I've built this RTR Orzhov extort deck...using the Dragons Maze Orzhov intro pack deck...I'm thinking of throwin' in some Obzedat, Ghost Council in just not sure where...trying to make this a fun competitive deck...so let me know what you guys think and if I should throw in any other creatures that might be better. Also only trying to keep this B/
First thing that jumps out at me is that you need way more mana. you're running a six drop main and you are basing your deck around a mechanic that wants to have lots of extra mana to dump. I'd say you want a minimum of 24 lands.
Secondly, they gave us an extort "lord" in DGM (Pontiff of Blight), I'd recommend him. remember, each instance of extort that your permanents have trigger separately, so he does something even if all your other creatures already have extort.
Next, if you want to go estort, go all in. that means playing the full setsof the best cards. Basilica Guard is fantastic agaunst aggro, he is an auto-four-of. Crypt Ghast, while fragile for a 4 drop, is probably worth it because of the potential for abuse with all that mana.
As nice as it is to have a 1 drop creature with extort, I would ditch Parasite (or at least move him to the board), and play the full set of Dutiful Thrull. He's so good at shutting down early aggression, which is a major concern for a deck like this.
Blind Obedience is an incredible card, even if it does just turn into a 2-mana extort source (that ignores creature removal).
Consider some kind of sac effects for Blood Baron of Vizkopa, as he is otherwise an immediate auto-loss as soon as he hits the board (you're not too keen on running sweepers here).
Finally, I don't think the Demons or Angel are necessarily bad cards, but they don't fit the same strategy as the rest of the deck. Just my $0.02.
You definitely need more lands. You always want extra mana to extort and your curve is very high so you can't miss your land drops. I suggest 24 lands.
Extort is very slow and I think you're going to need Mutilate to win with it. You need to give yourself as much time as possible to set up your mana.
Out of your creature list I think you have a lot of unplayables. Extort bodies are okay in limited, but they're not competitive for standard. If all they do is extort and they can't win you a game, you don't want them in your deck. For example Kingpin's Pet always loses to Vampire Nighthawk. Nighthawk does more, is more threatening, has better stats, and has 100x more board presence. There's no reason to run Kingpin's even if you want to extort.
You definitely need more lands. You always extra mana to extort want and your curve is very high so you can't miss your land drops. I suggest 24 lands.
Extort is very slow and I think you're going to need Mutilate to win with it. You need to give yourself as much time as possible to set up your mana.
Out of your creature list I think you have a lot of unplayables. Extort bodies are okay in limited, but they're not competitive for standard. If all they do is extort and they can't win you a game, you don't want them in your deck. For example Kingpin's Pet always loses to Vampire Nighthawk. Nighthawk does more, is more threatening, has better stats, and has 100x more board presence. There's no reason to run Kingpin's even if you want to extort.
You are right, the deck features many unplayables.
But the list of 2-drops you give, I don't think his opponent will be playing any of those - he plans on playing with his friend casually. It is competitive between the two, but not "competitive" in the sense that he'll be facing down very many top tier cards. I think it is likely that his opponent has cards of comparable caliber (please correct me where I am wrong, Minotaurs_Charm).
That said, it IS a good idea to look to replace those cards, after all you're looking to win, right? But since you want the emphasis to be on Extort, you may want to keep them even if they would be unplayable in the competitive meta.
But the list of 2-drops you give, I don't think his opponent will be playing any of those - he plans on playing with his friend casually. It is competitive between the two, but not "competitive" in the sense that he'll be facing down very many top tier cards. I think it is likely that his opponent has cards of comparable caliber (please correct me where I am wrong, Minotaurs_Charm).
You definitely need more lands. You always want extra mana to extort and your curve is very high so you can't miss your land drops. I suggest 24 lands.
Extort is very slow and I think you're going to need Mutilate to win with it. You need to give yourself as much time as possible to set up your mana.
Out of your creature list I think you have a lot of unplayables. Extort bodies are okay in limited, but they're not competitive for standard. If all they do is extort and they can't win you a game, you don't want them in your deck. For example Kingpin's Pet always loses to Vampire Nighthawk. Nighthawk does more, is more threatening, has better stats, and has 100x more board presence. There's no reason to run Kingpin's even if you want to extort.
