Clerics

Standard B01 Orzhov Cleric Typal in Murders at Karlov Manor

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Welcome to the latest installment in our Standard B01 Orzhov Cleric Typal adventure. A new set means the potential for new Cleric cards for my deck and changes to our deck. Or not. The new set is not as generous with Clerics as Lost Caverns of Ixalan was. No luck finding 10 new clerics; there are only five clerics to be found in Murders at Karlov Manor. Two of them are reprints: Twilight Prophet and Vizier of Many Faces.

Without further ado, here are the Clerics of Murder at Karlov Manor:

Taking a closer look at which might be a good fit for our Orzhov deck, we can immediately eliminate Vizier of Many Faces, a Blue Cleric.

Agency Coroner is an expensive card more suited for Sacrifice decks than ours. A 3/6 with no other upside is not worth it. Pass.

Sanguine Savior, a Common that costs Black pip has more potential. Disguise gives us a bit of flexibility with what is essentially a simple 2/1 with flying and lifelink. If the game gives us a bit of time, we can have it enter as a Mysterious Creature and reveal it later, potentially giving us another lifelinker for a turn. It is susceptible to removal unfortunately. It’s still worth giving it a try.

Twilight Prophet is a card that first appeared in Rivals of Ixalan. With the city’s blessing, it fits nicely into our lifelink engine and can also ping our opponent. All before it swoops in for hopefully a bit more damage. Unfortunately, it is also very susceptible to removal.

Unyielding Gatekeeper is another Cleric capable of Disguise. Revealing its true identity allows you to exile a creature. If it’s one of yours, you get to blink it. Otherwise, your opponent gets a 2/2 white and blue Detective creature token in exchange for their exiled card. This might be worth trying if we take out a removal spell but the slower speed suggests it would not be a good move.

For now, I’m going to slot in a couple of Sanguine Saviors, replacing two Liliana of the Veil. Here is the updated deck.

  • 3 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
  • 2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
  • 2 Valorous Stance (VOW) 42
  • 3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
  • 3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
  • 2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 4 Lunarch Veteran (MID) 27
  • 2 Loran’s Escape (BRO) 14
  • 2 Markov Purifier (VOW) 241
  • 2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
  • 2 Phyrexian Missionary (DMU) 27
  • 2 Sanguine Savior (MKM) 230
  • 3 Preacher of the Schism (LCI) 113
  • 2 Roaming Throne (LCI) 258
  • 2 Annex Sentry (ONE) 2
  • 8 Plains (THB) 250
  • 6 Swamp (THB) 252
  • 2 Scoured Barrens (NEO) 274
  • 3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW) 264
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278
  • 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
  • 2 Cavern of Souls (LCI) 269

Sideboard:

  • 2 Farewell (NEO) 13
  • 2 Cut Down (DMU) 89
  • 2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
  • 1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO) 20
  • 2 Skrelv, Defector Mite (ONE) 33
  • 2 Fateful Absence (MID) 18
  • 2 Liliana of the Veil (DMU) 97

When I slept on Preacher of the Schism

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

This is not a new tale but an oft-told one that bears regular reminders. If only to myself. Let me set the stage.

For whatever reason, I’ve been enjoying building and playing with a Clerics typal deck for some time. With every new set, I take a close look at what new cards I can use in the deck. The last update to my standard B01 Clerics Typal deck came with the release of Caverns of Ixalan late last year. Among the cards that I added to the deck were Roaming Throne and Preacher of the Schism.

I pulled the former as my promo during pre-release and immediately recognized its value (the card’s value has borne that out as well – one of the few times I got it right). And I knew immediately that it was headed into my Clerics deck. I was not quite as sure about Preacher of the Schism. The 2/4 body is a decent stat for Black pip, I wasn’t quite as sure about the overall card. I liked it, thought it would fit well, and added it to my deck, knowing that I could always pull it later if my gut instinct turned out to be wrong.

Well, I added it to my Arena deck but procrastinated on getting it for my physical deck. I suspect that at this point you know where this is going. I just never saw what was coming. With Standard being re-emphasized by Wizards and a certain Rakdos deck doing well recently, the card has started to rise in price.

A few months back, it was going for around CA$1.00 to CA$1.50. As of late January, it now sells for between CA$4.00 and CA$6.00. And that’s when you can find it. It has been consistently sold out at my favourite LGSs for weeks now. If it does suddenly appear available, it tends to be the foil versions, a version I try to avoid.

I still want the card for my deck. If anything, playing with it as confirmed that it deserves a spot in the deck. So, now I’m left to see when I can buy it. As I wait, I’m left with a dilemma: Do I get it at the new higher price or do I wait for it to come down? The upcoming Murders at Karlov Manor set could help dry up demand for it and drive the price back down. Then again, it might also drive it up further [Mental note here to go check the new set now that it has been fully spoiled]. I fully expect it will drop in price when the set rotates out of Standard but then I won’t need it anymore anyways.

Let’s hope I learned my lesson this time. But knowing myself, I may be re-reading this post in the future…

Standard B01 Orzhov Cleric Tribal in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

While I was enjoying some vacation back October, Wizards of the Coast announced some significant product changes, namely the new Play Boosters. It followed that news up with what I consider to be possibly the most significant Universes Beyond announcement, its new collaboration with Marvel. More on those in the near future but today is all about the new Lost Caverns of Ixalan set and what it means for my Standard B01 Orzhov Cleric Tribal deck.

Unlike recent sets which contained few clerics (and fewer good ones), the new set comes with 10 Clerics, including two reprints. Best of all, 9 of those are in Orzhov colours. The last is a Blue Cleric. And that’s not all, there are some good cards that will complement the deck well.

Let’s first take a look at the new Clerics:

Confirming how much of a tribal set Lost Caverns of Ixalan is (like the previous Ixalan sets), all of the Clerics are also vampires (except for the blue Didact Echo). As I looked through the cards, it also quickly became obvious that they are more focused on Vampire Tribal than Cleric Tribal.

Acolyte of Aclazotz does not leap out as a must-add to my deck. Mine is not a Sacrifice deck and the benefits of losing a creature to gain one life and have my opponent lose one is just not there.

Clavileño, First of the Blessed would have been a far more interesting card if it targeted Clerics instead of Vampires. This is something for a future Vampires tribal deck rather than something for this deck.

Elenda’s Hierophant is a more interesting card. The deck features enough Lifegain to help buff this creature relatively quickly. It also offers a nice little benefit when it dies. At 4 CMC, it may just be too pricy an inclusion, especially as there is another 4 CMC card that I think is more potent. More on that shortly.

The appeal of Master of Dark Rites is its mana-fixing ability. But it again comes at the cost of sacrificing a creature, something that again does not align with the deck. It may be something that I throw in the deck to see how it fares.

I do like Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle but this is not the deck for him. If only it said Clerics instead of Vampires.

Preacher of the Schism will definitely get a test in my deck. The 2/4 body is robust enough to attack or block and both triggered abilities will be beneficial. The card draw will certainly help as the deck can quickly deplete itself in some situations.

Redemption Choir is not a bad card but I’m not sure what it would replace given especially if I have to also make room for Preacher of the Schism. I’ll not completely rule it out but it might be an experiment at best as I think that there are stronger options.

Sanguine Evangelist does not offer enough deck synergy for me to consider it as an addition to the deck. Pass.

Twilight Prophet was a great card in Rivals of Ixalan and remains one in the right deck. I’m not sure that this is the deck for it but I suspect that I will at least try it and see.

Beyond the Cleric cards, I also want to see if there is room in the deck for Roaming Throne. Its ability “If a triggered ability of another creature you control of the chosen type triggers, it triggers an additional time.” should play nicely in the deck.

The other big addition to the deck is also not a Cleric but a land. Cavern of Souls is back in Standard and is pretty much an auto-include in any tribal deck.

All in all, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan looks to be a great set for Clerics. A good selection of new cards to play with. Here is what the deck looks like now:

  • 3 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
  • 2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
  • 2 Valorous Stance (VOW) 42
  • 3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
  • 3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
  • 2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 4 Lunarch Veteran (MID) 27
  • 2 Loran’s Escape (BRO) 14
  • 2 Markov Purifier (VOW) 241
  • 2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
  • 2 Phyrexian Missionary (DMU) 27
  • 2 Liliana of the Veil (DMU) 97
  • 3 Preacher of the Schism (LCI) 113
  • 2 Roaming Throne (LCI) 258
  • 2 Annex Sentry (ONE) 2
  • 8 Plains (THB) 250
  • 6 Swamp (THB) 252
  • 2 Scoured Barrens (NEO) 274
  • 3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW) 264
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278
  • 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
  • 2 Cavern of Souls (LCI) 269

Sideboard:

  • 2 Farewell (NEO) 13
  • 2 Cut Down (DMU) 89
  • 2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
  • 1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO) 20
  • 2 Skrelv, Defector Mite (ONE) 33
  • 2 Fateful Absence (MID) 18

Orzhov Cleric Tribal in Wilds of Eldraine

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

It’s once again time to take a look at how the latest set will help me improve my Standard B01 Orzhov Cleric Tribal deck. Wilds of Eldraine has been fully spoiled and Pre-Release weekend is only days away. Unfortunately, this is going to be a short post as this latest set is not Cleric friendly. Even if I expand my search to include the supplementary Wilds of Eldraine Commander Decks and Wilds of Eldraine Enchanting Tales, there are only two Clerics to be found!

Starfield Mystic

Starfield Mystic is a reprint from Core 2020 that will unfortunately not make its way into my Standard B01 Orzhov Cleric Tribal deck if only because it is not Standard-legal as it is from the Commander set.

Woodland Acolyte is an Adventure card that will also not be invited into my deck. In this case, the first big reason is that the Adventure requires a Green pip pip, something an Orzhov deck does not offer. Setting aside the adventure for a moment, the creature side of the card is no less uninviting. I’m not going to cut any 3 mana cards for this one.

So, no changes to the deck at this time. It will stay like this until The Lost Caverns of Ixalan hopefully gives us a better slate of clerics:

  • 3 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
  • 2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
  • 2 Fateful Absence (MID) 18
  • 3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
  • 9 Plains (THB) 250
  • 7 Swamp (THB) 252
  • 3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
  • 2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW) 264
  • 4 Lunarch Veteran (MID) 27
  • 2 Scoured Barrens (NEO) 274
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278
  • 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
  • 2 Loran’s Escape (BRO) 14
  • 4 Markov Purifier (VOW) 241
  • 2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
  • 2 Phyrexian Missionary (DMU) 27
  • 2 Liliana of the Veil (DMU) 97
  • 3 Metropolis Reformer (MAT) 0004
  • 2 Annex Sentry (ONE) 2

Sideboard:

  • 2 Farewell (NEO) 13
  • 1 Cut Down (DMU) 89
  • 2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
  • 1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO) 20

Sadly, Wilds of Eldraine is going to be remembered as a big disappointment for Clerics!

Orzhov Cleric Tribal in MOM: The Aftermath

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

My apologies to anyone who follows my set reviews to see how my Standard B01 Orzhov Cleric Tribal deck evolves when a new set comes out. March of the Machine: The Aftermath came out in May so this is much overdue. On the flip side, part of the reason that I did not rush to post is that there are but two clerics in the set and only one could slot into an Orzhov Cleric Tribal deck.

That sole qualifying cleric is Metropolis Reformer, a 2/3 Angel Cleric with flying and vigilance and gives you hexproof. It additional gains you as much life as it is dealt damage. All for 2 and a W. Not a bomb by any means.

