Queen Marchesa

Duel Commander*

insanious

Land (40)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Badlands
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Eiganjo Castle
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Flagstones of Trokair
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Graven Cairns
• 1x Ifnir Deadlands
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Lavaclaw Reaches
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Needle Spires
• 1x Plains
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Shambling Vent
• 1x Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
• 1x Snow-Covered Plains
• 1x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Malice
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Temple of Triumph
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Wasteland
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Sorcery (23)

• 1x Armageddon
• 1x Balance
• 1x Collective Brutality
• 1x Council's Judgment
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Demonic TutorGC
• 1x Dreadbore
• 1x Duress
• 1x Gerrard's Verdict
• 1x Hymn to Tourach
• 1x Inquisition of Kozilek
• 1x Lingering Souls
• 1x Mind Twist
• 1x Radiant Flames
• 1x Rolling Earthquake
• 1x Sudden Demise
• 1x Sweltering Suns
• 1x Thoughtseize
• 1x Timely Reinforcements
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Vindicate
• 1x Wrath of God
• 1x Yahenni's Expertise

Planeswalker (9)

• 1x Ajani Vengeant
• 1x Chandra, Flamecaller
• 1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
• 1x Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast
• 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1x Gideon of the Trials
• 1x Kaya, Ghost Assassin
• 1x Liliana of the Veil
• 1x Nahiri, the Harbinger

Creature (3)

• 1x Goblin Dark-Dwellers
• 1x Hazoret the Fervent
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine

Commander (1)

Instant (19)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Blessed Alliance
• 1x Crackling Doom
• 1x Diabolic Edict
• 1x Dismember
• 1x Enlightened TutorGC
• 1x Fire Covenant
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Hide / Seek
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Lightning Helix
• 1x Mana Tithe
• 1x Murderous Cut
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Tainted Pact
• 1x Terminate
• 1x Unexpectedly Absent

Artifact (4)

• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Rune of Protection: Red

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Legend:

• Alter = Unowned
• Foil = Borrowed

Game Plan

Queen Marchesa is a control deck that tries to use the power of the Monarch to be able to 1 for 1 trade profitably. By giving you the ability to draw cards at end of turn you can use 1 for 1 removal and continue to grow your card advantage.

Typically you want to drop Marshesa when the coast is clear (empty enemy board / where they cannot attack profitably), then repeatedly wipe the board / use spot removal to kill everything your opponent ever plays.

Winning

Most of the time we win through planeswalkers. Once one is resolved, your usual game plan of kill everything your opponent plays in order to keep the monarch plays very nicely with keeping powerful planeswalkers alive.

We can also win through combat damage (kill everything your opponent owns and then swing with Marchesa every turn) however this is significantly less likely to be a wincon as she gets murdered relentlessly by your opponents.

Meta

My Meta is incredibly aggro focused. Few players play control decks and out of the ~40 people in the league only 2 play any amount of counterspells and there are only a handful of other control decks (like 20% control, 80% aggro). No one plays combo at all.

Usually we are looking at turn 3-5 kills by my opponents and we are just trying to survive the first 5 turns in order to win. They very quickly run out of gas vs. the monarch but also can get out of hand if they can steal the monarch using hasty creatures or if we stumble at any point.

Weaknesses

• Very Mana dependent; basically looking to get to 8 mana ASAP. Missing a land drop hurts A LOT
• Losing the monarch for longer than a turn or two usually ends the game for us. We have a very hard time getting the monarch back without re-casting our general.
• Colour Intense. We have A LOT of double casting cost cards in the deck and need to hit our colours very quickly to be able to cast our spells
• Has a hard time dealing with enchantments at all

Date added	7 years
Last updated	7 years
Legality	This deck is not Duel Commander legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 55 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.70
Tokens	Assassin 1/1 B w/ Haste, Construct 1/1 C Token w/ Defender, Elemental 3/1 R, Emblem Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Emblem Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Emblem Gideon of the Trials, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 W, The Monarch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink