Queen Marchesa is the first RWB legendary to draw you cards. That's got potential. Most any deck wants cards.
I might just be blind or dumb. But how does Marchesa draw you card? Except if being a monarch will be considered standard rules and not just something draft-specific like the planar dice or arch enemy.
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Queen Marchesa is the first RWB legendary to draw you cards. That's got potential. Most any deck wants cards. Good times with Solitary Confinement.
Conditionally. Furthermore, you're only drawing the extra one at best. Her token making ability is very ophiomancer-esque, but not absurd by any stretch. It's a slightly above-par band-aid for a historically shafted color combo (sans Kaalia).
There are a lot of ways to turn off combat damage, especially in W. Delaying Shield, as mentioned above, means you stay the monarch until it's removed or somebody else plays a card that makes them the monarch (and then you get a token if Queen Marchesa is still around). Drawing an extra card a turn is always nice.
The cards are much cleaner without reminder text for Monarch, so I'm glad they didn't add it. Also you really should have the token if you're going to play her since it's likely going to be passed around quite a bit during an average game.
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EDH playing competitive Magic cast away
Current Decks GTitania midrange RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
I'm VERY happy that Wizards would add a control general to Mardu color. I understand that Ravnica and Tarkir had set some ground rules for the color combinations but I believe as long as the theme fits every color-combo should have ago, control, other other kinds of general.
As for the new queen, Queen Marchesa, I can imagine the usually white/black shields like Ghostly Prison and No Mercy, which makes you the monarch becomes more difficult to attack, and Marchesa ensures that you'll always have some creature numbers to steal the crown back, while drawing you card every turn when you hold it.
Public Mod Note
(Airithne):
Merged with the official New Card Discussion thread.
I think the biggest reason why they don't include reminder text on any of the "Become the Monarch" cards is that it would also have to include an explanation of how control of the monarchy changes, which would take up quite a bit of card space (I could see them printing at least one french vanilla creature whose sole purpose is to say "Become the Monarch" and then explain it, but again they have the token...). As for the cards and mechanics themselves (excluding conspiracies and draft cards because they don't really apply):
Lieutenants of the Guard: I could see him being a reasonable choice in a Ghave deck, as tokens and counters are roughly the same value to him. That said, he's probably a Cloudgoat Ranger sans the flying ability at best, so he may just be a tad below the curve unless you're playing a 6+ player game.
Illusion of Choice: If you run enough voting cards then it's probably a better use of a card slot than Brago's Representative, particularly because an almost-free cantrip is a much better card to have than a low-impact creature when you don't have any of your council cards on hand.
Jeering Homunculus: I'm not a large fan of the goad mechanic, as it's an effect that often requires a particular board state to make full use of. I much prefer Assault Suit for this kind of shenanigans, as you have far better control over the qualities of the creature being sent into combat.
Capital Punishment: While having minimal control of a card's effects is never good, the fact that you're left out of it's effect makes it well worth the investment; so long as you can manipulate the game to a point where any combination of votes feels bad for your opponents.
Besmirch: As stated, I'm not a fan of goad, but tacking it onto a theft effect is a great way to get some mileage out of a creature.
Crown-Hunter Hireling: Its safe to assume that we'll be getting some much better cards to gain control of the monarchy with, so I'm not going to try and make a 4/4 pseudo-defender work in any of my decks.
Deputized Protester: Melee is a great option for token decks, or for players running Blade of Selves, though a 6/5 menace will only get you so far in most games that as with the Hireling, I'm going to be looking towards the much better cards we can expect to see with this mechanic attached to them.
Domesticated Hydra: Monstrosity X is always solid, though an arbitrarily large trampler isn't the hardest thing to stop, particularly if you're investing several turns worth of mana into it.
