Slashdance

Glen Elendra Archmage is already in my list. I don't think I have anything that outright wins the game with the GEA and Mikaeus combo at the moment, but that's just personal preference. It would be easy to sub in Goblin Bombardment or etc to make it work though.

dlombart

Etrata, the Silencer is too narrow and slow of a card for me in most situations I think. Similarly, as alexjustdoit pointed out, Nautiloid Ship requires a bit too many hoops for my tastes. You need: an opponent with decent cards in their grave, 3 power to crew it with, to hit with it, and then obviously 4 mana to play it in the first place. Ultimately I think it's also suffering from being a bit too slow / bulky of a card for most games.

alexjustdoit & Lokotor - Thank you for your input. I admit that Nautiloid Ship is quite an expensive graveyard hate card at 4CMC. My reasoning was that as an artifact, it gets around potential creature board wipes/removal, and sits in the game as a potential big body that can block (crew at instant speed), or that you steal the best removed creature of an opponent. Marchesa could be easily the creature I use to crew it, since in most cases, I don't use her to attack the moment she has her +1/+1 counter. My Marchesa build is leaning heavily on the ideas of Lokotor (very inspiring, thank you!), but I try to slip in some theft cards too (although I try to make sure that it's not the only thing they do). Nautiloid seemed a good option, as a primarily GY hate card, and possible theft card too. A worse (and back-up) Dauthi Voidwalker.

Lokotor

Is Malevolent Hermit  ^Flip a card worth substituting Mari, the Killing Quill for ? If so the recursion of it until you can slam down Wurmcoil Engine might create some synergy.

As for Imperial Seal though which sorcery is on the chopping block for it ?

Quodan

Malevolent Hermit  ^Flip doesn't really fill the same role as Mari, the Killing Quill it's a control piece, rather than a card advantage piece. I considered Hermit for a time, but felt that Glen Elendra Archmage and Voidmage Prodigy fill that role better due to fewer restrictions/caveats and better synergy with the rest of the deck generally. It's not a bad card, but I think it's slightly outclassed in some ways. Depending on your meta it might be a good include over an alternative removal oriented card. Banewhip Punisher for example I like since it tends to create good board control and is useful in creature metas, but if you're more worried about non-creatures then it could be a good substitution.

I don't personally think Imperial Seal is all that worthwhile. It's much worse than Vampiric Tutor as the main advantage of being instant speed so you can cast it right before your turn is lost, and it's worse than Demonic Tutor since you need to wait to get it from the top of your library. If anything, I guess I'd cut Diabolic Intent. Even then, I value getting access to the card right away pretty highly. With Diabolic Intent you're trading the requirement of needing a creature in play for the need to either wait a turn or have a cheap card draw effect available. Depending on how much card draw you run it could be better for you, but in a vacuum I wouldn't make the substitution. If you're in a combo focused build then you want as many cheap tutors as you can get, so the analysis changes a lot, but in a more midrange-y, value based deck like I play it's just not as much of a priority.

With regard to possible synergy effects with Mari, the Killing Quill, what do you think of Massacre Girl? Despite its assassin type, it also makes a good board wipe. The CMC is rather high, though.

tappedout__

I think Massacre Girl is definitely a good fit in some lists. I think she's outclassed as a board wipe by cards like Toxic Deluge and Cyclonic Rift for example. But, if you didn't have $30 to spend on a card, I'd recommend her for sure. As far as synergy with Mari, the Killing Quill, it's definitely a playable card in that respect, but I think in my particular list it isn't the best fit. (Could be a good add to my budget list though!)

Doh. I swear I looked to see if Glen Elendra was in the list and didn't see it. Oops. Sorry 'bout that.

Seize the Spotlight is very nice here. Typically it's going to draw 3 essentially for free, which is the lesser of 2 evils for your opponents.

Last_Laugh

I agree, Seize the Spotlight is definitely a playable card. It fits well as a replacement for a lot of the popular card draw spells people run like Read the Bones or Painful Truths, for example.

Personally I'm not sure I need the effect given how I have ~12 card draw permanents, but it is something I had looked at. In my list I had considered cutting Omen of the Sea, but decided I preferred to have the consistency of effect moreso, as well as generally preferring the card selection of seeing up to 5 cards with it.

Omen looks at 5 for 5 mana but only actually draws 1. Seize draws 3 while leaving the same amount of mana you started with open still. Net 3 for free or net 1 out of 5 for ... seems like an easy swap to me.

Last_Laugh

For me the big factor was the inconsistency of Seize the Spotlight. I figured a pretty significant chunk of time it would be draw 1. There's plenty of times a player just wont even have any creatures, or where they only have some irrelevant creature. 2R for "kill 2 creatures draw a card" is ok still, but my priority was card selection/advantage over removal so I ended up not taking it. If you've been playing it have you found that you're regularly getting draw 3 as the result?

