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By: kalandine, Mike Mullins
Jun 13 2008 1:14am
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Sygg be nimble, Sygg be quick, Sygg watch out for that beatdown stick

In the previous installment of Bang for the Buck, I introduced a Standard-legal merfolk deck and tested it in the casual room.  I then made some minor modifications to make it more team friendly for the Two-Headed Giant format.

Here's the deck, which will be used as the starting point in this installment of Bang for the Buck.

Land (22)

Creatures (22)

Other (16)

10 Island
Plains
Wanderwine Hub
3 Faerie Conclave
1 Adarkar Wastes

4 Judge of Currents
Lord of Atlantis

Merrow Reejerey
3 Riptide Pilferer
Silvergill Adept
Sygg, River Guide

Aquitect's Will
Cryptic Command
4 Oblivion Ring
Psionic Blast

Before I move on to my intended subject of this installment, one comment I received from part 1 was the possibility of including budget-minded replacements for some of the more expensive cards.  The cards costing more than $2.00 each are: Lord of Atlantis, Cryptic Command, Psionic Blast, Adarkar Wastes, Faerie Conclave, and Wanderwine Hub.

Sygg, River Guide

Some of these cards are more vital than others.  Simply put, there is no viable replacement for Lord of Atlantis without a complete change in approach for the deck.  The next most valuable card in the deck is Cryptic Command which truly changes the viability of merfolk against a ton of decks out there.  Cryptic Command really does turn difficult matchups into very winnable games.  My record vs. Kithkin decks before Cryptic Command was 1-4 and after adding four copies to my deck my record is 5-1.  At $4.66 (as of May 1, 2008) it is the most expensive card in the deck (tied with Wanderwine Hub), but it is worth it.

If I were trying to build this deck on a budget, I would first work on swapping out the more expensive lands:
Wanderwine Hub ($4.66), Faerie Conclave ($2.67), and Adarkar Wastes ($4.41) can be dumped for more Plains, Islands, or even the much less expensive Boreal Shelf ($0.86).  I would only move to the Boreal Shelf if I were removing the Faerie Conclaves because having more than 4 lands that come into play tapped is likely to slow down the deck too much for many match-ups.

The last modereately expensive card in the deck is
Psionic Blast.  The are a number of ways you can go if wapping out Psionic Blast, but the one I would recommend first, especially with the current standard environment, is Piracy Charm ($0.02).  It can do much of the same thing as Psionic Blast though not in the same ways, plus it has the potential to work very nicely with Riptide Pilferer.  See, one of the main reasons Psionic Blast is so good is that it can eliminate opposing creatures or hit the opponent directly.  Piracy Charm can deal with opposing creatures, though it is limited to 1 toughness creatures on its own, and it can enable attacks against the opponent by granting Islandwalk (working well with Aquitect's Will) or pumping up the power of one of your unblocked creatures by 2.  Last, if you are successfully devasting an opponent's hand with the Pilferer, you can surprise them and force them to discard another card.  I have had many opponents hold two cards in hand knowing that Riptide Pilferer would force the discard of one but letting them hold on to the more valuable card until they draw a land or something, Piracy Charm used at just the right moment can win the game in these instances.

So, here is a more budget oriented build that comes in for a mere $38.97 as of May 1, 2008. 

Land (22)

Creatures (22)

Other (16)

10 Island
Plains
Wanderwine Hub
3 Faerie Conclave
1 Adarkar Wastes

4 Judge of Currents
Lord of Atlantis

Merrow Reejerey
3 Riptide Pilferer
Silvergill Adept
Sygg, River Guide

Aquitect's Will
Cryptic Command
4 Oblivion Ring
Psionic Blast


  _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now we can move on to the first goal of this installment - developing a sideboard for the deck.

Sideboards have two primary uses: (a) improve the decks performance against a specific opposing deck/archetype, and (b) counter another decks sideboard changes which could turn the matchup in the opponent's favor.  The sideboard is a tool to improve your chances of winning the second and third game in a match.

Last week, the deck went 9-1 in the casual room play single duels.  The loss to a Black Rogues deck.  At the time, I noted that the deck needed cheaper removal (currently, the lowest cost removal has a converted mana cost of 3).  Removal costing a (U) or (W) would help against that matchup as well as some other matchups such a faeries, kithkin, and elementals.  The two options that seem best are Piracy Charm and SunlancePiracy Charm makes it in over Sunlance because it's an instant and it is in the deck's primary color, blue.

