Melek - Paragon for Life
Warning - My group has banned pure extra turn taking cards like
Time Warp and Time Stretch as often it was just about self masturbation while
everyone else sat down and watched. So that is why those cards are not this
deck. However if your group hasn't banned them...they are stupidly good with
Melek. Also as you'll notice our group does allow wishes.
So this is my Melek combo deck. You may be wondering...Jude
if you are playing :ur: combo...why are
you not playing Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind? Well excellent question there Jimmy.
To be honest if you are going pure competitive Niv is waaaaay better since he
involves at least three 2 card combos that instantly win, each require the
general as one of the cards. However, I generally dislike two card combos since
they can make the game unfun. So get your Johnnies out fellas and get ready for
this deck.
First the combos. There are quite a few of them in here so
here we go. In this deck there are quite a few ways to make infinite mana. Most
of which involve either Turnabout or Reset. I did also include the Palinchron
combo (Mana Flare + him). With Turny/reset there are a few ways to get inf
mana. One is Nivix Guildmage, another is Mirari and the other is Reiterate. You
can also recur it with Izzet Chronarch or Archaeomancer combined with Riptide
Laboratory or Deadeye Navigator. A Well
Jim you may be wondering what you do with the inf mana once you get it. Well
obviously you can kill everyone with Comet Storm or 1-2 people with Devil's
Play but there are other crazy shennigans you can do too. If you got infinite
mana with Izzet Chronarch or Archaeomancer you can take infinite turns with Stitch
in Time until you finally draw that confangled kill spell or just draw your
library with Blue Sun's Zenith. But be careful Jimmy...you don't want to deck
yourself. Also once you have your infinite mana, if it was with Reiterate + Turnabout
you also get infinite spells which means Ignite Memories and Mind's Desire can
be very very effective and Guttersnipe kills.
Worried about how you are going to get your combo Jimmy?
Well their is plenty of dig and tutorage in the deck. If you have a lot of mana
you can even Firemind's Foresight to get Brainstorm + Reset + Reiterate which
as long as you have enough mana will allow you to potenially kill your
opponent's at instant speed.
There are also a couple of cool interactions. If you use Archaeomancer
or Izzet Chronarch with Evacuation you can get yourself a soft creature lock. Consecrated
Sphinx and Thought Reflection works wonders with Time Spiral + Wheel of Fortune.
Also with Melek out Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Brainstorm, Sensei's Divining Top,
and Scroll Rack become very good. Also in the Wishboard there is a Tunnel
Vision if someone's general gets tucked.
Without further ado a card by card explanation.
Melek, Izzet Paragon - The main man. The big cheese. While
he doesn't exactly combo with the deck, he has great synergy for digging for
cards. A big problem with Niv decks is often they are way too focused on Niv
and if he gets tucked the player is SOL. Luckily that is much less of a problem
here.
Board Wipes
Blasphemous Act - Standard board wipe, nothing too exciting.
Comet Storm - Can be a win con once you have inf mana. Since
it is an instant it is very valuable. Can also wipe the field as needed.
Cyclonic Rift - F'n amazing. I would never use it in EDH
nonoverloaded though unless very desperate.
Evacuation - Soft creature lock with Izzet Chronarch and the
mancer.
4 Cards Total
Counterspells
Counterflux - Mostly for the "uncounterable" part.
Makes this pretty good when someone tries to stop your shennigans. Can also
stop storm cards from wrecking you.
Counterspell - In here mostly for the chance to Scepter it.
Force of Will - Need I say anything about how amazing this
card is?
Hinder - Tuck tuck goose!
Pact of Negation - Same as force with a bigger downside
Spell Crumple - Tucky tuck.
6 Cards Total
Digging Power
Blue Sun's Zenith - Can also serve as a way to draw your
deck or kill someone with inf mana.
Consecrated Sphinx - Has stupidly good synergy with Thought
Reflection + Wheel of Fortune effects.
Faithless Looting - Standard dig. Flashback makes it worth
including.
Izzet Charm - Perfect for the Scepter and good utility.
Telling Time - Really, really good with Melek esp on the
Scepter.
Thought Reflection - Have nothing really more to say other
than it's reaalllly good in the deck.
Time Spiral - With Melek it reads untap 12 lands and take an
extra turn.
Wheel of Fortune - Solid draw when you are running out of
steam.
7 Cards Total
Library Manipulation
Brainstorm - Pretty damn good for one mana. Especially with
Melek.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor - Brainstorm and situational bounce?
Yes please.
Scroll Rack - You almost need this with Melek.
Sensei's Divining Top - ^^^
4 Cards Total
Manaz + Mana Reduction
Arcane Melee - Allows for easier comboing off. You may want
to sub in Goblin Electromancer as it can help your opponents out a lot too. The
goal is to help you more though.
Chromatic Lantern - Solid color fixing
Darksteel Ingot - Solid mana rock
Gilded Lotus - ^^^
Izzet Keyrune - Mana rock and can punch face and dig. Nice.
Izzet Signet - Again mana rock
Mana Flare - Allows Palinchron shenanigans and makes comboing
easier.
Mana Vault - With Tezzy this is nice. Early game this is
nice. It is nice in general and is much cheaper than some
alternatives...*cough* Mana Crypt and Grim Monolith *cough*
Palinchron - Infinite mana shenanigans is always nice.
Sol Ring - Erm...
Tezzeret the Seeker - A very nice tutor and can generate
mana like a boss.
11 Cards Total
Recursion
Archaeomancer - Both him and the Chronarch can serve for many
combo fodder as well as get you an emergancy counterspell
Izzet Chronarch - ^^^
Mystic Retrieval - A decent third slot with flashback.
Past in Flames - Recur all the cantrips!!!
Snapcaster Mage - Can get you back your buyback stuff if its
countered. Also just solid in general
5 Cards Total
Spell Copiers
Mirari
Nivix Guildmage
Reiterate
(And Obviously The General)
Except the general these are all ways to produce infinite mana.
3 Cards Total
Spot Removal
Capsize
Chaos Warp
Devil's Play
Into the Roil
4 Cards Total
Utility
Deadeye Navigator - Combos well with ETB effects
Isochron Scepter - My favs are Telling Time, Counterspell, Reset,
Izzet Charm, Brainstorm, and Mystical Tutor
Leyline of Anticipation - Having flash on everything is
really, really good.
2 Cards Total
Tutors
Burning Wish - See wishboard
Cunning Wish - ^^^^
Drift of Phantasms - Most of the time tutors for Mana Flare,
Reiterate, Guttersnipe, Blue Sun's Zenith or Counterflux
Firemind's Foresight - Can grab a win con of Brainstorm, Reiterate,
and Reset
Gamble - Fetches missing pieces of your combo. [i]Can be
dangerous[/i]
Muddle the Mixture - Tutors for Nivix Guildmage, Cyclonic
Rift, Isochron Scepter, Comet Storm, Epic Experiment, and Reset among the
notable ones. Really good in this deck.
Mystical Tutor - Pretty self explaintory grab a combo piece.
Vedalken Aethermage - Grabs the Guildmage, your general,
snapcaster, chronarch, and the mancer
8 Cards Total
Win Cons/Really Stupid Cards For Melek
Epic Experiment - With Melek and mana this is really dumb.
Guttersnipe - Inf damage with Reiterate + Reset or Turnabout
Ignite Memories - ^^^ but only if everyone has at least one
card in hand.
Mind's Desire - Allows you to go off a lot easier or when
you are lets you get a way to win.
Reset - Inf mana producer combo
Stitch in Time - Possible to take inf turns
Turnabout - Same as reset
7 Cards Total
Non-Basics
Boseiju, Who Shelters All - Uncounterable shenanigans is
good
Command Tower
Desolate Lighthouse - Extra utility never hurts
Halimar Depths - Can be good with Melek but can see cutting
in the future - entering tapped lands are rough in EDH
Izzet Boilerworks - Good with Palinchron
Ghost Quarter - Good nonbasic removal
Great Furnace - Tezzy tutorable land
Scalding Tarn - Fetchy fetch
Soldevi Excavations - Really good with Melek
Steam Vents - Dual land!!!
Sulfur Falls - ^^^
Tectonic Edge - Good nonbasic removal
Reliquary Tower - You draw a lot of cards in this deck
Riptide Laboratory - Good for comboin with the mancer and
chronarch
Seat of Synod - Tezzy tutroable land
Thespian's Stage - Copy cabal coffers with Urbog in play?
Yes please.
Tolaria West - Grabs Boseiju or Reliquary Tower usually
10 Island
9 Mountain
Wishboard
Acquire - Nice blightsteel/forge you got there
Cryptic Command - Nice counter. Only reason not MB is
the :u:
:u: :u: requirement
Insurrection - Nice army...
Into the Core - Bye bye plate/forge
Fireball - Good for when you combo with Mind's Desire and
need a kill.
Price of Progress - Boom.
Reforge the Soul - Nice if I am running out of steam
Rite of Replication - Cool creature bro.
Tunnel Vision - Die.
Vandalblast - Nice Lattice you have there. Oh
wait...nevermind.
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Cards I considered that may work better on a budget
Eyes of the Watcher - Can sub in for Jace. Main reason it
wasn't included was that it's an extra
:1: with each cast and it doesn't draw the card. So Jace beat it for
this slot. It's advisable to keep nonland perms kinda low so you can use Melek.
However I may try and squeeze it back in as it can be very good with Melek.
Merchant Scroll - I was already pretty tutor heavy and since
it is limited to just blue instant cards I left it out.
Ponder, Preordain, and Index - Deck space is tight and these
don't do enough to justify kicking out another card.
Chandra, the Firebrand - Good for her second ability.
However I have many effects that do her second ability only better and I can
tutor them.
Anarchist - Just sorcery is too restricting on this guy to
justify a spot.
Rhystic Study - It gets annoying real fast in Multiplayer
games. If you don't mind your friends hating the phrase "did you pay the
extra one" then go ahead and play it as it is very good.
Grapeshot - While hilarious outside of comboing off it isn't
really that useful. Ignite Memories however is pretty good against decks that
draw a shitton of cards and play spells with a large CMC. However, this is a
spell I may try and put back in.
Fork effects - Reiterate and cards that let you do it
repeatably are just way better. Wild Ricochet may eventually get a spot though.
