I'm not an incredibly competitive legacy player, but I do have a handful of completed decks, including Merfolk, Belcher, MUC, and a G/W Reliquary Zoo build. My problem is that all of my decks are having trouble with a friend's Evagreen hybrid deck. My troubles range from moderate to extreme, depending on the deck. The problem is the fact that he is playing a hybrid which packs an answer to almost every deck in the main board. With a local tournament on the way, I don't really know how to answer him in the sideboard, so I'm turning to you guys for help. He should be my only major competition, as he is the only other player who has ever competed in a major tournament/takes the format serious enough to fund real decks (we don't play with proxies). I'll go ahead and supply the rough deck lists of the three decks that I am considering, as well as a rough list of his deck, just to give you an idea of what I am up against. I'm basically looking for your opinion on my best option vs. his deck, as well as my best sideboard options vs. his deck. I'm willing to dedicate most of my sideboard (8-10 cards) to his deck, leaving the others open for typical choices like Relic, that help against multiple decks. Also, feel free to include any opinions that you have on the main decks.
First, My deck options:
Merfolk
Lands - 20
4x Wasteland
3x Mutavault
13x Island
Creatures - 22
4x Lord of Atlantis
4x Merrow Reejery
4x Silvergill Adept
4x Cursecatcher
4x Coralhelm Commander
2x Kira, Great Glass Spinner
Spells - 18
4x Force of Will
4x Daze
4x Standstill
4x Aether Vial
2x Echoing Truth
Sideboard - Open
G/W Reliquary Zoo
Lands - 20
4x Savannah
4x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Flooded Strand
4x Wasteland
1x Horizon Canopy
3x Forest
2x Plains
Creatures - 28
4x Tarmogoyf
4x Knight of the Reliquary
4x Loam Lion
4x Mother of Runes
4x Kitchen Finks
4x Scryb Ranger
4x Qasali Pridemage
Spells - 12
4x Rancor
4x Path to Exile
2x Wrath of God
2x Pithing Needle
Sideboard - Open
MUC
Lands - 22
22x Island
Creatures - 4
2x Vendillion Clique
2x Sphinx of Jwar Isle
Spells - 34
4x Force of Will
4x Counterspell
4x Runesnag
4x Spellsnare
4x Brainstorm
4x Fact or Fiction
4x Back to Basics
2x Vedalken Shackles (only own 2)
2x Powder Keg
2x Echoing Truth
Sideboard - Open
And now, his deck, G/W/B Eva Green...rough decklist, probably won't even add up:
Lands - 20 ish (I can't confirm the numbers on these)
4x Bayou
1x Scrubland
1x Godless Shrine
4x Verdent Catacombs
1x Windwept Heath
1x Marsh Flats
3x Swamp
2x Forest
1x Plains
2x Mishra's Factory
Creatures - 18 (Again, I can't confirm numbers)
4x Tarmogoyf
4x Death's Shadow
4x Qasali Pridemage
4x Dark Confidant
2x Stoneforge Mystic
Spells - 22
4x Path to Exile
4x Snuff Out
4x Maelstrom Pulse
4x Thoughtseize
4x Hymn to Tourach
1x Umezawa's Jitte
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
Sideboard - 15
4x Carpet of Flowers
11x ????
Basically, his deck packs heavy removal, and enough hand disruption to cherry pick threats that he can't deal with once they're down. Outside of that, Death's Shadow is his real win con. As soon as he starts losing that guy comes down and it's GG. I can't tell you why, but his deck is actually really good. He's a supremely average player, but the deck seems to have everything it needs to beat all of my decks. The only sideboard card I directly remember is Carpet of Flowers because of how ridiculously stupid I told him it was when he mentioned putting it in. The next thing I know, I'm testing Merfolk and MUC against it and he's destroying me because of his tempo gain.
Basically, I'm looking for sideboard (or mainboard options that don't destroy my other matchups) options to deal with this deck in particular for my metagame. The only reason I ask is because I'm not too up to date on sideboard options (I don't research a whole lot...I like to play, but I don't put in more time than a fairly casual player, so my cardpool knowledge is a little low). Also, if you happen to have strategy suggestions, I'm very open minded. Sometimes I wonder if I'm countering the right spells against this deck. I could definitely stand to learn a thing or two. Thanks in advance!
