Marchesa, the Black Rose sketch by Matthew Stewart

Yes, Bret Michaels, every rose does have its thorn—and in Magic’s case, it’s a four-inch (well, five-inch if you measure from the base) poisoned stabber ring that resides on the left middle finger of one of multiplayer’s most subtly sexy commanders—no, the answer this time is not Nicol Bolas, though he probably has some pretty nice jewelry himself . . . 

Stabber ring made with Fimo sculpting clay, Golden Fluid Acrylic paint in gold, and plastic gem.

This is where Marchesa lives:

Paliano, the High City by Adam Paquette (located on the plane of Fiora, from which Dack Fayden also hails)

These are Marchesa’s cards:

I was intrigued by Marchesa from the outset. Not only is she Grixis colors, I love her flavorful dethrone mechanic. The added bonus is that her other ability hints at shady dealings with Death or a secret capacity for dark sorcery that would allow her underlings (and herself) to live just a little longer than they should under normal circumstances . . . I appreciate that any magical capabilities Marchesa possesses aren’t shown in the art—because this adds to her mystery and ties in with her profile as diplomat, businesswoman, and Fiora public figure. I envision her taking pains to keep her deadly magic low-profile. The less Marchesa’s enemies know, the better—if they underestimate her abilities, it just gives her a strategic advantage.

Power Play by Matthew Stewart

Marchesa and the Council ? Commander | @lowbeyonder on Twitter

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (19)
• 1 Body Double
• 1 Evil Twin
• 1 Gilded Drake
• 1 Morphling
• 1 Notion Thief
• 1 Royal Assassin
• 1 Viashino Heretic
• 1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
• 1 Chainer, Dementia Master
• 1 Diaochan, Artful Beauty
• 1 Godo, Bandit Warlord
• 1 Kiku, Night's Flower
• 1 Nicol Bolas
• 1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
• 1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
• 1 Sun Quan, Lord of Wu
• 1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1 Tsabo Tavoc
• 1 Vela the Night-Clad

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 1 Chandra, Pyromaster
• 1 Liliana Vess
• 1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
• 1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

• Spells (39)
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Desertion
• 1 Dominate
• 1 Mana Drain
• 1 Slaughter
• 1 Spell Crumple
• 1 Acquire
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Bribery
• 1 Cruel Ultimatum
• 1 Damnation
• 1 Decree of Pain
• 1 Demonic Tutor
• 1 Insurrection
• 1 Plague Wind
• 1 Chamber of Manipulation
• 1 Control Magic
• 1 Night of Souls' Betrayal
• 1 Propaganda
• 1 Unspeakable Symbol
• 1 Bargaining Table
• 1 Chromatic Lantern
• 1 Coalition Relic
• 1 Coercive Portal
• 1 Crucible of Worlds
• 1 Elixir of Immortality
• 1 Mana Crypt
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1 Scroll of Origins
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Staff of Domination
• 1 Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1 Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1 Thousand-Year Elixir
• 1 Torpor Orb
• 1 Trading Post
• 1 Elbrus, the Binding Blade
• 1 Umezawa's Jitte

• Lands (37)
• 2 Mountain
• 3 Island
• 4 Swamp
• 1 Badlands
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 City of Brass
• 1 City of Shadows
• 1 City of Traitors
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Crumbling Necropolis
• 1 Dust Bowl
• 1 Forbidden Orchard
• 1 Maze of Ith
• 1 Mishra's Factory
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Temple of Epiphany
• 1 Temple of Malice
• 1 Thespian's Stage
• 1 Underground Sea
• 1 Volcanic Island
• 1 Wasteland
• 1 Watery Grave
• 1 Academy Ruins
• 1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1 Volrath's Stronghold

Buy This Deck

Ready for the cosplay part? Okay, here are a few of my process pics and a cost breakdown, followed by what you’ve (hopefully) all been waiting for: the final results!

Raw materials plus ready-to-wear items: I’m definitely ’bout the “semi-homemade cosplay.”

Fblthp lends a helping . . . claw? This is mostly here because everyone loves Fblthp.

Turning bra cups into pauldrons.

Fitting the pieces.

Test shots: Earlier (left) and later in the process (right).

Gotta get my hair did.

A Couple Notes on Costs

• Already having an extensive jewelry, scrap fabric, and makeup collection and getting stuff for free (like my mom’s fake eyelashes) helped keep expenditures down in some areas. I am a total packrat, and my wardrobe is pretty deep, so I often mine it for cosplay items.
• The earrings were a total indulgence, as later I found beads that I could have used to make earrings for basically zero dollars. That said, having a custom-designed, hand-made piece of artisan jewelry for this cosplay definitely made me feel like a baller—much more like Marchesa. I also felt good about supporting a fellow Magic fan’s small business.

Devil’s in the Vorthos details.

Vendors

• Black rose cameo ring from Mom and Me Emporium
• “Marchesa” custom ceramic and copper earrings from Coldcopper Designs
• Snake ring from The Bohemian Shop
• Colored contact lenses in Neo Sunflower Blue from Honeycolor.com
• Unless otherwise stated, I buy most items via Amazon Prime.

Marchesa, the Black Rose by Matthew Stewart

All right, time to shut my yapper and SHOW YOU THE PICTURES.

Marchesa, by Moxymtg Cosplay, with Photo Editing by James Arnold

Visit Moxymtg Cosplay for the full Marchesa gallery and a few more bonus pictures! Eventually, I hope to have some kind of store set up with all proceeds going to the charity Hope for Justice.

I really hope you enjoy this cosplay; I had a blast bringing it to life. I started accumulating the components last year—the summer of 2014—originally intending to wear it to Grand Prix Portland. I didn’t make it to the event, and I didn’t finish the cosplay because fate would have it that on that exact weekend, my husband got a new job, and priorities had to be switched around.

It’s been awhile since I’ve been on Gathering Magic, too, but I’ve been keeping busy playing a little Modern and now building my first Legacy deck. It’s good to be able to come back and see the MTG community thriving.

Flashback

For those of you keeping score, I am still planning to do the Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite cosplay . . . but let’s just say it has to wait till after I lose some baby weight (laughing). Nothing wrong with a fuller-figured Norn, except that I think it goes against the fundamentals of the Machine Orthodoxy! Not to worry, though, as I have a number of other MTG cosplays (that leverage the voluptuousness) planned out for the next few months, and I will do my best to follow through on them.

If you dig it: Like my Moxymtg Cosplay page, and come along on the ride. I post the playlists I listen to while building/modeling cosplays, outtakes from photo shoots, and more.

Till next time, may Magic be your four- (or five- . . . ) inch deadly poisonous stabber ring.

-MJ

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