B/G Aristocrats

Commander / EDH* Aristocrats BG (Golgari) Multiplayer Sacrifice

Focus_Jim

Creature (39)

• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Creakwood Liege
• 1x Dauthi Voidwalker
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Destiny Spinner
• 1x Duskwatch Recruiter  ^Flip
• 1x Egon, God of Death  ^Flip
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Golgari Grave-Troll
• 1x Golgari Thug
• 1x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Lord of Extinction
• 1x Massacre Wurm
• 1x Merciless Executioner
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Sadistic Hypnotist
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Savra, Queen of the Golgari
• 1x Scavenging Ooze
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Skullwinder
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Spore Frog
• 1x Springbloom Druid
• 1x Street Wraith
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Land (33)

• 1x Bayou
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dakmor Salvage
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 8x Forest
• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 1x High Market
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Nurturing Peatland
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 9x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Undergrowth Stadium
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Artifact (7)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Resilience

Instant (5)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Grisly Salvage
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Commander (1)

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Victimize

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Necromancy
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation

---

A love letter to my first commander ever Meren of Clan Nel Toth. The goal of the deck is to utilize value from creatures entering and dying to churn through the deck to set up a big Living Death play. Once Living Death resolves, it is important that there is a sac outlet on the field (such as Viscera Seer to trigger the aristocrats cards in the deck (such as Blood Artist and Zulaport Cutthroat). It is possible to cast Living Death multiple times in one turn using cards such as Eternal Witness and Skullwinder. Under this description, there are sections of notable inclusions and exclusions along with upgrades to the deck. Finally, the deck is not meant to be played in cEDH environment rather is meant to be played in an optimized meta.

I would love to hearing about your favorite Meren tech cards and suggestions in the comments below!

Notable Inclusions

Listed below are a few of the notable inclusions in the deck along with a description of why they are in the deck list.

-Lord of Extinction is an odd choice in an aristocrat style deck but the synergies are too strong to pass up. Cards in the deck such as Greater Good and Altar of Dementia allows you to draw most of your deck or dump most of it into your graveyard. It is also important to note that there is an alternate win con using Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord to drain out the table.

-Vivien's Arkbow is a sleeper value card that belongs in more graveyard decks. The ability to dump remaining mana into the activation for a chance to get a creature to enter the battlefield is great. The requirement to discard is negligible in this deck and usually is actually a good thing! Cards such as Golgari Grave-Troll and Dakmor Salvage make the discard even more valuable as they allow to you dredge during your next instance of drawing a card which accelerates the overall game plan of the deck

Egon, God of Death  is a similar case to Lord of Extinction with the synergies in the deck. Worst case scenario, you have an upkeep mill card that can add up if played early in the game!

Notable Exclusions

Listed below are a few of the notable exclusions of the deck along with a description of why they are not included in the deck list.

-Caustic Caterpillar is a mainstay in many Meren decklists however, there are a few reasons why it is not included in this list. The most important reason is the meta that I play in. There is not really no reason to play it in a light artifact/enchantment meta and a generic, efficient spell such as Nature's Claim can serve you much better. Finally, I personally do not like recurring it with Meren because I tend to recur value cards that directly accelerate the deck to a win condition. You may swap this card in instead of Nature's Claim if your meta is more artifact/enchantment centric and need that recurrable removal

-Acidic Slime is a card that was in the deck for a long time. Similar to Caustic Caterpillar, the card is not needed in a light artifact/enchantment meta. The card never felt good to hard cast, always felt clunky, and never was the target of Meren recursion. I would steer clear of this card as it feels like a relic of the before time of EDH.

-Ravenous Chupacabra/Shriekmaw are creatures that are removal on sticks which is great, right? While in theory, yes, however, I have some counter points. Shriekmaw's evoke cost for {1}{B} can contribute to experience counters and is pretty great for removal however, the narrowness of not hitting creatures that are not artifact and not black is a huge downside. There is a high chance that the creature that should be removed is a black creature as black is one of, if not the most played color in commander. If you do decide to run Ravenous Chupacabra, I cannot fault you as the recurrable guaranteed removal is great but, for this deck specifically, there is a critical mass of force sacrifice cards such as Plaguecrafter in conjunction with Dictate of Erebos and/or Grave Pact that prevent creatures from staying on the battlefield.

Budget Upgrades/Power Level Upgrades

While the deck already has a decent price tag associated with it, there are a few notable budget upgrades that can be added to the list (I do not have these cards in the deck as I do not have a copy of them)

Creatures:

-Pitiless Plunderer is a card that takes what the deck already does and makes it easier to cast even more spells! It is important to note that this card goes infinite with Eternal Witness/Skullwinder, Living Death, and four other creatures (preferably one that drains the table when creatures die such as Blood Artist)

Artifacts:

-Phyrexian Altar is an incredible magic card in this deck. The sheer amount of value that is generated from the sacrifice is amazing. It is important to note that this card goes infinite with Eternal Witness/Skullwinder, Living Death, and four other creatures (preferably one that drains the table when creatures die such as Blood Artist)

Instants:

-Vampiric Tutor is similar to Demonic Tutor where it makes the deck even more consistent through tutoring. If budget and the idea of "sameness" in games are not a problem for you, then add the card to the deck!

Lands:

-Phyrexian Tower is a great utility land that allows the player to sacrifice a creature in response to many interactions. In most cases, it is strictly a better High Market as it allows you to cast more spells with that {B}{B}.

-Verdant Catacombs and Bayou are amazing lands. I do not need to tell you that. They allow for even more color fixing which makes the deck more consistent.

Date added	3 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.90
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Experience Token, Morph 2/2 C, Plant 0/1 G, Worm 1/1 BG