Quick counters revisit: Nikachu agrees with me on Spell Pierce vs. Cursecatcher. See his latest (like 2 days ago) Merfolk Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide video.
SB 4 gut shot (elves) 4 ravenous trap (hollowed one) 4 spellskite (boggles/infect aren't popular in my meta anymore. still don't want to risk not having them tho) 3 choke (out of a blue deck?!)
r1 vs Orhzov Tokens, 2-1
SB none
notes: opponent was a n00b as he complained about his bad luck drawing his cards in the wrong order.
reclamation sage destroyed his Intangible Virtue, Honor of the Pure and Legion's Landing!
r2 vs Elves, 0-2
SB +4 gut shot, -4 reclamation sage
notes: should've aggro mulled into gut shot in game 2. kept a decent hand but wasn't good enough.
r3 vs Hallowed One, 2-1
SB +4 ravenous trap, -4 deprive
notes: ravenous trap exiled 2 Faithless Looting and potentially delve.
reclamation sage killed his Hollowed One. also "vial on 3/reclamation sage" could be useful vs blood moon.
r4 vs D&T, 2-0
SB none
notes: opponent said he dreaded this matchup. felt good defeating him as i was 0-2 vs him until now.
reclamation sage reclaimed his aether vials.
summary: props to ketogluterate for posting his "Troll version" on 5/14/18. his Choke variant heavily influenced mine.
So in my last competitive league on MTGO Ive faced Jeskai control in 3 of 5 games all of them with the new Teferi Planeswalker and legendary enchantment/land that lets them search for answers.
Its a similar list to the following that they are running.
In a friendly league last week, I've faced Jeskai again twice. It seems this deck is gaining a lot of popularity and I don't know what to do...
If I play slow Teferi and the enchantment comes online and they just always have answers. If I try to race, Verdict or Wrath just clears the board.
I always Vial / Flash in creatures at end of their turn, and only if I do not have some pressure on the board already.
I've even added 2x Fairy conclave to try some more man-lands which allowed me to steal me a game, but I still feel this match-up is super hard with the new cards Jeskai got.
I'm playing Nikachu's Spell Pierce list without cursecatchers.
Anyone still find good use of Kopala 1- or 2-of maindeck?
If you're tuning for your local meta then it's up to you to determine if Kopala makes sense. If you're going to a big event, then take a look at the latest SCG events or mtgtop8. Jeskai is starting to pop up in the events I see online so it may make sense to keep one or two somewhere in the 75, but that might not be representative of what you face at your shop.
test 1 vs Hallowed One, 3-1
SB none (we agreed not to board)
test 2 vs Izzet TITI, 1-0
SB none (obv)
r1 vs Valakut, 0-2
SB none
game 1 i got grinded out of a close attrition game.
game 2 Anger of the Gods wrecked me.
r2 vs Hallowed One, 2-1 (test 1 guy)
SB +4 ravenous trap, -4 deprive
game 3 i ravenous trap'd his 'yard in response to a Bloodghast landfall trigger.
i also merfolk trickster'd his 2/2 phoenix after attacks/before blocks to remove flying, then blocked w/trickster (3/3 w/a lord in play.)
reclamation sage was good vs hallowed one, like last week.
r3 vs Esper, 2-0
SB +3 choke, -2 sea's claim, -1 spreading seas.
game 2 he tried a 4 mana white instant (path to exile all attackers.) i had the deprive and dealt lethal.
r4 vs Jund 8-Rack, 2-1
SB none
game 2 was hilarious as i kept a 1 mutavault/1 aether vial hand (going 2nd.) his turn 3 kohlagan's command killed my vial on 1. me being mana screwed is what kept my hand full and out of rack range. i lost game 2.
summary: good showing but not good enough. the valakut player 3-1's almost every week so i can't play a deck soft to his and expect to do well. back to the drawing board!
25 people in Modern tournament today, 5 rounds, no top8.
I took 4 Pierce main version, without any Deprives or Conclaves because no one has them to sell.
Beat Coco Spirits (Islandwalk hits harder than his lifegain auras), lost to Burn (lost the die roll, Guide into Eidolon without Vial; Guide into 2 Swiftspear and perfect amount of burn with Vial), beat Ponza (one of easiest matchups), Living End (4 Pierce main, never in any danger of losing) and Eldrazi Tron (Vial on 4 and 3 Waves in hand, even Ulamog wasn't enough, that moment when opp taps 10 mana and slams Ulamog instead of Ballista and you say YES!; Reej got to untap and it wasn't pretty in game 2).
4:1 for me and 5:0 for colleague playing fish.
Our opponents at the end of tournament weren't too happy and they declared more hate cards towards fish for next Sunday
I've been on MHayashi's list for a bit now, and I approve of the shift to Master of Waves. It's simply too good to not play in this metagame. I've been reasonably pleased with Chalicefolk overall; going slower isn't necessarily a bad thing when you have the proper disruption, and Chalice plus a full playset of Dismember seem to be well-positioned at the moment.
This is yearly League number 3.
In first I was first in swiss but lost in the finals at invitational to Bant Eldrazi.
