Hi! I have a problem with my Merieke Edh. If my opponent does not play anything, I cannot win, as my win conditions are my opponents creatures and spells. What do you recommend me?
Hi there, thanks for your question!
Merieke Ri Berit is an interesting Commander and pretty unique in her colors. She’s the only legendary creature in Esper colors that does what she does, and her closest comparison is probably Rubinia Soulsinger with a Bant color identity. Building a deck featuring either of these Commanders is an interesting challenge in that they want your opponents to be actively doing things in the game so that you can utilize them for yourself.
Having a theme in mind helps to smooth out the deckbuilding process when you’re working on a new list. Building your deck to a mechanical theme specifically is a good way to ensure consistency of play, and with a Commander like Merieke at the helm the most obvious mechanic to build to is theft effects. Turning your opponents’ cards to your favor can be fun if they’re not prepared for it. If you let yourself get too locked into theme, though, you can run the risk of stagnating your build, pushing it too far into one strategy and leaving it defenseless if another player does something outside of your comfort zone.
Deckbuilding in Commander is an ongoing process, and as you play more games with your deck, it starts to tell you what it does well and what it needs help with. In a situation where you’re relying on your opponents’ plays to fuel your own deck, each game will change depending on the decks sitting at the table with you.
I think the best option here is to include a few cards that are legitimate threats of your own. This serves a sort of double duty for you -- not only does it keep your deck going if your opponents aren’t playing the cards you need, but it also baits out your opponents’ cards to answer your threat which you can then use to fuel your theft effects. Esper is no slouch when it comes to playing threatening bodies, either; cards like Sphinx of the Steel Wind and Magister Sphinx require players to sit up and take notice when they hit the field. Consider including creatures that have large bodies but also work as utility pieces in your deck, such as the ever-useful Ashen Rider or Angel of Despair. Another option is a massive, threatening body with extra defenses, like Inkwell Leviathan or Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. Either of those require a response from an opponent which you can turn to your favor.
You can also be proactive in your theft by using your opponents’ cards before they can play them. Cards like Bribery, Praetor’s Grasp and Sen Triplets can help to grab some cards for your personal use before their owner has a chance to use them. The types of cards like these that you’ll be able to include in your deck will be dependent on what your local playgroup brings to the table, but they’re worth considering.
I think the biggest takeaway here is that building to a theme is a good thing but you can’t let yourself be strangled by it. If you’re finding that your opponents are shutting you down because your deck’s card selection is walking too singular a path, you might need to branch yourself out a bit. I wrote a few articles a while back on card selection and deckbuilding to theme as well as individual card evaluation, which might add a bit more insight.
This answer was way longer than I intended it to be! I hope it was helpful for you nonetheless. Good luck in your deckbuilding, and feel free to let me know how it goes as you progress.
I don't get why you can cast Ancestral Vision with As Foretold but you can't play it with Snap Caster form your graveyard.
Ancestral Vision has no mana cost. A null mana cost like this is unpayable.
Snapcaster Mage gives the card it targets a flashback cost that’s the same as its mana cost. So it would give Ancestral Vision a null (and thus unpayable) flashback cost.
As Foretold allows you to pay 0 instead of Ancestral Vision’s unpayable cost, thus making it able to be cast.
42- it skips from 41 to 44, so i’ll answer 41, since you asked 44 as well
41. Worst fear as a kid?
this is stupid, but my older cousin told me about how the world would be destroyed one day, either in a black hole, or a sun supernova, and it made me so sad because i would be dead, but my stuffed animals would suffer that cruel fate!
When I should cast my Stifle to prevent my opponent with Dark Depths and Thespian's Stage get the marit lage token? Can I get rid of both lands in the process?
You can’t actually stop the combo with Stifle or similar effects.
If you stifle Thespian’s Stage’s activated ability, then your opponent can just try for the combo again on their next turn.
If you stifle Dark Depths’ triggered ability, then it’ll just trigger again once Stifle has countered the first copy of the trigger, since it still has no counters on it.
