Merfolk Islandwalk deck
Standard Deck Help forum
Posted on May 25, 2018, 4:55 p.m. by coopdaddy8594
Me and my girlfriend recently bought the merfolk vs goblin duel decks. We are looking to make her merfolk islandwalk deck better. Just curious on what would be some good additions to it.
Also the duel decks aren’t legal in Modern as well if that too matters. You will have to cut the Misdirection from the merfolk deck and the Gempalm Incinerator from the Goblins deck.
multimedia says... #2
Hey, just so you know the Merfolk vs Goblin duel deck is not legal in Standard. Play it casually, but not in Standard.
Both duel decks can be streamlined, you're allowed to have up to 4 copies of a card in a deck. By streamlined I mean choosing some of the best cards in the deck and including more copies of those cards; in return cutting the less good cards. The decks are originally filled with 1 ofs(one copy of a card). A good upgrade for the Merfolk deck is including more copies of the Merfolk lords(Merfolk that give other Merfolk +1/+1). There's a few lords already in the deck, but they're only 1 ofs; you can have up to 4 copies of each of these lords in a deck.
Merfolk Sovereign is the only budget($1 or less) mono-blue Merfolk lord the rest are $3 or more if this matters. If using an islandwalk strategy then 4x Master of the Pearl Trident is one of the best upgrades you can make; he's a two drop lord who gives all other Merfolk islandwalk. Tidebinder Mage and Harbinger of the Tides are good one/two punch creature removal vs the Goblin deck. Tidebinder taps down a red creature, is a Merfolk body who can attack. Harbinger can bounce a tapped creature when it enters the battlefield(ETB) while also being a Merfolk body. Silvergill Adept is a great Merfolk because you'll get to cast it for only two mana. A 2/1 Merfolk that draws you a card for two mana is very good.
One thing I notice is there's a lot of three drops(cards that cost three mana) in the original Merfolk deck. I think just about all these three drops other than the Merfolk lords can be upgraded to two drops. This will speed up the over all game play letting Merfolk be faster. If most of the lords in the deck are three drops then playing more two drop Merfolk lets you more consistently have a Merfolk in play before you play a lord.
An exception to the high mana cost Merfolk is Seafloor Oracle. His ability is pretty powerful with Merfolk who have islandwalk or are unblockable they become a draw engine. Anytime a Merfolk does combat damage to your opponent you draw a card for each Merfolk that did damage, this can be a lot of card draw. Spreading Seas is more permanent ways to make sure your opponent has an island. Seas like Aquitect's Will also draws a card.
Budget upgrades to consider:
Semi-budget upgrades to consider:
Cards to consider cutting from original deck:
May 26, 2018 1:51 a.m.