MTG Salvation

Oops! Didn't see it. But yeah, but you could use Obelisk of Grixis's slot for something else, then.

Yea, I've been trying to find the balance of mana rocks actually more difficult than the rest of the deck, I know it needs a nonzero amount for sure. Probably switch obelisk for that sol ring I need to add

Another M15 card I've been considering for Marchesa is Chasm Skulker. Leaves some guys after it dies and those can be sacrificed or grown if we attack with them. Still not sure what I'd cut for it though.

Chasm Skulker is good, but I don't necessarily see it doing good with Marchesa. It's a 1/1 that can easily die. And even so, it'll only pop out like one token - if any, upon dying. So, if your build is good as is, I wouldn't cut anything for it.

Yeah, lol. Sol Ring is a must - and Mana Crypt if you can manage it. It helps to keep your life down if you miss the coin toss each upkeep. That and it's a 2 generator that costs 0. Mana Vault can give you a good speed boost and could take 1 life away each upkeep - as does Phyrexian Arena and gives a draw advantage. Though I also run Necropotence which is boss - keeps dethrone in check and gives card advantage.

I won a very tight match today with my pet necrotic ooze combo. Gotta say it was awesome.

Necrotic Ooze on the board with Marchesa.

• Sage of Hours
  
• Grimgrin Corpse-Born
  
• Kiki-jiki, Mirror Breaker

in the grave.

I proceeded to trigger infinite turns through responses. An opponent responded by milling me out entirely. HE MILLED ME ENTIRELY. He then triggered relic of the progenitus. I thought for a moment, used ooze to make infinite dudes, and untapping them by sacrificing half my infinite tokens on top of that. Everyone conceeded after they expected me to just kill one player and draw to death my next turn. Heroes of the deck? Xiahou Dun for letting me entomb three times, and necrotic ooze for being absolutely busted.

Found an absolutely great piece of tech for getting through pillow forts. Aura Thief won me two games yesterday ending up in a complete blowout both times. It has now earned a fairly permanent spot in the deck.

Just and idea, game 1 I stole:
Xenegos, God of revels
Mirari's Wake x 2
Lurking Predators
Asceticism

I won on my next turn by a very large margin.

Game 2 I was facing a pillow fort of:

• Chromanticore
  
• Spirit of Resistance
  
• Collective Restraints
  
• Dueling Grounds
  
• Sigil of the Empty Throne
  
• Asceticism
  
• Privileged Position

And a few other obscure things that didn't do much to affect me although chromanticore had a lot of scary auras on it making it swing for 40+ (It's actually a house commander in our group because it should've been legendary).

Stole his board and killed him with his own chromanticore from out of no where while the table was thinking I had no outs was awesome.

One thing I need to address is how to prevent or stop some graveyard hate. It can really put a damper on the deck pretty hard.

Aura Thief is actually a great inclusion! Props! As to your graveyard hate qualms: remember that Glen Elendra Archmage counters any non-creature spell that may exile your graveyard and Cyclonic Rift bounces any nonland permanents (like Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void, etc.) that may remove your graveyard.

I fully plan on taking out the mana myrs for signets, and I might try and squeeze the talismans in there too. I'm actually having a difficult time cutting stuff at this point.

At least the talismans keep your life in check to help with dethroning.

Can I ask what does sage of hours do in the graveyard? I thought its ability along with grimgrin don't count for ooze cause they aren't activated abilities?

Edit: Nvm understand that sage of hours and grimgrin are activated abilities cause they have a cost

Just here to report that Chasm Skulker has been testing very well in my build (here).

I have lots of Pandemonium effects, so the damage adds up quickly with the tokens. I especially like it with Purphoros.

Sometimes it does nothing, but I can say that about a lot of creatures on my list. I feel that cards like Chasm Skulker has a high enough ceiling that it's worth the risk. It's awesome with Skullclamp too!

Edit: Just remembered the interaction with Sage of Fables. Draw a card for 2 is decent!

Oh wow Chasm Skulker and Sage of Fables seems really cool interaction. I havent gotten my Marchesa yet so I havent seen for myself.

I also have thraximundar and attrition but instead of greed I have Harvester of Souls

Wow i've been debating trying out chasm skulker, that interaction really warrants testing now.

Have you thought about trying out Thalakos Deceiver? Repeatable and permanent creature stealing for only 4 mana seems like it would be powerful in the right playgroups. Though if your group is very creature light then it might not be the best idea.

Thalakos Deceiver is awesome and I highly recommend it. If you can find room for both, Cytoplast Manipulator does similar things to the deck but in a different way. Each needs a turn before it can do its thing, in the sense that they each tap to use their ability (the former attacking and the latter using the tap symbol). TD has evasion, which is pretty big for the deck, and its virtually unblockable. This means as long as it survives through the combat step, you'll probably get its trigger. The problem is that it's a large window of opportunity for your opponents to deal with it (a whole turn cycle), which is why giving it Haste is pretty key (and why I include Anger). CM has a counter as soon as it comes into play, so if Marchesa is out, it's protected immediately with its Graft ability.

