Why not play Batterskull? It allows you to play with Stony Silence as well.

Mortarpod can also fire off once under a SSilence. Something to consider.

I don't that's a fair evaluation of his post either. You said Null Rod is only strong when backed up by significant pressure - well, then this deck is a perfect fit then. And the point about Standstill is something which Legacy Folk learned roughly a year ago (though meta shifts warrant change, of course) and that is that this deck would rather have threats or disruption rather than a very conditional draw - 3. If people are dropping problem permanents on the first few turns (before you have time to cast Standstill) and your "out" to apply pressure against your opponent is a Mutavault, then you're in trouble. You can't rely on Aether Vial, it's simply not feasible.

I am wondering, since Daze is cut from the deck, could Gush be explored as a potential draw-engine? Or is the card entirely neutered in a deck without Will+Fastbond+Cobra?

Furthermore, Cold-Eyed Selkie or Thada Adel should both be up for consideration, pending meta; likely a 3-of in the case of the former and a 2-of the case of the latter.

So, for a disruption suite, it seems that one should start with
4 Force of Will
2-4 Mental Misstep
0-4 Daze
0-2 Spell Pierce
0-2 Flusterstorm
All pending the meta you expect, of course. Removal in Legacy is typically Dismember; however, as your creatures will more often than not outsize or evade opposing creatures, perhaps up to 3 copies of Echoing Truth? It's simply very utilitarian. Furthermore, i'd rather play Null Rod than Aether Vial in this format. The disruption Rod offers (in conjunction with a full set of Wastes +1 Strip) seems far more potent than the tempo gains of Vial.

Ah, no, in that case it is *just* a free counterspell at no cost. I too am interested in building Merfolk for Vintage; I have a fair bit of experience playing it Legacy. I do not know how the deck would change for vintage, beyond the adoption of Recall, walk, Mox and Lotus. I know that in Legacy, Snapcaster Mage in Merfolk is considered quite the poor choice, due to the lack of real targets; I'm wondering if that holds true here.

I'm wondering how the testing on Green Sun's Zenith turned out. I play G/W Maverick in legacy, and I was at least able to take out a powered Oath deck with it. So really, I'm wondering if there's a possible port to vintage. I think it's doable. Thoughts? It would incorporate a Zenith package, a possible Stoneforge package [to minimize disynergy with Stony Silence, the possible package would be Batterskull, Mortarpod, Skullclamp (too powerful not to run with so many X/1's)] and multiple KotR's, along with the manabase to play along with it (full set of Savannahs, fetches, basics, to reliably be able to fetch out Wastes and Strips). Maybe Enlightened tutor in the main or side?

Is anyone still testing this deck? If so, could I see what the current list looks like?