Despite an ice storm that paralyzed a large swath of the middle and southern portions of the United States last weekend, there was a grand prix to play! Dallas was a Standard format Grand Prix, and although players were hit with cancelled flights and terrible icy driving conditions, a little over 800 players braved the elements to compete in the event. While there were reports of judges falling and breaking bones in the icy conditions, and that is a bad thing, from all aspects the event seemed to be well ran and the players enjoyed themselves! I'm still not sure why I never saw Grand Prix Hoth 2 on twitter, but this seemed like the best time for it! Apparently the nickname of the event was Grand Prix Snow Fort, which is a clever play on the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex.



To recap the event, it was won by Marlon Jacob Avila Gutierrez. He was running an Orzhov control list and beat Hall of Famer William Jensen in the finals of the event. I was unable to watch the event, but on twitter I saw a ton of critical commentary, saying that Marlon played poorly and did not deserve to win, and to me that seems unfair. From what I understand it was his second Grand Prix, and going through Seth Manfield (twice, he played him during day one as well and actually lost the first time through), Ben Stark and William Jensen was hard enough. I am sure there were nerves from Marlon, I know I would have been a wreck if I had to go through the number one ranked player and a Hall of Famer to get to the title!



Anyways, I'll have words about the Orzhov Control deck on another site, but today we are going to take a look at the Orzhov Weenie deck that put three copies in to the top sixteen and Ben Stark into the to top four. I've long enjoyed the White Weenie deck that splashed Red for Boros Charm, so I figured a black splash for Orzhov Charm and Xathrid Necromancer would be great against a metagame that expected long games. You'd get zombies to back up your game plan after a Supreme Verdict or have several options with the charm such as rebuying a one drop or killing their blockers.



Out of the 128 players that made day two 24 were on Mono Black Control. 14 played Esper Control, and 12 were on Blue White Control. Another ten players played control of some form. 60 players were on control during day two. That's almost half of the field! Of course four players were on the Orzhov weenie deck, and three of the four made top sixteen, so I think that means the deck is the real deal against control. It seemed like a wonderful metagame call! Of course maybe the best metagame call was the actual Orzhov control deck that was played by one person and ended up winning the whole thing.



I guess I need to stop talking and show off the deck, the version that we tested was played by Ben Stark in the event. Similar versions were played by Josh Utter-Leyton and Orrin Beasley.



This deck is something that I believe Craig Wescoe would be proud of! It's a white weenie deck with just a small touch of black. The black provides removal, disruption and a back up plan to mass removal. It's a quick deck that is capable of explosive attacks on turn three thanks to Boros Elite and the rest of his crew.



I've typed long enough, let's welcome Andrew Nelms to the video portion of the article, and show off our thoughts on the deck and actual gameplay as we guide the deck through some two man queues!



Orzhov Aggro Preview



Match One vs Mono Red Aggro



Match Two vs Blue Black Devotion



Match Three vs Red Green Monsters



Match Four vs Red Green Monsters



Match Five vs RWB Humans



Orzhov Aggro Recap

We ended up going 3-2 with the deck, losing to the Mono Red, and to the Green Red Monster deck that put me and Andy on tilt. While Andy had to leave after the fourth match, we both figured that would be a good stopping point for the collaboration. Both of us were fuming, we felt like we were being toyed with throughout the entire match, and while I was a touch sick, I was upset enough to back away from the computer and go on a cool down walk that saw me walk 2.6 miles in 50 minutes. Not a huge thing, a bit slow, but it illustrates just how upset I was. I was not upset with the loss, just what I perceived as poor sportsmanship on the end of our opponent. I came home, recorded the last match and the recap solo, and the walk really allowed me to go off tilt and remember that in the end all I'm doing is trying to make good content while playing a card game.

I'm a pretty lucky guy to be able to do that!



Let's take a look at some starting hands!



Give 'em a Hand!

Hand One

, , , , , , Soldier of the Pantheon

This is a fairly solid hand. You have a turn one play, and a turn two play that allows you to attack with three creatures on turn three. While none of these guys have Battalion, the Sovereign will make blockers enter the battlefield tapped, and you have two copies of Brave the Elements to help stave off removal or combat situations. I'd keep this hand.



Hand Two

, , , , , ,



This hand is very similar to the first hand, with Dryad taking the place of Soldier, and a Daring Skyjek taking a Brave slot. This still gives you the opportunity to attack with three creatures on turn three, thanks to the Mutavaut, but gives you options on your turn two play. If you are against a control deck you want to hit them like a dump truck so the skyjek would be the correct turn two play. If you're against aggro, I'd be willing to say that the Sovereign would be the best play. Keep this hand, and be very happy with it.



Hand Three

, , , , , ,



This one is missing the Mutavault but that is ok, you really want to cast the Captain on turn two. This hand is one that is going to swarm the opponent quickly thanks to the Captains, and you'll have a good bit of protection against everything but Supreme Verdict. You keep this hand I feel.



While the three hands presented are a very small sample size, I think they illustrate how consistent the deck is. We've seen a one and two drop in each hand, we've seen quick pressure on the opponent, and each draw step will make things better for you and hopefully worse for your opponent!



Swot Analysis

Strengths:

Fast deck that puts a quick clock on the opponent.

Consistent, with plenty of chances to get into the red zone for damage.

Has reach in the form of Necromancer which allows for great recovery post Verdict.

Weaknesses:

The deck has the potential to stumble on mana thanks to the nature of the comes into play tapped lands.

If the Orzhov Control deck continues to grow in popularity, there will need to be a way to take care of Blood Baron.

The small creatures allow midrange threats like Advent of the Wurm to go over the top of you. Opportunities:

In a control field it has the pedigree to show that it can compete against the control decks of Standard.

Spear of Heliod is an underappreciated card that no one really respects.

Ajani Caller of the Pride may be an upgrade and a good card against aggro as it makes your guys bigger than theirs. It also provides an alternate win condition and would be worth looking at further.



Threats:

Supreme Verdict

Sphinx's Revelation

Blood Baron of Vizkopa

Pack Rat



Let's go ahead and wrap things up for today, I hope you all enjoyed the guest in our videos and as always, if you have any questions, comments or criticisms, please head to the comment section and let us hear about it! Thanks for reading and watching!



@Joshuaclaytor

@puremtgodotcom

joshuaclaytor.tumblr.com

www.twitch.tv/joshuaclaytor

questforthemocs.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/JoshuaClaytorMTG

www.youtube.com/joshuaclaytor

joshua.claytor@gmail.com