Table of Contents
Soldiers are the only tribe that’s been played in the Standard. However, with Dominaria United, we got lords for multiple creature strategies. I really wanted to see if it’s possible to make Clerics work thanks to Shadow-Rite Priest, and even I was surprised that yes, they do work.
Despite the lifegain that’s present in the deck, it’s very much a strategy that wants to close the game out quickly. It does not have to be through combat, but it often will be as the lord effect buffing the entire team accompanies our curve nicely. On top of that, we have creatures with evasion which are sure to connect time and time again. In addition to all of that, Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim gives us a pseudo-protection against mass removal wherein we do lose all the creatures, but the opponent will have to lose 5+ life when they cast it, which might prove lethal. This aggressive angle is bolstered by a set of cards that allow us to play a longer game like Kayla's Reconstruction or Liesa, Forgotten Archangel. What you’ll also often find are stalemate situations where neither player can attack. In those spots, you do want to be on the Clerics’ side.
Creatures (36)
Sorceries (2)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$150.16
Sideboard
15 Cards
$144.85
Deck Tech
I would never have guessed that I’d play this card in Constructed, having only touched it in Limited. This card has a few things going for it. First, it has first strike. Although it may sound irrelevant on a 1/1 creature, it won’t always be a 1/1. With a single lord buff of Shadow-Rite Priest, it starts to dominate early game. It is surprising how much a two-power first striker can take over combat (looking at you Thalia, Guardian of Thraben). On top of that, it has ward 1 which comes up mainly in those buff scenarios.
Its disturbed flipside is expensive, but when it enters the field it flips the script. It affects the dynamic a lot, as it’s an evasive threat that benefits from all the Clerics synergies and gives all the creatures ward 1. Late in the game, it’s a powerful insulation from removal.
While most of its value relies on Priest, it’s still plenty for a one-drop.
Lunarch Veteran is a staple in all the lifegain decks, whatever the format. It’s particularly strong now, as monored aggro is on a steady rise. While it will frequently be killed, it eating Lightning Strike is better than your face. If the opponent taps out though, you can then deploy Veteran and 1-2 other creatures to get that bit of lifegain there.
Its flipside is a 1/1 flyer that gains even more life, albeit on creatures leaving play. If Veteran got Play with Fired on turn one, you can immediately disturb it on the subsequent turn.
The card that works the best with Veteran is Voice of the Blessed, about which I will talk more later. You can deploy Veteran on turn one and follow it up with Voice, making it a 3/3 right off the bat.
Skrelv, Defector Mite was a very solid addition from Phyrexia: All Will Be One. This deck has a few creatures that carry the game like Voice of the Blessed or Shadow-Rite Priest, so having a permanent way of protecting them is invaluable. I have had multiple games where the opponent just couldn’t deal with the creatures presented thanks to Skrelv. On top of that, it’s a nice lock with Annex Sentry. The opponent has to jump a few hoops to unlock the taken creature.
The fact that Skrelv gives unblockability comes up frequently. When you have a large Voice, but the opponent has fliers to block with, giving unblockable comes in handy.
The toxic part has never been relevant so I wouldn’t put too much effort into making it work during the game. It’s much better used as Giver of Runes that occasionally gives unblockable.
The whole reason to play this deck as Shadow-Rite Priest is stronger than I initially thought. One thing is buffing creatures, which is of course great, however, I want to spend a moment looking at his last ability.
As this deck gains a bunch of life and has a ton of creatures, it tends to get into stalemate-esque situations where seemingly nothing is happening. At some point, you get to those five lands and Priest’s ability is ready to be used. But what do you sacrifice? The best fodder are the previously mentioned one-drops that can easily be disturbed – this way you still get a bit of value out of sacrificing them.
It’s also worth pointing out that this ability, contrary to the usual contemporary design, does not restrict to using it only at sorcery speed. It allows you to hold up the activation and use it in response to removal or maybe in the opponent’s combat step.
This shell has a few creatures that are worth tutoring out. The first is…another copy of Priest! It’s not legendary so you might as well get another lord online. Another strong find is Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim if you don’t have one yet. I always want to have it on the board. Due to it being legendary though, if you have one, it’s not an option.
There are two creatures that are in this deck purely because of the Priest’s tutor ability, namely Markov Purifier and Liesa, Forgotten Archangel. Let’s talk about them one by one.
When creating a sort of toolbox for this deck, I landed on Markov Purifier mainly because it’s an otherwise castable creature that fits right into the deck as is. It complements the lifegain angle perfectly, and while it’s not a priority find with Priest, it has its utility, especially when the next-mentioned card is no longer available.
If naturally drawn, it will change the dynamics of the game more into a waiting game where you gain a bit of life here and there and, hence, draw two cards every turn.
This is the real deal. Liesa, Forgotten Archangel is hands down the best card in the deck. It’s wild how well it supports the overall strategy and it’s your number one find with Priest.
Right off the bat, being a 4/5 flying lifelinker is nothing to complain about. It stabilises a ton of board states, either as a blocker or as an offensive threat that gains life while pressuring. However, its second line of text is what we’re really interested in.
In short, whenever your creature dies, it will return to hand at the beginning of the end step. It enables a ton of angles for you. First, you can make very aggressive and normally disadvantageous attacks, knowing that all the killed creatures will get back to the hand, ready to be deployed again. On top of that, it complements future Priest uses, as you will return to hand whatever creature you sacrifice. Last but not least, Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim gives you death trigger pings so with each creature dead, you get it back and make the opp lose life. It almost becomes a loop where the opponent can profitably block every single turn but still die.
Moreover, our little Skrelv, Defector Mite can make Liesa herself unkillable, much to the opponent’s chagrin. Even if she does die, Phyrexian Missionary is there to recur her.
I would honestly consider playing more, but the steep cost of five mana and it being legendary dissuade me from it. Still, it has been a monstrously strong one-of.
Early in the game, Phyrexian Missionary is going to be an annoying blocker that gains life. I will happily block everything that comes my way with it. In the later stages, it has a powerful kicker effect that Raise Dead any creature. In this deck, there is a multitude of creatures that you might want to have access to again – Skrelv, Defector Mite for protection, Shadow-Rite Priest for damage, or another Phyrexian Missionary for value.
It’s the type of card that serves its purpose both early and late, making it a great addition to the strategy.
Voice of the Blessed is another must-answer. It grows surprisingly fast with all the lifegain the deck has, between Lunarch Veteran, Phyrexian Missionary lifelink, Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim, and many other incidental lifegain sources. It’s not uncommon to have this creature be a flying vigilant 8/8 smashing the opponent’s face in. It’s also another creature that truly appreciates Skrelv, Defector Mite for its protection abilities; after all, you don’t want to put so much effort into the card to have it die to Go for the Throat.
When playing against a particular deck, I will try to gauge how big it has to be to survive commonly played removal. In most cases, it’s going to be 3/3 to dodge Cut Down and Play with Fire and 4/4 to dodge Abrade and Lightning Strike.
This Phyrexian Kor Cleric has three lines of text that we want to see. First, it has deathtouch. It discourages the opponent from blocking it but also it itself acts great as a blocker. The opponent will feel pressured into killing it, as it warps the way combat plays out.
Additionally, it gains you life when a creature enters field and makes the opponent lose life when a creature dies. The lifegain part plays into Voice of the Blessed and lifeloss clocks the opponent. When you assemble a board, you put the opponent into a real pickle where they need to kill Skrelv to then kill Elas but then they have to lose life and other creatures stay on the field. If they want to kill the lord, Elas will stay and keep draining, etc. All those cross-interactions in the deck make the removal decks quite awkward at times.
This is our Cleric version of Skyclave Apparition or Brutal Cathar. While toxic is irrelevant, it being a Cleric definitely is. A 1/4 is already tough to get rid of, but when it becomes a 2/5, it’s a true roadblock. It also dodges Go for the Throat, as it is an artifact.
It does not have to exile a creature specifically so you might find yourself exiling opposing Reckoner Bankbusters frequently.
Inspiring Overseer is a known Angel staple in Explorer and Pioneer, but it’s also a Cleric! It’s an evasive creature that happily takes advantage of Shadow-Rite Priest buff to dominate the air. The fact that it replaces itself upon entry makes it a great throw-away card for when you need to be blocking. Needless to say how good of a feeling it is to get it killed with Liesa, Forgotten Archangel on the battlefield.
I was toying around with a few top-end effects. I thought about Planeswalkers or adding more Liesas, but ultimately landed on Kayla's Reconstruction. The deck currently has 36 creatures, so not only will you hit threats but you will also get actual card selection whilst doing it. You will be able to decide whether you need a buff, lifegain, or a blocker.
The longer you wait with Reconstruction the better, but waiting too long might put you into a position where you can’t really get back into the game. My rule of thumb is to aim for x=2. Go with x=1 with the situation is desperate and x>2 if you can afford it or top deck it late.
Best of One
Creatures (36)
Sorceries (2)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$150.16
The version of Best of One is aligned with the main deck of the Best of Three version.
Budget
Creatures (38)
60 Cards
$43.8
It was relatively easy to turn it into a budget deck, as the core is comprised of uncommons and commons anyways. However, Shadow-Rite Priest and Voice of the Blessed are too good not to play. Those components are necessary.
Matchups and Sideboard Guide
Grixis Midrange
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +2 The Wandering Emperor | -3 Chaplain of Alms |
| +4 Liliana of the Veil | -4 Annex Sentry |
| +1 Liesa, Forgotten Archangel |
Post-board, I morph into an Orzhov Midrange deck. I swap Annex Sentry for Liliana of the Veil as it’s too devastating to get your Sentry killed with a value creature like Corpse Appraiser or Graveyard Trespasser underneath. On the other hand, Liliana gets rid of those threats on curve and does not die to commonly played removal. We want them to feel safe behind their 3/3 or 4/5 creature just to then drop a Liliana and shatter their dreams.
