Since I wanted a pauper deck from soo long ago, I thought this would be a pretty interesting pauper deck. Eventide mimics are one of my favorite creatures there, since they have some nasty awesome power, and some decks can transform them each turn so easily... this is the idea.
Basically, the main beater is Nightsky Mimic, a 4/4 flying creature for 2 mana, that's nuts. And then, almost all the deck is double-colored, so each of my turns, it will become a 4/4 flyer. Auras is another way to make this monstruosity WAY more monstruous. Edge of the Divinity alone makes it a 7/7 with flying, and Ethereal Armor is insane in almost all formats.
Good that the creatures are black, because it gives protection against some black creature removal spells
Haven't tested it yet, nor even constructed it physically, but I want your oppinions first, and then, I shall decide wheter to make it or not. Thanks
The deck as a whole looks pretty solid, even if you were to lose Nightsky Mimic you still have several WinCons.
I may head down to my card shop today and put this together to see how it works in actual practice against my other Pauper decks.
It seems as it would be pretty fun, but I would suggest for your sideboard you have more creature removal or at least some answer to aggro. As you sit Delver might give you issues because of the amount of counters and bounce it has usually runs, so if you sideboarded in some removal that might help tough situations. Sunlance would be a great sideboard card for this deck when you are facing down Gobo or anything other than White Weenie because you can pluck away creatures for only 1 mana and that is pretty damned good.
Although decks like White Weenie would wreck it as it sits so that is a match you'll want a sideboard for, a single Standard bearer renders all of your enchantments useless until you remove her, so you would need your Unmakes plus something like Dead Weight most likely.
If you are facing down Infect then you are also going to want to remove your Unmakes and sideboard in some turn 1 removal, possibly 8 turn 1 removal spells to be safe. Wretched Banquet is pretty solid especially if Infect goes first, hell if any deck goes before you this is a nice card.
Without any testing I am not sure what else would be good or bad though, as I said it looks really fun but it just needs that meta dependent sideboard.
This might be a start to a sideboard for your deck, it would really be meta dependent but this gives you aggro hate and artifact hate to start off with.
The deck as a whole looks pretty solid, even if you were to lose Nightsky Mimic you still have several WinCons.
I may head down to my card shop today and put this together to see how it works in actual practice against my other Pauper decks.
It seems as it would be pretty fun, but I would suggest for your sideboard you have more creature removal or at least some answer to aggro. As you sit Delver might give you issues because of the amount of counters and bounce it has usually runs, so if you sideboarded in some removal that might help tough situations. Sunlance would be a great sideboard card for this deck when you are facing down Gobo or anything other than White Weenie because you can pluck away creatures for only 1 mana and that is pretty damned good.
Although decks like White Weenie would wreck it as it sits so that is a match you'll want a sideboard for, a single Standard bearer renders all of your enchantments useless until you remove her, so you would need your Unmakes plus something like Dead Weight most likely.
If you are facing down Infect then you are also going to want to remove your Unmakes and sideboard in some turn 1 removal, possibly 8 turn 1 removal spells to be safe. Wretched Banquet is pretty solid especially if Infect goes first, hell if any deck goes before you this is a nice card.
Without any testing I am not sure what else would be good or bad though, as I said it looks really fun but it just needs that meta dependent sideboard.
This might be a start to a sideboard for your deck, it would really be meta dependent but this gives you aggro hate and artifact hate to start off with.
I'm glad you liked the idea :). Yes, it seems pretty fun indeed, a nephew made a standard orzhov auras deck, pretty weird but powerful, not like to win a tournament, and my golgari modern deck used Woodlurker Mimic, so is like a fusion of both ideas
The sideboard suggestions you make are awesome indeed. Sunlance is a card I didn't know, it seems it will be pretty good against most aggro decks. Dead Weight is something that also seems organic on the deck, so I guess I will stick up with those cards to start up with as a sideboard
Looks like a pretty strong deck! You have life gain coupled with some aggressive enchantments and beaters seems great!
Hahah thanks xD. Actually, it wasn't intended to gain lots of life, I just searched for dual black/white cards, and it happened that many of them got lifelink included, lol. I'm excited about buying and testing the deck already xD, but I will look for more feedback until I can consider the deck is optimal on its own rules
I'd move Beckon Apparition to the Sideboard and also add Duress and/or Castigate for combo and control match-ups. You might want to maindeck 2 Victim of Night to go along with your Unmakes. Maybe cut 2 Soul Link to make room.
I prefer Snuff Out over Wretched Banquet or Sunlance unless you're particularly concerned about really fast Black Creatures. Otherwise Dead Weight should suffice.
I'd move Beckon Apparition to the Sideboard and also add Duress and/or Castigate for combo and control match-ups. You might want to maindeck 2 Victim of Night to go along with your Unmakes. Maybe cut 2 Soul Link to make room.
I prefer Snuff Out over Wretched Banquet or Sunlance unless you're particularly concerned about really fast Black Creatures. Otherwise Dead Weight should suffice.
If he takes out two Soul Link and Beckon Apparition that will slow what his primary WinCon is down. I wouldn't put Duress in but possibly Castigate because it is dual colored. The nice thing about Beckon Apparition is that it grants grave hate so it will stop flashback effects or regenerate effects. If going for any sort of discard effect I would just stick with Castigate for the dual color.
I wouldn't put Victim of Night into the deck at all, Snuff Out is a much better choice as the card is played for free. Snuff Out would be the best removal if going against Infect as life total doesn't matter, so I feel that would be the best way to go.
The biggest problem I see with the deck as is now is that the primary source of removal cost 3 mana. I would split removal in the main deck with 2 Unmake and 3 Snuff Out, then you can keep 3 of the Beckon Apparition.
This way you get to have removal potentially as soon as turn 1 if your opponent goes first and your first drop is a swamp, so Infect becomes null as does an early White Weenie, Gobo or Delver lead.
I would tinker with the sideboard though to remove some of the creature removal, looking at it now it is much to flooded, if you run with a 3/2 removal split in the main deck, you should only need 3 additional creature hate cards in the sideboard.
That still leaves 23 BW spells in the deck. We shouldn't have a problem triggering the mimic.
I don't see any reason not to run the dark ritual/hymn package in this deck since almost all of the BW cards are actually hybrid. This is almost a mono-black deck to begin with. It's still worth white since we have nice sideboard options.
If you don't want to run Sinkholes then you can swap in Prismatic Strands and/or Bonesplitters. I think Beckon Apparition isn't good enough to run MD unless you see tons of GY recursion in your meta. If you do move it there. Otherwise it's not very exciting. I opted for Disenchant instead of Dust to Dust or Kor Sanctifiers since it only requires one white mana.
From all the suggestions I have read, I also agree that Snuff Out is a perfect card for this deck, since it can come for free, and life isn't a matter on the deck, lol.
I won't run it with less than 16 creatures, since the deck can't run if there is none on my side of the field, is a risk I can't take.
There are plenty of interesting cards, like Dark Ritual, Castigate, and Victim of Night. I'm willing to test them out on mtgdeckbuilder first, and I guess, the main deck doesn't have to take so much interest of what the opponent has, and just try to kill as soon as possible, so I'm sideboarding some stuff. Deck changes are already visible
Well, with some testings, I've noticed that Sign in Blood gives more speed to the deck than Dark Ritual does. Dark Ritual comes pretty handy when I can cast a turn 1 Kingpin's Pet, but the deck usually leaves my hand empty quickly, so drawing cards becomes an issue. I guess I'm keeeping up with Sign in Blood.
From all the suggestions I have read, I also agree that Snuff Out is a perfect card for this deck, since it can come for free, and life isn't a matter on the deck, lol.
I won't run it with less than 16 creatures, since the deck can't run if there is none on my side of the field, is a risk I can't take.
