Well, it's not like we don't have Piracy Charm to deal with Lackey and Gator.
...
But seriously, this just makes it all the more important to be packing your Blasts in sideboard. If decks packing 8+ burn and Goblins are both so awful, it might be time to look at running 5-8 Blasts alongside Relic and wtfever else we actually want in board.
Goblins are going to be RETARDED pretty soon. I'm honestly contemplating picking up a new deck, since I expect a resurgence of our worst match-up, and I doubt if we'll get anything as sexy as Warren Instigator coming onto our team in this set.
Frankly, I'm about this close to switching over to Dredge or Death and Taxes or some shit.
Bless your heart, we must consider Blue/White Tempo's strategy and win percentages in an entirely different deck thread. -4eak
Well as far as anti-combo "tech" you can ease your fears. Everyone might be having a stiffy over it right now but I can tell you as a combo player, that thing worries me less than lightning bolt. Seriously it means that i now neew 1 piece of protection IF they sideboard it and IF they draw/mulligan to it. And comboing with protection against a deck with no disruption might as well be goldfishing. Id be more worried if the sided chalice.
As for merfolk, I could always go for more lords with cool abilities since Soverign is good but still lackluster. At worst, I can still just play standard folk lol
It may turn goblins into merfolk.dec... Seriously. They can significantly lower their curve with this guy and have a double striker that also drops more of their goblins. Matron and the new goblin captain become their staples. They'd probably drop warchief. They can run Kiki/SGC/... as one of's and grab/play them in a single turn.
I mean, seriously, could WotC just not stand seeing Goblins not be the #1 deck for a while?
Originally Posted by tsabo_tavoc
If ever there was a crowd for meaningless sensationalism, the Source would be it. Goblins players have no idea whether they can even run the new cards- guide is anti-synergistic with the waste/port mana denial package and instigator is still worse than lackey. After M10 made fanatic suboptimal, Goblins is still hurting and red really has nothing like the blue counterspell suite to make it play comparably to Merfolk. I very strongly doubt they'll be any more alike after Zendikar.
We also don't know if Merfolk may get something more exciting than the counterspell guy, who might even end up being better than everyone swears. I seem to remember widespread denouncement of Sovereign as unplayable- then he became an automatic 4-of for the most explosive build Merfolk has to offer. The logical thing to do would be to just wait and see, but that just sounds ridiculous after all this doom-and-gloom speak.
Great success!
just making sure, we roll over and die to elves dont we?
this saddens me as i hate having auto-lose matchups
Warning: Spoiler alert! Links go straight to the spoiled cards.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attac...1&d=1252037431
Pro:
1. Making more guys to beat down with makes the most out of Merfolk Sovereign (lords 9 through X) if you play it.
2. Improves Cursecatcher by making it replicate if you manage to counter with it.
3. Patron Wizard can get put into the deck for Vial tricks and extra Force Spiking power.
4. Force and Daze are that much better.
5. Sideboarded games versus red-based archetypes becomes shenanigans where it used to be harsh for the fish. Running a large complement of Blue Elemental Blast and Hydroblast along with this guy can form a wall of Merfolk and counters.
Con:
1. This would require an extra little batch of counters to justify its place in a deck that is already extremely tight, and Cursecatcher rarely counters anything significant.
2. Giving up some combination of beaters (Wake Thrasher) and utility (Cursecatcher, Swords to Plowshares if splashing white) in order to make a few duders seems like a big concession to make for a Merfolk of the Pearl Trident or two.
3. The 3-cost spot is jammed like an L.A. freeway. Yet another spell that comes after Standstill on the curve makes dropping Standstill take that much longer, giving the opponent the potential to do something backbreaking like playing two big guys or a Humility.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attac...4&d=1252038014
Oh, and this answers the, "Splash white just for Ethersworn Canonist in a combo-heavy meta?" query once and for all. While inferior compared to Ethersworn Canonist against Elves, this little doozy backed up by an additional counter against storm combo decks (that will now run Pact of Negation in the board) just wins.
I played a few proxy games with this card on Lackey as a sideboarded card in Ichorid. Against Painter (sporting the other Trap, the U for a double Unsummon), my opponent goes crazy one turn, playing Trinket Mage into Grindstone, then attempts to cast Painter's Servant with 3 mana left. Mindbreak Trap bought me a turn or two while he set up for the combo again. My point is, Mindbreak Trap does something really good for free. Even if it merely keeps a Wild Nacatl off the board, it only costs a card. And probably a couple bucks. The real application is in Vintage, but that's for TMD.
Last edited by pointofinfo; 09-05-2009 at 06:09 AM. Reason: Correcting an accidental deletion. Derp.
"Stifle your Standstill?"
Okay. Rapid truths for everybody.
1. Warren Instigator will get four slots in every Goblin deck within three months. It really IS the second coming of Jesus for Goblins. It will take awhile for Goblins to adjust their removal suite accordingly to maximize his efficiency, but it will happen. It's worse than Lackey, yes. Nobody cares. It's Lackey 5-8, and it's even more lethal when it connects. Gator is here to stay.
2. Lullmage Mentor is so terrible that termites will eat your magic cards if you run it.
This may not be too far off. I don't know about Propaganda here, but I'm not far off from running a Relic/Hibernation/Blast/Blast configuration. I'd miss Needle and Jitte, but it is what it is.
We don't roll over and die, but it's not great either. Jittes help, as does Hibernation.
We want to kill people who do that, just so you know.
This is like saying I'm boycotting buying expensive cars and eating sushi four nights a week. Poverty isn't a boycott.![]()
I know deep inside your heart you love me truly.
I actually intended to make it wrong 3 times in a row, but somehow just the first one get wrong.
Anyways, did you updated your list (the last one you posted was the one with 4 trashern md) or made any new experiences with your UB list, im pretty interested in this one.
Team Legal Actions.
Bless your heart, we must consider Blue/White Tempo's strategy and win percentages in an entirely different deck thread. -4eak
Do you have a link to the version with Jace in it? I think it's a possibility, but the idea is throwing me for too much of a loop to really imagine how it would play out...
Also, the fact of the matter is, our CC=3 slot is really crammed full as it is. I think Reejerey, Sovereign, and Thrasher all > Jace, making it pretty tricky to cram him in the list. But hey, if it tests well, I guess it tests well, that's really the only way to truly tell.
Bless your heart, we must consider Blue/White Tempo's strategy and win percentages in an entirely different deck thread. -4eak
http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=28761
AEther Vial on 3 > casting 3cc spells, obviously...however I still am thinking about testing Tanglewire.
P.S. in which mu's would you board the wires?
I mean, is it a card, that helps to increase the bad mus of this deck?
Team Legal Actions.
I don't know yet, that's why I want to test them. Seems like dropping a Tanglewire on turn three is better than dropping a Standstill on turn two to me. It's basically a Time Walk that taps their blockers. At least in theory. Seems like it'll be good against creature decks. Pretty much worthless against ANT.
I like it before all of my counter-magic is "free" anyway, and if I drop a first turn Vial, theoretically my 3-drop won't be missed either (even though it's a turn slower).
I'm not really too sure about this list. I'm assuming the four cards that got left out by Deckcheck are the Reejereys...
Basically, the curve just doesn't look all that great to me. And it seems really weird to include 2 copies of Stifle in the main, I think the correct number is either 4, 3, or zero, depending on the build. And I'm a little suspicious of any Merfolk list that doesn't pack some number of Mutavaults.
About the Jace issue, I see this list as him sacrificing the potential explosiveness of Standstill with the consistency of Jace, and I'm not really sure it's a good call. Merfolk wants to disrupt the opponent enough to sneak in 20 quick damage, that's our basic plan. Jace will most likely draw you up to three cards over the course of the turn you play him and your two subsequent turns after that, where Standstill can either draw you three cards, sit in your hand, or sometimes even backfire against you (which really sucks when that happens.) But the problem with Jace is that it costs one more (blue) mana, and he doesn't produce card advantage nearly as quickly as Standstill. Basically, the turn you play him, he's a three mana, do-nothing cantrip. And then if they attack into him, he's soaked up a little damage, but you gain no card advantage.
Also, Standstill offers your opponent the opportunity to misplay, whereas Jace doesn't really. I have to resist the urge to pump the fist every time I sit across from someone dumb enough not to pop the Standstill right away, waiting for a 'good' play while they sit there and soak up chunks of damage at a time. And this honestly happens more than one might think.
...so basically, I guess I would argue against Jace. But I have been known to be wrong.
Bless your heart, we must consider Blue/White Tempo's strategy and win percentages in an entirely different deck thread. -4eak
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