Marchesa, Political Queen of Pillows

Commander / EDH MegaMatt13

SCORE: 235 | 152 COMMENTS | 38330 VIEWS | IN 137 FOLDERS

Major Playtesting Update —Feb. 3, 2017

I've had the chance to play the deck quite extensively. Some cards were underperforming. Some cards I've wanted to try out. Overall, the changes make the average CMC a little lower which will hopefully make the deck feel more nimble. I've made the following changes:

Exquisite Archangel ---> Skyline Despot: I really wanted to like the Archangel. However, similar to Blazing Archon, I found she was too expensive for what she does. She's really a one-time combat trick that can be removed relatively easily. I've put back in Skyline Despot because he can serve as a win condition with the tokens he generates and synergizes with the monarch mechanic

Return to Dust ---> Rakdos Charm: Return to Dust is a wonderful card but I felt as though Rakdos Charm is a bit more flexible and on theme. It can exile a graveyard (the deck had no graveyard hate before), act as a win condition against pesky token or tribal decks, or destroy an artifact.

Bitter Feud ---> Sunforger: Bitter Feud was tough for me to cut. That's still why it's in my maybe-list. It's a fun political card. However, I really wanted to make room for Sunforger. I have 9 instants that can be tutored (all of my instants except Sudden Spoiling. Plus, it can turn creatures like Marchesa, Gisela, Dread, and Vampire Nighthawk into scary threats. +4/+0 is nothing to scoff at.

Crackling Doom ---> Backlash: It surprised me how often Crackling Doom underperformed. Often I want to be able to target my threats and the biggest powered creature isn't always the scariest. I dunno...I may throw it back in. Backlash takes care of the highest powered creature in a different way by damaging the opponent. It can be used politically too to tap down a potential blocker letting someone get through.

Goblin Spymaster ---> Vampire Nighthawk: This and the next goblin backfired on me hard. It's amazing how often people would attack me when forced into an attack step even if it wasn't in their best interest. If I'm going to force people to attack (eg. Besmirch, Insurrection), I better be able to control who they are attacking. Vampire Nighthawk provides me with an air rattlesnake. It may be a bit too french vanilla, but my playgroup runs some terrifying flyers. My other rattlesnakes are on the ground.

Goblin Diplomats ---> Pacification Array: Similar to previous goblin, people would attack me out of spite: the opposite of what I'm trying to achieve. Pacification Array offers a cheap way to repeatedly tap down threats or mess up blocking between opponents.

Plains ---> Reliquary Tower: Just throwing in a utility land that should have always been there. With the monarch mechanic sometimes I have more than 7 cards in hand.