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Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Alchemy | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Arena | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Brawl | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Gladiator | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Historic | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pioneer | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Pre-release | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Standard | Legal |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Fell Stinger
Creature — Zombie Scorpion
Deathtouch
Exploit (When this creature enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice a creature.)
When this exploits a creature, target player draws two cards and loses 2 life.
PolarisFluff on
Marchy March and the Funky Bunch
9 months ago
scotchtapedsleeves Thank you for the reply!
Fell Stinger is cool, but they also just printed Triarch Praetorian! I guess I was worried that cards like this wouldn't have targets when they entered, but I don't have to sacrifice every creature that has a counter at once.
You're totally right about Blood Artist. I was thinking to myself, "Why the hell did I even add this?" lol. I kept pinging myself with it because I didn't want to be the highest life total.
Vengeful Ancestor was a pet card but it can totally go. Same with Gyruda, Doom of Depths. I wanted to try and make the deck different than most marchesa effects, but some of the cards just don't end up playing well.
Don't you diss Woe Strider! It costs a little more, sure. But it also makes a token itself so it functionally has scry 1 on etb attached, and it can escape from the yard with +1/+1 counters if it somehow gets dumped.
Faerie Artisans is unironically maybe one of the strongest cards in casual. The particular synergy in marchesa is that if you sacrifice it, you get to keep the last token that it just made even when it comes back, since it's a new object. It also draws much less hate than direct theft.
What's the point of Rakdos Cackler as sacrifice fodder if we're not running aristocrats effects?
Thran Vigil seems absolutely terrible. It gets you a single +1/+1 counter per round. Not even per turn. It only triggers on your turn, and only at most one counter on your turn.
Ravenous Chupacabra too expensive? What is cheaper and repeatable?
scotchtapedsleeves on
Marchy March and the Funky Bunch
9 months ago
Hey! Coming over from Reddit to give some advice.
First off, some overarching themes that I notice:
-
Draw vs Card Advantage - A lot of the cards in your "Draw" category don't actually provide any impactful draw, only scrying and cantrips. I'm an enormous fan of Fell Stinger and Thought Sponge. Easily repeatable draw effects that dump cards in your hand. Scry isn't useful unless you're drawing a ton of cards or are doing some topdeck manipulation.
-
Your creatures are too big - Marchesa appreciates small bodies with big effects rather than big bodies with meh effects. For this reason, I would take out Combustible Gearhulk, Vindictive Lich, Vengeful Ancestor, and Gyruda, Doom of Depths. Playing lots of small, cheaper bodies lets your deck fly under the radar until it pops off. It will also give you more targets for Imperial Recruiter.
-
Aristocrats style - Marchesa doesn't play like your typical aristocrats deck, Blood Artist isn't very effective when you're only sacrificing 2-3 creatures a turn. It's also counterintuitive to Dethrone. Abusing ETB and LTB effects is more important than slowly draining opponents
-
Not enough counter distribution - You only have 5 cards under counters and they're all either situational or restrictive. Drop some Thran Vigil type cards in there and you'll go far
Overall, you're too reliant on creatures for draw, removal, etc. Run some efficient draw and removal spells
Next up, cards I recommend removing. I've playtested most of these and they're not nearly as impactful as they seem.
- Blood Artist - Covered this above, you don't want to gain life
- Combustible Gearhulk - Opponents will often just take the damage early game and late game you do NOT want to be spending 6 mana on a 6/6 with no impactful ETB.
- Vindictive Lich - An alright card, not fantastic though. I'm very pressed for 4 drops in my deck so it didn't make the cut.
- Vengeful Ancestor - Not a very impactful card. You're running Kardur, Doomscourge so this card is just overshadowed.
- Gyruda, Doom of Depths - 6 mana to maybe cheat in one creature? Not a huge fan. If you want to replace it with a grave robber effect Puppeteer Clique is better. Still not fantastic, it didn't make the cut in my deck
- Aether Channeler - A fine card, the mode selection is okay. I'm not in love with the effects it gives though
- Morbid Opportunist - Only one draw a turn? Blasphemy
- Woe Strider Free sac outlets are nice, but I find I get overrun with them when I have more than 5 in a deck. Also more expensive just to scry? Not a fan
- Dauthi Voidwalker Will generate so much hate. Unless you can fend off your opponents don't run it
- Faerie Artisans Not the kind of stealing Marchesa likes, tokens aren't the name of the game here. Something like Zealous Conscripts will take you much further
- Phantom Steed Same as above, tokens are nice but this isn't a great card
- Ravenous Chupacabra Too much mana for removal. Black and blue have much cheaper options
There are more that I personally wouldn't run, but that's up to how you like to play your deck.
