Merfolk is Tier 1, Do You Have Your Sideboard Ready?
Modern forum
Posted on Aug. 6, 2015, 12:43 a.m. by Femme_Fatale
Okay, since merfolk has become a T1 deck, I've decided to create a list of potentially good sideboard cards against them. I've got these so far, and a rating out of 10 of their effectiveness.
- Anger of the Gods: 10/10. Practically insta-kills them all. Highly unlikely that they'll have 3 lords by the time you cast this.
- Batwing Brume: An good choice for BW tokens. It slows down merfolk just enough for you to generate fliers, and can make them lose a lot of life, especially if they have chucked down a Master of Waves. 6.5/10.
- Choke: Bai bai Islands. 7.5/10.
- Damnation: Bit slow, and if they have Spell Pierce in their deck, they have a better chance of casting it against you. That and they can get a fair bit of damage through. 9/10.
- Displacement Wave: Blue's probably only side card against merfolk. The problem with this one is that they can replay all their Spreading Seas and Silvergill Adept to draw more cards. However, it still significantly slows them down. 6.5/10.
- Engineered Explosives: Putting this at 2 means that it kills all of their Spreading Seas, their lords, and a majority of their creature base. However, the 3 drops and Master of Waves and tokens still stay alive. 8.5/10.
- Ghostly Prison: Stops their onslaught as they only have 20 lands in their deck. Please note that this does require some fliers. 7.5/10.
- Kolaghan's Command: Destroy an AEther Vial, kill a lord. 6/10.
- Oblivion Stone: Probably the best of all the wraths, however it is hard to activate it as Spreading Seas can give you troubles. Waiting for 5 mana is generally suicide too, but it can come in handy. 6.5/10.
- Pyroclasm: 6.5/10. If they have 2 lords, you are in trouble.
- Rakdos Charm: When they drop down their Master of Waves, surprise them with this. 6/10. Best in aggressive decks.
- Rending Volley: Many merfolk decks run Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, and it just so happens to be anti-Twin material too. 7/10.
- Supreme Verdict: Bit difficult to cast, but the offset is that they can't Spell Pierce it. 9/10.
- Volcanic Fallout: Better than Pyroclasm because you can cast it in response to them dropping down a second lord, or proc'ing a vial. 8/10.
- Wrath of God: Same as Damnation. 9/10.
Feel free to suggest other cards and I'll add them to the list if they are good enough.
While Harbinger of the Tides does do terrible things in the Merfolk deck (I.E: slows/kills Splinter Twin, slows aggro), Merfolk isn't actually Tier 1. It's certainly a lot better than it was before Harbinger of the Tides came along, that I can admit.
August 6, 2015 1:49 a.m.
buildingadeck says... #4
Oblivion Stone and All Is Dust can be good in Tron decks.
August 6, 2015 2:03 a.m.
Since you have Rakdos Charm listed, maybe add Batwing Brume?
August 6, 2015 2:24 a.m.
I disagree with your rating system. Damnation is defintely worth a point more than Wrath of God. Just look at that art/pricetag!
I will settle for half a point.
August 6, 2015 2:31 a.m.
I like Flickerwisp with the mentioned Worship. It can reset vial and your speading siezed' land. And is a flier. Something for the hatebears deck.
For mono U tron or heavy blue decks, I would add the new Displacement Wave. Set at two to return tokens, spreading seas, lords and vials. Slows them down enough that it is similar to Damnation.
August 6, 2015 2:50 a.m.
omnipotato says... #8
I play merfolk and Kolaghan's Command is always a 2-for-1. Either Merfolk+Vial or Merfolk+a better merfolk in my hand. Choke is also way better than 6/10. I play 7 non-basic blue sources and it's still single-handedly won games for my opponents.
Also, side out countermagic against Merfolk, and definitely do not bring any in. You look mighty silly sitting there with 4 mana up while I keep pumping guys out with AEther Vial
I've also had Displacement Wave used against me and it is NOT fun. Probably the best blue card to bring in against Merfolk
August 6, 2015 3:55 a.m. Edited.
omnipotato says... #9
Worship is easily answered by Vapor Snag (only prevents damage not loss of life), so I don't know if it's worth the 8/10
August 6, 2015 4:06 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #11
The best cards against Merfolk are the versatile cards which just so happen to wreck Merfolk. EE, Anger, Verdict and Choke are all worth it because they can be used against a heap of stuff.
August 6, 2015 8:13 a.m.
canterlotguardian says... #12
bijschjdbcd um... really? that's like the whole "dies to removal" argument. a card doesn't suck just because it dies to removal any more than a card sucks because it can be countered. that's like MTG Fallacy #1 or something, idk these things don't actually get numbered.
August 6, 2015 9:01 a.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #13
I was stating that it is unfair you give Anger a 10 when most of the cards on the list suffer from the same problem.
August 6, 2015 9:07 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #14
I haven't thought of Flickerwisping their AEther Vials, Boza. I use it in a CoCo creature control build, so it is nice to know. However, it doesn't really have too much use on its own, as you wouldn't put it in your sideboard because of being able to exile an AEther Vial.
omnipotato, if you notice my little note about Worship, it does state that you need a heavier board state presence than merfolk. This is because you'll have to overrun them. In this, the little removal that merfolk has wouldn't matter at all. I will however take into your account Choke, I just don't think it is good from experiences as I've seen some builds run Darkslick Shores and that U/W merfolk land along with Cavern of Souls. Sometimes putting the nonIslands up to 10. They also have AEther Vial.
I don't know what you are talking about bijschjdbcd, if all the cards are suffering from the same problem, aren't they all balanced in that regard? The higher the cost of the card is, the more likely they are to counter it if they run counter spells.
