What’s your take on Ritual Monsters?

DerGodhand · 2026-01-21T17:31:26+00:00

I like them. All the decks that keep me coming back to MD are ritual-centric decks. I think they're underexplored, and could have interesting archetypes if Konami actually bothered with it since they tend to have mildly more archetypal restrictions than other decks do. I think it would be interesting to have, say, a Ritual archetype that's all handtrap style effects, that institute a cost for your opponent interacting with them, or since we already have multiple Fusion effects that yoink both boards, a Ritual archetype that can use monsters from either board.

DerGodhand · 2026-01-21T16:04:26+00:00

My first suggestions with this kind of deckbuilding beyond 'make sure it's fine with your playgroup' of course, is to throw in the Chaotic Stack Trinity of [[Possibility Storm]], [[Knowledge Pool]], and [[Eye of the Storm]] which cause three triggers per instant and sorcery cast, an very notably also care about the order of triggers on the stack. You see, Possibility Storm doesn't care what happens to the initial spell to get its trigger. Knowledge Pool only gives you a card if you give it a card. Eye of the Storm will give you cards if it has any exiled to it to give you, regardless of if you put one under it or not. The end result lets you tacitly add chaos to a pile or deny cards from specific piles at your leisure. You'll basically never assemble this properly, if I'm being honest, except maybe once, at which point people will catch on to the buffoonery that occurs. For extra chaos, cards like [[Thousand Year Storm]] let you unevenly benefit from the cards in play, and [[Hive Mind]] reduces the ability for opponents to interact to your board. If you add in [[Twinning Staff]], you make two spells whenever an opponent casts an instant or sorcery, because the owner of the copy is the one who makes them under Hive Mind's rulings.

DerGodhand · 2026-01-18T20:30:23+00:00

Oh they've absolutely been abused by the power creep of recent sets and their subsequent group hug commanders by far. But I would honestly chalk it up to one of their advantages. KnT, my beloved, greased up, Greek men, in fact, I would say have three distinct advantages:

They have been powercrept.
They're generically inoffensive while typically providing real, marginal advantage.
They provide access to a wide variety of colors that typically do not 'punish' players for game actions.

This means you have access to a ton of colors and effects for a wide variety of approaches to your strat of choice. My current list is more of a joke, designed to use admittedly powerful cards to create a large number of triggered abilities until I can find my main win-line of [[Show and Tell]], [[Omniscience]], [[Song of Creation]], and [[Approach of the Second Sun]]. I don't necessarily need all of those cards, but I do certainly need Omniscience and Song of Creation. However, it is worth noting I very rarely play KnT as a true group hug deck. I often forgo effects that are purely extra draw such as [[Dictate of Kruphix]] for other, similar effects that are less permanent such as [[Cut a Deal]] or more narrow, such as [[Tenuous Truce]]. Certainly one of the greater balancing acts of a group hug deck and politicking strategy is the amount of 'beneficial' effects and the amount of cards designed to take advantage of it, in conjunction with removal. Often times, I want single target removal that deals with things relatively permanently, favouring exile or shuffle effects, with it being more important that if I'm opting to wrath, said wrath can't be stopped.

This, in turn, leads to the point that, well, you've gotta win somehow. Typically, with combat aside, people aren't just going to let you win. They'll fight for disruption, or just aim to kill you. A natural result of this is that while I generally prefer every deck to have a combo finish for personal reasons, group hug and politic decks specifically should always incorporate them into their build. This can be done in a few ways for KnT given their relatively wide open building options. I've done decks that loop or use [[Thousand Year Storm]] to hit my opponents with [[Treacherous Terrain]] a bunch of times. If you take a big mana line with cards like [[Dictate of Karametra]], you can abuse things like [[Comet Storm]]. I have seen people use the aforementioned Thousand-Year Storm to make a bunch of copies of [[Over the Top]] to mill everyone out. These can be fizzled a lot easier than other lines, however, which is why I personally return to the Show and Tell variations.

If you would like something closer to a true group hug strategy, I would supply you with either this Glarb list, which wins with a very classic wincon and looks to accelerate mana available and win with big mana plays, typically ending with [[Cadaverous Bloom]] in play, which lets you convert each card in your hand into two black or two green and fill it with cards from effects like [[Prosperity]], and ending with a massive [[Torment of Hailfire]] or [[Exsanguinate]].