The question now is, does it fit into the deck? If so, what comes out? For the same mana cost, I see two options: Annex Sentry or Yotian Medic. I think the latter makes more sense to cut. The two have the same Power and Toughness so that does not play into my decision. While the Annex Sentry is not a great card, its removal is a more potent ability than lifelink. Easy decision in the end. Besides I have three Yotian Medics in the deck and only two Annex Sentries.

On a note unrelated to this latest set, one additional change I have made is replace the 2 Valorous Stances with 2 Fateful Absences.

Here is what the updated deck looks like:

  • 3 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
  • 2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
  • 2 Fateful Absence (MID) 18
  • 3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
  • 9 Plains (THB) 250
  • 7 Swamp (THB) 252
  • 3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
  • 2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW) 264
  • 4 Lunarch Veteran (MID) 27
  • 2 Scoured Barrens (NEO) 274
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278
  • 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
  • 2 Loran’s Escape (BRO) 14
  • 4 Markov Purifier (VOW) 241
  • 2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
  • 2 Phyrexian Missionary (DMU) 27
  • 2 Liliana of the Veil (DMU) 97
  • 3 Metropolis Reformer (MAT) 0004
  • 2 Annex Sentry (ONE) 2

Sideboard:

  • 2 Farewell (NEO) 13
  • 1 Cut Down (DMU) 89
  • 2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
  • 1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO) 20

Changes:

  • In: 3 Metropolis Reformer (MAT) 0004
  • Out: 3 Yotian Medic (BRO) 33
  • Out: 2 Valorous Stance (VOW) 42
  • In: 2 Fateful Absence (MID) 18

Let’s see how this new deck does!

As always, feel free to drop us a comment with your thoughts and suggestions for this deck.

Orzhov Cleric Tribal in March of the Machine

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

A new Magic TCG set is always an opportunity to see what opportunities there are to improve my Orzhov Cleric Tribal for Arena B01 Standard. I’m later posting this than I would have liked but once you see how March of the Machine influences the deck, I expect that you’ll understand.

If you’ll recall, Phyrexia: All Will Be One introduced 10 new cleric cards, with seven of them possibilities for an Orzhov deck. March of the Machine only brings five new Clerics, of which four are possible candidates for my purposes. It did not bode well if only based on the quantity of cards.

Let’s have a closer look at those five cards:

Alabaster Host Sanctifier: A 2/2 with Lifelink and no other upside does not offer enough to warrant putting it in the deck at the expense of one of the cards currently in the deck.

Progenitor Cat Cleric: I like Incubate as a mechanic. You can go with a simple artifacts matter strategy or convert them to artifact creatures for a more aggressive strategy). The choice is yours. Unfortunately, it is not cheap, especially if you want to go with the latter. At its cheapest, you get a 1/2 for 1 with no upside (unless you have other Incubate cards). Each Incubate token costs an additional 2 when casting and an additional 2 later to turn each into a creature. Frankly, my deck is slow enough as it is.

Sun-Blessed Guardian is an interesting card. A 2/2 that can transform into a 3/3 and generate an attacking token is certainly worthy of consideration. Except for that cost. 5 mana and two life (given the lack of red mana) is not cheap. And it remains prone to removal. Too expensive for too little.

Quintorius, Loremaster is out simply due to it being Boros rather than Orzhov.

Seedpod Caretaker comes with two ETB options to chose from. The first certainly could work but the second requires at least one source of Incubator tokens. As you saw above, from a Cleric standpoint, pickings are pretty slim.

If I was to consider some substitutions, I think I would need to pull into the deck Progenitor Cat Cleric, Sun Blessed Guardian and Seedpod Caretaker to leverage the synergy between them. But then, what do I pull? I may try it but I have a feeling that it will not work. I’m better off to try to build an Incubate deck instead.

For now, let’s leave the deck as is:

  • 3 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
  • 2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
  • 2 Valorous Stance (VOW) 42
  • 3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
  • 9 Plains (THB) 250
  • 7 Swamp (THB) 252
  • 3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
  • 2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW) 264
  • 4 Lunarch Veteran (MID) 27
  • 2 Scoured Barrens (NEO) 274
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278
  • 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
  • 2 Loran’s Escape (BRO) 14
  • 4 Markov Purifier (VOW) 241
  • 2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
  • 2 Phyrexian Missionary (DMU) 27
  • 2 Liliana of the Veil (DMU) 97
  • 3 Yotian Medic (BRO) 33
  • 2 Annex Sentry (ONE) 2

Sideboard:

  • 2 Farewell (NEO) 13
  • 1 Cut Down (DMU) 89
  • 2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
  • 1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO) 20

As always, feel free to drop in a comment with your thoughts and suggestions for this deck.

Cleric Tribal in Phyrexia: All Will Be One

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

The launch of Magic’s latest set, Phyrexia: All will be One, means that it’s once again time to take a look at what new Clerics have been added to the Standard pool. It’s also time to see if any of these will improve the Orzhov Cleric Tribal deck I like to play.

In case you’re just joining us on this journey, know that the last rotation was not kind to my deck with many crucial cards leaving the format and few good replacements have come to light since unfortunately.

To be honest, I haven’t played much with the deck since I made the last changes. The deck has a 73% winrate at the moment but with only 11 games in Standard B01 Play (not Ranked). I’ve won the last 5 games so maybe there is something still to the deck but I still doubt very much it would do as well in Ranked.

With Phyrexia: All Will Be One, there is a total of 10 new cleric cards to consider. Given that we’re playing Orzhov, three of them can be immediately ruled out. The seven that remain include a Legendary Cat Cleric and the following cards:

Cruel Grimnarch

Given the type of deck I’m playing, cutting Kemba is an easy decision. This is not a Cat tribal deck; nor is it an equipment deck.

Annex Sentry is far more interesting. It is very reminiscent of Brutal Cathar which comes with the same exile ability. I like the fact that it has a toughness of 4. It will be harder to remove from the board than our friend the Cathar.

Cruel Grimnarch feels too expensive. By the time it can enter the battlefield, opponents may not have many cards left in hand.

Indoctrination Attendant also feels expensive but is more interesting. While Toxic 1 is not bad, the return creature to hand ability has limited synergy with the rest of my deck. It certainly has more potential in an Explorer or Pioneer deck where Cleric of Life’s Bond is still legal.

Mandible Justiciar just does not look like a card that I would pull something else out to use instead. Sure it has Lifelink but it is more suited for an artifact deck. Much the same argument can be made for Orthodoxy Enforcer.

Vivisection Evangelist is an expensive card. Without a focused approach using poison counters in the deck, its Corrupted ability will not consistently trigger, further reducing the appeal of this card. Pass.

My first instinct is to replace the recently added Yotian Medics with Annex Sentries. But that means losing some Lifelink depth, something that is needed to build up Voice of the Blessed into a potent threat. I could go deeper along this line and simply cut both Voices and replace them with other Clerics. Alternatively, I could cut the one March of Otherwordly Light and the two Liliana of the Veil, given Annex Sentry’s exile ability. Another option might be to cut the two Valorous Stances and the March, keeping Liliana.

A more drastic change to the deck could be to take on a third colour. Green does offer up a few more clerics with the arrival of the new set but at the cost of a wider mana base. There are no new Cleric cards in either Blue or Red so neither is an option. Back to Green, moving in that direction would likely mean a pivot to a deck more focused on the new Toxic ability. Maybe it’s worth building a separate deck to try this.

In the end, I think I will cut the March and one of the Yotian Medics in favour of 2 Annex Sentries. If the card performs well, I will look to replace more Medics or look at the Valorous Stances instead. More to come on this.

Here is the new deck that I will try once Phyrexia: All Will Be One launches on Arena.

