Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher | Illustration by Randy Vargas
Commander precons are exciting products for the “out-of-the-box” experience they provide, and some of them can even be competitive in an average Commander pod. Even if you aren’t interested in the box experience, there are good cards for the format, often format staples, and interesting legendary creatures to build around. Of the many Commander precons released in the last 10 years or so, very few of them are white and black.
Today, we’re taking a look at all the Orzhov () precons WotC has ever released. If you’re a grindy, midrange enthusiast, there might be an interesting offering for you somewhere with these decks. We’ll discuss the commanders, the standout cards, and the strengths and weaknesses of each one.
What Are Orzhov Commander Precons?
Breena, the Demagogue | Illustration by Simon Dominic
Orzhov commander precons are preconstructed EDH decks with the white and black color identity. Precons typically have a main or face commander and one or two sidekicks that can be alternate commanders, which often deviate a bit from the main theme or strategy.
Orzhov is typically a very interactive color pair, having many spot removal spells and sweeper effects, and it can deal with every kind of problematic nonland permanent (black even gets some land destruction). As such, Orzhov decks usually have a very grindy, midrange play style. Themes like creature sacrifice, recursion, and lifegain/life drain are very frequent WB themes in EDH.
#5. Call the Spirits
Call the Spirits was released in Commander 2015 with Daxos the Returned as its main commander.
Deck Themes
Call the Spirits is themed around enchantments and spirits. Daxos the Returned gets experience counters as you cast enchantments, and you can create larger tokens based on the number of experience counters you have. It’s interesting that the power and toughness of these tokens aren’t static; the stats increase over time if you get more experience counters. So you can create tokens, cast some enchantments to buff them, and attack on a later turn. Enchantments with flash also become valuable as potential combat tricks.
Commanders
Daxos the Returned is the best commander for this precon, seeing as the deck is built around enchantments, and it offers some support to the spirits Daxos can create. Karlov of the Ghost Council is a powerful commander, but this deck doesn’t support gaining life in small increments often enough to use its powerful built-in removal ability. Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts offers a good support card, but it’s hard to justify a 7-mana commander without a good enters ability.
Strengths and Weaknesses
This deck does a good job of chaining enchantments and giving Daxos experience counters. Cards like Doomwake Giant offer a strong incentive to keep casting enchantments as you’ll get a powerful sweeper effect, and good constellation cards from the Theros era are also present. As for weaknesses, the deck is pretty old, and newer sets like Theros Beyond Death and Duskmourn: House of Horror could help improve on the enchantments side, adding more oomph.
The interaction is mainly sorceries and enchantments without flash, so adding more instant speed removal like Anguished Unmaking wouldn’t hurt either. In fact, the precon doesn’t have any instants at all. It has an okay mana base for a precon since it’s a slower deck, though you can always trade that Orzhov Guildgate for a better dual.
Notable Cards
The best cards to come out of this precon are the new commanders. Both Daxos the Returned and Karlov of the Ghost Council are playable cards, with Karlov getting 4,000+ lists on EDHREC.
We also have Grasp of Fate, which is a scalable Oblivion Ring card. Thought Vessel is a staple mana rock in decks that draw a bunch of cards. Righteous Confluence isn’t the best confluence by any means, but a solid effect nonetheless, and usually a two-for-one or higher.
As for reprints, notable ones include Fate Unraveler, Open the Vaults, and Black Market, cards that were reprinted for the first time in this precon.
#4. Silverquill Statement
Silverquill Statement is the Commander 2021 Orzhov precon based on Strixhaven and focused on the Silverquill College, with Breena, the Demagogue as its main commander.
Deck Themes
Silverquill Statement is essentially a politics deck. The main theme is to avoid getting attacked (what we call pillow fort) and make sure your opponents attack each other and fight amongst themselves. You have some tools for that, like the goad mechanic, or an aura like Vow of Duty. You also have cards like Cunning Rhetorical to get benefits if you so happen to be attacked. The deck also has a +1/+1 counters subtheme, so you get benefits when creatures with +1/+1 counters on them die. Some group hug elements are also present, like Secret Rendezvous, so players keep you alive if you give them constant benefits.
Commanders
Breena, the Demagogue is the main incentive to get political and make players attack each other. As long as players aren't beating up on you or the lowest life total player, you get to put two +1/+1 counters on one of your guys. Felisa, Fang of Silverquill is a competent alternative commander, focusing mainly on the +1/+1 counter aspect of the deck, and if creatures with +1/+1 counters die, you create 2/1 Inklings as a result. You probably want to play more sacrifice outlets with Felisa, though. Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts is also present here to further discourage them from attacking you.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Breena, the Demagogue naturally grows while players attack each other, seduced by the easy card draw. Killing your commander is always an option, but they’d rather let Breena live. And while you’re bribing people, you’re spreading +1/+1 counters around and activating your synergies. Sometimes Breena gets big enough to swing and kill someone. And sometimes, they’ll want to go after you because you’re too big of a menace, but you defend yourself with a card like Inkshield, and now they’re the ones in danger.