My merfolk deck has no token generators and its creatures are often of a slightly lower quality than the creature in decks such as Treefolk, Elf, and RG big mana.  This means that against a lot of existing decks, I will often fall behind in the creature race.  White has an excellent way to solve this that will been completely unexepected in a deck focused around creatures: Wrath of God.

Aquitect's Will is a weak link in the deck against other decks featuring Islands.  While the deck still needs the card draw, I want card draw that has a more important secondary benefit.  Counterspell abilities always fit into a blue deck, so Sage's Dousing makes into the deck.  With the 11 wizards (Judge of Currents, Silvergill Adept, and Sygg, River Guide) in the deck, gaining the card draw ability off of the counter effect will be well worth the 2U casting cost.

That leaves three sideboard slots.  I want to be able to address the number of Enchantments (e.g., Bitterblossom, Grave Pact, Teferi's Moat, or Militia's Pride that see play, but I don't want to end up with a 1-for-1 trade.  There are a number of white creatures that can destroy enchantments while still providing a body to use as a blocker: Wispmare, Aven Cloudchaser, Cloudchaser Kestrel, Ronom Unicorn, Shinewend.  That's a lot of options to fit this role, but Aven Cloudchaser and Ronom Unicorn have to great of a cost for the role, Cloudchaser Kestrel requires WW for casting, and Shinewend is too small.  Wispmare can be played for W in a pinch, has a 1/3 body that can survive as a blocker against a lot of attackers, and has flying.  So three copies of Wispmare make it in.

So, for a first cut, my sideboard is made of 3 Wispmare, 4 Piracy Charm, 4 Sage's Dousing, and 4 Wrath of God.  The Wrath of God has a WW requirement in its casting cost and the Wispmare will almost assuredly replace a blue card in the deck.  This makes me worry a little bit about my White mana.  Its a small change, but the sideboard pushes me to remove one Island from the deck and replace it with a second Adarkar Wastes.  So here is the final deck I will take into the tournament practice room:

 

Land (22)

Creatures (22)

Other (16)

 

Main

Island
Plains
Wanderwine Hub
3 Faerie Conclave
Adarkar Wastes

4 Judge of Currents
Lord of Atlantis

Merrow Reejerey
3 Riptide Pilferer
Silvergill Adept
Sygg, River Guide

Aquitect's Will
Cryptic Command
4 Oblivion Ring
Psionic Blast

Sideboard

  3 Wispmare

4 Piracy Charm
4 Sage's Dousing
4 Wrath of God

I will go into the cost to move this deck from the casual single games to the match play found in the tournament room later in the article.

Below are details from eight consecutive games using this deck in the tournament practice room in best 2-of-3 matches.  Each game description identifies the opponent, my opening hand and mulligan decisions, a summary of the game, some observation about the game, and the outcome with win-loss

Opponent Non-Counter Control (Blue, White)
Game 1

My opponent uses Riftwing Cloudskate and Sower of Temptation to keep my deck under control and uses Mirror Entity as a finisher.  My Lord of Atlants (until it became his Lord of Atlantis) helped the Mirror Entity obliterate me in quick fashion.

Sideboard Changes

The easy correction to the deck is the removal of 4 Aquitect's Will for Sage's Dousing.
I also decide that the 4 Oblivion Rings are not permanent enough against a deck that will simply bounce them and decide to replace them with my Wrath of Gods.

Game 2

I quickly get out a Riptide Pilferer and a Lord of Atlantis but my opponent gets out a Desert and a Porphyry Nodes.  That leads to two turns of draw-attack-go before the board has been wiped and the Porphyry Nodes departs to the graveyard.

He manages to get something going with a
Mirror Entity, Sower of Temptation, and a stolen Lord of Atlantis, but I use Wrath of God to get things back under control.  He gets a second Desert in play, but I manage to build up my side of the board to get him down to 5 life with a Psionic Blast in hand.  For five turns I cannot draw a creature or another Psionic Blast and lose on turn 20 to a Mirror Entity.