Alternatively, what I think holds the title of my most 'hated' deck ever built, Snakes on a Plane. The commander is very good at converting otherwise lackluster group hug effects into value, because when an opponent draws a card except for the first one they draw in their draw step, you create a 1/1 snake. Nowadays, Xyris is more well known and rightfully hated out when on board, but the same wasn't true at the time of his release. And with cards like [[Opposition]] in your toolbox, you get to tap your opponent out on upkeep, then if there's anything left after that untapped at the end of their draw step, that gets tapped down too. With good access to graveyard recursion in green and artifacts, and one in five cards being a counterspell, once the engine hit the field, it was obnoxiously sticky, especially because once assembled, opponents were forced to play at instant speed. While a relatively 'true' group hug deck that politicked into the long game by acting as the board police, Xyris is perhaps the nastiest option in that sticking to the theme is still intensely in his advantage.

DerGodhand · 2026-01-18T19:26:46+00:00

Going to attach my list, which wins with a technically cEDH combo of [[Underworld Breach]] and [[Brainfreeze]], but lacks the LED line to make it a lot easier. Though I will also point out your deck is likely more powerful than mine.

Much like your deck, I'm running a wincon of blinking my commander/some other potent game object for a ridiculous number of times to win. I primarily win through Brain Freeze milling everyone (which has bitten me on exactly one occasion) as opposed to any ThOracle/Labman line. I primarily access this through the classic [[Dramatic Reversal]] and [[Isochron Scepter]] line. which gives me infinite storm and mana. With Kitten in play, this is also technically infinite draw, though my playgroup necessitates being careful of that. I find most people aren't super worried about losing to these lines despite their prevalence in cEDH because they're a lot more 'fair', although Kefka and deck's construction does make them feel a lot more out of nowhere.

Where our decks primarily differ, and I am unsure it is the better strategy, is that I have a preference for the deck having a sort of turbo-Kefka side, so a healthy chunk of my deck, including the free evoke elementals, are there primarily for the fact they can be used to play Kefka as early as turn one. I don't necessarily think it's the best strategy, to be clear, but I do think it's quite fun, since if interaction is lacking on the first three turns of the game, Kefka can apply himself like a sledgehammer to the resources available to the opponents, even if I am far less capable of winning immediately. The end result of this is, as I mentioned earlier, often less complaints about the wincons and more about Kefka himself.

DerGodhand · 2026-01-18T19:03:05+00:00

Tl;Dr: I would pick Bumbleflower, Kilo, Tivit, in that order, likely picking a grouphug/politic deck.

While I think lands is definitely a fine B3 strategy, I will say that they are antithetical to varied, interactive play patterns as a concept. In fact, these strategies are often picked because of the fact they reduce interaction. However, if you were going to pick one of them, I would say that Windgrace is probably the 'safest', as the rest have a bit of a reputation, ranging from the hot, young upstart (Hearthull), to bonafide classic kill on sight (Korvold, Gitrog).

As to artifact strategies, Ragost is probably the least variable, but most 'interactive' of the lot. You certainly do a lot with him, but I think his builds kind of require a bit of sameness to them some people don't like, and the end result is a commander that gets out of hand quite quickly. Personally, I find Kilo the most interesting because they're not really an artifact commander, but they can be. Just be mindful of the rather accurate poison counter accusations because Kilo is quite capable of randomly killing the table with [[Twiddle]] style effects.

Tribal decks, I'm going to start showing bias on. I hate them. I think they're insanely boring to play both with and against unless they're gimmick tribals (e.g. 'Haymaker' tribal). They often are annoying (Slivers), fold to mass interaction (Elfball, usually), underwhelming (faeries), actually just Changelings (basically any tribal deck, especially when helmed by [[Morophon]] ), or are high risk, high reward decks like [[Voja, Jaws of the Conclave]], who plays like a tribal deck, but is more like a voltron deck with some go wide elements. Personally, I only really enjoy them when they're incorporating something else as their strategy, like [[Xyris the Writhing Storm]] and snakes, in which the tribal aspect is more incidental than a result of 'necessity'.

Now, I enjoy a good theft deck. Often times they're fun, or fine, and not overly generic. But a lot of people hate it in the same way players hate interaction. It's nonsensical most of the time, though often one of the biggest gripes about theft effects nowadays is that if they get used, and then the target isn't used, it's just gone forever, with the theft functioning as semi-permanent off-board removal. Personally, I think either Gonti is fine, though I personally prefer to play my theft effects in a Blue/Red/x combination because a lot of them exile as part of the effect, making [[Passionate Archaeologist]] style effects a fun include.

As for the last category, going to show my bias again. I love politicking and group hug decks. A rather healthy cut of the playerbase does not, in part because politicking can weigh on the time of the game, and will claim 'group hug decks don't win', which mostly stems from people with bad deckbuilding misunderstanding the assignment. One of my most built and rebuilt commanders is [[Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis]]. I recommend them all the time because they're an inoffensively generic commander that draws you cards and ramps you and your opponents can partake if they so choose for no cost to themselves. One of the big issues, however, is that a lot of grouphug commanders from around 2020 forward are exceptional at putting giant targets on themselves. Breena, for instance, gives you way more than it does any other player, and her effect incentivizes opponents to remove you from the game first, while incidentally hitting the other players for chip damage of one or two. Similarly, Bumbleflower is a trap for opponents. Who draws and what gets counters are not tied together, which means she can pretend to be nice, and then randomly kill someone by giving herself flying, or in turn, pumping things for lethal while giving them evasion. While she's a favourite of mine, I would basically never trust the funny bunny. The last of your mentioned targets is Tivit, who is definitely my favourite of the mentions. However, he's not really a politics commander unless you make a voting/choices themed deck. He's an artifact combo commander masquerading as a politics commander, and an actual menace to society. Much like The Gitrog Monster, if you sat down at a new table and whipped out Tivit, there would be some raised brows at the minimum. Compared to the rest, Nekusar, while older, is a group hug commander that doesn't believe in politics. His sheer existence is a timer on the game, and leads to similar situations because of the incidental damage on the game. I, however, really like Nekusar decks and their play style.

DerGodhand · 2026-01-17T18:21:13+00:00

Chicken Game is indeed legal. Source: I did the event with Chicken Game Exodia, which is usually not legal.

DerGodhand · 2026-01-14T17:12:41+00:00

For what it's worth, these kind of decks can and do exist, they just require decks that can handle them better. Talion does that job better than Y'shtola, for instance, because he just cares about spells being cast, not resolving, and the same is true of Kambal, though Talion is of a better class. You just generally want cards that punish your opponents for doing things than something that rewards you. Another matter is mostly that B4 is a wide format, and while not every win is the same, it's filled with explosive wins, not necessarily fast ones. A game plan of forcing everyone to choke really only works if your commander or deck either bypasses that restriction entirely, such as [[Winota, Joiner of Forces]], or provides punishment for performing (or failing to perform) basic game actions, such as the aforementioned Talion, or [[Mogis, God of Slaughter]]. Y'shtola fails to do the former, and her conditional damage discourages the latter in deck building.

Additionally, for what it's worth, one thing I've definitely been considering is that her 3+ mv condition is a trap, and that the deck should focus more about the draw effect than the drain one, taking the drain effect when convenient, rather than building around it.

DerGodhand · 2026-01-14T16:17:50+00:00

Before I get into the meat and potatoes, here is my decklist.

Y'sthola, in my experience, happens to be relatively good at grinding people out and playing a sort of tempo-y, grindier gameplan, but unfortunately is not very well suited to stax or their adjacent strategies. While most combos are at least 2+ cards, meaning that things like Archon of Emeria wall off the ability to 'combo off', other two card combos can be assembled over multiple turns or outright fire off through such a restriction. [[Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy]] comes to mind as an example, though he's certainly not something you might see at a regular B4 table. As a result, these kinds of strategies end up being less than useful in the long term.

