Hello all! I hope you are having a great day today!! I named Marchesa, Dealer of Death my top spot as a Commander on my first Top Ten list you can find here from the set: Top Ten from Outlaws of Thunder Junction | Article by Abe Sargent (coolstuffinc.com) (not counting the Big Score or Commander decks). I love her so much I nicknamed her "The Interaction Queen" since she used to be a ruler. Let's look at her:

She costs three, she's in Grixis colors, she has a 3/4 body and then she has the commit a crime issue where she'll turn targeting a foe, or their things or graveyards into a mana paid to dig two and grab a card for your hand and then the other to fill your graveyard for recursive purposes. She's so awesome! She has no breaks like once/turn or anything else, as long as you have the mana, Marchesa has the card flow.

Mana, Ramp, Lands

Let's start with on theme stuff. Treasures are important here to spend when you commit a crime but have no mana left untapped and want to draw for your crime trigger. The Commander Classic costs two and arrives with Treasures equal to your opposing artifact and enchantment count. The new two-drop has a Bear 2/2 size and a once/turn crime trigger to make a free Treasure, and you can sac three to make a 4/4 Dragon flying dork with haste to swig now, but only at sorcery speed. The Manalith from this set taps for any color of mana and then when you commit crimes toss a loot counter here and you can tap it with two mana and remove two counters to draw a card!

Now let's turn to two more mana rocks! Decanter of Endless Water taps for any color, like the Haul above, and then you have no max handsize. Since we are drawing tons of cards from my Commander, I also tossed in Reliquary Tower and Thought Vessel so we don't have to discard. Relic of Sauron taps for two colors in our mana and then taps with three to draw two and discard one, more card draw in mana rock form!!

Gem of Becoming will tap with three mana to search your library for three lands in the types of Island, Mountain and Swamp! Note you can get duals or tris here. Expedition Map can be tapped with two mana to sac and search up any land. I am also running some other pure Demonic Tutor effects to grab the perfect piece of interaction or crime trigger. Crucible of Worlds is here to play lands that head to your graveyard from your library with Marchesa's crime trigger.

Now let's turn to lands! We'll start with lands that are crimes. Bojuka Bog ETBs tapped and you want to target a foe and then exile their graveyard to remove interaction. Dust Bowl ETBs untapped and then taps with three to sac a land a destroy an opposing nonbasic. I also tossed in Wasteland. Only use these for nasty lands people abuse like Rogue's Passage with a Voltron Commander to kill in one or a few hits or a Gaea's Cradle. If you have the nasty Wasteland + Crucible of Worlds combo, I would put Wasteland back into play, in order to keep people from playing their nasty lands, but I wouldn't use it unless you need to end a few lands out when you draw, like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. I was running Strip Mine too but pulled it when adding Crucible of Worlds. Don't be that player.

Now let's move to recursion! Since our stuff heads to the graveyard from our library when crimes, I added these three Black color lands. The colorless tapper ETBs untapped, taps with two mana to reload a dork onto the top of your library. You can also use this prior to activating Marchesa to draw your best dead dork. Takenuma also ETBs untapped, and can be discarded to mill you three and raise a dork back to your hand. The final land ETBs tapped this time, and taps with a rough five mana to self-exile to Zombify a dork back to play, but this is just a onetime trick.

Now let's turn to Deserts from this set too! The commons are here to tap for your two colors, and then ETB tapped, and then pings a target player, so crime on arrival. I wanted to play into that over and over again, so if you sac them to Dust Bowl, you can replay with the Crucible. Then I am running the above bounce land to bounce a land back to your hand to make two mana, in this case double colorless. I am running the other three in colors like Dimir Aqueduct to bounce the Crime Deserts too. Nice synergy!

Synergies and Winning Conditions

Now let's turn to synergies and winning conditions! Mostly from this set. We'll start with this Rakdos colored duo. The enchantment costs three, is uncommon, your outlaws have first strike on your turn, and then you get a crime trigger once/turn to make a free 1/1 Red Mercenary (outlaw) critter token to tap and pump the power at sorcery speed. The mono-Black Warlock (outlaw) costs five for a 4/4 with a crime trigger, once/turn, to make two tapped Zombie Rogues (outlaw). Then she gives them +1/+1 size and menace and has ward 2 and 2 life to target to double protect her, nasty good. Just once per turn though, but this token duo are great at going wide!

Now let's stick to Black with this, duo also from the set. The uncommon Dimir colored three-drop has a blocky 1/4 body. He has one crime trigger per turn to toss a +1/+1 counter here, and then you may exile a card from a graveyard and then if a dork was exiled, you become a copy, more graveyard removal for your set use on foes. Don't be afraid to exile non-dorks instead if you need to exile something nasty. The mono-Black rare is a two-drop Bear with a commit crime trigger to also toss a +1/+1 counter here, once/turn. Then you get him menace and lifelink when he has at least four counters on him, nasty!