Rambly aside: Oh and hey it's a Wizard! Makes me consider just throwing in Riptide Laboratory and find a copy of Venser and switch my own Deceiver with the Manipulator. Makes Archaeomancer much better too. Hmm..! Maybe a Wizard subtheme would be good to push in the deck. Makes Voidmage Prodigy a lot better too.

Anyway, they each have their strengths and weaknesses, and it seems like it could be a fine plan to jam both into the deck if you like to steal things. I run Helm of Possession already so I feel like two effects is enough for me. I give the nod to the Deceiver because of the evasion and the more manageable casting cost (3U instead of 2UU).

Thalakos Deciever seems pretty sweet, but I've had no problems stealing creatures with cytoplast manipulator and sower of temptation. Both play well with unspeakable symbol and sage of fables.

CM has a counter as soon as it comes into play, so if Marchesa is out, it's protected immediately with its Graft ability.

Also make note that if CM is out and you cast Marchesa, you can throw a counter on her via graft as well. They play very well together. I highly recommend sower if you can get one though. It's such a good card for that effect.

Played a few games the past couple weeks. Flayer pulls so much weight, i ended a game copying it 3 times to kill everyone systematically at the table.

Cards that pulled their weight and then some this round:
Flayer of the hatebound: I killed someone at 330~ life with flayer triggers while he was behind a wall of rhys tokens, it was awesome.
Aura thief: This card is the talk of the group about being house banned. It's that good.
Venser, Shaper Savant: Bounced a glacial chasm in two different games allowing me to swoop in for the kill.
Fleshwrither: This card is nuts. It searches for any answer I want and can keep going. BFF's with our next stud.
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed:This guy is insane with living death, and gets big fast swinging for unblockable damage most of the time.

I highly recommend trying these guys out if you haven't already.

Things I need to add:
Chasm Skulker: Great synergy in the deck, I need to get one.
Imperial Recruiter: I need to get my hands on one of these guys. He tutors for around 20 of our creatures and recurring him seems awesome. $$$$$$$ though.

Have you thought about using Hatred? When paired with Whip of Erebos it is low risk and you can recur it with Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed or Archaeomancer.

I don't know how your group is on artifact but mine love to target any that is not indestructible I found Master Thief to be one of my most invaluable cards to get those nice indestructible artifacts they so love to play.

Master thief is an excellent suggestion, I'll have to test that. Its tutorable with fleshwrither too, so it has a lot of potential. As far as hatred goes, I never really general damage anyone with marchesa, this is more of an attrition deck, as it suited my style. I could see its potential uses for sure.

You should put Minamo, School at Water's Edge / Shizo, Death's Storehouse and most of all Hall Of The Bandit Lord to your lands.

Mark of Mutiny?

It's a kill spell with a sac outlet in play (plus the benefits of hitting someone else with their own creature), and it's permanent creature thievery with Marchesa out and a sac outlet in play.

And no Falkenrath Aristocrat? Is it the 4 mana cost that keeps you from running her? Its a free sac outlet that is nearly impossible to destroy with indestructible flying. At it's worse it deters flyers like a boss, and at it's best it can become a solid beater, Marchesa is a human after all!

Azami, Lady of Scrolls for card draw?

One final suggestion. Helm of Possession with Marchesa can have some crazy interactions. Steal an opponents creature by sacing your own guy that will come back, get a +1/+1 counter on opponents creature, sac, and reuse helm.

Quote from LastCrysis »

You should put Minamo, School at Water's Edge / Shizo, Death's Storehouse and most of all Hall Of The Bandit Lord to your lands.

Minamo isn't really abuse-able in this deck, as I don't run Nykthos or anything like that. Shizo is a great land, but i now run Urborg + Filth for entire unblockablilty. Hall of the bandit lord is pretty good, but i'm not sure I would cut a land for it. Entering tapped and not color fixing is something I'm trying to stay clear from. Urabrask and Anger have been plenty in all the playing I've done.

Quote from wex101 »

Mark of Mutiny?

It's a kill spell with a sac outlet in play (plus the benefits of hitting someone else with their own creature), and it's permanent creature thievery with Marchesa out and a sac outlet in play.

And no Falkenrath Aristocrat? Is it the 4 mana cost that keeps you from running her? Its a free sac outlet that is nearly impossible to destroy with indestructible flying. At it's worse it deters flyers like a boss, and at it's best it can become a solid beater, Marchesa is a human after all!

Azami, Lady of Scrolls for card draw?

One final suggestion. Helm of Possession with Marchesa can have some crazy interactions. Steal an opponents creature by sacing your own guy that will come back, get a +1/+1 counter on opponents creature, sac, and reuse helm.

