Reins of Power

Instant

Untap all creatures you control and all creatures target opponent controls. You and that opponent each gain control of all creatures the other controls until end of turn. Those creatures gain haste until end of turn.

Legality

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

Discussion (51)

Abaques on Need a little help with …

1 month ago

I think you might be a little light on lands. I'd highly recommend adding Vastwood Fortification  ^Flip as both a land and a way to add counters. I also can't recommend Reins of Power enough. You end up building up your opponents boards with Kros and Reins can be a great finisher in that situation. Though I really enjoy playing my Kros deck, I've only won with it twice (usually I finish second) and both times were due to Reins of Power.

As for card draw, two cards I'm looking to add from Wilds of Eldraine that I think will fit in perfectly to Kros are Hylda of the Icy Crown and Sharae of Numbing Depths. I think the tap effect of Kros is one of my favorite aspects of him and both those cards exploit that.

treeforcorvus on Melek, Spellcaster Extraordinaire

2 months ago

Really cool concept! I have a few ideas.

Blitz of the Thunder-Raptor helps deal with planeswalkers, and might perform better than Chaos Warp. Run Brittle Blast over Thunderous Wrath.

Not sure about Dismiss into Dream. How many single-target spells or effects are you running? I count 6.

Mana Drain over Dissipate: Having resources for damage later is almost always going to serve you more. Plus, it's a great target for Isochron Scepter.

Speaking of walkers, definitely replace Cloud Key with Rowan, Scholar of Sparks  ^Flip. It's straight up better. Strongly consider Ral, Storm Conduit, if only that it ramps up damage with your commander out. Consider Koth, Fire of Resistance as a decent land-fixer (which means you'll draw less lands and have more mana), and Jaya Ballard for simple acceleration.

If your pool is competitive, you could run Back to Basics or at least Blood Moon. This will slow down many decks and give you more time. Adding fetches in your colors (should be 5) means that you can take out 2 islands and 3 mountains and still hit your curve.

Not sure about Breaking Point and Curse of the Swine. Instead, consider Puppet's Verdict and either Winter's Chill or Cyclonic Rift.

Reins of Power and Insurrection could replace Chain Reaction and Incite Rebellion, allowing you to use those resources against opponents and kill them, which would have the added benefit of removing their creatures.

I know you don't want to run any creatures, but Stuffy Doll is a decent deterrent and is too funny not to leave out.

scotchtapedsleeves on Murders and Acquisitions (Marchesa Superiority)

2 months ago

Hey Ender, been a while! I'm still working hard on my Marchesa deck if you'd like to steal some ideas. As for my suggestions:

Hostage Taker is huge as it can steal artifacts.

Imperial Recruiter Can tutor for most cards in my deck, your creature's powers seem a bit higher.

Iron Apprentice is incredible

Thought Sponge is a fantastic draw engine. I find myself drawing 5+ cards each cycle if opponents don't deal with it

Thran Vigil Adds a +1/+1 counter to every creature that re-enters, protecting them immediately and allowing you to sac them.

Uncivil Unrest Does the same as above but for all creatures that enter, also a wincon

Reins of Power Is a favourite of mine against token players. Sac all your creatures to steal an opponents, then you have the option to sac them for a ton of mana with an Altar or get +1/+1 counters on them and sac them as soon as Marchesa reenters the battlefield in your end step.

Aetherworks Marvel has played fairly well

Scroll of Fate Lets you cheat out lands, enchantments and artifacts as Marchesa only checks the card type when it's on the battlefield

Last One Standing is hilarious, same with Saw in Half

Living Death is an incredible board wipe, especially if you sac all your stuff beforehand

I have over 100 cards in my maybeboard that I haven't gotten around to sorting out, but here are some standouts I'm looking to include.

Imposter Mech seems like it could be incredible. Once you get a +1/+1 counter on Marchesa you don't really want to attack with her, so you can use her to crew the mech each turn

Urborg Scavengers Is repeatable grave hate with some bonuses

Kardur, Doomscourge Is dirty

Fell Stinger is a reliable source of draw, can sacrifice itsself in a pinch

Body Launderer seems incredible. Card selection and recursion

scotchtapedsleeves on Murders and Acquisitions (Marchesa Superiority)

2 months ago

Hey Ender, been a while! I'm still working hard on my Marchesa deck if you'd like to steal some ideas. As for my suggestions:

Hostage Taker is huge as it can steal artifacts.

