Grixis Wizards or: How We Became Liches

Commander / EDH Control Cruel Control Multiplayer Tribal U/B/R (Grixis) Wizards

Teemursu

Type Subtype Rarity Color Latest set Latest block Name Board Converted cost Keyword Price Custom categories

Type Subtype Rarity Name Converted cost Price

Wizard (39)

• 1x Alchemist's Apprentice
• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Azami, Lady of Scrolls
• 1x Barrin, Master Wizard
• 1x Bloodline Necromancer
• 1x Champion of Wits
• 1x Cursecatcher
• 1x Cytoplast Manipulator
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Flesh Carver
• 1x Galecaster Colossus
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Havengul Lich
• 1x Inalla, Archmage Ritualist
• 1x Magus of the Abyss
• 1x Magus of the Future
• 1x Mairsil, the Pretender
• 1x Martyr of Frost
• 1x Metallic Mimic
• 1x Patron Wizard
• 1x Profaner of the Dead
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Sage of Fables
• 1x Sidisi's Faithful
• 1x Sigil Tracer
• 1x Snapcaster Mage
• 1x Sower of Temptation
• 1x Stonybrook Banneret
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Thoughtpicker Witch
• 1x Vedalken AEthermage
• 1x Vendilion Clique
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant
• 1x Vigean Graftmage
• 1x Vindictive Lich
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Voidmage Prodigy
• 1x Wizard Replica

Land (35)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Badlands
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x High Market
• 1x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Riptide Laboratory
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Tarnished Citadel
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold
• 1x Wasteland
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Winding Canyons

Tutor (3)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Vedalken AEthermage

Commander

Tools (8)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Cryptic Gateway
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Patriarch's Bidding
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol

Draw (8)

• 1x Alchemist's Apprentice
• 1x Azami, Lady of Scrolls
• 1x Champion of Wits
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Magus of the Future
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Sage of Fables

Ramp (8)

• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Stonybrook Banneret
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence
• 1x Urza's Incubator

Board-Wipe (7)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Insurrection
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Vandalblast

Maybeboard

Other (4)

• 1x Merfolk Trickster
• 1x Naban, Dean of Iteration
• 1x Sea Gate Oracle
• 1x Skullclamp

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Description

This tribal deck focuses on heavy Wizard synergy. So much so, that I've decided to not run any non-Wizard creatures that otherwise would be staples in other Marchesa, the Black Rose decks (e.g. Zealous Conscripts). The deck was made to be able to compete with any deck except with the highest tier 1 decks (though it has taken a few games against those decks).

The general strategy is to play our commander, Marchesa, the Black Rose, a sacrifice outlet and as many wizards as possible for crazy and fun synergies. By having our wizards go through the graveyard and achieve lichdom, we usually assume a control role: victory by out-grinding and outlasting everyone with value.

When I was building this deck, I kept in mind that it'll be more fun to play if I have a plethora of options available for me and, as I play, discover new synergies and combos. Not only this, but everything is also in theme with my favorite D&D class - the Wizard!

Lichdom for Dummies

In fantasy fiction, a lich (/lt/; from Old English 'li' meaning 'corpse') is a type of undead creature. Often such a creature is the result of a transformation, as a powerful magician or king striving for eternal life uses spells or rituals to bind his intellect and soul to his phylactery and thereby achieve a form of immortality. Liches are depicted as being clearly cadaverous, bodies desiccated or completely skeletal. Liches are often depicted as holding power over hordes of lesser undead creatures, using them as soldiers and servants. Unlike zombies, which are often depicted as mindless, a lich retains independent thought and is usually at least as intelligent as it was prior to its transformation.

Such sort of fluff fits perfectly the play style of the deck, as you get make long-term plans and cackle maniacally as your persistent (pun intended) wizards refuse to stay in the graveyard! Even your innocent-looking Faerie Wizards (looking at you, Sower of Temptation) soon become deliciously evil, controlling those undead minions through the scheming power of Marchesa, the Black Rose.

