Born of the Gods was bad.

You might’ve skipped that while otherwise blinded by the shiny new toys, the Simic Planeswalker, the improved black removal or even the insne UW goddess, but the fact remains, as facts are, true.
So bad, in fact, that limited archetypes shifted from building board states and setting heavy-decision-making situations to throwing white creatures vigorously to the battlefield, with the hopes of quickly growing and returning that quick win. In fact, the required technicality of the game decreased to the level of build-heroics-tap-opponent’s-creatures-win being the most viable strategy for the current limited formats. And while that might be fun for people who like their decks with lots of legs (read Creatures), I believe we all angst for something better with Journey into Nyx. We yearned for it. And, as it seems, we might as well have it.

So far we have a Djinn (read Master of the Feast), a True Believer (read Aegis of the Gods) and a City of Brass (read Mana Confluence), all with a distinct antique feel that I have particularly enjoyed; but, in addition to that, magicians will now have in the arsenal relevant new spells that might very well change the metagame dramatically (and I’m not really counting the new Ajani. I don’t like the new Ajani, let’s move along – similarly, Godsend is a gimmick and we shall abstract ourselves from its existence for the purpose of this article).

Iroas, God of Victory was the first released god that made us slightly shiver, as we envision hordes of Boros dudes running down the hill and through our life counters. While I do believe that it might very well see some constructed play (and by that, let’s read Standard Play), it was the unveiling of Athreos, God of Passage that got everyone’s juices flowing.

He (She? It?) has it all – it’s a three mana god with a powerful ability that supports an already playable archetype. If not only to support the archetype, we also receive new guys with legs (read Creatures) that resemble many of the Legacy Death and Taxes staples (some, in fact, might even make it to that level). Despite those (Eidolon of Rhetoric, Aegis of the Gods), it’s two uncommons that mostly called for my attention: Underworld Coinsmith and Gnarled Scarhide. Despite seemingly innocent, I believe both can sufficiently boost the viability of Orzhov Aggro in both Standard and Block Constructed play.

Underworld Coinsmith puts a relevant clock on the game in case its ability can be abused, and I see no better way of doing exactly that than by going all the rage aggro on your opponent. Similarly, the advantage of playing a significant amount of enchantment creatures on your aggro deck can turn a tremendously poor late game into the necessary reach to successfully finalize the game. Furthermore, having one 2/1 for one mana that becomes an aura at 4 is also extremely relevant for the beatdown purpose.
Having all that in mind, and obviously considering that not everything is spoiled and we are still not aware of the changes in the meta, I would like to suggest the following 75 as a solid Standard strategy:

Lands

3 Plains

7 Swamp

4 Temple of Silence

4 Godless Shrine

3 Mana Confluence

2 Mutavault

Creatures

4 Xathrid Necromancer

4 Pain Seer

3 Banisher Priest

4 Athreos, God of Passage

4 Underworld Coinsmith

4 Tormented Hero

1 Obzedat, Ghost Council

4 Gnarled Scarhide

2 Sin Collector

Spells

1 Whip of Erebos

1 Immortal Servitude

1 Orzhov Charm

3 Hero’s Downfall

1 Silence the Believers

Sideboard

1 Ultimate Price

3 Bile Blight

1 Master of the Feast

3 Lifebane Zombie

3 Doom Blade

2 Revoke Existence

2 Blood Baron of Vizkopa

 

Whip of Erebos, Immortal Servitude, Obzedat, Ghost Council and Silence the Believers would make the initial cut, more with the purpose of testing its effectiveness than to stay on a final version of the deck. It’s unclear if the nonbo would lead to either beneficial or detrimental situations, but I peg that the choice of one over the other would represent the most beneficial setup of the deck.

Other relevant considerations I would take are Spiteful Returned, Undercity Informer (thus supporting an extra Immortal Servitude, re-enacting and Spirit of the Labyrinth, variable on the progression of the metagame.

As a bonus, I would like to also suggest a similar version for Theros Block Constructed:

Lands

11 Swamp

6 Plains

1 Mana Confluence

4 Temple of Silence

Creatures

4 Athreos, God of Passage

4 Spiteful Returned

3 Herald of Torment

4 Pain Seer

4 Tormented Hero

4 Gnarled Scarhide

3 Spirit of the Labyrinth

4 Underworld Coinsmith

Spells

3 Hero’s Downfall

1 Silence the Believers

2 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion

2 Thoughtseize

 

Despite still being a very rough draft of what these decks should be, I see no reason why an Orzhov strategy should not be dominant on the upcoming months. Believe you me.

Now go and do your thing!
(I would be more than happy to hear feedback @ miguel.azevedo@securitylabs.co.uk)

Happy slinging,
Miguel.