Standard: Sneaky Merfolk

Link to Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1011551#paper

Merfolk have been one of the hardest decks for me to build out of the 4 tribes of Ixalan. Each other tribe has a clear theme that they are trying to push. For Vampires, I wanted to go wide and fast. For Pirates, I decided to take the route of treasure control, and for Dinosaurs, it was very easy to build a deck focused on big and beefy dudes. But Merfolk has been the hardest to pin down because nothing in the tribe has really told me what I want to be doing with it. Cards like Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca say “go wide” whereas others such as Herald of Secret Streams say “go tall”. I have finally settled on a shell that I really like for the tribe, and it takes Merfolk in a completely different direction than what most people would expect. 

Sneaky Merfolk is the deck I am going to show you today, and it is one that is focused on taking advantage of unblockable creatures. One enchantment that I have had a lot of fun playing with in modern, is actually from Rivals of Ixalan and that is Curious Obsession. A strictly better Curiosity for the decks that want to run it, the advantage of being able to draw cards for each combat step cannot be understated. Curious Obsession is an awesome magic card and a great fit for the Merfolk deck. In particular, putting Curious Obsession on an unblockable creature is a great way to guarantee more cards to draw, and getting you the spells you need to finish them off. 

                          

Our dynamic duo that powers the deck is, of course, Mist-Cloaked Herald, and River Sneak. With the ability to get in for damage all throughout the game and be buffed up with our various spells and lords, they can represent quite a significant clock for our opponent. Slapping a Curious Obsession on these guys is the typical line to victory, and with 8 copies, we are bound to see one most games. However, without any help from our spells and lords, they can be quite fragile. Be careful when playing them into open mana, as a simple shock can be enough to decimate this pair. To account for this, we run 4 copies of Blossoming Defense, and 3 Swift Wardens to try and protect these guys from any removal that gets thrown at them. 

And the best part about this sweet deck is that you can throw it all together for less than 30 bucks! There are some obvious upgrades one can make to this deck, such as throwing in Kumena Tyrant of Orazca, or Botanical Sanctums if you have them, but for the most part, the deck is fully upgraded. This deck has a lot of potential for growth and is still really strong for its low price tag. I hope you enjoyed reading, and I wish that you will have a great week and an amazing Tuesday!