Not all D/W/F Merfolk Control decks are created equal. They share a common core of potent card choices, but there is variation in the draw engine, removal, finisher, and discard options that players use to combat their expected competition. While one player may feel that including Ghost Touch in the discard lineup is necessary, another player may feel that running Locomotiver and Lost Soul is sufficient. Those differences in card choices factor into a D/W/F Merfolk Control deck’s success when facing the mirror match, rogue decks, and expected builds. The D/W/F Merfolk Control deck that I’m going to analyze today may look mediocre on paper to some duelists, but its execution reveals potent ways to address current meta threats and reflects sound understanding of what makes D/W/F Merfolk Control tick. Let’s walk through the deck:

D/W/F Merfolk Control

Created & played by: Tom Capor aka MagnusArcanis
Event: Gen Con Indy Open Invitational, Saturday
Ranking: 1^st Place

Quantity	Creatures/Spells	Mana Cost	Civilization
4	Bloody Squito	2
3	Emeral	2
3	Dark Reversal	2
4	Aqua Hulcus	3
2	Energy Stream	3
4	Phantom Dragon’s Flame	3
4	Locomotiver	4
3	Thrash Crawler	4
4	Corile	5
4	Illusionary Merfolk	5
4	Searing Wave	5
4	Terror Pit	6
2	Lost Soul	7
2	Bazagazeal Dragon	8

 

Mana Cost	Quantity Visual	Quantity Numerical
1		0
2	IIIIIIIIII	10
3	IIIIIIIIII	10
4	IIIIIII	7
5	IIIIIIIIIIII	12
6	IIII	4
7	II	2
8	II	2

 

Civilization	# Of Creatures	# Of Spells	Total
	8	9	17
	18	2	20
	2	8	10
			47

I chose to highlight Tom Capor’s deck over other D/W/F decklists that I came across largely because some people on the official Duel Masters site forums outright dismissed it. It won a major event where it faced competition from some top 20 DM players who I personally know have mad skills because I’ve played them. Tom Capor’s deck is solidly built, and from what I heard from attendees he expertly played it at the event. I also chose his deck because some of the card choices are a bit different in terms of their counts, and I’d like to propose some reasons why certain cards appear instead of similar choices. That gives us a bit more meat to chew in discussion of the deck. Third, it’s a Pure Control deck. Heck, even its double breaker finisher is a Control card. And, I love Control.

The Deck – I Will Control You, Muahahahaha!

This Merfolk Control deck is able to manipulate its side of the board competently, though it lacks tutoring, and runs many copies of its key cards so it can make the necessary plays consistently. It’s important to note that this Control deck runs 27 cards that cost 4 mana or less—that’s more than half the deck. It wants to squeeze out as much use from its mana as possible, have something to put on the board by turn two, and start to change the tide of the game by turn 5. For a Control deck setup that is impressive, and ties into key strategic features that I will discuss when I cover the card choices. Like other D/W/F Control decks, it exploits the synergy between resource denial cards and card drawing. It aims to get as many 2 for 1s as it can, and then ride that card advantage to victory with well-timed attacks. Let’s check out the card choices:

2cc

3x Emeral
4x Bloody Squito
3x Dark Reversal

It’s easy to recognize Emeral’s power as a shield manipulator—this deck has 15 triggers that can be set with it—and as the cheap combobait to that ubiquitous card drawer called Ill-Folk. But, it’s also a way to trade a non-useful card you have in hand—assuming you don’t have a trigger to set with it—for the chance to grab one that might be immediately useful. Sure, this is not optimized use of the creature and is a gamble—you won’t reap any mana advantage from a non-trigger card being set and can’t immediately turn the tide of the duel when the set shield isn’t a trigger. But, it’s still something when you don’t pull those drawers. And, even when you do set a trigger like Terror Pit that is expensive, you might pull up a cheaper card that can be cast sooner—a real possibly given how many early game cards are in this deck. Emeral can suicide into some weenies—the common early moves of a Control deck. With 20 Water cards, Emeral is likely to be a consistent turn 2 option when in hand. It’s more likely to be the first play when facing Control and defensive decks, but to set a kill card early it can come out to peg off a Rush weenie too. 

