MTG Salvation

I'd like to know what everyone's favorite commander deck is. Why did you pick the commander? How does the deck play? Why do you like it? He does it win?

I've made tons of decks that had political features but never a deck that really maximized on it. I'd love to know everyone's thoughts!

Not to toot my own horn but IMO my phelddagrif deck is sort of the apotheosis of political commander decks.

Phelddagrif is nearly unique in being able to offer positive incentives to manipulate people's behavior. No others come to mind that let you barter favors on demand like that. It's also a solid finisher and is rarely taken too seriously, which gives it a big advantage at playing politically.

I adore my Tasigur, the Golden Fang. It's about 70% answers and is built to play exclusively at instant speed. It's designed to work with everyone at the table so I can always get the "best" card in my yard from Tasigur, whether it's the next answer needed for a new problem, or more proactive cards that are "gifted" to me based on previous favors for other players. Nothing else feels more political.

I love the idea of passing Karona, False God around the table, letting the other players take turns smashing into each other with my commander. And, being in all five colors means you can pick and choose all the best political cards from each color. I've never actually put together a deck I felt real good about, but it's still fun every time.

Queen Marchesa is my favorite commander. I picked her because she did something different than any other commander that was available when she came out. She is can lay low, is very control-y, can be unexpectedly explosive, and she brings a political angle that most people don't really even realize is political. She often wins the same way that every multiplayer commander victor wins, she waits for her opportune moment and turns things around when someone else thinks they are about to win. She is amazing.

Quote from precociousapprentice »

Queen Marchesa is my favorite commander. I picked her because she did something different than any other commander that was available when she came out. She is can lay low, is very control-y, can be unexpectedly explosive, and she brings a political angle that most people don't really even realize is political. She often wins the same way that every multiplayer commander victor wins, she waits for her opportune moment and turns things around when someone else thinks they are about to win. She is amazing.

She is who I was thinking of using as well. Any thoughts on Mathas, Fiend Seeker?

I never tried Mathas because I never saw the point. You would think Mathas would incentivize others to do your work for you, but if I was playing against it, I would be less incentivized to do the work he asks people to do. I will get the card and life no matter who kills it, so why waste my resources? It may seem like a political commander, but I doubt it works out the way people think. When I look at a commander, I ask myself what I would do if I were playing against it, then build a game plan around making that good for me. Mathas would not do what people think if I was playing against it, and would probably give the Mathas player less value than it gives the rest of the table.

Nope, there is no other commander that does what Marchesa does. Check my sig. Politics done right.

Good points. If I go Mardu I'll make Her Majesty.

Quote from FearDReaper »

Good points. If I go Mardu I'll make Her Majesty.

She is strong. Monarch is not to be underestimated. I took mine apart, but she was good while it lasted.

Ulrich of the Krallenhorde deck I'm building :3 Opponents would have to actively invest into using him.

Queen Marchesa is definately one of my favorites. Having everyone chase around the Monarch Emblem while creating assassins is awesome.

A lot of love for the Queen. I'm convinced. I was wondering how often you find yourself in a scenario where only one person is interested in playing the monarch game, they steal it from you and then keeps it for most of the game?

Quote from FearDReaper »

A lot of love for the Queen. I'm convinced. I was wondering how often you find yourself in a scenario where only one person is interested in playing the monarch game, they steal it from you and then keeps it for most of the game?

Sometimes nobody cares about being the Monarch. This is fine: More cards for me. Sometimes people steal the Monarch. Also fine: More Assassin tokens for me, and they tend to inspire other players to attack them. Either situation is fine, really.

Worst comes to worst I go into Solitary Confinement and have being the Monarch replacing my regular draws, and it becomes really hard to steal the monarchy away.

You can't really ignore card advantage for long...

Quote from precociousapprentice »

Queen Marchesa is my favorite commander. I picked her because she did something different than any other commander that was available when she came out. She is can lay low, is very control-y, can be unexpectedly explosive, and she brings a political angle that most people don't really even realize is political. She often wins the same way that every multiplayer commander victor wins, she waits for her opportune moment and turns things around when someone else thinks they are about to win. She is amazing.

At this point I've read through most of your deck. It does look fun. I've played around a bit with what-you-would-call "aikido" wincons recently and it can be pretty amusing.

I think whether someone goes for something like Marchesa or something like Phelddagrif depends on what your goals are. I think your Marchesa has a somewhat different goal to my Phelddagrif deck. Your Marchesa deck seems like it wants to make the game as close as possible, so that victory is rarely certain. I'd imagine this could often make for more exciting games - games with Phelddagrif often tend to end with a bit of a whimper as I slowly beat the last opponent to death with Phelddagrif. I think in terms of really weaponizing politics to maximize win%, though, I'd argue my Phelddagrif is significantly more reliable. I also think it's a lot more likely to work in more powerful metas - lacking counterspells means there are a lot of threats you're just dead to, and if your crucial spell gets countered you don't have a lot of recourse (barring the small number of low-powered white counters that exist).

Anyway that's not to take anything away from your deck, it looks really interesting and I may try it out at some point. We're both using almost entirely the same principles of managing threat level, directing hate towards other players, surgical removal of threats while leaving the board powerful, etc, albeit with different means. I think it's worth pointing out that different decks can aim to accomplish different goals while abusing politics.

What do you guys think of this list? Is Mathas any good for the 99?

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/queen-marchesa-politics-1/?cb=1520454048

Edit: I see that the curve is a bit wonky, needs some smoothing.