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Meren's Path of Diescovery

Commander / EDH BG (Golgari) Combo Control Counters Primer Reanimator

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Land (37)

Advantage (6)

Finishers (4)

Control (13)

Recursion (9)

Ramp (7)

Commander (1)

Commander: Meren of Clan Nel Toth

Tutors (10)

Enablers (7)

Misc (6)

Maybeboard

Other (25)

Constrictor package (3)

Considering removing (3)

Asymmetrical Sun package (2)

Old stuff from description (20)

Height matters (5)

Magic Mike package (3)

Extra graveyard resiliency (3)

Counters for Module (19)

Feeling bad over (14)

Heavily based on TheFanatic's retired deck (I even kept the categories!), with the ~20 something changes detailed below. Not unlike the original, it's not strictly meant to be optimized for competitiveness; instead I've chosen some cards which I'd like to try to fit in for the sake of fun, putting a greater emphasis on Meren & +1/+1 counters.

The result is probably less consistent (if you read the following sections below you'll see me talking about redundancy as if it was a bad thing) but I've tried not to go overboard with my card choices so that the whole thing is still decently functional.

Path of Discovery : New hotness. Does a bit of everything. Thins out lands, selectively fills the graveyard, makes draws more predictable and casually turns weenies into bears, which is interesting when combined with e.g. Skullclamp . Since putting counters is mandatory for nonlands I've felt forced to cut Mikaeus, the Unhallowed ; some new additions helps compensate for his absence, including Path itself since it can maintain the sac combo with Puppeteer Clique and/or Woodfall Primus as long as the topdeck card is a nonland (and neither you nor your opponents messes with your library somehow).

Crypt Ghast : Mana greed but also life gain to help compensate for the increased amount of auto-induced life loss.

Azusa, Lost but Seeking : Replaced Oracle of Mul Daya . Questionable, but with Path of Discovery I'm a bit scared of it overfilling your hand with lands. On the flipside, Azusa is cheaper than the Oracle and doesn't constantly snitch what you're going to topdeck, and the ability to effectively extend your hand feels less attractive in this case. Hopefully e.g. Path and Sylvan Library will provide enough information for yourself.

Deadeye Tracker : Replaced Scavenging Ooze . New hotness. Questionable since its graveyard hate potential isn't as great, but with exploration it can contribute with land draws and graveyard filling in addition to the hate & counters it shares with the Ooze.

Toxic Deluge : Replaced Decree of Pain . They're pretty interchangeable but with the deck's increased ability to put +1/+1 counters on stuff it will be more selective in the same vein as Pernicious Deed , while the added life gain will hopefully compensate for the cost.

Bayou : Preferable over Gilt-Leaf Palace . Moving on.

Command Beacon : Since this deck relies more on Meren than the original I felt this was a boring necessity. Cut Temple of the False God because I'm afraid it would be unreliable, especially since I've already removed Cultivate (but not Kodama's Reach as well, because even my reckless greed has its limits).

Golgari Rot Farm : Greedy replacement for Hissing Quagmire . Moving on.

Void Winnower : Okay so since I was focusing more on Meren than the original did, I wanted to have fun by adding a single expensive creature to recur with her for when you find yourself with an bundance of experience counters. I thought this one fit the deck best since its abilities matter as soon as it pops in (opponents can attack each other after all) and contributes to the deck's control subtheme while still hitting like a truck once it's your turn again.

Journey to Eternity  : New hotness. Replaced Dread Return . Reuse ETB/death trigger dorks like Sad Robot and then provide an extra land for e.g. Avenger of Zendikar , with a backup reanimation ability to boot.

Carrion Feeder : Contributes to the deck's new counters subtheme in addition to its obvious role as a highly efficient sac outlet. Bloodghast was cut to reduced the amount of no-blockers; I'm hoping the token generators can pick up the sac fodder slack.

Blood Artist : Life gain to help compensate for auto-induced life loss. Burn is a kind of necessary bonus as I feel the deck's beatdown aspect could use as much help as it can get, and an extra compared to Deathgreeter isn't too bad in this case.

Strionic Resonator : What pulled the focus towards Meren. Not bad without her either as the deck has plenty of triggered abilities that can be copied for non-trivial gain (e.g. Eternal Witness , not Journey to Eternity  ).

Ramunap Excavator : Replaced Crucible of Worlds . The deck likes Creatures more than Artifacts. Also new hotness. Moving on.

Ophiomancer : Makes sac fodder every turn that pulls double-duty as rattlesnakes (althouh I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be black mambas). A little awkward with Ashnod's Altar since you won't always have a way to spend the colorless mana during other people's turns. Also AFAIK this is OK with a Sakura-Tribe Elder reanimated by Meren of Clan Nel Toth since you should be able to activate its sacrificing ability before the next upkeep kicks in.

Pawn of Ulamog : Turns the deaths of nontoken sac fodder into more sac fodder that can even function if all sac outlets gets removed. Still, kinda unrerliable; might switch it for good old Bloodghast again, alternatively kicking out one of the sac outlets since they work pretty well together (I'm tempted to get rid of Dimir House Guard but I'm afraid that would be a heavy blow against the deck's consistency seeing as it can both tutor for Path of Discovery and Grave Pact ).

Reyhan, Last of the Abzan : Oh man here we go. Without specific complements, Reyhan is kinda mediocre; as a 3/3 she can block well enough and then beef up a creature upon death. She shines with some other key cards though:

Vampiric Tutor : Replaced Traverse the Ulvenwald . I feel that with my deck's lower graveyard filling power compared to the original in combination with our shared lack of card type diversity makes achieving Delirium unreliable. With Path of Discovery , Vampiric Tutor can both replicate Traverse's land tutoring and Entomb 's graveyard tutoring for nonlands. Extra life gain has been included to compensate for the cost.

Cauldron of Souls : Old busted hotness. Since Mikaeus, the Unhallowed got cut I wanted something analog to Magic Mike's casual recursion aspect. This provides some resiliency vs mass removal and can also be used more aggressively as a means to recur sac'd creatures for the sake of more ETB/death effects. With the right topdeck card and Path of Discovery this gives your nontokens an extra life during every rotation.

Champion of Lambholt : Replacement for Craterhoof Behemoth . Probably less optimal, but I wanted something that's more appropriate to recur with Meren; the Champion was chosen because of its similarity to the Behemoth and its ability to contribute to the deck's new counter subtheme. Earlier on, its fairly easy for Meren to reanimate it, whereafter you can gradually fatten it up to increase your evasion power. If it pops up in your hand later on you can hopefully just hardcast it and then instantly stuff it with e.g. Avenger of Zendikar to get to work right away.

Swiftfoot Boots : Boring, but I feel it's necessary since we're relying more on Meren. Of course, it also has plenty of other potential wearers when she's unavailable. (Was chosen over Lightning Greaves to avoid antisynergy with Reyhan, Last of the Abzan & Cauldron of Souls , not sure if it's worth it.)

Sylvan Library : Replacement for Phyrexian Arena . Even if you don't always take the extra cards it gives information (and an option of arranging the topdeck) that makes Path of Discovery more reliable.

Bane of Progress : On one hand, it's counter generation and control on legs. On the other, I'm scared off blowing up e.g. Path of Discovery and don't know what to swap it for: Acidic Slime can blow up lands at a reasonable CMC, Woodfall Primus effectively becomes mass removal itself with the right combination of cards, Void Winnower is more fun, Pernicious Deed is more selective, Caustic Caterpillar is cheap & contributes experience counters etc.

Bloodghast : Boring but reliable. As mentioned, if I get rid of Pawn of Ulamog I'll probably put this back.

Dictate of Erebos : An extra Grave Pact is very nice to have, especially with Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest , but the redundancy is kinda boring. (I considered Butcher of Malakir for a while but was put off by its CMC.)

Hermit Druid & Satyr Wayfinder : Uuggh so as you might have understood by now I'm a greedy, cowardly control freak who don't like the thought of haphazardly filling up the graveyard with Death-who-knows-what. I'm hoping e.g. Path of Discovery will be enough to compensate. If either of these two returns then I'll probably put Traverse the Ulvenwald back as well.

Oracle of Mul Daya : In case Azusa is found to be excessive and/or the constant topdeck information is necessary to e.g. reliably pull off the Path of Discovery + Puppeteer Clique / Woodfall Primus combo. Would also consider Exploration or even Wayward Swordtooth for the sake of CMC.

Grave Titan : good stuff but in this case I feel it's kinda underwhelming relative to its CMC; I'm hoping the three current token generators will be enough, particularly Avenger of Zendikar due to it's shared role as a token-based finisher.

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed : See Path of Discovery , Cauldron of Souls & Retribution of the Ancients .

Evolutionary Leap : Nice synergy with e.g. Path of Discovery and Vampiric Tutor , but kinda boring; I already have plenty of sac outlets and ways to draw/tutor. Plus, it's a bit of a snitch.

Scavenging Ooze : The Bloodghast to Deadeye Tracker 's Pawn of Ulamog. Even if opponents have literally no recursion it can contribute by getting rid off enemy creature cards in order to make Living Death less symmetric. (Is also arguably better at contributing to the pool of +1/+1 counters and provides life gain.)

Rune-Scarred Demon : Tutors are kinda boring and I felt Sidisi, Undead Vizier was more reasonably priced as Diabolic Intent on legs. Still, I think the exclusion of Rune-Scarred is a major source of inconsistency for the deck and I'm also a bit worried about the lack of Flying blockers.

Catacomb Sifter : Cool alternative to Viscera Seer that doesn't force you to chose between scrying and other purposes when you're sacing stuff. As a bonus, it comes with an extra token to be used as sac fodder! Still, hesitant to include since its greater CMC and reliance on sac outlets makes it a bit to unreliable compared to the Seer.

Melira, Sylvok Outcast : Protects your pool of +1/+1 counters against e.g. Infect, Wither and Carnifex Demon s. Even if your opponents lack those, it's only 2 CMC and combos with the three sources of Persist in the deck. Seems like solid sideboard material.

Razaketh, the Foulblooded : New hotness. Alternative to Rune-Scarred Demon . I'm put off by its even greater CMC as I think "just" on-demand tutoring is kinda boring. Still, that's obviously powerful, and a 8/8 flying trample body is not to be taken lightly either.

Retribution of the Ancients : Not having to pay X for the amount of counters you're using makes this a powerful way for the deck's control theme to leech off the counter theme, for better or worse. This could be a way back in for Magic Mike. (Also has some cool synergy with Protean Hydra , but I don't think I'll include that one since reanimating X cost creatures with a 0/0 base is awkward, even if I think it can be done with e.g. Path of Discovery .)

Panharmonicon : Nice with Path of Discovery , among other things.

Aetherworks Marvel : Obviously fits in the deck (especially with Demon of Dark Schemes around); hopefully it won't be too random.

Earthcraft : Turns sac fodder into mana dorks before death without even requiring haste. Could be cool with Ophiomancer to get enough and/or to pay for some instant-speed colored costs.

Protean Hulk : Fun competition for Rune-Scarred Demon since creatures with <= 6 CMC makes up a decent chunk of the deck.

Some kind of Cyclonic Rift answer: This card is ubiquitous among decks with even a hint of blue in them, yet I don't see what any of the cards in the deck can do when tokens and +1/+1 counters are threatened to be-gone with the wind.

Ob Nixilis, Unshackled : Interesting complement to Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest with a punishing aspect to it, letting it act as soft control. Also contributes to the counter theme. Kinda expensive though.

Winding Constrictor : For 2 CMC this provides a powerful amplification of both +1/+1 and experience counter production. As a bonus, it could pave the way for the use of some cards that e.g. uses charge counters. On the downside, it's incompatible with Ophiomancer and I'm a bit uneasy about its indiscriminate nature, particularly when it comes to -1/-1 counters; Melira, Sylvok Outcast is the natural complement here.

Sepulchral Primordial : Cool burst reanimation. Maybe a temporary stand-in for e.g. Sheoldred or Living Death ?

Animation Module : Taking advantage of counters by making cheap tokens is certainly up this deck's alley even if it lacks legs. As a bonus, it can even generate experience counters without Meren around (if at an inefficient rate). Will have to think about it. (Adding the whole Module cycle is something I'm much more uncertain about though since it would probably also require some more cards e.g. some combination of Gonti's Machinations , Glint-Sleeve Siphoner , Architect of the Untamed and Aetherworks.)

Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord , Korozda Guildmage , Wild Beastmaster , Ghoulcaller Gisa , Dragon Throne of Tarkir & other power/toughness/counters matters cards: Could be fun to have more of these to keep e.g. Disciple of Bolas company. (The throne happens to be a bit of a pet card of mine, too bad it lacks legs and is more expensive than Craterhoof Behemoth to cast, equip & use immediately.)

Skullbriar, the Walking Grave : Cool, but as it is I feel the deck would need more support for this in terms of evasion and counter generation to make it reliable.

Lotleth Troll : Kinda boring, but with the lack of graveyard filling this could be worth including.

Apprentice Necromancer , Doomed Necromancer : Unsure about these. For a one-per-life reanimation effect I feel these are too slow/too reliant on Swiftfoot Boots , but they could be used to extend Meren's effective reanimation reach for .

Hell's Caretaker : Sheoldred, Whispering One adjusted proportionally to 4 CMC rather than 7 (well, historically speaking it's really the other way around but you get the idea). Cool if it's allowed to trigger frequently over the course of a match; I could see this replacing one of the legless recursion cards.

Necrotic Ooze : Dunno if my graveyard filling is powerful enough to take advantage of this. Still, could open the way for e.g. Razaketh, the Foulblooded without requiring reanimation.

Viridian Emissary (and Primal Druid ): Lower cmc compared to Farhaven Elf is nice but can it be killed reliably enough early on?

Tomb Robber : New hotness. Kinda interesting alternative to e.g. Fauna Shaman as far as discarding stuff goes, especially since the colorless activation cost means it has potential as a mana sink for Ashnod's Altar . Still, probably overall worse than Lotleth Troll .

Liliana, Heretical Healer  : Baby Lili obviously got a lot going for her. Like Sepulchral Primordial , I could see her making a cameo in the Recursion section, maybe even backed up by discard-happy cards appropriate for the deck like Nath of the Gilt-Leaf .

Night Soil (or Necrogenesis ): Graveyard hate with token generation at a reasonable price seems nice, but it won't stop e.g. Dralnu, Lich Lord . Maybe a sideboard contender?

Spawning Pit : Old busted hotness. An alternative to Bloodghast as an alternative to Pawn of Ulamog , being a bit of a compromise as it's still reliant on other permanents but can also use tokens. Not a creature though and without charge counter support (Hello Winding Constrictor !), and two creatures per token feels kinda steep. Still, I like the flavor of this one a lot and it's cheap, so I might even trade out a proper sac outlet for it.

Sol Ring : It's a staple for a good reason, but I'm reluctant to include it outside of e.g. Metalcraft decks and other cases where it can do more than just produce 1 or 2 effective mana per rotation, which is kinda boring.

Sensei's Divining Top : I prefer Sylvan Library and I feel the two of them together are a bit redundant as Path of Discovery support.

Hardened Scales , Corpsejack Menace , Parallel Lives , Doubling Season etc.: I feel these do too little without proper support, and the token & +1/+1 counter themes are not ubiquitous enough for me to feel these could be reliable. ( Winding Constrictor gets a pass because it also helps with Experience counters in addition to having a pretty nice body for 2 CMC.)

It That Betrays : Could have filled Void Winnower 's role as big fun, but 12 CMC is a bit much even for me, and I feel its sacrifice-based recursion is too reliant on having Grave Pact out (if it's reanimated by Meren) and too redundant with Puppeteer Clique .

Life from the Loam and other sources of Dredge: See Hermit Druid & Satyr Wayfinder .

Manabond : Amazing in the magical christmas land situation of having a huge hand filled with only lands and things you want in the graveyard; doubt that's happens often enough to matter.

Savra, Queen of the Golgari : With the CMC and the color specifications, I feel the triggers this card provides aren't quite enough in this deck.

Cabal Coffers , Gaea's Cradle , Growing Rites of Itlimoc  , Thespian's Stage : Powerful (and Rites is new hotness), but I feel that my land/ramp base is greedy enough as it is. Crypt Ghast already provides a potential source of explosive ramping on legs while pulling double duty with life drain; that will have to be enough, even for me.

Thornbite Staff : There's probably a few non-boring ways of comboing with the untap-on-death effect but I couldn't think of any, aside from maybe with Hell's Caretaker . The deck does have a decent number of reasonably costed shaman (8) to take advantage of the free ETB equip though.

