Marchesa (They're coming to get you, Barbara!) by Unsung_Thermostat

Format: Commander

Commander: Marchesa, the Black Rose

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 37

Deck overview

This Grixis deck is a synergistic Zombie Tribal and Aristocrats strategy piloted by Marchesa, the Black Rose. The game plan revolves around exploiting Marchesa's dethrone ability to place +1/+1 counters on attacking Zombies, enabling them to return to the battlefield at the beginning of each end step whenever they die. This creates a powerful engine of recurring sacrifice, enter-the-battlefield, and death triggers. The deck leverages sacrifice outlets like Carrion Feeder and Ashnod's Altar alongside payoff creatures such as Diregraf Captain, Plague Belcher, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel to drain opponents. Asymmetric control pieces like Grave Pact and Noxious Ghoul systematically decimate opposing creature boards while breaking parity through Marchesa's recursion. Supported by mass reanimation spells including Living Death and Rise of the Dark Realms, as well as the cost-cheating power of Rooftop Storm, the deck maintains steady mid-game momentum and closes out games through cumulative life drain, board locks, and unblockable Zombie combat.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Accursed Duneyard
  • 1 Accursed Marauder
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Army of the Damned
  • 1 Ashnod's Altar
  • 1 Black Market Connections
  • 1 Blasphemous Act
  • 1 Blazemire Verge
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Carrion Feeder
  • 1 Cemetery Reaper
  • 1 Cemetery Recruitment
  • 1 Chromatic Lantern
  • 1 City of Brass
  • 1 Cleaver Skaab
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cover of Darkness
  • 1 Crypt of Agadeem
  • 1 Damnation
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Death Baron
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Diabolic Intent
  • 1 Diabolic Tutor
  • 1 Diregraf Captain
  • 1 Diregraf Colossus
  • 1 Dreadhorde Invasion
  • 1 Field of the Dead
  • 1 Gloomlake Verge
  • 1 Goryo's Vengeance
  • 1 Grave Pact
  • 1 Gravecrawler
  • 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
  • 1 Grim Haruspex
  • 1 Grim Initiate
  • 1 Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
  • 1 Headless Rider
  • 1 Hordewing Skaab
  • 2 Island
  • 1 Living Death
  • 1 Lord of the Accursed
  • 1 Lord of the Undead
  • 1 Mana Confluence
  • 1 Marchesa, the Black Rose
  • 1 Meathook Massacre II
  • 1 Midnight Reaper
  • 1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 2 Mountain
  • 1 Necropotence
  • 1 Noxious Ghoul
  • 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
  • 1 Oscorp Industries
  • 1 Oversold Cemetery
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 1 Plague Belcher
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Prophet of the Scarab
  • 1 Raucous Theater
  • 1 Rise of the Dark Realms
  • 1 Rooftop Storm
  • 1 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Seething Landscape
  • 1 Shepherd of Rot
  • 1 Sign in Blood
  • 1 Smoldering Marsh
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sunken Hollow
  • 5 Swamp
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Indulgence
  • 1 Teval's Judgment
  • 1 The Meathook Massacre
  • 1 The Scarab God
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Tomebound Lich
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Undead Augur
  • 1 Undead Warchief
  • 1 Undercity Sewers
  • 1 Unholy Grotto
  • 1 Unstoppable Slasher
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver
  • 1 Xander's Lounge
  • 1 Zombie Master
  • 1 Zul Ashur, Lich Lord