Seabody

I’ve actually disassembled my wish board because I found the only card I ever grabbed was Insurrection, so I just put it in the mainboard in place of Burning Wish. But basically anything that is situational but you wouldn’t want all the time is what you should include.

Abzkaban

Thanks again for the quick reply. I'm going to give the WB a shot and see how it goes - it may be unnecessary as my meta isn't overly strong.

What are thoughts on the lifegain sub-theme going on here? Sun Droplet seems out of place to me. How do Vampire Nighthawk & Gifted Aetherborn perform? I can see some upside with deathtouch and good Sunforger holders, but do they earn their places?

Abzkaban - you have a list?

Not Abzkaban, but I'll throw my 2 cents in here.

Vampire nighthawk has been great for me (flying is the real distinguishing factor here), gifted aetherborn ok, sun droplet was underperforming so I cut it and haven't looked back.

I've taken out a lot of the smaller lifegain effects to free up slots for other flex cards, haven't missed them. Bruse Tarl goes a long way, so does Sunforger (equipped to one of a few lifelink creatures).

In my experience/meta, if I was getting hit a lot it was too slow, when I wasn't getting hit a ton it was not very impactful, and the area of "just right" between the two were not often. Also, no go with Phyrexian Unlife and Solemnity out, both of which are useful cards in their own ways out side of this particular interaction. For those two reasons I cut it. Kambal can be nice, but also doubles as light stax so even thought its not the chunkiest of life gain, its useful a bit more often than say Sun Droplet.

If only Kunoros, Hound of Athreos had deathtouch instead of vigilance...

Seabody

A Game of Thrones

Commander / EDH Abzkaban

SCORE: 57 | 13 COMMENTS | 2594 VIEWS | IN 19 FOLDERS

It started as a budget version of this deck before it shifted to a more competitive meta. It also hasn’t been updated in a while. I’ve been running a few things not on this list like Bloodthirsty Blade and Dockside Extortionist. It also still has my Wishboard which I just net decked from here since I didn’t know what I might need. But like I said I almost never grabbed something that wasn’t Insurrection, so I thought why pay 2 more to be able to play it and just swapped it in.

alexjustdoit - makes sense. Perhaps I'm underrating Vampire Nighthawk. I suppose the lifegain effects help a lot when you are running things like Acidic Soil & Price of Progress (which I am currently not) which also hurt you.

Have you tried Kunoros, Hound of Athreos? My meta probably isn't resilient enough to fight against strong hate or stax, but I like that this guy does other things and being a creature is easier to remove (as opposed to something like Rest in Peace which could just lock someone out and does nothing against decks that don't utilize the yard).

Abzkaban - interestingly I just had a commission done for a Cersei alter of Queen Marchessa with Gregor and Qyburn assassin tokens, so I'm taking a similar GoT theme with my list. I'll post me list with the alters on here shortly.

How great is the Solemnity/Dark Depths package? I'd like to try it out but will need to cut some things like Assemble the Legion, Selfless Squire & Crescendo of War.

Thoughts on Assault Suit in a combat oriented build?

Seabody - the lifegain primarily helps with a) making it to the long game if you're like me and your list's apparent threat level has ended up slightly higher than this primer initially intended (I think this primer's current decklist is also suffering this somewhat) and b) keeping you at a decent enough life to fire off a non-turbo ad naus. Also Dark Confidant, necropotence, fire covenant, that sort of thing.

I dont run Acidic Soil or Price of Progress currently, but I do run wound reflection and Gisela which both help make those more effective.

Ive slotted in Kunoros but have yet to draw him in a game. Ive been keeping an eye out for situations however where I know I might want him, just to try and gauge how it will play out in general. I dont often go up against grave decks, so the extra utility that Kunoros offers is really what makes him shine over something like Rest in Peace which is too narrow unless your meta is full of grave decks. A lifelinker with evasion is always solid in my list as a sunforger wielder, and with wound reflection or Gisela can easily be a late game finisher.

Highly recommend wound reflection and Gisela.

Unsolicited opinion - Dark depths is fun, not really the most effective and can be a dead draw, but if you're running Solemnity and Weathered Wayfarer already, its better. Mirage mirror too, since that card is useful in a lot of scenarios. For this reason I've slotted it back in. Essentially, its not that great on its own, but if you're already running cards that help support it while being useful in other contexts, it starts to make a lot more sense.

Seabody

I like Dark Depths as a closer especially if my opponents are not as aggressive as I'd like to be. Between Solemnity, Mirage Mirror, and Thespian's Stage, there are multiple ways to cheat it out. Besides any unexpected aikido wins like Deflecting Palm, my wins will come from either Dark Depths or Master of Cruelties.

What are people's experiences with Mindblade Render? Seems pretty random and meta specific (good against najeelas)?

I’ve added it to my list but have yet to make use of it. Generally people aren’t going to stop one damage, so it seems like a decent source of card draw.

Abzkaban interesting.. I would've thought the opposite since it's a 1 power creature it would be very easily blocked (and probably even killed)

I think Mindblade Render is less for attacking people and getting the card draw off your own attack, and more for if you're playing in a higher power meta where people are playing Najeela a lot. I play in a really wide open meta of all power levels for example and I don't think it would be very useful at all.

