Orzhov Greed

Commander / EDH

tyblackwing

Creature (35)

• 1x Agent of Masks
• 1x Angel of Despair
• 1x Ashen Rider
• 1x Auramancer
• 1x Basilica Guards
• 1x Basilica Screecher
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Cadaver Imp
• 1x Cartel Aristocrat
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Deathbringer Liege
• 1x Divinity of Pride
• 1x Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Ghost Council of Orzhova
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Gwyllion Hedge-Mage
• 1x Heliod, God of the Sun
• 1x High Priest of Penance
• 1x Kingpin's Pet
• 1x Maw of the Obzedat
• 1x Necrotic Sliver
• 1x Obzedat, Ghost Council
• 1x Odunos River Trawler
• 1x Pontiff of Blight
• 1x Sin Collector
• 1x Syndic of Tithes
• 1x Teysa, Orzhov Scion
• 1x Tithe Drinker
• 1x Treasury Thrull
• 1x Triad of Fates
• 1x Vault Skirge
• 1x Vizkopa Guildmage
• 1x Windborn Muse

Land (37)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Emeria, the Sky Ruin
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Kor Haven
• 1x Leechridden Swamp
• 1x Mystifying Maze
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 9x Plains
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Serra's Sanctum
• 7x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Thespian's Stage
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of the Archangel
• 1x Vesuva
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold

Enchantment (11)

• 1x Arrest
• 1x Debtors' Knell
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Exquisite Blood
• 1x Faith's Fetters
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x One Thousand Lashes
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Pillory of the Sleepless
• 1x Sanguine Bond

Artifact (1)

• 1x Norn's Annex

Instant (8)

• 1x Dismember
• 1x Executioner's Swing
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Orzhov Charm
• 1x Unmake
• 1x Utter End

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Consume Spirit
• 1x Death Grasp
• 1x Debt to the Deathless
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Profane Command
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Vindicate

Commander (1)

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Overview:

This is my first attempt at a commander deck. The basic premise is to gain life from all opponents using the Extort mechanic of the Orzhov guild. This should thrive in multilayer games, but I think it will work in 1 on 1 games too.

Operation:

Many lower cost creatures for quick casting and to utilize spare mana for the Extort costs. Then creatures will be sacrificed or used as blockers to activate Athreos' ability. The creature can then be used again for Extort or an opponent loses 3 life. After all to the Orzhov, once you owe in life, you owe in death and will continue to serve until that debt is paid.

Win Conditions:

1. Extort
2. Extort combined with life drain spells (Death Grasp, Debt to the Deathless, Profane Command , Consume Spirit , Exsanguinate and a recurring Gray Merchant of Asphodel)
3. Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood for an instant win
4. The commander is indestructible and a possible turn 3 drop 5/4 creature, along with 2 other indestructible gods

Defense:

1. Become a part of the immortal Ghost Council- Large life total
2. Attack Prevention- Windborn Muse , Ghostly Prison, and Norn's Annex are used to make it expensive for other players to attack. They will attack each other while the Orzhov Extort everyone! To further prevent players from attacking, Grave Pact and Dictate of Erebos will make other players think twice about attacking and having to sacrifice their big creatures when the Orzhov block with a 1/1.
3. Creature Prevention- This deck includes many creature removal spells as well as enchantments that render other players creatures useless. (The main purpose of these are to be used against big commanders with dangerous activated abilities since if you destroy them they will just come back.)
4. Board-wipe Prevention- 3 indestructible god creatures along and the Ghost Councils. The gods can survive Wrath of God type spells and the Ghost Councils will be out of play when the spell is cast. Therefore possibly leaving you with the best position after a player wipes the board. An indestructible 5/4, an indestructible 5/7, and indestructible 5/6, a 5/5 attacker/blocker, and a 4/4 blocker.

Combos:

1. Athreos + Extort- Ensure there is a supply of small recastable creatures for Extort or a free life drain with each creature death.
2. Athreos + ETB Creatures- The opponent will decide to lose 3 life or possibly have that creature's "When enters the battlefield" ability happen again.
3. Triad of Fates + ETB Creatures- Using Triad of the Fates is a guaranteed way to bring a creature back to the battlefield to activate its abilities especially for more costly creatures like Gray merchant of Asphodel, Angel of Despair, Ashen Rider, or even the Ghost Councils (think their effects twice a turn). This can also be used if the opponent will most likely pay the 3 life to Athreos' ability.
4. Sacrifice + LTB Creatures + Grave Pact/Dictate of Erebos + Athreos- This could give 5 times the benefits of the sacrifice abilities. Sacrifice a creature, get the sacrificed creature's "Leaves the Battlefield" ability, then force all opponents to sacrifice a creature with Grave Pact, then force them to sacrifice again with Dictate of Erebos, then get the ability that the original creature was sacrificed for, and finally an opponent will pay 3 life or the creature could come back.
5. Sanguine Bond + Exquisite Blood + Extort/Other life gain- Instantly kill all opponents and gain as much health as they had

Possible Weaknesses:

1. Enchantment Removal- I knew this deck would be weaker against enchantment removal will all the enchantment auras it has, but as I wrote this up I noticed the Sanguine Bond + Exquisite Blood combo. I figured I would need some way to get them back out of my graveyard if that combo was to be viable so I added Odunos River Trawler and Auramancer . This also has the benefit of Triad of Fates and Athreos' ability if they die.
2. Counter spells- With Athreos' ability, the opponents will know what creature was put into my hand and may allow it to go to my hand only to counter it the next time I cast it. I don't really see a way around this other than to have cards that return creatures from the graveyard, which I have several ways of doing this.

I'm open to any suggestions, but I do want to stick to the Orzhov theme and making people pay taxes and tributes to increase my wealth. I was thinking about adding some blink type cards to increase the ETB effects. I know that I can't count on drawing Triad too often which is why I rely more heavily on Athreos and graveyard returns. Triad is more about getting those effects cheaper if I happen to draw Triad. It is also a way to remove some threats or for me to draw a card if absolutely necessary. The blink cards I was looking at were: Liberate , Otherworldly Journey , Flickerform , and Ghostway. But I removed them in favor of more creature kill spells and graveyard returns.

Date added	10 years
Last updated	10 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 27 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.49
Tokens	Enchantment Cleric 2/1 W, Kithkin Soldier 1/1 W, Morph 2/2 C, Spirit 1/1 W