The 34 Best Orzhov Commanders Ranked

Last updated on March 14, 2024

Teysa Karlov | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

There are plenty of colors and color combinations to choose from in Magic, and it can be hard to pick just one. It’s important to choose a combo that fulfills your desires in the Commander format.

Are you a control player, or do you like being an aggressor? How do you want to win, through combos or with combat damage? Each color combo has a different answer to that question.

Today I present you with Orzhov (). I’ll go over why you should choose to play with an Orzhov commander, rank the best ones, and even provide a sample decklist with one of the guild's top commanders.

Let’s get into it!

Why Go with an Orzhov Commander?

Athreos, God of Passage | Illustration by Ryan Barger

Of the color combos in Magic, Orzhov specifically is good at hitting multiple enemies at once. Orzhov can support sacrifice effects, draining life, and even making huge armies of creatures to win through combat damage through one of its spectacular commanders. It also offers great support for lifegain and aristocrat playstyles.

There are of course other strategies running around, like tokens or clerics, but creatures dying and your life total going up are staple characteristics of Orzhov.

What’s not to like about that?

#34. Barrowin of Clan Undurr

Venturing into the dungeon is a mechanic introduced in Forgotten Realms that only has one playable commander: Barrowin of Clan Undurr. Venturing is technically worse than drawing a card so it’s best to venture many times per turn to generate enough value to stay alive and kill your opponents. That means that nearly your entire deck will be related to actively venturing into the dungeon.

But aside from just including cards that venture into the dungeon, you want to make use of Barrowin of Clan Undurr’s second ability to reanimate creatures with mana value three or less. There are a lot of great inclusions that can be targets for this, including Cloister Gargoyle, Plaguecrafter, Burnished Hart, and Clattering Skeletons.

#33. Edgar, Charmed Groom

Next is Edgar, Charmed Groom, a vampire tribal commander that has the ability to turn into an enchantment that generates more Vampire tokens. Vampires are typically a Rakdos- () or Mardu- () based tribe, which is why this Edgar is so low on the rankings today. There just aren’t as many powerful vampires since you don’t have access to red.

That said, there are still a lot of great ones in black to fill up the creature base. You can take advantage of white’s protection and removal to make up for lost cards.

An aristocrat subtheme is great here since Edgar, Charmed Groom’s flipside, Edgar Markov's Coffin, supplies plenty of tokens to continuously sacrifice. The various Sorin planeswalkers like Sorin, Lord of Innistrad or Sorin the Mirthless also make tokens.

My main suggestion if you’re going to run Edgar vampires in Orzhov is to include plenty of token-supporting cards since that’s where a significant portion of your vampire creatures actually come from. You want to look at Rally the Ranks, Cathars' Crusade, and Wedding Announcement.

#32. Frodo, Sauron's Bane

What strikes me about Frodo, Sauron's Bane is that the abilities don't cost very much. The halfling can threaten to end games fairly early with plenty of Ring-tempting options in black and white, and nearly all of them cost four or less. With the built-in capability for skulk and a full temptation of the Ring, Frodo becomes a sneaky win condition whether opponents have infinite life, a million big blockers, and they don't need to play Fires of Mount Doom (but massive flavor points if they do).

#31. Obzedat, Ghost Council

Obzedat, Ghost Council is an all-time classic Orzhov commander that’s unfortunately fallen behind in recent years due to, well, better cards being printed. Obzedat’s whole kit revolves around draining enemies for life, so that’s what its deck also focuses on. Lifegain is a heavily supported theme in both white and black which makes it an excellent choice for basically any Orzhov list.

In terms of actually gaining life you have plenty of options. Soul Warden and cards like it are great at consistently gaining life each turn, especially when paired with something like Authority of the Consuls.

Life is a resource meant to be used so make sure to include payoff cards in the form of enchantments like Phyrexian Arena or Angelic Accord. And you don’t want to forget to damage your opponents in the process, which is why Exquisite Blood, Revenge of Ravens, and Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose are all excellent.

#30. General Kudro of Drannith

Next on the list is General Kudro of Drannith, an excellent human tribal commander in the Orzhov colors. Humans aren’t usually the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Orzhov. That’s usually clerics, vampires, or lifegain. But don’t let that fool you!

“Human” is a creature subtype that’s liberally given to creatures of various types including wizards, clerics, and more. This means that plenty of generally great creatures are humans in addition to being other things. Pair this with plenty of blanket tribe-supporting cards like Vanquisher's Banner or Herald's Horn and you’ve got yourself a superb tribal deck with just about anything you put in it. Assuming it’s, you know, a human.

