Standard: Orzhov Pixie - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

The Pro Tour Aetherdrift brought a dozen new additions to the Standard Metagame: from the rise of Domain Overlords to the rebirth of Azorius Control as a competitive archetype, and even new variants of Jeskai Oculus and the popularization of Golgari Self-Mill.

Among all the new decks that emerged, the archetype with the highest win rate at the event was Orzhov Pixie, piloted by player Ben Stark - a deck that famously runs the combination of Hopeless Nightmare and Nurturing Pixie alongside more attrition-oriented cards, such as Liliana of the Veil and Unholy Annex.

In this article, we delve deeper into this new variant of Bounce decks in Standard!

This is essentially the same list that Ben Stark used to go 8-1 at Pro Tour Aetherdrift. Changes were made due to how the Metagame has adapted since the event, and also because cards like Tinybones Joins Up feel redundant.

The additions include a copy of Beza, the Bounding Spring in the maindeck because Aggro remains popular on Magic Arena and a 4/5 for four mana that draws a card isn't useless against Control either. It's possible to add Sheoldred, the Apocalypse in this slot, but since this is a Bounce deck, I'd rather go with cards with relevant ETBs. Overlord of the Mistmoors as a one-of is an option, but it interacts poorly with Temporary Lockdown.

Duress entered the Sideboard as four copies because the two most hyped decks of the event - Domain Overlords and Azorius Control - are games where we need to have more information and ways to get what we want out of the opponent's hand rather than giving them the opportunity to choose. Also, Duress is good against Bounce mirrors.

The plan here is much more attrition-oriented than in the Esper or Dimir variants, whose plan involves making Tempo plays to delay the opponent while advancing their board. We want to exhaust the opponent's resources and gain advantages over Unholy Annex while reusing our ETBs from our permanents.

Maindeck

Despite its name, Orzhov Bounce only uses one card with this mechanic: Nurturing Pixie allows reusing any ETB while a 2/2 for one mana is useful for establishing pressure with our manlands.

This deck has another type of “bounce” that we can use: both Temporary Lockdown and Loran of the Third Path are very well-positioned cards in a Bounce-mirrors Metagame, but they also have interactions with each other.

Temporary Lockdown, in addition to locking the opponent's permanents, also exiles our low-cost artifacts and enchantments: Grim Bauble, Momentum Breaker, Hopeless Nightmare and Nurturing Pixie - and since it returns them to the battlefield when it leaves, we can use Loran or another Pixie to Bounce or destroy the Lockdown and reuse all the ETBs of our exiled cards with it.

There are games where it's worth following this line, and ensures it is great againsg some matchups while never being a dead draw, even against Control in Game 1, but there are games where we should use it as a cheap sweeper, such as against Esper Bounce or Red Aggro.

Unholy Annex is our main win condition and source of card advantage that ensures we have more resources than the opponent when we clear both hands with Liliana of the Veil. We can also reuse it with Nurturing Pixie to create more demon tokens.

Liliana of the Veil is a core card in this list to exhaust the opponent's resources and force both players into topdeck and doubles as recurring removal. Personally, I've been liking her less and less in this list because the way the post-Pro Tour Metagame has been optimizing makes her a bit of a poor option against both Domain and Bounce and irrelevant against Gruul Mice, and while she's always been a good card to play against Control, the individual quality of a Stock Up can mitigate the damage a Liliana can do to their hand.

She should stay in the maindeck as long as Azorius Control is hot, but if the format enters a Bounce vs. Domain vs. Gruul vs. Others phase, she'll lose a lot of value in the Metagame.

Hopeless Nightmare is the linchpin of most of the complaints surrounding Bounce decks because it quickly reduces the opponent's hand while pressuring their life total.

Grim Bauble and Momentum Breaker were Aetherdrift's main additions to this strategy. Both are efficient removals that we can often reuse in aggro matches, with Bauble interacting with Heartfire Hero or Monastery Swiftspear from turn one, while Momentum Breaker can be sacrificed to gain life.

Manlands are legitimate win conditions in this archetype and a way to compensate for a possible lack of creatures. Soulstone Sanctuary also offers the advantage of transforming into another demon for Unholy Annex.

Our other lands basically serve to correct our mana and ensure that we have a relevant amount of untapped duals.

Sideboard

Enduring Innocence is a multimodal card in this list. On one hand, it is a 3/2 with Lifelink that blocks Aggro and generates value with Nurturing Pixie. On the other hand, it is a source of card advantage that we can constantly gain some extra draws with Pixie, guaranteeing it a place in various matchups.

Loran of the Third Path has its set closed in the Sideboard to respond to both Bounce and Domain Overlords decks, and its draw ability can be used together with Liliana of the Veil to extract value while removing a resource from an opponent's empty hand.

Beza, the Bounding Spring plays mainly against Aggro. There are not many attrition games where we want it, but it can also a relevant card in Bounce mirrors.

Cut Down is our best answer against Aggro in post-Sideboard games where we need to take a more Control stance and have Unholy Annex as our main win condition. Dealing with Emberheart Challenger on turn two, or a Heartfire Hero at the time of a pump is essential to holding the early game.

Duress provides information and removes a key card from the opponent's hand, good against Azorius Control, Domain Overlords and Azorius Omniscience.

Rest in Peace is another important card against Omniscience decks and doubles as a response to Abhorrent Oculus lists and the recent hype around Golgari Self-Mill.

Gruul Mice

IN

OUT

Domain Overlords

IN

OUT

Azorius Control

IN

OUT

Esper Bounce

IN

OUT

Jeskai Oculus

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!