Orzhov Humans

Standard Aggro Competitive Humans WB (Orzhov) Weenie

jacksnipe

Creature (30)

• 4x Banisher Priest
• 4x Boros Elite
• 2x Daring Skyjek
• 4x Eidolon of Countless Battles
• 2x Imposing Sovereign
• 2x Pain Seer
• 4x Precinct Captain
• 4x Soldier of the Pantheon
• 4x Xathrid Necromancer

Land (22)

• 4x Godless Shrine
• 4x Mutavault
• 2x Orzhov Guildgate
• 7x Plains
• 1x Swamp
• 4x Temple of Silence

Artifact (2)

• 2x Spear of Heliod

Instant (6)

• 4x Brave the Elements
• 2x Orzhov Charm

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Sideboard

Creature (5)

• 2x Fiendslayer Paladin
• 1x Sin Collector
• 2x Spirit of the Labyrinth

Artifact (2)

• 2x Pithing Needle

Instant (5)

• 1x Celestial Flare
• 1x Dark Betrayal
• 3x Doom Blade

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Glare of Heresy
• 2x Thoughtseize

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Only three things in life are certain...

Life, Death, and White Weenies.

Based loosely on the Orzhov Humans deck that Ryo Nakada piloted to victory in Grand Prix Shizuoka. More info on his performance can be found here.

It's essentially White Weenies, splash black. "But Jack!" some of you may be saying, "why bother splashing black?" Well, three main reasons:

Why we splash black:

3 reasons:

• Pain Seer is really good. Addressed in the "Thoughts" section.
• The sideboard becomes a lot better. Doom Blade is great, Sin Collector is great, and I've been thinking about Profit / Loss, Thoughtseize, etc...
• Xathrid Necromancer turns this deck from a fragile aggro deck into a resilient beast that can power through most mid-game situations.

My picks for some slots were very hard, and a lot of cards were cut in playtesting. This is what I wound up with, and why.

Thoughts on each card:

• Non-Creatures:

  • Mutavault: There's a reason 'vault is run in about 80% of all standard decks. He counts as a human and is an aggressive body, so he finds his place here, too.
  • Brave the Elements: I can say with great confidence that this is the best card in the deck. It affects 26 of our creatures -- almost half of our deck! -- and can do a lot of cool stuff. Its best uses are blocking Anger of the Gods, swinging with everything unblockable, getting profitable blocks, baiting out removal, etc...
  • Godless Shrine: Nothing needs to be said.
  • Temple of Silence : It's very much worth it, in my opinion. The ETB tapped tends to hurt us a lot, but with our low number of lands and only Pain Seer to generate card advantage, the scry is seriously worth it.
  • Orzhov Guildgate: Honestly, I don't know if I want to keep this card in. I may replace it with like 2 Swamp and 2 Plains (or some other combination of basics).

• Creatures:

  • 1-drops:

    • Soldier of the Pantheon: Not much to say besides that I wish I could run 8 of him.
    • Boros Elite : 1-drops make our deck so much better it's not funny. This card is, of course, not always the best. It's competing with at least Dryad Militant and Judge's Familiar for the spot, and I've thought about Tormented Hero (good body, but too rare to have untapped black turn 1). Boros Elite wins here because he's a human, and on turn 3 or 4 he generally swings as a 3/3, but that's about all I can say for him. Again, he gets this slot almost exclusively because he's a human.

  • 2-drops:

    • Precinct Captain: This guys is so good! He's super awesome at generating big advantages. He blocks really well the turn he comes down -- his first strike lets him eat a Soldier of the Pantheon, most Pack Rats, Spirit of the Labyrinth, Banisher Priest , etc... Don't forget about his tokens, either! They count towards Eidolon, they count towards batallion triggers, they become 2/2's with the help of Spear of Heliod; oh, and they're white, so Brave the Elements protects them, too!
    • Daring Skyjek : Often not the best creature, but he provides a very aggressive body, and he's still a good draw turn 4 or 5. Be cautious about losing him to some 1-power creature, but also don't be too afraid to trade him away. Once you start swinging with 3 creatures, though, he's fantastic.
    • Pain Seer : This guy is super great. No, he's not the most aggressive body. No, he's not the best at attacking or blocking. Yes, he's easy to kill. But, what Seer generally does is either: (a) eat removal, or (b) get us more cards. Our highest CMC is 3, so we aren't worried about the damage we take, and if he's getting removed, then something else isn't. Really, Seer tends to be a win-win.
    • Imposing Sovereign: Only a 2-of, because more than one of her is quite the opposite of ideal, but god damn does she do work! Great in the aggro mirror, great against mid-range creature decks, amazing against Obzedat, and great against every Elspeth deck.
      • 3-drops:
    • Xathrid Necromancer : Makes the deck work. Only 1 of our creatures (Eidolon of Countless Battles) isn't a human, and even Eidolon gets the benefit from not actually reducing your number of creatures. Beats Supreme Verdict. Block for days. Attack without fear of death.
    • Eidolon of Countless Battles: Amazing card. Rarely comes down as less than a 3/3, tends to be 4/4. Great aggressive body that can, in some situations, challenge the biggest creatures. I'll talk about his bestow down below.
    • Banisher Priest : Catch-all creature removal? Check. Exiles and doesn't destroy? Check. Is a human? Check. Is white? Check. An incredible card. I have won more than a few games by Banishing their only possible blocker and then swinging for lethal.
    • Spear of Heliod: A giant buff to our weenies! Makes 38/60 cards in our deck (34 creatures + 4 Mutavault) dramatically better. I've run it as 3-of, and I might go back to that, but having more than one is just so bad.