Imperial Recruiter Can tutor for most cards in my deck, your creature's powers seem a bit higher.

Iron Apprentice is incredible

Thought Sponge is a fantastic draw engine. I find myself drawing 5+ cards each cycle if opponents don't deal with it

Thran Vigil Adds a +1/+1 counter to every creature that re-enters, protecting them immediately and allowing you to sac them.

Uncivil Unrest Does the same as above but for all creatures that enter, also a wincon

Reins of Power Is a favourite of mine against token players. Sac all your creatures to steal an opponents, then you have the option to sac them for a ton of mana with an Altar or get +1/+1 counters on them and sac them as soon as Marchesa reenters the battlefield in your end step.

Aetherworks Marvel has played fairly well

Scroll of Fate Lets you cheat out lands, enchantments and artifacts as Marchesa only checks the card type when it's on the battlefield

Last One Standing is hilarious, same with Saw in Half

Living Death is an incredible board wipe, especially if you sac all your stuff beforehand

I have over 100 cards in my maybeboard that I haven't gotten around to sorting out, but here are some standouts I'm looking to include.

Imposter Mech seems like it could be incredible. Once you get a +1/+1 counter on Marchesa you don't really want to attack with her, so you can use her to crew the mech each turn

Urborg Scavengers Is repeatable grave hate with some bonuses

Kardur, Doomscourge Is dirty

Fell Stinger is a reliable source of draw, can sacrifice itsself in a pinch

Body Launderer seems incredible. Card selection and recursion

Anyway, that concludes my rant. Hope all is good with you!

carpecanum on Fast Bnuy

4 months ago

Your creatures are low power so maybe Meekstone, Citywide Bust or Fell the Mighty. Crackdown maybe.

Black Vise if your opponents start getting big hands.

Illusionist's Gambit and Reins of Power can make aggro decks take each other out instead of you.

Lokotor on Marchesa, The Black Rose - Primer

4 months 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

4 months 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

Licecolony on Goaded With The Sauce

5 months ago

I really like your manifest take on Jon. Consider Dulcet Sirens. It's a clever way to mitigate risk of having those horrible creatures for yourself. I'll definitely be adding Crawlspace and Endless Whispers to my list.

Suggested removals from deck Plague Reaver. While it's a nice card to give away, the turn you play it you'll have to sacrifice Jon Irenicus to Plague Reaver's trigger regardless of which order you put the abilities onto the stack. You'd rather not lose Jon.

Gisa, Glorious Resurrector. It's something you can't give away, which means it's good when you're ahead, but not great when you're behind,. Your mileage may vary, but I think getting something more immediately impactful on the board tends to be best.

Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker. You're not running a mill strategy, you'll only be filling the graveyard of dedicate graveyard decks.

Taniwha. I love this creature and totally understand running it for the memes, but phasing triggers before your upkeep, which means that when you give it away, it'll be phased out for the first turn under your opponent, so they'll keep their lands and you won't draw a card from Jon's ability. The turn cycle has to make two full rounds before Taniwha does anything.

Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip. Unlike Sheoldred, Tergrid doesn't make the opponent do either of its effects. It's another creature you don't want to give away, and Jon makes cards unsacrificeable. It just won't trigger much unless you're against a sacrifice deck.

Ensnaring Bridge. The creatures you donate will often be quite big. Ensnaring bridge will prevent them from attacking your opponents and deny you card draw.

Chromatic Lantern. It's only good if you need the mana fixing. You don't need the mana fixing. Try something like Thought Vessel or Decanter of Endless Water or Midnight Clock instead.

Assault Suit doesn't goad the creatures itself. Often they'll swing at you if possible.

Dissipation Field. Not as good as it looks. Doubles ETB triggers. Anti synergy with cards like Endless Whispers.

No Mercy Jon just has better options for this slot. If you can replace a non-creature with a creature in this deck, you usually want to.

Grave Betrayal. That's 7 mana for a card that could ruin your game by forcing you to revive bad cards you do not want.

