MTG Salvation

This is my Orzhov Multiplayer Extort deck. The goal is to control the board with Orzhov flavor. Drain their life here and there, destroy/nullify some creatures, use some recursion to keep going into the late game, then when the time is right and you're ahead on life, start draining everyone's life totals. Once you have enough mana accumulated, you can start taking 5-7 life point chunks out of everyone that can't be stopped. There's also a high enchantment count to syngerize with the Constellation trigger. 1 life isn't much but it adds up, especially with the self-bounce Auras or with your other life gain spells/extort. Because the deck wants as much colored mana as possible, I tried to include every bit of ramp that doesn't make colorless mana. Hopefully I have them all.

I originally had Agent of Masks as the choice of Commander, but after playing it a bit I decided to switch to the Coinsmith.

Agent of Masks Pros:
-Extort every upkeep, regardless of board presence
-No activation cost; frees up mana
-No life loss incurred

Agent of Masks Cons:
-Slow; takes forever to extort everyone
-5 Mana Cost; expensive to cast and recast from Command Zone
-Upkeep trigger means it needs to stick around for one full turn before doing anything

Underworld Coinsmith Pros:
-Ends the game faster. As long as you're ahead of life (not hard to do in Orzhov), you can turn every two mana into one damage to every player, which is difficult to prevent. In a stalled board game, it's a serious threat
-2 Mana; very easy to cast and recast multiple times should it die
-Provides value every time it's cast (small, but still better than nothing)
-Provides value whenever you cast an enchantment (small, but adds up over time)
-Instant speed activation lets you keep your mana untapped to threaten instant speed spells or tricks.

Underworld Coinsmith Cons:
-It's an enchantment; easier to destroy
-'Pestilence' effect hurts everyone. If you're being targeted and are behind on life, you can't use it as a win condition
-For some odd reason his activation cost requires you to pay life first; if you're tied on life you would lose first. Why couldn't they have used less text space and worded it like Spiteflame Witch?
-Activation cost requires mana, which might prevent you from fully using your own turn for sorcery spells.
-More dependent on other cards for gaining life

I feel like the pros/cons of the Coinsmith outweigh the Agent. if only Scholar of Athreos was uncommon... sigh...

One new interaction that I'm really excited to use is Font of Return + Auramancer/Griffin Dreamfinder. "Sacrifice Font to return three creatures, cast Auramancer, get back Font, block with Auramancer, use Font to return Auramancer, rinse, repeat..."

On to the Decklist!



Possible additions:
Blessing of Leeches, Blood Seeker, Blood Tithe, Cabal Torturer, Cho-Manno's Blessing, Congregate, Disciple of Tevesh Szat, Edge of the Divinity, Forced Worship, Inviolability, Moriok Replica, Servant of Tymaret, Shackles, Soul's Attendant, Stab Wound, Strands of Undeath, Victim of Night, Detainment Spell, Servant of Tymaret, Blind Hunter

I like your list. It looks like it's very capable of grinding down multiple opponents. The only thing that sticks out to me is Devout Harpist. What in the world is that for?

The Harpist is an auto-include for any deck with white. There's a high amoung of Auras that you want to destroy (either ones beefing your opponents' creatures or nullifying your own), and she does it turn after turn. She takes care of Rancor, Alexi's Cloak, Encrust, Arrest, Steel of the Godhead, Shield of the Oversoul, Blessing of Leeches, Runes of the Deus, Freed from the Real, Clout of the Dominus, Gift of the Deity, Armadillo Cloak, Soul Channeling, Detainment Spell, Temporal Isolation, Cage of Hands, Lignify, Viper's Kiss, Mystic Restraints, Ophidian Eye, Hermetic Study, Psionic Gift, Shielding Plax, Sigil of Sleep, Snake Umbra, the list goes on and on.

Yeah, I get that the creature that reads " : Destroy target aura attached to a creature." is there for destroying auras that are attached to creatures. While it's true that there are a number of playable auras in PDH, I don't usually see non-voltron decks run more than 1-3. So, my question wasn't about what you can target with Devout Harpist but about whether it's worth it. Obviously it's great when you're nuking something every turn, but how often is she just an Eager Cadet?

She's never Eager Cadet, not in my playgroup. Even the non-Voltron decks run Auras, specifically the ones that hamper other creatures. And in a multiplayer setting, there is always something to target. And even if there is absolutely no targets on the table, it prevents people from playing Auras as it will be destroyed the moment it hits play. For 1 mana she more than pulls her weight in gold and I include her in every one of my decks that have white because her effect is so powerful in Pauper EDH, where the auras available are vastly more powerful than the equipment.

I really like the deck. I will be building it, but subbing out {Cuombajj Witches} for {Servant of Tymaret}. I'm so glad I found this format, maybe I can get my friends to play more now. Also, may I recommend {Blind Hunter}, he is good if you find room for him.

Made a small change:

-Wall of Hope
-Syndicate Enforcer
+Soul's Attendant
+Teroh's Faithful

Wall of Hope seems a little unreliable for lifegain; Syndicate Enforcer is the least cost-effective Extort creature with zero defensive capabilities, and poor offensive capabilities (aka no flying). Soul's Attendant completes the cycle of the Soul Warden creatures, which in the course of a long multiplayer game can gain a lot of life, and Teroh's Faithful was added in as another defensive creature that gains 4 life without needing to extort, which should be more effective than the Syndicate Enforcer.

What about {Vizkopa Guildmage} and {Debt to the Deathless}, they seem like great cards and I'm going to add them when I'm done making the deck