Hi :)

I appreciate this deck: the list looks pretty enjoyable. I just have a few of cards I think should be cut in favour of more interesting cards. If you want to keep the effect I've made some suggestions for alternatives in the slots; but really you could take those slots and put anything in there.

• Creakwood Liege: This just anthems and generates a token each turn. You're missing Reclamation Sage or Sylvok Replica both of which give you some more control, and recurr.
• Vulturous Zombie: This is just a big fat flier. Any demon or similar, perhaps Rune-Scarred Demon, but really, you could go with anything; Devouring Strossus is a bit of fun
• Sylvan Caryatid: 2 mana mana dork that lets you get down Meren turn 3. Perhaps try Diligent Farmhand as interacts far better with Meren.

Happy Brewing & dream big! :)

Hi Caeruleus; thanks for your suggestions. No +1 though? Such a shame ;) I had Reclamation Sage and Sylvok Replica in here before, along with the other enchantment/artifact removal stuff and decided to remove them. Reason: the deck already had plenty of other ways to deal with artifacts/enchantments.

I agree that Vulturous Zombie is just a big, fat flier and that Rune-Scarred Demon or Devouring Strossus could at least be just as effective. I'm going to give that one some thought.

I'm not sure what to think about the Dilligent Farmhand suggestion. What the hell is 'Muscle Burst'?

Hi NV_1980,

In respect of (1) Maybe don't add those cards, but I think you can still do better then the Leige.

In respect of (2) Glad to hear it.

In respect of Diligent Farmhand. Consider it as a card in your opening hand. Comes down turn 1, sac's turn 2, and ramps you to 4 for turn 3. The Muscle Burst reference is irrelevant to the card in this context. It comes back off meren and can be repeated sac'd for lands. Compare to the Carytid, which also ramps to turn 3 meren. Except that it doesn't serve another purpose later, other than being a random blocker.

Hi Caeruleus,

For its casting cost, I think the Liege does alright. I can use its tokens for all manner of purposes in this deck and the bonuses to my other creatures are just gravy :) However, suppose I wanted some more control in this deck, I guess I'd replace it with something like Fleshbag Marauder or Spore Frog. I've also been looking into Deathrite Shaman, as a possible addition for multiple utility purposes.

I get that I can use Diligent Farmhand like an extra Sakura-Tribe Elder in this deck, I just didn't understand what the muscle stuff was about. But thanks for pointing that out.

Hey man, I wrote out this long list for you but Tappedout wants to be lame and not let me save it.
Basically remove all of the comes into play tapped duel lands but 1 or 2 of them. Vivid lands do nothing in 2 color. Westvale Abbey as well. Just play basic lands.
Cards I'd like to see you add are reclamation sage, deathrite shaman, hermit druid, apprentice necromancer.
changing out Eldrazi Monument for Conjurers closet wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Thanks for the +1 man. Have a wonderful day.

Hi arkstudios,

Thanks for your recommendations! I think you're right about the Vivid lands not adding much in a two color deck; especially since they enter the battlefield tapped. I'm going to replace them with regular lands. The other two-color lands though ... I dunno yet. And I've actually won games by transforming Westvale Abbey ... I'm gonna ponder some more on this.

The creatures you're suggesting all sound interesting. Especially Reclamation Sage and Deathrite Shaman; I'm gonna think some more on what needs to go in order to make room.

Your last suggestion is also very useful and will be implemented immediately. More than a few of my creatures have ETB effects and survival is not really an issue in this deck anyway.

If you rely to heavily on the duel lands/ you'll eat a blood moon one day and lose 1/2 of your mana base. Plus if you get a Hermit Druid then you can self mill, but keep it to a minimum.

My playgroup has banned Blood Moon, so I'm not too worried about that. The self mill of Hermit Druid does make it more valuable than Diligent Farmhand or Sakura-Tribe Elder in this deck. I might switch one of those out. I don't have a Hermit Druid yet though, so I'll start by acquiring one first :)

You're running a couple of things I've considered but never tested that I'd love to get your opinion on. Do you find that Blood Artist and Zulaport Cutthroat do good work? I've been considering them since I have so many tokens, so I'd be curious to hear how they work for you. Also, do you generally find that you're able to get Reclamation Sage in the graveyard easily when you want to? I'm currently running Viridian Zealot for the self-sacrifice, but I've been thinking that rec sage might be better.

In terms of possible replacements, there are a couple of things you might try:

• I'm not convinced that Diligent Farmhand is better than Sakura-Tribe Elder. It seems like the best possible upside is that you play it T1, take T2 off to sac it and ramp in to Meren T3 and put it back on the battlefield, at which point it costs 2 mana to sac it again. If it were Elder, you could play something T1, then play and sac it T2, play Meren T3 to return it to hand, and then it's still only 2 mana to play and sac it again. The fact that you can just get a free land off of Elder any time you need it with Meren and 2 experience seems a lot better than maybe getting to fetch it direct to the field sooner.
• Conjurer's Closet seems right on the edge of worth it. You currently have 10 hits in the deck, but a bunch of them aren't very good hits. Something like Thragtusk might be more likely to pay off. Or even if you left in closet, Thragtusk would make another strong target (and be in-flavor with Kokusho).
• It may be worth cutting one of Mind's Eye or Deathreap Ritual. They're both a lot less efficient than the other card draw and having a card that does something right away might be good. A decent option could be Hornet Queen, which gives draw power w\with Skullclamp and Evolutionary Leap. It also lights up Hecatomb and Westvale Abbey on its own or give you a pile of stuff to sac to Bloodspore Thrinax or Mycoloth. There's probably some magical Christmas land whene you sac out queen and the bees to Thrinax, then fetch it back to the field EoT with Meren to get a 7/7 and 4 5/5's.

Hi Reverie42,

Thanks very much for the feedback (again) :):)

Blood Artist and Zulaport Cutthroat have done well for me in the past. Their effects just add up. Especially when combined with some of the mass sacrifices this deck causes sometimes.

Yeah, I have several ways of getting Reclamation Sage in the GY. If all else fails, I'll attack someone with him who doesn't mind blocking (and killing) him so that I can get him back the next turn with Meren. Works well if the whole table is suffering the consequences of one person's artifact/enchantment and Rec-Sage is already on the BF. Aaah, diplomacy :)

You make a good point about the Diligent Farmhand and Sakura-Tribe Elder; I'm going to think on that for a little bit.

Thragtusk is really interesting, I hadn't considered him yet. However, Conjurer's Closet is definitely going to stay; its worth has been shown to me time and again. I've used it for the extra lifegain with Merchant and Kokusho, but also to let Bloodspore Thrinax/Mycoloth reenter the field at a time when I could sac more tokens for them and a lot to blink Sidisi, Undead Vizier/Rune-Scarred Demon and end games that way.

I've used Hornet Queen before in this deck. Wasn't too fond of its casting cost ... Then again, the combo's you're describing do look interesting. I'll give some thought on what to replace.

A cool little affordable combo you could look into incorporating is Buried Alive, Necrotic Ooze, Phyrexian Devourer, and Triskelion. You fetch all three, bring back Necrotic Ooze through Meren, and win on your end step if no one has answers as you just keep drawing from your deck to gain counters until you can ping the table to zero.

Buried Alive and Jarad's Orders are two I'd highly recommend in general as they're both affordable tutors in a Meren deck.

Protean Hulk + Walking Ballista + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed is another cool combo similar to Tooth and Nail but needs a sacrifice outlet to get going. It's a bit on the pricier side but it seems great with tutors!

I like how you run Kodama's Reach and Cultivate to supplement the thinning fetches would bring to the deck, and is something I may look into implementing as well

Hi Atsu,

I had not considered Necrotic Ooze yet, I'll look into it. I'm not really fond of Phyrexian Devourer; too unpredictable. Also, I'm not fond of exiling my own stuff .

Though I truly like Buried Alive and Jarad's Orders, I'm very reluctant to add more tutors to the deck. Mostly because it already contains quite a few of them, as well as the incredible effective Hermit Druid and Life from the Loam that allow self-mill AND a plethora of ways to draw additional cards.

I'd like a Walking Ballista, but I don't have one and obtaining one at this time in my country is next to impossible (no retailer has had it in stock for months).

Hi NV_1980, I was somewhat comparing our Meren decks were built, and while they are very different I do have some cards I might recommend, however take them lightly as i have not been able to play test them, they are just ideas.