So, why Bloody Squito over Hunter Fish/Phantom Fish? Besides adding to the Darkness mana balance so Locomotiver can be a more reliable 4^th turn drop, Bloody Squito is here because 4000 power can take out a host of creatures costing 1-8 mana. Oh, and it’s 2 mana. That makes it quick enough to answer Rush and big enough to starve off something played mid-game by Control. Also, that makes it a nice drop late game. There’s the chance for some solid mana advantage, like when you use Squito to block the 4000 power Illusionary Merfolk that cost your opponent spent 5 mana to play. Sure, it dies after one block—so that’s not stall dependability—but there’s a chance it will take something out with it that welds more than 1000 power. It’s about the chance for some parity—your opponent’s guy that is hopefully 3000-4000 power leaving with it—and it’s a one for one trade at a mere two mana. With 17 Darkness cards, Bloody Squito also should be dropped consistently turn 2 if in hand and needed. 

Reversal is more or less a mid to late game play due to needing Emeral, Squito, or Hulcus to hit the dirt for it to have something to recur at the earliest use. At 3 copies, Tom had the mirror match in mind. Why do I conclude that? Lost Soul is a Control deck’s answer to another Control deck’s card drawing. What happens when the only copy of a card you play is discarded or the only copy of a creature is destroyed?  You’re stuck without that option, that’s what. Dark Reversal is a chance at keeping options in hand—and is great when your opponent expects his Lost Soul to provide the final answer to your Bazagazeal threat or your Merfolk antics. It’s useful versus speed decks too—get back downed blockers—and great versus creature destruction heavy decks. It’s good versus any matchup. It can come for free—but at 2 mana it’s so darn affordable anyway. It recurs what’s needed to address the situation at hand—just great with the CIP effect creatures in the deck. 

3cc

4x Aqua Hulcus
4x Phantom Dragon’s Flame
2x Energy Stream

This is the stage of the duel where the deck can start reaping some card advantage. Early draw power is important to a Control deck given the heavy discard and speed of the meta. Aggro/Rush/Aggro-Control is going to put pressure on you to cycle through the deck quickly for answers—in addition to the cards it gives you from the shield zone—and Control is going to peg your hand and kill your early drops. You need ways to dig yourself out of trouble sooner. You’ve got draw that thins the deck for two cards (Stream) though it doesn’t provide presence, and one that provides presence though it only digs one card deep (Hulcus). Stream is about cycling speed—going 2 cards deep into the deck turn 3 sometimes makes all the difference as it can help you overcome a patch of non-useful cards quicker, and is solid late game too. Hulcus gives option of going through the deck and dropping a body out to hit tapped threats. As always, matchups dictate what gets played—but with 4 copies Hulcus is the favored draw drop here.  

Phantom Dragon’s Flame is a one-for-one trade, something a Control deck just has to do until it can get a sweeper online and get kills that generate card advantage. Dragon’s Flame can serve up some mana advantage off the trigger. You can set it with Emeral to nail a quick hitter—Rush shouldn’t hesitate to slam it because they have to win quickly. Given that both Control and Beatdown play 2000 power threats throughout the duel it’s usually not a dead card late game. Why not Crimson Hammer? With only 10 Fire cards in the deck, Hammer (and Fire mana) may not come up quickly enough to cast Hammer consistently on turn 2. That might lead to more cards being added to the deck to provide more Fire mana, which would add less consistency due to having a bigger deck. The deck needs a killing option by this point due to speed. With its trigger, there’s a chance for Dragon’s Flame being set with Emeral or hit off trigger so that Fire mana doesn’t necessarily need to be out to use it. The deck operates with 10 Fire mana because it mostly needs to see Fire mana by turn 5 to cast Searing Wave. By turn 5, it should have done some extra deck thinning to increase chances of getting to Fire cards. Fire mana is a bit more likely to show up by turn 3 to fuel a Dragon’s Flame drop since more of the deck would have been thinned. 

4cc

4x Locomotiver
3x Thrash Crawler

D/W/F Control is starving for a wider selection of potent 4 mana plays. You know, ones that don’t zap your mana and that still offer solid effects. It’s one of the reasons why I dip into Light for the 4 mana Magris. Locomotiver is a great 4^th turn play, especially when one doesn’t need to immediately nuke something or drop 2 earlier plays. It’s a chance for card and mana advantage. I like the sound of a turn 3 Hulcus + draw and then a turn 4 Locomotiver + hand rob. You’re steadily getting cards up on your opponent.  

Thrash Crawler zaps your mana supply, and that isn’t the best thing to do on turn 4. You could play it, but you’ll likely be punished for doing it. Your Rush opponent might Comet Missile it, and then you’re left waiting a turn longer to halt his army with Searing Wave. A Control deck is going to love bouncing your Thrash with Corile when you’ve set your mana back that early. And, you’ll slow down the timing of drops like Merfolk. Still, if Thrash is ever played early, then it’s done after very careful consideration of the risks and the situation. But, if Thrash isn’t an ideal turn 4 drop, then why run 3 copies? Thrash is at 3 copies because it’s a great card to use when the mana’s right—which is usually some time past turn 5. Say for instance that both copies of Lost Soul and Bazagazeal Dragon are in the mana zone. Having a shot at playing Thrash more than once on your own terms is helpful since you’d have a chance to play those options. And, yes, Thrash is good in decks that don’t accelerate their mana production. 5000 power goes a long way towards keeping some things a bay. 

