A Primer on How to Train Your Blue Demons

[msg67183]

How to Train Your Blue Demons!

Hello, my name is Matthew Gottshall. I have been playing Merfolk for a few months now and was really looking forward to Joel Lim’s primer for a good read.  Unfortunately, he has been too busy with other things that he is unable to make one, so in his absence I will attempt to write on up for everyone, using my personal list and experiences from the deck.  I apologize in advance, this is my first attempt at writing a primer.
I want to give credit to Joel (Jlim17) for giving me some pointers when I started out playing the deck back in November.  Credit is also due to Lance Ballester (vaughnbros) for also giving me advice and pointers.

I guess I will start back in November.  I was in Philadelphia competing in Vintage Champs.  I was playing Unpowered Elves.  Over the course of 9 rounds I went an unfortunate 4-5, not winning any prizes.  I was slightly bothered by that fact, so I decided to sell my Elves and get another deck, one that would work well enough for me that I could stick to it, because if any of you know me, I was known to switch decks frequently.  Anyway, Jon Geras (ramrodjon) talked me into picking up cards for Merfolk, saying it is a very powerful deck and can be played Unpowered if wanted.  I owe him some credit as well, thank you very much Jon!  After selling my Elves stuff I received enough to get the cards for Merfolk minus Force of Wills and Wastelands.  It just so happens shortly after I purchased all the cards for Merfolk, Joel Lim won Champs with it.  That made me even more excited to play it.  I managed to get the remaining cards from friends for a good deal, thank you Brandon Brown (modflydesign) and Justin Kohler (pokey). 

So I started playing with a list that was very familiar to Joel’s list from Champs.  After receiving advice from him and talking about card choices, I seemed to be very loose with the deck at first.  I had a very poor record my first event with it (1-3 drop), but I didn’t let that discourage me.  I tested and tested and a few months ago Lance gave me a few pointers and then I made my own variant of the list using his advice.


 So, I now present, Blue Demons:
Mana:
11 Island
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Wasteland
Strip Mine
Card Draw:
4 Silvergill Adept
Counter Suite:
4 Force of Will
4 Cursecatcher
4 Mental Misstep
3 Daze
1 Steel Sabotage
Vintage Deck Hate:
3 Grafdigger’s Cage
3 Null Rod
Lords:
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
3 Merrow Reejerey
3 Phantasmal Image
Sideboard:
4 Dismember
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Swan Song
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Flusterstorm


This list has served me very well, it has tested well against every archetype.  You may notice that I don’t play Power (Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk).  That is because, not only do I not own them, but I don’t think they are necessary.  Don’t get me wrong, they are very broken cards, but this is not a broken deck.  Id rather add more Vintage Hate (Grafdigger’s Cage) to the list to strengthen the overall list.  Allow me to go into detail about Merfolk and I will use my list to explain everything. 

First we will start off with the manabase.  Islands are a no brainer, but the fact that I run 11 over the usual 9 is more than just playing an unpowered list.  Having the 2 extra Islands also makes Daze better in my list.  Daze is a very strong counter that I was wary of at first but has proven itself to me.  Next I will talk about the card that pretty much glues this deck together, Cavern of Souls.  This land has changed the Vintage metagame into a creature oriented format.  It makes your guys uncounterable, and in a pinch, can also make Phantasmal Image uncounterable to copy say, a Griselbrand.  Next I will talk about Wasteland and Strip Mine together, since they serve the same role, Mana Denial.  These lands keep your opponent at bay, they can also, in some circumstances, keep your opponent off their Gushes, which is a pretty big game.  They are also good at killing opposing Cavern of Souls, which sometimes is needed.

Next I will talk about the Counter Suite that I decided to go with.  I play a total of 16 “counters” in my maindeck.  Force of Will doe not really need any explaining, I’m playing a mono blue deck.  4 Cursecatcher also doesn’t need much explaining.  He is a one mana Merfolk that can be sacrificed to counter and instant or sorcery unless the controller pays 1 colorless mana, similar to Daze.  A counterspell that also beats face, sign me up!  I decided to go with 4 Mental Misstep because it is such a great counter against everything with a few exceptions (Workshops, Merfolk Mirror).  The ability to pay 2 life instead of mana really puts it over the top for me, I like my free counters.  Daze is next, and this card is a total blowout at times.  My favorite turn one play is Island into Cursecatcher with Daze in hand. Being able to bounce an Island instead of paying 1U is pretty nice, like I said I like my free counters.  Daze is not a card you want 4 of though, it can be sluggish in multiples.  So I decided on 3.  Last, but certainly not least is the 1 of Steel Sabotage.  This card, is just awesome.  It counters important artifacts, it bounces non Inkwell Leviathan Tinker targets, it just does what you need it to do.  I use to run 3 in my sideboard but Workshops has gone down in popularity as of late, so I cut them.  Having access to 16 counters maindeck really lets you control the game while beating face.

