Marchesa: Queen of Pain (100% Altered)
Commander / EDH*
SCORE: 159 | 69 COMMENTS | 20771 VIEWS | IN 69 FOLDERS
Thoughts on Lands and Altering Update —March 27, 2019
I’ve been thinking about this deck more than I’ve played it for the last few months, I’m sure a lot of people can relate to the struggle to find the time or people to play EDH with. I went through a period of time where I played a lot of games on the free service Xmage which was really enjoyable and allowed me to hone the deck even more. One overall philisophical change I believe I’ve made (At least in my mental approach to playing this deck) is consistency. Specifically; consistency in land drops.
One consistent trend I have found after playing hundreds of games with this deck is that the more lands I have in play the more confident I am in winning the game. In the EDH podcast Game Knights they tracked hundreds of EDH games and found that the winning player consistently had the most lands in play. Countless articles have been written about the correct number of lands to run - including complex maths to account for every possible scenario. And I feel that I’m finally coming to understand the obsession about lands.
I now approach each game I play with a rather simple goal: to play a land each turn, or to finish the game with almost as many lands as there have been turns. It may be an unexciting goal but I have found it is an effective way to do well in an EDH game. One of the things that makes this particular deck strong is its flexibility and options, but those strengths are negated when the pilot is stuck for mana. If doesn’t matter the strength or synergy of the cards you have in your deck if you can’t cast them when it really matters.
All of this might be fairly obvious to some, and I think the concept is certainly easy to grasp - but the execution is what counts. For me its a matter of mulliganing more if I don’t have enough lands to really get going, or tutoring for lands if it means that I won’t miss a crucial land drop. It means looking at the spells in my hand that I really want to be able to cast and plan out how I might get there without simply hoping to top deck a land or two.
I am eager to hear other’s experiences or views on this matter so please share in the comments below!
As some may have noticed as well - the number of altered cards has crept up over the months. I only have 3 cards left in my paper deck to alter. Hopefully in the next week this massive project will be complete and I will be able to upload a gallery of the complete altered deck. I am very excited for that as it has been a mammoth effort and I am very much looking forward to putting down the brush for a while.
Thanks for the comment. I've played this deck with good results in 4 player games for a long time now. I've played over 100 4 player games on Xmage with minor variations of this build and I would estimate my winrate sits at 50% or more. This isn't a cEDH deck - as my deck description says - "This deck is what I like to call the 100% 75% deck. It doesn't do anything unfair, it doesn't employ any infinite combos and it lets other players play their decks, but it is 100% built to be strong and earn every win."
I love winning and always play to win but your recommendations don't fit the philosophy behind this deck as I actually like my opponents playing their decks and interacting with what they are doing.
Lastly, 1v1 Commander is a completely different game to 4 player FFA - its like comparing apples and oranges. Not sure what I could gain from looking at 1v1 lists.
November 26, 2018 7:20 p.m.
didn't know you weren't aiming for competitiveness so my apologies for that, it's just that I saw your deck on the banner and usually people tend to put it there to get help and attention from better players... My list has certain interactions and removal that could still be crucial at certain CEDH pods that play the fastest decks around in any meta, but I am pretty sure that isn't needed it seems like in your group :) .
Anyway I'll let you enjoy your casual philosophy, just feel it's not really worth anyone's time to push it on the banner or featured deck queue though ;)
November 27, 2018 1:33 a.m.
Ravnica Allegiance thoughts: Overall I don't much like this set in terms of commander potential. Hardly any cards are relevant to the number of decks that I currently have unfortunately. However there are two cards that I am thinking about as additions to this deck:
This is a fantastic card and one that I think will quickly become a staple in white-heavy EDH decks. It adds mana fixing, ramp, and artifact-relevance. I am strongly considering adding it to the deck - its just a matter of cutting a card - perhaps Twilight Prophet or Kambal, Consul of Allocation although I like both cards quite a lot. If I did find a place for Smothering Tithe it would perhaps open up the potential for adding Karn, Scion of Urza as a replacement to Phyrexian Arena as both a draw engine and artifact beatdown.
Bedevil I have been looking for more answers to Planeswalkers in this deck for a while after coming up against a few Superfriends decks in my meta. This card may be a consideration for that - however Utter End is still probably significantly better as it both exiles and hits enchantments.
What are your thoughts on the new set?
January 11, 2019 7:07 p.m.
I see you are looking for Planeswalker removal, ever consider Hero's Downfall
February 11, 2019 6:16 p.m.
Hi Treetom, I haven't to be quite honest. Flexibility is huge with this deck and Hero's Downfall is both limited in what it hits + it can't be tutored with Sunforger . I would run both Bedevil and Utter End instead.
February 11, 2019 7:14 p.m.
Your deck looks sick and fun to play. Reminds me somewhat of mine. Nice deck building!
March 2, 2019 10:58 a.m.
I was looking to make a Marchesa deck with some political/Monarch strategies. This deck is definetely a toolbox type of deck with answers to everything which is really nice but one of the main things I'm struggling with is finding wincons/threats to when most likely you end up as one of the two players left through politics. Anything come up through your testing that you liked as win cons?
March 3, 2019 5:07 p.m.
Thanks BlazinT! Much appreciated.
MattN7498 Thanks for your comment. The nice part of this deck is that there are numerous cards that can win you the game that wouldn't normally be considered wincons. Of course Gisela, Blade of Goldnight equipped with Sunforger gets the job done real quick so does Price of Progress , Rakdos Charm , Deflecting Palm , Bloodchief Ascension , and Master of Cruelties and many others.
If none of those seem to get the job done you may choose to use someone else's wincon with Mirage Mirror , Stolen Strategy , Word of Seizing , Necromancy , or Reverberate
I've played this deck countless times now and I've never worried about closing out games - the later the game goes the more confident that I have a lock on it.
Kiyomei says... #2
never really felt like she is any good in free for all... + with all those pillow fort jank spells you use you're not really aiming for a competitive deck it seems like or are you looking for help?...
If you're looking to add some sort of Stax you could look to replace some of the "pillow fort jank pay more to attack crap" for the likes of Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon or even more removal as in proper board wipes...
I have been running a top tier 1v1 list for a very long time now and have a lot of tournament wins on its name as well so if you're looking for some upgrades or ideas for removal feel free to check it out...
京 What are we if not slaves to this torment? 京 1v1
November 26, 2018 12:56 a.m.