Hey all, in this episode I erroneously state that you can cast spells and activate abilities at instant-speed in between the Hakbal explores. However, you can't actually do this because Hakbal's trigger is all one ability, meaning it cannot be interrupted until every single one of your Merfolk are done exploring (see the release notes). I still stand by Merfolk Looter and Cephalid Coliseum being good adds to help churn through your deck and get rid of excess lands, but please ignore the instant-speed analysis part of the podcast. Magic rules are hard sometimes. Thanks! -Murph
Has someone notice the lower quality printing in the precons I bought the dino and merfolk and in the merfolk is more noticable and more if you compare side by side with the old printings 😢
I almost cut Danny Pink when I realized this but let me tell you.. after having him on board for just one turn I realized just how silly that idea was! He draws SO many cards. So many that I’m wondering if I need to get myself a Lab Man
You can cut Xolatoyac when you can pry him from my cold dead hand!! Really, I rampaged with this card. Attack, turn land to island, march beefed merfolk army over with island walk, untap beefed army so they can defend, repeat.
Xolatoyac is great in the deck. In addition to being another Merrow Commerce (which is insane itself), it can untap your lands, especially if you play the vivid lands, plus it can make your opponents’ lands Islands, enabling your islandwalk. It’s better than vigilance because it untaps anything that you maybe don’t want to attack with like Kiora’s follower, any looters, anything you tap with Kumena, etc. The ability to enable island walk and untap all permanents with a counter is well worth the 6 mana, especially in a deck where you’re probably not playing many cards with that high cost. Plus, he’s smiling at you. I love it when my cards smile back 😄
I built my own version of this deck and playtested it a LOT. There were several things I wanted to say during this video but I HAD to pause when you guys were talking about cards to take out. Taking out Merfolk Cave-Diver is 100% a mistake. That card is absolutely insane as it gets as big as you are wide, and going wide is what you want to do. I've swung for 10+ with him the turn after he came down, consistently...and he can't be blocked because you will always be exploring. I had taken out Xolatoyak at first but after realizing that the deck really performs best when your creatures can't be blocked since sometimes they will be swinging in as small bois. There is a ton of mass Islandwalk in the deck and after I started leaning on that, the deck performed significantly better. Xolatoyak gives an Island to any opponent that isn't playing blue (which is far more common than I thought) and in doing so it activates your mass unblockable Islandwalk board state. Being untapped for a crackback is just a bonus.
Tidal Worrior is a great cheap merfolk to add and Quicksilver Fountain is an easy way to give everyone islands. Also a Wonder to put on the graveyard to turn all yoyr merfolk onto flying fish is good too.
Really enjoying this precon; love the flavour and Explore mechanic. Merfolk Cave-Diver should probably stay in. As well as some of the upgrades you mentioned I’ve added Roaming Throne, and Tishana’s Tidebinder from LCI, and a Burgeoning, but appreciate these may be pushing the budget. Murkfiend Liege is one I’ve added that I think has a place (and doesn’t break the budget).
I just wanna say how absolutely amazing Rachel is. She always has incredible recommendations, she's so much fun to listen to, she is always the star of every episode she's in for me. Love her!!
45:46 Actually, if I'm not mistaken, you can't activate Merfolk Looter or do anything for that matter during the resolution of Hakbal's combat trigger. Hakbal puts one trigger on the stack that makes every merfolk explore; he doesn't give each of them their own separate explore trigger. Looter's still a good card, but it doesn't work the way you want, which is probably why it wasn't in the precon list, so as to avoid confusion. 59:53 Similarly, while Danny Pink DOES give each of your merfolk their own draw trigger, those draw triggers would only be put on the stack AFTER Hakbal finishes having every merfolk explore, so again, no topdeck manipulation mid-exploration. Still a good inclusion (even if not a Merfolk =P) but just wanted to mention, since many people seem to have the same misunderstanding of how Hakbal works.
This is going to be the most missed part of his text. I’ve already made that mistake, had a spark double copying Hakbal and instead of making each one explore once, then do all of them again I just made them all explore twice which you shouldn’t do
I remember buying a few cards I felt would be good in the Deck before its contents were revealed. To my surprise nearly everything I thought would be a great add is already in the box!
Build up my first commander deck when I started playing magic in the 2nd ixalan set, already full collection of all the merfolk lords and rare legends like empress galenna, SO MUCH LOVE TO THIS LITTLE TRIBE IN THIS PRECON IS GORGEUS
@@Oopsall Better than vigilance I'd argue, since it also allows you to use tap abilities and have them untapped for blocking or an additional activation.
Rip commander sphere. Loved it while it was on. I’m glad you guys addressed the Danny pink flavor fail. I’m super reticent to put any universes beyond in any of my decks, because of the flavor
Had to pause the video to say Thank you for mentioning an alternative card instead of the doctor who card. I have no issues with my opponents playing U.B. cards but i really don't want to add them to my own decks. Happy to see it.
