Mursh

I am really liking the Chalice of the Void version of merfolk. It stops so many relevant spells in legacy that losing spell pierce hasn't been a big deal. Also as amazing as Aether Vial can be, I honestly haven't missed it as much as I initially thought I would. Merfolk doesn't have much of card advantage and or mana denial so it just doens't play vial as effectively as Death and Taxes or even Goblins. However you can still run Chalice and Vial without too much trouble if you rather.
Regardless of whether you put it in the main or the sideboard, Chailce of the Void plays really well with Merfolk and Cavern of Souls.

I also can't live without Umezawa's Jitte in either my main or sideboard. It give much needed spot removal and is just obscene on True-Name Nemesis.

Regardless this is a solid merfolk deck and should preform pretty well. If you are interested in my build here is a link:
http://www.mtgvault.com/mursh/decks/merfolk-chalice/


Good luck with the deck!

Force of Will is the 2nd most played card in legacy for a reason. It is completely necessary for the format. It should never be cut, especially in merfolk. Pitching a merfolk you have tons of copies of isn't that much of a down side compared to what powerful spells you can stop with Force.

No problem. I do keep 3 Searing Blood in the sideboard until i need them in game 2 or 3. It's great in creature match ups but your right it can be a dead draw so I don't main them.
I do main board Searing Blaze, the land fall isn't too hard to play around and its never a completely dead draw. That one damage can be very relevant vs a lot of legacy creatures and if you land fall for 3 it hits most creatures.

I have a decent amount of Burn experience so I'll try to help you out.
Honestly, the answer to your questions mostly comes down to the meta you are playing in.

1st off, I think you would be fine to go down to 19-20 lands.
I am a big fan of 3-4 Grim Lavamancer and 3-4 Searing Blaze. Especially since you are already running several fetch lands.
I personally would remove Vexing Devil. Turn 1 and 2 he is fantastic, however you don't want to draw into him, especially when you are looking for a finisher.
Red Elemental Blast is nuts against anything thats blue heavy and gives you a chance against counterbalance and a few combo decks..
Ensnaring Bridge can come in against any aggro that may out race you but what its really there for is to give you a chance against any decks that are able to cheat out big creatures quickly like show and tell or reanimator.
Sulfuric Vortex sets a clock for the game to end, burn wants to end the game as soon as possible. It's there for control decks or any other deck that wants to slow the game down. Its whats going to save you vs any deck running batterskull and Jitte. I would run 1-2 main board with possibly 1-2 in the board. You can also bring in a few Smash to Smithereens or Shattering Spree to help in those match ups too. Also good against Griselbrand or other lifegain (using swords to Plowshare on their own creature).
Eidolon is what made burn competitive again. He swings in the early game, blocks on later turns if needed and causes that extra few points of damage you need to win quickly. I plan on putting 4 in my main for quite some time. He boards out for Ensnaring Bridge usually if you are up against a deck with a higher avg mana cost.
I feel like 3-4 main Price of Progress is right too. Its just too good vs so many legacy decks. Sure there are a few decks that it may not do much against but it and Fireblast have won more games for me that any other cards in the deck.
Searing Blood is a powerhouse against creature decks and deserves a few spots in the sideboard in my opinion.
I also like to try to sneak in a form of graveyard hate in my side for against reanimator or goyfs ect. Such as Relic of Progentius (repeatable gavehate or possible card draw), Tormod's Crypt (free) or Faerie Macabre (instant and uncounterable)
I have dropped Flame Rift from my last couple builds because it cuts too deep with Eidolon in play.

Good luck with the deck and welcome to Legacy!

Look into Knight of Glory, Darkest Hour and Enlightened Tutor.

I like the deck. Looks like fun. Some cards that you could consider are any of the liliana's. Liliana of the Dark Realms fits your theme the best but Liliana of the veil is clearly the best. Also 2-4 Wasteland would be nice, they are free land destruction and worth it despite being colorless.

I don't think Lake of the Dead or Phyrexian Tower are needed.

Any of the devotion to black deck like Desecration Demon, Gatekeeper of Malakir, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, and Vampire Nighthawk are nice adds.

Good luck with the deck!

I love Tribal decks so I had to get in on this. I had a hard time coming up with stuff under $75.

