Lethal Scheme

Instant

Convoke (You may tap your creatures as you cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature’s colour.)

Destroy target creature or planeswalker. Each creature that convoked this spell connives. (Draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.)

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (13)

Last_Laugh on Marchesa the Black Rose - Sacrifices must be made!

1 month ago

Not a bad start, but I do have several suggestions for you. I'll keep things budget friendly and break it down by category.

Finisher: Gray Merchant of Asphodel will end games. With alternate sources of +1+1 counters the lifegain doesn't matter at all. Even with an expensive Marchesa build, this is my #1 go-to finisher.

Alternate +1+1 Counter Sources: Vigean Graftmage is really good here. It comes down before and immediately protects Marchesa and it's 2 free sacs on each player's turn (itself plus 1 other). Sage of Fables likewise immediately protects Marchesa and allows you to abuse any wizard etb/death triggers every turn. Unspeakable Symbol is one you use in response to removal targeting anything without a counter (don't proactively put counters on everyone).

Card Draw: Grim Haruspex is easily your 2nd best draw engine here behind Danny Pink. Liliana's Standard Bearer will draw cards for everything that died the turn Marchesa returns it. Plumb the Forbidden helps you dodge non-destroy wraths (instant speed and pseudo dodging counterspells makes this card). Lethal Scheme helps you surprise protect up to 4 creatures without counters without tapping lands and to remove a creature while drawing some cards.

Enchantment Removal: Cards like Solemnity and Rest in Peace are the bane of Marchesa. Don't get caught with your pants down... Chaos Warp, Feed the Swarm, and Canoptek Tomb Sentinel are your only 3 realistic options and ALL 3 deserve spots.

Feel free to check out my list for ideas, I've had her built for about 9 years straight now so if you have any question, shoot. Upvotes on any of my decks are appreciated (especially Marchesa since it'd be upvote #200 lol). Every Masochist Needs a Marchesa to Love Them

Last_Laugh on Marchesa, the Black Rose

1 month ago

This is a good start, but I have several suggestions for you. I'll keep things budget friendly, break it down by card function, and if you'd like I can help suggest some cuts too.

Enchantment Removal: So you don't get caught with your pants down against effects like Solemnity/Rest in Peace. Feed the Swarm, Chaos Warp, and Canoptek Tomb Sentinel all deserve spots.

Alternate +1+1 Counter Sources: Sage of Fables/Vigean Graftmage come down before and immediately protect Marchesa. Sage let's you abuse any other wizard etb/death triggers every turn and Vigean allows you to abuse any 1 etb/death trigger (itself plus 1 other). Spark Double either copies Marchesa so they protect your board better and give double Dethrone triggers or it copies your best etb/death trigger every turn. Thran Vigil only works on your turn but works wonders here. Anduril, Narsil Reforged/Metallic Mimic are also great options but aren't as budget friendly (just sac Mimic to rename a creature type to whatever is most abuseable the time).

Card Draw: Danny Pink is a little more expensive but is absolutely nuts here. Lethal Scheme is card draw and surprise protection for anything without counters. Plumb the Forbidden in response to most non-destroy wraths will win games.

Feel free to check out my list for ideas. I run the same etb/death trigger abuse strat and have had Marchesa built for about 9 years now so if you have any questions, shoot. Upvotes on any of my decks are appreciated (especially since it'd be upvote #200!). Every Masochist Needs a Marchesa to Love Them

Last_Laugh on Marchesa, the Black Rose

3 months ago

I have several suggestions for you. I'll keep things budget friendly and if you're picking up what I'm putting down, I can also help suggest some cuts.

First off is enchantment removal. There's hardly any options in th5ese colors but I recommend running all 3 so problematic enchantments like Solemnity or Rest in Peace don't wreck your day. Chaos Warp, Feed the Swarm, and Canoptek Tomb Sentinel are all budget friendly and worth their weight in gold here. Another good boardwipe here is Last One Standing.

I don't really do theft in my Marchesa list, but Gisa, Glorious Resurrector is the exception and holy crap does she put in some dirty work.

Next is card draw. Liliana's Standard Bearer, Lethal Scheme, Plumb the Forbidden, and Sage of Fables are all good budget options here. Sage will also come down before Marchesa and immediately give her or any other wizards you run a +1+1 counter. Plumb in response to boardwipes or right before your turn will refill your grip (instant speed and pseudo dodging counterspells makes this card). Also, Danny Pink's price has been sloooowly climbing but it's a very real possibility you'll find one in your LGS dollar binder and omg is this thing absolutely nuts!

On the subject of alternate sources of +1+1 counters... Thran Vigil only works on your turn but it'll get new counters on anything you stole and sac'ed on your turn. Vigean Graftmage let's you sac 2 creatures on everyone's turn (itself + whatever) to abuse etb/death triggers like Gray Merchant of Asphodel or even Grim Haruspex card draw. Spark Double I guess falls into this category and copies either Marchesa for double Dethrone or whatever your meanest etb/death trigger is at the time.

I'm also guessing Rakdos Locket was supposed to be Rakdos Signet.

Feel free to check out my list for ideas. It's far from budget friendly overall but I run everything I recommended. Upvotes on any of my decks are appreciated. Every Masochist Needs a Marchesa to Love Them

Last_Laugh on Black Rose Nazgul

5 months ago

I would recommend running Chaos Warp and/or Canoptek Tomb Sentinel. Relying on only Feed the Swarm to deal with enchantments can be rough.

Anduril, Narsil Reforged is an upgraded Drana. You don't need to hit a player and it puts a counter on everyone instead of just attackers.

Lethal Scheme can get counters on 4 creatures for free at instant speed. This card is amazing in response to boardwipes/removal when your creatures appear counterless and vulnerable.