Ok so lets say I add in more W, and lets say 4 to take my total Lands to 24...well then should I take out Dutiful Thrull and Kingpin's Pet, if not then what should I take out??
AURELIA - You are correct, he won't be playing any of those two drops, so I'd be safe from those, and we would be playing at about the same caliber.
Ok, well I then there is Pontiff of Blight I like him but he is a 6 Drop and I'm not too sure of him, I might as well throw in 4 Obzedat, Ghost Council. I'm just not sure...what do you think, should he be in my deck?
Then should I throw in Blind Obedience and if so what cards should replace him and how many of him?
Ok so lets say I add in more W, and lets say 4 to take my total Lands to 24...well then should I take out Dutiful Thrull and Kingpin's Pet, if not then what should I take out??
AURELIA - You are correct, he won't be playing any of those two drops, so I'd be safe from those, and we would be playing at about the same caliber.
Ok, well I then there is Pontiff of Blight I like him but he is a 6 Drop and I'm not too sure of him, I might as well throw in 4 Obzedat, Ghost Council. I'm just not sure...what do you think, should he be in my deck?
Then should I throw in Blind Obedience and if so what cards should replace him and how many of him?
Only play Blind Obedience if your friend has lots of creatures, especially if they have haste. If his deck is not very up front immediately aggressive, Blind Obedience probably is not your best bet.
As for Pontiff, play him and not Obzedat if you really want to stick to your Extort mechanic. Play Obzedat if you want raw power (it is pretty Orzhov flavorful too, with the pseudo extort). From a competitive standpoint, Obzedat should extremely outclass Pontiff. Also look at Blood Baron of Vizkopa if you know he'll be playing white/black cards in his deck.
Only play Blind Obedience if your friend has lots of creatures, especially if they have haste. If his deck is not very up front immediately aggressive, Blind Obedience probably is not your best bet.
As for Pontiff, play him and not Obzedat if you really want to stick to your Extort mechanic. Play Obzedat if you want raw power (it is pretty Orzhov flavorful too, with the pseudo extort). From a competitive standpoint, Obzedat should extremely outclass Pontiff. Also look at Blood Baron of Vizkopa if you know he'll be playing white/black cards in his deck.
He has one deck where he runs a lot of Artifacts, it's mainly a white control deck and I know the only thing that'd work against it would be a protection from white deck, but other than that for his other decks I don't think I'd need Blood Baron of Vizkopa I had him in there already but threw in Deathpact instead...which is why I was thinking of throwing Obzedat, Ghost Council instead and take out deathpact
He has one deck where he runs a lot of Artifacts, it's mainly a white control deck and I know the only thing that'd work against it would be a protection from white deck, but other than that for his other decks I don't think I'd need Blood Baron of Vizkopa I had him in there already but threw in Deathpact instead...which is why I was thinking of throwing Obzedat, Ghost Council instead and take out deathpact
Well you don't want to fill your deck with high CMC creatures. You'll die before you get off the ground. Blood Baron of Vizkopa is a great card. You could also try Knight of Infamy because it has protection from white as well.
You don't need 4 Obzedat, Ghost Council in any deck. 4 is too many of a legendary creature with 5 CMC. 2 or 3 at most.
With your competition in mind I would try something like:
This keeps the extort theme. Your curve is nice with most of your deck being 2 and 3 CMC,but Pontiff lets you have a late game bomb that makes casting something like Thrull Parasite really hurt.
Well you don't want to fill your deck with high CMC creatures. You'll die before you get off the ground. Blood Baron of Vizkopa is a great card. You could also try Knight of Infamy because it has protection from white as well.
You don't need 4 Obzedat, Ghost Council in any deck. 4 is too many of a legendary creature with 5 CMC. 2 or 3 at most.
With your competition in mind I would try something like:
This keeps the extort theme. Your curve is nice with most of your deck being 2 and 3 CMC,but Pontiff lets you have a late game bomb that makes casting something like Thrull Parasite really hurt.
This Deck actually doesn't look too bad, I think I'll definitely try that out...what if I adjusted it so that the creatures and spells looks like this
Keep in mind, unless your opponent is playing lots of fast and aggressive creatures, Blind Obedience is a swing and a miss.
I disagree. Another extort trigger on the battlefield that survives board wipes and removal (see: control), AND gives you an advantage whenever your opponent plays a creature is not a bad card, especially if you can get it out in the first three turns. The cheap CMC also means you can cast it to trigger extort later in the game. Pontiff of Blight feels unreliable and expensive for a four-of.
Edit: Two pontiff's would probably be sufficient as shown above.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
On combatting Aetherling:
"No matter what, it's still just cardboard that can be ripped up. And then they have nothing."
I disagree. Another extort trigger on the battlefield that survives board wipes and removal (see: control), AND gives you an advantage whenever your opponent plays a creature is not a bad card, especially if you can get it out in the first three turns. The cheap CMC also means you can cast it to trigger extort later in the game. Pontiff of Blight feels unreliable and expensive for a four-of.
Edit: Two pontiff's would probably be sufficient as shown above.
So then you would agree that the Deck list I edited above should be good? I feel like that would be a good overall deck. Let me know if you would make any other changes
So then you would agree that the Deck list I edited above should be good? I feel like that would be a good overall deck. Let me know if you would make any other changes
Overall, I'm liking the look of this deck. A few minor suggestions.
Firstly, as suggested above, the mana base needs to be increased to at least 24. Remember, in an extort deck, you want to have plenty of mana open, because all your spells are going to cost more to cast.
Gift of Orzhova: I would get rid of this. I've never really liked auras in a deck like this as you're pushing a two-for-one situation, and with Orzhov it's especially bad. From the creatures you have listed:
- Basilica Screecher, Vampire Nighthawk, Desecration Demon, Kingspin's Pet and Deathpact Angel already have flying.
- Vampire Nighthawk and Tithe Drinker already have lifelink.
- Basilica Guards can't attack.
The redundancies you're likely to create here will hurt your mid-game. If you want a nice aggro aura, then Dark Favor is the go. This will give whatever lifelink/flying creep you already have on the board +3/+1 which can turn anything into a decent threat (Nighthawk becomes a 5/4 flying lifelink, for example). Plus, it's cheap CMC means it can be extorted rather nicely at any point in the game, and will combat the life loss.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
On combatting Aetherling:
"No matter what, it's still just cardboard that can be ripped up. And then they have nothing."
Overall, I'm liking the look of this deck. A few minor suggestions.
Firstly, as suggested above, the mana base needs to be increased to at least 24. Remember, in an extort deck, you want to have plenty of mana open, because all your spells are going to cost more to cast.
Gift of Orzhova: I would get rid of this. I've never really liked auras in a deck like this as you're pushing a two-for-one situation, and with Orzhov it's especially bad. From the creatures you have listed:
- Basilica Screecher, Vampire Nighthawk, Desecration Demon, Kingspin's Pet and Deathpact Angel already have flying.
- Vampire Nighthawk and Tithe Drinker already have lifelink.
- Basilica Guards can't attack.
The redundancies you're likely to create here will hurt your mid-game. If you want a nice aggro aura, then Dark Favor is the go. This will give whatever lifelink/flying creep you already have on the board +3/+1 which can turn anything into a decent threat (Nighthawk becomes a 5/4 flying lifelink, for example). Plus, it's cheap CMC means it can be extorted rather nicely at any point in the game, and will combat the life loss.
Yea I played with Gift of Orzhova and I had Tithe Drinker and Kingpin's Pet out on the board and was thinking it really isn't benefiting either of those...so I think that is one I'll have to do away with. I've also updated my mana base so that it's at 24 overall now.
My spells then would look like this...would i take two away from Tragic Slip or how else can I fit it in?
