30 person PPTQ at my LGS yesterday. Went swimginly all the way to 6th place. I know that 6th isn't 1st, but the amount that I get out to play (which is almost never), then 6th place may as well have been the PT title itslef. I got out. I got to play Magic. I got to play Merfolk (Modern is just not a thing here in my city. It's all Standard, nothing else. Ever.). And I did well. Ok, enough of the preamble, let's get to the Merfolk stuff, shall we? Here's my list that I ran yesterday:
Round 1 vs Grixis Delver (Lost the die roll, W 2-0, 1-0)
I love when decks naturally play Islands. Key fun times moment in G2. I have a Kira, Great Glass-Spinner and Spellskite. Opponent casts k-command choosing to destroy my Relic of Progenitus and deal 2 to me. Activate 'skite, redirecting the destroy target artifact, causing Kira's ability to trigger. Opponent looked shocked at that. I had a hunch, and popped Relic in response to Kira's trigger. Turns out a Tasigur, the Golden Fang in hand. That built up enough momentum to sail to the finish line.
Round 2 vs Jund (Lost the die roll, W 2-1, 2-0) *vs Top 8 competitor
Nothing sticks out as memorable. So for reference, life totals before lethal were 16-9, 7-11, 18-7. Makes me think games 1 & 2 went according to plan
Round 3 vs Abzan Company (Won the die roll, W 2-0, 3-0) *vs Top 8 competitor
This round was against a friend that I've known through Magic for a few years. Back in the day he used to play Birthing Pod and made the transition to Abzan Company seamlessly. During the Pod days, I used to carry Trickbind in the sideboard, as everyone was playing pod. This one card was his trigger. Whenever I played him, keeping up two mana caused severe tilt. Needless to say, sitting down, I asked him to guess how many Trickbinds I was packing today
Game 1 was over before it started, Turn 2 Spreading seas, keeping him off of black, followed with lord after lord, on to Game 2.
Game 2 was tight. He had an early Viscera Seer and enough mana to cast Collected Company. Had to buy my time. He played something, causing him to not hold up Coco mana. At that time, quick Dismember to the Seer. Game went on for a while, we both had a huge board, neither willing to commit to the attack. Finally, after I had a Merrow Reejery in play, I was able to cast a Lord of Atlantis, untap a land, Master of the Pearl Trident , tap your Kitchen Finks, swing and attack for the win. Good match, good opponent.
Round 4 - ID (3-0-1)
This round would have been against the Elves player. I think it was a good call, all 4 of the 3-0 players drew to guarantee a spot in the top 8.
Round 5 - ID (3-0-2)
In hind sight, I wish that I had played this match for seeding. Opponent was on Goryo's Vengeance. We drew. both at 11 pts for the day.
The other two 10 pointers played it out for seeding with Elves beating Burn
Top 8 - Quarter Finals vs...Goryo's Vengeance!!! (L 1-2)
We ended up 4th/5th with me on the play. Had we played Round 5, then there may have been a chance of not playing each other.
Game 1 - He mulled to 4 and I capitalized.
Game 2 - Turn 2 Emrakul will get you every time
Game 3 - This was probably as close as I could have gotten. Turn 1 Grafdigger's Cage, Turn 2 [Relic of Progenitus], lots of Merfolk. Got him down to 8 life, until the turn. I had more than lethal on board so he had to do it. He had 4 lands, 2 cards at Untap. Upkeep. Draw (3 cards now). Exile Simian Spirit Guide, cast Through the Breach, play the flying spaghetti monster herself. If I had a Cursecatcher on board or a Spell Pierce it would have gone a lot better for our plucky hero.
Overall happy with the results. I've played two events this month (one 4 round top 4 FNM and this 5 round PPTQ) with a record of 7-3-2 with a 1st place (FNM) and a 6th place (PPTQ) finish. I'm comfortable with my fish playing skills, and love picking up new pieces from the school here.
Based on the absolute 0 Affinity players in the tournament yesterday, I may now add myself to the school of the best way to beat affinity is to just not play it. Definitey want to up the counter spells in the side board after that loss to combo. Oh well. You live and learn
#Justkeepswimming
Just competed in a small 9 person FNM last night using Nikachu's list (only difference in the SB is the numbers for Chalice if the Void and Hurkyl's Ecall are reversed). 4 rounds, cut to top 4.
Round 1 - Bye (1-0)
Round 2 - Merfolk mirror match. W 2-1 (2-0)
Not much to say on this one. Except that my opponent was newer to the deck and learning the small interactions still. He's been playing MTG a lot longer than I have, so any time that I can beat him is a good time.
Round 3 - RG Tron L 1-2 (2-1)
Stole game 2 due to three Tec edges, three spreading seas and a Chalice on 1. Apparently they don't like trying to play through that. Game 3 they brought in crucible of worlds. I forgot to bring in Hurkyl's Recall. Still a close game, he just got there.
Round 4 - Affinity L 0-2 (2-2)
Yeah. Affinity did what Affinity does.
Made the top four due to beating the other Merfolk player. As the 4th seed, means I'll be playing the same Tron player from Round 3.
Semi Finals - RG Tron W 2-1
Got stomped game 1. Came out fast and furious in G2, hitting him with as many fish as possible. G3 was long. He had a crucible/ghost quarter lock going, I had spreading seas out. He just couldn't find the answers. On to the finals.
Finals - Affinity W 2-0
Same opponent as Round 4. Eff. On the line is 45 in store credit (30/15). Decided to offer a split of 20/20 play for the extra five. Surprised that he took that offer, knowing the matchup. In hindsight, wish I hadn't made it
Game 1 he kept a one lander, which promptly became an island, and go team go.
Game 2 felt dirty. Like really dirty. I mulled to six. Almost sent it back, but kept a hand of Island, Island, Vial, Harbinger, Recall, Recall. Turn 1 I drop my Vial, go.
Turn 2 drew spreading seas, applied liberally to his Inkmoth. Draw another spreading seas. Hmmm, maybe I can get there eventually.
Turn 3, Vial at 2. Draw the third Recall. Spreading seas his second Inkmoth (still has one on the table). Draw a second Harbinger off of Seas (sitting with two Harbingers and three recalls in hand at this point, Vial on 2). I'm liking where I'm sitting.
Opponent suits up his Inkmoth with cranial plating and swings for a lot of infect, Vial in Harbinger. Opponent chuckles that that was cute. His next turn same thing
He seems annoyed and drops a spellskite. At this point I've drawn the 4th Recall, and am trying so hard not to get cocky, and keep a poker face at the same time. Needless to say, Affinity has a hard time coming back from Harbinger, Harbinger, Recall, Recall, Recall, Recall
GP Detroit is coming up, and with it, the Eldrazi onslaught. Luckily we're positioned to be a bit of a speed bump. Other decks that I'm expecting to see a lot of, obviously Affinity, Infect, and Abzan Company (which seemed to pick up a lot of attention in a bunch of articles yesterday). As such, here's my list, which is pretty stock, save for a couple.
Discussion Time Echoing Truth - Mainboard answer to Ensnaring Bridge and other non creature permanents. Lantern Control is one of the decks that some believe has game vs Eldrazi. Without an answer, you might as well scoop.
Phantasmal Image - Yes there are a lot of Dismembers and Path to Exiles running around right now, and yes Image is quite delicate. However, if you don't have Kira, Great Glass-Spinner on the board, then those cards would get rid of any creature we're playing. I'd rather err on the side of Lords #12 & 13, or MoW 4 & 5.
Ghost Quarter - More answers to the Eldrazi Sol lands.
Sideboard Hurkyl's Recall - When the "good guys" in Modern are Affinity, yeah, bad times. Heck, I even found myself cheering for those darn robots this past Sunday during the SCG top 8. Expect to see Affinity.
Spellskite - Infect is still around, as is Boggles in small doses. Worst case, can be another blocker, eat a removal for your Lords.
Chalice of the Void - You know when to bring it in. Infect, Boggles, Affinity on the play, etc etc
Grafdigger's Cage - I feel that right now Cage has a slight edge over Relic of Progenitus. The only thing that Cage doesn't do that Relic does is slow down Tarmogoyf, Scavenging Ooze, delve spells, and cycle. The thing that Cage does is neuter Collected Company and Chord of Calling decks, unless they have an answer for it. Also fantastic against recursion, and Flashback (looking at you Storm).
Just my thoughts, I've been putting a bunch of testing in, and am happy with this list. Every list will have some strengths and weaknesses, so I'm hoping for some good feedback.
