EDH Maralen of the Mornsong

[Miscalcul8edRisk]

Ok I just saw this card previewed today and it looks like it would be absolutely nuts and fun to play in EDH. http://www.germagic.de/

Maralen of the Mornsong

1BB
Legendary Creature - Elf Wizard

Players can't draw cards.

At the beginning of each player's draw step, that player loses 3 life, searches his or her library for a card, puts it into his or her hand, and shuffles his or her library.
2/3

I just wanted to see if anyone had any particular ideas that could be absolutely broken with this thing. It seems to me like it would be very good with discard strategies and/or mana denial and the likes of Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Light and Shadow respectively. Bitter Ordeal looks good here too. If you run into an opponent with an empty hand, Funeral Charm + Isochron Scepter seems nice. Or if you are feeling especially nasty, Word of Command .

[fdtori]

Wow, What a positively nasty card! Not just skip the draw phase but can't draw, period!

I'm thinking that effects that put cards directly in your hand like with Bob are going to be pretty good;
Brass Herald,
Citanul Flute,
Corpse Harvester,
Grave Defiler,
Journeyer's Kite,
Scroll Rack is nuts with this card!!!

Originally Posted by Miscalcul8edRisk

It seems to me like it would be very good with discard strategies and/or mana denial and the likes of Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Light and Shadow respectively. Bitter Ordeal looks good here too. If you run into an opponent with an empty hand, Funeral Charm + Isochron Scepter seems nice. Or if you are feeling especially nasty, Word of Command .

I would have to say I don't really like some of those choices, especially for multiplayer EDH; each power card you fetch will be met by multiple answers, so fetching for a permanent is a bad idea unless it is very resilient like say, Darksteel "something" or Stuffy Doll, etc.

Also think that your opponents will be looking for threats of their own, so sweepers seem like good bets.

Mmmh, this card also means that after the 3rd turn whatever lands they get, they will have to pay 3 life each, ouch!

So resuming: Effects that make you put cards directly in your hand and lots of board sweepers.

But the main strategy I see with this guy is to play also a LOT of Drain Life effects; Consume spirit, etc. I don't see opponents going all out searching for their counterspells.

Of course if it's gets too nasty, people are just going to repeatedly blow it out of the sky. So then first tutor = Lightning Greaves or something similar?

Question: I'm figuring here that this thing does not count as "general" damage right? since it's loss of life.

Boy, this thing really gets my brain babbling.

[Miscalcul8edRisk]

Here are some more thoughts.

Beacon of Unrest
Teferi's Puzzle Box
Nether Void
Moonlight Bargain
Chalice of the Void
Endless Whispers

too bad Aven Mindcensor is white .

I was thinking the scepter would be better in a duel, not necessarily in multiplayer as with many of those other cards. I still think Bitter Ordeal is really really good. I agree that Lightning Greaves is probably the best first search target to force the opponents to use their mass removal. I was looking at the Swords of Light/Shadow and Fire/Ice primarily as additional protection for Maralen.

It is not so much that Maralen is out to win persay, more that it is out to turn a casual game of magic into utter chaos.

[fdtori]

Nice find with Teferi's Puzzle Box.
I was trying to find mass discard in but only had Mindslicer in my head.

Ok, so the active player decides the order of the triggers? But I'm thinking that however he stacks the triggers he's gonna lose his hand regardless:

if you stack the Maralen on top of the Box to be able to search an instant and play it right now, say to disenchant the Puzzle Box, the box effect will still happen right?

If I was that opponent, then I would actually leave the Box alone stack the triggers the other way and lose my hand so I could search whatever I want. Because if I would get rid of it, then I would be helping other players too much, let everybody loose their hands I say! It's not like the owner of the Box will be able to get rid of it, since he's mono black.

Too bad the Box is symetrical.

Yeah, also too bad for Mindcensor.

[Penumbra Leprechaun]

That's pretty awesome, combining Maralen with Teferi's Puzzle Box. I like it.
I would consider just using Maralen as a kill condition, running a lot of instant-speed kill(or Vedalken Orrery, natch.), and having Faerie Tauntings to tag all of your opponents for an extra point whenever you play something as an instant. Even better, if you use Vedalken Orrery, you can play your sweepers as instants, which would allow you to trigger the Tauntings.
If you go this way, probable search order:
1) Lightning Greaves
2) Vedalken Orrery
3) Faerie Tauntings
4) Teferi's Puzzle Box
5) Generic Sweeper
I'd also advise building up for a little while, so that you can properly utilize your cards. Also, to break the 'symmetry' of the Puzzle Box/Maralen combo in this deck, maybe run Mirari, to allow you to 'play' multiple spells while only having access to one a turn. Seems like an idea that I might actually use.