It's definitely a good option, but I have also been considering swapping from Omen of the Sea back to Impulse or Watcher for Tomorrow for example as well, since as you pointed out it's expensive to get the full value from it.

Nice primer! I recently picked up a Marchesa as a potential deck transition for my Anhelo, the Painter deck. This isn't a suggestion, more so an inquiry, but did you ever use Herald of Secret Streams?

My rough draft list has quite a few overlaps with yours, and I was wondering what creatures you've cut recently that seemed exciting at first, but you felt under-performed.

Crow-Umbra

If you take a look at the Notable Exclusions section I address a few of these.

For Herald of Secret Streams, I don't think granting our creatures evasion is all that important in a Marchesa list as you can clear the board out pretty effectively usually. If they have no blockers then all our creatures are unblockable.

I haven't made too many changes to the creatures section in general for some time now, but usually it's also not based on a card underperforming or otherwise lackluster. Usually a card is just replaced because something new comes out that fills that role more effectively. eg Arcbound Worker > Iron Apprentice. arcbound worker was quite good, but iron apprentice is just a bit better. Similarly, Solemn Simulacrum > Atsushi, the Blazing Sky solemn was a perfectly fine card and was good to recur each turn as it provided card advantage and ramp, synergized well with things like arcbound worker, and was easy to cast, but Atsushi gives more ramp and more card draw per use. so even though I don't have them right now, I would still generally recommend either of those cards.

I'm generally happy with the distribution of things like draw, ramp, control, aggro, etc, so I try not to change those numbers around too much. For example, I wouldn't cut Arcane Denial for Dire Fleet Daredevil as they don't have the same purpose. So for some cards, like Watcher for Tomorrow I just cut them because they were occupying the same card slot as some other new card I wanted to try, and naturally, something has to go to try the new card. But it wasn't necessarily because they were worse than the replacement, so much as it was just a convenient substitute.

Thank you for the detailed response Lokotor, I appreciate it. I totally missed your Notable Exclusions section last night. It was fairly late and I was chatting with a friend about some of his brewing ideas. I'll check it out in more detail. I enjoy reading through detailed primers with updates from played experiences.

Atsushi is an exciting card. I've enjoyed it as Casualty 2 target in my Anhelo deck, and recommended it to my friend for his Henzie "Toolbox" Torre deck.

Love to see a higher powered Marchesa out there, your deck seems super tuned!

Read through your primer, I wanted to note that Mirage Mirror is a super strong include and you've convinced me to add it to my Marchesa. The official ruling on Marchesa is that as long as the card is a creature when it leaves the battlefield, it will return to the battlefield as its front side. I considered Mishra, Lost to Phyrexia  ^{Meld  Meld} for this reason. Getting Mishra  ^Meld out, melding with Phyrexian Dragon Engine  ^Meld, then returning both cards from the grave if the back side dies would be decent. Decided against the include as it's a slow synergy, still powerful though.

Reading through your notable exclusions page, it seems like you have half my decklist in there... Ouch. Was going to ask for tips but your primer is in depth enough that there are more than enough takeaways. Thanks for all the effort you've put in to that!

As for your considered cards, Thran Vigil is a favourite of mine. It isn't fantastic, but in my slower meta it hits hard. It's a reliable source of counters on your returning creatures. Just added Uncivil Unrest to my deck, it seems super promising.

Have you considered The Ozolith? I don't see it on your exclusions/maybe pages. It's done very well in my deck, especially after a Chasm Skulker blows up.

Me again, dropping a few more cards that I'm currently playtesting.

Dockside Extortionist - Can definitely understand if you're not running it on principal, extremely strong though.

Ledger Shredder - Also very strong, good card selection. I play a bit more recursion than you so I like discarding creatures, but could have a home here.

The new Backup cards are decent. Can mess with your timing a bit as their backup effect only lasts until EOT so you'd have to activate during the end step.

Mirror-Style Master is expensive but the effect is great, especially if you can give her haste and have her backup someone else.

Saiba Cryptomancer - More backup, 2 mana flashed in hexproof. Not fantastic admittedly as it'll generally come back during end steps, but pumping her up with The Ozolith or other sources has worked well for me.

Scorn-Blade Berserker - More backup! 3 mana + a lamb for two cards? Not bad.

Voldaren Thrillseeker - Backup. Deals damage equal to power for 1 mana, not the best backup. I'm taking scorn blade over her

Terror of the Peaks - I get that you're not running flayer etc. But wanted to bring this card to mind anyway. 5 mana 5/4 flying is fine on its own, but couple it with the fact that it deals damage equal to power on ETB? Very good card.