Deck

  • 3 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
  • 2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
  • 1 March of Otherworldly Light (NEO) 28
  • 2 Valorous Stance (VOW) 42
  • 3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
  • 9 Plains (THB) 250
  • 7 Swamp (THB) 252
  • 3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
  • 2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW) 264
  • 4 Lunarch Veteran (MID) 27
  • 2 Scoured Barrens (NEO) 274
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278
  • 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
  • 2 Annex Sentry
  • 3 Yotian Medic (BRO)
  • 4 Markov Purifier (VOW) 241
  • 2 Loran’s escape (BRO)
  • 2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
  • 3 Phyrexian Missionary (DMU) 27
  • 2 Liliana of the Veil (DMU) 97

Sideboard (which I need to finish up!)

  • 2 Farewell (NEO) 13
  • 1 Cut Down (DMU) 89
  • 2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
  • 1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO) 20

Feel free to drop a comment below with any suggestions for other changes.

A look at the Clerics in The Brothers’ War

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

If you follow this blog, you know that I have enjoyed playing Orzhov Clerics for some time. Unfortunately, rotation was not kind to my clerics with many potent cards falling out of Standard. There weren’t many strong additions in Dominaria United and the latest iteration of Orzhov Clerics is definitely not a potent deck.

With the release of The Brothers’ War set came hope that new more powerful clerics would help improve this deck. Unfortunately, there are only three new clerics: Airlift Chaplain, Yotian Medic and Evangel of Synthesis. The last one is a Dimir cleric so is immediately out. The other two are simply not that great.

There are some interesting Prototype creatures, like the Steel Seraph or the Phyrexian Fleshgorger, that could slide into the deck to give it some heft but we’re moving away from the deck being cleric tribal.

At this point, I will make two substitutions in the deck:

  • Replace the four Inspiring Overseers with four Yotian Medic to leverage its lifegain capabilities and blocking (thanks to that 4 toughness)
  • Replace the two Boon of Safety with two Loran’s Escape

Here is what the new deck looks like:

Deck

  • 3 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
  • 2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
  • 1 March of Otherworldly Light (NEO) 28
  • 2 Valorous Stance (VOW) 42
  • 3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
  • 9 Plains (THB) 250
  • 7 Swamp (THB) 252
  • 3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
  • 2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW) 264
  • 4 Lunarch Veteran (MID) 27
  • 2 Scoured Barrens (NEO) 274
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278
  • 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
  • 4 Yotian Medic (BRO)
  • 4 Markov Purifier (VOW) 241
  • 2 Loran’s escape (BRO)
  • 2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
  • 3 Phyrexian Missionary (DMU) 27
  • 2 Liliana of the Veil (DMU) 97

Sideboard

  • 2 Farewell (NEO) 13
  • 1 Cut Down (DMU) 89
  • 2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
  • 1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO) 20

I don’t think that these changes will turn this deck into a tier one contender but let’s see if it makes it a little more powerful at least.

Standard BO1 Orzhov Clerics live on in Dominaria United

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Noah has mocked my Orzhov Cleric tribal decks since I first started playing with them. But they have proven to be fun decks and have performed better than I expected for the most part through various iterations. The first deck I posted here dates back almost a year ago. The recent Standard rotation unfortunately saw a good number of cards drop out of Standard.

With Noah still teasing me about my Cleric decks, I decided that it was time to see whether I could rebuild the deck for the new Standard. The good news is that there are enough new clerics in Dominaria United to make up for the ones lost during rotation. The bad news is that they are not as powerful as the old ones.

The ones that look to be good additions include Shadow-Rite Priest, a lord for clerics, and Evolved Sleeper, which starts as a Human but can quickly become a cleric with an additional Black.

Liliana of the Veil may not be a cleric but is just too powerful not include. I did check with the clerics if they had any objections and they were unanimously happy to have her on their side.

