Teysa's Martyrs

Commander / EDH Aristocrats Cruel Control Multiplayer Spirits Value Engine WB (Orzhov)

JK27

Martyrs (13)

• 1x Alseid of Life's Bounty
• 1x Benevolent Bodyguard
• 1x Chittering Witch
• 1x Doomed Traveler
• 1x Dreadhorde Invasion
• 1x Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Hanweir Militia Captain  ^Flip
• 1x Imperious Oligarch
• 1x Orzhov Enforcer
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Reassembling Skeleton
• 1x Tithe Taker

Ramp (8)

• 1x Bontu's Monument
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Oketra's Monument
• 1x Orzhov Keyrune
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Removal (8)

• 1x Beckon Apparition
• 1x Decree of Pain
• 1x Despark
• 1x Kaya's Guile
• 1x Massacre Girl
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Shriekmaw

Draw (11)

• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Krav, the Unredeemed
• 1x Mentor of the Meek
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Priest of Forgotten Gods
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Vampiric Rites
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer

Value (10)

• 1x Daxos, Blessed by the Sun
• 1x Fanatical Devotion
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Martyr's Bond
• 1x Martyr's Cause
• 1x Regna, the Redeemer
• 1x Skirsdag High Priest
• 1x Spirit Bonds
• 1x Teysa Karlov
• 1x Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts

Drain (7)

• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Corpse Knight
• 1x Cruel Celebrant
• 1x Lampad of Death's Vigil
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Vindictive Vampire
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Commander (1)

Land (36)

• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 14x Plains
• 1x Scoured Barrens
• 14x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse

Recursion (6)

• 1x Gift of Immortality
• 1x No Rest for the Wicked
• 1x Palace Siege
• 1x Reveillark
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Victimize

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Maybeboard

Other (7)

• 1x Apprentice Necromancer
• 1x Athreos, Shroud-Veiled
• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Erebos, Bleak-Hearted
• 1x God-Eternal Oketra
• 1x Luminous Broodmoth
• 1x Lurrus of the Dream-Den

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I have a special connection to the classic Teysa. During my first personal MTG renaissance Ravnica and its Guilds changed the game in a huge way. I bought the Ohrzhov precon that featured Teysa among other cards. Since then I was always keen to use her as a commander. With a few exceptions this deck is also built on a relatively low budget without giving much power which i also like a lot.

What makes Teysa Orzhov Scion so good?

She is relatively low costed and gives three powerful functions at once:

• She allows us to exile creatures at instant speed!
• She allows us to sacrifice creatures at instant speed!
• She gives us extra value by generating spirit tokens from dying black creatures!

What is the strategy for this deck?

Overall this deck uses an aristocrat strategy, that drains our opponents the classic Orzhov way, while we control the board with creature removal and sacrifice synergies. The deck has plenty sacrfiice outlets, that are easier to activate than Teysas own, so it isn't too reliant on its commander. Teysa's second ability however is what makes this deck work at full steam.

What makes this deck strong?

Overall the deck will set up value engines almost automatically, that will allow us to draw cards, drain and gain live and let us deal with threats by either removing them directly or by making opponents sacrifice creatures constantly. The deck is also pretty resilient, as we can react to boardwipes and removal using our own sacrifice outlets and replacing our cards with tokens automatically. On top we have a lot of ways to recur our martyrs from the graveyard to rebuilt quickly.

What are the deck's weaknesses?

The deck has no splashy instant win conditions itself, so it will have to sustain whatever our opponents throw at us, until we have outlasted them. We have a lot of ways to diminish creature threats, but we are pretty open for spellbased win conditions.

How is the deck built?

Martyrs

The deck is driven by small creatures that are willing to die and give us extra value from it. A lot of them simply replace themselves when they die, others help us to protect our creatures or force our opponents to sacrifice some creatures themselves.

Draw

To keep a steady flow of martyrs we need to keep our hand full. Luckily we have a lot of synergies that allow us to draw cards from casting or sacrificing our martyrs.

Drain

To actually win the game we want to constantly drain our opponents live totals with the sacrifices of our martyrs.

Value

We want our martyrs to get the biggest possible reward for their sacrifice, so we play a lot of cards that will grant them extra value, like doubling the triggered effects, forcing other players to sacrifice creatures or by gaining us extra live.

Ramp

We want to set up our cult as quickly and as reliable as possible, so of course we play cards that will help us with the necessary mana production. As our commander only costs 3 CMC and our overall curve is quite low, we can afford to go below the often recommended minimum of 10 ramp pieces.

Removal

Teysa gives us a great way to remove creatures but we also play some other cards for spot and mass removal, to deal with our opponents threats. This slot is pretty slim to be honest but we should be carful not to water down our value engines.

Recursion

Whats better than giving your live once? Give it multiple times! These cards will allow us to get our martyrs back making the deck resilient to boardwipes and other removal.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 26 - 0 Rares 30 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.00
Tokens	Demon 5/5 B, Human Cleric 1/1 BW, Morph 2/2 C, Rat 1/1 B, Spirit 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 WB, Thrull 1/1 B, Warrior 1/1 W, Warrior 1/1 W w/ Vigilance, Zombie Army 0/0 B