General Gameplan

Usually, the first turns are spent on either pumping out Marchesa, the Black Rose on turn 3 thanks to mana acceleration that's slammed down on turn 2.

Another - usually better - way of going about things is to drop a creature like Sage of Fables, that will enable Marchesa, the Black Rose to come down both with a counter, and also give one to Sage of Fables through dethrone on the same turn.

You can start to look for crazy and fun synergies once a couple of things have been checked off the list:

Marchesa, the Black Rose is on the battlefield.

Wizards entering the battlefield will come with a +1/+1 counter, thanks to cards like Sage of Fables.

You've got yourself a sacrifice outlet, such as Viscera Seer

If you get to this state, the deck becomes incredibly fun and surprisingly complex to play, as I keep finding both a plethora of routes you can take in the game and new synergies to widen my eyes, which is exactly the reason I love playing the deck so much.

A couple of things to note about our dear leader, Marchesa, the Black Rose:

Yes, she reanimates herself.

Yes, a stolen creature with a +1/+1 counter will reanimate itself and come back under your control

Yes, the ability triggers on each end step.

Card Explanations & Evaluations Alphabetically

A Show

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Alchemist's Apprentice - Nifty, cheap card draw. I love this mostly because it can sacrifice itself instantly. It's quite an invaluable ability, as it synergises with things such as Grave Pact

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Ancient Tomb - Perfect land for Marchesa, the Black Rose. Don't ever underestimate the importance of having a low life total, as Dethrone is the mechanic that sets your wizards up with protective +1/+1 counters while you're setting up your board.

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Archaeomancer - Looks innocent, but can lead to things like letting you cast Demonic Tutor four times in a single game. Simple and pure ETB goodness.

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Ashnod's Altar - One of the better sacrifice outlets. I shyed away from it before, as I thought it was crucial for me to get coloured mana, but boy how wrong I was.

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Azami, Lady of Scrolls - A very common target for Demonic Tutor as she is probably the best card draw engine in the deck. Remember that Wizards you recur with Marchesa, the Black Rose come back untapped, so it soon becomes clear just how many cards she can potentially draw.

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B Show

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Badlands A staple land, though the importance of ABU duals funnily enough is lessened, as shocklands are more important for the deck.

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Barrin, Master Wizard - As we force ourselves to play Wizard only creatures, we find ourselves running sacrifice outlets like him. It is only slightly ironic as the "Master Wizard" is one of our weaker sacrifice outlets. Situationally, very useful, but the fact that he is an on-theme sacrifice outlet makes the card incredibly important.

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Blasphemous Act - The second best boardwipe we run. Quite often cheaper than Damnation, which is important as we usually almost always have a way to be fully mana efficient and spend all of our mana. Boardwipes are incredible for us, as usually it's a one sided one. Just keep in mind the possibility, that an opponent might cast something like a Swords to Plowshares on our Marchesa, the Black Rose if we don't have a sacrifice outlet!

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Blood Crypt - The better Badlands, though non-blue lands aren't as important, since most of our super smart wizards are blue.

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Bloodline Necromancer - Though the high cost makes me want to dislike this card, I feel like it's exactly what our deck has needed for a while. Sometimes when our board gets dealt with, the creatures actually stay in the graveyard, and there's a limited amount of ways to bringing them back without the opponents also being able to benefit from such cards as Living Death and Patriarch's Bidding.

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Bloodstained Mire - Pay 3 life (by getting a shockland), get dethrone active and get +1/+1 counters on your whole team. Simple.

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Bojuka Bog - A land that comes in play tapped while the deck is very mana hungry and looks to spend all of the mana each turn. The payoff? Our Living Death becomes better without really committing a card slot to graveyard hate. Also, the fact that it doesn't touch our own graveyard is hugely important.

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C Show

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Cavern of Souls - A land that both makes 35 cards uncounterable and a lot easier to cast? If only it made you pay life as well, seriously!

