In my last column, I opened up a discussion about what commanders to use for the enemy color pairs. I received great suggestions, and the one that caught my eye for Orzhov was a real challenge, but it’s one I’ve been thinking about since I opened a copy at the Theros prerelease.

We have some slow but super-powerful abilities, and we have an amazing color pair. The cool thing about W/B is it can do everything. It has spot removal, mass removal, noncreature destruction, exile, card-draw, huge flyers, and life-gain, and most importantly for us, it can reanimate creatures. Let’s play with that, lean into all these strengths, and have some fun with the Fates while we’re at it!

Once again, we find ourselves wanting a lot of mana. What can I say? I like big spells and huge effects, and those are costly. In a slow, multiplayer format, we have time to build up to big mana, so let’s do it right. A good starting point is with forty lands. We have the duals the budget would allow plus just a couple utility lands—Bojuka Bog will stop someone else’s graveyard stuff, New Benalia gives us a free scry, and Encroaching Wastes destroys a problem land (an ability I think every deck should have, if I haven’t made that clear). Most of our ramp then goes to our rocks.

The various Orzhov rocks (Orzhov Cluestone, Orzhov Keyrune, and Orzhov Signet) are here, as are Mind Stone, Guardian Idol, and Sol Ring. Ashnod's Altar can be a great mana generator—especially in a reanimator shell—and we have a giant mana-maker: Crypt Ghast. That card can get out of hand, and when it comes back, it’s even worse.

We also have a ton of threats. Demons and Angels abound, most of whom can fly over and spell doom for our opponents. They also work with the deck! They want to be flickered with the Fates (Sepulchral Primordial and Luminate Primordial; Obzedat, Ghost Council; Overseer of the Damned), help with the reanimator strategy (Reya Dawnbringer; Sun Titan), or be tapped multiple times in a single turn (Avatar of Woe; Chainer, Dementia Master). Artisan of Kozilek is awesome here. Ashen Rider, too, is incredible, especially if we can get multiple activations of Triad per turn.

Of course, a lot of those threats work as answers as well—when you flicker Luminate Primordial a few times, anyone counting on big dudes will be sad. King Macar, the Gold-Cursed does work when he can be untapped with Puppet Strings, and he (like the Fates) will get rid of an active God or other indestructible nonsense. Utter End is a great catch-all spell to exile a troublesome permanent. Dregs of Sorrow is super; casting it for 7 is good, and casting it for 10 is devastating. Devout Witness is a nifty way to Naturalize while filling up our graveyard.

We have a couple of themes going on here. Reanimation is going to be important, and we have a good group of spells, most of which are reusable at least once. Obzedat's Aid is a one-shot, and it’s great because it brings back any permanent; Fated Return turns the creature you grab (from any graveyard) indestructible. Unburial Rites gives you two shots. Beacon of Unrest shuffles back. Chainer, Dementia Master will bring back as many dudes as we ha and life for. Strands of Night turns excess lands into returned dudes. Sun Titan doesn’t have a huge number of targets, but once you have the Titan and Angelic Renewal or Doomed Necromancer on the battlefield at the same time, it’ll be worth it. Reya Dawnbringer brings something back every turn, and our Eldrazi will do the same with Triad of Fates flickering it.

In order to have things to reanimate, though, we have to put those things in our graveyard. We want to pick and choose what we bin, so we have some ways to discard creatures. Grimoire of the Dead is the most exciting, but it also draws hate, so be ready for that. The Standard all-star from a year back, Pack Rat, is a solid choice. And Razormane Masticore is among the coolest creatures ever made; plus, it gives us a free discard for our trouble. Don’t want to discard anymore? Let it die—we can always bring it back.

Finally, we have this crazy pocket combo. Here’s the battlefield we need for it to work along with the combo:

• Triad of Fates equipped with Umbral Mantle
• Ashnod's Altar
• Initiates of the Ebon Hand
• Farrelite Priest
• Another black permanent with at least in the mana cost
• Abhorrent Overlord and the five tokens that came with it

In order to tap, untap, tap, and untap Triad, we need , and because we want to flicker our token-producer, one of them needs to be . With four tokens, we could loop indefinitely, but with this board state, nothing happens. With five tokens, though, we sac all five to the Altar for 10 mana. We filter 1 through Farrelite Priest for . We put a fate counter on the Overlord, untap the Fates, use the to flicker the Overlord, and we have five new tokens and 15 mana. Use to untap Triad again, and we have 12 mana, requiring to do the same loop. If someone is foolish enough to let us survive a turn with this board, we can do this at the end of turn, and instead of sacrificing all five tokens each time, just sac four and generate infinite flying tokens to kill everyone on our attack step. Otherwise, we make some huge amount of mana, exile everyone’s board, and then make a bunch of tokens to exile and draw our whole deck before playing and flickering Bloodhunter Bat until everyone is dead.

I chose the Bat as the kill because we can reanimate it, and it’s relevant with Triad’s ability; Blasting Station or Exsanguinate are also reasonable choices, but they’re less synergistic. Evangel of Heliod does the same thing as the Overlord (without requiring the extra mana symbol for devotion, because Farrelite Priest has ), but I felt Overlord was a better creature to have the rest of the time. Do note that your Priest and your Initiates will both die at the end of the turn, so you have one shot—unless you reanimate them.

Triad of Fates ? Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (27)
• 1 Abhorrent Overlord
• 1 Artisan of Kozilek
• 1 Ashen Rider
• 1 Avatar of Woe
• 1 Avenger en-Dal
• 1 Bloodgift Demon
• 1 Bloodhunter Bat
• 1 Champion of Stray Souls
• 1 Crypt Ghast
• 1 Devout Witness
• 1 Doomed Necromancer
• 1 Farrelite Priest
• 1 Harvester of Souls
• 1 Initiates of the Ebon Hand
• 1 Karmic Guide
• 1 Luminate Primordial
• 1 Magister of Worth
• 1 Overseer of the Damned
• 1 Pack Rat
• 1 Reaper from the Abyss
• 1 Sepulchral Primordial
• 1 Sun Titan
• 1 Chainer, Dementia Master
• 1 King Macar, the Gold-Cursed
• 1 Obzedat, Ghost Council
• 1 Reya Dawnbringer
• 1 Razormane Masticore

• Spells (32)
• 1 Fated Retribution
• 1 Fated Return
• 1 Utter End
• 1 Akroma's Vengeance
• 1 Beacon of Unrest
• 1 Decree of Pain
• 1 Dregs of Sorrow
• 1 End Hostilities
• 1 In Garruk's Wake
• 1 Life's Finale
• 1 Obzedat's Aid
• 1 Phyrexian Rebirth
• 1 Rout
• 1 Unburial Rites
• 1 Angelic Renewal
• 1 Strands of Night
• 1 Ashnod's Altar
• 1 Guardian Idol
• 1 Jandor's Saddlebags
• 1 Magewright's Stone
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Orzhov Cluestone
• 1 Orzhov Keyrune
• 1 Orzhov Signet
• 1 Puppet Strings
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Thousand-Year Elixir
• 1 Tower of Fortunes
• 1 Trading Post
• 1 Umbral Mantle
• 1 Diviner's Wand
• 1 Grimoire of the Dead

• Lands (40)
• 12 Plains
• 16 Swamp
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Encroaching Wastes
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Isolated Chapel
• 1 New Benalia
• 1 Orzhov Basilica
• 1 Orzhov Guildgate
• 1 Rupture Spire
• 1 Scoured Barrens
• 1 Tainted Field
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Transguild Promenade

Buy This Deck

Most of the time, we’re a reanimation deck with a lot of board and creature control. Blow up the board, knock out key creatures, and threaten people with fate counters. Use discard possibilities and reanimation spells wisely. Meanwhile, keep a lookout for interactions with Triad of Fates and the combo—remember that if the creatures required are in the graveyard, they’re kind of in your hand.

Also, the reanimation targets are mostly interchangeable—go for guys with enters-the-battlefield effects. Angel of Despair would be good. Geth, Lord of the Vault belongs in every reanimation deck that ever was, as does Sheoldred, Whispering One. Massacre Wurm and Rune-Scarred Demon would make the deck a lot more lethal—and consistent. If you have a Planeswalker-heavy meta, Merciless Eviction is worth it. Aegis of the Gods is not unreasonable if people like to hit you with Tormod's Crypts and Bojuka Bogs.

Tell me this in the comments, please: Would you play a deck like this? Why or why not? I love strategies like this, but I know not everyone does, and I’m curious about it.

If everything works, every game with this deck will be long, so be prepared, and get comfortable. And please tell me if you pull off that crazy combo!

Total cost: $75.00