On to the Vintage Hate section, these 6 cards act as “fairness setters,” they ensure your opponent isn’t playing too unfairly.  Grafdigger’s Cage has been a staple since its release years ago and hasn’t changed.  It not only stops Dredge, which prior to my changes was Joel’s worst matchup, but it stops your opponent from using Oath of Druids, Tinker, or Yawgmoth’s Will.  It also neuters Snapcaster Mage and nerfs Goblin Welder shenanigans with creatures in their Yard.  Null Rod on the other hand stops Time Vault shenanigans, as well as fast mana, Sensei’s Divining Top, Engineered Explosives and many other key artifacts.  Combined these cards really help you control the game and bring it to your level, where you just dominate the board with big dudes.

The reason you have big dudes is because of all the Lords this deck plays.  A total of 11 Lords with 3 potential clones makes the deck pretty aggressive.  Lord of Atlantis and Master of the Pearl Trident are essentially the same, unless you are playing against the Merfolk Mirror or a deck that plays True Name Nemesis.  They are the reason this deck is so good, the give all your Merfolk +1/+1 and islandwalk, which if you haven’t noticed, most of the field are blue decks.  Islandwalk is also a great way to deal with opposing Planeswalkers, as most decks with Planeswalkers play islands.  Lord of Atlantis pumps all other Merfolk, not just the ones you control, so be careful if in either of these matchups.  Merrow Reejerey is an all star!  It may not give Islandwalk, but it lets you tap or untap any permanent whenever you cast a Merfolk.  If you manage to get multiples out he lets you cast Lords for free essentially, winning out of nowhere.  Lastly is the only Non Merfolk creature in the deck, Phantasmal Image.  Before playing this deck, I was unsure how good he was, he is very powerful!  He can be whatever you need him to be whenever you need it.  Just recently my opponent turn oned an Oath off an Orchard, I managed to play a Cavern of Souls and name Illusion.  He was confused, until I played an Image and cloned his Griselbrand, the game went a lot longer than he expected. 

Lastly for the maindeck I would like to talk about Silvergill Adept.  This card is good.  My buddy Brian Kelly (brianpk80) absolutely hates this card.  For 1U you get a 2/1 body and you draw a card, as long as you reveal another Merfolk from your hand, otherwise you need to pay 3 more.  Drawing cards in vintage is a good thing, attach it to a body capable of growing and being unblockable and you have a winner!
Onto the Sideboard, matchups for my list are fairly straightforward.  I’d say Oath is my worst matchup, and it is still favorable.  Also Workshops “can” be a pain sometimes, but my testing has been pretty good against Workshops.  As such my Sideboard reflects how my matchups go.  I don’t really need too much for Dredge because I have discovered if I land a Cage and protect it, I will win.  Wasteland their mana producing lands and keeping my cage alive until I eventually drop a threat and just win.

Sideboarding:


 I guess I will start with Dredge then, I play a similar game all match.  Here is how I board for the matchup:
-3 Null Rod
-2 Merrow Reejerey
-1 Steel Sabotage
+2 Ghost Quarter
+2 Umezawa’s Jitte
+1 Grafdigger’s Cage
+1 Pithing Needle
One thing to note about Dredge is Phantasmal Image can remove Bridge from Below if needed by simply not copying anything and entering as a 0/0, granted they don’t have Leyline of the Void in play.  Umezawa’s Jitte is an amazing card in a creature dependant matchup, and Dredge is no exception, if you have the time to use it, which you usually do, it will dominate the game.

Next I will talk about the Workshop matchup, here is how I board for that matchup:
-4 Mental Misstep
-3 Grafdigger’s Cage
+4 Dismember
+2 Ghost Quarter
+1 Pithing Needle
This matchup is all about maintaining a board presence.  Counter what matters, generally their threats and then use your dudes to smash their face in. Worst cards to see here are only really bad if you cannot access a quick Null Rod (Forgemaster, Steel hellkite).  Wurmcoil Engine is probably the worst thing for you, so try and keep then denied of mana.  Pithing Needle out of the board usually names Mishra’s Factory, unless you absolutely need to name something else, everything else gets nerfed by Null Rod.

Oath is up next, Griselbrand is a really big dude.  He can be a pain at times, here is my board plan for Oath:
-3 Merrow Reejerey
-1 Steel Sabotage
+2 Swan Song
+1 Flusterstorm
+1 Grafdigger’s Cage
This matchup is all about stopping Oath of Druids/ Show and Tell.  It’s possible to win if they have a Griselbrand out, but it isn’t easy.  I have found Swan Song to be amazing against Oath, you don’t normally care about the 2/2 token they get.  A card that Oath has been playing now is Abrupt Decay, that card is a pain, but you just have to learn when it’s going to come.  Try keeping Oath players off their green mana so they can’t cast their Decay/ Oath.  Flusterstorm is just an extra counter which is most of the time uncounterable.

