Orzhov Pontiff
Creature — Human Cleric
Haunt (When this creature dies, exile it haunting target creature.)
When this creature enters or the creature it haunts dies, choose one —
• Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
• Creatures you don't control get -1/-1 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BW
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Guildpact
- Price
- $0.37
- EDHREC rank
- #24234
Orzhov Pontiff enters and immediately taxes the board — either stripping +1/+1 from every creature your opponents control or pumping all of yours, with haunt stapling that effect to whatever it haunts next. The cost is the setup: you need other creatures entering to trigger haunt reliably, and the effect is narrow enough that it whiffs against token-light or large-creature decks.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Orzhov Pontiff lands best in white-black token or aristocrats shells where the board is wide enough that the mass -1/-1 mode reliably kills something — Teysa Karlov and Judith, the Scourge Diva lists are natural homes. In Legacy, it sees fringe play in hatebears and Death and Taxes builds that can recur or blink it to fire the haunt trigger repeatedly, though it competes for slots with more efficient disruption. Modern has largely passed Orzhov Pontiff by; the format is too fast and too full of large threats for a 1/1 with a conditional ETB to matter. Vintage and Oathbreaker are technically legal but offer no compelling reason to run it over stronger options.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.37 bulk tier
At $0.37, Orzhov Pontiff is firmly bulk — no barrier to picking up a copy if the deck calls for it. Demand is narrow enough that the price is unlikely to move unless a high-profile aristocrats or blink deck spikes its visibility.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.