Hello everyone. Whenever a new set is released, I'm always excited to see what new decks are created. While jotting down some details about some new decks I wanted to look at with you, I noticed that many of the decks I found exciting were in the same two-color pairing. So, I decided to devote a week to these decks, which are all in White & Black, or Orzhov, colors. Let's get started.

Orzhov Discard

The first deck I have for you this week features a control deck with a small discard theme. Let's take a look at the deck.

Orzhov Discard | MKM Standard | Sonio, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (16)
• 1 Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead
• 1 Serra Paragon
• 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 2 Extraction Specialist
• 3 Skullcap Snail
• 4 Market Gnome
• 4 Virus Beetle

• Planeswalkers (8)
• 1 Kaya, Spirits' Justice
• 2 Sorin the Mirthless
• 2 The Wandering Emperor
• 3 Liliana of the Veil

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Rite of Oblivion

• Enchantments (2)
• 1 Phyrexian Arena
• 1 Virtue of Persistence

• Artifacts (5)
• 1 Tarrian's Journal // The Tomb of Aclazotz
• 4 Dusk Rose Reliquary

• Lands (25)
• 3 Plains
• 3 Swamp
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 2 Mirrex
• 3 Demolition Field
• 4 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Restless Fortress
• 4 Shattered Sanctum

• Sideboard (5)
• 1 Vraska, Betrayal's Sting
• 1 March of Otherworldly Light
• 1 Outrageous Robbery
• 1 The End
• 1 The Cruelty of Gix

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By playing certain creatures like Virus Beetle and Skullcap Snail, you'll be able to slowly whittle your opponent's hand away. This will help you when you attack with Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead, because you'll be able to draw a card if your opponent is unable to discard a card from their hand. Plus, if your opponent is discarding cards here and there, they will have less options to cast during the game.

In addition to the discard theme, there is also a little bit of graveyard recursion within this deck. Serra Paragon allows you to either put a land from your graveyard into play, or cast a permanent that has a mana value of three or less from your graveyard. This ability, plus that of Virtue of Persistence, can allow you to reutilize your creatures. You can also use Virtue of Persistence to return a big threat your opponent has in their graveyard, giving you a way to beat your opponent with their own card.

Orzhov Unblockable

Next, I have a deck that wants to overwhelm your opponent with small, unblockable creatures. Let's take a look at it.

Orzhov Unblockable | MKM Standard | JayVillain, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (23)
• 3 Monastery Mentor
• 4 Delney, Streetwise Lookout
• 4 Neighborhood Guardian
• 4 Preacher of the Schism
• 4 Sanguine Evangelist
• 4 Snarling Gorehound

• Instants (10)
• 1 Get Lost
• 2 Cut Down
• 3 Acrobatic Leap
• 4 Bitter Triumph

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Helping Hand

• Lands (23)
• 7 Swamp
• 9 Plains
• 1 Shadowy Backstreet
• 2 Restless Fortress
• 4 Caves of Koilos

• Sideboard (5)
• 1 Get Lost
• 2 Destroy Evil
• 2 Go for the Throat

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Delney has a second ability that doubles the number of times an ability triggers for your creatures that have power 2 or less. That means Monastery Mentor creates two 1/1 Monk creature tokens with prowess whenever you cast a noncreature spell. You'll also create two 1/1 Bat creature tokens with flying when Sanguine Evangelist enters the battlefield. Those abilities are just two examples of the abilities that will trigger twice while Delney is in play, but they're very important ways to increase the number of creatures that will not be able to be blocked when you attack your opponent.

Orzhov Lifegain

Up next, I have a deck for you that gains some impressive benefits when you gain life. Let's check it out.

Orzhov Lifegain | MKM Standard | MTG_Joe, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (34)
• 2 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
• 2 Tomik, Wielder of Law
• 3 Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor
• 3 Preacher of the Schism
• 4 Amalia Benavides Aguirre
• 4 Delney, Streetwise Lookout
• 4 Deep-Cavern Bat
• 4 Lunarch Veteran // Luminous Phantom
• 4 Ruin-Lurker Bat
• 4 Voice of the Blessed

• Instants (2)
• 2 Pile On

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Case of the Uneaten Feast

• Lands (22)
• 4 Plains
• 4 Swamp
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 2 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 3 Restless Fortress
• 4 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Shattered Sanctum

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If those creatures you use for blocking happen to die, don't worry too much about it. This deck includes a couple of copies of Case of the Uneaten Feast. Not only does this case provide an additional way of getting extra life, but it can also allow you to cast creature cards from your graveyard for a couple of turns. Return those creatures who so nobly gave their life protecting you to the battlefield, so they can do it all over again.

Orzhov Planeswalkers

The final deck I have for you this week features some of Standard's best planeswalker pals. Let's take a look at the deck.

Orzhov Planeswalkers | MKM Standard | ManaMan, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (5)
• 1 Tomik, Wielder of Law
• 4 Spirited Companion

• Planeswalkers (10)
• 2 Ashiok, Wicked Manipulator
• 2 Sorin the Mirthless
• 2 The Eternal Wanderer
• 2 The Wandering Emperor
• 2 Vraska, Betrayal's Sting

• Instants (4)
• 4 March of Wretched Sorrow

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Path of Peril

• Enchantments (12)
• 4 Ossification
• 4 The Restoration of Eiganjo // Architect of Restoration
• 4 Urza Assembles the Titans

• Lands (25)
• 3 Plains
• 3 Swamp
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Mirrex
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 4 Caves of Koilos
• 4 Restless Fortress
• 4 Shadowy Backstreet
• 4 Shattered Sanctum

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This fall, when Standard rotation finally happens again, people are either going to be very happy or very sad when The Wandering Emperor leaves Standard. She has become ubiquitous in our current Standard environment. And with very good reason. Being able to flash her into play after your opponent has declared their attackers, and then being able to exile whichever tapped attacker is the most problematic for you, makes The Wandering Emperor Standard's best planeswalker, in my opinion.

She is joined by four other terrific planeswalkers that all have their place in this deck. Vraska, Betrayal's Sting has abilities that offer a lot of protection for your team. She can turn any threat into a harmless Treasure. Ashiok, Wicked Manipulator, Sorin the Mirthless, and The Eternal Wanderer all have abilities that can create various creature tokens that you can use to attack your opponent with. These other planeswalkers also offer alternate ways of winning the game, additional removal options, the means of drawing additional cards, and more. Each of these planeswalkers helps shore up any perceived weakness that another might have.

Wrapping Up

While I'm not normally a fan of playing mono-colored Black decks, when Black mana is paired with White mana, it really hits the spot for me. Both colors share some things in common, which gives the Orzhov combination a great foundation to create some fun and powerful decks from.

What do you think of these decks? Feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!

- Mike Likes