Merfolk first appeared in Alpha as low-cost creatures. Throughout following set releases, they continued to be expanded upon primarily through the use of giving them abilities oriented around increasing their utility. This manifested in being able to attack opponents directly, drawing cards, and other abilities.

Very few Merfolk abilities at this time increased the strength of creatures, Merfolk or otherwise. This meant that even though they could be readily fielded, they were rarely capable of defeating opponents with traditional strategies. This set the groundwork for their role as support pieces in later sets, up until they got tied into +1/+1 counters via keywords such as explore.

Despite being the characteristic creature type of , Merfolk have since diversified and now appear regularly across every color and particularly in . This is usually specific to a plane, and may have Merfolk belonging to a combination of colors with as a base.

Can't Be Blocked

Merfolk excel at bypassing opponents' defenses to attack them directly. This might be via flying, a condition on which creatures are eligible to block them, islandwalk, or a flat inability to be blocked at all.

Their ability to capitalize on this is variable, often being relegated to more expensive Merfolk that can function as commanders, though there are Merfolk of varying powers and costs that benefit from dealing damage to an opponent directly.

Tricks and Trades

Merfolk are exceptional at being unconventional. Not only can they provide basic utility such as card draw, but they can also allow you to remove a permanent from the battlefield either as a temporary flicker or fully returned to its owner's deck or hand. Merfolk might reveal an opponent's hand, force them to discard cards, mill their deck, or any number of effects.

The bounds of what Merfolk are capable of are reliant upon the deck's ability to capitalize off of it more so than most other creature types. They don't need to have high stats when they have the ability to provide utility in other ways. Particularly given their propensity to grant themselves +1/+1 counters via keywords such as explore or by activated effects.

Summoning

Merfolk love big monsters. Leviathans, Krakens, Octopuses, and Serpents all have synergies with Merfolk, being fellow creatures from the deep. But there are even synergies between Merfolk and other creature types such as Drakes or Elementals depending on specific characters' specialties.

Given that Merfolk don't have much direct combat applicability on their own, the ability for them to create or benefit from casting larger creatures gives them sustainability. Some Merfolk need to rely on non-Merfolk creatures for blockers or to trigger specific abilities, but the creature type overall has enough else going on that this is optional, as direct damage and utility coupled with well-selected spells will suffice.

Weak Defense

Merfolk stats tend toward the low end, with some hitting 5/5 or higher but not commonly. Even their notable creatures tend to rely upon abilities over power to provide value, with their method of growth being +1/+1 counters.

This is offset by their cost, meaning it's easier to cast multiple Merfolk at a time and maintain blockers than other creature types. Further, their ability to draw cards or scry allows you to access more of these cheap creatures to cast to the battlefield. And Merfolk token generation is common enough that you should be able to sustainably defend against light and medium swings if you plan for it.

Confirming the Kill

Due to their varying abilities to bypass opponents' defenses, Merfolk can connect with attacks quite easily. However, dealing enough damage to reduce one opponent to zero life, let alone all three, isn't guaranteed.

The best way to get around this is to have unblockable Merfolk serve as disruption in non-damaging ways. Leaning into their strengths, Merfolk can force opponents to discard or mill cards, leading to much more immediate value than pinging (one damage at a time). Consistent damage over time is still important and Merfolk can grant themselves a force multiplier via additive power bonuses and +1/+1 counters.

But that usually isn't fast enough to win games by itself.

Hakbal of the Surging SoulHakbal of the Surging Soul

Hakbal of the Surging SoulHakbal of the Surging Soul is the 35th most popular commander at the time of this guide's writing.

At the beginning of combat on your turn, each Merfolk you control explores. This means you reveal the top card of your library and put it in your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, you give that creature a +1/+1 counter and put the card back on top of your library or into your graveyard. Explore as a keyword works extremely well en masse, as if you reveal a land or a card you don't want it allows you to thin your library. If you want to guarantee counters, you can choose to return the same card to the top of your library repeatedly, guaranteeing you don't reveal a land.

