There’s a belief dating back to the times before the Brothers Grimm began archiving fairy tales that if a person were to know your true name then they would hold some kind of dominion over you. Stories like Rumplestiltskin, and tales of fae changlings kidnapped in the night only to find they were once humans with totally different lives are all part of this old world belief. It was said that if you knew a wizard’s true name then their spells could not effect you.
Enter True-Name Nemesis. The new poster boy for my favorite tribe. Last week I ran through all the decks I thought I’d see at Eternal weekend. How those match-up were what to side in and even what other cards are relevant that I wasn’t playing. I gave a decklist from before commander and then included my pick (True Name Nemesis) into the deck. After playing in side events on Sunday and then in a Legacy event on Monday, I have to say I was slightly wrong. I don’t want to run 2 True-name Nemesis main.
I want 8!
Holy Schnikes! This dude is out of sane! In a perfect world I draw 7 cards and get to be on the play.
Turn 1 Island, Aether Vial
Turn 2 Islands, Master of the Pearl Trident
Turn 3 Land, True-Name Nemesis, Vial in Phantasmal Image copying TNN.
Turn 4 Vial in a Lord, Attack for 10
Turn 5 repeat attack for 10
What!!! Image and TNN are insane. Image is already great in this deck. Now there’s a reason to run 4.
Saturday Night I got in from work and decided to make it down to Philly for the PTQ and to try some legacy side events. Looking at my deck I knew I’d need to make changes if I wanted to be on this plan. This is what I started with.
Merfolk
| Lands: (20) 4 Mutavault 12 Island 4 Wasteland Creatures: (24) 4 Master of the Pearl Trident 4 Cursecatcher 1 Thassa, God of the Sea 2 Umezawa’s Jitte 3 Merrow Reejerey 4 Lord of Atlantis 4 Silvergill Adept 2 Vendilion Clique Spells: (16) 2 Spell Pierce 3 Standstill 3 Daze 4 Force of Will 4 Æther Vial | Sideboard: (15) 2 Pithing Needle 1 Llawan, Cephalid Empress 2 Mindbreak Trap 2 Spreading Seas 2 Annul 2 Relic of Progenitus 1 Echoing Truth 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Flusterstorm |
Solid Merfolk deck tweaked for a combo fueled meta. I removed the 2nd Jitte, Thassa, and both Vendilion Clique to make room for TNN. Next I needed room for Phantasmal Image without sacrificing the decks game against combo and control. That means some Merfolk is gonna get the old “You are the weakest link!” talk. Merrow Reejerey, you’re F$&)ing out, as Kenny Powers would say.
Right so now I’ve got my creatures ready its time to look at the deck’s mana. I can’t hope to cast TNN on the third turn with 8 colorless sources. For now I like a Mutavault over Wasteland but that could change. Add 3 island and I’m down to 19 land. Risky, sure but I think the 5% less land won’t hurt me too much. I’m curving out at 3 and most of my deck is 2 drops with Aether Vial counting as mana sources.
I took out 1 Force of Will in the main and traded it for a Misdirection. Abrupt Decay is such a pain in my ass, I couldn’t help but hedge against it. No more killing my Lord and blocking my Silvergil Adept with your Tarmagoyf. Now I kill the Goyf keep Islandwalking and get in for 3. It’s a giant tempo swing.
Finally, I think losing the Wastelands means I need a little more Early disruption and a way to fight through Artifacts like Engineered Explosives and stop Storm triggers. Stifle does the trick. It acts as a Wasteland early and later in the game I can use it to buy a turn from an equip activation or stop any number of triggered abilities that could end the game for me. This is also great because its gonna catch a lot of people off guard. Stifle isn’t normally used in Merfolk so it’ll lead to a few blow outs. Finally, I think that if my creature base is marginally more stable I can run Wasteland instead of Mutavault. Between Stifle, Daze and Wasteland I’m running like a Delver tempo deck but without spending mana on dig spells. Everyone of my creatures is undercosted and serves as a win condition, or provides utility in non race situations.
The new maindeck looks like this.
Merfolk
| Lands: (19) 4 Wasteland 15 Island Creatures: (25) 4 Master of the Pearl Trident 4 Cursecatcher 1 Umezawa’s Jitte 4 Phantasmal Image 4 Lord of Atlantis 4 Silvergill Adept 4 True-name Nemesis Spells: (17) 2 Spell Pierce 4 Stifle 3 Daze 3 Force of Will 1 Misdirection 4 Æther Vial |
The board needs some help.
Flusterstrom and is out. Spreading Seas are no longer needed with TNN able to get through while I gum up the board VS other creature decks. I feel safe at 0 Mindbreak Trap this leaves me with 5 more cards in my board. I think Echoing Truth is a good choice for a 2 of. There are some permanents I just can’t deal with like Energy Field, Or Ensnaring Bridge. 2 Swan Song come in. They are clutch vs Show and Tell decks and provide an extra counter vs all the Combo decks. I’m adding a misers Steel Sabotage as well. This gives me three ways to hit Jitte from the board and I can use it with the Annuls vs Lands and MUD. Finally another Misdirection, it’s just so good to remove your opponent’s permanent with his own spell, or target him/her with Hymn to Tourach and even draw 3 from his Ancestral Visions.
The Board now looks like this:
Merfolk
| (15) 2 Swan Song 2 Annul 1 Steel Sabotage 1 Llawan Cephilid Empress 2 Echoing Truth 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Misdirection 2 Relic of Progenitus 2 Surgical Extraction |
Unless some new revelation comes to light this is what I’ll be playing in DC. I think this deck has game against every deck in the format and with True-Name Nemesis having moves vs removal this is where I want to be for sure.
So here’s the plan for the board.
RUG Delver
+1 Misdirection, +2 Relic of Progenitus, -3 Cursecatcher
UWR Delver
+1 Misdirection, +1 Steel Sabotage, +1 Llawan, Cephilid Empress, +2 Echoing Truth, -1 Stifle, -2 Daze, -1 Force of Will, -1 Cursecatcher
ANT
+2 Swan Song, +2 Annul, +1 Steel Saboatge, -1 Misdirection, -1 Umezawa’s Jitte, -3 Aether Vial
Shardless BUG
+1 Misdirection, +1 Llawan, Cephilid Empress, -2 Cursecatcher
Lands
+2 Annul, +1 Steel Sabotage, +2 Echoing Truth, -4 Cursecatcher, -1 Misdirection
Goblins
+2 Echoing Truth, +1 Misdirection, -3 Daze
Maverick
+2 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Echoing Truth, +1 Misdirection, -3 Daze, -2 Cursecatcher
Death and Taxes
+2 Echoing Truth, +1 Misdirection, – 3 Cursecatcher
Merfolk
+1 Llawan, Cephilid Empress, +1 Misdirection, -2 Lord of Atlantis
Miracles
+2 Echoing Truth, +2 Surgical Extraction, +2 Swan Song, -1 Umezawa’s Jitte, -1 Misdirection, -3 Daze, -1 Cursecatcher
Lemme know if you have any insights on sideboarding in the comments. I’m still thinking about getting a pair of Dismembers in there somehow.
Zac Clark @DurdleMagus