Knights of the Black Rose: This is a monarch's card, as it promises a lot of value in little places, none of which seem particularly worth trying to prevent unless you're countering the knights wholesale. A 4/4, an end of turn cantrip, and a minor life drain effect (most likely happening after you've taken combat damage) combine to make a solid card; especially if you can keep the knights around till you regain the monarchy (or simply flicker/recur them to grab it).
Queen Marchesa: I'm sad that she's left the grixis combination as it means I can't toss her into my existing Marchesa deck, but she does make for a fairly interesting Commander option. At the very least, she makes for a relatively guaranteed way to introduce the monarch mechanic into a match, and deathtouch+haste is a reasonable combination of traits for a commander, as it makes Commander damage that much easier to land, and makes Viridian Longbow and similar cards fairly potent. Her token production is probably what she'll be best defined by, as it makes her a solid partner with Skullclamp or provides a low-cost method by which to try and reclaim the monarchy once it starts trading hands. As a whole, the Monarch mechanic looks like it's something that could end up impacting the format for a long time, as all it takes is one card to add a pseudo-Howling Mine-emblem to a match; at which point it's not leaving...
Looks very promising for mardu control. high density of creature hate + prison etc. means staying the monarch the most of the game pretty likely. Emblem- like phyrexian arena seems really good.
I think Queen Marchesa would be good in a control shell. Play her mid to late game, then wipe the board, you get to draw an additional card an the end of your turn. Run a bunch of board wipes, spot removal spells and planeswalkers to ensure you keep the monarch. It seems pretty nasty actually, because if you can prevent players from attacking you, it's a very powerful emblem to have.
Whoever attacks you gets a curse, which makes it highly political given Marchesa's ability of creating tokens, the cursed opponent gets attacked and becomes Monarch, then Marchesa sends her assassin to steal it back as the said Monarch has no blocker left.
I am excited to play this set. Conspiracy 1 was so much fun, and this one looks to have a lot of the same feeling and ideas, which is cool. I really want to build a Voting/Monarch deck, it looks like a fun, political style deck.
I'm almost tempted to test replacing Alesha with Queen Marchesa to see how that goes without changing the decklist (maybe move something out and Alesha to the 99), but there's something about the Monarch/Draw a Card that screams "defend" instead of "attack" and Marchesa having haste just feels awkward (it's like she's encouraging yourself to lose the Monarch position by attacking with her and leaving an empty field otherwise).
On the other hand, she carries the "curse" of Power3 and that means that she can't fit into the 99 quite as well either. She's just that 1 power more of being the dream card-draw provider for the deck, hence tempting me to just put her as Commander without changing the theme, but that brings about another whole issue of awkwardness.
EDIT: Never mind. Just when I posted this, Protector of the Throne was previewed and that's what I needed in Alesha for my card-drawing fix. Power 2 for the win!
So with Conspiracy 2 spoilers comes a new Marchesa and think that she is Very interesting.
As she isnt up on the Con2 spoiler page here yet I'll put her stats in here then delete/ autocard when available.
Queen Marchesa 1RWB
Legendary creature - Human Assassin
Haste, Deathtouch
You become the Monarch on ETB. At the beginning of your upkeep if you are not the Monarch you get a 1/1 B assassin creature token with Haste and Deathtouch.
So the first properly open ended mardu commander and with becoming the monarch involved it will get you drawing cards too, the haste and deathtouch is also pretty sweet. Then when you loose the card advantage you get hasty deathtouch tokens which is icing at this point.
What direction would you take a deck with new Marchesa as the commander? Personally I would think of a token based strategy so that you can keep hold of the card advantage for as long as possible but mardu colours also have access to some of the sweetest abilities and creatures in the game so im torn.
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Merged with official thread.
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EDH BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern: RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
The perk of being a Monarch is the extra draw, which allows you to play control. I'd say that these colors are well suited to keep others from damaging you. All 3 colors have quality mass and targeted removal, plus white can pillow fort you with damage redirection like Comeuppance and Ghostly Prison, etc.
Use the time and card advantage to play lots of removal and wait for your chance to slam some sweet titans.
I've always wanted to build a pillow fort type deck without blue and could never get into the new Daxos, so I'm definitely going to use her for an Enchantment themed deck. Using things like Ghostly Prison, Sphere of Safety, Archangel of Tithes, and the vows, Vow of Duty, Vow of Lightning, Vow of Malice to ensure that you remain the monarch. Perhaps throwing in Curse of Bloodletting could have the same effect. Also interested in trying Starfield of Nyx if I include enough non-aura enchantments. And perhaps a card that seems too awesome not to try, Null Profusion, which seems sweet as long as I can maintain my monarchy consistently.
I like Adriana a lot at first glance, but I really wish she was 4cmc instead of 5. As a curve topper in a weenie or token deck she seems like a fun option. She's no Marton Stomgald, but who is? I'm sure she will see criticism for being "boring" or just being another Boros red zone legend, but at least she's a decent one at that.
Recruiter of the Guard is pretty nuts. I'm glad it's just a rare. Lots of EDH decks will be really happy to get their hands on this guy.
Righteous Aura seems like a really good fit here. As do the usual punisher style cards (Boros Fury-Shield, Reflect Damage, etc). If folks are going to try and attack you anyway, might as well blow them up for trying.
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EDH playing competitive Magic cast away
Current Decks GTitania midrange RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
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I might just be blind or dumb. But how does Marchesa draw you card? Except if being a monarch will be considered standard rules and not just something draft-specific like the planar dice or arch enemy.
Did I write something useful? Leave a like.
Any new cool Daretti cards printed in the latest set? Tell me about it!
Rules Advisor
Conditionally. Furthermore, you're only drawing the extra one at best. Her token making ability is very ophiomancer-esque, but not absurd by any stretch. It's a slightly above-par band-aid for a historically shafted color combo (sans Kaalia).
Crumbling Sanctuary is another option, though Solitary Confinement and Delaying Shield seem much better.
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
As for the new queen, Queen Marchesa, I can imagine the usually white/black shields like Ghostly Prison and No Mercy, which makes you the monarch becomes more difficult to attack, and Marchesa ensures that you'll always have some creature numbers to steal the crown back, while drawing you card every turn when you hold it.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
Lieutenants of the Guard: I could see him being a reasonable choice in a Ghave deck, as tokens and counters are roughly the same value to him. That said, he's probably a Cloudgoat Ranger sans the flying ability at best, so he may just be a tad below the curve unless you're playing a 6+ player game.
Illusion of Choice: If you run enough voting cards then it's probably a better use of a card slot than Brago's Representative, particularly because an almost-free cantrip is a much better card to have than a low-impact creature when you don't have any of your council cards on hand.
Jeering Homunculus: I'm not a large fan of the goad mechanic, as it's an effect that often requires a particular board state to make full use of. I much prefer Assault Suit for this kind of shenanigans, as you have far better control over the qualities of the creature being sent into combat.
Capital Punishment: While having minimal control of a card's effects is never good, the fact that you're left out of it's effect makes it well worth the investment; so long as you can manipulate the game to a point where any combination of votes feels bad for your opponents.
Besmirch: As stated, I'm not a fan of goad, but tacking it onto a theft effect is a great way to get some mileage out of a creature.
Crown-Hunter Hireling: Its safe to assume that we'll be getting some much better cards to gain control of the monarchy with, so I'm not going to try and make a 4/4 pseudo-defender work in any of my decks.
Deputized Protester: Melee is a great option for token decks, or for players running Blade of Selves, though a 6/5 menace will only get you so far in most games that as with the Hireling, I'm going to be looking towards the much better cards we can expect to see with this mechanic attached to them.
Domesticated Hydra: Monstrosity X is always solid, though an arbitrarily large trampler isn't the hardest thing to stop, particularly if you're investing several turns worth of mana into it.
