Awesome deck list, Meren is a lot of fun. I read your disdain for Birthing Pod, but I wanted to echo everyone else: I think it's too good to not run in a deck with valuable ETBs and graveyard recursion.
Awesome deck list, Meren is a lot of fun. I read your disdain for Birthing Pod, but I wanted to echo everyone else: I think it's too good to not run in a deck with valuable ETBs and graveyard recursion.
I know I know! Everyone's been giving me hell for it I will eventually find room for it again. My lack of good experiences with it is really what is just hurting me, as it's ending up like Mimic Vat where it becomes a huge mana sink that does little to nothing for me, as I'd rather play cards in my hand or something.
I really like your build. It seems alot faster than mine, more about hitting the combo kill than trying to play Midrange stax. I dont know if I have any suggestions though. Overall it looks really solid.
strionic resonator is insanely good. Copying Meren's endstep trigger has so many crazy things you can do with it.
1- bonus xp: getting a fleshbag marauder variant gets you another exp counter before the copied trigger resolves, so the second trigger gets a bigger creature than the first one could.
strionic resonator is insanely good. Copying Meren's endstep trigger has so many crazy things you can do with it.
1- bonus xp: getting a fleshbag marauder variant gets you another exp counter before the copied trigger resolves, so the second trigger gets a bigger creature than the first one could.
Made some changes to my build, cutting less than stellar performers and things that hurt me in the long run.
-1 Phyrexian Arena, +1 Read the Bones
Sick of seeing this card, I really am. It's the continued lifeloss I dislike the most, or drawing it late. It also draws alot of hate. I hope Read will get me that lifeloss and card quality over quantity.
-1 Primal Growth , +1 Wickerbough Elder
I need the removal from cards like Wickerbough and Caterpillar more for when Torpor Orb hits. Primal is good on paper, but I'd hate to draw it late or early when I have nothing for the Kicker. It goes to the maybeboard.
-1 Swamp, +1 Volrath's Stronghold
I hesitate to add too many colorless lands, but there are many times mid/late game I need to return multiple creatures to play with Meren. Or some low cmc utility creature and a fatty. I can return the little guy to the top of the deck to be drawn the next turn instead.
-1 Corpse Augur, +1 Birthing Pod. I dont much like more lifeloss in the deck unless it's big impact. Augur is very meh and at best was netting me a few cards when I was already ahead to take advantage of his ability (himself, sac outlet, creatures in the grave), and at most, I'd want to get 2-5 cards to hand to not lose too much life nor get too much hate directed my way. I'd rather have another sac outlet combined with a tutor engine, especially now that I have more value at CMC4, which used to be the weakspot in the deck. We'll see how it performs. It very much feels like theres too many tutors as is.
So, Puppeteer was one of those pieces that always popped up and I never had targets for it, or I couldnt get it to land and grab juicy targets and make it matter. It works well with Meren's ability since you get to keep those creatures until your next end step, but it wasnt worth the setup for the payoff. So I removed him. Just too often he was a dead card or i wish i had anything else. Grim Haruspex is the same way. I do too many tokens, as other players told me, and even when he works (like after a Wrath I might draw 2-5 cards), I'd be better off with better card draw.
In it's place, and I feel bad doing this, but Triskeleon to help end games quickly with Mike. Despite getting good lockdowns, I need a way to just end it. Sometimes folks just get out from under my lock. Agent is there as another way to deal with graveyard decks.
More efforts to speed up the deck and reduce the curve. Oracle wasnt super stellar and was always on the cutting board. Visionary helps me get ahead by cantripping early, and isnt terrible to return to play if there is nothing else to do. I want to continue to add more smaller creatures, like Deathrite Shaman, Birds of Paradise, etc, that can help me ramp faster, earlier. All this while continuing to focus on the token stax gameplan. Might have to cut some fatties, or non-creature removal, but I want to add back in Smokestax, Phyrexian Devourer, and Necrotic Ooze.
Pattern does great work, but I want to speed up the deck, even at the cost of life. Need to find Contamination/token generators/Ashnod's altar earlier. I felt Pattern just helped me find Gary, but Gary himself doesnt let me win. Vampiric lets me hit more relevant spells at the cost of life. With Birthing Pod back in, it has added Synergy with Pattern, but yet, is also another creature tutor.
I want to replace Farhaven Elf with Nissa, Vastwood seer once she rotates. Grave Titan with Smokestax or Death Cloud.
Zulaport Cutthroat, despite his usefulness and the fact I just nabbed a foil, is replaced by Birds of Paradise. I just need more of those dorks, like I mentioned above. I dislike them for being useless on the turn they enter play, but it's a way to speed up my turns 1-4.
If I'm going to keep the count I have of fatties in, I need fatties that also makes bodies, but also are real threats. Grave Titan has always just been a way to force a wipe, but Wurmcoil survives wipes.
strionic resonator is insanely good. Copying Meren's endstep trigger has so many crazy things you can do with it.
1- bonus xp: getting a fleshbag marauder variant gets you another exp counter before the copied trigger resolves, so the second trigger gets a bigger creature than the first one could.
The copied ability ends up higher on the stack, and resolves first. However, this still works, since Meren can target any card in the graveyard, and the 'to hand' vs 'to battlefield' check is done on resolution. You just target a card with 1 higher cost than your XP counters with her ability, then copy the ability, and let the copy get back something smaller and sac it. When Meren's original trigger resolves, you'll have enough counters to return it to the battlefield.
Meren hands out EXP counters like candy though, so I don't really see this coming into play much.
Assembling combos all at once is powerful, but this only works if it's a surprise. If people have already seen the Resonator and see you mill the combo into the grave, then they'll know what's up. Either they'll stop you, or not. If not, then the resonator was the same as any other reanimation spell.
===
In the end, Strionic Resonator ends up being an Animate Dead that can be reusable, but is also dependent on your Commander. Having an extra reusable animation for only 2 mana is really good, but the possibility of it being dead on the board, and losing the strength of traditional Animate Dead (using before Meren comes out/has enough exp, or using on opponents' grave) makes me question the pros and cons. You'd really have to value the synergy gained, other cards it can impact in your deck, against the immediate speed and power of Animate Dead, I think.
If I'm going to keep the count I have of fatties in, I need fatties that also makes bodies, but also are real threats. Grave Titan has always just been a way to force a wipe, but Wurmcoil survives wipes.
Mitotic Ooze? Pairs well for Meren with other sac outlets. EXP counters like candy! Survives multiple wipes!
If I'm going to keep the count I have of fatties in, I need fatties that also makes bodies, but also are real threats. Grave Titan has always just been a way to force a wipe, but Wurmcoil survives wipes.
Mitotic Ooze? Pairs well for Meren with other sac outlets. EXP counters like candy! Survives multiple wipes!
More or less Wurmcoil overall, despite not spitting out as many bodies, helps keep rattlesnakes on the board and keep our life total stabilized, which is incredibly helpful. Mitotic is a consideration, but is just a vanilla creature at the end of the day.
Krosan was removed with the advent of cheaper creatures that produce mana, as well as him being a weird pet card. Not that he was bad, but just slow, and better mid/late game as a mana dump and a Meren target. Lowering our curve enables more Meren targets that actually impact our board.
Swiftfoot boots and Lightning Greaves have been removed. Seems an odd choice, but I dont face much single target removal much anymore, and since we have few ways to tutor boots/greaves, and typically tutor other things, they were mostly dead slots, only occasionally protecting Meren when they are actually out on the field.
Hypnotist enters as a sacrifice outlet that can further strip hands of powerful players. I've found hand destruction is a powerful subtheme that I want to chase along with the Grave Pact token theme.
Death Cloud enters as another wincon and way to control the board, along with its brother Pox already doing heavy work. I dislike seeing this early, unlike Pox, but it gives us a really great way to close out the game, especially vs control decks.
