Talk to me people!

I love this deck. Ordered most of the cards online and getting them today, so I will be play testing it. The few cards I decided to take out were:

Purphoros, God of the Forge -> Marton Stromgald (Hits faster and harder, at least I think so)Damnation -> Life's Finale (Budget reasons)Sneak Attack -> Kira, Great Glass-Spinner (Sneak attack is really good, however it is expensive, so I am putting in Kira for protection on my general)Scourge of the Throne -> [Nicol Bolas, Plainswalker] (Cant find this card in my city, so I replaced him with NIcol Bolas, see how it goes)Whip of Erebos -> [Zealous Conscript] (Whip of Erebos kind of goes against the deck, with it turning off Dethrone for all your creatures. Its good in a reanimator deck, but not this kind of reanimator deck)Skullclamp -> Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker (Don't have a Skullclamp, so I would replace it with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker)

I really like this deck, and it is really strong. Another card is Avalanche Riders, Shivan Harvest, and Grave Betrayal. I am new to this kind of Grixis Deck, first one in fact, so still kind of a noob. Hopefully my suggestions help and let me know how the playtest is.

Purphoros, God of the Forge -> Marton Stromgald (Hits faster and harder, at least I think so) I have noticed that Purphoros is a rather slow grind, and I like the Marton idea. I may have to try that. Need to get a copy first however.

Damnation -> Life's Finale (Budget reasons) Fair enough, have you considered Decree of Pain, since you are going the more expensive rout?

Sneak Attack -> Kira, Great Glass-Spinner (Sneak attack is really good, however it is expensive, so I am putting in Kira for protection on my general) Again, fair enough. I will mention that the sneak attack came off of a LOT of overtime, so I feel ya on that. Kira does interact badly with a few cards, but you can always sac it before playing them.

Scourge of the Throne -> Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker (Cant find this card in my city, so I replaced him with NIcol Bolas, see how it goes) I would like to encourage you to dig up a Scourge if you can. The original Bolas is really bad. A Bogardan Hellkite or a Scuttling Doom Engine would be FAR better in that slot imo. I am considering the doom engine myself but scourge has been amazing so far. I may replace the Purphoros with the Doom Engine.

Whip of Erebos -> Zealous Conscripts (Whip of Erebos kind of goes against the deck, with it turning off Dethrone for all your creatures. Its good in a reanimator deck, but not this kind of reanimator deck) I have been using the whip more as a safety valve for when my life gets very low. Also it lets me leave Marchesa in the GY to use later once without having to recast her. When she goes to exile you just move to the command zone. This can be huge as that cost adds up fast. The life gain can be tough to work around but I have enough ways to pay life to counter it, Erebos, God of the Dead and Unspeakable Symbol primarily. Slaughter is another great card to control your life total. Conscript is a fascinating idea though, I may have to try it.

Skullclamp -> Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker (Don't have a Skullclamp, so I would replace it with Kiki-Jiki) This I have to disagree with strenuously. Skullclamp is a MAJOR source of card draw, it is SUPER abusable in this deck, and the eventual card advantage is absolutely essential to keep up when decks start pointing all of their removal your way, and they will. I like Kiki-Jiki, and a spot could be found for him, but you really should get a skullclamp. 3 of the 5 new Commander decks just released have a skullclamp, so it should not be hard to pick one up. As a side note - ALL of your card draw pieces need to be valued highly. River Kelpie, Skullclamp, Sage of Fables, Erebos, God of the Dead, and Harvester of Souls, are your main pieces. Note that Skullclamp is the only non-creature in the list.

Other cards are Avalanche Riders, Shivan Harvest, and Grave Betrayal. I won't run Land D cards for the same reason I no longer run hand hate cards. This game is a social thing for me, I play magic to hang out and have fun with friends.

Grave Betrayal is a potent card though. I may have to try that out. Takes their critters AND puts counters on them. Good find sir.

