After having run with the deck straight out of the box, with minor upgrades and a version that predominantly featured good/fun cards from my binder, it became time to give Meren her own true identity in my little line up of EDH decks. While I did enjoy playing with those cards that I couldn’t fit elsewhere, it was sacrificing a lot of consistency so now the darlings had their chance I’ve gone and made severe cuts in their line up.
My renewed list takes inspiration from a Seton Breakneck Combo build, taking aspects of it that interested me and bring it into a shell that suits me and my playstyle a bit more. I know that not running several of the cards in the original list means losing out on tempo and efficiency, but has made the list more affordable for me and since my meta isn’t that cutthroat it won’t hurt the deck too much. In fact, I know that the biggest impact on the deck is more than likely the decision to run Meren as it’s Commander instead of using one of the better mono green Legends that are out there and even in the deck. That’s something I am well aware of but it’s something I’m willing to work with.
Now onto the list itself, the build itself is mostly a centered around Elves and Druids, using them to generate a load of mana and then just going for an Overrun effect to try and take the win. Meren is there to potentially help bring back any pieces that get removed, as well as to help us run Shaman of the Pack as another way to push through damage with our Elves should the board get clogged.
Intending to run a few cards from C17 means I have to wait a little bit longer before I can put the deck to the test outside of some goldfishing, but also gives time to get some input and suggestions for the deck from others as well. And allow me some time to potentially acquire these cards as well.
Before going into which cards I'm pretty much still considering for the deck and the debate of what to cut for them. Vraska the Unseen is undoubtedly a card that has a more questionable inclusion. It's a slot where a different card would probably be better, but getting to kill a player with one of those tokens is just simply one of those hidden achievements you hope to get one day. The other notable inclusion is probably Underworld Connections, as most will agree that running either Phyrexian Arena or Greed would be better in many ways. Thing is the deck does some untap shenanigans so I want to see how much that works with Underground Connections. I might switch it out for Arena down the line but for the moment I'm trying to see what this card does.
Onto the cards that are still considerations:
Exsanguinate - The deck is geared to make a fair bit of mana and pumping it into this spell seems like a good finisher. Alternatively I could run Tendrils of Agony but that feels slightly less consistent.
In the process of trying to tweak the list as I wait on a few cards to arrive later this week, making notes on which cards I potentially could (or probably should) cut in the current list. Did realize I forgot to add Riftsweeper to deal with any exiling of key pieces, not sure how necessary the card will be so putting it off to the side into the maybe pile for now.
Still undecided on whether to run Reliquary Tower, it be useful when casting Decree of Pain but other then that card draw is somewhat limited in the deck so not sure if I want to add another colorless source. Additionally, I do have a Ghost Quarter and Bojuka Bog laying around that I could run but again with the current mana base I'm not sure if running them is worth it. The Bog still might be a worthwhile inclusion since graveyard stuff is a thing in some decks in my meta.
Am still getting a Concordant Crossroad, so still need to make a cut for that card. I'm also contemplating Herald's Horn for the deck but not sure what to cut for it either. Additionally, I've been tempted to run Parallel Lives since I have an unused copy laying around but chances are the deck just doesn't have enough token generation to warrant running it.
Made some minor tweaks to the list after some more goldfishing with the deck. Petrified Field can be nice to bring back a land but Wirewood Lodge can actually help the deck forward, so much like Riftsweeper I am going to keep Petrified Field in my binder until I feel I really need those effects in the deck.
When drafting the deck together, Haunted Crossroads looked interesting but just didn't do that much in testing. While I was looking for a spot to potentially bring in Concordant Crossroads I ended up bringing in Mirage Mirror first as it has far more utility. The haste effect is nice but you're pretty much going to have it in your hand until you actually need the haste, as you don't want to give others the benefit of it more than you do.
So narrowing down cards that maybe should get cut:
Filth - Has the option to bring out a win and help you get past any defenses, whether the deck truly needs the card definitely can be debated. On a site note to this, if this card gets taken out then Urborg is might to go as well.
