Meren's Sacrificial Lambs v2.0

Commander / EDH* BG (Golgari) Reanimator

discollama

Creature (42)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Butcher of Malakir
• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Elvish Visionary
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Farhaven Elf
• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x Ghoulcaller Gisa
• 1x Gravecrawler
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Krav, the Unredeemed
• 1x Liliana, Heretical Healer  ^Flip
• 1x Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
• 1x Merciless Executioner
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Noxious Gearhulk
• 1x Overseer of the Damned
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Protean Hulk
• 1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
• 1x Reassembling Skeleton
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Relentless Dead
• 1x Sadistic Hypnotist
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Satyr Wayfinder
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Shriekmaw
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Smothering Abomination
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Spore Frog
• 1x Terastodon
• 1x Underrealm Lich
• 1x Vampire Hexmage
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Yavimaya Elder
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Land (34)

• 1x Blighted Woodland
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dakmor Salvage
• 10x Forest
• 1x Golgari Rot Farm
• 1x Grim Backwoods
• 1x High Market
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 11x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Attrition
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Evolutionary Leap
• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Journey to Eternity  ^Flip
• 1x Perilous Forays
• 1x Song of the Dryads

Instant (3)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Deathsprout
• 1x Krosan Grip

Commander (1)

Artifact (8)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Darksteel Ingot
• 1x Golgari Signet
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Life from the Loam
• 1x Torment of Hailfire
• 1x Victimize

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Maybeboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Geth, Lord of the Vault
• 1x Pharika's Mender
• 1x World Shaper
• 1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Death Cloud
• 1x Pox
• 1x Praetor's Counsel

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Liliana Vess

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Black Market

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My take on Meren of Clan Nel Toth. The deck is pretty standard fare for Meren, but was built with more of a budget in mind, but over time has evolved. If you wanted to go even more budget oriented, Cards like Life from the Loam and Ghoulcaller Gisa are hardly necessary additions to the deck, and I've never actually had Sheoldred last an entire round as she tends to get hated off the board after one or two upkeeps.

This deck doesn't really run any combos, but instead runs heavily on synergy and being just plain oppressive in its nature. Areas that I've noticed the deck being particularly strong in is ramp and getting your land drops, card draw, and creature hate. The goal is to grind everyone down and eventually overwhelm the board.

I've noted a few all-stars that people might not think of right away that deserve to be mentioned:

Reassembling Skeleton This card has done wonders for me in the early game! Between being easily reanimated with its own ability, and working so well with Skullclamp this card just puts in work in the early game. In the late game, it's pretty much a dead draw or at best a chump blocker/sac fodder, and getting it back isn't really a priority. It's a great way to get counters from Meren and the ability to bring back an extra creature early on is just a huge value

Krav, the Unredeemed Seriously, this guy is a BEAST! pay to sac as many creatures as you want for that many +1/+1 counters? Ok, sounds good. Oh wait, and I gain life off of that? Nice! What was that? I also get to draw that many cards?! Seriously, this guy is a monster in a deck like this! Life gain, card draw, and getting a big beefy beater at the cost of one black mana and all the junk creatures you desire? Use those chumps to block attackers, then before damage, sac them to turn an opponent's attack into your advantage! As long as you have other creatures on the board, Krav does so much heavy lifting in this deck.

Perilous Forays Man, you think on its surface that a 5 drop that you have to pay to activate to ramp just isn't good value, but I'm here to say that its really a wonderful sac outlet. This card has done so much for my board state that I'm reluctant to cut it for almost anything.

Gravecrawler and Relentless Dead For not being a zombie deck, these two cards still somehow always seem to find a way to be useful. Part of it is the self recursion from Gravecrawler and Relentless Dead's ability to go back to your hand, but there are also a surprising number of zombies in this deck, 9 in total. And for those zombies that stay in the graveyard and don't bring themselves back, Relentless Dead can be super useful.

Overseer of the Damned This card was omitted from several earlier versions of the deck before I finally decided to try it. And man, I wish I had run it more often! Seriously, this card costs more than Noxious Gearhulk but does so much more! Just playing it right off the bat gives you a 5/5 flyer and blows up any creature, making it on par with the Gearhulk in my mind, but it also generates a 2/2 zombie token once it hits the battlefield as well, making it a solid piece of removal and enhancement to your board state. But it also gives you a 2/2 zombie token whenever another creature your opponents control dies! That's value on top of value on top of value! And with all the ways to remove creatures that this deck has, you're bound to get lots of tokens to feed to your sac outlets.

Shriekmaw Now this card should be in every Meren build, and if it isn't, then you're building her wrong. Evoking Shriekmaw is a great way to get control the board early on, and in the early game when you don't have a ton of experience counters, Shriekmaw will bounce back to your hand at every end step while Meren is out, and she'll keep doing it until she's given you 5+ XP counters.

There are some problem areas in the deck, notably going up against decks heavily running black creatures as the removal in this deck tends to exclude those creatures. The issue that I also seem to face rather frequently is that my board never develops beyond a handful of creatures as I tend to sac smaller ones frequently, so if the deck is targeted, it can go down easily.

And lastly, I've been trying to track my latest changes in the comments below, and I ask that if you have any thoughts on the deck to let me know! I always appreciate feedback and enjoy discussing strategies with other people.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 30 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.65
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Elephant 3/3 G, Emblem Liliana, Defiant Necromancer, Experience Token, Plant 0/1 G, Zombie 2/2 B