Observations I think my sideboard changes worked were the correct and this could very easily have gone to a third game.  The Deserts are very hard to deal with, but I don't think there is anything in this match that makes me question my sideboard construction.
Outcome Loss (0-1)

Mirror Entity

Empty the Warrens

Opponent Red Deck Wins (Red)
Game 1

I draw a total of three creatures in this game and all are quickly eliminated by burn spells as my opponent rolls over me with Mogg Fanatic, Keldon Marauders, Rift Bolt, Incinerate, Shard Volley, and a late Empty the Warrens which is the decks finisher.

Sideboard Changes

I need to deal with small creatures which makes the 4 Piracy Charms a much better choice than Psionic Blast.  My opponent will almost never block me anyways, so the Aquitect's Wills come out for 4 copoies of Sage's Dousing.  The last change I make to the deck is intended to deal solely with the Empty the Warrens: replacing the Oblivion Rings with the Wrath of Gods.

Game 2 This game is tighter as I trade creatures with his creatures in the hopes of stalling out his deck, but he manages to get off an Empty the Warrens that gives him ten Goblins.  I stall for a turn with Cryptic Command, but cannot draw into a Wrath of God before dying.
Observations Unlike the first match, I see this matchup as a difficult proposition given my current sideboard construction.  Hopefully I can run into another Red Deck Wins and see if my worries are justified.
Outcome Loss (0-2)

Opponent Elf with Graveyard Slant (Green, Black)
Game 1

This game is painfully slow as it appear that we both start with two lands and can't draw into a third for a long time, turn 4 for me and turn 5 for him.  Once I get rolling, Merrow Reejerey makes my mana more usable and I eek out a win.

Sideboard Changes

In the first game, Scarred Vinebreeder gave me more difficulties than the rest of his creatures.  He was also running Elvish Eulogist.  That made Piracy Charm an easy substitution for Oblivion Ring.  He was also running Imperious Perfect, and its creature-token creators like this that pushed me towards including Wrath of God in the sideboard, so the Wraths come in in place of Aquitect's Will.

Game 2 This game doesn't have any issues with mana for either of us.  He drops creatures very quickly and I only drop a Lord of Atlantis to hold him off from attacking with all of his creatures.  He builds up a pretty impressive force, uses Eyeblight's Ending to remove the Lord of Atlantis before dropping me to 5 life.  The next turn I get a 1 for 4 exchange using Wrath of God and drop a few merfolk.  From that point, I manage to clean up rather quickly.
Observations The sideboard worked exactly as intended and kept a matchup in my favor rather than letting my opponent's sideboard dictate the course of the second game.
Outcome Win (1-2)

Piracy Charm

 

Cryoclasm
Opponent Red Deck Wins (Red)
Game 1

I go first and break out with an early Riptide Pilferer which attacks into a Mogg Fanatic.  He hammers away with burn spells, but I keep the pressure up with a steady stream of Merfolk and he concede once Sygg, River Guide hits the table with plenty of mana to protect my army.

Sideboard Changes

Even though it wasn't enough when facing the previous RDW opponent, I am confident that the Sage's Dousing is the better choice over Aquitect's Will.  I also move out the more costly Oblivion Ring for the Piracy Charm, after waffling between Oblivion Ring and Psionic Blast.

Game 2 I suffer from a lack of land early in the game while my opponent pumps out a Mogg Fanatic, Keldon Marauders, and Mutavault.  Eventually I get a Judge of Currents out, but the Mogg Fanatic takes care of him.  I drop another Judge of Currents only to see him drop a Countryside Crusher which gets boosted to a 5/5 on his next turn and I die a horrible death.
Sideboard Changes Seeing the Keldon Marauders and Countryside Crusher, I take out the Piracy Charms and move back to Oblivion Rings.
Game 3 I mull a six land hand into 3 land, a Lord of Atlantis, Silvergill Adept, and Merrow Reejerey.  The game is running pretty balanced through the first seven turns when I manage to drop a Sygg, River Guide, but I only have one white mana source.  Sygg survives the turn, but my opponent uses Cryoclasm to destroy my one Plains and that completely shifts the game in his favor.  Just remember, opponents sideboard too, and the impact can be devastating.
Observations Judge of Currents was originally included in the deck to help against this matchup by getting back enough life to outlast the red deck's hand, but it hasn't worked out that way.  I definitely need to reevaluate my sideboard construction.
Outcome Loss (1-3)

So, its time to readdress the sideboard.  I like Wrath of God and Sage's Dousing.  I don't think Piracy Charm does enough and Wispmare has been useless, but these are not the matchups I expected to use Wispmare.  Either I misjudged the metagame which appears to be heavily leaning towards RDW, or I just haven't faced the right decks yet.