One of several good things about this deck is that it has 20 cards costing 3 or less mana that could be played here as well. That goes a long way towards strengthening the mid-game output of this deck since Locomotiver is the ideal “tap out mana” play and you can only run 4 copies.

5cc

4x Corile
4x Illusionary Merfolk
4x Searing Wave  

There are more 5 mana options than for any other casting cost in the deck—12 as you can see from the Mana Cost table. And, every 5 mana option is maxed out. It’s essential that one or more of these options be in hand by turn 5. Why is that so? The deck doesn’t want to miss producing the right answer at this point in the game. Not if it wants to, you know, win. Because a Rush, an Aggro or an Aggro-Control deck could overrun it with its numbers, and a Control deck could start racking up those 2 for 1s without the proper contention.  

This deck aims to win in the late game with an OTK or a wrap up over a few turns in the late game. To ensure that it survives to the late game, it needs to consistently hit the turn where it can drastically swing control of the duel in its favor. For Control decks that moment is the earliest turn it can stabilize the board or massively replenish its hand with a single hard-cast card (can’t depend on triggers to save you). Given our current card pool, it’s the turn where cards like Searing Wave, Magmarex, Corile, or Illusionary Merfolk can be dropped. That’s turn 5. That’s when the deck can quell a Rush en masse. That’s when the deck can launch the attrition war against another Control deck with a card that removes more than one card or that draws more than 2 cards. That’s when the deck can start to generate card advantage on a larger scale. And how does a Control deck win? It wins through card advantage. With a spread of maxed out options the deck is consistent with its pivotal 5^th turn plays. That consistency is this deck’s hidden power. Sure, the situation at hand dictates how important it is to make certain plays and when, but generally the deck wants to hit the 5^th turn on target.  

Searing Wave is brutal versus just about any deck strategy since 3000 and below guys are at the heart of Beatdown due to cheapness, and they’re the guys packing cheap utility effects for Control. Look at it this way: you either lose one shield now on your own terms, or you lose two or more shields due to your opponent’s attacks. 5^th turn is where Rush tends to go topdeck mode, so leveling their field with Wave goes a long way towards ensuring you can shut them out of the game. It buys you some time to recover—set up difference, draw into more answers. For a Control deck, stabilizing the board with a sweeper is important—it’s one of the best ways to generate card and tempo advantage.  

Another way to generate card advantage is to draw more than one card per turn. Enter Merfolk… 

You gain a body and draw 3 cards. Now, your opponent must deal with a 4000 power creature threat and eventually the three options that you draw from your deck. Merfolk helps ensure that answers are reached in a timely manner. Past turn 5 it’s still an answer game for this deck—you definitely need plenty of options in hand as it can help you keep the momentum going for swinging control of the duel to your side of the table. Also, Merfolk gives you a larger selection of cards to choose from to progress your mana, and sooner than you normally would have seen it. In a small way it’s like you’re giving yourself 3 free turns with Merfolk, as it would take you three turns to draw those same cards. Sure, you’re not playing out those cards at this time, building mana with those cards, or making any other plays—so it’s not really gaining free turns. And, yes, the catch is that Emeral has to be out before turn 5 for Merfolk to come online as the 5 drop. Merfolk will most likely be the 5^th turn play versus a Control deck that doesn’t have a threatening field. Versus speed Wave is prime play. Of course playing the options close together is nice, and field conditions dictate the drop. 

Corile almost “robs an opponent of a turn”—2 turns if it hits an Evolution. Once again—it’s not really turn denial, as he’ll re-draw that option, be able to make plays, and build his mana. But, your opponent is denied a crucial part of a turn’s action—the fresh draw—and his work is unrivaled. The best part—Corile’s combo action with Merfolk can be timed closely together as they are both 5 mana plays. That’s some powerful advantage. Corile is a very strong 5^th turn play. However, if your opponent’s field is out of Control at this point, then bouncing one guy likely won’t tip the scales much in your favor. If you’re facing the mirror, where it’s more likely that your opponent doesn’t have a massive threatening field, then dropping Corile becomes a matter of sizing up what’s more immediately helpful—setting back his draw or you sitting with a stocked hand. The right call might be bouncing a threat with Corile and then following up with Merfolk, especially if you don’t “need” to play Wave and there’s no Emeral to combo with Merfolk.  