#29. Kambal, Consul of Allocation

Kambal, Consul of Allocation is up next. Kambal is a pretty simply commander that drains two life from an opponent whenever they cast a noncreature spell. This is a great option for lifegain decks to help actually deal damage for once, as well as offer consistent lifegain triggers on your opponent's turns.

The biggest weakness I’ve experienced when building a lifegain deck is being a sitting duck when you’re not gaining life. This happens most often on your opponents' turns.

Cards that consistently gain you life in addition to your commander are a must-have when it comes to deckbuilding. These are most easily found in enchantments like Ashes of the Abhorrent or Polluted Bonds, so look there first when putting your list together.

#28. Thalisse, Reverent Medium

Thalisse, Reverent Medium is another powerful token commander in Orzhov. Tokens, especially in white and black, are usually very small and come in large numbers. These work great with Thalisse, who effectively doubles the number of tokens you make by giving you an equal number at each end step.

This helps with the biggest blow to token decks: board wipes. Since these tokens come at the end of each turn they can be generated after your opponents have used their wipes, refilling your board.

Since tokens come in numbers and are quick to die and be replaced it’s best to focus on board-wide buff effects rather than auras or artifacts to create bigger threats. That’s where cards like Eldrazi Monument come in. You want passive effects, not things that die when your creatures die.

#27. Burakos, Party Leader // Folk Hero

The combination of Burakos, Party Leader and Folk Hero creates the best paring for a party-themed deck. Burakos helps flesh out your party while generating a ton of mana. You get to put all that mana to use with Folk Hero; since you’re building your deck around the party types, every creature you cast cantrips with Burakos in play for a lethal combination of card draw and ramp.

There are some powerful party synergies to fill the deck with. Nalia de'Arnise gives you a mechanically appropriate Future Sight, Squad Commander gives your team a big boost, and Stick Together proves why having a collection of seasoned adventurers is vital. A surprising number of classic creatures have relevant types, like Mother of Runes, Selfless Spirit, Aven Mindcensor, and Changeling Outcast, which makes it easy to have a party full of stellar creatures.

#26. Elenda, the Dusk Rose

Elenda, the Dusk Rose is where things start to get interesting. Elenda can support two strategies very well: vampires or aristocrats. Since vampires aren’t as supported in Orzhov because of the lack of red aristocrats is my main suggestion. Elenda’s tokens work as great cannon fodder for sacrifice outlets, and its first ability extracts more value whenever any other creature dies.

Aristocrats is a strategy that’s success depends mostly on how many sacrifice triggers you can get per turn, and what you get out of each sacrifice. Elenda, the Dusk Rose helps in both regards which makes it an excellent choice.

#25. Greasefang, Okiba Boss

The flavor text asks which is nastier, Greasefang, Okiba Boss or the bike. If you've played or lost to Greasefang you'd know the rat pilot is not the deadly side, it's the vehicle she brings out. Yes, you still need to crew the hasty vehicle, but recycling vehicles is a powerful thing in Magic, and this boss' influence on the Pioneer and Explorer formats is evidence enough.

#24. Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos

The phyrexian, Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos puts down some scary big incubation tokens. Your mana continually contributes power to your table whether you sink it into little mana rocks or chunky guys like Soul of New Phyrexia, Wurmcoil Engine, and the ever-useful Solemn Simulacrum. Crack those eggs and start beating because the end-step check for proliferate is just icing on the cake when your opponents think they've dealt with your power. (Ever played against a modular deck?)

#23. Moira and Teshar

Moira and Teshar gives you another commander that pulls permanents from the graveyard, albeit temporarily unless you get tricky. This card’s replacement effect sends the returned card to exile if it goes to any other zone but doesn’t stop it from going to exile. This rule lets you use flicker effects like Teleportation Circle and Conjurer's Closest to exile whatever you reanimated, then bring it back into play as a new instance of that permanent that’s no longer affected by Moira and Teshar.

You’ll want to look towards many of the same reanimation targets that were touched on with Neyam, like Archon of Cruelty and Portal to Phyrexia. This deck differentiates itself by needing historic cards, not ways to sneak its commander in. Free spells like Mishra's Bauble and Lotus Petal let you bring back cards the turn you tap out of your commander. Cheap legendary creatures, like Skrelv, Defector Mite and Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff are also great for this.