Thundering Raiju - Lots of direct damage here along with a touch of +1/+1 counter distribution.

Lethal Scheme - Free, instant speed removal that distributes counters? Fantastic.

Reins of Power - Haven't had this one pop off in a game yet, but it seems decent. The most efficient mana:creatures stolen ratio I've been able to find. Only downside is Marchesa can't be on.

Aetherworks Marvel - Haven't had a chance to get this one out either, but free cards? For the measly cost of sacrificing creatures? Sounds good to me

scotchtapedsleeves

Glad you found the primer helpful! to respond to some of the suggestions etc:

I actually am running Dockside Extortionist! I have been since it released pretty much. Similarly, I am currently running Scorn-Blade Berserker and Lethal Scheme and they've both played very well so far.

Cards like Terror of the Peaks, Thundering Raiju, Flayer of the Hatebound etc. aren't necessarily bad cards, they're just aimed at a different strategy than I am playing. I run more of a control oriented aristocrats build, whereas they're geared more for an aggro aristocrats strategy. Marchesa can definitely be a home for these kinds of cards and that would be a perfectly fine deck, just like how Threaten based builds work well too, but I think an aristocrats control shell is the strongest over all and so whenever I'm evaluating cards it's usually to ask how they specifically fit into That strategy.

I've considered Ledger Shredder but it's ~$20 and I'm just not convinced it's exactly what I'm looking for (though it's certainly a good option so I'd say go for it if you have one) on a similar note, I'm also looking at Faerie Mastermind which fills a similar role, but also is a Rogue which plays well with my (perhaps foolish) desire to make Mari, the Killing Quill work in this deck.

Reins of Power sounds like a fun trick to pull off, especially if you have a free sacrifice outlet around. You can use it to stop a deadly attack from coming your way, to open someone up to another player's attack, or just to wipe a single player's board. Lots of ways to take advantage of it. Could even re-cast Marchesa after playing it to permanently steal a bunch of creatures from someone. I don't really play into the theft style deck that much as you can see though, since my goal is more to prevent everyone else from having anything to begin with.

Canoptek Tomb Sentinel is something I've added recently for dealing with enchantments.

I'm also down on the Rogue subtheme, to make Mari, the Killing Quill work. Even wanted to make Etrata, the Silencer work, with the "3 hit counters and you lose" ability. But to much hassle to win, esp. in my powercrept playgroup. But, I am revisiting Bitterblossom for that rogue-subtheme reason. What's your take on Bitterblossom, for not including it in your list? It keeps you from the throne, has evasive rogue tokens, and therefore synergizes well with other cards in your list (e.g. Oona's Blackguard).

My most updated list MTBR isn't on TappedOut, but I'm still following your primer, since I've always liked your expertise on this commander.

dlombart I am mainly using Moxfield these days for deckbuilding, but I do keep this list updated here since a lot of people still use it.

I think Bitterblossom would be a good option if you are leaning more heavily into the rogue theme. As it stands I have ~2 cards that care about rogues and that's not quite enough I think for it to matter that much, so I'd consider it more in a vacuum, and at that point I've always thought of the card as being mostly just "Okay".

1 life and a 1/1 flier every turn is the kind of slow value we are generally looking for, and early game, or when Marchesa isn't out, it can be useful as a source of disposable sacrifice fodder. But since it's a pretty slow card, later in the game you're unlikely to get that much value from it. Especially where you usually have your engines built anyway.

Ultimately I've been thinking leaning into the rogue subtheme isn't the way to go as far as optimization, but I've just got a soft spot for the strategy for whatever reason.

The good news is that Gonti, Lord of Luxury and Faerie Mastermind are testing pretty well (though I am likely going to kick mastermind to another deck of mine), so the strategy isn't wholly without merit. I might give BB a shot if I push more in that direction, but it's just missing a few pieces still i think.

As of now, the only real payoffs I've seen are Mari, the Killing Quill and Prosperous Thief, with the latter not being that great really. There are a couple lords and some marginal payoff cards like Notorious Throng that are perhaps playable, but require a bit more commitment than I think they deserve.

Mari has the upside of being one sided grave hate (and even with nothing else going on that's pretty valuable) and she is self enabling, so even without much support it at least sort of works. Also, since she has deathtouch, she is relatively nice to have out as an attacker or blocker. overall, I find that she's a good enough card to play without supporting cards, but having a few pieces like Bitterblossom, Gonti, Faerie Mastermind, and Dauthi Voidwalker generally is just gravy on top.

Overall, that's a long way of saying Bitterblossom is reasonable to include in your list, especially with cards like Mari, the Killing Quill and Oona's Blackguard hanging around. I'd give it a shot sometime and see how it plays.