Meren's Returning Army

Commander / EDH Aggro BG (Golgari) Casual Death and Taxes Multiplayer Stax

NV_1980

Creature (31)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Caustic Caterpillar
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Harvester of Souls
• 1x Hermit Druid
• 1x Hornet Queen
• 1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Liliana, Heretical Healer  ^Flip
• 1x Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
• 1x Merciless Executioner
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Mycoloth
• 1x Phyrexian Obliterator
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Spore Frog
• 1x Triskelion
• 1x Winding Constrictor
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine
• 1x Yavimaya Elder
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Land (36)

• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 10x Forest
• 1x Golgari Guildgate
• 1x Grim Backwoods
• 1x Hissing Quagmire
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 10x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Westvale Abbey  ^Flip
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Artifact (9)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x MImic Vat
• 1x Nim Deathmantle
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots

Instant (5)

• 1x Entomb
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Tribute to the Wild
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Commander (1)

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Exhume
• 1x Harvest Season
• 1x Life from the Loam
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Victimize

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Attrition
• 1x Deathreap Ritual
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Exploration
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Leyline of the Void
• 1x Phyrexian Arena

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Garruk, Apex Predator

---

Welcome to Meren's Returning Army !

A great way to frustrate our opponents is to summon stuff that simply won't stay dead. This deck was bought and adapted as part of a challenge between ourselves. A challenge in which we were to decide which of the following color combination could come up with the most wicked control options; white/blue (Azorius) or green/black (Golgari). This deck has been amazing fun; there's nothing like the looks of dread our opponents show when Meren of Clan Nel Toth enters the field.

Feedback to this deck is more than welcome, but before you give any, please take note of the following:

1. Members of our playgroup feel that the primary goal of playing a game of EDH/Commander is that all players participating have a fun time. This means most of our EDH/Commander decks are not meant to be competitive. We enjoy the occasional infinite combo (mostly because they can be hilarious), but none of us feel the need to build decks that are exclusively about them.
2. We have not bought any new cards since June 2016. We still trade cards though, but only when we feel the trade adds something to our collection without significant loss to it. This means that whenever you are suggesting a new card that we do not own, chances are pretty slim it is going to end up in our deck. Please do not take this personally. Also, please do not let this stop you from making suggestions. Suggestions that do not make it into this deck, will still be mentioned on this page and might be used by others.
3. Please do not forget to include the card(s) you would remove to make room for your recommended card(s).
4. Please do not recommend any cards with infect or cards whose sole purpose is to destroy basic lands (non-basic lands are fair game). Our playgroup has banned them.

With that being said, thank you for all your support and if you should decide to use our ideas, have lots of fun with them.

Kael, I have come back for thee. You will feel a power unlike anything you have faced before. A power between powers, from a world between worlds. Know that once this power touches your flesh, you will succumb to its pull and become my servant forever! --Meren, of Clan Nel Toth--

Some tactics

Having Meren or other recursion onto the field is key in this deck, as most creatures in this deck profit from ETB effects. There's a great many ways this deck helps us in dealing with our opponents by basically killing some of our own stuff. Some of the more prominent ones are:

• Forcing them to sac creatures by saccing our own.
• Gaining life by saccing creatures (and sometimes damaging our opponents in return).
• Saccing stuff to tutor for more powerful stuff.
• Saccing stuff in order to draw more cards.

Card choices

Mana/Ramp

Ashnod's Altar, Birds of Paradise, Chromatic Lantern, Cultivate, Exploration, Harvest Season, Hermit Druid, Life from the Loam, Rampant Growth, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Sol Ring and Yavimaya Elder.

Protection/Stax

Archfiend of Depravity, Dictate of Erebos, Grave Pact, Merciless Executioner, Phyrexian Obliterator and Spore Frog.

Draw/Tutors

Birthing Pod, Buried Alive, Deathreap Ritual, Demonic Tutor, Entomb, Fauna Shaman, Grim Haruspex, Harvester of Souls, Phyrexian Arena, Sidisi, Undead Vizier, Skullclamp, Vampiric Tutor and Worldly Tutor.

Vaping & Anti-Enchantment/Artifact

Acidic Slime, Attrition, Caustic Caterpillar, Krosan Grip, Reclamation Sage and Tribute to the Wild.

Token generation

Garruk, Apex Predator, Grave Titan, Hornet Queen, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, Mimic Vat, Mycoloth and Wurmcoil Engine.

Life gain/Ping

Blood Artist, Kokusho, the Evening Star, Triskelion and Zulaport Cutthroat.

Recursion

Eternal Witness, Exhume, Liliana, Heretical Healer  , Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, Nim Deathmantle, Reanimate, Sheoldred, Whispering One and Victimize.

Boosts/Utility

Leyline of the Void, Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest, Strionic Resonator, Swiftfoot Boots and Winding Constrictor.

Combo's

• Meren of Clan Nel Toth + Hermit Druid/Life from the Loam; the way in which Hermit/Loam allows us to self-mill, makes this deck very efficient with recursion like Meren on the field.
• Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Triskelion; an infinite damage combo. Exchange all +1/+1 counters on Triskelion for damage, allow Mikaeus' undying ability to recur him and repeat.
• Hornet Queen/Grave Titan + Nim Deathmantle + Ashnod's Altar; infinite mana- and token combo. Summon either creature, gain tokens when they enter the battlefield. Then equip Deathmantle to the creature and sack it, as well as one creature token generated, to Altar. Use the mana obtained to recur Queen/Titan with Mantle. Repeat.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 32 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.23
Tokens	Beast 3/3 B, Copy Clone, Emblem Garruk, Apex Predator, Emblem Liliana, Defiant Necromancer, Experience Token, Human Cleric 1/1 BW, Insect 1/1 G w/ Flying, Deathtouch, Morph 2/2 C, Saproling 1/1 G, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	meren, Meren