[Deck] Merfolk

[Finn]

So another bizarre top 8 at a major event. Two Merfolk players make top 8. So Merfolk is NOT in a decline? Phoenix, did your friend have to beat that Zoo player to get 3rd place?

2 Aggro Loam decks. 2 of those 43-Landers. Very interesting. I was going to comment on the lack of Islands until I saw the Lands lists. They both had Intuition.

[DCTopTeam]

So another bizarre top 8 at a major event. Two Merfolk players make top 8. So Merfolk is NOT in a decline? Phoenix, did your friend have to beat that Zoo player to get 3rd place?

2 Aggro Loam decks. 2 of those 43-Landers. Very interesting. I was going to comment on the lack of Islands until I saw the Lands lists. They both had Intuition.

I dont think its on a decline. Although the deck is posting fewer postings in the T8 according to SCG, its still a DTB. BTW, after the SCG results were in,,, I immediately took my Merf deck from the box and started caressing it again. LOL

I also feel a bit vindicated by the Annuls on the side. I did this (Annul SB) twice about a month ago and all the time my friend was laughing at me. During that game I remembered wherein the Annuls were boarded it countered Deed- Rock, Jitte- Zoo, Vial- Gobs--- all of which were "game changers" to say the least.

[Jayzonious]

Could Spell Pierce have done the same and more? Seems like a better option imo.

[GUnit]

Spell pierce is 1000x better than annul.

[dyzzy]

Agreed. I am thinking about throwing them in the main.

[Phoenix Ignition]

So another bizarre top 8 at a major event. Two Merfolk players make top 8. So Merfolk is NOT in a decline? Phoenix, did your friend have to beat that Zoo player to get 3rd place?

Nope it was 3rd based off tie breakers or opp win %s

[AcidFiend]

Does Spell Pierce beat Spell Snare in the main tho? Hmm..

[Curby]

How would you play either Spell Snare or Spell Pierce in the main? I honestly don't think there's room.

EDIT: Has anyone revisited Thrasher in light of the fact that we no longer mana burn? If you have 4 land out, you can pretty much guarantee at least +4/+4 by tapping any untapped land at opponent's end of turn step and floating the mana. It's an obvious interaction but not one that's been mentioned specifically in spite of its seemingly significant effects.

[stuckpixel]

Has anyone tried Spreading Seas in the main in this deck? It seems like it would support our Mana Denial concept, cantrip, and give us a means to islandwalk.

This does cost more than say Aquitech's Will, but it's an assured cantrip, and it nerfs a land completely in most cases.

I'm going to give it a whirl tonight and see how it does.

Has anyone revisited Thrasher in light of the fact that we no longer mana burn? If you have 4 land out, you can pretty much guarantee at least +4/+4 by tapping any untapped land at opponent's end of turn step and floating the mana. It's an obvious interaction but not one that's been mentioned specifically in spite of its seemingly significant effects.

Thrasher is good, and he can be a huge fatty that swings to win games, but he's also a 1/1 for 3 on defense. Not that we should be focusing on defense, but it opens him up to ridiculously easy removal.

I might be able to run him in a build with Kira, but I'm not really sure what I'd cut.

[tivadar]

Yeah, I'd been debating replacing stifle with it.

Pros:
Proactive rather than reactive
Cantrips

Cons:
One more mana
Only works for colorscrew
They still get a main phase with their land

The whole proactive/reactive thing was the main reason I started testing it.

[stuckpixel]

Yeah, I'd been debating replacing stifle with it.

Pros:
Proactive rather than reactive
Cantrips

Cons:
One more mana
Only works for colorscrew
They still get a main phase with their land

The whole proactive/reactive thing was the main reason I started testing it.

That was my thought as well - and that's what I'm going to be giving a whirl tonight. I do like that worst case, you pay 2 to draw a card. A dead Stifle in hand is basically only good for FoW-fodder.

I feel like Merfolk really wants to be a proactive deck backed up with free counters rather than sitting back on its heels. Hopefully I produce some good results tonight to back up that line of thinking.

[Phoenix Ignition]

That was my thought as well - and that's what I'm going to be giving a whirl tonight. I do like that worst case, you pay 2 to draw a card. A dead Stifle in hand is basically only good for FoW-fodder.

I would much rather play the Relic main and cantrip for 2 instead of this. You may think it helps as much as stifle would, but giving them extra blue or colorless mana is nothing to scoff at. Daze and Cursecatcher are weakened by this, and against 50% of the decks out there they can still use the blue mana.

A dead Stifle in hand is basically only good for FoW-fodder.

If you mean you don't see a fetch to stifle then:

Pernicious Deed, EE, opponent's wastelands, equipment activations and triggers, Pridemage, any goblin effect, vial triggers or activations, Factory taps, Grim Lavamancer, Trygon Predator, Vendilion Clique, smokestacks, storm, and many other less frequent activated abilities and triggers are all good/decent ways to use Stifle aside from just as FoW bait.

