Ima Suri Dondai (Day 13)

I'm going to order some new MTG cards soon for a B/W Orzhov-style deck. I'm still in the brainstorming stage for now, but I'd like to experiment with the Extort mechanic, which allows me to pay B/W to drain 1 life from the opponent every time I cast a spell. This mechanic is typically attached to creatures--if I have multiple Extort creatures out, I can pay B/W for each one of them to drain life on every spellcast. Given enough mana and aggressively costed spells, I can Extort for 1-2 points just about every turn in addition to attacking. The idea is to chip away at the enemy while simultaneously building up my defenses. It might be gimmicky, but I've always liked the lifesteal mechanic because it combines offense and defense. The deck is also going to be Standard-legal because I just feel like it's more fun/fair that way.

Two of my other friends are putting together some decks as well--one will be a U/G deck centering around +1/+1 counters, whereas the other will be U/R, theme yet to be decided. Here are a few of the options I'm considering for my deck.

• Cards that use the Extort mechanic
• Basilica Screecher - A very efficient two-drop with Flying. 
• Blind Obedience - A cheap enchantment that will shut down opposing creatures/artifacts unless removed.
• Crypt Ghast - Very very strong for monoblack though I'm not sure its a good fit in this W/B deck. Might just be strong enough to take regardless--definitely a strong choice if I go heavy on black.
• Kingpin's Pet - Another relatively cheap flyer, though it requires both W and B. May not necessarily be worth a spot depending on my other options.
• Pontiff of Blight - Interesting as a win condition since it gives every other creature an extra instance of Extort though definitely not the most aggressive option. At 4BB it's very costly. Could be interesting as a one or two-of.
• Syndic of Tithes - A standard white 2/2 with Extort. Could be an option if I need more creatures in that mana range. 
• Thrull Parasite - Although his activated ability is situational, may very well be a mandatory inclusion due to needing a few one-drops to smooth out the mana curve.
• Tithe Drinker - I like this one. Two mana, Extort, and Lifelink. Reasonably strong offensively (2/1) and buffs up my defenses.
• Options for removal in Standard W/B
• Celestial Flare - Effective creature removal that bypasses some forms of protection by targeting the opposing player instead. Could be ineffective in some circumstances since it gives the opposing player the choice of what to sacrifice. Also requires WW, which could sometimes be problematic in a two color aggressive deck.
• Banisher Priest - Oblivion Ring-esque creature removal, but also requires WW and of course doesn't have Extort. 
• Triumph of Cruelty - Interesting choice. Similar to Celestial Flare, but less situational and gains me life.

The deck will definitely be creature-heavy, but I still need to think about the mana base and win conditions. Sometimes chipping away at the enemy slowly isn't going to do the trick, so I need a few cards in there that win me the game when I get to them. I'll definitely follow up on this soon.