Suvnica Week 1 Review, Part 2: Rise and Fall (Orzhov)

(6/10: As originally published, the design review for Orzhov was incorporated into the Week 2 Design Challenge. I've moved them out of that article and into their own pages for easier navigation and uniformity in the reviews. Some comments on the content of this section are still contained in the original article)

Zefferal's Orzhov

"A group that ensures society’s and civilization’s secured existence through selective assassination and dark sorcery. The heads of this guild meet routinely to determine the individuals and groups that represent the greatest threats to their utopian ideals, and determine how best to eliminate those threats."

This had a lot more fans than my version of Gruul. Incidentally, a couple days after I wrote this description I started playing Assassin's Creed for the first time. I'm only a few hours into the game, but the Assassins are essentially my vision of Suvnican Orzhov. Here are a couple more cards I thought of.

lpaulsen and Lobster667 made designs for this one.

lpaulsen:

The original version was an instant that gave +1/+1 counters to each of your creatures, which didn't feel at home in WB to me. lpaulsen updated to this, which is a much more on-color design.

Fun design, although possibly utterly broken in multiplayer.

A nice variation on Godhead of Awe. I could also see this ability stapled onto the guild leader or champion.

Lobster667:

I like the design, although I feel it plays more into Ravnican Orzhov than my vision.

This ability is Blue through and through. White attempting to calm a riot would probably involve tapping or blinking, black would likely replace the rubber bullets with real ones (-X/-X). Worth reanalyzing the design when we do Azorius week.

I actually kind of love that this doesn't have flash. It's a rare, so newbie confusion is less of an issue, and it's begging to go in a deck that runs a preprint of Scout's Warning. Development would have a field day with this.

R Stech's Orzhov

"Suvnica Orzhov fervently believe the city is full of sin and vice and needs to be cleansed. They will do so by summoning angels and demons that act as judge, jury, and executioner for those guilty of any sort of moral trespass. Think of them like current Azorius, except instead of jailing and punishing any transgression percieved or otherwise, they are willing to murder for it."

I really like the idea of Suvnican guild roles being shifted like this. There could be a lot of tension in a guild like this, with a fair amount of constituents recognizing that their is a lot of hypocrisy creeping in.

R Stech's cards:

I wonder why this has to be a demon. Demons are Black's big iconic, and a french vanilla common doesn't exactly scream iconic. Avacyn Restored, which had tribal support for Angels and Demons, still only included two of each at common, and they were either bigger or somehow more memorable. If there is some Demon tribal support in Suvnica (and who's to say there won't be), then this makes a lot more sense.

Angel of Morality, turn turn turn, and tell us the lesson that we must learn. This guy is cool. Punishes aggressive creatures by being more aggressive. Very nice design and flavor.

Another card that punishes fatties and aggressive creatures. Very nice. 

Jack's Orzhov:

"[I]dealistic people who are very lone-wolf and a bit morally gray. Say, Batman (when he's beating people to death and championing a stable non-crime-ridden society, not when he's acting on impulse)."

Batman reference aside (Batman isn't Black - definitely Blue, arguably white and red as well, but never black) the vision may work. It would need some refinement and clarification, as this describes individuals much more than a cohesive guild or group.

Chah's Orzhov:

"A legion of Batmen fighting evil but using secrecy, fear, and extra-judicial means as their weapon."

In Magic, there really isn't a set definition of Evil, so Chah should probably clarify what it is that his vision of Orzhov considers to be evil, which should show us more how each component color contributes to guild philosophy.

Chah's cards:

If you drop the Batman conceit and make him a Specter, he'll make us itch for a BG one to fit in along with Blazing and Blizzard Specters. Nice (and scary) design.

This is great, and fits in with a number of other Suvnican Orzhov visions (including mine). Zero tolerance for going against us or our mission.

This is weird, and probably shouldn't exist at common. First, -2/-0 is blue. Aura that give you passive combat bonuses will lead to memory issues and misunderstandings. If this was WU instead, and gave only a bonus when your creature was blocked by the enchanted creature, I think it would work better.

Jay Treat's Orzhov:

"Vohzro is a color pair that loves purity and unity and has no qualms about achieving it through mass violence."

Jay designed this very spikey control card in a moment of convergent inspiration, before I pitched the column to GA. I think it's probably a little undercosted, but a very cool design all the same.