Knights of the Black Rose: This is a monarch's card, as it promises a lot of value in little places, none of which seem particularly worth trying to prevent unless you're countering the knights wholesale. A 4/4, an end of turn cantrip, and a minor life drain effect (most likely happening after you've taken combat damage) combine to make a solid card; especially if you can keep the knights around till you regain the monarchy (or simply flicker/recur them to grab it).
Queen Marchesa: I'm sad that she's left the grixis combination as it means I can't toss her into my existing Marchesa deck, but she does make for a fairly interesting Commander option. At the very least, she makes for a relatively guaranteed way to introduce the monarch mechanic into a match, and deathtouch+haste is a reasonable combination of traits for a commander, as it makes Commander damage that much easier to land, and makes Viridian Longbow and similar cards fairly potent. Her token production is probably what she'll be best defined by, as it makes her a solid partner with Skullclamp or provides a low-cost method by which to try and reclaim the monarchy once it starts trading hands. As a whole, the Monarch mechanic looks like it's something that could end up impacting the format for a long time, as all it takes is one card to add a pseudo-Howling Mine-emblem to a match; at which point it's not leaving...
RRR - Bosh's School of Hard(cover) Knocks
ps: for the mechanics around monarch: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/conspiracy-take-crown-mechanics-2016-08-15
RWU Narset, jeskai burn
RUB Marchesa the black rose
R Daretti, reanimator goodstuff
BU Vela, ninja assasin
UG Ezuri, woodland critters.
I think Queen Marchesa would be good in a control shell. Play her mid to late game, then wipe the board, you get to draw an additional card an the end of your turn. Run a bunch of board wipes, spot removal spells and planeswalkers to ensure you keep the monarch. It seems pretty nasty actually, because if you can prevent players from attacking you, it's a very powerful emblem to have.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Also, I think a Curse deck that punishes those who steal your crown would be very interesting.
Curse of Bloodletting
Curse of Death's Hold
Curse of Exhaustion
Curse of Shallow Graves
Curse of Stalked Prey
Whoever attacks you gets a curse, which makes it highly political given Marchesa's ability of creating tokens, the cursed opponent gets attacked and becomes Monarch, then Marchesa sends her assassin to steal it back as the said Monarch has no blocker left.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
An Alesha that doesn't feel like it wants to stick to small creatures if it doesn't have to, that promotes aggression and provides card draw.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
Will she be released on MTGO. It's my primary EDH fix, and I need her ASAP. Can you say Assasain Tribal? Yes, I can, 100 million times.
And would be a beautiful foil to boot.
On the other hand, she carries the "curse" of Power 3 and that means that she can't fit into the 99 quite as well either. She's just that 1 power more of being the dream card-draw provider for the deck, hence tempting me to just put her as Commander without changing the theme, but that brings about another whole issue of awkwardness.
EDIT: Never mind. Just when I posted this, Protector of the Throne was previewed and that's what I needed in Alesha for my card-drawing fix. Power 2 for the win!
As she isnt up on the Con2 spoiler page here yet I'll put her stats in here then delete/ autocard when available.
Queen Marchesa 1RWB
Legendary creature - Human Assassin
Haste, Deathtouch
You become the Monarch on ETB. At the beginning of your upkeep if you are not the Monarch you get a 1/1 B assassin creature token with Haste and Deathtouch.
So the first properly open ended mardu commander and with becoming the monarch involved it will get you drawing cards too, the haste and deathtouch is also pretty sweet. Then when you loose the card advantage you get hasty deathtouch tokens which is icing at this point.
What direction would you take a deck with new Marchesa as the commander? Personally I would think of a token based strategy so that you can keep hold of the card advantage for as long as possible but mardu colours also have access to some of the sweetest abilities and creatures in the game so im torn.
BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
Use the time and card advantage to play lots of removal and wait for your chance to slam some sweet titans.
Recruiter of the Guard is pretty nuts. I'm glad it's just a rare. Lots of EDH decks will be really happy to get their hands on this guy.
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect