Need insight on my commander.

Commander Deck Help forum

Posted on April 14, 2018, 8:29 p.m. by Segala

I bought Plunder the grave because everyone told me how Meren of Clan Nel Toth was broken and everything but with the deck centered around my commander after a few games everyone keeps targeting her as soon as she hits the board, making it very difficult for me to even play the game.

I was wondering if there is another precon I could get where the deck is not centered around the commander or if is that it won't be so easy to get rid of it.

Also if you have any ideas how to make sure Meren won't be destroyed so easily I'm also all ears.

griffstick says... #2

Meren of Clan Nel Toth is broken. Try Oloro, Ageless Ascetic precon

April 14, 2018 8:45 p.m.

Segala says... #3

griffstick thanks for the tip but is there a 2 color commander you could recommend instead? I was told that a 2 color mana base is cheaper to get.

April 14, 2018 9:08 p.m.

DrukenReaps says... #4

She is quite strong but that also comes with being a target. There are some ways to help deal with this: Swiftfoot Boots, Lightning Greaves, Archetype of Endurance, Mask of Avacyn, Journey to Eternity  Flip, Victimize, Asceticism.

Another way is to attack your opponents hands with cards like Mind Slash, Sadistic Hypnotist, and Vindictive Lich.

And since the deck does really focus on her make sure you have around 8 effects that can replicate her ability in some way. They don't need to be as powerful as her effect they just need to be similar.

Other precon commanders that are easier or are not such big targets:

Any of the eminence commanders from 2017 Edgar Markov, The Ur-Dragon, Inalla, Archmage Ritualist, Arahbo, Roar of the World. These commanders don't have to ever see play to be useful in my opinion the most powerful eminence effect is Edgar Markov followed closely by Inalla, Archmage Ritualist.

Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith is also of note because he immediately grabs, plays, and equips Hammer of Nazahn making him indestructible. He also isn't considered to be powerful by most people so you are less of a target. Comes in the 2017 commander cat deck.

Daretti, Scrap Savant is out of the 2014 precons and is a powerhouse. The precon itself comes with some of the better artifacts for him too like Wurmcoil Engine. This is something you could go back and forth on as to how easy it is to keep him around, in my meta walkers tend to stick pretty well for about 3 turns.

Oloro, Ageless Ascetic is out of 2013 and has eminence from before it was cool. People are constantly bitching about him whenever he comes up. I don't think he is actually that powerful I think it is more that he just keeps gaining value every turn from the beginning to the end. good card draw if you can keep him on board though so that is really nice.

Derevi, Empyrial Tactician another from 2013. The thing about this guy is that he will always cost 4 mana no matter how many times he dies so unless someone really needs him dead he doesn't tend to get targeted with removal since he will come back out instantly.

Prossh, Skyraider of Kher, Marath, Will of the Wild, and Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge range from great to good and are worth thinking about since every time they come back they are just a little bit better. Also from 2013.

Karador, Ghost Chieftain will cost 3 mana and is out of the original commander set. really hard to keep this guy out of the game.

Animar, Soul of Elements is protected from some of the better removal and also out of the original commander.

With all of that said some of these are rather difficult to get a hold of and I don't know off the top of my head how many of these were bad precons compared to the others. If you have some idea of what kind of things you like to do when you play that would help. Simply going off what you are already playing I would say either stick to her or go with Karador, Ghost Chieftain as he does a lot of the same things with another color and with his cost reduction he almost always just costs 3 mana. If you want something aggro/aristocrat Edgar Markov is the way to go and if you want combo/control Inalla, Archmage Ritualist is great.

April 14, 2018 9:23 p.m.

enpc says... #5

Meren is an awesome commander, the trick though is not to build the entire deck around her. You need to get ncoude other reanimation effects to the deck so that even if Meren is getting focused down you have options.

April 14, 2018 9:23 p.m.

griffstick says... #6

I think that's the only one I can think of that doesn't require you to cast your CMDR but Edgar Markov is another one

April 14, 2018 9:30 p.m.

Steelspike says... #7

Ezuri, Claw of Progress

SUPER cheap to build if you're not into cEDH


Mr. Tinkertrain

Commander / EDH Steelspike

SCORE: 1 | 35 VIEWS


Mine is rather cheap (~260.00 USD) but can be built much cheaper (like no Doubling Season or Greater Good, for example) and still compete against non-tier 1 decks.

April 15, 2018 1:43 p.m.

DerektheRed says... #8

If you actually want another pre-con:

Some of the other 2015 decks are, or can be, really good and don't draw the same hate: Ezuri, mentioned above; Daxos the Returned(1) is narrow but can be incredibly powerful; Mizzix of the Izmagnus is classic Izzet spell-slinger - super fun if you're into that kind of thing; and Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas is the one I see least - Boros stomp n smash.

I'd also second Daretti artifacts and Prossh, as two decks that are both good/fun out of the box and have potential to be broken with some tinkering.

If you want to avoid getting targeted altogether and play group politics / late-game wins, get Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis from 2016. Hide behind your pillowfort until the time is right...

(1)Here's my Daxos deck if you want to see what that's about (decklist is slightly out of date)


Enchanted to Beat You [Daxos Spirits]

Commander / EDH DerektheRed

SCORE: 1 | 4 COMMENTS | 567 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER


April 15, 2018 3:03 p.m.

DerektheRed says... #9

If you want to continue playing Meren:

From someone who plays against Meren, I can assure you I will target her every chance I get because once the deck goes off there's no stopping it (not entirely true, but close). From someone who has played Oloro, Ageless Ascetic I can tell you that instead of your commander, you will become that target instead.

In edh, your commander is going to be targeted - it's part of the game. Your options are:

(1) Protect your commander (see comment above re: Swiftfoot Boots, etc.)

(2) Let her go to the graveyard instead of the command zone - you have tons of reanimate to cheat her back onto the battlefield.

(3) Make other players suffer for removing your creatures (e.g. Grave Pact).

(4) Build in more ramp. In every edh game, with every deck, you're going to cast your commander multiple times, so you need to be able to spend 6, 8, 10...

(5) Last, you can always try playing the same deck with a similar but less busted commander - check out Savra, Queen of the Golgari or Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord.

April 15, 2018 3:15 p.m.

echo4lima says... #10

Some more tools for keeping Meren alive: Golgari Charm, Heroic Intervention, Champions Helm, Darksteel Plate

April 15, 2018 3:27 p.m.

Segala says... #11

thanks for the tips I'll check them out and see what I can do with what I have in my collection and budget(obviously).

April 16, 2018 6:21 p.m.

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