As for weaknesses, the mana base isn’t good out of the box, and your deck isn’t doing its “thing” alone. You’re feeding off other players, and between stax, pillow fort, and +1/+1 counter synergies, the different themes aren’t focused enough.
Notable Cards
Nils, Discipline Enforcer is an interesting group hug card, bolstering everyone’s creatures but making it hard for them to attack you. Inkshield is a Fog effect with a great upside. Stinging Study can be very good with 4+ mana value commanders.
Great reprints include Mikokoro, Center of the Sea, Curse of Disturbance, which is a cool way to signalize which player should be attacked next, and Ghostly Prison, one of the quintessential pillowfort cards.
- 100-card ready-to-play Strixhaven (STX) Commander deck (2 foil, 98 nonfoil cards)
- 1 foil etched Display Commander
- 10 double-sided tokens + life tracker and deck box
- 17 Magic cards make their debut
- Reduced-plastic packaging
#3. Party Time
Party Time is the Baldur’s Gate Commander precon with Nalia de'Arnise at the helm.
Deck Themes
Party Time is built around the party mechanic. Party cares about you having a cleric, a rogue, a warrior, and a wizard in play at the same time, and each of these four you already have adds to your party size. This deck plays a lot of creatures, all of which are either changelings or one of the party types. This party size can then be used to reduce the cost of spells you control, add +1/+1 counters to creatures, and more.
Commanders
Nalia de'Arnise is the face commander for this precon deck, and the card allows us to cast creatures that are rogues, wizards, clerics, or warriors from the top of our deck. If you have a full party, Nalia spreads +1/+1 counters around. An alternate commander pair is Burakos, Party Leader with the background Folk Hero. When this duo is on the battlefield, you’ll draw a bunch of cards because of Burakos’s flexibility, and you get a full party more easily.
As such, I’m not sure if Nalia de'Arnise is the clear best option for this precon, and I think you can go either way. A tiny nod to Burakos is that it’s easier to achieve the full party condition since Burakos always fills the place you’re missing. Nalia is a rogue, so you probably want to balance the deck with fewer rogue cards if it’s your commander.
Strengths and Weaknesses
This deck’s main strength is the party mechanic and the benefits you have with a full party. Almost half of the deck is creatures that count towards your party count (yes, all of them count). Changelings can replace one type that you’re missing, so having good changelings around is also good. Be it with Nalia or Burakos, you’ll have a good incentive for playing creatures.
The biggest weakness happens when you have a bunch of wizards or warriors in play, but not a full party. There are no middle-of-the-road incentives for having half a party, and a full party is easily disrupted via removal or sweepers. As such, it can be wiser to include more changelings and some creature tutors, while removing subpar creature cards. It’s bad when you have a card that’s a huge payoff for having a full party but you only have one creature in play, or the other way around.
Notable Cards
Black Market Connections is a black staple, allowing you to support typal decks with the changelings it provides while giving you a huge amount of resources in exchange for life. Folk Hero is a white typal staple; if your typal deck has white in it, this card delivers on the card draw aspect. Deep Gnome Terramancer is a powerful ramp card in white.
Seasoned Dungeoneer should be an auto-include if your deck has creatures like wizards, clerics, and the like. Grim Hireling should be excellent in rogue decks with saboteur abilities, or in decks that revolve around treasure. Finally, War Room is an excellent card draw engine in decks with two or less colors. In white or red decks, paying 1 life to draw a card is a steal.
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#2. Blood Rites
Blood Rites is the Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander precon with Clavileño, First of the Blessed at the helm.
Deck Themes
Blood Rites is a vampire-typal deck at its heart. The main characteristic is that Clavileño, First of the Blessed turns a dead vampire into a 4/3 flying demon and a card draw as long as you’re attacking. This vampire can die in combat, or through other means like sacrifice. Subthemes for this deck include vampire tokens and sacrifice, as well as lifegain. Sacrifice outlets come in handy when opponents don’t block your vampires.
Commanders
Clavileño, First of the Blessed is the main commander for this precon and the best choice. Getting those 4/3 flying tokens plus a card is too good to ignore. Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher is the second-best alternative, and it leads to a more “aristocrats-based” approach. Elenda, the Dusk Rose and Vona, Butcher of Magan are roleplayers, and you can devise a lifegain deck around these cards.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The best aspect of this deck is that it is very playable and functional right out of the box. Most of the vampires included are cards you want in a typal vampire deck anyway. Even the mana base is very playable.
For weaknesses, the deck tries to do too many different things, from lifegain to reanimation to sacrifice to +1/+1 counters, so our different vampires need to do many tasks. Cards like Cordial Vampire, Bloodghast, and Sanctum Seeker only have the vampire type in common, and you want free sacrifice outlets like Viscera Seer to get the most out of your cards. Attack with Bloodghast, sacrifice, make a 4/3 token, play a land, get it back. This is awesome when it works, but when you have a bunch of average vampires with no real typal incentives, the deck can lag behind.
Notable Cards
The reprint of Exquisite Blood is by far the most notable card in this deck, as a great combo piece involving lifegain. The card is a black staple in EDH. Damn is also an interesting reprint for the deck. For new cards, we have Charismatic Conqueror, a way to tax your opponents by making them tap their cards that just entered or else you make tokens. Master of Dark Rites turns creatures into Dark Ritual. Finally, Elenda's Hierophant is a strong warrior who dies into more minions for you.
- PREY AT THE ALTAR—Spawn Vampire minions and sacrifice them to be reborn as flying Vampire Demons ready to sink their teeth into your opponents
- INTRODUCES 10 COMMANDER CARDS—This deck introduces 10 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering
- COLLECT SPECIAL TREATMENT CARDS—Each deck also comes with a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack containing 2 alt-border cards from the The Lost Caverns of Ixalan set, including 1 Rare or Mythic Rare and at least 1 Traditional Foil card
- EPIC MULTIPLAYER BATTLES—Commander is a multiplayer way to play Magic, an epic, free-for-all battle full of strategic plays and social intrigue
- JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF IXALAN—Explore the cavernous depths beneath Ixalan in a race to the hidden core. Will you uncover treasure and glory, or will your adventure spell certain doom?
#1. Growing Threat
Growing Threat is a very unique Commander precon from the March of the Machine Commander set, with Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos at the front.
Deck Themes
Growing Threat is built around the incubate mechanic from March of the Machine. Incubate creates a double-sided token with X +1/+1 counters on it, which you can later flip into a Phyrexian artifact creature. This merges several subthemes, like having double-sided permanents in play, artifacts, tokens, +1/+1 counters, and Phyrexian typal bonuses. If Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos is in play, you’ll incubate as you cast artifact or Phyrexian spells, growing an army of artifact creatures over time.
Commanders
Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos is the defacto commander for this deck, as all the themes revolve around this card. You get rewarded with incubate tokens whenever you cast an artifact or Phyrexian spell, and all 48 creatures and artifact cards in the precon work with your commander. Moira and Teshar gives this deck more of an artifact reanimation direction you can explore as well, but with a slightly different selection of cards (you don’t need the Phyrexians, for example).
Strengths and Weaknesses
This precon supports Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos incredibly well from the get-go. All 32 creatures and 16 artifacts work with our commander, and even the cards that support planeswalk (if you’re playing with planechase rules) are playable on their own. The removal is what you’d expect from a WB deck, with staples like Despark, Doom Blade, and Swords to Plowshares. With a few Game Changers and some combo cards, this deck can be a solid Bracket 3 contender.
This deck has pretty expensive artifacts that were thrown into the deck to work with Moira and Teshar’s reanimation, and this deck isn’t well equipped to cast expensive cards, so these can be removed in favor of more interaction or to improve the deck’s average mana value.
Notable Cards
Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos is a pretty popular commander if you want to build around Phyrexians. Bitterthorn, Nissa's Animus is currently the most expensive card from this precon, considering how flexible it is as colorless ramp.
Nesting Dovehawk is interesting as a repeatable populate effect, while Filigree Vector is similar, but for proliferate. Interesting reprints include lands like Karn's Bastion and Fetid Heath.
Notable Phyrexian spells include Blight Titan, Phyrexian Triniform, and Massacre Wurm (a card I’ve never noticed was a Phyrexian). Casting any of these and getting a massive incubate token is just huge.
- Growing Threat (White-Black deck)—100-card ready-to-play March of the Machine Commander Deck with 2 Traditional Foil Legendary cards and 98 nonfoil cards
- 10 Planechase cards and 1 planar die to trigger unique abilities and jump across the Multiverse
- 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack—contains 2 special treatment cards from the March of the Machine main set, including 1 Rare or Mythic Rare and at least 1 Traditional Foil card
- Accessories—1 Foil-Etched Display Commander, 10 double-sided tokens, Life Tracker, and deck box
- Deck introduces 10 never-before-seen MTG cards to Commander
Commanding Conclusion
Clavileño, First of the Blessed | Illustration by Matt Stewart
Orzhov () doesn’t have many EDH precons, but the few decks it has certainly deliver. None of these decks is unplayable by any means. The themes are also wildly different and well supported, so between the party mechanic, enchantments, and Phyrexians, you have different and interesting options to choose from. Also, these precons introduced many white and black staples to MTG.
What is your favorite Orzhov precon deck? What should WotC tackle next with Orzhov? Let me know in the comments section below, or let’s discuss it over Draftsim Discord.
Thanks for reading, and stay safe!
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