Here is the deck as it stands now (the sideboard remains a work in progress):

Deck

  • 3 Infernal Grasp (MID) 107
  • 2 Anointed Peacekeeper (DMU) 2
  • 1 March of Otherworldly Light (NEO) 28
  • 2 Valorous Stance (VOW) 42
  • 3 Evolved Sleeper (DMU) 93
  • 9 Plains (THB) 250
  • 7 Swamp (THB) 252
  • 3 Shadow-Rite Priest (DMU) 106
  • 2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW) 264
  • 4 Lunarch Veteran (MID) 27
  • 2 Scoured Barrens (NEO) 274
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO) 278
  • 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268
  • 4 Inspiring Overseer (SNC) 18
  • 4 Markov Purifier (VOW) 241
  • 2 Boon of Safety (SNC) 4
  • 2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim (DMU) 198
  • 3 Phyrexian Missionary (DMU) 27
  • 2 Liliana of the Veil (DMU) 97

Sideboard

  • 2 Farewell (NEO) 13
  • 1 Cut Down (DMU) 89
  • 2 Chaplain of Alms (MID) 13
  • 1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW) 44
  • 1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO) 20

Here’s hoping that The Brothers’ War and other upcoming sets bring some additional clerics.

Wild fortune swing for B01 Orzhov Clerics

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

I switched back to my trusty B01 Orzhov deck late in the Arena May Ranked Season. As I had expected, my Boros Angels deck ran into stiffer opposition once I made it into Platinum. From 63% in the last run in Gold, it dropped to less than 50% in Platinum.

So, I dusted off the Clerics. I wasn’t sure how it would go but they performed surprisingly well, notching up a 64% win rate (18 wins to 10 losses). When May wrapped up and the June season kicked off, I just kept playing with the deck. But the good times stopped abruptly and the deck now stands at a mediocre 33% win rate (4 wins to 8 losses). Low numbers, I know, but quite a change of fortune.

Vanishing Verse

Looking at Untapped.gg stats, my deck certainly seems to have outperformed similar decks in May. I’m not sure why that is but it could simply be a statistically inconsequence given the low number of games I played.

The Boros Burn decks that have caught everyone’s attention certainly have not been kind to my clerics. I’ve only won once in four tries so far. I think they will require a slightly more defensive posture on my part, keeping back some defenders and mana to protect them from that rapid onslaught.

More to come on this as I am curious to see if this is just a bit of a bad streak or if it is really time to tweak the deck (or shift to something else).

Here is how the deck looks at the moment:

Deck:

  • 4 Cleric of Life’s Bond (ZNR)
  • 2 Valorous Stance (VOW)
  • 4 Vanishing Verse (STX)
  • 3 Orah, Skyclave Hierophant (ZNR)
  • 4 Righteous Valkyrie (KHM)
  • 4 Elite Spellbinder (STX)
  • 2 Voice of the Blessed (VOW)
  • 4 Lunarch Veteran (MID)
  • 2 Kor Celebrant (ZNR)
  • 4 Luminarch Aspirant (ZNR)
  • 2 Boon of Safety (SNC)
  • 2 Cave of the Frost Dragon (AFR)
  • 2 Hive of the Eye Tyrant (AFR)
  • 4 Brightclimb Pathway (ZNR)
  • 3 Shattered Sanctum (VOW)
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire (NEO)
  • 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO)
  • 1 Agadeem’s Awakening (ZNR)
  • 4 Swamp
  • 7 Plains

Sideboard:

  • 1 Academic Probation (STX)
  • 1 Expanded Anatomy (STX)
  • 1 Environmental Sciences (STX)
  • 1 Mascot Exhibition (STX)
  • 1 Reduce to Memory (STX)
  • 2 Chaplain of Alms (MID)
  • 1 Cloudsteel Kirin (NEO)
  • 1 Voice of the Blessed (VOW)
  • 1 Path of Peril (VOW)
  • 1 Intercessor’s Arrest (NEO)