Merfolk by Gregory Hatch, 7-1 record at the SCG Invitational in Las Vegas
20 Land
12 Island
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
29 Creatures
3 Cosi's Trickster
4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
3 Merrow Reejerey
3 Phantasmal Image
4 Silvergill Adept
4 True-Name Nemesis
11 Spells
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Aether Vial
15 Sideboard
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Spell Pierce
3 Submerge
4 Swan Song
1 Vision Charm
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
He cuts Wasteland. New additions include TNN and Cosi's Trickster.
Originally Posted by Koby
Follow me on Twitter @RaNDoMxGeSTuReS
I'm already testing that list. Won 2-0 (both) against my brother with Jund and Maverick. :)
However I feel really naked without Wasteland...
I indeed also thought about playing without wastelands the last days but didn't test it so far.
Today, I made top8 at a GPT here in Germany (61 Players) with this list:
3 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
3 Phantasmal Image
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 True-Name Nemesis
3 Merrow Reejerey
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Aether Vial
2 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Wasteland
4 Mutavault
13 Island
Sideboard
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Spell Pearce
3 Flusterstorm
2 Submerge
3 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
2 Null Rod
I went 4-0-2. Yes, 4 wins and 2 draws (against Team America and Maverick) in the swiss. After that, I lost the quarter finals against Maverick (the opponent, I played against 1st round and drew).
At the Moment, I feel very comfortable with this list and the sidebard always is metacall. The maindeack jitte was insane btw.
Just got back from a local tournament and got into top 8 with a 3-1-1 record (technically 4-1 but me and my opponent drew pending the result of another match to determine that we both got in.
Here is the list I ran.
12x Islands
4x Wastelands
3 Mutavault
4x Curse Catcher
4x Silvergill Adept
4x Lord of Atlantis
4x Master of the Pearl trident
4x Merrow Rejeery
2x Phantasmal Image
4x Force of will
4x Daze
3x Divert
3x Ponder
1x Dismember
4x Aether Vile
Side:
3x Relic of Progenetus
3x Spell pierce
2x Submerge
2x Master of Waves
2x Tidebinder Mage
2x Jitte
1x Dismember
Round 1: Clifford on Bug 2-1
Round 2: (forgot the players names) on UBGW something 2-0
Round 3: UWR Delver l1-2
Round 4: Storm 2-1
Round 5: BUG 2-1 (intentional Draw)
Round 1 of Top 8
Mike on UW Miracles 1-2
Game three of this round I took a gamble keeping a hand with a wasteland and vile and didn't expect to see needle. I paid for the gamble with a loss. Oh well, live and learn.
Divert was insane all day sending Abrupt Decays back at my opponents was really fun.
Phantasmal Image on True-Name Nemesis was an awesome play.
I have made some changes like switching Mutavault out with Cavern of Souls. I don't like being stuck under Counterbalance.
Sorry for the lack of details, I will try to remember and update later.
Last edited by Jankwolf; 12-15-2013 at 10:03 PM. Reason: updating decklist
Your forgot to list your TNN in the deck.
But I think the math will let us figure it out.
Thanks for sharing as this is the kind of stuff that all helps and adds up over time.
Cheers and Congrats
I forgot the 4 Aether Viles in the list. I do not run TNN. I played against several decks containing then and I raced them all day. If your opponent has TNN, all you have to remember is DO NOT PLAY LORD OF ATLANTIS. No point in giving them extra points of damage. I do believe the time for using Mutavault is over. Sure, it's great if you run Standstill. I'd rather run CoS over it. There are several reasons why. One, I like my fish resolving. Two, a hand with Wasteland and Mutavault as your only lands isn't a good keep. Where as Wasteland and CoS is better keep. Oh! and it makes sure TNN (if you run them) resolves.
just a few thoughts..