I've built this RTR Orzhov extort deck...using the Dragons Maze Orzhov intro pack deck...I'm thinking of throwin' in some Obzedat, Ghost Council in just not sure where...trying to make this a fun competitive deck...so let me know what you guys think and if I should throw in any other creatures that might be better. Also only trying to keep this B/
4 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
12 Swamp
Creatures (28)
2 Basilica Screecher
4 Thrull Parasite
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Kingpin's Pet
4 Crypt Ghast
1 Basilica Guards
4 Tithe Drinker
2 Blood Scrivener
2 Desecration Demon
2 Dutiful Thrull
1 Deathpact Angel
4 Tragic Slip
4 Dead Weight
2 Gift of Orzhova
2 Underworld Connections
Secondly, they gave us an extort "lord" in DGM (Pontiff of Blight), I'd recommend him. remember, each instance of extort that your permanents have trigger separately, so he does something even if all your other creatures already have extort.
Next, if you want to go estort, go all in. that means playing the full setsof the best cards. Basilica Guard is fantastic agaunst aggro, he is an auto-four-of. Crypt Ghast, while fragile for a 4 drop, is probably worth it because of the potential for abuse with all that mana.
As nice as it is to have a 1 drop creature with extort, I would ditch Parasite (or at least move him to the board), and play the full set of Dutiful Thrull. He's so good at shutting down early aggression, which is a major concern for a deck like this.
Blind Obedience is an incredible card, even if it does just turn into a 2-mana extort source (that ignores creature removal).
Consider some kind of sac effects for Blood Baron of Vizkopa, as he is otherwise an immediate auto-loss as soon as he hits the board (you're not too keen on running sweepers here).
Finally, I don't think the Demons or Angel are necessarily bad cards, but they don't fit the same strategy as the rest of the deck. Just my $0.02.
Like Dr. Joe said I think the best way to win via extort is Crypt Ghast and Pontiff of Blight. Throw in Lingering Souls and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad and you have yourself some solid ground to work with.
Extort is very slow and I think you're going to need Mutilate to win with it. You need to give yourself as much time as possible to set up your mana.
Out of your creature list I think you have a lot of unplayables. Extort bodies are okay in limited, but they're not competitive for standard. If all they do is extort and they can't win you a game, you don't want them in your deck. For example Kingpin's Pet always loses to Vampire Nighthawk. Nighthawk does more, is more threatening, has better stats, and has 100x more board presence. There's no reason to run Kingpin's even if you want to extort.
Another example is Basilica Screecher. How does it compare to what your opponent will be playing for two mana? Burning-Tree Emissary, Flinthoof Boar, Augur of Bolas, Strangleroot Geist, and Snapcaster Mage are just some examples of powerful two mana creatures that hit the board and have immediate impact. Screecher doesn't really compare to any of them.
You are right, the deck features many unplayables.
But the list of 2-drops you give, I don't think his opponent will be playing any of those - he plans on playing with his friend casually. It is competitive between the two, but not "competitive" in the sense that he'll be facing down very many top tier cards. I think it is likely that his opponent has cards of comparable caliber (please correct me where I am wrong, Minotaurs_Charm).
That said, it IS a good idea to look to replace those cards, after all you're looking to win, right? But since you want the emphasis to be on Extort, you may want to keep them even if they would be unplayable in the competitive meta.
Oh I missed that part. My mistake.
Not your mistake ^_^, you didn't miss anything - this information is from another thread!
Even so, you are still correct about those cards
Ok so lets say I add in more W, and lets say 4 to take my total Lands to 24...well then should I take out Dutiful Thrull and Kingpin's Pet, if not then what should I take out??
AURELIA - You are correct, he won't be playing any of those two drops, so I'd be safe from those, and we would be playing at about the same caliber.
Ok, well I then there is Pontiff of Blight I like him but he is a 6 Drop and I'm not too sure of him, I might as well throw in 4 Obzedat, Ghost Council. I'm just not sure...what do you think, should he be in my deck?
Then should I throw in Blind Obedience and if so what cards should replace him and how many of him?
Only play Blind Obedience if your friend has lots of creatures, especially if they have haste. If his deck is not very up front immediately aggressive, Blind Obedience probably is not your best bet.
As for Pontiff, play him and not Obzedat if you really want to stick to your Extort mechanic. Play Obzedat if you want raw power (it is pretty Orzhov flavorful too, with the pseudo extort). From a competitive standpoint, Obzedat should extremely outclass Pontiff. Also look at Blood Baron of Vizkopa if you know he'll be playing white/black cards in his deck.
What if I throw in Pontif and Obzedat...then take out Dutiful Thrull, Kingpin's Pet and Deathpact Angel?
He has one deck where he runs a lot of Artifacts, it's mainly a white control deck and I know the only thing that'd work against it would be a protection from white deck, but other than that for his other decks I don't think I'd need Blood Baron of Vizkopa I had him in there already but threw in Deathpact instead...which is why I was thinking of throwing Obzedat, Ghost Council instead and take out deathpact
Well you don't want to fill your deck with high CMC creatures. You'll die before you get off the ground. Blood Baron of Vizkopa is a great card. You could also try Knight of Infamy because it has protection from white as well.
You don't need 4 Obzedat, Ghost Council in any deck. 4 is too many of a legendary creature with 5 CMC. 2 or 3 at most.
With your competition in mind I would try something like:
4 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
12 Swamp
4 Plains
4 Thrull Parasite
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Knight of Infamy
4 Tithe Drinker
3 Pontiff of Blight
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Tragic Slip
4 Dead Weight
2 Underworld Connections
This keeps the extort theme. Your curve is nice with most of your deck being 2 and 3 CMC,but Pontiff lets you have a late game bomb that makes casting something like Thrull Parasite really hurt.
This Deck actually doesn't look too bad, I think I'll definitely try that out...what if I adjusted it so that the creatures and spells looks like this
4 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Plains
12 Swamp
Creatures
4 Thrull Parasite
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Crypt Ghast
2 Knight of Infamy
4 Tithe Drinker
2 Pontiff of Blight
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Tragic Slip
4 Dead Weight
2 Underworld Connections
2 Blind Obedience
Keep in mind, unless your opponent is playing lots of fast and aggressive creatures, Blind Obedience is a swing and a miss.
I disagree. Another extort trigger on the battlefield that survives board wipes and removal (see: control), AND gives you an advantage whenever your opponent plays a creature is not a bad card, especially if you can get it out in the first three turns. The cheap CMC also means you can cast it to trigger extort later in the game. Pontiff of Blight feels unreliable and expensive for a four-of.
Edit: Two pontiff's would probably be sufficient as shown above.
"No matter what, it's still just cardboard that can be ripped up. And then they have nothing."
So then you would agree that the Deck list I edited above should be good? I feel like that would be a good overall deck. Let me know if you would make any other changes
So then with the deck listed just above, what would you take out or how would you fit in Debt to the Deathless?
Overall, I'm liking the look of this deck. A few minor suggestions.
Firstly, as suggested above, the mana base needs to be increased to at least 24. Remember, in an extort deck, you want to have plenty of mana open, because all your spells are going to cost more to cast.
Gift of Orzhova: I would get rid of this. I've never really liked auras in a deck like this as you're pushing a two-for-one situation, and with Orzhov it's especially bad. From the creatures you have listed:
- Basilica Screecher, Vampire Nighthawk, Desecration Demon, Kingspin's Pet and Deathpact Angel already have flying.
- Vampire Nighthawk and Tithe Drinker already have lifelink.
- Basilica Guards can't attack.
The redundancies you're likely to create here will hurt your mid-game. If you want a nice aggro aura, then Dark Favor is the go. This will give whatever lifelink/flying creep you already have on the board +3/+1 which can turn anything into a decent threat (Nighthawk becomes a 5/4 flying lifelink, for example). Plus, it's cheap CMC means it can be extorted rather nicely at any point in the game, and will combat the life loss.
"No matter what, it's still just cardboard that can be ripped up. And then they have nothing."
Yea I played with Gift of Orzhova and I had Tithe Drinker and Kingpin's Pet out on the board and was thinking it really isn't benefiting either of those...so I think that is one I'll have to do away with. I've also updated my mana base so that it's at 24 overall now.
My spells then would look like this...would i take two away from Tragic Slip or how else can I fit it in?
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Tragic Slip
4 Dead Weight
2 Underworld Connections
2 Blind Obedience
2 Dark Favor