I really dislike creatures like Pawn of Ulamog as they greatly depend on non-token creatures, and we like tokens. They also do nothing on their own and require us to be ahead... only to net more dudes. Sifter is a bit different, being very on the curve, if it matters, but generating a token on its own, allowing us to have an easy way to generate mana, an experience counter, and to be able to Scry off of Sifter. Scrying isnt particularly powerful, but it can help us find the land, tutor, enchantment, etc we need next turn. It is on the testing table, and might be replaced with Magus of the Abyss.
Removed: Devoted Druid
Added: Diligent Farmhand
Someone mentioned wanting to cut Krosan Wayfarer and Diligent Farmhand from his build, and I found I'd really like him in my build. Despite the fact he doesnt generate mana like Druid, I found Druid was slow. It goes infinite with Mike, but we dont need the green mana. If I ever add in Exsanguinate and the Coffers package, it will make an appearance. Farmhand is another one drop, which we lack dearly, and does what Dawntreader Elk does: Sacrifices itself to find a basic land card. Lowering the curve is incredibly important. Even if both he and Druid do nothing the first turn they're out, they both accomplish similar ends.
I really want to fit in Liliana, Heretical Healer, Reanimate, and Magus of the Abyss. I'm not sure if it's less removal I need, cut some of the really pitiful draw like Elvish Visionary/Read the Bones, or things like Krosan Grip that I have covered via creatures, albiet without the surprise and Split Second. Reanimate lets me rely less on my commander and surprise folks. Liliana allows us to further make opponents discard cards. I dont see using her -X much. She's a rattlesnake. The Magus as more creature based stax.
Wickerbough Elder cannot remove himself, so he cant generate counters. I'd prefer Sylvok Replica for not needing a specific mana source for early plays, and his abilily to do the same, at one less mana. Losing him isnt a big deal. Llanowar Elves comes in to speed the deck up.
Agent was an inclusion I didnt think about fully, as I am currently moving the deck in more of a fast, token stax based build, with smatterings of combo, and he's just too costly for what I want to do. It really only hoses Kharador and while that's an issue in my meta, I should be focusing on having bodies to sacrifice to remove their pieces prior to them being able to combo off. Phyrexian Reclaimation comes in to give us more ways to continue to rebuild the board after wipes, which has been a big issue, or save things prior to graveyard hate.
Visionary was a flex slot. It's just.. eh. Arena comes back to replace it.
Nether Traitor was always... meh. He could be abusable but most of the time was a poor mana sink like Resassembling Skeleton. Or I'd forget about him. Devoted Druid comes back in for another early removable mana dork to replace him.
edit: I'm really hoping to make room for more mana dorks, Ancient Tomb, and Mana Crypt.
Unpopular cuts, but Regrowth clogs your hand and should be replaced with more relevant answers, reanimation, and tutors. Putrefy as well, we deal with Creatures much better now, with Attrition and others. Artifacts were not super concerned about, and if we are, Slime or Sage them. Map is a stand in for Crop Rotation for now to find Altar/Ancient Tomb/etc. From Beyond was replaced to lower our curve, as well as less reliance on poor token producers. With the direction I'm taking the deck, it doesnt have the same priority, although it is nice. Swamps come out for cards from my other decks that should have been here anyway. Recplica replaces Avenger, as I needed to lower my curve. Avenger was never stellar except for making chaff or forcing a wrath. It's because we dont abuse landfall (yet). It was between him or Massacre Wurm, and I need the help vs token decks more. In addition, Farhaven for a better mana dork.
The deck has been performing admirably with the changes, and as such, I've decided to increase the power a bit with Lilly and try out Abom again. Executioner, while the effect is good, I dont need that many edict effects once I have Grave Pact out. What I need is ways to refill my hand and keep the pressure on. Obviously Lilly is good here for that purpose, but I think Viel is better still.
