Because of mana reasons I believe it's better to have the Aethersphere in the main deck, it also combines well with Night Market Lookout, giving it an use after he can't attack any longer.
Against what do you sb in the Pia Naalar? what would you take out of the sideboard in order to add some Ferocidons?
I find the matches against control to be practically a bye, I think I havent lost a single match against UW, UB or Grixis out of some 20 I have played.
Temur feels around 50-50 just as Sultai. I believe I have been doing my sb wrong in these matches so far. I feel like Bontu's Reckoning usually gives the match.
Worst much without any doubt is Abzan tokens, just very, very tough to win even with duress.
I don't know about Unlicensed, I like the 3 damage part.
Well that was quick. I changed to Black with white sideboard splash and got a 5-0 in a competitive league tonight! =) Defeated UW control, Taxes, Ad Nauseam, Burn and Storm.
How well do the bridges combine with smallpox? what's your sideboard?
How's the match of this deck vs eldrazi tron?
I have been trying a mono black list on modo (Tom Ross one) seem to gain first game and then end up losing the match. UW's control planeswalkers are a huge pain.
I agree about the Queller list not being good enough. To me it works as a subpar burn deck in which you simply don't have enough burn spells. Not to mention Queller is extremely weak in this strategy.
I think the problem is that there's so many cards you would want to put in merfolk's sb at the moment, that there's no space for him. Vendilion will be better most of the times.
Sideboard:
2 Tidebinder Mage (added him for the local meta)
3 Gutshot
2 Negate
3 Dispel
1 Kira, Great Glass Keeper
4 Relic of Progenitus
First match: GB Infect
I played this deck for a while last year after it had put some good results in MODO. The deck sacrifices the speed of UG infect for some attrition in the form of IoK and Thoughtseize. Back then Fatal Push had not been printed and as such there was much more Path to Exile in the metagame. The deck is still fun to play though I don't consider it strong enough. Its pilot has to deal a lot of damage to himself in order to land a Phyrexian Crusader soon.
I won the die roll, choosing to play. Started with an aether vial, as soon as I saw that his first play was catacombs into overgrown tomb and then infect elf, I knew it was this deck. First game was very easy for me, two harbinger of the tides kept everything controlled.
I had to do mulligan to 4 in the second game as I didn't have a single land with previous hands, I kept 2 Dismember, one gut shot and one tidebinder mage. He landed a quick Key to the city and an elf. I managed to win as being sincere, he didn't know to play the deck and forgot all the time about the key's ability, choosing instead to flood himself. Gutshot and Tidebinder were brilliant.
Sideboard: -4 Aerther Vial -1 Smuggler's Copter -1 Master of Waves
+2 Tidebinder Mage +1 Kira +3 Gutshot
Match 2: Eldazi Tron 2-1
First game a couple of dismembers helped me control a thought-knot seer and an endbringer. A couple of reejerys along with an adept were enough to seal the game. I was kinda worried for the rest of the match as I had chosen not to play ceremonious rejection and now I thought it might play against me. I could only sb in 2 Negate and take out 2 Master of Waves (dies to Ballista and Dismember) In the second game he landed two Matter Reshaper, and a Reality Smasher, Dismember came out too late, and a ratchet bomb made sure I wasn't able to do much damage.
Third game I started with Vial, a couple of reejereys overwhelmed him and his bomb didn't have enough counters to kill them (choosing instead to take away my only cc2 Adept) 2 Mutavaults and the Merrows killed him.
SB: -2 Master of Waves +2 Negate
Match 3: Naya Knight, Aggro 2-0
Fairly easy match. In first game a couple of spreading seas made sure he didn't have full access to exploit his mana while Dismember handled a Tarmo and a Knight. Game two he started with Birds which died to my sb Gutshot, second turn landing Scavenging Oooze and third turn cc3 Thalia. Luckily I had a couple of basics in my hand. Harbinger of the Tides and the sideboard star Tidebinder Mage helped me stabilize by either bouncing his creatures or keeping them tapped and finally win some turns later when Lords came down. A couple of dispels kept me protected from bolts and paths.
SB: +3 Gutshot +2 Tidebinder Mage +3 Dispel +1 Kira
-3 Master of Waves -4 Aether Vial -2 Smuggler's Copter
Match 4: Dark Moon 2-0 (Red Black control)
He started with a Thoughtseize discarding an Aether vial (big mistake) in his second turn plays a confidant that dies to Dismember. Things got appareantly complicated after he landed in his third turn the Goblin that puts 1/1 tokens during combat and that he gets himself +X+0 for every other attacking Goblin. I drew two Harbingers to bounce twice this Goblin, and some turns later drew a third one just in time to bounce a Demigod when he played it. Despite his fatal pushes and terminates, Mutavaults survived for long and dealt a lot of damage. By the time he played Blood Moon he no longer had removal in his hand and I had in play some other merfolks.
