Derevi, Merfolk Taptician

Commander / EDH* Control GWU (Bant) Merfolk Tempo Theme/Gimmick

Miwako

Land (34)

• 1x Adarkar Wastes
• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Brushland
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Deserted Temple
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Field of Ruin
• 1x Flooded Grove
• 3x Forest
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 4x Island
• 1x Krosan Verge
• 1x Mystic Gate
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 3x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Seaside Citadel
• 1x Tarnished Citadel
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Treva's Ruins
• 1x Wanderwine Hub
• 1x Waterlogged Grove
• 1x Wooded Bastion
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Aquitect's Will
• 1x Harsh Mercy
• 1x Harvest Season
• 1x Hidden Strings
• 1x Summon the School
• 1x Supreme Verdict

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Tamiyo, Field Researcher
• 1x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

Creature (25)

• 1x Azami, Lady of Scrolls
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Cold-Eyed Selkie
• 1x Ertai, Wizard Adept
• 1x Fallowsage
• 1x Forerunner of the Heralds
• 1x Kiora's Follower
• 1x Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
• 1x Lord of Atlantis
• 1x Master of the Pearl Trident
• 1x Merfolk Sovereign
• 1x Merrow Reejerey
• 1x Seafloor Oracle
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Sigil Tracer
• 1x Stonybrook Schoolmaster
• 1x Stormtide Leviathan
• 1x Surgespanner
• 1x Sygg, River Guide
• 1x Thada Adel, Acquisitor
• 1x Tishana, Voice of Thunder
• 1x Triton Shorestalker
• 1x Wake Thrasher
• 1x Wall of Denial
• 1x Wanderwine Prophets

Instant (7)

• 1x Consign to Dust
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Plasm Capture

Commander (1)

Artifact (13)

• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Bident of Thassa
• 1x Coat of Arms
• 1x Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip
• 1x Elixir of Immortality
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Selesnya Signet
• 1x Simic Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Thran Dynamo

Enchantment (12)

• 1x Aura Shards
• 1x Coastal Piracy
• 1x Deeproot Waters
• 1x Dismiss into Dream
• 1x Glare of Subdual
• 1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip
• 1x Kindred Discovery
• 1x Merrow Commerce
• 1x Nature's Will
• 1x Opposition
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Sylvan Library

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Sideboard

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Cryptolith Rite
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Lingering Mirage

Creature (2)

• 1x Mistcaller
• 1x Streambed Aquitects

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Harsh Mercy

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Maybeboard

Creature (16)

• 1x Forerunner of the Heralds
• 1x Giant Oyster
• 1x Harpoon Sniper
• 2x Judge of Currents
• 1x Merfolk Skyscout
• 1x Sandbar Merfolk
• 1x Sejiri Merfolk
• 1x Tatyova, Benthic Druid
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Triton Shorestalker
• 2x Veteran of the Depths
• 1x Vodalian Illusionist
• 1x Wellgabber Apothecary
• 1x Whirlpool Rider

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Mu Yanling

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Temporal Distortion

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Summon the School

Land (1)

• 1x Arcane Lighthouse

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I would be surprised to see a Derevi deck that doesn't run a single merfolk. They have an affinity for tapping/untapping things and are one of the most evasive tribes.

I wanted to exploit Derevi in a way that wins more 'directly' than stax and other styles I've played. She ascribes how to win (doing combat damage), but also gives a way to get ahead of opponents and hold them back.

The goals of this deck are "do combat damage to win" and "by doing combat damage I can tap opponents' permanents or untap my own."

Contents:

1. Combat damage effects
2. Tap/Untap Effects
3. Tap/Untap Triggers
4. Other Stuff

1. Combat Damage

• The first reason why
• Some of the other combat damage triggers this deck has are ramp, tapping/untapping, draw, removal and extra turns.