Metallic Mimic can name human or wizard and immediately protect Marchesa or it can be a wraith, protect them immediately, and count towards their total (or both if you sac Mimic to rename the creature type).

Feel free to check out my list for ideas. It's not Nazgul, it's sacrifice, but there's enough overlap to hopefully still help. Upvotes on any of my decks are appreciated. Every Masochist Needs a Marchesa to Love Them

koylucumert on dredging your own connive?

6 months ago

lets say I have a Golgari Grave-Troll on the battlefield with 3 black creatures. I cast Lethal Scheme by convoking with my 4 creatures, and targetting the troll. when it dies, can I replace its own connive with it dredging itself?

Lokotor on Marchesa, The Black Rose - Primer

1 year ago

scotchtapedsleeves

Glad you found the primer helpful! to respond to some of the suggestions etc:

I actually am running Dockside Extortionist! I have been since it released pretty much. Similarly, I am currently running Scorn-Blade Berserker and Lethal Scheme and they've both played very well so far.

Cards like Terror of the Peaks, Thundering Raiju, Flayer of the Hatebound etc. aren't necessarily bad cards, they're just aimed at a different strategy than I am playing. I run more of a control oriented aristocrats build, whereas they're geared more for an aggro aristocrats strategy. Marchesa can definitely be a home for these kinds of cards and that would be a perfectly fine deck, just like how Threaten based builds work well too, but I think an aristocrats control shell is the strongest over all and so whenever I'm evaluating cards it's usually to ask how they specifically fit into That strategy.

I've considered Ledger Shredder but it's ~$20 and I'm just not convinced it's exactly what I'm looking for (though it's certainly a good option so I'd say go for it if you have one) on a similar note, I'm also looking at Faerie Mastermind which fills a similar role, but also is a Rogue which plays well with my (perhaps foolish) desire to make Mari, the Killing Quill work in this deck.

Reins of Power sounds like a fun trick to pull off, especially if you have a free sacrifice outlet around. You can use it to stop a deadly attack from coming your way, to open someone up to another player's attack, or just to wipe a single player's board. Lots of ways to take advantage of it. Could even re-cast Marchesa after playing it to permanently steal a bunch of creatures from someone. I don't really play into the theft style deck that much as you can see though, since my goal is more to prevent everyone else from having anything to begin with.

scotchtapedsleeves on Marchesa, The Black Rose - Primer

1 year ago

Me again, dropping a few more cards that I'm currently playtesting.

Dockside Extortionist - Can definitely understand if you're not running it on principal, extremely strong though.

Ledger Shredder - Also very strong, good card selection. I play a bit more recursion than you so I like discarding creatures, but could have a home here.

The new Backup cards are decent. Can mess with your timing a bit as their backup effect only lasts until EOT so you'd have to activate during the end step.

Mirror-Style Master is expensive but the effect is great, especially if you can give her haste and have her backup someone else.

Saiba Cryptomancer - More backup, 2 mana flashed in hexproof. Not fantastic admittedly as it'll generally come back during end steps, but pumping her up with The Ozolith or other sources has worked well for me.

Scorn-Blade Berserker - More backup! 3 mana + a lamb for two cards? Not bad.

Voldaren Thrillseeker - Backup. Deals damage equal to power for 1 mana, not the best backup. I'm taking scorn blade over her

Terror of the Peaks - I get that you're not running flayer etc. But wanted to bring this card to mind anyway. 5 mana 5/4 flying is fine on its own, but couple it with the fact that it deals damage equal to power on ETB? Very good card.

Thundering Raiju - Lots of direct damage here along with a touch of +1/+1 counter distribution.

Lethal Scheme - Free, instant speed removal that distributes counters? Fantastic.

Reins of Power - Haven't had this one pop off in a game yet, but it seems decent. The most efficient mana:creatures stolen ratio I've been able to find. Only downside is Marchesa can't be on.

Aetherworks Marvel - Haven't had a chance to get this one out either, but free cards? For the measly cost of sacrificing creatures? Sounds good to me

Darb_the_Bard on A fistful of Myr [Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch]

1 year ago

My favorite part of Urtet is untapping all the Myrs and finding ways to take advantage of that. To that end, I think Improvise is a great mechanic in this deck (Kappa Cannoneer and Organic Extinction are great examples already in the decklist). Since the artifacts are also creatures, Convoke can be similarly powerful. Both are even more powerful in your list since you are also running cards like Drumbellower and Unwinding Clock.

I mentioned some good Improvise cards in a previous comment, but here are some more fun possibilities:

• Whir of Invention - 3 blue pips is tough, but perhaps worth it if leaning into blue and you like tutors
• Saheeli's Directive - 3 red pips this time, but perhaps the upside is worth it?
• Battle at the Bridge - likely just one black mana to get rid of a creature, even if it has indestructible

And here are some possible Convoke cards:

• Obelisk of Urd - often "free" while pumping all your Myrs, which can still untap after the Convoke and attack with the pump that same turn thanks to Urtet
• Return to the Ranks - get back a bunch of 2-mana creatures (I would likely want to pack a few more in the deck to make it worth it, but something to consider)
• Endless Obedience - recursion from anyone's graveyard
• Unmake the Graves - more recursion
• Ephemeral Shields - protection for Urtet
• Overwhelm - the creatures you tap for the Convoke will get the buff and can still attack thanks to Urtet
• Lethal Scheme - destroy a creature or planeswalker while improving your hand with Connive
• Mob - cheap creature removal
• Sundering Vitae - cheap artifact/enchantment removal
• Sprouting Renewal - more cheap artifact/enchantment removal (maybe you want the token sometimes?)
• Venerated Loxodon - a 4/4 body that gives a +1/+1 counter to every creature that Convokes it; seems especially decent since you are also running cards like Hardened Scales and Doubling Season