Hakbal also allows you to place a land card from your hand on the battlefield each time it attacks, allowing you to compensate for the copious amounts of lands drawn from explore. And if you don't play any lands, you draw a card instead.

Kumena, Tyrant of OrazcaKumena, Tyrant of Orazca

Kumena, Tyrant of OrazcaKumena, Tyrant of Orazca is a commander oriented around tapping your other Merfolk to gain benefits.

Tapping one Merfolk allows Kumena to become unblockable this turn. Tapping three draws you a card. Tapping five Merfolk puts a +1/+1 counter on each Merfolk you control.

These don't have a limit per turn, so as long as you have Merfolk to tap you can continue to activate Kumena's abilities. In some cases, you can untap your Merfolk to double-dip them via abilities such as Kiora's FollowerKiora's Follower. But primarily, you'll want to tap your 1/1 Merfolk tokens and low-power Merfolk creatures that wouldn't be effective blockers to enhance Kumena for direct damage.

Svyelun of Sea and SkySvyelun of Sea and Sky

Svyelun of Sea and SkySvyelun of Sea and Sky is a defensive commander, gaining indestructible so long as you control at least two other Merfolk and granting all other Merfolk you control ward . And whenever Svyelun attacks, you draw a card.

Svyelun's greatest utility is in being a cheap commander that provides your other Merfolk a greater degree of protection. You can pair Svyelun with other Merfolk legendary creatures, using it as a means to protect them. Indestructibility assists Svyelun to stay on the board and facilitates constant attacks, allowing you to continue drawing cards.

Emperor Mihail IIEmperor Mihail II

Emperor Mihail IIEmperor Mihail II allows you to look at and cast the top card of your library. Whenever you cast a Merfolk spell, you may pay to create a 1/1 Merfolk token.

These are fairly subtle effects that nonetheless have their place. Merfolk are cheap, meaning grafting atop their cost usually won't cause any issues. This doubles the number of bodies you can have on the field while effectively expanding your hand size by one. At least, when it comes to Merfolk.

Nicanzil, Current ConductorNicanzil, Current Conductor

Nicanzil, Current ConductorNicanzil, Current Conductor speedruns the explore mechanic, allowing you to place a land from your hand on the battlefield tapped any time a creature explores a land card. This doesn't have to be the same land and can potentially trigger multiple times in a turn, depending on how often you're exploring.

Whenever a creature explores a nonland card, Nicanzil gains a +1/+1 counter. This doubles your counter generation from exploring and enhances the effectiveness of your commander, both of which are great things. This can turn out to be quite tough to go against depending on how often you can explore in a turn. And if you manage to have Nicanzil exploring, that's two +1/+1 counters per nonland card.

Sygg, River GuideSygg, River Guide

Sygg, River GuideSygg, River Guide is a 2/2 with islandwalk, allowing it to attack opponents directly if they control at least one Island. Sygg can also be activated by paying to grant a Merfolk protection from a color of your choice until end of turn. This means they are effectively immune to any effects of that color's spells or creatures, including damage to it via combat damage.

This is a cheap application of one of the strongest protection effects that you can do multiple times per turn. Sygg's ability can be activated on any turn and in response to a number of triggers to keep your most valuable Merfolk alive. So long as you can pace out your mana to keep your Merfolk safe, there are very few threats that can disrupt your board.

Tuvasa the SunlitTuvasa the Sunlit

Tuvasa the SunlitTuvasa the Sunlit is a 1/1 Merfolk Shaman that gets +1/+1 for each enchantment you control. Whenever you cast your first enchantment each turn, you draw a card.

Given enchantments' relative difficulty to remove compared to creatures, Tuvasa will typically only grow over the course of a game. As you cast more enchantments that continue to tax your opponents or improve your creatures, Tuvasa benefits. Even if Tuvasa is removed from the battlefield, you can cast it again for a low cost and immediately regain the benefits of its first ability. Having a variety of enchantments that accomplish similar or stacking effects is key, since that minimizes your opponents' ability to remove them even if they have the ability.

