Marchesa, the black rose - V3.0

Commander / EDH Counters Sacrifice UBR (Grixis) Wizards

Gekkenaamyo

Lands (34)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cephalid Coliseum
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Clearwater Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Forge of Heroes
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Guildmages' Forum
• 1x Island
• 1x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Riverglide Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Snow-Covered Island
• 1x Snow-Covered Mountain
• 1x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Training Center
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Watery Grave

Sac (11)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Greater Gargadon
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Flexibility (6)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Pyre of Heroes
• 1x Spark Double
• 1x Step Through
• 1x Tribute Mage

+1/+1 (17)

• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Cytoplast Manipulator
• 1x First Day of Class
• 1x Flayer of the Hatebound
• 1x Forge of Heroes
• 1x Guildmages' Forum
• 1x Juri, Master of the Revue
• 1x Kalain, Reclusive Painter
• 1x Metallic Mimic
• 1x Myr Scrapling
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Sage of Fables
• 1x Spark Double
• 1x Thought Sponge
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol
• 1x Vigean Graftmage
• 1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan

Lifeloss (15)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Cephalid Coliseum
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol
• 1x Watery Grave

Draw (12)

• 1x Alchemist's Apprentice
• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Keen Duelist
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x River Kelpie
• 1x Sage of Fables
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Thought Sponge
• 1x Watcher for Tomorrow
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Gas (2)

• 1x Scroll of Fate
• 1x Sneak Attack

Commander (1)

Removal (17)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Cytoplast Manipulator
• 1x Flayer of the Hatebound
• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Hostage Taker
• 1x Jokulhaups
• 1x Juri, Master of the Revue
• 1x Last One Standing
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Sedraxis Alchemist
• 1x Sower of Temptation
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Ramp (13)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Kalain, Reclusive Painter
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence

Counter (7)

• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Siren Stormtamer
• 1x Stubborn Denial
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant

---

Sideboard

Other (22)

• 1x Anathemancer
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Cursecatcher
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Dauthi Voidwalker
• 1x Fiery Islet
• 1x Harmonic Prodigy
• 1x Liliana's Standard Bearer
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Mausoleum Wanderer
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Murderous Redcap
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Profaner of the Dead
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Flexibility (4)

• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Dire Fleet Daredevil
• 1x Glasspool Mimic  ^Flip
• 1x Praetor's Grasp

Counter (1)

• 1x Voidmage Prodigy

Lands (1)

• 1x Glasspool Mimic  ^Flip

Removal (1)

• 1x Kari Zev's Expertise

---

Maybeboard

Other (77)

• 1x Agent of Treachery
• 1x Anax, Hardened in the Forge
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Aura Thief
• 1x Blood Bairn
• 1x Bloodflow Connoisseur
• 1x Bolas's Citadel
• 1x Bolt Bend
• 1x Burglar Rat
• 1x Chasm Skulker
• 1x Cloud of Faeries
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Crumbling Necropolis
• 1x Dack's Duplicate
• 1x Delay
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Domineering Will
• 1x Drake Familiar
• 1x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
• 1x Dreadhorde Butcher
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Falkenrath Aristocrat
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Field of the Dead
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Fulminator Mage
• 1x Goblin Cratermaker
• 1x Grave Betrayal
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Hex Parasite
• 1x Jeering Homunculus
• 1x Judith, the Scourge Diva
• 1x Kardur, Doomscourge
• 1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1x Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mass Mutiny
• 1x Meteor Golem
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Mirage Mirror
• 1x Mob Rule
• 1x Molten Primordial
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Narset's Reversal
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Nightscape Familiar
• 1x Olivia, Mobilized for War
• 1x Oona's Blackguard
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Protean Raider
• 1x Reef Worm
• 1x Reverberate
• 1x Rishadan Cutpurse
• 1x Rocky Tar Pit
• 1x Sage of Epityr
• 1x Scheming Symmetry
• 1x Sifter of Skulls
• 1x Spiketail Hatchling
• 1x Stalking Vengeance
• 1x Stern Proctor
• 1x Sultai Emissary
• 1x Sygg, River Cutthroat
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Malice
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Thalakos Deceiver
• 1x The Ozolith
• 1x Thieving Amalgam
• 1x Tragic Slip
• 1x Treasure Nabber
• 1x Unsubstantiate
• 1x Yarok's Fenlurker
• 1x Zealous Conscripts

+1/+1 (1)

• 1x Novijen Sages

Flexibility (1)

• 1x Cursed Mirror

Ramp (1)

• 1x Pawn of Ulamog

Counter (1)

• 1x Goblin Flectomancer

---

!!! This list is no longer being kept up to date, the deck now lives on Moxfield (https://www.moxfield.com/decks/ZnVYZKmu0EKrwwSmNTdLZg) !!!

