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Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Arena | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Dandan | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Judge's Tower | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Baloth Null
Creature — Zombie Beast
When Baloth Null enters the battlefield, return up to two target creature cards from your graveyard to your hand.
SolarFlare13 on
Thresh the Mudbrayded
4 years ago
J,
These would be my cuts and adds for consultancy's sake
Add the Following - Kodama's Reach - Cultivate - Sakura-Tribe Elder - Explosive Vegetation - Triskelion - Corpsejack Menace - Death's Presence - Winding Constrictor - Mycoloth - Mage Slayer
Remove the following - Dreamstone Hedron - Hedron Archive - Necropolis Regent - Parasitic Implant - Reckless Spite - Avatar of Woe - Royal Assassin - Cathodion - Slum Reaper - Baloth Null
ZendikariWol on
Death Pits of Nel Toth
6 years ago
It's nice to see someone who is so gracious in accepting new ideas. Time to sound like an ass now I guess...
First off, I don't know how many cards you usually draw off of Greater Good, but it seems like you'd usually discard more than you draw. Perhaps that's intentional dredging but still likely a loss of card advantage.
And once again, I'm not sure how many creatures you kill with Massacre Wurm, but it can't be that many? Is your meta full of tiny things?
I've never felt Shriekmaw hits enough things. If you do then keep it, but it's worth considering.
Rune-Scarred Demon is not a bad tutor, by any means. However at 7 mana, you should probably go 1 more and try for Razaketh, the Foulblooded. Give 'em the good 'ol razzle dazzle. That or just a really good source of card draw or draw control.
Maybe Deathrite Shaman doesn't do enough compared to Viridian Emissary, Primal Druid, or even Veteran Explorer (if you feel like having the table on your side).
How much are you usually casting Walking Ballista for? Is it enough?
Given how long your creatures stay around, how much do those +1 counters from Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest do?
And how many swings does Grave Titan get in?
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed is maybe not as good as Baloth Null. More on why a little lower down.
Okay. My reasoning behind this comment. Aristocrats decks like this have an advantage for one key reason: every spell is several spells. If your creatures enter the battlefield or die and trigger an ability in doing so, that is one spell. Normally whatever you gain from sacrificing them is another. However, if they do nothing when they enter and sacrifice themselves, then really you have only cast one spell.
It benefits you more to trigger one effect when the creature enters or dies, one or two triggers from other creatures when any creature dies, amd another from sacrificing it yourself.
For example, you cast a Baloth Null. It enters the battlefield and you rummage in your grave a bit. You sacrifice it to Viscera Seer and scry. Then you have a Deathreap Ritual out so you draw into whatever you scried for.
Assume you have the same board. You cast Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed and sacrifice him. You get one thing back from the grave and draw a card from Deathreap Ritual at end of turn. It's really not as great.
Having creatures that freely sacrifice themselves is good, but cuts one spell out of it.
ZendikariWol on
Meren, the Fun Yet Competitive (Commander / EDH)
6 years ago
You've got good reasoning here. I sorta have heaps and piles of ramp in my build so it makes sense that some of the costs would be unwieldy in your version. Also yes, Hell's Caretaker is a boss. I actually agree that Sifter of Skulls is pretty lame. I've been looking for something to replace him. The sole reason I do not run Sheoldred, Whispering One is my meta is full of talkers. The table would destroy me in seconds.
As for Savra, Queen of the Golgari, she usually triggers at least once per turn, even with my fairly green build she usually triggers twice. That's why the Baloth Null is in there, you make this horrible engine (with a Vedalken Orrery) where you sac things and eventually just stop opponents from having creatures.
Calhau146 on
Meren, the Fun Yet Competitive (Commander / EDH)
6 years ago
Hi ZendikariWol, those were a lot of interesting suggestions! Il do my best to give feedback on all of them (this post might get long so sorry in advance xD)
Baloth Null, Greenwarden of Murasa and Noxious Gearhulk are difficult inclusions given the amount of great 6 CMC cards there are. Off the top of my head I can think of Grave Titan and Kokusho, the Evening Star and those didnt make the cut.
Too many players from my playgroup run Homeward Path for me to be able to include Sepulchral Primordial but I would say normally it is a great inclusion.
Veteran Explorer is definitely worth testing but I think it might be dangerous to provide so much mana for your opponents (this is a somewhat stax build)
Killing Wave seems like it would most of the time be an overly expensive board clear. Wouldnt Torment of Hailfire be better? If possible I would like you to elaborate a little more on your reasoning for this one.
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord has been getting a lot of attention recently but I think I prefer Hell's Caretaker. More testing is needed for this one though.
Shadows of the Past and Golgari Germination dont seem to do enough to take up a slot unless you have a strong token theme.
Plague Boiler is interesting and does contribute to the political game but Pernicious Deed is just too good and I dont think I can make room for both...
Primal Druid will be tested. Seems pretty solid.
Thoughtpicker Witch is a really cool card but having to pay mana to sacrifice makes it worse than Viscera Seer and Carrion Feeder unfortunatelly.
Catacomb Sifter is likelly a future inclusion and its just a metter of figguring out what is going t be replaced.
Savra, Queen of the Golgari - how often is she triggering in your games? Ive been thinking of adding her but Im not sure she would do enough
Quagmire Druid and Stronghold Assassin are too slow. Generally speaking you want removal to work the turn you cast it and theese two might put you in some awkward situations more often than not.
Lifecrafter's Bestiary is a clear oversight on my part. Ill be adding it soon
Sifter of Skulls costs too much but I might include Pawn of Ulamog instead. Might even end up running both.
Vampiric Rites is a fine inclusion and I wouldnt blame anyone for running it. Like I mentioned above, the sacrifice cost not being zero makes other cards better in my opinion.
Gutter Grime is too slow and easy to stop given that all the tokens die with the enchantment
Butcher of Malakir seems worse than Sheoldred, Whispering One which Im currently testing
I agree that Joraga Treespeaker, Birds of Paradise, Big Game Hunter and Deathrite Shaman might not be good enough. Ill be paying moe attention in future playtesting to see if I shoul replace them.
ZendikariWol on
Meren, the Fun Yet Competitive (Commander / EDH)
6 years ago
Like most of your comments, this is about to be a long one.
I run a meren deck myself, equally beatiful as a mix of casual and competitive. Check it out here: Okay, the Whole Death Thing? Minor Setback..
So, here is a list of cards to consider:
Sac Targets: Baloth Null, Eternal Witness, Greenwarden of Murasa and Sepulchral Primordial are all good semi-reanimators. Sacrificing one creature per turn is awful. These guys will keep the late game engine flowing. Yes, their mana cost is a touch hefty but you may not even use the Primordial and the other three are honestly fine if you throw in some ramp. Speaking of, Primal Druid and Viridian Emissary are good, but Veteran Explorer is truly spectacular. Lots of ramp, and you may just get the table on your side. Noxious Gearhulk and Vindictive Lich are both so scary. People don't want to attack into Vindictive Lich and they don't want it dying, so they all leave you basically alone. That's been my experience, anyway.
Now for the outlets. You NEED you a Killing Wave. It may not be recurrable (recursible?), but dear GOD it messes up everyone's day! Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord can be really good, especially with the aforementioned Vindictive Lich. Perilous Forays is just some of the best ramp ever. Plague Boiler is a fun political piece, if you can hold it up. Quagmire Druid is very useful. Stronghold Assassin is great removal, but maybe to spiky for you. Thoughtpicker Witch can PICK apart combo, pun intended. It sounds far fetched, but honestly Vampiric Rites can do a lot of work!
Passive effects that you may wanna get your hands on include Catacomb Sifter, Reaper of the Wilds, and Shadows of the Past, Golgari Germination and Sifter of Skulls, better yet Gutter Grime, Lifecrafter's Bestiary is piles and piles of card advantage. Zulaport Cutthroat is not as bad as it may seem, doing some nice noncombat damage. However you may want to spread out your sacrifices with these effects on board, big turns always attract attention. Also possibly too mean/spiky for you are Butcher of Malakir, Savra, Queen of the Golgari, and Dictate of Erebos. I would make a case for Savra, Queen of the Golgari, however, as the sacrifice effect is optional and it could gain you some nice life.
ZendikariWol on
They See Me Diggin', They Hatin'
6 years ago
Yeah actually the theory is creatures become reusable spells. Torpor Orb doesn't exist in my meta. Anyway if you get a few Baloth Null-style creatures on the board at once you just never run out of fuel and value all the opponents out of the game.
That or you can get you a draw engine. Deathreap Ritual and Dictate of Erebos are important for keeping your opponents down and you up. wink
1 sec. another comment coming after I crunch some numbers on your deck. But also my deck is a solid 50$ cheaper than yours.