[Miscalcul8edRisk]

Originally Posted by fdtori

If I was that opponent, then I would actually leave the Box alone stack the triggers the other way and lose my hand so I could search whatever I want. Because if I would get rid of it, then I would be helping other players too much, let everybody loose their hands I say! It's not like the owner of the Box will be able to get rid of it, since he's mono black.

well i'm assuming the opponent would stack it as such, put the maralen trigger on the stack and let the box trigger resolve first. that way they get to keep whatever they search. otherwise they search first only to have their hand (including the card they searched for) on the bottom of their library. unless it is an instant in which case they can play it before the box trigger resolves. either way they go down to no more than 1 card in their hand after their draw phase.

this combo is straight up evil. keep in mind the first few searches may very well be for mana on your opponents behalf.

i think the proper search order is lightning greaves and then puzzle box if you have the necessary mana. as fdtori mentioned, journeyer's kite is also really good, it can get you a mana per turn in addition to your other search once you build up a solid enough foundation. I think adding Braids, Cabal Minion to the equation adds to the hilarity of the situation as it prevents any progress whatsoever. I'm still really interested in this deck i'll post some thoughts and possibly a list once i find some time to tinker.

[Casual Chaos Rules!!]

Do you still draw the cards with puzzleobox? Or does malaren stops that?

[fdtori]

No you wouldn't. You can't draw cards period! Now if the Box said to put the top X cards in your hands, it would be another story, like with Scroll Rack, which IS good with Maralen.

[Miscalcul8edRisk]

any fresh ideas guys? I was thinking that the best "sweepers" would be things like Innocent Blood and Barter in Blood. I also came accross Tainted Aether which also seems really strong for slowing opponent's progress.

[Miscalcul8edRisk]

Ok i finally, after many hours, was able to compile a complete list to go along with this. Some of my choices may seem a bit underpowered but I think the deck took a step in the right direction.

Deck

1x Maralen of the Mornsong 1x Cabal Coffers 1x Everglades 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse 1x Volrath's Stronghold 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth 1x Dust Bowl 1x Deserted Temple 1x Mishra's Factory 1x Urza's Factory 1x Vesuva 1x Maze of Ith 30x Swamp 1x Dark Confidant 1x Withered Wretch 1x Stinkweed Imp 1x Nether Spirit 1x Mindslicer 1x Braids, Cabal Minion 1x Shriekmaw 1x Thrashing Wumpus 1x Liliana Vess 1x Twisted Abomination 1x Nightmare 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star 1x Ink Eyes, Servant of Oni 1x Ascendant Envincar 1x Skeletal Vampire 1x Dread 1x Avatar of Woe 1x Spirit of the Night 1x Maga, Traitor to Mortals 1x Innocent Blood 1x Deathmark 1x Hero's Demise 1x Diabolic Edict 1x Demonic Tutor 1x Smallpox 1x Bitter Ordeal 1x Damnation 1x Temporal Extortion 1x Beacon of Unrest 1x Drain Life 1x Consume Spirit 1x Profane Command 1x Death Cloud

1x Oversold Cemetery 1x Contamination 1x Gloom 1x Engineered Plague 1x Tainted Aether 1x Subversion 1x Sol Ring 1x Sensei's Divining Top 1x Pithing Needle 1x Cursed Scroll 1x Lightning Greaves 1x Umezawa's Jitte 1x Reito Lantern 1x Journeyer's Kite 1x Scroll Rack 1x Phyrexian Totem 1x Oblivion Stone 1x Teferi's Puzzle Box 1x Smokestack 1x Skullcage 1x Phyrexian Processor 1x Mirari 1x Planar Portal 1x Mindslaver

[Neon-chan]

well i'm assuming the opponent would stack it as such, put the maralen trigger on the stack and let the box trigger resolve first.

You control both triggers so you decide in which order to stack them. Of course you would stack Marlen first in your upkeep and Box first in your opponents.

[Shoe]

you are probably going to need some more ways to gain life....Corruptand Tendrils of Corruptioncome to mind.....also Ivory tower isnt bad unless you get a puzzle box out

it also looks like your early game is pretty wide open...EDH aggro will wipe the floor with you....not sure what you can do about this other than add some early defensive drops.....isnt point removal usually pretty bad in EDH?

wanderer's twigand wayfairer's bauble are both not bad ideas either

[Miscalcul8edRisk]

Yeah keep in mind I have not yet tested this in a legit EDH matchup. Right now it is operating solely as a pet project to which i can make assumptions. Aggro is rough, but I think that a well-placed Tainted Aether will keep them on the ropes. I recently found Anvil of Bogardan as well, seem like it would be good in this deck as a backup to Puzzle Box.