Mono White Midrange
Another grindy matchup. Here Liliana doesn’t cut it, as the sacrifice mode lacks against Spirited Companion or Wedding Announcement tokens. The games will go long, but I have found that we can win if we get to a board stall situation thanks to the previously mentioned interactions such as Shadow-Rite Priest tutor ability.
Esper Legends
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +4 Liliana of the Veil | -3 Chaplain of Alms |
| +2 The Wandering Emperor | -3 Skrelv, Defector Mite |
| +1 Liesa, Forgotten Archangel | -1 Markov Purifier |
| +2 Cut Down | -2 Lunarch Veteran |
In this matchup we need to transition to an Orzhov midrange-esque deck that both has its own plan but also answers opposing threats. We trim the low-end in order to increase our threat density. Those games will take quite some time and might be prone to boardstalls.
Selesnya Toxic
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +2 The Wandering Emperor | -2 Kayla's Reconstruction |
| +4 Cut Down | -3 Skrelv, Defector Mite |
| -1 Markov Purifier |
Creature-focused matchup. We don’t have a good way of removing Skrelv's Hive so we need to outrace it long-term. It’s not impossible, as we can expand our board in such a way that they cannot really attack through, waiting until their own Hive kills them. In such a tough spot they will be forced to attack just to gain life thanks to lifelink, at which point you can probably kill them on the backswing.
Azorius Soldiers
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +2 The Wandering Emperor | -2 Kayla's Reconstruction |
| +4 Cut Down | -3 Skrelv, Defector Mite |
| -1 Markov Purifier |
Chaplain of Alms is going to shine here as it blocks Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Recruitment Officer, Skrelv, Defector Mite, Cathar Commando, and Resolute Reinforcements. The combination of The Wandering Emperor Cut Down, Annex Sentry, and lifegain will allow us to stay alive. The creature you really need to be careful of is Harbin, Vanguard Aviator which would allow opposing creature to fly over your roadblocked ground. Similarly to Mono White, you want to bring the game to a board stall and then utilise your lords, death triggers, and Liesa, Forgotten Archangel.
Mono Red Aggro
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +2 The Wandering Emperor | -2 Kayla's Reconstruction |
| +4 Cut Down | -3 Skrelv, Defector Mite |
| +2 Liliana of the Veil | -3 Chaplain of Alms |
I can play this matchup all day. We have got creatures to block with, lifegain, and removal. You might lose games where you have too many 2-3 drops and they happen to have a one-drop-focused opener. However, if you keep early-game hands, you should be golden. Don’t go for synergies, trade aggressively in combat if you can.
Orzhov Clerics Mirror
| IN | OUT |
|---|---|
| +2 The Wandering Emperor | -3 Chaplain of Alms |
| +4 Liliana of the Veil | -3 Skrelv, Defector Mite |
| +1 Liesa, Forgotten Archangel | -1 Lunarch Veteran |
Believe me or not, I have actually played against the mirror on the ladder. The games are very weird as both players have synergies and gain life. The person with the better top-end will win though. That’s why I side in expecting it to be an arms race. Liliana of the Veil‘s minus won’t be that good, but I will be happy to keep upticking her while holding the ground until I can ultimate. Still, the minus might be a powerful blowout on the play if the opponent just has a two-drop.
Tips and Tricks
- If your creatures have multiple instances of ward thanks to Chapel Shieldgeist, the opponent will have to pay for each of them separately.
- You may want to deploy another legendary creature that you already have just to make one of them die and trigger Luminous Phantom or Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim.
- As per the above, you can use Liliana of the Veil‘s minus ability to make yourself sacrifice a creature. This type of a scenario will usually come up when the opponent does not have much going on and you have calculated a line that’s exactly lethal.
- If you want to tweak the list and add different creatures, try to choose from among black threats so that you can tutor them out with Shadow-Rite Priest.
- You can loop Phyrexian Missionary with another copy of Missionary. If one is in the graveyard, you play the other one kicked and return the first one to your hand. Then, if the other one dies, you can play the one in hand to recur it again. Rinse repeat.
- With Liesa, Forgotten Archangel, you can set up a combo-esque interaction of sacrificing something to Shadow-Rite Priest to tutor out a creature and always getting back the threat you sacrificed thanks to Liesa.
- If you want to bring this deck to paper play, goldfish it a few times on your own so that you get the hang of all the triggers.
- Muscle memory makes a shortcut that Voice of the Blessed has flying and vigilance when it’s a 6/6 but remember that it can get buffed in other ways then it’s own counters, namely by Shadow-Rite Priest. You can have to stop looking at its stats but actual counters.
- If you block a 2/2 creature with two Chaplain of Alms, they will kill the 2/2, as both with attack first with their first strike damage.
