Marchea's Ascent - Primer

Commander / EDH* UBR (Grixis)

mortifolkmurphcaster

Lands (32)

• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Cascade Bluffs
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Graven Cairns
• 4x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 4x Mountain
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Spire of Industry
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 7x Swamp
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Watery Grave

Sac Outlets (8)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Falkenrath Aristocrat
• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Woe Strider
• 1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan

Misc. (4)

• 1x Dire Fleet Ravager
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Judith, the Scourge Diva
• 1x Oona's Blackguard

Tutors (2)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Draw (13)

• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Impulse
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Scour All Possibilities
• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Skullclamp

+1/+1 Counters (9)

• 1x Blade of the Bloodchief
• 1x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
• 1x Forge of Heroes
• 1x Guildmages' Forum
• 1x Metallic Mimic
• 1x Sage of Fables
• 1x Undying Evil
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol
• 1x Vigean Graftmage

Haste (5)

• 1x Captain Lannery Storm
• 1x Dack's Duplicate
• 1x Hellrider
• 1x Kraum, Ludevic's Opus
• 1x Zealous Conscripts

Mass Removal (5)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Last One Standing
• 1x Vandalblast

Commander (1)

Ramp (11)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Curse of Opulence
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence

Counter Spells (6)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
• 1x Negate
• 1x Swan Song

Spot Removal (3)

• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Reality Shift
• 1x Terminate

Utility (1)

• 1x Embercleave

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Maybeboard

Counter Spells (1)

• 1x Stubborn Denial

Haste (1)

• 1x Loyal Apprentice

Removal (1)

• 1x Retribution of the Ancients

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PRIMER WORK IN PROGRESS

Introduction

Thanks for checking out my deck list!

First things first, check out Lokotor's primer before mine. I learned a lot from his primer, so I think it's only right I pay my dues first.

Second things second, I've been playing Marchesa for a few years now and I've gone through several iterations of decks, some very similar and some drastically different. This latest list is drastically different from previous lists and my favorite by far! After years I have found, what I think to be, a strong enough power level with interesting mechanics that's fun to play with and play against.

So what's my goal with this primer? I hope this primer can provide some helpful insights about what works with Marchesa, as well as provide a foundation for building your own Marchesa deck. Marchesa can be mechanically difficult to pilot and card choices can be counter intuitive.

In the next few sections I'll go over my experiences with different cards, mechanical nuances, and what this particular deck list seeks to accomplish.

Strategy

The primary objective of the deck is to win through combat.

The archetype that best describes this deck is probably midrange-aggro. This is because the deck excels at winning games of attrition, netting card advantage from attrition, but emphasizes aggression through combat damage as its win-condition.

Additionally there are some control elements in the form of creature control. This is accomplished through spot removal, mass removal, theft, and combat mechanics such as death touch and first strike.

Mechanics

This section will aim to briefly summarize the most typical mechanics found in Marchesa decks. I'll discuss why a particular mechanic is especially good or better on paper than in application.

Haste

Haste is one of the best mechanics to use with Marchesa in my opinion. Having to wait a full turn cycle to attack with your creatures can leave them pretty vulnerable to board wipes. Finding a solid creature with haste like Zealous Conscripts allows you to make much stronger plays while keeping your cards in the safety of your hand. Additionally haste keeps you from telegraphing your intentions until you're ready to make a solid attack.

For example, dropping something like a Drana, Liberator of Malakir turn three, while a very strong and necessary card, is likely to raise alarms and die before you get a chance to use her. However a Zealous Conscripts turn five, while more expensive, is much more efficient due to its ability to be used immediately. Additionally, with haste you're much more likely to get your dethrone triggers without response from your opponents, if you play optimally i.e. attacking into limited or tapped-out mana.

+1/+1 Counters

If a creature doesn't have haste the next best thing for it to have are +1/+1 counters. I've found with this deck that the more work you can do on the back end the smoother and more successful your game will be. Cards like Embodiment of Agonies or Vigean Graftmage can be invaluable in this regard.

While this deck does tend to accrue a lot of dethrone triggers, sometimes a profitable attack isn't available or Dethrone isn't active. Having other ways to put counters on your creatures is a must. Counters are really the heart of this deck. The ability to rebound after a board wipe is pretty hard for your opponents to deal with, often times having a board full of marked creatures and Marchesa discourages board wipes entirely. It's generally a lose lose situation for our opponents

Undying

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Theft

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Persist

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ETB's

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Sacrifice

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Death Triggers

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Dethrone

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Card Selection

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Pros & Cons

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Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 19 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.54
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Goat 0/1 W, Gold, Manifest 2/2 C, Morph 2/2 C, Treasure