Its brilliant in the right situation but without the morbid being activated its weak, hence why i prefer Victim of Night and Murder , doesnt matter the strength of the creature... sideboard it is

This deck came second in the local fnm tournament again, dont know why it plays so well but beat a green agro Wild Beastmaster and Champion of Lambholt deck... just... but won 2/0... then played a rakdos agro deck and shut it down with High Priest of Penance and burned him to death...

Only deck i lost against was a rat deck... really unexpected and wasnt sure how to get around it... he had me sacrificing creatures and discarding my hand... still only lost 1/2 :)

Better news i pulled another Godless Shrine and a Blood Baron of Vizkopa which have gone straight into this deck. Also pulled 2 Ral Zarek ... tempted to go build an izzet deck next if i had any idea where to start :p

Good to hear it did well. I took 6th out of 47 so im happy too. 1 loss and 2 game 3s. 6rds total

Oh wow that's awesome :) have you found any decks you particularly struggle against? I could do with some help on my side board tbh... any suggestions?

Heavy Green/white has given me problems, especially when running Voice of Resurgence and Advent of the Wurm . Sigarda, Host of Herons really shutdown my Killing Wave .

for your sideboard, i'd remove Profit / Loss Angelic Skirmisher and Vizkopa Guildmage . none of those really counter any weaknesses. Oblivion Ring is pretty useful, to add more removal (that operates a little different mechanic than Murder or Victim of Night by being able to deal with indestructibles or regenerate. Crypt Incursion or Grafdigger's Cage for graveyard hate. Also upping the numbers on the other cards you have to up their frequency of appearance if you need to side them in. Other than that, its really about knowing and learning your local meta and what's giving you trouble. any specifics you are encountering that are hurting you?

Thanks DjinnjerVitis, thats just the kind of things i was looking for, tbh locally my deck runs exceedingly well but you're right cards like Deathpact Angel and Vizkopa Guildmage never really see the light of day in my deck anymore... i will look into getting a few Oblivion Ring etc to fill out my deck :)

And funny you should mention green white... thats my other competitive deck... unfortunately no Voice of Resurgence as it is way above my budget but lots of Advent of the Wurm and nasty instants

How does this deck fair against that one?

Purely depends on the draw, high priest slows down the green but it mana ramps so quickly and Rootborn Defenses is a really difficult card to get around

Have you considered Skeletal Grimace ? It is fantastic when used with High Priest of Penance

If you really do consider Skeletal Grimace reasonable then I'd press you instead toward Ring of Xathrid for the same purpose... slightly more expensive, but worth it, imo - the opposition will eventually treat it as unblockable! And, of course, you keep something if the creature is blinked/handed/exiled.

Sanguine Blood is completely useless and only rated because of the Vizkopa Guildmage combo, I definitely wouldn't play it. I see you've been suggested Tragic Slip already, that goes in place of Murder , just because it's cheaper, kills indestructible/regenerate creatures and you can use the extra mana for extort (Your deck shouldn't have trouble getting a creature to die to use the Morbid effect). Debt to the Deathless is probably better off sideboarded, too, it's a dead card far too often... Riot Control is better off on the sideboard, too - it staves off rushes and that's about it.

You can explore the powerful cards in White and Black rather than rely extensively on the Gatecrash Orzhov... how do you feel about Desecration Demon ? Skirsdag High Priest ? Intrepid Hero ? Glaring Spotlight on the sideboard?

@scg06 When i was first building this deck i was thinking of ways to make High Priest of Penance a bigger threat on the field and i like the idea of Skeletal Grimace but I have purposely been avoiding innistrad block of late as it will all disappear come september...

@iceteademon... if Ring of Xathrid was coming back for M14 i would seriously consider playing it... the fact it pumps up the power each turn is nice! I agree i should remove Exquisite Blood if i'm not running the combo... i might side deck it though as its very good in multiplayer duels as you gain life off of the other players attacking each other =P Tragic Slip has been in and out of this deck like a yoyo... i really like it... but sometimes i don't have the morbid when i need it and that's annoyed me greatly... and it is innistrad... so will be going come september along with Victim of Night which is sad. I can see why you would said Debt to the Deathless and Riot Control should be sideboarded but honestly those two cards have won and saved so many games i can't value them high enough... but that's just my personal experience.

As for your suggestions, Glaring Spotlight has been on my radar a few times the past few weeks but i've not come across that many hexproof cards at my local FNM and hexproof doesn't save me from a Supreme Verdict which seems all too common at the moment... still a definite side board card... also Desecration Demon looks interesting... for its cost and effect i may look into running those very soon so thank you =)

Thanks to both of you for your ideas =) always appreciated

cptjmaverick, as im running a very similar deck to yours, my take on these suggestions are as such:

Debt to the Deathless is such a major wincon that it cannot be afforded to the sideboard. it synergizes too well with Crypt Ghast and Exquisite Blood . Exquisite Blood is very nice for the Vampire Nighthawk as well but at a cmc 5, it could go easily be replaced. i've been considering that also since i've removed the Vizkopa Guildmage just as you have. when i sideboard in my Mutilate // Merciless Eviction (depending on what im feeling that day), and Immortal Servitude i drop the Exquisite Blood and the Riot Control . Desecration Demon is terrific, hands down.Rhox Faithmender also serves as a suitable replacement for Exquisite Blood so that can be considered. For rotation, Victim of Night can easily be replaced with Doom Blade . Riot Control can also easily be replced with Oblivion Ring if you need more spot removal. just some thoughts i've been running through my head, thought to share with you. lemme know what you decide and how it works out, and of course i'll do the same with my changes.

Also, i like the new name.

Thanks DjinnjerVitis, you always give a good take on things and i've been following your Debt to the Pontiff deck for ideas, i'm going to go down to FNM this week and make some changes and see how it goes, i'll let you know how it goes :)

Something else thats been running through my head....how is Sorin, Lord of Innistrad working for you. a lot of times i feel hes kinda a dead draw for the deck. I mean, i play him when i get him, but he dies and im basically play 4 mana for the +1/0 emblem, as i anticipate him dying too quick in almost every matchup (based on board situation). i mean the wincon is nice but it feels the same as the Vizkopa Guildmage Exquisite Blood combo. i dunno. what are your thought?

I also a made a few changes to mine. i sideboarded the Exquisite Blood for the Merciless Eviction for playtesting. i may remove the Sorin, Lord of Innistrad for Immortal Servitude for my many 2 drops.

Sorin, Lord of Innistrad has won me a grand total of 1 game so far, it was against a green mana ramp i mentioned playing, he went for my life over sorin and couldn't kill me that turn so I used sorin to destroy his two Champion of Lambholt and Wild Beastmaster and then swung for game with them the next turn... otherwise yes he is just a dead draw... he dies far too quickly, i'm actually tempted to put Gideon, Champion of Justice back in... he ramps quick enough that the opponent has to deal with him otherwise you can completely wipe the field as soon as it looks like the duel is going the wrong way... and he is a solid attacker with enough counters on him... but maybe there are other cards i can run

I love Merciless Eviction devastating against agro decks but sometimes i just dont want to kill all my creatures too... but it does give you a bit of diversity, maybe i will try maindecking it... and i agree Immortal Servitude is fantastic to bring back all your two drops... i really will just have to fiddle and see how it goes tomorrow :)

same here. ya know, i'm really considering Gideon, Champion of Justice now as well, having so many games under my belt. he just has to be dealt with. and with enough removal and Vampire Nighthawk and High Priest of Penance hes pretty defendable. hoping ill get around to FNM tomorrow; really want to give this deck another go after last time. dont feel ill make the same mistakes.

have you encountered any issues with hexproof-heavy decks? Geist of Saint Traft and the like?

Honestly not really had that much trouble with hexproof decks, Invisible Stalker seems popular at my place but thats why i was running Profit / Loss ... a few people run dimir decks and like to cipher on him but it doesnt boost his power so that card clears him away pretty solidly... then again i am considering a couple of Glaring Spotlight seems a solid way to deal with it and its secondary effect could be useful...

And yeah i would recommend Gideon, Champion of Justice as you said he has to be dealt with quickly and you can reasonably defend him... plus if you can do him field wipe and keep him alive with a few counters still on he will win you the duel in a few turns and there's not a lot anyone can do as all their land is gone... worth a try with him anyway...

I do think this deck can be seriously competitive with the right sideboard... it has the advantage of being aggressive when it can and then you can just sit back and win with effects when you need to... hope you do well if you get to your FNM

Didn't end up playing this deck at FNM this week as i thought i would give my selsenya a go since i've only played it casually before that... it did okay but the other decks i played were tourney standard and very rapey... did however get my second copy of Blood Baron of Vizkopa so this deck is nearing completion now :)

i posted your deck under my description to get you more hits to your page. hope it helps. I have also made a few changes to mine. Took out the Sorin, Lord of Innistrad for Rhox Faithmender

Ah thats really kind of you DjinnjerVitis :) and yeah Rhox Faithmender seems a solid replacement, see you're still running Exquisite Blood as well... i cant decide if i want it or not in my main deck :) just need to keep play testing it... i've got the problem that a lot of people at my FNM are sideboarding for my deck specifically now... it seems i've got them a bit worried haha!

Haha. Thats great!

This deck won my local FNM this week :) very very pleased with it, i beat a jace mill deck, a boros agro deck and very luckily beat a bant tourney deck! My varied side deck really helped :)

I second adding Rhox Faithmender to the deck. He's a giant blocker, and the double lifegain is just too good in this deck. Even extorts for 1 are really good. I played Rakdos Aggro versus a deck like this at my local FNM, and he played that card. After that, I just couldn't keep his life total down. Maybe I drew poorly, but that card does a lot of work.

Also, speaking of aggro, Blind Obedience really shuts down their haste creatures, especially Hellrider . I'd recommend at least two more in your sideboard to bring in against any aggro deck ever.

Thanks DragonClaymorePlus5 :) i really can see the benefit of Rhox Faithmender and if i had two i would be running them in my deck, atm though i'm waiting to see what comes in next weeks pre-release, (and possibly myself get a booster box) still will aim to get some copies if i can, with the amount of lifelink in this deck its a waste not to :)

I have one Blind Obedience and would consider a second but i always end up thinking after that initial tap i dont often have the ability to press the advantage gained (also hellrider doesnt seem to show up at my local fnm that much, surprising considering how popular rakdos agro is there) i tend to find of i'm dropping high priest on turn two that tends to slow them down a fair bit. Will take your advice into consideration though and see about getting a second Blind Obedience

+1 from me. This seems like a cool rogue brew. Out of curiousity, do you find the 22 lands to be enough simply because of the playset of Crypt Ghast s? Anyway, please feel free to check out my main brew The Voices of Selesnya and comment or upvote if you like my ideas.