When Aetherdrift first came out, players quickly realized that Monument to Endurance was a powerful build-around. The card has made its presence felt in Pioneer, most commonly in Boros shells utilizing support pieces like Fiery Temper.
In a new development, though, a neat Orzhov Monument deck featuring the all-powerful Greasefang, Okiba Boss just had a breakout performance. Boasting a top two finish in a Magic Online Pioneer Challenge, this deck clearly has what it takes to beat the top decks in the format. Let’s dive in and see what this shell has going for it.
Monument and Chariot
As is typical with the Boros Monument deck, your main discard outlets are Guardian of New Benalia and Seasoned Hallowblade. These are the two cards that allow your payoffs to work overtime, since they allow you to discard cards repeatedly for free.
Because they can gain Indestructible on a whim, it’s very difficult for most opponents to actually get them off the board. This makes them the perfect targets for Sheltered by Ghosts. Sheltered by Ghosts drastically improves the mono-red matchup by removing a problematic attacker and providing a consistent source of life gain.
Sure, you have to discard cards to make your two-drops Indestructible, but with Monument to Endurance out, this is a very small cost. Monument to Endurance is a card advantage machine, mana engine, and win condition all rolled up into one.
If you ever get multiple copies in play at once (which isn’t too difficult with four copies of The Mycosynth Gardens ready to go), you can churn through your deck and threaten the opponent’s life total in no time.
One of the major weaknesses with the Boros Monument deck, though, is that your gameplan is inconsistent. In games where you don’t draw Monument, it can be difficult to pull ahead.
Orzhov Monument addresses this issue nicely by giving you another elite discard payoff: Cryptcaller Chariot. Alongside either of your two-drops, Cryptcaller Chariot is capable of putting a ton of Zombies into play.
Sometimes, discarding your whole hand to flood the board with tokens on your opponent’s end step to enable a huge attack during your turn will singlehandedly win you the game. Of course, with both Monument and Chariot in play, you’ll start generating tons of value and board presence at the same time.
Alternate Game Winner
Where this deck starts to get a little crazy is with the inclusion of a Greasefang package. At first glance, Greasefang may seem out of place. However, its inclusion actually makes a lot of sense.
First of all, your two-drops reliably can discard Parhelion II to set up a turn three Greasefang. This is the most explosive line of play you have access to, and your opponent is forced to take a huge risk if they ever want to tap out.
Second, you’re already making use of Cryptcaller Chariot, so adding some extra Vehicle synergies is totally reasonable. When you don’t draw Parhelion II, you can always discard Cryptcaller Chariot, resurrect it with Greasefang and attack, make some Zombies, then bring Crpytcaller Chariot back to your hand for future use. Greasefang adds a whole new dynamic to the deck at low cost.
Transformational Sideboard
If you thought playing Monument and Greasefang in the same deck is the most unique thing this archetype has to offer, you have to check out the sideboard. This deck has a ton of tricks up its sleeve, and one of them is to transform your strategy in grindy matchups.
The sideboard consists of 15 cards that all work well with one another. Four copies of Waste Not make an appearance, alongside Duress, Go Blank, and Hostile Investigator which all reliably trigger Waste Not. Add in the playset of Thoughtseize in the maindeck and Geier Reach Sanitarium as a utility land, and you have plenty of ways to maximize the powerful enchantment.
This sideboard configuration is pretty strange but helps improve a number of matchups. Against decks where you expect graveyard hate to mess with Greasefang and Parhelion II, it can be worthwhile to sideboard in the Waste Not package to try and win the long game.
Against decks like Izzet Phoenix and mono-black midrange, adding a plethora of disruption plus a new win condition that the opponent can’t easily get off the table is a neat approach. Between Monument, Cryptcaller Chariot, and Waste Not, you’re well set up to dominate attrition wars.
Building your deck this way does mean you won’t have room for other common sideboard slots, such as extra removal for the mono-red matchup or graveyard hate of your own. Regardless, running a transformational sideboard has its perks. Orzhov Monument is starting to heat up in Pioneer, so make sure to keep this deck on your radar.
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