August 6, 2015 2:25 p.m.
omnipotato says... #15
Femme_Fatale What I mean is that if Merfolk get you to 1, Vapor Snag will win the game regardless if you have creatures on the board.
August 6, 2015 2:34 p.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #17
I meant that you give Anger a 10, And dont mention the fact that it is soft to Cursecatcher and Spell Pierce.
You have to remain fair in the gradings, Yes it is cheaper but it doesn't warrant a 10.
August 6, 2015 6:19 p.m.
Sudden Spoiling when they move in for the kill? mix it with Volcanic Fallout to wipe the board.
Sudden Spoiling would also be useful against twin, and maybe zoo or affinity.
August 6, 2015 6:34 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #19
Sudden Spoiling is pretty funny when fish alpha strikes.
August 6, 2015 6:38 p.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #20
Do it before blockers if you have some Tarmogoyfs to block seems fine.
August 6, 2015 6:54 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #21
bijschjdbcd, yes, I've taken those into consideration. Its cheaper, and thus doesn't get hurt as badly as the other wraths.
August 6, 2015 9:12 p.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #22
With all due respect Femme_Fatale, Have you deliberated all of this from goldfishing?
Anger is good, But it hardly 'insta' kills there entire deck.
EE is better than you give it credit for. Whilst it doesn't kill Merrow Reejerey and Master of the Waves these cards are only good when the 2Cmc lords are in play. All you need is to reduce your opponents clock and get time, The deck doesn't do well when it's behind.
August 6, 2015 9:26 p.m.
I've found EE to be fantastic. The only thing it impacts are my anthem spells, and if I have an EE in hand, I just don't play those until I blow it up. Taking out Spreading Seas is very useful.
August 6, 2015 9:58 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #24
I don't goldfish bijschjdbcd.
I value Anger of the Gods so highly because it has never failed in a single playtest. Once it gets played, the merfolk player has great difficulties coming back. Everything they have is killed. Sure they may still have Spreading Seas on the field, but they do require two merfolks, one lord and one whatever, to take advantage of it, and that is highly unlikely to obtain after an Anger of the Gods. It does the same work as say a Damnation or a Wrath of God, just that it is cheaper.
Additionally, I know EE is good, but it is at 8 because it isn't as effective as say a Damnation, which are at 9 because of their cost.
It seems like I need an explanation for my ratings. I rate things out of 10 in a basis of just how much, how quickly, and how often a sideboard material card will set back merfolk if you only cast one of them.
August 6, 2015 10:44 p.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #25
You don't goldfish? You just play test against yourself piloting other decks.
August 6, 2015 10:50 p.m. Edited.
gnarlicide says... #26
I just run Damnation and EE. Never had an issue. If I am afraid that Cursecatcher is going to mess it up for me, I usually bolt it beforehand.
EE is probably the best thing you can play against Merfolk. This is coming from a Jund player with LOTS of IQ, Super IQ and PPTQ experience. Along with FNMs. I think since last spring I have lost to Fish like twice.
August 6, 2015 11:32 p.m.
I'd say that as a Fish player, the things I'm most scared of are Engineered Explosives and Anger of the Gods, followed by Damnation, Supreme Verdict, and Wrath of God. Next up is Choke, Ghostly Prison, and Rending Volley. I think those should be your 10s, 9s, and 8s, respectively.
August 7, 2015 5:40 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #28
I've been doing more playtesting as well. Rending Volley and Ghostly Prison have been doing pretty well. I just don't want to put spot removal too high up there, as the rating is more of, "how well does one card get the job done?" A single spot removal has a pretty high chance of not doing much against merfolk.
The problem with Ghostly Prison, and the reason why I don't want to put it up to anything above a 7, is that unless you have another method of dealing with their boardstate, you won't be able to do anything to them. This means that you'll need, at least, some good fliers in your deck, or something with unblockable or protection. I've been running it in a weird build (The Shocktroopers), and the Emerge Unscathed works wonders.
I'll probably start putting in half-points.
August 7, 2015 11:16 p.m.
DeletedNow4ever says... #29
I just took 19th place in the SCG Modern Premiere IQ this weekend in DC with Merfolk, going 6-2 (the matches I lost went to game 3). I won through a Pyroclasam and an Anger of the Gods in one game. Merfolk gets ahead fast, any competent player will use card draw to refill their hand while staying ahead on board. The scariest sideboard card is Choke. I run 3 Wanderwine Hub, a Minamo, School at Water's Edge, and an Oboro, Palace in the Clouds specifically for this card. This is in addition to Cavern of Souls. Merfolk has been one of the best decks for a while now, it was just sneaky because not that many people were playing it. You need to use aideboard cards that hit other decks too because of the percentage of folk being played in any given tournament is going to be low. Its a great deck, it seems underpowered until you realize you're being hit for 18 damage on turn 4 outta nowhere. Turn 1 Vial off of a Mutavault is one of the scarieat openings you can sit across from in modern.
August 11, 2015 8:40 p.m. Edited.
As an Elves player I can recommend Mirror Entity for the kill, Reclamation Sage for their Spreading Seas as well as Beast Within to hit Lords/SS/Vials and a Choke or two from the SB. Overall it's a good MU for Elves and only gets better post-SB in my experience.
August 13, 2015 5:58 a.m.
Maybe my Merfolk deck's sideboard is really geared toward beating things like Elves (since I know it's one of my tough default matchups), but I find that the hardest game for me against them is Game 1. Once I have Chalice of the Void, Tidebinder Mage, and (if I'm packing it) Hibernation in the fold, it gets a lot easier.
slovakattack says... #2
What has prompted Merfolk to become T1, as opposed to what it was earlier? Has Harbinger of the Tides made that much of an impact?
August 6, 2015 1:22 a.m.