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Champion of Wits - Eternalize isn't quite relevant on this card. Most often it's a 3/2, which nets you one card and fuels your Living Death and Patriarch's Bidding with two cards per recursion.

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City of Brass - Another one of those lands that feel like they were almost made for Marchesa, the Black Rose. You see this land in a lot of decks, but not a lot of them actually take advantage from life loss. Also, the Modern Masters foil looks so pretty!

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Command Tower - The first card you start with when building a deck that has more than a single colour.

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Cryptic Gateway - This card enables us to put our wizards into play for free and at instant speed while dodging counterspells. Remember, if you recur a wizard through Marchesa, the Black Rose, it'll come back untapped, so we are able to empty our hand quite quickly if the engine is running.

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Cursecatcher - Quite good at cEDH tables, tying up one mana (or more, once you're able to sacrifice it each turn).

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Cyclonic Rift - Is there a blue Commander deck that shouldn't run this? If you draw this, it's time to search for that Archaeomancer.

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Cytoplast Manipulator - Graft is a perfect, perfect, perfect way of getting counters on our creatures. The plan is to distribute +1/+1 counters until the graft creature has only a single one left, then recur it back to get more counters. Rinse and repeat! Be careful of opponents' steal effects, as by stealing this card, they might have a way to steal our Marchesa, the Black Rose from us, while it's quite annoying to get both back.

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D Show

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Damnation - The worst (and monetarily the most expensive) boardwipe we have, but boardwipes are so good when we are the ones casting them, that it's definitely worth it.

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Demonic Tutor - This card is in a fun position in our deck. Usually it opens up a ton of options, as simply tutoring for combo isn't usually the best route to go. Interestingly, Archaeomancer becomes a very tempting target if you have the time, as starting the abuse with Marchesa, the Black Rose's recursion can both feel amazing and make you quickly the archenemy.

Cards that I often find myself tutoring for:Azami, Lady of Scrolls - Tutoring for drawSage of Fables - Get the engine running!Viscera Seer or another sacrifice outlet, as those are the most important pieces of our engine.Archaeomancer - To start casting Demonic Tutor multiple times.

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Diabolic Intent - A Demonic Tutor that's very often better than Demonic Tutor. Uh, yes please. Even sacrificing a creature without being able to recur it is fine, since our deck has somre ways to bring those creatures back (why not tutor for one?)

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Dimir Signet - As we're not playing green, we have to rely on artifact based mana acceleration. The fact that it's a 2-drop is important, since it allows us to play Marchesa, the Black Rose on turn 3.

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Disciple of Bolas - One of the rare ways to shoot our life total back up. Constantly recurring him will quickly make it so that we are unable to benefit from Dethrone, so beware! A decent tutor target in the late game, if you have your engine running. Just make sure you have a way of getting +1/+1 counters outside of attacking.

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Drowned Catacomb - A great land - gives us , which are the two most needed colours. Not much more to say than that.

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E Show

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Exotic Orchard - The only colour we need as much as we possibly can get is and in a game of Commander, it's quite difficult to sit in a table that doesn't have a player.

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F Show

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Flesh Carver - An amazing sacrifice outlet, since it protects itself! Can produce quite a sizable army, if you get to sacrifice a wizard each turn.

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Flooded Strand - Pay 3 life (by getting a shockland) to get a blue source, get dethrone active and get +1/+1 counters on your whole team. Simple.

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Force of Will - We spend so much mana on our wizards and their abilities, that I've decided to run this as the sole pure counterspell instead of the more flavor hitting card Psychic Trance.

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G Show

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Galecaster Colossus - Feels like the best addition to our deck, as we get more ways to interact with the board, and probably frustrate our opponents to such an extent that this card works as a win condition.

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Glen Elendra Archmage - Because of how backbreaking this card can get against heavy non-creature strategies, it's sometimes even a good idea to convince your creature-heavy opponents to let the card stay, resolve, etc. A great tutor target for simply how powerful the card is with something like Sage of Fables. Remember, that Persist is a unique ability in our deck, since this card will never come back through Marchesa, the Black Rose's trigger. Thus, it can get a -1/-1 counter, but also be part of infinite combos.