So, reading is tech. Lifehax, somehow I thought you were replacing Scourge of the Throne with Nicol Bolas, not Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. Prolly because you spelled planeswalker as plainswalker, but still, reading is tech. I'm a dummy.

Anybody have any suggestions?

Talk to me people!

nice+

i like the Fleshwrither and Reef Worm and Bident of Thassa

thinking about those for my work in progress Marchesa the Blood Bender

Aura Thief is cool too.

do the tokens Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and the Feldon of the Third Path pop out end up sticking around if they get a counter on them before end of turn when they are sacrificed? or if they die during combat?

also why did you take out Thalakos Deceiver?

No, they will not get the delayed trigger from Marchesa's final ability per:
110.5f A token thats phased out, or thats in a zone other than the battlefield, ceases to exist. This is a state-based action; see rule 704. (Note that if a token changes zones, applicable triggered abilities will trigger before the token ceases to exist.)

As for Thalakos Deceiver, I already had Zealous Conscripts, which can take any permanent, and I needed space for other cards I wanted to fit in. In addition it has to attack to trigger its ability vs Conscripts triggering on etb. It's not a bad card by any stretch, and it may end up going back in, I'm just not sure what I would cut to fit it in.

Thank you for the questions

Fleshwrither might be goin in my deck... you have alot more 4cmc cards to pull than i do however marchesa is one of them. If she ever gets tucked into the deck with Chaos Warp or something fleshwrither could help get her back out faster. + most other 4cmcs are really good..

the fact that you dont have to tap fleshw to use the ability means he could attack, get a +1+1c with dethrone, sac before combat dmg, fetch, and return him at end of turn.

I also use Clutch of the Undercity and Dimir House Guard in addition to Fleshwrither. This lets me use the 4 drop spot as a toolbox.
A quick note on Fleshwrither, he has a major bulls-eye on him, specially after you have abused him in a game or two. He will tend to eat removal during the attack phase, because his ability is sorcery speed. I have found that I typically will just cast him and sac immediately for his effect.

Suggestions and comments welcome from all! Talk to me people!

Maybe you want a Helm of Possession? It's a powerfull effect and a decent sac outlet.

I have considered Helm of Possession, but there are multiple problems with it. One is that there are multiple creatures that have a similar effect. Anything with a body has better synergy with the deck than a non-creature permanent. Another is the prerequisites of having a creature present that you want to sacrifice, when you want to use the helm, and having a suitable target for the ability. Sac abilities tend to be vital to keep your guys from seeing the bottom of your deck or exile. We really need them to be viable at all times. Third and foremost in my mind is the mana cost (2) to activate the sacrifice ability. I was running Flesh Carver for a bit and I cut him for a similar reason. I find there are too many good free sac abilities in the game to be able to justify such a high (relatively) mana cost. Fair enough?

what about Obelisk of Grixis, Mistvein Borderpost, Veinfire Borderpost compared to the signets?

I run the signets and talismans because they cost 2. The deck runs heavy at 4cmc, so a turn 2 mana rock lets me play a 4 drop turn 3. A 3 cost mana rock is a full turn behind. Also, the borderposts come into play tapped. In general there isn't anything wrong with 3 drop mana rocks, but they need to do more than tap for a single mana. Case in point, I run Chromatic Lantern, which is 3cmc, but I do so for the color fixing it does for all my lands in addition to being a mana source.

How's your color-fixing? If you can afford to add some black symbols, Attrition could provide a fairly inexpensive source of spot removal that doubles as a sac outlet (a quality that upgrades it into an inexpensive and efficient source of spot removal). I'd consider it before Helm of Possession, personally. Really like the Claws of Gix in here--they must help tremendously when you need to mitigate the life loss from Phyrexian Arena, Unspeakable Symbol, and painlands.

I do think Viscera Seer is good enough to get a spot, especially since it doesn't require any activation cost. I'm not a huge fan of Phyrexian Obliterator, but I do understand the need for it to squeeze damage in against well-defended opponents. Mostly I see it as a spot removal magnet. Even several turns after I StP someone else's Obie, I sense the residue of its presence on the rest of their board and feel compelled to press my attack, just for good measure.

I always found Repay in Kind to be a really fun finisher in my own Marchesa deck. Feels pretty good to grind out a win by casting it with 1 player near death, another player stabilizing, and the Oloro guy at like 124 life. Just give yourself Dethrone triggers in three directions, then close it out!

And on the topic of mana rocks, what about Mind Stone as a replacement for one of the talismans? You forfeit the color fixing for a lategame cantrip, and it doesn't require that you pay life. I'm sure you know this, but Coalition Relic is superior to the other 3 CMC rocks mentioned in a previous post. I like it a lot.

As it stands, you run enough important artifacts to justify an Academy Ruins, which you can then use to recur the Mind Stone. It would also give you a backup plan for recurring Baleful Strix in the event that Marchesa is answered in response to you declaring combat.

Also, I think Power Conduit provides a useful effect that can help save Marchesa in a pinch. It also interacts nicely with the Coalition Relic. Both cards fit into the 70% camp, to boot.

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Wake the Dead i think wake the dead is perfect

Marchesa, the Black Rose + Sage of Fables + Wake the Dead works there too

Thanks for the suggestions spentbullets!

I ran both Attrition and Viscera Seer previously, please see the change logs. Both are very good, but the slots for sac outlets are limited. Claws of Gix went in Attritions spot. So far I have liked it. What would you suggest moving for either of them?

Phyrexian Obliterator exists because he wrecks combat math for my opponent. He is kinda like a subtle head nod at the guy next to me, "maybe you should go there instead". I haven't needed him to bust open an opponent's defense, but yes he would be great at that too.

Repay in Kind seems rather awesome, and as we do have several heavy life-gain players in our group, I will be picking up a copy. Now i just have to figure what to cut to fit it in...

Mind Stone is good but I need color fixing. The card draw in the deck is quite good, and both Baleful Strix and Solemn Simulacrum fill the same role, so I'm not worried about that. Coalition Relic is indeed better than the above suggestions, but it still costs 3. The only 3 drop mana rock that is worth it, imo, is Chromatic Lantern. Academy Ruins falls under the same reasoning as mind stone, but, it does have good synergy with the above mentioned critters. I will have to think on it.

And finally, Power Conduit. Really fascinating card, and cheap to cast and use. I have no idea how I could fit it in, but it is definitely something I will be thinking on.

I appreciate the suggestions fellas, please keep them coming!

Very nice griffstick. I will have to consider Wake the Dead. Not sure what I would cut for it, but the recursion niche is one I am trying to strengthen in the deck.

Thank you for the suggestions!

Ah yes, the difficult half of making card suggestions ;). I was holding off on suggesting any cuts until I learned which of my suggestions you might be interested in.

Let's start with the most interesting: Repay in Kind. The problem with this one is its CMC. 7 mana is a huge investment for a card that is, in all reality, a pretty bad early game draw. Repay is strictly closing tech, and the only card I can see you cutting for it would be Grimgrin, Corpse-Born. Grimgrin is a serviceable sac outlet and a decent source of spot removal, but I see his abilities as a bit too narrow and conditional. He's a creature, which is very good for Marchesa, but he's also 5 CMC and only truly pulls his weight if you can keep and recur enough resources to pay his steep untap cost. Alternatively, you can cut Shadowborn Demon if you're really attached to Grimgrin.

Slotting Attrition back in would mitigate the loss of Grimgrin as a sacrifice outlet, while also reinforcing your removal suite. If you feel like your card draw package is adequate, perhaps you could remove Bident of Thassa for it. I get that your creature density grants the Bident a huge amount of potential, but you can't always count on giving your dudes enough evasion to get them all through for combat damage. We're not exactly Edric, Spymaster of Trest, and I feel like Bident is susceptible to too many forms of spot removal.

