Marchesa: Queen of Pain (100% Altered)

Commander / EDH* Older20

SCORE: 159 | 69 COMMENTS | 20777 VIEWS | IN 70 FOLDERS

Strixhaven Notes —April 6, 2021

Some cool stuff in this upcoming set, lets have a look!

Velomachus Lorehold

This is a beast of a card, but it should be at that cost. Even at 7 mana a 5/5 flyer with vigilance, haste and a big attack trigger ticks a lot of boxes. We would be be able to cast almost every instant or sorcery we run in the deck if we hit them - minus Insurrection if we are running it.

This card is good if we are behind and good if we are ahead and we run enough instants and sorceries that I think it would be rare not to hit something. It might be difficult finding a spot for this monster but definitely worth a playtest.

Wandering Archaic  ^Flip

The creature side is really is the only side we would ever cast. When I first saw the spoiler I got quite excited about it - however on further reflection I think this is just a 5 mana stax piece on instants and sorceries. Our opponents aren’t going to be casting many instant or sorcery spells if they can’t pay the tax - so we just need to decide whether the effect is worth 5 cmc. My inclination at the moment is that its not.

Rip Apart

I really like these cheaper modal removal spells, but at sorcery speed this doesn’t quite do it for me.

Fracture

As above; well priced removal and this time at instant speed. It isn’t an exile effect but that would be asking too much perhaps. I like the card; maybe it will find a spot sometime.

Reduce to Memory

Great removal, but likely not for this deck as it is sorcery speed.

Vanishing Verse

This is a great card and out of all the removal spells covered above I think this is the most likely to find a home in the deck. It targets all permanents, and while commander is packed with multicoloured spells I think this will 99% of the time have a good target. Solid stuff.

Shadrix Silverquill

It’s nice that you don’t actually have to attack with any creatures for this to trigger. The majority of the time we will likely be drawing a card and I don’t think giving an opponent one of the other two options will hurt too much.

The card is complex and offers a lot of options, so I will definitely try it out.