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Grave Pact - A classic card for black strategies, since it empties boards quite quickly if you have an engine running. Though it can make you quite the target, you can usually survive the Archnemesis role by simply being the only one able to have creatures on board.

Dictate of Erebos is probably strictly better in this deck, and I advise everyone else to run it, but this card is better when considering the theme, so I'm sticking with it.

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Grim Haruspex - Quite a powerful draw engine once you have the main engine going. Situationally, it can draw more cards than Azami, Lady of Scrolls, which says quite a lot about the card.

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H Show

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Havengul Lich - One of the ways we get our less persistent wizards back into the cycle again. I'd love to talk more about the card, but I haven't casted it yet even though I've had it in the deck for quite a while.

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High Market - Being able to sacrifice more creatures, while not dedicating card slots for it is amazing. So amazing that we're willing to even gain life while at it! I wish it didn't do that, but this card makes our deck just that much more consistent.

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I Show

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Inalla, Archmage Ritualist - Considering how often this card will trigger once creatures are being repeatedly recurred with Marchesa, the Black Rose, this card should be a no-brainer. Once I've done some testing, I might consider switching her to be the new commander, but the deck would have to go through a heavy revision. It's almost like they want to be Partners together.

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Insurrection - This card can win games just by itself, without help from any other card (besides your opponents' creatures of course). Yet with Marchesa, the Black Rose and a sacrifice outlet, it can truly demolish our opponents by stealing every creature on the battlefield permanently. I'll just say it again. Steal, every creature, on the battlefield, permanently.

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Island - The best basic land in the deck. I only run one of each basics, because I like the "true" highlander feel. My meta also doesn't have a lot of non-basic hate like Blood Moon. This isn't necessarily true for you, so consider running more basics.

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Izzet Signet - As we're not playing green, we have to rely on artifact based mana acceleration. The fact that it's a 2-drop is important, since it allows us to play Marchesa, the Black Rose on turn 3.

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J Show

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No cards starting with J. :) _________________

L Show

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Leyline of Anticipation - The games I have this in my hand I usually also win. I don't think it's just a coincidence, as being able to leave our mana open and cast creatures that have ETB effects at instant speed is so valuable. It also allows us to leave mana open and consider whether we want to cast a creature or use activated abilities, like Flesh Stitcher's.

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Living Death - Surprisingly situational card. It's difficult to even consider it as a boardwipe, since most of the time it actually alters it into a different state, rather than simply wiping it. Of course, we try to work it out so that it alters it to our benefit. Just be mindful and careful of your Karador, Ghost Chieftain players, since our creatures usually require more synergy, while the creatures in other players' bins can be bigger and more heavy-hitting.

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M Show

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Magus of the Abyss - This card really surprised me with its effectiveness, as it both gets rid of the opponents' creatures, and - to my surprise - also works as a slow pseudo-sacrifice outlet. A lot of the time we actually want our creatures to die.

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Magus of the Future - A more persistent Future Sight that wins with infinite mana (most of the time), while early game it can provide us with quite a lot of card advantage.

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Mana Confluence - Another one of those lands that feel like they were almost made for Marchesa, the Black Rose. You see this land in a lot of decks, but not a lot of them actually take advantage from life loss. A less pretty City of Brass.

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Mana Crypt - Whenever I hear people talk about their stories of how they died to their own Mana Crypt, I simply want to cackle my evil lich laughter, and tell them how I actually want to take damage from this broken card. Being a free Sol Ring that also has the benefit of letting us keep using the Dethrone mechanic is so ridiculous I can't really put it into words.

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Mairsil, the Pretender - Interesting new addition. Haven't yet figured out any combos as the abilities are limited to once a turn, but the card works currently with over 20 cards. Especially useful with things such as Cryptic Gateway as we don't have ways to bring artifacts back.

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Martyr of Frost - One of the better repeatable counterspells we have, as our deck is heavily blue and the creature only costs .

