kmk888

well good for you!

He can use any of 19 sacrifice effects on himself and sacrifice it when he is done using it.

Hey I just realized, is there a reason you've ignored Lingering Souls? At this point I'm sure everybody knows that card is fantastic, so I was just curious.

I would agree. But I would say that would be where he could slot in some of the point discard other posters mentioned earlier. 3 Cabal Therapys would serve well.

Cabal Therapy reigns supreme in legacy decks with Bloodghast. The various pox effects should have the opponent sacrificing every creature, but it is still weak to planeswalkers.

He already has those. But yeah a mix of those and Bile Blight would be quite potent.

You're certainly right about Zoo, didn't think about Geth's Verdict versus that. You also are correct about the need for Clique removal, and that it needs to be removal of some sort... What about Bile Blight? It can really put the hurt on token decks and -3/-3 is just right for a Wild Nacatl.

Umm. Blue Devotion has recently fallen off the face of the earth. No seriously nobody played it at the most recent big Standard event, a Starcitygames Invitational. The format is really not set yet, but I would prep for monoblack instead.

Tombstalker would serve you significantly better than Persecutor, and lowers his own mana cost just by being in this type of deck. He's a little awkward in multiples though. I would sub two Persecutors for two Tombstalkers.

I mean the first matchup you should be prepared for right now is Zoo. It's very popular and extremely powerful. Only after I have a good win percentage against that would I try out other important matchups. The other archetype to beat after zoo is probably heavy Blue based decks like Splinter Twin and W/U/R.

But yeah Wescoe played something a lot like this but also with Squadron Hawks and Swords.

Did you see what Craig Wescoe played at the Pro Tour? It was pretty interesting, I think you may like it.

Well actually I don't know that Blood Baron is a bad fit. The protection is just super powerful. But if you want the real answer, and you want to be competitive, your answer is Batterskull. It's an utterly unfair card that excels in unfair decks. Like this one!

By the way this is one of my favorite decks I've seen on the front page in a long time. Tidehollow, Castigate, Shadow of Doubt, and Mana Tithe? Count me in. Very nice deck indeed.

I only have one question: why the Funeral Charm? I don't quite understand that line of reasoning. I think you'd be better off with more Geth's Verdicts. That card is crazy.

Nice composition, seems potent. I like that you've put an original twist on the deck, but it still maintains a competitive edge. However I have to wonder where Courser/Prophet of Kruphix are at. Also, when I have made decks similar to this in the past Sylvan Primordial has always been a great help. Sideboard or even main deck material, I would think.

Well actually I would tend to agree with him. Smiter would be your best bet, you already have enough pingy lifegain on the Courser and the Archangel itself. If you draw the Archangel the main deciding factor is really whether the opponent has a removal spell or not.

It's not about gaining a creature for 1 life. It's a combination of things. First, whenever you can get multiple tokens instead of a creature, it is often good to do so because unless the opponent has something like ratchet bomb, the multiple creatures makes them harder to get rid of. Secondly, the tokens are evasive and therefore much more valuable. Another big thing, the enchantment has no upper limit except your life total, and if unchecked will give you a horde of flying weenies faster than you can say "Bitterblossom is OP". That's probably the most important part. Getting a new creature every turn for the rest of the game is huge as far as inevitability goes. What's more, as an enchantment, Bitterblossom is naturally harder to remove. Plus, like you guys mentioned, it's undercosted and Faeries are a hella powerful tribe. The only possible downside is that it takes time to build up a sizeable army, and this is far overshadowed by the benefits you get.

So when you combine all these things you pay 2 mana and some paltry amount of life for a horde of evasive weenies that grows with each passing turn and help you cast other faeries. Overpowered? Yes. Overcosted? Not really.

I like the deck a lot. Is this an established archetype, or original? I haven't seen it before. I like one of the other commenter's idea about putting in Counterbalance, but you'd really only be able to counter 1 and 2 cmc spells. That's the majority of the format, but still I don't like limitations on counterspells. If you wanted to do that (and even if you didn't) Sensei's Diving Top would be a good addition.

Fiendslayer is better and triggers Archangel repeatedly.

You guys keep asking about the card choices and why he isn't playing things that are more competitive... It's a merfolk theme deck. He's playing with what he's been given in standard.

That being said, Deepwater Hypnotist is strictly better than Coral Merfolk.

Also the plural of merfolk is merfolk.

Getting Supreme Verdicted is not how I like to finish.

Karametra doesn't make any sense in this deck. Sure she's sometimes an indestructible 6/7, but only when you should already be winning. I would replace her with something else. I would take her, Brave the Elements, and Unflinching Courage out for 3 Rootborn Defences, 4 Selesnya Charms, and the last Advent of the Wurm