Mtg Deck Tech: U/G Merfolk in Rivals of Ixalan Standard!

[@christiandelossantos6471]

The shirt is very on theme with this deck tech xD

[@coreyberg7823]

Maybe a little late but, I really like how it’s extremely obvious you know what you’re talking about and how you give reasoning behind every choice, subbed

[@animesfreakify]

I'll be waiting for that orzhov's Vampires Deck Tech

[@SBMTG]

shouldn't have to wait too long

[@Nitron2097]

I really like that list. The board looks very solid. I would add Ifnir Deadlands though...I'm playing Vamps and I really want that removal option.

[@genlucero2974]

Yey! Vampires!

[@haxpet]

I'm building one, It will be cool to see how mine differs from Devs

[@YearOfTheSwagon]

I played against vampires and it wrecks. Been doing standard grinding this week. Lifelink is real my opponents gains average 9 life a game.

[@GuicheYT]

This video lacks cats... seems fishy

[@ecoKady]

Murabito someone is impersonating Dev. Call the police! Not the real Dev! Maybe he's being held Hostage and this is his way of telling us he needs help!

[@haxpet]

It contains cat food. :-)

[@Str8edgejon]

So Cat decks auto win against Merfolk. Laws of Nature are over MtG rules.

[@ninjasquirtle5264]

The beauty of merfolk decks in standard is that there are many ways to go about building the deck. I really need to put silvergill adept in my merfolk build.

[@tomh8497]

is there really another mtg youtuber like dev? the professor i hear you scream from distant places, well no you'd be wrong the professor can't rap. ohhh wedge i hear you scream from a more distance place, you'd be wrong his uploads are never as entertaining, he doesn't use puns or engages with us the viewer as well. to me and i know to many reading this comment dev is the king of mtg, builder of decks, weaver of raps and all round nice guy

[@fortunesfavor8894]

Desolatormagic

[@tomh8497]

desolator magic i hear you scream somewhere close to where there is favours for fortunes, and i say nay child nay for the same reason that wedge is inferior

[@MemoryLaneWizard]

They are all great - and we all have different preferences. I 'm just happy we can enjoy all their awesome content here on KZbin. ;)

[@tomh8497]

oh i know I'm joking. just showing dev some love

[@jamaigar]

If any, dev is far more consistent and uploads more often than prof and wedge

[@anonymousvagrant]

thanks for the indepth review. Starting MTG:A today and it's my first MTG experience. I'm gonna craft this deck!

[@Pocalem]

Catfished? Cat/Merfolk needs to be deck teched now!

[@SBMTG]

yeeeessssss

[@karlhungus5725]

Arcane adaptation and make all the kittens into merfolk lol

[@blaakdeath8663]

Best mtg channel . I’ve built your mono blue mill your dimir mill your soron wand combo and a couple others I forgot for now. Your comedy is great and pour personality is perfect for the camera. Thanks bro!!!! Keep it up

[@conk2000]

My nickname for Kumena is "Fishbreaker" since it reminds me of Cryptbreaker, and also makes fish super broken.

[@MemoryLaneWizard]

How long until people start calling for bans, amirite?

[@conk2000]

shiki8 I think it's going to be safe for a while just because it's a 4 drop

[@owenschultz47]

Conk- VR Vanguard Wait isn’t it a 3 drop

[@jackpabich763]

Yeah. It is.

[@blp1884]

You can assign blockers, then tap them to get the counter and they'll still block, new to MTG btw.

[@kamakazi339]

yup

[@WillArtie]

yas

[@blp1884]

Thx

[@tolerwebb132]

Curious, not tribal related question; will you be doing some sort of update to the budget explore deck? I realize Jadelight Ranger is currently kicking up its cost a bit, and maybe it doesn't have that much potential, but it'd be cool to see!

[@MemoryLaneWizard]

Upvoting this! I can't afford merfolk anymore and that is the only other deck that I am interested in.

[@kingderp1]

I would also like to see an updated explore deck

[@Derpy101]

I would love that, I want explore to work!

[@MemoryLaneWizard]

It might be better to get Jadelight Ranger asap as many energy lists are running it instead of Rogue Refiner.

[@brothersofthebackrow]

Love you dev and love your videos For the first time in my recent run at standard I am not net decking! Always will watch your videos

[@AdamTurnerFF]

Always love your decks, bud. All the decisions are well thought out and explained clearly, every time. I look forward to your brews this season! If you find yourself in Alberta, you gotta hit an FNM in Calgary! Great MTG community here!

[@BoTCoramoor]

I think there is a key aspect of deep root waters that isn't being talked about: it goes around creature removal. You sacrifice a turn of aggro, but Merfolk is really more a of a midrange deck. It puts a lot more pressure on other midrange and control decks. Plus, it's Merfolk's best chance of pushing through once you've stalled out to removal, which will eventually happen.

[@Shadow298]

Thanks heaps for this deck tech. Love my Tropical Fish. I love using Nissa in my unblockable Merfolk deck, she can get you lots of advantage if dropped early & left alone. Can't wait to test this out.

[@martinolsen7183]

I just wanna say that you are by far my favorite content creator! You my friend, makes standard exciting :)

[@MagicStew]

LOVE THIS DECK, Dev! Thank you for putting so much time and effort into it!

[@GarciLP]

Very similar to the list I cooked up, except I'm not running Oasis and prefer Blossoming Defense infinitely more. 1 mana against 3, instant speed, and gives hexproof. Sure, the Oasis gives mana, but I haven't found myself desperately aching for green sources running 4 Sanctum, 5 Forest, and 4 Territory. Great video as always!

[@mouse2588]

I love how Spell Pierce and Negate have Merfolk in the art. It's almost like it was ment to be..........

[@Cabbrickk]

Really like your UG Fish list. Some well defended card choices especially the Tempest caller, not many realise how power that effect is! :) I would love to see a budget deck soon as I don't have 170 euro to spend on magic.

[@maiwson]

Spellpierce is mainly in the Sideboard to protect from settle, I'd consider to run admirals order so you can swing and also only pay 1 to have it countered

[@alicedenightmare]

I got home from fnm said I’m going to look for a Merfolk deck. Opens KZbin mobile. First video I see. First and only video I watch tonight. Thank you dev.

[@joshuakartes3979]

I definitely feel like Kopala deserves at least a few sideboard slots here. Too good to pass up on in such a removal oriented format in my opinion.

[@carsonradline2479]

I definitely think there is a case for splashing black and making this sultai counters. Cutting most of the lords, but keeping the explore and counters synergy. This makes kumena unplayable, but we get winding constrictor and ravenous chupacabra. I think there's definitely something there

[@carsonradline2479]

This also makes herald of secret streams WAY more valuable

[@Xpert27]

Already have 2 kumena’s...hoping I pull a 3rd outta my booster box this Friday b4 fnm...merfolk looks really legit in standard! Thanks dev! Excellent work and love your 3 drops..amazing

[@mattfoley99]

So I and a lot of people on a Merfolk Fb group (this exists I found out) have been brewing standard decks and I realized immediately: There's several powerful builds with distinct strategies for Merfolk. All use the core 20 playset (the 16 4 drops and a playset of Kumena Speakers) There's interesting decision to make when it comes to the deck. Also while I disagree on the Pioneer vs. Deeproot I usually find that my opponents manage to wipe on curve so I usually prefer to have Deeproot out because it lets me recover fast. Didn't consider Unsummon...was considering Crashing Tide vs. Expel from Orazca

[@s7121n9s]

Pretty happy Merfolk is getting better with rivals. Merfolk were the first deck I got since getting back into magic so this is pretty exciting for me

[@e5205]

In my experience, Seafloor Oracle is the better 4-drop. Tempest caller is only good in certain matchups where your opponents are playing lots of creatures. If your opponent has less than 3 creatures out, it doesn't do enough, and it's only useful for one turn. Seafloor oracle provides amazing value the turn it comes out, and every turn after that. Remember that this deck plays anywhere between 6 and 8 creatures that can be unblockable, which basically guarantees you an extra 1-2 card every turn. I've also been running Kopala in my build to great success. People lose their minds trying to get around her, and it's great when they sink 6 mana into a vraska's contempt only for me to play a blossoming defense. Your deck seems really solid other than that. It's good to have you brewing again!

[@saiyangoomba1244]

The problem is that Oracle is 4 mana day for a creature that does nothing when it enters and dies to a lot of removal. If your opponent has literal any removal you basically wasted four mana, and if your doing that on curve you basically get time walked if you can’t swing in and leads to a lot of opportunity for being blown out

[@SBMTG]

Goomba pretty much said everything I was going to say

[@e5205]

Fair enough, but the oracle does have value on the turn you get it if you play it before combat, they won't always have open mana or instant speed removal so you'll at least get one combat worth of card draw. That being said, you make good points for tempest caller. I might have to play a few games with it instead and see how that goes. I also didn't think of unsummon over defense, that's pretty clever. I'm gonna try that.

[@lchanget]

I often find it useful to sit on Oracle until later in the game. I also run 2 negate in my main board so I can play a negate to protect Oracle, then swing in with unblockables/everything and draw a ton of cards to refill my hand. Especially devastating if I have a deeproot waters down, (which is another card I think is slightly underrated here).

[@kalceus7856]

Not saying its a bad card, just do remember it has to be alive when the combat damage hits. If they can block favorably or have a removal + open mana, it doesn't actually do anything :( its value (seafloor oracle) vs tempo (tempest stormcaller), and is ultimately probably a local meta call

[@redlion145]

I'm coming back to this deck after trying and failing in XLN standard season. As usual, I agree in large part with your choices. I replaced Jade Bearer with Jadelight Ranger, and split the 4 noncreature spells into 2x Unsummon and 2x Spell Pierce. 4x Unsummon is strong though, I probably need to find room for it.

[@eroelinvocador2612]

Please do a grixis pirates deck!!!

[@grizzlymanverneteil4443]

Oh shit, you're almost to 100k! I Remember being like 5k, good stuff!

[@garcher599]

Dev my man you forgot to talk about hadanas climb. I was sold that this card was main deckable for shizzle. I want your thoughts my man.

[@e5205]

Garrett Archer it's just a bit too slow. i had it in my deck for about five games and never ended up casting it, I just had better stuff in my hand that I cast before it. I'm not dev obviously, that's just why I think he didn't put it in the main deck (it's in his sideboard though)

[@TheeHellenKeller]

Thanks so much for the hard work in this deck tech. I had completely overlooked tempest caller and I agree with your choice of jungleborn over deeproot waters!

[@SBMTG]

Thanks! I think I'm already getting some heat for that decision (A lot of people are excited about Waters in this meta, and I really don't like telling people that their favorite card isn't good enough), but I stand by it. Caller and Pioneer may look weird, but I'm not here to give everyone the deck they want to see - I'm here to give everyone the BEST possible deck. A week ago, I would've thought Caller and Pioneer were wrong too.

[@teemuluhtamaki7645]

MC Herald & Jay-B - "Fishy Business" mixtape coming soon

[@SBMTG]

Jay-B

[@teemuluhtamaki7645]

Fixed :D

[@catostongue9584]

Love em as always! I'd love to see you do some "lets plays" on the deck techs.

[@sleepforeveryone]

Love watching your videos, Dev. You do a great job with your decks.

[@kotari339]

I run panharmonicon and verdurous gearhulk in my version, helps me fix a board stall and cycle through the deck with multiple explore triggers

[@attisoncswann]

Awesome way to look at fish! Thanks Dev

[@mikezanin6708]

I agree with you on almost everything, except on Jungleborn X Deeproot Waters. If you play Jungleborn on Turn 3, you can get swept and it will be really hard to come back, and if you played Deeproot Waters, on the next turn you can build a decent board again.

[@hammernnaila7031]

I was playing a Commander game last night, and I ended up winning with Kumena. Swinging in with a 21/23 unblockable while leaving back a board of huge Merfolk is insane.

[@Toddalotapodamus]

I don't love the bans, but I do love you Dev. Keep up the great work!

[@SideboardMTG]

Streaming this live at 7 if you guys want game play. I am super excited to see what dev has for rivals.

[@jasonr.8989]

I've been having a lot of success with my version of the fish deck. My meta has a LOT of removal and aggro, so I had to slow it up a bit and add in the scatters main board to combat that. Because I'm trying to extend the game a bit the Deeproot Waters feels better to me. I can bounce back from a board wipe a lot faster. Often times I'll drop a Swift Warden after a board wipe and get the token end of turn. then play the mistbinder and crack in for 6. (feels really good the turn after a fumigate.) Critiques are welcome though. tappedout.net/mtg-decks/08-01-18-Vcd-standard-fish/

[@ecoKady]

Jason R. I'll keep this in mind, for sure. Sounds like you've made smart decisions regarding your local meta.

[@JaredKoumentis]

I'm so excited to give this a try! I've been wanting a good tribal deck since zombies rotated out.

[@crabizback]

I'm really tempted to try out a deck like this, take out a few fish and add in Enter the Unknown and Opt or a few negates. I's also like to find a place for Kopala in the deck! I'm so excited to finally have a playable merfolk deck in standard

[@Eggyism]

Haven’t played Standard in months, this looks really cool and I might have to give it a shot.

[@shizzle559]

Have you done any experimenting with river sneak ? With the amount of +1 counters this deck throws out combined with merfolk that put multiple bodies on the board is it possible to throw more resources into just face racing your opponent with powerful unlockable threats.

[@AndrewWoodford]

I like Watertrap Weaver and Forerunner instead of Kumena and Tempest Caller but I love Tempo. I’m so glad Unsummon is back!

[@Dafins100]

I’m excited to see an anointed precession deck with some ascend cards possibly slotted in

[@elistorlee2992]

A different approach from what I have in mind, I will probably play hadana climb x2 in mainboard, making sure every single creature can be a threat so I do not need to commit board and lose out to mass removal

[@MemoryLaneWizard]

Since the prices skyrocketed for Merfolk, I'll be looking forward to the upgraded GB explore list then. Thank you for the great deck tech, Dev. I'm just bummed that the Kumena price spike put the deck way out of my budget.

[@reformed1trick739]

I've been playing UG merfolk in modern and from my experience, you should definitely play 2 spell pierce main board. Such a good tempo play with huge potential!

[@richardcarr5980]

What do you think of sulti merfolk? Winding constrictor into jade light ranger? Backed up with merfolk branch walker and herald of secret streams. And possibly wild growth walker with all the explore cards

[@BboyTurok1990]

Waiting for dinosaur deck techs Dev. As always love your videos and I tried the Mono Red deck you talked about months ago and it is super aggressive and really good. But it's unfortunate that Rampaging Ferocidon is banned and I love that card.

[@phonejackson]

Always dig Your content brother!! Merfolk finally!!

[@franklincromer8794]

That is a nice list my dude!!

[@jmj2638]

Love the videos and info Dev! Thank you. Would love some input on what looks to be the most competitive deck for the price merfolk or pirates

[@be_reel]

Love the deck techs and the music Dev, but please use some of the patron fundage for a pop filter for the vocals as the plosives detract from the performance and will sound more professional.

[@JMSginoclave]

I'd made a Merfolk deck just after waking up, and Dev comes and releases this at night, damn!

[@JMSginoclave]

stole my list *grumble grumble* jk xD

[@SecretlyANarwhal]

Love the video Dev! I'm also wondering if you think a bant version of this or some sort of tishana bant deck is viable again. This looks super sweet though, thanks again!

[@Ishnala420]

Why didn't you mention Hadana's Climb from the sideboard?

[@Janshevik]

yeah I noticed that too

[@GudHunterYT96]

My first merfolk deck was the Kiora vs goblins deck from 3years ago With ixalan came out, I tweaked my merfolk deck and made it to second place at my local game store in a tournament of 10 people :d

[@juicyjugo6187]

Sweet version. I went with temur fish. I wanted removal to interact more with my opponent.

[@MrToadpond]

YAY time to compare notes

[@gareth4348]

Great deck tech, If Kumena wasn't so expensive I would build this.

[@IRBenHunter]

Hey, as a new player I love these videos - well presented, and a useful reference for deckbuilding and strategy. Do you (or, please could you?) post a list summary of your tech decks for easy reference? maybe at the end of your video like how you show the sideboard.

[@dylanhowell4417]

SWEEET So excited to watch this!!

[@dadrunken5600]

Perfect shirt for this deck tech!

[@jorgelopes8101]

Hey very cool video, the deck looks pretty sweet, but kumena and the deeproot elite are kinda expensive for me to put it together. Any tip on another more budget option that would still make the deck work well?

[@GLHFMtG]

Tell your family and your kids let’s get Dev to 100k!

[@keenanmccracken6758]

Commenting for Dev. Love the deck man

[@MichaelMartinSmucker]

I trust you that Deeproot Waters is too slow for a competitive Merfolk build, but I just really wish that wasn't true. :P

[@SBMTG]

yeah, I really wanted Waters to work out too, but in the end I'm confident that Pioneer is the right decision. I went with 2 sideboard Waters for a while (against control) but it doesn't shine enough in that match to constitute having a slot

[@newsandbrews1789]

Like, if you play a deep root waters turn 3 and then Pioneer turn four, the waters is generating decent value especially if you got an elite out. Yes, you’re skipping turn three or four, but being able to put an extra body or two on the board each turn makes up for that.

[@MachineElf_Official]

News and Brews Except that assumes that you will be able to play Pioneer turn 4

[@newsandbrews1789]

introvertedweeb Yeah you’re right.

[@newsandbrews1789]

Yeah Deeproot Waters is too slow. I really want for it too work but...

[@adriaserrano1167]

Hi. I just wanted to say that swift warden is nuts against gbringer and after playtest, I've dropped hadanas climb and gone up to 2 swift wardens in the sb.

[@markpava6050]

Nice list. Do you think BR pirates is going to be competitive?

[@MetsanAsukas]

Very nice. I would have gone deeproot waters but i see it your way for sure.

[@jang7675]

I'd love if you did Sultai pirates. But that might be because I really want to see a pirate deck with Vraska

[@maxpheby7287]

Is there really no space for Herald of Secret Streams? It seems so strong an effect (given that there are no fliers)and the shell could not be better for it (apart from maybe the snake explore deck). I think there is going to be two distinct types of fish decks tempo/aggro(aggro with a small a) and midrange and we will have to see which is best.

[@sven849]

Thank you my dude - subbed. ur like the day 9 of mtg keep it up

[@jessemclean3585]

What are your feelings now? Is there a spot for jadelight or are Merrill done in standard?

[@prdamico]

merfolk and vampires are 2 strong tribes right now, blue/green merfolk, and mono black, black/white, black/red(madness) vampires. cats need a few more pieces, goblins also. would like to see merfolk, vampire, cats, goblins all develop into high tier 2, low tier 1 decks, or higher, lol.

[@naejin]

There's more than 30 ways to make Kumena's Speaker into a 2/2 if you count islands.

[@raywalker2323]

I think this is close to what the competitive deck will look like but I think black will be splashed in for fatal push and scarab god being able to make zombie fish that are 4/4 and buff your creatures again sounds insane

[@Starexe97]

Are hadana's climb and Nissa steward not good in main board? I remember using hadana to secure first place in prerelease. Seems pretty solid to me.

[@kokoskaempfer]

i think most people missread and wanted the moonfolk decktech and not merfolk, still decent video

[@mzpwnz]

About the sequence u talked about, what is on your opinion a good sequence of cards to play T1T2T3 and finish move?

[@tommyfry2856]

Other than the fact of a 2 drop vs. a 1 drop, what's your opinion on running River Sneak as the main unlockable merfolk?

[@u1trav10let2]

I liked your thoughts Dev will probably take this to FNM this week curious why you thought kopala so bad not even worth sideboard?

[@kapittsalt]

OMG Dev, soooo much punnery, but "found its legs" is where I IRL LULD---for your metrics.

[@prathameshkulkarni4391]

I m curious why there is no hadana's climb in the main deck. I think it's a helps the tempo and reduces the 2 drop creatures

[@evanmelchior4469]

New Deck Tech idea: flashback to minotaur tribal but adding Angrath

[@SBMTG]

I've been messing around with this for the lulz

[@stevenmorgan4518]

i think a lot of people are overlooking hadana's climb that. i lost a lot to that in testing against my friends Merfolk variant. it can get some insane damage if unchecked and it flips really fast with elite in the deck.

[@TheSouthernfried45]

Steven morgan u8887777888875558888888866666666666666666i88888887777777777777777777777777877766 Stanley the best doc film makers ever seen

[@rockerman15]

Just went 9 and 2 with a slight variation on this deck on mtgo it was a lot of fun and a lot of the games were turn 5 wins

[@MusicMagic89]

Im going to build this, but could Jace from the plains walker deck have a place? The +1 abilities have whats needed such as draw, or untap all creatures with Kunema for more pluses. Im getting back into the game after a few years out of it

[@stefanellrodt52]

I love it! Is there a Chance for a Pauper deck tech with merfolk and new cards from RIX?

[@coreykline8916]

If tribal does become big in the meta, what current decks do you feel have the best chance? I feel like annointed procession or the esper gpg deck will perform well

[@paulgruner9644]

Newb question: Isn't islandwalk a thing any more? I thought it was one of the advantages of Merfolk. Is it just that the creatures that give islandwalk are otherwise weak? Or the spells that give isalndwalk aren't as important as counterspells?

[@TripleGMS]

Hey Dev, really enjoy your videos. Any chance you can post your lists on MTGO as well? Sure would make life a lot easier in the virtual world!

[@Whatevsman27]

Would one be remiss for having Shaper Apprentice in their side deck for that flying coverage? Just wondering.