Ophiomancer has some good defensive capabilities, due to her putting a token onto the field on anyones turn, keeping them from swinging at you with their things they dont want to die.

Ramunap Excavator is basically Crucible of worlds on a dude, something Meren can recur. I find that having him allows you to be a lot more generous with your draw/self mill, who cares if a land hits your grave if you can just play it from the grave.

Savra, Queen of the Golgari is one of "Unique" cards I want to add into mine. She isnt a staple, but she is far from bad. Sac a black creature and pay two life to make your opponents sac a creature, and if a green one dies you get the two life back, removal and lifegain in one.

Winding Constrictor also give you two experience counters per sac vs just one, turning your clock up by two each time, however infect is also something that will kill you faster as well.

Just some food for thought, Im not 100% sure how well the upgrades ive given mine will work, but I feel like the cards I mentioned are better in general.

Hi Brightest_Day,

Thanks for your input. Ophiomancer is nice but compared to my other creatures he isn't strong/useful to replace anything. An extra 1/1 with deathtouch is nice to have on the field, but then I'd actually prefer Hornet Queen (even if her CMC is a lot higher).

Ramunap Excavator is a great card ... if you're worried about land destruction or lots of milling (from the opposition). Land destruction is no concern of mine. I don't use many sac lands and my playgroup frowns upon any land destruction cards. We've not banned them, but people will tell you you're a dick/cunt if you use them. As for milling, meh ... if it happens, it happens. I've got Life from the Loam to compensate if needed.

Savra, Queen of the Golgari is a great card and it was in this deck a while ago. She definitely is powerful but I don't feel like I really need her. The deck already contains plenty of ways to force sacs and gain life; often in more powerful ways.

Winding Constrictor is definitely an option and one I overlooked until now (mostly because I just recently acquired one). I'm not worried about infect; my playgroup has banned this broken mechanic (especially in EDH). I think I'm going to replace Catacomb Sifter with it.

Thanks again for your feedback; greatly appreciate it. If your comments are always this useful, I can't wait what you have to say about any of my other decks. If you'd like me to have a look at one of your other decks, please let me know.

Happy gaming!

Nice list! Why not run Cabal Coffers if you're going to run Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, for even more ridiculous mana? At the very least get a Magus of the Coffers!

Thanks for commenting and the +1 docbp87. I've never really needed ridiculous amounts of mana while playing this deck. I'm not using any spells with variable mana costs, and stuff that's relatively expensive to cast is often cheated into play. These cards also aren't all that useful during the early stages of a game as you need at least a number of lands or other mana sources on the table to make them interesting. Also, I doubt my friends have either of these available for trade (my husband I no longer buy cards). Still, thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Heya, I finally got the chance to check your deck out, and by looking at it I say Grab a Phyrexian Obliterator

Hi slythr, that certainly would be a nice card to add. I'm not sure we have one in our collection though; I'll check that soon. If we do have one, I think I would replace Gray Merchant of Asphodel with it. Life-leeching is not the primary goal of this deck anyway; getting others to sac stuff is. Thanks for the comment!

I love looking at Merens, it gives me ideas. Im moving Mikeaus into mine.

May I suggest: Solemn Simulacrum, Protean Hulk and Sidisi, Undead Vizier

And the Grey Merchant.

Hi JeremyX2,

Thanks for commenting on my deck. All of the cards you mentioned, were part of this deck at some point. Let me explain why I'm not using them anymore:

Solemn Simulacrum is a great card in just about any EDH deck, but I decided that since returning stuff to the battlefield with this deck was so easy, I might as well use creatures that already included a sacrifice mechanic themselves (Sakura-Tribe Elder and Yavimaya Elder). Saved me the need of having to add more sac outlets than I wanted and/or the frustration of nobody wanting to kill of my Simulacrum once it was of the BF.

Both Protean Hulk and Sidisi, Undead Vizier are wonderful, reusable tutor cards in a Meren deck, but both of them are relatively expensive to cast/use compared to some of the other tutors I'm already using (like Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Worldly Tutor, Entomb and Buried Alive. Also, I do not want to overdo it with the tutors as my playgroup's meta is non-competitive.

Thanks again for your comments. I hope me not using your recommendations won't prevent you from commenting on some my other decks. I would appreciate it!