Hello fellow gamers, today I am going talk about a deck that has not gotten much attention in the new Standard 2022 meta, but has propelled me to #32 the Constructed Mythic rankings. The deck is Orzhov Control though I feel like it deserves a cooler name then that, perhaps Blood on the Snow.

It feels very much like Golgari decks did early in the Ravinca block (think value generating creatures, a bevy of planeswalkers and a clutch of efficient removal). Some folks might label this mid-range, because after all how good of a control deck can it be without any counter spells at its disposal? The answer is, still very good actually:

Now you may be like me and absolutely love the refreshing new Standard 2022 (Hurrah Eldraine is gone, hurrah Emergent Ultimatum is dead). You also may be like me in the fact that you are exclusively a Best of 3 player. Well, the best substitute for a missing sideboard is to Learn a few Lessons, if you know what I mean. This deck features 7 ways to access those lessons, with the help of Eyewitch and the Professor of Symbology. Without further ado here is the list:

[sd_deck deck=”jzWCxyYZh”]

Table of Contents

Card Choices

Card Choices

Planeswalker Suite

Kaya, the Inexorable – May be my favorite planeswalker in this deck. Rarely the plus 1 is irrelevant, but when you manage to get a few creatures in front of Kaya she becomes very hard to dethrone.

Especially with friends like these, notice, every creature in this deck has an ETB effect. So, you are very happy to chump them to gain a 1/1 flyer only to recast them later and regain whatever value they bring to the table.

Kaya’s ability to exile things that Vanishing Verse cannot is super vital in this format. There are several must-remove targets that you will see on a regular basis including Koma, Cosmos Serpent, Immersturm Predator, and Skeletal Swarming. Oh, and by the by if you ever manage to use her ultimate… well let’s just say I have not lost a game when that happens.

Lolth, Spider Queen – she is mainly here to make spider babies. I will point out one super fun interaction with her and Skullport Merchant, the merchant will gladly take those babies off her hands and give this greedy planeswalker some loyalty; it is a virtuous circle of card drawing and value generation.

Reach is a highly relevant keyword in this format, what with all the angels, dragons and crow tokens flying around. Lolth’s ultimate is not relevant for this deck and its almost always better to keep making spider babies if you somehow end up with a surplus of loyalty.

Lastly is Professor Onyx, Liliana in disguise. She may be the least synergistic of the three planewalkers here, hence why she is a one-of. However, remember while the deck only has 18 instants/sorceries mainboard, it has access to additional 7 lessons in the sideboard, so plenty of ways to trigger her passive.

One other fun part about the Prof is her ability to fill up the graveyard for Blood on the Snow. Of course, if you get a chance to use her ultimate, go for it, as that usually ends the game too. Her minus 3 is also useful at times for creatures like Koma, Cosmos Serpent, Desert Doom”] and Goldspan Dragon (as to not give them a token).

These ladies are vital to this deck’s plan of using Blood on the Snow. Its fairly backbreaking to simultaneously clear an enemy’s board and reanimate any one of them.

Creatures

Each of these creature generates value, they act as chump blockers early and gain card advantage late. I experimented with running 4 Eyetwitch and 4 Shambling Ghast, but ultimately removed one of each in favor of adding 2x Flunk as Flunk is a little more impactful late game.

My favorite of the bunch is definitely Skullport Merchant. It ramps, it draws cards, it plays defense. You may be tempted to tweak this list and go to three, but that would be mistake.

Sorceries

I had Doomskar as a one-of, but then went up to two. This card is so absolutely backbreaking against the most prevalent deck I faced, which is the white weenie aggro. It dodges Elite Spellbinder and gets a cost reduction against Reidane, God of the Worthy. I faced the aggro white deck 23 times and am 14-9 versus it, and I can tell you this was the card that made the difference.

Blood on the Snow is the whole reason to play this deck, this is the heart and soul of the engine. Ideally, it brings back one of the three planewalkers but don’t be afraid to use it in a pinch to bring back a Skullport or Professor of Symbology.

Instants

Vanishing Verse is the best removal in the meta at the moment. Granted there are a few things it cannot target as mentioned in the Kaya section, but it’s a great feeling to take out an Old-Growth Troll and give them no value, or target a Esika's Chariot or any of the various class cards (Ranger/ Paladin).

Flunk is an ok card. Its nice that it can target Faceless Haven whereas Vanishing Verse cannot.

Soul Shatter is nice against all kinds of things but mainly slower decks like Dimir Control and Simic Ramp. I was running three but ultimately cut one to make room for another Doomskar as aggro decks are more prevalent in this meta.

Deadly Dispute is a great form of card advantage. I was running 4x, but after cutting an Eyetwitch and Ghast, I went down to three of these. The only knock on this card is it occasionally will be dead when you have no treasure or creatures to target with it.

Land base

I initially went with Pathways over the Snarls, but this deck runs enough Plains/Swamps (Remember you can reveal a Snowfield Sinkhole to keep Snarl untapped). I was having trouble with casting an Early Doomskar, but the Snarls seemed to have fixed this issue. I also went from 4 to 3 Faceless Haven and put a Cave of the Frost Dragon in place of it, I haven’t looked back since.

All of this is a tricky balance you want to make sure you have the colors to cast your spells but also having enough snow lands to turn on Blood on the Snow. Faceless Havens often are your key to victory against control decks, as it comes down to a war of attrition.

Lessons

Pretty standard selection of Lessons. Two call outs here, Environmental Sciences is usually my first go to lesson unless I am absolutely flooded as this deck is mana hungry. Secondly, Reduce to Memory over Necrotic Fumes is something I feel very strongly about. I am not a huge fan of Necrotic Fumes and while it might make more sense in a Golgari deck where token creatures are more plentiful, you really don’t want to exile your creature cards in this deck as your graveyard is just a holding place for Blood on the Snow. Furthermore, giving them a 3/2 in a deck with plenty of blockers and board wipes is usually not a huge deal.

Matchups

Since there is no sideboard to speak of, I cannot help you there, but I can give you some strategies to help you win with this deck.

Dimir Control

I am 9-1 and versus this deck which may be surprising because on paper it looks like this match favors Dimir. They have Saw it Coming after all. You are the aggressor in this matchup. Play your creatures early and often, get in as much damage as you can. If they tap out hit them with Faceless Haven and remove their threat immediately. Eventually, they must tap out to play a planeswalker or Desert Doom”] so this is where your instant speed removal comes in handy. Also, it’s nice that Blood on the Snow takes out planeswalkers. They only have a slight edge of on you when it comes to card advantage, but you have more removal than they have threats which gives you plenty of time to grind them out.

Mono Green Stompy

I am 11-7 versus this deck making it one of the harder matchups. Your creatures are quickly outclassed by theirs. You want to save your Vanishing Verse for Esika's Chariot and Ranger Class, but Old-Growth Troll is also a great target too.

Basically, you will wish you had 8 of this card. The idea is to board wipe them and leave them with very little way to recover such as a leftover Ranger Class or Esika's Chariot. Be aware of haste creatures such as Froghemoth and Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider, so in short, don’t feel its safe to attack them willy-nilly if their board is currently empty. Generally, you play on your backfoot the whole game until you can gain control and out card advantage them.

Mono-White Aggro

As mentioned above it’s all about surviving until board wiping them. After the first board wipe you are pretty sure to win this. Focus removal on flyers as your ground creatures can keep theirs locked down for a while.

Simic Ramp

This is a weird matchup it feels like both decks have trouble interacting with each other. The Quandrix Cultivator is an issue as it dodges Vanishing Verse. Finding a Reduce to Memory is important for their Koma, Cosmos Serpent. The only way they win is by chaining Alrund's Epiphany so the best way to not die to this is attempting to keep the board clear so that they are only hitting you with a few crow tokens until you can board wipe.

Izzet Dragons

All of your removal is in play versus this deck. When they have 5 mana make sure you do not tap out so that you can remove the Goldspan Dragon before it gains any value. Again, the way you lose to this deck is that they chain Alrund's Epiphany together so if you sense that is their plan, try to leave mana up for removal.

Like Dimir control you want to be the early aggressor here and get in as much damage as you can before their more powerful cards come online. If you have a planewalker online leave up an Eyetwitch as a chump blocker, even against an empty board.

Rakdos Treasures

Similar to Izzet dragons you want to leave open mana when they are at 5 mana to remove Goldspan Dragon before value is gained. The Immersturm Predator and Valki, God of Lies can be an issue if you don’t draw into Soul Shatter or Kaya, the Inexorable, but remember Flunk can also take out indestructible creatures and Reduce to Memory in your board is also key. Your plan is to grind them out, so play defensively, you usually have inevitability.