Magic: The Gathering,GO TEAM MS!

[bv310]

Legacy is expensive as hell, and different staples keep spiking. Wastelands went from $50 to $110 a few weeks ago, and Sneak Attacks went from $25 to $80 last week. I'm no longer looking to buy into MUD, it's just too expensive for me.

[Sudo_Nym]

Yeah, I'm not saying buying in isn't expensive. I'm just saying, once you've bought in, it's a lot cheaper to maintain a Legacy deck than it is to maintain a Standard deck.

[bv310]

True, but I've had to come back to my original thought process on Legacy. If I can't afford to buy in except over a really long period of time, how many people are even going to bother vs how many people are going to just buy in to Modern instead? Legacy is going to die if they can't keep prices down, simply because the format becomes inaccessible for a huge swath of players. Or it'll half-die, prices will plummet, and then enjoy a renaissance because suddenly it's viable again.

[Sudo_Nym]

Well, accessibility's long been a problem; that's why modern exists in the first place. I'm not saying you should definitely buy in, or even that it's wise- but I doubt that it's going to just outright die, because it's not as though a high buy-in is a new aspect of Legacy.

[bv310]

I've been interested in Legacy for about a year, and there's been about a dozen key cards that have spiked hugely. I'm expecting Force of Wills to go to $120 next. SCG's listing Tundras at $250 now, and I would be shocked if the rest of the duals don't follow suit pretty quickly

[Sudo_Nym]

Well, that's probably going to continue happening, since the cards not being in print does weird things to the supply/demand curve. That said, staples like Force of Will are always going to be expensive, the only question is how much at any given time.

[bv310]

If they rose and fell, then it would be logical, but there's so much price memory locked up in a lot of these that once they spike once, they never come back down. Look at something like Dark Depths. The card was $25 for a long time. Then at the start of January a guy took a Depths deck to the top 8 of an SCG open. Depths spiked to $60, then fell back to a mid of $50, and won't drop below that point again.

[Burning_Earth]

Yeah.

I dont play legacy. Too much money! (Actually, I only draft now anyway)

[bv310]

The sad part is, I really really love Legacy. MUD is an incredibly fun experience, and being able to play 12 rounds and never see the same deck twice is hugely appealing. It sucks that so many potential players simply can't do it because of the stupid cost.

[PJ.]

Holy shit, Horizon canopy's are 25 dollars now?

[bv310]

Modern does weird things to card prices. Hatebears is doing well, and runs 3-4 Canopies (or used to when I played it)

[PJ.]

Umm....Apparently I have gained like.. 45 bucks or so if I go by street price and not retail price in Horizon Caopy. Way to go me buying them back when they were standard for the janky Project 420 deck.I got them at like 3 bucks a pop.

[xRECKONERx]

man this new set looks just as boring as Theros


aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm done

[bv310]

man this new set looks just as boring as Theros


aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm done

There's been literally nothing released besides a name and a few pieces of art. At least wait until you see mechanics before you abandon ship. (also, play Modern not Standard if it actually does suck. Modern's better anyway)

[InflatablePie]

well, they have the same designers that they had on Innistrad (and Theros).

also, CONSPIRACY LOOKS AMAZING-FUN

[xRECKONERx]

man this new set looks just as boring as Theros


aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm done

There's been literally nothing released besides a name and a few pieces of art. At least wait until you see mechanics before you abandon ship. (also, play Modern not Standard if it actually does suck. Modern's better anyway)

The name is enough. Theros was boring, flavor-wise, and WARLORDS ON HORSES looks LESS appealing than the Theros teasers.

In general though, I think the game is just BLEGH. Theros was a shitty block which means I need to wait at least another year and a half before I play again... and if the new block is shitty too then it's at least 2.5 years. Boooo.

Modern is too expensive for entry, plus honestly I think between Netrunner & Hearthstone, all of my CCG itches have been scratched.

[bv310]

Modern's not that bad if you don't invest in Fetches right now, but fair enough.

[AGar]

How bad are fetches at the moment, bev?

[bv310]

You don't want to know man.

http://magiccards.info/query?q=o%3Asacr ... rd&s=cname

Arid Mesa - $45
Marsh Flats - $43
Misty Rainforest - $76
Scalding Tarn - $79
Verdant Catacombs - $51

and that's fallen by a bit since last time I checked. Prior to GP Minneapolis a few weeks ago, Scalding Tarns were $100 each

[AGar]

Holy. Fuck. Dat Izzet fetch.

Was Minny the most recent modern GP?

[bv310]

Yeah, it was about 2 weeks ago. The next one's Boston-Worcester in the end of July.

[bv310]

Speaking of GP Boston, I'm preparing well in advance for the deck I'm going to play. Right now I either want to go BW Tokens: http://deckstats.net/deck-4253725-730da ... b84d9.html or Merfolk: http://deckstats.net/deck-4253721-821bb ... e33fd.html

Both offer an aggro deck with control elements to clear big threats out, and resiliency against WUR and co. through either Aether Vial or the innate resiliency of Tokens. What do you guys think would be the better choice?

[Natirasha]

If you care to listen, I've been on Merfolk the last two months and the deck is really really good right now. I'll post my list in a bit with some pointers.

At a glance, your list is rather slow.

