Why Merfolk is making a comeback in Legacy

The Legacy format has spent the last eighteen months in a slow churn of bannings, unbannings, and a handful of high-profile reprints that have redrawn the boundaries of what is viable. Decks once treated as relics have begun finding room in the metagame, and among them the silver-blue tide of Merfolk has quietly risen back into contention. After years of falling short against the format's faster combo decks and more flexible midrange options, the tribe is now posting results that demand a second look.

That rebound is not a fluke. It reflects favourable metagame shifts, smart card acquisition through recent supplemental products, and a player base that never entirely stopped sleeving up Lord of Atlantis. For Aussies weighing where to spend their next tournament entry, the current Merfolk build offers something rarer than raw power: a coherent plan that has been refined against the kinds of combo and control decks that dominate Eastern and Western events alike.

Legacy's shifting currents

The shape of Legacy has changed more in 2025 than at any point since the departure of Modern Horizons 2 staples. Combo decks are still a threat, but the velocity of Dimir and Esper strategies has slowed, leaving windows where a creature-based attacker can deploy threats, protect them, and close games before disruption stacks up. Merfolk sits inside that window, rewarding pilots who can sequence around the format's most popular hate pieces.

At the same time, the metagame has grown more diverse. Where Doomsday and Dimir Control once shared the top tables with Tendrils decks, the current Legacy scene has welcomed back tempo strategies, reanimator shells, and even splashy hybrid builds. That spread makes a focused tribal deck more attractive, since the average opponent is less likely to have exact sideboard answers ready.

A deck that has quietly aged well

Merfolk's core is famously resilient to change. Lord of Atlantis, Master of the Veil, and the various lords have been printed and reprinted enough that the deck's spine rarely rotates out of relevance. What has changed is the support cast around them, and that is where the current build differs meaningfully from the lists that fizzled out around 2022.

Force of Will, Daze, and a main-deck Trickery give the deck interaction that matches what blue combo decks are doing, while the sideboard now runs surgical hate for the format's most annoying permanents. The result is a sixty that can press tempo on turn two without folding to a turn-one play that matters. Even classic flex slots like Standstill have found new life in lists that want to leverage a longer game.

Recent card pool movements

The biggest upgrade has come from outside the usual channels. The latest Universes Beyond releases slipped in a handful of merfolk cards with protective or evasive abilities, and the supplemental slot has quietly given the deck enough redundancy to keep its clock consistent. Meanwhile, the unbanning discussions around several fair blue cards have changed how opponents prepare, with many Legacy regulars trimming sideboard slots that used to be reserved for creature decks of this size.

Even cards once considered Merfolk-only sidegrades have found a place in the seventy-five. Some lists are now splashing white for sideboard options, leaning on a small goyf package that can catch opposing pilots off guard in the early turns. The point is not that Merfolk became a fundamentally different deck, but that it gained just enough new pieces to pressure opponents who were used to ignoring it.

The Australian scene

In Sydney and Melbourne, Merfolk has been a familiar sight at local Legacy nights, even during the format's leaner years. Brisbane game stores have reported a modest uptick in interest as the deck has produced stronger finishes in recent Challenge events, and players in Perth are starting to ship lists to regional competitions that used to be dominated by Storm and Reanimator. The Australian dollar entry fees at most WPN stores sit comfortably in the fifteen to twenty-five range, which makes testing a fresh Merfolk build an easy weekend project.

Time zones remain a logistical quirk worth managing. A Legacy Challenge that wraps up at 3am AEDT can feel punishing, but Pacific and Eastern time zone streams mean Australian pilots usually have a few hours of post-coverage discussion before work the next morning. The Legacy Pit has covered several of these events in detail, including a recent breakdown of online gaming options that has been popular with readers looking for ways to spend downtime between rounds.

Building a modern Merfolk list

The current stock list runs about sixteen creatures, eighteen lands, and the rest interaction. A typical starting configuration looks like this:

Players in colder regions of Australia tend to favour the more interactive flex slots, since the deck needs to play differently against the wider Delver and Tempo field that dominates online leagues. A few pilots in Canberra have also tested green splash builds, using Dryad Arbor to fix mana and add a surprise attacker.

Matchup breakdown

Merfolk's current results vary sharply by opponent, and a recent string of local tournaments has clarified where the deck shines. The matchups that matter most are:

The depth of sideboard choices has made grindy matches much closer than the deck's pre-2023 reputation suggested. With the right mix of hate and counters, Merfolk can take games off any Tier 1 strategy in the format.

Where the tide rolls next

The next few sets will test whether this run continues, but the signs are strong. Several pro players have publicly picked up the deck, and the chatter across local Legacy circles in Brisbane and Adelaide suggests more pilots are quietly moving their cardboard. For anyone who shelved their lords during the lean years, this is a sensible time to bring the deck back to a Friday night tournament.

Long tournament days have become a reality of the format, and players planning to grind multiple events a month often end up learning more about pacing themselves than they expected. Some of our readers have asked about managing tournament day reflux, which is hardly unique to Magic but never fun to deal with across a six-round day. It is a small reminder that competitive play is a whole-body hobby, not just a deck-building exercise.

Sleeve up the lords, pack a few of the new flex pieces, and bring Merfolk to your next Legacy event. The Legacy Pit team will be covering the upcoming Challenge circuits from Australia and abroad, and we want to see how your tide rolls. Join the Discord, share your list in the deck-tech channel, and let the format hear what your fish can do.