[Deck] Merfolk

[4eak]

@ Tru3z3rox

Also would you guys run a 3/3 split between sovereign and commander or should I take out 1 of 3 spell pierce for him?

I'm think I'd max CCommander before Sovereign. If I'm siding out Lords, I remove 2 Sovereigns before I remove a Commander. I'd max my Lords before running Spell pierce as well.


@ kinglear

Why not replace with cold eye selkie?

I think it simply doesn't compete with Lords, Kira, or our control cards (which are the cards replacing Standstill otherwise).

Islandwalk isn't all the impressive, as it is improving matches where we are already somewhat comfortable, and doesn't improve the matches we need the most help on (as the alternative cards do to some extent).




peace,
4eak

[Tammit67]

I'm still really hesitant about cutting standstill, though you guys have convinced me to try it out. Not sure about Kira though, and that's the only card I could see swapping out for something more my style.

[Karrcinegin]

This has been covered over the last few pages, but I thought I'd throw my vote in.

@standstill

I was never really happy with standstill but never considered cutting it. I'm excited to put it back in my binder. In a lot of matches I felt like I'd stall out midgame without a threat and get run over with standstill mocking me in my hand. I was running ponder in two flex slots for a long time to help smooth draws, provide an additional one drop, and help me find threats/answers mid game.

Glad to take standstill out

@Commander

I've been very impressed with the commander. An evasive threat that doesn't need friends is incredibly useful in this deck. The fact that he turns into a lord is just bonus.

~karr.

[Phoenix Ignition]

This has been covered over the last few pages, but I thought I'd throw my vote in.

@standstill

I was never really happy with standstill but never considered cutting it. I'm excited to put it back in my binder. In a lot of matches I felt like I'd stall out midgame without a threat and get run over with standstill mocking me in my hand. I was running ponder in two flex slots for a long time to help smooth draws, provide an additional one drop, and help me find threats/answers mid game.

Glad to take standstill out

@Commander

I've been very impressed with the commander. An evasive threat that doesn't need friends is incredibly useful in this deck. The fact that he turns into a lord is just bonus.

~karr.

You do realize that you don't have to run cards you don't like because popular opinion tells you to do so, right? If you didn't like it why didn't you just take it out instead of waiting for others to decide on it?

[Tru3z3rox]

You do realize that you don't have to run cards you don't like because popular opinion tells you to do so, right? If you didn't like it why didn't you just take it out instead of waiting for others to decide on it?

Be a rebel!

[Lord_Cyrus]

I thought I would post a lil' tournament report for those of you who enjoy such things. This is a little dated now (i.e. 2 weeks ago) so I apologize for any memory issues. I played here in Houston, with the great crowd at Asgard Games. Attendance was 16, I believe. All the top archetypes were represented, with Zoo, 2 ANT decks, 43 Lands, R/B Gobbos, Reanimator, Bant decks of a few types including Bant Survival, and a few rogue decks to round out the meta.

I decided to go with my top performing MWS list, with a few minor changes due to cards I was missing.

TarmoMerfs:

4 Tarmogoyf
4 LoA
4 Merrow Reej
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Cursecatcher

4 FoW
4 Daze
3 Stifle
4 Standstill
2 Jitte
4 Aether Vial

5 Fetchlands
3 Tropical Island
3 Island
4 Wasteland
4 Mutavault

SB:
2 BEB
1 Hydroblast
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Relic
2 Sowers (ought to be Threads but I couldn't find enough)
1 Threads of Disloyalty
3 Krosan Grip
3 Spell Pierce

On to the report:

Round 1 vs. Matt playing UBgw CB Control

Game 1: I win the roll. I fan out a sick 7, with Vial, Tarmo, LoA, Daze, few fetches, Wasteland. Matt appears unhappy with his hand, but keeps. I play out vial, which he later tells me he wished he could Force, but he hand is full of Daze. He gets a slow start with Dark Confidant, and I blow up his Underground Sea, locking him out of Black. He is stuck on 1 land and scoops as soon as I put on the pressure.

Boarding: -3 Stifle +2 Sower +1 Threads. (My thinking here is that he plays goyfs and Bob, giving me juicy targets.)

Game 2: He plays an early brainstorm and appears angry with his deck. I get out t1 cursecatcher, then Silvergill. He gets out Bob again, and forces one of my Tarmos. But my beats are too heavy, and soon I Sower his Bob, putting him out of the game.

2-0

Round 2: Jason w/ Bant Survival

I don't remember a lot about this round, except that I steamroll him twice in a row with great draws and Lords. He tries to stabilize with Tarmos and Rhox War Monks, but my deck is on fire and I have all the necessary Forces and Dazes to keep him from getting a sufficient army or getting Survival online. I feel a little bad, as Jason is a great guy and we usually have a lot of fun in our games. We chat for a little bit afterwards, and I tell him that we still might play again in the top 4. How right I was...

