Killian, Ink Duelist
Approximate Total Cost:
First and most important: huge shout out to WizardMN and his Sygg list, which was an incredible inspiration for the direction I took with this.
While I may be an Azorius mage at heart, Scrubland being the first ABU dual I ever owned has given Orzhov a special place in my heart. As Strixhaven and Commander 2021 spoilers continued, I had my fingers crossed for a new legendary I could work with. But while Breena and Shadrix both caught my eye, in the end it was Killian, Ink Duelist who prompted me to start brewing.
I like the idea of having "ramp" in the command zone, especially in these colors. But rather than the more conventional ideas I saw getting tossed around on the Internet--I don't own Hatred, and for some reason Enchrantress-style decks just never appeal to me--I liked the idea of using Killian's cost reduction to help me control the board. So I went dumpster diving through Scryfall came up with a list of spells that I wanted to include. Some of the more hilarious options like Hex or Curtain's Call are sitting in the maybeboard, as I'm using quite a lot of painful draw spells to keep my card advantage up. With only 3 cards above 4CMC/mana value, I'm hoping my greatness doesn't come at such a huge cost.
My main plan for the winning the game is just eventually poking my opponents to death with my small creatures. Shadrix and Breena are in the 99 to help make them all hit just a little harder. Worst comes to worst, my 4 Auras can be placed on Killian so he can go to town.
My biggest concerns right now would be the fact that most of the cards in my deck hurt me. A lot. I could probably stand to put in a few more lifegain effects. Some additional/more solid ways to win could probably be useful too. Cards like Bloodchief Ascension, Kambal, Consul of Allocation, and things with Extort seem like a decent way to address both those concerns. I'm also fighting every instinct in my body to add in cards like Reveillark and Sun Titan, but more ways to recur my creatures could be useful.