Pre-emptive apology about formatting since I'm posting on mobile.
In a multi-player Commander game with 3 or more players (Player A, B, C) - say player A controls a Notion Thief. Player B (active player) has "infinite" mana and is going to cast Stroke of Genius to have someone draw their deck. If Player B targets Player C with Stroke for say, 300, Player A will draw their deck instead.
But my question is, if Notion Thief causes Player A to deck himself and lose, will Player C have to draw the remainder from the Stroke?
IE can Player B kill two people at once with Notion Thief out?
Melek is not an easy commander to build around or play. Just like a Rube Goldberg Machine, the deck takes time to get there but it can be spectacular to watch your work pay off!
Disclamier; there's only 34 Land in the deck. While it makes opening hands kind of rough, the deck goes through cards very quickly with blue card draw and filtering.
So how does it win?
The answer is choose! There's a grapeshot in the deck that can certainly kill. Red Sun's/Comet Storm can make people unhappy. Talrand can create quite the army to beat face.
But of course getting to that point is the crux of our Machine.
We start by playing artifacts for ramp, thinning out the deck by taking lands, and drawing/scrying through the top of our library.
Melek rarely comes out early because it is hard to get value out of him once he dies even once because 6 mana is a feat to get to in UR reliably like green decks, let alone 8 if he dies.
Our main engine becomes Temple Bell with a Transreliquat copying that and maybe the Metamorph too so we have 3 Bells.
Maybe we are pitching lands to re-cast Oona's Grace? At this point there is so much card drawing we can choose what we want on top to set up crazy plays with Melek.
Thassa gives us tremendous advantage and since she hardly ever becomes a creature herself she's safe for the most part.
Dominus of Fealty comes in handy, surprisingly, since it can grab anything! Land, creature, enchantment, you name it he can grab it for us for a turn.
Hostility has come in pretty handy to triple damage output if life totals are out of control. Suddenly your 40-mana sunk Red Sun becomes 120 damage in the form of 40 3/1 hasty dudes.
Vedalken Aethermage is really only there to fetch us Talrand or Melek (or Elite Arcanist if we are feelin' frisky).
Elite Arcanist is cute; but he can do a lot in the deck. Rapid Hybridization is fun as is Vapor Snag.
And of course we know why Trinket Mage is in here.
Both Chandras have been fantastic actually. Pyromaster gives us interesting choices but is mostly used for +0 to remove top cards. Firebrand is super helpful by allowing us to copy our spells further.
And Tamiyo has been helpful in slowing opponents down.
Our best counter to any deck, really, is the Counterbalance + Soothsaying/Sensei's Divining Top synergy.
Any spell in the 1-4 CMC range will be toast (thought that does not bode well for late game but hopefully we'd have counters).
A lot of the power in this deck is taking advantage of openings in opponents' plays and just playing a really solid game of solitaire with yourself (lol).
With that being said the most reliable way I've won is just drawing through my deck, playing High Tide, and hitting a Red Sun's off the top.
I am hesitant in what cards to add since it is hard trying to figure out which cards should be taken out.
With the (relatively) small mana base, I'm wary about taking out mana rocks (even the 'bad' ones).
Not to mention that this list is kind of budget-y.
But here's some thoughts about what can be considered:
I'm sure there's a bunch of cards that could be added and upgraded and I'd love to hear what they would be!
This deck is pretty fun in a "Pass-Go-EXPLOSIONS" kind of way but it is SLOW and not particularly reliable.
But if that's not what you wanted why are you playing Melek anyway?!
In a multi-player Commander game with 3 or more players (Player A, B, C) - say player A controls a Notion Thief. Player B (active player) has "infinite" mana and is going to cast Stroke of Genius to have someone draw their deck. If Player B targets Player C with Stroke for say, 300, Player A will draw their deck instead.
But my question is, if Notion Thief causes Player A to deck himself and lose, will Player C have to draw the remainder from the Stroke?
IE can Player B kill two people at once with Notion Thief out?
Melek is not an easy commander to build around or play. Just like a Rube Goldberg Machine, the deck takes time to get there but it can be spectacular to watch your work pay off!
Disclamier; there's only 34 Land in the deck. While it makes opening hands kind of rough, the deck goes through cards very quickly with blue card draw and filtering.
So how does it win?
The answer is choose! There's a grapeshot in the deck that can certainly kill. Red Sun's/Comet Storm can make people unhappy. Talrand can create quite the army to beat face.
But of course getting to that point is the crux of our Machine.
We start by playing artifacts for ramp, thinning out the deck by taking lands, and drawing/scrying through the top of our library.
Melek rarely comes out early because it is hard to get value out of him once he dies even once because 6 mana is a feat to get to in UR reliably like green decks, let alone 8 if he dies.
Our main engine becomes Temple Bell with a Transreliquat copying that and maybe the Metamorph too so we have 3 Bells.
Maybe we are pitching lands to re-cast Oona's Grace? At this point there is so much card drawing we can choose what we want on top to set up crazy plays with Melek.
Thassa gives us tremendous advantage and since she hardly ever becomes a creature herself she's safe for the most part.
Dominus of Fealty comes in handy, surprisingly, since it can grab anything! Land, creature, enchantment, you name it he can grab it for us for a turn.
Hostility has come in pretty handy to triple damage output if life totals are out of control. Suddenly your 40-mana sunk Red Sun becomes 120 damage in the form of 40 3/1 hasty dudes.
Vedalken Aethermage is really only there to fetch us Talrand or Melek (or Elite Arcanist if we are feelin' frisky).
Elite Arcanist is cute; but he can do a lot in the deck. Rapid Hybridization is fun as is Vapor Snag.
And of course we know why Trinket Mage is in here.
Both Chandras have been fantastic actually. Pyromaster gives us interesting choices but is mostly used for +0 to remove top cards. Firebrand is super helpful by allowing us to copy our spells further.
And Tamiyo has been helpful in slowing opponents down.
Our best counter to any deck, really, is the Counterbalance + Soothsaying/Sensei's Divining Top synergy.
Any spell in the 1-4 CMC range will be toast (thought that does not bode well for late game but hopefully we'd have counters).
A lot of the power in this deck is taking advantage of openings in opponents' plays and just playing a really solid game of solitaire with yourself (lol).
With that being said the most reliable way I've won is just drawing through my deck, playing High Tide, and hitting a Red Sun's off the top.
Artifacts
1 Temple Bell
1 Manalith
1 Aether Spellbomb
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Izzet Keyrune
1 Vessel of Endless Rest
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Izzet Cluestone
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Traveler's Amulet
1 Mask of Avacyn
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Mizzium Transreliquat
1 Strionic Resonator
1 Crawlspace
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
Creatures
1 Vedalken Aethermage
1 Elite Arcanist
1 Dominus of Fealty
1 Hostility
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Trinket Mage
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Aetherize
1 Brainstorm
1 Dissipate
1 Oona's Grace
1 Starstorm
1 Unsummon
1 Telling Time
1 Comet Storm
1 Smelt
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 High Tide
1 Seething Song
1 Counterflux
1 Vapor Snag
1 Electrolyze
1 Smash
Our Lovely Lab Assistants
1 Chandra, the Firebrand
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
Enchantments
1 Arcane Melee
1 Frozen Aether
1 Counterbalance
1 Soothsaying
1 Eyes of the Watcher
Sorceries
1 Telemin Performance
1 Divination
1 Pyroclasm
1 Deep Analysis
1 Temporal Fissure
1 Call to Mind
1 Preordain
1 Reconstruction
1 Mystic Retrieval
1 Ponder
1 Fabricate
1 Past in Flames
1 Grapeshot
1 Inner Fire
1 Red Sun's Zenith
1 Command Tower
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Izzet Guildgate
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Forgotten Cave
10 Mountain
16 Island
I am hesitant in what cards to add since it is hard trying to figure out which cards should be taken out.
With the (relatively) small mana base, I'm wary about taking out mana rocks (even the 'bad' ones).
Not to mention that this list is kind of budget-y.
But here's some thoughts about what can be considered:
1 Slagstorm
1 Curse of the Swine
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Banefire
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
1 Aeon Chronicler
1 Proteous Staff (ONLY IF WE DECIDE TO GO CREATURELESS)
1 Jace, The Mind Sculptor (or any Jace, really)
I'm sure there's a bunch of cards that could be added and upgraded and I'd love to hear what they would be!
This deck is pretty fun in a "Pass-Go-EXPLOSIONS" kind of way but it is SLOW and not particularly reliable.
But if that's not what you wanted why are you playing Melek anyway?!