There are some pretty good merfolk creatures in Ixalan, but they are probably the tribe I’m least excited about. First up let’s talk about the two legendary merfolk in the set.
On paper Kopala seems good, but it’s basically just going to eat your opponent’s first removal spell. It might slow them down a bit, but if they have cards that are going to target your merfolk, I can’t imagine he sticks around long. If he had hexproof it would be far more viable, but also probably a little too overpowered. As is, I’m not a fan.
I hate this card. Tishana, Voice of Thunder costs way too much to play in a merfolk deck and I’ve never liked cards that are dependent on you having tons of cards in hand to be good. The best thing about this turd is her name.
Merfolks in Ixalan are all about +1/+1 counters, as you can see above. Below are some cards that give you benefits for playing merfolk. I’m not sure if merfolk will be a viable deck in standard, but it should be interesting to see what people brew up with them.
As I’ve done with the other tribes, here are a few other merfolk cards from the set. As an aside, I love the name River Sneak and I also rather like the flavor text on that card.
