Meren, Deathbender

Commander / EDH BG (Golgari) Combo Control Dredge Reanimator Tokens

johnjust

Creature (31)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Catacomb Sifter
• 1x Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Golgari Grave-Troll
• 1x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Hermit Druid
• 1x Hornet Queen
• 1x Marionette Master
• 1x Massacre Wurm
• 1x Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Ramunap Excavator
• 1x Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Satyr Wayfinder
• 1x Sepulchral Primordial
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Smothering Abomination
• 1x Spore Frog
• 1x The Gitrog Monster
• 1x World Shaper

Instant (1)

• 1x Krosan Grip

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Grist, the Hunger Tide

Land (37)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dakmor Salvage
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 6x Forest
• 1x High Market
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Polluted Mire
• 1x Slippery Karst
• 7x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Tranquil Thicket
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Undergrowth Stadium
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Vesuva
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold
• 1x Woodland Cemetery
• 1x Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Beacon of Unrest
• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Dread Return
• 1x Jarad's Orders
• 1x Life from the Loam
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Victimize

Commander (1)

Enchantment (15)

• 1x Awakening Zone
• 1x Concordant Crossroads
• 1x Deadbridge Chant
• 1x Deathreap Ritual
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Evolutionary Leap
• 1x From Beyond
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Journey to Eternity  ^Flip
• 1x Parallel Lives
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Squandered Resources
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Tortured Existence

Artifact (5)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Elixir of Immortality
• 1x Nim Deathmantle
• 1x Sol Ring

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Sideboard

Creature (1)

• 1x Scourge of Nel Toth

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Maybeboard

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Culling Ritual
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Maelstrom Pulse
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Rise of the Dark Realms
• 1x Rise of the Witch-king

Instant (4)

• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Wake the Dead

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Attrition
• 1x Black Market
• 1x Guardian Project
• 1x Moldervine Reclamation
• 1x Strands of Night
• 1x Survival of the Fittest
• 1x Vampiric Rites

Artifact (4)

• 1x Orbs of Warding
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Strionic Resonator

Creature (7)

• 1x Courser of Kruphix
• 1x Creakwood Liege
• 1x Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Underrealm Lich
• 1x Woodfall Primus
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

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"May all the cairns of Jund be toppled."
— Meren of Clan Nel Toth

I knew right from the time she was spoiled that Meren of Clan Nel Toth would be my next deck, and her Uncharted Realms story "All the Cairns of Jund" only made me more excited. Meren is a pure value (dredge/recursion) machine, my favorite kind of deck to play.

Dredge/Self-Mill

Life from the Loam gives insane card advantage when paired with cycling lands, also allows lands with sacrifice effects to be recurred (as well as dredged lands). Dakmor Salvage and Golgari Grave-Troll also dredge for a bunch.

Hermit Druid self-mills until it hits a basic land. World Shaper self-mills on attack.

Deadbridge Chant self-mills and gives a recursion/reanimation effect during upkeep.

Elixir of Immortality and Orbs of Warding for graveyard/targeted player protection.

Sacrifice/Sacrifice Outlets

Sidisi, Undead Vizier sacrifices for a tutor. Spore Frog sacrifices for a recurrable fog effect.

Fleshbag Marauder/Plaguecrafter sacrifice for edicts.

High Market as a sacrifice outlet on a land, Evolutionary Leap sacrifices for a polymorph-type effect, Greater Good sacrifices for card draw and discard.

Ashnod's Altar gets experience counters when Meren is out while also getting extra mana (and also hilariously makes Eldrazi Scion/Spawn tokens sac for double their original mana output).

Tortured Existence as a discard outlet, for swapping creatures between hand/graveyard for Meren triggers. This also rescues creatures, for combating graveyard hate.

When things get sacrificed, Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest pumps your creatures, Smothering Abomination draws cards.

Tokens

Parallel Lives doubles tokens.

Awakening Zone and From Beyond provide Eldrazi spawn/scion tokens (the best in the deck because of their built-in sacrifice/ramp abilities) every turn. Creakwood Liege makes worm tokens every turn (and pumps them to 3/3's).

Grave Titan is a big ground threat that also generates Zombie tokens, Marionette Master makes Servos, Hornet Queen makes deathtouch Insects, Avenger of Zendikar makes Plants.

Reanimation

Buried Alive and Jarad's Orders put creatures into the graveyard.

Beacon of Unrest, Dread Return and Victimize for reanimation spells.

Sepulchral Primordial and Sheoldred, Whispering One reanimate on a stick.

Nim Deathmantle brings creatures back when they die, and can go infinite with token generators (see below).

Eternal Witness recurs cards.

Ramp

Sol Ring of course. Birds of Paradise and Cultivate for other sources of ramp.

Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Oracle of Mul Daya and The Gitrog Monster give extra lands per turn and Gitrog also draws cards as lands are milled/sacrificed. Courser of Kruphix can play lands from the top of our library and also gains life on landfall. Ramunap Excavator plays lands from our graveyard, which works well with additional land plays per turn.

Squandered Resources with Gitrog out turns into a draw/ramp engine of sorts, and without Gitrog can just give extra mana if/when needed. With World Shaper and a sac outlet, this can double mana output for a combo turn.

Control

Damnation for a wrath. Toxic Deluge for a scalable wrath that hits just about everything.

Massacre Wurm can also wrath to some effect, while causing some life loss in the process.

Gonti, Lord of Luxury for playing with other people's things.

Ravenous Chupacabra/Acidic Slime and Krosan Grip for targeted removal.

Dictate of Erebos and Grave Pact turns any death into a multiplayer edict.

Finishers

Craterhoof Behemoth to HOOF 'EM!

Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest can turn a bunch of small tokens into a big army with a couple Grave Pact triggers.

Gray Merchant of Asphodel for life drain on entering - paired with Meren/reanimation can get out of hand quickly.

Ashnod's Altar and Nim Deathmantle combo with anything that makes 2+ tokens (Avenger of Zendikar, Grave Titan, Hornet Queen, Marionette Master) for infinite colorless mana and tokens (and triggers, in the case of Marionette Master). Concordant Crossroads gives haste when needed.

Maybeboard

Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord can end games with his sacrifice ability and high power creatures.

Date added	8 years
Last updated	8 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 43 - 1 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.71
Tokens	Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Experience Token, Insect 1/1 BG, Insect 1/1 G w/ Flying, Deathtouch, Plant 0/1 G, Servo 1/1 C, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Commander Folder, Meren Ideas, 6 - EDH, CMDR