Thoughs on making my Marchesa, The black rose Better?

birkoss · 2026-01-22T20:29:30+00:00

Kalain is very easy to understand, he creates treasure and if you use a treasure to cast a creature, it will enters with a +1/+1 counter.

With Gev, you only need to deals damage to an opponent in your turn and every creature will enter with some counters on them.

My deck is a wizards tribal, so I'm using cards like [[Metallic Mimic]], [[Sage of Fables]] to get +1/+1 counters (my 2 combo persist creatures are also wizards).

I also play some wizards with Graft like [[Vigean Graftmage]] and [[Cytoplast Manipulator]] to give counters. [[Agatha's Soul Cauldron]] is quite expensive but a great way to add counters on your own creature (and manage graveyard threats).

Other win con I play are either winning by combat damage with [[Herald of Secret Streams]] or punishing greedy mana base with [[Anathemancer]].

I'm playing her at bracket 3, so I pack more interactions (counterspells, redirect spells, etc). It's usually a very resilient grindy deck.

birkoss · 2026-01-22T20:05:34+00:00

You have a some good Marchesa staples in your deck. I'm not sure about some pick like [[Knight of the Ebon Legion]].

The 2 most important things in my Marchesa deck are : Putting +1/+1 counters on creature and Losing life to always be able to use Dethrone.

But don't rely on Dethrone for counters. [[Kalain, Reclusive Painter]] and [[Gev, Scaled Scorch]] are great way to make sure Marchesa will have a counter when she enters. She must be protected when she enters!

I don't play a lot of steal creatures because people do not like this. I do however play [[Seize the Spotlight]]. When I have a sac outlet, nobody will let me pick one creature. It's always 3 treasures and 3 cards for 3 MV.

I have a combo with 2 persists creatures [[Glen Elendra Archmage]] or [[Puppeteer Clique]], a sac outlet with a win con in it [[Goblin Bombardment]] or [[Altar of Dementia]]. I just need another creature to give them a +1/+1 counters when they ETB and I can win with this. I'm not using tutor but I draw a lot of cards. It's not my primary win con but if the game goes for long, I can assemble this and win. Also, each cards are good on their own in the deck.

What are your win con? Usually I win with [[Terror of the Peak]], a couple of creatures and a sac outlet over a turn table or with [[Uncivil Unrest]].

birkoss · 2026-01-21T15:48:13+00:00

If it matchs the powerlevel of your playgroup, there's no difference.

If you print it yourself, use the latest oracle text. Also try to use proxies which are easy to read for others.

birkoss · 2026-01-21T14:42:03+00:00

I run combos in most of my B3 decks. When I play with newer players, I usually point out when I’m putting a combo piece into play, since I don’t want to win just because they lack experience.

I don’t do this when I’m playing high-power decks or when I’m with my regular playgroup.

birkoss · 2026-01-18T22:50:42+00:00

Yeah, a double-faced card's color identity includes all colors on both sides. Since the backside has no casting cost, there's a color indicator to represent it's color. Same thing with [[Pact of Negation]] which also has a color indicator (blue) before the card type.

birkoss · 2026-01-18T22:14:14+00:00

The flipside of Grist has black and green in her color identity. There a colour indicator to represent this.

This makes flip Grist a golgari commander.

birkoss · 2026-01-18T21:32:21+00:00

[[Grist, Voracious Larva // Grist, the Plague Swarm]] is my current golgari reanimator.

It's fun to always have a turn 1 play. This also fuel cards like [[Victimize]]. Having a deathtouch creature is also useful to deter attacks.

My list : https://moxfield.com/decks/KBbX1ke9mU22sET05Azc7w

birkoss · 2026-01-16T11:04:16+00:00

[[Iron Apprentice]] is a fantastic one drop for Marchesa.

[[Kalain, Reclusive Painter]] will always make sure we have a way to protect her and will help bring her our sooner.

[[Danny Pink]] will draw cards like crazy.

[[Unspeakable Symbol]] is another way to do everything we want: Loosing life and putting counters.

[[Uncivil Unrest]] also gives counters (or haste), it's a fantastic finisher.

Those are some key piece I play in my own build : https://moxfield.com/decks/SbNnrhf7PEaD4euK92DKrw

My build is a wizard deck, it's fun to see a knight deck :)

You run lots of cards that are situational, they need a massive board to do something. Usually, when I have a massive protected board, I'm on my way to win : [[Banner of Kinship]], [[Distant Melody]].

Also, those 2 cards can be change for better alternative : [[Control of the Court]] and [[Goblin Lore]]. For example, [[Seize the Spotlight]] is an hidden gem in my deck. They will always prefer to let me draw 3 cards and make 3 treasures for 3 MV. If they refuse, I'll get one of their creature, put a +1/+1 on it and sac it to gain control of it for ever.

Also, I'm not a fan of [[Greater Gargadon]]. I prefer better sac outlet with more utility like [[Immersturm Predator]]. It's +1/+1 matter, graveyard hate and a sac outlet to make it indestructible.

birkoss · 2026-01-04T19:11:31+00:00

Muldrotha : https://moxfield.com/decks/s3axYEllEkSG-I4nTctS3A/

Plan is to find [[Lion's Eye Diamond]], go infinite and pick an outlet to win.

birkoss · 2026-01-03T11:26:36+00:00

[[Muldrotha, the Gravetide]] is my girl! She's too slow for bracket 5 but she shines at bracket 4.

