Melek, Spellcaster Extraordinaire

Commander / EDH CrazyDanPsycho

SCORE: 7 | 18 COMMENTS | 1398 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS


Eiti3 says... #1

Just a few suggestions
- Library of Leng: For, when and if your instants/sorceries get discarded, you can put them back on top of your library to still cast them!
- Sundial of the Infinite: I see quite a few "until end of turn" spells. With Sundial, you can end the turn and the effects last indefinitely.
- Sensei's Divining Top/Scroll Rack: Shape the top of your deck and what you draw.
- Jace's Sanctum/Arcane Melee/Cloud Key: Spells cost less
- Braid of Fire: Free Mana + Leyline of Anticipation/Vedalken Orrery for those pesky Sorcery spells.
- Rhystic Study + more draw. By the looks of it, you might need it.
- Strionic Resonator: Copy Melek, Izzet Paragon's last ability for double copy.
- Radiate: Absolutely underated card right here. So many hilarious combos can be done with it. I had one friend Radiate + Chaos Warp.

That's all for now. I could do more, but honestly it's all up to you. Sorry that it's all non-Instant/Sorcery, but a deck can't be just that. Doesn't work. Best of luck and let me know what you think!

March 29, 2016 12:14 p.m.

CrazyDanPsycho says... #2

Those are -epic- ideas! Thank you very much! I'ma hafta put those cards on a definite "purchase asap" list! I've wanted this deck to work for a -long- time, since the first time I saw Melek. I guess I never thought of the necessity for more non-instant/sorcery spells. I love this site. I learn more and more every day. Again, thank you for the advice.

March 29, 2016 12:27 p.m.

Eiti3 says... #3

Anytime! If you have any questions or concerns on how the deck plays after that, then feel free to ask and I'm willing to give a few tips here and there.

March 29, 2016 12:34 p.m.

CrazyDanPsycho says... #4

I will definitely keep that in mind. Might be a little bit before I can buy a lot of those, money's a bit tight and I have two other decks that have been in the works for a while that I have to buy for, but I'll definitely post the changes when I get to them.

March 29, 2016 12:39 p.m.

CrazyDanPsycho says... #5

Question: with Sundial of the Infinite, wouldn't I need a way to untap/retap it on my opponent's turn to prevent the effects of some spells from ending at the end of their turn?

April 1, 2016 3:37 a.m.

Eiti3 says... #6

@CrazyDanPsycho, as per the rules I've read that everything on the stack get's exiled. If you read carefully, anything that says, on the card, "at the beginning of your/each end step" would then happen again, unless you were to use Sundial of the Infinite again or Time Stop. But those cards aren't your instant/sorcery cards, those are cards like Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, Avaricious Dragon, and Angel's Trumpet as examples. Cards like those you will have to use Sundial of the Infinite each time on your own turn to negate their effects. Cards like Angel's Trumpet that happen every turn, you will need some way to keep recasting Time Stop seeing as Sundial of the Infinite only works on your turn.

Moral of the story, Sundial of the Infinite exiles all things on the stack once activated, including all "end of turn" triggers. So if you Polymorphist's Jest your opponent's creatures and then Sundial of the Infinite, your opponent's creatures stay as frogs from that point on. If they bounce them, they come back as normal. If you Act of Aggression and Sundial of the Infinite, you keep the creature forever, and it keeps haste forever. If you Triumph of the Hordes and then Sundial of the Infinite, for each creature that you had in play, they keep the +1/+1, trample, and infect forever. Or that is until they die, bounce, etc. Also new creatures you bring in wouldn't also get the effects. Only those who were there.

My apologies if I didn't explain all that well. If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask! Sundial of the Infinite is pretty amazing.

April 1, 2016 10:55 a.m.

CrazyDanPsycho says... #7

You explained that perfectly, thank you. That's incredible!! I never realized how epic Sundial of the Infinite could get. I had always wanted to find a use for one, but it just didn't seem -that- awesome. This changes everything...(laughs maniacally)

April 1, 2016 12:42 p.m.

CrazyDanPsycho says... #8

Got a whole bunch of the suggestions given, waiting on the money to purchase the rest. Need help whittling the deck back down to 100 cards...lol Too many awesome spells for my simple little mind to fathom...Gonna add an aquire board soon for the last few...

February 16, 2017 8:01 a.m.

The_Grape says... #9

Since you are running a non-creature deck, you will have trouble with some decks that are anti-spells like Ruric Thar, the Unbowed. I would suggest a Metallurgic Summonings.

February 24, 2017 9:49 p.m.

That's a pretty cool card! I'll have to look into aquiring one...

February 25, 2017 9:24 a.m.

Still lookin for advice on what to cut to make room for all these awesome new additions...the maybe board is still pending on whenever I can get the money to purchase them.

February 25, 2017 9:29 a.m.

Why no Epic Experiment? In a deck loaded with as many instants and sorceries as this, it finishes games, or at least always promises massive amounts of value.