Like everyone, been working on a brew that can hopefully work against Eldrazi, while keeping us in there with everyone else. I know the general consensus on <c>Seachrome Coast</c>, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Here goes:
<deck title = Merfolk>
Creatures
4 Cursecatcher
4 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Master of Waves
3 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
Artifacts
4 Æther Vial
Enchantments
2 Sea's Claim
4 Spreading Seas
2 Worship
Lands
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
4 Mutavault
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
2 Seachrome Coast
7 Snow-Covered Island
3 Wanderwine Hub
Decided to run the <c>Worship</c> in the main, as most decks try to beat us with damage, Infect, I'm looking at you as the oddball here. I'll be interested in people's thoughts, I know it's slightly off from the normal thought for our beloved Merfolk, but at this point, with GP Detroit coming up in a few weeks, the normal thought just isn't enough. I also don't think that this early in the new modern we can sit back and hope that other people will deal with Eldrazi and Affinity, as no one has yet at a major tournament. Which means that there is no known answer yet to them. Time to be proactive.
Hi Bor85. It's always great to see people thinking outside of the bos, but IMO Mutavault is an untouchable. The synergies it provides is what gives the deck it's power. +1/+1 for every Lord of Atlantis, Master of the Pearl Trident, Merrow Reejery, and Master of Waves.
I've been a long-time lurker of the old primer, and excited to see all of the merfolk goodness in the last little while. I've been playing Merfolk almost exclusively since before Bloodbraid Elf was banned. I've tried other decks, but it was like wearing someone else's shoes. They fit fine, but just didn't feel right. But I gave up on those other decks (mostly Takin' Turns and Norin the Wary Soul Sisters) That's my Merfolk pedigree (unfortunately not a lot of results to speak of, as Modern just doesn't exist in South Western Ontario ). First off, great start rothgar13. You've obviously put in a lot of work. You'll get a lot of feedback, as longtime Merfolk players are very protective our our little fish
A lot of great suggestions on what direction people want to see this primer take. Really, as someone suggested earlier, as far as Aether Vial, yes, rothgar13 can add a wall of text, or a quick link to Nikachu_'s Aether Vial primer video.
Okie Dokie, keep the momentum of Merfolk going strong. Hope to see the field get hit in the face by a school of fish this weekend in Pittsburgh.
Creatures
4 Cursecatcher
2 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Master of Waves
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
3 Dismember
1 Vapor Snag
4 Spreading Seas
4 Æther Vial
Lands
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
12 Island
4 Mutavault
3 Chalice of the Void
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Hibernation
4 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spellskite
Round 1 vs Grixis Delver (Lost the die roll, W 2-0, 1-0)
I love when decks naturally play Islands. Key fun times moment in G2. I have a Kira, Great Glass-Spinner and Spellskite. Opponent casts k-command choosing to destroy my Relic of Progenitus and deal 2 to me. Activate 'skite, redirecting the destroy target artifact, causing Kira's ability to trigger. Opponent looked shocked at that. I had a hunch, and popped Relic in response to Kira's trigger. Turns out a Tasigur, the Golden Fang in hand. That built up enough momentum to sail to the finish line.
Round 2 vs Jund (Lost the die roll, W 2-1, 2-0) *vs Top 8 competitor
Nothing sticks out as memorable. So for reference, life totals before lethal were 16-9, 7-11, 18-7. Makes me think games 1 & 2 went according to plan
Round 3 vs Abzan Company (Won the die roll, W 2-0, 3-0) *vs Top 8 competitor
This round was against a friend that I've known through Magic for a few years. Back in the day he used to play Birthing Pod and made the transition to Abzan Company seamlessly. During the Pod days, I used to carry Trickbind in the sideboard, as everyone was playing pod. This one card was his trigger. Whenever I played him, keeping up two mana caused severe tilt. Needless to say, sitting down, I asked him to guess how many Trickbinds I was packing today
Game 1 was over before it started, Turn 2 Spreading seas, keeping him off of black, followed with lord after lord, on to Game 2.
Game 2 was tight. He had an early Viscera Seer and enough mana to cast Collected Company. Had to buy my time. He played something, causing him to not hold up Coco mana. At that time, quick Dismember to the Seer. Game went on for a while, we both had a huge board, neither willing to commit to the attack. Finally, after I had a Merrow Reejery in play, I was able to cast a Lord of Atlantis, untap a land, Master of the Pearl Trident , tap your Kitchen Finks, swing and attack for the win. Good match, good opponent.
