Yep, there are endless Merfolk Wizards in Standard now, but only Adept (even if greatest card) is not enough reason for more dedication to the tribe.
The other problem is that Chainwhirler is close to gg vs that build and our matchup against beatdown worse in general.
If we employ more Surge and Diamond after side, then Adept cohesion takes a hit and I feel that can't be solved.
I like where we are as Djinn.dec and the only thing missing is more artifacts for Zahid. That would be great as plan C (A is CO, B is Tempest + Dive Down), more cheap fat to close the game. But with Kaladesh all relevant artifacts are gone. So here we are.
@redtwister
Funny thing is that I did play heavier Merfolk Djinn list with Adepts instead of Sprite and Watertrap instead of Exclusion Mage, just because I couldn't find mentioned cards There were even two Tempest Callers instead of Sleep (I had those but I also needed to up Merfolk count for Adepts). No one takes random crap for trade. Won a tournament with it, which was hilarious. I had to fill my deck with suspect cards because I also lacked 2 Djinns and all four Dive Downs, but Curious Obsession's power can't be denied, even with draft chaff.
I like your Shaper Apprentice inclusion if you believe Chainyboi will not be so prevalent.
But I am not married to Merfolk subtype if there are no additional synergies, playing blue beatdown/tempo/aggro/whateveritiscalled is enough for me to feel comfortable. Delver, Heroic, Devotion, all great in their time.
If other decks take dump on Niv that is good news.
Our deck is built to have Djinn go to distance; Dive Down, Pierce, Stormtamer and Retort make that relatively doable, and we don't lack library manipulation or draw to find those cards.
You can have Repulse wannabe in Crashing Tide, but only 8 Merfolk to enable it.
Neutering Djinn with splash is one thing but double white for Wreckage will not work in this deck.
It handles Niv for 1 turn and then dies a horrible death. It also dies to Chainyboi and we have less lib manipulation.
I don't think Marauder is worth it.
I just 4:1-ed standard mtgo league, Niv crushed me again, it is getting annoying.
4 Golgari decks at least accomplished what they came for: going to graveyard.
Niv problem will get special attention in the future.
Tribunal has 3 types of targets: CO-ed creature, Djinn and random filler.
In the first case bringing back creature is irrelevant since CO is in the graveyard now, and they still have Tribunal to play again.
In the second we freed Djinn for one turn or saved it if we had mana.
Tribunaling filler creature is fine by me.
I guess they could target CO itself but we can't bring it back to a creature for a turn.
And that is all with 4 Dive Down and 4 Siren main and they will have their Oblivion Ring next turn.
Blinking planeswalker doesn't seem like relevant plan to me.
I played with Jilt, Repulse, Repeal and similar before, fun utility to have, just not sure it is necessary in this standard.
I just destroyed Golgari on mtgo, they played foil Ass Trophy on my CO-ed creature (the nerve some people have), DD to the rescue of course. Had to discard several cards on discard step after CO2 and CO3 enchanted the same MCH...
What are the primary targets for Blink in this standard? I hate giving them card for just bouncing Niv.
I scoured Gatherer for all possible playable cards but there is not enough stuff for mono blue Pirates or Favorable Winds dudes that work together and there is also huge lack of artifacts for Zahid (to provide Tempest beef support), Artificer's Assistant fuel or Skilled Animator targets, which was dissapointing.
I like flash but 3 toughness on Dreamcaller is not for my deck when I stare down Wizard's Lightning, Lightning Strike, Justice Strike, while also not being easy for 20 lands. Current deck iteration is close to final optimal build, until next set, IMO.
Usual 4 MCH, 4 Stormtamer, 4 Trickster, 4 Djinn are mandatory. The rest I filled with 4 Aerialist, 2 Nightveil and 2 Exclusion, aka 24.
Someone has to carry the aura so I lean on more bodies than usual 20.
To make room I ditched Charts and Opts, not persuaded we have time for that in our tempo deck.
It is 50/50 between Deep Freeze and Waterknot. DF means Trickster or Exclusion become irrelevant (the same for Surge Mare until very late) on the ground and even worse if they are enchanted, Waterknot has different downsides. But Alteration could be a future 2-of in the main, either removal(ish) or making our dude into "hasty" Djinn that is already on the board.
Great job on primer but one small error, Unsummon is not legal in Standard, that is probably the reason why no 5-0 list has it
Anyway, I always play blue beatdown decks in most formats so this deck, and Curious Obsession in particular, are my style.
I played mtgo Ptq 11 days ago, finished 6:3, 40th out of 256 people, if I remember correctly.
All 3 losses were to monored because my deck weren't equipped for it with Diamond and Surge and some of my starting hands should have been mull.
My tech was playing 4 Storm Fleet Aerialist main, adding early defense, offense and evasion with a risk to have 1/2 vanilla flyer sometimes. They earned their slots.