Game two I curve out perfectly, and caring very little about his Magus of the Moon. I coulld have played Master of Waves in fourth turn but choose instead to wait until the fifth (for landing before an extra cursecatcher) The cursecatcher served as bodyguards for Master and his tokens when he tried to play Damnation.
Took the artifacts out because of Kolaghan's Command.
By now I could perfectly draw the fifth and sixth match without issues, but my two possible opponents ended up 1-1 because of time. So I had to play the 5th round.
Grixis Shadow 0-2
Not much to say about this match. First game he started killing my fish since turn 1, played Tasigur in second turn and thereafter it seemed to me he always had Fatal Push, Terminate, Bolt or Snappy. In second game I had to mulligan to 5, drew the 2nd land 5 draws later and by then even though I had killed two shadows with Dismember and bounced an Angler with Harbinger, I was very low in life and a Snappy flashbacking bolt killed me.
-4 Aether Vial -2 Smuggler's Copter -2 Spreading Seas
+1 Kira +3 Dispel +4 Relic of Progenitus
Sixth round I was paired against the eventual winner (that was also playing Merfolk) both his and mine record were 4-1-0, as such we decided to draw and go for a drink to prepare for t8.
Top 8 was:
Grixis Shadow
RB Dark Moon
Merfolk
Merfolk
Burn
Titan Scapeshift
RG Classic Tron
Esper Shadow
I was paired against TitanScapeshift. And just as the previous match against Eldrazi Tron I was a bit worried as I had too little sb for this match by not playing Unified Will.
Quarter final vs TitanScapeshift: 2-0
Thanks to Aether Vial I had enough speed to beat him despite his 5th turn Titan. Game two I had a couple of negates all along to protect myself from through the breach/anger of the gods and scapeshift. A couple of Tidebinder mages were the stars here as they tapped a Baloth and a Titan. Spreading Seas took care of the Valakut he got with the Titan.
SB: +2 Tidebinder Mage +2 Negate +1 Kira
-3 Master of Waves -1 Dismember -1 Harbinger of the Tides
Semifinal vs Grixis Shadow: 2-0
Paired against the opponent to which I lost in the Swiss round. This time around he didn't get an early delve creature and not enough removal to handle all the fish coming his way. In second game I mulligan to 6 and keep a decent hand but with only one land. It's considered risky, but I'm on the draw, playing against a deck with discard spells and I have access to a scry, so I decide to keep. He didn't get a black source despite playing a couple of serum visions and thoughtscour, while on the other hand I drew the lands that I needed and defeated him with ease.
SB: (See swiss round vs Grixis Shadow)
Final vs Merfolk: 1-2
My opponent is a guy that has been playing Merfolk since very recently. He is a good player but commits his fair share of mistakes with this deck.
First game I curve out perfectly and play spreading seas on one of his mutavaults, enough damage to win by turn 5th. In the second game I also have a good hand (only problem being that I only have one Lord, and that's a Lord of Atlantis) During this game I gutshot a Silvergil Adept and dismember one Reejerey, however he vials Harbinger of the Tides during two separate opportunities reducing my attacks, slowing me down while also playing a Master of the Pearl Trident. I could only play lord of Atlantis late during the game because otherwise he would have killed me quicker. Despite playing a Master of Waves, the Master of the Pearl Trident ends up being too much to handle and I lose while leaving him at 1!
Third game was completely decided through luck/fate, however you want to call him. I had to mulligan twice because both of my previous hands had no lands. He keeps his seven. I was later told that he had kept a terrible hand of 5 islands, one cursecatcher and one Harbinger lol. Despite the odds I manage to stabilize through Silvergirl Adept, but he starts topdecking very well. Cursecatcher, Silvergil Adept, Harbinger, Master of Pearl Trident, and finally a Master of Waves. I didn't get a dismember nor enough damage to kill him, and that's it "GG".
SB: -2 Lord of Atlantis -2 Spreading Seas
+ 3 Gutshot +1 Kira
In conclusion it was Merfolks day. There were 3 merfolk decks at the tournament of which 2 got to the finals. The other one was handled by a bad player with a bad UW build that had Hallowed Fountain. I do not think lightning strikes twice, and I also believe that part of Merfolks success yesterday was because there wasnt a single Affinity. So I even though I like the deck, I think I will give him a break for upcoming events.
What would I change?
I think Smuggler's Copter is an excellent card, but there's too much Kolaghan's Command in the metagame right now. I would put 2 Kira in the main, cut the copters and because of this I would remove one land (wanderwine hub) for the fourth Master of Waves.
I think the sideboard needs Unified Will, otherwise the match against tron and scapeshift like decks getting angsty.
