Hello there and welcome to another article from Command Beacon. Today we're taking a look at the Conspiracy sets for our Commanders, in this case, both versions of Marchesa. A subtle change to her colour scheme upon taking the crown and substantially different abilities for both cards. I hope you enjoy the differences between the two.
Marchesa, the Black Rose
This deck list of Marchesa, the Black Rose is actually by one of our other writers who's been player her as his pet deck since the first Conspiracy set. It's played as a creature heavy toolbox build with an ever changing list, dependant on new cards and meta adjustments. Its base playstyle is a bit of political choice aggro with Marchesa's Dethrone trigger as the justification behind the attacks. The additional value and finishers within the deck are good and all but being a player that can advantage of the Dethrone trigger as an excuse to attack the opponent with the highest life total can make things seem fair to everyone until it's too late.
This political play of course makes Marchesa a great multiplayer Commander even though an aggro strategy is exceedingly more difficult the more players there are in a game. As a backup though it does have finishing combos, powerful reanimation, and high value synergy cards like Sneak Attack to help end things. I always say that any Commander deck that comes to the table and you'll have no idea what the strategy is are the best for deckbuilding and Marchesa is definitely one of those. When against a Marchesa, the Black Rose deck it could be all sorts of different play styles and that keeps things interesting. If they are using the political aspect of the Dethrone ability it can very much so skew everyone's decisions. This is good choice for those starting into the Commander format or who enjoy having fun with the interactions with the choices that come with multiplayer games.
Queen Marchesa
In complete contrast to the previous decklist is this one that I created purely for the sake of running one card and then the concept became a whole deck. Queen Marchesa fits well as the Commander for this strategy of resource control and disruption since the Mardu colours gave access to plenty of redundant spells and effects. By playing her and becoming the Monarch beforehand it gives an edge for a faster recovery rate than your opponents. This is commonly deemed an unenjoyable strategy for many casual groups and running any of this type of effect at all can be considered taboo. These cards are completely Commander legal though making it a valid strategy so allow me to share this Queen Marchesa Land Destruction deck with you.
While the Black Rose is a fun, aggro, politics style deck this Queen Marchesa deck here is just trying to set up to be ahead and take everyone else out of the game. With a dozen spells and abilities to disrupt or destroy a player's manabase, this deck can be absolutely devastating for many players to be up against. As it can be a miserable time to draw and pass turn after losing all your land this deck was titled Queen Misery. Testimonials of the games describe it as agonizing, and so it has been locked away from my playgroups. It's by no means an unstoppable deck. It's whole purpose is to win by repeatedly removing your opponent's ability to play and being able to recover faster is necessary. This deck is set up to be frustrating but that just makes beating it all the more satisfying.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed these very diametrically opposed deck lists. Between the fun aggro politics and the miserable midrange land destruction which do you prefer? Maybe it depends on the playgroup or maybe just your mood that day. If you're interested in a detailed breakdown for these decks feel free to check out the article for Marchesa, the Black Rose and Queen Marchesa on Command Beacon. Remember to wash your hands, support your local game store, and keep shuffling.