There are plenty of interesting cards, like Dark Ritual, Castigate, and Victim of Night. I'm willing to test them out on mtgdeckbuilder first, and I guess, the main deck doesn't have to take so much interest of what the opponent has, and just try to kill as soon as possible, so I'm sideboarding some stuff. Deck changes are already visible
Well, with some testings, I've noticed that Sign in Blood gives more speed to the deck than Dark Ritual does. Dark Ritual comes pretty handy when I can cast a turn 1 Kingpin's Pet, but the deck usually leaves my hand empty quickly, so drawing cards becomes an issue. I guess I'm keeeping up with Sign in Blood.
You can't cast a Kingpin's Pet on Turn one since it requires white mana, but you can Cast a Mourning Thrull with Edge of Divinity and have a 4/4 Flying Lifelink Creature on Turn one which is pretty insane.
Edge of Divinity is by far the best aura in this deck. If you replace the other auras with disruption effects they can be really nasty for your opponent's and you can get by with less creatures.
I don't love the Soul Link in there; seems like putting back in the Kingpin's Pets or using some white removal enchantment (like Journey to Nowhere or Temporal Isolation) might be better.
This deck looks great! It's really strange, though, when I look at it, I feel like it's running not enough creatures, removal or pump all at the same time.
This may be taking it in a completely different direction, but I find the deck might do better without the auras. If you were to concentrate your efforts on deploying threats and making sure they connect with the opponent by playing lots of removal, you might do better.
Executioner's Swing is another cheap removal spell that might prove more useful than it looks. I would give it a shot.
Castigate can also be an important part of your strategy. Heck, it removes ANYTHING from the game. I'd use that card more often if the colours weren't so awkward.
I would go back to Kingpen's Pet over your sexy lady, unfortunately. That flying really gives it an edge, and curving out with a mimic in play is really great. Remember that mimic only triggers once, so curving out into stronger (higher cc) cards is a good idea.
Is Nip Gwyllion that necessary in the deck? I don't find it's that good a card. A 1/1 that'll gain you 1 life when it dies, and you probably won't ever want to enchant it with auras. This is where I would fit in Tithe Drinker, or a bigger card like Harvest Gwyllion, which is a great defender and a scary attacker.
The only non-multicoloured cards I would possibly include in there are Hymn to Tourach and Snuff Out (the latter even in the main). Or perhaps some mass removal?
Old deck, but I think it's well-positioned in my current meta (MODO). With Storm and 8-post bannings, the most popular parts of the meta are MBC, Delver, Tron, and Burn.
Orzhov aggro can do well against MBC and Burn with its life gain. White also has incredible black and red hate in Crimson Acolyte and Obsidian Acolyte, and our big, fast fliers, lifegain, and targeted exile removal seem to give a mostly even matchup with Tron (possibly favorable, not enough testing). To modify vs delver, I am going to try severely cutting the mana curve so we can cast threats like aggro decks that give them trouble (think Stompy). Not sure if it'll work or not.
I'm going to give this a try in the gatherling PRE tonight, plus some major edits. I'll post my deck list and results later when I am not at work.
My build is off to a good start with my limited testing. I Top 8'd the PRE last night, winning over Delver, WW, and Nivix Fiend. I lost 2-1 in elimination to another WW in what I believe to be a favorable matchup. Overall, the deck is 8-5 in matches, including 2-0 against MBC.
Thanks for the comments Yavimaya. We think very similarly about the OG Orzhov's drawbacks today. You have a lot of valid concerns, and I think I can address them with my updated decklist and matchup analysis.
Being mono-mana colored, as you noted, is necessary to make the deck more consistent. I went monowhite, though; white just has such good (though narrow) SB hate cards. This makes it more effective against a more concentrated meta, and the online meta is much smaller than live, particularly post-bannings. I definitely see where you would want to go black live, though. With effectively 27 creatures (23 and 4 Beckon Apparition), the threat density here is very high, and all but eight of them fly. Also, the four Nightsky Mimics usually end up flying for a good amount of their attacks, so it's more like ~21 effective fliers. That's more than anyone but flight-specific WW or those RW flier decks, which is pretty rare online (and your fliers get bigger/better than theirs anyhow). 7 hard removal spells clears blockers (really just annoying fliers or game-ending threats like Ulamog). Just like in WW, the hawks add sustain, and Bonesplitter is an all-star since it sticks around when your guys get removed. Kor Skyfisher synergizes extremely well here; it helps you get more out of your aggro manabase or even rebuy an Orzhov spell to re-activate a Nightsky Mimic, all on top of a 2/3 flying body for 2. Additionally, the mana curve is very, very low: 3 three-CMC, 21 two-CMC (technically 23 but you will always cast Vault Skirge for one), 17 one-CMC (technically 15).
Some matchup analysis, specifically addressing your reservations:
1) Delver- this version only runs four auras, and Snap leaves you card advantage neutral unless you foolishly doubled up an aura on someone. The very low mana curve lets you play through counterspells, and getting a 4/4 out there, especially with lifelink, is very tough for Delver to deal with. They aren't exactly swimming in removal. That said, this felt like more of an even matchup; I pulled out the win in my lone match (2-1), but I never felt all that comfortable until I could get a 4/4 lifelinker out there to stick. Still, Orzhov Aggro seems to have the requirements necessary to give them a good fight: low mana curve, big threats, ability to block their evasive creatures. Add in lifelink and removal for an extra bonus, and the Standard Bearer in the SB for their removal, and you have a fiercely contested matchup.
SB plan: -4 Squadron Hawk (too slow), -1 Vault Skirge (worse than the SB cards, not sure if taking something else out is even better), +3 Standard Bearer, +2 Veteran Armorer (helps a lot vs. Piracy charm and making your fliers able to out-tough their entire offense).
2) MBC- The reason I emphasized lifegain is because other aggro decks, lacking removal to keep a clear board, often just are stopped cold by Gray Merchant. This deck has a high threat density, evasive fliers, and Obsidian Acolyte to completely dominate the board state. Popping a Bonsplitter on a lifelinker lets you survive long enough to draw into more and more creatures. Beckon Apparition does a lot of work here, countering edict effects and battling decks that run Unearth. I've easily won both my matches against MBC, giving up just one game. I might go so far as to say this is a favorable matchup in my meta (remember, online has no Hymns).
SB plan: Vault Skirge is more risky the more removal the opponent has, especially with just one toughness and Cuombajj Witches, so they come out. The next four I take out are actually the Squadron Hawks. I'm unsure on this choice since since they add sustain, but I don't like messing with the Orzhov core too much, and the threat density is high enough/ the upside of Obsidian Acolyte is large enough to justify it. I should test taking out the Nip Gwyllion instead, and/or some removal. Veteran Armorer completely shuts down Cuombajj Witches, which is very nice. I've actually left the Standard Bearers in the SB in both matchups, but they could also be better than the Nip Gwyllion/removal here (needs testing).
3) Tron- I am 1-1 with them, actually. With 7 hard removal spells to answer the crusher and massive/lifelinking, flying creatures, the mid/late game is better than you think. Their only air presence is a Mulldrifter, and a lifelinker with a Bonesplitter/Edge or two outraces a Fangren Marauder. Condescend can give you trouble, and Flame Slash is rough since you have a lot of 4-toughness guys. Electrickery in the SB can also be devastating. Again, Beckon Apparition helps here; save them for Firebolt. I've also actually beaten Tron late game post-SB after he dropped a Fangren and gained back a ton of life; my life total was in the 40s (outside Rolling Thunder range) thanks to huge lifelinkers, and I dominated the board state with more/bigger/flying/lifelinking creatures and a Crimson Acolyte to protect them all.
Still, just because late game isn't dead doesn't mean they don't have the advantage. This matchup may be slightly unfavorable given all the control obstacles for you to overcome.
SB plan- This needs testing; I am probably again too hesitant to take out Orzhov cards and find myself pulling out Squadron Hawks (I need to test, but it's probably correct to take out the Mourning Thrulls or Beckon Apparition instead). Given that other burn will likely be coming in against you and Electrickery/Serrated Arrows are distinct possibilities: -4 Squadron Hawk, -2 Nip Gwyllion, -2 Vault Skirge, +2 Veteran Armorer, +3 Crimson Acolyte, +3 Standard Bearer
All in all, this deck is performing very well for me. I've had no really poor matchups so far. Lifelink & Prismatic Strands make Burn and Nivix Fiend cry many tears of sadness. Going forward, I need to tweak things like my sideboard plans. This is certainly something I'll keep looking into. More testing is needed all around, so feel free to take the deck for a spin yourself (especially on MODO!)
You can test the draws here: http://www.mtgdeckbuilder.net/Decks/ViewDeck/480976
4 Nightsky Mimic
4 Nip Gwyllion
4 Mourning Thrull
4 Tithe Drinker
Spells(8)
3 Unmake
3 Sign in Blood
2 Castigate
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Edge of the Divinity
4 Soul Link
4 Pillory of the Sleepless
Lands(20)
8 Plains
8 Swamp
4 Orzhov Basilisca
3 Beckon Apparition
2 Dust to Dust
3 Dead Weight
1 Unmake
3 Snuff Out
3 Oblivion Ring
Basically, the main beater is Nightsky Mimic, a 4/4 flying creature for 2 mana, that's nuts. And then, almost all the deck is double-colored, so each of my turns, it will become a 4/4 flyer. Auras is another way to make this monstruosity WAY more monstruous. Edge of the Divinity alone makes it a 7/7 with flying, and Ethereal Armor is insane in almost all formats.
Good that the creatures are black, because it gives protection against some black creature removal spells
Haven't tested it yet, nor even constructed it physically, but I want your oppinions first, and then, I shall decide wheter to make it or not. Thanks
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I may head down to my card shop today and put this together to see how it works in actual practice against my other Pauper decks.
It seems as it would be pretty fun, but I would suggest for your sideboard you have more creature removal or at least some answer to aggro. As you sit Delver might give you issues because of the amount of counters and bounce it has usually runs, so if you sideboarded in some removal that might help tough situations. Sunlance would be a great sideboard card for this deck when you are facing down Gobo or anything other than White Weenie because you can pluck away creatures for only 1 mana and that is pretty damned good.
Although decks like White Weenie would wreck it as it sits so that is a match you'll want a sideboard for, a single Standard bearer renders all of your enchantments useless until you remove her, so you would need your Unmakes plus something like Dead Weight most likely.
If you are facing down Infect then you are also going to want to remove your Unmakes and sideboard in some turn 1 removal, possibly 8 turn 1 removal spells to be safe. Wretched Banquet is pretty solid especially if Infect goes first, hell if any deck goes before you this is a nice card.
Without any testing I am not sure what else would be good or bad though, as I said it looks really fun but it just needs that meta dependent sideboard.
This might be a start to a sideboard for your deck, it would really be meta dependent but this gives you aggro hate and artifact hate to start off with.
4 Dead weight
2 Wretched Banquet
4 Dust to Dust
5 ?
W White Weenie
I'm glad you liked the idea :). Yes, it seems pretty fun indeed, a nephew made a standard orzhov auras deck, pretty weird but powerful, not like to win a tournament, and my golgari modern deck used Woodlurker Mimic, so is like a fusion of both ideas
The sideboard suggestions you make are awesome indeed. Sunlance is a card I didn't know, it seems it will be pretty good against most aggro decks. Dead Weight is something that also seems organic on the deck, so I guess I will stick up with those cards to start up with as a sideboard
Hahah thanks xD. Actually, it wasn't intended to gain lots of life, I just searched for dual black/white cards, and it happened that many of them got lifelink included, lol. I'm excited about buying and testing the deck already xD, but I will look for more feedback until I can consider the deck is optimal on its own rules
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Sideboard could be something like:
4 Castigate
2 Dead Weight
2 Dust to Dust
2 Snuff Out
2 Oblivion Ring
I prefer Snuff Out over Wretched Banquet or Sunlance unless you're particularly concerned about really fast Black Creatures. Otherwise Dead Weight should suffice.
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If he takes out two Soul Link and Beckon Apparition that will slow what his primary WinCon is down. I wouldn't put Duress in but possibly Castigate because it is dual colored. The nice thing about Beckon Apparition is that it grants grave hate so it will stop flashback effects or regenerate effects. If going for any sort of discard effect I would just stick with Castigate for the dual color.
I wouldn't put Victim of Night into the deck at all, Snuff Out is a much better choice as the card is played for free. Snuff Out would be the best removal if going against Infect as life total doesn't matter, so I feel that would be the best way to go.
The biggest problem I see with the deck as is now is that the primary source of removal cost 3 mana. I would split removal in the main deck with 2 Unmake and 3 Snuff Out, then you can keep 3 of the Beckon Apparition.
This way you get to have removal potentially as soon as turn 1 if your opponent goes first and your first drop is a swamp, so Infect becomes null as does an early White Weenie, Gobo or Delver lead.
I would tinker with the sideboard though to remove some of the creature removal, looking at it now it is much to flooded, if you run with a 3/2 removal split in the main deck, you should only need 3 additional creature hate cards in the sideboard.
W White Weenie
4 Mourning Thrull
4 Nightsky Mimic
2 Nip Gwyllion
4 Edge of the Divinity
2 Snuff Out
4 Unmake
4 Sign in Blood
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Dark Ritual
4 Sinkhole
2 Castigate
3 Orzhov Basilica
2 Plains
8 Swamp
1 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Castigate
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Snuff Out
2 Disenchant
2 Standard Bearer
2 Choking Sands
That still leaves 23 BW spells in the deck. We shouldn't have a problem triggering the mimic.
I don't see any reason not to run the dark ritual/hymn package in this deck since almost all of the BW cards are actually hybrid. This is almost a mono-black deck to begin with. It's still worth white since we have nice sideboard options.
If you don't want to run Sinkholes then you can swap in Prismatic Strands and/or Bonesplitters. I think Beckon Apparition isn't good enough to run MD unless you see tons of GY recursion in your meta. If you do move it there. Otherwise it's not very exciting. I opted for Disenchant instead of Dust to Dust or Kor Sanctifiers since it only requires one white mana.
Edit: Revised again after goldfishing.
Rafiq of the Many UWG
Sedris, the Traitor King URB
Kaalia of the Vast RWB
Savra, Queen of Golgari GB
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice GW
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails EquipmentW
I won't run it with less than 16 creatures, since the deck can't run if there is none on my side of the field, is a risk I can't take.
There are plenty of interesting cards, like Dark Ritual, Castigate, and Victim of Night. I'm willing to test them out on mtgdeckbuilder first, and I guess, the main deck doesn't have to take so much interest of what the opponent has, and just try to kill as soon as possible, so I'm sideboarding some stuff. Deck changes are already visible
Well, with some testings, I've noticed that Sign in Blood gives more speed to the deck than Dark Ritual does. Dark Ritual comes pretty handy when I can cast a turn 1 Kingpin's Pet, but the deck usually leaves my hand empty quickly, so drawing cards becomes an issue. I guess I'm keeeping up with Sign in Blood.
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You can't cast a Kingpin's Pet on Turn one since it requires white mana, but you can Cast a Mourning Thrull with Edge of Divinity and have a 4/4 Flying Lifelink Creature on Turn one which is pretty insane.
Edge of Divinity is by far the best aura in this deck. If you replace the other auras with disruption effects they can be really nasty for your opponent's and you can get by with less creatures.
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Plus having all that life gain WHILE beating them down is a very good strategy. I'd definitely keep the Soul Links!
This may be taking it in a completely different direction, but I find the deck might do better without the auras. If you were to concentrate your efforts on deploying threats and making sure they connect with the opponent by playing lots of removal, you might do better.
Executioner's Swing is another cheap removal spell that might prove more useful than it looks. I would give it a shot.
Castigate can also be an important part of your strategy. Heck, it removes ANYTHING from the game. I'd use that card more often if the colours weren't so awkward.
I would go back to Kingpen's Pet over your sexy lady, unfortunately. That flying really gives it an edge, and curving out with a mimic in play is really great. Remember that mimic only triggers once, so curving out into stronger (higher cc) cards is a good idea.
Is Nip Gwyllion that necessary in the deck? I don't find it's that good a card. A 1/1 that'll gain you 1 life when it dies, and you probably won't ever want to enchant it with auras. This is where I would fit in Tithe Drinker, or a bigger card like Harvest Gwyllion, which is a great defender and a scary attacker.
The only non-multicoloured cards I would possibly include in there are Hymn to Tourach and Snuff Out (the latter even in the main). Or perhaps some mass removal?
Barren Moor? Secluded Steppe? Could be options.
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Orzhov aggro can do well against MBC and Burn with its life gain. White also has incredible black and red hate in Crimson Acolyte and Obsidian Acolyte, and our big, fast fliers, lifegain, and targeted exile removal seem to give a mostly even matchup with Tron (possibly favorable, not enough testing). To modify vs delver, I am going to try severely cutting the mana curve so we can cast threats like aggro decks that give them trouble (think Stompy). Not sure if it'll work or not.
I'm going to give this a try in the gatherling PRE tonight, plus some major edits. I'll post my deck list and results later when I am not at work.
Thanks for the comments Yavimaya. We think very similarly about the OG Orzhov's drawbacks today. You have a lot of valid concerns, and I think I can address them with my updated decklist and matchup analysis.
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Mourning Thrull
4 Nightsky Mimic
4 Nip Gwyllion
4 Squadron Hawk
2 Vault Skirge
1 Veteran Armorer
4 Beckon Apparition
4 Edge of the Divinity
4 Journey to Nowhere
3 Bonesplitter
3 Unmake
Land-19
18 Plains
1 Secluded Steppe
4 Obsidian Acolyte
3 Standard Bearer
3 Prismatic Strands
3 Crimson Acolyte
2 Veteran Armorer
Being mono-mana colored, as you noted, is necessary to make the deck more consistent. I went monowhite, though; white just has such good (though narrow) SB hate cards. This makes it more effective against a more concentrated meta, and the online meta is much smaller than live, particularly post-bannings. I definitely see where you would want to go black live, though. With effectively 27 creatures (23 and 4 Beckon Apparition), the threat density here is very high, and all but eight of them fly. Also, the four Nightsky Mimics usually end up flying for a good amount of their attacks, so it's more like ~21 effective fliers. That's more than anyone but flight-specific WW or those RW flier decks, which is pretty rare online (and your fliers get bigger/better than theirs anyhow). 7 hard removal spells clears blockers (really just annoying fliers or game-ending threats like Ulamog). Just like in WW, the hawks add sustain, and Bonesplitter is an all-star since it sticks around when your guys get removed. Kor Skyfisher synergizes extremely well here; it helps you get more out of your aggro manabase or even rebuy an Orzhov spell to re-activate a Nightsky Mimic, all on top of a 2/3 flying body for 2. Additionally, the mana curve is very, very low: 3 three-CMC, 21 two-CMC (technically 23 but you will always cast Vault Skirge for one), 17 one-CMC (technically 15).
Some matchup analysis, specifically addressing your reservations:
1) Delver- this version only runs four auras, and Snap leaves you card advantage neutral unless you foolishly doubled up an aura on someone. The very low mana curve lets you play through counterspells, and getting a 4/4 out there, especially with lifelink, is very tough for Delver to deal with. They aren't exactly swimming in removal. That said, this felt like more of an even matchup; I pulled out the win in my lone match (2-1), but I never felt all that comfortable until I could get a 4/4 lifelinker out there to stick. Still, Orzhov Aggro seems to have the requirements necessary to give them a good fight: low mana curve, big threats, ability to block their evasive creatures. Add in lifelink and removal for an extra bonus, and the Standard Bearer in the SB for their removal, and you have a fiercely contested matchup.
SB plan: -4 Squadron Hawk (too slow), -1 Vault Skirge (worse than the SB cards, not sure if taking something else out is even better), +3 Standard Bearer, +2 Veteran Armorer (helps a lot vs. Piracy charm and making your fliers able to out-tough their entire offense).
2) MBC- The reason I emphasized lifegain is because other aggro decks, lacking removal to keep a clear board, often just are stopped cold by Gray Merchant. This deck has a high threat density, evasive fliers, and Obsidian Acolyte to completely dominate the board state. Popping a Bonsplitter on a lifelinker lets you survive long enough to draw into more and more creatures. Beckon Apparition does a lot of work here, countering edict effects and battling decks that run Unearth. I've easily won both my matches against MBC, giving up just one game. I might go so far as to say this is a favorable matchup in my meta (remember, online has no Hymns).
SB plan: Vault Skirge is more risky the more removal the opponent has, especially with just one toughness and Cuombajj Witches, so they come out. The next four I take out are actually the Squadron Hawks. I'm unsure on this choice since since they add sustain, but I don't like messing with the Orzhov core too much, and the threat density is high enough/ the upside of Obsidian Acolyte is large enough to justify it. I should test taking out the Nip Gwyllion instead, and/or some removal. Veteran Armorer completely shuts down Cuombajj Witches, which is very nice. I've actually left the Standard Bearers in the SB in both matchups, but they could also be better than the Nip Gwyllion/removal here (needs testing).
-2 Vault Skirge, -4 Squadron Hawk, +4 Obsidian Acolyte, +2 Veteran Armorer
3) Tron- I am 1-1 with them, actually. With 7 hard removal spells to answer the crusher and massive/lifelinking, flying creatures, the mid/late game is better than you think. Their only air presence is a Mulldrifter, and a lifelinker with a Bonesplitter/Edge or two outraces a Fangren Marauder. Condescend can give you trouble, and Flame Slash is rough since you have a lot of 4-toughness guys. Electrickery in the SB can also be devastating. Again, Beckon Apparition helps here; save them for Firebolt. I've also actually beaten Tron late game post-SB after he dropped a Fangren and gained back a ton of life; my life total was in the 40s (outside Rolling Thunder range) thanks to huge lifelinkers, and I dominated the board state with more/bigger/flying/lifelinking creatures and a Crimson Acolyte to protect them all.
Still, just because late game isn't dead doesn't mean they don't have the advantage. This matchup may be slightly unfavorable given all the control obstacles for you to overcome.
SB plan- This needs testing; I am probably again too hesitant to take out Orzhov cards and find myself pulling out Squadron Hawks (I need to test, but it's probably correct to take out the Mourning Thrulls or Beckon Apparition instead). Given that other burn will likely be coming in against you and Electrickery/Serrated Arrows are distinct possibilities: -4 Squadron Hawk, -2 Nip Gwyllion, -2 Vault Skirge, +2 Veteran Armorer, +3 Crimson Acolyte, +3 Standard Bearer
All in all, this deck is performing very well for me. I've had no really poor matchups so far. Lifelink & Prismatic Strands make Burn and Nivix Fiend cry many tears of sadness. Going forward, I need to tweak things like my sideboard plans. This is certainly something I'll keep looking into. More testing is needed all around, so feel free to take the deck for a spin yourself (especially on MODO!)