Marchesa, Political Queen of Pillows
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 235 | 152 COMMENTS | 38330 VIEWS | IN 137 FOLDERS
Failure breeds success —Feb. 26, 2018
Sometimes I trial cards and they just don't perform to expectation. That's ok. In the end I believe that makes the deck stronger. Both Assemble the Legion and Kaya, Ghost Assassin were fairly lacklustre. Plus I found myself missing the removed Royal Assassin and Erebos, God of the Dead. Karmic Justice, on the other hand, has been great. My opponents now know to try to pick apart my pillowfort. Karmic Justice helps dissuade them. Here is the list of recent reversals and new trials:
Assemble the Legion ---> Royal Assassin: I remembered almost immediately why Assemble the Legion didn't perform in early versions of the deck: it's just too slow and usually draws too much hate. I missed the politics that can be played with Royal Assassin. It can be a subtle rattlesnake and political negotiation card.
Arguel's Blood Fast Flip ---> Erebos, God of the Dead: This deck can struggle against lifegain or "aristocrats" style decks. Erebos' ability to shut off enemy lifegain can be massively helpful. That and the fact he is indestructible make him better than Arguel's Bloodfast despite this higher CMC.
Kaya, Ghost Assassin ---> Twilight Prophet: one thing opponents can usually agree on is to kill the Planeswalker at the table. Kaya isn't a scary planeswalker but still drew attention. I may try her again at some point but she o my performed ok. I swapped her with the new Twilight Prophet and the replacement is already proving excellent. Twilight Prophet provides slow card advantage and slow life drain that doesn't seem to draw much hate.
Word of Seizing ---> Price of Progress: precociousapprentice highly recommends Price of Progress so I am willing to give it a try as a win con. Word of Seizing is great but a little pricy. I may try to find room for it again though.
Bloodytrailz says... #1
Heya MegaMatt!
I absolutely love this list and I've made my own list inspired by it (Queen Marchesa, Politics & Pillow Forts .. I've given you credit in the deck description as well). (Ok, I'll be honest here, It's the same list with about 10 card changes that suit my interests / needs a bit better). Just as a clarity thing up front, I do not yet have this deck, these changes are simply of my own mind / thoughts / desires.
Vampiric Tutor >> Terminate -Budget purpose and terminate is just a solid removal.
Strip Mine + Scavenger Grounds >> Mountain & Plains -No need for these cards in my casual level meta... the worst lands around are like, command tower and path of ancestry in a tribal deck. Also, no one really plays with a recursion package.
Rest in Peace >> Crystal Ball -Again, no need for graveyard hate. Crystal ball is a card I really enjoy the power of in a control deck.
Wild Ricochet >> Wear / Tear -I'm just not in love with wild ricochet I guess. Wear and Tear can always find good use at the tables I play at. (I run a copy in my current "main" deck, which is a boros depala vehicles deck and it really pulls it's weight everytime it comes into hand)
Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker >> Kambal, Consul of Allocation -Ok, so this one i'm not sure about, in my mind I'm just not impressed by Michiko. I understand she's a rattlesnake effect, except I really find her rattlesnake effect underwhelming when my opponent can just sac a token or low powered artifact or basic land and just keep hammering me in the face. I'm a bit more preferable to the taxing effect that Kambal has on the game while buffering my health pool to allow my more preferable rattlesnake effects to have more chances to activate.
Gossamer Chains >> Crown of Doom -Ok, this one is purely for flavor. I love crown of doom's "hot potato" effect. I know it's not a high powered card by any means but it fits the whole idealogy of the deck and it's a crown in a deck commanded by a queen? Yummy flavor! Even if it weren't for crown of doom, I'd change it for Vow of Malice most likely to play politics with (and it's defensive and unlike the other vows, it barely inhibits our ability to attack the player with this enchantment if we so please. White vow gives vigilance, red vow gives first strike... both are bad if we attack the player that has them.)
Demonic Tutor >> Diabolic Tutor -Budget plain and simple.
Wayfarer's Bauble >> Sol Ring -Obvious. (I know about the ban in your playgroup, just making the necessary adjustment to my playgroup)
Austere Command >> End Hostilities or Fumigate -I use austere command in my previously mentioned boros vehicles deck and I love it there. I only have 3 (of 26) creatures at or above 4 CMC and only a single enchantment that doesn't stick around... giving me 2 great modes to activate. On this deck I have a harder time seeing when you would want to blow up all artifacts or all enchantments or ALL creatures (<3 and 4> CMC creeatures). I've slotted in a removal that I feel fits decently and again is a nod to my personal meta. (1 person only has 1 deck that is green/white cats and equip, and another player plays the same deck). We only have 1 equippable artifact and we have a way to unequip it at will. (Sunforger activation > Boros charm or Teferi's into End hostilities... 7 mana, wipe not my creatures and not my permanents attached to said creatures). Another one I'd consider if I didn't have problems with equipment would be Fumigate for the life buffer.
Again, I just want to echo the fact that I absolutely love every concept of this deck, most of these changes are just to better fit my budget, playgroup or flavor. (I actually am going to be starting with an even more budget version that better fits my current price range). I'm definitely open to being persuaded against my choices here if you feel super strongly for a card that I'm thinking about replacing.
I'd give this a +10 vote if I could!
February 24, 2018 11:48 p.m.