Bear Tribal : http://www.mtgvault.com/mursh/decks/tribal-challenge-bears/

Spirit Tribal : http://www.mtgvault.com/mursh/decks/tribal-challenge-spirits/

Elemental Tribal : http://www.mtgvault.com/mursh/decks/tribal-challenge-elementals/

I know the triple black is hard to pass up but I feel like Phylactery Lich doesn't belong in this deck. He must be played around too much and is a dead card many times. You are running so few artifacts and given that you are betting on artifact lands in a land of Wasteland just seems too risky. For a replacement I would look no farther than Death Baron. Death touch is just amazing with recurring creatures like gravecrawler, it ensures they can't simply chump block him. Stromgald Crusader is another great devotion 2 drop that has his own evasion and more importantly is Swords to Plowshare proof.
Zombie Master is a classic and is always good when ran with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, which also helps you make your colorless lands tap for black.
Carrion Feeder is a solid 1 drop that also gets huge with gravecrawler to sacrifice. He also saves your cards from exile effects because you can simply respond with sacrificing them.

As far as spells go Cabal Therapy is so amazing with gravecrawler or undying.

Another great zombie trick is to run Nameless Inversion. It is good removal and a good buffing card and it can be replayed with Unholy Grotto and Lord of the Undead.

Here are my 2 attempts at legacy builds if you are interested.

http://www.mtgvault.com/mursh/decks/zombie-devotion/

http://www.mtgvault.com/mursh/decks/legacy-zombie-tribal/

Nice build, I hope your tournament went well.

I have been playing stompy builds for quite some time. I like this build a lot but I feel like Seething Song could be taken out for something else.

I have recently been playing with Prophetic Flamespeaker and have really liked him in the deck. He is also a Human so he drops right into the 3 spot nicely. Things get ugly quick when Instigator Gang comes out.
I recently acquired some Imperial Recruiters so I have made my Stompy build somewhat more tool box, which is also working pretty well.
Here is a link to my current build if your interested. http://www.mtgvault.com/mursh/decks/prophetic-human-stompy/

Let me know how your deck performed!

I am sure that he means either one. Or better yet the original dual lands like Bayou, Taiga and Badlands.

But either way more shock and fetches and less scry lands, Jund Panorama and basic lands.

However, having nearly all cards having a hybrid casting cost really helps give you flexibility with your lands.

I would be careful with running so many copies of Dryad Arbor because many times its a land that can't tap on turn 1.
Also it will die when you use your Pernicious Deed.
Having 1 or 2 max is ideal. You just want to have one in your deck to search for with green sun zenith IF you are in desperate need of the land source.

Looks fun.

I think Cabal Therapy would fit in really well with this.
It also works well if you slip in a Skirsdag High Priest or two.
I also rather enjoy the 4 Dark Supplicant and 1 Scion of Darkness package in this type deck.

Good luck with the deck!

I really like the way its looking now. Looks fun, powerful and much faster than before. I do like Mizzium Mortars, but I would just rather have Lightning Bolt for speed. Mizzium Mortars is a solid card however.

I am not a fan of browbeat because the opponent chooses. Sure both effects are pretty nice, however you just usually never get the effect you need the most at that moment.

I really dig the deck! Really fun concept with creatures that can get huge quick.

I would consider throwing in some legacy staples. Obvious cards like dual lands, fetchlands or Shock lands. This deck reminds me a lot of a Nic Fit style deck so maybe you could integrate some of its cards into your deck.

At its current mana curve Pernicious Deed would be great. It answers so many problems and punishes efficient decks.
Veteran Explorer is great mana ramp and is great with cards like Cabal Therapy. Also good with Phyrexian Tower and Pernicious Deed.
Deathrite Shaman is great mana ramp with fetchlands and benefits from being multicolored.
I like Sakura-tribe Elder instead of Rampant Growth because it basically does the same thing except it can be a creature when you don't need to search for a land anymore.
Green Sun's Zenith will get most of your deck and could allow you to search for what you need at the moment. You can also use it as a 1 cost rampant growth by running a copy of Dryad Arbor. Dryad Arbor can even be pumped up from a lot of your creatures.
A single Huntmaster of the Fells could also be great and he gets pumped a fair amount too.
A few Abrupt Decay maybe?
Hell even a planeswalker or 2 could be a fun add to this deck. Maybe Domri Rade or Xenagos, the Reveler or one of the Garruk's.