Now for some cards I would include in every Marchesa deck
- Thran Vigil - Allows you to immediately sac creatures that come back + an extra layer of protection
- Uncivil Unrest - Same as above but you can also give haste to fresh casts. Double damage doesn't hurt
- Fell Stinger - Repeatable, powerful draw on a deathtouch body
- Thought Sponge - Incredible draw engine. Sac it on opponents turns every time it enters and you'll draw AT LEAST 6 cards a turn cycle.
- Iron Apprentice - Great 1 drop, can distribute counters if you're having trouble and is sacrifice fodder
- Rakdos Cackler - sacrifice fodder
- Flayer of the Hatebound - This card gets a bad rap but it's great in Marchesa
- Herald of Secret Streams - Wincon alert! This card sneaks under the radar until you hit someone with 25 unblockable damage
- The Ozolith - Expensive, but who doesn't want to keep their counters for 1 mana!
Of course, please take a look at my deck if you need inspiration. It's pretty casual, but the synergies can be backbreaking if your opponents don't keep you in check. I also have a ton of cards in my maybeboard that I'm considering or have saved for later.
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/guess-whos-back-back-again-and-again/?cat=custom&sort=&cb=1689648313
scotchtapedsleeves on
Murders and Acquisitions (Marchesa Superiority)
9 months ago
Hey Ender, been a while! I'm still working hard on my Marchesa deck if you'd like to steal some ideas. As for my suggestions:
Hostage Taker is huge as it can steal artifacts.
Imperial Recruiter Can tutor for most cards in my deck, your creature's powers seem a bit higher.
Iron Apprentice is incredible
Thought Sponge is a fantastic draw engine. I find myself drawing 5+ cards each cycle if opponents don't deal with it
Thran Vigil Adds a +1/+1 counter to every creature that re-enters, protecting them immediately and allowing you to sac them.
Uncivil Unrest Does the same as above but for all creatures that enter, also a wincon
Reins of Power Is a favourite of mine against token players. Sac all your creatures to steal an opponents, then you have the option to sac them for a ton of mana with an Altar or get +1/+1 counters on them and sac them as soon as Marchesa reenters the battlefield in your end step.
Aetherworks Marvel has played fairly well
Scroll of Fate Lets you cheat out lands, enchantments and artifacts as Marchesa only checks the card type when it's on the battlefield
Last One Standing is hilarious, same with Saw in Half
Living Death is an incredible board wipe, especially if you sac all your stuff beforehand
I have over 100 cards in my maybeboard that I haven't gotten around to sorting out, but here are some standouts I'm looking to include.
Imposter Mech seems like it could be incredible. Once you get a +1/+1 counter on Marchesa you don't really want to attack with her, so you can use her to crew the mech each turn
Urborg Scavengers Is repeatable grave hate with some bonuses
Kardur, Doomscourge Is dirty
Fell Stinger is a reliable source of draw, can sacrifice itsself in a pinch
Body Launderer seems incredible. Card selection and recursion
scotchtapedsleeves on
Murders and Acquisitions (Marchesa Superiority)
9 months ago
Hey Ender, been a while! I'm still working hard on my Marchesa deck if you'd like to steal some ideas. As for my suggestions:
Hostage Taker is huge as it can steal artifacts.
Imperial Recruiter Can tutor for most cards in my deck, your creature's powers seem a bit higher.
Iron Apprentice is incredible
Thought Sponge is a fantastic draw engine. I find myself drawing 5+ cards each cycle if opponents don't deal with it
Thran Vigil Adds a +1/+1 counter to every creature that re-enters, protecting them immediately and allowing you to sac them.
Uncivil Unrest Does the same as above but for all creatures that enter, also a wincon
Reins of Power Is a favourite of mine against token players. Sac all your creatures to steal an opponents, then you have the option to sac them for a ton of mana with an Altar or get +1/+1 counters on them and sac them as soon as Marchesa reenters the battlefield in your end step.
Aetherworks Marvel has played fairly well
Scroll of Fate Lets you cheat out lands, enchantments and artifacts as Marchesa only checks the card type when it's on the battlefield
Last One Standing is hilarious, same with Saw in Half
Living Death is an incredible board wipe, especially if you sac all your stuff beforehand
I have over 100 cards in my maybeboard that I haven't gotten around to sorting out, but here are some standouts I'm looking to include.
Imposter Mech seems like it could be incredible. Once you get a +1/+1 counter on Marchesa you don't really want to attack with her, so you can use her to crew the mech each turn
Urborg Scavengers Is repeatable grave hate with some bonuses
Kardur, Doomscourge Is dirty
Fell Stinger is a reliable source of draw, can sacrifice itsself in a pinch
Body Launderer seems incredible. Card selection and recursion
Anyway, that concludes my rant. Hope all is good with you!
Rivel on
Necromancin' Dancin'
1 year ago
For those interested, here is the list of removed cards, added cards, as well as total current deck stats.
Removed
- 6 Island
- 6 Swamp
- Dreadhorde Invasion
- Liliana, Death's Majesty
- Dispel
- Drown in Dreams
- Negate
- Plumb the Forbidden
- Reality Shift
- Resculpt
- Unwind
- Exsanguinate
- Final Parting
- Ghouls' Night Out
- Charcoal Diamond
- Sky Diamond
- Gleaming Overseer
- Hordewing Skaab
- Undead Alchemist
Added:
- Evolving Wilds
- Exotic Orchard
- Malakir Mire Flip
- Mystic Sanctuary
- Obscura Storefront
- Reflecting Pool
- Secluded Courtyard
- Terramorphic Expanse
- Unclaimed Territory
- Verdant Catacombs
- Vesuva
- Mystic Remora
- An Offer You Can't Refuse
- Blue Sun's Zenith
- Pongify
- Rapid Hybridization
- Read the Bones
- Bident of Thassa
- Dimir Signet
- Fellwar Stone
- Herald's Horn
- Pyre of Heroes
- Thaumatic Compass Flip
- Urza's Incubator
- Champion of the Perished
- Fell Stinger
- Liliana's Standard Bearer
- Murderous Rider
- Shambling Ghast
Misc deck stats: Ramp: 13 Draw: 19 Tutors: 4
multimedia on
Meren Current
1 year ago
Hey, good start on a low budget. I think you can optimize what you currently have even more since there's 16 high mana cost cards here.
Some advice to consider, fill the rest of the deck spots with one, two or three CMC cards since the high end part of your deck is done? One drop budget creatures who can sac themselves are excellent support with Meren.
Viscera Seer and Carrion Feeder are sac outlets which could use more of those to get experience counters. There's not much draw here that Meren can take advantage of. Consider more repeatable draw when you sac creature/creature dies?
- Fell Stinger: can sac itself.
- Grim Haruspex
- Midnight Reaper
- Morbid Opportunist
- Body Launderer
Morbid Opportunist can trigger on an opponents turn if any creature dies not just your own creature. Body Launderer loots each time a creature you control dies, helps to setup Meren reanimation. Can also get more draw from single effects.
Budget one drop mana dorks can be ramp who can be saced/die later on for experience counters.
Arcane Signet is an upgrade for Golgari Signet and Talisman of Resilience is another Golgari mana rock. Some budget lands to consider adding/upgrades:
Woodland Chasm gives Wood Elves a Golgari Forest land to search for.
Good luck with your deck.
multimedia on
Liesa, Liesa, they so flying...
1 year ago
Hey, good latest update, really nice additions of Archivist of Oghma and Bolas's Citadel. Don't forget Caves of Koilos, it's in the precon and an Orzhov dual land that enters the battlefield untapped.
You're right you want more draw and you could cut several lesser creatures for more draw. Use life to get draw by either drawing when you gain life or when you pay life. Well of Lost Dreams is another four drop that like Greed once you get onto the battlefield it can draw a ton of cards because of Liesa's lifelink. Sigarda's Splendor can draw an extra card at your upkeep if your life total changed and it's another source of repeatable life gain from casing white spells.
Dawn of Hope each time you gain life you can pay 2 mana to draw a card. Eye of Vecna draws a card when it enters the battlefield and then it can be repeatable at your upkeep for 2 mana + 2 life.
Fell Stinger can sac itself for it's exploit to have interaction with Liesa, Forgotten Archangel and other reanimation or recursion that you could add such as Sun Titan, Witch of the Moors, Apprentice Necromancer, Priest of Fell Rites. When your Commander has flying then Mask of Memory can be consistent repeatable draw as well as discard to fuel reanimation or recursion.
Court of Grace makes you the monarch for repeatable draw a card at your end step. If you're the monarch at your upkeep then you create a 4/4 Angel or if you're not the monarch a 1/1 Spirit. Palace Jailer makes you the monarch, it also exiles an opponent's creature and that creature never returns to the battlefield unless you lose the monarch which can only happen if an opponent does combat damage to you or plays a card that makes them the monarch.
Some cards to consider cutting for more draw, reanimation, recursion.
