This is a standard aggro Merfolk build I have been working on for a while now.

The reason Merfolk has a chance in modern and legacy is because of its evasion. The ability to have islandwalk makes the deck outstandingly strong. The standard version of Merfolk, I believe, will want to do the same thing. having mostly creatures and a lot of evasion this should be able to outplay a large amount of decks in the current meta.

Suggestions strongly recommended.

UPDATE:After extensive play-testing against top decks in the format, I believe this is the Merfolk build to beat. It is absolutely the fastest version out there and can can easily out bust Red Deck Wins(Rumanap Red). Curious Obsession is a probably the strongest turn two play on your Mist-Cloaked Herald Dropping that turn 2 while holding up green for a Blossoming Defense is truly an unbeatable pace in the current format. Turn 3 you are looking for either a Silvergill Adept or Merfolk Branchwalker into a Kumena's Speaker. Playing a River Sneak can be strong here as you could easily drop 3 merfolk on turn 4. All this build up to a massive swing on turn 4 with the Merfolk Mistbinder will easily spell doom for your opponent.

Sideboard is still a work and progress and will be posted in a few days when I can work on some best of 3s.

Thanks for reading,TheDoc