Death Cloud, with as aggressive as this deck is, is overkill. However, GH comes back in to provide us with more gas since we're running more creatures than ever. He's very iffy, but I'm hoping to take better advantage of him with our oodles of new sac outlets and engines.
Mystic are a stand in for Deathrite Shaman / Arbor Elf. (I cant find mine!). Acidic Slime is no longer that useful and it hurts the curve HARD for its effect, which we now have in spades. It goes to the maybe board. Devoted Druid is replaced by Elves. Carrion Feeder is another cheap sac outlet that can get big enough to be threatening. The last one was more difficult, but sorry Smothering Abomination, you're out just for now given your conditions. I need these other cards more! I'll see about the amount of mana dorks, as he could make a return easily (as always, he is a flex slot.) Oppression is more pain for the opponents. We focus heavily on tutoring Mindslicer, Gary, and a sac outlet. Once you have their hands stripped, keeping them down is important, especially when they need to spend two tng about it.
I used to play this deck a lot, but real life made me sell a lot of my cards. I was debating on building one EDH deck to play semi-competitively with a bunch of friends. On a serious note, how good is this deck in a cutthroat enviroment? Would it just get destroyed by a really good Prossh deck? or shutout by a Brago deck, or be eaten by something like Raz's Jarad deck?
I'm debating on building a Meren deck, Jarad Deck, or a Gitrog deck. I know it's going to be a BG deck, just not sure which one I want to play yet. What do you recommend?
I used to play this deck a lot, but real life made me sell a lot of my cards. I was debating on building one EDH deck to play semi-competitively with a bunch of friends. On a serious note, how good is this deck in a cutthroat enviroment? Would it just get destroyed by a really good Prossh deck? or shutout by a Brago deck, or be eaten by something like Raz's Jarad deck?
I'm debating on building a Meren deck, Jarad Deck, or a Gitrog deck. I know it's going to be a BG deck, just not sure which one I want to play yet. What do you recommend?
Jarad and Gitrog lend themselves more to combo, Meren to reanimation/stax. It's a personal preference.
This tends to fight with the best of them, but it's definitely nowhere near as good as my Brago/Daretti deck for instance, in terms of pure speed and stax. However, you can tune to it fit your needs. It really hurts opponent's hands, so it really helps neuter control/combo, and cleans the board quickly, so it hoses aggro. It has the most issues with tokens.
After a game, I realized I have a ton of 1 drop dorks now, but lack two drops. Devoted needs to come back in as a Birthing Pod target/mana dork. Plus, it also produces GG for Contamination in case we need to recast Meren. Altar was there for this, but isnt needed anymore really.
What do you think about black market or defense of the heart for this deck
I am thinking about trying them out but I don't have much time to test
I cut Black Market pretty early due to the fact that by the time it comes down, you really don't need the excess mana unless you're trying to Exsanguinate everyone, and that is a completely different build. Defense of the Heart I think is more of a meta call. I definitely think it's worth running to find the Mike and Trike combo!
While I'm still looking to make room for Necrotic ooze, Void Winnower and Phyrexian Devourer, these were easier to make. Shifter is replaced by someone who can do targeted graveyard hate, gain us life, make opponent's lose life, and ramp is in a pinch. Reanimate is removed for Animate Dead due to lifeloss issues.
Catacomb Shifter went away, then returned for more testing. Some unpopular changes here, but Buried Alive becomes an incredible wincon by fetching Ooze, Devourer, and Trike, then returning Ooze to play with Meren. This also gives us a third major wincon outside of Mike+trike and draining everyone to death with Gary/Koko puffs. Green Sun comes in, and should have been here to begin with. I guess I kept misreading that it places the creature into play... So the cuts. Sheoldred was a huge rattlesnake and just ate removal. Not that it was a bad thing, but it typically didnt help as our opponents would have so many creatures we needed more triggers, or she wouldnt have any targets to return to play. In addition, she does little for our gameplan besides disruption and recursion, and her CMC is incredibly restrictive. Just wasnt working out. Same with Rune Scarred, which is an overcosted Demonic Tutor on a flying body, but didnt do much else. So 99% of the time, both were essentially dead cards that I overvalued due to their triggers. Liliana is solid, but requires too much investment for too little gain. I already need a solid board, and she generally returns small creatures to play. I can see placing her back in here as time goes on, but she's not essential.