I am with you Jankwolf, TNN is not necessary in Merfolk. TNN is great against fair decks, but if they play islands, your lords do almost the same thing anyway. However, TNN is just bad against combo, and truth be told, the whole reason I started playing Merfolk in the first place was because I was tired of losing to combo, especially since I tend to get paired against combo a lot.
For example, out of 9 rounds in Legacy champs, I got paired with combo in 6 of those rounds. I beat 5 of those combo decks (the one I lost to was Reanimator, which is one of the only bad combo matchups), and I usually won exactly 1 turn before I would have lost, and usually with only a few points of damage to spare.
Bottom line, I like beating combo, and TNN does not help that. If I want to beat fair non-blue decks, I will probably play another deck.
Interesting lists and discussions! Congratulations on your results!
Wasteland vs. Cavern of Souls vs. Mutavault: I've found 13 island is perfect. I don't need any other blue source to hit UU, this seems to do it. Or, if I don't hit UU, I'll hit 1U and have a vial. And hitting 1UU isn't hard at all. 12 is too few, 13 seems perfect. That leaves 7 core land spots.
I just don't see the benefit of CoS. My Merfolk are so rarely countered. Most of our opponents sidebaord out their counters against us, and the only counters most people run that would hit our fishies are FOW's. Wasteland has been amazing for me, as long as I don't just use it because I have it. Sometimes, you don't pop it. Sometimes you do. Mutavault is also awesome, and while we've ditched Standstill, it is another creature (that when pumped, gets big!) blocks affinity, blocks piledriver and gets around mass removal. Vs. miracles you can Phantasmal Image it. Also, the 2cc slot is the hardest for Counterbalance to deal with, and Mutavault is something they can't do much about. I'd rather power up my worse match-ups, than make Miracles better.
TNN vs. No TNN: I think TNN is amazing and he makes our worst match-ups better. 8 Lords would be too few, but because we've gone back to MDing PI, it is OK. He has almost always been MVP when I've played him. His synergies in this deck are amazing. If we didn't have PI, it'd be more a toss-up. Yeah he doesn't beat combo, but we've added value to our decks against combo by running PI that balances out against dropping Reejery. And it makes us stronger because PI comes out a turn faster, and can draw us cards, and copy their Emrakul's, etc.
I'm unconvinced on the trickster, but it worked out for him! I think that if someone ever decided to run a brainstorm Merfolk that they should very much consider him. The trend to 3 Cursecatchers is interesting. I really like the following plays:
T1: Vial
T2: Cursecatcher (vial) and Silvergill (hard casted_
T3: Lord (hardcasted) and Lord (vialed) with mana open for utility
Cursecatcher and Silvergill swing for 7. The board then swings for 13 T4, i.e. lethal. Take out 1 cursecatcher and these nut draws go down in frequency. Phantasmal Image makes these nut draws happen much more.
Mainboard Jitte: Awesome but less awesome depending on your meta. I only like playing it when I can cast and equip at the same time, or I have nothing else to cast. So usually I only cast when I hit 4 mana. That could be the wrong decision, but usually I'd prefer to cast a lord. Right now, I'm testing Kira in the Jitte slot MD, and moving the Jittes to the side.
On the attack, I agree. I think where TNN can really shine is as an indestructable blocker that's very likely big enough to kill whatever it blocks.
For fun, I've been toying with a brainstorm version of this deck. The goal is to brainstorm LATER in the piece, once we've run out of gas and have started top decking land:
4 x Cursecatcher
4 x Silvergill Adept
4 x Lord of Atlantis
4 x Master of Pearl Trident
4 x Phantasmal Image
4 x True-Name Nemesis
4 x Aether Vial
4 x Brainstorm
4 x Force of Will
3 x Daze
1 x Spell Pierce
4 x Misty Rainforest
3 x Scalding Tarn
4 x Wasteland
6 x Islands - arguably, we could run 10 islands if you're worried about Blood Moon.
Sideboard:
2 x Grafdiggers Cage
1 x Tormad's Crypt
2 x Jitte
3 x Dismember
2 x Carry Away (unbelievably debatable)
1 x Vendilion Clique
4 x Other flexi spots... sideboard up for total debate
Also, just chucking this out there: might Preordain be a better decision over Ponder, since we lack shuffling effects? Kind of sucks if the first 3 cards have 1 good card and 2 bad cards. We preordain, we could see the top 2 are bad, bin them, and then draw the good one. Or, we could we one bad, one good, and at least get to bin one of the bad ones and draw the good one. Sure, we'll have another bad card to draw, but we'll have cut out bad draws down by one.
Cosi's Trickster gets counters only when your opponent shuffles. This list is interesting... I have no idea how Cosi's Trickster actually plays out in matches, not really sure about that. It makes sense to run cavern instead of wasteland if you're running 4 True-Names, you need all the mana you can get. Do we really need 4 True-Names maindeck, with 4 Merrow Reejerey? I guess the addition of extra 1 drops and cutting of Standstill might make up for it...
It's interesting that he cut an Aether Vial instead of a Daze. I don't remember the last time I've seen a merfolk list with only 3 vials. I recently cut to 3 Daze and think it's the correct play, but I am running two spell pierce and wastelands. Also the Vision Charm is really intriguing to me... Being both a way to deal with Batterskull and also a nice trick against non-blue decks to get a surprise unblockable swing. I'm definitely going to try one in my sideboard. That or Sapphire Charm.
I understand with the 4 caverns, but I'd swap out the Mutavault for Wasteland, and minimize the caverns. I don't think that 4 are necessary and have found 13 islands sufficient, but I could see running 12-13 Islands, 1-2 Cavern, 2 Mutvaults and 4 Wastelands to be on the safe side.
Cutting vial seems like a mistake to me, even if he won. Definitely cut the daze. I've cut to 3 and don't miss it at all. I always want to draw vial and am sad when I don't!
I also don't think that 4 Merrow Reejery is necessary at all. When I hit 3 mana, with 4 x 3cc drops in the deck, I always want to be playing a TNN and not a Reejery from experience.
I've thought about why: if I'm not being competely ravaged by removal, then I don't want to be playing Reejery. I want to be playing a 2cc spell and attacking with Mutavault and/or Wastelanding them to death with the extra mana. With Phantasmal Image, we have enough 2cc threats to keep us happy. Against a deck with little removal like combo, we probably never want to play a 3cc spell.
But against a deck with removal, we need an answer when they've destroyed our alpha strike to regain board position. That is when I'm really happy to have TNN and am eager to play it as my 3cc. We can rebuild much faster with a TNN out, especially when we can draw into a PI and copy it. That is why I liked the idea of brainstorm Merfolk: it let us recover later. The problem though is even if we can fit in 4 brainstorm we can't use it effectively because our land is tight and we play it all, so we'll need to crack our fetchlands sooner rather than later, when is when we would want to be playing brainstorm.
@Windmill: BS has never worked for me. Sometimes is great, others you have 2 in hand and don't want to waste them but at the same time you don't have treats... If you want library manipulation I would recommend you Ponder, however I think lists are already too tight.
I don't know how many Reejerey's are needed. However, Cursecatcher and Silvergill are a joke if you don't have 1-2 lords at least. If I weren't running any Reejerys I may even consider cutting some number of Cursecatchers. If he was good only for it's ability it would see play in Canadian, UWR,... He is good because we have lords, without them it doesn't make any sense to me be running 1/1 for U, 2/1 for 1U, and Mutavault. In that sense, I think Gregory Hatch's list is interesting. Running more mana sources and cutting Wasteland, which is good but slows us down, he is able to run more 3 drops, and can cast them on turn 3 more often. That also justifies Cosi's trickster, which can be a 3/3-4/4 in most matches.
I'm not saying this is the way to go, just my thoughts. I tested that list and got flooded in some games, I also think daze loses a lot of value without Wasteland.
I may consider this land configuration 3 Wastes, 3 Mutas, 2 Cavern and 12 Islands. Even cutting one more Muta for an extra Cavern, however, as I exposed, we can't follow the same plan (Landing 3-drops on turn 3).
What? I think that's a huge mistake. I don't care if my opponent's TNN gets +1/+1, he won't be able to block my creatures. I'll take that extra damage for the unblockeablity.
PD: Anyone has tried Thassa with success? I have had great results with her, but I find no room to include 1-2 copies.
In those situations when we're at top deck (Don't say that never happen's, Vial, Fow, even Curscecatcher are all card disadvantage) and you draw an Island/Daze/Vial, don't you see who her makes the diference?
You may say Run Ponder instead. Ponder doesn't make our creatures unblockeable, only last for a turn (You may say you see cards for 2 turns, but I can say the opposite, you get stuck with those cards for 2 turns), It's an eternal blocker (Tarmogoyf, Batterskull...)
Why doesn't she get more love?
I am playing one copy in modern uw merfolk deck. She is fantastic there, or at least my results are, so she will stay as a one of.
I have to try and find one slot for legacy.
I think we do have 4 flexi spots. -4 Reejery gives us 4 flexi spots. I pretty much never want to play him. Yes Cursecatcher gets rather sad without a pump (though Silvergill Adept is more than reasonable). But if I'm having to pump it at T3 it is frankly too late. And again, I usually need a really good reason to not want to use my wasteland on T3 instead. Reejery just doesn't do it for me. I'd rather something that made my early game when I've got a maximum of 2 mana available better, and that could help me recover late game. This is my personal base build in Merfolk right now:
4 x Cursecatcher
4 x Silvergill Adept
4 x Lord of Atlantis
4 x Master of Pearl Trident
4 x Phantasmal Image
4 x True-Name Nemesis
4 x Aether Vial
4 x Force of Will
3-4 x Daze
0-1 x Spell Pierce (8 MD counters basically)
Some good fillers for the 4 flexi spots (I think) are:
- Dismember
- Jitte
- Ponder
- More counters
- Preordain (I do think this is better than ponder)
- Sygg River Cutthroat (I think this is worth a try)
- Kira
- Thassa
I guess my problem with Thassa is she seems like a win-more card. It match-ups where I have that many Merfolk out on the field, I am already winning. On match-ups where I am not, she is a 3cc scry 1 a turn, with an unblockable ability that probably won't do much. In matches we are winning-more by that much, I would rather play Sygg and draw a card each turn instead, and have him come down a turn earlier.
Now: I'm going to test dropping my single spell pierce in the MD for my meta and open up 5 flexi spots. I am debating between:
3 x Sygg + 2 x Dismember
4 x Preordain + 1 x Dismember
3 x Preordain + 2 x Dismember
I just want to improve my card advantage. I also want dismembers MD, because they are amazing. I like the idea of Sygg because he is a warm body that can be vialed, but he is conditional. In games where I draw a vial, I want him. In games I don't draw a vial, I don't want him because I need to be dropping lord-lord-lord. Preordain is a one-off card. It is nice but I'm not sure it does quite enough power. But it being 1 mana works nicely with daze, because whenever I daze T1 I always am sad because I usually lack something to play the next turn. Preordain helps fix that.
Someone doesn't agree with my taking out LoA when facing a TNN deck? Go ahead and try it out before knocking it. Not like I didn't face 2 TNN decks when I topped at our local store. If you don't get master then just Phantasmal image their TNN and continue. Problem solves itself. I do not agree with giving it an extra advantage with LoA. Once TNN hits field we can't remove it or slow it down. Hence why I gave the suggestion to just race it. I mean letting them have the +1 may not seem like much in the short run but it does add up.
Played last night and went 4-0 with Sygg in the main. In limited testing he has proven himself useful. People I found where more likely to make unprofitable trades when they risked me drawing otherwise. He is a strong card in a non combo meta. If combo shows up again Standstill goes right back in his spot.
Also who here runs Chill in their side? I have it as a 2 of and it wins me a fair few games.
It is better to ask and look stupid then keep your mouth shut and remain so.
I hope your afterlife is filled with eternal torment.
Fuck. Which one of my quotes do I drop for this?
I've thought about this a bit. It depends on whether we get to attack first and ours/their board position. If we play TNN + LoA, then we get to attack for 6 a turn, in theory. And even if LoA will get blocked, the turn it drops we get to hit for 4 first. They will have probably spent at least 1 life to search for land too. So we will win the race, it makes sense for us to drop it. If they have 2 TNNs, then no.
If they have equipment on their TNN and we only have a LoA and a TNN, then it will be GG soon enough if we don't do something, fast. The only scary thing about an opposing TNN is when they equip it up.
Thanks for this report. Can you please give your list? I'd also appreciate more information on your match-ups if you wouldn't mind! Chill could be decent in the right meta, but I don't know if I'd use it against many decks. If it is to combat cheap red removal, Kira would be more flexible because it combats white removal too, which I think we are going to see a shift towards because of Stoneforge Mystic. Just looking at it, I'm amused thinking about how Goblins would react to it!
List:
Match one: RDW'sCretures:
4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Silvergill Adept
3 Sygg, River Cutthroat
4 Merrow Reejerey
3 True-Name Nemesis
Spells:
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
2 Dismember
Artifact
4 Ęther Vial
Land
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland
12 Island
Sideboard
3 Flusterstorm
2 Chill
1 Tidebinder Mage
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 True-Name Nemesis
4 Relic of Progenitus
2 Umezawa's Jitte
Game one: I do not remember a lot of the first game, only that Wasteland saved me. He had some nonbasics and the chance to drop a vial and then keep him off his mana gave me the speed I needed to win. I dropped Sygg followed by TNN. From that point on I was drawing on my turn and his when he damaged both of us with some of his cards. Seamed he had run out of cards he could target creatures with and only could hit me.
-4 Daze
+2 Chill
+2 Jitte
Game two: Chill, that is really all I need to say here. (Just a note, the reason I did not bring in Kira is that I felt I just had more threats than he could answer with spells and if he was going to turn them onto my creatures I was happy for the life I did not lose myself)
Match two: Reanimator
Game one:I sit down across from someone that knows I play goblins. I look at my opening hand and see no blue mana but I have Vial, Waste, Vault and a clock. I run out Waste and Vial to fake a Goblin deck. He sits there for a long time trying to guess what one of my tow decks this could be and decides to play slow. Land go. It worked out in my favour as I draw into more counters in the form of Cursecatcher. That gives the game away but it does not matter since he has to fetch basics and slows himself down by doing so.
-3 TNN
-4 Reejerey
+3 Flusterstorm
+4 Relic
Match two: I start with a clock and the worlds largest supply of Countermagic. (I am opening a store next week) Issue is, he just had more cards I needed to counter than counters. The discard he brought in did not help me much either since he took my clock and left me with the counters.
No changes
Match three: I do not remember much of this save that I was probed when I had nothing left save a Cursecatcher, I toped a Daze and won off the back of the Daze he did not plan for. He dropped a Brand and had me dead to rights but I have Lord out, topped another one and two Vaults took me home. I killed him the turn before I should have died and he never got to use brand thanks to the pressure I had put on him in the early game.
Match three: Aggro Loam (This is still a deck?)
This game Sygg shined more than any other, the longer match where counters did not matter as much meant that he really dug the knife in and twisted it.
Game one: I had no idea what I am against, I see Green, Black and White before I pound him into the dirt. The thing about game one was that I really just did not see anything until he hit Loam. At that point he started trying to apply pressure but he lost his best chance when Knight was Dredged away.
