MTG Salvation

Thanks! Apparently I had a brain fart this morning and for some reason thought Living Death exiled the creatures on the field, then put them in the yard.

Needs more Mana Crypt. Gives you a coin flip every turn AND tons of mana!

Thrilling Encore
Living Death

I’m pretty sure I know the answer, but I wanted to be sure. If I cast Living Death while I have a large number of creatures on the battlefield, and after it fully resolves I cast Thrilling Encore, would I get back my creatures that had begun on the battlefield and ended up in my graveyard after casting Living Death?


I suspect the answer is no, because those creatures actually went to the graveyard from exile and not the battlefield, but I wanted to be sure.

Thanks in advance!

I think Decree of Pain would be a solid removal spell in place of All is Dust. AiDs is great, but the decree is more flexible, being able to be used early to either dig to hit your land drops or kill utility creatures, to being a wrath that gives you the gas to rebuild much faster than your opponents.

Patriarch's Bidding seems like it would be amazing in this deck as it would benefit you more than everyone else, but also allow you to overcommit to the build without much fear of it backfiring.

Since you're already going with big mana, have you considered In Garruk's Wake?

The Immortal Sun seems like it would be really good here, performing triple duty in the form of boardwipe pump, cost reducer, and a source of card draw. The 'walker effect would be the icing, and it would only affect the one planeswalker you currently use (which is what I could cut for the sun).

If you want something more stylish, I think Last Laugh would be pretty good in your deck, especially since you have a few sac outlets and some sources of massive life gain. I think this would be another way to close out games along with Gary.

Have you considered Sunbird’s Invocation? I have a Vial Smasher the Fierce/Thrasios, Triton Hero deck which has the same colors as yours, and like yours, rewards us for playing cards from hand. And like your commander, this also encourages you to cast high-CMC spells from hand to trigger additional spells.

Quote from Ryperior74 »

arena rector O_O a planeswalker version of Academy rectum (Emphasis added)

Haha, rectum! Kinda like funny autocorrect texts.

Hi Creed! I'll check out your list, but I'd first suggest you try posting this under the "Multiplayer Commander Decklists" you might get more responses. Also, your list would be easier to read if you separated your list by card type. If you need any help formatting a decklist, there's a handy link in my signature.

The only time I see Blood Pet is in an infinite combo Slivers deck.

Oh, and Evra, Halcyon Witness might be good.

My favorite life-as-a-resource cards: Necropotence, Erebos, God of the Dead
I might include Loxodon Warhammer as a good source of life gain.

There are a lot of great Marchesa decklists in the multiplayer decklists section of this site, I would start there.

I struggle with this too.

In an initial list, I like to separate my cards by function. Once I do that, I always seem to have a catch-all pile like “Utility”. I generally find that while those cards are cool or helpful, they don’t advance my deck’s specific game plan as much as other piles (like “Ramp”, “Removal”, “Recursion”). Therefore, I try to make my cuts from the most generic pile first.

Hope that helps!

This issues comes up. It seems like it should be a simple topic but my playgroup seems to struggle with it.

I have out a Razaketh, the Foulblooded in play under my control, and he is equipped with a Loxodon Warhammer and a Sword of Feast and Famine.

Opponent A steals my Razaketh, the Foulblooded with Act of Treason, and proceeds to attack Opponent B with same. The questions come up during combat, after damage is dealt.

Questions:

1) Who gains life? To me it seems pretty straightfoward that Opponent A gains the life from the Loxodon Warhammer.

2) However, what if the Razaketh was instead equippped with something that read "whenever equipped/enchanted creature deals damage, you gain that much life" (I'm having trouble thinking of such a card, but the concept is still something we're struggling with) Spirit Link. I would think that me, as the equipment's enchantment's controller, would gain the life.

3) Who gets the Sword of Feast and Famine triggers, assuming that the creature connects with Opponent B? I think I would get them and get to untap my lands because I am the controller of the sword, but Opponent A claimed that they get to untap the lands.

Edit: Thought of Spirit Link

I like the deck! Here are a few things I'd consider. I'll admit I haven't made a Marchesa deck yet, but I've played against a few, and I'm definitely familiar with Grixis colors.

• I think some of the best removal in your deck would be forced sacrifice via Dictate of Erebos and Grave Pact. These both play well into your strategy (killing your own dudes) and sacrifice is probably more powerful than damage-based removal like Blasphemous Act.
• Without doing a Gatherer search I'm not sure, but some type of Blood Artist cards might be another good win condition. I don't think Blood Artist is a wizard, but there are a number of creatures with that effect. It might even be worth running without the wizard synergy. Vela the Night-Clad could put in good work along these lines.
• Force of Will is strong, but you have such a strong graveyard recursion strategy that you might want to choose something that doesn't exile your stuff. Maybe Arcane Denial for the card draw or Swan Song for the cheap cost?
• I noticed twoof your tutors (Dimir House Guard and Fleshwrither) tutor for a 3 drop card. In looking at your list, none of your Combo or Win Cons are 3 cmc. Is there something specific that you want every game that's 3cmc? If not, there are likely more reliable tutors, something as simple as Vampiric Tutor or Beseech the Queen?
• Have you considered Bloodline Necromancer? Seems like good recursion and fits with your wizard theme. Apprentice Necromancer probably fills that role, but she requires you to wait a turn or have haste to benefit you.

Quote from thenickelphoenix »

Any recommended targets?

It really depends on your decklist, but some Pillow-Fort targets in mono white:

• Stoneforge Mystic
  
• Spirit of the Labyrinth
  
• Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
  
• Peacekeeper
  
• Aegis of the Gods
  
• Heliod's Pilgrim
  

I've tried a few mono white decks, and based upon your description of your deck (mono-white Pillow-Fort), I'm not sure if Ranger of Eos is an effective use of a card slot. Unless you're going aggro equipment, I think there are better choices, like Recruiter of the Guard, that can get you better (and more varied) targets.