I go with the rather limited empirical evidence and decide to boost my deck against red.  The best option against red is Burrenton Forge-Tender and I add 4 to the sideboard in place of Piracy Charm.  A secondary benefit of the Burrenton Forge-Tender is that it is a wizard which should increase the likelihood that when I cast Sage's Dousing I have a wizard in play to trigger the card draw.

I also decide to remove the Wispmares, replacing them with a Tivadar of Thorn to help the red and goblin matchups and decide to go with a more defensive spell for the final two slots in Momentary Blink.

Opponent Red Deck Wins (Red)
Game 1

Well, I immedaitely get my chance to see if my sideboard updates help in the matchup that has destroyed my merfolk deck.

He mulls to six and goes first.  He attacks and burns away at my life total using Needle Drop to keep his hand stocked.  On turn 7, I drop a Judge of Currents and go from 5 life to 7 life.  The next turn, Cryptic Command counters a Sulfurous Blast and drop him below 0 life with an alpha strike.

Sideboard Changes

It's time to see if the Burrenton Forge-Tender can do his job.  He replaces 3 Riptide Pilferer and a Judge of Currents.

I also follow the lesson learned against other RDW variants earlier and sub out Aquitect's Will for Sage's Dousing

Game 2

I come out of the gate really slowly and he drops a Seismic Assault which I end up using an Oblivion Ring to neutralize.  He rolls to an easy victory behind Mogg Fanatic, Keldon Marauders, Needle Drop, Rift Bolt, and Ghostfire.

Sideboard Changes I haven't seen anything new that wants me to change my deck for game 3 so I stick with the same deck I used in game 2.
Game 2

I mulligan from a bad hand to a bad hand with land.

My opponent suspends a Wheel of Fate and proceeds to empty his hand.  I drop stuff as quickly as possible so the card advantage isn't too much in my opponent's favor when the Wheel of Fate goes off.

I manage to draw into enough creatures to slow the bleeding and eventually draw into a Burrenton Forge-Tender who absolutely shifts the momentum of the game in my favor.  My new hand from the Wheel of Fate is stocked full of creatures and I roll to a victory, with my little Kithkin scarificing himself to save the valiant merfolk from extinction from a Sulfurous Blast.

Observations By moving outside of my tribe, I managed to find an answer to a matchup that had been really challenging.  While I don't this deck was necessarily as good as the other red decks I faced, the Needle Drop allowed him produce far more threats than I saw in the previous games.  Overall, I am pretty satisfied with the turnaround in this matchup.
Outcome Win (2-3)

Burrenton Forge-Tender

Wrath of God

Opponent Forestwalking Fatties (Green)
Game 1

He drops a Yavimaya Dryad and, to my surprise, gives me the forest.  He then proceeds to forestwalk on me while I turn one of his Forests into an Island and begin islandwalking on him.  Through Oblivion Ring and Cryptic Command, I manage to keep the momentum on my side and cruise to the victory.

Sideboard Changes

My opponent is running Llanowar Elves, Yavimaya Dryad, and Jedit Ojanen of Efrava.  That can lead to a huge disparity in creature balance, so I bring in Wrath of God for Aquitect's Will.

Game 2

This game I see Scryb Ranger, Might of Oaks, and Stonewood Invocation.  The Stonewood Invocation keeps me from eliminating my opponent's creature with Psionic Blast and a Might of Oaks on the Scryb Ranger also allows my opponent to dodge the same Psionic Blast.

Judge of Currents allows me to keep up my life total while I build an army around Lord of Atlantis and Merrow Reejerey.  On my opponent's last turn, I tap out his creatures with Cryptic Command and draw into a Silvergill Adept.  He plays it perfectly using the Scryb Ranger to ready a Jedit Ojanen of Efrava during the end of his turn and then ready his Scryb Ranger on my turn.  I play the Silvergill Adept to tap Jedit and then attack for the win.