Perilous Forays - The deck needs a few sacrifice outlets and there are others to consider as well. Viscera Seer is one that comes to mind as an alternative that is more easy to cast and doesn't require mana to activate. However, the deck does rely a lot on creatures for mana and Forays can help reduce the set back after a boardwipe, something which this deck is bound to provoke.
Caller of the Claw - Can be sometimes seen as a dead card if you hold onto it for its ability, since you pretty much want to cast it straight after a wipe to build up a board. So probably a darling I should consider cutting more.
Throne of the God-Pharaoh - Haven't seen it that much in game yet making it tougher to make an initial call on this card, having a bunch of mana dorks around the damage is likely to slowly rack up though and thus warrants a stay for now.
Vraska the Unseen - Normally an easy cut, but like stated before its somewhat of a pet card and for now this card remains in for that reason.
Those cards are currently the standouts to me, some could argue that Sheoldred and Sidisi are debatable as well but in testing so far they did what they are expected to do even if you can most likely put more efficient cards into the deck. But that comes more down to the fact that the deck is likely better as mono green.
Either way onto the cards that are still under consideration. There are the aforementioned Petrified Field and Riftsweeper that I'm keeping on the side, and I have a spare Ghost Quarter for that purpose as well in my binder.
Concordant Crossroads - An interesting card but might not be worth a slot after all, as the deck doesn't have Chord of Calling and Tooth and Nail in order to dump something on the board that needs haste.
Herald's Horn - This card seems interesting since this is a tribal deck that relies on elves and druids. Card advantage is important to the deck and the cost reduction isn't all that bad, but its also been tough to put it in over something else.
Exsanguinate - Probably should be running this, with enough mana its a finisher and additionally the life gain can buy a little bit more time. Opted to run Filth over it to play into the creature heavy aspect of the deck, since this is pretty much a one-shot kind of deal.
Bojuka Bog - Having a little graveyard hate probably won't hurt, coming into play tapped is a minor downside to it, so might still consider adding it.
Reliquary Tower - More and more I'm leaning towards just not running it, yeah, it can hose me with a big Decree of Pain but that feels also just like it and I don't need too many colorless sources.
Parallel Lives - Doubling up on Prowess of the Fair and other token generation feels tempting, but this card is going to draw removal and I'm still not sure whether we actually run enough token generation for it. Mirage Mirror probably is the better alternative here which is why that card is in the deck.
Additionally, I've been tempted by Champion of the Stray Souls, but the card feels more or less like a trap as setting it up is like magical Christmasland. As in essence it can allow you to generate tokens with Prowess of the Fair, which can be returned by the Champion. Which in essence nets you some minor ETB triggers and experience counters but those can be neglected. Creature wise your not gaining, but if you do have Concordant Crossroads you can do this over and over, basically build up a storm count of sacrificed creatures and use Caller of the Claw to make a load of bear tokens. If you can add in Parallel Lives it could go really out of control, though you'd probably should run Diabolic Revelation over Parallel Lives to get all your pieces. Definitely seems like a fun thing to do but might be more a combo to include for more casual/durdly games.
With C17 being out in a few days I am working on narrowing down that maybe list and see about making those final cuts. Of course, going over things I ended up also considering other cards, but most of those didn’t work too well with the overall synergy of the deck. Like Garruk Wildspeaker looks tempting on paper, but having an elf do roughly the same is better.
So first of all, time to make more cute cuts. Parallel Lives and Champion of Stray Souls are now off the list since they are pretty much limiting in their contribution to the deck. The durdly combo mentioned before is fun perhaps in a really casual game but even if you manage to get all the pieces going its still one hell of a tracking game of mana left in your mana pool, how many sacrifices made and such. It’s simply likely that the math changes each loop and tracking that is simply time you could spend on the next game. So in other words, better to keep it simple for the entire table, which is also more efficient for the deck itself.