#22. Athreos, Shroud-Veiled

Athreos, Shroud-Veiled is otherwise known as the worse Athreos. This version of the original Theros block god revolves around putting “coin counters” on creatures that allow them to return to the battlefield instead of going to the graveyard or exile. This is pretty powerful when you think about it, except for the fact that it’s limited to once per turn on your end step.

Athreos, Shroud-Veiled isn’t exactly the aristocrat-supporting commander it otherwise is since you’re limited to one coin per turn. It’s better off as a lifegain or reanimator commander as a way to cheat the death of your most powerful creatures.

Overall, I have to say that I’m pretty disappointed in this iteration of Athreos. It just seems weaker than what a legendary god should be doing.

#21. Eriette of the Charmed Apple

Eriette of the Charmed Apple turns each aura in your hand into a Pacifism. Yes against controlling decks, bounce or flicker decks, this doesn't do a whole lot, so you'll still need an alternative to enchantment-based removal. Wilds of Eldraine brought us ways to create role tokens which help somewhat, however, there are not many great cards that put roles on your opponent's creatures.

This brings us to the real power of being able to create many auras with Twisted Sewer-Witch and Spellbook Vendor. Be sure to build a healthy amount of card draw from white or black sources to keep your drain running smoothly and counteract the inherent card disadvantage when removal gets your permanents and auras.

#20. Lurrus of the Dream-Den

Lurrus of the Dream-Den makes for a restrictive companion but an intriguing commander. You’ll want to play as many cheap permanents as possible to utilize its ability, but losing the restriction opens some interesting paths. The first cards to look towards are Lotus Petal, Mishra's Bauble, and Urza's Bauble as spells Lurrus can play the turn you comes into play, so you’ll get value even if your opponents immediately shoot it.

Cards that sacrifice themselves to destroy something offer great utility here. Creatures like Bounty Agent and Westfold Rider give you repeatable board control. But what can you leverage without the companion restriction? Combos! One strong one uses Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Phyrexian Altar, and Kaya's Ghostform to sacrifice and recur Lurrus infinitely for infinite death, ETB, and cast triggers. This combo becomes a win with an effect like Blood Artist or Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim.

#19. Daxos the Returned

Daxos the Returned gives Orzhov an enchantress commander with a fine mask. This deck wants to build up a bunch of experience by casting a flurry of enchantments to grow a token army. The first thing to look towards isn’t even enchantments but proliferate effects. Cards like Grateful Apparition, Karn's Bastion, and Vraska, Betrayal's Sting turn a single experience counter into a dozen.

Of course, you can’t neglect enchantments. Orzhov has excellent options. Authority of the Consuls and Blind Obedience do a great job of stopping your opponents from blocking your massive spirits. You can use Ghostly Prison and Sphere of Safety to stop them from attacking you back. Since your Spirit tokens are enchantments, constellation effects, like Doomwake Giant and Thoughtrender Lamia, tie everything together nicely.

#18. Commissar Severina Raine

Commissar Severina Raine wants one thing: to attack! Also, to sacrifice a few creatures since it’s Orzhov, but mostly to attack. The Commissar lends itself well to a go-wide tokens strategy, utilizing cards like Secure the Wastes, Call the Coppercoats, and Deploy to the Front to amass a large board of tokens to drain as much life from your opponents as possible every combat phase.

Since you’re playing with tokens, you’ll want cards like Mondrak, Glory Dominus, and Anointed Procession to double your token production alongside effects like Cathars' Crusade and Intangible Virtue to pump them. A few cards like Zulaport Cutthroat and Corpse Knight help your creatures deal damage when they die or come into play to get those last points of damage through.

#17. Shadrix Silverquill

Shadrix Silverquill is a commander I’ve gone back and forth on a lot. Silverquill’s ability demands you give one of the effects to another player, which means somebody is getting something beneficial every time you do. But the third option that puts a +1/+1 counter on every creature is much more potent than the one that just generates a 2/1.

Buffing an entire array of tokens in exchange for somebody you might not even attack getting a 2/1 is a great deal when you think about it. This means you’re heavy on the token strategy since you want to use that +1/+1 counter buff whenever possible.

When you don’t have enough creatures to warrant buffing, you still have an excellent secondary option to draw a card for one life. Cards are a great exchange for life, especially since you start at 40 and there’s nothing better than drawing more cards.

