[Deck] Merfolk

[Tacosnape]

Metamorph's an intriguing option, and I like the fact that on top of everything else listed it can also copy a Lord of Atlantis or a Merrow Reejerey. However, here's what it has going against it:

1. Phyrexian mana or not, the converted mana cost of the thing is still four. This means you now have Merfolk Lords at three different CMCs for Aether Vial. And unlike Sower, where ticking to four has the potential to be so backbreaking you won't ever need the vial again, ticking the Metamorph won't be as high-impact of a play.

2. On top of Mental Misstep, Dismember, and Force of Will, I'm hesitant to put in another card that costs me life to use efficiently.

3. Counters aren't copied. Meaning he doesn't play nice with Coralhelm Commander at all. He also isn't a Merfolk spell, meaning he won't trigger a tapping effect with Merrow Reejerey.

So for consistency, curve, life, and the fact that making a guy unblockable sometimes just gets there, I'll still take my random pair of Sovereigns.

Also, re Stoneforge Mystic:

If Stoneforge Mystic continues to be the best creature in the format (Right now I'd say he's passed Dark Confidant), at some point the deck ought to consider an answer dedicated to him. Sadly, he's a multi-faceted problem. Null Rod won't stop Batterskull from having an initial guy, and cards like Reality Ripple and Sapphire Charm that destroy Batterskull don't stop Sword of Fire and Ice. And cards like Manriki-Gusari are ridiculously narrow and have no other applications. And I just don't like Spell Snare in this deck. I don't want to have to leave blue open for fear of Stoneforge Mystic.

I personally think that I'd consider Repeal at this point, too. One blue mana makes the Germ token go away and gets you a card, and makes them spend another five to get the Batterskull back online again (three to bounce, two to replay). It's also a versatile though expensive bounce spell for some problematic permanents like Ensnaring Bridge.

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

Unless you copy the Batterskull itself, which has Living Weapon and grants the appropriate abilities. We may never be able to sneak it into play with Stoneforge, but we could tick Vial up to 4.

D'oh. Yeah, I was just baked on that one. :/

EDIT (for content)--

@Stoneforge Mystic, I think Pithing Needle is not enough on its own, but I still like the card, and this is another thing it helps with. I think Dismember, Needle, and bounce spells might be the best options to deal with Stoneforge in mono blue. Also our own Jittes aren't bad either.

[menace13]

Also, re Stoneforge Mystic:

If Stoneforge Mystic continues to be the best creature in the format (Right now I'd say he's passed Dark Confidant), at some point the deck ought to consider an answer dedicated to him. Sadly, he's a multi-faceted problem. Null Rod won't stop Batterskull from having an initial guy, and cards like Reality Ripple and Sapphire Charm that destroy Batterskull don't stop Sword of Fire and Ice. And cards like Manriki-Gusari are ridiculously narrow and have no other applications. And I just don't like Spell Snare in this deck. I don't want to have to leave blue open for fear of Stoneforge Mystic.

I personally think that I'd consider Repeal at this point, too. One blue mana makes the Germ token go away and gets you a card, and makes them spend another five to get the Batterskull back online again (three to bounce, two to replay). It's also a versatile though expensive bounce spell for some problematic permanents like Ensnaring Bridge.

Try to fit in room for Spell Snares as a a catch all for Mystic, Bob, Hymn, GftT, Smother, Cspell and it hits at least 12 spells in mirror.

[ScatmanX]

One blue mana makes the Germ token go away and gets you a card, and makes them spend another five to get the Batterskull back online again (three to bounce, two to replay)

I don't know why someone, when playing against Merfolk, would not just pay those 5 mana, to equip Batterskul on the Stoneforge, and bash for 5 the same turn...

[bakofried]

Because 2 mana one turn + 3 mana another turn is less than 5 mana in one turn?

[SlopeeJ]

I don't know why someone, when playing against Merfolk, would not just pay those 5 mana, to equip Batterskul on the Stoneforge, and bash for 5 the same turn...

This is what has been happening to me, I bounce/dismember and they either replay it or equip it to a factory/stoneforge. The answers we have are not actual answers, if you dismember the stoneforge/token then you still have the batterskull. The deck doesn't need turn 2 stoneforge to beat merfolk, they site back with swords/factories/counterspells just like a control deck and then play stoneforge

[Star|Scream]

This is what has been happening to me, I bounce/dismember and they either replay it or equip it to a factory/stoneforge. The answers we have are not actual answers, if you dismember the stoneforge/token then you still have the batterskull. The deck doesn't need turn 2 stoneforge to beat merfolk, they site back with swords/factories/counterspells just like a control deck and then play stoneforge

You don't have to deal with the batterskull if you counter the stoneforge or kill it before it loses summoning sickness. This is what dismember is for.

[Tacosnape]

Countering or removing a Stoneforge is trickier than you think. He blanks Mental Misstep and Cursecatcher, and playing him around Daze isn't all that impossible. This leaves you trying to stop him with Force and however many Dismembers you've got at your disposal for that game. (I maindeck two and board two and I have trouble.)

That's why I think at this point that a second option is worth considering.

[DukeDemonKn1ght]

Countering or removing a Stoneforge is trickier than you think. He blanks Mental Misstep and Cursecatcher, and playing him around Daze isn't all that impossible. This leaves you trying to stop him with Force and however many Dismembers you've got at your disposal for that game. (I maindeck two and board two and I have trouble.)

That's why I think at this point that a second option is worth considering.

Would white splash for artifact (slash creature, slash enchantment) destruction be a good option then?

I agree that Stoneforge is prevalent and can be a hard card for us to answer in mono-blue. I also agree I'm not huge on Spell Snare in this deck, but the other potential solutions in blue are either pretty narrow or ineffective. Pithing Needle is kinda good against Stoneforge, but I don't think it necessarily solves it, nor do FoW or Dismember, at least not by themselves. Nor does bounce, nor does creature stealing, unless we can steal it before they untap with it.

In the past when I've been testing splash colors, I have found that black is a little more elegant than white usually, since it gives us obvious sideboard bombs like Perish. But I could see how white might actually be more flexible these days, since it gives us StP, Disenchant effects, and Enlightened Tutor, which can be pretty bomb in our sideboard, since many of Merfolk's more widely played sideboard cards are artifacts or enchantments (and it lets you use one-ofs, giving you more virtual sideboard space.)

One problem I've found with the white splash before is I'm not really sure what the optimal "Disenchant" effect is for this deck. I usually end up settling on Seal of Cleansing (tutorable, proactive rather than reactive), but I'm not entirely sure if this is the absolute best one for us in white.

Any thoughts on the white splash and/or developed lists from anyone out there?

[SlopeeJ]

I use to win a lot of tournaments with Merfolk with 4 swords main. The problem is there really isn't room now with the printing of commander and now misstep. I refuse to play without standstill and kira so swords is out for me. You could just standstill and kira for swords, but it isn't that good without card draw/brainstorm. Also the stoneforge decks are all running missteps. If I was going to splash it would be for krosan grip, don't have fight over stoneforge and then they can't counter grip. Beats all the stuff merfolk loses to... bridge, shackles, kinda helps vs painter etc etc


I'm actually thinking that this stoneforge in every deck will die down a little, at least these control decks. These u/w decks can't really beat zoo or ancient grudge. I think the rug decks are going to be played more, they have thrun troll and board in ancient grudge/red blast.

[yoshencranz]

yeah, my Ancestral Vision's experiment failed. while it was nice to draw three cards, Visions didnt affect the board position the way Standstill does for Merfolk.

Often, my opponents just dropped their threats down and I could do nothing about it if I ran out of counters or dismembers. I missed the way Standstill made my opponents change their play.

[lambert101]

my current list is:
4 Coralhelm Commander
4 Cursecatcher
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept

4 AEther Vial
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
2 Dismember
1 Echoing Truth?

12 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland

i'm thinking of bringing this to scg Baltimore and have no idea what to sideboard as my side is currently
2 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Spell Pierce
3 Submerge
2 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Energy Flux

[Sturtzilla]

As for the Stoneforge Mystic and Batterskull problem, I think a combination of Pithing Needles and Dismembers should be sufficient. I really like Needle because it can hit their Vial, Stoneforge (if you don't have an immediate Dismember), or the Batterskull itself. Each of these options can slow them down. Ideally you could kill the Stoneforge before it is active and then follow up with a needle on Batterskull.

[randomly.anonymous]

i'm thinking of bringing this to scg Baltimore and have no idea what to sideboard as my side is currently
2 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Spell Pierce
3 Submerge
2 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Energy Flux

Do you feel surgical extraction (black phyrexian mana, same effect as extirpate except without split second; sorry i don't know how to autocard) would be better in place of relic? It seems target GY hate would be more efficient with reanimator/welder more prevalent than dredge. Goyfs also see slightly less play now that SFM is considered a better creature. It also comes in for zero mana as opposed to having to invest 2 mana for relic.

[Sturtzilla]

do you feel surgical extraction would be better in place of relic?

Personally I like the option to disrupt my opponent without losing my own tempo and/or not letting my opponent know that the disruption is coming. I would suggest Tormod's Crypt, Faerie Macabre, or Surgical Extraction. These options allow you the power to slow down various types of graveyard oriented schemes, while still being able to counter or play dudes and therefore apply pressure. Relic sucks down mana that could go into a counterspell or coralhelm.

[Bahamut056]

Shadow of Doubt ;)

[Humphrey]

Dont let them play Batterskull :D

[Tacosnape]

So your solution is to spend a blue mana and a card to only allow them to search up Umezawa's Jitte and/or Sword of Fire and Ice? Seems like this will backfire. Unless you're in a metagame full of risky ANT builds and Natural Order decks as well, I'd skip this.

[TUMBLES]

Would maindeck Jitte be reasonable what with the odds of facing the mirror these days?

[kingtk3]

Would maindeck Jitte be reasonable what with the odds of facing the mirror these days?

I thought so too and last tournament I maindecked 2 Jitte (with Standstill and the classic 20 merfolk). I cannot say they performed bad, but now I've dedicated these slots to Kira since I found her more useful: assuming that Misstep is enough to protect our creatures is wrong since now there are many decks spotting removals on 2 or 3 mana (go for the throat, smother, snuff out, dismember), and Kira protects from maze of ith too.
Moreover she's a 2/2 flyer that helps putting a clock on the opponent (I feel more at ease with 22-25 creatures in this deck) and it may be useful in the mirror too since more merfolk players are using dismbember these days.

Greetings.