Matchup Analysis - Orzhov Blink (Ketramose)

***For additional context and to watch me test this matchup, check out my video here.***

White Black Blink (Vial, Recruiter of the Guard + Bullets) has largely been supplanted by White Black Ketramose (Ketramose + Relic), but for our purposes, the matchups largely play out the same. We are easily the aggressor in the matchup, and every turn the game goes on decreases our chances to win. While they can have a mix of interaction game 1 in the form of Thoughtseize, Push/Ending/March, the most powerful plays they can generally do against Hammer is evoke Solitude + Ephemerate, or evoke Solitude and follow up with Overlord of the Balemurk to rebuy Solitude and rebuy Solitude every turn by Flickerwisping/Phelia’ing Overlord and attacking. Post-board, their most important upgrade is Wrath of the Skies, and some lists have access to Stony Silence as well as additional spot removal.

Especially game 1, it is vital to keep an aggressive hand and jam early and often. Remember to Surge in response to a Solitude cast rather than the enter trigger, as they can respond to the Surge with Ephemerate and you won’t be happy.

A pre-emptive surge is a somewhat common play pattern in this matchup as well in a couple of spots. If you Surge prior to combat, they have to kill all of your creatures in response. Otherwise you get to freely attack and cast Battlefield Improv to attack for lethal with hexproof. The other instance is to Surge, THEN animate Inkmoth Nexus after Surge resolves. Doing so will grant your Inkmoth hexproof before it becomes a creature so they cannot Push/Solitude your little land. 

Fortunately for us, the Ketramose versions have a number of cards that do effectively nothing against us (Relic), and Ketramose is fairly unimpactful unless the games go long enough for us to lose anyway (games that get to turn 5+ are heavily favored for them most of the time).

Mulligan Strategy: Pre-board, you want a hand that can ideally kill on turn 2 or 3. If you have the ability to kill with protection via Surge then you should likely just jam and force them to have the answer, especially if you can present a strong attacker again the following turn. Typically Sagas are fairly safe game 1, but I would not keep a hand that is fully reliant on a Saga getting to chapter 3 since they may have March or White Orchid Phantom to tag it.

Post-board, you ideally want one of the following hands:

• A fast hand that also has Doorkeeper Thrull effect.

• A fast hand that has protection (Surge/Swan Song)

• A Saga hand with Doorkeeper Thrull and multiple layers of protection.

Do not keep a hand that does nothing but have a doorkeeper Thrull, as they do have the ability to turn the corner quickly.

The last advice I have re: mulliganing post-board against WB is to decide whether your hand can beat Wrath of the Skies or not, and play accordingly. If you can’t beat it, play as though your opponent does not have it. Trying to play cautiously with a hand that can’t beat wrath is a great recipe to just lose more slowly.

Notable key cards: Pre-board it is all about having a fast hand ideally with protection, Since they are good at putting random blockers into play, I value Axe quite highly, as well as Ornithopter. Surge will almost never be dead at any point in the game, and plays against their hand disruption as well as spot removal. I also value Improv higher than Paladin in most cases because it will always attach multiple equipment, whereas Paladin may only get to equip a single hammer and leave the Axe naked until your next turn. Their Solitude and Overlord engines are pretty backbreaking, and largely why the matchup is so hard.

Post-board, I value ways to stop Wrath of the Skies quite highly, as that is often how you lose in games 2 and 3. That means countermagic is highly valuable. I personally like Swan Song as the counter of choice since it counters Wrath, Seize, Push/March/Ending, as WELL as Overlord of the Balemurk. The Bird is fairly meaningless especially since we’ve shifted to Axes. Additionally, Doorkeeper Thrull/Hushbringer are highly impactful primarily because they stop Solitudes (but also stops a blinked Overlord, Flickerwisp, White Orchid, Recruiter, Skyclave Apparition, Witch Enchanter, Aven, etc). Note that they also turn off your own SFMs and Nettlecyst from making a Germ, but I find that more than worth the tradeoff. Even strapping up one with an axe is a reasonable clock, since their life total is already under quite a bit of pressure. Finally, I want to note that I continue to value Improv over Paladin in post-board games since it is unaffected by Stony Silence.

Bonus note on sideboarding (Over-sideboarding) Similarly to our Boros matchup, I have tried a lot of different approaches to the matchup, and I’ve found that the best plan we have is simply kill em fast. The more I’ve tested, the less happy I am with Nettlecyst due to how poorly it lines up against Phelia, and I am generally happier with access to Boots and Spear since they are both cheap ways to achieve early metalcraft, as well as pushing through clogged boards and threatening threats off the top more regularly due to the haste. 

Stay lean and aggressive, get some evasion with trample or Inkmoth, or just lean on a good hand with Thrull. Also note that the very upper ends of our draws will typically beat the very upper ends of theirs. Disrespect your opponents, remind them that they legally can’t cast Wrath of the Skies against you, and shove.