I was a big fan of Ophiomancer and Liliana, but agree with the additions. I may playtest Catacomb Shifter but it hasnt dobe well for me in the past. I may try something to add thoae 2 cards back in.
Any input on the competitive Meren decklist I'm working on? http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/meren-stax-ultimate-edition/
I know I know! Everyone's been giving me hell for it I will eventually find room for it again. My lack of good experiences with it is really what is just hurting me, as it's ending up like Mimic Vat where it becomes a huge mana sink that does little to nothing for me, as I'd rather play cards in my hand or something.
I really like your build. It seems alot faster than mine, more about hitting the combo kill than trying to play Midrange stax. I dont know if I have any suggestions though. Overall it looks really solid.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
1- bonus xp: getting a fleshbag marauder variant gets you another exp counter before the copied trigger resolves, so the second trigger gets a bigger creature than the first one could.
2- instant death triggers: butcher of malakir or Liliana, heretical healer plus a creature that kills itself (sakura-tribe elder, fleshbag marauder variants) will instantly get the 'another creature dies' ability of the first card
3- win the game: mikaeus, the unhallowed +triskelion, necrotic ooze + corpse connoisseur, jarad, golgari lich lord + phyrexian devourer OR lord of extinction
Modern: U Tron U/
Commander: Prime Speaker ZeganaUG, Oros, the Avenger RBW
I'm not attempting to play combo, per my OP, it's a midrange staxy build, and I'd rather Magus of the Abyss to lower my curve over Butcher.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
-1 Phyrexian Arena, +1 Read the Bones
Sick of seeing this card, I really am. It's the continued lifeloss I dislike the most, or drawing it late. It also draws alot of hate. I hope Read will get me that lifeloss and card quality over quantity.
-1 Primal Growth , +1 Wickerbough Elder
I need the removal from cards like Wickerbough and Caterpillar more for when Torpor Orb hits. Primal is good on paper, but I'd hate to draw it late or early when I have nothing for the Kicker. It goes to the maybeboard.
-1 Swamp, +1 Volrath's Stronghold
I hesitate to add too many colorless lands, but there are many times mid/late game I need to return multiple creatures to play with Meren. Or some low cmc utility creature and a fatty. I can return the little guy to the top of the deck to be drawn the next turn instead.
-1 Corpse Augur, +1 Birthing Pod. I dont much like more lifeloss in the deck unless it's big impact. Augur is very meh and at best was netting me a few cards when I was already ahead to take advantage of his ability (himself, sac outlet, creatures in the grave), and at most, I'd want to get 2-5 cards to hand to not lose too much life nor get too much hate directed my way. I'd rather have another sac outlet combined with a tutor engine, especially now that I have more value at CMC4, which used to be the weakspot in the deck. We'll see how it performs. It very much feels like theres too many tutors as is.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Triskeleon
Agent of Erebos
Removed:
Puppeteer Clique
Grim Haruspex,
So, Puppeteer was one of those pieces that always popped up and I never had targets for it, or I couldnt get it to land and grab juicy targets and make it matter. It works well with Meren's ability since you get to keep those creatures until your next end step, but it wasnt worth the setup for the payoff. So I removed him. Just too often he was a dead card or i wish i had anything else. Grim Haruspex is the same way. I do too many tokens, as other players told me, and even when he works (like after a Wrath I might draw 2-5 cards), I'd be better off with better card draw.
