One thing that allows top-tier Limited players to get an edge on the rest of the field is an understanding of lesser-known sub-archetypes. Last week, I spoke about a personal favorite, and somewhat unknown, Rakdos Sacrifice.
Today I want to shine a light on another take on Orzhov that I’ve dubbed Turbo Toxic. After all, counting to twenty requires me to take off my shoes to count my toesies, and I’ve got two hands that can count to ten just fine!
General Theory
The deck wants to be as threat-heavy as possible. You should deprioritize any creature without toxic or proliferate. Instead, I would categorize creatures like Ambulatory Edifice or Vivisection Evangelist as kill spells and blockers, as the goal of the deck is to kill via ten poison counters.
The deck name has the word “Turbo” in it for a reason. This deck is not meant to go into the late-game, and it can run out of gas fairly early. You are looking to establish a clock on your opponent as early as Turn 2, and avoid any card that takes your foot off of the gas.
Between black and white, we have some amazing and, more importantly, inexpensive removal options to choose from. Anoint with Affliction, Planar Disruption, Whisper of the Dross, Ossification, and Annihilating Glare are all obviously solid options.
Not so obvious, but likely the best common removal spell for the deck, is Vraska’s Fall. The majority of our threats cost one or two mana, so a kill spell plus a poison counter on Turn 3 is the sequence that will set you up to win the game. In addition, there will be games that stall out with your opponent at eight or nine poison counters, where cards like Vraska’s Fall help cross the finish line.
Combinations Within the Deck
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Swooping Lookout can do a decent impersonation of Pestilent Syphoner if you have three or more ways to toxify it. A good way to help visualize Pestilent Syphoner with Necrogen Communion is to think of it as a six-power flyer on Turn 3! Prosthetic Injector can also do a Necrogen Communion impersonation, helping speed up whatever clock you have going.
Once you establish a doomsday clock of turns before you count to ten.
Establishing a Turn 1 toxic creature that will be turning sideways for the foreseeable future is exactly what this deck wants to be doing. If you’ve got the Skullbombs to bluff the trick, it’s not a train wreck if your opponent calls your bluff and blocks. You will at least get a replacement Mite token to keep biting at the opponent’s ankles next turn.
Cards to Avoid
Any creature that doesn’t have toxic should be treated as a role-player or removal. Obviously this won’t always be possible, but I would do my best to avoid having to play these types of creatures.
Tips/Tricks
Don’t cast Necrogen Communion into instant-speed removal. Not too much explanation needed, but this is a good way to lose the game.
Unfortunately, Necrogen Communion is a somewhat contested card, so if you think you’re going down this road, you will want to pick it up above removal but still below bombs.
You want to be threat-dense. While removal spells are important, the top priority for the deck is to have as many threats as possible.
Orzhov doesn’t need any help being a competitive deck on its own. Don’t force this archetype if you can assemble a solid corrupted deck. Instead, just add it to your arsenal of pocket strategies.
Orzhov Turbo Toxic in Action
While this deck got the 3-0, I would have preferred to play sixteen lands and have a decent replacement for Fleshless Gladiator.
Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!
