EDH [competitive] Merieke Ri Berit combo - looking for suggestions

This is a work-in-progress competitive deck.

http://deckbox.org/sets/507740

The basic idea is to ramp mana, counter, board-wipe, and otherwise delay and react, and then tutor up the combo to kill the whole table.  My friends hate the deck, and it usually turns multiplayer games into Archenemy, but I have fun with it, and when they gang up on me, the win/loss ratio is pretty fair.  But there's a monthly EDH event at one of our LGSs where the power level of decks is a little higher.

The combo is currently Sanguine Bond / Exquisite Blood + usually a lifegain tapland, though there are other ways of dealing damage and gaining life.  I've looked at other combos and this one has some advantages.  Mill combos break if someone has an Eldrazi, and Sharuum is an even more hated general than Merieke.  Plus this combo is easily understood by players with limited rules knowledge, they don't have to take on faith that what I'm saying about replacement effects vs. triggered effects is true.  However it takes 10 mana and a land drop, that could be more efficient.

I do need a backup combo.  Right now I'm thinking about replacing Nihil Spellbomb with Leyline of the Void and adding Helm of Obedience.

The mana base is good, but I do think I could remove one land, probably a basic island.

OK, looking forward to your feedback!

Last edited by cartel1982 (2013-10-21 13:02:23)