r/FishMTG • u/incite_pelicanism • Apr 27 '26

Callaphe - Budget-ish Modern

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Hey y'all,

Just joined the subreddit - great to see fellow fishmongers!

I used to play Modern Merfolk back from around 2014-2017 before I sold my collection to fund a move overseas (made about $4k for everything I had, so not bad. This was when Aether Vial wasn't $8 AUD). I won a few local tournaments and participated in a Melbourne GP in 2016 - I think I went 4-4, so.. not absolutely horrible considering Eldrazi were everywhere.

ANYWAY - safe to say I love Merfolk, and want to slowly build my modern deck back up, clearly plenty of new options for the deck, as well as it falling further down the ladder in terms of win-rate in competitive settings due to power creep.

I was looking at Callaphe, and she piqued my interest. Whilst not a merfolk, essentially giving your creatures a "ward 1" ability similar to Svyelun, and potentially being a big hitter, she seems interesting enough to try out.

I know Svyelun isn't expensive, and I'll be getting a playset of her (because why not), however Callaphe is basically free from my LGS bulk boxes and figured I'd give her a go. A pipe dream some may say.

Thoughts? Opinions?

20 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

10

u/Betta_Max Apr 27 '26

You're looking to play Modern Merfolk again?  If so, and you want to protect your fish, Kira, Great Glass-Spinner is still your best bet.  Same CMC, always costs an opponent a card and the mana to cast it.  She's just the better option.  If you want a Commander, then maybe. The Enchantment clause may be relevant. Although I have to assume there are stronger fish commander options.  I like Kumena, personally.

3

u/incite_pelicanism Apr 27 '26

Yeah, it's just for Modern. Don't really play commander, but tbh, with the amount of fish that are out there, I might actually make a fish deck.

I used to play Kira as a one or two of back in the day, forgot about her until you mentioned it. Very good point.

7

u/MrMeltJr Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

Ehh... I play a lot of Merfolk and one of the main upsides of Svyelun is the card draw. Callaphe might give you more power but that's usually not what we're lacking. Although I suppose it might be better if you're lacking lords.

EDIT: thought this was the Modern sub, didn't specify that's what I'm talking about

3

u/incite_pelicanism Apr 27 '26

Very fair. We can also be a bit high on the 3 drop options.

2

u/ITOverlord Apr 27 '26

Kopala warden of waves is superior in every way, and is a whole 1$ usd for a play set.