Glissa, the Traitor , Plaguemaw Beast , Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons etc.: I feel these would require reworking the deck to be more about Infect & Artifacts.

Blightsteel Colossus and other shuffle-on-graveyard-contact creatures: Can't be reanimated without e.g. Sundial of the Infinite for Dread (I think). Moving on.

Emrakul, the Promised End and other powerful-when-cast creatures: Unsatisfying to reanimate without e.g. Yawgmoth's Will . Moving on.

Ogre Slumlord , Kessig Cagebreakers , Tendershoot Dryad : As far as makers of sac fodder goes, I feel Ophiomancer and even Pawn of Ulamog has more reasonable CMC, and if I wanted extra token beatdown I'd go with good ol' Grave Titan .

Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger : Ramp and control, but I feel that it's not as good & fast with Meren recursion as it could be.

Grave Betrayal : Cool, but I feel 7 CMC is too much for a noncreature card.

Genesis Chamber : No legs and a potential liability compared to Pawn of Ulamog . Moving on.

Phyrexian Altar : Feels inferior to both Ashnod's Altar & Earthcraft . Moving on.

Mycoloth : Sacrifice and counters and tokens oh my! Still, I'm going to go with the usual excuse of it leaving you vulnerable to removal until your next turn.

Burgeoning : Another way to get the land out of your hand, but I feel it's too unreliable without a way to bounce enemy lands, especially later on.

Nullstone Gargoyle : Another potential Void Winnower replacement. I'm kinda worried about its indiscriminate countering outside of a proper lockdown deck, flying is arguably worse than even-CMC-evasion and the power/toughness is pretty low for something of its CMC. Still, with Meren and other permanent-based abilities this could affect you a whole lot less than other people.

Altar of Dementia : Forms a wincon with Puppeteer Clique , but not much more which I find boring. For my thoughts about its use as a graveyard filler, see Life from the Loam above.

Protean Hydra , Hooded Hydra , Primordial Hydra , Hangarback Walker , Lifeblood Hydra etc.: See Retribution of the Ancients .

Necroplasm : Okay so this is counters and control on legs, but I don't feel like trying to rein in this symmetric removal maniac

Vengeful Pharaoh : Forms a cute combo with Path of Discovery . I like this card but I feel this is a gimmick I don't have room for.

World Shaper : New hotness, but with this deck having little to no forced graveyard filling I think Ramunap Excavator is enough.

Reassembling Skeleton : If I want more reliable sac fodder I'll go with Bloodghast

Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder : For reasons similar to those of Spawning Pit I like this one a lot, but I fear the deck doesn't hardcast (or Evoke) consistently enough to get a good average on the sac fodder generation.

Nim Deathmantle : I feel to recur a present creature is kinda steep, and I don't wanna combo this with e.g. Grave Titan & Ashnod's Altar

Thopter Squadron : With e.g. Ashnod's Altar and Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest this produces an endless amount of mana, flying tokens and ETB/death triggers. Outside of that it doesn't do much though, which I feel is too boring relative to its CMC.

Black Market : Similar to Mycoloth above, I feel this is going to draw too much hate and since it's not a creature it's not so easy to recur either.

Vindictive Lich : Another zombie liked by me. Unfortunately, it's too mana inefficient compared to e.g. Fleshbag Marauder . Maybe in that discard variant?

Zulaport Cutthroat : I prefer Blood Artist 's more frequent life gain over this one's multi-opponent burn.

Suggestions

Updates Add

Ramping adjustment — July 29, 2018
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Azusa, Lost but Seeking -> Wayward Swordtooth

Azusa has a tendency to be be superfluous, and the Swordtooth is sturdier

Kodama's Reach -> Dawntreader Elk

With Azusa gone there's less of a need to get lands, and this can feed Meren.Taken over Diligent Farmhand because I'm greedy.

T&E cut — July 13, 2018
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New cards & title, kinda — Feb. 20, 2018
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Date added 6 years
Last updated 5 years
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

7 - 0 Mythic Rares

45 - 0 Rares

20 - 0 Uncommons

12 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.35
Tokens City's Blessing, Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Experience Token, Morph 2/2 C, Plant 0/1 G, Servo 1/1 C, Snake 1/1 B
Folders _Retired Stuff_
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Meren's Morbid Masterpiece
TheFanatic EDH
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