The moment I consider a $130 card worth it is the moment I'm quitting magic. I could see it maybe being worth it if you're a competitive grinder, but I'm not, and most players aren't.
Can someone explain to me how it is that I can get into the great, wonderful format if fetches are approaching dual land style prices, but are on the other hand very likely to see a reprint in the near (by legacy standards) future?
If I trade 400 bucks for 8 blue zen fetches to play RUG or UWR delver, how is my collection not going to shrink to the size of a pea soon?
Don't even get me started on Polluted Delta...
If you want to play those decks but don't want to take the risk, you could start off with merfolk and play that until fetches get a reprint, since all the expensive cards in merfolk are played in both RUG and UWR delver it's a good stepping stone into those decks.
I don't know. I like Squelch in a variety of matchups, particularly decks built around Birthing Pod. In desperation, I've used it against Storm triggers, having nixed the Past in Flames with something else. It can dunk on fetchlands, too, to keep your opponent off-color.
I don't think you can use squelch for storm triggers. I really like Squelch, but I think that I like needle more, it doesn't really disrupt their mana but it's a permanent answer to planeswalkers and manlands and the majority of things I'd use squelch for.
I'm going to go against the grain here and say budget Death and Taxes is fine for what you want to do. As long as you can afford the creature core (with vials and stoneforge package) you can get a lot of grindy games against some of the top decks in the format. You won't win a large number of matchups, but with expert play, you can sneak into some good days.
I play a version of it (without the money lands) and I do well enough. It actually forces you to learn all the decks in the format, which seems to be your goal anyway.
Some advice, though. Skip the mangara, since it's a little weak without Karakas. Replace it with a beater like Serra Avenger for more creature pressure.
I was thinking along those lines too.Karakas is pretty cheap on modo though so I'd be able to try out Mangara but it might be better to go with a more aggressive version without port or wasteland anyway. I think I'm going to build goblins and this now. D&T is definitely worth it because everything I need to buy except karakas I can use in modern as well. It was good hearing someones opinion who has tried a budget version.
I considered elves once and was very close to building it, but after playing around with it proxied I decided it was just one of those decks I'd probably never be thrr greatest at playing.
I really like Goblins out of those choices, it's dirt cheap online too, even with a white splash it's pretty cheap. Have you played with that list? I didn't consider it before though because I played a RB version a couple years ago without wasteland or port and although I really liked it, it felt like it was lacking a fair amount without any form of disruption or wasteland/port. Splashing white might fix the problems I had with it before though. Thanks for all the suggestions.
it's explosive, not so expensive and its a blowout in good hands.
Mox Opal is not cheap, but you can exchange it for something like additional Tezzeret and add some nice artifacts.
Affinity would be a really good choice too, I like that it has spillover value into modern. But like burn, it's just not grindy enough for me, if that makes any sense.
Burn, the new Dredge list, budget versions of Storm, which can be found in this forum, Fish with Counterspell over FOW. (recently a list top8ed an SCG like that, although don't skimp on wastes.)
Keep in mind a lot of these things are cheaper online than in paper. Fetches are very low, duals are a lot lower, Chain Lightning is about a buck, (I believe.)
Forces are still 80-100, and LEDs and blah and blah, but take a look at all your options before you do this. You're money probably doesn't grow on trees.
Also, try to find a deck that you don't have to do swapping for card qualitiy before you go deep on one that you are butchering, like your suggested D&T list. That wouldn't stand a chance in legacy, wasteland is wasteland for a reason.
But decks like burn and the new dredge setup don't need cards like Wasteland and FOW. The best cards you can use for them are just all-in-all cheaper. You'll end up with a better deck, by a lot!
I'm a big fan of legacy burn, have it built in paper and on modo, but I just don't feel like it gets me the practice in the format that I want because it's a very linear strategy. It may have a lot of tough choices, but I'm generally just looking for something a little more grindy that doesn't really have to win that much. I feel somewhat the same way about dredge and storm, although I don't have as much experience with those decks.
The budget changes to D&T I was considering are really bad, but I"m just trying to produce something that has a similar effect to wasteland in some situations, because I'd be running them in any paper tournament I go to, but don't have the $320 for an online playset to practice with. The main thing that drew me to D&T was the amount of decisions you'd have to make while playing it. I guess you're right though, I'd probably be better off playing something that isn't just a very subpar version of a good deck.
You got me thinking though, maybe I could put together something like zombardment for a decent price since fetches and duals aren't that expensive online. I wasn't really considering it, but it seems like it could be a very good option for what I'm looking for.
I also used to run 4x tidebinder. They are alright but not great. Their best use is against kibler g/w deck due to low number of removal. Against most other decks, you generally pair them with spellskites to protect them. After a while I realized they just aren't as good as threads.
Decks you want tidebinders against:
g/w vial(best place)
burn(if its the more creature heavy version with keldon marauders and grim lavamancer)
g/b and jund(quite meh in this matchup deals with gofy and ooze) but very weak to removal thus you need spellskite as well and diluting your deck.
Out of the 3 decks, the most popular by a large margin is g/b and jund. I actually haven't seen burn or g/w vial for a while in modern dailies.
Threads of disloyalty on the other hand just completely crush the two really popular decks atm: jund and g/b. All their good creatures are two drops(confidant, gofy, and ooze). I stolen 8/8 ooze many times as well as forced them to liliana their own confidant. They generally can't come back if you draw 2 threads.
I tried to run dismember then I realize they just aren't worth it.
Problematic creatures against merfolk are:
Dark confidant(generally in g/b/x decks and lets them draw more removal than our lord count)
Grim lavamancer
I already run 4x spellskites for lavamancer in sb which are also really good against so many other decks.
Dark confidant gets owned by threads. Stealing one then drawing feels so satisfying.
Threads does seem like it'd be awesome against those decks, but I really like instant speed from dismember especially for twin, it's won me a fair amount of matches just because my opponent didn't see it coming. I'd try threads though if it weren't $18 online, I'll make do with dismember until it drops.
Currently have a few non-budget decks in paper but all the stores close to me are dropping legacy so I have to switch to modo if I want to get any practice in the format. I'm not looking for a super competitive deck, just something that I can play online casually for practice that doesn't cost too much. What are my best options for budget decks/ budget versions of competitive decks for practice?
I'm thinking combo/burn aren't the greatest options, also thinking a budget version of D&T might be the best choice for this. I'd just run ghost quarter/ leonin arbiter, and no wasteland or rishadan port. That's basically the only things I'd be changing, if anyone has a better deck choice let me know.
How do you find the tidebenders? I have Dismember in the board for problem creatures, it works pretty well, but I've been considering trying out tidebender as well.
I have been playing mono u merfolk on wso for a while and I have not been a fan of cursecatcher much. There is a lot of zoo and fetchlands, so I will definitely be trying out Cosi soon.
Also, I always feel like I need that extra reach, so I am considering foing Ur, Uw, or Uwr.
I like the USA decks I have seen on here, but do you think the W and R are both crucial, and if you had to choose only one, which would you go with?
I've also found cursecatcher only good situationally, the idea of swapping it out for the trickester is interesting., let me know how it works out for you in your testing.
Decks with lot of spot removal actually have a easy time dealing with coralhelm commander. In my opinion he is way to slow.
Bluelanterns deck looks pretty solid.
I just would like to hear why you have got the 2 chalice of the void in the sideboard.
I think it really depends on how you play it though, a lot of people say he's too slow/mana intensive. But against certain decks I find it really nice to hold back the coralhelm and play out my lords, they're usually what draws the removal. Then later in the game I'll drop the coralhelm and get him out of burn range. Depends on my hand too though, sometimes against control I'll drop him first and if they don't hit him with removal I'll just plus him and hold back until they deal with him, and if they deal with him right away it doesn't really matter because even if I played a lord they would have done the same to it.
I think some people run the chalice against affinity when they're on the play, not sure what else though.
