[EDH] Queen Marchesa - Judo Master

[Davran]

The idea behind this deck is to take whatever my opponents are doing and turn it back on them. There's "answers" to many of the common EDH strategies (voltron, ramp, creature swarms, reanimator) as well as a light pillow fort and some redirection effects to politely suggest that my opponents send their attacks elsewhere. The only real blind spot is for stack based combos (e.g. Storm), but that's not really a thing in my meta so it shouldn't be much of an issue.

The list:

Commander:
Queen Marchesa

Creatures:
Weathered Wayfarer
Restoration Specialist
Vampire Nighthawk
Ophiomancer
Anathemancer
Eldrazi Displacer
Alms Collector
Selfless Squire
Windborn Muse
Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker
Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
Sunscorch Regent
Scourge of the Throne
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight

Instants:
Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
Vampiric Tutor
Enlightened Tutor
Boros Charm
Rakdos Charm
Dawn Charm
Deflecting Palm
Shred Memory
Anguished Unmaking
Backlash
Reiterate
Forsake the Worldly
Mortify
Kolaghan's Command
Teferi's Protection
Crackling Doom
Utter End
Settle the Wreckage
Comeuppance
Word of Seizing

Sorcery:
Reanimate
Demonic Tutor
Gift of Estates
Cut // Ribbons
Acidic Soil
Painful Truths
Disrupt Decorum
Austere Command
Merciless Eviction
Insurrection

Artifacts:
Sol Ring
Expedition Map
Boros Signet
Orzhov Signet
Rakdos Signet
Key to the City
Sun Droplet
Talisman of Indulgence
Chromatic Lantern
Crystal Ball
Sunforger

Enchantments:
Curse of Opulence
Animate Dead
Ghostly Prison
Phyrexian Arena
Duelist's Heritage
Citadel Siege
Delaying Shield

Lands:
Blood Crypt
Godless Shrine
Sacred Foundry
Arid Mesa
Bloodstained Mire
Marsh Flats
Dragonskull Summit
Clifftop Retreat
Isolated Chapel
Blackcleave Cliffs
Concealed Courtyard
Inspring Vantage
Temple of Malice
Temple of Silence
Temple of Triumph
Battlefield Forge
Caves of Koilos
Reflecting Pool
Command Tower
Maze of Ith
Kor Haven
Arcane Lighthouse
Strip Mine
Bojuka Bog
Mistveil Plains
Slayers' Stronghold
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
3 Plains
3 Mountain
3 Swamp


Sunforger is a big part of this deck. Most of the "answer" cards are tutorable with it, which gives you access to a lot for a (fairly) reasonable mana investment. Another honorable mention is Mistveil Plains which lets you recycle things for future use.

Overall, the deck has a lot of play to it. You can make subtle (or not so subtle) threats about what might happen if someone attacks you. You can also make your opponents wary of any open mana fairly early on, and leaving up :w::r::b: could mean basically anything in your hand to respond with. You also end up with some political capital in the form of Duelist's Heritage and other instant speed effects that mess with combats you're not even involved in.

Highlights from playing the deck so far:

- Using Deflecting Palm to make a 35/35 indestructible, trampling, double strike Uriel, the Miststalker kill its owner instead of me.
- Casting Selfless Squire to fog an attack, then using Swords to Plowshares in response to removal to gain 30 life the following turn and survive long enough to win.
- "I'd attack you, but you probably have a trick" - spoken by an opponent, while I had a few open mana and nothing particularly relevant in hand.

[Ace/Homebrew]

Hey Davran! :laugh:

How good is Batwing Brume? Unfortunately it doesn't do a thing if found with Sunforger...
Can you ignore the timing restriction on Delirium with Sunforger?


Some other suggestions without ideas of what you could cut:
- Mortify
- Cut // Ribbons
- Kaya, Ghost Assassin (bonus points for being on flavor!)

[Davran]

Hey Davran! :laugh:

How good is Batwing Brume? Unfortunately it doesn't do a thing if found with Sunforger...
Can you ignore the timing restriction on Delirium with Sunforger?


Some other suggestions without ideas of what you could cut:
- Mortify
- Cut // Ribbons
- Kaya, Ghost Assassin (bonus points for being on flavor!)

Batwing Brume is a bit of a non-bo with Sunforger, that's true. It's in as an answer to some sort of giant token swarm, but maybe it could be something else. I hesitate to run something like Holy Day instead simply because it's rather narrow and doesn't really advance my game plan at all. What I'd really love is some sort of instant speed sweeper. Aether Snap would be perfect if it wasn't black...

I'm actually not sure about Delirium. There's an oracle ruling for Sunforger that says: "Any card you find must be legally castable (for example, you have to be able to choose a legal target for it). If you can’t find a castable card (or choose not to), nothing happens and you shuffle your library.". Given that, I would imagine that the timing restriction still applies.

As far as your suggestions:

Mortify is great, and might actually be better than Return to Dust. I'l have to keep an eye on that slot.

Cut/Ribbons is a good suggestion! I forgot that card existed. Exsanguinate was in my pile of cards as I was putting the deck together and I ended up cutting it due to the lower land count, but this seems like a decent compromise. I'll have to pick a copy up.

Is Kaya actually good? It's a neat card and 100% on flavor, but I'm not sure what it does for me. I guess it's a pseudo Maze of Ith effect?

I noticed that my actual list is a little different than what I posted here...so a couple changes:

- Mind Stone
- Lightning Greaves

+ Expedition Map
+ Toil // Trouble

Also, I've been debating trying out Burning Wish and/or Mastermind's Acquisition with some sort of wish board. I've never built a sideboard for an EDH deck before, but if any deck wants access 10 extra random answers it's this one. Mastermind's is probably the better option since it isn't totally dead if a particular group isn't cool with the whole sideboard thing.

[Davran]

- Return to Dust
- Toil // Trouble
+ Mortify
+ Eldrazi Displacer

Tweaking the answer package a little. Return to Dust is good, but Mortify is slightly more flexible. As for Eldrazi Displacer, I'm hoping it'll work as a pseudo-Maze of Ith effect while also offering some protection for my stuff.

A few other things I'd like to do:

Settle the Wreckage: Turns out there is an instant speed wrath you can fetch with Sunforger. This probably replaces Batwing Brume when I can get my hands on one. Also, it's kind of cute with Acidic Soil.

Cut // Ribbons: Ace/Homebrew suggested this, and the more I think about it the more I want to find room.

Argivian Find: I'm a little torn on this. I'm thinking of maybe replacing Restoration Specialist, but the specialist has a lot going for it. It chump blocks like a champ, and it gets two things back in some situations. It can also be reanimated or something in a pinch. But, Argivian Find is an instant, which means it can be fetched with Sunforger in response to random Bojuka Bog effects or whatever.

[Davran]

- Batwing Brume
- Delirium
+ Settle the Wreckage
+ Cut // Ribbons

Picked up some cards, so time to make some changes. Settle the Wreckage works better with Sunforger than Batwing Brume, and is kind of cute with Acidic Soil. Delirium is kind of tough to cut since it was a potential win condition vs. a voltron deck, but the timing restriction is kind of awkward. It's also being replaced with another potential win condition, so whatever.

I also picked up a Burning Wish and Mastermind's Acquisition...but I'm not sure what a wishboard looks like for this deck so I'm holding off on finding room for now. A few potential includes are:

Vandalblast
Chainer's Edict
Wheel of Fortune
Paraselene
Wrath of God
Unburial Rites