Meren's Altar

Commander / EDH Aristocrats BG (Golgari) Sacrifice

Pandabites

Creature (40)

• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Caustic Caterpillar
• 1x Neverwinter Dryad
• 1x Spore Frog
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Apprentice Necromancer
• 1x Clattering Augur
• 1x Dawntreader Elk
• 1x Elvish Visionary
• 1x Hermit Druid
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Satyr Wayfinder
• 1x Viridian Emissary
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Gravelighter
• 1x Liliana's Standard Bearer
• 1x Llanowar Visionary
• 1x Merciless Executioner
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
• 1x Yavimaya Dryad
• 1x Foundation Breaker
• 1x Poison-Tip Archer
• 1x Smothering Abomination
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Doom Whisperer
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Kura, the Boundless Sky
• 1x Shriekmaw
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Massacre Wurm
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine
• 1x Terastodon

Land (38)

• 1x Agadeem, the Undercrypt  ^Flip
• 1x Bala Ged Sanctuary  ^Flip
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Darkbore Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Deathcap Glade
• 8x Forest
• 1x High Market
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 10x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Westvale Abbey  ^Flip
• 1x Woodland Cemetery
• 1x Woodland Chasm

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Living Death

Commander (1)

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Oversold Cemetery
• 1x The Meathook Massacre
• 1x Journey to Eternity  ^Flip
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Guardian Project
• 1x Pattern of Rebirth
• 1x Dictate of Erebos

Artifact (6)

• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Spawning Pit *list*
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Birthing Pod

Instant (2)

• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Beast Within

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Maybeboard

Creature (7)

• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Kura, the Boundless Sky
• 1x Mitotic Slime
• 1x Woodfall Primus

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Deathreap Ritual

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Casualties of War

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Meren is a classic aristocrats-style deck that relies on recurring cheap creatures with ETB/sac triggers before dropping one of its win-conditions when your opponents are out of gas. These include Living Death (+ Syr Konrad, for extra value), Kokusho The Evening Star, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, or Sheoldred, the Whispering One. This version of Meren relies heavily on getting value from the graveyard via it's commander and is quite brittle against the better hate for that strategy, so it is recommended to substitute some of the redundant value cogs like Merciless Executioner and Satyr Wayfinder for outs if your meta runs a lot of graveyard hosers. Nonetheless, the versatility of the creatures in this deck makes virtually any of them absurd cogs in the Meren value engine and thus a ton of fun to play.

Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots should definitely come in if you expect Meren to attract a lot of hate, but she's a lot less scary now than she was a few years ago, so she may be relatively safe. It is tempting to run a card like Ravenous Chupacabra over some of the instant speed creature removal, but it is expensive and I like to have the flexibility to destroy any permanent, any time provided by an Assassin's Trophy. For similar reasons, Nature's Claim is in instead of Acidic Slime - a cheap, instant speed removal spell is nearly always better than a heavily costed creature ETB when someone's screwing with your ability to use the graveyard. Also, the instants will still work when your ETBs are shut down. I've been vascillating between Maelstrom Pulse and Abrupt Decay for a while, but I think Decay is better as Commander decks get faster and lower to the ground. Woodfall Primus was in the deck for a long time, but I have found him to be increasingly lackluster in relation to other big creature threats and the fact that his ETB doesn't zap creatures is becoming more of a problem as power-creep has ramped up in recent years. I almost always prefer to cast the less expensive and more flexible Terrastodon. For that reason, the number of big creature threats in green has diminished to the point that my pet card, Natural Order had to come out. Other painful pieces to remove were some of my more mana intensive sac outlets. I think Eldrazi Monument is fantastic, but it has become a little expensive for the effect it provides and I have felt the same about Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord for different reasons. Overall, I'm happy with where the deck is now and I don't plan to make many revisions, especially since I feel my ramp, card draw, sac and graveyard recursion packages are exactly where I need them to be, and my budget precludes improving the mana base. Barring Wizards printing strictly upgraded versions of cards, it will take a lot to convince me to make a substitution, because so many cards fill multiple roles in the deck. Certain cards, like Plaguecrafter, seem better than some of the cards I'm running at a glance, but my synergies are important to me. I upgraded my Plaguecrafter for a Demon's Disciple at the first chance to have that effect on a body that dies to Skullclamp. Nonetheless, I still welcome any feedback and suggestions.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 33 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.16
Tokens	2/2 C Artifact Creature Spawn, Beast 3/3 G, Elephant 3/3 G, Experience Token, Human Cleric 1/1 BW, Spirit */* G, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink