Art by Greg and Tim Hildebrant

What is a Merfolk (flavorfully)?

Fish!

Merfolk are fish people with fish skin and fish fins and gills. A few of them look a bit more dolphinesque, but they all breathe underwater, so they’re all fish. They have two arms, but depending on the plane they’re from they may or may not have legs, with Zendikar and Ixalan’s Merfolk being bipedal while Lorwyn’s and Dominaria’s do not. Ravnican Merfolk don’t naturally have legs, but their association with the Simic combine means many of them have legs anyway, and some of them have huge pinchy crab claws or the ability to fly because Simic gonna Simic.

Merfolk rarely have hair and females reliably have noticeable breasts, raising the eternal question of whether Merfolk are Fish, Mammals, or something else entirely. The real answer here is that Taxonomy is a crapshoot and the lines are often a bit fuzzy. Merfolk are generally fitter and more attractive than humans, but you’d be fit and attractive, too, if you swam everywhere.

Shadowmoor’s Selkies are listed as creature type Merfolk, but it’s immediately apparent that they’re another type of creature entirely, being seal people rather than fish people.

What is a Merfolk (mechanically)?

Merfolk are the primary Blue Characteristic race, and have been since Alpha. Like Goblins and Elves, Merfolk tend to encourage go-wide strategies and have more than their fair share of tribal rewards, especially lords. What makes Merfolk stand out amongst other tribes is their tendency to get two-mana lords rather than three-mana ones, allowing aggression on par with Goblins.

As Blue creatures, Merfolk are also prone to getting various tricky abilities, but by far the Blue feature that empowers Merfolk the most is the incidental card draw, with a number of Merfolk replacing their own cards when played to allow their player to keep the pressure on.

Like many of the biggest tribes, Merfolk occasionally dip into other colors for a single set, going White in Lorwyn, Black in Shadowmoor, and Green in Ixalan and Ravnica. While Shadowmoor’s Black Merfolk were lacking, Lorwyn’s White added tokens and the ability to go even wider while Ixalan and Ravnica’s Green Merfolk used +1/+1 counters to make them even larger. 

Because Merfolk are primarily blue, many have Flying, though on cards this is often depicted as them riding flying creatures.

Can I make a Merfolk deck?

Making a Merfolk deck is super easy. You take a bunch of cheap lords, then some cheap Merfolk, then some lands, shuffle them together, and call it a day. With Lord of Atlantis, Master of the Pearl Trident, and Silvergill Adept, the basic Merfolk shell practically builds itself.

In Modern and even Legacy, there have been great Merfolk decks available forever, so as long as you want to just throw down a bunch of fish and turn them sideways, you’re in business. For casual play, you have a whole host of options, with plenty of good Merfolk cards to build a deck.

For Commander, there’s a whopping twenty one Legendary Merfolk, and while many make great Commanders, I will always recommend Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca. As said before, Merfolk’s greatest strengths are lords and card draw, and Kumena brings both to the table, with a team buff that can last even after Kumena dies. Using Green for raw power and Blue for control allows Kumena to do great things, even if he was never actually a Tyrant of Orazca as the card claims. (He took the Immortal Sun for all of five seconds then got thrown out a window by Vona.)

Is Merfolk a good creature type?

Merfolk is a great creature type, doing its job well as a characteristic without fighting other creatures for space too often. Blue just doesn’t have another small, non-flying type that it can comfortably go to. Sure, Humans are omnipresent and some cards are Vedalken, but Merfolk are the go-to.

Merfolk can have multiple deck types, and function in both control and aggro, able to go wide or be more tempo based. They fit on most worlds, and they’re very easy to understand. And despite being iconically blue, Merfolk fit quite comfortably into secondary colors.

I told you I would tell you everything you want to knowbeen through the ringer a couple timesgirls, please, please,tonight, I'll have a look and try to find my face againshe's got a target painted on her back

(everybody’s watch me (uh oh) - the neighbourhood // fast in my car - paramore // girls - mayday parade // back against the wall - cage the elephant // toxic valentine - all time low)

OOooh, that IS unusual! It gives me vibes of Vax & Keyleth quelling each other’s anxieties:

“Could we just enjoy the quiet?/ I keep moving through the crowds/ Lose myself in al the loud/ Let's lean back and watch the clouds lift [...] There's something in your touch, something I can trust/ Daylight might feel bright ahead” 

Very calming beats — reminds me of Zephrah :) 

Ooooh, I can see it, especially for the two of them finally, slowly their relationship, and maybe being a little awkward but very tender:

“Looking through a dark lens/ I've been playing pretend too long/ Please don't tell our new friends/ Sometimes I would rather be alone/ With you, with you” 

That last line makes me wonder how Vox Machina might react when Pike and Scanlan tell them that they’re dating :D

And the tenderness!!

“Keep it close now, we've just begun/ And I swear that I can feel/ Every emotion there is all at once “

(For reference, this ask was sent in on May 27th, so the eps it’s referring to are e66, or “Beneath Bazzoxan” and the 5ish episodes before that.)

I like it for them, particularly their quiet concern for each other’s struggles, hidden behind the walls they both put up:

“It's hard to see you/ Battle your mind/ I see you hurting/ Can't sleep at night/ We're all imperfect/ We wrong at times/ I just want to make it right” 

And how they recognize that both of them hide things, but love each other through that:

“'Cause we are, we are, we are/ Fallible creatures/ Enslaved to our secrets/ But we are, we are, we are/ Forgiving in nature” 

Oh this works so well for her and is beautifully sad:

“I'm this now, a little bit different/ But I guess that's what life will do/ In the same town, but it's not so innocent/ Growing up, but it feels too soon, it feels too soon/ The pressure, my head hurts/ You think it'd get better, not worse/ I am this now, but I'm not so innocent” 

Jester learning that her friends have been through so much and not knowing how to cope or help them is relatable and also... I love her.