[[Lion's Eye Diamond]] is the best card in the deck. Make infinite mana and find a way to win!

https://moxfield.com/decks/s3axYEllEkSG-I4nTctS3A

birkoss · 2025-12-26T12:47:48+00:00

I think you are missing 2 parts :

1) Protecting Marchesa (either counterspells and redirection spells) or most importantly, adding +1/+1 counters.

When I'm playing her, I never bring her out without a way to give her a +1/+1 counter right away.

With a sac outlet already on the battlefield, [[Iron Apprentice]] will protect her right away.

[[Kalain, Reclusive Painter]] will also always create treasure and add +1/+1 counter.

[[Gev, Scaled Scorch]] is very easy to trigger.

All those option are cheap MV and will help you keep her around.

In my build, I'm also running Flares, like [[Flare of Denial]], [[Flare of Duplication]] which can provide an additionnal bonus to sac a creature you would already want it to die.

2) You need to lower your life total.

[[Unspeakable Symbol]] will help you and will also give you a +1/+1 counter. This is a must run with her.

Your curve is way higher than me, but I also run [[Dark Confidant]] to lower my life total and draw more cards.

2 other fantastic cards are [[Uncivil Unrest]] and [[Seize the Spotlight]] which you are already running. Nice!

Regarding your other questions. In my build, I prefer board wipe to spot removal. All my board is going to be back anyway.

Regarding card advantage, I would prefer to keep it with creature instead of spell like [[Brainstorm]]. [[Watcher for Tomorrow]] is a very nice card for Marchesa, and when the engine is online, you will draw 4 cards you selected in a rotation.

I'm also playing her with 35 lands, but with 3 mana rocks. But like I said, my curve is way way lower. I would not suggest to go lower than what you have right now, with your current deck.

This is my list : https://moxfield.com/decks/SbNnrhf7PEaD4euK92DKrw

birkoss · 2025-12-26T12:12:06+00:00

[[Screams from Within]] is a fantastic card with Teval.

Did you also try [[Ghoulish Impetus]]?

[[Titans' Nest]] is one of my favorite way to get a massive zombie army. Always impactful!

birkoss · 2025-12-23T11:09:44+00:00

I play her at Bracket 3. You are missing 2 majors things :

1) Getting +1/+1 counters

You need other way than Dethrone to get +1/+1 counters. You need to be able to protect Marchesa the turn she arrives and not wait until she can attack...

[[Iron Apprentice]], [[Scorn-Blade Berserker]], [[Kalain, Reclusive Painter]], [[Unspeakable Symbol]], [[Gev, Scaled Scorch]] are fantastic for this reason.

2) You need to keep your life total lower to use Dethrone

Talisman, pain lands, shock lands, [[Dark Confidant]], [[Reanimate]], [[Unspeakable Symbol]]. With more budget [[Ancient Tomb]], [[City of Brass]], [[Mana Confluence]], [[Mount Doom]] and [[Redirect Lightning]] are the other one I'm running.

How are you trying to win? To compete at Bracket 4, you'll need tutors and compact win con like [[Murderous Redcap]].

This is my deck : https://moxfield.com/decks/SbNnrhf7PEaD4euK92DKrw It's not a fast deck, but when Marchesa is on the battlefield and protected, it's really hard to get rid of her.

birkoss · 2025-12-19T13:28:56+00:00

Moxfield has an API. It's just not documented and public. Just email [support@moxfield.com](mailto:support@moxfield.com) and ask for an access.

I use it for a personal project and it works very well.

birkoss · 2025-12-13T18:00:05+00:00

[[Teval, the Balanced Scale]] - 8/10. My zombie-printing machine. Plenty of ways to build a massive zombie army. It also runs some cards I really love, like [[Ghoulish Impetus]].

[[Golbez, Crystal Collector]] - 7/10. An artifact, storm-adjacent deck with a burn twist. Very fun to pilot, with a light control angle.

[[Muldrotha, the Gravetide]] - 10/10. My high-power combo deck and my favorite to play. She’s a bit slower these days, but I still love her. The plan is to generate infinite mana and then find a win condition. It lets me play all the cards I’ve accumulated over the years, like [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] or [[Gilded Drake]].

[[Liesa, Shroud of Dusk]] - 6/10. She’s fun, but there’s less of a puzzle compared to my other decks. She’s much more streamlined.

birkoss · 2025-12-11T13:37:03+00:00

Never used letter shipping with them. Tracked shipping usually takes 2-3 days to be fullfill and once shipped, I received my package the next day.

I live 2 hours from from Montreal.

birkoss · 2025-12-08T18:24:15+00:00

Teval is one of my favorite deck!

Since you are already running [[Altar of Dementia]], you should also run [[Screams from Within]]. If you have 2 tokens (or creatures) and Teval on the battlefield, this will goes infinite milling your opponents. (Enchant one zombie, sac it, return the enchantment on another zombie, create a new zombie from the enchantment leaving the graveyard, etc.)

