Decks with 4 Snapcasters and 4 Vapor Snag, some number of Push or Path, maybe even Reality Shift if the 2/2 is not a big deal could be something to consider. Burn and a full load of D Palm is something else.

In my experience, the matchup has been about even (with DS probably a bit favored in Game 1, and Merfolk a bit favored postboard), with both sides having powerful tools to bring to bear. That said, my version of the deck has Vapor Snags and Sea’s Claims, which are potent tools to bring to bear against Death’s Shadow’s threats and manabase. Jonathon (the pilot of the Merfolk video, and a rather popular streamer) put up a Grand Prix video, and he feels that Sea’s Claim is very well positioned because of Death’s Shadow and Eldrazi Tron.

Hey Roland,

Lantern’s performance is definitely interesting, by my count it has won three Grand Prix at this point? Could be wrong, just remembering off the top of my head the occasions it has come out of nowhere to win an event. I’m not sure what I can say on the topic with any security, my personal opinion is that the archetype is powerful but beatable with a strong plan and knowledge of the matchup, but it does have the ability to take metagames (and unprepared opponents) by surprise.

As for Merfolk, it would have been interesting to see the finals matchup go differently, the first game he never found a second land and the second was a little one-sided as well. I have just a little experience in the matchup and it felt favorable for me (Death’s Shadow) but Merfolk has tools to fight back and they can present a lot of damage quickly. I would be interested to see a version that makes use of Vapor Snag and how it performs against Death’s Shadow.

Thanks,
Trevor

I’m only a few matches in to testing with the archetype, but I’ve played Jund twice and I definitely feel a lot better about the matchup than I did before. Not ready to call it great yet, but it is for sure no longer horrible.

Trevor

I thought about discussing Lantern Control, but chose to leave that open for others to attack the topic. Mainly I was interested in the biggest storyline out of each event, and Lantern Control’s finish took second to Dredge in my mind.

Fair criticism though, as the champion of the Grand Prix should at least get some recognition. Thanks for the feedback!

Trevor

Zach,

That’s a great point that really contributes to the strength of the deck. Lightning Bolt is pretty bad against it, which is a great spot to be if you’re the Death’s Shadow deck. The ability to blank one of the best removal spells in the format holds a lot of value

I know that your focus here was on the overarching narratives (namely that Dredge and Death’s Shadow are still forces to be reckoned with, and that Jeskai Control still has a pulse), but I was wondering what your thoughts were on some of the other lists. Lantern beating Dredge is no surprise given the matchup, but Lantern taking down Grand Prix Brisbane is an eyebrow-raiser. A lot of people had left the deck for dead of late, but here it is winning on the biggest stage.

I’d also like to hear your thoughts on the Merfolk deck that claimed 2nd place at Grand Prix Vancouver, and coming very close to spoiling Death’s Shadow’s coming-out party. Again, people assumed that the deck would take a hit with the printing of Fatal Push, but the opposite is turning out to be case – its meta share is only going up. Looking forward to hearing your opinion on these.

That’s all i needed to hear. Thank you!

Yes, that’s my fault… I got it; I just have tons of stuff to work through. You’re on my short list of people to contact about primers, once I get the first one up.

I didn’t even know that was a political hashtag.

All this being said, I *did* end up submitting a 2999-word Lantern article a week ago and still haven’t heard as much as a “Hey we got it, give us a few weeks to see if we’ll run it or reject it”…

You’re free to call out bias and criticize our articles. Please don’t include hashtags with very clear political implications. I strongly prefer not to delete comments but I will if I feel they are too off topic.

how’s that political? don’t get triggered, i was just calling it for what it is. this site has been biased against lantern from the beginning. even when it won okc, ya’ll made every excuse under the sun except that it was a good deck.

That does seem like a gap in our analysis here. That said, let’s please keep the political stuff out of posts.

I think you can make a case that Snapcaster Mage decks are in okay shape too, assuming they have enough removal between Fatal Push, Path to Exile and/or Terminate. That brings up what may be the biggest issue – Lightning Bolt is virtually useless against the deck. By the time a creature comes out it will probably be X/4.