After Ptq my win pct was good, winning most matches except the ones with Niv-Mizzet. My plan is to have Metamorphic Alteration and equip CO-ed creature to have greater dragon or shrink their dragon, because dying with several counterspells in hand just because they played Niv is no longer funny.
The rest of meta is ok in my book, so this will be my deck until Merfolk support comes in next set.
Rather than sleep, I'd play Tempest Caller. Same cost, similar effect, and it's another Merfolk. Allows for a lethal swing on a creature heavy board. I do like Swift Warden as well, I need to find a spot for him in my deck.
Nah, it actually makes sense because sleep is instant speed. Both cards have their use.
The other problem is that Chainwhirler is close to gg vs that build and our matchup against beatdown worse in general.
If we employ more Surge and Diamond after side, then Adept cohesion takes a hit and I feel that can't be solved.
I like where we are as Djinn.dec and the only thing missing is more artifacts for Zahid. That would be great as plan C (A is CO, B is Tempest + Dive Down), more cheap fat to close the game. But with Kaladesh all relevant artifacts are gone. So here we are.
Funny thing is that I did play heavier Merfolk Djinn list with Adepts instead of Sprite and Watertrap instead of Exclusion Mage, just because I couldn't find mentioned cards
I like your Shaper Apprentice inclusion if you believe Chainyboi will not be so prevalent.
But I am not married to Merfolk subtype if there are no additional synergies, playing blue beatdown/tempo/aggro/whateveritiscalled is enough for me to feel comfortable. Delver, Heroic, Devotion, all great in their time.
If other decks take dump on Niv that is good news.
You can have Repulse wannabe in Crashing Tide, but only 8 Merfolk to enable it.
Neutering Djinn with splash is one thing but double white for Wreckage will not work in this deck.
I don't think Marauder is worth it.
4 Golgari decks at least accomplished what they came for: going to graveyard.
Niv problem will get special attention in the future.
In the first case bringing back creature is irrelevant since CO is in the graveyard now, and they still have Tribunal to play again.
In the second we freed Djinn for one turn or saved it if we had mana.
Tribunaling filler creature is fine by me.
I guess they could target CO itself but we can't bring it back to a creature for a turn.
And that is all with 4 Dive Down and 4 Siren main and they will have their Oblivion Ring next turn.
Blinking planeswalker doesn't seem like relevant plan to me.
I played with Jilt, Repulse, Repeal and similar before, fun utility to have, just not sure it is necessary in this standard.
I just destroyed Golgari on mtgo, they played foil Ass Trophy on my CO-ed creature (the nerve some people have), DD to the rescue of course. Had to discard several cards on discard step after CO2 and CO3 enchanted the same MCH...
I scoured Gatherer for all possible playable cards but there is not enough stuff for mono blue Pirates or Favorable Winds dudes that work together and there is also huge lack of artifacts for Zahid (to provide Tempest beef support), Artificer's Assistant fuel or Skilled Animator targets, which was dissapointing.
I like flash but 3 toughness on Dreamcaller is not for my deck when I stare down Wizard's Lightning, Lightning Strike, Justice Strike, while also not being easy for 20 lands. Current deck iteration is close to final optimal build, until next set, IMO.
Usual 4 MCH, 4 Stormtamer, 4 Trickster, 4 Djinn are mandatory. The rest I filled with 4 Aerialist, 2 Nightveil and 2 Exclusion, aka 24.
Someone has to carry the aura so I lean on more bodies than usual 20.
To make room I ditched Charts and Opts, not persuaded we have time for that in our tempo deck.
It is 50/50 between Deep Freeze and Waterknot. DF means Trickster or Exclusion become irrelevant (the same for Surge Mare until very late) on the ground and even worse if they are enchanted, Waterknot has different downsides. But Alteration could be a future 2-of in the main, either removal(ish) or making our dude into "hasty" Djinn that is already on the board.
Anyway, I always play blue beatdown decks in most formats so this deck, and Curious Obsession in particular, are my style.
I played mtgo Ptq 11 days ago, finished 6:3, 40th out of 256 people, if I remember correctly.
All 3 losses were to monored because my deck weren't equipped for it with Diamond and Surge and some of my starting hands should have been mull.
My tech was playing 4 Storm Fleet Aerialist main, adding early defense, offense and evasion with a risk to have 1/2 vanilla flyer sometimes. They earned their slots.
After Ptq my win pct was good, winning most matches except the ones with Niv-Mizzet. My plan is to have Metamorphic Alteration and equip CO-ed creature to have greater dragon or shrink their dragon, because dying with several counterspells in hand just because they played Niv is no longer funny.
The rest of meta is ok in my book, so this will be my deck until Merfolk support comes in next set.