Next, the considered lands. I’m sticking to the opinion that the deck just doesn’t need Reliquary Tower that much, as actually more card draw might be good for the deck. Furthermore, Elves are generally not waiting on colorless mana, even Sol Ring was left out for that reason. [b]Bojuka Bog[/c] can have it’s uses but for now I’m not going to run it, rather have an untapped land for the time being and put this land into my binder along with the other cards I reserved for potential meta adjustments.
Herald’s Horn, as a new card its tougher to evaluate and frankly if the deck had been mono green I would have more likely found a way to give it a go. I just have other cards I’d probably want to run first and thus I’m going to just have it be a consideration for down the line, as the only way it potentially could go in right now is if I felt that I could cut another land.
Having trimmed down that list a bit it’s now time to get into the tougher choices.
Exsanguinate remains high on my list of considerations and it’s pretty much competing with the slot Filth is in. It’s probably the wrong choice to stick with Filth for the time being, but it just feels like a more consistent option to sneak in damage and go under the radar. Exsanguinate definitely has bigger upsides but also quite vulnerable to counter magic.
The one card I do want to bring into the deck is Concordant Crossroads, timing is quite important when it comes to this card as you want to drop it at the most advantageous moment. As a one drop its fairly easy to have the mana for that. I’ve been over my list numerous of times and I feel that if a cut is to be made, its probably going to have to be between Sheoldred and Sidisi. And in that regard, I think Sidisi is the one that probably should get the axe here; as while the tutoring is nice, it does fuel Meren and is easier to cast I do feel that Sheoldred can help more when a game ends up running longer and keep the deck from totally running out of steam. Maybe if the deck ends up drawing too much graveyard hate then I might change that around, but I think that’s the way to go for now.
So making that change I think the initial list seems pretty much set. I do feel the deck is still light on draw and tutoring, especially with Sidisi being taken out. The only way to adjust that would maybe be by taking out a board wipe and use a more proactive card, though my current options in that regard are limited to either Diabolic Revelation or Diabolic Tutor to really dig for a card I need. Harmonize as straight card draw or cave in and use this slot to bring back Sidisi. Just not sure right now if I want to tinker with my limited amount of answers, as while the curve definitely would benefit from taking out a sweeper if that was the reason I’d probably be better even better with Fyndhorn Elves or Boreal Druid.
And I do know that perhaps these posts aren’t about active changes to the deck, it’s also about the thought process and well typing out these things does help putting cards in a certain perspective. Besides, you never know if one of your thoughts might help others, either with suggestions of their own or towards their own deck.
Done some more goldfishing and testing while I wait for my preordered cards to arrive tomorrow and made some small adjustments based on those experiences.
I did play around without running Sidisi, Undead Vizier as previously mentioned, but ended up deciding that its currently better to have him in the deck after all. The deck is still somewhat light on card draw and tutors, so taking Sidisi out just wasn't helping in that regard. I did look at some alternatives like Harmonize but since we do run some recursion I think Sidisi can do more. I still want to run Concordant Crossroads and instead of cutting Sidisi I opted to make the better call of taking out Caller of the Claw, it's just too reactive and plays much less into what the deck wants to do. There are some fun plays with it but in the end it might be just one of those darlings to cut.
Additionally, I am looking to cut Filth as well. It can be a decent win condition if you don't get trample, but it's probably better if you have infinite token generation. The biggest issue I found the card has in this deck is that its a nonbo with Meren of Clan Nel Toth, her ability is not a may and on more games than I'd liked I was forced to take it out of the graveyard. Since this isn't a dedicated Meren deck, I only run a few sac outlets and thus getting him back in there can occasionally be challenging. And having to replay him does open the card up to more removal that exiles. It's definitely an interesting card and fun to play with, but might just not be good enough to run it.
So if Filth is getting cut, I'm looking at cutting Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth as well. It's good fixing and aided with the swampwalk, but without Filth it's more likely to be helping out fixing opponents more than me, so that's definitely worth consideration. Might be just better off with a basic land here or consider Bojuka Bog if I willing accept that it comes in tapped.
