
4 Wasteland
2 Mutavault

We need about 14 blue sources, you play 13, might be okay but I think 14 is optimal. In addition to this, I'd never play Cavern of Souls simply because you cannot cast a Daze from it, which is a big downside if you ask me.

@Standstill: While it may not be optimal it looks good with the Spell Pierces you got there, making it 12 counters you can effectivly draw off a Standstill. Is this enough? I am not sure, but I'd prefer playing more creatures, you play 20 creatures, which definitely is a little low.

Oh wait... I just realised... you do not play any Aether Vials? Please explain this move to us. Is it because you lowered the creature-count and are playing more of a ControlAggro Merfolk?

Greetings

mistake here on my end with posting. ofc 4 vials are in :P

[Ertai87]

@Duke: Sometimes you don't have Vial, and mulliganning for Vial when your hand is otherwise serviceable is often incorrect, since we don't run any sort of card advantage/filtering to recover the card disadvantage. That said, there's an argument to be made about running Daze and Cavern in the same deck, so I'm not convinced either.

@All: Thought exercise: Can this deck be optimized to utilize Augur of Bolas over (or perhaps in conjunction with) Silvergill Adept? If so, what do you think would need to change? Note I'm not advocating making such a modification, I'm just wondering if anyone's thought about it.

[Einherjer]

Well, I do not think it can replace Adept at any time given. Adept draws us into more gas, most of the time, whereas Augur just draws us into Daze or Force which shouldn't be so important. Ill go with Adept all the time, and the rest of the deck should consist of Cursecatcher and Lords if you ask me. So def. no space.

Greetings

[Valtrix]

Auger seems pretty bad regardless, considering that the deck is probably running around 12 instants and sorceries, which is only 1/5 of the deck. This means that even if you see three cards there's a good chance you won't get what you want. I think you'd have to commit to too many instants and sorceries to make him worth it.

[Malakai]

Your manabase in your deck with 12 UU spells and no cantrips should be:
4 Wasteland
4 Mutavault
16 Island

You don't need Cavern of Souls because you aren't losing to counter-magic.

Coralhelm Commander, while often awkward, is way too good to cut.

4 Reejery. Yes, sometimes you'll wish it was something else. That's the point when you should remind yourself that you are playing merfolk--if you wanted options, you'd be playing a different deck.

Standstill, as always, is really good against your good matchups and poor against your bad ones.

You no longer need 4 Phantasmal Image.

If you play less than 4 Daze I will kill you with the power of my rage alone.

[SlopeeJ]

This isn't standard, you don't need 24 lands unless you are counting the mutavault as just creatures. 20-21 lands is right for the deck, but def needs more UU sources

Have you actually tested Cavern of Souls? Even if you draw vial, not waiting 2 turns to cast your silvergill is pretty good. I know some of you are merfolk gods and get vial every game but sometimes for me I don't draw it or it gets countered. All the control/rug decks are light on removal and heavy on counterspells, so yes you can lose to countermagic. Caverns blanks cards in their hand and it allows you to save your counterspells to stop their bombs instead of protecting the fish.

4 daze isn't necessarily right, daze is terrible on the draw and the format is faster with more 1/2 drops. Cool daze when they miracle your board for one mana or vs mana dorks. Daze is best when you are protecting your threats, not stopping theirs.. We have vial and caverns

[karaxu]

Why the fuss about the manabase? Aether Vial and 13-14 islands should suffice to cast those lords.

This may look greedy but 4 Wasteland and 4 Mutavault are really important to the deck.

[FANAttIC]

I had best results with:
13 Island
4 Muta
4 Waste
1 Factory

With four new uu creatures, Factory bites the dust for Island.
22 lands gives me less mulls, better Dazes, better game play if Vial is not in an opening hand and more aggresive Waste attack on first opportunity.
Cavern is a consideration but less lands are not (for me).
Each Cavern would make me cut Daze (1 Cavern + 3 Daze or 2+2 and so on; not increasing number of lands ofc).

[Hammunition]

@All: Thought exercise: Can this deck be optimized to utilize Augur of Bolas over (or perhaps in conjunction with) Silvergill Adept? If so, what do you think would need to change? Note I'm not advocating making such a modification, I'm just wondering if anyone's thought about it.

I'm trying it out with a red splash for Lightning Bolt and a Fire//Ice or two.

It's not terrible, but for it to consistently draw you a card, you need 20 spells, which is a lot. And doesn't leave room for the traditional configuration of creatures. I cut the Commanders to a two of because you have more spells, so you usually have other things to do with your mana.

Also since I needed spells, and was playing fetches, I threw in Brainstorm, but I'm not sure if I like it.. It has definitely helped me win a lot of games I wouldn't have due to drawing too many lands, but it doesn't really fit into the game plan before turn three or so. I think I'll try two or three since it is pretty bad early game.

For spells I have Force, Daze, Spell Pierce, Stifle, Bolt, and Brainstorm.

And note that this is with only two Augurs. If I was to go all in, then I would have to cut more even more Merfolk (with 4 Augur, that's only 15-16 other Merfolk), and then I feel it would just become a worse RUG deck, with it's creatures only being good if you have three or four of them in play.


That said, I do like Lightning Bolt quite a lot. Killing Mom and Stoneforge and giving a little more reach against combo (against control, I'd rather it be a creature most times).
Going to try it in a more traditional Merfolk list.

[Julian23]

I've been tossing around the idea of splashing for Lightning Bolt for 2 years, yet never really tried it out. Would love to see someone actually explore this in a tournament setting.

[CorpT]

This card will be around the 7-10 dollar range since many many people need to upgrade their merfolk deck in legacy.

Then there is the need for a merfolk deck in modern.

I think it will be closer to 10 dolllars than 7

Dungrove Elder is a rare from M12. It sees decent play in a much, much larger format. It is $3. You're crazy if you think this will be more than $5 a month after M13 is released.

Oh look, only 183 of them for sale for under $5 before the set is officially released.