Marchesa, What's Dead May Never Die

Commander / EDH* UBR (Grixis)

Howdie91

Other (32)

• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Crumbling Necropolis
• 1x Darkwater Catacombs
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Graven Cairns
• 1x Grixis Panorama
• 1x High Market
• 5x Island
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 5x Mountain
• 1x Shadowblood Ridge
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Smoldering Marsh
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 5x Swamp
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Watery Grave

Chopping Block (5)

• 1x Bearer of the Heavens
• 1x Flesh-Eater Imp
• 1x Ingot Chewer
• 1x Insurrection
• 1x Lawless Broker

WinCon (5)

• 1x Bearer of the Heavens
• 1x Flesh-Eater Imp
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Insurrection
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star

Removal (10)

• 1x Aura Thief
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Deadly Tempest
• 1x Ingot Chewer
• 1x Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Terminate
• 1x Vandalblast

Sacrifice Outlet (8)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Bloodflow Connoisseur
• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Flesh-Eater Imp
• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan

Another Creature (5)

• 1x Flayer of the Hatebound
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Harvester of Souls
• 1x Herald of Secret Streams
• 1x River Kelpie

Give Counter (5)

• 1x Cytoplast Manipulator
• 1x Lawless Broker
• 1x Metallic Mimic
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol
• 1x Vigean Graftmage

Token (3)

• 1x Chasm Skulker
• 1x Noosegraf Mob
• 1x Reef Worm

Commander (1)

Zone Trigger (7)

• 1x Aura Thief
• 1x Bearer of the Heavens
• 1x Chasm Skulker
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Lawless Broker
• 1x Reef Worm

Ramp (6)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence

Draw (4)

• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Harvester of Souls
• 1x River Kelpie
• 1x Viscera Seer

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Sideboard

To Cut (30)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Choked Estuary
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Dack's Duplicate
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Falkenrath Aristocrat
• 1x Feast on the Fallen
• 1x Foreboding Ruins
• 1x Grimgrin, Corpse-Born *oversized*
• 1x Helium Squirter
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Novijen Sages
• 1x Olivia, Mobilized for War
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Profaner of the Dead
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Sage of Fables
• 1x Sifter of Skulls
• 1x Siren Stormtamer
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Soldevi Adnate
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Tainted Isle
• 1x Tainted Peak
• 1x Temple of the False God

Draw (7)

• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Sage of Fables
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum

Ramp (6)

• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Sifter of Skulls
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Soldevi Adnate
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum

Give Counter (4)

• 1x Feast on the Fallen
• 1x Helium Squirter
• 1x Novijen Sages
• 1x Olivia, Mobilized for War

Sacrifice Outlet (2)

• 1x Falkenrath Aristocrat
• 1x Grimgrin, Corpse-Born *oversized*

Zone Trigger (7)

• 1x Baleful Strix
• 1x Dack's Duplicate
• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Profaner of the Dead
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum

Chopping Block (5)

• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Sifter of Skulls
• 1x Soldevi Adnate
• 1x Temple of the False God

Another Creature (3)

• 1x Olivia, Mobilized for War
• 1x Sage of Fables
• 1x Sifter of Skulls

Removal (3)

• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Profaner of the Dead
• 1x Siren Stormtamer

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Maybeboard

Wishlist (12)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Cascade Bluffs
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Riptide Laboratory
• 1x Sneak Attack
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine

Removal (8)

• 1x Abjure
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Counterflux
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Imp's Mischief
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Negate
• 1x Spell Pierce

Removed (3)

• 1x Banewhip Punisher
• 1x Dragon Blood
• 1x Smothering Abomination

Draw (4)

• 1x Baleful Force
• 1x Greed
• 1x Mindless Automaton
• 1x Phyrexian Arena

Combo (3)

• 1x Beetleback Chief
• 1x Benthicore
• 1x Nim Deathmantle

Other (1)

• 1x Taurean Mauler

Sacrife Outlet (1)

• 1x Blasting Station

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Win Condition Ideas

Not all of these are in the current deck, but I'd love some feedback on how well you think they'd work or any additional Win Conditions you can think of!Many of the creatures below are not in the final deck, but I wanted to share my research about Marchesa, the Black Rose in case someone else would find them useful.

