Queen Marchesa: Politics, Aikido, and Control

Commander / EDH* precociousapprentice

SCORE: 740 | 914 COMMENTS | 200906 VIEWS | IN 400 FOLDERS


New meta, tougher competition, more tuning. —June 3, 2018

My new meta is pretty great. It is more competitive than the one I was in when I originally designed the deck, even if it is still not really cutthroat cEDH. It is fun, challenging, and the deck still keeps up. The new meta has lead to some changing possibilities.

  1. More combo means I need to be able to deal with it.
  2. Sol Ring is no longer banned, so I can now use it.
  3. With stiffer competition, I can escalate the bombs a little.
  4. Continued tuning is necessary.

The recent changes have been good. The Solemnity driven changes have been pretty great. Wins with Dark Depths are super fun, and the fact that I can run Phyrexian Unlife is pretty amazing. It has actually reduced some of the pressure to put myself behind a Solitary Confinement, since I have other possibilities for preventing all damage, and ultimately this means more cards I get to play. The loss of Selfless Squire was pretty big, but adding other offense has made up for it. Some of this understanding has lead me to consider a few more cards, especially with all the great stuff that continues to come out.

First of all, I love Warping Wail. Two games this weekend, both with a key Warping Wail, both used as counters. I have decided to support Warping Wail with more colorless mana producers. This means I want a couple of more colorless producing lands. I have loved the turn 1 scry of the temples, especially since I often don't have a first turn play. I drop a temple T1, scry, and set myself up to hit my key land drops. That being said, later land drops are important to have come into play untapped, and really, an earlier Warping Wail would be worth losing the scry alone. I am going to add Caves of Koilos and Battlefield Forge, as well as the new Luxury Suite and take out the Temples. Two more colorless sources, as well as more untapped lands.

Second, I am totally stoked on the new Stolen Strategy. I think it could really add a lot, and is perfectly on theme for this deck. It adds card draw, disruption, potentially offense, potentially defense. It just looks great. I am going to add that and take out Crystal Ball. Again, scry has been good, but I think I can get more out of this new card.

Third, I love Master of Cruelties. It just wins me games. The new Virtus the Veiled is like his little brother. I am taking out Grand Abolisher and putting in Virtus. Rattle Snake defender and bomb offense. I have high hopes.

Fourth, I have never played Vindicate from the Wishboard. I started thinking about other possibilities, and realized that I liked the idea of combo disruption as well as the possibility of using their cards against them. I am going to add Praetor's Grasp and remove Vindicate.

Fifth, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded the Cruel Tutor to a Grim Tutor. I have meant to for some time, I just had to find a good deal and to have the extra pennies on hand. This weekend, it happened. Some people may say that Replacing the Cruel is silly when I could replace the Shred Memory, but I like the dual function of Shred Memory, as well as getting the card right then, instead of possibly needing to draw it.

And last, I am putting in a Sol Ring. To make room for this, I am also going to remove a card that has been in the deck from day one, and that goes in almost all my decks, but 3 drop ramp is not the key spot. I am taking out Chromatic Lantern and adding Sol Ring.

So: Temple of Silence -> Caves of Koilos

Temple of Triumph -> Battlefield Forge

Temple of Malice -> Luxury Suite

Crystal Ball -> Stolen Strategy

Grand Abolisher -> Virtus the Veiled

Chromatic Lantern -> Sol Ring

Cruel Tutor -> Grim Tutor

Vindicate -> Praetor's Grasp

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Just a tease of what is to come.

May 21, 2018 5:19 p.m.

The Battlebond spoilers have some promise. Thinking that these may make their way in.

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Not sure about this one, but at least worth considering.

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May 21, 2018 10:57 p.m.

Bloodytrailz says... #4

As a lower budget player, I'm so happy we are getting some new untap duals that should be affordable thanks to being strictly multiplayer viable only!

Stunning reversal seems interesting but I don't know, it doesn't let you very long in a multiplayer game, but might be the clutch you need when it gets down to the 1v1 scenarios.

Virtus the veiled could be pretty sweet with Behind the Scenes (which also makes master of cruelties a baller, and usually relatively easy retrieval of the monarch if ever lost) ... on his own though, he is still interesting... if you can somehow clear the way for him, paired with a gisela or wound reflection, he's a 1 hit KO.

May 21, 2018 11:57 p.m.

Bloodytrailz says... #5

Pretty excited, finally got around to actually ordering my marchesa list on sunday night. (Well...a budget version of it, trying to squeak in at around 100$ because that's what i had on card kingdom credit).

Queen Marchesa, Politics & Pillow Forts (Budget)

Currently sitting on this list... missing a couple good pieces, but they'll have to come with an upgrade package in fall. Kor Haven // Maze of ith will probably hurt not to have a little bit, but I just have to politic a little harder haha. Picked up the solemnity/phyrexian unlife duo, although i'm still not sure how good solemnity is in my meta (very few counters get thrown around in a low power meta) and same with price of progress... gonna play with it and see how it performs before I judge that one, I know it's an amazing card but my meta is just so low powered I'm not certain yet... loads of basic lands might just end up mainboarding debt to deathless instead of burning wish or price of progress.

I've got most the core for the deck now at least, the last bits are just some pillowfort (kor haven, maze of ith, no mercy) and a wound reflection at a minimum. Might shift stuff around once I get a feel for what works for me and what doesn't but most the list is locked in place. (I still bounce back and forth on shred memory/burning wish as well... I bought into it for now since it's cheap tutor when I don't have the budget for the big boy tutors)

Super excited to bring this deck to my playgroup!

May 29, 2018 12:36 p.m.

simoneca says... #6

Hi, fellow Marchesa player here.

Trust me, add Intervention Pact, you will not regret it.

June 1, 2018 9:40 a.m.