I've been looking to build a non-green edh deck for quite awhile when I saw a pretty cool Merieke Ri Berit deck played on the SCG Vs. series. I threw the list together with a few changes based on the cards I had, and I'm really enjoying the deck. I really like that the primary focus of the deck is to control the board, steal creatures, and gain incremental value through flickering, but sometimes it's not enough and having a combo to fall back on if the game goes long is necessary. What I want to do is squeeze in two or three ways to end the game without being dedicated to the combo or diluting the deck with cards that don't synergize with the strategy. For example I have Rings and Basalt Monolith in the deck. Rings work will with Merieke's activated ability and Monolith works will with the flicker and untap effects I have in the deck, but I don't really have much to do with infinite colorless mana. So I'm considering Staff of Domination, which fits in well with the theme of the deck on its own. What's an easy way to turn the colorless mana into colored mana? And what are infinte mana mana sinks that are good without infinite mana?
I'm also looking at Peregrine Drake/Palinchron with Deadeye Navigator to provide infinite colored mana. Deadeye pairs up with other creatures in my deck well enough that I don't mind seeing him without an infinite pay off. Currently he can flicker Mnemonic Wall to get back Time Warp for infinite turns. Venser, the Sojourner also works with the wall. I'm considering fitting in an Eldrazi Displacer, but I'm not sure I have enough colorless sources to make him worthwhile if I don't have infinite colorless going.
What kind of combos would fit in to this deck where the individual pieces are good on their own?
Places that I'm looking to start cutting to fit these cards in are flicker effects that return the creatures to their owner's control like Momentary Blink, Kaya, Flickerwisp, and Felidar Guardian. I usually end up with opponent's creatures that I'm not always willing to part with so I thought that'd be a good starting point to cut.
A couple of easy combos that have incremental value on their own:
- Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Triskelion. Trike can be a little sketchy but it’s not the worst thing to flicker, and Mike is a stud in any deck with creatures.
- Karmic Guide and Reveillark. Both are staples in white decks, and it doesn’t take much else to win on the spot.
In general, if you have an infinite combo, try picking up each individual piece and ask yourself if you’d run it without the other parts.
A fun card i used to play with when I had merieke together was Bastion Protector.
It protects merieke AND it lets you steal opponents commanders and untap merieke without killing their commanders
Puppet Strings can be a good colorless mana sink, particularly if you use Unbender Tine or something similar(note: While *I* like it, most will argue that it's not worth the 4 mana you pay to get it on the field. I maintain that it can get its value out in most decks, especially ones tuned to take advantage of it.).
Crab Umbra is wonderful, and I can't recommend that enough. It's just too good on Merieke to not run it.
A long combo(as in, 3 pieces) that you could consider to set up for infinite colored mana is Filigree Sages, Training Grounds and Khalni Gem. You can swap almost any of those pieces out for what you have, but the end result is the same.
I'm also looking at Peregrine Drake/Palinchron with Deadeye Navigator to provide infinite colored mana. Deadeye pairs up with other creatures in my deck well enough that I don't mind seeing him without an infinite pay off. Currently he can flicker Mnemonic Wall to get back Time Warp for infinite turns. Venser, the Sojourner also works with the wall. I'm considering fitting in an Eldrazi Displacer, but I'm not sure I have enough colorless sources to make him worthwhile if I don't have infinite colorless going.
What kind of combos would fit in to this deck where the individual pieces are good on their own?
Places that I'm looking to start cutting to fit these cards in are flicker effects that return the creatures to their owner's control like Momentary Blink, Kaya, Flickerwisp, and Felidar Guardian. I usually end up with opponent's creatures that I'm not always willing to part with so I thought that'd be a good starting point to cut.
1x Merieke Ri Berit
Land (35)
1x Adarkar Wastes
1x Arcane Lighthouse
1x Arcane Sanctum
1x Caves of Koilos
1x Command Tower
1x Dreadship Reef
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Fetid Pools
1x Flooded Strand
1x Glacial Fortress
1x Godless Shrine
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Irrigated Farmland
6x Island
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Marsh Flats
1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
3x Plains
1x Polluted Delta
1x Prairie Stream
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Sunken Hollow
3x Swamp
1x Underground River
1x Wasteland
1x Watery Grave
Enchantment (4)
1x Pemmin's Aura
1x Retreat to Coralhelm
1x Rhystic Study
1x Search for Azcanta Flip
Planeswalker (4)
1x Jace, Ingenious Mind-Mage
1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1x Kaya, Ghost Assassin
1x Venser, the Sojourner
Creature (20)
1x Baleful Strix
1x Brago, King Eternal
1x Clever Impersonator
1x Deadeye Navigator
1x Ephara, God of the Polis
1x Evil Twin
1x Fatestitcher
1x Felidar Guardian
1x Flickerwisp
1x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
1x Grave Titan
1x Mnemonic Wall
1x Restoration Angel
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
1x Stonecloaker
1x Sun Titan
1x The Scarab God
1x Trophy Mage
1x Vizier of Tumbling Sands
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Arcane Denial
1x Cloudshift
1x Cryptic Command
1x Eerie Interlude
1x Force of Will
1x Ghostly Flicker
1x Hero's Downfall
1x Mana Drain
1x Momentary Blink
1x Mortify
1x Path to Exile
1x Swords to Plowshares
Artifact (17)
1x Azorius Signet
1x Basalt Monolith
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Commander's Sphere
1x Conjurer's Closet
1x Dimir Signet
1x Illusionist's Bracers
1x Magewright's Stone
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Paradox Engine
1x Rings of Brighthearth
1x Sol Ring
1x Static Orb
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Thousand-Year Elixir
1x Thran Dynamo
Sorcery (6)
1x Austere Command
1x Bribery
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Ponder
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Time Warp
Maybe Creatures (16)
1x Aphetto Alchemist
1x Ashen Rider
1x Cloudblazer
1x Dragonlord Silumgar
1x Duplicant
1x Eldrazi Displacer
1x Gilded Drake
1x Glen Elendra Archmage
1x Hostage Taker
1x Karmic Guide
1x Mulldrifter
1x Palinchron
1x Snapcaster Mage
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Torrential Gearhulk
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Blue Sun's Zenith
1x Capsize
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Vampiric Tutor
Maybe Enchantments (2)
1x Crab Umbra
1x Freed from the Real
Maybe Sorceries (1)
1x Merciless Eviction
Maybe Artifacts (4)
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Mana Crypt
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Staff of Domination
1x Unbender Tine
Maybe Lands (3)
1x Academy Ruins
1x Strip Mine
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
- Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Triskelion. Trike can be a little sketchy but it’s not the worst thing to flicker, and Mike is a stud in any deck with creatures.
- Karmic Guide and Reveillark. Both are staples in white decks, and it doesn’t take much else to win on the spot.
In general, if you have an infinite combo, try picking up each individual piece and ask yourself if you’d run it without the other parts.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
It protects merieke AND it lets you steal opponents commanders and untap merieke without killing their commanders
Crab Umbra is wonderful, and I can't recommend that enough. It's just too good on Merieke to not run it.
A long combo(as in, 3 pieces) that you could consider to set up for infinite colored mana is Filigree Sages, Training Grounds and Khalni Gem. You can swap almost any of those pieces out for what you have, but the end result is the same.
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)