Mark of mutiny is a good card, and I would certainly run it if I didn't run Sower of Temptation. Being able to recur it and tutor for it is just way good. Azami is great in dedicated decks, but she's very blue heavy. Instead of drawing oodles of cards, I find it very easy to attrition and outlast lots of decks in general. Also Aristocrat found its way back in, I missed it.

Now Helm of Possession?! Holy crap that thing is awesome. I'm ordering one tonight. That thing will be insane.

8/19/2014- Updating Decklist to What is Played.

(8/19/14) Big Update after a lot of testing. Deck is a force to be reckoned with.
Additions:
Rocks that speed me up and fix have been finally added.
+1 Sol Ring
+1 Sky Diamond
+1 Fire Diamond
+1 Charcoal Diamond
+1 Dimir Signet
+1 Rakdos Signet
Other Additions
+1 Feast on the Fallen This card is awesome in multiplayer, seldom does this not give you at least a counter on a turn rotation. Works wonders with Vela.
+1 Eldrazi Monument Funny story, I did an edh cube draft where I had this and Marchesa. Play it, it's stupid good.
+1 Chaos Warp Answers almost anything in red at instant speed. Too good to not run.
+1 Puppeteer Clique This card is wicked with recursion, especially when you get to re-recur other peoples stuff.
+1 Marton Stromgald I swung for over 1k with with him and a sakashima copying him on board. Oh did I mention you can tutor him too?
+1 Faceless Butcher Tutorable, recurrable, exiling removal that loves to be abused like oblivion ring. No idea why I wasn't running this guy.
+1 Falkenrath Aristocrat I missed having a tutorable sac outlet.
+1 Aura Thief The best answer to double hexproof-propaganda-sphere-of-safety pillow forts i have ever seen. Also steals lots of cool things like Mirari's Wake
+1 Necroplasm Token deck got you down? How bout a recurring board wipe?
+1 Badlands Got my hands on one
Removed:
-1 Viscera Seer Falkrath Aristocrat beats face and is tutorable.
-1 Ashling the Pilgrim Necroplasm does her job way better, killing tokens even when they are enormous.
-1 Iron Myr Replaced by better rocks
-1 Silver Myr Replaced by better rocks
-1 Leaden Myr Replaced by better rocks
-1 Nightscape Familiar Terrible placeholder really. Love that its gone lol.
-1 Voidmage Prodigy This deck plays better as aggro or tempo than control, also low number of wizards.
-1 Blind Zealot This is a good on paper, bad in play example. Bad slow removal that always does nothing.
-1 Archaeomancer Xiahou Dun works much harder, and never really did anything.
-1 Master of Waves Replaced by Marton Stromgald who is hideously overpowered in comparison.
-1 Zealous Conscripts Was never that great without Kiki-Jiki, and I never needed to combo kill anyone.
-1 Skullclamp Never really worked well in the deck, no tokens without master of waves as well.
-1 Chromatic Lantern Replaced by better rocks
-1 Darksteel Ingot Replaced by better rocks
-1 Obelisk of Grixis Replaced by better rocks

Quote from theonecalledrune »

Quote from LastCrysis »

You should put Minamo, School at Water's Edge / Shizo, Death's Storehouse and most of all Hall Of The Bandit Lord to your lands.

Minamo isn't really abuse-able in this deck, as I don't run Nykthos or anything like that. Shizo is a great land, but i now run Urborg + Filth for entire unblockablilty. Hall of the bandit lord is pretty good, but i'm not sure I would cut a land for it. Entering tapped and not color fixing is something I'm trying to stay clear from. Urabrask and Anger have been plenty in all the playing I've done.

Your play group must be nicer than mine as soon i start any of the Marchesa fun they like to tuck her, my last game she got tucked 2 times and there were 3 Stranglehold cards on the table. they also like to exile my graveyard allot so i like cards like Hall Of The Bandit Lord because they hate land destruction. land is sacred territory that my group wont touch. I got in trouble for playing a Strip Mine in one game.....Some lands just need to be killed. But as i was saying Hall Of The Bandit Lord is really strong utility card for Marchesa. 1 colorless mana that can be made into a black mana with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth gives haste to a creature when you don't have Anger or other means to get haste and most importantly it can bring your life total down if you are in a pinch if you use Minamo on it thats 6 life you can ride of to get your dethrone ability back. I don't use Minamo, School at Water's Edge to abuse it, but it can be use to untap on of your guys to give you a blocker, i Like to have a Block i can sac and the end of some ones turns and abuse its ETB ability then attack with it on my turn and get my +1/+1 back and then untap for a blocker again and you can use it to untap over legendary lands.

I usually dont walk into tuck effects, and run plenty of sac outlets to deal with that as well. By just playing aggressively and using fetches/shocks I usually manage to stay lower life than my opponents. Most times if Im at higher life its either early game, or i'm winning. Stranglehold is not really played in my meta, but land destruction is. My original list included jokulhops, which actually proved so strong that it I was tired of winning with it.