Gather round, children, it’s time for a story. Is everybody ready? Ok!

Once upon a time, many, many years ago, in a place called Dominaria, there lived a not so happy folk. These grumpy people were not pleased. You see, kids, they had been replaced in the world by the great Magic Gods because someone had decided that it didn’t make sense that creatures with no legs could attack other players. And so, these folk were phased out in favor of giant talking squids.

As you can imagine, there was quite an uproar. Planeswalkers everywhere loved these folk! I mean, who couldn’t love a lord that was more obnoxious than even Goblin King? The Magic Gods heard this great ruckus and feared for their paychecks, because it was the planeswalkers that kept them in such lofty power.

And so, a compromise was set.

Which is why Merfolk are back in Lorwyn. Thanks for throwing us a bone, R&D. We appreciate it.

So let’s talk about the merrow – who they are, what they want, whether they come in peace and all that jazzmatazz. (Please note that Merfolk are not aliens. Try not to confuse the two.)

The merrow are essentially Lorwyn’s Internet. If you need information, ask a merrow. If you need a package delivered to the clachan on the other side of the forest, a merrow will be happy to deliver it, for a price, of course. Just like the Internet, the merrow have little use for the stupidity of others, and their tongues are sharper than any Kithkin sword. The merrow are also characterized by their interest in collecting information, be it exploring new terrain like the inky black waters of the Dark Meanders, to the preservation (and sometimes censorship) of ancient secrets. Because they harbor such secrets, many merrow constantly need to watch what they say; to someone who doesn’t realize this they might come off as being mechanical and boring.

Not only are the merrow the controllers of what goes on in Lorwyn’s rivers (which are aptly named the Merrow Lanes), they also control the flow of the rivers themselves. Water manipulation magic allows them to pick and choose where the rivers flow, and this flow is constantly changing. Unlike other planes, which have oceans like big trucks, Lorwyn is… a series of tubes.

Unlike other races of Merfolk, which usually prefer to spend their time alone, the merrow travel in closely knit groups called schools, which share like minded philosophies and ideologies. Schools form very tight bonds with each other, and to anger one Merfolk will have repercussions echoed through the group.

As always, now I have decide whether or not the merrow fit the colors they’ve been put in according to the color pie. So, let’s review quickly, shall we? Merrow…

Mechanically:

• Tap and untap permanents on both sides of the board,
• Have islandwalk and manipulate lands (a Merfolk staple and one of the reasons I love ‘em. I guess this is why Rootwater Commando was in Xth, eh?).
• Benefit from larger groups and becoming tapped.
• Have a pinch of milling for spice.

Flavor-wise:

• Are thirsty for knowledge.
• Are egomaniacal control freaks.
• Travel in tight-knit groups, a rarity for Merfolk.
• Are traders and diplomats.

These parts as a whole paint a very blatant Blue and White picture. Congratulations, R&D. Among the terrible color pie screw-up that is Lorwyn you managed to pull out at least one tribe that’s actually color-correct.

Interestingly enough, it turns out the merrow are not the creations of Wizards; they are a preexisting subspecies of Merfolk in Irish Gaelic folktales. However, the name is largely where the similarities end.

Gaelic merrow are separated into two classes: the beautiful females and the hideous fish-faced males. Because the men of their species are essentially viper fish with arms, the stories tell of merrow girls who make magical red hats that make them appear human and they marry fishermen. These stories usually end with the merrow getting homesick and returning to the sea. Another story tells of how a group of merrow captured the King of the Fomori (maybe that vanilla 4/4 has some Morningtide buddies) and ripped his arms and legs off. Traditional merrow usually have green hair and webbed fingers in addition to their fish tails.

Actually it turns out that Gaelic folklore has a lot of interesting critters that were left out of Lorwyn, so if that’s something you enjoy like I do, I recommend looking it up!

On that note, here is where another Creature Feature comes to a close. We’ve had fun with Internet memes, magic berets, and most importantly an oft overlooked but actually viable Tribal creature type. Until next time, watch that your wife doesn’t turn into an eel when you aren’t looking. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

~Tekkactus~

Tekkactus is an enigma of an author on Magic Deck Vortex. He rarely ever appears anymore, due to his being very busy working his fingers to the bone on his comic Sandgate. He hates everything and everyone, and that includes you.

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Articles Spotlights from 2007:
Lorwyn Theme Week Intro & Schedule of Events
Blink And Bounce: Timing is Key
Going Blind: XCB Metagaming - A Prolonged Conclusion.
The Science of Magic: Genetic Engineering, Part Two.
Shifting Lineaments: Casual Metagaming (Pt. 2).
The Dungeon Of Malefict: Pure Evil!
Land Week Introduction & Schedule.
Combofusion: Legends Timeshifted.
One Card to Rule Them All: Coastal Piracy
Irrational Love: Chimeras. The Lego's of Magic.