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Metallic Mimic - I'm a little sad that the creature isn't a wizard, since we can't tutor for it with Vedalken AEthermage and it doesn't come back with Patriarch's Bidding, but the effect is so important in this deck that it makes the card one of the most important ones for us.

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Misty Rainforest - Pay 3 life (by getting a shockland) to get a blue source, get dethrone active, and get +1/+1 counters on your whole team. Simple.

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Mountain - The worst one of our basics. I only run one of each basics, because I like the "true" highlander feel. My meta also doesn't have a lot of non-basic hate like Blood Moon. This isn't necessarily true for you, so consider running more basics.

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N Show

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Necropotence - A flavor hitting card that draws us an insane amount of cards, enables Dethrone, and occasionally stops us from decking ourselves? Yes, please. Don't be scared, acolyte, go crazy with this one.

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P Show

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Patriarch's Bidding - One of the most exciting cards in this deck, most often better than Living Death. Quite often our opponents will get maximum 2 creatures back, while we're potentially getting several. Finding and playing this card can quickly become your main game plan if you by some means end up losing your board and have most of your wizards in the bin.

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Patron Wizard - He looks somewhat innocent, until it provides several Force Spikes on each of your opponents turns. I can confidently say that the one game I won because of him, it was a crushing victory simply because of this card.

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Phyrexian Altar - The output of this sacrifice outlet makes this one the best one we have in our deck. Of course it's also more vulnerable, being an artifact, so protecting it can be difficult. Be careful with this one, treasure it like a 1000-year old spellbook, yet don't let it go unused!

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Phyrexian Tower - Ramp up consistently each turn while getting value by sacrificing wizards? Each acolyte should write a thesis on this land as their first work towards lichdom.

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Polluted Delta - Pay 3 life (by getting a shockland) to get a blue source. Thusly, get dethrone active, and get +1/+1 counters on your whole team. Simple.

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Profaner of the Dead - Don't be fooled by the size of our Wizard butts! Either by being able to grow them via our +1/+1 counters or getting this as a repeatable effect makes this card already worth it. Also, it kills a creature, which is exactly what we want.

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Puppeteer Clique - Quite a unique and fun win condition if you're able to recur it infinitely. Even then, getting that dead Consecrated Sphinx, giving it a +1/+1 counter and sacrificing it to make it permanently yours makes this second best Persist wizard quite amazing. Remember, that Persist is a unique ability in our deck, since this card will never come back through Marchesa, the Black Rose's trigger. Thus, it can get a -1/-1 counter, but also be a part of infinite combos.

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R Show

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Reflecting Pool - The only colour we need as much as we possibly can get is , so make sure you have that fetched up!

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Riptide Laboratory - Continuing the theme of Riptide being the weakest of Wizard schools, this land is mechanically the worst one we have. It's rare that we don't want our creatures to die, so it's there mostly to save creatures from exile effects and in response to steal effects.

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S Show

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Sage of Fables - The card of the deck. I'd estimate it to be my #1 most tutored Wizard and card in general. It enables everything:- Our engine of Marchesa, the Black Rose recurring Wizards with +1/+1 counters- Infinite Combos with Sacrifice Outlets + Persist Creatures- Card draw!

As the card is quite powerful, if you get this down, your priority should become to find it a +1/+1 counter.

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Scalding Tarn - Pay 3 life (by getting a shockland), get dethrone active, and get +1/+1 counters on your whole team. Simple.

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Sidisi's Faithful - For only a single mana, we get both a repeatable sacrifice and a bounce effect!

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Shivan Reef - Pain lands work so well in Marchesa, the Black Rose that we can sometimes take a point of damage even if we don't need the colour.

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Sigil Tracer - A unique effect that should be quite fun to play with, but "unfortunately" only makes it so that our opponents are too scared of casting anything bigger than a ramp spell. Copy effects like these can create unique and fun game states, which is why I highly recommend playing with this card!

