Lords of the Deep [Next Level Merfolk ~ Legacy] (Legacy) [Revision 23]

"Most human scholars believe that Merfolk are the survivors of sunken Atlantis, humans adapted to the water. Merfolk, however, believe that humans sprang forth from Merfolk who adapted themselves in order to explore their last frontier."

Merfolk or Fish is a Tempo Deck, with bits of Aggro and Control mixed in. It focuses on getting out uncounterable creatures with tribal synergy to overwhelm your opponent, while denying them the ability to cast their own spells.

"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."

Tidal Warrior VS Cursecatcher
Both of these 1 drops are amazing at what they do. Cursecatcher makes your opponent think twice before acting, and helps win counterspell wars. While Tidal Warrior helps to ensure islandwalk against all of the non-blue decks that can be prevalent in the meta, and to disrupt your opponents mana sources or possibly even fix your own. Running either one of these cards is a good choice, and it will depend on the decks your playing against which one is better at the moment. Cursecatcher is however far and away the more popular and standard choice.

AEther Vial & Chalice of the Void
These cards help define the deck and give it the ability to persist against overwhelming odds. The problem with these two cards is that they lack synergy together, as once you cast Chalice at 1 your Vials become dead draws. There are also very few instances where you will want to see more than two of either card during the course of a round. Because of this you may want to play one or both as a 3 of to maintain early game consistency while minimalizing late game draws. That being said running either or both as a 4 of is still very good.

Standstill, Wasteland & Other Old Tech
There are many cards like these that were once staples of every Merfolk deck, but have since fallen out of popular use due to an ever evolving meta. They are still amazing cards and you may very well find success with them in your deck. Don't be afraid to play test with them and see if they fit your play style better than some of the other cards on the list.

Smuggler's Copter, Merfolk Trickster & Other New Tech
Often times when new sets are released we will see new cards wash up in many builds. Some of these may become very popular and go from fringe play to deck staples. It takes time and play testing to determine what works and what doesn't. Smuggler's Copter is a very popular card in some builds and many players have found great uses for it in the deck. At this time I'm not completely sold on it so I have not included it in my main board as of yet, this may very well change in the future as the card continues to see play and prove it's worth. I am currently running Merfolk Trickster as it has been preforming exceptionally well in both Standard and Modern.

If Merfolk hopes to survive it must continue to evolve and test new waters. This means questioning and evaluating all of our card choices and not being afraid to wade a little farther out from the shore.

"I bring baubles of lore, lost secrets seined from the listening waves."

Pretty much any of the cards here in the "Honorable Mentions" section can be substituted into your Side Board, or possibly even Main Deck depending on your Meta. The other sections here are for other game variants, and are the cards I found to be the most powerful/fun in combination with the Merfolk.

Honorable Mentions

Back to Basics
Daze
Disallow
Hurkyl's Recall
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
Llawan, Cephalid Empress
Sower of Temptation
Spell Pierce
Spreading Seas
Standstill
Tidal Warrior
Manriki-Gusari
Sword of Fire and Ice
Gemstone Caverns

Commander Card
Empress Galina

Vanguard Card
Mishra

Archenemy Cards
All in Good Time x 2
Behold the Power of Destruction x 2
Drench The Soil In Their Blood x 2
My Crushing Masterstroke x 1
My Genius Knows No Bounds x 2
Perhaps You've Met My Cohort x 1
Plots That Span Centuries x 2
The Very Soil Shall Shake x 2
Tooth, Claw, and Tail x 2
Your Fate Is Thrice Sealed x 2
Your Puny Minds Cannot Fathom x 2

Planechase Cards
Celestine Reef
Isle of Vesuva
Minamo
Panopticon
Sokenzan
Stronghold Furnace
Tazeem
The Maelstrom
Undercity Reaches
Velis Vel

"Who will miss you, drywalker? A wife? A child? Perhaps they will blame the sea for your fate, and teach future generations to stay far away from it."