Round 4 - ID (3-0-1)
This round would have been against the Elves player. I think it was a good call, all 4 of the 3-0 players drew to guarantee a spot in the top 8.
Round 5 - ID (3-0-2)
In hind sight, I wish that I had played this match for seeding. Opponent was on Goryo's Vengeance. We drew. both at 11 pts for the day.
The other two 10 pointers played it out for seeding with Elves beating Burn
Top 8 - Quarter Finals vs...Goryo's Vengeance!!! (L 1-2)
We ended up 4th/5th with me on the play. Had we played Round 5, then there may have been a chance of not playing each other.
Game 1 - He mulled to 4 and I capitalized.
Game 2 - Turn 2 Emrakul will get you every time
Game 3 - This was probably as close as I could have gotten. Turn 1 Grafdigger's Cage, Turn 2 [Relic of Progenitus], lots of Merfolk. Got him down to 8 life, until the turn. I had more than lethal on board so he had to do it. He had 4 lands, 2 cards at Untap. Upkeep. Draw (3 cards now). Exile Simian Spirit Guide, cast Through the Breach, play the flying spaghetti monster herself. If I had a Cursecatcher on board or a Spell Pierce it would have gone a lot better for our plucky hero.
Overall happy with the results. I've played two events this month (one 4 round top 4 FNM and this 5 round PPTQ) with a record of 7-3-2 with a 1st place (FNM) and a 6th place (PPTQ) finish. I'm comfortable with my fish playing skills, and love picking up new pieces from the school here.
Based on the absolute 0 Affinity players in the tournament yesterday, I may now add myself to the school of the best way to beat affinity is to just not play it. Definitey want to up the counter spells in the side board after that loss to combo. Oh well. You live and learn
#Justkeepswimming
Round 1 - Bye (1-0)
Round 2 - Merfolk mirror match. W 2-1 (2-0)
Not much to say on this one. Except that my opponent was newer to the deck and learning the small interactions still. He's been playing MTG a lot longer than I have, so any time that I can beat him is a good time.
Round 3 - RG Tron L 1-2 (2-1)
Stole game 2 due to three Tec edges, three spreading seas and a Chalice on 1. Apparently they don't like trying to play through that. Game 3 they brought in crucible of worlds. I forgot to bring in Hurkyl's Recall. Still a close game, he just got there.
Round 4 - Affinity L 0-2 (2-2)
Yeah. Affinity did what Affinity does.
Made the top four due to beating the other Merfolk player. As the 4th seed, means I'll be playing the same Tron player from Round 3.
Semi Finals - RG Tron W 2-1
Got stomped game 1. Came out fast and furious in G2, hitting him with as many fish as possible. G3 was long. He had a crucible/ghost quarter lock going, I had spreading seas out. He just couldn't find the answers. On to the finals.
Finals - Affinity W 2-0
Same opponent as Round 4. Eff. On the line is 45 in store credit (30/15). Decided to offer a split of 20/20 play for the extra five. Surprised that he took that offer, knowing the matchup. In hindsight, wish I hadn't made it
Game 1 he kept a one lander, which promptly became an island, and go team go.
Game 2 felt dirty. Like really dirty. I mulled to six. Almost sent it back, but kept a hand of Island, Island, Vial, Harbinger, Recall, Recall. Turn 1 I drop my Vial, go.
Turn 2 drew spreading seas, applied liberally to his Inkmoth. Draw another spreading seas. Hmmm, maybe I can get there eventually.
Turn 3, Vial at 2. Draw the third Recall. Spreading seas his second Inkmoth (still has one on the table). Draw a second Harbinger off of Seas (sitting with two Harbingers and three recalls in hand at this point, Vial on 2). I'm liking where I'm sitting.
Opponent suits up his Inkmoth with cranial plating and swings for a lot of infect, Vial in Harbinger. Opponent chuckles that that was cute. His next turn same thing
He seems annoyed and drops a spellskite. At this point I've drawn the 4th Recall, and am trying so hard not to get cocky, and keep a poker face at the same time. Needless to say, Affinity has a hard time coming back from Harbinger, Harbinger, Recall, Recall, Recall, Recall
4 Cursecatcher
2 Phantasmal Image
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
3 Merrow Reejerey
3 Master of Waves
Spells
4 Æther Vial
2 Echoing Truth
4 Spreading Seas
2 Dismember
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
4 Mutavault
10 Snow-Covered Island
2 Vapor Snag
4 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Negate
1 Dismember
2 Spellskite
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Grafdigger's Cage
Discussion Time
Echoing Truth - Mainboard answer to Ensnaring Bridge and other non creature permanents. Lantern Control is one of the decks that some believe has game vs Eldrazi. Without an answer, you might as well scoop.