[Natirasha]

[[merfolking continued]]

Spoiler: The List

4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Cursecatcher
1 Dakra Mystic
1 Tidebinder Mage
3 Phantasmal Image
2 Master of Waves
1 Sygg, River Cutthroat
--28 Creatures
4 AEther Vial
4 Vapor Snag
4 Spreading Seas
--12 Spells
1 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
6 Island
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Wanderwine Hub
1 Hallowed Fountain
--20 Land
2 Spellskite
3 Swan Song
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Rest in Peace
1 Stony Silence
1 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Judge of Currents
1 Tidebinder Mage
1 Hibernation

As you can see, the deck plays white--between Seachrome Coast and Wanderwine Hub, the white splash is functionally free. I run the additional Hallowed Fountain for some redundancy, just because hitting white is, like, really important in the games where it's important.

The deck doesn't play white spells main. The only spells you really want in the MD that include white would be Path and Sygg, River Guide, but Path is bad. Badbadbadbad. The fact is, Merfolk really doesn't care about creatures--in creature heavy matchups the plan is more about hitting a Spreading Seas and Islandwalking over them--'Snag in those matchups is, like, almost strictly better than Path--it keeps Cursecatchers more active, it burns for one, in a lot of matchups it's a time walk. vs t1 mana dork, Snap is just so much better than Path. I'm rambling now, anyways, Path is not good. Sygg is good, however, but he's kinda slow and clunky and the other Sygg is more relevant in the grindy matchups.

What white does give you is a significantly better sideboard. Part of the issue with Merfolk in modern is that the sideboard kinda sucks. I mean, in the list you presented, you have Trickbind--Trickbind! It's not even your own fault--blue just doesn't interact well in the side as it stands. White, however, is the best side color in modern and really lets Merfolk turn a few bad matchups around. Back to this later.

The list is pretty finely toned imo, and if I was going to a GP tomorrow I would run this list almost exactly.

-Merfolk really wants to play a spell on t1. And, moreover, it actually wants one drops. This is slightly meta-dependent, but modern has a lot of combo decks right now and you need to be off to the races on turn one. Hence, I feel merfolk needs the fifth one drop right now--Cursecatcher is obviously a 4x. Of the remaining playable merfolk, there are three options: Cosi's Trickster, Dakra Mystic, and Tideshaper Mystic. Now, I started with Cosi's, since it's effect is tricky tricky, but it never felt relevant. I tried and tried to make the card work, but it very rarely got a counter, and when it did, well. Meh. Of the other two, I've gone back and forth. In the afforementioned creature matchups, Tideshaper is sick--acting mostly as spreading seas 5. It's a shame Tidal Warrior isn't in the format. Dakra Mystic helps more in the grindy control matchups(although I activate maaaybe once every twenty matches), and I feel it has slightly more use than Tideshaper.

-4x image is bad in this format. While most lists I see play on 2x(which is almost categorically wrong), 4x is too much with the prevalence in repeatable targeting effects in the format(Electrolyze and Flickerwisp being the main ones--but I've been blown out by Sejiri Steppe before...).

-My two spicy one-ofs are Sygg, River Cutthroat(I hedge HARD on the grindy matchups--if you don't it's really hard to go late vs those decks) and Tidebinder Mage(I don't think that needs much discussion).

-Master of Waves sucks. I hate him. But, alas, he's a necessary evil. He has the perfect amount of must-answer, but god is he the most awkward card ever. Don't forget you can phantasmal image him for the most hilarious plays ever!

-Counterspells suck main. Merfolk needs early board presence, and running Spell Pierce(really the only one you should consider) goes against that--and, late, well, I'd rather draw a Tidebinder or Sygg than Spell Pierce. The reason Legacy Merfolk can play Daze+FoW is because they can build a board and counter for 0cmc(or, in Daze's case, +1 mana lol), but modern merfolk doesn't really have that opportunity--playing spell pierce not only reduces our threat density, but it also makes the deck hinge a lot more on Aether Vial to keep the deck running so you can hold up the mana.

-Kira, GGS is a good card that I can't justify playing due cmc3 and not being a merfolk. Most removal in modern is able to be pumped through anyway, and the decks where you will likely see the one-of are the types of decks that will just Wrath you. I don't like her. Honestly, if I wanted to play a creature protector maindeck, I'd just run another spellskite as it stands--it keeps Vial more active(since you should VERY RARELY ever up vial past 2), can be cast with a single U(or none--sometimes you just keep the mutavault/vial hand) and can randomly win games vs various decks. These are things Kira doesn't.

I don't want to go too deep on the sideboard, but I will address Judge of Currents. Judge of Currents helps shore up a couple of the weaker matchups Merfolk has--Affinity, burn and Scapeshift. One of Merfolk's main weaknesses is the lack of lifegain(since it typically kills one turn slower than Zoo/Affinity), and when i saw this card in my boxes...lol. It's 2cmc for Vial, it's a merfolk, it gains us life. Card's really good and generally gains me 5-10 life every time I play it. I honestly have considered it as one-of in the main, but the list is super tight.


So, um, yeah.

[bv310]

Okay, your list is a lot nicer than mine. The only card I don't like is Cursecatcher, but that's only because I have been constantly disappointed with that card from either side of the table. In a proper environment, that's probably the better card. I think I like splitting 3 Cursecatcher/2 Cosi's Trickster a bit more, but I'll have to test either way and see which one's better for me.

This is some excellent reading. Thank you!