Merieke is one of those generals that does exceptionally well in Tiny Leaders. First of all, you gain access to Esper colors, which is pretty strong as it is. Secondly, you literally control the game after getting a few of her combos off. Unfortunately, if Merieke isn't on the battlefield the deck is far less intimidating. That's why I threw in some counter spells to keep the madness going. Additionally, I've added some sacrifice creature spells to get around hexproof, protection, or whatever else may be keeping Merieke in a tight spot. If all goes according to plan, you'll be finishing off opponents with their own creatures and controlling the board entirely. Obviously the objective is to be able to untap Merieke at will and unleash the pain.
Let's examine some of the main combos i this deck:
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Merieke Ri Berit
+
Pemmin's Aura
. This is a ridiculous combo. By the time you have Pemmin's Aura on Merieke, you have plenty of mana to activate the untap or shroud abilities of Pemmin's Aura. The shroud ability of Pemmin's Aura gets around most removal spells an opponent may have, and it's very cheap to activate. Freed from the Real is another good enchantment that can keep Merieke untapping at will.
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Merieke Ri Berit + Thousand-Year Elixir or Magewright's Stone. These artifacts will make it easy to untap Merieke. You should be able to gain control of most creatures your opponent controls (and destroy them if necessary), provided they don't have hexproof or protection. In these scenarios, sacrifice spells should be used get those annoyances off the battlefield. Intruder Alarm is also an amazing card that combos quite well with Merieke. Who cares if creatures skip their untap step? This deck provides plenty of ways to untap creatures, and when an opponent casts a creature, Merieke untaps and you can gain control of it.
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Illusionist's Bracers
+
Merieke Ri Berit
. Need I say more?
One of my favorite parts about Merieke is when she steals creatures you retain control of them as long as you control Merieke. That means if you steal a creature with indestructible, the creature doesn't get destroyed when she untaps and you keep control of that creature. Awesome!
Q: Does this deck actually win?
A: Absolutely. It slows the game down and gives you a lot of time to combo out.
Q: What's the best win condition?
A: Mereike and Pemmin's Aura is pretty dirty because of the shroud activate ability. Also you can pretty much steal multiple creatures from an opponent each turn.
Q: How do you actually win with this deck?
A: I like to steal and attack with larger creatures my opponent may have since there isn't a lot of damage this deck puts out. You also have to save some counter spells for anything that could cripple the combo.
Q: Is this deck affordable?
A: Very. Minus the lands, Geist of Saint Traft, and Ashiok most of these cards are inexpensive. The only expensive card I'm considering adding is Liliana of the Veil.
Q: What's Merieke's biggest weakness?
A: Probably burn spells. She only has 1 toughness, so there are many ways to get rid of her. Also, casting her can get expensive if she keeps dying. That's why I roll with counter spells.
Version 2.0
Added Counterspell, Mental Misstep, and Spell Snare. Thanks for the suggestions alexyoung. I put True-Name Nemesis in and Daze on the sideboard for now. Also big thanks to moncaiozanon for the Minamo, School at Water's Edge recommendation. Definitely a must in this deck. I also threw in Isochron Scepter because it is ridiculous with this deck; endless counter or sacrifice spells.