Really Big Creatures

These are creatures that get permanently bigger when creatures (usually creatures you control) die. Once the engine is up and running, these things get T H I C C

• Gavony Unhallowed
• Havengul Vampire
• Khabal Ghoul
• Mortician Beetle
• Sadistic Glee
• Bloodflow Connoisseur
• Carrion Feeder
• Scavenger Drake
• Swarm of Bloodflies
• Rockslide Elemental
• Ob Nixilis, Unshackled

(Near) Infinite Combos

The great thing about Marchesa's engine is that there are several infinite combos, but many of the combo pieces are interchangeable. This translates into redundancy in the deck, but most importantly the combo pieces are good by themselves.I omitted any combos with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Glen Elendra Archmage because I can't afford them... yet.

• Flayer of the Hatebound/Geralf's Messenger/Geralf's Mindcrusher + Sage of Fables + Ashnod's Altar.
• Sage of Fables/Metallic Mimic + Puppeteer Clique/Glen Elendra Archmage + Goblin Bombardment/Altar of Dementia (Could use Metallic Mimic + any persist creature + relevant sacrifice outlets).
• Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Zealous Conscripts
• Flayer of the Hatebound + Any clone cards (Clever Impersonator/Dack's Duplicate) + Any persist creature (Puppeteer Clique) + Any sacrifice outlet.
• Metallic Mimic + Kokusho, the Evening Star/Gray Merchant of Asphodel + Any sacrifice outlet. This isn't infinite, but with a 4 person pod this is "opponents lose 5 life and you gain 15 each turn."
• Metallic Mimic + Any persist creature (Puppeteer Clique) + Goblin Bombardment/Altar of Dementia
• Archaeomancer + Time Warp + Any sacrifice outlet + Marchesa, the Black Rose +
• Grenzo, Dungeon Warden + Timestream Navigator
• Beetleback Chief/Benthicore + Nim Deathmantle + Ashnod's Altar

Take Control of Everything

If you control a creature with a +1/+1 counter on it and Marchesa is on the battlefield, you permanently gain control of said creature when it dies (if it hits the graveyard). These are cards that facilitate that playstyle.

• Mass Mutiny
• Insurrection
• Press into Service
• Mark of Mutiny
• Zealous Conscripts
• Molten Primordial
• Helm of Possession
• Grave Betrayal
• Sower of Temptation
• Mindclaw Shaman

Burn Everything

If you're in a very red mage mood, these cards are doing direct damage to players by sacrificing your creatures on each players turn.

• Flayer of the Hatebound
• Stalking Vengeance
• Purphoros, God of the Forge
• Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• Warstorm Surge
• Kokusho, the Evening Star
• Fanatic of Mogis
• Inferno Titan
• Bogardan Hellkite
• Triskelion
• Vicious Shadows

One Card Wonders

These are cards that, if their effects resolve, will likely win you the game. If your playgroup hates mass land destruction, avoid Bearer of the Heavens or Jokulhaups. If you resolve either of these MLD effect and you have any number of creatures with counter and Marchesa, the Black Rose out, you've effectively won the game.

• Bearer of the Heavens
• Jokulhaups
• Insurrection
• Scourge of the Throne

Date added	7 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	3 - 2 Mythic Rares 29 - 13 Rares 16 - 10 Uncommons 10 - 5 Commons
Cards	73
Avg. CMC	3.46
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Fish 3/3 U, Kraken 9/9 U, Morph 2/2 C, Squid 1/1 U, Whale 6/6 U, Zombie 2/2 B