I use the following parameters to determine the strength of the deck. For each, I allocate a score of 5 (very good), 4 (good), 3 (mediocre), 2 (bad) or 1 (very bad); when totalized this score represents the power rating of the deck.
- Mana: indicates the availability of mana sources within the deck.
- Ramp: indicates the speed at which mana sources within the deck can be made available.
- Card Advantage: indicates availability of filter- and draw resources represented within the deck.
- Overall speed: indicates the deck’s potential for pace, based on resource availability and mana curve.
- Combo: indicates the measure of combo-orientation of the deck.
- Army: indicates the deck’s creature-army strength.
- Commander: indicates how much the deck is commander-oriented/dependent (less dependency is better).
- Resilience: indicates the measure in which the deck can prevent and take punches.
- Spellpower: indicates the availability and strength of high-impact spells.
Mana: 3
During turns, I want to be able to summon a token with Daxos, while simultaneously having enough mana left over to cast at least one other spell. Thus, it’s important to have decent mana available within this deck. It contains five rocks, two cheapeners and two enchantments that relinquish treasure tokens whenever my opponents attempt to gain the upper hand.
Ramp: 2
The second most efficient color at ramping after green, is actually white. This means there are a decent number of options. I’ve included only three of them though, and all of them can only be used when at least one player controls more lands than I do.
Card Advantage: 4
It’s great to have lots of options during turns and that requires to draw cards often. I’ve featured five cards as direct-draw resources and five tutors to allow for this. Also, two amazing filter-artifacts have been added.
Overall speed: 4
Lots of cheap resources, draw and inhibiting spells/enchantments allow this deck to kick-start itself with a very decent speed. During most games I will be able to undertake the first, serious inhibitive actions before turn four.
Combo: 1
Not a very combo-oriented deck, but there are some nice synergies in here. A number of permanents benefit from the fact that Daxos doesn’t just generate spirits, but enchantment-spirits. This feeds into enchantment-ETB effects.
Army: 2
Most of this deck’s potential for combat damage relies on its token army. In terms of non-token creatures, the amount included can be considered below average. Their individual strengths aren’t really combat oriented either; most of them have been included for their inhibitive/supportive abilities or their synergy with the deck’s enchantments.
Commander: 4
The ability to generate (potentially) strong tokens is really quite useful in a deck that mostly relies on combat damage to finish off opponents. Daxos can do this quite well by himself, but redundancy has been added in abundance (five options), in case Daxos ever becomes unavailable to us. If the deck is deprived entirely of token generation options, it will still take one heck of a pounding before it goes down.
Resilience: 5
This deck’s primary mode is not offensive but defensive. Orzhov happens to excel at that. This color-combination sports a wide variety of inhibition-, rebirth- and outright destructive options. I’ve chosen to include ten cards (mostly enchantments) that slow down my opponents or negate their advantage. These are supported by no less than fourteen removal options (eight specifically meant to get rid of opposing creatures). Last but not least, I’ve included three cards that allow me to retrieve lost enchantments from the graveyard.
Spellpower: 5
In terms of high impact on the board, this deck really packs a wallop. This becomes particularly apparent if I am allowed to create a board-state of more than a few enchantments at the same time. Options to hurt me or impact me in other ways becomes severely limited in such cases. I would say that at least twenty-one cards within the deck fall within this category.
Total power score: 30
Ever since Daxos came out, this creation has evolved into a strong combination of cards that can counter most opposing threats, and this is reflected in the deck’s power score. It’s not particularly fast, but it’s quite hard to get rid of and becomes very dangerous once it gets going a few turns without losing enchantments. I love it for its versatility and its ability to make an impact on the battlefield.