Maralen, Fae Ascendant is one of the most popular Commanders out of Lorwyn Eclipsed, and she can be built quite powerfully indeed. After a couple of months of testing, here are our picks for some of the most underrated cards for Maralen, Fae Ascendant.
MARALEN, FAE ASCENDANT
Maralen has a really cool gameplay loop, and it helps bridge two distinct creature types – much like they did with Elves and Wolves with Voja, Jaws of the Conclave. This time, Elves and Faeries.
Maralen makes for a fine theme-forward deck in Bracket 2, but once you take the gloves off, there are plenty of ways to combo mill your opponents in Bracket 3 and above. Displacer Kitten and Seedborn Muse are two very powerful includes, and you only need Cloud of Faeries and Deadeye Navigator to pop off.
The other main combo you can run is of course Presence of Gond and Intruder Alarm – but what about the rest of your deck?
Here are our Underrated Cards for Maralen, Fae Ascendant – picked to be good at a variety of power levels.
10. ESSENCE WARDEN
Playing a Maralen deck can paint a target on your back. While many lists run Virulent Emissary for the deathtouch – handy in a pinch for blocking – you’re still usually way more interested in the lifegain. Gaining increments of life while you’re deploying your gameplan can keep you alive, and quite often when playing this deck, people are going to come at you swinging. Sure, Essence Warden doesn’t have deathtouch – but it does gain you way more life.
9. FAERIE ARTISANS
In a format – nay, a game – all about enter the battlefield abilities on creatures, getting to dip into the ones your opponents are benefitting from is a cheeky way to get a lot of free card advantage. Faerie Artisans triggers Maralen, and provides a steady stream of borrowing other players’ effects – something the deck is already wanting to do with Maralen’s ability. Even if you’re mostly on an Elf-led early curve, this is one of the splashier Faeries to add. Don’t forget that if your opponents play any Elves or Faeries, then you could potentially be getting extra Maralen triggers when Faerie Artisans triggers.
8. PARADOXICAL OUTCOME
Being in blue and green, you really do get your pick of protection spells – whether it’s Heroic Intervention or straight up Counterspell. That said, you’re a deck that cares a lot about EtB effects, not least your Commander (who can be quite expensive, and can’t be saved in the face of a Toxic Deluge or Farewell unless you can Negate it). That’s where Paradoxical Outcome comes in. It scoops up your board, fills your hand with more spells, and then you get to enjoy all of those great EtBs again.
7. SUBMERGE
You never know what you’ll be able to cast off of the top with Maralen (unless you run Lantern of Insight, I guess), but there’s one way to stack the deck in your favor: by literally stacking the deck in your favor. Submerge will usually end up being free to cast in most pods, and allows you to put a creature on top of its owner’s library. This is brilliant to cast before a Maralen trigger, and the only thing it won’t be able to do is ensure you get to steal their Commander, as they’ll get to send it to the CZ when it changes zones.
6. MEMORY LAPSE
Speaking of forgetful fish, Memory Lapse is another way you can stack the deck in your favor. While many lists run Noxious Revival to mess with the top deck from the graveyard, Memory Lapse can do it on the stack. It’s a great counter spell in a three color deck that might struggle to reliably have access to double blue.
5. RASHMI, ETERNITIES CRAFTER
The wise elf on Paradoxical Outcome also makes an appearance on this list: Rashmi, Eternities Crafter. Rashmi appears in relatively few Maralen decks, and I’m not sure why (other than perhaps her being an older card and not a mana dork). Rashmi will trigger each turn, including on an opponent’s turn. This means that if you have a way of having an Elf or Faerie enter on an opponent’s turn without casting a spell, you can trigger Rashmi off of the free cast off of Maralen. Either way, she’ll trigger a lot.
4. TYVAR, THE PUMMELER
Depending on what bracket you’re aiming for with Maralen, your wincon might look very different. If you’re not wanting to go for the infinite combos, you’re likely on Craterhoof Behemoth. That can’t be your only wincon, though, and if you’re running a mix of Elves and Faeries, relying on typical Elfball pump effects might not get you there. That’s where Tyvar the Pummeler comes in. At the very least, your largest creature will be Maralen, meaning five mana gets you +4/+4. If you have Elves that put counters on things, then that buff could be much larger – besides which, late game it’s very reasonable to expect you can activate him twice.
As a bonus, keeping Tyvar around after a wrath gets your next Maralen-count as a base 2, rather than base 1.
3. SCHEMING SYMMETRY
Here’s a fun one. For one mana, you get to ensure your next draw is whatever you need, and whatever you next cast of Maralen will hopefully be something great too. Let’s be real though – any discerning opponent will understand your trick, and probably just put a basic land on top. That’s where politics comes in. Ask them if they have a removal spell for an opponent’s engine or threat. One mana to tutor a free removal spell and win some brownie points? Sign me up.
2.GOLDEN RATIO
When you’re playing a deck full of Elves and Faeries, your average creatures will vary in power between 1, 2 and 3 most of the time. With Maralen, you have 4 power, and provided you’re running any other kind of creature that puts +1/+1 counters on itself (or you steal something off of an opponent!), you’re then up to five different powers. Five plus cards for three mana is excellent. Why aren’t folks running this? Even four cards for three mana is a steal.
1. BORNE UPON A WIND
If there was any card that should be an auto-include in Maralen lists, it’s Borne Upon a Wind. Without it, you’re entirely confined to casting spells with timing restrictions. This means that triggering Maralen on an opponent’s turn will only allow you to cast Instants. With High Fae Trickster, Leyline of Anticipation and Borne Upon a Wind, you can ensure you’re able to take opportunities to cash in on sorcery speed spells.
END STEP
Maralen, Fae Ascendant is one of the coolest Commanders from Lorwyn Eclipsed, and we’re really enjoying playing her. After some testing, the cards shared today have proven their worth. It might be an idea to try a few of them.
If you’re going for the perfect flavor in your Maralen deck, then my pet pick is Trickster’s Talisman. It’s the quintessential Fae gift, and can help you get a copy of a creature you steal – or just an extra Maralen trigger. Perfect if you’re all in on tokens with Bitterblossom and Bitterbloom Bearer with any kind of populate or Doubling Season effect.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.