Letter of Acceptance or Unstable Obelisk?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Dec. 1, 2022, 8:56 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
I am now replacing Thran Dynamo and Gilded Lotus in the majority of my EDH decks, because of how expensive those decks are, and my Meren of Clan Nel Toth deck is next for being updated. I shall definitely be putting Decanter of Endless Water in the deck to replace one of those artifacts, but I am not certain about the other.
I am now choosing between Letter of Acceptance and Unstable Obelisk, since each of those artifacts has a secondary ability, beyond producing mana, and I would like to have the feedback of the other users on this forum; what does everyone else say about this? Which of those two cards should I put in my Meren deck?
multimedia says... #3
Hey, Decanter of Endless Water isn't good in Meren. Shutting off being able to discard down to 7 card hand size takes away a good/no mana cost way to get creatures from your hand into your graveyard to setup reanimation/recursion. Instead for ramp choose a creature mana dork or a creature who land ramps?
You don't need Letter of Acceptance or Unstable Obelisk in Meren either since these aren't creatures. You don't get the value that you're looking for in Meren with noncreature artifacts. Instead choose a creature who can draw and a creature who can be removal?
December 2, 2022 2:19 a.m.
RiotRunner789 says... #4
I generally shy away from artifact ramp in green. There are several great 2 drop lands ramps (Rampant Growth), 3 drops like the ubiquitous Kodama's Reach, and a million decent 4 drops that grab two lands (with all the recent ones in the past 4ish years being Explosive Vegetation with upside).
December 2, 2022 2:26 a.m.
DrukenReaps says... #5
Looking over your list I have to second RiotRunner789. Cards like Kodama's Reach are where it's at for green. Artifacts can and will be blown up, sometimes just incidentally. Lands are almost protected by unwritten "rules." Very few folks are going to stop you from ramping lands into play and fewer are going to blow lands up. I'd still keep the Sol Ring and the Arcane Signet but more land based ramp. Also grabbing an Eternal Witness would let you grab back your Kodama's Reach or other things you might want to use again.
December 2, 2022 9:50 a.m.
TheOfficialCreator says... #6
With Meren in particular, I'd recommend creatures like Neverwinter Dryad and Sakura-Tribe Elder. They have built-in sacrifice abilities that boost Meren, and they can be recurred for extra value!
December 2, 2022 10:12 a.m.
Definitely agree against Decanter- as far as ramp goes, my personal rule of thumb for green decks is land-based ramp spells unless the rock is fast mana (a lo Sol Ring. TheOfficialCreator made some great suggestions for ramp in Meren! I'd also recommend creature-based removal as well like Fleshbag Marauder effects (absolutely backbreaking in Meren), Caustic Caterpillar, and Ravenous Chupacabra.
December 2, 2022 3:26 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #8
I do appreciate everyone suggesting that I use land-based mana acceleration in this deck, and I do, in fact, have Sakura-Tribe Elder in it, as it fits the theme of the deck, but I specifically mentioned those two artifacts, because they have secondary abilities beyond producing mana, and, between those two, I have decided to use Unstable Obelisk, since this deck already has a sufficient number of cards that allow me to draw more cards.
PickleNutz says... #2
Do you have a complete list of ramp? What is your budget? What is the goal of the deck, like your main win condition. I know what Meren does, but what is the thought out path you intend to do? A lot of self-sac items and big creatures with spells to cast them from the graveyard? It helps to know your ramp needs. Meren is in black and green, and often I have opted for more creature based mana sources. In the current state of commander there is as much if not more removal for artifacts than creatures. How often do you see yourself potentially dedicating a turn to use the removal aspect of unstable obelisk? There’s a lot of questions to be asked for optimization.
December 1, 2022 9:46 p.m.