Observations Not much to say here, my deck just had decent answers to my opponent's deck.
Outcome Win (3-3)

Opponent Giants (Red, White, black)
Game 1

His deck gets off to a slow start with his first spell, a Blind-Spot Giant hitting the table on turn 3.  He gets in one attack with it, but I use Oblivion Ring and Psionic Blast to keep the (Blind-Spot) Giant as the only creature on his side of the table.  After losing a few merfolk to Incinerate and barely surviving a Pyroclasm because Sygg, River Guide gave himself and a Lord of Atlantis protection from red, I eventually get the win.

Sideboard Changes

In order to avoid his removal, I drop in my two copies of Momentary Blink and then add in three Burrenton Forge-Tenders.  I drop one Sygg, River Guide, one Aquitect's Will, and three Riptide Pilferer to make room for the sideboard cards.

Game 2 While in the first game, I didn't see a single black card, this game I am very happy to have included the Momentary Blinks as he starts using Terror, Nameless Inversion, and Crib Swap to remove my creatures.  I blink my Silvergill Adept three times to foil his creature destruction netting an additional three cards in hand and cruise to the victory due to a good sideboard and a huge card advantage.
Observations This type of matchup was exactly why I decided to put Momentary Blink into the deck.  I have no way of knowing whether the black cards were in the deck in game 1 or came in from the sideboard, but I would think that black is an uneccassary inclusion in this deck given the amount of removal already available in red and white.
Outcome Win (4-3)

Momentary Blink

Tivadar of Thorn

Opponent Big Mana (Green, Red)
Game 1

Here's a matchup I was looking forward to because this deck shows up in the metagame.

I manage to blitz to a win using Faerie Conclave and a small array of Merfolk.  He gets a defense set up with two Wall of Roots, but Aquitect's Will and Lord of Atlantis allow met skirt around the defense.  I am at 28 life in no time due to a Judge of Currents and manage to pull out the win before he can take me down with his Taurean Mauler and Chameleon Colossus.

Sideboard Changes

My opponent is running quite a few changelings in his deck and Tivadar of Thorn is a good answer to such cards, so he is in.  Burrenton Forge-Tender is also an obvious inclusion.  To add these four cards, I take out one Sygg, River Guide and three Riptide Pilferer.

Game 2 I get mauled as he gets out his fatties pretty quickly and I don't get any momentum going.  I do get one significant glimpse into his deck when he uses a Cloudthresher to off my Faerie Conclave.
Sideboard Changes No new changes after the second game.
Game 3 We go back and forth with me gaining a slight edge and keeping his big creatures off balance with Oblivion Rings and Psionic Blasts.  Once again I am able to get around his blockers with Aquitect's Will and Lord of Atlantis.  I draw into two Cryptic Command and hoard my mana to deal with any surprises he tries to throw my way.  I am able to counter a Cloudthresher and later use a (Burrenton Forge-Tenderer) to stop a (Sulfurious Blast).  With some chump blocking I stay alive long enough to drop him below 0 life.
Observations At this point, Burrenton Forge-Tender is a keeper as he helps against a number of decks as a blocker and a means to protect me or my creatures from harm.  Tivadar of Thorn has value against changelings, goblin decks, RDW decks, and rogue decks due to a number of cheap,evasive Goblin Rogues running around.
Outcome Win (5-3)

So, after these eight games, I am pretty happy with the direction my sideboard has taken.  I am most unsure of the two Momentary Blinks, but they will help against many other decks including fairies (e.g., Sower of Temptation and black removal (e.g., Terror and Nameless Inversion).

To update the original standard deck into this new deck, shown below, would cost $47.23 with the Wraths of God accounting for $41.60 of that.

 

Land (22)

Creatures (22)

Other (16)

 

Main

Island
Plains
Wanderwine Hub
3 Faerie Conclave
Adarkar Wastes

4 Judge of Currents
Lord of Atlantis

Merrow Reejerey
3 Riptide Pilferer
Silvergill Adept
Sygg, River Guide

Aquitect's Will
Cryptic Command
4 Oblivion Ring
Psionic Blast

Sideboard

 

1 Tivadar of Thorn
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender

4 Sage's Dousing
2 Momentary Blink
4 Wrath of God

If I run up against another deck in the tournament practice area that is more significant in relation to the the standard metagame, I would include coverage of the matchup in a future installment.  _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now on to the second format promised in the article summary: Standard Tribal Wars.  Here are the basic rules for tribal decks on MTGO: (1) a third of your deck must be creatures that all share a common creature type (for standard tribal, non-creature cards with card types do not count towards your 1/3 commitment to your tribe), and (2) tribal formats do not allow a sideboard.

