[Deck] Merfolk

[_erbs_]

This seems out of context. At the time you were arguing this there were probably no other good 2 drop merfolks. If they made Reejery or Sovereign with the same abilities that cost 2, I'm sure everyone would use them instead. It just makes sense, and you can leave the vial at 2 to vial in 90% of your creatures. Only thing it's bad for is EE, Deeds, Counterbalance, and Chalice.

Yeah there where none indeed the 2 drops propossed before where (grimoire thief, rootwater thief and inkfathom infiltrator). I didn't brought that up qq or something i just wanted to point out that a good 2 curve is what the merfs creature base really needs to fill the gap.

With commander in the scene it might get the aggro clock of the merfs abit faster and like what the above posters had stated would most likely eat removals. He is a vanilla early on, mid game could block flyers or flyer over the defenses and late game could bolster your troops and a decent 4/4 body aswell.

[SlopeeJ]

The jellyfish doesn't seem good at all, first I don't think it untaps if you vial in response. I read it as untap when you are the target of the spell, so it suffers the same problem as kira. Second as stated, you attack once and he's tapped again. Some said its good vs zoo?? Really?? Zoo doesn't win by burning you out, they kill all your creatures and swing. Yea sure they target you sometimes to finish you off, but most of their burn is for creatures and they kill you with their bigger better creatures. Like they would target you with the jellyfish out......

I haven't tested the commander but I will say this, he doesn't seem that good. Someone mentioned taking him out for Lords in the mirror???? Seriously, the person with the most lords wins and I don't think him flying is really that great esp in the mirror. Awesome though it beats moat haha. Merfolk has/can have 5 turn clock and that doesn't involve wasting mana trying to make a 3/3 flier+. Def not while losing lords. More lords and wakethrasher are way better in the mirror, including after the firespout some one mentioned. Wakethrasher is a pretty good top deck vs counter/top because he can easily be a 5 or 6 depending how late in the game it is. Commander is to slow, might be awesome in standard/extended Merfolk. I would much rather play lords. If a 3/3 flier is really that great, why isn't anyone running Serendib Efreet?? He owns moat also and doesn't need a lord to be out of bolt range.......


Avier are asking how to play magic? Merfolk beats goblins like it does every other deck with tempo, counters and fish lords. I def think the white splash is even or better vs goblins and with sb action it is very winnable. Being on the play and vial are very important, you want to counter/remove their important goblins. I think you are mistaking out jitte, you can be losing the race and get jitte equipped and wipe the board. Jitte gives Merfolk removal which is what it really lacks, esp vs goblins when they can recover quickly then swarm again.

[honestabe]

I put off merfolk forever, just thinking it was some shitty deck, but by god, I proxied it up yesterday, and the goddamn thing is a house. I went something like 12-3 vs Countertop Probant, and the ANT matchup is probably favorable post board (4 spell pierces get there)

ANyways, the deck is 10x better than it looks on paper

[(nameless one)]

I put off merfolk forever, just thinking it was some shitty deck, but by god, I proxied it up yesterday, and the goddamn thing is a house. I went something like 12-3 vs Countertop Probant, and the ANT matchup is probably favorable post board (4 spell pierces get there)

ANyways, the deck is 10x better than it looks on paper

Its why Merfolks is under DTB.

Going back to post-ROE Merfolks, Finn suggested that Coralhelm actually deserves testing. Has anyone proxy-tested him yet or are we just all assuming that he sucks?

[pingveno]

I haven't tested the commander but I will say this, he doesn't seem that good. Someone mentioned taking him out for Lords in the mirror???? Seriously, the person with the most lords wins and I don't think him flying is really that great esp in the mirror. Awesome though it beats moat haha. Merfolk has/can have 5 turn clock and that doesn't involve wasting mana trying to make a 3/3 flier+. Def not while losing lords. More lords and wakethrasher are way better in the mirror, including after the firespout some one mentioned. Wakethrasher is a pretty good top deck vs counter/top because he can easily be a 5 or 6 depending how late in the game it is. Commander is to slow, might be awesome in standard/extended Merfolk. I would much rather play lords. If a 3/3 flier is really that great, why isn't anyone running Serendib Efreet?? He owns moat also and doesn't need a lord to be out of bolt range.......

This is such flawed logic I can hardly follow you. You are ignoring half the card. Level up is a severly overlooked mechanic right now, that is exactly what happens when something new comes out. Commander is not a 3/3 flier for 4, it is a 2/2 for 2 and a 3/3 flier for 4 and a 4/4 flying lord for 6. He fits in everywhere on the curve perfectly. You are overlooking the fact that the card is not just a 3/3 flier, nobody is suggesting that a 3/3 flier for 4 is exactly what the deck is missing, Commander is much more than that... So, test first. I have a feeling it could be a house. I just proxied some up today, list to come soon.

[SlopeeJ]

yea a 2/2 for 2 is even worse and I am not ignoring anything. I can read the card fine, you have to invest more mana to make this creature any good at all and at sorcery speed. People are saying he is better then wakethrasher in the mirror, that is almost laughable. Wakethrasher with 3 lands in play is a 5/5 by himself which rarely happens . A 2/2 for 2 isn't that good, a 3/3 for 2uu flat out sucks and a 4/4 flying lord for 4uu is even worse. Not to mention this all sorcery speed so you will be wasting your turn instead of playing lords and attacking. Like I said Merfolk can have a 5 turn clock and tapping mana to make this creature good is horrible when you are playing more fish and swinging with Merfolk.

Flying sucks when all your creatures have Islandwalk and how relevant is a 2 of flying even going to be. You can beat moat with your commander, awesome. I'll just bounce it and swing with my whole team of lords.