In the second I also finished first in swiss, but finished eighth in the final tournament while other Merfolk guy won the whole thing over regular Tron.
This year I am tenth at the moment but there are 5 more to go, plus finals.
3 years we are crushing our store and no one is packing Assassins. Yet
Like we didn't get the memo that Merfolk is tier3.
Elves has always been hard for me to defeat (running Fish.) the SB Gut Shot go a long way tho, taking out a turn 1 Llanowar Elves/Heritage Druid, while being able to drop Vial.
Affinity is really just a match to where can I out aggro the other aggro deck? Games 2 and possibly 3 is, I need to draw sideboard hate and fast.
What does everyone else think is the bane for Merfolk in our current meta?
As a Tron player myself I can tell you this is where Spell pierce and Deprive will help you much more than sea's claim.
You switch to being proactive and Pierce Stirrings, Sylvan scrying and even Expedition map in order to deny them T3/4 Tron. Echoing Truth helps as well to get an extra turn on an OStone.
If you seem to have trouble in a heavy Tron and Affinity meta you may want to consider ceremonious rejection, which pretty much hits all the cards of both archetypes.
I find Spyglass extremely helpful vs Tron, since there is no guessing or leaving mana open for Rejection and works even if Stone resolves turn 3.
Not to mention other utility like shutting Affinity payoff card, Devoted Druid, Walkers/Azcanta, Ballista, Lantern stuff...
The combination of Rejection and Deprive have done well for me against Tron in the past, as has Spell Pierce. I've had games in which the Tron player simply never resolved a relevant spell, which makes it pretty easy to win.
Standard: Fileted By Fish (UG aggro Merfolk), A Fine Kettle of Fish (UG swarm Merfolk), The Deep Blue Sea-People II (Umidrange Merfolk/Wizards),
Greek Fire (UR Wizards), Riptide (U Tempo)
4 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Master of Waves
4 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Spreading Seas
Land
4 Mutavault
16 Island
Artifact
4 Aether Vial
4 Relic of Progenitus
4 Deprive
2 Echoing Truth
3 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dismember
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
4 botanical sanctum
4 mutavault
4 wanderwine hub
4 yavimaya coast
1 forest (path to exile, ghost quarter)
1 minamo
1 oboro
(24) creatures:
4 harbinger of the tides
4 lord of atlantis
4 master of the pearl trident
4 merfolk trickster
4 reclamation sage (did work today)
4 silvergil adept
4 aether vial
4 deprive
4 sea's claim (not enough 1 drops)
4 smuggler's coopter (reason why i don't run anything costing more than 3 mana)
1 spreading seas (still good but overloaded on 2 drops)
4 gut shot (elves)
4 ravenous trap (hollowed one)
4 spellskite (boggles/infect aren't popular in my meta anymore. still don't want to risk not having them tho)
3 choke (out of a blue deck?!)
r1 vs Orhzov Tokens, 2-1
SB none
notes: opponent was a n00b as he complained about his bad luck drawing his cards in the wrong order.
reclamation sage destroyed his Intangible Virtue, Honor of the Pure and Legion's Landing!
r2 vs Elves, 0-2
SB +4 gut shot, -4 reclamation sage
notes: should've aggro mulled into gut shot in game 2. kept a decent hand but wasn't good enough.
r3 vs Hallowed One, 2-1
SB +4 ravenous trap, -4 deprive
notes: ravenous trap exiled 2 Faithless Looting and potentially delve.
reclamation sage killed his Hollowed One. also "vial on 3/reclamation sage" could be useful vs blood moon.
r4 vs D&T, 2-0
SB none
notes: opponent said he dreaded this matchup. felt good defeating him as i was 0-2 vs him until now.
reclamation sage reclaimed his aether vials.
summary: props to ketogluterate for posting his "Troll version" on 5/14/18. his Choke variant heavily influenced mine.
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkfx2kA8gok&feature=emb_logo
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3RYiZJFCK0
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j18HlKybrm8&feature=emb_logo
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiAEzfAgpbI&t=1s
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vNr_4ubfMg&t=1s
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJcwpxraL-g&t=1s
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8MyVNLVYNw&t=1s
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-M5ffoArnY&t=1s
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_yQEBOPi_w&feature=emb_logo
extended - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLpUB9zpyr4&feature=emb_logo
Its a similar list to the following that they are running.
In a friendly league last week, I've faced Jeskai again twice. It seems this deck is gaining a lot of popularity and I don't know what to do...
If I play slow Teferi and the enchantment comes online and they just always have answers. If I try to race, Verdict or Wrath just clears the board.
I always Vial / Flash in creatures at end of their turn, and only if I do not have some pressure on the board already.
I've even added 2x Fairy conclave to try some more man-lands which allowed me to steal me a game, but I still feel this match-up is super hard with the new cards Jeskai got.
I'm playing Nikachu's Spell Pierce list without cursecatchers.
Any advise, suggestions?
If you're tuning for your local meta then it's up to you to determine if Kopala makes sense. If you're going to a big event, then take a look at the latest SCG events or mtgtop8. Jeskai is starting to pop up in the events I see online so it may make sense to keep one or two somewhere in the 75, but that might not be representative of what you face at your shop.
