The Queen of Deception. (Marchesa cEDH)

Commander / EDH* Aikido Competitive Control Counterspell Exile Flash Hatebears Multiplayer Pillow Fort RBW (Mardu)

LynxGoddess

Lands (33)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Badlands
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Inspiring Vantage
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Mountain
• 5x Plains
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Silent Clearing
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Vault of Champions
• 1x Verdant Catacombs

Draw (9)

• 1x Ad Nauseam
• 1x Court of Grace
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1x Reforge the Soul
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Underworld Breach
• 1x Wheel of Fortune

Wincons (8)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Backlash
• 1x Court of Grace
• 1x Deflecting Palm
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Rakdos Charm
• 1x Reanimate

Interaction (15)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Aurification
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Fire Covenant
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Lapse of Certainty
• 1x Mana Tithe
• 1x Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
• 1x No Mercy
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Rakdos Charm
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Teferi's Protection

Mana (13)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence

Stax (8)

• 1x Archon of Emeria
• 1x Containment Priest
• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Hushwing Gryff
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Solemnity

Commander (1)

Get Off My Back (14)

• 1x Aurification
• 1x Delaying Shield
• 1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
• 1x No Mercy
• 1x Ophiomancer
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Phyrexian Unlife
• 1x Solemnity
• 1x Solitary Confinement
• 1x Vampire Nighthawk

Tutors (10)

• 1x Academy Rector
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Imperial Recruiter
• 1x Imperial Seal
• 1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Sunforger
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Wishclaw Talisman

Beaters (3)

• 1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• 1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
• 1x Serra Ascendant

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Maybeboard

Other (1)

• 1x Breena, the Demagogue

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A Subtle Victory

The main way this deck wins is through taking advantage of our enemies own resources and turning them against their owners. We do this in the late game, when everyone is low on life and interaction, and when we know what weakness to exploit or strength to turn against our opponent.

If an opponent wants to win through big creatures we use Backlash or Delerium, if an opponent goes wide we use Batwing Brume or Rakdos Charm , for big ramp decks we use Acidic Soil or Price of Progress , and for any type of alpha strike of big burn finish we have access to Comeuppance and Deflecting Palm . We run a host of tutors to get just the right card out of our deck, and Sunforger as a repeatable tutor capable of fetching any of our needed pieces.

Stepping Carefully

To get to the late game where our win conditions can be effective, we need to secure our survival. We do this by making ourselves unattractive targets and surgically remove speciffic threats. We are not interested in big wrath effects or massively threatening creatures of our own, since that is likely to draw too much heat from the table. Instead we are content not to die, while our opponents kill each other off.

We protect ourselves using disincentivizing pillow fort effects in Ghostly Prison , Koskun Falls , Windborn Muse , Solitary Confinement and Mangara, the Diplomat , rattlesnake effects in Queen Marchesa (and her tokens), Gifted Aetherborn , Nighthawk Scavenger and Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker , and by making our opponents better targets with Gisela, Blade of Goldnight , Mathas, Fiend Seeker , Thaumatic Compass  , Xantcha, Sleeper Agent and Maze of Ith .

If an opponent has problematic plans of their own goining on, we run a set of hatebears to counter their strategies in Aven Mindcensor , Hushbringer , Drannith Magistrate and Tomik, Distinguished Advokist . If your meta requires to answer other kinds of threats, feel free to swap around your answers.

We then use control spells such as Anguished Unmaking , Rakdos Charm , Bojuka Bog , Teferi's Protection , Chaos Warp , Dawn Charm , Deadly Rollick , Fire Covenant , Generous Gift , Lapse of Certainty and Path to Exile to make sure the game doesn't get out of hand. (Remember Sunforger ?)

We can also set up a level of protection that has to be answered less we be completely untouchable. Landing Solotary Confinement while having the monarch, or combining either Delaying Shield or Phyrexian Unlife with Solemnity sets us up to be almost or entirely unkillable unless one of the pieces is removed.

Conclusion

This is not the most powerful aikido deck, but it performs way above its budget and expectations. Its a deck that can allways be played in a different way, and that easily adapts to new metas. The deck can be played casually as a token deck by someone who's never touched it before, or expertly navigated as a lean control deck by someone used to its ins and outs.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 55 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.57
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Assassin 1/1 B w/ Haste, Elephant 3/3 G, Snake 1/1 B, Spirit 1/1 W, The Monarch, Treasure
Folders	1 Competative 8, 0 Active Decks