Cutting to the point. I love Chainer, Dementia Master. I think he's got some really cool flavor, mono color's always a fun flex, but I have been eyeing Marchesa, the Black Rose for sometime now and I don't know if I want to think about a switch soon. I ran it by a couple of my buddies who I play with and they all think Marchesa is really cool (as do I) but for some reason I can't seem to commit one way or the other. Does anyone have something to add that could sway my opinion towards one of the two bad ass commanders? I know they have moderately different play styles, I'm prepared to make the necessary changes to accommodate Marchesa's playstyle.
I play Chainer in my Marchesa deck. Works really well in the deck to get off the throne.
I would guess that the difference is that Chainer wants to cheat big things into play, while Marchesa wants you to curve out. It is so powerful to go Viscera Seer into Oona's Blackguard into Fulminator Mage into Marchesa.
You could even play two different decks, I do not think there would be that much overlap.
She is definitely some orders of magnitude better, as you can setup so that it's really, really hard to remove your creatures, as they can keep coming back. So then they become immune to sorcery removal like Wrath of God, etc.
Obviously Chainer, Dementia Master is more fragile to removal, which let's be honest is the most important aspect to a successful deck.
The downside is that you're probably going to need to spend cash on making sure you have a nice Grixis mana base, and more money on signature cards.
I've been fine tuning a friends Marchesa, the Black Rose deck literally a few days ago, so if you want some help with deck list pop me a message.
As someone who has not played with either as the commander my interpretation of the two is that Chainer would rather play as a control shell who happens to play in everyone's graveyard where as Marchesa feels more like a value engine and is a little more proactive relying on your own creatures heavier.
Both of them are value but Chainer feels a little more reactive to me where as Marchesa feels more proactive instead of responding to the game. I don't think there is a right choice but I think they do have differences in how they should build.
Personally I prefer more mono colored decks because I find that they use less staples (Especially on the land front) which to me feels like my collection can go further and I can have more decks together at the same time.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
As someone who plays and thoroughly enjoys both of these commanders, I'd say it really comes down to what you're looking for in terms of playstyle. Marchesa isn't really a reanimator general in the classic sense. You're not cheating things into play, you're not taking advantage of discard or Entomb, you're not using the graveyard as a resource in the way Chainer can. In fact, you don't really want to be interacting with the 'yard much at all - it's a place where your creatures will sit for a phase or two, nothing more. Marchesa generally tends towards aggression (with a correspondingly low curve), ETB/LTB abuse and an insane level of resilience.
In all honesty, my suggestion would be to have both. There's not that much in the way of overlap between what the two commanders want - a few good black ETB creatures and sacrifice outlets and that's it really - and they play very differently. If I had to keep one, it would probably be Chainer - the ability to abuse other people's graveyards means there's always some new things for me to do in a game - although Marchesa is the stronger commander.
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I would guess that the difference is that Chainer wants to cheat big things into play, while Marchesa wants you to curve out. It is so powerful to go Viscera Seer into Oona's Blackguard into Fulminator Mage into Marchesa.
You could even play two different decks, I do not think there would be that much overlap.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
She is definitely some orders of magnitude better, as you can setup so that it's really, really hard to remove your creatures, as they can keep coming back. So then they become immune to sorcery removal like Wrath of God, etc.
Obviously Chainer, Dementia Master is more fragile to removal, which let's be honest is the most important aspect to a successful deck.
The downside is that you're probably going to need to spend cash on making sure you have a nice Grixis mana base, and more money on signature cards.
I've been fine tuning a friends Marchesa, the Black Rose deck literally a few days ago, so if you want some help with deck list pop me a message.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
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---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
Both of them are value but Chainer feels a little more reactive to me where as Marchesa feels more proactive instead of responding to the game. I don't think there is a right choice but I think they do have differences in how they should build.
Personally I prefer more mono colored decks because I find that they use less staples (Especially on the land front) which to me feels like my collection can go further and I can have more decks together at the same time.
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In all honesty, my suggestion would be to have both. There's not that much in the way of overlap between what the two commanders want - a few good black ETB creatures and sacrifice outlets and that's it really - and they play very differently. If I had to keep one, it would probably be Chainer - the ability to abuse other people's graveyards means there's always some new things for me to do in a game - although Marchesa is the stronger commander.