Vampires vs Merfolk || North 100 Showdown

It's the North 100 Showdown! Wheeler and Serge are showcasing some of their favourite Canadian Highlander decks in a 1v1 showdown.
Decks:
Vampires - www.moxfield.com/decks/AxKsiv...
Merfolk - www.moxfield.com/decks/-IjV_L...
Serge - / sergeyager
Benjamin - / bwheelermtg
Nelson - / coachnellymtg
What is Canadian Highlander? - • What is Canadian Highl...
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#N100 #LRRMTG #CanadianHighlander

[@bigwig8657]

Wheeler not picking Edgar Markov as his commander seems like a fumble, eminence is broken.

[@yellownick15]

Other than Serge not drawing doble Moxen turn 1, the biggest missplay yes 🤔

[@Mario85555]

Eminence isn't broken in a format where you don't actually have commanders (The format they're playing is Canadian Highlander, which is singleton and 100 cards, but does not use commanders and each player starts at 20 life)

[@christianroot6287]

​@@Mario85555missed the joke

[@Mario85555]

​@@christianroot6287 truthfully, it's very much possible that people who aren't familiar with the channel will automatically assume it's commander, considering the thumbnail showed two of the new Legends from LCI

[@irreleverent]

​@@Mario85555 I think they'll figure it out from the 20 starting life, lack of commanders, 1v1 setting, double mox opening, discussion of points prior to the game, and just literally everything else about the video. No one who actually watched the games could be anywhere in the neighborhood of mistaking it for commander. You critical failed a snark; it's fine, it happens to everyone. Just take the L rather than stretching so far to justify it.

[@LucasTheDrgn]

Would like to point out: Wheeler's Vampires deck has as many *non*-Vampires as Serge's BUG Ninjas deck had creatures *with* Ninjutsu,

[@daneacree1266]

There are not many videos I open as quickly as a new episode of North 100 Showdown (the Canadian Highlander throwdown)

[@yoshthen00b]

Thank you for being here

[@readyfight5369]

It’s great to be had.

[@T_Peazy]

Big same.

[@Andal0r]

Wheeler used his beard as the catalyst to resurrect Serge. Good to see an immortal being putting their powers to use this way and dragging him back from the depths of hell (Alberta).

[@emilysmith2965]

Hellberta

[@ThanderTheGoblin]

As someone who lived in Hellberta, yup

[@krostorm]

wheeler getting flack about having non-vampires when serge was on ninjas with like 4 total ninjas will never not be funny

[@cliiwen]

I know you're joking but fwiw in another video they kind of explain the ethos of deck naming and themes by asking "what's the payload?" Serge admits to having very few ninjas but explains that what the deck is trying to do is get through with the few good ninjas it does have. The payload in vampires (in this matchup anyways) is good artifacts and Initiative.

[@SyntheticReign]

@@cliiwen True, but the winning here definitely came from Vampire beats. That feels like a viable enough reason to call it a vampire deck. Shadowspear doesn't count as a payload, or every deck would be called a Shadowspear deck XD

[@cliiwen]

Yeah, fair enough, I actually would say this is a fair way of describing the deck. It's just kind of sad (funny?) or ironic (typical?) that a lot of decks now just sort of have to include stuff like initiative. I know people say this stuff over and over again but basically its indicative of format homologization when highly thematic decks are running hiiiiiiighly generic cards@@SyntheticReign

[@SyntheticReign]

I absolutely agree. It's the downside of having such powerful mechanics in the game, which is bound to happen. But stuff like Urza's Saga, for example, was a mistake. I love the card, but it's basically an auto-include in any deck. It's just so good. Same with The One Ring. Having staples isn't a bad thing, but if every deck in the meta uses it, it might be worth evaluating the design principles surrounding it. Sometimes it's ok to have a card in every deck. This happens all the time in eternal formats. And notably, Wheeler didn't win on the backs of these cards, they just support the gameplan. And cards that are super supportive, but not by-themselves game winning, are hard to figure out. Like triomes. They make multi-colored decks so much more viable, but they alone aren't exactly breaking anything. Do you ban cards that help people create new decks? Do you leave them alone at the risk of homogenizing a format? It's tough.@@cliiwen

[@Crypt4l]

Secretly, his deck is just 40 welcoming vampires.

[@ozymandias3110]

For clarification, at around 14:00, when they are talking about when you can respond to the Sorin trigger, Serge is able to respond because the ability says “when you do”, which generates a trigger you can respond to. If it had said “if you do”, there would be no chance to respond after targets are chosen, because no separate trigger is generated, it is all part of the resolution of the ability.

[@mimpbusiness]

reflexive triggers my beloved

[@ozymandias3110]

That’s the term! Thanks, I always forget it lol.

[@telekin13]

thank you for your service

[@spiffinn_music_lists]

Also, unless I'm wrong, because the reflexive trigger has a single target, it should fizzle and Wheeler shouldn't gain the life.

[@spiffinn_music_lists]

Oh I wasn't paying close attention and didn't realize this was a shield counter/damage prevention situation (I assumed it was hexproof). so ignore this comment.

[@bigwig8657]

Wheeler beating Serge so bad in game 1 he might leave us again 😭 Serge being overly welcomed back by Vampires.

[@IncredulousPasserby]

Wheeler’s game 1 start was CRACKED. Edit: Also game 2’s start on a mull to 5. What even the heck.

[@overmused]

Benjamin "I looked at that deck and thought 'Can I get greedier?'" Wheeler

[@SourSlurpee]

man we all miss serge i can tell by everyone talking about him despite him still being gone 😢

[@AustereSquire]

That vampire just REALLY wants to welcome Serge back to the show

[@PenguuinYT]

Love that Serge is back with the crew! So glad that his sentenced was commuted.

[@wavesofbabies]

37:25 - 38:54 This is why I watch this series. Had me in tears.

[@Stupidexport]

I like how on the podcast they discuss merfolk like this absolute powerhouse and then it shows up on this show and gets rocked every time, lol

[@Grimhortonz]

to be fair, a deck without removal like merfolk is just food for a synergy tribal deck like vampires, since the vampires deck does actually have removal to remove the merfolk deck's synergy pieces.

[@ttam809]

I was just thinking to myself "y'know, I could really go for a new North 100 Showdown" and magically this appeared.

[@sandmanlives3]

North 100 Showdown (A Canadian Highlander Throwdown) is always a delight. But that ‘Movie Magic’ part was extra great! 13:06 😊 Edit: This episode was a banger that got better every minute!

[@StanielJeffries]

This show is perhaps the greatest work in the realm of audiovisual entertainment

[@KarmaKing2010]

I love all of these videos, North100 got me into Canlander and I never looked back. Thank you guys for the great content, love from sunny North England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@brycenelsonnelson1487]

Wasn't expecting to see Welcoming Vampire get pointed right after her maiden voyage, but this is the world we live in.

[@markbrierley6367]

I know Serge was gone for a bit, but special guest Nelly kept me company in the interim. That game 1 was so degenerate. I loved it.

[@denistalbot1829]

The batman time leap in the edit, CHEF KISS !

[@ericdundas9768]

The amount of times I've seen an aftermath card and said "wow, that's super neat" is more than a few. They're definitely worth a second look as we get more relevant material for formats that are impacted by standard sets.

[@TheNomadMTG]

The mulligan process to that degree mainly has interaction with serum powder, but otherwise shortcutting by just putting the whole hand back in the deck is usually easiest for sure

[@natehiggins6441]

First time watching this series. Love the banter!

[@taemourdjahanbani3324]

the long awaited vampire deck, finally

[@huckthatdish]

“Vampire” deck

[@irreleverent]

​@@huckthatdishThe deck has like 35 vampires in it. What the hell do you want?

[@huckthatdish]

@@irreleverent did you watch the whole video? I’m just making the exact same joke Ben and Serge did. Like Ben literally edited the deck name to “Vampires” as a joke

[@irreleverent]

@@huckthatdish It was barely even funny when they made it, and it hasn't been remotely funny since the youtube comments decided to drive it into the ground.

[@huckthatdish]

@@irreleverent no need to be so angry about it. Sorry fans of LRR find the hosts funny, I think that’s a big part of why most of us are here

[@Feeling_Better_Already]

Welcome back Serge! Very interesting matchup, though Wheeler's draws were just something else! Great analysis at the end, great insights!

[@hypethos]

As always, great content!

[@drknowtoomuchproductions5438]

Thank you for having me it's great to be here.

[@Durtaz]

Glad we were able to reach into the afterlife to scoop Serge back into the fray for bit. Had to spend a few hundred gold in diamonds, but entirely worth it!

[@frankwhitfield-tk6dh]

Glad to see you back, Serge!

[@BunnyFashionGirl]

Wheeler, thank you for actually trying on the Spanish-inspired and actually spanish names of the new vampires! I definitely want to make a WB commander deck and have Amalia be at the head just cuz of the awesome name :p

[@cyan3284]

Always delightful to watch the premier vampire player of the format throw down

[@kirkprospector4958]

Love it, thanks guys

[@jayglasss]

oh, the joy of finding this episode after team cfb runs rakdos vampires at pt chicago. how does it feel to be a prophet, wheeler?

[@GhaleonStrife]

Welcome back, Serge! We missed you!

[@ipoddodd]

What a brutal beatdown by the "Vampires" deck

[@janmelantu7490]

It’s really Orc-Vampire Midrange

[@Drecon84]

Great to finally hear someone about the proper mulligan procedure. When I first read how these mulligan rules worked I was like: "But that means you have to put cards on the bottom first and then decide if you keep or not, which is so weird". But I never heard anyone about it. Good to finally get some recognition.

[@IncredulousPasserby]

Something I think I’d like to see are a few videos where one person builds both decks. (Obviously both players would get a turn.) What Wheeler said at the end there made me think about that a bit. I am in no way familiar with CanLander deck construction, I wouldn’t presume to comment on the builds myself, but I would love to see how deck construction philosophies affect the game. (There’s also a world where the two players trade decks mid-video for a different angle at that idea, but that might open up too much toxicity across several avenues.)

[@raisins7777]

It wasn't an actual stipulation, but that is what this video was. Serge said he was playing Wheeler's merfolk list.

[@IaCthulhuFthagn]

@@raisins7777 Both players playing a list Wheeler put together, or at least a lightly edited Wheeler list, is almost the norm at this point.

[@derekdenis]

A new N100SD(ACHTD) is always the highlight of my fortnight.

[@paytheone4223]

Wheeler's back! Hooray! Glad those charges of Conspiracy To Make Fun Of EDH Players didn't stick

[@user-ux2wq1bw6o]

I was thinking merfolk would also include a splash of white as well since it has some white merfolk and give a few more removal options

[@kevinwestermann1001]

While the idea has its merits, it is also worth pointing out how incredibly pit-heavy (especially on the blue side of things) Merfolk tends to be. Which makes the mana base a bit awkward if going for a Bant version.

[@Pacier]

been waiting for the merfolk episode!

[@coconutmilkisbestmilk1702]

‘my deck gains value from playing magic the gathering’ is the most unintentionally funny line i’ve ever heard

[@zachariahhuey9876]

16:22 Serge get ready for Vein Ripper, the future is unforeseen.

[@dvillegas]

One time we had a discussion in my playgroup about the minimum amount of creatures of the same type a deck can run and still be considered tribal, and some psycho said that if you play at least 5 of the same type you can call it tribal easily, that same guy is banned from 2/3 LGS in my area now

[@IaCthulhuFthagn]

...and even that guy would have been iffy about Serge's "ninjas" deck :P

[@multeyemeteor]

Cool Dead Guy Ale deck, Wheeler!

[@zotha]

"When has 3 mana Sorin ever looked that good?" - that Sorin is one of the main reasons you would want to play vampire synergies, it's an Oko level threat but only if your deck is all vampires.

[@IaCthulhuFthagn]

I mean, I'm used to its -3 putting Morophon into play, followed by a stream of 5 mana slivers... so it doesn't exactly require you to play that many vampires to do mean things.

[@erikhweber]

as soon as Serge said it was a “tempo strategy” I assumed the worst for him.

[@FoxGoddess]

SERGE IS BACK!

[@joshcoppinger3975]

THE RETURN OF SERGE!

[@Giga-lemesh]

Great games

[@iluvatardis8804]

That was more Vampires than there were Ninjutsu creatures in a past deck.

[@crowsephonedangerzone]

ive said this before and i'll likely say it again: vampires love having non-vampire thralls! it makes sense!

[@petrseghman4283]

I play sort-of merfolk in a duel commander (where my commander rarely sees play - it had been Kumena before LCI) with sort of a sorensen-package. I wonder, if that would be doable. Its a tempo merfolk deck with disruption, Murktide and a few instant-sorcery reduction serpents. Sure - dunno, how much thats merfolk, but I believe that might work in the Highlander. Either on Ancestral or double Mox build.

[@lukasdewit]

The long awaited ixalan rumble

[@JakeKamas]

Interaction for the algorithm. A big thanks to Wheeler, Serge, and Ben for the episode!

[@Groovemancer]

It's funny, there was a recent MTG Goldfish Commander Clash video where everyone was making fun of the "vampire" deck for the same reasons, because the few creatures they happened to play early on were non-vampires.

[@rubyseverinwhitworth9066]

Can't wait to see the updated vampire list as the current one is out of date (doesn't have the vamps from the most recent set)

[@IncredulousPasserby]

This does include cards from LCI. Just in game one, the explore vampire, the theft merfolk, and the shield counter merfolk were all new.

[@devincarter8155]

he played the explore vampire what do you mean? edit: oh i see the pinned list is out of date mb

[@rubyseverinwhitworth9066]

@@IncredulousPasserby But the moxfield list doesn't, that is what I am talking about

[@schwarzertee7586]

I think it is kinda toxic of Wheeler to mention that this is not emblematic for this deck AFTER I already threw my beverage at the monitor

[@cameronjackson7443]

Brown skittles might be the most cursed thing I've ever heard on this channel

[@robotov2334]

Let's go!!!!

[@pickemup14]

16:19 Sorin comment aged well

[@Raziel14085]

I loved the moment when Wheeler played Welcoming Vampire(!)

[@dodotornado]

Does anybody know where I can finde the deck mist Wheeler was talking about in the beginning? Mardu Vamps?

[@MarlaDesat]

Those poor fish got steamrolled, this was a delight from start to finish!

[@Sugarman96]

Serge is back from the Shadow Realm, yay!

[@aitsu6640]

Love Wheeler on draw my points typal

[@grizant]

Are Wheeler's sleeves a Monet landscape? Pretty classy.

[@markwalker8846]

Man I don't watch every episode of Showdown, but I think every time I've seen it Serge gets absolutely ranched by Wheeler. Like EVERY time.

[@greatdinn8489]

He does have a higher win percentage, but Serge has had some very good wins. I highly recommend watching Martyr-Proc vs. CursePox.

[@Greysnowman]

Now that there are three regular players on N100, it could be cool to have a series of games where two players battle with decks built by the third

[@estebanrodriguez5409]

13:17.... hahahaha oh god, I didn't expected that

[@Zenthere]

any reason the vampire moxfield link is only 94 cards?

[@MaskedTai]

The thumbnail had me thinking Wheeler was eating his grip of cards and I'm honestly disappointed he wasn't.

[@Cryonicity]

I wanted to build these but now idk which one to build!!!!

[@holdenpi]

Serge playing Mindbreak Trap, in response to Welcoming Vampire game 1, would've been my favorite play of all time (I said favorite not best or smartest lol).

[@MrJ03K3rR]

Serge "Naya Angels" Yeager giving Ben flack about "Vampires" is rather hilarious

[@MentallyLatent]

That 3 mana into welcoming vampire was fiiiiilthy

[@monkeybomb7078]

Oh lets go some tribal beats

[@benjaminclyde7972]

Serge swam back to the island. Let’s hope he goes first. I’ll be watching this evening.

[@benjaminclyde7972]

Serge won the die roll!

[@Jedicake]

Serge, I feel your pain this entire match. I've been running Merfolk for such a long time with such a bad loss percentage. I want it to be good so much... I try Bant a lot just for the really good removal (Swords/Path etc) Also, call me a boomer, but I still think Spreading Seas is a must have in the deck. Islandwalk is too important

[@tannermattingly4462]

I don't think it's that boomer. Obv doesn't really do anything against a 2c creature pile deck like wheeler's, but there's a lot of 3-4c greed piles running around. turning a triome into an island is pretty hot. then again maybe I'm just also a boomer

[@robertabugelis3962]

The cold read game two, turn two

[@Athanasia8818]

Can we have a "card in hand" counter?

[@cliiwen]

This takes me back to Wheeler saying the Faerie deck isn't real because it wins with Thoughtseize and Opposition Agent instead of Faeries

[@somethingclever4456]

merfolk absolutely should be playing more cantrips, agree a lot with your guys' analysis at the end. looked like serge flooded quite badly all three games and never really had a chance to double spell and try to change the momentum of the game. And Wheeler mulled to five in game 2 so to not build any disruption or threats is a real indictment of the deck, especially when you're going first

[@kevinwestermann1001]

We need Orcish Boatmasters (I know there's Seahunter) in the vein of Skyshroud Poachers. P:

[@eller711]

I do love some movie magic

[@Thomas-dk6fr]

that welcoming vampire killed me

[@cameronhall6825]

it killed serge too

[@cthulhuwept]

I notice Wheeler didn't answer Serge's question about how many Welcoming Vampires were in the list...

[@tomkelley4119]

I’m curious what people thought of Wheeler’s decision in game 1 to use Stoneforge to get Shadowspear before drawing. I don’t have good intuition around what optimal sequencing there is, and I’d like to get some opinions about how to play best in that situation. EDIT: Sorry, it was Game 2, time is around 22:35.

[@Slagomancer]

Only plays Shadowspear and Skullclamp for equipment so that sequencing avoids the ( very small ) chance that he awkwardly draws the Shadowspear and then either has to get Skullclamp or not grab anything. I was always under the impression that the search was always best to sequence before the draw just because it made more sense to get the guaranteed card you wanted before getting a random one and also avoiding maybe mucking your own search by topdecking the card you wanted in question.

[@tomkelley4119]

@@Slagomancer - I get that, but I would have thought that seeing a card might - in some world - change the equipment you would get. Are there cards in the deck that would merit getting clamp over spear? I don't know. It's at least an interesting question. I don't know that search-before-draw is always correct. What if the top card is something that would give you a more optimal search? Like - say you get a spellseeker search and it triggers a draw. If you're DOB to a creature, the best thing to search for is something like Swords. If the top card of your library is a Fiend Hunter, that works too - and now you can search for something like a Recall to see even more cards (a more optimal search target). I don't know if I'm making sense.

[@Slagomancer]

@@tomkelley4119 You're putting it up to chance either way and I'm sure there's a right or wrong based on lots of circumstances. In my mind I'd rather get the card I want first since there's probably a reason I'm going to look for that card. True answer is probably not necessarily a correct way.

[@tomkelley4119]

@@Slagomancer 100% agree. I think your reasons are good, I think my reasons are good. I wish there was a way to figure out the correct line to take, but I don’t think it makes a material difference in 99.99% of games.

[@Kramburger]

Wheeler was clearly playing a classic Renfields list. Just a bunch of guys who hang around vampires, hoping to make the big leagues...

[@Sheer_Falacy]

I would say that Wheeler's deck is a Vampire deck way more than Serge's deck with 5 equipment is an Equipment deck :P

[@plundypops]

love to see "vampires" do so well.

[@AutkastKain]

I did in fact see a vampire on Wheeler's board of a game so I think he's fine

[@JimFaindel]

It always baffles me that shadowspear isn't worth at least a point. It just goes into every single creature deck, and in this show in particular I've seen it do better than even jitte.

[@roticet]

Shadowspear is only good when attached to a creature. Jitte is still good even without a creature after the first hit. Plus Jitte having removal inherent to itself and not needing a creature to activate it is prolly what keeps jitte pointed and shadowspear unpointed. This may change in the future, but that's my hypothesis.

[@CmdrUD87]

Ben: Merfolk got the better cards, generally and in LCI. Also Ben: Proceeds to ruthlessly rumble Serge for straight games in a row

[@ajpruitt4628]

I think you could say that this video was a... reSERGEance of classic N100 Showdown

[@jamesfahy1987]

Wheeler won a game for each non-vampire creature they played.😆

[@christofferskaderis6955]

Please Update the vampire list

[@Mordalon]

Welcoming Vampire is a prime example of why people who complain about "triggers only once each turn" make no sense to me.

[@Noragar469]

Yay serge!