Play for Power | Black Rose Wizardball Primer

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive Control Primer UBR (Grixis) Wizards

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Land (30)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Badlands
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Cephalid Coliseum
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Fiery Islet
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Island
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Volcanic Island
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Steal Enchantment
• 1x Underworld Breach
• 1x Waste Not

Instant (26)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Culling the Weak
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Delay
• 1x Demonic Consultation
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Drown in the Loch
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Miscast
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Plunge into Darkness
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Spell Pierce
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Tainted Pact
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Winds of Rebuke

Artifact (12)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Dominance

Commander (1)

Creature (15)

• 1x Barrin, Master Wizard
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Dreadhorde Arcanist
• 1x Dualcaster Mage
• 1x Gilded Drake
• 1x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip
• 1x Notion Thief
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Sage of Fables
• 1x Sea Gate Stormcaller
• 1x Snapcaster Mage
• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Thassa's Oracle
• 1x Viscera Seer

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Pyroclasm
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Twinflame
• 1x Wheel of Fortune
• 1x Windfall

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BLACK

ROSE

WIZARDBALL

"Those who seize power must have the means to hold it."

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Deck Synopsis

This deck is the amalgamation of two years worth of play-testing, refining, and evaluating. Between MTGO and in person games with my playgroup I've easily piloted this deck in over 500+ games during the last two years. I'm fortunate enough to be in a meta that is constantly changing so I've been able to go up against a wide variety of both high power and cEDH decks.

I realize that Marchesa, the Black Rose may seem like a sub-optimal choice for a cEDH commander, especially when powerhouses like Kess, Dissident Mage and Inalla, Archmage Ritualist dominate the sphere of cEDH. However, Marchesa offers a unique alternative in Grixis: superior protection for a creature focused, mid-range game plan that takes advantage of wizard tribal synergies and repeatedly abuses their potent ETB abilities to gain card advantage and facilitate repeated combo attempts.

Marchesa, the Black Rose's last ability is particularly potent and the primary reason I run her over other Grixis commanders. being able to kill off my own creatures with +1 counters then return them at my end step opens up unique lines of play. For example, stacking multiple Snapcaster Mage triggers in a single turn makes powerful cards like Vampiric Tutor even better than they already are.

Cobblepott's Derevi Wizardball deck (Derevi Wizardball) was a big inspiration as I transitioned this build from mid-power goodstuff towards fringe cEDH. Cobblepott's build blends Wizard tribal themes with competitive combo lines and I knew Marchesa had the capability to pull off something similarly unique.

One of this decks potent synergies is to set up a board of powerful wizards such as Spellseeker or Dreadhorde Arcanist, utilizing Marchesa's dethrone ability, and sac outlets, to abuse ETB triggers and repeatedly cast powerful removal, tutors, wheels and cantrips from my graveyard.

Essentially, this deck is a massive wizard toolbox.

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Win Conditions

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Notion Thief / Narset, Parter of Veils + Windfall / Wheel of Fortune

- Empty my opponents hands and fill mine with 20+ cards. This doesn't outright win the game but it's powerful enough to draw me into the pieces I need to execute any of my other combos.

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Dualcaster Mage + Twinflame

- Cast Twinflame targeting any creature on my board, hold priority and respond with Dualcaster Mage. Dualcaster enters and makes a copy of Twinflame, Twinflame makes a new Dualcaster Mage, rinse and repeat until you have 10,000+ hasty Dualcasters.

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Thassa's Oracle + Demonic Consultation/Tainted Pact

- This one doesn't need much explanation, by far the most overplayed but efficient combo in all of Commander.

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Thank you for checking out my decklist! I'll be adding more to the description in the near future so stay tuned! +1's and feedback are greatly appreciated!

Date added	5 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 55 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	1.79
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Copy Clone, Emblem Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Spirit 1/1 C, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Grixis