While classic tribal has many decks that revolve around win conditions that are basically unrelated to creatures, the card pool for standard does not have the breadth to allow for many archetypes that do not involve creatures.  With the intense focus on creatures found in standard tribal, Wrath of God is a powerful card to include in the deck.  Merfolk are a middle-of-the-pack tribe in terms of base power and their token creation is more limited than tribes such as Elves, Kithkin, or Goblins.  Because of these two relative weaknesses, Wrath of God becomes a great and unexpected equalizer.

With a focus on creatures, standard tribal has even more cards devoted to targetted creature neutralization than does standard, including cards such as Terror, Incinerate, Pacifism, Sower of Temptation, and Lignify.  Blue-White decks have access to one of the best means to avoid targeted creature destruction/theft/manipulation in the form of Momentary Blink which makes the Merfolk in this deck very survivable against anything except global creature annihilation.  Plus, as discussed in an earlier match report above, Momentary Blink combos nicely with Silvergill Adept's card draw.

Aquitect's Will is still needed to provide Merfolk with the ability to outrace other tribes while at the same time providing card draw.  Oblivion Ring also fits a general answer to any permanent that might hit the board on your opponent's side of the table, and Psionic Blast remains a flexible option for destroying a creature or finishing off an opponent.

On the creature side of things, I want to move away from Riptide Pilferer because the likelihood of blockers goes way up in a tribal format and he really shines in creating issues for control decks.  In his place, I plan to try out Stonybrook Schoolmaster in order to create some chump blockers while the rest of the Merfolk army attacks. 

The fastest standard decks lose some elements to the counterparts in Standard Tribal Wars.  For instance, Red Deck Wins which gave this deck so much trouble in the tournament practice room typically show up as Goblin decks with neither Keldon Marauders nor Spark Elemental.  With a slight respite in the speed of opponent's decks, the Plains can replaced with a white mana alternative in New Benalia that provides for a slightly more consistent draw and the change in deck speed is not usually felt (though the potential change in tempo is enough that I would still prefer Plains in straight standard).

Land (22)

Creatures (21)

Other (17)

9 Island
New Benalia
Wanderwine Hub
3 Faerie Conclave
Adarkar Wastes

4 Judge of Currents
Lord of Atlantis

Merrow Reejerey
Stonybrook Schoolmaster
Silvergill Adept
Sygg, River Guide

Aquitect's Will
Momentary Blink
4 Oblivion Ring

3 Psionic Blast
Wrath of God

So, the cost to upgrade the existing standard Merfolk deck list developed earlier in this installment to this tribal-standard deck is a mere $.55.

 

New Benalia

Opponent Kithkin (White)
Opening Hand

I win the roll and choose to play first.

Land

Creatures

Other

1 New Benalia
1 Island

1 Lord of Atlantis
1 Sygg, River Guide
1 Merrow Reejerey

1 Psionic Blast
1 Oblivion Ring

The land isn't great, but opening with the New Benalia will hopefully aid me drawing into another blue mana source before turn 3.

Summary

Like planned, I open with New Benalia and scry an Island which gets put back on
top of my deck.  My opponent opens with a Goldmeadow Stalwart, flashing a  Ballyrush Banneret.  I follow with Sygg, River Guide, before getting hit for 2 on turn
2 and watching the Banneret come into play on my opponent's side of the board.

I drop the Island, Psionic Blast the Ballyrush Banneret, and attack for another
2.  He plays a Plains and an Avian Changeling before attacking for 2.  I follow
with another Psionic Blast eliminating the Changeling and droppping myself to
12 life, play a New Benalia scrying a Faerie Conclave to the bottom of my deck,
and attack for another 2.

He misses his land drop and attacks for 2 leaving the life totals at his 16 to my
10.  I, in turn, drop a Merrow Reejerey and attack for 3.

He plays a Militia's Pride, attacks for 3, and plays Preeminent Captain
before ending his turn.  I respond with an Aquitect's Will to change one of
his Plains into an Island, attack for 5, and then use the Oblivion Ring to get
rid of the Captain.  Life totals are now my 7 to his 8.

He attacks for another 4 with the Goldmeadow Stalwart and two 1/1 Kithkin Soldier
tokens and then drops a Knight of Meadowgrain.  I follow suit with a Lord of Atlantis using a Merrow Reejerey triggered ability to straighten a land and
attack for 7.

He doesn't draw into a pump and the Lord of Atlantis blocks a 2/2 to preserve
my life total at 1 and bumping his life total to 3.  He concedes to the inevitable.

Observations New Benalia really helped in sorting through my next draws and setting up to get a land early and cycling an unnecessary land late.
Outcome Win (1-0)

Opponent Merfolk (Blue, White)
Opening Hand

I opened with a solid opening hand and I play first.

Land

Creatures

Other

1 New Benalia
Faerie Conclave
Adarkar Wastes

1 Lord of Atlantis
1 Merrow Reejerey
Silvergill Adept

Oblivion Ring

Summary

I open with New Benalia and scry into a Momentary Blink.  My opponent opens with an Island and a Mothdust Changeling.  I follow up with the Faerie Conclave.  My opponent follows up with a Plains and Judge of Currents, knocking me down to 19.

On turn 3, I play the Adarkar Wastes and Merrow Reejerey.  My opponent attacks unblocked before dropping an Island and a Paperfin Rascal and loses the clash.  I haven't drawn into a fourth land, so I drop the Silvergill Adept and draw into a second Oblivion Ring.  He drops another Island and attacks, knocking me down to 15, before playing a Streambed Aquitects.

I hit a fourth land on turn 5, play a Stonybrook Schoolmaster and ready a land.  He attacks with a flying Mothdust Changeling and a Streambed Aquitects which I block with the Silvergill AdeptMomentary Blink saves the Adept and the board is looking a bit more balanced before he casts Summon the School and then returns it to his hand, gaining four life).

I attack with the Stonybrook Schoolmaster and knock my opponent to 18.  I finish my turn by casting a second Merrow Reejerey.  My opponent also casts a Reejrey and then attacks with a flying Mothdust Changeling for 2.  He brings two more merfolk tokens into play with Summon the School.

The game continues on for a couple of turns with each of us developing token Merfolk.  He has the numbers, but I have better creatures due to the superiority in lords.  I manage to knock out the Mothdust Changeling and his Merrow Reejerey with Oblivion Rings, stabilizing at 8 life.

His life total has reached 35 when I Psionic Blast his Judge of Currents.  It would have been much higher, but I now have two Stonybrook Schoolmasters plinking away and getting me token Merfolk.

Once I have enough tokens to finish the game, I drop the Lord of Atlantis and alpha strike for 41 points of damage.  Without the Mothdust Changeling to provide a tap outlet, he gain only gain 4 life by returning the Summon the School to his hand and I eek out a win.

Observations This game was decided on turn 2 when I choose to not rush the Lord of Atlantis into play.  He simply would have outraced me with the bonus and evasion provided by the Lord.
Outcome Win (2-0)

Stonybrook Schoolmaster

 

  _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Standard Tribal Wars isn't the most popular format out there right now.  It took my five nights of looking for games to get in these two duels.  Even with limited testing, I think the deck is solid.  It has fewer 4-ofs than the standard deck, but the inclusion of New Benalia really does help search out the right answer for the situation.

While building the deck, I ran across Flagstones of Trokair.  I had forgotten about this card, but it is an obvious replacement for one Plains in either version of the standard deck as it helps against cards like Smallpox and Cryoclasm.

In the next installment, I will tackle Classic Tribal Wars, which has plenty of willing opponents.  While the decks so far have had similar play styles, the Classic Tribal Wars variation will move into a traditional Blue strength: counterspells.  I will also touch on the viability of Merfolk in Standard Pauper (it's not pretty).  Until then, good luck.

 

2 Comments

by kalandine at Sun, 06/15/2008 - 08:18
kalandine's picture

Part 3 will be up soon, and will be the last part.

 I have a tribal classic decxk that I will discuss in depth, and then I will briefly cover standard PDC, Extendede, and EDH.

 I will also try and address any comments that are posted here.

Format by Anonymous (Unregistered) 144.183.31.2 (not verified) at Fri, 06/13/2008 - 11:01
Anonymous (Unregistered) 144.183.31.2's picture

I freakin love the way you format your articles and recap your games.  You are the man!  Good article, and way to show the budgeteers options!