Mid-range-y deck with control aspects. Would be happier with more aggro, particularly around the 2-mana area (Thrill-Kill assassins, nearheath pilgrims, knights of infamy), but that seems to de-focus and weaken the deck.
Desecration Demon, Vampire Nighthawk & Lingering Souls are the cards I'm never unhappy to see, hence 4x of each.
Familiars serve a similar purpose to Obedience - slowing opponent down, while chipping away at life early. Also re-animatable (at instant-speed) with Orzhov Charm.
Ring actually does a lot here - whether it's making something immune to Verdict, or simply building threat, it's surprisingly good. Also makes High Priest of Penance scary.
SB thoughts:
vs Esper:-2 Lingering Souls; -1
Ring of Xathrid
; -2 High Priest of Penance; -2 Blind Obedience; +1 Illness in the Ranks; +1
Witchbane Orb
; +1 Pithing Needle; +1 Oblivion Ring; +1 Liliana of the Veil; +2
Thrull Parasite
;
Orb can deal with Jace and Drownyards, 'Needle similarly - but also Tamiyo. Illness neuters enemy souls and Sorin tokens (and we can sandbag ours if we draw them until the enemy blows up the enchantment). Lili's just good, and the Parasites replace the Blind obedience extort, while adding some depth to playing vs 'walkers.
Vs RDW:-2 Bloodgift Demon; -1 Obzedat, Ghost Council; -1 Oblivion Ring; -1 Judge's Familiar; +1 Blind Obedience; +1 Tribute to Hunger; +2 High Priest of Penance; +1 Mutilate;
More defence, less long-game cards. Not a lot to say here. Orb could be brought in to counter general burn and/or reckoner/blasphemous act shenanigans.
Vs Most Midrange:-1 Lingering Souls; -1 Vampire Nighthawk; -3 Judge's Familiar; -1 Liliana of the Veil; +1 Pithing Needle; +2 Mutilate; +1 Murder; +1 Tribute to Hunger; +2 High Priest of Penance;
Familiar is nice in the early game, but of little value in most of these matches. Sweeps and extra removal come in.
Might be too concerned with the Esper match-up. Could shave some of the SB cards (Parasite, Illness) out for other worries. Duress could be run to really hate it, but I just don't want to dedicate that many cards to so few decks.
No real answer to reanimator is awkward - 3x
Cremate
would be nice, but take up a lot of the 'board.Other decks mostly become a variant of the above for SB purposes