Now let's turn to legendary mono-Black one-drops, also from this set. Tinybones Joins Up will force your target foes (crime) to each discard a card on a one-drop enchantment! Then when a legendary dork ETBs, you get a free mill and loss of life to target players again, from you to your foes. Another crime! Tinybones, the Pickpocket has deathtouch to play keep away, a 1/1 body, and then a combat damage trigger. You may cast a nonland permanent from their graveyard with your mana counting for that no matter its color identity, so that's a great early interaction duo.

Now let's turn to win cons that fit well here. Deepmuck Desperado is a Mercenary (outlaw) and three-drop 2/4. It turns crimes into foe's milling three each for Lazav and the sorceries here. Rise of the Dark Realm will one recur all dead things to your battlefield, with the milling of you and above, and other places like Tinybones Joins Up, that could be loads. You can easily win in one or two smashes. The one cost will put a card from any graveyard (crime) onto your battlefield and you'll lose life equal to its cost. It's worth it so much here!

Next let's turn to sorceries that care about our foe's stuff to add to our side. The classic here is the Blue sorcery that costs five, and then will grab the best dork from our foe's library into our battlefield. It targets (crime). See also Acquire that steals their best artifact. Then the back sorcery also targets an opponent and their library and exiles a foe's card, and can cast it with any color of mana rocking the battlefield! Nice trio of targeting your foe for crimes!

Card Draw

Since I need interaction for Marchesa, normally I do it before card draw, but not this time. Since we have built in Commander card flow, my group here isn't much. Mostly in the same set triggers, like this Blue pair. The two-drop X/3 flyer with vigilance rare is first. You turn crime commits to drawing and discarding a card and this power is equal to your card's drawn. That could be a win-con here. The Dimir colored enchantment costs three, and has an ETB ability to drain a life from your foes and draw a cad, and you can bounce it when you commit a crime to recast for another card or kill your foes.

The Dimir colored instant costs two, and has flashback. You can look at the top two cards of your target (crime) opponent's library, exile and cast one as long as it's exiled with your color, like Praetor's Grasp. The Rakdos colored three-drop Rogue (outlaw) dork has a big 4/3 sized body. Your creatures your control but don't own, like stolen from Bribery, the Insight or this become Mercenaries for outlaw purposes. His upkeep trigger will see you exile from target (crime) opponent's library equal to your outlaw count and you can cast them with any color of mana this turn! He's also legendary for Tinybones.

Jeska's Will costs three, you chose a target foe if the first choice was taken to make mana equal to their hand size or if you have Marchesa out, for crime-ing. Then you can exile the top three and cast this turn with the mana you made. The artifact costs the same, has an end step trigger to toss an influence counter here, and then you scry 2 and then draw unless your foe choose to mill cards equal to the counter cost and loses life equal to their mana value, which they won't want to do long. Scry like from Palantir of Orthanc is great to set up your crime trigger draws, you'll draw, set up milling for Rise of the Dark Realms and Reanimate, and target for crime.

Interaction

Now let's turn to what this deck was but around, the Interaction part of "The Interaction Queen!" We'll start with counters! My counters want to answer things early like An Offer You Can't Refuse on turn 1 for some things, or the free Negate that normally costs three here. If you control your Commander it's free, and you can tap a mana after. The Command costs four, harder to cast with triple Blue mana, and then counters, draws, taps, or bounces, love it loads here. Rewind also costs four, but you'll untap after countering and then you can use that mana for your stuff. Wanting to keep my mana for Marchesa, I am not running my normal 5 or 6 drop stuff that impacts the board.

Now let's turn to thieving answers. You can steal it with this pair! The Aura costs five for a Control Magic, targets a dork on arrival so that's crime, and then it untaps your lands like Rewind so leaves you all of your mana to keep on crime triggers or defending. The critter costs two more, has a 2/3 body, ETBs and you'll steal anything you can target like lands or dorks, for crime making, and then in your end step you'll draw three if you control three or more permanents you don't own. Everything that steals or let's you cast here could really make that work from Acquire to Bribery to casting permanents with Siphon Insight or this pair, and with the Agent out, you only need two more. Love this pair loads into your interaction squad!

Now let's turn to burn removal. Spikefield Hazard was heavily played in Standard, costs one, and then you shoot any target for one damage, or you can drop as a Red land. One mana to ping, one to trigger with Marchesa. Comet Storm is a great mana sink for your Jeska's Will and Cabal Coffers, and will shoot one target at instant speed and another for each kicker mana given. It's removal of permanents that are burnable or players too.

Now let's turn to three creatures in my colors that influence the board and act as Reanimate targets when killed or milled. The Blue dork costs seven, has flash, cannot be countered so it will resolve, and then all of your spells cast will get a trigger to bounce a target spell or nonland permanent. That's a load of crimes and tempo. The Black one costs one more for a smaller 6/6 but with flying in evasion. Its ETB/swing trigger will force a target (crime) foe to Diabolic Edict, discard and lose three life, and you can draw and gain three life too! Rakdos, Patron of Chaos has an end turn trigger to target a foe (crime) and then can sac two nonland, nontoken permanents or you draw two cards. Nasty!

Let's finish with targeted mass removal last. I am running one in each of my colors. The Blue one is the overloaded one in Cyclonic Rift, obviously. It targets too. Mizzium Mortars will shoot all opposing stuff for 4 damage each. (Or two mana early for a key early dork like Esper Sentinel you need to answer now or count for crime). Rush of Dread is a spree, base three, up to five with three options, each targeting a different opponent for crimes or the same. One sacrifices half of their dorks, one discards half of their hand, and one loses half their life. This is also a brilliant mana sink for targeting.

Let's turn to my decklist!

Marchesa Interaction | Commander | Abe Sargent

• Commander (1)
• 1 Marchesa, Dealer of Death

• Creatures (20)
• 1 Agent of Treachery
• 1 Archmage Emeritus
• 1 Archon of Cruelty
• 1 Deepmuck Desperado
• 1 Dockside Extortionist
• 1 Duelist of the Mind
• 1 Gisa, the Hellraiser
• 1 Hullbreaker Horror
• 1 Kaervek, the Punisher
• 1 Laughing Jasper Flint
• 1 Lazav, Familiar Stranger
• 1 Magda, the Hordemaster
• 1 Marauding Sphinx
• 1 Nimble Brigand
• 1 Rakdos, Patron of Chaos
• 1 Raven of Fell Omens
• 1 Servant of the Stinger
• 1 Storm-Kiln Artist
• 1 Tinybones, the Pickpocket
• 1 Vadmir, New Blood

• Spells (30)
• 1 Acquire
• 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
• 1 Arcane Denial
• 1 Bedevil
• 1 Bribery
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Comet Storm
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Cryptic Command
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Deflecting Swat
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Feed the Swarm
• 1 Fierce Guardianship
• 1 Frantic Search
• 1 Hagra Mauling
• 1 Jeska's Will
• 1 Jwari Disruption
• 1 Malakir Rebirth
• 1 Mizzium Mortars
• 1 Negate
• 1 Praetor's Grasp
• 1 Prismari Command
• 1 Rewind
• 1 Rise of the Dark Realms
• 1 Rush of Dread
• 1 Seize the Secrets
• 1 Shatterskull Smashing
• 1 Spikefield Hazard
• 1 Siphon Insight

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 At Knifepoint
• 1 Intimidation Campaign
• 1 Treachery
• 1 Virtue of Persistence
• 1 Tinybones Joins Up

• Artifacts (10)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Bandit's Haul
• 1 Crucible of Worlds
• 1 Decanter of Endless Water
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Gem of Becoming
• 1 Palantir of Orthanc
• 1 Relic of Sauron
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Thought Vessel

• Lands (34)
• 1 Arid Archway
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Cabal Coffers
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Crumbling Necropolis
• 1 Dimir Aqueduct
• 1 Dust Bowl
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Eroded Canyon
• 1 Izzet Boilerworks
• 1 Jagged Barrens
• 1 Luxury Suite
• 1 Morphic Pool
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Rakdos Carnarium
• 1 Raucous Theater
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Soured Springs
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1 Thundering Falls
• 1 Tomb Fortress
• 1 Training Center
• 1 Undercity Sewers
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1 Volrath's Stronghold
• 1 Wasteland
• 1 Xander's Lounge
• 3 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 3 Swamp

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100 cards later! There we are! There are so many ways to build around her, and this is my favorite deck I've built so far from OTJ. You could toss in 187 dorks like Ravenous Chupacabra or Avalanche Riders, with the Crucible of Worlds fetch lands and Mox Diamond, Dack Fayden to steal artifacts and force foe's to loot for crimes, Curses like Curse of Opulence that are crimes, Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots, Rhystic Study to make your foe's get taxed and draw, and loads more. I also tossed in a bunch of modal spell // lands and two magecraft triggers in the Treasure maker and the card drawer. If you like stealing and making the Agent of Treachery trigger, you could add more steal effects like Control Magic, or swap your tokens with good stuff like Shifting Grift that also targets for crimes. The Interaction Queen is so deep!