Against what do you sb in the Pia Naalar? what would you take out of the sideboard in order to add some Ferocidons?
I find the matches against control to be practically a bye, I think I havent lost a single match against UW, UB or Grixis out of some 20 I have played.
Temur feels around 50-50 just as Sultai. I believe I have been doing my sb wrong in these matches so far. I feel like Bontu's Reckoning usually gives the match.
Worst much without any doubt is Abzan tokens, just very, very tough to win even with duress.
I don't know about Unlicensed, I like the 3 damage part.
How's the match of this deck vs eldrazi tron?
I have been trying a mono black list on modo (Tom Ross one) seem to gain first game and then end up losing the match. UW's control planeswalkers are a huge pain.
I agree about the Queller list not being good enough. To me it works as a subpar burn deck in which you simply don't have enough burn spells. Not to mention Queller is extremely weak in this strategy.
My list:
Lands: 20
11 Island
4 Mutavault
2 Wnadwerine Hub
1 Minamo
1 Oboro
1 Cavern of Souls
Creatures: 26
4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergil Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of Pearl Trident
3 Merrow Reejerey
3 Master of Waves
4 Harbinger of the Tides
Spells: 14
2 Smuggler's Copter
4 Aether Vial
4 Spreading Seas
4 Dismember
Sideboard:
2 Tidebinder Mage (added him for the local meta)
3 Gutshot
2 Negate
3 Dispel
1 Kira, Great Glass Keeper
4 Relic of Progenitus
First match: GB Infect
I played this deck for a while last year after it had put some good results in MODO. The deck sacrifices the speed of UG infect for some attrition in the form of IoK and Thoughtseize. Back then Fatal Push had not been printed and as such there was much more Path to Exile in the metagame. The deck is still fun to play though I don't consider it strong enough. Its pilot has to deal a lot of damage to himself in order to land a Phyrexian Crusader soon.
I won the die roll, choosing to play. Started with an aether vial, as soon as I saw that his first play was catacombs into overgrown tomb and then infect elf, I knew it was this deck. First game was very easy for me, two harbinger of the tides kept everything controlled.
I had to do mulligan to 4 in the second game as I didn't have a single land with previous hands, I kept 2 Dismember, one gut shot and one tidebinder mage. He landed a quick Key to the city and an elf. I managed to win as being sincere, he didn't know to play the deck and forgot all the time about the key's ability, choosing instead to flood himself. Gutshot and Tidebinder were brilliant.
Sideboard: -4 Aerther Vial -1 Smuggler's Copter -1 Master of Waves
+2 Tidebinder Mage +1 Kira +3 Gutshot
Match 2: Eldazi Tron 2-1
First game a couple of dismembers helped me control a thought-knot seer and an endbringer. A couple of reejerys along with an adept were enough to seal the game. I was kinda worried for the rest of the match as I had chosen not to play ceremonious rejection and now I thought it might play against me. I could only sb in 2 Negate and take out 2 Master of Waves (dies to Ballista and Dismember) In the second game he landed two Matter Reshaper, and a Reality Smasher, Dismember came out too late, and a ratchet bomb made sure I wasn't able to do much damage.
Third game I started with Vial, a couple of reejereys overwhelmed him and his bomb didn't have enough counters to kill them (choosing instead to take away my only cc2 Adept) 2 Mutavaults and the Merrows killed him.
SB: -2 Master of Waves +2 Negate
Match 3: Naya Knight, Aggro 2-0
Fairly easy match. In first game a couple of spreading seas made sure he didn't have full access to exploit his mana while Dismember handled a Tarmo and a Knight. Game two he started with Birds which died to my sb Gutshot, second turn landing Scavenging Oooze and third turn cc3 Thalia. Luckily I had a couple of basics in my hand. Harbinger of the Tides and the sideboard star Tidebinder Mage helped me stabilize by either bouncing his creatures or keeping them tapped and finally win some turns later when Lords came down. A couple of dispels kept me protected from bolts and paths.
SB: +3 Gutshot +2 Tidebinder Mage +3 Dispel +1 Kira
-3 Master of Waves -4 Aether Vial -2 Smuggler's Copter
Match 4: Dark Moon 2-0 (Red Black control)
He started with a Thoughtseize discarding an Aether vial (big mistake) in his second turn plays a confidant that dies to Dismember. Things got appareantly complicated after he landed in his third turn the Goblin that puts 1/1 tokens during combat and that he gets himself +X+0 for every other attacking Goblin. I drew two Harbingers to bounce twice this Goblin, and some turns later drew a third one just in time to bounce a Demigod when he played it. Despite his fatal pushes and terminates, Mutavaults survived for long and dealt a lot of damage. By the time he played Blood Moon he no longer had removal in his hand and I had in play some other merfolks.