Edit:
After re-reading this, I'm sure a mod will notice this and suggest that I post in the "what deck should I play in my meta" thread, however, my question differs greatly from that. I'd like to ask that you please allow this thread to continue, as I need help beyond that that any other thread can offer. I am basically looking to take home a win by rolling over the other decks due to the resilience that my three decks have to most of the format, but I'm still seeking sideboard options to help against one deck, ultimately.
Your blue decks need moar Spell Pierce, including Merfolk. Thankfully it's a common.
I have a playset of Spell Pierce, of course, but I don't feel like it fits into MUC. Taxing is not too good in MUC. I know I use Rune Snag, but that card is usable late game, where Spell Pierce often fails. As far as Merfolk is concerned though, I'm willing to do it. What cards would you personally remove for it?
The taxing should be irrelevant when you're facing Eva Green. You can't do anything about your opponent's turn 1 Thoughtseize on the draw, but you can counter a turn 1 Thoughtseize when you're on the play. If you can make it to the endgame against Eva Green you should be winning since you have either Sphinx or Shackles being your win conditions.
As for Merfolk, I'd take out the Echoing Truth. You don't need MD bounce unless you are really concerned about a problematic permanent card, in game 1 especially. The Spell Pierce would take care of any noncreature sweeper the opponent will run.
Man up and loan your decks to your friends for the local legacy tournament so they can compete fairly as well.
Team R&D
Play your zoo deck but with red. Or in fact, just about any deck with bolts will do. Hes paying wayyy too much life with Snuff Out/Confidant.
That, or just kill him with tendrils.
I don't have a problem loaning my decks out. If we can find enough players, I certainly will loan them.
It's a little too late for the red in zoo. I'm strapped for cash and I don't own the duals that I would need.
I will take that advice in Merfolk though. I'll at least replace Echoing with Spell Pierce. Do you think I should put in more than 2?
Any other suggestions for helping my decks find a better matchup against Evagreen?
Another thing for merfolk that you might find a little useful would be divert. Not so good against snuff out, but against early hymns it can be brutal
Wow. I didn't even know about Divert. Almost seems like a magic bullet. My main problem is his heavy removal package, and he runs plenty of non black creatures, so I could even divert his snuff out. Thanks alot :)
For Merfolk: Stifle
Stifle + Wasteland package wrecks his mana. All of his color requirements are pretty heavy and you can keep him off the BB needed for Hymn. Stifle also has the bonus of messing with his Stoneforge package and Qasali Pridemages. One of Merfolk's biggest strength's is its ability to tear at cute manabases. Back to Basics could also prove useful.
Spell Pierce helps you dodge early Thoughtseizes or Snuff Out. Spell Snare also hard counters many of his strong early turn plays when you are on the draw, giving you time to stabilize. Misdirection seems good if you are going for the "deflection" route.
Obviously, many of these choices are not the best in a full meta of varied decks. Tailor your card choices to the expected meta.
Eva Green has a positive MU against most storm variants.Originally Posted by Jeff Kruchkow
Play the G/W Zoo, but with Swords to Plowshares and Mirran Crusader + Noble Hierarch. Cut WoG and Needles. Add Stoneforge Mystic and Equipments. You should start winning. Play 4 Compost in the sideboard too.
OK, comon, now...he wants to win, not get punched in the dick.
they haunt minds...
That's not so true. Often they're simply too fast.
If the Eva Green player mulligans aggressively for a hand heavy on hand disruption, they should win it. Sometimes Storm draws the turn 1 nuts on the play, and Eva Green simply can't handle that, but that's not typical.
The problem is, if Eva mulls for heavy disruption they usually have no clock. Then storm rebuilds with cantrips or SDT and combos off. The only matches I've lost to Eva Green or Junk decks playing storm were when I played SI (no cantrips to recover) and/or mulliganned repeatedly. Of course, if you're playing against bad storm players, then the discard player is definitely favored. Of course, Eva can get T1 nuts with Dark Ritual -> Thoughtseize -> Hymn which is very difficult to recover from. It all depends.
Lord of the Chalice
Stompy Discord: https://discord.gg/6cesvkz
your decks, except for zoo, has a matchup disadvantage against eva green.
besides...his is more deadguy ale than eva green.
This. Storm beats hand disruption with their own/brainstorm. You need a clock too. Storm will usually be able to beat Some discard, or the pilot shouldn't be running it.
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