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Legality
| Format | Legality |
| 1v1 Commander | Legal |
| Archenemy | Legal |
| Block Constructed | Legal |
| Canadian Highlander | Legal |
| Casual | Legal |
| Commander / EDH | Legal |
| Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
| Custom | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Highlander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Leviathan | Legal |
| Limited | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Planechase | Legal |
| Quest Magic | Legal |
| Tiny Leaders | Legal |
| Vanguard | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
Heap Doll
Artifact Creature — Scarecrow
Sacrifice Heap Doll: Exile target card from a graveyard.
rdean14 on Card creation challenge
2 years ago
Mentioned on Armored Ascension, Heap Doll, and Tatterkite:
Braenna, Cobblesmith
Legendary Creature - Kithkin Artificer (Uncommon)
Sacrifice two artifacts: Create a 1/1 colorless Scarecrow artifact creature token.
Equipment you control have equip Scarecrow .
2/3
Yeah, this 100% is an infinite combo with Anointed Procession.
I'd like to see a card for Auntie Flint, as mentioned on Boggart Loggers and Spiderwig Boggart.
Supanako on
Korvold, the Snack King
4 years ago
Skirk Prospector Armillary Sphere Grimoire of the Dead Utopia Sprawl Plaguecrafter Apprentice Necromancer Regrowth Fecundity Traveler's Amulet Spore Frog Feel good about it Shriekmaw God-Eternal Rhonas Heap Doll Farhaven Elf
These are ideas. Don't know if anything here looks interesting, bnut can find more.
jordanalessi on 1 mana hate creatures
4 years ago
- Heap Doll grave hate
- Mistcaller reanimation hate & flash hulk hate
Decimator1 on
Assassination for Dummies, a Black Rose Primer
4 years ago
This is a very nice Marchesa list and has been an excellent reference in retuning my own version. You may have already seen this, but you have a couple of infinite combos to exploit in your list that I did not see as part of the primer. They all revolve around Glen Elendra Archmage , as the persist is what enables them to work. As follows:
Sac outlet + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Glen Elendra Archmage = Infinite deaths and ETBs (undying-persist loop)
Sac outlet + Sage of Fables + Glen Elendra Archmage = Infinite deaths and ETBs (Fable counter and persist cancel out)
You can use Goblin Bombardment as the sac outlet, or you can have Judith, the Scourge Diva or Flayer of the Hatebound out in addition to the above cards to kill the table.
I also noticed that you mentioned Heap Doll being a low mana replacement of Puppeteer Clique . If you wanted to use Clique again, it could take Archmage's place in the combos.
I run those combos in my own list and figured I'd point them out just in case. Thanks again for posting the list.
WAYF4 on
4 years ago
I really love the way this deck focuses on the combo potential, with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Good-Fortune Unicorn , and I'm glad I was able to inspire your deck creation!
Since you're going to need a Rattle scarecrow for the combo to work, I suggest Fabricate , as it's cheap and can usually fetch you anything you need in an artifact-heavy deck. (also artifact lands!)
One word of caution: Saheeli's Directive requires 3 red mana to pull off, but the colour pie says you only have 8 red sources in the deck - which is especially a problem given how many of them are easy to destroy (especially Scuttlemutt and Commander's Sphere ). Adding in a few Snow-Covered Mountain s might help, or something else that produces red - otherwise you might find you can only cast the Directive when Chromatic Lantern is out.
Also, never underestimate the power of a cheap scarecrow. Heap Doll is the best of them, and you can even run it as a tiny bit of graveyard hate when you need to.
WhattheDeck on
[[Primer]] Gonti - Night Market Shenanigans
4 years ago
I played around with a similar build in my play group and had some feedback from experience:
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This list runs a lot of targeted creature removal on high-cmc bodies, but lacks responses to non-creature-heavy decks. I put in Mesmeric Fiend and Thought-Knot Seer as more general removal instead of Duplicant and Ravenous Chupacabra . I usually ended up tutoring and reoccurring Meteor Golem , so even Noxious Gearhulk seemed a bit redundant. I'm considering replacing it with Brain Maggot .
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Vulturous Aven surprised me and actually performed really well. With a few recursions, this was reliable, under-the-radar card draw that also acted as a sac-outlet for Kokusho, the Evening Star when reanimated together. Considering adding Dusk Legion Zealot and/or Disciple of Bolas for more ETB card draw. I might also replace Phyrexian Arena for another ETB card draw creature or probably just Dark Confidant
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I put in Viscera Seer for the reliable, cheap sac outlet on a body (with card filtering).
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Added Strip Mine and Blast Zone for more removal. Took out Cabal Stronghold and a Swamp.
