Merfolk Looter in the Command Zone
Too Specific Top 11
Aka: I heard people like lists
An Ode Merfolk Looter
The humble Merfolk Looter is a classic card with many variations, from the weird defender with haste to cards even more Bazaar and to cards even more inefficient... so iconic that it’s coined “looting,” to draw and then discard into the MTG lingo forever. Looters represent card selection a type of ephemeral advantage that aims to increase not the number of cards you have, but the quality of the cards in your grip - searching for the right cards to put into your hand while getting rid of the rest. Harkening back to last week’s episode, looting effects are a test of player skill and predictive play, requiring you to constantly be decisive about what cards you need and which cards you don’t. But that’s not the only way to play looters. My old Thraximundar reanimator deck (die Erde unsicher machen) makes use of the discarding aspect to put valuable targets into the graveyard to bring back with reanimation spells.
Indeed, even now, it’s because I’ve been making a deck that I’m writing this episode, a deck which you can find by clicking this link:
Every Merfolk Looter in the Command Zone Rated:
I had a friend who used to play this Jace, back when I played Kothophed as a legend of choice. He played it as a generic mono-blue build, with control, big creatures, and various stuff including mill. The mill ultimate is neat but doesn’t really synergize with the rest of the card, though cards like Sphinx’s Tutelage and Psychic Corrosion can turn the draw from its front side (and let’s be honest, you’re playing blue so you will draw cards) into some library damage. Still, once you flip it you lose the card selection, and -2/-0 isn’t that impactful in EDH in my opinion.
Overall, I give flip Jace 2 grindstones out of 5.
Jacob is not that impressive of a name. I know people named Jacob. Still, everyone loves a classic loot effect. This time you put the cards into exile, meaning you can’t get them with your Mnemonic Deluge but as long as Jacob sticks around you get to flip him into an impulse draw effect. Being enchantment makes Insight hard to deal with, especially in mono-red or mono-black. Still, you have access to any of the cards Jacob has exiled and get to exile a new one every turn, turning your looting into actual card advantage. Plus, you get to play cards without paying their mana cost - omniscience style (once per turn, mind you). The biggest downside is that 4UU is a decent cost of lip, making it slow, and it’s “among cards exiled with this permanent” meaning if you have to re-cast Jacob for whatever reason, those cards are permanently exiled.
I give Jacob 3 funny hats out of 5.
Rona is the merfolk looter I’ve been building. Who would’ve thought that they’d re-used “merfolk looter, but it flips” as a legendary creature so many times? But in this case, we get an additional +1/+1 on the body, we get to untap her whenever we cast a legendary spell, allowing us to use it again, and the flip side is the unholy union of Phyrexian Obliterator and Mindleech Mass. I have to admit I’ve built several of Rona’s cards and am biased toward both Phyrexia and her quest for compleation. Compleat with untap shenanigans, the ability to ping herself and free-cast your own cards or voltron up and free-cast opponents' cards dare they block, and even being the first card on this list to have black in the color identity and not just be mono-blue. Her biggest downside is that you can transform her only as a sorcery.
I give Rona 9 Phyrexian invasions out of 10.
Vohar is interesting because he doesn’t just loot - he turns that looting into damage. I love myself a slow drain (having played Old Rona and several other slow decks - I’ve even killed people with Death of a Thousand Stings), and I love Dimir and also Phyrexia. Our humble untappers, while being good in the other decks, function as a pseudo-win-con here. Further, Vohar can sacrifice himself to effectively flashback a spell, which is definitely neat… but for me, while being fairly close to playable, this second ability saying “activate only as sorcery” is a real dealbreaker. You can’t nab your counterspells, give other cards flash speed, or otherwise play your instants at optimal timing.
This undersea invader gets a solid 4 “swimming with the fishes” out of 5.
Let’s get a little more abstract:
Officially leaving the part of our list where cards are strictly speaking 2 MV creatures that tap to draw and discard, Baral is the first on our list to have a triggered loot rather than an activated one. A built-in cost reduction for instants and sorceries is not, and getting card selection whenever you counter spells is also nice. For me, the biggest downside of Baral is that he incentivizes doing nothing - counterspell tribal is cool in my eyes, but I would like to see a little more action.
I give him 3 glowing blades out of 5.