Game two I curve out perfectly, and caring very little about his Magus of the Moon. I coulld have played Master of Waves in fourth turn but choose instead to wait until the fifth (for landing before an extra cursecatcher) The cursecatcher served as bodyguards for Master and his tokens when he tried to play Damnation.
SB: -4 Aether Vial -2 Smuggler's Copter
+1 Kira, +3 Dispel +2 Tidebinder Mage
Took the artifacts out because of Kolaghan's Command.
By now I could perfectly draw the fifth and sixth match without issues, but my two possible opponents ended up 1-1 because of time. So I had to play the 5th round.
Grixis Shadow 0-2
Not much to say about this match. First game he started killing my fish since turn 1, played Tasigur in second turn and thereafter it seemed to me he always had Fatal Push, Terminate, Bolt or Snappy. In second game I had to mulligan to 5, drew the 2nd land 5 draws later and by then even though I had killed two shadows with Dismember and bounced an Angler with Harbinger, I was very low in life and a Snappy flashbacking bolt killed me.
-4 Aether Vial -2 Smuggler's Copter -2 Spreading Seas
+1 Kira +3 Dispel +4 Relic of Progenitus
Sixth round I was paired against the eventual winner (that was also playing Merfolk) both his and mine record were 4-1-0, as such we decided to draw and go for a drink to prepare for t8.
Top 8 was:
Grixis Shadow
RB Dark Moon
Merfolk
Merfolk
Burn
Titan Scapeshift
RG Classic Tron
Esper Shadow
I was paired against TitanScapeshift. And just as the previous match against Eldrazi Tron I was a bit worried as I had too little sb for this match by not playing Unified Will.
Quarter final vs TitanScapeshift: 2-0
Thanks to Aether Vial I had enough speed to beat him despite his 5th turn Titan. Game two I had a couple of negates all along to protect myself from through the breach/anger of the gods and scapeshift. A couple of Tidebinder mages were the stars here as they tapped a Baloth and a Titan. Spreading Seas took care of the Valakut he got with the Titan.
SB: +2 Tidebinder Mage +2 Negate +1 Kira
-3 Master of Waves -1 Dismember -1 Harbinger of the Tides
Semifinal vs Grixis Shadow: 2-0
Paired against the opponent to which I lost in the Swiss round. This time around he didn't get an early delve creature and not enough removal to handle all the fish coming his way. In second game I mulligan to 6 and keep a decent hand but with only one land. It's considered risky, but I'm on the draw, playing against a deck with discard spells and I have access to a scry, so I decide to keep. He didn't get a black source despite playing a couple of serum visions and thoughtscour, while on the other hand I drew the lands that I needed and defeated him with ease.
SB: (See swiss round vs Grixis Shadow)
Final vs Merfolk: 1-2
My opponent is a guy that has been playing Merfolk since very recently. He is a good player but commits his fair share of mistakes with this deck.
First game I curve out perfectly and play spreading seas on one of his mutavaults, enough damage to win by turn 5th. In the second game I also have a good hand (only problem being that I only have one Lord, and that's a Lord of Atlantis) During this game I gutshot a Silvergil Adept and dismember one Reejerey, however he vials Harbinger of the Tides during two separate opportunities reducing my attacks, slowing me down while also playing a Master of the Pearl Trident. I could only play lord of Atlantis late during the game because otherwise he would have killed me quicker. Despite playing a Master of Waves, the Master of the Pearl Trident ends up being too much to handle and I lose while leaving him at 1!
Third game was completely decided through luck/fate, however you want to call him. I had to mulligan twice because both of my previous hands had no lands. He keeps his seven. I was later told that he had kept a terrible hand of 5 islands, one cursecatcher and one Harbinger lol. Despite the odds I manage to stabilize through Silvergirl Adept, but he starts topdecking very well. Cursecatcher, Silvergil Adept, Harbinger, Master of Pearl Trident, and finally a Master of Waves. I didn't get a dismember nor enough damage to kill him, and that's it "GG".
SB: -2 Lord of Atlantis -2 Spreading Seas
+ 3 Gutshot +1 Kira
In conclusion it was Merfolks day. There were 3 merfolk decks at the tournament of which 2 got to the finals. The other one was handled by a bad player with a bad UW build that had Hallowed Fountain. I do not think lightning strikes twice, and I also believe that part of Merfolks success yesterday was because there wasnt a single Affinity. So I even though I like the deck, I think I will give him a break for upcoming events.
What would I change?
I think Smuggler's Copter is an excellent card, but there's too much Kolaghan's Command in the metagame right now. I would put 2 Kira in the main, cut the copters and because of this I would remove one land (wanderwine hub) for the fourth Master of Waves.
I think the sideboard needs Unified Will, otherwise the match against tron and scapeshift like decks getting angsty.