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
Or is it just too cute and slow?
Modern Tallowisp Spirits - A Modern Tallowisp Deck UW
Eldrazi Ninjas - Summoning Octopus Jutsu YYYYAAAHHHH!
STANDARD
Naban Wizards
His latest version is slowly approaching towards "standard" list, it seems Coralhelm got the boot.
This is his evolution: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/player/MHayashi
same 5/25/18 list
"5c Fish"
test 1 vs Hallowed One, 3-1
SB none (we agreed not to board)
test 2 vs Izzet TITI, 1-0
SB none (obv)
r1 vs Valakut, 0-2
SB none
game 1 i got grinded out of a close attrition game.
game 2 Anger of the Gods wrecked me.
r2 vs Hallowed One, 2-1 (test 1 guy)
SB +4 ravenous trap, -4 deprive
game 3 i ravenous trap'd his 'yard in response to a Bloodghast landfall trigger.
i also merfolk trickster'd his 2/2 phoenix after attacks/before blocks to remove flying, then blocked w/trickster (3/3 w/a lord in play.)
reclamation sage was good vs hallowed one, like last week.
r3 vs Esper, 2-0
SB +3 choke, -2 sea's claim, -1 spreading seas.
game 2 he tried a 4 mana white instant (path to exile all attackers.) i had the deprive and dealt lethal.
r4 vs Jund 8-Rack, 2-1
SB none
game 2 was hilarious as i kept a 1 mutavault/1 aether vial hand (going 2nd.) his turn 3 kohlagan's command killed my vial on 1. me being mana screwed is what kept my hand full and out of rack range. i lost game 2.
summary: good showing but not good enough. the valakut player 3-1's almost every week so i can't play a deck soft to his and expect to do well. back to the drawing board!
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkfx2kA8gok&feature=emb_logo
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3RYiZJFCK0
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j18HlKybrm8&feature=emb_logo
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiAEzfAgpbI&t=1s
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vNr_4ubfMg&t=1s
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJcwpxraL-g&t=1s
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8MyVNLVYNw&t=1s
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-M5ffoArnY&t=1s
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_yQEBOPi_w&feature=emb_logo
extended - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLpUB9zpyr4&feature=emb_logo
I took 4 Pierce main version, without any Deprives or Conclaves because no one has them to sell.
Beat Coco Spirits (Islandwalk hits harder than his lifegain auras), lost to Burn (lost the die roll, Guide into Eidolon without Vial; Guide into 2 Swiftspear and perfect amount of burn with Vial), beat Ponza (one of easiest matchups), Living End (4 Pierce main, never in any danger of losing) and Eldrazi Tron (Vial on 4 and 3 Waves in hand, even Ulamog wasn't enough, that moment when opp taps 10 mana and slams Ulamog instead of Ballista and you say YES!; Reej got to untap and it wasn't pretty in game 2).
4:1 for me and 5:0 for colleague playing fish.
Our opponents at the end of tournament weren't too happy and they declared more hate cards towards fish for next Sunday
BRING IT!
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Calling it: you guys will start seeing Merfolk Assassins in ppl's sideboard
In first I was first in swiss but lost in the finals at invitational to Bant Eldrazi.
In the second I also finished first in swiss, but finished eighth in the final tournament while other Merfolk guy won the whole thing over regular Tron.
This year I am tenth at the moment but there are 5 more to go, plus finals.
3 years we are crushing our store and no one is packing Assassins. Yet
Like we didn't get the memo that Merfolk is tier3.
Only thing about Tron that annoys me is three cards: Ancient Stirrings, Oblivion Stone, and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Ancient Stirrings is honestly what makes the deck hard to deal with. The can find their answers to our board too quickly. Sure, I run 4 sideboard Sea's Claim but usually is not enough to deal with.
Affinity is really just a match to where can I out aggro the other aggro deck? Games 2 and possibly 3 is, I need to draw sideboard hate and fast.
What does everyone else think is the bane for Merfolk in our current meta?
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkfx2kA8gok&feature=emb_logo
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3RYiZJFCK0
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j18HlKybrm8&feature=emb_logo
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiAEzfAgpbI&t=1s
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vNr_4ubfMg&t=1s
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJcwpxraL-g&t=1s
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8MyVNLVYNw&t=1s
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-M5ffoArnY&t=1s
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_yQEBOPi_w&feature=emb_logo
extended - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLpUB9zpyr4&feature=emb_logo
As a Tron player myself I can tell you this is where Spell pierce and Deprive will help you much more than sea's claim.
You switch to being proactive and Pierce Stirrings, Sylvan scrying and even Expedition map in order to deny them T3/4 Tron. Echoing Truth helps as well to get an extra turn on an OStone.
If you seem to have trouble in a heavy Tron and Affinity meta you may want to consider ceremonious rejection, which pretty much hits all the cards of both archetypes.
Not to mention other utility like shutting Affinity payoff card, Devoted Druid, Walkers/Azcanta, Ballista, Lantern stuff...
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers: