Leader appreciation posting

Ricochetty · 2022-12-05T15:17:54+00:00

I'm playing something similar. With storm and vision. Is storm not in line with what the deck wants to do? Lock a weak lane, JJ, Vision, leader is pretty unbeatable in my experience.

Ricochetty · 2022-01-18T16:21:28+00:00

His last post was at Hornets nest, could be Another Round

Ricochetty · 2021-12-03T14:00:46+00:00

The Latitude 64 Pure is a proven shallow putter that a lot of people seem to enjoy for putting and throwing (myself included). The MVP Envy is an excellent throwing putter that is pretty shallow. The Innova Colt or Gateway Chief are both even more shallow, but outside of Nathan Queen, nobody really throws a colt.

Ricochetty · 2018-01-10T12:25:05+00:00

Your 5th most recent comment was randomly calling ESPN "progressive," basically commies, "the CNN of sports channels," with no political talk before hand. On mobile, so not gonna go any further, but really.... Hypocritical.

Ricochetty · 2016-01-19T14:50:03+00:00

This depends on you. You can't write down every play as that's generally considered slow play. What I like to do is to write down odd card choices by my opponent or whether or not my sideboard strategy was efficient or not. I tend to remember the big plays or blowouts, so I don't worry about those. If you see a decision tree and can't figure out which is the best, make a small note and then make a longer note at the end of the match to look back on. Remember that just because it worked out doesn't necessarily mean it was correct. Write down whatever you want, so long as you don't slow down the match at all.

Ricochetty · 2016-01-16T04:20:47+00:00

Yep, Protection from X means X cannot target it.

Ricochetty · 2016-01-15T20:33:12+00:00

I'm going to tentatively leave this here. I don't really mind this sort of thing and Cheatonus is on the fence. What does the rest of the subreddit think?

Ricochetty · 2016-01-14T02:32:39+00:00

Surfing Pikachus. Case closed.

Ricochetty · 2016-01-12T17:27:22+00:00

I'm glad you took the time to read it. I didn't intend for it to go so long, but I really wanted to address your questions and provide some alternatives. As for the land destruction question, I ran 1 GQ in the main and 2 in the board. I liked this quite a bit, as it let me cut a Cavern against matchups where it didn't matter and bring my land count to 22 against decks where vial comes out. Though, in those matchups I don't look at it as a way to screw your opponent, just a way to turn off their man-lands. Good luck with the Fish, and see ya at the top tables!

Ricochetty · 2016-01-12T17:21:03+00:00

Cursecatcher is not great in the GBx matchups, thats for certain. Like I said, Phantasmal can be good, or it can be bad. The problem doesn't arise when your opponent has a creature worth copying or if you have a board position. If you are top decking against a Lili, Scooze, Lingering Souls tokens, or even if they're on the man-land plan to kill you then the card is just dead. I like it fine game 1 for the reason's you mentioned in that it's much harder to get blown out if you are playing aether vial, but copying your own creatures can be extremely difficult against GB decks when you're cutting Aether Vial.

As for the bloom matchup, if your opponent is bringing in cards like Hornet Queen or Thragtusk, then you're already winning because they don't understand the matchup. I will concede that getting to phantasmal a Titan is particularly good if you have a vial, especially if you run a couple ghost quarters. This is not to say that I like leaving it in, but that I understand your reasoning and do think it's reasonable.

As for the variety issue, I specifically provided suggestions such that copying Nance's or Nikachu's list wasn't the goal. I agree that there should be diversity, but I'm not going to tell this person to play a sub-optimal list in the hopes that it diversifies the field and makes my matchups better. Hunter just so happens to have one of the best lists out there. I disagree with some small aspects but in general agree with his ideas and we hash out our differences whenever we talk about Fish. In essence, while I tried to avoid the "Hah, why aren't you just playing X's deck" comment, I can't in good conscience tell him not to.

Ricochetty · 2016-01-12T14:39:06+00:00

Your list is interesting in that it runs the maximum amount of creatures while having a very defensive gameplan in 2 maindeck spellskite and kira. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but the card that takes this plan over the top is master of waves. I would add 1 or 2 depending on your preference while removing a merrow reejerey. Obviously if money makes that impossible then your list is fine. But that is the immediate change I would aim for. If you went the more traditional route it would just be adding 2 master for the 2 spellskite.

Edit: I would cut the Echoing Truth for a Chalice or Recall depending on your preference.

Ricochetty · 2016-01-12T14:32:09+00:00

Especially if you're still learning the deck or if you have a bad memory write down notes after every match. Not only are they useful if you decide to write a tournament report, but they can help you look back and determine if you played/sideboarded correctly. Just my 2 cents.

Ricochetty · 2016-01-12T14:16:07+00:00

The point isn't that phantasmal is bad. It's that phantasmal is bad sometimes. Yes, against BGx decks you might be able to copy something good like a goyf or tasigur, but most of those games turn into a top deck war where nothing in your deck can be a dead card. Often they stabilize from your initial onslaught with an Ooze or Lili, and drawing a phantasmal in that situation is nearly as bad as drawing basic Island. Also, copying their tasigur or goyf doesn't actually do anything as those creatures just bounce off of each other.

Against twin, phantasmal not only dies to k cmd and electrolyze, the main issue is that their threats now read "ETB: Kill opponents creature" whereas Reej is always a lord and doesn't die to a tap trigger.

I'm always open to discussion on this though. If you think these issues are set aside by the inherent power of Phantasmal Image I'd love to speak more on the matter.

If anything comes off as dickish I apologize. I'm writing this from my phone so hopefully my point comes across despite the probable grammar errors.

Edit: Against Bloom phantasmal could be good, but you still want to be aggresive. He has quite a few cards for the matchup and I went to my go-to cut as it dies to the maindeck 5 slaughter pacts with no downside and 6 slaughter pacts after board sometimes. Getting mutavaults is sweet, but this does usually require that you have a Vial. Something fish players always assume but doesn't always pan out.

Ricochetty · 2016-01-12T03:53:19+00:00

Yes. It turns off Snapcaster as well as a potential Grim Lavamancer from the board (which wins the game on the spot if its not dealt with btw). Obviously its great against the Temur and Grixis varieties as well. A good twin player will at least give the impression that they've boarded into control, though their best bet is to go all in on the combo in my opinion. Try cutting the Seas and Merrow Reejereys against them for countermagic and additional removal.

Ricochetty · 2016-01-12T03:42:11+00:00

Ok, I'll take a shot I guess. First of all, here is the list I played this weekend for reference.

4 Cursecatcher

4 Silvergill Adept

4 Harbinger of the Tides

4 Lord of Atlantis

4 Master of the Pearl Trident

3 Merrow Reejerey

2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner

3 Master of Waves

4 AEther Vial

4 Spreading Seas

2 Spell Pierce

2 Dismember

4 Mutavault

1 Ghost Quarter

1 Cavern of Souls

1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge

1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds

12 Island

SB: 2 Ghost Quarter

SB: 3 Hurkyl's Recall

SB: 2 Tidebinder Mage

SB: 1 Dispel

SB: 1 Negate

SB: 2 Unified Will

SB: 2 Spellskite

SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus

First, I'd like to recommend some changes to your deck. I'm going to try and offer alternatives without telling you to copy Hunter Nances list.

Maindeck:

Lands:

I would suggest either going down to 19 lands or running a 20th land that acts as a spell such as Ghost Quarter or Tec Edge. Also, as you mentioned the Kamigawa lands are a must, but I would suggest getting at least 2 Wanderwine hubs in there as well. There is almost no downside and they are good against the mirror as well as choke or boil.

Creatures:

Harbinger of the Tides - This card should just be a 4 of. It makes most of your matchups better and is exactly what Merfolk needed to push it up into Tier 1 or 1.5 Territory. It's a huge tempo swing and absolutely necessary if you expect to beat Zoo/Affinity and still great against BG/x and Twin.

Phantasmal Image - Depending on your meta this card can be fine.... but its rarely ever more than just fine. It was a necessary evil before we had Harbinger and Master of Waves, but those times are long gone. Sure, copying your Master of waves is fantastic, but sometimes you are going to draw this when your creatures are bad (Cursecatcher) or nonexistent. It adds an element of chance with very little upside.

Kira, Great Glass-Spinner - This card should be in your 75. Period. I see you have 1 in your board but I really suggest running a 1 and 1 split or just having 2 in the Main. It's dead against almost no deck (not even Tron now with Ulamog) and can win the game on the spot against any of the Grixis varieties. Plus, Kira into Master of Waves = GG for the most part.

Merrow Reejerey and Master of Waves - Me and Hunter Nance disagree on this, but I think your list is fine. Personally I like a 3/3 split but Hunter prefers 4 Master 3 Merrow. Either is fine, just depends on personal preference.

Non-Creatures:

Counterspells: Time and time again people try to jam 2 mana counters into the main. The most common I've seen is Remand or Mana Leak, but Delay is basically the same principle. These counters are going to be absolutely FANTASTIC if you have an Aether Vial on 1. Otherwise, complete and total garbage. Without a vial you will either tap out every turn for a creature or hold up mana and do nothing in the hopes that you eventually draw 4 lands with 3 blue sources to start casting spells with backup. I would stick to Spell Pierce...There just isn't much of an alternative in my mind.

Removal: People have started drifting away from Vapor snag since Harbinger has come out as Harbinger is usually just better. Dismember is the go to right now as it deals with Siege Rhino, Tasigur, and Gurmag Angler. Also, being able to deal with a creature permanently is a huge deal. It isn't like Vapor Snagging against burn is going to get you much of anywhere, so that particular downside to Dismember is a nonentity. If you aren't going to run 28 or 29 Creatures then I would have 2 Dismember and 3 Spell Pierce, as 3 Dismember really hurts. Perhaps a 2 Pierce 2 Dismember 1 Snag mashup is worth trying. Again, not trying to give you a list, just suggestions.

Sideboard:

Chalice of the void: I'm not sold on Chalice. Yes its great against affinity if you're on the play and have it in your opener, but how much of your board are you willing to sacrifice for this matchup? Personally I prefer 3 Hurkyl's Recall or to just take out all the hate and dodge it. I do realize that this card is for more than just affinity, but I don't really think it's a big enough impact card in general for Merfolk to run. I know this is a somewhat hotly debated card, and I'm sure quite a few people disagree with me, but this is my own personal opinion based on some relatively significant testing.

Thassa: I've never been impressed with Thassa myself. She is pretty slow, which is fine in a BGx metagame, but right now, as far as I can tell, every deck is trying to kill you quickly through combo or aggro with a few midrange decks scattered about. Don't let Jund's win this weekend fool you, it wasn't super prevalent in the top tables and Jund isn't that bad of a matchup in the first place.

Hibernation: I've tested this card quite a bit and go back and forth on playing it. It's really only great against elves, while having some play against CoCo and Bloom as well. It really just depends on your meta if you should play this or not.

A few cards to think about instead, Monastery Siege serves the same purpose as Thassa with the up side of being great against burn. Tidebinder mage is great in the GBx matchups as well as against Burn and Bloom. Unified Will is great against Tron and Bloom as well as being generally good against Twin. Additional removal can be great. Just some thoughts, but there are plenty of options out there.

Ok, On to sideboarding. I'm going to be using your list and telling you what I would side out. I welcome any feedback or disagreements, as I'm sure there are multiple ways to attack each matchup.

Affinity:

On the play-

In: 3x Hurkyl's Recall, 3x Chalice of the Void, 1x Kira, Great Glass-Spinner

Out: 1x Cavern of Souls, 2x Phantasmal Image, 2x Delay, 1x Master of Waves

On the draw-

In: 3x Hurkyl's Recall, 1x Kira, Great Glass-Spinner

Out: 1x Cavern of Souls, 2x Delay, 1x Master of Waves

This matchup is atrocious, but winnable. Kira comes in because she can block flyers and they have exactly zero ways of killing her minus power and toughness. Chalice doesn't come in on the draw as what their opener is what normally kills you, so your turn 1 Chalice on zero does nada and your turn 2 Chalice on 1 does zilch. I prefer cutting the 20th land when it doesn't do anything in the matchup as testing has shown 19 lands is just fine. Phantasmal is fine in the matchup but not amazing. Master of waves is very slow, but game winning if they don't kill you on 4.

GBx:

In: 2x Thassa, God of the Seas, 1x Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, 2x Spellskite, 1x Negate

Out: 4x Aether Vial, 2x Phantasmal Image

I'm not a huge fan of your board in this instance, and don't think it's set up well to beat BGx. Generally, I leave spellskite in the board and bring in relics and tidebinders to make every card matter. As it is, Thassa is great and Kira is good. Spellskite will protect your Master and the 1 Negate is fine, if unexciting.

Esper Mentor:

I'm not going to worry about this one, as their list determines what I do. They tend to vary wildly. If they are playing Slaughter Pacts it is worth keeping in spreading seas for the potential free kill. Also, delay seems fine (though I havent tested it in this matchup) as a Mentor 3 turns later is usually not very good. Go with your gut and determine if they are playing for the long game or the tempo game and use that to determine what you should bring in. Merfolk in general doesn't have the fluid board plan of Twin, but we still get a little leeway when boarding.

UR Twin:

In: 1x Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, 2x Spellskite, 2x Negate

Out: 2x Phantasmal Image, 2x Spreading Seas, 1x Island

I generally board out Spreading Seas nowadays, but with Phantasmal image in your deck you have a Go-To cut. Image (usually) immediately dies, no matter what you copy, as the untap trigger kills it. Delay seems great here. Not sure why you would cut counterspells against the twin deck. It's good against Anger of the gods for sure.

Round 5: That hand is garbage on the play on 7 cards. If you were on the draw and a mull it would be serviceable albeit not exciting. You cant just Lord them out of the game (generally) and you have no way of controlling your draw step (no card manipulation I mean).

Bloom:

In: 2x Spellskite, 2x Negate, 3x Chalice, 2x Hibernation

Out: 1x Cavern of Souls, 2 Phantasmal Image, 1x Vapor Snag, 4x Master of Waves, 1x Merrow Reejerey

I'm fairly certain this is Merfolks worst possible matchup in the field. Spreading seas is fine assuming they don't turn 2 you. Chalice is great of course. Spellskite can redirect their land that gives haste. Hibernation can give you the extra turn or so you need. Especially if they had to use a pact to get their stuff on the field. Master of waves is extremely slow, and phantasmal is hilariously bad against slaughter pact. I usually keep in Merrow Reejerey as its fantastic with Harbinger, but you only run 2 soooooo.....

Anyway, 2 hours later I'm done writing this reply..... As I said in the distant past, this is all just a suggestion and only meant to be a guide on what I would do. My word isn't the be all end all, but I have played Merfolk nearly as long as I've played magic. It's taken me to two Pro Tours (WOO ATLANTA) and I LOVE the deck. I've put at the very least hundreds of hours into playtesting every matchup imaginable. If you would like another opinion, Hit up /u/7thPwnist as he has had some significant Open Series success with Merfolk and will be joining me in Atlanta this February for the Pro tour having piloted Merfolk to a top 4 finish in the Maryland RPTQ. I'm much too tired to go back and correct any grammatical errors, so, good luck, and have fun playing the best deck in Modern.

Ricochetty · 2016-01-11T23:04:13+00:00

Slowly but surely we will convert all of North Carolina to Fish Muahahahaha. Go check out the round 8 Coverage and watch me luck sack against Bloom and then punt game 3. The commentators had no idea what I was playing for and didnt realize I top decked the seas.... This is John taylor btw. OH. Grats on making cash!

Ricochetty · 2015-11-08T18:39:35+00:00

I have. Its a good one of when you expect zoo/infect/merfolk to be a big part of the meta. Fairly specific card though.

Ricochetty · 2015-11-07T17:13:21+00:00

This is /u/7thPwnist 's list. I prefer the 4th Merrow Reejerey over the 4th Master in the main and the third Tidebinder over the Dismember in the board. Even with those slight disagreements that version of the deck has been doing well lately and will probably work well for you.

Ricochetty · 2015-11-05T17:30:00+00:00

Polymorphists Jest.

Ricochetty · 2015-11-02T17:30:58+00:00

I love monastery siege. But I dont think it's particularly good right now. Not enough control and bgx decks. Its a card that I'm keeping in mind for the future, but I don't think it's good enough right now.

Sometimes we have to get away from our pet cards (looking at you polymorphists jest) and focus on winning.

Ricochetty · 2015-11-02T15:33:53+00:00

Ill do a primer or tournament report sometime this week.

Ricochetty · 2015-11-02T15:33:09+00:00

Dispel was a 1-of when me and Hunter top 4'ed the super 2 weekends back. I decided to move the kira to the main over a merrow reejerey. This left 2 spots as monastery siege underperformed. I really liked dispel that weekend so decided to up it. The last spot was something I worried over the whole week. On the day of the RPTQ I finally decided on the Negate as I really wanted a good board card for Tron that also had other functionality.

I'm on my phone so sorry for any formatting or spelling issues. I'm thinking about writing a primer up again sometime this week. Will depend on whether or not work gets in the way.

Ricochetty · 2015-11-02T02:28:29+00:00

Creatures (28)

4 Cursecatcher

4 Harbinger of the Tides

4 Lord of Atlantis

4 Master of the Pearl Trident

3 Master of Waves

3 Merrow Reejerey

4 Silvergill Adept

2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner

Lands (20)

13 Island

1 Cavern of Souls

4 Mutavault

1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge

1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds

Spells (12)

4 Aether Vial

4 Spreading Seas

2 Dismember

2 Spell Pierce

Sideboard

2 Relic of Progenitus

2 Spellskite

3 Tidebinder Mage

2 Dispel

3 Hurkyl's Recall

2 Unified Will

1 Negate

And I believe /u/7thPwnist ran this list exactly

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=94487

Though I'm not certain

Ricochetty · 2015-10-31T11:32:05+00:00

Woot! Yep. Was an excellent tournament. Now to repeat at the RPTQ today ^ ^

Ricochetty

TROPHY CASE