Battle of the Tribes (Dominaria United Edition) | Merfolk vs Elves

[@CardmarketMagic]

🐟🧝 Decklists: bit.ly/3QG72qR

[@betterthanmfrudd1439]

As a casual player, I really appreciate the “interview” parts where you explain your thinking. It’s always fun to stumble onto some high quality content!

[@SashaClaudeee]

Yes! So much of the mtg community is opaque to new players, but this channel does a great job of being accessible

[@emidex8721]

Yes i love this

[@Dragoninja26]

@@SashaClaudeee Yeah I'm not necessarily new anymore but I am very casual, so I've run into multiple channels where they have interesting videos about lore and such but the gameplay videos are just gameplay without proper explanations of what's going on so it's sometimes very confusing what's going on and even when I can understand it it's just not that interesting/entertaining either

[@AJKiesel]

Regarding how likely that play was: If I counted correctly, Carl had used 14 cards so far, leaving 46 in his deck. With 10 outs that would be a chance of ~21,74%. Not super unlikely, not all that likely either.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you for doing the math!

[@Drakshl]

Those are the sorts of moments that bring together casual and serious players to just be excited together!

[@stefanw1763]

Hi, in game one, (10:48) play Ezuri, tap Elvish Archdruid for 8 mana, play the Elvish Archdruid from hand, activate Ezuri. All Elves get +3/+3 and +3/+3 from the elflords. Overrun with 4 elves & 29 power & trample, game won. Better to win on the spot, than to fill your board, and then lose next turn by islandwalk.

[@hikkiko5780]

yes, but you could also have fun like jamin did!

[@CardmarketMagic]

The correct line is always in the KZbin comments! -Jamin

[@MRLollipop44]

aCtUaLlY it is 28 damage since the new lord buff other elves, not itself :P still lethal ^^ there is also the line: tap archdruid for 6 mana, play ezuri, 3 mana left, use his ability with the mana of forest and dryad arbor. in that case you have 30 trampling damage :)

[@jaminkauf6242]

Also, Jamin, your sequencing was really bad!

[@tehfurbolg4960]

Your layout is awesome, I love the life bars and the hand overlays.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you! We put a lot of effort into our work 😃

[@nikolaskohl4269]

I think what I really like about the games on this channel is that it's good decks played well, but all done for fun. Sometimes it can be hard to watch magic content because it's, a lot of the time anyways, one person on arena who is not really enjoying playing. This brings the friendship back to it, and having fun games that boil down to smiles and bragging rights, that's what makes magic fun.

[@CardmarketMagic]

That's exactly what we aim to do! Thank you! This was the greatest compliment 😃

[@jaminkauf6242]

Carl claiming the Merfolk lord is the coolest is just outrageous!

[@EverythingisDND]

Who is this heckler? 💁‍♂️

[@RestingPuffles]

Out of curiosity, what is the coolest?

[@ralr]

@@RestingPuffles polar bears

[@youbluethatone1017]

@@ralr WRONG!! It is 100% Storm Crow!!

[@youbluethatone1017]

@@EverythingisDND that is the guy playing in the video buddy 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@SkellyPacks]

Lets go elves! Also love the table rule requiring Hawaiian shirts.

[@BW-CZ]

I discovered you guys recently, binged, and I have never enjoyed Magic gameplay matches so much, so well done, really fun, and all of you are a delight to watch. Thanks for keeping paper Magic alive and pat yourselves on the back!

[@CardmarketMagic]

That's very kind! 😃 we try really hard to make the kind of content we would want to watch ourselves, so we are thrilled that other people (like you!), appreciate it

[@poketech7192]

The tolarian community college professor would be soooo proud of you guys for playing merfolk

[@alexiswigginton452]

I won a box of dominaria united in a raffle at my local shop, suuuuuch a fun set and its awesome seeing you guys play with its cards

[@CardmarketMagic]

Congratulations on winning the box! I hope you got a lot of great value in there!

[@vincentbeard6103]

I feel so much nostalgia watching elves vs merfolk. I remember playing these decks against each other in high school with my friends, life was so simple.

[@parrot-be2mb]

6:53 Carl actually predicted the up the beanstalk meta that's running over modern right now.

[@FaithlessLooter]

As an elves (devoted Druid combo specifically) player I absolutely do NOT run dryad arbor for the reason it is too slow. Also just realized it’s not an elf, not a card you should run period.

[@guillem5650]

I'd say that being able to tutor is always a plus (as long as you dont draw it in your starting hand) but also I think that the devoted druid combo is quite diferent from elves usually!

[@lugarial]

Also Finale can't find it on turn 1, contrary to Green Sun Zenith (which makes Dryad an effective mana dork)

[@guillem5650]

@@lugarial sure! But making any fetch a 1/1 is still useful!

[@lugarial]

@@guillem5650 To me it's a minor upside, fetching a dryad would almost never make you win. But topdecking dryad may make you lose

[@franklinhodsoniv8210]

I will never not like a video of yours where you play my pet deck, this time being fishes. I'm glad both decks got to do their thing in glorious fashion!

[@CardmarketMagic]

🐠!

[@Mattball82]

I just played a limited game in Wilds of Eldraine and my first pick was Specter of Mortality (flying 3/3 with etb that can wipe the board other that itself.) I was completely dead to rights next turn my opponent having about 10 - 12 creatures and I had only 3. I was down to 20 cards. I thought “please limited gods, let me draw this one card out of the 20 left.” When I saw that card be drawn, I paused for like 10 seconds and said “for REAL?! I GOT IT?!?” Wiped the board and proceeded to win in the next few turns. It felt like high stakes poker and I got a heart on the river for the nut flush!

[@chimpmasterflex]

Jesus that game one turn was like a YGO turn lmao. You guys are like the team APS of magic, pretty easy to follow and informative as someone who really only played like ancient magic.

[@mikeberg6407]

The way the first round went, I though Jamin had the easy double with the the time, what a twist 😂

[@arch9995]

This is a very old video so idk if you'll see it Carl (I tried to send you a twitter DM but of course twitter changed to only allow that from paid accounts) but I wanted to say I've been really really enjoying watching Cardmarket videos. I randomly got recommended one like, 5 months? or something ago, and it was funny so I watched a few more even though at the time I hadn't played magic in 10 years or so (since a little after the end of original Innistrad), and it ended up getting me back into magic a bit, now I have some friends I play commander online with and I have a great time. Anyway, I got some major surgery 5 days ago and day 2 of recovery I was having a really really tough time, and honestly watching some old card market videos legitimately helped so so much with my mental state, it was bad beforehand. So thank you so much for that, and for giving me an old hobby back in general, and just for being a cool dude, I appreciate it. :) And if you ever want the hookup on my gruul flicker (no, actually) monstrosity of a pet deck for commander let me know :p

[@CardmarketMagic]

It's so wonderful to hear that you enjoy our work and are getting back into the game we love :D I myself had an accident about 5 years ago and spent almost a year in rehabilitation from it. I watched a lot of KZbin videos and played a lot of magic online. I can really understand the need for an escape :) Thank you for your kind comment! You should send your list to [e-mail], I'll play it next time we do a non-themed commander video!

[@AngelusNielson]

"I had no idea he'd put that many elves on the table." Have you ever SEEN elf tribal before?!??!?!?!?!

[@crillybafoon7730]

Have said before but would love to see a Gates deck (Pioneer or Modern) cause it’s a really under-appreciated archetype

[@ubermusli]

This was such a great episode! Elves is what got me into magic, and they just keep drawing me further in!

[@gringoisdead]

Those guys are really fun! My favorite duo of this channel. I see them on the thumbnail and I just click it. They have a lot of chemistry. Really fun games

[@DerringerHK]

I've watched this so many times but I still get so happy when Carl flips over that Lord lol

[@TimmytheSorcerer]

Merfolk Tribal sees a lot of play in OS 93/94. It's really funny to see the insane power level of these cards, just completely bunkers 😂

[@simplistic_1]

Thanks for giving Merfolk some love! I'll be sliding 4 Hexcatchers into my 75 for tonight's local Modern weekly.

[@CardmarketMagic]

How did it go?

[@simplistic_1]

@@CardmarketMagic attendance was WAY down from usual - maybe people staying home to see how the meta would shift? Unfortunately, I didn't hit any matchups where Hexcatcher was particularly relevant. I was undefeated except against Goblin Snoop Combo, which is a bad matchup that Hexcatcher somehow makes worse. Overall I'm not sold on Hexcatcher in Modern, but I look forward to giving it a try in Pioneer, where countering a Collected Company is both realistic and powerful.

[@garrettneary3755]

For next week's paper play, I'd really like to see that infinite turn dice factory combo Toffel did a short about.

[@SandarianMD]

Maaaan I don’t really play much magic anymore, still pay attention to the scene tho and I absolutely love watchin these versus matches.

[@lambofdog9291]

As always just a chill and funny video of paper magic with two chill and funny dudes. Love it! Keep up the great work.

[@nilshaukeholtfester9198]

Very nice i liked the defiller and the merfolk deck in general, but i think the blue defiller would be great too😊👍

[@datawulf88]

Still thinking about putting this new Merfolk Lord in my Merfolk Deck. It's really cool 👍

[@Xetollas]

That was a very fun video to watch, love u guys, you are the best !!!!

[@byturtle4515]

Awesome video! I really enjoyed seeing you on tribal decks😍 Would love to see more!

[@nickilarsen7820]

It looks like a budget build of Merfolk, no Force of Negation, no Otawara, Soaring City, No Minamo, School at Water´s Edge, No Chalice of the Void and only 1 Cavern of Souls. Quite a weird sideboard too. :)

[@chamllis]

Yeah seems like full lord rush which can work…..not likely because he didn’t use tide shaper first game so he’s being too cautious in a blitz deck.

[@DrakeF.]

I loved the "oh no" :D Again: great video, great explanations, great decks, great hosts = great fun. GGs

[@hermelin12]

Maybe i am not sleeping with the fishes because I do not like Fishsticks. I might not like to put Fishsticks in my mouth. :) Great to see you 2 battle it out with this classical fantasy matchup of Elves vs. Merfolk. :-)

[@CardmarketMagic]

As I am not a native speaker, I did not realize what I had said until after I heard it again when editing the video 😅 I was just trying to make a pun with the mafia saying

[@christophercarpenter3061]

That was hella fun. Please play my goblin friends! Love to see the new goblin lord in modern. You guys are the best.

[@CardmarketMagic]

We love the new goblin as well! Should be sleeving him up in the not-so-distant future!

[@EugeneEff]

This was fun. Great video guys!

[@Arcticsharpshooter]

Nice games! And yeah, you can see how Modern Horizons II won the third game which would otherwise be a complete elf domination!

[@CardmarketMagic]

Yeah Jamin would have won on turn 3 with that hand if it wasn't for the Subtletys

[@lytking2646]

Really enjoy the videos, both Modern/Pioneer. Thank you!

[@A_Wise_Monkey]

On g1 you should have prioritiezd the defiler so to start beat down. Nice idea to add it

[@peruru84]

Great video as usual guys! Looking forward to more.

[@joshua_lee732]

Merfolk is always a scarey AF deck to play against in the creature aggro mirror.

[@dracomasters9039]

This was an awesome game. I love how it was about new lords from Dominaria but ended up being Merfolk got more tools from Modern Horizons than elves. I don’t really like power creep, but would be nice if Elves get some good cards in Modern Horizons 3. 😉

[@think2one3]

i already talked about your show with my friends when i forst saw it, bcs your content is so good :D so they follow and watch it too :D keep it going :)

[@jerome8303]

I wish you had done the other tribes as well, this is so good 😅

[@CianDelano]

That last match was glorious, two kind of joke hands, it was brilliant! xD

[@jjjjrrrrmmmm123]

commenting because i enjoy this content and want more.

[@andreabonato1432]

Could you explain in a video some details about how the "shopping wizard" algorithm works? It would be really interesting!

[@CardmarketMagic]

That's not a bad idea! We'll look into it :)

[@VictorianoOchoa]

Jamin, that was a pretty good joke off hand.

[@SeleenShadowpaw]

15:20 Seems like Carl hasn't played much arena/historic since kaldheim :D

[@asiamsowiltthoube4081]

The new merfolk lord has won me 3 games already, topdecking or countering, it's exactly what we needed! Just fyi I think you have to trigger Aethervial before drawing

[@CardmarketMagic]

We know about aether vial 🙂 these games were fast and loose so we did not sweat the triggers in the right order. In a tournament setting, I leave a dice on the top of my deck to make sure I keep the order

[@Drakshl]

This elf turbo looks a lot like what my GW Enchantments deck could do at the end of last standard with hallowed Haunting, runes, Jukai naturalist, spirited companion, Kami of transience/generous visitor and weaver of harmonies. Just turboing out a huge board and getting value on every play. I wonder if there is some pioneer viable enchantments deck in there somewhere

[@BruderSeth]

Carl missing his first aether vial trigger is hilarious

[@janmelantu7490]

The Merfolk Deck is ludicrous because it’s “oops, all lords”.

[@returningwhisper]

Oh yeah baby, love me some tribal decks.

[@chadjehebej2258]

Man I just love your videos! Keep it up💯🔥

[@Tirvops]

Please play some Abzan midrange in modern. Or manaless dredge in Vintage.

[@CardmarketMagic]

We don't have access to vintage cards 😕 but if tou have a good modern Abzan list, we'll absolutelt consider it!

[@sponge2410]

I'm a simple man, I see Jamin and Carl and click like! :D

[@daben7145]

On my main mtg arena account I got an elven deck to do my daily wins, on my 2nd account I got a merfolk deck to do them, this video was very entertaining to me :D good job

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you! :) and good job on winning with fun decks!

[@daben7145]

@@CardmarketMagic tribal 4 lyfe :D

[@Loki-]

Really fun guys and really fun decks and really fun editing/ formatting! Please bosses fund more fun!

[@Jantonio2912]

Yessssss my body is ready!

[@egoish6762]

Love the decks, not sure if this is the right place but as a UK buyer the shopping wizard doesn't seem to consider EU sellers that charge VAT and is often inaccurate, just worth thinking of for UK buyers.

[@nilshaukeholtfester9198]

Shopping wizard works great 👍😊

[@EmeraldCrowley]

Last time I played against Elves as a Merfolk player I got hit by the turn 2 Choke post-board, which hurt a lot lol

[@EmergingPatterns]

Super as usual ! We need a round two of the battle of the tribes with a rakdos goblin combo with the new combos and the new lord! (I know, goblin pests fanboy spotted)

[@CardmarketMagic]

We almost played goblins for this, but I could not settle on an exact goblin list! Don't be surprised if you see goblins on this channel soon ;)

[@unclevinnie1557]

Great video as always, but it should be noted that Defiler of Vigor only lets you pay 2 life one time per spell. Jamin payed 4 life for a Dwynen's Elite which was not correct. I think this is a common mistake people will be making with the Defiler line. Still an awesome video!

[@CardmarketMagic]

He payed the additional mana, he simply tapped the land instead of saying it about 🙂

[@friedaiceborn1663]

Who would win? Some fish or ***Every elf ever***

[@toastertubbo]

nahhhhh this set came out too long ago for me to learn just now that there's a new merfolk lord

[@GetMoneyMyrick]

I was already pushing your content to all 2 if my friends lol

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you!

[@youbluethatone1017]

I fucking love playing a sealed event getting a great deck and then getting Color Screwed 3 Straght games while your opponents have 5 colors by turn 3 everytime

[@josephclites6971]

Wasn’t looking good for the fish fans in game one, but they came back in style to win games 2 and 3! Merfolk 4 Life!!

[@Bigd2k]

In that first game it would have been so funny if after all that setup he ended with no one to block. I know it wasn’t likely to happen but it would have been funny if it did.

[@krenchi319]

Great Video!!

[@jesselaidlaw395]

Such fun games!!

[@WildWildWes86]

Love the Content! Also, that last game was not very *Puts on Sunglasses* ...Subtle.... at all!

[@IceMan-6468]

I almost died when he drew the subtlety….

[@dmtmd]

That was so fun to eatch

[@neekobolas]

KZbin suggested this channel to me and im dang happy about it, great game, but dang it get some more dice like chessex or something 😂

[@CardmarketMagic]

We found 6 dice for the visually impaired two years ago (because they are easy to see on camera) and have not been able to find any since. But the internet exists, you are right, we have no excuse 😅

[@neekobolas]

@@CardmarketMagic i honestly never thought about it that way, we need to find you more of those big dice then 🤔

[@mattiadimatteo9745]

Nice video guysss 🚀🚀🚀

[@EHShinobi]

The Elves lost because they had performance issues. Meanwhile the Merfolk were all revved up because they didn't need to go 'fishing' for compliments.

[@raimonmaster]

Welcome to the "tacky shirts Channel"! Haha. Amazing content!

[@kennyguilherme8358]

Please, do more Pauper as well!

[@CardmarketMagic]

We're recording pauper next week! It's one of our favorite formats but we don't get to play it often

[@jellysandjamz250]

You flew to close to the sun elf Icarus.

[@jshavluk4342]

That turn shows why merfolk never came out of the water

[@AAAAGGGGGHHHHsphere]

Not enough defilers! We need to break this format!

[@Ieafff]

Amazing video!

[@alexiswigginton452]

OMG YES YOU GUYS ARE USING THE BLACK AND WHITE LANDS, I LOVE YOU GUYS THEY ARE THE BEST LANDS HANDS DOWN PLEASE ONLY USE THEM FROM NOW ON

[@chadjehebej2258]

Please play "Oops no spells" next time in modern!

[@CardmarketMagic]

Do you have a decklist for us?

[@chadjehebej2258]

@@CardmarketMagic Mainboard 4 Agadeem's Awakening 4 Balustrade Spy 4 Creeping Chill 4 Emeria's Call 2 Hagra Mauling 2 Narcomoeba 1 Nexus of Fate 1 Pelakka Predation 4 Pentad Prism 1 Phantasmagorian 1 Salvage Titan 4 Sea Gate Restoration 2 Shatterskull Smashing 3 Sword of the Meek 3 Talisman of Hierarchy 4 Talisman of Resilience 4 Thoughtseize 4 Turntimber Symbiosis 4 Undercity Informer Sideboard 4 Vengevine 2 Dismember 3 Goblin Charbelcher 4 Leyline of Sanctity 3 Nature's Claim 3 Pact of Negation Feel free to change it up, i would love to see your version!

[@jonlamoreaux2228]

dryad arbor seems bad in this deck. you want to be able to curve into elvish archdruid turn 2, and playing tap lands or a land with summoning sickness stops that from happening

[@deathspawn54]

Is there like a budget thing or something? Why no shock lands instead of blooming????

[@CardmarketMagic]

The deck plays 6 fetch lands and one single Overgrown Tomb. Not a budget consideration at all. Probably a metacall about elves not ever needing more than 3 lands anyway, and wanting to be sure you are not losing too much life early given defilor of vigor? I did not build the deck, but the decision seems very considered

[@antongensolin1809]

Can you do restore balance modern next?

[@coddmodd]

What a happy ending

[@morgandicandia8681]

The lord is always on top!

[@Wolfennar]

Make the professor proud wooo

[@valvadis2360]

Man, three games and three one land hands...

[@CardmarketMagic]

He's playing a 17 land deck 💁‍♂️ it happens more than you'd think

[@KnicKnac]

Elf-ball vs a barrel of fish

[@derekhall8453]

That's 10 cards out of 46 left in the deck... so it's quite reasonable for him to flip that lord off the top at the end of game 3 Great content as always gentlemen 🤌

[@timothygoldsmith8419]

That elf deck is missing Elvish Champion