"It's Just a Flesh Wound" // Meren // $100

Commander / EDH BG (Golgari) Budget Competitive Infinite Combo Sacrifice

ThatWeirdPerson

Creature (39)

• 1x Apprentice Necromancer
• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Bloodbriar
• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Caustic Caterpillar
• 1x Coretapper
• 1x Dawntreader Elk
• 1x Defiant Salvager
• 1x Diligent Farmhand
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Disciple of the Vault
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Elvish Visionary
• 1x Farhaven Elf
• 1x Fierce Empath
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Greenseeker
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Heartwood Storyteller
• 1x Kessig Cagebreakers
• 1x Lesser Masticore
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Magus of the Order
• 1x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Phyrexian Plaguelord
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Protean Hulk
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Skull Prophet
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Spore Frog
• 1x Titan Hunter
• 1x Viridian Emissary
• 1x Yavimaya Granger

Sorcery (17)

• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Circuitous Route
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Dread Summons
• 1x Emergent Sequence
• 1x Far Wanderings
• 1x Final Parting
• 1x Jarad's Orders
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Mastermind's Acquisition
• 1x Necromantic Selection
• 1x Necrotic Hex
• 1x Oblivion Strike
• 1x Primal Growth
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Traverse the Ulvenwald

Artifact (6)

• 1x Magistrate's Scepter
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Spawning Pit
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Tormod's Crypt
• 1x Wishclaw Talisman

Commander (1)

Land (36)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Crystal Vein
• 1x Dakmor Salvage
• 16x Forest
• 13x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Vivid Grove
• 1x Vivid Marsh

Instant (1)

• 1x Village Rites

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Maybeboard

Creature (3)

• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x Riftsweeper

Instant (1)

• 1x Tamiyo's Safekeeping

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Tranquility

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Introduction Show

Welcome to my Meren of Clan Nel Toth deck or as I call it, It’s Just a Flesh Wound as a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This deck is following the border between competitive and noncompetitive magic but leans more towards cEDH. It sits at a good place on the power scale being about an 8-9 and while I would make it a super competitive 10, I decided I would build a deck that is straight up my alley, a budget deck. Super budget in fact, about as budget as I can make it. But with all that beside now let's delve into the deck's history, shall we? (I will explain every card in the entire deck as you read)

The Evolution of the Deck Show

(rq, not the long ago I decided id put in anything big that happened here to log it all) When I posted this deck on tappedout it was an absolute piece of crap. I had a bunch of good decks that I played all the time but I couldn’t get this one Meren deck to do much so I posted it on tappedout. It wasn’t long until I started getting tons of feedback and soon couldn't figure out what to replace for all the suggestions I was getting. But I took one of the suggestions of a combo by Ardees and manipulated the combo slightly to fit it into the deck. I wanted to have tutors for this combo and that's when the combo kind of took over leaving a much more competitive deck left in its aftermath. Just today I used this guys methods to set up some code for the deck (https://tappedout.net/mtg-articles/2019/oct/31/deckstyling-ease/) and well now its good, still figuring a few things out, I had done this right after deckcycling and his default setup was absolutely horrid. ill leave you to infer the rest, but please, learn from my mistakes.

Why Meren? Show

The deck used to use meren to form an ultimate unstoppable engine that would absolutely destroy with its win-cons but then became a combo deck. So why still Meren? Why not Varolz, the Scar Striped as a sac outlet for the combo? Because Meren isn’t meant to be game-winning. But despite that she is one of the best cards in the deck because she can come up with a solution to any problem. Opponent counters Protean Hulk (The main combo piece), Just bring it back with Meren. Opponent plays some crazy good artifact that shuts Protean Hulk down, just recur Reclamation Sage or Caustic Caterpillar with Meren. Valroz can’t do that like Meren can. Muldrotha is also good but still requires the mana cost and costs a little more than Meren so isn't very good in the combo deck.

How Do We Win? What Is the Combo? Show

You might be wondering what the combo is or maybe you have figured it out. You might be wondering what other win-cons I have in store for the poor unlucky souls of our opponents. We will tutor up and Cast Protean Hulk which we then sac and tutor for Carrion Feeder, Disciple of the Vault, Melira, Sylvok Outcast, and Lesser Masticore to win the game. Additional win-cons include Avenger of Zendikar, Dread Summons, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Kessig Cagebreakers, Bloodbriar, and Coretapper + Magistrate's Scepter + Meren of Clan Nel Toth . If Titan Hunter is left out for too long then it can do some scary dmg. Tutors for the combo or other win-cons include Buried Alive, Diabolic Tutor, Fierce Empath, Final Parting, Jarad's Orders, Magus of the Order, Mastermind's Acquisition, and Wishclaw Talisman.

The Ramp Show

How are we gonna win without mana? We aren't. We are gonna need tons of mana. That's why we have Arbor Elf, Circuitous Route, Cultivate, Dawntreader Elk, Diligent Farmhand, Elvish Mystic, Emergent Sequence, Far Wanderings, Farhaven Elf, Fyndhorn Elves, Kodama's Reach, Llanowar Elves, Primal Growth, Rampant Growth, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Skull Prophet, Sol Ring, Solemn Simulacrum, Viridian Emissary, and Yavimaya Granger.

Wait But How? Show

Protean Hulk has a death trigger so how are we gonna get him off the battlefield? By sacrificing him of course! We can sacrifice him to Primal Growth, Fleshbag Marauder, Plaguecrafter, Magus of the Order, Titan Hunter, Spawning Pit *list*, Phyrexian Plaguelord, Defiant Salvager, Carrion Feeder, and Village Rites. We can also destroy him with Necromantic Selection.

Card Advantage Show

We got tutors but how do we draw the tutors and how do we draw the sac-outlets? With card draw of course. We have some card advantage in Elvish Visionary, Grim Haruspex, Heartwood Storyteller, Midnight Reaper, Disciple of Bolas, and Village Rites.

Oh No! It All Went Wrong! Show

What if we get locked down by something or the Protean Hulk gets countered and we are out of win-cons. We have answers! We have removal in Caustic Caterpillar, Reclamation Sage, Necromantic Selection, and Oblivion Strike. We can also double up Meren’s ability and get multiple things back to refresh our board state with Strionic Resonator. Spore Frog offers us another turn. Apprentice Necromancer can reanimate Protean Hulk whilst also sacrificing him. And finally we also have graveyard hate with Tormod's Crypt and Bojuka Bog.

Unmentioned Cards Show

We also have Necrotic Hex as a quick game ender and Greenseeker for protection against getting landlocked. Dakmor Salvage because we can discard it and dredge it back. Tainted Wood, Vivid Grove, Vivid Marsh for more diverse mana production and color support. Crystal Vein because we can sac it and combo off a turn earlier.

Suggestions and Feedback Show

Any suggestions are welcome as long as they are on budget. Also please give suggestions of what to take out.

Top Ranked	Achieved #48 position overall 3 years ago Achieved #34 position in Commander / EDH 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH BG (Golgari) 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Budget 3 years ago
Date added	3 years
Last updated	1 month
Key combos	Coretapper + Magistrate's Scepter + Meren of Clan Nel Toth
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 20 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 24 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.86
Tokens	2/2 C Artifact Creature Spawn, Experience Token, Human 2/2 G, Morph 2/2 C, Plant 0/1 G, Wolf 2/2 G, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Possible Builds, Ideas, Others, Like, Research, Golgari BG, Green Black, EDH Decks, Budget, Decks I want to make with upgrades