Diplomatic Immunity. You want instant speed protection and protection from board wipes. Something like March of Swirling Mist is more versatile offensively and defensively.

Dark Ritual. I'm uncertain what you're trying to ramp into so quickly that you would need this. Maybe I'm wrong.

Countersquall. You may as well play the one mana version in An Offer You Can't Refuse.

Redirect may be bested by Narset's Reversal? That's a matter of opinion.

AEtherize risks bouncing creatures attacking other opponents such as those you've goaded but want them to keep. Try replacing this with a more versatile effect like Reins of Power or a more aggressive effect in Illusionist's Gambit.

Damnation. Jon prefers sacrifice board wipes so that your opponents keep their shit creatures.

Overall I think you could run less counter-magic in favor of more proactive effects.

Cards to Consider Creatures Generally I want to focus on adding creatures that you can give away and then steal back later to win the game.

With Jon, you often want cheap evasive creatures to give out for early card draw with his ability. Right now you have 1 two-drop creature. Throwing in a Changeling Outcast or a Slither Blade can mean you can give a creature away for cheap and still hold up mana for other things. Slither blade wouldn't die to Heartless Summoning too.

In the two-drop slot, you can run creatures that are more defensive like Baleful Strix, or give you card draw like Sygg, River Cutthroat or just more powerful creatures like Flesh Reaver which is a goaded 6/6 that can deal 12 damage a turn or Wretched Anurid. Heck, you can even add a versatile two-drop in Dimir Infiltrator which can be given away in the early game or used as a tutor in the late-game.

In the three drop slot, I think your idea of adding Steel Golem is a great one to make sure the only creatures your opponent has are the ones you're giving them. It's a brutal card. Rotting Regisaur is a card you don't mind giving away early, and can take back later to win. Phyrexian Soulgorger can be donated to an opponent as a goaded 10/10. They won't have to pay the upkeep, but that's a great body to give someone as a political tool. Cephalid Facetaker is also worth consideration though I personally don't run it.

In the four-drop slot, like you mentioned, Grid Monitor is a proactive creature counter. Abyssal Persecutor can save you from death. Archfiend of the Dross is risky but fun (it comes back to your control after the opponent dies).

In the 5-drop slot, both of the evil-eye cards are absolute ALL STARS. They work so well every game I've drawn them. They can also replace some of your weaker defenses like No Mercy and Dissipation Field

As a sidenote, I also like Deep-Sea Kraken as an unblockable 8/8 that can win you the game with homeward path.

Removal I recommend running more sacrifice-based removal since it'll mean your opponents keep the crap you give them. Things like Tergrid's Shadow or Vona's Hunger or All is Dust (one of my favorites) or Killing Wave. I also prefer Toxic Deluge to some of your other removal since it goes through hexproof. Curse of the Swine is also an exile effect that can be selective and works really well. You can also run single-target removal like Reality Shift or Pongify if you'd rather instant speed interaction. Feed the Swarm is quality. If you really don't care about cruelty, you can run Torment of Hailfire, but that card is honestly always too boring for me to want in my decks.

Card Draw Jon has access to some great card draw that most decks can't take advantage of. Fateful Handoff is a card draw spell that also donates (though does not goad). Sygg, River Cutthroat works well with evasive threats you give away (though should not be donated). Verity Circle works great with Jon's ability since it donates the creature first, and then taps it down. Teferi's Ageless Insight allows you to double your draw triggers from Jon.

Equipment Remember that you can donate creatures while they're equipped and you still control the equipment so they can't re-equip it. Pact Weapon makes the attacking creature bigger, while ensuring you can't die, and will draw you another card whenever the donated creature attacks. Dowsing Dagger  ^Flip works effectively on evasive creature to get you ramped. Vorpal Sword is a win condition on your unblockable evasive creatures.

Goad Dulcet Sirens, Bloodthirsty Blade.

Misc Graveyard removal is king. Throw in a Scavenger Grounds. My favorite card to run is Reality Shift. Make an Avenger of Zendikar spawn a dozen Wretched Anurids. It's not GREAT, but it is always funny. Cultural Exchange is a fun time too with all your manifest and shitty creatures.

That is all. Hope it was helpful.