Zugzwang by Plebejer

Format: Commander

Commander: Queen Marchesa

Bracket: 2

Deck overview

Queen Marchesa leads a Mardu control deck built to exploit monarch and initiative mechanics. The primary strategy establishes continuous card advantage and dungeon progression while erecting defensive rattlesnakes like No Mercy, Marchesa's Decree, and reactive damage spells to discourage attacks. Opponents face a tactical dilemma: attack into deathtouch blockers and punishing triggers or permit steady value accumulation. The deck seals victory by snowballing upkeep triggers from the Court cycle, deploying flying token swarms from Skyline Despot and Court of Grace, or turning an opponent's aggressive swing lethal through aikido blowouts like Comeuppance, Deflecting Palm, and Inkshield.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Abandoned Air Temple
  • 1 Airbender's Reversal
  • 1 Ajani, Outland Chaperone
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archon of Coronation
  • 1 Avatar's Wrath
  • 1 Battlefield Forge
  • 1 Bilbo's Gambit
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Boros Signet
  • 1 Caves of Chaos Adventurer
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Chaos Warp
  • 1 Clifftop Retreat
  • 1 Comeuppance
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Court of Ambition
  • 1 Court of Ardenvale
  • 1 Court of Embereth
  • 1 Court of Grace
  • 1 Court of Ire
  • 1 Court of Locthwain
  • 1 Coveted Jewel
  • 1 Custodi Lich
  • 1 Deflecting Palm
  • 1 Desolate Mire
  • 1 Dragonskull Summit
  • 1 Dungeoneer's Pack
  • 1 Eclipsed Steppe
  • 1 Emberwilde Captain
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fetid Heath
  • 1 Firemane Commando
  • 1 Foreboding Ruins
  • 1 Furycalm Snarl
  • 1 Generous Gift
  • 1 Graven Cairns
  • 1 Hellish Rebuke
  • 1 Inkshield
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Loot Dispute
  • 1 Mangara, the Diplomat
  • 1 Marchesa's Decree
  • 3 Mountain
  • 1 Myriad Landscape
  • 1 No Mercy
  • 1 Nomad Outpost
  • 1 Orzhov Signet
  • 1 Palace Jailer
  • 1 Passageway Seer
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 3 Plains
  • 1 Queen Marchesa
  • 1 Radiant Summit
  • 1 Rakdos Charm
  • 1 Rakdos Signet
  • 1 Ravenloft Adventurer
  • 1 Reprieve
  • 1 Royal Assassin
  • 1 Rugged Prairie
  • 1 Ruinous Ultimatum
  • 1 Sacred Foundry
  • 1 Sarevok's Tome
  • 1 Seasoned Dungeoneer
  • 1 Shadowblood Ridge
  • 1 Shattered Sanctum
  • 1 Shineshadow Snarl
  • 1 Skyline Despot
  • 1 Smoldering Marsh
  • 1 Spiteful Banditry
  • 1 Split Up
  • 1 Starscream, Power Hungry // Starscream, Seeker Leader
  • 1 Stirring Bard
  • 1 Strixhaven Stadium
  • 1 Stroke of Midnight
  • 1 Sulfurous Springs
  • 1 Sunscorched Divide
  • 3 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Talisman of Conviction
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 Talisman of Indulgence
  • 1 Teyo, Geometric Tactician
  • 1 Thaumatic Compass // Spires of Orazca
  • 1 The Restoration of Eiganjo // Architect of Restoration
  • 1 The Wandering Emperor
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Tomik, Wielder of Law
  • 1 Turbulent Steppe
  • 1 Undercellar Sweep
  • 1 White Plume Adventurer