This version is built with the focus on winning games. It is not a janky theft build and it is not build with fun for the table in mind. It is a grindy Grixis deck, doing what Grixis does best; be mean.

The goal is to optimise Marchesa, the Black Rose to get the highest winrate possible while still working around Marchesa as a commander. This deck should only be played against players who know what they are getting into so make sure to tell them before hand, this deck aims to win.

Powerlevel wise it is hard to say, but i'd give the deck an 8 out of 10 because while very strong, this can not be called cEDH, and it is missing the faster mana to be a 9. Having said that, it is as optimised as I can personally get Marchesa.

Comments, questions and/or suggestions are welcome.

With that out of the way let me explain how the deck works. Marchesa, the black rose's ability we build around is the following:

"Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it dies, return that card to the battlefield under your control at the beginning of the next end step."

This effect makes it so that our creatures will come back on each (read: EVERY) player's end step as long as they died with a +1/+1 counter on it. Do you know what is better then getting an ETB trigger off of Dockside Extortionist? Getting 4 ETB triggers off of it in one turn cycle!

The other two abilities are a nice bonus. The first ability is Dethrone:

"Whenever this creature attacks the player with the most life or tied for most life, put a +1/+1 counter on it."

This will help protect Marchesa by getting a +1/+1 counter on her.

The second ability also has great synergy and reads as follows:

"Other creatures you control have dethrone."

This means Marchesa herself being on the field will give us a way to put +1/+1 counters on all our other creatures once per turn cycle, namely on our declare attack step.

The main vision behind this deck is that ETB and LTB effects are already strong. When we can make them happen more often then was intended during card design we can 'break' the card, making it a lot stronger. This also means the deck works a bit different then low power Marchesa decks, our main source of +1/+1 counters will not be our attack step, since it is too vulnerable and doesn't happen at instant speed (or whenever we need it). This is why the deck relies on the following cards:

• Forge of Heroes protects Marchesa on cast
• Guildmages' Forum protects multicoloured creatures
• Opal Palace protects Marchesa on cast
• Carrion Feeder can protect itself
• Cytoplast Manipulator ETB's with protection, makes our other creatures ETB with protection
• Flayer of the Hatebound Undying; when it dies ETB's again with protection
• Juri, Master of the Revue can protect itself
• Metallic Mimic makes our other (insert creature type) ETB with protection
• Novijen Sages makes our other creatures ETB with protection
• Sage of Fables makes our other wizards ETB with protection
• Spark Double ETB's with protection
• Thought Sponge ETB's with protection
• Vigean Graftmage ETB's with protection, makes our other creatures ETB with protection
• Yahenni, Undying Partisan can protect itself
• Unspeakable Symbol can protect any of our creatures at instant speed

This gives us many sources of +1/+1 counters without using the declare attack step.

The other thing we need in order to abuse the ETB's is to have a way to sac our creatures, which is why the deck needs a certain amount of sac outlets.

Then we're all set up and we can use our creatures for ramp / draw / removal.

The deck relies heavily on Marchesa and even though she will often enter with a +1/+1 counter this is not always the case. Also our opponents might (and should) try to exile her. Because of this we need free or cheap counter magic to be able to stop interaction.

Lastly the declare attack step is still there when we need it so the deck also has lots of way to bring our life total down enough to stay of the throne.

!!! This list is no longer being kept up to date, the deck now lives on Moxfield (https://www.moxfield.com/decks/ZnVYZKmu0EKrwwSmNTdLZg) !!!

Date added	3 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 3 Mythic Rares 48 - 19 Rares 23 - 4 Uncommons 13 - 2 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.98
Tokens	Manifest 2/2 C, Morph 2/2 C, Treasure
Folders	grixis