2. Tapping and Untapping

• In addition to Derevi this deck has several other tap/untap effects and or/triggers.
• There are multiple reasons to tap opponents' permanents (see below), but most of these can also be used to untap my own permanents.
• In addition to ramp, untapping my permanents allows me to re-use abilities or triggers.
• A few examples: Merrow Reejerey, Seedborn Muse, Hidden Strings, Kiora's Follower, Merrow Commerce

3. {T}riggers

• Since this deck is based on tapping/untapping, it has a lot of abilities that trigger when something becomes tapped.
• There are certain abilities that allow this deck's creatures to be freely tapped, with effects like drawing, producing mana, countering, or tapping something else.
• On top of that, some of the merfolk have activated abilities that occur when they become tapped, like card draw, creating tokens, and bouncing permanents.
• I can also tap opponents' creatures to do things, for instance draw cards, gain control of them, or sacrifice them.

4. The Rest

• Regular stuff like ramp, removal, protection, tutors, etc. that's creature-based where possible.

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How does it work?

This deck works when it does what Derevi wants to do--deal combat damage, and tap/untap things. Almost every part of the deck is based around those two things and they all intertwine with each other based on performing that combination.

Here are a few examples of how the parts of this deck synergize. Since Derevi, Empyrial Tactician is this deck's commander, let's assume we're synergizing with her in these scenarios too.

• Cold-Eyed Selkie equipped with Mark of Sakiko
  • Cold-Eyed Selkie can do combat damage pretty easily with islandwalk, so I draw cards, and with Mark of Sakiko and Derevi's tap/untap trigger I have a little extra mana to play them.
    
    
• River Sneak and Dowsing Dagger  
  • Like Cold-Eyed Selkie, River Sneak is assured to do combat damage, so it's easy to transform Dowsing Dagger  
  • Lost Vale   is basically Gilded Lotus for three fewer mana, it's harder for opponents to remove, and can be easily untapped with Derevi (or other) abilities for lots of ramp.
  • Obviously Gilded Lotus is just fine; but this deck takes advantage of combat damage triggers whenever possible!
    
    
• Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca with Hidden Strings encoded
  • Kumena allows other merfolk to be tapped for her abilities to be used.
  • With Hidden Strings, Kumena gets two of her own tap/untap triggers when she does combat damage, in addition to the one from Derevi.
  • Since a merfolk can be tapped for her first ability, she does the combat damage, and then with Hidden Strings three of those merfolk can be untapped and immediately used for her second ability.
    
    
• Stonybrook Schoolmaster and Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
  • Kumena's first ability can tap Stonybrook Schoolmaster to make her unblockable, and the tap trigger creates a merfolk token.
  • Since Kumena is doing combat damage, she'll also trigger Derevi, and another merfolk can be tapped if necessary to once again do Kumena's second effect. If Stonybrook is untapped to be tapped again, he'll make yet another token.
    
    
• Patron Wizard and Stonybrook Schoolmaster
  • Both Patron Wizard and Azami can tap Derevi, as well as a majority of merfolk in the deck since they share this deck's secondary tribe--"Wizard."
  • Derevi can untap things very easily, so being able to do things like draw cards or counter spells with creatures (who we also need for combat damage) help the deck work smoothly and do what's necessary, all while saving mana.
    
    
• Willbreaker, Dismiss into Dream as mass removal
  • Derevi (and other parts of the deck) can allow for opponents' creatures and permanents to be tapped freely.
  • With Willbreaker and Derevi, when I tap (or untap) opponents' creatures they come under my control.
  • With Dismiss into Dream and Derevi, when I tap (or untap) opponents' creatures they get sacrificed.
  • Neither of these rares are great on their own, but because this deck can tap/untap so many things at once they can wipe out or steal a huge number of creatures--for essentially 0 mana.
    
    
• Lullmage Mentor and Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
  • Kira protects the merfolk and works well with Lullmage Mentor, who will create a merfolk any time a creature is targeted.
  • Lullmage can tap merfolk to counter a spell, which not only works with the theme of tapping/untapping, but also means that it can only be countered by something that counters an ability.

There is a lot of tapping/untapping so if there is anything note-worthy that I missed I'll list it in the future.

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Thanks for checking it out! If you like it or find it helpful, please give it an upvote and let me know what you think.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	5 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 51 - 4 Rares 27 - 1 Uncommons 7 - 1 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.17
Tokens	Elephant 3-3 G, Emblem Tamiyo, Field Researcher, Emblem Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, Merfolk 1/1 U w/ Hexproof, Merfolk Wizard 1/1 U, Plant 0/2 G
Folders	anthology modification