I was talking yesterday about how black's
dealings with death have become much more
prominent than usual this year. Meren is another
excellent example of that, giving you one of the
most powerful recursion engines I've seen along
with highly efficient combat stats, and asking
only that you do what black decks like to do
anyway (sacrifice things). And yes, being a
creature is definitely an advantage - it makes
her killable, but it also makes her a threat
that has to be stopped on several levels, and if
they somehow manage to deal with your other
suddenly unkillable creatures, she remains to
attack and block.
Constructed: 3/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5 (hypothetically; she's not
currently in a draftable set other than Cube)
Multiplayer: 4/5
EDH/Commander: 4/5
Michael "Maikeruu" Pierno
The number ten card of the year is Meren of
Clan Nel Toth which is a four mana Black and
Green 3/4 Legendary that returns creatures from
grave to hand and with an experience counter
system that can put them into play instead.
This gets a creature of your choice back from
the graveyard every turn it is in play and with
enough counters will put them directly on the
battlefield, which can be a huge advantage with
sacrifices and enters play effects. An
extremely effective Commander and one that
compliments many Black or Golgari design
concepts as a card like Death Cultist can offer
a four point life swing and two experience
counters in one turn.
For some reason this always struck me as one of
those commanders that would completely break
infect for EDH. I'm probably right, but those
poor demented souls will probably play it once
and never be heard from again. Seriously though,
it's a fix to the big problem infect decks face
in that boardwipes and kill-spells and counters
will do their damnedest to keep them off the
board, and this is a continuous ability that is
effectively recastable in GREEN. sorta.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 3 (I'd give it 5, but don't be that guy
in casual.)
Limited: Xx (Commander precon.)
Multiplayer EDH: Xx/They will never find your
body.
EDH: 5
