Merfolk in Modern: Calling all veterans of the deck!
Modern forum
Posted on April 18, 2015, 3:30 p.m. by PhyrexianScience
I'm looking for tips on these things in particular:
When to pay mana for your guys vs. When to use AEther Vial.
How to adapt my playstyle against Control, Burn, Abzan/Jund Midrange, and Tokens.
When to play Lords.
When to play other guys.
Any general tips and tricks are also welcome!
RoarMaster says... #3
Use vial at eot when dropping non-lords usually. Drop lords post declare blockers stage for the extra dmg with vial, unless you think you can bait an attack out of your opponent and can flash out the lord in order to combat trick kill an opposing goyf or other threat. Vial is there so you can leave mana open for counters, because without the control aspect of the deck, merfolk are basically just a shitty aggro tribe. Its because they mono u with vial and counters to shut out combo that they hold up. Merfolk are a pretty good matchup against most decks other than affinity, which it unfortunately tends to scoop to on a constant basis.
Ive had great results against burn with a bit more of a slower approach, dont throw your lords out there to get burnt by a bolt unless you can drop a couple lords in order to get over the bolt thresh hold. Play tight with the vials, you will probably need one to win in this matchup, you need to aggro out that dmg asap or fear of getting burnt to dangerous lvls before your field happens. Obv, side out counterspells here.
Control leave counters in, and depending on your build, stick to the mana leaks, rune snags rather than spell snare, the obv main choice. Play defensively if your opponent shuts you down early, but remember that merfolk have the upper hand in control battles as you maintain the best of both worlds, enough aggro early to put the pressure on control, and enough control to potentially stall your oppsing control players first big play long enough to cinch the win.
Have not actually played vs junk midrange since pod was banned, so do not know there.
Tokens, rely on countering their intangible virtue/buff mechanism, and you should be able to steam roll over with your bigger fish.
Im pretty day drunk right now, so im probably not doing the description justice here, sorry. But, i have piloted merfolk to 2, 4, and 7th place at gottacon three years in a row, so i am quite familiar with the deck and how she plays. Fish are a great all around deck, and one of the cheaper modern decks to build for that matter. I hope you enjoy p,aying it, i know i do :)
dan8080 says... #2
Well typically you want to use the vial as often as you can. You want your mana for no creature effects like Spreading Seas and counter spells or whatever else you are playing.
As for when to play creatures it depends on the scenario if you aren't attacking that turn or needing a blocker you may aswell wait for the end of their turn.
April 18, 2015 4:26 p.m.