- Killian, Ink Duelist: you have very few cards that have a single target to reduce the mana cost.
- Vampire Outcasts: the lifelink is nice, but that's all it does for a four drop creature, no other abilities, can do better for four mana.
- Dawnhart Geist: there's very few enchantments here and it only triggers for your enchantments, can gain more life from other cards.
- Vampire Scrivener: I know you like this card, but it's too slow and doesn't do anything for five mana. You have Necropolis Regent at one more mana than Scrivener who can put the counters on Liesa the same turn it enters the battlefield. Putting counters on Liesa will do more because she has lifelink.
- Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts: not a fan of this seven drop, could replace it with Sun Titan.
Well of Lost Dreams or Sigarda's Splendor could replace Vampire Outcasts. Dawn of Hope or Eye of Vecna could replace Killian, Ink Duelist. Mask of Memory is a good swap for Malefic Scythe. Mask can give you repeatable draw where as Scythe isn't doing much because it only triggers when equipped creature dies.
Fell Stinger is an easy swap for Dawnhart Geist. Vampire Scrivener could be cut for more reanimation Witch of the Moors, Apprentice Necromancer, Priest of Fell Rites. Sun Titan could replace Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts. Court of Grace or Palace Jailer could replace Heron of Hope. Heron's ability is fine to gain a little more life, but more draw would help more.
DawnsRayofLight on
Chainer, Dementia Master
1 year ago
As someone who has played Chainer for close to a decade, I have some suggestions I would like to offer. (though everyone's decks run differently!)
34-35 lands is usually enough. I would recommend 34 with Agadeem's Awakening Flip that gives you 5 spots:
In those spots:
(Or all the expensive artifacts like Grim Monolith or what have you)
In place of:
1x Cast Down--> Lethal Scheme: This card is amazing in any reanimator list
1x Culling the Weak--> Phyrexian Altar: you need more sac outlets with some staying power
1x Dismember--> Soul Transfer: seems janky, but versatile
1x Doom Blade--> Baleful Mastery: you can hit more with it.
1x Go for the Throat--> Infernal Grasp
1x Power Word Kill--> Deadly Rollick/Altar of Dementia: for a better killspell or for a sac outlet
1x Sacrifice--> Ashnod's Altar: need more sac outlets with staying power
1x Terror--> Meteor Golem: This guy helps so much with things Black cannot remove
1x Victim of Night--> Karn Liberated: This guy helps so much with things Black cannot remove
Cruel Tutor--> Mikaeus, the Unhallowed: bonkers for some staying power, also has combo potential
Unmarked Grave--> Putrid Goblin: this or Walking Ballista are good for combos with Mikaeus. Putrid GOblin + Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar + Mikaeus = infinite mana (or sub ashnod's altar for mill).
Suggested Drops, see next list for suggested replacements
Blood Pet--> sort of an eh card, I might think of something with more oomph
Liliana, Heretical Healer Flip--> I do like her, she just never did anything when I ran her.
Ruthless Technomancer: I have debated a lot adding him, in something like Korvold, he is an all-star, in chainer, he can be good, but I would almost always rather have Disciple of Bolas
Skirge Familiar: I get the reason it is in here, but there are better cards.
Black Market: It's nice, but can be too slow.
Liliana of the Dark Realms: I just have never been a big fan, she feels too lackluster.
Final Parting: good card, but I feel you can part with some tutor because you have MORE than enough
Sidisi, Undead Vizier: good card, but I feel you can part with some tutor because you have MORE than enough
Rune-Scarred Demon: good card, but I feel you can part with some tutor because you have MORE than enough, there also some stronger creatures to fit in the spot.
Suggestions
Archon of Cruelty: expensive mana wise but an all star.
Kokusho, the Evening Star: has been in my deck from the beginning and has flat out won me games.
Brainstealer Dragon: seems janky, but I added to just try it and it has been amazing.
Black Market Connections: You need more draw (also helps with ramp)
Phyrexian Arena: You need more draw
Bolas's Citadel: an amazing card. Wins games all the time.
Disciple of Bolas: card draw and life gain
Fell Stinger: card draw
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed: Great for recursion
Reanimate, Liliana, Death's Majesty, Living Death. and Animate Dead: it is good to have other means of reanimation if Chainer keeps getting removed (I also suggest sac outlets to help keep your creatures from getting exiled when they spot remove Chainer)
Hope this helps! Here is my list to maybe show you how I run the list: The True Meaning of Death and Taxes
| Have (2) | orzhov_is_relatively_okay819 , oyianakis |
| Want (1) | TrueRandom11 |