I thought after reading this that was how you were playing Immortal Servitude . I did the same thing when I first read the card, wouldn't it be so beast if that was the case!! As for a replacement, Rise of the Dark Realms is a little much, but considering you run 4x Crypt Ghast it doesn't make it impossible like it would be in some other decks. You could definitely give that a try, or if just keeping your dudes alive is the plan a couple Rootborn Defenses in the sideboard might be all you need also. Feel free to check out my new version of an Aristocrats deck adding blue to the mix, and making great use of Immortal Servitude :) My NEW Aristocrats deck.

It would be amazing if Immortal Servitude ran how i wanted it to :p but yeah i think with Crypt Ghast could be turn 5 or 6 to play Rise of the Dark Realms ... wouldnt want to play it much before then anyway... will try it out and see how it does... gives another win con so thats always nice...

I will go check out your deck now... splash of blue always helps with the control

Awesome, let me know how it works out!! Let me know what you think of that deck after you check it out. Gave this a +1 also, me likey! Lol.

I just posted my new orzhov deck Orzhov possibility . Let me know what you think and if you can also help me Make it 2014 regulation because I wann keep the deck for next year as well.

Immortal Servitude is still a great card. at 5 mana you can get back all those High Priest of Penance and Tithe Drinker . but to get back all your 5 drops (the other big slot you have at the curve would cost you 8. so i wouldnt rule out Rise of the Dark Realms as a 1 of in sideboard, maybe even a 2, against certain matchups. Silence is perfect against control matchups, as you can prevent them from countering your creatures that you will cast that turn, or to draw out a counter spell. i go up to 4 Silence in that matchup. mill/tempo control is probably my toughest matchup (and i refuse to spend 25$ a piece for 2 Cavern of Souls thatll rotate soon). how have you faired in that matchup (if youve played against it).

I was thinking 1 Immortal Servitude and 1Rise of the Dark Realms in my side board, i want to test out the deck running it before i commit to that though which i've not yet had a chance to do...

Using Silence to prevent pesky counter spells in your turn is always good, just literally depends what type of deck i'm playing as to what cards i want to play.

As for mill/tempo control i've not had too much trouble but thats mainly because the people i've played who run them at my fnm store just arent playing the deck right, they're trying to do alittle bit of everything which means they actually do nothing well in their decks... thats gives me time to recover and kill them early on... can imagine playing a well refined deck would be a pain though

yes. especially when i drop a Silence pon my turn a get a Blood Baron of Vizkopa or something to resolve, just to have them Devour Flesh on their turn.

looks a little slow to me too many high cast creatures I would remove 2x Blood Baron of Vizkopa and Obzedat, Ghost Council for 3x Fiendslayer Paladin to speed things up and also Riot Control should not be needed I would take them out for more removal. heres my orzhov if you want to take a look maybe get some ideas its alot like DjinnjerVitis hes actually made some good suggestions to mine as well. Although mine is post roto

Thanks for the suggestion Cyber Locc... Obzedat, Ghost Council and Blood Baron of Vizkopa are just far better than Fiendslayer Paladin , dont get me wrong he's a great card and come rotation i will likely add him to the deck but a) i dont have any copies at the moment and b) i'm not 100% sure on his non targetting rule, its certainly not a true 'protection' rule so i'm not sure of he can still be blocked by red creatures etc...

Also as slow as this deck may seem it really isnt... it controls, slows the pace of the game and lets me do what i need to do from turn four... plus sideboard has the option of removal etc, just like to see what i'm up against before i go adding stuff in :p

Okay so this deck came 2nd at fnm again... that was without Archangel of Thune and without Rhox Faithmender both of whom didnt arrive in time but i thought i would roll with it anyway.. only deck i lost to was a crazy 240 card, Battle of Wits control and mill deck... didnt know how to deal with it in the slightest!

lol at the deck that beat you. that is hilarious....original but hilarious. did he have a hard time shuffling?yes, Rhox Faithmender is a beast. shame it rotates in theros.

Yeah it is a shame, but i thought since i can use Rhox Faithmender atm i may as well!

And i know right, tbh his guy running the Battle of Wits has been playing magic for 20 years, he's definitely got a lot experience and this deck was all of the best blue and white cards in he game at the moment, easily over 500 to build the deck he's running... i recon a very fast aggro deck could beat it but not my control because there was nothing to control

why no duress?

urm purely because the deck doesn't really need to hand discard... i could replace Sin Collector in my sideboard with it though as it gives me the ability to remove enchantments as well... thanks for the suggestion goblin01

This looks fun. I like the inclusion of the resonator, does it work well?

Yeah it really does actually, with High Priest of Penance it makes it even more costly for the opponent to attack, if i have a Crypt Ghast and a Debt to the Deathless it provides more mana ramp to finish the game... it the same with ramping up Sanguine Bond and of course Archangel of Thune gets a little crazy with it on the field... can mean you're winning a few turns earlier than normal not to mention being great fun to use and abuse... it's got some great synergy with the main cards in this deck :)

Also funny story for you i was playing a sliver deck at fnm this week, i had 3 High Priest of Penance a Vampire Nighthawk and 2 Strionic Resonator s on the field... this guy had a full field of 7 slivers and decided he'd try his luck, i used Victim of Night on his Bonescythe Sliver and proceeded to wipe his entire field... he never recovered from it :p

Uhm, how does Strionic Resonator get more mana out of Crypt Ghast ? It triggers, you pay 2 and you get B? That seems counter-productive.

From my understanding if you're tapping for a cost all mana taps in a block thus using Crypt Ghast it all resolves in one block letting Crypt Ghast add one to all your mana for each swamp rather than just for a single swamp... ofc i may be wrong because the situation hasn't come up for me to ask our judge... magic timings confuse me sometimes

I'm sorry to disappoint but it will trigger for each land separately, like if you tap 5 swamps you will have it on the stack 5 times for one black each. The Strionic Resonator could just copy one of those triggers, essentially wasting one mana.

I still like the deck ;)

Thanks for clearing that up for me, as i said i've yet to even have a time i wanted to use that combo :) and thanks glad you like the deck, it's a hell of a lot of fun to play with and a great way to alienate your friends haha!

nice catch RussischerZar. that is correct because it would only trigger for one swamp for the 3 mana, and the rest would be tapped for 2. pretty sure i have played that wrong in some of my playtesting. it still works wonders for Sanguine Bond High Priest of Penance any extort trigger Obzedat, Ghost Council and Archangel of Thune .

yep there really is no time you wouldn't want Strionic Resonator on the field to help speed up some part of this build of orzhov

I suggest you take out Strionic Resonator . Replace Victim of Night with Doom Blade - put the Victim of Night in the sideboard and Doom Blade in the mainboard instead.

Perhaps drop a Crypt Ghast or a High Priest of Penance and max out on the Tithe Drinker .

Victim of Night > Doom Blade ...period. it has more targets. High Priest of Penance scales better throughout the game and it slows aggro. Tithe Drinker simply isnt as good in the 2 drop spot early game.