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Snapcaster Mage - Sometimes a worse Archaeomancer, but sometimes only one recursion of Demonic Tutor is all you need. Note that there are only two Instants in the deck, one of which isn't that great with this card (can't overload Cyclonic Rift). Still, a classic wizard that in a pinch does what you need.

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Sol Ring - Broken mana ramp, of course we play it.

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Sower of Temptation - This card is a monster and has given quite a few wins for me. Stealing a creature, giving it +1/+1 counter and then recurring it with Marchesa, the Black Rose, after which we recur this card and get to steal another creature permanently is, I'd say, a pretty great plan.

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Steam Vents - Shocklands work better than ABU duals here. I find myself often paying the life even if we don't use the mana.

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Stonybrook Banneret - Sneakily good, as it allows us to cast more things in one turn. It hits 35 cards from our deck. It's easy to protect it too, as Islandwalk allows us most of the time to give it a +1/+1 counter safely. Funnily enough, it usually grows up to be one of the biggest wizards in the battlefield.

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Strip Mine - Land destruction is quite important for us, as lands like Glacial Chasm, Scavenger Grounds and such can make our road to lichdom more annoying than it should be.

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Sulfur Falls - Great land - gives us , the red being the least useful colour to us. Not much more to say than that.

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Sulfurous Springs - Pain lands work so well in Marchesa, the Black Rose that we can sometimes take a point of damage even if we don't need the colour.

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Swamp - The second best basic in the deck. I only run one of each basics, because I like the "true" highlander feel. My meta also doesn't have a lot of non-basic hate like Blood Moon. This isn't necessarily true for you, so consider running more basics.

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T Show

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Talisman of Dominance - As we're not playing green, we have to rely on artifact based mana acceleration. The fact that it's a 2-drop is important, since it allows us to play Marchesa, the Black Rose on turn 3.

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Talisman of Indulgence - As we're not playing green, we have to rely on artifact based mana acceleration. The fact that it's a 2-drop is important, since it allows us to play Marchesa, the Black Rose on turn 3.

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Tarnished Citadel - Quite an aggressive way of keeping us in the life total needed to use Dethrone, but way, way worth it. Quite often better than City of Brass. Even though we love self-damage so much, with this land it's a good idea to have a plan to recover the life lost.

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Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir - Quite a powerful effect in Commander, and luckily for us, the card is a wizard. Letting him stay on the battlefield makes 39 other cards suddenly playable at instant speed. Cast all of your wizards on end steps, and there's little our opponents can do.

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Thoughtpicker Witch - Though it looks weak, it's a sacrifice outlet that also works as a win condition in an infinite mana combo.

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Toxic Deluge - Recur our creatures, kill our opponents' creatures, while we get to set up for dethrone? This card is easily worth the 3 mana, which makes it both our best and cheapest boardwipe.

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U Show

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Underground River - Pain lands work so well in Marchesa, the Black Rose that we can sometimes take a point of damage even if we don't need the colour.

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Underground Sea - Beautiful land, though it usually ends up being searched only after Watery Grave, as self-damage is often important.

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Unspeakable Symbol - A classic card for any Marchesa, the Black Rose strategy. Helps us keep creatures recurring while it keeps us in the Dethrone range.

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Urza's Incubator - If this one sticks to the board, we're usually able to cast even 3 to 4 Wizards per turn. Making Sage of Fables cost feels broken, which sounds a little bit funny if you look at the card in vaccuum.

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V Show

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Vandalblast - Quite an important boardwipe, probably more important than any regular boardwipe destroying creatures. Because of Archaeomancer, it's quite valid to use it as a single-target spell in the early game.

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Vedalken AEthermage - Most often the card that we want to tutor is a wizard anyway, often making this an instant speed, uncounterable Demonic Tutor that costs .

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Vendilion Clique - My favorite card in Magic, which is why it already will always deserve a spot in my list. Otherwise, it's a decent enters-the-battlefield effect if you get to recur it multiple times.

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Venser, Shaper Savant - A no brainer inclusion in this deck, though it's a shame we rarely get to return spells on stack with it. Keep in mind, that if you don't have a sacrifice outlet, you can still clone this card and recur it if you a have Sage of Fables type of effect, since Sage of Fables doesn't work through triggers.

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Vigean Graftmage - Graft is a perfect, perfect, perfect way of getting our counters on creatures. The plan is to distribute +1/+1 counters until the graft creature has a single one left, then recur it back to get more counters. Rinse and repeat!

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Vindictive Lich - A great new addition to the deck! Able to pressure opponents' lifetotals quite quickly, once you start recurring him 4 times each round, making him able to finish off people quite fast.

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Viscera Seer - Not only does this card sometimes protect itself, but it also is a sacrifice outlet that doesn't cost any mana to use. A very essential card.

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Voidmage Prodigy - The activation cost for this ability is quite mana intensive, but oh boy, what an ability it is! Pay : Counter target spell and recur a wizard of your choice can quickly turn you into an Archnemesis.

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Volrath's Stronghold - Brutally good with Vedalken AEthermage even though it costs to tutor for a card each round. Otherwise not the most essential land to our strategy, as we look to reanimate our wizards instead of use this land's ability.

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W Show

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Wasteland - Land destruction is quite important for us, as lands like Glacial Chasm, Scavenger Grounds and such can make our road to lichdom more annoying than it should be.

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Watery Grave - The first land you usually search for (almost always) untapped. Gives us our two most important colours in a clean and pure manner.

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Winding Canyons - I found myself being able to abuse Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and Leyline of Anticipation so much, that I've decided to include this land too. Being able to see whether you want to use your turns on activated abilities or cast creatures is such a valuable effect that it makes this land quite valuable. By being relevant with 40 cards, it's difficult to remember it's worse than Leyline of Anticipation!

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Wizard Replica - Another repeatable counterspell, which will tie up our opponents' mana, all while we can further advance our board.

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Combos

1

To initiate an infinite amount of creature sacrifices, we first need a sacrifice outlet. Here is a list of the combo-relevant ones we have in our deck:

Ashnod's AltarPhyrexian AltarThoughtpicker WitchViscera Seer

(note that Barrin, Master Wizard and Voidmage Prodigy can't go infinite, as they require to target something in order to activate.)

2

Next up, we need to input either Sage of Fables or Metallic Mimic to counteract the -1/-1 counter gained placed on our Persist creatures.

3

Speaking of which, they are Glen Elendra Archmage and Puppeteer Clique. It's important to note that they don't come back through the delayed trigger of Marchesa, the Black Rose, but instead come back instantly by themselves.

4

Next up, we need something to win the game by infinitely looping our Persist creatures. Some of such ways would be:

Thoughtpicker Witch - for exiling everyone's deck

Phyrexian Altar or Ashnod's Altar - for infinite mana.

Azami, Lady of Scrolls, Grim Haruspex or Magus of the Future with infinite mana - for infinite card draw. Just remember to sacrifice Grim Haruspex before you draw from an empty deck.

Flesh Carver - for infinite tokens.

With infinite mana we get:

Voidmage Prodigy - infinite counterspells

Vigean Graftmage, Azami, Lady of Scrolls - infinite card draw

Vigean Graftmage, Sigil Tracer, any spell - infinite copies of target spell

Vigean Graftmage, Patron Wizard infinite amount of mana our opponents need to pay for their spells or they get countered

Havengul Lich - all creatures from all graveyards under your control

Barrin, Master Wizard - infinite creature bounce

Please, I might have missed some combos, and would love to hear any that I've missed, so let me know. :)

Remember to upvote if you like the deck!

Date added	1 year
Last updated	2 months
Exclude colors	WG
Splash colors	R
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.32
Tokens	*/* Horror
Folders	Look At, EDH, Decks I like, ideas, Wizards, Cool EDH, A EDH Playtest, Interesting Commander Decks, CMD Marchesa, EDH - Ideas, See all 26
Top rank	#4 on 2017-08-22