4-0

Round 3: ANT

I feel bad as I don't remember my opponent's name. He is a great guy and we play quite a bit, with him delivering me a punishing draw last time ( I Was playing NO/Bant, he was playing Aggro Loam). We enjoy chatting a bit as we shuffle up. We both know what the other is playing by this point, and he talks about wanting to "Find out how bad this matchup is". I promise I'll do my best not to dissapoint him.

Game 1: I keep him off any significant mana with a brutal stifle/wasteland combo. No chance for him to get back into it, and my beats have him scooping soon.

SB: -2 Jitte, -1 Standstill, +3 Spell Pierce

Game 2: He is a lot more into it this game, catching me without any good disruption (only a daze and he has the mana to pony up). Ad Nauseum Tendrils does its job. On reflection, I should have mulliganed but my hand had a good mix of land and creatures, and the Daze was seductive. But perhaps there was nothing to save this game.

Game 3: I leave the boarding alone, and draw a litterally insane hand. I see 3 FoW's winking to me. My clock is slow (just a lonely Reej to shock every turn) but I land a standstill which he is compelled to break. I almost faint as I see the 4th Force amongst the 3 cards. He tries to combo out, meets Force, then duresses and tries again. Yet my shock per turn gets there, as he can't beat another force. I'm not sure what the chances of drawing all 4 forces in a game are, my guess is perhaps 5% or less. I feel a little lucky here, but my deck did its job of keeping combo in check.

6-1

Round 4: Aggro Loam

I offer to ID into top 4, but my opponent wants to play for rating. He claims he will lose at least 3 points if he draws. Given that he is a 1950 pro, I agree that this is possible, but I still think it is a bit of poor sportsmanship. If you want to play, that's fine, but do it because you actually want to play the game, not over a few points.
I'm starting to get a bit fatigued at this point, and perhaps make a few errors. Yet I doubt anything could have saved me, as he destroys me in consecutive games with Countryside Crushers, E. Explosives and Firespout from the board. My GY hate and blue blasts are totally insufficient.

6-3 after round 4 is still good enough to make it to the Semi's.

Round 5: Semi Final

And guess what! Jason is there sitting across from me, with his double-sleeved Bant Survival. Of course we are still friendly, but I can tell from the steely glint in his eyes that he hasn't forgot Round 2, and really cares about winning this one.

Game 1 is a massacre with a turn 3 Iona for Blue off Loyal Retainers. GG sir!

Game 2 is more drawn out, but I gradually get the upper hand and Merfs with Jitte grind him out.

Game 3 .... well.... here my fatigue really starts to show. I have a hot board with 3 cursecatchers, active jitte, tarmo and vial. But he has active Survival and rips a Squee like a champ. Squee starts turning into Tarmo every turn, and I start to sweat. I make a critical error when I attack with my Goyf carrying jitte into his double Goyf block, and leave my Cursecatchers behind for some reason. He is at 6 life. He *must* double block my goyf, I should have realized that, as a few observers pointed out to me after the game. I could have equipped a Cursecatcher, swung in with the team, and had the win in a few turns off 'Catcher beats: 6 > 3 > 1 > 0.
Instead, I lose sight of who is the beatdown (Me) and get scared by his active Survival. I keep the team back for chump blocking, and lose when he Survivals up LLawan, Cephalid Emperess in the next few turns. His goyfs clean up.

My prize? $10. But it wasn't really about that - I had a great time and got to play a lot of rounds of excellent Legacy with people I like and respect. Jason went on to absolutely crush Reanimator in the finals to win it all - and he deserved it for the quality of his play. After he won, we shook hands and he told me, "You did really well today." Coming from him, that didn't feel like just a consolation prize.

[obituary 95]

question ,if zoo becomes this huge overbearing threat because of the banning of MT is this deck still playable? if so how would the deck evolve?

[Oiolosse]

Maindeck propaganda. Misdirection in SB if it isn't already.

[Purgatory]

Well, you can't know for sure that Zoo will be dominant, Zoo flouished so much in the metagame because of the fact that it does so well against blue-based decks who in turn does well against the archetypes that are now being hampered by the bannings. If control and aggro-control decks become less viable because of the less amount of good matchups in the metagame, then Zoo will also become less viable.

I say Propagandas in the main is quite harsh, especially because we have no idea what will come of the unbanning of Grim Monolith, and the rest of the metagame in general.

[SlopeeJ]

propaganda doesn't do much vs zoo with 4 pridemage and grips in the sb. Our creatures still die to lightening bolt and there creatures are still bigger. The can just sit back and get the extra lands needed, turn 3 propaganda isn't that great.

