Fish decks have seen an uprising of late in the Classic metagame. It’s no surprise to me that the readers have chosen another Fish deck to discuss. The results of the first half of 2011 pointed to a metagame dominated by two decks, MUD and Oath of Druids. This has allowed decks like GW Hate and Fish to prey on the metagame by targeting the most popular decks.
The Roots of Fish Decks
The term “Fish” evolved from the old days of Vintage (back then, called Type 1) where disruptive blue decks used Merfolk to compete. At the time, Merfolk represented the most efficient creatures to complement disruption like Force of Will, Man-o-War, Wasteland, Counterspell/Mana Drain, etc. These Merfolk were aptly named “Fish” and over time as better options became available and Merfolk went by the wayside, the “Fish” moniker never went away. In fact, these days, Fish is a term for almost any type of deck that is disruptive and aggressive with attacking creatures.
This primer will be dedicated to Fish decks that are primarily blue-based (thus, any reference from here on out to “Fish” will gesture back to a blue-based deck). It has long been postulated that Magic is a Blue world, and all the other colors are just living in it. The biggest reason to run a Fish deck with blue is having access to the best option against all the unfair decks: Force of Will.
Force of Will is my favorite card. There, I said it. Very few things are as satisfying as being able to exile another blue card and pay one life to cast Force for free. Force is often referred as the glue to Eternal formats. Without it, the feeling is that the unfair decks would be able to generally run unimpeded. Thus, it fits perfectly into what the Fish pilot is trying to do: disrupt long enough to establish a board presence and win the game in the red-zone.
The most successful Fish decks have been three or four colors with blue/white/green the constant core among them and splashing for either red or black as the fourth color. One of the more recent Fish decks was unleashed to the Classic world by an accomplished deck-builder xkorpio at the CQ Open on Aug 14th. His build was a mono-blue deck with Illusions instead of Merfolk. Although a powerful Fish deck, I won’t be highlighting xkorpio’s Illusions deck here, as I’ll keep this primer focused on the three and four-colored variants.
Disruption
Generally, the disruption of choice for Fish decks is based around the countermagic suite:
Force of Will
Daze
Mental Misstep
Spell Pierce
These four spells represent the most efficient countermagic options available, as three of them can be cast for free while the fourth costs only 1 mana.
Accompanying the above 4 cards, Fish decks can also run:
Stifle
Swords to Plowshares
Nature’s Claim
Annul
Steel Sabotage
Ancient Grudge
The above spells represent efficient removal and/or countermagic that Fish pilots can mix into their decks to adapt to shifts in the metagame or their person tastes.
Another benefit to running islands is having access to reusable card draw. Unlike most blue decks, though, Fish is best utilizing creatures to draw cards. The two best options are Cold-Eyed Selkie and newcomer Edric, Spymaster of Trest. These are the two most efficient creatures for card drawing, and both can usually be cast on Turn 2 with the help of a Turn 1 Noble Hierarch. Selkie is at its best against other blue decks due to its islandwalk and in combination with exalted triggers from Hierarch and Qasali Pridemage to draw additional cards on each attack. Edric, on the other hand, is better against non-blue or creature-less decks, though he can still be useful against blue decks when combined with evasion in the form of trample and flying. Being legendary is also a drawback, of course. The best part is that both creatures are blue, meaning that they can be pitched to Force of Will! Choosing between the two is strictly a metagame call. If you are expecting lots of blue decks, it’s best to go with Selkie, while Edric would be useful against just about anything else. It’s possible that a split between the maindeck and sideboard would allow for the best flexibility in a large tournament setting.
Manabase
With a deck that wants to play with three or four colors, fetch lands and dual lands are a Fish pilot’s best friends. Having a full assortment of the blue mana-producing dual lands allows a Fish pilot to run any island fetching land to provide access to the necessary lands to have the deck function, but the best lands to be fetching will usually be Tropical Island (first and foremost) and Tundra or Savannah. Thus, you best fetch lands are Misty Rainforest and Windswept Heath.
Additionally, the full set of Wastelands and the restricted Strip Mine round out the crux of the Fish manabase. Occasionally, you might find Karakas as a viable option if Emrakul, the Aeons Torn or other legendary permanents prove troublesome. It also works well to protect your own Kataki, Wars Wage or Edric from removal!
Sub-primer on Creatures
What’s a Fish deck without creatures? Well, that’s a rhetorical question, but similar to GW Hate, there are many options at the disposal of Fish pilots. The two creature options for card draw are outlined above, but what else does Fish want to look at when building their deck?
