And here we are, my Meren deck, almost competitive ready and a complete monster to fight.
Meren likes death. She likes her minions to die, her opponents to die, creatures, players, everything. We'll start with the deathly shaman herself!The goal with Meren is to get as many Experience Counters as fast as possible, which requires your creatures to die. It doesn't have to be nontoken, it can be anything. At the end of your turn, you select a creature in your grave, and the real fun begins. If that creature's CmC is less than or equal to your Experience counters, you reanimate it to the field. And if it isn't equal to or less than your Experience, you RETURN IT TO YOUR HAND!That's right. No matter what, you're getting that creature back.
So, let's talk Experience counters. In this deck, we have several creatures that can 'kill themselves' for free.
THE GAMEPLAN:Mana ramp with artifacts or relevant spells, then cast Meren as fast as possible. Start putting out 'Self killing' creatures early, so when Meren comes out you can sac them for nothing and get Experience. Creatures like Death Cultist and Fume Spitter, and even eldrazi tokens excel at this.Other creatures, like Fleshbag Marauder, Slum Reaper, Merciless Executioner, and Shriekmaw are great for controlling your opponent's board state, while also killing themselves in the process. Once you get enough Experience to reanimate them repeatedly, you can remove several threats passively.Using the cards that fuel your grave, like Grisly Salvage, or Commune with the Gods are good for digging into your deck and giving your grave (And subsequently you) what you need. Sakura-Tribe Elder is exceptional with Meren, and can net you several Experience counters as well as thinning out your deck and mana ramping you. If you have enough Experience counters, Sidisi, Undead Vizier can exploit herself TWICE in a turn; once on initial ETB, and again at your end step.
THE KILL:Besides beating down your opponents with a ridiculously big Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest, Vulturous Zombie, or an Undying Scourge of Nel Toth, there are a few tricky combos to utilize. Several cards allow you to sacrifice a creature you control, from Grim Backwoods to Merciless Executioner. If you sacrifice Kokusho, the Evening Star and reanimate him several times a turn, you can drain your opponents life into your own.
Infinite combos:Of course, I don't design decks without infinite potential, and Meren is no exception. The most obvious, and easiest to pull off is the combo known as 'Mike and Trike', which is Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Triskelion respectively. The combo works as such: Mikaeus gives Triskelion +1/+1 and Undying, making Triskelion a 2/2 that enters with 3 +1/+1 counters. You remove a counter from Triskelion to do a damage to an opponent, then remove the remaining two +1/+1 counters to damage ITSELF, killing it. The Undying triggers, as Triskelion did not die with a +1/+1 counter on it, and Triskelion is immediately brought back with 4 counters, making it a 6/6. You remove two counters to damage an opponent, and once again use the remaining 2 to kill Triskelion. Rinse, repeat, win.
Another combo with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed is to pair with Walking Ballista in the same method as Triskelion. Ballista can enter with no counters on it for free (Essentially also netting you a death for Meren's Experience, if need be. And a free reanimation, as it's CmC is 0.) Once you kill off Ballista somehow, either by damaging itself or otherwise, Mikaeus will bring it back as a 1/1 with a +1/+1 counter. So you essentially can have infinite deaths with Ballista damaging itself, but this combo can't kill anyone on it's own. Enter Blood Artist. Infinite deaths with Blood Artist on board is infinite life drain, and an easy win. If you can't get Blood Artist up, then Extractor Demon works similarly, milling your opponents out for each death that happens on the board. Infinite deaths with Mikaeus and Ballista= Infinite mill.
Lastly, we have Devoted Druid, which combos with Quillspike. Devoted Druid taps for a mana, and can untap by putting a -1/-1 counter on itself. Quillspike can remove a -1/-1 counter from the druid, using the mana that Devoted Druid created, gaining +3/+3. Simply keep tapping and untapping Devoted Druid and using the mana to activate Quillspike's ability to make Quillspike as big as you want. Either swing for game, or feed Quillspike to Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord for a massive end game.
Many of these combos can be done quickly by using the tutor cards in the deck, such as using Defense of the Heart to instantly grab Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Triskelion, or any other missing combo piece. If need be, you can Buried Alive the combo you desire, then Victimize something to bring your combo creatures into play!