Next I will go over Storm decks (TPS, Burning Long, etc).  First here is my board plan:
-3 Merrow Reejerey
-3 Phantasmal Image
-1 Steel Sabotage
+2 Mindbreak Trap
+2 Swan Song
+1 Grafdigger’s Cage
+1 Flusterstorm
+1 Pithing Needle
Storm decks that try to disrupt with discard are generally a good matchup, you just hold a ton of counters and win eventually.  The ones that play Forces can be a little tricky but it should have a similar effect.  Needle usually names Necropotence/ Yawgmoth’s Bargain since it’s a very annoying card that we can’t otherwise deal with, although they lose quite a bit of life to use it, it’s generally a judgment call.  Images aren’t that great here since these decks don’t usually play Griselbrand, and if they do then you usually just keep it at bay with Cages and counters.

Here is my board plan for decks that try and kill you with creatures (Noble Fish, BUG Fish, White Trash, etc):
-3 Null Rod
-3 Grafdigger’s Cage
-1 Steel Sabotage
+4 Dismember
+2 Umezawa’s Jitte
+1 Pithing Needle
Just keep the opponents creatures off the board and control them with Jitte.  Needle usually names Deathrite Shaman or whatever is necessary depending on the matchup.  Watch out for their removal (Abrupt Decay, Swords to Plowshares) because they can blow you out with tricks and blocks. 

Here’s a look at my board plan for Trinket Mage based decks (Bomberman, Blue Angels, UW Wizards, etc):
-3 Grafdigger’s Cage
-1 Steel Sabotage
+4 Dismember
Basically, stop them from using Salvagers! Or kill problematic dudes, these matchups are generally good ones.

The next matchup is a big group known as “Broken Blue.” These are decks that usually win via Tinker or Vault/ Key.  The matchup is usually good and the deck is already set for them, so I tend not to board unless I think something is needed at the time.

Finally, the Merfolk Mirror match, this matchup is……. Brutal to be honest.  The matchup is usually whoever establishes the best board state wins.  One thing to note is that Lord of Atlantis is fairly poor here, as he pumps your opponents dudes.  Here is my board plan for them:
-3 Null Rod
-3 Grafdigger’s Cage
-3 Mental Misstep
-1 Steel Sabotage
+4 Dismember
+2 Umezawa’s Jitte
+2 Ghost Quarter
+1 Flusterstorm
+1 Pithing Needle
Like I said, this matchup is brutal.  Mental Misstep is also pretty terrible since the only target is usually Curcecatcher, which with Cavern is uncounterable.  That is why the Ghost Quarters come in, to answer Cavern.  Needle usually names Waterfront Bouncer, since most lists play him.  Flusterstorm is as stated an uncounterable counter most of the time. 

Next, I will discuss possible card choices, if you are not satisfied about this list.  There are other cards I have considered on playing in Merfolk but have not got around to playing, so these cards will be based solely on speculation.

-The first card that comes to mind is Thada Adel Aquisitor.  At a cost of 1UU, she is definitely castable in Merfolk, although at a high end and slightly tougher to cast.  This card, can be potentially a game winner, she can steal Time Vault and Key from opponents, Blightsteel out of their deck to prevent them from combo killing you, etc.  She can also just take Black Lotus to help advance your game plan.  I don’t play her because she seems alittle too niche for my taste.

-Next, is Cold Eyed Selkie.  Same cost as Thada, so same issues.  But this card, can draw you a plethora of cards and just straight up win from the card advantage you receive from it.  She seems pretty poor against Workshops though, biggest reason I’m not a fan of it.

-Spreading Seas comes to mind next.  This spicy enchantment just screams “play me in your Merfolk deck” but 1U is alittle much to neuter a land, even if it draws a card.  If it didn’t get affected by Thorn of Amethyst, Sphere of Resistance AND Lodestone Golem, I would consider it higher, but it’s out of my realm of possibilities for now.

-True Name Nemesis, a card that sees a ton of play in Legacy and also sees play in some Vintage Merfolk lists, does not show up in my 75, simply because I’m not a fan of it.  I think it’s just a guy, sure it is great with Jitte or Lords, I just haven’t seen the need to play him in my list yet.  Possibly if a lot more people play Abrupt Decay I may adopt him into my list, but until then he will remain excluded from the Blue Demons.

-Waterfront Bouncer, he sees play in most Merfolk lists in Vintage, does not show up in my list because I think he is too slow.  He requires cards in hand, is card disadvantage, and requires to you to untap with him in play.  All in all he just seems bad to me.

-Hurkyl’s Recall might reappear in my list, IF Workshops ever starts dominating in Vintage again, but I would first add in more Sabotages.  Hurkyl’s just slows them down, it’s not a win card.

-Disrupting Shoal was recently brought to my attention.  This card is really intriguing, it acts as more Force of Will, though more situational.  Might be an interesting choice, I don’t think I will try it but I wouldn’t think it was bad if someone did try it.

-Misdirection has seen small amounts of play in Merfolk, and seems nice in a Meta infested with Abrupt Decay.  I think it is alittle too clunky to play in my list, I just try to play around Abrupt Decay, or accept that it is a card and will just deal with the fact that it can kill everything in my deck.

-A big card I have thought about for Merfolk that actually isn’t very big at all is Triton Shorestalker.  It’s a card spoiled in Journey into Nyx if you haven’t seen it, it’s a 1/1 for U that is unblockable.  That may not seem like much, but having an unblockable guy for you Fish matchups without Islands is pretty huge for Jitte’s sake.  Now like I said this is just speculation, but I’m quite a fan of this card.

-A second card that sparks some interest from Journey into Nyx is Dakra Mystic.  This one drop Merfolk may not fit with the style of most players lists, but my list and play style seems to be more controlling.  The interaction this has with top deck tutors is fantastic, as well as the ability to simply give you a ton of information seems like a card worth mentioning.

Well, I guess another topic people like to read about when they read a primer is results.  I will admit I have not received a top 8 yet with the Blue Demons, but I feel like the rigorous testing and experience I have gained from the deck will push me to get some top 8’s very shortly.  I can in fact name the cards I have lost to that prevented me from top 8ing with the Blue Demons: Jaya Ballard, Taskmage, Griselbrand, Batterskull, Blightsteel Colossus.  An early Jaya Ballard spells doom for this deck if not answered, she simply blows up a dude each turn.  Griselbrand doesn’t need much explaining, he is a 7/7 flier with Lifelink, that draws cards.  Batterskull can be a blowout if not answered fast.  I typically try to remove the opponents careatures and the germ token, then attempt to just beat down faster than the returned Batterskull.  Lastly is the big guy himself, Blightsteel Colossus.  This guy is frustrating to lose to, especially when you top deck the answer to the Tinker the turn after he is out, or top deck the answer to him the turn after you die.  The fact that he kills in one hit is what makes him very frustrating to play against.  These decks tend to rely on him though, so countering Tinker is of upmost importance.

Now that I have covered the matchups, Sideboarding plans, possible card choices outside my initial list, and ways this deck loses, and how to prevent that I think you are well informed about the Blue Demons and their attack on the metagame.  They are very underestimated, but very powerful.  I hope that with my list, I can prove that an unpowered deck can do well in a powered metagame.  I’ve been testing extensively and it is really paying off.  I thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this little primer of the Blue Demons!

“Release the Blue Demons!  May their tridents vanquish their foes with ease!”

[xouman]

Merfolks gave me my first Vintage top, several years ago. http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=500&iddeck=10642Tinker into DSC was even more common than now, althought it was slower. I played waterfronts in the sideboard because of dreaded DSC.

batterskull can be a real trouble too. and of course golem, or hellkite. Dismember is great against them, but thada could make also a good addition (althought not being able to cast her in T2 is a pity).

Is stifle an option? At least it's often a bad time walk (you can stifle oath, vault, hellkite, stf, bazaar), and you can help the mana denial plan cutting fetches, specially T1 where you only have cursecatcher. I agree that it's easy to avoid stifle, but it's not played lately and would be unexpected. Besides, if they play around it, they are losing tempo, and that's a good thing for merfolks.

Another card that could fit is mutavault. You never have too many merfolks in play :p


Merfolks is a great deck and you have developed a great guide, I hope it would help people decide to try it (to my pain, probably :p). Good job!

[msg67183]

Merfolks gave me my first Vintage top, several years ago. http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=500&iddeck=10642Tinker into DSC was even more common than now, althought it was slower. I played waterfronts in the sideboard because of dreaded DSC.

batterskull can be a real trouble too. and of course golem, or hellkite. Dismember is great against them, but thada could make also a good addition (althought not being able to cast her in T2 is a pity).

Is stifle an option? At least it's often a bad time walk (you can stifle oath, vault, hellkite, stf, bazaar), and you can help the mana denial plan cutting fetches, specially T1 where you only have cursecatcher. I agree that it's easy to avoid stifle, but it's not played lately and would be unexpected. Besides, if they play around it, they are losing tempo, and that's a good thing for merfolks.

Another card that could fit is mutavault. You never have too many merfolks in play :p


Merfolks is a great deck and you have developed a great guide, I hope it would help people decide to try it (to my pain, probably :p). Good job!

Thank You!

Sorry for the delayed reply, I think Mutavault is bad in Merfolk just for the fact that it messes with your manabase even more. You are already playing 4 Cavern of Souls, 4 Wastelands and Strip Mine. I value consistency over power.

I had Stifle in my mind when I was originally playing this deck but it just doesnt do enough, especially in a format where Mental Misstep is legal.

Thada Adel is a little too slow and clunky for my liking.

Thanks again! Hope you enjoyed the read.

[sylverfyre]

I honestly find that 19 mana sources is too low.  I feel like legacy merfolk decks that this was adapted from get away with it due to Aether Vial, but there are just so many unkeepable opening hands with only 15 blue sources, when you ABSOLUTELY need UU on turn 2 due to your lords.

I also feel that Rejerey is quite weak, and I've experimented with cutting some of them for True-name Progenitus, Sygg River Cutthroat, Cold-eyed selkie, and some other ideas.  I don't feel that you need 3 TNN maindeck if you do choose to run them, but bringing some in for

I also find that Spell Pierce is often a more reliable counter than Daze when dealing with the incredible mana acceleration of Vintage, and I'm not super happy with maindecking Steel Sabotage in my local meta which has few consistent shops players.  I still run daze, but I split the non-force counters as 3 misstep, 2 pierce, 2 daze rather than 4/0/3 split you're running.  You won't resolve turn 2 null rod every game to make your dazes last past the earliest turns, and you really want to play your second blue source before you have to start bouncing your islands.

Considering how the deck is in the dredge and shops matchups, I also think it's dishonest to only have 4 Cage and the needle as your sole dredge hate (you still have quite a few dead FOWs to side out, use other things to counter their antihate) and dismember as the only thing to bring in vs. shops - I think there should be more Steel Sabotage/Hurkyl's Recall in the board instead of cute stuff like Mindbreak Trap (storm is not a bad matchup for any deck with 16 maindeck counterspells, heavy mana denial, and a fast clock)

[msg67183]

I honestly find that 19 mana sources is too low.  I feel like legacy merfolk decks that this was adapted from get away with it due to Aether Vial, but there are just so many unkeepable opening hands with only 15 blue sources, when you ABSOLUTELY need UU on turn 2 due to your lords.

I also feel that Rejerey is quite weak, and I've experimented with cutting some of them for True-name Progenitus, Sygg River Cutthroat, Cold-eyed selkie, and some other ideas.  I don't feel that you need 3 TNN maindeck if you do choose to run them, but bringing some in for

I also find that Spell Pierce is often a more reliable counter than Daze when dealing with the incredible mana acceleration of Vintage, and I'm not super happy with maindecking Steel Sabotage in my local meta which has few consistent shops players.  I still run daze, but I split the non-force counters as 3 misstep, 2 pierce, 2 daze rather than 4/0/3 split you're running.  You won't resolve turn 2 null rod every game to make your dazes last past the earliest turns, and you really want to play your second blue source before you have to start bouncing your islands.

Considering how the deck is in the dredge and shops matchups, I also think it's dishonest to only have 4 Cage and the needle as your sole dredge hate (you still have quite a few dead FOWs to side out, use other things to counter their antihate) and dismember as the only thing to bring in vs. shops - I think there should be more Steel Sabotage/Hurkyl's Recall in the board instead of cute stuff like Mindbreak Trap (storm is not a bad matchup for any deck with 16 maindeck counterspells, heavy mana denial, and a fast clock)

Reading your comments makes me feel like you didn't even read the primer. Dredge is a great matchup for me, and Workshops has been easy. My sideboard plans are displayed in the primer, there is more being boarded in those matchups than you stated. All you need is to land a hate card and protect it against Dredge, so Forces do not come out.

[JPoJohnson]

With how varied your 'hate' is in the sideboard for various matchups (such as only 1 cage to bring in against dredge) how often do you find that you have to either mulligan to hate or never find it? Also, there's no way to protect a Grafdigger's from Cagebreaker dredge as far as I can see on your list so how do you approach that matchup?

[msg67183]

With how varied your 'hate' is in the sideboard for various matchups (such as only 1 cage to bring in against dredge) how often do you find that you have to either mulligan to hate or never find it? Also, there's no way to protect a Grafdigger's from Cagebreaker dredge as far as I can see on your list so how do you approach that matchup?

3 Cages main? Mental Misstep hits Claim, Force and Daze hit Chewer? I don't see the problem.

[TheWhiteDragon]

The problem is you most likely have to mull to get one of a 3x card.  If you do, odds are you won't also have the protection to match their answers...or the wrong type like a misstep vs their chewer.