Chulane, Teller of TalesChulane, Teller of Tales

Chulane, Teller of TalesChulane, Teller of Tales is a 2/4 Human Druid with vigilance. Whenever you cast a creature spell, draw a card, then you may put a land card from your hand on the battlefield. You may also pay and tap Chulane to return a creature you control to its owner's hand.

Chulane is a creature-casting machine, allowing you to draw cards after casting them, adding lands to increase your mana, then returning cast creatures to your hand to cast them again. Creatures with enter-the-battlefield (ETB) effects are fantastic here, but just about any cheap creature such as Merfolk will allow you to chain casts with ease.

Merfolk MistbinderMerfolk Mistbinder

Merfolk MistbinderMerfolk Mistbinder is a 2/2 that grants your other Merfolk +1/+1. Merfolk enjoy token generation and struggle with low power and toughness, so even a simple boost of +1/+1 is a game changer. Not literally.

Particularly for Merfolk, the ability to increase a handful of one- or two-power creatures that can attack opponents directly vastly improves their offensive capabilities. Any degree of +1/+1 counter generation or other power bonuses will be even more potent on evasive creatures like Merfolk.

Tatyova, Benthic DruidTatyova, Benthic Druid

Tatyova, Benthic DruidTatyova, Benthic Druid is a 3/3 with a landfall ability to gain one life and draw a card each time a land you control enters. This grants you life to help you survive longer, which is necessary given your lack of blockers, and card draw, which is always useful.

Merfolk have multiple ways of cheating lands out onto the battlefield, sometimes synergizing with the explore keyword, meaning this will come up more than once per turn. Even in the midgame, once you have enough mana to cast Tatyova, this will still be relevant.

Mist DancerMist Dancer

Mist DancerMist Dancer is a 3/3 with flying that grants your other Merfolk +1/+0 and flying. It also has encore , allowing you to exile it from your graveyard to create a copy with haste for each opponent. These copies attack each opponent if able then are sacrifice at the beginning of the next end step.

Being able to create three creatures that grant all of your other Merfolk a +3/+0 burst for a turn is necessary for rushing down opponents. Not only will your Merfolk have flying, they'll also have whatever other means of bypassing defenders they naturally have. Ideally, this encore activation happens after multiple turns of chip damage from those Merfolk who are unblockable.

Bident of ThassaBident of Thassa

Bident of ThassaBident of Thassa allows you to draw a card whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player. This, of course, synergizes with the Merfolk ability to attack opponents directly. But it also allows you to pay and tap it to force creatures your opponents control to attack this turn if able.

This means that, should you be in a position to defend yourself, you can forcibly open up the defenses of an opponent by removing their blockers. This doesn't necessarily have to be directed at you, but should you antagonize an opponent it might well be you. So, use this sparingly but don't be too afraid to take a hit. That's both free damage and card draw you gain from it.

Ozolith, the Shattered SpireOzolith, the Shattered Spire

Ozolith, the Shattered SpireOzolith, the Shattered Spire allows you to put one additional +1/+1 counter on an artifact or creature when you would place one or more +1/+1 counters on it. For , you can tap Ozolith to put a +1/+1 counter on an artifact or creature you control.

This enhances your Merfolk attackers, particularly those that can't be blocked. But it also allows you to consistently build up defenders. Not only that, but it increases the number of counters gained from exploring nonland cards as well as any other counter generation Merfolk can access.

Merrow CommerceMerrow Commerce

Merrow CommerceMerrow Commerce allows all of your Merfolk to untap at the end step.

This has the immediate benefit of allowing you to attack without leaving yourself vulnerable, which is doubly useful for creatures that can bypass defenders. But it also allows you to activate other Merfolk abilities reliant on tapping, such as Kumena, Tyrant of OrazcaKumena, Tyrant of Orazca. It opens up the flexibility for you to be more aggressive, a weakness of Merfolk.

