Shoal Serpent + Spire Serpent Somehow not the worst blue serpents, Shoal Serpent and Spire Serpent are totally different cards if you squint hard at them while they sit in your shoebox of unplayable blue commons
It cant bring them back from the realm of the dead, only protect them from venturing there in the first place
Not only does this creature protect itself, but it provides each other Merfolk you control with Ward 1, making them also more difficult to remove
That means more surveil, but also more reanimation, bounce, a counterspell, and a bit of graveyard hate for other decks that might be trying a reanimation strategy too
Copies of spells are never cast from a player's hand, so Wash Away can counter copies of spells even if its cleave cost wasn't paid, regardless of whether the original spell being copied was cast from a player's hand
Whats so great about them is that they can be played on turn one, so you can start ramping up towards your win condition as soon as the game starts