Good luck with the deck!

Suture Priest is a nice cleric. I'll post some other suggestions when i have more time.

Utopia Sprawl and Wild Growth make good fuel and mana acceleration.

I would add in some cheaper enchantments. Half the point in getting to draw a card for casting an enchantment should be so you can play more enchantments and draw more cards. I would also add some more creatures so you have something to attach your enchantments too. I know they aren't "babes" but I suggest Slippery Bogle and maybe Aura Gnarlid. If you want more babes then I would run Gatherer of Graces which also has good synergy with Rancor.

As for some cheap enchantments I rather like Hyena Umbra and Spider Umbra since they also act as protection removal.

I made this similar deck a while back if you are interested.
http://www.mtgvault.com/mursh/decks/auratog/

Have fun and good luck!

Hello again fellow mill lover!

I didn't realize you were shooting for modern too but if you change this deck up just drop the counterspells and Riddlekeeper.

Keep in mind that I have no experience with modern, just lots of legacy and casual magic and I've built a lot of mill builds in my day.

I took a look at your fast modern mill.
Truthfully before I looked at the deck and your discussion I was ready to dismiss Mesmeric Orb and Noxious Revival as generally bad. I can see more of what you are doing after looking at you defend Noxious Revival. I never thought of messing with a reanimator or Dread Return target buy putting it back on top of their library. Delicious. Normally, I would say that I would rather draw a card that is useful when cast on its own instead of a card that deals you damage and relies on a target in your graveyard but i can see its utility in this deck. So I say maybe you should just try it out and please let me know how well it works out for you in the long run.
I am less convinced with Mesmeric Orb. I have not personally played with the card but it just seems underwhelming most of the time. It gets a little boost from Noxious Revival but still not sure about it, maybe you can report back to me on that one too.
With Mesmeric Orb I feel that its just too slow for what it does and your opponent can play around it to some extent. It seems to be ran in several modern mill decks but it is almost always the 1st cut or is only ran as a 1-3 of, telling me that its not really performing all that well. I can see it being slightly better when Propaganda is out but I just don't like that it doesn't mill when cast and usually only triggers during their upkeep. I would be happier with Thought Scour for the cantrip or ensnaring bridge for protection or Visions of Beyond for fuel or even mana leak for a touch of control.

I am putting a separate comment on the other modern deck and I really like it by the way.

Here are 2 different legacy builds I have been playing around with.

This one is kinda fun and uses Traps.
http://www.mtgvault.com/mursh/decks/mill-trap/
This one is they best overall legacy mill deck I have been able to put together.
http://www.mtgvault.com/mursh/decks/legacy-mill/


Let me know how your playtesting goes and I am always ready to discuss a new mill deck or most any legacy deck.

This deck needs Crucible of Worlds.
It makes Ghost Quarter and Wasteland crazy good.
How about Pillage?
Also Armagedon.
Cursed Scroll could make a good win condition.

Good luck with the deck.

I agree with Tal. Fauna Shaman just makes this deck worse. Its kinda slow and messes up your mana base too much. You must have fetchlands and duals if you want a multicolor combo deck to have a chance. By running those you are also undermining your blood moon effects so it just seems bad all the way around.

The 1st card that you need to have in the deck is Great Furnace. This gives you more artifacts for Goblin welder to swap artifact cards you need in the graveyard.

Another card you can consider is Gamble. It does what you are looking for and you can use Goblin Welder as back up if you end up discarding the card you searched for.

Goblin Welder and Wurmcoil Engine are also a fun alternate win condition.

You would be much better off with keeping it mono red and running more Sensei's Divining Top, Goblin Welder and Simian Spirit Guide. You could also consider Lightning bolt for creature removal.

If you must splash another color I would drop or sideboard the blood moon/ magus package. I would go with blue so you can run brainstorm type effects and counters to protect the combo and trinket mage is nice to fetch for grindstone or another artifact you may need to find such as Tormod's Crypt or Sensei's Divining Top. If you don't go blue I would go white and go with Enlightened Tutor and possibly Orim's Chant and maybe even a Isochron Scepter or two.

Good luck with the deck!