#16. Verrak, Warped Sengir

Verrak, Warped Sengir is a unique commander that wants you to pay life, and lots of it, to double up your activated abilities. One of the strongest uses of this is doubling the activation of your fetch lands like Prismatic Vista and Marsh Flats for ramp in Orzhov, but black has long asked its mages to pay like for value.

One common trade is life for cards. You can use Greed, Vilis, Broker of Blood, and Erebos, God of the Dead to tear through your deck. Staff of Compleation draws you cards and has plenty of other effects. While you’re paying life, you can build up Font of Agonies for great board control. Of course, you’ll need ways to recoup your painful investments. Cards like Soul Warden and Soul's Attendant provide a steady stream of life, but you can have some impressive turns with something like Children of Korlis to pay all your life twice.

#15. Ratadrabik of Urborg

Ratadrabik of Urborg wants you to sacrifice all your legendary creatures for non-legendary token copies. You can immediately capitalize on this with legends that sacrifice themselves, like Boromir, Warden of the Tower or Sidisi, Undead Vizier. Two enablers for this commander are Blade of Selves and Legion Loyalty; giving your legends myriad creates two copies of them each combat that dies and becomes two non-legendary tokens.

You want legendary creatures with powerful ETB or death triggers. Junji, the Midnight Sky, Ao, the Dawn Sky, and Gonti, Lord of Luxury are some excellent options. You can even use Teysa Karlov and Drivnod, Carnage Dominus to double Ratadrabik’s triggers. Gandalf the White doubles every trigger we’ve looked at for an incredible Panharmonicon effect.

#14. Karlov of the Ghost Council

Karlov of the Ghost Council is next to make an appearance on the list and is a commander whose sole purpose is to be a lifegain outlet. Lifegain decks often struggle to find enough ways to use their life as a resource, and Karlov lets you effectively do so without actually losing the life.

Karlov gains two counters whenever you gain life, so you want to maximize the number of times you gain life, not how much life you gain.You can do this through cards that gain you life whenever common things happen, like Blood Artist, Drana's Emissary, and cards with extort.

#13. Drana and Linvala

The legendary duo of Drana and Linvala simply changes the way your game will be played. Just look at all the cards with a colon (:) in the text box, a pinger, stray mana dork, looter, or regenerating troll from any one opponent now gives you the activated ability and shuts it off for everyone else. This reminds me of the Born of the Gods archetype cycle which makes premium abilities like hexproof completely one-sided, and with Drana and Linvala, you've got power over the table's activated abilities in your command zone.

The more real consideration is how much of a target you put on yourself before you cast Drana and Linvala because stax effects rarely steal your opponent's ability to play. It might be worth striking an alliance with the player that doesn't need activated abilities.

#12. Liesa, Forgotten Archangel

Next is the newer (albeit weaker) version of Liesa, Liesa, Forgotten Archangel. This angel commander’s kit revolves around bringing your nontoken creatures that die back to life while simultaneously exiling the creature your opponents control. This is a great ability that not only supports your main strategy of aristocrats by bringing those sacrificed back to life, it also shuts down any graveyard strategies across the table.

When it comes to aristocrats it’s best to have a strong base of sacrifice outlets to make sure you have plenty of opportunities to generate sacrifice triggers. On top of that, actually having multiple sacrifice triggers each time a creature dies is your main wincon. Sacrificing one creature won’t do much, but it starts to add up and out-value your opponents if you have plenty of benefits through cards like Dictate of Erebos or Desecrated Tomb.

#11. Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim

Blood Artist is one of the strongest sacrifice cards ever printed. Similarly, Soul's Attendant and Soul Warden are among the most infamous life-gain cards. What if they were both on one card? That would be Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim. Having Blood Artist in the command zone is an incredible start to a powerful sacrifice deck.

Orzhov is great at generating infinite death triggers. We looked at one such combo using Lurrus of the Dream-Den. You can achieve a similar effect with a free sacrifice outlet, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, and a persist creature like Putrid Goblin. The element many of these loops lack a way to use the loop. They’ll often look for another piece like Blood Artist to close the game. Elas makes this whole game plan more constant since you’ll always have access to the crucial combo piece that ends the game.

#10. Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher

Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher is a great counter to Mayhem Devil and aristocrat strategies. Of course, with repeated attack triggers, you could also say Carmen is an excellent aristocrat commander.
It cannot be understated how powerful edict effects are in multiplayer games, and if you use any vampire or soldier lords, Carmen will be resurrecting great creatures quite often. The lack of finality counters or an exile clause makes this card a beauty.

#9. Daxos the Returned

I’m placing Daxos the Returned in this rank because, while it’s one of the best general enchantment-supporting commanders out there, it still doesn’t bring much to the table other than some extra creature tokens. Don’t get me wrong, the creatures Daxos makes are powerful, but they’re not what Orzhov needs.

Orzhov already has great creatures in the enchantment theme. It has Heliod, God of the Sun, Sun Titan, Erebos, God of the Dead, and Ajani's Chosen to name just a few.

That said, Daxos the Returned is still a commander that I’d consider strong. Enchantments are a strong strategy overall and having more creature tokens available is still a good ability.

#8. Felisa, Fang of Silverquill

Next up is Felisa, Fang of Silverquill, a commander that loves anything to do with counters. There are many different types of counters in Magic, but +1/+1 counters are by far the most supported and powerful ones we have access to. That’s why they’ll be the focus of just about any deck with Felisa in the command zone.

White has excellent synergy with +1/+1 counters with a lot of different cards to support the strategy. Cards like Sunscorch Regent, Yahenni, Undying Partisan, and Breena, the Demagogue all supply you with more counters while your commander Hagra Constrictor, and cards like them actually do things with them.

The only downside to playing a counters-based deck is that it’s especially susceptible to board wipes. The better your deck is at refilling or extracting value from dying creatures the better off it’ll be in the long run.

#7. Breena, the Demagogue

Breena, the Demagogue is most notably an excellent pillow fort commander. “Pillow Fort” is a strategy that revolves around protecting yourself by not only disincentivizing attacking you but also incentivizing attacking your opponents.

Enchantments are without a doubt the most important card type in this deck. There are two main kinds you want.

First are enchantments that benefit you directly, either through card or mana advantages or by limiting how many creatures can attack you. Smothering Tithe and Sphere of Safety are great examples of this. Second are enchantments that benefit you by harming other players, mostly by causing them distress. Blind Obedience, Court of Ambition, and Vow of Duty all work here.

#6. Tymna the Weaver

Yes, you read that right. Just Tymna the Weaver is in this high rank. Tymna is one of the most powerful commanders, period. You can of course play any partner that’s black or white with it, but Tymna alone is one of the strongest Orzhov commanders available to you.

Tymna is great in just about any EDH deck with a generic strategy that Orzhov supports, including aristocrats and lifegain. Its whole utility comes from early-game card advantage which makes it an attractive pick for the more competitive decks that seek to combo off early but desperately need to find pieces or tutors to close out games.

Again, feel free to tag any other in-color partner commander with Tymna the Weaver. Ravos, Soultender is a great option if you’re playing any creature-based strategy like aristocrats or lifegain.

#5. Orah, Skyclave Hierophant

Orah, Skyclave Hierophant is at the top of its class when it comes to cleric tribal. Clerics have gotten a lot of love in recent years, which means they’re ahead of the curve in terms of power creep. Not only are they well supported in white but they have a lot of playable cards in black too. Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose and Priest of Forgotten Gods fit in just as well as Mother of Runes or Righteous Valkyrie.

My main suggestion if you’re going to build a cleric tribal deck with Orah, Skyclave Hierophant is to include plenty of payoff and game-ending cards. Clerics are notoriously weak creatures, often only having one or two power. These won’t win you the game through combat damage, so make sure you have an Aetherflux Reservoir or Angel of Destiny to close out games.

#4. Killian, Ink Duelist

Next up on today’s list is Killian, Ink Duelist, an Orzhov human warlock from Strixhaven that loves auras. When I think of auras my mind usually goes to Selesnya () or Esper (), not necessarily Orzhov. That’s why I was pretty surprised to see how much the color combo could support the strategy, and that’s as good as it is.

Aura’s strength comes from being able to protect the creature carrying all the enchantments since losing it means all those enchantments go to the graveyard. White and black are specifically good at not letting that happen, which means you’re still safe not playing blue or green when it comes to creature longevity. Cards like Blessing of Leeches, Pentarch Ward, and Spectra Ward all work as layers of defense against removal spells and damage.

When it comes to turning your creatures into actual threats, there are more than enough excellent auras to choose from. Since your commander’s ability make your auras cost less you’re going to be a little preferential towards the expensive ones. Holy Mantle, Eldrazi Conscription, and Gift of Immortality all come to mind, but this is where you can really customize your own decklist.

#3. Liesa, Shroud of Dusk

Here you have the best lifegain commander in Orzhov, Liesa, Shroud of Dusk! This is a pretty straightforward commander. You want to consistently keep it in play by using all the life you’re gaining to bypass the commander tax.

I hope you’ve made note of Liesa’s second ability, which taxes two life whenever any player casts any spell. That includes you, but more importantly it covers each of your opponents 100% of the time. Trading two life for two life from each opponent is always worth it, especially when the entire rest of your deck is dedicated to lifegain.

Lifegain decks are pretty easy to build, customize, and adjust the power level. You want your staple cards, like Bolas's Citadel, Righteous Valkyrie, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, and so on. After that it’s really up to you. I like to have my lifegain decks focus more on actually using that life for bigger spells or to generate card advantage, so I recommend looking at Erebos, God of the Dead and Phyrexian Processor.

#2. Athreos, God of Passage

Athreos, God of Passage has always been my favorite god to come out of the original Theros block, but I promise that isn’t influencing my decision to put it so high on this list. Athreos perfectly supports the Shadowborn Apostle strategy, which is an incredibly rare and otherwise unsupported theme.

The weakness of playing an apostles deck is that they all die before you can kill everyone at the table. Getting two or three demons out that are all instantly killed because your opponents know they’re coming isn’t enough.

That’s where Athreos comes in, flinging bolts of three damage at whoever you want unless they let you get your apostles back. This gives decks running 24+ Shadowborn Apostles another way to apply consistent pressure while simultaneously tutoring out game-ending threats like Razaketh, the Foulblooded or Taborax, Hope's Demise.

And don’t forget about sacrifice being a subtheme in your Shadowborn Apostle deck. You’re already sacrificing them in bundles of six, so why not include Dictate of Erebos or Faith's Reward in your list? It only adds even more value and pressure to your games.

#1. Teysa Karlov

I’ve decided to place Teysa Karlov in the #1 spot today thanks to its extremely powerful ability to double your triggered abilities. Don’t get me wrong, giving all your tokens vigilance and lifelink is amazing, but you’re here for the double triggers entirely.

Aristocrats and Orzhov are practically synonyms at this point, and what better way to support an aristocrat theme than supplying yourself with twice as many sacrifice triggers? Karlov makes deckbuilding extraordinarily easy in this situation. Just pick a few dozen cards that do something when a creature dies and put them in your deck! Simple.

There are hundreds of sacrifice cards that are worth including but only a few I see as staples for any aristocrats deck. The first, as you might’ve guessed, is Blood Artist. This card is a powerhouse that’s already overpowered and is even stronger when it triggers twice. The same can be said for Dictate of Erebos, Requiem Angel, and Skullclamp.

There are obviously huge payout cards, like The Meathook Massacre on a full board, or Grave Pact consistently shutting down your opponents' strategies. But the main way this deck pulls ahead is from continuous value plays. Scrying for two instead of one, leaching two life instead of one, and causing your opponents to sacrifice twice as many creatures all start to add up eventually.

Decklist: Thalisse, Reverent Medium in EDH

Thalisse, Reverent Medium | Illustration by Heonhwa Choe

This EDH deck with Thalisse, Reverent Medium is a great starting point for anybody interested in playing Orzhov. It hits many of the color pair’s keynotes with a tokens deck that’s a bit more aggressive, with some sacrifice synergies to round out the game.

You want to exploit Thalisse’s powerful token-doubling ability to its fullest. You have lots of classic token producers like Secure the Wastes and Lingering Souls, but also some new toys from recent sets. Myrel, Shield of Argive and Mondrak, Glory Dominus produce tons of tokens.

A few buff effects make an alpha attack an appealing way to win. Once you’re making endless tokens, cards like Intangible Virtue, Cathars' Crusade, and Akroma's Will help push you over the finish line. You also have plenty of sacrifice outlets like Priest of Forgotten Gods and Skullclamp to use excess tokens and drain your opponents for the last points of damage with numerous Blood Artist effects.

Commanding Conclusion

Killian, Ink Duelist | Illustration by Ryan Pancoast

That wraps up everything I have for you today on the best commanders in Orzhov! I seriously enjoyed putting this list together. Orzhov is one of my personal favorite color pairs in Magic. Something about lifegain and aristocrat decks just gets me going, what can I say?

But what did you think? Are you a fan of Orzhov, or is something like Izzet or Golgari more your style? Let me know what your favorite color pairing or commander is down below in the comments or over in the official Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy!