Overview:

This Meren of Clan Nel Toth deck is a graveyard-centric aristocrats build leveraging sacrifice outlets, death triggers, and recursive threats to grind opponents down. The core strategy focuses on accumulating experience counters through creature deaths, enabling Meren to reanimate key pieces like Gray Merchant of Asphodel or Mikaeus, the Unhallowed for incremental value and combo potential. Win conditions include drain effects (Zulaport Cutthroat, Syr Konrad), infinite loops with Mikaeus/Pitiless Plunderer, and big mana finishers like Exsanguinate.

Primer:

Core Strategy:
Deploy sacrifice outlets (Ashnod's Altar, Viscera Seer) and death-payoff engines early. Use tutors (Buried Alive, Diabolic Intent) to assemble combos or fuel graveyard recursion. Meren’s end-step reanimation secures value engines or combo pieces like Pitiless Plunderer. Infinite loops with Nether Traitor/Phyrexian Altar or Mikaeus/undying creatures generate game-ending mana or drain via Blood Artist effects. Backup plans include Living Death board swings and Gray Merchant devotion spikes.

Mulligan Priorities:

• 3+ lands with Golgari sources
• Sacrifice outlet (Carrion Feeder > High Market)
• Early creature (Dawntreader Elk, Reassembling Skeleton)
  Flex Keepers: Hands with Sol Ring or Golgari Signet can compensate for low creature density. Avoid hands lacking recursion or sac outlets.

Key Tips:

• Sacrifice Sakura-Tribe Elder pre-combat to ensure Meren’s T4 activation.
• Hold Toxic Deluge until after Meren’s trigger resolves to maximize experience counters.
• Use Final Parting to bin Eternal Witness and fetch recursion.
• Prioritize protecting Mikaeus with Swiftfoot Boots to enable undying loops.

Avoid Traps:

• Overextending into board wipes without Grave Pact protection.
• Casting Rise of the Dark Realms without a sac outlet to dodge exile.

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Dauthi Voidwalker) cripples recursion.
• Relies on 3-card combos vulnerable to spot removal.

Moderate:

• Slow to rebuild after multiple wraths.
• Limited stack interaction (no counterspells).

Minor:

• High Market/Swamp dependency for color fixing.

Most Important Cards:

• Ashnod's Altar
• Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• Pitiless Plunderer
• Zulaport Cutthroat
• Diabolic Intent
• Phyrexian Altar
• Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• Buried Alive
• Blood Artist
• Toxic Deluge

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• T7-8 wins via infinite mana/drain loops. Fast mana (Sol Ring, Dark Ritual) enables explosive starts but lacks T3-4 combos.

Resilience: 7/10

• Recursive threats (Reassembling Skeleton, Nether Traitor) and Meren’s trigger mitigate removal. Folds to graveyard exile but has redundancy in sac outlets.

Consistency: 7/10

• 6 tutors (Final Parting, Eldritch Evolution) and self-mill (Grisly Salvage) ensure combo access. Limited card draw outside death triggers.

Interaction: 5/10

• A-tier removal (Assassin's Trophy, Beast Within) but no counterspells. Struggles against non-creature combos.

Rating Justification:

The deck operates at an optimized casual level (rubric 5.5) with focused combos and tutors but lacks the speed (T7-8 vs T5-6) and protection of high-power builds. It exceeds precon consistency with redundant engines but can’t race cEDH. Key weaknesses (graveyard dependency, no free interaction) cap it below tier 7.

Power level: 6.0 - 6.5