Hey man, love the deck! I actually ended up doing the same list, but with HUMAN tribal. Exception being Vampire Nighthawk, and I might possibly swap Baird for Windborn Muse. I like archidekt a lot more, so here is the list: https://archidekt.com/decks/435947#Akido_Humans

Let me know what you think!

Alright aikido players - I need some brew help.

Over the last 6+ months I have played my version of this deck almost entirely exclusively, maybe about 10 games a week every week with a respectable winrate, and have come to know my list like the back of my hand (and it has over time gotten more similar to this list in many regards). BUT, I have reached a bit of an existential crisis and am stumped.

So, I come to you all for help. And I want to admit that first off, there might not really be a real answer to this question. Sorry in advance for all the text.

Over the last few months I have begun slotting combos, like Ad Naus/Sickening Dreams, then Dualcaster/Twinflame, then Smothering Tithe/Breach/Wheel of Fortune. They just synergize so well with the deck, and almost all of the combo cards or supporting cards (like Phyrexian Unlife) can be independently very useful. Which presents a problem. Winning via combos I have notices just isn't very fun for the rest of the table. Prior, games ended with a bang, laughs, and looks of incredulity around the table as I play opponents off each other and steal a close surprise victory. Now, it's just "huh ok so we all lose?" and straight faces. So whats the problem? I want to go back to having the deck make every game close, every player is satisfied and everyone loves it even when they lose; those games are the games that everyone remembers. "Just take out the combos" I hear you saying. So there's the rub. The combos I listed are so damn synergistic and work so well with the decklist and cards that I was going to run already anyway, that taking them out is like shooting myself in the foot for no reason (and my meta isn't low power enough to make it very feasible, it's probably about 80% on avg). The decklist that precociousapprentice has presented is exceedingly tight-knit in this way.

However, there must be a way to retain power level without relying on combos, and I think maybe I'm just not a good enough brewer to figure it out. This may seem superfluous to you all, but this niggling feeling just won't go away, and I can't quite work it out as much as I try.

Here's my list for reference, but really, we should all just reference the list in the primer here as a baseline IMO, easier that way and all the core slots are the same (if you're trying to play a tuned list, anyway).

Would love any help. I've been trying to brew with other Marchesa/aikido players on reddit a bit, but I don't think most people are playing a full tuned list, hence me coming here to the deck that started it all, and the one that is arguably the most powerful shell.

just for info, Blood Tribute doesn't double with gisela as it does not cause damage but loss of life.

alexjustdoit try to have a look to my Queen Marchesa version. I play combos inside the list because i play in a very aggressive metà but i think that it could be the middle way list that you are looking for.

This is such a cool deck design! I’ve never thought of building a deck with a structure similar to a martial art! I practice Krav Maga, and now I want to make a Krav Maga themed deck. It would probably be a Narset Pillowfort deck. Start on the defensive, protect yourself from all angles, wait for an opportunity to arise, and capitalize on it, neutralizing then enemy quickly and brutally. Now I’ve gotta make this deck! Thanks so much!

Wow Deflecting Swat. Seems pretty strong and relevant. Any other spicy cards from cmdr20/ikoria that people are looking at?

Elywood

Flawless Maneuver

Patolea yea that whole cycle is really strong, but I dont think I'd play the white one. I'd probably play the black one (Deadly Rollick) before that tbh. General's Enforcer is another interesting one that protects Marchesa while offering some gy hate

Enforcer is reeeeeeealy good, blockers, grave hate and protection for our Queen.

I think Flawless Maneuver will end up being less useful than Teferi's protection and Boros Charm.

I'm really liking Drannith Magistrate.

Agitator Ant, Frontier Warmonger, and Ruinous Ultimatum also seem fun but I don't think they will ultimately be good enough to keep in my list long term unless I like them enough to make the conscious decision to keep them over something that would be objectively better.

If anyone is interested I set up a discord server to discuss ideas, cards, strategy etc. revolving around Marchesa Aikido. You can join the discussion here:

https://discord.gg/mDP4vx

I read the primer before looking at the decklist and I'm... disappointed? Maybe I have missed something, but it looks like a generic pillow fort deck with about 5 pretty low impact lifegain/deathtouch creatures.

How does this deck act on the Aikido principles that a normal control doesn't?

Suozi did you read the whole primer/decklist? Normal control doesn't act on Aikido at all, this deck is very much so different from that.

alexjustdoit Maybe I'll need to read through it a second time. Cards like Master of Cruelties and Gisela don't show up main deck anymore. The deck also doesn't explain how neither the attacker nor the defender are injured - most of his Aikido cards reflect the damage back onto opponents.

I guess my question is: A control deck holds instant speed interaction to remove threats that are no longer being used on opponents. This deck doesn't remove their threats permanently, but angers the player getting smacked.Maybe I'll need to see it played out. It seems like it would just get beat down early (well, if anyone can oupace the half dozen fast mana rocks in it) and flounder late game.

There's a lot of aggression and no control in this player's meta as well. That probably correlates to how poorly I see it playing out for me.