This B/W deck is based off the soul sisters archetype with a twist: the Forbidden Orchard.
Standard, but budget, soul sisters cards are here (Soul Warden, Soul's Attendant, Ajani's Pridemate) with the addition of the Forbidden Orchard and the cards that make it all work.
Since Illness in the Ranks kills the Spirits that the Orchard produces, I can almost always use it without worrying that I'm arming my enemies. This helps a lot with the mana base (as you can see, I've no shocks or fetches). Basically for monetary reasons, I've decided to avoid the shock and fetch lands for the Isolate Chapel and Forbidden Orchard. Now, I realize that I am missing out on a lot of potential, and the deck would greatly benefit from having a better land base, but think of all of the other things I can buy with the money I'm saving on lands!
Suture Priest, Malakir Cullblade, Blood Artist, Zealous Persecution, and of course the soul sisters themselves all benefit from giving my opponent a Spirit and having it die immediately.
One of the main win conditions is beefing up a Pridemate and/or Cullblade and swinging. However, this isn't nearly as effective as slowly (or quickly) draining their life with the Suture Priest and Blood Artist.
Notes on other cards:
Tragic Slip I have found is a cheaper Path to Exile. Path is definitely more reliable, but so much more expensive. With the amount of Spirits sent to the furnace, getting the morbid is usually no problem. And a turn 1 kill on a Noble Hierarch is always fun too.
Virulent Plague is the safety if I run out of Illness in the Ranks. Turns out, you can't have more that 4 of any one card!
Return to the Ranks is in the deck only for the play on words in relation to Illness in the Ranks. Get it? Like, the soldiers were ill, and now they have gotten better and returned? No? Okay, well it also helps me recover after a board wipe, and is very useful late game.
I love this deck, and have worked very hard on it since I first heard of soul sisters+Forbidden Orchard. Please, leave a comment and a suggestion, and don't forget to +1 if you feel like it!
I absolutely love this deck, and have w
