Orzhov Greasefang — Pioneer Strategy Guide

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Archetype Overview

Orzhov Greasefang is a graveyard combo deck that looks like a midrange deck. Its main plan uses two cards. You get Parhelion II into your graveyard, then you resolve Greasefang, Okiba Boss. At the beginning of combat, Greasefang returns the Vehicle with haste, and you crew it and attack. The rest of the 60 exists to set up that turn, protect it, or win when it doesn't happen. This list took 2nd place at a 33-player event on 2026-10-17, and it puts that two-card plan in a shell built around discard.

The Engine

Greasefang has 4 power, so it meets Crew 4 by itself. Crew doesn't require the crewing creature to be free of summoning sickness. Compare Enlist on Guardian of New Benalia, which says so explicitly. That means the combo works on the turn Greasefang comes down.

When Parhelion II attacks, you get:

• a 5/5 with flying, first strike and vigilance
• two 4/4 flying, vigilant Angel tokens that enter already attacking

That is 13 power in the air from a three-mana creature.

Parhelion goes back to your hand at your end step. The Angels stay. Next turn you discard Parhelion again, and Greasefang brings it back for two more Angels. One resolved Greasefang can end the game even if the first swing doesn't.

Filling the Graveyard

Most of the list turns a Parhelion in hand into a Parhelion in the graveyard:

• Creatures that discard: Iron-Shield Elf, Guardian of New Benalia and Fleeting Spirit can each discard a card at instant speed. Each one is also a cheap attacker with a way to dodge removal: indestructible for the first two, a temporary exile for Spirit.
• Lively Dirge: with its first mode, it searches your library for the missing piece and puts it in the graveyard. Its second mode returns creature cards, which can bring back a Greasefang that was removed.
• Utility lands:
  • Geier Reach Sanitarium lets you discard without spending a spell.
  • Takenuma, Abandoned Mire mills three and returns a creature card to hand. That card is usually Greasefang.
• Bitter Triumph: lets you discard as its additional cost, so a removal spell also bins Parhelion.

Monument to Endurance turns all of that discarding into resources. Each discard can draw a card, make a Treasure, or drain the opponent for 3, and you can pick a different mode for up to three discards each turn. The discard creatures stop costing you cards, and Monument gives the deck reach that doesn't depend on combat. The Mycosynth Gardens adds more copies: for X=3 it becomes a second Monument to Endurance, doubling the payoff on every discard.

Why the Plan Is Strong

• It's fast and hard to answer. Parhelion arrives with haste during combat. Sorcery-speed answers to the Vehicle never get a window before 13 flying damage hits.
• Your enablers are threats. The discard creatures are 3/1s and a 2/2 with Enlist. If the opponent ignores them, they chip in damage. If the opponent removes them, you discard in response and bin Parhelion anyway.
• Your interaction protects the combo turn. Four Thoughtseize show you the opponent's hand and strip the answer before you commit. Four Fatal Push and two Vanishing Verse handle early pressure cheaply, which leaves mana for Greasefang on curve. There's also a hidden synergy: discarding to Fleeting Spirit exiles it, which turns on revolt for Fatal Push that turn.
• You can rebuy Greasefang. If Greasefang dies, you have several ways back:
  • Emptiness cast with {W}{W} returns it straight to the battlefield, even when evoked for two mana.
  • Lively Dirge can return it from the graveyard.
  • Takenuma, Abandoned Mire puts it back in your hand.
  Killing Greasefang once rarely ends the threat.

What It Costs You

The deck depends on your graveyard. If you can't discard or mill, Parhelion is an uncastable eight-drop in your hand. Opponents who exile graveyards or deal with artifacts at instant speed can blank the main plan for a turn or for the game. For that reason the fair half of the deck matters: those 3-power creatures and Monument's drain have to be able to close a game on their own.

You also pay life freely:

• Thoughtseize
• Godless Shrine
• Caves of Koilos
• sometimes Bitter Triumph

Against aggressive decks, that life total needs managing.

Some lines have catches you must know cold:

• Takenuma, Abandoned Mire and Lively Dirge's second mode only return creature cards. They can't fetch Parhelion back.
• Emptiness only brings back Greasefang if {W}{W} was actually spent to cast it.

Who Should Pick It Up

Pick this deck if you want to threaten a fast kill while still playing hand disruption and removal. You need to track discard triggers, plan which turn you go for it, and decide when Thoughtseize has cleared the way. The deck rewards careful sequencing: which outlet to use, when to discard, and how to split Monument's modes. Those small decisions decide close games.

At about $210, it is a reasonable buy for a two-color Pioneer deck. If you like playing around answers rather than just jamming threats, this is the Pioneer combo deck to learn.

Core Strategy & Game Plan

How the Deck Wins

The deck wins by putting Parhelion II into the graveyard and resolving Greasefang, Okiba Boss. At the beginning of combat, Greasefang returns the Vehicle with haste. You crew it with Greasefang's own 4 power and attack. Parhelion makes two 4/4 flying Angels that enter attacking, so a single swing puts 13 power in the air, and the Parhelion itself has first strike. The Angels are tokens and stay after combat. Parhelion goes back to your hand at your end step. Discard it again and the next attack brings two more Angels, which usually ends the game.

Crewing doesn't use the tap symbol, so a Greasefang you just cast can crew. You don't need a second creature for the base combo.

Posture: Proactive Combo With a Disruptive Shell

You are the beatdown, but you are also the one holding interaction. Thoughtseize isn't there for value. It strips the instant-speed removal or graveyard hate that would blank your Greasefang turn. Fatal Push, Vanishing Verse, and Bitter Triumph keep fast starts in check until the combo comes online. They also keep you alive if it gets answered. Plan to spend your first two turns setting up and disrupting, then win the turn Greasefang lands.

The Engine Pieces

• Discard outlets: Iron-Shield Elf, Guardian of New Benalia, and Fleeting Spirit all discard for free at instant speed. Each one also protects itself. The Elf and Guardian gain indestructible, and the Spirit blinks out and returns at the next end step. Bitter Triumph and Geier Reach Sanitarium are extra ways to bin Parhelion.
• Graveyard access: Lively Dirge can search out Parhelion and put it straight into the yard. With enough mana, it can also return a Greasefang from the yard to the battlefield. Spree modes resolve in printed order, so the search happens before the return. Emptiness evoked with {W}{W} returns a dead Greasefang. Takenuma, Abandoned Mire channels to get Greasefang back to hand, and it costs less once a legendary creature is out.
• The grind engine: Monument to Endurance turns every discard into a card, a Treasure, or 3 life loss for the opponent. You can choose each mode once per turn. The Mycosynth Gardens can become a copy of Monument for X=3, which doubles every trigger.

The pieces overlap in useful ways. Discarding Parhelion with Monument out draws you a card. Spending a Treasure, blinking Fleeting Spirit, or evoking Emptiness all count as a permanent leaving the battlefield. Any of these turns on revolt for Fatal Push, which then kills creatures with mana value 4 or less.

The Ideal Game

1. Turn 1: Cast Thoughtseize and take whatever answers Greasefang or your graveyard. If you have no hand disruption, play an untapped land and hold up Fatal Push.
2. Turn 2: Deploy a two-drop outlet. Don't discard Parhelion right away. Wait until the opponent's end step, or your own main phase before combat, so graveyard hate has the smallest possible window. One more reason to wait: Iron-Shield Elf and Guardian of New Benalia tap when you activate them. If you discard on the opponent's turn, they untap in time to crew or attack.
3. Turn 3: Cast Greasefang, Okiba Boss in your first main phase. The trigger returns Parhelion, Greasefang crews, and you swing for 13 in the air.
4. Turn 4: Discard Parhelion again through an outlet. Attack with the returned Vehicle, two new Angels, and the two from last turn.

The backup curve is turn 3 Monument to Endurance, then a discard-fueled turn 4. That line pressures life totals and refills your hand while you dig for the combo.

When the Combo Gets Answered

Removal on Greasefang in response to the trigger. The trigger still resolves and Parhelion still comes back with haste. Without Greasefang, though, you need another 4 power to crew. A board of Iron-Shield Elf plus any other creature lets you crew anyway. Try to have that backup board before you commit Greasefang into open mana.

Greasefang dies outside combat. Rebuy it with Emptiness, Lively Dirge, or Takenuma, Abandoned Mire. When you evoke Emptiness to reanimate, you need two white sources. Mana from Caves of Koilos spent as colorless or from untransformed Gardens won't count as {W}{W}.

Parhelion gets exiled from the graveyard. Fall back to the fair plan. Your 3/1s and Guardian of New Benalia attack, with enlist pumping Guardian and scrying you toward threats. Monument to Endurance drains 3 a turn while your removal keeps the board clear.

When you use Fleeting Spirit's first-strike ability, exile cards from your graveyard carefully. Never exile your Parhelion to pay that cost.

Card Choices & Breakdown

The Engine: Greasefang and Parhelion

4 Greasefang, Okiba Boss is the deck. At the beginning of combat on your turn it returns a Vehicle from your graveyard with haste, and with 4 power it crews Parhelion II by itself. That is a turn-three kill threat that needs no other creature on board. It is legendary, so drawing a second copy has diminishing returns. You still run four because every game plan routes through it, and a spare copy is discard fodder or backup after removal.

4 Parhelion II is the only Vehicle. It is 8 mana and you will never cast it, so it is a dead card in hand until you discard it. You run the full four because the discard outlets turn every copy you draw into a live combo piece. Once it is in the graveyard, a single attack brings a 5/5 flying first striker plus two attacking 4/4 flying Angels. Greasefang returns it to your hand at your next end step, which reloads your discard fodder for the following turn.

Discard Outlets on Bodies

These creatures put Parhelion in the graveyard, carry the Monument engine, and give you extra crew power if Greasefang is tapped or stuck.

• 4 Fleeting Spirit: the best of the three. Its discard ability exiles it and returns it at the next end step, so it dodges removal and sweepers while it enables. Exiling it also counts as a permanent leaving the battlefield, which turns on revolt for Fatal Push that turn.
• 4 Iron-Shield Elf: a 3/1 that discards for indestructible. It taps itself to do so, so use it on your own turn before combat or in response to "destroy" removal. It does not help against -1/-1 effects or damage-based sweepers that reduce toughness.
• 3 Guardian of New Benalia: the same discard-for-indestructible outlet, plus enlist and scry 2 to dig toward missing pieces. It sits at three because it has only 2 power. That makes it the weakest crew contributor and the worst beater, so it is the first creature trimmed for space.

Monument to Endurance

4 Monument to Endurance turns discarding from a cost into card advantage. Each discard gives you a different mode per turn: draw a card, make a Treasure, or drain each opponent for 3. One turn with Parhelion going to the yard plus an Elf activation can net a card and a Treasure, or a card and 3 damage.

The Treasure is relevant twice. It ramps toward Lively Dirge's full spree. Sacrificing it also turns on revolt for Fatal Push.

Monument also makes the deck resilient. When the opponent answers Greasefang, a Monument in play keeps your outlets producing value and reach while you find the next threat.

Backup Reanimation

• 1 Lively Dirge: the most flexible card in the list. For three mana it puts any card from your library into your graveyard, usually Parhelion II when you have Greasefang but no fodder. For five mana with both modes, you can put Greasefang, Okiba Boss into the graveyard and return it to the battlefield, or return Greasefang plus a 1-drop from a graveyard that is already stocked.
• 1 Emptiness: evoked with {W}{W}, it returns a creature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. That reanimates Greasefang for two mana after it has been killed or discarded. Paid with {B}{B}, it is instead three -1/-1 counters on an opposing creature. Hard-cast late with both color pairs spent, it does both.
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire: a black source that channels to mill three and return a creature to hand. It costs {1} less while Greasefang is in play. The channel also counts as a discard for Monument triggers.

Interaction

• 4 Thoughtseize: you are a combo deck, and the card that beats you is the removal spell or counter waiting for Greasefang. Taking it on turn one makes your turn-three attack far more likely to connect. Against low-curve aggro, Thoughtseize is the first card to cut after sideboarding.
• 4 Fatal Push: one-mana removal for the early game. Your own Fleeting Spirit blinks and Treasure sacrifices make revolt easy to turn on, which stretches it to mana value 4.
• 2 Vanishing Verse: instant-speed exile for any monocolored permanent, including enchantments and planeswalkers that creature removal can't touch. It is capped at two because it misses multicolored and colorless threats. A third copy waits in the sideboard.
• 1 Bitter Triumph: unconditional creature or planeswalker removal at instant speed. Its additional cost can be a discard, so it doubles as an outlet that bins Parhelion and triggers Monument.

The Mana Base

The 24 lands are more than the curve needs. They earn their slots because several of them double as spells.

• 4 Godless Shrine, 4 Concealed Courtyard, 2 Brightclimb Pathway, 3 Caves of Koilos: dual sources that get you {W}{B} for Greasefang on turn three.
• Plains, Swamp: basics that also turn on Bleachbone Verge's white mode, as do the Shrines.
• 4 The Mycosynth Gardens: colorless mana that can filter into any color for {1}. Late in the game it can pay {3} to become a second Monument to Endurance, doubling your discard payoff at the cost of a mana source.
• 2 Geier Reach Sanitarium: a land-based discard outlet you can activate at any time to bin Parhelion or trigger Monument. The opponent loots too, so activate it when your gain clearly outweighs theirs.
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire: a Plains-like source that channels into 4 damage to an attacking or blocking creature, cheaper with Greasefang out. The channel is a discard for Monument as well.

With this many colorless sources, sequence carefully. Lead with your colored lands so that turn three always has both {W} and {B}.

The Decklist

This is the exact 75 that took 2nd Place at Big on 2026-10-17. It runs about $210 at TCGplayer market prices. The core is 4 Greasefang, Okiba Boss, 4 Parhelion II, the discard outlets, and 4 Monument to Endurance, and it doesn't change. The notes below flag the slots you can actually tune.

Main Deck (60)

Creatures (16)

Artifacts (8)

Spells (12)

Lands (24)

Sideboard (15)

If you tune this list, protect the outlet count first. With 4 Iron-Shield Elf, 4 Fleeting Spirit and 3 Guardian of New Benalia, you have eleven creatures that can discard Parhelion on demand. Every cut from that group makes your turn-three Greasefang, Okiba Boss less reliable. The interaction suite and the utility lands are where you have real room to adjust.

Mulligan Guide

A keep needs three things: both colors by turn three, something to do on turn two, and either two pieces of the Greasefang, Okiba Boss package or a fair hand that can interact and pressure until you draw into it. Raw land count misleads here. The Mycosynth Gardens and Geier Reach Sanitarium are lands but not colored sources, and Greasefang, Okiba Boss needs both {W} and {B}.

What a Keepable Seven Looks Like

• Two or more lands, with W and B available by turn three. Count Godless Shrine, Caves of Koilos, Concealed Courtyard and the Pathway as real dual sources. Treat the Gardens as a colorless land unless you have spare mana to filter through it.
• Two of the three combo roles. The roles are Greasefang, Okiba Boss, Parhelion II, and a way to bin the Vehicle: Iron-Shield Elf, Fleeting Spirit, Guardian of New Benalia, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Lively Dirge or Bitter Triumph. Two roles plus lands is a keep. The deck has enough redundancy to find the third.
• Extra lands are not dead. The discard outlets turn surplus lands into fuel, and Monument to Endurance converts each discard into a card, a Treasure or 3 life lost. Three or four lands with an outlet and a threat keeps easily.

Example Hands

1. Concealed Courtyard, Godless Shrine, The Mycosynth Gardens, Iron-Shield Elf, Greasefang, Okiba Boss, Parhelion II, Fatal Push: Snap keep. On turn two, cast the Elf and discard Parhelion II to it. On turn three, the Gardens supply the generic mana and the duals supply the colors for Greasefang, Okiba Boss. At beginning of combat, return the Vehicle, crew it with Greasefang's 4 power, and attack. Fatal Push covers the early turns.

2. Godless Shrine, Caves of Koilos, Greasefang, Okiba Boss, Parhelion II, Parhelion II, Emptiness, Monument to Endurance: Ship. It looks like it has the combo, but nothing puts Parhelion II into the graveyard. You have no turn-two play and you need a third land to do anything. Emptiness only returns a creature that is already in the yard. You need two specific draws just to function.

3. Swamp, Brightclimb Pathway, Godless Shrine, Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Vanishing Verse, Fleeting Spirit: Keep. There is no combo piece yet, but you have three colored lands, a 3-power body that doubles as a discard outlet, and three pieces of interaction. You can strip their key card, trade off their early threats, and draw into Greasefang or the Vehicle. Any Parhelion you draw goes straight to the yard through the Spirit.

4. Caves of Koilos, The Mycosynth Gardens, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Greasefang, Okiba Boss, Parhelion II, Lively Dirge, Thoughtseize: Keep on the draw, ship on the play against fast aggro. This is the mana trap. Filtering through the Gardens eats the Sanitarium's mana, so three lands produce only two mana with one colored. You cannot cast Greasefang until a fourth land arrives. On the draw, the extra card often fixes it, and you can rummage the Vehicle away with the Sanitarium in the meantime. On the play against a deck that kills you by turn four, it does nothing in time.

5. Godless Shrine, Plains, Caves of Koilos, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Greasefang, Okiba Boss, Parhelion II: Keep. Five lands feels floody, but the sequence works:

1. Turn three: cast Greasefang off the colored sources.
2. Turn four, main phase: pay {2} and tap the Sanitarium to discard the Vehicle.
3. Beginning of combat: Greasefang's trigger returns it.

Takenuma is your backup if Greasefang dies, and its channel cost is cheaper while you control a legendary creature. This is one turn slower than the ideal hand, so it is weaker against the fastest starts. Remember that the Sanitarium's rummage also gives your opponent a draw and discard.

Going to six: keep any six with two colored lands and either an outlet or interaction. Bottom redundant copies of Parhelion II first, since you only need one in the yard. Bottom extra colorless lands next.

On the Play vs on the Draw

On the play, speed is your edge. A turn-three Greasefang hand is worth keeping even when it holds no interaction. On the draw, you are behind on tempo. Lean toward hands with Fatal Push, Bitter Triumph or Vanishing Verse, and be more forgiving of slow mana like hand 4, because the extra draw covers missing pieces. Concealed Courtyard enters tapped once you control three other lands, so late Courtyards can cost you a turn. Count that when judging a turn-four plan.

Against Known Matchups

• UR Aggro: This took 15 of 48 Top 8 slots in a small sample (source: MTGTop8, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-15). Prioritize hands with a turn-one or turn-two play and at least one cheap removal spell. Thoughtseize's life cost hurts here, so a hand leaning on multiple copies is weaker. Ship slow five-landers that need turn four to start. See our UR Aggro Pioneer guide for their side of it.
• The Rock and Jund Sacrifice: Against fair midrange, a single Greasefang with nothing behind it is fragile. Favor hands with redundancy: two threats, Monument to Endurance, Thoughtseize, or backup recursion like Takenuma, Abandoned Mire and Emptiness.
• Control: Thoughtseize goes up in value and removal-heavy hands go down. A hand with only Fatal Push and Vanishing Verse as action is a mulligan when the opponent has few creatures to target.
• Combo and graveyard decks: Keep the fastest hand you can. Hand disruption or a turn-three combo outranks card quality.

Sequencing & Key Lines

Turns 1–2: Build the Discard Turn

Lead with Concealed Courtyard on turns 1–3. After that it enters tapped, so a late Courtyard costs you tempo. Save Godless Shrine for the turn you need it untapped. Bleachbone Verge only taps for white once you control a Plains or Swamp, and Shrine counts as both. Pick Brightclimb Pathway's side by what your hand is missing. If you hold Emptiness, you need two white sources for the evoke recursion line, so lean white.

Turn 1 is Thoughtseize or Fatal Push mana. Against interactive decks, Thoughtseize the removal or graveyard hate that would break your turn 3. Against fast aggro, the 2 life matters, and holding Push is usually better.

Turn 2 is a discard outlet: Iron-Shield Elf, Fleeting Spirit or Guardian of New Benalia. Don't discard Parhelion II the turn you cast the outlet unless you must. Hold the discard until the opponent's end step. That keeps the Vehicle out of the graveyard for a full turn cycle, and you still have the indestructible option if they point damage-based removal at Elf or Guardian. The tap from Elf or Guardian is free at their end step because the creature untaps in your untap step.

Turn 3: The Greasefang Turn

1. Cast Greasefang, Okiba Boss first if Parhelion is still in hand. Bin the Vehicle only after Greasefang resolves. If Greasefang gets countered or answered, Parhelion stays safe in hand.
2. Discard Parhelion II in your main phase, before combat. Use the outlet you need least as crew (see below).
3. Move to combat. The trigger returns Parhelion with haste. Greasefang has 4 power and crews it alone, even the turn it comes down.
4. Attack. Parhelion makes two attacking 4/4 flying Angels. Parhelion returns to hand at the beginning of this turn's end step.

Every on-board outlet removes itself as crew. Elf and Guardian tap, and Spirit exiles itself until the next end step. If you want backup crew in case Greasefang dies with the trigger on the stack, discard with Bitter Triumph or Geier Reach Sanitarium instead. Killing Greasefang in response to the trigger does not stop the trigger. Parhelion still comes back with haste, and you can crew 4 with Elf plus Guardian or Spirit plus Guardian if those bodies are untapped.

Branches When the Curve Breaks

• No Greasefang by turn 3: cast Monument to Endurance and start cashing in discards. Choose modes by need:
  • Draw when you are missing Greasefang or an outlet.
  • Treasure when you are building toward Lively Dirge or a channel land.
  • Drain when you are racing.
• Greasefang removed: you have three ways back.
  • Lively Dirge with both spree modes costs five mana. It resolves in order: it can search Parhelion into the graveyard, then return Greasefang to the battlefield in your main phase in time for that combat.
  • Evoking Emptiness with {W}{W} returns Greasefang for two mana.
  • Takenuma, Abandoned Mire puts Greasefang back in hand, and channeling it is itself a discard for Monument.
• No Parhelion in hand: Lively Dirge with only the +{1} mode is three mana to put Parhelion straight into the graveyard. The Takenuma mill can also hit it.
• Turns after the first attack: Parhelion is back in hand every end step, so plan next turn's discard before you pass. With a Monument out, each re-discard is also a card, a Treasure or 3 life.

Playing Around Interaction

UR Aggro is the most represented archetype in recent 32+ player Top 8s (source: MTGTop8, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-15). Its sideboards register Spell Pierce in 13 of the 15 Top 8 lists (source: MTGTop8 deck exports, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-15). After sideboarding:

• Leave two mana up for Monument to Endurance and Lively Dirge when you can afford it.
• Lead with creatures when you can't. Greasefang is a creature spell and dodges noncreature counters.

Graveyard hate from midrange and Rock-style decks is the other key threat. Greasefang's trigger targets, so exiling Parhelion in response fizzles it. Your counterplay is time:

• Discard as late as possible: your main phase 1, or their end step if you need the mana on your turn.
• Thoughtseize the hate on turn 1 when you see it.
• Keep a second Parhelion in hand rather than binning both.

Against instant-speed removal, savvy opponents kill Greasefang before combat, not in response to the trigger. Leaving recursion in hand beats overextending creatures into that.

Small Edges

• Revolt off Spirit: Fleeting Spirit exiling itself is a permanent leaving the battlefield under your control. Blink it, then Fatal Push a four-drop the same turn.
• Revolt in your end step: Parhelion returning to hand in your end step also turns on revolt. An instant-speed Push in that end step, after the return trigger resolves, kills a four-drop.
• Sanitarium timing: activate Geier Reach Sanitarium at the opponent's end step, ideally with Monument out so the discard pays you. It loots for them too, so don't fire it idly.
• Cheap channels: Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire cost one less with Greasefang on board. Eiganjo becomes a two-mana answer to an attacker.
• Copy Monument late: The Mycosynth Gardens can copy Monument with X=3. Two Monuments give two modes per discard, which turns one Parhelion discard into both a card and a drain.
• Guardian scry: Guardian of New Benalia enlisting a non-attacking creature scries 2. Use it on turns you aren't crewing to dig for Greasefang.

Matchup Matrix

UR Aggro

UR Aggro is the deck to beat. It took 15 of 48 Top 8 slots and won 3 of 6 events (source: MTGTop8, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-15). The label covers two builds, a low-curve prowess-style list and a slower, more value-oriented version, so check which one you're facing in game one. Your 3/1s and Greasefang trade badly with cheap damage. The matchup comes down to whether Greasefang lives from your main phase to the combat trigger.

Spend Fatal Push early and freely. Don't spend 2 life on Thoughtseize unless it takes the one card that stops your combo turn. When the Parhelion turn lands, the two vigilant 4/4 Angels hold the ground and the air on their turn, and that usually ends the race. After sideboarding, High Noon limits how many spells they can chain in a turn. Uncleaved Path of Peril destroys every creature with mana value 2 or less but leaves Greasefang standing. Iron-Shield Elf and Guardian of New Benalia can also discard to go indestructible and survive it. For that side of the matchup, see our UR Aggro Pioneer guide.

Jund Sacrifice

This deck wants to grind with creatures on the ground. A hasty five-power flier with first strike plus two flying Angels goes straight over that board. Your main risk is a removal spell on Greasefang in response to its trigger, so try to have a second recursion piece ready: Emptiness paid with {W}{W}, Lively Dirge, or a channeled Takenuma, Abandoned Mire.

After sideboarding, Doorkeeper Thrull shuts off enter triggers on their creatures and artifacts. It also turns off your own Emptiness triggers, but it doesn't touch Greasefang's combat trigger. Fracture answers their noncreature engines, and Unlicensed Hearse punishes any recursion from their graveyard. For that side of the matchup, see our Jund Sacrifice Pioneer guide.

The Rock

This is the hardest of the top matchups. A black-green midrange deck built on hand disruption and removal attacks both halves of your combo. Don't count on one explosive turn here. Play for redundancy: keep hands with multiple paths to Greasefang, and use Takenuma, Abandoned Mire and Emptiness to rebuy it.

After sideboarding, Overlord of the Balemurk mills Parhelion into the graveyard and returns creatures to your hand, so you can out-grind them. Elenda, Saint of Dusk has hexproof from instants and gives you a second threat axis. Treat Thoughtseize as a tool to clear the way for your turn-three play. For that side of the matchup, see our The Rock Pioneer guide.

Izzet Control

Their interaction is reactive, and that's where Thoughtseize matters most. Hold the combo until you've seen their hand or forced them to tap out. Greasefang's trigger isn't a spell, so once Greasefang resolves, their window is instant-speed removal before combat. Make them use it on Iron-Shield Elf and Fleeting Spirit beats first. Monument to Endurance gives you a steady stream of value from discards that control decks struggle to answer cleanly.

Red Deck Wins

Every cheap creature they play is a clean Fatal Push target. Your own life payments are the real danger. Fetch untapped through Concealed Courtyard before shocking with Godless Shrine, limit Caves of Koilos colored activations, and keep Bitter Triumph on the discard cost. Seam Rip and Path of Peril come in. For that side of the matchup, see our Red Deck Wins Pioneer guide.

Graveyard strategies

Both decks race to use the graveyard. Unlicensed Hearse is the key card, and it gets bigger as it exiles. Crew it with a 3/1 and keep your own Parhelion in hand or in your graveyard only on the turn you go off.

Big-mana combo and ramp

These decks are slow to interact. Lead with Thoughtseize and present the Parhelion turn as early as possible. Monument to Endurance's life-loss mode adds reach if they stabilize the board.

Other tempo and midrange

Against Dimir-style decks, play the same patient game you play against Izzet Control. Rotate Vanishing Verse in for their monocolored threats.

Sideboard / Tech Guide

Your fifteen splits into three jobs: sweepers and cheap answers for aggro (Path of Peril, Seam Rip, High Noon, Elenda, Saint of Dusk), grind for removal-heavy decks (Overlord of the Balemurk, Elenda, Saint of Dusk), and narrow hate (Doorkeeper Thrull, Unlicensed Hearse, Fracture, the third Vanishing Verse). Plan around the field you'll actually face. UR Aggro took 15 of 48 Top 8 slots and won 3 of 6 events (source: MTGTop8, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-15), so the aggro package matters most.

Interactions to Know Before You Board

• Path of Peril spares your own team. In uncleaved mode it destroys only creatures with mana value 2 or less. Greasefang, Okiba Boss survives. Iron-Shield Elf and Guardian of New Benalia can discard for indestructible. Fleeting Spirit can discard to exile itself and return at the next end step. Each discard also triggers Monument to Endurance.
• Doorkeeper Thrull doesn't stop your combo. Greasefang's trigger happens at the beginning of combat, and Parhelion II's trigger happens when it attacks. Neither is an enter trigger. Thrull does turn off Emptiness, so cut Emptiness whenever Thrull comes in.
• High Noon limits spells, not abilities. Channeling Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire or Takenuma, Abandoned Mire is an ability, as are every discard ability and the Greasefang trigger. A normal Greasefang turn only needs one spell, so the lock costs you far less than it costs a deck that chains cheap spells.
• Unlicensed Hearse is a Vehicle. If it hits your graveyard, Greasefang can return it with haste, so you can tap it to exile cards that turn. Its "single graveyard" can be either player's, so make sure you aim it at theirs.
• Overlord of the Balemurk for its impending cost of {1}{B} still mills four on entry. That can bin a Parhelion II for Greasefang. It can also return Greasefang to your hand, but not Parhelion, because a Vehicle isn't a creature card.

Summary

UR Aggro

The label covers two builds, so identify which one you're facing in game 1.

• Swiftspear build: 8 of 10 of these lists ran 4 Flow State and 4 Sleight of Hand (source: MTGTop8 deck exports, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-15).
  • High Noon taxes the multi-spell turns those lists are built around.
  • Path of Peril and Seam Rip answer the cheap creatures.
  • Thoughtseize costs life you can't spare.
  • Three-mana Monument to Endurance is too slow when you're on the back foot.
• Vivi build: it plays no Swiftspear and runs Agatha's Soul Cauldron and Torch the Tower instead. Bring Path or Seam Rip in only if game 1 showed you enough targets they can actually hit. Elenda, Saint of Dusk's hexproof from instants is the reason she comes in for both builds.
• Their sideboard: It'll Quench Ya! and Spell Pierce each appeared in 13 of 15 sideboards (source: MTGTop8 deck exports, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-15). Expect those to come in after game 1.

Full matchup detail is in the UR Aggro Pioneer guide.

Red Deck Wins

Use the same anti-aggro core, minus High Noon. Elenda's lifelink is the most important card here. Your manabase already costs life through Caves of Koilos and Godless Shrine, so enter Shrine tapped whenever the turn allows. Cast Path of Peril before you commit Greasefang, Okiba Boss only if you're forced to cleave it. The uncleaved mode leaves Greasefang alone.

Jund Sacrifice

Doorkeeper Thrull earns its slot only if game 1 showed their value coming from artifacts or creatures entering the battlefield. If it didn't, leave Thrull in the sideboard and keep your main deck. Flash lets you hold Thrull up as a reactive play without falling behind on your own Greasefang turn.

The Rock and Izzet Control

Both games turn on rebuying threats after they're answered.

• Overlord of the Balemurk: on turn two it's a mill-four and rebuy that you set up before your main turn. It replaces Fleeting Spirit, the body that trades worst in a long game.
• Izzet Control: Fatal Push has few targets in a control deck, so cut three. Keep one if game 1 showed real creature threats. Elenda dodges instant-speed answers.

Dredge and Lotus Field

• Dredge: Unlicensed Hearse is your only dedicated graveyard hate. Crewing it costs just 2 power, which any of your two-drops can provide.
• Lotus Field: High Noon is the plan. Keep all four Thoughtseize alongside it.

Rarely Moving Pieces

• Fracture is a single answer for an artifact, enchantment, or planeswalker that game 1 shows you can't otherwise beat. Swap it for Bitter Triumph.
• The third Vanishing Verse comes in for any matchup whose key threats are monocolored permanents your other removal misses.

Tech Choices & Variations

Most of this 75 is locked: the Greasefang/Parhelion engine, the discard outlets, and the Monument package don't move. The real decisions are about a handful of singletons and utility lands, plus which sideboard cards are strong enough to move into the main deck when you can predict your field.

The Flex Slots at a Glance

Removal Configuration

Bitter Triumph earns its slot by hitting anything. Its discard option also turns it into a Monument to Endurance trigger and a way to bin Parhelion II at instant speed. Against fast decks, paying 3 life is a real cost, so treat it as a discard spell that happens to kill something. If your field is mostly monocolored threats, a third Vanishing Verse is cleaner because exile answers recursive or indestructible threats. Keep Bitter Triumph if you expect multicolored creatures or planeswalkers.

The Reanimation Singletons

Emptiness is two cards in one slot. Evoked with {W}{W}, it returns Greasefang, Okiba Boss (mana value 3) from your graveyard for two mana. With {B}{B}, the three -1/-1 counters kill most early creatures. Spending all six mana gets you a 3/5 plus the effect matching the mana you paid. Note that a Godless Shrine or Caves of Koilos can pay either color, so plan which mode you want before you tap.

Lively Dirge at three mana fetches Parhelion II straight to the graveyard, which fixes hands that have Greasefang, Okiba Boss but no discard outlet. At five mana, the return mode can bring back Greasefang, Okiba Boss alone, or two of your two-drops, such as Fleeting Spirit plus Iron-Shield Elf. Cutting it makes the deck more creature-dense but more dependent on natural draws. Keep one.

Utility Lands

Takenuma, Abandoned Mire and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire both get cheaper with Greasefang, Okiba Boss in play because it is legendary. Takenuma is the engine piece: it mills three and rebuys a creature. Eiganjo is a removal spell against combat-heavy decks. If your field is grindy and graveyard-hostile, Takenuma is the land you'd want a second copy of. Against creature-light control, Eiganjo is the first land to cut.

The two Geier Reach Sanitarium give you a discard outlet that survives creature removal, and each activation triggers Monument to Endurance. Remember that the opponent loots too. Against graveyard decks that is a real cost, and trimming to one for a basic smooths your colors.

The Mycosynth Gardens has a niche worth knowing: with X=3, it becomes a copy of Monument to Endurance. Trading a land for a second discard-payoff artifact is strong in long games where you're flooding.

Sideboard Cards Worth Maindecking

• Path of Peril has quiet synergy here. Iron-Shield Elf and Guardian of New Benalia can discard to go indestructible in response. Fleeting Spirit can discard to exile itself and come back at the next end step. All of those discards trigger Monument. In a creature-heavy field, the non-cleave mode is often one-sided.
• Unlicensed Hearse is a Vehicle with crew 2, so Greasefang, Okiba Boss can return it from the graveyard. It's a reasonable main-deck slot when graveyard decks are expected.
• Elenda, Saint of Dusk gives you a threat that can't be targeted by instants and doesn't rely on the graveyard. It's the cleanest main-deck addition if you fear graveyard hate.
• Doorkeeper Thrull stays in the sideboard. It shuts off your own Emptiness and Overlord of the Balemurk enter triggers. Greasefang, Okiba Boss still works under it, because that trigger happens at beginning of combat rather than on entering.

Tuning for Your Local Field

The only recent data available is thin. UR Aggro took 15 of 48 Top 8 slots across six 32+ player events (source: MTGTop8, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-15), with The Rock and Jund Sacrifice at 5 slots each (source: MTGTop8, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-15). Treat that as indicative, not gospel, and weight it against what your store actually plays.

• Aggro-heavy room: Life is your scarcest resource. Thoughtseize, Caves of Koilos, Godless Shrine, and Bitter Triumph's life mode all cost you. Consider swapping a Caves for a basic, and Bitter Triumph for the third Vanishing Verse. Make Path of Peril your first main-deck addition.
• Midrange and sacrifice room: Keep the full Thoughtseize count. Move an Overlord of the Balemurk into the Emptiness slot or over a Geier Reach Sanitarium, and value Takenuma highly.
• Graveyard decks present: Main-deck one Unlicensed Hearse over Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire or a Sanitarium.
• Spell-heavy combo or control: High Noon costs you little, since your discard activations aren't spells. It's a fine swap for a removal slot when creature targets are scarce.

Budget Options

Where the Money Likely Sits

In Orzhov Pioneer lists, the cost tends to come from the same places: the dual lands (Godless Shrine, Concealed Courtyard, Brightclimb Pathway) and the cheap premium interaction (Thoughtseize, Fatal Push). The combo itself is probably not where the money is. That works in your favor, because the engine is the part you should never compromise.

Don't Touch These

• The combo: 4 Greasefang, Okiba Boss and 4 Parhelion II. Cutting either one leaves you with a different, worse deck.
• The discard outlets: Iron-Shield Elf, Guardian of New Benalia, Fleeting Spirit, and Geier Reach Sanitarium. These put Parhelion II into the graveyard. Without them the deck stalls.
• The engine artifact: Monument to Endurance turns every discard into a card, a Treasure, or 3 life loss for your opponent. The Mycosynth Gardens can become a second Monument for X = 3, so every discard then triggers both. Both cards stay at four copies.
• The backup combo pieces: Lively Dirge and Emptiness. Each is a one-of that gives you another route to the graveyard or back out of it.

Acceptable Swaps and What They Cost You

Watch your colored source count. The mana base already runs plenty of colorless mana: four The Mycosynth Gardens and two Geier Reach Sanitarium. Caves of Koilos makes colored mana only by costing you life. If you cut the Shrines and Courtyards together, also cut one Geier Reach Sanitarium for a basic. Otherwise you'll keep hands that can't cast Greasefang, Okiba Boss on curve.

The sideboard is the easiest place to defer cost. Build the main deck first. Then add the hate pieces (Unlicensed Hearse, Seam Rip, Fracture, High Noon) before the threat upgrades (Overlord of the Balemurk, Elenda, Saint of Dusk). A sideboard is still useful while it's incomplete. A main deck missing engine pieces is not.

Upgrade Path

1. Engine first. Get the full playsets of Greasefang, Okiba Boss, Parhelion II, Monument to Endurance, The Mycosynth Gardens, and the discard creatures before anything else.
2. Godless Shrine. Shrines count as both a Plains and a Swamp for Bleachbone Verge, they come in untapped on any turn if you pay 2 life, and they carry over to every Orzhov deck in the format.
3. Thoughtseize. This is the single biggest jump in how well the deck converts its combo turns against interactive opponents. Buy it before the remaining lands if you expect a lot of removal and graveyard hate.
4. Concealed Courtyard. This restores clean early colored mana.
5. Fatal Push. Bring it back up to four for the one-mana answer on turn one or two.
6. Utility lands and sideboard threats. Finish with Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Overlord of the Balemurk, and Elenda, Saint of Dusk.

A budget build that keeps the full engine can still win games, but it will lose some of them to its own mana. The cut you will feel most is Thoughtseize. If you can afford one upgrade beyond the lands, make it that one.

Common Mistakes

1. Tapping your own crew before combat

The discard outlets on your creatures have a cost beyond the card. Iron-Shield Elf and Guardian of New Benalia both say "Tap it," and Fleeting Spirit exiles itself until the next end step. If you bin Parhelion II in your precombat main by activating one of them, that body can't crew. Greasefang, Okiba Boss has 4 power and crews alone, but if the opponent kills it with the trigger on the stack, the trigger still returns the Vehicle. You then need 4 power from somewhere else, and you just tapped or exiled it.

Fix: Before discarding, count your untapped power that isn't Greasefang. If you need your creatures for backup crew, bin Parhelion II another way: Geier Reach Sanitarium, Bitter Triumph's additional cost, or Takenuma, Abandoned Mire. You can also discard in the opponent's end step, so the Elf or Guardian untaps before your turn.

2. Getting the discard timing wrong

The Greasefang trigger targets a Vehicle already in your graveyard when it goes on the stack, at the beginning of combat. You can't discard in that step before the trigger, so the latest you can bin Parhelion II is your precombat main phase. Discarding the turn before exposes it to graveyard hate for a whole opposing turn. Waiting until your own main phase means your outlets tap at sorcery speed, which is Mistake 1.

Fix: Choose based on what the opponent can do.

• If they show or are likely holding instant-speed graveyard exile, bin it on your own turn and accept tapping a creature.
• If they have nothing that touches the graveyard, discard at their end step and keep your whole board untapped for crew.

3. Splitting colors on Emptiness

Emptiness only does something if {W}{W} or {B}{B} was spent. Evoking it with one white and one black gets you neither trigger. With Caves of Koilos, Godless Shrine, Concealed Courtyard and The Mycosynth Gardens all able to make either color, it's easy to tap carelessly.

Fix: Decide on the mode before you tap anything.

• Spend {W}{W} to return Greasefang, Okiba Boss (mana value 3) from the graveyard.
• Spend {B}{B} to put three -1/-1 counters on a creature.

4. Wasting Monument to Endurance triggers

Monument to Endurance gives each mode once per turn. A fourth discard in the same turn gets you nothing. Players often dump three or four cards on one turn and get a single set of draw, Treasure and 3 life loss.

Fix: Spread your discards across turns. One discard on the opponent's turn and two on yours gets more total value than three on one turn followed by nothing. Choose modes in order of need: draw when you're looking for a piece, Treasure when you're short on mana, life loss when you're close to finishing.

5. Casting Fatal Push without revolt

Many threats you need to kill cost 3 or 4. You have plenty of ways to make a permanent leave the battlefield under your control:

• Fleeting Spirit exiling itself.
• Sacrificing a Treasure from Monument to Endurance.
• Parhelion II returning to your hand at the beginning of your end step.

Fix: If you need to kill something that costs 3 or 4 on your turn, set up revolt first. A Fatal Push cast in your end step, after the Parhelion trigger resolves, has revolt.

6. Spending life you need against aggro

Thoughtseize, Caves of Koilos, an untapped Godless Shrine and the 3-life option on Bitter Triumph all cost life. Against fast red decks, including UR Aggro, the most-represented archetype in recent Top 8s (source: MTGTop8, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-15), that life matters.

Fix: Against aggro:

• Pay Bitter Triumph by discarding. It also triggers Monument to Endurance and can bin Parhelion II.
• Play Godless Shrine tapped whenever you don't need the mana that turn.
• Tap Caves of Koilos for colorless whenever the color isn't needed.
• Only cast Thoughtseize when it takes a card that actually matters.

7. Miscounting Lively Dirge

The return mode on Lively Dirge takes creatures with a total mana value of 4 or less. Greasefang, Okiba Boss plus any of your 2-drops adds up to 5, which is too much. Parhelion II can never be returned with it.

Fix: Know the legal packages: Greasefang alone, or two 2-drops. Spree modes resolve in printed order, so for five mana the search happens before the return. You can:

• Search Greasefang into the graveyard and return it in the same spell.
• Search Parhelion II into the graveyard and return a Greasefang that's already there.

The second option leaves you ready to attack immediately with a full combo on the board.

8. Not planning for the end-step bounce

Parhelion II returns to your hand at the beginning of your next end step. The Angels stay, but the Vehicle has to go back into the graveyard before your next combat. Players who use every discard outlet to get the first hit through often have nothing left to do it again.

Fix: After the first Parhelion attack, keep one outlet available for the next turn. That can be a creature, an untapped Geier Reach Sanitarium, or a spare card for Bitter Triumph. Discarding Parhelion again also triggers Monument to Endurance.

Tournament Prep & Final Notes

What to Practice

• The assembly turn. Goldfish until you never have to think about who discards and who crews. Greasefang, Okiba Boss has exactly 4 power, so it can crew Parhelion II by itself. That leaves your other creatures free to be discard outlets.
• Lively Dirge at full Spree. For five mana you can search Parhelion II into the graveyard and return Greasefang, Okiba Boss from it, all in one sorcery-speed spell. Greasefang, Okiba Boss (mana value 3) fits under the return cap of 4. Practice spotting when this beats waiting a turn for a discard outlet.
• The fair game. Play games where the graveyard plan gets shut off, and win with Monument to Endurance drains, recurring 3/1s, and removal. If you only practice the combo turn, you will punt the games where it doesn't happen.
• The likely field. In the most recent data, UR Aggro took 15 of 48 Top 8 slots, and Jund Sacrifice and The Rock took 5 each (source: MTGTop8, 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-15). The sample is small, so treat it as a priority list rather than a forecast. Spend most of your reps against fast aggro, then the two midrange/sacrifice decks.
• The list is stable. The 2026-10-12 announcement made no Pioneer changes, and the next one is 2026-11-30 (source: Wizards of the Coast, 2026-10-12). Your prep won't be invalidated before then.

Rules Interactions to Know Cold

• Greasefang's return clock. The Vehicle comes back at beginning of combat and returns to your hand at the beginning of your next end step, which is the end step of that same turn. Each turn you want to reanimate it, you need a fresh discard. The Angel tokens from Parhelion II attacking stay.
• Summoning-sick creatures can crew. Crew taps creatures as a cost, not with the tap symbol. A Greasefang, Okiba Boss cast or reanimated this turn can crew its own target.
• Outlet costs.
  • Iron-Shield Elf and Guardian of New Benalia tap themselves when they discard. Use them before you need their bodies, ideally on the opponent's turn.
  • Fleeting Spirit exiles itself and returns at the beginning of the next end step. If you activate it during the opponent's end step, it misses your entire turn. Activate it earlier in their turn so it comes back at their end step.
• Monument modes and triggers.
  • Each turn, Monument to Endurance gives you each mode once, so a fourth discard gets nothing. Sequence your discards so the mode you need most comes first.
  • Channeling Takenuma, Abandoned Mire or Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire is a discard and triggers it.
  • So does the optional discard on Bitter Triumph.
  • So does Geier Reach Sanitarium, but your opponent loots too.
• Gardens copy. The Mycosynth Gardens can become a copy of Monument to Endurance for X=3. Each Monument triggers separately on every discard.
• Emptiness colors.
  • Which Emptiness trigger you get depends on what mana you actually spent. Paying {W}{B} for evoke gets you neither, so name colors deliberately when tapping Caves of Koilos or The Mycosynth Gardens.
  • When you hard-cast it, colored mana spent on the generic portion counts. Six mana including {W}{W} and {B}{B} gets both triggers.
• Channel discounts. Greasefang, Okiba Boss is legendary. With it in play, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire each cost one less to channel.
• Revolt enablers. Sacrificing a Treasure from Monument to Endurance turns on Fatal Push revolt. So does exiling Fleeting Spirit with its own ability. Do either before casting Push, not after.
• Sideboard self-interference.
  • Doorkeeper Thrull turns off your own enter triggers on Emptiness and Overlord of the Balemurk. Attack triggers, including Parhelion II's, still work.
  • High Noon limits you to one spell a turn as well.
  • Uncleaved Path of Peril kills your own mana value 2 creatures, but Greasefang, Okiba Boss survives.

Clock and Time Management

The deck is not slow when it's working; Parhelion II ends games quickly. The time sinks come elsewhere:

• Monument-heavy turns with multiple discards.
• Geier Reach Sanitarium activations.
• Grindy post-board games where the combo has been answered.

Some habits keep those turns fast and clean:

• Announce each discard one at a time.
• Name the Monument mode as each trigger resolves.
• Plan your discard sequence before you start the chain.
• Put Treasure tokens where both players can see them.

Doing this saves clock and prevents disputes over which modes you've already used. In game three, lean toward the proactive line over the cute one: a fast Greasefang turn is worth more than squeezing an extra card out of a loot.

Final Assessment

This list took 2nd of 33 players, and the build explains why.

• Redundancy. It has eleven discard outlets on creatures, plus Bitter Triumph, Geier Reach Sanitarium and two channel lands. Opponents have to answer the setup, not just the payoff.
• A real backup plan. Monument to Endurance makes every discard pull double duty, so the deck can drain or draw its way through a game where Parhelion II never connects.
• Disruption. Four Thoughtseize, four Fatal Push, Vanishing Verse and Bitter Triumph let you clear the way for the combo or simply trade on curve with aggro.
• Sideboard pivot. Overlord of the Balemurk and Elenda, Saint of Dusk give post-board games a second axis when opponents load up on graveyard answers.

The weaknesses are real. Your best draws rely on the graveyard, the mana takes damage, and the deck rewards tight sequencing more than most Pioneer strategies. If you're willing to drill the outlet-and-crew patterns until they're automatic, this is a strong, punishing choice for your next event.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Orzhov Greasefang win games in Pioneer?

You put Parhelion II into your graveyard and resolve Greasefang, Okiba Boss. At the beginning of combat Greasefang returns the Vehicle with haste, crews it with its own 4 power, and the attack brings two 4/4 flying Angels for 13 power in the air.

Can Greasefang crew Parhelion II the same turn it is cast?

Yes. Crew taps creatures as a cost rather than using the tap symbol, so a summoning-sick Greasefang, Okiba Boss can crew Parhelion II by itself, and you don't need a second creature for the base combo.

What are the key cards for getting Parhelion II into the graveyard?

Iron-Shield Elf, Guardian of New Benalia and Fleeting Spirit discard at instant speed, backed by Geier Reach Sanitarium, Bitter Triumph and Lively Dirge. Monument to Endurance turns each discard into a card, a Treasure, or 3 life loss for the opponent.

What is the hardest matchup for Orzhov Greasefang?

The Rock is listed as unfavored and is the hardest of the top matchups, because its hand disruption and removal attack both halves of the combo. Play for redundancy with multiple paths to Greasefang and use Takenuma, Abandoned Mire and Emptiness to rebuy it.

What happens if my opponent kills Greasefang?

If it dies in response to the trigger, Parhelion still returns with haste, but you need another 4 power to crew it. If it dies outside combat, rebuy it with Emptiness evoked using {W}{W}, Lively Dirge, or Takenuma, Abandoned Mire.

What budget swaps can I make to this deck?

The guide suggests swapping Godless Shrine or Concealed Courtyard for basics, Thoughtseize for extra removal, or the channel lands for basics. Never cut the combo, the discard outlets, Monument to Endurance, or the backup reanimation pieces, and note that losing Thoughtseize is the biggest downgrade.

What should I practice before taking this deck to a tournament?

Goldfish the assembly turn until discarding and crewing is automatic, and practice the full-spree Lively Dirge line. Also play games where the graveyard plan is shut off and win with Monument to Endurance drains, 3/1s and removal, and spend most reps against fast aggro.

What common mistakes do Greasefang players make?

Common errors include tapping your backup crew before combat, splitting colors when casting Emptiness, and wasting Monument to Endurance triggers with a fourth discard in one turn. Players also forget to keep an outlet for re-discarding Parhelion after it returns to hand at the end step.

Metagame Context

Built from Alex Halanin's 2nd Place list at Big (33 players, 2026-10-17), via MTGTop8. Metagame context comes from a research brief dated 2026-10-19 covering 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-19, drawn from MTGTop8; Wizards of the Coast. Card text and prices: Scryfall.

Source: tournament results. Decklist and placements as reported by the event organizer.