blazestudios23, thanks for the suggestions! Card draw can be tricky when trying to balance the other themes of the decks. Have you tried adding something like Smothering Abomination ? Adding cards like Altar's Reap , Bankrupt in Blood , Costly Plunder , Live Fast , and Sign in Blood are all pretty swell. If you're feeling like being generous, Seizan, Perverter of Truth is great, since he spreads the love and the cards.

Mana is solved through the use of handy trinkets like Ashnod's Altar , Phyrexian Altar , and the signets. Maybe I'm just extremely lucky, but the number of games that I've been mana-screwed has been pretty low. Palinchron could be added in for kicks, if you're hurting for mana.

My hesitation with Black Market is that it takes a while for it to get up and running, and it usually gets removed before it can contribute anything remotely useful. I might add it to the sideboard, in case I'm playing another deck with a lot of creatures dying, but I don't think its inclusion would be merited by my creatures alone. Phyrexian Tower would be absolutely great if it weren't a once-a-turn kinda thing. After I tap it, either for one mana or two, it becomes a dead card until next turn.

Neheb, the Eternal makes it a little tricky to keep my opponents' life totals in check, which is necessary to make sure Marchesa, the Black Rose 's Dethrone ability triggers. Sure, the extra mana is nice, but keeping my opponents' life totals in check until I'm ready to end the game is easier done without Afflict. While Scourge of the Throne looks like it would be an awesome card, I would only consider it to be a win condition. Again, this ties into makuing sure my opponents' life totals aren't so low that I wouldn't be able to trigger Marchesa, the Black Rose 's Dethrone, which the deck is based around.

Thanks so much for your suggestions! You've definitely given me more options to consider!

I_TappedWrong, I actually ended up cutting Archaeomancer for underperformance. If there are any other ETB creatures that fit in the theme of the deck I'd be interested in hearing about them though.

Thanks for the suggestion!

any reason why you choose Greed over Arguel's Blood Fast  ^Flip? i know its 2 cmc to activate but its a 2 drop and would help round out your CMC curve sense you have a large number of 4 and 3 drops. i would also consider running Moonlight Bargain over Phyrexian Arena i know it seems crazy but phyrexian arena takes so long to become profitable. i would also consider running Talisman of Dominance and Talisman of Indulgence over the Izzet Signet type cards. Solemn Simulacrum is just so good in this type of deck with a sac outlet.

I_TappedWrong, I chose Greed over Arguel's Blood Fast  ^Flip specifically because of the higher per-turn cost of the latter. Sure, it may only be one mana, but that one mana might be the difference between me drawing an extra card that turn or not. Greed does have a higher initial cost, but it seems worth it to cut the per-turn cost down to one.

I'm not seeing the advantages of Moonlight Bargain over Phyrexian Arena . I don't really need to wait for the Phyrexian Arena to become profitable, since it starts netting me an extra card the turn after I play it. Moonlight Bargain is a one-time use card, whereas Phyrexian Arena sticks around until someone decides to deal with it, potentially causing someone to waste some removal. If there was an enchantment that had wording along the lines of Moonlight Bargain I would consider including it in the deck, but I don't think that particular instant is going to find a slot.

As for the talismans, they don't seem as versatile as the signets. I'd be hard-pressed at times to choose between the two options a talisman provides, versus just filtering another color through a signet and getting two colors back. I like the fact that the talismans cost life to activate though, so I may run a few games with the signets swapped for the talismans to see how they perform.

Thanks for the suggestions! I look forward to testing out any edits I make to my deck.

PS: As for Solemn Simulacrum , there's no denying that it's a great card with great effects, but I don't think it fits the theme of the deck well enough to warrant its inclusion. For this particular deck, I like stealing permanents permanently more than I like getting an extra land drop and a card each turn. It is helpful, but I wouldn't want to cut any cards that sculpt the deck's themes just to include Solemn Simulacrum .

Bazaar Trader you steal their creature tap this little guy and you keep it forever. Willbreaker and Jalira, Master Polymorphist . id also look at some Yasova Dragonclaw decks they might have some good blue/red cards you could possible use sense she is the threaten effect queen.

Phyrexian Tower also got a reprint also worth an include

I_TappedWrong, thanks for the thoughtful suggestions! I feel like Bazaar Trader would be better replaced by a cheap sac-outlet, since I'd need to have him out for a turn before using him, and can only use him once a turn, and would still have to find a way to steal the creature from my opponent initially before using him, which is what the sac-outlets in the deck are for. Willbreaker has always been a maybe for me. It seems super fragile, and would be a huge target. Most of the instants/sorceries in the deck steal stuff anyway, so his ability might be redundant, but there are definitely times when the ability would be very useful. I may test a few games with Willbreaker in the deck to see how it performs. Jalira, Master Polymorphist is a cool card, but paying three mana and tapping her to get the next creature from my deck onto the field doesn't really fit the theme that I'm going for. I like the fact that she's a sac-outlet, but I'm not crazy about the cost or the tapping.

My beef with Phyrexian Tower is that it either provides just one or two mana at the cost of sacrificing a creature and tapping it. I like my sac outlets to be reusable during the turn, in case I steal more than one creature. I might try to sub it in for something like Conjurer's Closet , since that card is kinda in the same boat as a once-a-turn deal, but I'm not entirely sold on its inclusion just yet.

Good idea to check out other decks designed to steal stuff. I took a great deal of inspiration from other steal-y decks and came to the current decklist. I'll be sure to scope out some other decks with similar properties to see if there are other places where I van trim the fat.

Thanks so much for the thoughtful suggestions!

You don't tap Phyrexian Altar . Or Ashnod's Altar , for that matter.

jdinkhouse, very true! That's why both of those cards are in the deck. They rarely disappoint when on the field.

High Market and Phyrexian Tower are like a condom in a sac deck, tho its better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it. its not taking up a slot in your main deck its just a land with an ability that promotes the theme of the deck its worth an include. there is a new card that came out its an uncommon Macabre Mockery idk how well it will work but something i cracked this weekend and the art is awesome on it as well. rakdos has amazing art this expac

Hey, have you seen Guildmages' Forum ? I think it would be great with Marchesa.

chiri Guildmages' Forum is a great card because unlike Forge of Heroes and Opal Palace it works with multi colored spells other than your commander but all the cards i stated are worth an include in a marchesa deck just for the use on marchesa alone. however he does only have 3 multi colored spells other than his commander.

May I sugest as a removal option giving a formidable blow to adversaries?

Picture Obliterate with marchessa´s ability

chiri, thanks for the suggestion, but I'm gonna have to agree with I_TappedWrong on this one. Guildmages' Forum is a neat card for certain decks, but I'm not sure if it would be useful enough in this one. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Dr.Jones, thank you for the suggestion! I'm not sure if I see a good usage for cards like Obliterate , Jokulhaups , and the like in this deck. I'd only ever use them if I stole literally the whole field with something like Mass Mutiny , or Insurrection , and both of those cards are essentially win conditions already, especially if I have a sac-outlet on the field to ensure that I can keep my plunder. Sure, knocking out my opponents' lands, creatures, artifacts, etc. is fun, but it doesn't necessarily fit the theme of the deck. Please do let me know if I'm missing an important line of play in which the cards would be advantageous, but otherwise I'm not sure if they have a slot in the deck. Thank you for the suggestion!

Speaking of stealing It That Betrays and you could pair it up with Keldon Firebombers and steal a lot of lands in the process

Hey Shinwizzles, nice list! +1

Here's a version I made for under $30: Black Rose [Budget]

It's a got a huge pool in the maybeboard, check it out.

No one mentioned Flayer of the Hatebound . Auto-include, imo. With a sac engine, it does at least 9 damage at the end of each turn (36+ damage by your next upkeep)!

Geralf's Mindcrusher similarly mills 10-40.

Brine Shaman is cool.

Feast on the Fallen ?

On theme, I'm seeing neither Molten Primordial nor Mob Rule . There's also Macabre Mockery and Overtaker .

Abyssal Gatekeeper , Fleshbag Marauder (and friends), and Profaner of the Dead are brutal. I would definitely swap out some of the lesser betrayal ( Portent of Betrayal , CMC 4+, etc) for these.

Graft: I feel like Graft + Sac Engine + Marchesa is very strong. The only way your opponents can clear this combo is to waste a ton of removal (3+ to remove Marchesa), or wait for your Graft trigger (if you overextend your combo). Vigean Graftmage protects Marchesa immediately on turn 4. They're also good fodder, like anything with Undying, to feed things like Altar of Dementia once each turn.

Shout out to Demon's Herald ! I've been looking for an excuse to play Prince of Thralls ... Maybe it's on-theme? I love these two.

Cheers!

Merged my maybeboard with this list if you need more Marchesa cards.

Hey there fellow Black Rose player.

I've played Marchesa from the day she was spoiled and it's my all-time pet deck! So I've created a sub over on Reddit reddit.com/r/MarchesaTheBlackRose/ for all things Marchesa. It'd be great if you could come over and help create a space for this cool commander.

Cheers!

I_TappedWrong, I absolutely love It That Betrays , but I don't think I have many cards in this deck that cause my opponents to sacrifice their permanents. I really like that combo though, and might have to try it out in my Jhoira of the Ghitu deck. Thanks for the suggestion!

Strangelove, Thanks for the compliment! I'll be sure to check your deck out too! I ran Flayer of the Hatebound when I was testing the deck out to see if I wanted to put any money into it. I like how it performs, but the mana cost is pretty steep. It also only counts if the creatures come from my graveyard, whereas Marchesa, the Black Rose usually takes creatures from my opponents' graveyards. Similar deal with Geralf's Mindcrusher . Really cool card, but the cost is a little too steep for the effect. Think I might need to add that one to my The Scarab God deck though, so thanks for the recommendation.

Brine Shaman is pretty cool, but I dislike the fact that I have to tap it to sac a creature. I try to keep my sac outlets repeatable, in case I need to evacuate my field for whatever reason.

Molten Primordial was alright when I first played the deck, but the cost wasn't worth the effect. More often than not, only one or two players have creatures worth stealing. Tried Mob Rule and wasn't a fan of the performance it gave. Maybe I was using it wrong.

Abyssal Gatekeeper , Fleshbag Marauder & Co. are great for keeping opponents' fields empty, but that isn't necessarily what I want. I steal my opponent's Sun Titan (or whatever) using Portent of Betrayal (or another stealing card), swing at the opponent with the highest life total to trigger Marchesa, the Black Rose 's Dethrone ability, sac Sun Titan to the Phyrexian Altar , Ashnod's Altar , etc., and then the Sun Titan is mine for keeps! I do make thorough use of the Abyssal Gatekeeper , Fleshbag Marauder , etc. in my Meren of Clan Nel Toth deck, and they're absolutely great in that one! Just not too sure if they fit the theme here.

Macabre Mockery is pretty great. I might have to find a spot in the deck for that. Thanks for pointing it out to me! I like Overtaker too, but the cost of 4 mana and a pitched card is pretty steep.

Graft seems like a neat idea, but I'm not sure if it'd fit in with the rest of the deck too well. Cytoplast Manipulator would be the only Graft card I might consider. It seems pretty fragile, to be honest.

While I absolutely love the effect of Prince of Thralls the sheer cost of getting it out is too expensive, even with the Demon's Herald ability.

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions! I'll be sure to check out your deck and see if I can make any recommendations as well.

Thanks again!

Cytoplast Manipulator is very good with Marchesa, you can give you critters +1/+1 when they come in play then sac it, bring it back and get more counters on it. Additionally you can give your opponents creatures +1/+1 counters and steal them. It very much fits with the theme of your deck.

blazestudios23, I've been toying with the idea of adding Cytoplast Manipulator to the deck for some time now. I suppose I should at least give the card a try, it certainly does fit the theme.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll let you know how it performs!

Shinwizzles I don't understand why everyone is thinking you can steal Commanders with Marchesa. So when a commander leaves the battlefield (or gets put into exile/graveyard/hand from anywhere for that matter) it's controller can opt to apply a replacement affect where it gets put into the Command Zone instead. A creature "dying" means that it goes from the battlefield to the graveyard. When a commander dies and its controller opts to use the replacement affect, it goes directly to the command zone and never goes to the graveyard. Even IF it did go to the graveyard first (which it doesn't, but just for kicks let say it does) Marchesa still has a ruling saying "If the creature card leaves the graveyard before the delayed triggered ability resolves, that card won’t return to the battlefield, even if it’s back in the graveyard when the delayed triggered ability resolves".

Long story short, you can't steal commanders unless, for some odd reason, your opponent chooses not to use the replacement effect when their commander dies.