In it's place, and I feel bad doing this, but Triskeleon to help end games quickly with Mike. Despite getting good lockdowns, I need a way to just end it. Sometimes folks just get out from under my lock. Agent is there as another way to deal with graveyard decks.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
- Pattern of Rebirth + Vampiric Tutor
- Zulaport Cutthroat + Birds of Paradise
More efforts to speed up the deck and reduce the curve. Oracle wasnt super stellar and was always on the cutting board. Visionary helps me get ahead by cantripping early, and isnt terrible to return to play if there is nothing else to do. I want to continue to add more smaller creatures, like Deathrite Shaman, Birds of Paradise, etc, that can help me ramp faster, earlier. All this while continuing to focus on the token stax gameplan. Might have to cut some fatties, or non-creature removal, but I want to add back in Smokestax, Phyrexian Devourer, and Necrotic Ooze.
Pattern does great work, but I want to speed up the deck, even at the cost of life. Need to find Contamination/token generators/Ashnod's altar earlier. I felt Pattern just helped me find Gary, but Gary himself doesnt let me win. Vampiric lets me hit more relevant spells at the cost of life. With Birthing Pod back in, it has added Synergy with Pattern, but yet, is also another creature tutor.
I want to replace Farhaven Elf with Nissa, Vastwood seer once she rotates. Grave Titan with Smokestax or Death Cloud.
Zulaport Cutthroat, despite his usefulness and the fact I just nabbed a foil, is replaced by Birds of Paradise. I just need more of those dorks, like I mentioned above. I dislike them for being useless on the turn they enter play, but it's a way to speed up my turns 1-4.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
If I'm going to keep the count I have of fatties in, I need fatties that also makes bodies, but also are real threats. Grave Titan has always just been a way to force a wipe, but Wurmcoil survives wipes.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Meren hands out EXP counters like candy though, so I don't really see this coming into play much.
Assembling combos all at once is powerful, but this only works if it's a surprise. If people have already seen the Resonator and see you mill the combo into the grave, then they'll know what's up. Either they'll stop you, or not. If not, then the resonator was the same as any other reanimation spell.
===
In the end, Strionic Resonator ends up being an Animate Dead that can be reusable, but is also dependent on your Commander. Having an extra reusable animation for only 2 mana is really good, but the possibility of it being dead on the board, and losing the strength of traditional Animate Dead (using before Meren comes out/has enough exp, or using on opponents' grave) makes me question the pros and cons. You'd really have to value the synergy gained, other cards it can impact in your deck, against the immediate speed and power of Animate Dead, I think.
Mitotic Ooze? Pairs well for Meren with other sac outlets. EXP counters like candy! Survives multiple wipes!
Retired EDH - Tibor and Lumia | [PR]Nemata |Ramirez dePietro | [C]Edric | Riku | Jenara | Lazav | Heliod | Daxos | Roon | Kozilek
More or less Wurmcoil overall, despite not spitting out as many bodies, helps keep rattlesnakes on the board and keep our life total stabilized, which is incredibly helpful. Mitotic is a consideration, but is just a vanilla creature at the end of the day.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Removed: Lightning Greaves
Removed: Swiftfoot Boots
Added: Death Cloud
Added: Catacomb Sifter
Added: Sadistic Hypnotist
Krosan was removed with the advent of cheaper creatures that produce mana, as well as him being a weird pet card. Not that he was bad, but just slow, and better mid/late game as a mana dump and a Meren target. Lowering our curve enables more Meren targets that actually impact our board.
Swiftfoot boots and Lightning Greaves have been removed. Seems an odd choice, but I dont face much single target removal much anymore, and since we have few ways to tutor boots/greaves, and typically tutor other things, they were mostly dead slots, only occasionally protecting Meren when they are actually out on the field.
Hypnotist enters as a sacrifice outlet that can further strip hands of powerful players. I've found hand destruction is a powerful subtheme that I want to chase along with the Grave Pact token theme.
Death Cloud enters as another wincon and way to control the board, along with its brother Pox already doing heavy work. I dislike seeing this early, unlike Pox, but it gives us a really great way to close out the game, especially vs control decks.
