This deck is my Mona Lisa. Few cards in MTG are as beautiful as 7th edition foils. I was inspired by the collectability of these cards and decided to build an entire old frame foiled out merfolk deck. This is the perfect combination of beautiful things. Come take a look!
One of the troubles I run into with this deck is with the typical "Rule 0" discussion. The reason I struggle with this is, I will play a card like Coral Merfolk, which is literally worse than a Grizzly Bear... but then play Force of Will. The way I try and explain this deck is that for the most part, the creatures are garbage but the rest of the cards are elite. I also explain the deck building restriction I imposed on myself that not only do the cards have to be in retro frames, they also must be foiled. This eliminates so many powerful card options.
Because of the extreme restrictions, I've decided to add in the Swords of X and Y into this deck to kind of "build my own" decent creature. Also, I've added in way more counterspells than I typically run in a deck in order to preserve the hard work that I've put into building a battlefield.
The way this deck plays is, it will often be ignored for a little while as you begin to accrue value. Soon, you will begin to draw a large amount of cards as you play fetch lands with a Tatyova on the battlefield. I will say, this deck does not win often but I always feel like I am winning when I am shuffling this deck up and playing it.
Ramp
As always, I will run every single Dan Frazier mana rock that fits into a deck. They are the epitome of beautiful and functional cards in my mind. They are not particularly synergistic in this build but I have to play them. The rest of the mana ramp slots involve putting lands directly onto the battlefield. One of the cards that we miss out on that was extremely powerful before I put in the foil restriction was Burgeoning.
Card Draw
There are a large number of card draw cards in this deck, part of that is just a result of being in Simic colors, the other part of it is I've intentionally added a lot to try and get through the garbage cards and to find the cards that will help you try and find a win. Archmage's Charm & Mystic Confluence are particularly useful as they are modal. If you have a hand full of cards, you don't need to use them as draw and instead, you can hold up mana to counter or remove opponents problem permanents. I really love Trade Routes in this deck as well since it is not often played and it allows you to draw a card for 1 mana which a great rate!
Interaction
First off, I am aware that Mystical Tutor is not considered to be interaction. The reason it is in this deck is because there are not many options for board wipes in Simic that are retro and foil. This card is in this deck to exclusively tutor for Cyclonic Rift. I've learned to value Fog and similar cards much more lately. When I first started playing commander they were widely considered to be bad cards. I think they are growing a lot in popularity in recent times. With that said, Fog is not one of the good ones as there is no upside (aside from keeping you alive).
One major downside of Simic (especially with a restriction of retro foils) is an overall lack of removal. Beast Within is absolute gold in this deck and should be saved until you will otherwise lose the game. This is the other card I find myself tutoring with Mystical Tutor even if there is not a target. I also place a lot of value on the ability to remove all permanent types including lands. The other way I do interaction in this deck is with counterspells since if something lands on the table, I will not be able to get rid of it.
Merfolk Tricks
Merfolk are notorious for being tricky and that is why I love them. Rootwater Thief can take apart your friends combo deck and True-Name Nemesis is great at carrying swords for value. Crucible of Worlds might as well read as a ramp card draw spell. You are going to have a fetch land in your grave yard during every game so it will allow you to draw an additional two cards on each of your turns! Ensnare is both thematic and deadly. It can be used to save you if you are doomed during an opponents combat step and if you're a savvy politician, you can try and get your other opponents to attack that person when their guard is down. It will allow you to hit your land drops as you will have two lands back in your hand OR, you can use it at the beginning of the end step prior to your turn to allow you to attack your opponents with impunity. Empress Galina has pet seals AND steals commanders. This is a card that someone will read when you play it, then you use it, and they will reply with "wait what?"
Weapons of War
I absolutely love the sword cycle in Magic. Sword of Feast and Famine is the best of the best as it will let you have untapped mana during your opponents turns, but I really like all of them in this deck. As I mentioned above, we really do not have good creatures in this deck so the swords help to shore up this weakness.
The Bling
If you are a collector, 7th edition foils are a great thing to collect in addition to the reserve list. 7th edition was the first set that had foil cards and then fun thing about them is, they get rid of the white border that 7th edition would typically have. I think merfolk in general have the best art in Magic and these 7th edition foils of them are show stoppers.
Finding The Win
As I mentioned before, this deck really is not full of wincons and I tend to only play it in games that are a little more casual. The one powerful thing this deck can do now is the Thespian's Stage + Dark Depths combo. I use Crop Rotation or Sylvan Scrying to tutor these cards up so I can go for it. The way this combo works is you have Thespian's Stage on the battlefield and play a Dark Depths. Dark Depths will enter the battlefield with the ten ice counters on it. You activate Thespian's Stage to copy Dark Depths. Since it is already on the battlefield when it becomes a copy, it will not accumulate the ice counters and it's triggered ability will automatically go off and sacrifice itself to create the 20/20 Flying Indestructible Marit Lage token. I try and do this at the end of the opponents turn right before it becomes my turn to give your Marit Lage "pseudo haste".
Cuts I wish I Didn't Have To Make
Because of the restriction I made myself wanting to have a deck that is 100% foil, I miss out on some really great cards. Playing a Crop Rotation in response to a large attack to play a Glacial Chasm to fog the attack is absolutely iconic. After that, you can let the Glacial Chasm go to the graveyard and play it from there because of your Crucible of Worlds. Burgeoning paired up with Ghost Town is absolutely broken and allows you to draw 1-2 more cards per turn cycle. These are the two cards I am saddest about missing. Ghost Town is criminally underplayed.
Some Day...
These cards are on my forever Christmas list. Coat of Arms is a 7th edition foil and as a result commands a hefty price.I am a little bummed because I do prefer to art from Exodus. Gaea's Cradle is in my top 10 favorite cards of all time and even a non foil version is insanely expensive. One day, I will trade in a bunch of cards to get the Judge's Version for this deck. Until then, I can dream. Wasteland is not absolutely necessary but I do like it paired up with Crucible of Worlds to set your opponents behind while allowing you to play it again out of your graveyard.
Lord of Atlantis has always been one of my favorite cards. that Melissa Benson art is just absolutely iconic. In this deck, I go with the 7th edition foil for the added bling factor. I've collected all of the versions of Lord of Atlantis, what is your favorite?
This is one of my favorite decks of all time as I love typal strategies and merfolk are my favorite creature type. I do have a regular merfolk deck I play as well with Kumena at the helm. As of the time of writing this, I'm only four cards away from 100% foiled which has always been the dream. This deck is really more so of a collectors item than it is a deck I think can do powerful things at a table. I'm hoping now that WOTC is printing cards in retro frames again this deck can get some major upgrades.
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