No, Gideon of trials emblem only works if a Gideon planeswalker is in play. Kill Gideon before you would win or get him to a loss condition then kill Gideon.
Maralen of the Mornsong was a commander I tried for quite a while, I like playing a silly DoomsdayHellcarver Demon combo, which I wouldn't recommend as it was more convoluted than functional. Unfortunately, Mararlen's biggest issue is the table wide tutors and the influence other player will perceive from letting you and their other enemies tutor anything (also when the red player plays Stranglehold you all cry).
That all being said the best way to protect Maralen would be to make the game hard to play for your opponents. Put thing likes Ob Nixilis, Unshackled within as a relatively fast method for winning (13 life loss on each opponents turn is pretty harsh). Also running continuous discard effects like Necrogen Mists and Bottomless Pit will prevent anyone from building up with your tutor, especially if you also use cards like Mindslicer, Head Games, and Monomania (and Dark Deal).
According to the magic wikia, Marit Lage was a ancient immense force on Dominaria, but little else is known. The eldrazi are a party of the blind eternities a collection of forces existing at the birth of the multiverse. Ergo it's a safe bet the eldrazi existed first, but marit lage was conceived by wizards way earlier so...
This card is really strong for a control variant, with languish and the white field wipe, this can consistently put creatures out to block or agro and draw cards. I think it will do well.
Honestly there have been a few cards I think are rather interesting. Hardened Berserker Raid potential? And your dragons are cheaper. Mirror Mockery etb triggers, and static advantages could be useful. Ire Shaman is a 4cc 3/2 with mad skills and gives an extra card in the late game for agro
Surrak is probably one of the only good khans, nothing special I admit but better than nothing. Aven not only is a morpher, it can unsummon and gain flying, also it's a2/2 flyer for GU which ain't bad. Clever imposter also seems to be good here.
I totally want make temur morph so I like the idea here, but there's a few problems I see here, first off, cards like mindswipe and bear's companion are both particular bad. Add things like icefeather aven and surrak himself. Maybe add secret plans.
EDH naya has a new toy, (so does other color combos but of the established naya will currently trigger most often) Standard though we will have to see, with Worldspine Wurm saying its goodbyes, there really aren't many big creatures (except maybe Ashen Rider) that can take advantage of the cost to play it.
I want one though.
Eh, as the generals go I really like her, but until I see the rest of the set I can't approve right away that she'll be good. First off her ability only triggers once for however many monsters get thrown out, secondly the new JUNK general grave hates creatures, and thirdly she isn't very big, which although black, she still dies to a great deal of things.
Overall appraisal of the card, I love it, I would like it more if she worked more, but I think she's fun.
For now though just wait and see what Tarkir has to offer us.
So I should give my two cents, yes he's a 7/2 for five but he has no evasion gets chump blocked then dies to lightning strike or shock, and unlike falkenwrath noble which could evade all destruction, this guy only stops things on your turn, besides we still have bile blight and ulcerate in standard to remove him.
So I'm building this deck on the premise of the interaction with Obzedat, Ghost Council and Spirit Bonds, which allows you to put spirits into play each turn, along with the rather irrelevant (generally) ability to om-nom-nom a spirit to save Obzedat. This isn't meant to be competitive, although I will be going into a tournament with it, I need to know what kind of cards I should worry about answering, what kind of cards I should add or remove to deal with the threats of standard today (I don't play standard much). Enjoy the stupidity.
You can insert the appropriate lands as you wish, honestly without tech lands to play with I'm not going to bother about adding the land ratios and amounts.
That all being said the best way to protect Maralen would be to make the game hard to play for your opponents. Put thing likes Ob Nixilis, Unshackled within as a relatively fast method for winning (13 life loss on each opponents turn is pretty harsh). Also running continuous discard effects like Necrogen Mists and Bottomless Pit will prevent anyone from building up with your tutor, especially if you also use cards like Mindslicer, Head Games, and Monomania (and Dark Deal).
As for wincon you may find that pretty hard, without board wide protection, things like Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon and Blightsteel Colossus may be your best bet, because slower instant wins like Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond can be more easily countered by a quick naturalize tutor.
I had to read this twice before I was sure what it said, Grindstone every time you draw... as an uncommon enchantment. Not too bad I'd say.
Not really enough on it's own for a mill in standard but it is a good start.
Hardened Berserker Raid potential? And your dragons are cheaper.
Mirror Mockery etb triggers, and static advantages could be useful.
Ire Shaman is a 4cc 3/2 with mad skills and gives an extra card in the late game for agro
I want one though.
Overall appraisal of the card, I love it, I would like it more if she worked more, but I think she's fun.
For now though just wait and see what Tarkir has to offer us.
2x Obzedat, Ghost Council
4x Eidolon of Rhetoric
4x Ajani’s Pridemate
2x Nyx-Fleece Ram
1x Soul of Theros
3x Spirit Bonds
3x Blind Obedience
Artifacts: 5
2x Haunted Plate Mail
3x Pithing Needle
4x Raise the Alarm
3x Drown in Sorrow
4x Devour Flesh
2x Read the Bones
You can insert the appropriate lands as you wish, honestly without tech lands to play with I'm not going to bother about adding the land ratios and amounts.