OrzhovLegendary Creature — Spirit AdvisorObzedat, Ghost Council
Mana value5Rank#10,334
The Commander
When Obzedat enters, target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
At the beginning of your end step, you may exile Obzedat. If you do, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of your next upkeep. It gains haste.
Guide
Gameplan
Obzedat is a resilient value engine: drain a different opponent for 2 every end step by blinking it out, dodging sorcery-speed removal and untapping for a 5/5 attacker each turn. You grind the table down with incremental life swings while protecting your engine, eventually closing with a big drain effect or a wide aristocrats payoff.
Strengths
- Built-in evasion from removal and board wipes via end-step exile
- Recurring lifegain/lifeloss provides inevitability against slower decks
- Strong body (5/5) that returns with haste each turn
- Blink synergy with ETB-matters and flicker payoffs
Weaknesses
- Slow clock — 2 damage per turn loses to fast combo
- Vulnerable to instant-speed removal and the exile blink can be disrupted
- Color identity lacks card draw and ramp efficiency
- Stax/graveyard hate and lifegain hosers blunt the engine
Key Cards
- Vizkopa Guildmage — Doubles Obzedat's lifegain into damage and can turn one gain into a table-wide kill.
- Teysa, Orzhov Scion — Anchors an Orzhov aristocrats shell that pairs perfectly with the drain plan.
- Crypt Ghast — Black-pip ramp and Extort fuel push the lifegain-into-drain strategy.
- Cliffhaven Vampire — Converts every Obzedat lifegain trigger into extra direct damage.
- Felidar Sovereign — Obzedat's recurring lifegain makes the 40-life win condition very achievable.
Upgrade Path
Add a doubler package (Vizkopa Guildmage, Sanguine Bond, Cliffhaven Vampire) so a single big lifegain ends the game, and lean into Extort and flicker enablers like Conjurer's Closet. Improve mana with Orzhov rocks and ramp (Crypt Ghast, Smothering Tithe) and add efficient removal/protection like Swords to Plowshares and Teferi's Protection to defend the slow plan.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Incremental drain plus a damage doubler (Vizkopa Guildmage/Sanguine Bond + lifegain) for a table kill
- ▸Beating down with a hasty recurring 5/5 alongside tokens
- ▸Felidar Sovereign or Test of Endurance lifegain alt-win
- ▸Aristocrats payoffs like Blood Artist draining everyone out
Archetypes
- Aristocrats — Drain triggers and sac payoffs amplify Obzedat's life-swing inevitability.
- Lifegain / Drain — Repeated end-step gain feeds payoffs like Vizkopa Guildmage and Sanguine Bond.
- Control — The dodge-removal engine lets you play attrition and grind opponents out.
- Blink — Obzedat's self-exile loves flicker support and ETB-value creatures.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BW), by popularity.
