Tax Evasion by nicelookingowl

Format: Commander

Commander: Queen Marchesa

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 38

Deck overview

This Queen Marchesa deck executes a Mardu Aikido and Group Slug strategy designed to manipulate table politics, accelerate game tempo, and punish opposing aggression. In the early game, the deck establishes mana velocity through low-cost artifacts and Treasure generators, deploying Queen Marchesa to introduce the Monarch mechanic and provide steady card advantage. Mid-game turns focus on applying symmetric and asymmetric pressure using forced combat tools like Kardur, Doomscourge and Disrupt Decorum alongside punishing tax engines such as War's Toll, Manabarbs, and Descent into Avernus. Rather than attacking directly with large armies, the deck weaponizes opponents' actions and resources against them. Sudden defensive swings from Inkshield, Deflecting Palm, and Comeuppance turn lethal opposing swings into self-inflicted eliminations. Finally, the deck closes out weakened opponents through scaling artifact drain engines, Revel in Riches, or an overwhelming Torment of Hailfire funded by accumulated Treasure stockpiles.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Arid Mesa
  • 1 Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer
  • 1 Battlefield Forge
  • 1 Beseech the Mirror
  • 1 Black Market Connections
  • 1 Blasphemous Act
  • 1 Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathway
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 1 Bloodchief Ascension
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Boros Charm
  • 1 Brightclimb Pathway // Grimclimb Pathway
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Chaos Warp
  • 1 Comeuppance
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Court of Ambition
  • 1 Curse of Opulence
  • 1 Deflecting Palm
  • 1 Deflecting Swat
  • 1 Descent into Avernus
  • 1 Disciple of the Vault
  • 1 Disrupt Decorum
  • 1 Enlightened Tutor
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fetid Heath
  • 1 Generous Gift
  • 1 Ghostly Prison
  • 1 Gleaming Splendor
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Graven Cairns
  • 1 Grim Hireling
  • 1 Hall of Heliod's Generosity
  • 1 Hellish Rebuke
  • 1 Ingenious Artillerist
  • 1 Inkshield
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
  • 1 Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant
  • 1 Kardur, Doomscourge
  • 1 Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff
  • 1 Luminarch Ascension
  • 1 Luxury Suite
  • 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
  • 1 Manabarbs
  • 1 Mangara, the Diplomat
  • 1 Marionette Apprentice
  • 1 Marionette Master
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Mayhem Devil
  • 1 Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
  • 2 Mountain
  • 1 Nadier's Nightblade
  • 1 Needleverge Pathway // Pillarverge Pathway
  • 1 No Mercy
  • 1 Pain Distributor
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 3 Plains
  • 1 Plaza of Heroes
  • 1 Professional Face-Breaker
  • 1 Puppet Master, String Puller
  • 1 Queen Marchesa
  • 1 Radiant Summit
  • 1 Rakdos Charm
  • 1 Razorkin Needlehead
  • 1 Reckless Fireweaver
  • 1 Repercussion
  • 1 Revel in Riches
  • 1 Roiling Vortex
  • 1 Sacred Foundry
  • 1 Settle the Wreckage
  • 1 Smaug the Magnificent
  • 1 Smothering Tithe
  • 1 Smuggler's Share
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spectator Seating
  • 1 Sunbaked Canyon
  • 3 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 Talisman of Conviction
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 Talisman of Indulgence
  • 1 Teferi's Protection
  • 1 Torment of Hailfire
  • 1 Trouble in Pairs
  • 1 Underworld Dreams
  • 1 Valakut Awakening // Valakut Stoneforge
  • 1 Vault of Champions
  • 1 War's Toll
  • 1 Witch Enchanter // Witch-Blessed Meadow
  • 1 Xorn