MTG Salvation

I underestimated Marchesa when she first came out, and then by the time I knew how good she was, everyone was running her. There was ETB Marchesa and Infect Marchesa and Beaters Marchesa and Dethrone Marchesa and +1/+1 Counters Marchesa. I decided that if I was going to build her, it needed to be different from the others I'd seen. The inspiration for my deck came from her last ability - namely that it returns the creatures to the battlefield under your control, regardless of who owns them. Yes, a lot of the other decks run Grave Betrayal or Mark of Mutiny due to their synergy with Marchesa, but I hadn't seen a theft-focused deck. So I tried to build one.

Unfortunately, some theft cards are too weak if you don't have Marchesa out, and others are too expensive even if you do, so I filled in with other cards that work well with her. I've had some good games (over-powered, nigh unstoppable) and some bad games (she does draw a lot of hate), but oddly enough, I still haven't had any games where the deck does what it is supposed to - steal lots of things. To that end, I am looking for suggestions.



Wishlist: Captivating Vampire, Beguiler of Wills, Riptide Entrancer, Sower of Temptation, Simic Manipulator? (not sure if it's that good), Tolarian Entrancer? (again, not sure how good it would be)

Cards I have already cut: Molten Primordial, Conquering Masticore - both too expensive mana-wise

And before anyone else says it: "Needs more Goatnapper!"

From my initial impression, it doesn't look like you have a lot of sacrifice outlets. I count 4 repeatable effects. So, even if you get these creatures under your control, getting them to the yard and back to you via Marchesa seems a tough process. You might look into Ashnod's Altar, Bloodthrone Vampire, Bloodflow Connoisseur, or even Sadistic Hypnotist. I have found Molten Primordial to be an exceptional card in a heavy big creature meta like mine, but results will vary. Callous Oppressor is a fun little theft card I've played around with in my Barrin deck, and I've been trying to test out Willbreaker.

You might also think about some of the big all-in thefts out there. Insurrection, Twist Allegiance and Reins of Power. I always loved stealing all of my opponent's creatures and then sacrificing them to an altar for tons of mana into something huge. Good times. Insurrection is a bit of a stretch with RRR, but it's possible.

When my Marchesa was budget, I went heavy on the theft theme. It worked out fairly well, but the key is having access to or searching out your sac outlets to make use of the temporary theft effects. As for other parts of your deck, I think Vessel of Endless Rest could easily become Chromatic Lantern. And in general you have a lot of creatures in a deck that's aimed at taking them. You could probably cut some of them for help elsewhere in the deck (mana rocks, reanimation, tutors, etc.).

Overall, I think you have a good start in your list; it just could use some tweaking. I think you should press harder into the theft idea so you're not so all over the board. You want to be different than other Marchesa lists out there. Good Luck!!

I haven't played this in a couple months, but I decided to tweak it and try again.

I realize it's a bit late to reply to Naja, but yes, I will consider some of those changes if I keep playing this deck.

Helm of Possession would fit your theme. Sacrifice and Steal.
Also if you have haste enablers try Domineering Will

Quote from SlaveToPhage »

Helm of Possession would fit your theme. Sacrifice and Steal.

(Months later)Making a small update to the deck, including that suggestion.
River Kelpie seems like good card draw. I'm not sure how well Sage of Hours will work, but I want to give it a try. And I just realized that all of my copies of Hellkite Tyrant are tied up in other decks - I need to get one to add to this deck.
Overall, this deck has really been tearing it up when I play it. I may eventually abandon some of the theft cards, but I'm going to keep the deck going for sure. I have a friend that built an infect version, which is really mean because it doesn't bother to knock people off the throne as it kills them. I may eventually have an alternate version of that so I can swap different cores in and out of the deck - theft some days, poison on others.

Also, can I just say how much I am looking forward to SOI and Conspiracy 2?
I totally want the Abbey/Ormendahl card for this deck? Saccing 5 creatures is hardly a cost with this deck, and the demon is awesome. Plus, get a +1/+1 counter on him, and you get your land back is he somehow dies.
And I hope Marchesa gets a cool new card in C2.