As far as replacing Filth goes, currently torn between three cards and while it's tempting to go with Exsanguinate as a new blowout card, it might be better to use a simple Diabolic Tutor instead for added consistency or even Rhonas's Monument which can pretty much function like Ezuri, Renegade Leader and/or Kamahl, Fist of Krosa with providing pump and trample. The Monument is obviously less efficient since it only pumps one creature at a time but the cost reduction might be nice when bouncing and recasting creatures a lot.
I went ahead and took out Filth, while interesting the deck simply can do better and in that I ended up with Rhonas's Monument as it's replacement. Which provides a little bit of cost reduction and with Temur Sabertooth it can go pretty wild.
While mana is generally not an issue Decree of Pain is a high CMC card. The card draw is nice but since I'm holding off on running Reliquary Tower for the moment I'm better off cutting it. Alternatively, I could have cut Kindred Dominance but I'd like to try that card a bit more and in case of a stalemate it just has more potential. So to bring in Toxic Deluge I went and cut the Decree for now.
I switched out two basic Swamps for two basic Forests, as being able to cast my mana dorks reliably is important so this will increase the odds of that happening. Probably will still need to cut Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth as well, it's great fixing but it's more likely to help my opponents more than it does me. Or I might end up bringing in Ghost Quarters just to potentially deal with someone playing Cabal Coffers.
Speaking of interaction, I decided that the deck could do with a tad bit more removal and since we do have Meren at the helm, I decided to bring in Merciless Executioner and have it bounce around to force some sacrificing. Making a cut for it was a tough decision, but ended up taking out Imperious Perfect. It's a good elf to have but haven't made too many tokens with him and the buff isn't keeping stuff from dying that much, so running the Executioner in its place to hopefully get a better effect for the same CMC.
Bloom Tender definitely deserves a slot in this deck.
I know, if it was a little cheaper to acquire it would have gone into the deck already, so for now Quirion Elves has to do work as it's budget replacement.
Ixalan looks to give me at least one spicy addition for this deck in Growing Rites of Itlimoc and since original Cradle is far beyond my budget for some time to come, this card already hit my preorders. One downside is that I have land tutors and creature tutors, so I need something to be able to dig for this as well. It took a lot of contemplating but I think I'll be looking out to get a copy of Demonic Tutor to help with this situation.
Because of that I'm more likely to take out Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, I already contemplated it's inclusion but it will make up a little for getting the tutor. Additionally, I might be cutting Sheoldred, Whispering One as well, she is undoubtedly good but also has a big target on her and so far I've not gotten to a point where Meren could bring her back. Trading her in with Urborg definitely helps with the budgeting.
Also, to help lowering the curve a bit, I am contemplating taking out Kindred Dominance. Taking out a sweeper might not be that good, but gives another slot to try things with as want to try and run Viscera Seer in the deck as an additional sac outlet.
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My renewed list takes inspiration from a Seton Breakneck Combo build, taking aspects of it that interested me and bring it into a shell that suits me and my playstyle a bit more. I know that not running several of the cards in the original list means losing out on tempo and efficiency, but has made the list more affordable for me and since my meta isn’t that cutthroat it won’t hurt the deck too much. In fact, I know that the biggest impact on the deck is more than likely the decision to run Meren as it’s Commander instead of using one of the better mono green Legends that are out there and even in the deck. That’s something I am well aware of but it’s something I’m willing to work with.
Now onto the list itself, the build itself is mostly a centered around Elves and Druids, using them to generate a load of mana and then just going for an Overrun effect to try and take the win. Meren is there to potentially help bring back any pieces that get removed, as well as to help us run Shaman of the Pack as another way to push through damage with our Elves should the board get clogged.
1x Meren of Clan Nel Toth
Creature (36)
1x Arbor Elf
1x Argothian Elder
1x Birchlore Rangers
1x Caustic Caterpillar
1x Copperhorn Scout
1x Elves of Deep Shadow
1x Elvish Archdruid
1x Elvish Harbinger
1x Elvish Mystic
1x Elvish Visionary
1x Eternal Witness
1x Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1x Gilt-Leaf Archdruid
1x Joraga Treespeaker
1x Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1x Karametra's Acolyte
1x Krosan Restorer
1x Llanowar Elves
1x Merciless Executioner
1x Priest of Titania
1x Quirion Elves
1x Quirion Ranger
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Seton, Krosan Protector
1x Shaman of the Pack
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1x Soul of the Harvest
1x Spore Frog
1x Temur Sabertooth
1x Voyaging Satyr
1x Wirewood Channeler
1x Wirewood Symbiote
1x Yeva, Nature's Herald
1x Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
1x Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury
1x Vraska the Unseen
Instant (5)
1x Beast Within
1x Benefactor's Draught
1x Crop Rotation
1x Kindred Summons
1x Vitalize
Sorcery (6)
1x Green Sun's Zenith
1x Jarad's Orders
1x Kindred Dominance
1x Sylvan Scrying
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Victimize
Enchantment (8)
1x Concordant Crossroads
1x Evolutionary Leap
1x Lignify
1x Perilous Forays
1x Prowess of the Fair
1x Quest for Renewal
1x Song of the Dryads
1x Underworld Connections
Artifact (10)
1x Cloudstone Curio
1x Golgari Signet
1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Mirage Mirror
1x Rhonas's Monument
1x Skullclamp
1x Sword of the Paruns
1x Throne of the God-Pharaoh
1x Umbral Mantle
1x Command Tower
1x Deserted Temple
14x Forest
1x Gilt-Leaf Palace
1x High Market
1x Hissing Quagmire
1x Llanowar Wastes
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Path of Ancestry
1x Rogue's Passage
2x Swamp
1x Tainted Wood
1x Temple of Malady
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Wirewood Lodge
1x Woodland Cemetery
Before going into which cards I'm pretty much still considering for the deck and the debate of what to cut for them. Vraska the Unseen is undoubtedly a card that has a more questionable inclusion. It's a slot where a different card would probably be better, but getting to kill a player with one of those tokens is just simply one of those hidden achievements you hope to get one day. The other notable inclusion is probably Underworld Connections, as most will agree that running either Phyrexian Arena or Greed would be better in many ways. Thing is the deck does some untap shenanigans so I want to see how much that works with Underground Connections. I might switch it out for Arena down the line but for the moment I'm trying to see what this card does.
Onto the cards that are still considerations:
- Filth
- Decree of Pain
- Imperious Perfect
- Swamp (2x)
+ Rhonas's Monument
+ Toxic Deluge
+ Merciless Executioner
+ Forest (2x)
August 25th, 2017
- Caller of the Claw
+ Concordant Crossroads
August 22th, 2017
- Haunted Crossroads
- Petrified Field
+ Mirage Mirror
+ Wirewood Lodge
August 19th, 2017
- Taunting Elf
- Diabolic Tutor
- Forest
- Swamp
+ Krosan Restorer
+ Quirion Ranger
+ Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
+ Petrified Field
.
Still undecided on whether to run Reliquary Tower, it be useful when casting Decree of Pain but other then that card draw is somewhat limited in the deck so not sure if I want to add another colorless source. Additionally, I do have a Ghost Quarter and Bojuka Bog laying around that I could run but again with the current mana base I'm not sure if running them is worth it. The Bog still might be a worthwhile inclusion since graveyard stuff is a thing in some decks in my meta.
Am still getting a Concordant Crossroad, so still need to make a cut for that card. I'm also contemplating Herald's Horn for the deck but not sure what to cut for it either. Additionally, I've been tempted to run Parallel Lives since I have an unused copy laying around but chances are the deck just doesn't have enough token generation to warrant running it.