This “younger brother” is the first card on our list to not cost 2 mana. At 3 mana, and having to pay Mana to activate his looting, he’s more of a bad Dragonborn Looter than a Merfolk Looter. That said, vigilance is nice, and generating Powerstones is nothing to shake a stick at. Mana ramp (even if limited to artifacts and activated abilities - yes you can pay for Urza’s own abilities with Powerstones) on your commander in blue is not too shabby either. Between the card selection, the built-in ramp, and the vigilance (did someone say voltron?), I could see an interesting deck emerging from our favorite eugenicist.
I grant Urza, Lord Young Artificer a whopping 7 tapped Powerstones out of 10.
Alright, let’s not force ourselves into thinking that people are actively trying to activate that expensive looting effect. 2UR is too much to draw and discard, even if you do get a 1/1 flying haste insect in the process. We all know the Locust Swarm comes in a Windfall, not in a loot. Though, perhaps philosophically Tolarian Winds is simply a big loot? Either way, I think this deck is unique and scary, but a bit straightforward as many popular “wheel” commanders tend to be. Notably, this is also the first red card on our list, giving us access to Reforge the Soul.
I give the ten plagues of Egypt 3 dead pharaohs out of 5.
My hot takes and love for silly stuff aside (and my desire to play decks with less than 3000 decks on EDHREC), we’re finally reaching commander playable cards that people run in droves. With over 5000 decks, people love the lich queen, and it’s easy to see why. To start with, liches and zombies are metal. On top of that, this girl encourages you to build zombies and attack with zombies, and she makes zombies herself. Her attack trigger pairs life gain with the looting, and between that and the chumpblock tokens you can probably stay at a reasonably high life total.
I give Varina 8 shambling bodies out of 10.
I must admit that my inner Phyrexian fangirl loves to all 9 spheres how the Surgical Bay’s eyes - and by extension how Unctus with his surgical precision - look. A classic Vedalken that’s a dark twist on Grand Architect, he amplifies other looters (looting twice whenever you tap one?!) and also acts as an anthem for artifact armies and a combo-enabler. Turning this into artifacts is nothing to scoff at, either. My biggest complaint is that he lets you draw your entire deck too easily - just an Aphetto Alchemist untapping itself, or a few other untappers untapping each other.
I give Unctus 4 mechanics eyes out of 5.
I’m sure few people started reading an article about Merfolk Looter and expected to get to the rider of Chaos himself. But it’s only natural… after all, when devils deal damage to other players, you and those players each loot. Well, sort of, you all have to discard a card at random. Pros: Chaos. Aggro. Devil tokens. Cons: “at random.”
Zurzoth gets a randomly generated 4 on a 6-sided die.
Atemsis is another very playable card With a super-loot (draw two, discard one - that’s card advantage), she can help set up a perfect hand. Tapping her to this ability means she won’t attack, but when you do attack, she has flying to help her connect… and if she does connect, you have a powerful on hit trigger that allows you to reveal your hand and kill a player, as if you’d summoned the unstoppable exodia. I can totally see the appeal behind this card, spending all game sculpting a perfect hand and killing someone in one fell swoop. Plus, I just love the flavor of this one. “All-Seeing” is quite the title to have, and she doesn’t have to do that much damage… she just touches you, spreads her wings to show you all those eyes, and totally destroys your mind. She’s just playing a different game. Her biggest downside is that 6 mana is kind of a lot, and she does require setting up a pretty specific hand composition.
I give Atempsis 9 Incredible displays of reverence out of 10.
Honorable Mentions
This card has made his way into my Rona deck and I’ve experimented with him in the command zone as well. He’s pretty fun to use, almost always costing just 2 to cast for a 3/3. What’s important, however, is that whenever you discard a nonland card for any reason, you may cast it (as part of the resolution of the trigger). This means if you can discard a card with instant speed (such as any looter lets you do), you can then cast it at instant speed. He’s like a build-your-own Leyline of Anticipation that you can run in the command zone.
The reason Faldorn didn’t make the list popular is two fold: Firstly, when you discard the card before drawing, it’s usually called “rummaging” rather than “looting,” this is likely a nod to Rummaging Goblin. Secondly, you don’t actually draw a card with Faldorn, you get a type of draw called “impulse draw,” which is definitely a nod to Act on Impulse. Maybe I’ll give her a proper rating when I inevitably make an article about rummagers in the command zone so I can fit in young Mishra. Either way, I’m a pretty big fan of this druid who wishes to revert civilization to nature, and summons an army of wolves in the process.
Conclusion:
There is no real conclusion, but for fun I’ll pull out my personal top 3:
Do with that what you will, or don’t… and feel free to comment your favorite looter, card advantage engine, or phyrexian below…