Is EDH too expensive for you? Wanna play a fun deck that doesn't cost a fortune? Then allow me to introduce you to....Poor Man's EDH. For under $75 you can own a cool, powerful, and fun EDH deck that isn't too limited. For a $4 rare, Queen Marchesa is quite the card. Bringing Monach to EDH is a fun way to spice up a game, but using the aggressive Mardu colors to control?! That's guaranteed to make everyone at the table anxious! I wanted this deck to bring some fun Conspiracy elements to the chaotic format, and I feel like the few cards I added are guaranteed to make any game fun. Enjoy!
Brago is dead. Paliano is in chaos. Rumor has it the an Assassin somehow killed the Eternal ghost king. The throne lies empty...Until Marchesa arrives. Marchesa, the Black Rose has become the Queen of Paliano, and after a formal request has decided you may lead her forces to greater accomplishments. Now, the time to unleash the power of the Throne of the High City!
Queen Marchesa brings a powerful mechanic to the game exclusive to her Conspiracy set. The monarch ability is so deceptively simple: There can only be one monarch. At the end of the monarch's turn, they draw a card. If a creature deals combat damage to you, that creature's controller becomes the monarch. Finally, the only way a monarch is introduced into the game is if a card makes a player the monarch. So why not use this to our advantage? Queen Marchesa and a variety of other cards, like Knights of the Black Rose and Custodi Lich, not only make you the monarch and bring the ability into the game, but have special abilities regarding the Monarch! Marchesa herself best explains why there should only be one monarch, obviously this should be you: At the start of your upkeep if you aren't the monarch, you get a 1/1 deathtouch haste assassin! This may seem trivial at first, but having a free blocker than can and will destroy threats that fight them like a Grave Titan or just 1 free damage if they don't want to risk the block is great, because either a threat is gone or you become the monarch and get card draw!
Another fun ability you bring is voting, another Conspiracy block only ability that yet again brings more to the game. Voting cards force everyone to pick one of two options, then something happens. In other words, if you have a few allies on board, you can tilt the votes in your favor. So cards like Capital Punishment can net you more sacrifices or discard! Or even better, your Coercive Portal is a time bomb waiting to explode, as long as you keep the votes in your favor. With monarch and voting in your hands, being a political powerhouse comes almost naturally. By getting people on your side early by maybe letting them play false king early or voting to help them out, you can easily form a nice easy to manipulate in-game court! So, go ahead and start making friends!
Of course, some people just don't want the fun of friendship. These fools are easily dispatched, because when Marchesa isn't using her Conspiracy abilities to her advantage, shes eliminating the competition. Cards like Crackling Doom and Utter End get past Indestructible powerhouses or just a large problem, while Authority of the Consuls and Blind Obedience set your enemies back a turn. Even better, you don't need to be the monarch to be a card drawing mastermind, because you have Underworld Connections, Phyrexian Arena, and Spiteful Visions for a small price for power! Even better, Increasin Ambition and Beseech the Queen find exactly what you need when you need it. To make matters worse for those pesky usurpers, you have 3 Primordials and three Commander Familiars! Primordials are huge mono-color creatures that by just arriving affect all opponents, and your three commander Familiars get better when Queen Marchesa is out! A board with Tyrant's Familiar and Molten Primordial on your side can wreak havoc by stealing creatures then incinerating potential blockers! Or maybe you need to clear out the board with Demon of Wailing Agonies on offense, forcing a player to sacrifice a creature when he deals combat damage to them, then dropping Luminate Primordial to heal them back at the cost of exiling their best creature! With all these sinister strategies up Marchesa's sleeves, being commander of the game will just come naturally, as it should for royalty.