Sure, you can make other plays on this turn like a Bloody Squito and a Hulcus drop—that will tap out all available mana too. And, it’ll provide an answer to a creature threat and build up the field (reveals another reason why having 20 early game options is solid design here). But, ideally, the deck wants to drop one of the 5 mana zingers.  

6cc

4x Terror Pit

Pit is the epitome of what a single target kill card should be—hit anything, your choice. And sometimes for free. Shield trigger gives it awesome synergy with Emeral. In early hands it’s the prime target for Emeral’s switch-a-roo draw. Hard-cast it hits the deadliest threat out. Again, the wonderful thing about this deck’s core is that cheaper options are good here too—and since the deck runs nearly 4 copies of its cards it can reliably do what it needs to, barring an opponent’s disruption. Go ahead, summon another Corile if you don’t need to zap a creature with Pit. 

7cc

2x Lost Soul 

One of the ways to go about trumping this deck is to “outdraw it past turn 5.” Basically that means being a being able to get your answers and threats in hand through ample deck thinning/recursion in the late game. And, then things will come down to being able to translate those drawn cards into successful plays. Well, Lost Soul is here to make sure that if you do a lot of card drawing/recursion you can’t make those plays. Soul keeps the Control (really any draw-happy) opponent from rolling through his “gamer turner” and continuing to reap card advantage over this deck. It wants to win the resource control race, and one great way to do that is to make sure an opponent has no hand to speak of—discard all cards at once. Just great a card advantage play follow up to Corile-Wave-Merfolk action. 

8cc

2x Bazagazeal Dragon 

There are 6 Terror Pits in this deck. Two copies just happen to be this creature. Bazagazeal is reusable creature control and a win condition rolled into one card. Why play this over Twin-Cannon Skyterror? Bazagazeal ties into card advantage. When you send it slamming into something and it lives to return to your hand, you don’t lose an option whereas your opponent does = card advantage. And, if your opponent hesitates to summon something to the field to avoid it being Baza’d = card advantage.  And, when it’s time to win this puppy can do it without summoning sickness and hits for two. That’s just solid card economy. Plus, it’s godly following a Lost Soul drop when an opponent can’t refill his hand and does play something that you’d want to and can attack. Oh, and if he starts keeping cards in hand until he can reach a Baza answer that might give you time to drop Soul again.  

This D/W/F Merfolk Control deck may not have all the bells and whistles some of us have come to love in our decks, but it’s efficient and consistent. The deck builder understands what needs to be done to win with a D/W/F Control strategy, and includes high-utility choices that are good when facing different deck strategies. The deck is able to stagger plays—play cards like Energy Stream at different stages of the duel—and overlap plays with precision. That’s what a Control deck wants to do. Sure, a deck won’t win against everything all the time. But, this deck has ways to win against different strategies, which translates into shots at being a consistent performer.  

I hope that my discussion of the deck and its cards choices revealed some reasons why this D/W/F Merfolk Control was able to beat a field of different Rush, Aggro, Aggro-Control and Control decks and net Tom Capor a free trip to the CC. I’m pressed to wrap up the article, it’s lengthy. So, with regards to ways to combat this deck, or D/W/F Merfolk Control in general, I’ll leave this bit of quick advice: try designing a deck that aims to beat it by turn 5 (Rush) or one that aims to outdraw it past turn 5--win the resource control race (Control). Yes, there’s more to the process, and different strategies to use besides Rush and Control. But, yeah, I did say that I would merely offer “quick advice.” LOL.  

What’s Up Next?

I’ve reviewed several decks running similar cores, so it’s time to cover different cards and strategies. Mono-Water has racked up at least seven Top 4 Invitational finishes, with some 1^st place rankings, so we’re going to take a look at some things that are keeping that mono strategy alive and kicking.  

Each week I’ll spotlight 1-2 top 4 Invi/5 Civ decks from the US, German, AUS, or UK metagames. This isn’t a deck garage, so I’ll be evaluating builds “as is” in their top four forms only. If you decide to netdeck the decks covered in this article series or use some of the ideas contained in the decks, I highly recommend that you conduct proper testing and metagaming of the decks before you run them in tourneys. If you'd like to share your top 4 Invitational or 5 Civ deck with the Duel Masters community, then hit me up with an email at my new addy: pojodmgirl@hotmail.com. Please be sure to include your first name or forum nickname, the cards in your deck and the quantities, where you played, and your placing when you send your email.