In terms of color fixing, I'm inclined to suggest taking out both talismans in favor of Wayfarer's Bauble and Coalition Relic. The Bauble grabs lands, which are simply more resilient than mana rocks. Additionally, it can come down T1 and net you 2 extra mana by T3, and is a very good target for Academy Ruins, which I think you can squeeze into the Opal Palace slot (Marchesa is already fairly expensive, how often can you afford the extra mana in addition to the accrual of Commander Tax?) The Relic is versatile and could come in handy if you're planning on finding room for the Power Conduit. Cutting the talismans to add these would also help limit your own loss of life.

Speaking of Power Conduit, I hate to suggest diluting your creature base any more, but maybe this could go in place of Fleshwrither. I understand you run it to recover from tuck effects, and that you also run a large number of 4-drops to grab with it, but it requires an initial investment of 7 mana to get the first trigger. It's pretty interesting that you can reuse this effect with Marchesa, but if anything you can fall back on Rune-Scarred Demon for a bigger body and overall superior tutor effect. Fleshwrither also gets a lot worse if you can't recur him with Marchesa.

Last, and probably least, I think I like Viscera Seer better than Carrion Feeder. Feeder doesn't have trample, so even if you can make him arbitrarily large over the course of the game there's always that chance that you'll never get him through for damage. Seer's scry trigger provides you with immediate value, and might help offset the loss of Bident of Thassa, should you choose to cut it (y'know, quality over quantity). All in all, cutting two creatures total shouldn't be too detrimental to your game plan; 38 dudes is still very formidable and you'll still have all your bombs :).

TL;DR

-Grimgrin, Corpse-Born or Shadowborn Demon
-Bident of Thassa
-Talisman of Indulgence
-Talisman of Dominance
-Fleshwrither
-Opal Palace
-Carrion Feeder

+Repay in Kind
+Attrition
+Wayfarer's Bauble
+Coalition Relic
+Power Conduit
+Academy Ruins
+Viscera Seer

If I did my math correctly, the above suggestions shouldn't hurt your CMC at all. In fact, I think it'd even lower it a little! Let me know what you think.

Two more quick suggestions I just thought of:

-Clutch of the Undercity
+Vampiric Tutor

(Unless you're fond of actually casting Clutch of the Undercity).

-Toxic Deluge or Vandalblast
+Dictate of Erebos

Caveats: I love Toxic Deluge, and it's one of the best sweepers in my Chainer, Dementia Master deck. It is also useful here as a lifesink. Vandalblast is almost too good not to run if you're playing red, but it's also not much of a 70% card. I always feel bad when I overload it (and I pretty much always overload it, haha).

Justification: Dictate of Erebos is a more splashable Grave Pact with FLASH and would be a tremendously powerful control engine in a deck with 38 creatures and a general with built-in mass recursion.

I think you shoulh change Marton Stromgald for Molten Primordial or Wake the Dead but i dont think you should mess with the balance of color. So for Wake the Dead switch out Carrion Feeder. I understand what your trying to do with it i understand but in a late game after someone board wipes. And it put Mikaeus, the Unhallowed in the grave and Cadaver Imp as well. Or Sage of Fables goes to the grave and you let it happen to Marchesa, the Black Rose she is in the grave along with idk 5 other creatures including Zealous Conscripts. Perfect nows the time to cast Wake the Dead get all of them back but care the order at whitch they enter and exit the battlefied. If done correctly youll get one of the two of the decks best combos back on the board. Its a perfect card for this deck. As for Molten Primordial steal a bunch of creatures. Sac them and keep them with that combo you just brought back with Wake the Dead. If Molten Primordial's not big enough how about Insurrection for a huge board wipe thats heavly in your favor.