Marchesa, the Black Rose
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard
Dethrone (Whenever this creature attacks the player with the most life or tied for most life, put a +1/+1 counter on it.)
Other creatures you control have dethrone.
Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it dies, return that card to the battlefield under your control at the beginning of the next end step.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BRU
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Commander 2017
- Price
- $1.41
- EDHREC rank
- #4729
Marchesa, the Black Rose turns any creature with a +1/+1 counter into a recurring threat — every time one dies, it comes back at end of turn, which warps combat math immediately. The setup cost is real (you need to be at lower life than an opponent to dethrone triggers, and she costs four mana), but payoffs like Time Sieve turning sacrificed permanents into extra turns make the engine backbreaking fast.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Edea, Possessed Sorceress
Edea, Possessed Sorceress generates tokens whenever spells are cast, and Marchesa, the Black Rose lets those tokens — or any creature Edea cares about — survive board wipes and sacrifice loops by returning from the graveyard, sustaining the engine indefinitely.
Thraximundar
Thraximundar demands sacrifice triggers to grow, and Marchesa, the Black Rose closes that loop by returning every sacrificed creature at end of turn, meaning Thraximundar keeps forcing opponents to sacrifice while your board rebuilds itself for free.
Inalla, Archmage Ritualist
Inalla, Archmage Ritualist creates hasty Wizard tokens that are prime candidates for sacrifice loops, and Marchesa, the Black Rose ensures the original Wizards keep returning so Inalla's eminence trigger fires again and again.
Jodah, the Unifier
Jodah, the Unifier cascades through legendary spells, and Marchesa, the Black Rose is a four-mana legendary that both triggers Jodah's cascade and protects the resulting board of legendary creatures from sweepers.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Marchesa, the Black Rose belongs — the dethrone trigger fires naturally in a four-player game where someone is almost always ahead on life, and the graveyard recursion scales with the sheer number of creatures a 100-card deck can cycle through. In Legacy and Vintage she's technically legal but never sees competitive play; four mana for a 4/4 with a conditional recursion effect competes poorly against those formats' broken-fast threats. Oathbreaker is the only other format worth mentioning, where she can function as a signature spell enabler in a sacrifice shell, though her best work is still as a commander, not a support piece.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Marchesa, the Black RoseTime SieveMyr Battlesphere
Infinite turns; Lock
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$1.41 cheap tier
At $1.41, Marchesa, the Black Rose is firmly budget — you're getting a proven Commander engine for the price of a pack of sleeves. That price has stayed low despite consistent demand because multiple printings have kept supply healthy, so don't expect it to spike.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.