Shadow-Rite Priest's printing has me more excited than the vast majority of other cards in Dominaria United. I feel like the last time cleric tribal got any real support was way back in the Onslaught block of 2002-2003 (twenty years ago?! Man, I'm old). Those were some of the first sets I ever opened, so I've had my own casual Mono-Black cleric list for the better part of two decades. Dark Supplicant was always a favorite in the list, and there's definitely been some great support for him released over the years. So, let's update a childhood favorite and sell our souls to the Scion of Darkness in the process!

Orzhov Clerics| Casual | James Heslip

• Creatures (32)
• 1 Scion of Darkness
• 1 Solemn Doomguide
• 2 Demon's Disciple
• 2 Lunarch Veteran // Luminous Phantom
• 2 Taborax, Hope's Demise
• 4 Archfiend's Vessel
• 4 Cleric of Life's Bond
• 4 Dark Supplicant
• 4 Imperious Oligarch
• 4 Ministrant of Obligation
• 4 Shadow-Rite Priest

• Instants (4)
• 4 Orzhov Charm

• Sorceries (2)
• 2 Rite of Oblivion

• Lands (22)
• 4 Plains
• 10 Swamp
• 4 Tainted Field
• 4 Sunlit Marsh

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Cost: $16.50 at the time of publication

The Core

Most of the list fits the aristocrats style that I've come to love so much, and much of this is because of Dark Supplicant, the other core creature in the deck. If we're lucky enough, we can activate him as early as turn two. Summoning his master, the Scion of Darkness, with such speed that many opponents will have no choice but to kneel before him (and you) in defeat! I especially love that Supplicant can summon Scion from pretty much anywhere, even the graveyard. This is great considering Scion comes with Cycling, which we can take advantage of at no loss to card advantage.

The Backup

Because we're planning on sacrificing lots of clerics to our two core creatures, we need to make sure we don't lose out on card advantage. Imperious Oligarch, Ministrant of Obligation, and to a lesser extent, Lunarch Veteran // Luminous Phantom are all acceptable casualties for the cause. Each either replaces itself when it does, or is easily brought back later in the game. Veteran's life gain is a nice touch considering our removal choices, which will be discussed later.

Archfiend's Vessel is another creature that we don't mind throwing into the graveyard early on. While he doesn't replace himself on sacrifice, his ability to "transform" into a 5/5 demon if he comes back from the graveyard is a good enough reason to YOLO him straight into the nearest ditch. How do we plan on bringing him back? Well, Solemn Doomguide can be searched out with Shadow-Rite Priest, and he gives Unearth to every cleric you have in the graveyard. However, the quickest and most reliable method is likely with Orzhov Charm, which can also act as removal against threats, or protection for our other creatures. Really, charm is one of the best cards in the list thanks to the fact that every mode is relevant to our game plan. Demon's Disciple and Rite of Oblivion round out the rest of the removal suite. Both fit the aristocrats style and have their bonuses within the cleric-driven strategy.

Taborax, Hope's Demise is both a cleric and a demon himself, and loves to watch his worshippers die. Each cleric that pays a blood tribute in his presence draws you extra cards and makes him more powerful, eventually giving him lifelink.

Cleric of Life's Bond provides us with a secondary win condition that doesn't rely on sacrificing our own creatures. As the turns go on, we can reliably build him up into a respectable beater, all the while gaining enough life to keep the opponent from winning any damage races. In practice, a decent chunk of my games were won simply by landing one or two of these guys and supporting them with removal spells until they got too big for the opponent to handle.

Tips and Tricks

Solemn Doomguide's most obvious use is in pairing him with Archfiend's Vessel. However, Demon's Disciple is a powerful target as well. Many times have I cast a Disciple, sacrificed him to himself, and then unearthed him for a repeated edit effect. It's costly and situational, but effective when you're able to pull it off. I only wish Unearth allowed our Afterlife creatures to trigger a second time. Sadly, they are exiled on death, and, therefore, Afterlife does not get an additional trigger.

With all of our life gain and potential to fill the field with fliers (Afterlife spirits, Vessel demons, and Solemn Doomguide), getting hyper aggressive in the air and simply tanking damage is a viable strategy. Simply pick away at the opponent's life total and heal up anything they take away from you in response.

Additional Options | James Heslip

• Creatures (31)
• 1 Archfiend of Sorrows
• 1 Banisher Priest
• 1 Benevolent Bodyguard
• 1 Bereaved Survivor
• 1 Bonecaller Cleric
• 1 Cabal Archon
• 1 Custodi Lich
• 1 Deathpact Angel
• 1 Draugr Recruiter
• 1 Edgewalker
• 1 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
• 1 Elderfang Disciple
• 1 Gangrenous Goliath
• 1 Harper Recruiter
• 1 High Priest of Penance
• 1 Markov Purifier
• 1 Nalia de'Arnise
• 1 Orah, Skyclave Hierophant
• 1 Orzhov Pontiff
• 1 Overseer of the Damned
• 1 Phyrexian Missionary
• 1 Priest of Fell Rites
• 1 Priest of the Blood Rite
• 1 Qarsi High Priest
• 1 Sin Collector
• 1 Skemfar Shadowsage
• 1 Skirsdag Flayer
• 1 Skirsdag High Priest
• 1 Treasury Thrull
• 1 Vile Deacon
• 1 Whisper, Blood Liturgist

• Instants (1)
• 1 Misery Charm

• Sorceries (8)
• 1 Call of the Death-Dweller
• 1 Can't Stay Away
• 1 Claim // Fame
• 1 Inscription of Ruin
• 1 Patch Up
• 1 Proclamation of Rebirth
• 1 Profane Prayers
• 1 Unearth

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Abiding Grace
• 1 Quest for the Gravelord
• 1 Rite of Belzenlok

• Artifacts (1)
• 1 Relic Vial

• Lands (1)
• 1 Base Camp

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Most of the old Onslaught block cleric support cards are here, but I couldn't bring myself to actually include them in the main list. As cool as it would be to cast a big Profane Prayers out of nowhere, it didn't really vibe with anything else we were doing.

Rite of Belzenlok is interesting in that, when paired with Shadow-Rite Priest, the 0/1 cleric tokens it makes actually have power. Since it produces two of these tokens each turn before spawning the demon, I feel it's worth trying out.

I included some of my favorite budget options for Shadow-Rite silver bullets. I tried to stay on theme with them, as well. Overseer of the Damned and Archfiend of Sorrows could be searched up if you need to clear one or more threats from the enemy's board, Treasury Thrull brings back a threat of your own, and Deathpact Angel is an on-theme threat that's difficult to get rid of, since she comes with her own little cleric cheerleader.

Orah, Skyclave Hierophant is probably the card I wanted to include the most. He's perfect for resurrecting Archfiend's Vessel, but is great beyond this interaction. Since many of our clerics replace themselves on death, Orah has the potential to be a wonderful card advantage engine for the list. I'm tempted to take out a single copy of Taborax to fit him in, but the card draw from the demon cleric feels too strong for me to ignore.