"New" Deck Concept: Melira Company
Modern forum
Posted on March 15, 2015, 12:46 p.m. by JDMCRIB
I know that this was discussed when Collected Company was first spoiled, but I'd like to venture the idea of an actual archetype around this card and Melira, Sylvok Outcast.
Essentially, Collected Company serves like Birthing Pod in the build; it assembles our combo. However, we don't need a specific creature loadout to maximize Company's effectiveness, just cast and assemble. It's also an instant, so we can dodge removal by using at the end of our opponent's turn after they've tapped out.
We'd be running similar cards in the list; Melira, Sylvok Outcast, Kitchen Finks, and Viscera Seer are all fetchable with Collected Company, making our combo very easy to have access to. Other good creatures to get would be things like Spellskite to protect our combo pieces, and Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit could potentially serve as Melira 5-8 if we need even more consistency.
Finally, fill up the remaining slots with copies of Chord of Calling, various removal cards, and any other value creatures you want.
What do you think of Melira Company? Does it sound viable? What other cards could make this deck competitive? Any response is appreciated, thanks for reading!
Dalektable says... #3
Sounds good, I like the card a lot and think it had a lot of potential.
March 15, 2015 12:52 p.m.
I don't know seems pretty janky, but hey it will run at least somewhat similar to Pod. Could be Tier 3.
March 15, 2015 12:57 p.m.
It won't run similarly to Pod at all though. Collected company only searches a few cards and limits mana cost. It's also 4 mana instead of 3. You'd either end up running a sub-par weenie strategy or a really janky midrange strategy. If you're going Siege Rhino et al. then you're making Collected company a dead card.
The problem is that casting it and finding Melira doesn't stop the opponent just instantly removing it. Now with Pod this wasn't a problem because you can always start again, but with this card you've just wasted 4 mana and that's it - gone.
March 15, 2015 12:59 p.m.
I think it could be pretty consistent most of the time; with play sets of the combo pieces,and a few Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, you could hit at least one piece every time you cast a Collected Company. And yeah, ramp via dorks would be really nice too.
March 15, 2015 1:01 p.m.
Unfortunately I don't think that is enough to be consistent. Even if it is it'll be poorly placed against the current meta.
March 15, 2015 1:03 p.m.
Eh, I can see where you're coming from... maybe a Glittering Wish package to imitate Pod's silver-bullet playstyle? Qasali Pridemage, Fulminator Mage, Wilt-Leaf Liege, other stuff that I can't think of right now, etc.
March 15, 2015 1:07 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #9
Ummm?
EOT: Congregation at Dawn for Melira, Finks, Viscera Seer
After draw step: Collected Company
GG.
/thread
March 15, 2015 1:08 p.m.
Unless they have instant-speed removal, it pretty much is. EOT Congregation at Dawn gets all 3 combo pieces, you draw one of them on your turn, then Collected Company gets you the other two. Assuming you have the mana to cast them, GG. Otherwise, if you have one of your pieces already in your hand prior to doing this, search up Spellskite in its place for protection.
March 15, 2015 1:13 p.m.
Instant speed removal, any counterspell.
It also relies on you doing nothing T3 but searching.
It also needs a pretty good hand.
March 15, 2015 1:16 p.m.
also, with the new anafenza, you would have to bolster once or twice to be able to target the finks. That's a little too unreliable.
March 15, 2015 1:18 p.m.
That's why the protection Spellskite provides is relevant here; ofc it doesn't to anything against counterspells, but, then again, nothing really does in these colors. The only thing I can think of would be Boseiju, Who Shelters All, but that only protects the Collected Company.
Maybe we just need some midgame threats to keep us alive while we assemble combo, preferably 3CMC or less. Brimaz, King of Oreskos comes to mind, but I'd have to search for something else; maybe even a singeton Doran, the Siege Tower to be a fatty and help in combat?
March 15, 2015 1:25 p.m.
Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit would trigger as we assemble combo. For example:
Cast Anafenza
Cast Viscera Seer, put Bolster on Seer.
Cast Kitchen Finks. In response to Bolster trigger, sacrifice Finks. Returns to battlefield as a 2/1, Bolster must target Finks. Counters negate, reverts to 3/2. Rinse and repeat to infinity.
March 15, 2015 1:29 p.m.
I didn't mean it will ever come close to Pod on any level, I'm just saying the general shell and deck structure will be very similar, which isn't a bad thing.
March 15, 2015 1:45 p.m.
I know it wouldn't be on the same consistency level as Pod (hence why it was banned), I usually thought the concept had some potential. I only compared it to Pod because of the similar structure and it would run some of the same cards.
March 15, 2015 2:07 p.m.
ChiefBell saying its bad because of instant removal and counterspells are like saying Tarmogoyf is bad because it dies to Doom Blade. Or Reanimate are bad because of Rest in Peace. Or Storm is bad because of Ethersworn Canonist. Pretty much everything can be countered, removed or discarded.
I think its sounds interesting. Congregation at Dawn sounds nice. I might try this with the leftovers from my pod deck..
March 15, 2015 2:20 p.m.
Infinite life. I like it. Brew something up, tag me in the deck when u build it
March 15, 2015 2:23 p.m.
CharlesMandore says... #21
JDMCRIB Hold up, I want something clarified. If finks comes back with a -1/-1 counter and has a +1/+1 counter placed on for persist and bolster respectively, doesn't it still have both counters despite the nature of what they do? Isn't this why Merilia is needed, for the lack of -1/-1 counters?
March 15, 2015 3:05 p.m.
CharlesMandore no, -1/-1 and +1/+1 counter cancel eachother out..
March 15, 2015 3:06 p.m.
smackjack : No. Note the mana discrepancy between a 4 cost spell and a 2 cost counterspell. Note that each individual card is next to useless on its own. THATS why its bad.
March 15, 2015 3:18 p.m.
PhyrexianScience says... #26
CharlesMandore The counters will cancel each other out kinda like particle-antiparticle annihilation.
"Infinite" life =/= GG. For instance, Twin still beats you since you have to name a positive integer to stop at, and they can just make that many +1 Deceiver Exarchs.
Also, the reason Pod was good was because of the versatility it offered in the toolbox. The Melira combo was probably the worst part of the deck since it was too fragile and if you devoted resources to it only to have the combo be disrupted, it was pretty devastating.
March 15, 2015 3:22 p.m.
jandrobard says... #28
This is a good idea for all those people who had pod decks when the banhammer came down and haven't sold them. It may not be competitive, but it sounds fun.
March 15, 2015 3:37 p.m.
I wasn't looking for something meta-warping, just something fun to play. I'll toy around with a list and see what I come up with. Glittering Wish variant sounds interesting. Thanks for all the feedback!
March 15, 2015 3:52 p.m.
mowservision says... #30
121.3. If a permanent has both a +1/+1 counter and a-1/-1 counter onit, N +1/+1 and N-1/-1 counters are removed from it as a state-based action, where N is the smaller of the number of +1/+1 and-1/-1 counters on it.
March 15, 2015 4:07 p.m.
Also, to comment on the Infinite life vs Twin remark, if they did not disable the combo on board first, Twin would never be able to kill you. If they assembled their combo, they would have to make their specified infinite number of creatures in the beginning of combat, and then declare them all as attackers. If you still had the infinite life combo in play after they attacked, you could respond by using the combo that number of times times two or something.
March 15, 2015 4:25 p.m.
Alright; I've made a sample decklist, and it looks pretty sweet. Dunno about the landbase, though; looks sorta sketchy. Other than the sideboard, it looks pretty complete. Here it is:
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/melira-company-a-new-pod/
Suggestions welcome! +1 if you like!
March 15, 2015 4:26 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #33
@ChiefBell
While I do understand what you're saying, and the combo is admittedly weak, it forces the opponent to play differently against you. If they waste an Abrupt Decay on my Melira-Grizzly Bears, then I'll just slam a Bob, or other significant Decay-able threat, and win via that while laughing. If they don't kill Melira, then I'll go to infinite life, and leave a threatening card on top of my deck. So, it works both ways.
Also, I wouldn't argue that Congregation at Dawn does nothing on its own. =D
The deck that I'd use those in would have 1-2 Melira/Viscera Seer at the MAX. I'd just use Congregation at Dawn/Chord of Calling to fetch them up when necessary, and maybe Collected Company too if I have it. Otherwise, I'd be on the traditional Abzan beat-down strategy -- one with some sweet, techy 1-3 CMC creatures backed by Siege Rhino, Path to Exile, and Abrupt Decay.
Disclaimer: I won't actually build this deck, I play control/combo-control almost exclusively.
March 15, 2015 4:38 p.m.
This isn't how pod works! This isn't how collected company works! Everything is wrong... So wrong...
So much mis-information it hurts. T-T
The melira combo is not pods main win con first of all, it won with a frustrating amount of attrition and overwhelming card advantage. If they happened to melira, then good for them, they got lucky.
Pod is gone, no more overwhelming attrition, the combo is as dead as dead can get. Even the pilli-pala combo would be more consistent than the the melira one.
March 20, 2015 12:09 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #35
You don't make a new deck with Collected Company, you just put it in Little Kid Abzan.
March 20, 2015 2:28 a.m.
Me and my friend have been experimenting with the deck and I believe that it is at least a tier 2 deck. scottemery went down the route of Congregation at Dawn to enable the combo to be more easily tutored for. This is a good strategy but it can get ground out if the game goes long and fairs poorly against control decks.
Melira Po... & Company Playtest
Modern*
SCORE: 2 | 11 COMMENTS | 199 VIEWSMy version is more value orientated, it has the combo in there (which recently replaced the archangel + spike feeder combo, because although it is more cards I can get them earlier as they are all cmc 3 or less, as you combo for infinite life, scry until you find redcap, so he doesn't really count in the math), but generally grinds the game out getting value of ETB effects and getting free spells due to chording and companying for Eternal Witness.
Eternal value Playtest
Modern*
SCORE: 0 | 0 COMMENTS | 17 VIEWSLet us know what you think, but I think that you covered most card choices in the thread already, so far from testing they have both performed well, but more in depth testing is needed after DTK is released and we see modern results of the SCG IQ that weekend, I doubt the format will change much, but gives us some decks to test against.
March 20, 2015 6:10 a.m.
GhostAngel says... #37
No. As in the rulings, if a creature has a +1/+1 counter and a -1/-1 counter on it, they cancel each other out. There are no counters any more.
aeonstoremyliver says... #2
Great minds! I thought something similar...
Ramp ala Birds of Paradise/Noble Hierarch would be a must, alongside Wall of Roots. Siege Rhino for tempo and a good midrange strategy.
March 15, 2015 12:51 p.m.