Nice Meren build and I love seeing other people run Zulaport Cutthroat with the sac builds +1.

Like the aristocrats feel, and the dark depths combo is interesting. You don't see it much in commander, so it's cool to see. Deck looks really nice, and a lot different than my own take on Meren, liking it. Keep it up, man.

Awesome meren deck up vote +1

Nice build! If I was gonna recommend anything, I'd say take out Viscera Seer and put in a Wurmcoil Engine. With all the sac effects it shouldn't be too hard to get it out on the field from the graveyard and recurring it over and over for tons of wurms just seems too good. +1 from me!

Thank you sixwatt. I have debated this many times. Wurmcoil Engine is no doubt an amazing card and on my lists for MANY a decks, like a playset for my R/G Tron first. So doubtful I will get one anytime soon for this deck. What is great about Viscera Seer is the turn one sac outlet and scry effect. And if someone board wipes, happened many times with her out, I can scry my board away until I get a good top deck to recover quicker. She puts in a ton of work for not being the beat down. Beat downs aren't how this deck typically wins. Whipping out a Gary (Gray Merchant) and recurring 2 times is usually how the win goes down. So if Wurmcoil ever makes the cut it will likely be in place of another BIG beater.

It That Betrays is a great bomb that can be searched for with From Beyond. You can combo it with gravepact and a sac outlet to wipe the board: Sac a sion, the opponents sac creatures that ETB under your control then you sac one of those creatures to repeat until no one but you has creatures.

Imagine Blade of Selves+ Solemn Simulacrum, Sepulchral Primordial, Kokusho, the Evening Star, Gray Merchant of Asphodel... you get the picture. ETB shenanigans. Sac the tokens in response to the exile trigger for maximum value.

Thx Holtzman for the suggestions. I agree that both are great for this deck. I have a spare Blade of Selves lying around and It That Betrays is perfect fit for Meren. I will take these under consideration and watch for some under performers in the deck to remove to fit them in.

Nice build :-)
Your should play Bone Shredder instead of Shriekmaw (or both) :

• Same job.

• Lesser mana cost, more easy to reanimate with Meren.

• Better chumpblocker because it has flying. Fodder for Skullclamp because it has 1 toughness.

• Sacrifice by itself with echo.

And what about Vesuva for your Dark Dephts combo?

I would run Awakening Zone with / or over From Beyond because it costs 3, so it comes one turn earlier than Meren, not the competing for the same turn, and you have an Eldrazi Spawn to sacrifice on turn 4 for Meren's experience :)

Thank you Stefouch.

Bone Shredder vs Shriekmaw has gone back and forth. Right now I enjoy the evoke cost of Shriekmaw more. You make solid points about the flying though.

Vesuva does not work with Dark Depths. As Vesuva enters the Battlefield as a copy it enters with the counters on it. Just forcing me to lose one land.

From Beyond I have always preferred as I plan to add in It That Betrays as soon as I find one locally. Also because it can sac itself to get my Sifter or soon to be Betrays. Also the 1/1 tokens can let me chump and kill targets. As the deck stands with only 1 target for From Beyond yoy would be right though. PS when I get It That Betrays I will be adding Death Cloud to the deck as well for a sweet combo and From Beyond will tutor one part of that combo.

Thank you for your input and we'll thought discussion.

birkemand my Commander is actually that card and I uploaded the art to this site. You can locate alternate arts in the same box you choose who your commander is. I suggest only doing so for what you actually are using though . Hope that helps.

Wow, really awesome take on Maren. Some great ideas in here that I might take some influence from. +1 upvote from me!

Death Cloud will not gain you much love, as it is a mass-land destruction card that slows these long games even more.

I only now see that Strionic Resonator Is it as sweet with Meren and other cards as I think it is?

Phyrexian Tower seems like a solid include here.

Disentomb is probably a good candidate for an upgrade. Tortured Existence is a nice way to get fatties in your graveyard in exchange for cheaper utility creatures. Oversold Cemetery is another option.

Burnished Hart is pretty solid ramp.

Also, if you get It That Betrays then it might be worth looking at Living Death. Living Death sacrifices the creatures on the battlefield which is hilarious when you have It That Betrays on the battlefield too. I use this in one of my decks and reanimating your creatures then stealing everyone's creatures is everything you could hope it would be.

Hermit Druid because reanimate.

Thx smiffdemon. Always adjusting and improving this deck. So many great options out there.

Tyr_W I agree Death Cloud won't earn me any love. And my current pod does have a house rule against MLD. Either way the card clears hands, lowers life totals (making the game faster), and with all creatures coming to me I help cripple my opponents. I view this card as the black version of Cyclonic Rift. And yes Strionic Resonator is a BEAST!!! So many amazing targets. My favorite is easily Gary. Ends games on the spot usually.

PayOneLife I do want the tower and a stronghold. Lands are out of my range to get right now. But yes I do need one. Yes Living Death has always been a card I should add/test. Don't have one or seen anyone with one in a trade binder near me. But will keep a look out. Burnished Heart is a wasted spot to me. I have better ramp and prefer cards that can sac/give rewards for free. As for Hermit I have had salty experience with him. Usually he ends up hitting to many instants/sorceries/enchantmets/artifacts over creatures before I hit a basic land as that count in my deck is super low. He just fails for me unless early early game. I do however seemed to have missed oversold cemetery and will give this a look and see where and if it gets some playtesting.

Thank you for all your great suggestions and cards to consider!