Tarmogoyf — Everyone’s favorite big, dumb, creature. Since Fish decks are running fetch lands, creatures, and instants, etc., ‘Goyf is a better option here than in GW decks where most of the disruption is in the form of permanents and where fetch lands are less frequently used. ‘Goyf beats down and can provide the fastest clock available to Fish.
Skinshifter — Skinshifter has some benefits over ‘Goyf. With Edric, turning Skinshifter into a 4/4 trampler is meaningful in a format where most creatures in non-MUD/Oath decks are at best two toughness, allowing you to draw a card. Turning Skinshifter into a 2/2 flyer is also relevant as Classic has a dearth of flyers outside of Trygon Predator and Steel Hellkite (Emrakul the Aeons Torn doesn’t really count). Additionally, as a 0/8 wall, Skinshifter can block Lodestone Golem all day long. Would I prefer ‘Goyf in most circumstances? Yes, but Skinshifter is a unique card.
Meddling Mage — The Mage is one of the few “hate” creatures commonly found in Fish. Its flexibility is quite meaningful in a format where the most decks are established; thus, you can name the correct card most of the time. Meddling Mage is a card the requires a thorough knowledge of the format to get the most out of its ability and also rewards those who can manage some recon during tournaments to find out what your opponent is playing. Against Oath decks, you’ll want to name Oath of Druids or perhaps even Show and Tell, if they are also running that version of the deck. Against other blue control decks, Tinker is a great card to name, as is Jace, the Mindsculptor, Force of Will, Gush, and Tezzeret the Seeker, among others. Against Dredge, naming Dread Return in Game 1 is the best option, while in Games 2 and 3 you might want to name one of the Dredge players’ removal cards for your hate, such as Nature’s Claim, Wispmare, Chain of Vapor, Ancient Grudge, or even Cabal Therapy if you are running Ravenous Trap instead of permanents (i.e., Leyline of the Void, Tormods Crypt, Relic of Progenitus, etc.) for your hate. Against Storm decks, your best bet is to name Tendrils of Agony. Workshop decks are a little trickier since they have many diverse threats, but keeping cards like Wurmcoil Engine, Steel Hellkite, and Lodestone Golem are perhaps your best options, depending on whether your opponent is running any of them. Against other Fish/GW Decks, naming a specific card is tough, as there are only a few major threats that you want to stop cold, but typically a removal spell, or Tarmogoyf would be your best options. Nonetheless, this is probably a card that you’ll want to side out in Games 2 and 3 anyway. Those are just a few of the decks and best cards to name for each, but Meddling Mage has many, many more applications!
Noble Hierarch — Being that Fish decks are nearly entirely Bant-colored, the Hierarch is an excellent option for acceleration, Wasteland and Sphere protection, and for pumping other creatures with exalted. Birds of Paradise is another great option to up the Turn 1 “mana creature” count above four, and to splash for the fourth color.
Qasali Pridemage — As with GW, Qasali is a great option for Fish decks to help combat Oath and MUD decks with splash damage against Vault-Key and other artifacts running around in the Classic format.
Trygon Predator — One of the best reasons, besides countermagic, to run Fish over /W is having access to Trygon Predator. A pre-emptive Trygon against Oath is likely game-winning, unless they are running bounce spells or creature removal (neither is common). Against MUD decks, Trygon can help free up your mana from Sphere effects and whittle down their permanents, as only Steel Hellkite or Duplicant can really stop it. Its evasion also pairs nicely with Edric, and even in non Oath/MUD match-ups, combining Trygon with exalted triggers can add up to a quick win.
Kataki, Wars Wage — Kataki is a sound beating against MUD decks, but has limited applications against all other decks. Running a singleton in the maindeck is acceptable to help fight MUD decks in Game 1, but it’s probably best suited for the sideboard.
Phantasmal Image — A recent addition to the card pool, Phantasmal Image is a fast rising all-star in Classic. With such few targeted creature removal/bounce/abilities (I mean, really, who has room for that in their decks?), Phantasmal Image might as well be a Clone for 2 mana! Copying Legendary creatures and Tinker targets are great options for a Fish decks, though there is certainly value in copying one of your own creatures like ‘Goyf, Qasali, etc.
True Believer — Another card that was spotlighted in the GW Primer, True Believer is a fantastic sideboard option for Fish decks. Turning off Oath of Druids is the best feature of this hate bear.