  • 4-drops:

    • Eidolon of Countless Battles bestowed: Technically not a 4-drop, but deserving of mention. Suiting up our Soldier of the Pantheon is often amazing. Suiting up another Eidolon is amazing. It tends to at least read "Enchanted Creature gets +4/+4", and if they board wipe us, then he becomes a creature again (who often is still big because of Xathrid zombies). Good as a 3-drop, but often back-breaking for the opponent as a 4-drop.

• Sideboard:

  • Doom Blade: In the vast majority of matchups, this card is an absolute 5/5 bomb that kills everything.
  • Celestial Flare : Here primarily to deal with Blood Baron of Vizkopa, but also because the downside of Devour Flesh is quite high against us. Also excellent agains Desecration Demon, Alms Beast , and other big fatties that Doom Blade can't handle.
  • Fiendslayer Paladin : The only way we can beat burn. Also very good against red decks in general, as well as being quite usefull against mono-B.
  • Glare of Heresy : Good against white decks, obviously.
  • Pithing Needle: Amazing against Pack Rat, Mutavault, and every planeswalker!
  • Sin Collector : Awesome in any matchup where you're opponent is running any appreciable number of instants and/or sorceries.
  • Spirit of the Labyrinth: Amazing against any deck that likes to draw cards. Doubly-so against Sphinx's Revelation in particular.

Scary Stuff

Removal is, of course, pretty good against our deck, but the goal is to flood the board with creatures to the point where they can't actually deal with us using one-for-one removal, and have to resort to board wipes (which Xathrid makes much worse).

Cards to be scared of:

• Anger of the Gods: This card often destroys us. If we're not careful, it will take us out back, and beat us to death, and leave the mangled corpse for our loved ones to find. Even if we've resolved a Spear of Heliod, it tends to kill everything we have. BUT, we CAN deal with it! Since Anger deals damage, Brave the Elements can prevent that damage! If you think they have Anger, either be careful not to over-commit, or hold up Brave.

• Elspeth, Sun's Champion: Elspeth CAN be a blowout. If she comes out and you can't kill her immediately, things can get really, really bad. Brave the Elements shines in letting us get through her soldier tokens and murder her in the face. Imposing Sovereign tends to give you another turn to deal with her, without those tokens getting in the way. Out of the sideboard, we have a 1-of Glare of Heresy and a 2-of Pithing Needle to deal with her.

• Jace, Architect of Thought: This is one of the rare matchups where his +1 will see more use than his other abilities. Killing him immediately is often best plan, if you can do it, because you will lose more damage over the course of the game if you leave him alone.

• Polukranos, World Eater: Ignore him, Banisher Priest him, or -- out of the sideboard -- Doom Blade him. He is also very weak to Pithing Needle, because his 5/5 body isn't what we're worried about.

• Sylvan Caryatid: This guy's a bitch-and-a-half. Honestly, the only way to deal with him is to ignore him and just pretend like your strongest creature isn't there. If you really want, you can Celestial Flare him.

Changes I'm considering:

• Strongly considering third Spear of Heliod.
• Strongly considering cutting Orzhov Guildgate for basics.
• Somewhat considering adding 1 or 2 more lands.
• Somewhat considering Rootborn Defenses in the sideboard.

Date added	10 years
Last updated	10 years
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	0 - 2 Mythic Rares 34 - 6 Rares 14 - 3 Uncommons 4 - 4 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.05
Tokens	Soldier 1/1 W, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	mono white ideas