Sexy B!tches Stealin' Ur Stuff

Commander / EDH Counters Rogues UBR (Grixis) Unblockable

Vallaris

Creature (34)

• 1x Captain Lannery Storm
• 1x Cunning Nightbonder
• 1x Dack's Duplicate
• 1x Daring Thief
• 1x Deepchannel Mentor
• 1x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
• 1x Etrata, the Silencer
• 1x Evil Twin
• 1x Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
• 1x Faerie Vandal
• 1x Falkenrath Aristocrat
• 1x Gwendlyn Di Corci
• 1x Hostage Taker
• 1x Keiga, the Tide Star
• 1x Marchesa's Infiltrator
• 1x Marchesa's Smuggler
• 1x Necropolis Regent
• 1x Nicol Bolas, the Ravager  ^Flip
• 1x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
• 1x Olivia Voldaren
• 1x Olivia, Mobilized for War
• 1x Oona's Blackguard
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Scourge of the Throne
• 1x Skyclave Shadowcat
• 1x Spark Double
• 1x Sprite Dragon
• 1x Stealer of Secrets
• 1x Tavern Scoundrel
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea
• 1x Thief of Sanity
• 1x Thieves' Guild Enforcer
• 1x Thieving Otter
• 1x Zara, Renegade Recruiter

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Geyadrone Dihada
• 1x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
• 1x Tasha, the Witch Queen

Land (35)

• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Crumbling Necropolis
• 1x Dismal Backwater
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Grixis Panorama
• 1x Hall of Oracles
• 9x Island
• 1x Mage-Ring Network
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Nesting Grounds
• 1x Rakdos Guildgate
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Steam Vents
• 5x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Peak
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Malice
• 1x Watery Grave

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Artful Dodge
• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Mass Manipulation
• 1x Shattering Spree
• 1x Slave of Bolas
• 1x Spoils of War
• 1x Tezzeret's Gambit
• 1x Torment of Hailfire

Instant (5)

• 1x Siphon Insight
• 1x Spell Swindle
• 1x Terminate
• 1x Tragic Slip
• 1x Vona's Hunger

Commanders (2)

Artifact (8)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Dimir Signet MP
• 1x Dragon Blood
• 1x Gem of Becoming
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Rakdos Signet MP
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x The Ozolith

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Black Market
• 1x Curse of Stalked Prey
• 1x Dark Prophecy
• 1x Steal Artifact
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol

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Maybeboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Blood Cultist
• 1x Bloodtracker
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip
• 1x Voldaren Pariah  ^Flip

Land (2)

• 1x Smoldering Marsh
• 1x Sunken Hollow

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Living Death

Artifact (2)

• 1x Magistrate's Scepter
• 1x Power Conduit

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• Commander: Marchesa, the Black Rose
• Vizier: Dack Fayden

Grixis theft deck!

Deck Background

Skip this section if you're just looking for deck tech or stuff about the actual cards. This part is just some fluff about this deck coming together.

Originally, my slot for Grixis in the 32 Deck Challenge was meant to be for Kess, Dissident Mage, more spell heavy with a handful of dragons as finishers, somewhat Bolas themed, a little chaos side as well. Dragonstorm, Warp World, that kind of stuff. It was a WIP that was never really finished, just couldn't find that oomph that would make the deck exciting to play, and I lost motivation to complete it in spite of Grixis being my favourite of the Shards.

At our old LGS, chaos draft (and Legacy for that matter) were both really big there, I've never seen a store have so many open boxes of older sets to get packs on a whim from. Anyway, they had boosters of Conspiracy, a set I'd missed for not having time for MTG, but was well aware of because of Dack Fayden. It was very exciting to finally be able to open a bunch of those! Had the packs not doubled in price from $6 to $12 after the store acquired another box, we'd have likely gotten more of them during our weekly visits there, that set is great! Lots of fun commons and uncommons too. That said, we sure did get some goodies from that, I remember that's where he got his Exploration and Mirari's Wake, not sure of the others. I got Vedalken Orrery, Reflecting Pool, Dack's Duplicate, Marchesa, the Black Rose, and Scourge of the Throne, some others as well. That last one...there had been another Scourge in the case that ended up being a gift for him, something I was trying to save for his birthday, but the pack I got with the Scourge meant he was getting it a few months early lol. No Dack Fayden though, not then at least. It was really sweet that he remembered how much I liked that set and how Dack Fayden was one I would have loved to have.

So with Dack Fayden, I ended up switching the commander of that Grixis WIP to Marchesa, the Black Rose, one of few cards from Conspiracy that didn't have a place yet. Being reunited with my old collection also provided a lot of great options for Marchesa that I didn't have access to before, and with all of that, this started to turn into much more of a theft deck called "Bolas's Bitches," it still included Bolas, a bunch of dragons, and Dragonstorm. It was a bit of a mess but has definitely been better refined now.