-4 Daze
-4 Force
+4 Relic
+1 TNN
+1 Tidebinder
+2 Jitte
Game two: This one was very tough. This is where Sygg did his thing. I did not see TNN at all and endded up setting up a board with Sygg, two lords and attacking with Vaults. Then he tops a EE so I am unable to use my Vaults. He smashes face until I find another Lord, I attack with a Lord and Curse, he starts taking trades that he can not replace to stop me drawing. It does not work as I find Relic and ride it all the way to the bank.
Match four: One-Land Belcher.
Game one: I die turn one after I lose the roll. At lest I know what I am looking at now.
-3 TNN
-4 Vial
+3 Flusterstorm
+2 Chill
+2 Jitte
(Can you spot the mistake I made?)
Game two: I look at my opening hand, I am on the play so I mull over it a while and go for it. I have a clock, mana, Chill and no counters. I risk him having a turn one win to drop my turn two Chill. He does not have the combo, I drop Chill and lock him out. (He said when it hit the table "Am I dead yet?) The highlight of this game was drawing both my Dismember and wondering why one earth I kept them in.
-2 Didmrmber
+2 Relic (To draw a card if needed)
Last game: We both mull to 5. I remember my hand very well.
Island
Force
Force
Jitte
Lord
A keeper to me. I draw an Island and lead off with one. He does nothing turn one. I then draw another Lord and decide it is better to keep the two forces active so I run out the Jitte. I draw a Cure, drop a Lord and then the turn after Equip and attack. He tries to Combo off, I Force the Betcher, the next turn he tries to Burning Wish and I Force again. Game.
Thoughts.
Sygg: In the fair matches (RDW and Loam) he shined. I even got some cards out of him in the reanimator match. Loam though is where he really showed me what he can do. I did not think about the threat he himself is but I watched as spells where used to stop damage going over 3 and blocks where made to stop me as well. The bad with him though is sometimes you just want more damage. He really does not offer it. I will say this though, his health made him Bolt resistant once I had any Lord out, this alone saved me in both Loam and RDW's
2x Main Dismember: This is a choice against blade. I was expecting to see Stoneforge but she did not appear. I do not regret the choice though as I feel that in some testing games early in the night, people would side in Pro Blue Creatures and I would have an answer early. I suggest giving them a look.
Jitte in the side: Four mana to get this online is just too slow. Useful in some games, dead in others.
No Phantasmal Image: I like this card, I just like all my other options more.
Only 8 Maindeck Counters: This hurt, I will look at changing this back to 10.
Anyway, if you have any questions fire away, I will be on a mobile though so I will likely only be able to give short responses.
Last edited by Dice_Box; 12-18-2013 at 09:29 AM.
It is better to ask and look stupid then keep your mouth shut and remain so.
I hope your afterlife is filled with eternal torment.
Fuck. Which one of my quotes do I drop for this?
@Jankwolf
Really, I completely fail to see how giving +1/+1 to one creature can be compared to making our creatures unblockeable and also giving +1/+1 to them. If you can't islandwalk you'd still be losing to a 3/1 that would kill your creatures one by one. Against any blue matchup you are the aggro deck, just take all the damage until you are at 1 life.
Hi, thanks for sharing the report and the list. I have some questions.
1. I'm definately going to test Syyg (I had done it before, but only before TNN was printed, and I can see how Sygg beneficts from him). Was him a good card in spite your board position, or did you had to adapt your gameplan to gain value from him? Don't you feel 3 copies may be too much?
2. I think cutting completely Phantasmal Image is a mistake. TNN + Image is very powerfull. Image + Silvergill is powerfull too. Image + Stoneforge, Image + Lords, Image + Enemy TNN, Image + Marit lage token, Image + Annoying flying dudes (Serra Avenger/Vendilion, Delver), Imagen + Reanimator/S&T targets... I'd never run less than 3, never ever. Don't you think you could cut 1-2 Reejerey and/or 1 Sygg to make room for some? They seem to be in a higer power level.
3. Wasn't the mana base a problem? Many of us have cut a Waste/Muta to run 13 Islands. You're running 12 and more UU costs (3x Sygg)
Thank you again and congratulations on you result!
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