Jace's Sanctum makes casting your spells cheaper, and you can scry away your topdeck for Melek if necessary.

Sphinx-Bone Wand helps burn away opponents faster, or functions as repeatable removal.

Reverberate is a powerful tool that gives you extra value, or counters an opponent's counterspell.

Ponder is a cantrip that fixes your topdeck; absolutely essential with Melek.

Izzet Signet ramps and fixes your mana. You are currently running zero mana rocks, which I think is a huge mistake.

Mystic Retrieval gives you insane value off a topdeck with Melek, and even more when you flashback it. You can't get much more value out of a single card.

Rite of Replication is an alternative wincon if you absolutely need creatures to win; say an opponent has hexproof and you can no longer burn them to death. You're going to need to find another way, and in a format swarming with gigantic value creatures, Replication is the way to go. Also a kicked Replication off the top sounds insane.

Mystical Tutor is your Demonic Tutor variant this deck desperately needs. Grabs whatever you need to stabilize, remove, counter, or straight-up win. Did I mention it also immediately puts the card on top for synergy with your commander?

Fact or Fiction is an incredible value card that often effectively draws you three cards at instant speed.

Mizzix's Mastery will finish games for you. After a long hard-fought EDH game, your graveyard will be full of instants and sorceries, all ready to copy and blast your opponents into dust.

Past in Flames is similar to Mizzix's Mastery, except you can choose which spells you want to cast, and Past in Flames itself has flashback.

In order to make this a competitive creatureless EDH deck, I strongly recommend the above suggestions, and including some more mana rocks to pay for the more expensive spells. If you're finding that you're continuing to lose games without getting these value cards, I suggest using creatures to supplement until you can acquire them.

February 25, 2017 12:36 p.m.

Austin_Smith_of_Cards: That is a -lot- of awesome advice!! I know I have a lot of those cards, I will have to look into implementing them, thank you!

February 25, 2017 3:14 p.m.

Eiti3: Suckage! Just found out that Sundial of the Infinite isn't -quite- as all powerful as was explained...cards like Polymorphist's Jest and Triumph of the Hordes -will- end with the Sundial activation because of their wording, "until end of turn" instead of "at the beginning of the next end step." Might have to rethink the usefulness of the Sundial in here...

God, this deck is being an ass to build, but by Cthulu, I swear it will be finished properly one of these days...

June 17, 2017 10:20 a.m.

The concept is definitely interesting.

When it come to defending yourself, how does it fare against token decks that do not mind having some of their creatures sacrificed or turned into 1/1 ? I see Crawlspace , but I think some extra deterrent such as Propaganda could help. Also, if the board goes out of control, I'm not saying anything original but I believe that Cyclonic Rift could be extremely useful for you.

As far as attacking goes, is your plan basically copy Banefire or Red Sun's Zenith over and over to kill off your opponents in one big go? I have may have understood your decky incorrecly, but it seems that there are lot of spells aimed at controlling the board by dealing with creatures but not many that can actually seriously and consistently damage the other players.

February 17, 2019 2:54 a.m.

The_Fallen_Duke: This deck is becoming one of my greatest frustrations. I am attempting to make it balanced, yet able to stand on it's own and actually pose a threat, but I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible. If you have any more suggestions, I am all ears. I have been wanting this deck to work since I first saw Melek...and I have consistently disappointed him...

February 17, 2019 4:29 a.m.

treeforcorvus says... #18

Really cool concept! I have a few ideas.

Blitz of the Thunder-Raptor helps deal with planeswalkers, and might perform better than Chaos Warp. Run Brittle Blast over Thunderous Wrath.

Not sure about Dismiss into Dream. How many single-target spells or effects are you running? I count 6.

Mana Drain over Dissipate: Having resources for damage later is almost always going to serve you more. Plus, it's a great target for Isochron Scepter.

Speaking of walkers, definitely replace Cloud Key with Rowan, Scholar of Sparks  Flip. It's straight up better. Strongly consider Ral, Storm Conduit, if only that it ramps up damage with your commander out. Consider Koth, Fire of Resistance as a decent land-fixer (which means you'll draw less lands and have more mana), and Jaya Ballard for simple acceleration.

If your pool is competitive, you could run Back to Basics or at least Blood Moon. This will slow down many decks and give you more time. Adding fetches in your colors (should be 5) means that you can take out 2 islands and 3 mountains and still hit your curve.

Not sure about Breaking Point and Curse of the Swine. Instead, consider Puppet's Verdict and either Winter's Chill or Cyclonic Rift.

Reins of Power and Insurrection could replace Chain Reaction and Incite Rebellion, allowing you to use those resources against opponents and kill them, which would have the added benefit of removing their creatures.

I know you don't want to run any creatures, but Stuffy Doll is a decent deterrent and is too funny not to leave out.

July 12, 2023 1:41 a.m.

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