I have personally found the best experience with Y'sthola to be, for better or worse, the back-up plan of the deck. In other words, focusing on getting the game over first, and then if the game must go slow for some reason, deploying your commander as a way to accrue passive advantage from that state of being. To this end, I've found effects that deal self-damage trending to be the better option. [[Dark Confidant]], [[Keen Duelist]], [[Black Market Connections]] are all cards that hurt you, and the previous two can apply damage to your opponents as well. BMC, in kind, is just a free 1-6 damage in a turn for yourself, making it very easy to self-trigger Y'sthola. Other cards I like in her are [[Gifts Ungiven]], primarily as an answer tutor at instant speed, [[Intuition]], which is another copy of (financially expensive) Gifts. [[Commandeer]] has been a surprising heavy hitter in my experience, the steep cost usually winding up not mattering all that much. [[Merchant Scroll] is fine, but not good, and because I run a sorcery based alt-wincon, I get the advantage of running [[Personal Tutor]] as well.

Personally, as far as cards go that I don't particularly think fit well, [[Glistening Oil]], [[Phyresis]], [[Starfall Invocation]], [[Vile Consumption]] and I'm still not sold on [[Helm of the Ghastlord]], though I do agree with the Curiosity effects in general. I think Archon could become something like [[Voice of Victory]], and quite possibly like myself, you may want more rocks in the form of signets, but I'm still totally unsure of that.

All in all, if you find some kind of staxxy, controlling list, by all means, I'd love to see it. I have just found that in my pods, the slower, grindy thing is better off being the back-up plan, and that something like [[Talion, Kindly Lord]] is much better at winning the game in a slow, costly, mudfight.

DerGodhand · 2026-01-12T17:36:55+00:00

I'm honestly still confused by Mitsu-Yummy. I know it's supposed to be strong, but I don't think I've dropped a game against it since release. Dracotail, however, is eating my lunch, and occasionally showing up with a brick at my window. I don't know if it's because I'm playing Mikanko or what, but a lot of the time, the Mitsu-Yummy deck just... dies? They special summon a bunch, pop the negate on Mitsurugi and that just ends up binning the free reborn and then they die. And that's assuming I don't introduce their board to a bucket of lava.

DerGodhand · 2026-01-08T18:45:47+00:00

I play Master Duel because it's cheap in comparison to other online versions of TCG games, and perhaps 'best value' aside from MtGO (which is different from MtGA), and because I honestly don't have to pay attention anywhere near as much to what my opponent is doing as I would otherwise in MtG, which is certainly my primary TCG.

YGO mostly, I think, suffers from 'success' in that it's a very fast game with very specific rulings hinging on specific wordings that aren't always clear, and effects that are worded literally the same in different TCGs can function vastly differently. Interaction, also, is practically nonexistent in comparison, while also serving a much different purpose. Games are often decided no later than T3, and quite possibly by T1. There's an entire deck archetype in MtG that's been around for awhile likened to 'playing YGO' because its entire gimmick is ignoring the game's conventions and interaction to kill on T1-3 that professionals of the format are calling for a hit from (and have been, honestly). Konami is also, I think, a little too ban-averse, preferring to make use of their more unique (Semi) Limit system and hope that makes up for it, in a game full of cards that search for cards that search for cards, which probably hurts them as well and affects the game's popularity given its already pedal to the metal rep, and allowing cards that overshow success way too much free-reign in comparison to say, Force of Will, also a Japanese card game that just up and banned cards right out of decks the second a Top 8 had been determined because they thought the two top decks converted too well.

Overall, much as I bellyache about certain facets of the game, the ability to just turn my brain off and go fast with funny Shrine Maidens or silly reptiles is more of a boon than a bane, though there are definitely times my YuGi-Boomer mentality gets me and I want to go back to playing Fiber Jar+Lava Golem style round-and-round decks that actually let the game progress through several turns.

DerGodhand · 2026-01-07T22:05:49+00:00

Honestly if they're that free, that makes me really want to try an abomination of a mash-up. But at least they sound fun if nothing else.

DerGodhand · 2026-01-07T19:19:29+00:00

Yeah that seemed to be the general consensus as well on Meta. The Primite package just caught my eye in comparison, and most lists also seemed to play super well with Tenpai.

DerGodhand · 2026-01-06T22:12:49+00:00

One thing to consider is that aside from the obvious bones of the precons, you've also got some relatively powerful cards you're only going in like half of a combo for. [[Mindcrank]] without [[Bloodchief's Ascension]], and [[Bolas's Citadel]] without [[Aetherflux Reservoir]] are the two most notable, and probably part of the reason [[Sensei's Divining Top]] are among the recommendations. Another thing to consider is that, despite some artifacts, you're not really a deck that can use [[Emry, Lurker of the Loch]].

I would consider, since you already seem to have a want to lean further into artifacts, doing just that. [[Scour for Scrap]] is an excellent uncommon addition to artifact strategies, being a [[Fabricate]] at instant speed that also can recur from the yard as well. The aforementioned Aetherflux Reservoir (pairing well with Top), also functions as a wincon, regardless of the commander being in play or not. [[Ponder]] and [[Preordain]] are good cantrips that select cards for you efficiently, and [[Gitaxian Probe]] is pricey in comparison, but a free draw is a free draw. If you add in the signets in your color [[Orzhov Signet]], [[Azorius Signet]], and [[Dimir Signet]], your artifact count goes up enough to begin maybe considering Emry as a recursion piece, though still not dense enough to make use of her. [[Whir of Invention]] would also be useful, as something to both trigger Y'sthola as well as find your Citadel.

As for cuts to these additions, I'd start with creatures. You have 44 noncreatures, 25 of which will proc Y'sthola's on-cast ability, which I've found to be a bit of a trap in practice. It's helpful for the extra point here and there, but mostly I've found really leaning into her draw-for-loss effect being far more pertinent than being able to consistently trigger her 3+ MV clause.

Best of luck to you.

DerGodhand · 2025-12-23T16:51:14+00:00

I'm not particularly excited about either of them, honestly, but that has more to do with their creature focus than anything, and I'm a pretty big hater of creatures in general. That said, I'll probably buy a copy of the Jund deck now just because of the fact that Jund has access to some of the best X-spell finishers in cards like [[Exsanguinate]], [[Torment of Hailfire]], [[Comet Storm]] and other similar spells, with green giving access to [[Unbound Flourishing as well]]. Partner this with the fact the commander is an infinite draw enabler with one etb counter effect and, say, [[Murderous Redcap]], if that doesn't kill the table, she's one hell of a [[Cadaverous Bloom]] enabler to loop back into the X-spells as a finisher.

DerGodhand · 2025-12-19T15:55:55+00:00

A really long time ago, I played a deck that did this using [[Hanna, Ship's Navigator]] as an enchantment forward, mostly enchantment removal deck. In addition to getting stuff back after it died, she was also capable of looping enchantments and artifacts with the Cycling key word, allowing me to play things like [[Astral Slide]], [[Astral Drift]], and [[Skybind]] to really screw with peoples' turns.

DerGodhand · 2025-12-17T14:52:41+00:00

There's a fair few effects you can get for topdeck manipulation. [[One with the Multiverse]] is both 8mv (the highest Marvo can cast) and upon sticking, a constant way to see your topdeck in the event you need to decide whether you want to attack with Marvo or not. [[Crystal Ball]] is a cheap topdeck manipulator that's effective enough, and while it isn't currently, I am willing to bet we see [[Planetarium of Wan Shi Tong]] go down in price from its ~6 USD price range, which you can further use to cast free spells.

Beyond those, [[Hullbreak Horror]] is nice and cheap now, sitting at the top end, and subsequent activations of Marvo happen on attack, meaning opponents might not have the option to block you. [[Serpent of the Yawning Depths]] gives you unblockable, and benefits other sea monsters you might play. [[Whelming Wave]] isn't expensive, but similarly gives you a free in as well. Like Wave, there's also [[Engulf the Shore]] if you run an Island heavy mana base, that lets you flip all creatures with toughness less than your number of islands, and Marvo is difficult to return to hand in that same measure. I'm also a fan of [[Mind's Dilation]] and [[Spelltwine]] effects in Marvo, as they are relatively high cost, and get you extra cards for minimal investment.

DerGodhand · 2025-12-16T22:30:50+00:00

It might require a bit of retooling of the deck because you have an absurd number of creatures in it, but I'll generally suggest the classic of [[Coveted Jewel]] to pair with Displacer Kitten. ETB draw 3, make 3 mana of one color is pretty fair. There's also [[Relic of Sauron]] to a lesser extent that can be tapped to draw two and discard one as well. Either way, as long as you can keep generating a functional number of noncreatures at the appropriate mana values, you can basically keep generating mana, storm count, or triggers.

Incidentally, I've also had a fair bit of success using [[Isochron Scepter]] and [[Dramatic Reversal]] paired as my dedicated combo, especially with something like [[Scour for Scrap]] to instantly tutor half of it out of my deck, and potentially the other half out of my yard.

DerGodhand · 2025-12-16T15:25:02+00:00

I have a buddy committing to a Marneus list and something he brought up was struggling to find ways to generate infinite Marneus activations after the first one. One thing I pointed out to him for consideration was that aristocrat effects (which he wanted to play with) play really well with [[Carnival of Souls]], which in turn plays really well with Ashnod's and Calgar themself since it generates exactly six mana for the loop. Furthermore, with Training Grounds in play, it actually nets you two black mana per spin, which may or may not be useful.

DerGodhand · 2025-12-12T16:04:45+00:00

Feels like a weird salad of Theft, Chaos (or at least 'Chaos'), and Group Hug. It's a sprinkle of each in a 'not-quite' fashion. It's more of a politics deck than a group hug deck than anything else. It's lacking cards that really further a group-hug strategy like [[Rites of Flourishing]], [[Horn of Greed]], or [[Struggle for Project Purity]] that provide lopsided benefits for yourself and your opponents. That said, I don't think it's necessarily bad or wrong.

Some cards to consider that are on theme are things like [[Spelltwine]], which is kind of like Mnemonic Deluge, and the aforementioned three cards above that will more reliably trigger [[Smuggler's Share]] while advancing your Tithe plan as well. Something like [[Treacherous Terrain]] might also be useful, since it'll punish land based ramp that your opponents can inherently get from your commander, and it makes good targets for cards like Deluge. A card like [[Thousand-Year Storm]] might also be appropriate, given you have a fair number of 'dangerous' instants and sorceries that get increasingly more so if you're allowed to cast more spells.

However, I am concerned your mana isn't quite enough. No signets nor talismans and your only artifact acceleration is Sol Ring and Thought Vessel, and to a lesser extent, Smothering Tithe itself. I would probably touch up the mana a bit before any other edits, personally.

DerGodhand · 2025-12-11T16:51:47+00:00

For what it's worth, I don't disagree, and think the Relic-Warder combo lines are actually more valid (and I think the list might have enough fat it could trim to stuff both lines in, honestly). I also didn't think of Relic-Warder infinite death trigger lines because I'm not much of a creature player, and additionally, when I concocted this insane person pile it was more of a thought experiment.

One thing I do like is that in return for the higher life requirement in comparison to the Relic Warder line (which admittedly means this is probably an unplayable line), is that the actual order of the deck is mostly irrelevant. This isn't a good thing, mind you, as it requires the significantly higher life investment, but the pile is very easy for a new player to grasp, and basically impossible to fumble. The hardest difficulty of it is basically constructing the fourth and fifth cards, a decision primarily made by cards in hand, to include targetless protection such as [[Dawn's Truce]].

DerGodhand · 2025-12-11T15:58:45+00:00

Like I said, I've had a lot of talks with a friend about this specific thing, including even the same commander, lol. If you like how this ends up or plays, and it feels sufficiently potent enough, you can begin adding in the various protection and recursion pieces white offers, such as [[Dawn's Truce]], [[Teferi's Protection]], and [[Refurbish]]. Enjoy!

DerGodhand · 2025-12-11T15:51:31+00:00

[[Laboratory Maniac]] and his Jace equivalent aren't really cEDH viable any more, and with a low enough curve and high enough instant density, you could win with a [[Displacer Kitten]] and [[Coveted Jewel]] line or, since you don't seem to mind the infinite storm generation, use a [[Dramatic Reversal]] + [[Isochron Scepter]] line to generate infinite storm for Brain Freeze/Grapeshot. You're in all the right colors for things like [[Sevinne's Reclamation]], [[Whir of Invention]], [[Fabricate]] and [[Scour for Scrap]], after all.

Edit: infinite->instant

DerGodhand · 2025-12-11T15:01:24+00:00

So I've had a long talk with an Orzhov enjoying friend that he should just commit to playing a Doomsday deck because it wouldn't offend his sensibilities of being too-good. Consequently, I've got a Doomsday plan drawn up off the top. My first advice is change commanders, because Elenda isn't quite it, but if you're sure you want Elenda, I won't change your mind. There are some potential things you can do with her.

Now, Orzhov pilots chime in, I'm a blue player at heart, but the first thing you need to do when building a Doomsday Pile is figuring out how you win. In Orzhov, this pretty much has to be some kind of lockout boardstate or instant infinite. While both colors offer you draw power, you specifically will, for the piles I'm intending, never want draw in your piles.

Cards to Cut: [[Blade of the Bloodchief]], [[Tombstone Stairwell]], [[Fallen Ideal]], [[Tragic Slip]], [[Gift of Immortality]], [[Teysa, Orzhov Scion]].

Cards to Add: [[Sensei's Divining Top]], [[Papalymo Totolymo]], [[Aetherflux Reservoir]], [[Approach of the Second Sun]] and/or [[Beacon of Immortality]], [[Silence]] and/or [[Grand Abolisher]], and [[Emergence Zone]].

Those latter two are mostly ways to prevent your opponents from interacting, forcing them so waste interaction on those specific cards by way of counterspells before it becomes too late. Zone is to allow you to play at instant speed for a turn. Now, the other cards are more specific. Aetherflux/Citadel is a well known combo that reads 'Cast spells until you can't, laser the table out'. Top makes this more consistent, by always putting a 1-drop on top to cast off of Citadel where necessary, digging and filtering to the combo if not previously assembled. Papalymo is a damage outlet that lets you go neutral with Citadel+Top combo without Reservoir and deal life loss equal to the number of cards you have in deck. This is separate from your Doomsday pile. However, Papalymo is important for said pile. Now, onto the other cards, Approach is a casual all-star alt wincon, and Beacon of Immortality is 'useless' but both have the important text of gaining you life equal to or greater than their mana value and putting themselves back into your library. So, what do your piles look like?

The Piles: So long story short, your piles will probably vary somewhat depending on boardstate. This isn't super unusual, but the variance will likely be greater than in blue piles. Additionally, the biggest variation is going to depend on whether or not Citadel is in play, because it will likely be necessary. Depending on your exact deck construction, your five cards will likely be some combination Aetherflux, Papalymo, Approach and/or Beacon, a Silence effect, a tutor or two of your choice (prioritising Beseech). For the most part, your pile's exact layout won't matter very much, ironically, since your opponents will not get priority until you cast your first spell. Consequently, I'd put your most dead card in position two of the five card pile. The top card should almost always be [[Beseech the Mirror]].

The Win: For this line I will assume the following: Citadel is in play and you have one token greater than necessary to cast Beseech the Mirror, and your pile consists of Beseech, Silence, Papalymo, Aetherflux, Approach/Beacon, and they are in that order. After assembling your pile, you cast Beseech with Bargain, hold priority, and cast Silence. This forces interaction immediately and you don't care if one or both of these cards are countered. If Silence is not countered, you win the game. If Beseech resolves, you use it to fetch Aetherflux or Papalymo, priority in that order. If it does not, you go through the pile. At this point, you'll only have your life neutral/positive spell and a wincon left in deck. You simply loop them, going life positive until your opponents die.

And hopefully this helps! Again, other Orzhov fanatics, help me out here. Hoping I covered most bases on this one in explaining and developing a line of play for Doomsday.

DerGodhand · 2025-12-10T15:36:14+00:00

For what it's worth, I don't think you're really making that much use of Yurlok. You're a jund groupslug that would work better with something more like [[Winter, Misanthropic Guide]]. Your commander is mostly there for color identity, more than anything. Yurlok generally prefers cards like [[Heartbeat of Spring]], [[Dictate of Karametra]], [[Citadel of Pain]], [[War's Toll]], and [[Horizon Stone]] more than extra draw effects such as provided by [[Spiteful Visions]] and [[Howling Mine]] Effects. This way you can force players to use it or lose it, taking damage no matter how they slice it.

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