There is no logic to follow read the card, level up seems awesome in standard....... Merfolk is a tempo deck and wasting your turn trying to make your creature good, isn't the right play. The curve at 3 is fine

[Avier]

Avier are asking how to play magic? Merfolk beats goblins like it does every other deck with tempo, counters and fish lords. I def think the white splash is even or better vs goblins and with sb action it is very winnable. Being on the play and vial are very important, you want to counter/remove their important goblins. I think you are mistaking out jitte, you can be losing the race and get jitte equipped and wipe the board. Jitte gives Merfolk removal which is what it really lacks, esp vs goblins when they can recover quickly then swarm again.

Have you ever played against Goblins? Please explain to me how its a favorable match up. If everyone in the forums seems to think it is I'm obviously not very good at this game. Your point relating to the white splash is irrelevant. I was talking about Jitte, of course if you add swords you get more removal. And as I mentioned, yes, if Jitte is active thats obviously a good situation. But your talking about it like you have it every game. Its two cards in a deck that doesn't have a reliable card draw engine, especially against Goblins! I don't understand how people are arguing that Goblins is even close to favorable.

[Svenanole]

Its why Merfolks is under DTB.

Going back to post-ROE Merfolks, Finn suggested that Coralhelm actually deserves testing. Has anyone proxy-tested him yet or are we just all assuming that he sucks?

i proxied him up vs zoo and hes a house late game. I used my list on the previous page and some list I from GP Madrid.

I can't remember any specifics from it, but he is miles better then wakethresher

Its kind if one of those things that are hard to describe until you play it and test it out.

[kitsunewarlock]

Hmm...Coralhelm is the final nail in my "1 of 2 Jitte in Side-Deck" coffin I believe. Well, that and Lawan's unimpressiveness last tournament...

[Finn]

I can explain it. You Vial him in and tap 4 mana to have a lord they can't Bolt and can't block. Now Zoo has a must-kill-now guy where before they did not.

[(nameless one)]

Hey Finn,

Would you like to share us the current list that you are testing?

Also, does anyone know if MWS has ROE updates?

[Phoenix Ignition]

yea a 2/2 for 2 is even worse and I am not ignoring anything. I can read the card fine, you have to invest more mana to make this creature any good at all and at sorcery speed. [...]

There is no logic to follow read the card, level up seems awesome in standard....... Merfolk is a tempo deck and wasting your turn trying to make your creature good, isn't the right play. The curve at 3 is fine

Here's a perfect example where having a little knowledge hurts much more than having no knowledge at all. Explain to me why Level up being a Sorcery has ANY relevance to this deck. Almost every deck has dropped Stifle from its list, which leaves the only Instants in the deck being FoW or Daze, both of which are free. Sure, the mana could also be spent on Mutavault, but those situations where you block with him are rare, and you can just plan ahead for that. So what if you tap some lands on your turn, you aren't casting Counterspell. Even rarer would you hold on to 2 mana for an Echoing Truth but then decide you weren't going to play it anyway.

Not only is this a big late game creature, it's a ridiculous-under-standstill creature. I might actually have to start playing merfolk as my #1 deck again. He even gives an out to Moat, or a blocker for random annoying flying creatures.

He will be played, and he will be amazing.

[dar482]

If anything, he helps the curve out a lot. Turn 1 Vial into turn 2, 2 drop is important. I think that's a reason for the success of adding Tarmogoyf into the deck. The same goes for having something to Vial out when your Vial is on two counters.

[Svenanole]

I just think on paper he looks bad, its just something that you have to try out with first having an indifferent opinion on him.

Once you realize hes good or bad, then decide what you want to do with him. I find its a terrible idea to have a prejudgment of cards as how they look on paper. To be honest, if you look at this deck on paper, it flat out sucks, but once its being played, it absolutely fantastic.

[luckme10]

My biggest concern about the sorcery speed is that it makes it easier for the opponent to burn him before he can level beyond the burn range.

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

My biggest concern about the sorcery speed is that it makes it easier for the opponent to burn him before he can level beyond the burn range.

Can't you retain priority after you play him? I'm having kind of a retarded day, can someone explain this to me?

[kicks_422]

Yeah, you can retain priority... But they can still Bolt him once the level up ability is on the stack.

[Raptor]

Can't you retain priority after you play him? I'm having kind of a retarded day, can someone explain this to me?

You play him and then you get the priority.
He starts at level 0, than you try to level him (it's a sorcery speed) and can bolt in response.



I don't think this new merfolk will be really good. I've never played a version with waketrasher and I don't think that in the 12lords version I would like to remove anything for this creature. It seems really bad at first view, explosives ruins your day even more. You have a vanilla creature at start, loose tempo to pump it to get it removed by opponent won't it will most likely gets removed. It seems better in certain match ups but worst in much many others. (Match up where you need tempo)

Plus, Multavault takes a lot of mana and leveling this little guy will be hard. Not to mention that you level up in sorcery, meaning that if you hold daze or Force in your hand and you know your opponent is playing daze, tapping out to level it won't be a good idea.

[kicks_422]

I actually LIKE the new Merfolk. It's something which could push the deck more into the aggro direction, something which I'm looking for.

12 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland

4 Cursecatcher
4 SIlvergill Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Coralheim Commander
4 Meerow Reejerey
4 Merfolk Sovereign

4 Force of Will
4 Daze
4 Standstill
4 Aether Vial

Just pure fishy smashage.

[chysn]

I'll be trying Coralhelm Commander in my list in place of Silvergill Adept. I like the natural resistance to Engineered Explosives, so I'd like to maintain the current curve, but I always thought Silvergill Adept was a weak link.

4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Merfolk Sovereign
4 Standstill
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
2 Echoing Truth
2 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Aether Vial
12 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland