Meren of Clan Nel Toth EDH (EDH / Commander)

Utilize the power of your graveyard to take advantage of fun creatures with ETB abilities.

How it plays:
Meren loves it when your creatures die. Birthing Pod's "1G T: Sacrifice a creature..." ability enables a climb through converted mana cost of creatures in the deck as well as pumping up experience counters, and, having the Phyrexian mana symbol means you can usually cast and activate it the turn after Maren by paying 4 life. Not too shabby. Fauna Shaman and Survival of the Fittest fill backup roles to Birthing Pod without the added synergy of sacrificing a creature. Most of the remaining creatures in the list provide one of four functions: mana ramp/card draw, sac outlets, token production, or synergizing with sacrifice effects. Your graveyard becomes your toolbox to dig out the effect you need most. Tutoring, drawing cards, and removal are all packed on legs to make the deck as versatile as possible. The main issue you will face is graveyard hate. Many people love to strategize around this, and if it's prevalent in your meta, I would advise running an Elixir of Immortality; Kozilek, Butcher of Truth; and/or Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre to protect your graveyard. Whether or not you try to protect your graveyard, it sets the deck back several turns. Recovery isn't much of an issue if you've managed your opponents' field well with your toolbox. A lot of the ETB effects are curated to taste, so if you're more interested in targeted removal or other ETB effects, mix and match the creatures you love most. Spore Frog has won me countless games against Voltron and Aggro decks. Craterhoof Behemoth makes viable win-swings with tokens possible (although Meren can't really take advantage of him). Find what you like best and try it out, that's what the game is all about.

Links to help you build your own:
EDHREC link for card variety: http://edhrec.com/commander/meren%20of%20clan%20nel%20toth/
Manabase Crafter link for land variety: http://manabasecrafter.com/r/MGVDI

If you like this deck, feel free to express yourself by clicking on the star above this description. I love making decks and teaching people the game, and your feedback helps me immensely!