Path of DiscoveryPath of Discovery

Path of DiscoveryPath of Discovery gives all of your creatures an ETB to explore.

Merfolk already have ties to exploring, meaning they have effects that synergize with it. Also, being able to have all of your Merfolk gain a +1/+1 counter or more, depending on what utility effects you have active speeds up your growth! It increases the floor of your creatures' stats, allowing you to contend with more threats.

Bred for the HuntBred for the Hunt

Bred for the HuntBred for the Hunt allows you to draw a card whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter deals combat damage to a player.

The condition is stricter than something like Bident of ThassaBident of Thassa, but its effects are functionally similar. Merfolk can explore to gain +1/+1 counters and then bypass defenders via flying, islandwalk, or being unblockable to allow you to draw cards.

Ripples of PotentialRipples of Potential

Ripples of PotentialRipples of Potential proliferates any number of permanents you control, giving any with a counter another counter of each kind it has. Then, it phases out any permanent proliferated this way. Phasing out treats them as if they don't exist until your next turn.

This effectively allows you to phase out a number of creatures with +1/+1 counters and proliferate those counters, protecting your battlefield from a board wipe or allowing you to avoid targeted removal. It only affects permanents with counters on them, meaning you want to maximize the number of counters on permanents you control as opposed to concentrating all of them on a few.

Wave GoodbyeWave Goodbye

Wave GoodbyeWave Goodbye returns each creature without a +1/+1 counter on it to its owner's hand.

Most of your Merfolk will remain on the battlefield, allowing this to be used offensively to clear the opponents' boards before your combat. Alternatively, you can return your own creatures lacking +1/+1 counters on them to cast them an additional time. This can trigger ETB effects native to the creature or granted to it by other spells and abilities.

Summon the SchoolSummon the School

Summon the SchoolSummon the School creates two 1/1 Merfolk Wizard tokens. This sorcery can be returned from your graveyard to your hand by tapping four Merfolk.

This is a fairly expensive but consistent way of generating more Merfolk, with the additional benefit of being a kindred sorcery. It is considered a Merfolk spell despite not being a creature, allowing it to benefit from any effects that care about casting Merfolk spells.

Karn's BastionKarn's Bastion

Karn's BastionKarn's Bastion allows you to proliferate by spending . With how efficiently Merfolk both can produce and rely upon +1/+1 counters, this expedites the process rapidly.

Rogue's PassageRogue's Passage

Rogue's PassageRogue's Passage allows you to make a target unable to be blocked by spending . This is something many Merfolk can already do, meaning Rogue's Passage is primarily to allow for those other Merfolk lacking bypass abilities to keep up with your other creatures. It increases the flexibility of choice you have access to and accelerates your preexisting strategy.

It also allows you to have any summoned or supplementary creatures, such as Leviathans or Krakens, gain the same tempo as your Merfolk.

Merfolk normally intend to chip down opponents over time by attacking with creatures that can't be blocked. They build up their creatures with +1/+1 counters and continuously play lands and draw cards to keep the creatures coming.

They're at their strongest when they can harass an opponent that is otherwise distracted by another threat, given that Merfolk aren't a major target for most of the game. They need to capitalize on their damage over time by rushing down a weak opponent.

Merfolk have fantastic support potential, particularly for Kraken, Leviathan, Serpent, and Octopus creature types, with specific Merfolk synergizing with other creature types, such as Drakes.

This means there are a number of strategies not specifically built around Merfolk that rely upon Merfolk centerpieces, to varying levels of involvement on the part of the Merfolk. Most of these decks still benefit from the involvement of Merfolk as either unblockable attackers or triggers to explore.

For higher brackets, Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle is a Merfolk Game Changer tied to an infamous combo to win the game instantly. You can combine it with any number of cards that remove all cards from your library as an alternate win condition.