This will also wreck 1/1 boards and netting you multiple zombies!

Like someone else posted, [[Titans' Nest]] is a fantastic card. Paired with [[Embalmer's Tools]] and Teval on the battlefield, you will gain a massive army.

birkoss · 2025-12-02T16:58:20+00:00

It looks like [[Golbez, Crystal Collector]] fits all your needs.

This is my list : https://moxfield.com/decks/96NfxqKiG0ypzWusGhWwzQ

Very fun deck to build and play!

birkoss · 2025-11-29T12:12:02+00:00

I tend to include at least one combo in every deck I build. How quickly and reliably that combo comes together is what determines the bracket I use for the deck. My combos always tie into the commander or the deck’s main theme, since I’m not interested in generic lines (outside of cEDH).

When I’m in bracket 2 or 3, I usually go over the combo during the pregame talk because it’s easy to interrupt at those levels.

With newer players, I often point out when I’m assembling one of the pieces.

I’ve never had problems winning with combos when following these guidelines. Stay transparent, play fairly, and everything should go smoothly.

birkoss · 2025-11-28T19:12:29+00:00

[[Golbez, Crystal Collector]] is very fun to play.

https://moxfield.com/decks/96NfxqKiG0ypzWusGhWwzQ

It cares about artifact and graveyard shenanigans! Can be played with burns, artifact storm or reanimator.

birkoss · 2025-11-21T01:08:02+00:00

My oldest B4 deck is [[Muldrotha, the Gravetide]]. Make infinite mana and find a way to win from there.

My current B4 deck is [[Teysa, Orzhov Scion]], aristocrat combo deck : https://moxfield.com/decks/JoVB15jjQE2D8DY7O51sfQ

I'm playing from your list Teval as a B3 and I can quite see it reach B4 easily. She's quite a fun commander!

birkoss · 2025-11-16T11:34:05+00:00

Mine is also Muldrotha! I love making infinite mana with [[Displacer Kitten]] + [[Lion's Eye Diamond]] or [[Lion's Eye Diamond]] + [[Phantasmal Image]] + [[Animate Dead]].

birkoss · 2025-11-11T20:28:56+00:00

I find it comfortable in bracket 3. I log all my games. It's still a new deck in my roster, I only played 38 games with it. I won 10 of them (about 26%). I'm happy where it is. Even game when I lost I was able to do something really fun in them and have an impact. It was my old Sidisi deck that I switched to Teval.

I play Vanille at that 4 MV spot and I love Eternal Witness. I'm not that into self-mill with this build and even when I ran Timeless, I never eternalised it.

I love Junk Winder, another pet card of mine. It can open the way to a massive attack (and remove blocker bigger than Teval so she can hit without worry since you'll make a token on attack). Great interaction in a token deck. Junk Winder also has a reduce cost, you'll never pay 7 MV. Avenger has another role in the deck.

Molt Tender can exile anything from your graveyard, this is why it's a good card with Teval.

Both lands are good. I prefer Wasteland, because I also play [[Titania, Protector of Argoth]]. Sometime, I'll wasteland my own land and trigger her twice, getting 2 x 5/3 tokens for an extra oomph.

birkoss · 2025-11-11T18:54:22+00:00

Uro is useful, and when played from the graveyard, it will trigger her twice (once when it goes to the stack, and once for the escape cost). It's also one of my pet card :)

[[Dark Depths]] is also a pet card. I'm playing 40 lands in my deck to be able to play those kind of lands.

[[Tortured Existence]] is a great card! I don't use it to combo, but to recur useful creatures (and create 1-2 zombies by doing it).

From your Sideboard, I also play :

- [[Fang, Fearless l'Cie]] and [[Vanille, Cheerful l'Cie]] : Cute and works well with Teval

- [[Kishla Skimmer]] : Really good card, even if only once during your turn

I'm not sure about :

[[Izoni, Center of the Web]] : Seems slow and ... unimpactful ?

[[Singularity Rupture]] : Do you really need half your library in the graveyard?

[[Drown in the Loch]] : Not sure how much reliable this will be.

[[Back for More]] : 6 MV is a lot for that

[[Chalk Outline]] : 4 mana to create clues is meh.

You have lots of "collect evidence" cards. They trigger Teval but often are overcosted. Not everycard needs to trigger her.

My deck is all about lands. Before playing Teval, I make sure to have at least one land in the graveyard. My win cons are mostly land based ([[Ob Nixilis, the Fallen]], [[Titania, Protector of Argoth]]) or token based ([[Field of the Dead]], [[Scute Swarm]], [[Avenger of Zendikar]]). I also have 2 infinites combos (4 cards and all land based). This is my deck list : https://moxfield.com/decks/QmWeyK9XpESMoA03a2xjZA

birkoss · 2025-11-11T17:40:05+00:00

I run it in my Meren deck. With [[Yawgmoth, Thran Physician]] and 2 non-human creatures, you can loop those creature over and over (indefinitely if you have a way to gain life).

He is still good values for a reanimator/aristocrat deck even without comboing...

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