Standard: Orzhov Ketramose - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Ketramose, the New Dawn is undeniably the most powerful card in Aetherdrift for competitive Magic. Its presence has considerably changed the dynamics of matches in the game's eternal formats, being the protagonist of the current Orzhov Blink deck in Modern while, in Legacy, Death & Taxes lists adopted the god to generate value from the exile effects commonly played in the list, in addition to also making appearances in some blue Tempo variants in both formats.

This power level, however, has not reached Standard and Pioneer. The amount of cheap cards that interact with it is considerably smaller, and cards like Ghost Vacuum don't have a Metagame where they are good maindeck lists - but that doesn't stop players from trying.

This was the case for Robert Graves at the SCGCon Charlotte RCQ, who stood out with an Orzhov list that takes advantage of Ketramose with several interactions and effects that exile cards from the battlefield and graveyard to turn it into a constant source of card advantage.

In this article, we delve deeper into Orzhov Ketramose from Standard, with an updated list and a Sideboard guide for the main matchups of the current Metagame!

This list is based on the version ran by Robert Graves at the SCGCon Charlotte ReCQ, but with some more defined numbers and with fewer conditional cards like Ancient Vendetta or Parting Gust.

Our game plan remains the same: we are a late-game focused Midrange deck with Ketramose, the New Dawn, and to make the most of this creature, we have a package of several cards that exile opponent's permanents, cards from their graveyard or your hand, and from the moment we enable our god, it is a very difficult threat to interact with for some archetypes while its combination of abilities keeps us constantly ahead throughout the game.

If plan A fails for some reason, our plan B is the classic Midrange with Unholy Annex and Soulstone Sanctuary, in addition to having Beza, the Bounding Spring in the maindeck to hold the game long enough for Kaya, Intangible Slayer to come in and start taking over the match.

In a general context, this is a deck that has potential and is extremely fun to pilot. Ketramose is a powerful threat and the deckbuilding concessions for using it are relatively low in a Metagame where Temporary Lockdown and Anoint with Affliction are naturally good cards against a portion of the format, while Deadly Cover-Up and Legions to Ashes ensure we can extend the game against other Midrange and Control decks.

Maindeck

Ketramose, the New Dawn is our focus in this list and main win condition. With so many cards that exile something from the board or the opponent's graveyard, we can enable it early and start attacking with a 4/4 with Menace, Lifelink and Indestructible. Plus, thanks to the other cards in the list, it is a powerful source of card advantage.

Lord Skitter, Sewer King has constant interaction with Ketramose while functioning as a clock on its own and also as a spot graveyard hate against Oculus and Omniscience. It's a bit slow in attrition games, but this deck has no problem prolonging the game.

Kaya, Intangible Slayer is our late-game bomb and tends to take over games the moment she enters. The ability to exile any permanent and turn it into a copy on your side of the board while triggering Ketramose, combined with her card advantage and life drain ability, makes Kaya a robust option for long games.

Our complementary threats.

Unholy Annex is another way to source of card advantage in attrition games while creating a 6/6 token that turns into a quick win condition. As we started using the enchantment in the maindeck, we also included a set of Soulstone Sanctuary, which in addition to interacting with Annex, is also a 3/3 with Vigilance in longer games, allowing for an extra clock after a sweeper.

Beza, the Bounding Spring is in the list mainly to stabilize in games against Aggro, but it has advantages in almost every matchup in the current Metagame, and a 4/5 body is a respectable body on an empty board.

If we have a problem with this list, it is that our mana interactions cost two or more mana as a consequence of focusing on cards that exile creatures, and we try to compensate for this by having more sweepers in the maindeck.

Anoint with Affliction handles most of the small threats in Standard today, while also working effectively against Unstoppable Slasher or other creatures that have some resilience against traditional removal.

Legions to Ashes deals with any nonland permanent and allows us to interact with Kaito, Bane of Nightmares and other Planeswalkers in Game 1, in addition to dealing with Stormchaser’s Talent or Overlord of the Mistmoors' tokens.

The End is another definitive removal against Planeswalkers that we can use to remove key cards from the opponent, such as Zur, Eternal Schemer against Domain Overlords or Abhorrent Oculus against Jeskai Oculus.

The sweepers.

Temporary Lockdown remains as important today as it was during the Pro Tour, and having a maindeck set guarantees games against Bounce, Mono Red, and Gruul Prowess. It is limited against Midrange, Azorius Control, and Domain, but it's a concession we make for a more stable late-game. Additionally, the cards it exiles count towards Ketramose.

Deadly Cover-Up is our sweeper against late-game archetypes, and its ability to collect evidence guarantees more cards in exile for Ketramose while permanently dealing with the opponent's key cards.

Mazemind Tome is our other source of card advantage, with the bonus of giving us an extra breather against Aggro while exiling on the third activation. It's a bit slow in some games, but having a way to filter the top deck from turn two onwards helps you find Temporary Lockdown or another key card to start the game.

Soul Search is probably the most questionable card on the list, and skepticism was shared until I played this deck. It's slow for a discard effect, but it has two essential bonuses: it exiles any chosen card from the opponent's hand and the possibility of creating a 1/1 blocker if the chosen card has a mana value of one - a common cost for many red Aggro cards, where it would normally be a bad choice.

It's possible to swap it for Dreams of Steel and Oil or even Duress in the maindeck, but its versatility in longer games and the possibility of having eight discard effects against Azorius Control and combo in Games 2 and 3 have earned it a place in the maindeck.

Our mana base holds a total of 14 duals, with Shadowy Backstreet to filter the top while enabling Bleachbone Verge, and Restless Fortress as a complementary threat. Concealed Courtyard remains the best untapped dual in Standard today.

Sideboard

The 4-ofs.

It may seem like overkill to have a full set of Authority of the Consuls, but the main problem with Orzhov Ketramose vs Aggro matchup is that it is too slow to hold the clock, especially on the draw. We don't lack answers, we just need time to get to them, so having an enchantment that significantly slows down their clock gives us between two and three extra turns - and a few extra turns is all we need to win the game.

Duress, on the other hand, is four-of because we have plenty of answers against interactive decks in Game 1, but very few interactions against combo and Control. Therefore, including a cheap discard piece is a great way to get an edge in these games, since we don't lack threats and means to gain card advantage.

Ghost Vacuum is the main answer to graveyards in Standard today, and Orzhov Ketramose makes it a recurring source of draws with its key card in play. It's not worth slots in the maindeck, but it significantly speeds up the number of turns for Ketramose to transform into a creature.

Cease // Desist is the most common side-in on the list due to its versatility. On its cheaper side, it is a graveyard hate, a way to gain some breathing room against Aggro and also an extra draw when we need to take more cards from the Sideboard than we have to put in.

On the six-mana side, it permanently deals with all artifacts and enchantments, being a way to “win games” against Domain Overlords and Bounce decks.

Ancient Vendetta is a Cranial Extraction that doesn't need the card in the graveyard to work and guaranteed slots both for adding four cards in exile and for the possibility of permanently ruining the plans of an Azorius Omniscience or any other archetype that relies too much on specific cards to work.

The extra The End in the Sideboard has the same function as the two copies in the maindeck and comes in mainly in attrition games, or when we need more removal.

Azorius Omniscience

IN

OUT

Mono Red Aggro

IN

OUT

Exper Bounce

IN

OUT

Domain Overlords

IN

OUT

Jeskai Oculus

IN

OUT

Golgari Midrange

IN

OUT

Azorius Control

IN

OUT

Selesnya Cage

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!