Of all the decks I've made, this is one that has evolved the most in its development as it became more and more about theft and +1/+1 counters and less about Bolas, spell-slinging, or dragons. I could probably do away with this portion of the description, but to me it's worth keeping a record of how this deck has changed over time (and in case I ever wish to re-build Kess/Bolas/Dragonstorm ever again) and for sentimental reasons of course. This deck also used to have the Timestream Navigator+Helm of the Host combo, but that's been moved to a Hanna, Ship's Navigator deck I've been working on slowly.

As for what's going on with this Marchesa deck, I've been gradually replacing cards as I find them in my collection or obtain them otherwise. This deck needs a few more ways of giving some sort of elusiveness to creatures so that they can get some counters from Marchesa and/or steal more stuff lol. My main issue right now is that the mana base is too slow so lands are the main focus for now; usually I don't mind scry and taplands, but this deck needs to get stuff out faster. It was nice finding a set of Grixis shocks from another old Standard deck circa Innistrad/Return to Ravnica though! Also dragons/theft themed funny enough.

Update: With the spoiler of Geyadrone Dihada out, she absolutely belongs in this deck whenever it is I get her She will replace Bolas I think which means that I'll have to make a different Bolas deck lol. Aside from Dihada, anything on the maybe list is stuff I'm either waiting to arrive, don't have yet, or haven't figured out what I want to take out.

Motives of the Deck

This Marchesa, the Black Rose deck seeks to build up a board state where creatures have +1/+1 counters on them before she comes onto the battlefield. In addition, there are many other effects that seek to steal your opponents stuff to give yourself an additional advantage over them.

Although this deck could be optimized further to do both of these things, something that will happen over time, there are some inclusions that are in here just because they're fun to play, are on theme, or I just because have them.

Lands

Not going to go through every land here, just the utility lands.

Nesting Grounds - one of the best utility lands for a Marchesa deck. Some of the creatures can give themselves counters easily, others cannot. This helps get more +1/+1 onto the creatures that can't get them for themselves.

Hall of Oracles - this deck doesn't have a ton of instants and sorceries, but it's nice to have another outlet for getting counters on your creatures

Rogue's Passage - there are a bunch of effects from creatures that happen when they hit the opponent, so this is a useful one here as well

+1/+1 Counters

Marchesa, the Black Rose wants to have +1/+1 counters on all of her minions, and while she can enable that herself, there are lots of other cards in this deck to help set up a more ideal board state for her when she makes an appearance.

Creatures that can give themselves +1/+1 counters

• Olivia Voldaren - gets a +1/+1 counter when she does 1 damage (2 mana) to another creature, enables theft later as well

• Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch - can ETB with a counter on her, albeit at a cost of not being able to block

• Falkenrath Aristocrat - can get a +1/+1 counter when you sacrifice a human to make her indestructible

• Faerie Vandal - gets counters whenever a second card is drawn in a turn

• Sprite Dragon - gets a counter whenever a non-creature spell is cast

• Skyclave Shadowcat - ridiculous card for Marchesa, can put a +1/+1 counter on itself and also enables card draw for creatures with +1/+1 counters that die

• Dack's Duplicate - can etb as any other creature on the battlefield, has haste and dethrone

• Spark Double - can etb as any other creature or planeswalker with a +1/+1 or loyalty counter respectively

• Marchesa's Infiltrator - via dethrone

• Scourge of the Throne - via dethrone

Creatures that can give other creatures +1/+1 counters + other effects

Some here can give themselves counters as well

• Drana, Liberator of Malakir - can give all attacking creatures counters if she deals damage to another player

• Olivia, Mobilized for War - when another creature ETBs, discard to add a counter to that creature

• Oona's Blackguard - enables all other rogues to enter with +1/+1 counters, there are currently 10 others in the deck.

• Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch - gives haste to all creatures with a +1/+1 counter

Non-creatures that add +1/+1 counters

Enchantments/Instant/Sorceries/Artifacts

• Unspeakable Symbol - gold card for this deck. Paying life for counters is everything a Marchesa deck wants. Keeps life lower to enable dethrone, adds counters to creatures that haven't been able to manage it otherwise.