It may not be the best card to see against some of these matchups, but I would never dilute the deck by running a spreading seas. Stifle is still one of the most powerful swiss army knife cards in the deck.

[Tacosnape]

I kind of agree with Phoenix. If you want a card that cantrips, Relic does more than any other cantrip you can come up with. If you want a card that Stifles, run Stifle.

[dyzzy]

My friend and I have considered Spreading Seas as a 1-of just to ensure Islandwalk. ¯\(º_o)/¯

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

If you really want to ensure that your Islandwalk will be online, run Tidal Warrior as a two- or three-of. It may not cantrip, but it's a one-drop (which is the lightest end of our standard curve), and it can get in there for some damage. Don't run Spreading Seas. Seriously. That makes Merfolk-Baby-Jesus cry.

[stuckpixel]

Limited testing from tonight proved to be 'eh' at best. Ran 3x main. There were times where Stifle would have been better, and there were times I was happy to have seas.

If I decide to keep them main, I'll probably drop to 2x. Or just switch back to Stifle.

[Forbiddian]

It's tech in like Standard, where blue is the worst color and the lands are crappy, and they splash colors requiring double color requirements, so you can actually give an opponent color screw fits.

In Legacy, blue is the best/most common color by far. Against half the decks or more it just does absolutely nothing. Your opponent also gets the critical first turn with it and then you're stuck down two mana tempi regardless.

All the combo decks still tap for 1 or R, all the stompy decks still tap for 1. Goblins can use T for 1 almost as much as it could use R. Blue decks don't care at all. Ichorid decks can still use blue for Breakthrough or Careful Study or activate Cephalid Coliseum. The best it does, I guess, is stop Cephalid Coliseum. There are so many even non-blue matchups where it doesn't do ANYTHING.

Even in some hypothetical matchup that can't use 1 or U, it could still be used all game to blank your dazes and cursecatchers.

I can't think of a single matchup where you would want it.

[stuckpixel]

It's tech in like Standard, where blue is the worst color and the lands are crappy, and they splash colors requiring double color requirements, so you can actually give an opponent color screw fits.

In Legacy, blue is the best/most common color by far. Against half the decks or more it just does absolutely nothing. Your opponent also gets the critical first turn with it and then you're stuck down two mana tempi regardless.

All the combo decks still tap for 1 or R, all the stompy decks still tap for 1. Goblins can use T for 1 almost as much as it could use R. Blue decks don't care at all. Ichorid decks can still use blue for Breakthrough or Careful Study or activate Cephalid Coliseum. The best it does, I guess, is stop Cephalid Coliseum. There are so many even non-blue matchups where it doesn't do ANYTHING.

Even in some hypothetical matchup that can't use 1 or U, it could still be used all game to blank your dazes and cursecatchers.

I can't think of a single matchup where you would want it.

It's only good if you can keep them low on lands to keep them off color.

For example, it won me game 1 vs Goblins, after wasting a few of his lands and then throwing it on the single red source he had out. It was still a race, but the island in play gave my folk the ability to islandwalk, and stopped him from gempalm'ing.

At the same time, in game 2 - when I was stuck with 2 in hand midway through the game, I wished it they had been stifles so I could have stifled his piledriver activations.

On the whole, I'd agree that it's not as useful as stifle. Figured it was worth a shot with them, but I'll probably be ditching them in favor of my stifles once again.

[lotriderm]

I am currently playing a U/w list right now (with 4 STPs in the main) and my sideboard is:

4 Path to Exile
4 Hydroblast
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
3 Relic of Progenitus

In the 2 free slots, I was considering either Seal of Cleansing or Pithing Needle but I'm still undecided. One of the pros of needle is that it can hit Top but it does not stop any enchantments. Can anyone suggest what would be a better choice (given a mixed meta)?

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

I am currently playing a U/w list right now (with 4 STPs in the main) and my sideboard is:

4 Path to Exile
4 Hydroblast
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
3 Relic of Progenitus

In the 2 free slots, I was considering either Seal of Cleansing or Pithing Needle but I'm still undecided. One of the pros of needle is that it can hit Top but it does not stop any enchantments. Can anyone suggest what would be a better choice (given a mixed meta)?

It's really hard to say, but I think Seal handles more of the things that I'm super afraid of when I play this deck, like Moat, Engineered Plague, etc. Needle is a good card, but I feel like EE and P Deed are played slightly less than they used to be.

Also, since you're already splashing white, you could fuck around with splitting the Hydroblasts with some number of Burrenton Forge-Tenders. It's a pretty dope card, because it basically answers or stalls about 90% of the stuff you'd want to Hydroblast, and it compliments your Relics against Dredge, if that's played at all in your area. Oh, and he's a house against Goblins, which is nothing to sneeze at, because that deck singlehandedly gives mono-blue Merfolk decks something to fear.