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Put in Thrilling Encore which creates a fun wincon with Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed and other creatures. Didn't get the combo off, but had a good a blowout with Thrilling Encore after a boardwipe.
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Conjurer's Closet was expensive, always instantly targeted and never got much value. Probably going to replace with Abnormal Endurance , because these effects are so clutch and fun.
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When playing opponents' cards from Gonti, they go straight to their graveyards, which often creates a powerful disincentive to using the main ability of the deck. For graveyard control, I'm looking for a place for Heap Doll and Withered Wretch . This lets me play opponents' cards with Gonti and then instantly exile them before someone drops something like Snapcaster Mage.
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Adjusted the land base and ramp to include Fellwar Stone , Exotic Orchard , and Mox Opal to give more options for using activated abilities of opponents' permanents. Used Gonti to steal a Deadeye Navigator , which was hilarious and awesome.
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Finally, the real fun/value/intrigue of Gonti from the games I played revolved around the mystery of what cards I'd exiled with Gonti, and less on what goodstuff creatures might be lurking in my graveyard. My opponents were always flipping through their decks when they tutored, looking to see if I snatched away key cards. The combo players at the table were especially anxious. I loved it. I put in Praetor's Grasp and Bitter Ordeal to play to this strength.
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Great deck and definitely recommend anyone checking out this list give it a shot!
flapjackwars on
Assassination for Dummies, a Black Rose Primer
5 years ago
Glad you found the suggestions helpful. My manabase is about the same as yours and supports Baleful Strix well. Some easy and cheap upgrades would be River of Tears , Foreboding Ruins , Choked Estuary , and Path of Ancestry . Also, if you're looking at other sac outlets, consider Greater Gargadon , Attrition , Mind Slash , and Thermopod . If I wanted a value sacrifice engine, Mind Slash would be my first inclusion, and it's been in and out of my build. I definitely understand your thought process behind certain omissions in favor of things that better suit your build. I'd just like to give a bit more reasoning behind a few of my favorites.
Sower of Temptation vs Zealous Conscripts is a debate that could go either way, and I've personally run Conscripts without Sower before so I get where you're coming from. Consider instead Sower as a replacement for Ravenous Chupacabra. The floor is roughly the same. Sometimes you don't have a sac outlet and the owner of the creature you steal kills Sower, but I think that's niche downside compared to the upside of Sower on 4 into Marchesa on 5, attack with Sower and stolen creature, recur them both. I think you can run Conscripts and Sower and cut Chupacabra.
Trinket Mage usually finds Sol Ring but can also find Skullclamp to pull you out of a pinch, and Imperial Recruiter on 3 can find Trinket Mage to get you an artifact land to hit the fourth land drop the next turn. I used to run it with just Sol Ring and Skullclamp but Heap Doll and Sparring Construct are stronger than they appear and a value creature that finds more value creatures has an exponential sort of effect. I slept on the Construct as well, until I tried it. The baseline is pretty close to equivalent with Siren Stormtamer - you play Marchesa, they play removal, you sac the Construct then sac the Marchesa with the counter on it. It doesn't get to do Graft loops but it does take a counter on the Marchesa turn and then pass that counter to the next creature you drop, letting you recur its ETB and protect it a turn earlier than usual. So basically it's doing what Lightning Mauler , etc, would do, but more reliably, and for only 1 mana (which is key when you're drawing a million off Graft loops/Rhystic/Necropotence/Remora).
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden : you have 34 creatures with power 3 or less, so the 1/3rd chance is perhaps less than optimal, but 6 mana flash a random creature in from your deck is not bad when it's attached to a creature that will come with counters. This one, like Construct and my next suggestion, is a lot better in actual games than on paper. Bringing things in at flash speed makes Grenzo a more resilient sort of army-assembler for situations where you're struggling to get a foothold on the board. It may be that just drawing a bunch of cards is better, and I wouldn't fault you for not trying out Grenzo, but if you do, he just might surprise you.
Demon of Dark Schemes - if the Massacre effect isn't strong in your games then I would understand avoiding this inclusion, but being strong on just the initial cast, then singlehandedly building a board of value creatures to recur, including Reclamation Sage effects to take care of things like Wheel of Sun and Moon, makes this guy practically a second commander. We're great at draining opponents' resources so this is more likely to stick and then untap with a ton of activations, and it's the perfect "last card" sort of finisher to turn things drastically in your favor. It does a lot of things and is almost always relevant which is why I prefer it to simpler haymakers like Living Death etc.
Spellseeker only has 4 targets in your deck currently but just finding Cyclonic Rift already makes it an enchantment removal creature. I understand you don't want to go too deep into tutors so I could see leaving this one out, same as Trinket Mage, but their restrictions make them more balanced and crafting the packages around them has made my experience with Marchesa more fun.
Anyway the list and primer looks solid and I'm glad you could get some use out of my suggestions.
flapjackwars on
Assassination for Dummies, a Black Rose Primer
5 years ago
I like this primer, and I appreciate that you understand some of the stronger Marchesa interactions like the applications of the graft creatures and Mimic. I hope you'll check out my Marchesa list. I think we have a similar outlook though I favor low cost cards for curveouts and I think you might find some of my cards to be "do-nothings." Anyway here are some of my suggestions and thoughts:
Dusk Legion Zealot , Baleful Strix , Alchemist's Apprentice , Seekers' Squire , Preordain , Sage of Epityr , Rix Maadi Reveler : The first three are a slam dunk while the rest are a bit of a harder sell, but all of these cards get cast earlier than Mulldrifter/Disciple of Bolas so they help you hit land drops and find your missing pieces. And something like Apprentice can curve right into a counter enabler and draw 4 cards on turn 4 before you'd even cast the more expensive draw spells. Preordain and some amount of the other cantrips are always worth consideration too, since you're trying to put together specific things to bring a powerful Marchesa engine online.
Altar of Dementia , Spawning Pit , Bloodthrone Vampire , Dross Hopper : A critical mass of sac outlets is important and though the creatures listed aren't exciting they're a lot better for rebuilding if your first boardstate gets broken up. Deploy on turn 2 into value creature on turn 3 to recur on turn 4, or deploy alongside 3-drop on turn 5 to try to rebuild. I dislike using my whole turn to play Grimgrin or Falkenrath which I consider to be pretty mediocre standalones in EDH (Grimgrin is probably fine actually though a little finnicky) and Yahenni not being able to sac itself is a problem for me.
Goblin Cratermaker , Heap Doll , Mausoleum Wanderer , Goblin Trashmaster , Abyssal Gatekeeper , Nevermaker : Personally only run the first three but have included all of these at some point or another. They're all creature-based interaction that Marchesa can recur, but at instant speed. For example, I much prefer Heap Doll to Agent of Erebos since you can stop something like entomb-reanimate or Survival discarding Kiki to find Karmic Guide. The downside to cards like these is that they're rare and not usually efficiently-costed, but they're definitely worth considering. Boompile , Oblivion Stone , Engineered Explosives : Grixis' best enchantment removal. I'd go with these over the Grave Pacts for multiple reasons. First, destroying all nonlands and being left with Marchesa is a bigger power play. Second, it's nice to be able to remove Rest in Peace and other generally pesky enchantments. Third, these cards aren't reliant on your engines being in place to do their job, so they're better for coming back from behind. In the same line of thought:
Sower of Temptation , Grenzo, Dungeon Warden , Hostage Taker , The Eldest Reborn , Demon of Dark Schemes : My topend may look odd to you but each of these cards is strong interaction on its own, and becomes an army-builder alongside Marchesa. Stealing creatures is great for ramping and killing enchantments, or winning with Primeval Titan. Bribery and Phantasmal Image are more cards in this vein, as well as the Puppeteer Clique and Gonti you're already playing. I prefer these to Flayer, Herald of Secret Streams, etc since they help you come from behind when Marchesa isn't out, and having "finishers" that rely on your engine being all in place isn't all that effectively different from just running some combo (Metallic Mimic / Murderous Redcap is the most efficient one for Marchesa imo if you wanted to go the route). Of course, Flayer does act as removal, and is also very fun, but I hope you'll consider cutting Herald, Merchant, and Kokusho. Mikaeus is actually nice as a "backup commander" with great synergy with Marchesa but he's not in my build because I run too many Humans. Luckily we have Grenzo who is an absolutely insane engine card.
Awaken the Erstwhile , Mindslicer : Marchesa can dominate the board but is weak to combo, hate enchantments, the whole table targeting all your stuff with removal, and brick hands. These cards take care of the first three. Landing them early with your value engines already online is like a more reliable sort of "land destruction win" since in either case they can't cast their spells. Trinket Mage , Spellseeker , Phyrexian Metamorph , Mindclaw Shaman , Entomber Exarch , Trophy Mage , Ixidron , Sparring Construct : Miscellaneous other value ETBs. Trinket Mage is the best one, I highly suggest you include him. Construct will surprise you with how strong it is. The baseline is on-board protection for Marchesa the turn you cast her, but the upside is acting like a limited Graft creature by giving each new creature you play a counter.
I think that's just about it for suggestions, maybe consider Spell Pierce , Stubborn Denial , and Fire Covenant , but overall, great primer, very well-written, and I think you'll set people in the right direction when it comes to building Marchesa.