• Curse of Stalked Prey - can only be used on one player, still extremely valuable to the deck at only 2 CMC

• Spoils of War - obscure reserved list card from Ice Age that has an overly specific ability that's great for this deck

• Dragon Blood - on the surface this card seems slow and clunky, but I never regret having it out. Once per turn, can put a +1/+1 counter on any creature. It's an artifact so it's more resilient to removal and helps build a board state back up faster after a wipe

• Tezzeret's Gambit - while this one does not actually put counters on creatures, it can proliferate for those who do have them. There are a few abilities that allow for moving counters from one place to the next

Lands

• Hall of Oracles
• Nesting Grounds

Stealing Your Stuff!

Actual Theft Effects

• Olivia Voldaren - can steal a creature after she turns it into a Vampire, gives herself a +1/+1 counter in the process

• Hostage Taker - can steal any artifact or creature, needs to be cast to keep it

• Keiga, the Tide Star - this card is dirty as hell in this deck, especially when it comes back over and over

• Opposition Agent - steals from a deck if they tutor. As powerful as this card is, it's mostly here because of the Human Rogue types lol.

• Zara, Renegade Recruiter - can temporarily steal a creature from defending player's hand during attack

• Mass Manipulation - can steal x number of creatures and/or planeswalkers

• Slave of Bolas - steals and sacrifices an opponent's creature. If you manage to get a +1/+1 counter on it with Marchesa out before it's sacrificed, you can keep it!

• Steal Artifact - does exactly as it says lol. It's EDH, there's always plenty of artifacts to steal. Even mana rocks that only give 1 extra, puts a 2 mana gap between you and that player

• Daring Thief - can steal something from an opponent via exchange. I don't seek to use this card as much for theft, but it's an ability is there when I want it. It's Human Rogue types enable other abilities in the deck as well.

Planeswalkers - more in another section

• Dack Fayden
• Geyadrone Dihada
• Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
• Nicol Bolas, the Arisen   - the -4 ability can steal from a graveyard

Theft in Spirit

These cards are not so much actual theft abilities, but rather fulfill that from more of thematic role

• Dack's Duplicate - identity theft

• Spark Double - identity theft

• Stealer of Secrets - doesn't actually steal, however the card name is on theme, it enables card draw and has the useful Human Rogue types

• Thieves' Guild Enforcer - useful Human Rogue type, name is on theme, will replace with something else eventually as this card really does not do much for this deck otherwise.

• Thieving Otter - here thematically and for the art lol (and card draw)

• Black Market - here thematically, after all, where do all the stolen good go anyway? Still, there are lots of effects in this deck that benefit from creatures dying, so this is a nice on theme extra mana source.

• Siphon Insight - Features a sexy bitch in the art and steals from another deck.

Removed - Smuggler's Copter sadly had to go. I like how on theme this card was, but there are better cards out there for this deck. Still including it in the write up for those who like building decks around flavour.

Planeswalkers/Relics from Bolas

• Dack Fayden is one of the stars of this deck and quite a bit of the inspiration behind it (along with Marchesa). I have yet to have a game where he doesn't manage to steal a Sol Ring or signet if not something significantly better.

• Geyadrone Dihada, oh when she was spoiled I knew she'd immediately have a home here. If it weren't for Dack already being Vizier, I'd be sorely tempted to have her take his spot. Her abilities pair quite well with The Ozolith if you can manage to pull off that -7.

There are still a bunch of cards in this deck that are relics from when this was more Bolas themed, namely his two variants Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and Nicol Bolas, the Arisen  . Both have theft effects so they remain for now, I mean to build an actually Bolas deck again eventually.

• Slave of Bolas will remain though!

Pet Cards

This deck has a handful of pet cards. Some don't necessary have great synergy with this deck, but rather work with the theme or vibe of it. Others are not ideal but just cards I particularly like as well.

Gwendlyn Di Corci - it seems insulting to call this a pet card, Gwendlyn is the OG sexy bitch. A much loved and recent birthday gift (as of 2022), I will be building a deck around her in due time. For now she's here.

Captain Lannery Storm - she does help by providing treasure/mana, so there's that, but mostly I just really like this swashbuckler

Etrata, the Silencer - Etrata is not terrible in this deck, but not fantastic either. She can't be blocked which makes it easy to get a counter on her, but of course if that opponent has a creature out, she gets shuffled back into the deck. I mostly like her thematically for this deck.

Thieving Otter - so this card does have some great synergy with this deck, but I am sure there are better cards out there than this. This one is mostly in here for the art. I love the smug look on the otter's face after he makes away with someone's bag of coins and the guy in the background chasing after the otter is a nice touch, this card never fails to be amusing. While I definitely prefer non-CGI art, Jakub Kasper repeatedly churns out great work with a lot of personality to his pieces and I appreciated his attention to the fact that these artworks will most often appear on small cards.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 37 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.37
Tokens	City's Blessing, Demon 3-3 B, Emblem Dack Fayden, Treasure
Folders	Vallaris EDH Decks