Orzhov Tortex

Pauper Combo Pauper WB (Orzhov)

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Creature (22)

• 3x Auramancer
• 1x Fume Spitter
• 2x Guardian of the Guildpact
• 1x Gurmag Angler
• 1x Kami of False Hope
• 2x Lone Missionary
• 1x Mistmoon Griffin
• 1x Mournwhelk
• 2x Sanitarium Skeleton
• 2x Stinkweed Imp
• 3x Thorn of the Black Rose
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 2x Wall of Hope

Enchantment (12)

• 2x Angelic Renewal
• 2x Dead Weight
• 2x Journey to Nowhere
• 2x Pestilence
• 1x Seal of Doom
• 3x Tortured Existence

Instant (2)

• 2x Undying Evil

Land (20)

• 2x Orzhov Basilica
• 7x Plains
• 4x Scoured Barrens
• 7x Swamp

Sorcery (4)

• 2x Chainer's Edict
• 2x Morgue Theft

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Sideboard

Creature (4)

• 2x Faerie Macabre
• 1x Kami of False Hope
• 1x Standard Bearer

Instant (3)

• 3x Unmake

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Circle of Protection: Green
• 1x Circle of Protection: Red
• 2x Seal of Cleansing

Sorcery (4)

• 2x Castigate
• 2x Rancid Earth

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Maybeboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Coalition Honor Guard
• 1x Pious Warrior
• 1x Thoughtpicker Witch
• 1x Wall of Resistance

Land (3)

• 1x Ancient Den
• 1x Radiant Fountain
• 1x Vault of Whispers

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Evolution of Esper Tortex. I was getting a little frustrated that there wasn't a good wincon. The deck could grind very well, but it often couldn't even attack, and was just left surviving with no ultimate goal, other than maybe milling the opponent out (but, with Stinkweed Imp dredging, even that was often in the opponent's favor).

So, I tried to find something to give a degree of inevitability to the deck. I settled on the Pestilence + Wall of Hope combo. This allows you to ping for 2 every turn, with no repercussions to yourself as the wall gives you back the life. To support this, I made some other changes, discussed below. Primarily among those changes is the removal of the blue splash. Ultimately I figured it wasn't worth the inconsistency (though I do miss being able to Mnemonic Wall back some spells).

There are some similar decks that use this combo (e.g. this one), but I hadn't seen any also using Tortured Existence, which I find quite helpful for making sure the combo stays active. If they kill the wall, you can get it back. If they kill the pestilence (or you wipe the board of creatures and it gets sacced), you can Auramancer it back.

Card Choices

• Auramancer -- Great for getting back Pestilence, Tortured Existence, and removal like Dead Weight and Seal of Doom. Also combos with Angelic Renewal for persistent chump blocks.
• Viscera Seer -- A sac outlet can be handy, especially when you can just TortEx the creature back the next turn. Allows Guardians or other creatures to get around Unmake or other exile effects, enables Mistmoon Griffin shenanigans, can fog damage to avoid lifelink, etc. Could also be a Carrion Feeder or maybe Thoughtpicker Witch if you usually have mana to spare.
• Morgue Theft -- Get back creatures even if you can't find a TortEx or have nothing in your hand. Flashback is useful if you dredge it, or just for a second firing. Could be replaced with (instant speed) Corpse Churn, Grim Harvest, or perhaps (other benefits) Grim Discovery, Disturbed Burial, or (cheaper) Ghoulcaller's Chant, March of the Drowned, Disentomb, Raise Dead.
• Gurmag Angler -- good beater, and we usually have a pretty full graveyard.
• Pestilence -- the endgame. Wipes the board, deals (non-combat) damage to opponent. It does it all.
• Fume Spitter -- recurrable small creature spot removal, or can spread out the removal over multiple turns for bigger ones. One thing I like to do is block a big creature and activate the ability to remove another small creature.
• Sanitarium Skeleton -- TortEx fuel that doesn't put you at risk of self-mill. Also, at 1/2, isn't completely worthless for blocking.
• Mournwhelk -- Moved to maindeck, but maybe it should be a Castigate and keep the Mournwhelk in SB. Decent body to survive recurring Pestilence activations, and hand disruption is always nice.
• Mistmoon Griffin -- I still feel like I haven't quite tapped the potential of this card. Allows basically any creature in your graveyard (or hand!) to pop out at instant speed with a TortEx and some kind of sac outlet (seer or pestilence). Can really catch people off guard.
• Chainer's Edict -- great removal, and with pestilence you can wipe out smaller creatures and make them sac the big ones.
• Undying Evil -- Recur ETB effects, or save a creature you need from (some kinds of) removal.
• Lone Missionary -- good lifegain.
• Wall of Hope -- combos with Pestilence, and a good early drop to block faster decks' smaller creatures.
• Seal of Doom -- good removal you can get back with Auramancer
• Guardian of the Guildpact -- Beater with protection from most of the format, including your own Pestilence. Also helps keep the Pestilences in play.
• Tortured Existence -- get your creatures back as often as you have mana
• Angelic Renewal -- mostly for Auramancer chump block combo. but with lots of ETB effect creatures, two triggers from any of them can be handy.
• Journey to Nowhere -- semi-permanent removal (less effective after SB if they have enchantment removal, but still good)
• Dead Weight -- removal or dampening you can get back with Auramancer.
• Stinkweed Imp -- fill your graveyard for better TortEx selection, also gives you a creature to pitch to TortEx, also kills any creatures the opponent might throw at you.
• Kami of False Hope -- stand-in for Spore Frog. fog up the board if necessary (re-use via TortEx) while you try to find a combo piece.
• Thorn of the Black Rose -- Monarch is great with this deck. With Kami and many ways to reuse creatures, you can often hold the opponent off from ever stealing the crown. also, like Stinkweed Imp, the deathtouch is useful for big creatures. and 3 toughness means it can withstand the Pestilence + Wall combo pings.

Sideboard

• Standard Bearer -- completely hoses creature-aura-based decks like Bogles or Heroic. can also be good for handling removal, especially since you can replay this via TortEx or so.
• Unmake -- one of my biggest problem decks with Esper was Tron. this disposes of Mnemonic Wall or Dinrova Horror once and for all. Assuming they don't have a Ghostly Flicker in hand. Also good for other problem creatures, or decks that make use of graveyard.
• Seal of Cleansing -- enchantment removal, reusable via auramancer
• Kami of False Hope -- another copy for very aggro decks
• Castigate -- again, mostly Tron-inspired, but also works for UB control. Get rid of Capsize or Evincar's Justice permanently.
• Circle of Protection: Red and Green -- great for stompy, blitz, burn. Even works on Bogles since it doesn't target.
• Faerie Macabre -- easily reusable targeted graveyard hate.
• Rancid Earth -- land hate that can also disrupt small creatures. Possibly good against Elves, if you can survive long enough to trigger Threshold.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Key combos	Pestilence + Wall of Hope
Legality	This deck is Pauper legal.
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.45
Tokens	Monarch Emblem
Folders	Decks