Gilded Drake — Yet another Oath hate card, Gilded Drake is a decent option to steal a game. Unfortunately, with most Oath builds running Dragon Breath, the Drake might be a turn too slow to make a difference. Should Oath start taking a step away from the “GG” (Good Game) version, the Drake might become a sound option.
Scavenging Ooze — As a strict Dredge hate card, the Ooze is often a turn or two too slow. As a Tarmogoyf-shrinking, life-gaining, mini-Surgical Extraction, pumping beater, the Ooze is a solid option. It also shoots down nearly all graveyard based shenanigans from decks like Hermit Druid, Goblin Welder, and others; just don’t solely depend on it to stop Dredge, as they’ll likely roll all over it before you can get it active.
Grim Lavamancer — There is perhaps no better reason for splashing for red than to have Lavamancer in your sideboard. Lavamancer can take on nearly every creature in Classic and will even help shrink opposing ‘Goyfs in a pinch.
Vendilion Clique — Clique was a card that for quite some time was an afterthought in Classic/Vintage. Recently, Steve Menendian used Clique in his Gush-Bob deck, which filled a pivotal role as both disruption and beater all in one. Additionally, Clique can be used to filter cards out of your own hand in the event that you’re holding a dead card (such as a maindeck Kataki against a non-MUD deck in Game 1). With 3 power, Clique is a fairly fast clock when combining its evasion and possible exalted triggers. There’s a lot of subtlety in playing Clique, such as playing it on your opponent’s draw step the turn after they play a top-deck tutor such as Vampiric Tutor or Mystical Tutor in order to steal whatever card they tutored up or to play it at the end of your opponents turn to leave mana available for countermagic or to pitch to Force of Will if needed. It can also be played after attackers are declared to steal a pivotal creature like a Dark Confidant or the like.
Stoneforge Mystic — Yes, Stoneforge is just as powerful in Classic as it was in Standard and has been in Legacy. The entire fetching, playing, and equipping of equipment can be somewhat slow, so it’s best in a control-ish shell like that of what Fish can provide. It would be a straight substitute for other win conditions like ‘Goyf, etc., but can be quite powerful to help advance your game plan, be it through the brute force of Batterskull or the powerful protection and triggered abilities of the Swords (Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of Fire and Ice, etc.) and/or Umezawas Jitte.
Strategy
The game plan for Fish decks is to out-tempo the opponent and race him to deal 20 damage. Wasteland and Strip Mine are your best bets to win the tempo game when backed up with free countermagic.
If you open with a hand with Wasteland/Strip Mine, it’s best to lead out with that land on your first turn and destroy the first target you see. With the abnormally low curve that Classic decks have, keeping hands with one or two lands can often be a correct (when discounting for the chance of your opponent playing said strip effects). When you lead with a strip effect, you increase the likelihood that you can get your opponent stuck on low mana.
Assuming your hand does not contain a strip effect, your best bet is to try and get a Hierarch online, or leave mana open to counter your opponent’s spells with Spell Pierce, Annul, etc., or to cast a crippling spell such as Stifle or Nature’s Claim on an early artifact or Oath of Druids. If your opponent opens up with a fetch land and passes the turn and you have a Stifle in hand, dropping a blue mana-producing land and waiting for your opponent to activate their fetch is a sound play.
After that, the idea is to stagger out some creatures and disruptive spells to establish a board presence. Obviously, you’ll want to play cards like Trygon and Qasali as soon as possible against decks that they perform well against. Similarly, if you have Meddling Mage, getting that online ASAP to name the key card for your opponents strategy is very important.
The goal is that after a couple turns, as a Fish pilot, you should have the game under your control as you whittle down his life total.
Here are some examples of Fish decklists that have seen success over the last couple of months:
4-Color Fish by Timmins
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Stoneforge Fish by endless_nameless
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Vial Fish by Calavera
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Closing
Fish decks have evolved greatly since their crude origins in the mid-late 90′s. As new cards are printed each year, the deck will continue to evolve and adapt to the metagame as needed. As an aggro/control-ish deck, Fish allows players to build their decks according to their play skills and personal tastes, while keeping the shell of a powerful deck in today’s metagame.
With the rise of Fish-style decks in Classic, we saw a shift in the format. What will be the next shift in Classic? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
Shame no comments yet. =( The apathy of the average Classic player. =( Anyway, good job. I think you could go into some of the main match ups a bit more.
Look forward to the next installment! =)