When drafting the deck together, Haunted Crossroads looked interesting but just didn't do that much in testing. While I was looking for a spot to potentially bring in Concordant Crossroads I ended up bringing in Mirage Mirror first as it has far more utility. The haste effect is nice but you're pretty much going to have it in your hand until you actually need the haste, as you don't want to give others the benefit of it more than you do.
So narrowing down cards that maybe should get cut:
Those cards are currently the standouts to me, some could argue that Sheoldred and Sidisi are debatable as well but in testing so far they did what they are expected to do even if you can most likely put more efficient cards into the deck. But that comes more down to the fact that the deck is likely better as mono green.
Either way onto the cards that are still under consideration. There are the aforementioned Petrified Field and Riftsweeper that I'm keeping on the side, and I have a spare Ghost Quarter for that purpose as well in my binder.
Additionally, I've been tempted by Champion of the Stray Souls, but the card feels more or less like a trap as setting it up is like magical Christmasland. As in essence it can allow you to generate tokens with Prowess of the Fair, which can be returned by the Champion. Which in essence nets you some minor ETB triggers and experience counters but those can be neglected. Creature wise your not gaining, but if you do have Concordant Crossroads you can do this over and over, basically build up a storm count of sacrificed creatures and use Caller of the Claw to make a load of bear tokens. If you can add in Parallel Lives it could go really out of control, though you'd probably should run Diabolic Revelation over Parallel Lives to get all your pieces. Definitely seems like a fun thing to do but might be more a combo to include for more casual/durdly games.
So first of all, time to make more cute cuts. Parallel Lives and Champion of Stray Souls are now off the list since they are pretty much limiting in their contribution to the deck. The durdly combo mentioned before is fun perhaps in a really casual game but even if you manage to get all the pieces going its still one hell of a tracking game of mana left in your mana pool, how many sacrifices made and such. It’s simply likely that the math changes each loop and tracking that is simply time you could spend on the next game. So in other words, better to keep it simple for the entire table, which is also more efficient for the deck itself.
Next, the considered lands. I’m sticking to the opinion that the deck just doesn’t need Reliquary Tower that much, as actually more card draw might be good for the deck. Furthermore, Elves are generally not waiting on colorless mana, even Sol Ring was left out for that reason. [b]Bojuka Bog[/c] can have it’s uses but for now I’m not going to run it, rather have an untapped land for the time being and put this land into my binder along with the other cards I reserved for potential meta adjustments.
Herald’s Horn, as a new card its tougher to evaluate and frankly if the deck had been mono green I would have more likely found a way to give it a go. I just have other cards I’d probably want to run first and thus I’m going to just have it be a consideration for down the line, as the only way it potentially could go in right now is if I felt that I could cut another land.
Having trimmed down that list a bit it’s now time to get into the tougher choices.
Exsanguinate remains high on my list of considerations and it’s pretty much competing with the slot Filth is in. It’s probably the wrong choice to stick with Filth for the time being, but it just feels like a more consistent option to sneak in damage and go under the radar. Exsanguinate definitely has bigger upsides but also quite vulnerable to counter magic.
The one card I do want to bring into the deck is Concordant Crossroads, timing is quite important when it comes to this card as you want to drop it at the most advantageous moment. As a one drop its fairly easy to have the mana for that. I’ve been over my list numerous of times and I feel that if a cut is to be made, its probably going to have to be between Sheoldred and Sidisi. And in that regard, I think Sidisi is the one that probably should get the axe here; as while the tutoring is nice, it does fuel Meren and is easier to cast I do feel that Sheoldred can help more when a game ends up running longer and keep the deck from totally running out of steam. Maybe if the deck ends up drawing too much graveyard hate then I might change that around, but I think that’s the way to go for now.
So making that change I think the initial list seems pretty much set. I do feel the deck is still light on draw and tutoring, especially with Sidisi being taken out. The only way to adjust that would maybe be by taking out a board wipe and use a more proactive card, though my current options in that regard are limited to either Diabolic Revelation or Diabolic Tutor to really dig for a card I need. Harmonize as straight card draw or cave in and use this slot to bring back Sidisi. Just not sure right now if I want to tinker with my limited amount of answers, as while the curve definitely would benefit from taking out a sweeper if that was the reason I’d probably be better even better with Fyndhorn Elves or Boreal Druid.