Just got into Modern and decided to make a Merfolk deck. This is what I plan on running at my game stores modern tournament. Any critiques or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I'd try at least one Coralhelm Commander to see if you like it or not, it's the only creature in the deck that's really threatening on it's own. I'm pretty new to modern merfolk, but I've found it to be really good against decks with a lot of spot/sweepers so far.
If you want to play those decks but don't want to take the risk, you could start off with merfolk and play that until fetches get a reprint, since all the expensive cards in merfolk are played in both RUG and UWR delver it's a good stepping stone into those decks.
It's kind of scary that she's already back to the same price she was before the drop in price from rotating.
I don't think you can use squelch for storm triggers. I really like Squelch, but I think that I like needle more, it doesn't really disrupt their mana but it's a permanent answer to planeswalkers and manlands and the majority of things I'd use squelch for.
I was thinking along those lines too.Karakas is pretty cheap on modo though so I'd be able to try out Mangara but it might be better to go with a more aggressive version without port or wasteland anyway. I think I'm going to build goblins and this now. D&T is definitely worth it because everything I need to buy except karakas I can use in modern as well. It was good hearing someones opinion who has tried a budget version.
I really like Goblins out of those choices, it's dirt cheap online too, even with a white splash it's pretty cheap. Have you played with that list? I didn't consider it before though because I played a RB version a couple years ago without wasteland or port and although I really liked it, it felt like it was lacking a fair amount without any form of disruption or wasteland/port. Splashing white might fix the problems I had with it before though. Thanks for all the suggestions.
Affinity would be a really good choice too, I like that it has spillover value into modern. But like burn, it's just not grindy enough for me, if that makes any sense.
I'm a big fan of legacy burn, have it built in paper and on modo, but I just don't feel like it gets me the practice in the format that I want because it's a very linear strategy. It may have a lot of tough choices, but I'm generally just looking for something a little more grindy that doesn't really have to win that much. I feel somewhat the same way about dredge and storm, although I don't have as much experience with those decks.
The budget changes to D&T I was considering are really bad, but I"m just trying to produce something that has a similar effect to wasteland in some situations, because I'd be running them in any paper tournament I go to, but don't have the $320 for an online playset to practice with. The main thing that drew me to D&T was the amount of decisions you'd have to make while playing it. I guess you're right though, I'd probably be better off playing something that isn't just a very subpar version of a good deck.
You got me thinking though, maybe I could put together something like zombardment for a decent price since fetches and duals aren't that expensive online. I wasn't really considering it, but it seems like it could be a very good option for what I'm looking for.
Threads does seem like it'd be awesome against those decks, but I really like instant speed from dismember especially for twin, it's won me a fair amount of matches just because my opponent didn't see it coming. I'd try threads though if it weren't $18 online, I'll make do with dismember until it drops.
I'm thinking combo/burn aren't the greatest options, also thinking a budget version of D&T might be the best choice for this. I'd just run ghost quarter/ leonin arbiter, and no wasteland or rishadan port. That's basically the only things I'd be changing, if anyone has a better deck choice let me know.
How do you find the tidebenders? I have Dismember in the board for problem creatures, it works pretty well, but I've been considering trying out tidebender as well.
I've also found cursecatcher only good situationally, the idea of swapping it out for the trickester is interesting., let me know how it works out for you in your testing.
I think it really depends on how you play it though, a lot of people say he's too slow/mana intensive. But against certain decks I find it really nice to hold back the coralhelm and play out my lords, they're usually what draws the removal. Then later in the game I'll drop the coralhelm and get him out of burn range. Depends on my hand too though, sometimes against control I'll drop him first and if they don't hit him with removal I'll just plus him and hold back until they deal with him, and if they deal with him right away it doesn't really matter because even if I played a lord they would have done the same to it.
I think some people run the chalice against affinity when they're on the play, not sure what else though.
I'd try at least one Coralhelm Commander to see if you like it or not, it's the only creature in the deck that's really threatening on it's own. I'm pretty new to modern merfolk, but I've found it to be really good against decks with a lot of spot/sweepers so far.