[Tru3z3rox]

propaganda doesn't do much vs zoo with 4 pridemage and grips in the sb. Our creatures still die to lightening bolt and there creatures are still bigger. The can just sit back and get the extra lands needed, turn 3 propaganda isn't that great.

I agree. I think the best bet is to run kira md. I run 2 of her and I absolutely love her. She has saved my ass so many times before. Granted she doesn't synergize well with sovereign's ability, but who cares.

I think coralhelm will see a rise in play as well.

I am hesitant to go the route of some merfolk decks with taking out control and putting in more aggro. I think 8 counters is an absolute minimum and I really like running 2 echoing truth md.

What do you guys think of cold-eyed selkie as a draw engine if I've opted away from standstill?

[atropos]

Has anybody tried playing with Tidal Courier? It's the Merfolk equivalent of Goblin Ringleader. Is it not used cause it's 4 CMC?

[Phoenix Ignition]

Has anybody tried playing with Tidal Courier? It's the Merfolk equivalent of Goblin Ringleader. Is it not used cause it's 4 CMC?

Running Force, Daze, Aether Vial, and sometimes things like 4x Standstill, 2x Echoing Truth or Spell Pierces makes Merfolk Courier a lot less likely to be as much card advantage as Goblin Ringleader. Aside from that our only way to cheat in creatures for less mana is Aether Vial, whereas goblins have Lackey, Vial, Chieften (paying 3 is a lot better than paying 4 in legacy). Also his power/toughness and ability are a lot worse than 2/2 Haste is.

Goblins are lucky to have a good cycling creature removal as well as even things like Warren Weirding which counts as a goblin. Merfolk aren't lucky enough to have this, so our ringleader isn't very good.

[cdr]

I posted a little mini-report in the Tournament Reports forum: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...eekly&p=464652

[atropos]

Running Force, Daze, Aether Vial, and sometimes things like 4x Standstill, 2x Echoing Truth or Spell Pierces makes Merfolk Courier a lot less likely to be as much card advantage as Goblin Ringleader. Aside from that our only way to cheat in creatures for less mana is Aether Vial, whereas goblins have Lackey, Vial, Chieften (paying 3 is a lot better than paying 4 in legacy). Also his power/toughness and ability are a lot worse than 2/2 Haste is.

Goblins are lucky to have a good cycling creature removal as well as even things like Warren Weirding which counts as a goblin. Merfolk aren't lucky enough to have this, so our ringleader isn't very good.

Oh that makes a lot of sense. Tidal Courier's P/T and activated ability are pretty underwhelming compared to Ringleader so I see your point.

[Tru3z3rox]

Has anybody tried playing with Tidal Courier? It's the Merfolk equivalent of Goblin Ringleader. Is it not used cause it's 4 CMC?

Yes it just doesn't work as in gobs. I don't even run the ringleader of elves either, because I run too many important non-elf spells in that deck. Brutal to see them put on the bottom of your library.

Any views on cold-eyed selkie?

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

Any views on cold-eyed selkie?

My view is that he suxxors. The last time I gave him any real thought was about a year ago... Y'know, when there were a bit more Islands running around the metagame. And even then, I decided he wasn't good enough to run, and I'm pretty sure I was right.

Basically, it seems to me that he improves matchups that are already decent for us, whereas in our problem matches, he's a little 1/1 for three mana that might get in there for damage once and cantrip.

[DCTopTeam]

Corralhelm is amazing. Currently running two, will be running three still need to find one. Anyway, is there still no solution to the mana-flood issues of MonoU Merfolk?

[Ludwitch]

Yesterday, I played Merfolk for the first time. Finished Top8 with 4-1-1 and won 2 Thoughtseize *woohoo*

Now I want to play the deck again and make some adjustments. I am thinking about playing 16 Lords +2 Kira, 8 Counters. No Standstill, no Jitte. That would leave me with the decision to play 22 lands (like the list that won the Bazaar of Moxen tournament) or play 20 lands plus something like echoing truth.

What I would like to know from those of you that have played with 4 Coralhelm Commanders: Are 20 Lands enough? What is your experience? How many lands does the deck need?

[atropos]

What I would like to know from those of you that have played with 4 Coralhelm Commanders: Are 20 Lands enough? What is your experience? How many lands does the deck need?

Congrats on your finish, Ludwitch. I was actually having the same problem. I'm also not sure if 20 lands are enough with 4 Coralhelm Commanders. I've actually seen a few decks on deckcheck that run the same exact list as me but I haven't done enough testing to confirm if 20 is enough. Any thoughs on this?

http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=36599