A video coding device configured according to some aspects of this disclosure includes a memory configured to store a plurality of motion vector candidates. Each motion vector candidate can corresponding to at least one of a plurality of prediction units (PUs) partitioned in a parallel motion estimation region (MER). The video coding device also includes a processor in communication with the memory. The processor is configured to select a subset of the plurality of motion vector candidates to include in a merge candidate list. The selection can be based on a priority level of each motion vector candidate. The processor can be further configured to generate the merge candidate list to include the selected motion vector candidates.