Phantasmal Image - Yes there are a lot of Dismembers and Path to Exiles running around right now, and yes Image is quite delicate. However, if you don't have Kira, Great Glass-Spinner on the board, then those cards would get rid of any creature we're playing. I'd rather err on the side of Lords #12 & 13, or MoW 4 & 5.
Ghost Quarter - More answers to the Eldrazi Sol lands.
Sideboard
Hurkyl's Recall - When the "good guys" in Modern are Affinity, yeah, bad times. Heck, I even found myself cheering for those darn robots this past Sunday during the SCG top 8. Expect to see Affinity.
Spellskite - Infect is still around, as is Boggles in small doses. Worst case, can be another blocker, eat a removal for your Lords.
Chalice of the Void - You know when to bring it in. Infect, Boggles, Affinity on the play, etc etc
Grafdigger's Cage - I feel that right now Cage has a slight edge over Relic of Progenitus. The only thing that Cage doesn't do that Relic does is slow down Tarmogoyf, Scavenging Ooze, delve spells, and cycle. The thing that Cage does is neuter Collected Company and Chord of Calling decks, unless they have an answer for it. Also fantastic against recursion, and Flashback (looking at you Storm).
Just my thoughts, I've been putting a bunch of testing in, and am happy with this list. Every list will have some strengths and weaknesses, so I'm hoping for some good feedback.
As always,
#JustKeepSwimming
<deck title = Merfolk>
Creatures
4 Cursecatcher
4 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Master of Waves
3 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
Artifacts
4 Æther Vial
Enchantments
2 Sea's Claim
4 Spreading Seas
2 Worship
Lands
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
4 Mutavault
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
2 Seachrome Coast
7 Snow-Covered Island
3 Wanderwine Hub
Sideboard
2 Chalice of the Void
1 Dispel
2 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Negate
2 Painter's Servant
2 Spell Pierce
</deck>
Decided to run the <c>Worship</c> in the main, as most decks try to beat us with damage, Infect, I'm looking at you as the oddball here. I'll be interested in people's thoughts, I know it's slightly off from the normal thought for our beloved Merfolk, but at this point, with GP Detroit coming up in a few weeks, the normal thought just isn't enough. I also don't think that this early in the new modern we can sit back and hope that other people will deal with Eldrazi and Affinity, as no one has yet at a major tournament. Which means that there is no known answer yet to them. Time to be proactive.
As always, #JustKeepSwimming
4 Aether Vial
Instant
2 Vapor Snag
2 Remand
Enchantments
4 Spreading Seas
Creatures
4 Cursecatcher
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Spreading Seas
2 Phantasmal Image
3 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Silvergill Adept
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
3 Merrow Reejerey
3 Master of Waves
1 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
2 Wanderwine Hub
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Oboro, Palace in the Sky
10 Island
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Negate
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Hibernation
4 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Ghost Quarter
R1 - W 2-0 over UB Homebrew playing Ravenous Rats and Eldrazi Skyspawner (1-0 overall)
R2 - L 1-2 to RG Tron (eventual Top 8 competitor) (1-1 overall)
R3 - W 2-0 RG Things (later found out Temur Kiki-Chord) (2-1 overall)
R4 - W 2-0 over BUGr Eldrazi (3-1 overall)
R5 - L 1-2 to Naya Burn (3-2 overall)
R6 - L 1-2 to UR Storm (3-3 overall)
R7 - L 0-2 Affinity (worst matchup ever, didn't see the Recalls at all) (3-4 final record)
Changes going forward: (from main) - 2 Remand + 1 Thassa, God of the Sea + 1 Vapor Snag
(from Side) -3 Ghost Quarter, -2Negate +2 Spell Pierce, +1 Spell Snare, +2 Sea's Claim
A lot of great suggestions on what direction people want to see this primer take. Really, as someone suggested earlier, as far as Aether Vial, yes, rothgar13 can add a wall of text, or a quick link to Nikachu_'s Aether Vial primer video.
Okie Dokie, keep the momentum of Merfolk going strong. Hope to see the field get hit in the face by a school of fish this weekend in Pittsburgh.
Until then,
#JustKeepSwimming