I really dislike creatures like Pawn of Ulamog as they greatly depend on non-token creatures, and we like tokens. They also do nothing on their own and require us to be ahead... only to net more dudes. Sifter is a bit different, being very on the curve, if it matters, but generating a token on its own, allowing us to have an easy way to generate mana, an experience counter, and to be able to Scry off of Sifter. Scrying isnt particularly powerful, but it can help us find the land, tutor, enchantment, etc we need next turn. It is on the testing table, and might be replaced with Magus of the Abyss.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Added: Diligent Farmhand
Someone mentioned wanting to cut Krosan Wayfarer and Diligent Farmhand from his build, and I found I'd really like him in my build. Despite the fact he doesnt generate mana like Druid, I found Druid was slow. It goes infinite with Mike, but we dont need the green mana. If I ever add in Exsanguinate and the Coffers package, it will make an appearance. Farmhand is another one drop, which we lack dearly, and does what Dawntreader Elk does: Sacrifices itself to find a basic land card. Lowering the curve is incredibly important. Even if both he and Druid do nothing the first turn they're out, they both accomplish similar ends.
I really want to fit in Liliana, Heretical Healer, Reanimate, and Magus of the Abyss. I'm not sure if it's less removal I need, cut some of the really pitiful draw like Elvish Visionary/Read the Bones, or things like Krosan Grip that I have covered via creatures, albiet without the surprise and Split Second. Reanimate lets me rely less on my commander and surprise folks. Liliana allows us to further make opponents discard cards. I dont see using her -X much. She's a rattlesnake. The Magus as more creature based stax.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Added:
Wickerbough Elder cannot remove himself, so he cant generate counters. I'd prefer Sylvok Replica for not needing a specific mana source for early plays, and his abilily to do the same, at one less mana. Losing him isnt a big deal. Llanowar Elves comes in to speed the deck up.
Agent was an inclusion I didnt think about fully, as I am currently moving the deck in more of a fast, token stax based build, with smatterings of combo, and he's just too costly for what I want to do. It really only hoses Kharador and while that's an issue in my meta, I should be focusing on having bodies to sacrifice to remove their pieces prior to them being able to combo off. Phyrexian Reclaimation comes in to give us more ways to continue to rebuild the board after wipes, which has been a big issue, or save things prior to graveyard hate.
Visionary was a flex slot. It's just.. eh. Arena comes back to replace it.
Nether Traitor was always... meh. He could be abusable but most of the time was a poor mana sink like Resassembling Skeleton. Or I'd forget about him. Devoted Druid comes back in for another early removable mana dork to replace him.
edit: I'm really hoping to make room for more mana dorks, Ancient Tomb, and Mana Crypt.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Added:
Unpopular cuts, but Regrowth clogs your hand and should be replaced with more relevant answers, reanimation, and tutors. Putrefy as well, we deal with Creatures much better now, with Attrition and others. Artifacts were not super concerned about, and if we are, Slime or Sage them. Map is a stand in for Crop Rotation for now to find Altar/Ancient Tomb/etc. From Beyond was replaced to lower our curve, as well as less reliance on poor token producers. With the direction I'm taking the deck, it doesnt have the same priority, although it is nice. Swamps come out for cards from my other decks that should have been here anyway. Recplica replaces Avenger, as I needed to lower my curve. Avenger was never stellar except for making chaff or forcing a wrath. It's because we dont abuse landfall (yet). It was between him or Massacre Wurm, and I need the help vs token decks more. In addition, Farhaven for a better mana dork.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Added:
The deck has been performing admirably with the changes, and as such, I've decided to increase the power a bit with Lilly and try out Abom again. Executioner, while the effect is good, I dont need that many edict effects once I have Grave Pact out. What I need is ways to refill my hand and keep the pressure on. Obviously Lilly is good here for that purpose, but I think Viel is better still.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Death Cloud
Added:
Grim Haruspex
Death Cloud, with as aggressive as this deck is, is overkill. However, GH comes back in to provide us with more gas since we're running more creatures than ever. He's very iffy, but I'm hoping to take better advantage of him with our oodles of new sac outlets and engines.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Added:
Mystic are a stand in for Deathrite Shaman / Arbor Elf. (I cant find mine!). Acidic Slime is no longer that useful and it hurts the curve HARD for its effect, which we now have in spades. It goes to the maybe board. Devoted Druid is replaced by Elves. Carrion Feeder is another cheap sac outlet that can get big enough to be threatening. The last one was more difficult, but sorry Smothering Abomination, you're out just for now given your conditions. I need these other cards more! I'll see about the amount of mana dorks, as he could make a return easily (as always, he is a flex slot.) Oppression is more pain for the opponents. We focus heavily on tutoring Mindslicer, Gary, and a sac outlet. Once you have their hands stripped, keeping them down is important, especially when they need to spend two tng about it.