@@theotherguy4478correct. I was hoping they would do it first, just see to see what they suggested. I already upgraded mine with cards that I thought would be good. It won 2 games last night in my normal mid range pod so that's cool.
@@MetaLibanez1 yeah same here! I appreciate their input. I’ve swapped like 5 cards so far and have won 2/4 games. The deck was solid out the box but can’t wait for their thoughts.
Just bought this deck, it’s quite good already out of the box, wizards did so good with these decks, excited to see what you guys do with it! Edit: having played the precon a couple times, I’m going to have to hard disagree on the Merfolk Cave Diver being cut, even with a modest 4-5 merfolk out you could be looking at 10 unblockable damage, and if you have a bigger board, it can get huge, I’ve swung with 20+ damage with it, it’s an amazing way to get that damage through on the player who has all the blockers they could ever want
It single handily won a game for me. I had about 6 merfolk on the field that I held up as blockers as I kept stacking 1/1 counters on him. He was hitting for over 20 damage each turn, no one could remove him and had a lot of value in my games.
Also, the new Merfolk token maker triggers on non-token Merfolk being tapped, which just immediately made me think Kumena. Include a non-token in each batch being tapped and it's almost self-sustaining.
@@HinekoAkahi Tokens is a very good direction to take the deck with 2 token making enchanments, a few merfolk who spit out tokens, and Adrix and Nev being Merfolk themselves. Something else to note is that lords scale really well if you want to clone them.
I took a completely different route with mine I went all in with counters and exploring. I put path of discovery and wildgrowth waker to get an absurd amount of life and a huge beater and if the topography tracker is on board you get twice the exploration triggers. Also clamavus from the tyranid deck gives al creatures +1+1 for each +1+1counters they have. And to end it all I took my counters stuff from other decks like Vorinclex M Raider, Doubling Season, Kodama of the West, Seedbourne Muse to abuse the proliferate abilities and door of destinies cause this are cheap creatures and can easily up those counters, specially with Vorel.
When we talk "alternate Commander" for a precon, we tend to refer to the new cards printed exclusively for the precon. But as part of the 99, I do think Kumena is a swappable Commander for this deck.
Some of my personal favorite sleeper adds are… Wildgrowth Walker because who doesn’t want to gain loads of life for such a low investment?! The card gets much stronger in metas without infinite combos that rely on damage to close games. Journey to the Oracle (just forget about the grandma on the front…) is a way to put all of the lands you explore on to the battlefield and a cheap alternative to chased cards like Exploration and Burgeoning. Lastly I’d like to mention some under-appreciated tribe members. Sea Scryer is one of the only rampy fishies and serves It’s role well enough. Waterfront Bouncer is actually a Merfolk as well and allows you control the board while discarding the abundant lands you’re exploring but might no longer need at some point. Not to mention that Merfolk include tap/untap synergies, potentially activating the bouncer multiple times per turn. Love the video!❤
Following this guide, I ended up cutting the same cards in the video, however my 10 that I added are different, mainly because I was wanting to utilize cards that I already had, instead of buying new ones. Here's my 10 I added. Wall of frost, merfolk windrobber, cleric of chill depths, swashbuckler's whip, fog, return of the wildspeaker, predatory rampage, ground seal, roaring earth, and blinding drone. This allows for some tap down, and for some heavy hits later on. Honorable mentions for me that will stay in the deck box as a just in case are - shadow kin, aether gale, switcheroo, and crashing tide.
I’ve been playing this deck a lot, and I must say that I disagree with removing Cave-diver. Every time I get him out, he pumps up instantly to like 12 power, and has built-in unblockable to beat serious face with. Totally worth the three.
Hey that's seems like a good alternative to what they suggested...and I say good because I already have copies of Open Into Wonder. Damn, that card almost got me a win in a limited format game years ago had I drawn a second island 🥲
Me litterally building this deck in 2019, and now just adding cards from the precon xD, Though My deck uses Kumena as the face commander and is more around the tapping and untapping playstyle, with also trying to win off rolling value or counters (simic ascendcey) or just swinging for damage.
I preordered this pre-con and really look forward to playing it as is. I don't want to make any changes since currently my play group complains about my decks being too strong, even the budget ones. As a pre-con I shouldn't have that problem as much.
Forerunner of the Heralds. Seahunter is ok (being repeatable is great) but it having to tap means it has to survive a trip around the table and you just know it’s gonna be a big removal magnet.
Got this deck the other day and I was checking out the cards while I was sleeving them. Curse of the Swine and Thassa stood out in particular for being weirdly out of place. Swap CotS with something like Negate or Counterspell or (in my case) Narset's Reveal.
The first swap Id do is Thassa, God of the Sea for Thassa, Deep-Dwelling. The blink ability pairs with so many Merfolk. Tempest Caller, Tishana Voice of Thunder, forerunner of the Heralds, Sentinel of the Nameless City, etc.
I souped up this deck and found that it generates so much threat without even trying. that is even with a great defense package that I added in. you sneeze and, your commanders taken out. so any upgrading people pursue for explorers of the deep? I would consider creating a backup strategy that does not rely on your face commander. explore is truly nice and all, but for buffing up your creatures? I think March of the machines call for backup was infinitely superior. partly because they were far easier to keep around.
Here's some secret tech for everyone - Grolnok the Omnivore. When you explore a nonland permanent and put it in the graveyard, he exiles it and you can cast it later from exile. It's really good in this deck. Not quite as good as Danny Pink, but less of a total flavor fail.
@@barrychan3722, MDFCs for the win!! Bala Ged Recovery, baby! And if you’re running Grolnok (have him on board) I’d suggest maybe being a bit conservative and going to combat BEFORE playing any creatures. Sure you get 1-3 less explores but you can be more sure to get the value out of Grolnok that way. And you could also run Eternal Witness and Timeless Witness if you’re that worried about it.
Found an old merfolk in mercadian masques that lets you pay one blue to make it unblockable… seems like a must add. Wish I could remember the name of the card. Now to watch this video!
Today I played with this deck for the first time. It was a landslide victory, and I just don’t see how cutting Thassa is a good idea. I won by attacking with not one, but several hugely pumped-up unblockable creatures. Cutting Thassa is even funnier when you consider that you also cut Curse of the Swine because it gives your opponents blockers. Well, Thassa solves that)
So I get the Murpholk pun, HOWEVER!... I cannot unhear something else. Merf needs to make a tree themed deck. Tree folk, cards with trees, etc. It will be.. his MURPH OAK DECK!
Having just played this deck, i was able to get zegana at 12 when i played it...used voreal to double counters on my biggest creature, and they then came in with 12 counters
45:52 Hey, you made an error! I don't know if guys from the channel will read this, but there is a reason Merfolk Looter was not included in the precon! As per the release notes and rules of Hakbal, the Explore triggers have to be done in one go. Players are NOT ABLE to respond between the explores of each Merfolk you control. So you can't activate Merfolk Looters tap ability inbetween the explores, since they resolve in one go.
Hilarious that you take merfolk cave diver out. How many times I absolutely trash people with this unblockable. Taking it out is a huge mistake. The absolute amount of groans I hear when it hits the board is music to my ears.
End-raze forerunners and craterhoof are great additions and yes, it takes 50% of the budget but it’s rlly the only thing u need in this deck. Put that, some more counters to protect u from boardwhipes and maybe improve the lords a little bit and the deck is pretty much done
Surprised you took thassa out after complaining about the deck not being able to put someone away and having a whole lot of mana with nothing to do with it. Is making a bunch of 4/4+ creatures unblockable not a way to just outright end someone?
At my last commander night I was playing my Kykar deck. My opening hand was Brainstorm, 4 lands, sol ring and Arcane Bombardment. Easy keep. Arcane Bombardment is kind of expensive at 6 cmc, but I had the mana in hand and I knew if it stuck for one or two turns I would win the game. Got lucky and no one had any enchantment removal.
Seems like a waste not to include Gaea's blessing. Blue has a ton of scry effects and assuming you dont naturally draw it, you can bin a bunch of stuff for the counters, get all your lands out, and then bin blessing to shuffle all your gas back into your library
I have a merfolk deck before this but upgrade ideas for this deck I have seen have added a lot of ideas to my current deck (which shares a lot of cards). A few other good upgrade ideas for those wanting to lean into island walk are Tidal Worrior and Quicksilver Fountain.
My favorite part about this deck was just the quality of cards in it. So many great separate commanders with Tatyova, Kumena, and Xolatoyac. Three of my favorite Simic commanders, and I didn't even realize they were in the deck. I picked it up at Walmart in a rush, and was happily surprised when I found the three of them. I was going to buy the singles, but now I don't have to.
How dare you suggest removing the friend! The friend stays and is never leaving! (also, merfolk have a lot of tap abilities so having another untapped is great for the deck)
Temple of false God is removed from all my decks. You draw an island and a temple first hand, have to keep it as a land but it's useless until you draw 4 more potential times
I think I agree with the changes, but I really think the ability to turn a land into an island with something like Spreading Seas is a great "surprise! I can take you out right now!" It's something that Xolatoyac allows you to do that the turn you drop the islandwalk lord, which is pretty huge, and feels like what the smiley boi wants to do for his fishy friends.
