Hiya! Joe here with another brew for Ravnica Allegiance (which drops tomorrow as I write this, but will have dropped today as I post it).

I saw a similar build to this being played during the streamer preview event (by CardCounterChris), and loved it. Orzhov Midrange in Ravnica Allegiance looks a lot like B/W Knights looked in previous Standard, with Knights on the ground and Angels in the air, but with some new cards added to enable re-triggering ETB effects for value.

The main categories that the cards in this deck fall into are Early Game Creatures, Mythic Angels, Removal, and Self-Exile. I have the cards broken down by category below:

Early Game Creatures



Knight of Grace is a great 2-drop curve-filler for a midrange deck playing the Orzhov colors. It’s already good as a 2/2 first strike for 2 mana that dodges a lot of the format’s premium removal, and the extra point of power it gets if you (or an opponent) have a black permanent on the board really pushes it over the top. It beats in early for a bunch of damage, and a couple of these can form an impenetrable wall against large ground attackers later in the game.







Helping fill your curve and dig you through your deck, Dusk Legion Zealot is a good cantripping body in the early game. If you get one of these out on turn 2 or 3, it can possible chip in for a point or two of damage, or trade for an aggressive 1-power enemy creature. Later on, drawing a card is even more valuable, and this also provides you at least a chump block. If you manage to flicker it and draw a second card, that is absurd value.







History of Benalia isn’t technically a creature, but I put it here since it fits this category better than others. Possibly the best card in Dominaria, one of these on turn three can legitimately win you the game. And it even pumps Knight of Grace!





Mythic Angels



One of the gems to come out of the re-booted Core Set (2019), Resplendent Angel comes down early and must be dealt with. Three power in the air on turn three adds up to a lot of damage over a short number of turns, and if you have the mana for its activated ability (or a Lyra Dawnbringer), your opponent has to deal with Angel tokens for days.







Shalai, Voice of Plenty protects your other creatures from targeted removal, and protects you from burn as well as spells like Settle the Wreckage that target you. Combined with 3/4 flying, that’s an amazing deal. Don’t let the fact that you can’t use the activated ability distract you from just how great this card is without it.







Seraph of the Scales doesn’t seem as flashy as the other angels in the deck, but don’t underestimate the value of a 4/3 flyer for 4 mana that both attack and block, and that can negate things like Carnage Tyrant, flying over it for damage then blocking it (to kill it with deathtouch), and leaving two 1/1 flying Spirits in its wake!







A savior from the skies, Angel of Grace works as a mini-Fog (that negates burn, as well), and is a surprise finisher in its own right. I envisage two play patterns with this card: 1) Flash it in on your opponent’s end step and swing in for 5 on your turn (hopefully closing out the game), or 2) Flash it in as a response to an Alpha strike, allowing you to save your creatures for a devastating crack back on your turn. (You can also flash it in in response to your opponent’s last Shock to give you another turn of attacks…my guess is that that will happen a little less often, but is still legitimate).







Lyra Dawnbringer is the deck’s main finisher. It gives all of your angels lifelink as well as a power/toughness boost, meaning that paired with Resplendent Angel even a single swing puts you way ahead in the game. Flying plus first strike makes her almost impossible to block, as well.





Removal



Most Magic sets contain reprints, and sometimes they are great. Mortify falls into that category. Instant speed unconditional removal that is relatively cheap, and hits enchantments as well as creatures. This deals with most (non-Planeswalker) threats that you need to deal with, and allows you to keep enchantment removal spells from clogging up the sideboard.







Ixalan’s Binding is the most final enchantment-based removal available in White. Exile a threat under it and your opponent is unable to even play their other copies of that threat as long as it stays on the battlefield. Get a Teferi, Hero of Dominaria under this and watch your control opponent squirm.







Exiling all of your opponent’s creatures in one fell swoop can be devastating against Aggro decks. That, combined with the ability to deal with hexproof and indestructible creatures makes Settle the Wreckage and invaluable addition to this deck’s suite of removal.







Ravenous Chupacabra eats any enemy creature when it comes into play. It has some advantages over spell-based removal in that it increases your creature density (it can attack and block after killing something, making it a straight-up 2-for-1), its effect is reusable if you manage to exile it and bring it back, and casting it doesn’t cause Niv-Mizzet, Parun‘s triggered ability to go off.







Some threats need to be exiled. And some of them really need to be exiled at instant speed (looking at you, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria). For those needs, there isn’t a card available that does the job better than Vraska’s Contempt. It’s very rare to find a deck running Black in Standard that doesn’t have this, at least in the sideboard.





Self-Exile



Justiciar’s Portal does a lot more than it might first appear. It can not only allow you to attack and block when you might not otherwise be able to, it can give you a surprise first strike blocker, and paired with a good ETB ability (Ravenous Chupacabra) can allow you to set up powerful 2- or 3-for-1 trades with your opponent.







Ravnica Allegiance has a lot of interesting cards, and Lumbering Battlement is one that seems worth a try in Orzhov Midrange. You can use it to replace a bunch of utility creatures like Dusk Legion Zealot with a single giant threat. When it’s dealt with, the exiled creatures come back, re-triggering any ETB abilities. I’m not 100% sold on this one here, to be honest, but it looks like it could be a lot of fun, so we’ll include it for now.





Here’s the initial version of the deck:

RNA Orzhov Midrange

Export to MTGA

What do you think? What would you do differently?

If you have any comments, questions, or criticisms, please feel free to contact me here in the comments, on Reddit, on Twitter via @DailyArena, or on Facebook on the @DailyArenaMTG page.

Peace.

Joseph Eddy is a Father, Husband, Son, Brother, Software Developer, and Gamer. Magic is his favorite hobby, and he’s looking forward to seeing you all on Arena. He streams Magic Arena on a weekly basis (or more), but currently is unable to keep to a set schedule.