[msg67183]

The problem is you most likely have to mull to get one of a 3x card.  If you do, odds are you won't also have the protection to match their answers...or the wrong type like a misstep vs their chewer.

I've also won games against Dredge simply by racing. It's not as bad of a matchup as people think.

[xouman]

3 cages, 5 wastes, 4 cursecatchers and 3 images to sacrify to exile bridges, counters to avoid broken plays. A good dredge player would have advantage, but it's far from unwinnable, there are lots of tools. Postboard I'm not sure who improves more, since best tools are already in the main, while drege can play some things. I'd probably play some relic of progenitus, improving also BUG and y.will decks. But the original list seems quite strong overall

is back to basics an option? I haven't played that for 5 years or so and it's poor against rug, but could do some work in lots of pairings.

[WhiteLotus]

Dredge is a bad matchup for your deck and you don't have enough sb slot yet you have 5 counters for decks supposed to be your good matchups that seems pretty awkward a plan. Your sideboard is also soft to Workshops which are also a pretty bad matchup for your deck (dismember is nice but it doesn't do anything against Wurmcoil engine, tangle wire, crucible or smokestack). It looks like your sideboard wants your deck to be really good against the decks it's good against and hope to avoid it's tough matchups. Is your local metagame 100% blue?
Against dregde, have you considered running some additional hate like Ravenous trap or Surgical extraction, your current hate is really vulnerable against a deck playing 1-2 grudges, 4 natures claim, 4 chewers, 4 missteps and 4 cabal therapy post boarding, also your hate will not empty their grave meaning that when they break free it's going to be all hell loose. You may be able to race the ichorid variants sometimes with a mean opener and wasteland, but I doubt it goes the same way against the Dread return variants.

[msg67183]

You know all of you are saying Dredge is a bad matchup, but I think of all people I would know how good or bad my matchup is since I am the one piloting the deck. I have a good matchup against Dredge, maybe it's just my play style, irk, all I know is it is not bad like everyone says.

[xouman]

I'm defending that the pairing is not that bad, G1 merfolks has a solid chance to win unless dredge goes nuts. When I played merfolks several years ago, before cages, it was winnable. Sometimes dredge could make several tokens but often weren't enough, plus merfolks loses less life from fetchlands, vampiric, confidant... so dredge could attack and make 18 damage and I could win on the comeback.

I find MUD pairing way harder, specially quick golem (that could force merfolks to 2x1) and hellkite/wurmcoil. hands with 1 island and 2 other lands are bad against MUD, and while chalice and thorns are not really hard, spheres and tangles are difficult to deal with. But even mud is winnable.

[msg67183]

I'm defending that the pairing is not that bad, G1 merfolks has a solid chance to win unless dredge goes nuts. When I played merfolks several years ago, before cages, it was winnable. Sometimes dredge could make several tokens but often weren't enough, plus merfolks loses less life from fetchlands, vampiric, confidant... so dredge could attack and make 18 damage and I could win on the comeback.

I find MUD pairing way harder, specially quick golem (that could force merfolks to 2x1) and hellkite/wurmcoil. hands with 1 island and 2 other lands are bad against MUD, and while chalice and thorns are not really hard, spheres and tangles are difficult to deal with. But even mud is winnable.

I'm not as afraid of Wire as most, there are a lot of permanents in this list. I'm also not so scared of Lodestone since all I really need are 2 Lords or a Lord and Silvergill. And Hellkite is nerfed with Null Rod so as long as my clock is faster I'm not too scared

I'm not really afraid to play against any deck when I pilot this at tournaments, that says something

[ramrodjon]

Good primer, Matt, and thanks for the shout-out.  Your card choices and reasons may be different from other Merfolk decks, but the important thing is to stick to what is comfortable for you.  Eventually, the results will show. 

[msg67183]

Good primer, Matt, and thanks for the shout-out.  Your card choices and reasons may be different from other Merfolk decks, but the important thing is to stick to what is comfortable for you.  Eventually, the results will show. 

Thanks dude. Hopefully this Primer will bring more people to the format. I know of three people who told me that they want to play this deck, two of which will be just starting out in vintage, it feels phenominal.

[msg67183]

A few cards I have been considering recently:

Misdirection and Divert- these cards are really good if Abrupt Decay sees a lot more play, as it is literally the best card against Merfolk. I'm just considering this I'm not sure yet.

True Name Nemesis- same reasons mostly really good against the same decks.

Stifle- stops storm, Oath for a turn, Griselbrand activation, opposing Wastelands and much much more, seems like a very broad counter. Still not sure yet, since Mental Misstep is very much played in the format.

Any other cards that are on people's minds?

[xouman]

Your options seem among the best. Stifle couldn't be at its peak, but nowadays it's unexpected, and stifling first fetch could be devastating against an unaware opponent.

I'd take a look to other interesting merfolks:

Wake Thrasher: REALLY vulnerable, dies to everything. however most merfolks do :p It should attract removal, or is a really quick beater. It's minimum a 4/4 during your turn (assuming the 3 lands to play it), easily it's a bigger beast that crushes tarmos even without lords. Just aggro.

Seasinger: Not against any deck, but a pretty decent sb card. However it's best in already good pairings, so probably she is not very interesting.

Talrand, Sky Summoner: I didn't know he was a merfolk :p He belongs to a very different deck, but a more controlling deck (with more real counterspells) Talrand can win the game by himself.

Coralhelm Commander: I won't play it over other lords, but he flies. I cannot see how it would make a great difference here, but that's another option.

Overtaker: Better than Waterfront bouncer? it consumes more mana, but the effect is more powerful.




From that list I would only try Wake thrasher, and just in aggro metagames. Some other options?

[Guli]

I like the misdirection idea. And I mean this broadly, there are other cards that have a similar effect. I have the desire to try out Imp's Mischief for instance, but haven't had the guys to dare so in a tourney. So for Merfolks, I can see Misdirection work out well! Don't forget that Dismember is being effectively used by Workshop.

[msg67183]

I like the misdirection idea. And I mean this broadly, there are other cards that have a similar effect. I have the desire to try out Imp's Mischief for instance, but haven't had the guys to dare so in a tourney. So for Merfolks, I can see Misdirection work out well! Don't forget that Dismember is being effectively used by Workshop.

I am liking the idea of Misdirection / Divert but I'm not sure what I'd cut from the list, it's already pretty stacked.

One card that has been alittle underwhelming (or is usually my go to card to pitch to Force, or gets sided out) is Merrow Reejerey. It just seems weaker than the others. Thoughts?

[xouman]

Reejerey is better in legacy because of vial and the importante of combat phase. In vintage you are not playing vials, and if you already have islandwalk, most of the time you are connecting. I agree that reejerey is subpar.

[msg67183]

I'm considering Spreading Seas and Cold Eyed Selkie even more than before now. They provide CA, something this deck can't consistently get on a normal basis, while Seas also Disrupts the manabase and makes your guys unblockabke if a lord is out. It can also provide Abrupt Decay "protection" because it can cut the opponent off a color, or they might just want to decay the seas so your guys can be blocked.

[ben_berry]

The problem i have with spreading seas is at 2 you never get to cast it against MUD or Dredge.

[msg67183]

The problem i have with spreading seas is at 2 you never get to cast it against MUD or Dredge.

I don't really see the problem against Dredge, especially with 3 Cage main. Against shops it's ok but it's mostly for the fair decks that have been sprouting up. Workshops have also been seeing less play. Thus is also only if I cut Reejereys which I'm still not sure yet. Like I have previously said I'm also considering Misdirection or Divert, both have advantages over the other. Also considering Spell Pierce because it's another solid counter

[Merfolkasaurus-Rex]

I've played this deck for some time now and I have to comment on the dredge matchup: It's really not as bad as everyone thinks it is, if you're able to waste their bazaar after only one activation you can usually race, as long as they don't have another one. I still don't expect to win game one most of the time, but it can happen. I don't love facing oath or workshops either, but honestly I don't think this deck has any truly terrible matchups.

Two comments on other issues in this thread:

First, I don't think playing this deck without power is a great idea, it's not going to neuter it by as much as going powerless with other decks, but 1st turn lords (or double lords) are just way too good to pass up. Ancestral and time walk pretty much speak for themselves.

Second, I recently tried cutting reejery and here are my observations: I went up to two maindeck steel sabotage, plus 2 in the board along with 2 annul, I feel like this helped my workshop matchup immensely. I added 2 divert (though I have been wondering if stifle is better), divert isn't strictly for abrupt decay, it can help with swords, grudges on your null rods, and can help win a counter battle as well, the fact is, it is really our only 1 for 1 answer (other than hardcast misdirection) to abrupt decay. And decay seems like it's everywhere these days. The negative aspects of cutting the reejereys is that you reduce the number of times that you can go nuts and empty your hand and present lethal that or the followng turn even with a griselbrand in play, but that does not really happen that often. The most common downside to cutting reejerey is that there are more situations in which you are stuck with an uncastable silvergil adept in hand.

Overall though, when we cut reejerey, the extra counters really helped the deck feel more like a control-aggro deck rather than just strait aggro.
The thing with merfolk is it seems like you're pretty much stuck with whatever half you draw, so not drawing a good mix of disruption and dudes can help you to lose a game real quick.  Can you really throw back a hand of lotus cavern island lord lord lord silvergil? You'd have to be nuts to right? Well this is vintage, and even if you go first turn lord silvergil, if you brick on your next two draws the next thing you know your opponent is taking infinite turns and you only got in for 7. This is just playing the format and playing the deck I suppose, a more even mix of disruption with the cut of reejery can give you a better balance, you're just always going to have the problem of card selection with this deck though.

[msg67183]

I've played this deck for some time now and I have to comment on the dredge matchup: It's really not as bad as everyone thinks it is, if you're able to waste their bazaar after only one activation you can usually race, as long as they don't have another one. I still don't expect to win game one most of the time, but it can happen. I don't love facing oath or workshops either, but honestly I don't think this deck has any truly terrible matchups.

Two comments on other issues in this thread:

First, I don't think playing this deck without power is a great idea, it's not going to neuter it by as much as going powerless with other decks, but 1st turn lords (or double lords) are just way too good to pass up. Ancestral and time walk pretty much speak for themselves.

Second, I recently tried cutting reejery and here are my observations: I went up to two maindeck steel sabotage, plus 2 in the board along with 2 annul, I feel like this helped my workshop matchup immensely. I added 2 divert (though I have been wondering if stifle is better), divert isn't strictly for abrupt decay, it can help with swords, grudges on your null rods, and can help win a counter battle as well, the fact is, it is really our only 1 for 1 answer (other than hardcast misdirection) to abrupt decay. And decay seems like it's everywhere these days. The negative aspects of cutting the reejereys is that you reduce the number of times that you can go nuts and empty your hand and present lethal that or the followng turn even with a griselbrand in play, but that does not really happen that often. The most common downside to cutting reejerey is that there are more situations in which you are stuck with an uncastable silvergil adept in hand.

Overall though, when we cut reejerey, the extra counters really helped the deck feel more like a control-aggro deck rather than just strait aggro.
The thing with merfolk is it seems like you're pretty much stuck with whatever half you draw, so not drawing a good mix of disruption and dudes can help you to lose a game real quick.  Can you really throw back a hand of lotus cavern island lord lord lord silvergil? You'd have to be nuts to right? Well this is vintage, and even if you go first turn lord silvergil, if you brick on your next two draws the next thing you know your opponent is taking infinite turns and you only got in for 7. This is just playing the format and playing the deck I suppose, a more even mix of disruption with the cut of reejery can give you a better balance, you're just always going to have the problem of card selection with this deck though.

Thank you for this insight on the deck! I'm debating between a plethora of cards trying to decide which cards will fit the list best. I think Stifle can be very powerful, living the dream of stifling a Griselbrand activation.
I'm considering Divert, Spreading Seas, Cold Eyed Selkie, and Spell Pierce. I think your analysis of Divert is very nice though thank you for that I think I will try it out.

Regarding power, I'm on the opposite side on this, I don't think you should ever need to play 2 Lords on turn one, I'd rather play a Cursecatcher and hold a bunch of counters... I'm a very conservative player and I'd rather just attack with 1 guy and prevent them from doing anything rather than just try to win fast and then possibly screw up and lose for it

Thanks again!

[ramrodjon]

I ran two main deck Rootwater Thieves at Champs in my budget Merfolk deck.  It didn't help move the aggro plan along, but it helped strip the opponent's deck from important cards.  It tied up my mana resources and forced me to play a slower, more controlling game, but without Time Walk or Black Lotus, I knew I wasn't going to put the heat on very quickly.  If you're going to run budget, give it a test...I liked it.

[msg67183]

I ran two main deck Rootwater Thieves at Champs in my budget Merfolk deck.  It didn't help move the aggro plan along, but it helped strip the opponent's deck from important cards.  It tied up my mana resources and forced me to play a slower, more controlling game, but without Time Walk or Black Lotus, I knew I wasn't going to put the heat on very quickly.  If you're going to run budget, give it a test...I liked it.

Seems pretty solid actually. Thanks Jon!

[msg67183]

I'm still unsure what the last 3 cards should be in my deck, I guess they are considered the flex spots and should differ per metagame. I am just not sure what to play in those spots for this Saturday. I'm stuck between a few cards. I'm currently testing out Divert because it answers the decks worst nightmare, Abrupt Decay. I'm also considering Spell Pierce since it answers most of what I care about, Dakra Mystic because it seems to fit a playstyle I enjoy, or other cards that I'm open to hear about, what are your thoughts?

[Guli]

While in theory the Divert is an answer to Decay, it may very well be that you won't have the mana or the card itself at a the time a Decay is being launched from your opponent. I hope you catch at least 1 Decay though. Also note that Decay decks usually have Deathrite Shaman which means in the mid game they could easily play around Divert by keeping 2 mana open.