I'm still looking for room for Phyrexian Devourer/Necrotic Ooze...
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
I'm debating on building a Meren deck, Jarad Deck, or a Gitrog deck. I know it's going to be a BG deck, just not sure which one I want to play yet. What do you recommend?
Modern
UWGB 4c Snow Control BGWU
I'm also considering Jaraad in the 99 as a possible win con.
Jarad and Gitrog lend themselves more to combo, Meren to reanimation/stax. It's a personal preference.
This tends to fight with the best of them, but it's definitely nowhere near as good as my Brago/Daretti deck for instance, in terms of pure speed and stax. However, you can tune to it fit your needs. It really hurts opponent's hands, so it really helps neuter control/combo, and cleans the board quickly, so it hoses aggro. It has the most issues with tokens.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/646091-meren-of-clan-nel-toth-on-revenge-and-reanimation?page=13#c321
I would recommend looking at this topic.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Phyrexian Altar
Added:
Devoted Druid
After a game, I realized I have a ton of 1 drop dorks now, but lack two drops. Devoted needs to come back in as a Birthing Pod target/mana dork. Plus, it also produces GG for Contamination in case we need to recast Meren. Altar was there for this, but isnt needed anymore really.
Catacomb Sifter is on the watch list
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
I cut Black Market pretty early due to the fact that by the time it comes down, you really don't need the excess mana unless you're trying to Exsanguinate everyone, and that is a completely different build. Defense of the Heart I think is more of a meta call. I definitely think it's worth running to find the Mike and Trike combo!
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Added:
While I'm still looking to make room for Necrotic ooze, Void Winnower and Phyrexian Devourer, these were easier to make. Shifter is replaced by someone who can do targeted graveyard hate, gain us life, make opponent's lose life, and ramp is in a pinch. Reanimate is removed for Animate Dead due to lifeloss issues.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Added:
Removed:
Catacomb Shifter went away, then returned for more testing. Some unpopular changes here, but Buried Alive becomes an incredible wincon by fetching Ooze, Devourer, and Trike, then returning Ooze to play with Meren. This also gives us a third major wincon outside of Mike+trike and draining everyone to death with Gary/Koko puffs. Green Sun comes in, and should have been here to begin with. I guess I kept misreading that it places the creature into play... So the cuts. Sheoldred was a huge rattlesnake and just ate removal. Not that it was a bad thing, but it typically didnt help as our opponents would have so many creatures we needed more triggers, or she wouldnt have any targets to return to play. In addition, she does little for our gameplan besides disruption and recursion, and her CMC is incredibly restrictive. Just wasnt working out. Same with Rune Scarred, which is an overcosted Demonic Tutor on a flying body, but didnt do much else. So 99% of the time, both were essentially dead cards that I overvalued due to their triggers. Liliana is solid, but requires too much investment for too little gain. I already need a solid board, and she generally returns small creatures to play. I can see placing her back in here as time goes on, but she's not essential.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Modern
UWGB 4c Snow Control BGWU