Marchesa, Dealer of Death by Kaelir

Format: Commander

Commander: Marchesa, Dealer of Death

Bracket: 3

Deck overview

This deck is a Grixis (UBR) value engine helmed by Marchesa, Dealer of Death, built around the "crime" mechanic. The primary strategy is to repeatedly trigger crimes - targeting opponents, their permanents, or graveyards - to fuel Marchesa's card selection, generate tokens, treasure, and card advantage from crime payoffs like Duelist of the Mind, Gisa, the Hellraiser, and Magda, the Hoardmaster. Once the graveyard is stocked, the deck deploys a suite of reanimation spells - Reanimate, Animate Dead, Necromancy, Virtue of Persistence, and Rise of the Dark Realms - to resurrect high-impact threats such as Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Archon of Cruelty, and Valgavoth, Terror Eater. The deck wins through combat damage from these overwhelming creatures, supported by a dense interaction package that includes counterspells, removal, and free spells. It is a midrange attrition deck with robust recursion but no fast infinite combos.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Abrade
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Anger
  • 1 Animate Dead
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archon of Cruelty
  • 1 Ardyn, the Usurper
  • 1 Arid Mesa
  • 1 At Knifepoint
  • 1 Badlands
  • 1 Bender's Waterskin
  • 1 Blasphemous Act
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Bothersome Quasit
  • 1 Codex Shredder
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Deadly Rollick
  • 1 Deflecting Swat
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Duelist of the Mind
  • 1 Emet-Selch, Unsundered // Hades, Sorcerer of Eld
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Faithless Looting
  • 1 Fell the Profane // Fell Mire
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Forbidden Orchard
  • 1 Frantic Search
  • 1 Generous Plunderer
  • 1 Ghost Vacuum
  • 1 Gisa, the Hellraiser
  • 1 Gitaxian Probe
  • 1 Glasses of Urza
  • 1 Grave Researcher // Reanimate
  • 1 Hammerheim
  • 1 Haunted Ridge
  • 1 Hullbreaker Horror
  • 1 Island
  • 1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
  • 1 Kaervek the Merciless
  • 1 Kaervek, the Punisher
  • 1 Kess, Dissident Mage
  • 1 Liquimetal Torque
  • 1 Loki, God of Mischief
  • 1 Lord Xander, the Collector
  • 1 Luxury Suite
  • 1 Magda, the Hoardmaster
  • 1 Marchesa, Dealer of Death
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Misty Rainforest
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Mountain
  • 1 Necromancy
  • 1 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
  • 1 Orcish Bowmasters
  • 1 Otawara, Soaring City
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Rakdos Charm
  • 1 Rakdos, Patron of Chaos
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Red Death, Shipwrecker
  • 1 Rise of the Dark Realms
  • 1 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Sepulchral Primordial
  • 1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
  • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
  • 1 Sink into Stupor // Soporific Springs
  • 1 Snap
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spatial Binding
  • 1 Spellskite
  • 1 Steam Vents
  • 1 Stitch Together
  • 1 Stormcarved Coast
  • 1 Sulfur Falls
  • 1 Swamp
  • 1 Swan Song
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 Talisman of Creativity
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Indulgence
  • 1 Tolaria
  • 1 Training Center
  • 1 Undercity Sewers
  • 1 Underground Sea
  • 1 Untimely Malfunction
  • 1 Urborg
  • 1 Urza's Saga
  • 1 Valgavoth, Terror Eater
  • 1 Vandalblast
  • 1 Verdant Catacombs
  • 1 Victimize
  • 1 Virtue of Persistence // Locthwain Scorn
  • 1 Volcanic Island
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Will of the Abzan
  • 1 Withering Torment