And I do know that perhaps these posts aren’t about active changes to the deck, it’s also about the thought process and well typing out these things does help putting cards in a certain perspective. Besides, you never know if one of your thoughts might help others, either with suggestions of their own or towards their own deck.
I did play around without running Sidisi, Undead Vizier as previously mentioned, but ended up deciding that its currently better to have him in the deck after all. The deck is still somewhat light on card draw and tutors, so taking Sidisi out just wasn't helping in that regard. I did look at some alternatives like Harmonize but since we do run some recursion I think Sidisi can do more. I still want to run Concordant Crossroads and instead of cutting Sidisi I opted to make the better call of taking out Caller of the Claw, it's just too reactive and plays much less into what the deck wants to do. There are some fun plays with it but in the end it might be just one of those darlings to cut.
Additionally, I am looking to cut Filth as well. It can be a decent win condition if you don't get trample, but it's probably better if you have infinite token generation. The biggest issue I found the card has in this deck is that its a nonbo with Meren of Clan Nel Toth, her ability is not a may and on more games than I'd liked I was forced to take it out of the graveyard. Since this isn't a dedicated Meren deck, I only run a few sac outlets and thus getting him back in there can occasionally be challenging. And having to replay him does open the card up to more removal that exiles. It's definitely an interesting card and fun to play with, but might just not be good enough to run it.
So if Filth is getting cut, I'm looking at cutting Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth as well. It's good fixing and aided with the swampwalk, but without Filth it's more likely to be helping out fixing opponents more than me, so that's definitely worth consideration. Might be just better off with a basic land here or consider Bojuka Bog if I willing accept that it comes in tapped.
As far as replacing Filth goes, currently torn between three cards and while it's tempting to go with Exsanguinate as a new blowout card, it might be better to use a simple Diabolic Tutor instead for added consistency or even Rhonas's Monument which can pretty much function like Ezuri, Renegade Leader and/or Kamahl, Fist of Krosa with providing pump and trample. The Monument is obviously less efficient since it only pumps one creature at a time but the cost reduction might be nice when bouncing and recasting creatures a lot.
While mana is generally not an issue Decree of Pain is a high CMC card. The card draw is nice but since I'm holding off on running Reliquary Tower for the moment I'm better off cutting it. Alternatively, I could have cut Kindred Dominance but I'd like to try that card a bit more and in case of a stalemate it just has more potential. So to bring in Toxic Deluge I went and cut the Decree for now.
I switched out two basic Swamps for two basic Forests, as being able to cast my mana dorks reliably is important so this will increase the odds of that happening. Probably will still need to cut Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth as well, it's great fixing but it's more likely to help my opponents more than it does me. Or I might end up bringing in Ghost Quarters just to potentially deal with someone playing Cabal Coffers.
Speaking of interaction, I decided that the deck could do with a tad bit more removal and since we do have Meren at the helm, I decided to bring in Merciless Executioner and have it bounce around to force some sacrificing. Making a cut for it was a tough decision, but ended up taking out Imperious Perfect. It's a good elf to have but haven't made too many tokens with him and the buff isn't keeping stuff from dying that much, so running the Executioner in its place to hopefully get a better effect for the same CMC.
Because of that I'm more likely to take out Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, I already contemplated it's inclusion but it will make up a little for getting the tutor. Additionally, I might be cutting Sheoldred, Whispering One as well, she is undoubtedly good but also has a big target on her and so far I've not gotten to a point where Meren could bring her back. Trading her in with Urborg definitely helps with the budgeting.
Also, to help lowering the curve a bit, I am contemplating taking out Kindred Dominance. Taking out a sweeper might not be that good, but gives another slot to try things with as want to try and run Viscera Seer in the deck as an additional sac outlet.