commander · Meren of Clan Nel Toth
Plunder the Graves (C15).
A Golgari sacrifice and recursion deck from Commander 2015, led by Meren of Clan Nel Toth — earn experience counters when creatures die, then use Meren's end-step trigger to return powerful creatures from your graveyard for free.
The Commander
Plunder the Graves is one of the most beloved Commander 2015 precons and Meren is the reason. She earns an experience counter whenever another creature you control dies. At your end step, she returns a creature from your graveyard to your hand if its mana value is equal to or less than your experience counter count — or puts it directly into play. Five experience counters means free five-mana creatures entering the battlefield each turn without spending a card.
Meren of Clan Nel Toth turns every creature death into a permanent advancement of your graveyard recursion engine. Sacrifice outlets feed experience counters, and those counters feed increasingly expensive creature returns. The deck runs Jarad as an alternate commander for a sacrifice-to-deal-damage strategy, and its staple list — Eternal Witness, Spore Frog, Skullclamp — is among the most powerful in Commander.
Key Cards
Eternal Witness
Returns any card from your graveyard to your hand when she enters the battlefield. Recurring Eternal Witness with Meren creates one of the most frustrating loops in Commander — each time Meren returns Witness to play, Witness returns the best card in your graveyard to your hand. Use Witness to return removal spells, draw spells, sacrifice outlets, or Witness herself to start the loop over. The combination generates an extra card every turn without spending additional mana.
Skullclamp
Equip for one mana. Gives +1/-1. When the equipped creature dies, draw two cards. In Meren's deck, killing your own creatures via Skullclamp feeds experience counters and draws two cards simultaneously. Equip to a token, watch it die from the -1 toughness, draw two cards and gain an experience counter. Chain this with sacrifice outlets and the deck draws through itself faster than opponents can keep up. Skullclamp is the engine that maintains hand size while the sacrifice loop builds.
Mycoloth
Devour any number of creatures when Mycoloth enters. At your upkeep, create a Saproling token for each counter on it. Sacrifice two creatures to Mycoloth, get two +1/+1 counters, and generate two Saproling tokens per turn. Those tokens die to Skullclamp for cards and experience counters, which they then die to feed Meren's recursion. Mycoloth converts the sacrifice chain into a self-sustaining token factory that keeps the death triggers flowing.
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sacrifice a creature to deal damage equal to its power to each opponent. A 10/10 sacrificed to Jarad deals 10 damage to every player simultaneously. In Meren's deck, Jarad serves as the alternative win condition — instead of attacking, sacrifice the largest creature after Meren returns it, deal a large chunk of damage to all three opponents at once, then recurse the sacrificed creature again next turn. Jarad converts Meren's graveyard engine into a non-combat kill.
Spore Frog
Sacrifice Spore Frog to prevent all combat damage this turn. In Meren's deck, Spore Frog is the most oppressive defensive tool possible. Sacrifice it when opponents attack with lethal damage. Meren returns it at your end step. Next attack, sacrifice it again. Opponents who try to win through combat simply cannot break through a Spore Frog in Meren's deck — the frog never stays dead. Spore Frog is why Meren is considered one of the most powerful precon commanders ever printed.
How to Play
Get Meren onto the battlefield by turn three or four and start sacrificing creatures. The faster experience counters accumulate, the more expensive creatures Meren can return for free. The ideal early sequence: play sacrifice outlets like Viscera Seer, let cheap creatures die for experience counters, and use Meren to return them. By turn six or seven, you want five or more experience counters so Meren can return five-mana creatures directly into play. Lock the table out of combat with Spore Frog recursion, draw through the deck with Skullclamp, and win through attrition — Jarad draining opponents for large amounts, or simply recurring the best creature in your graveyard until opponents can't answer it anymore.