Orzhov Middish
Standard*
SCORE: 1 | 8 COMMENTS | 414 VIEWS
FNM 3-21-14 (4-1, 3rd place) —March 24, 2014
First FNM update:
Went 4-1 with this deck on Friday. Here's the breakdown.
Round 1: 2-0 vs Boros Burn. Both games he tried to blast direct damage to my face, but couldn't outpace the lifegain from the Whip or Blood Baron. His fast creatures were dispatched quickly. No problems.
Round 2: 2-1 vs Bant Hexproof. This was a good matchup. The whole game he kept telling me how much he hates playing against removal decks, then I continually killed everything he played. Devour Flesh and Desecration Demon took care of Witchstalkers. He claims to have drawn poorly in the two games he lost, but from what I saw, I just had answers to everything he played.
Round 3: 0-2 vs Black Aggro (Pack Rats). I was looking forward to this matchup as I knew the deck pretty well. Pain Seers, Tormented Heroes, Rakdos Freaks and Cacklers, Pack Rats. In both games I Downfall/Dark Betrayal'd the first rat to hit the board, but was followed up by a second both times. Also in both games my Desecration Demon (only hope for winning) was Hero's Downfall'd. (two of them in the second game). Opponent admitted he just drew absolutely perfectly against my deck and it should have been much closer. Thems the breaks sometimes.
Round 4: 2-0 vs White Monsters. Not sure what to call what he was playing, but it was weird. Everything ramped to like 4-6 cmc. I was able to swing in with the little guys to get the games out of hand quickly. Any time a monster was dropped it was an easy removal. No issues here.
Round 5: 2-0 vs Simic Evolve. Somehow this deck make it to 3-1 and shooting for top 3. I'm guessing he didn't play against any removal or was just able to outpace any. Both games were over quickly - the first game he didn't cast a single spell. The second wasn't quite as bad, but it still wasn't close.
All in all, I'm happy with the way it performed. My only loss I never really had a chance with my opponent's topdeck being perfect. I'll chalk that up to the random nature of the game sometimes.
I think you're missing a large component of the deck. Erebos isn't there for his body. He's keeping my opponent from gaining life from Alms Beast /Devour Flesh . The life gain from Vizkopa Guildmage , Blood Baron of Vizkopa and Whip of Erebos is enough to offset his draw ability too.
I was playing with Desecration Demon , but he's just way too easy to shut down with the sac ability. Also, there's already 4 Thoughtseize in the deck. I can't have Duress taking up more slots if I'm facing an aggro/creature heavy deck, so they're sideboard only.
March 16, 2014 11:47 a.m.
TheAmazingSalsa says... #3
TheDevicer is right on Merciless Eviction ... It has no purpose being there, you're better off with Planar Cleansing . And I think swapping your Guildgates for 2 basic Plains would be best.
March 16, 2014 12:17 p.m.
hassankachal says... #4
If you ever plan on getting your Blood Baron of Vizkopa out you might wan to take out Alms Beast and put in maybe a Debt to the Deathless and a Sorin Markov .
This is for the "Advertise your Deck", otherwise it's good. +1 from me.
March 21, 2014 1:19 p.m.
Sorin isn't standard legal. Like what you're thinking with Debt to the Deathless though.
March 21, 2014 2:45 p.m.
ducttapedeckbox says... #6
I really like how you're combining a traditional strategy with something more out of the box -- really abusing the no life gain part of Erebos, God of the Dead . How have you found that Alms Beast works out? With Erebos out, it's just a big beater without much else... Would you rather him over another Desecration Demon or something? I understand your point above regarding tokens locking down the Demon, but in that situation couldn't he just be boarded out?
I haven't tested the deck, but I really like the looks of it. +1 from me.
March 21, 2014 4:43 p.m.
hassankachal says... #7
I'm not good at noticing what is standard legal or not. Maybe the 4th time on TappedOut?
March 21, 2014 4:43 p.m.
ducttapedeckbox - I've had mixed results. I like Alms Beast both for the inability to be taken out by sacrificing, and he avoids death from Ultimate Price . In the limited testing I've done since adding Desecration Demon back in, he's either been tapped down or removed easily. What I might do is play with 2 in Mainboard and 2 in Sideboard, and side out Alms Beast if there's no threats to the demon. Thanks for the suggestion!
Arvail says... #1
I feel like Vizkopa Guildmage and Merciless Eviction are a bit unnecessary here. I also feel like Alms Beast could easily be changed to Desecration Demon . You're also basically only using Orzhov Charm for one function. You might be better off with some discard spell (Duress or Thoughtseize ), another kill spell or some white utility removal like Celestial Flare . I'm also not sold on Erebos, God of the Dead since you have very few easy ways to build up his devotion and don't have any other mechanics that depend on it.
March 16, 2014 4:55 a.m.