(Orca, Siege Demon| Art by Omar Rayyan)

Introducing Orca

Today's Under the Radar will evaluate Orca, Siege Demon, a Dominarian that likes it when other creatures die. With only 178 decks currently built around her (as of 10/04/2024) Orca, Siege Demon comfortably qualifies to be explored in this series. She's a sacrifice-themed commander who uses the deaths of other creatures as a means to grow bigger and bigger. Once she's grown big enough, Orca will trample over your opponents' creatures and pummel them until they can't take any more. Let's have a look at what Orca can offer.

The Lore-ca of Orca

Orca, Siege Demon is a card from Dominaria United. More specifically, she is one of the Legends Retold cards from that set, a series of 20 legendary creatures, available in Dominaria United Collector Boosters and as promos in Booster Boxes. All 20 of the Legends Retold cards are redesigns of cards from the 1994 set Legends. Legends is the set that introduced the concept of legendary creatures to the game, including the cycle of five Elder Dragons who gave Commander its original name of "Elder Dragon Highlander". Back in Legends, Orca, Siege Demon was depicted on the card Lady Orca. There are only 54 Lady Orca decks logged on EDHREC, and this is unsurprising considering that she is a vanilla seven mana 7/4. There is an episode of Shuffle Up and Play where Derik Madorma has a great time piloting a Lady Orca deck though, so she's not an entirely forgotten card.

In Magic's lore Orca, Siege Demon is a minion of Ramses Overdark, a legendary Dominarian assassin with a ridiculously edgy name. Interestingly enough, the characters from Legends were inspired by characters from the Dungeons and Dragons campaigns of their designers. The name "Orca" might be derived from Orcus, a powerful demonic prince from Dungeons and Dragons lore who would later be depicted on the Magic: The Gathering card Orcus, Prince of Undeath in 2020's Dungeon and Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. Whatever Orca's backstory may be, she's here, she's angry and she enjoys smashing things.

Siege Demon Strategies

Just like her “original, before her, Orca, Siege Demon costs . She’s a 5/5 with trample that gains a +1/+1 counter whenever another creature dies, and then when she dies herself, she deals damage equal to her power spread out over any number of targets.

I'm not going to lie here, Orca, Siege Demon is not a very powerful card. Despite her massive tower smashing fists, she doesn't have the same punch as other seven mana commanders like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Ghalta and Mavren and Atraxa, Grand Unifier. Her high mana value makes her more than a little bit impractical, as she cares about other creatures dying, but won't be around to see a lot of deaths happen, as she'll be waiting in the Command Zone to enter play later in the game.

This card's low power doesn't matter though. Here at Under the Radar, we don't care about strength, we care about fun and Orca, Siege Demon is plenty of fun. Orca offers an appealingly simple game plan. You will be loading your deck full of effects that sacrifice your creatures and effects that destroy your opponents in order to power up a massive trampling demoness. If that sounds like a good time to you, let's have a look at that decklist...

Orca's Average Deck

There’s currently 178 decks built around Orca, Siege Demon, at least that's the case on 10/04/2024, maybe there are a few more built around her on whatever far-flung day in the future you're reading this article. EDHREC's average deck features combs through all 178 of these decks and produces an average list based on the cards they all contain.

Here is what that list looks like...

Having a look through this list, it’s very clearly a sacrifice-themed deck. All of the classic staples of the archetype are here from Deadly Dispute to Zulaport Cutthroat along with both Ashnod's Altar and Phyrexian Altar. The deck also features a selection of creatures like Reassembling Skeleton and Nether Traitor that can keep bringing themselves back from the graveyard again and again in order to be sacrificed for profit. The intention here is to get Orca, Siege Demon out and then power her up by destroying your own creatures, as well as your opponents'. Black and red offer an amazing suite of effects that kill creatures on all sides of the battlefield, so this deck definitely plays in some familiar territory for the color pair.

This list does feature a few quite pricy cards, unfortunately, many of the costlier cards earned their high price by being very powerful. The The Ozolith has a price of around $40 and it allows you to store Orca, Siege Demon's counters when she dies to give them back to her later. Phyrexian Altar is one of the best sacrifice outlets and the game and the enabler of an uncountable number of combos, it's also a roughly $40 card. There's also Dictate of Erebos a $15 card that makes each of your opponents sacrifice a creature whenever one belonging to you dies. Blood Crypt, Luxury Suite, and Haunted Ridge are the most expensive lands in the deck that can be trimmed out for basics if you're looking to save some dough.

5 Cards To Keep

Drivnod, Carnage Dominus

Currently in 33% of decks.

Drivnod, Carnage Dominus causes your cards’ triggered abilities that care about things dying to go off an additional time. The most obvious use for this is that it synergizes with Orca, Siege Demon's effect and doubles the number of +1/+1 counters she gains whenever a creature dies. That's far from Drivnod's only use though, as this Phyrexian also amps up a bunch of other cards in the deck. Your Blood Artist will drain everyone for two life, your Pitiless Plunderer will generate two treasure tokens and your Totentanz, Swarm Piper will conjure up twice as many rats. True to his name, Drivnod will cause plenty of carnage while he remains on the field.

Chandra's Ignition

Currently in 27% of decks.

Sometimes you just want the pathway through to your opponents to be clear so that your big scary siege demon can punch them right in their faces. Even though Orca has trample, and will eventually develop huge stats, she still has to worry about being taken out by a Sedge Scorpion or some Typhoid Rats. Chandra's Ignition provides you with the opportunity to sweep all of these pesky blockers out of the way in a single stroke, while also pumping Orca, Siege Demon's stats even higher. This card allows you to pick a creature, you'll almost always choose Orca, and deal damage equal to their power to every other creature in play. Even casting this on a fresh Orca, Siege Demon is pretty fantastic. Dealing five damage to everything will result in a massive number of creatures dying and Orca growing bigger and better.

Solemn Simulacrum

Currently in 44% of decks.

Solemn Simulacrum is always a great card, it's an EDH staple for a reason, but this deck is the perfect home for it. You need to get Orca, Siege Demon out before your real game plan can begin, but Rakdos decks aren't great at ramping. Solemn Simulacrum provides this keenly needed function. Not only that but once the sad robot has fetched you a land, it can continue serving you thanks to being a great sacrifice target. The simulacrum's neat death trigger lets you draw a card, so you can sacrifice it to Village Rites or Deadly Dispute to get a nice burst of card advantage. While this simulacrum may be solemn, it's also pretty darn useful.

Tarrian's Soulcleaver

Currently in 8% of decks.

Do you know what's better than getting a +1/+1 counter whenever a creature dies? Getting two +1/+1 counters whenever a creature dies. Tarrian's Soulcleaver grants a better version of Orca's ability to whoever it’s equipped to, as they will grow stronger whenever any artifacts get sent to the scrap heap as well. You can give this soulcleaver to Orca to help her grow twice as fast and also grant her vigilance so she can defend you, on top of smashing all of your opponent's creatures down. Whoever Tarrian is, I hope he doesn't mind Orca borrowing his soulcleaver.

Braids, Arisen Nightmare

Currently in 33% of decks.

There are lots of sacrifice enablers in this deck like Goblin Bombardment, Phyrexian Altar, and Viscera Seer. While Braids, Arisen Nightmare only allows you to sacrifice a single card each turn to her effect, she makes that death count by providing a powerful payoff. At the end of your turn, you can sacrifice a creature, an artifact, an enchantment, or a planeswalker to Braids's ability. Your opponents can then sacrifice a permanent of the same type and if they do not, or cannot, then they take two damage and you draw a card. On top of providing some neat card advantage, with the potential of drawing you three cards on each of your end steps, Braids also helps Orca grow by allowing you to sacrifice your own creatures and forcing your opponents to choose whether to do the same or to let you draw instead.

5 Cards To Cut

Eternal Thirst

Currently in 19% of decks.

Giving Eternal Thirst a cursory scan, it's probably not immediately clear why this is on the cards to cut list while Tarrian's Soulcleaver, a card with a very similar effect, is on the cards to keep list. The issue with Eternal Thirst is that unlike Orca and the Soulcleaver, this card only activates when a creature "an opponent controls" dies. This means that none of the sacrifice cards in this list synergize with Eternal Thirst meaning that it doesn't work half as well with the deck as it should.

Thud

Currently in 25% of decks.

Thudis one of three very similar effects in this deck. Fling and Kazuul's Fury also allow you to sacrifice a creature to deal damage to a target equal to their power. The latter two cards are good in this deck, but Thud is better off getting cut from the list, for the simple reason that it’s sorcery speed. The implied strategy with these cards is very clear. Once Orca, Siege Demon has accumulated a huge number of +1/+1 counters, you can sacrifice her to deal massive damage to an opponent. The issue is, unless you have only one opponent left and sacrificing Orca would deal enough damage to finish them off, it's often far more worthwhile to keep Orca, Siege Demon alive and just keep attacking with her turn after turn. She will deal commander damage this way, and the counters on her won't get reset by sending her to the graveyard. The best window to cast one of these cards is when an opponent targets Orca, Siege Demon with a removal effect, so she can get one last punch in before dying. Fling and Kazuul's Fury are both able to do this since they are instants, but Thud cannot, cramping its utility massively.

Dreadhorde Butcher

Currently in 27% of decks.

Dreadhorde Butcher is quite similar to Orca, Siege Demon herself. Just like Orca, the butcher has an ability that causes it to gradually accumulate +1/+1 counters, and just like Orca, the butcher deals damage equal to its power when it dies. The difference is that Orca, Siege Demon grows bigger whenever creatures die, while Dreadhorde Butcher gets bigger when it manages to get an attack through unblocked. This card can be great with the right shell built around it, cards that make it unblockable and grant it deathtouch for example, but the tools for it to thrive are simply not present in this sacrifice-focussed deck.

Sign in Blood

Currently in 22% of decks.

This deck features a massive number of card draw options, from Deadly Dispute to Phyrexian Arena to Morbid Opportunist. Compared to these other choices, Sign in Blood comes up short. It has no sacrifice synergies like Village Rites and can't provide the recurring card advantage turn after turn that a card like Skullclamp can. Don't sign on the dotted line, because you'll get a pretty raw deal putting this card in your deck.

Temple of Malice

Currently in 33% of decks.

As nonbasic lands go, the temple cycle is pretty dull. While Temple of Malice is strictly better than a Cinder Barrens there are lots of more exciting options out there. Graven Cairns was just reprinted in the Duskmourn: House of Horror commander precons, so it's nice and cheap and Restless Vents can turn into an insect in a pinch. While they aren't two-color, the new Modern Horizons 3 lands Spymaster's Vault and Arena of Glory both have effects that help Orca out a lot. There's nothing wrong with running a Temple of Malice, and it's certainly a lot cheaper than a Blightstep Pathway, but it's hard to shake the feeling that there are better alternatives available.

5 Cards To Add

Crypt Ghast

Currently in 1% of decks.

Getting Orca, Siege Demon out quickly is what this deck wants to do most, and Crypt Ghast is one of the best cards out there for hurrying that along. When Crypt Ghast comes down on turn 4, it basically doubles the effectiveness of all of your swamps. This means that if you have three swamps in play, then you will be able to bring out Orca on your next turn. Just a reminder that since the hybrid black/white mana symbol is in the reminder text of this card, rather than in its rules text, you are able to run Crypt Ghast in decks that don't include white. While Mana Crypt may be banned now, Crypt Ghast is still around and ready to help you ramp.

Soul Shatter

Currently in 7% of decks.

Single-target removal spells sometimes get a bit of a bad rap in Commander. You end up spending a card to only impact a single other player at the table, and leave the rest of your opponents untouched. Because of this, single-target removal spells have sometimes been accused of being an inefficient use of resources. Similarly, edict spells, cards that force opponents to sacrifice creatures, also aren't beloved. Since your opponents can choose which card they want to sacrifice, they often simply give up their weakest creature. Soul Shatter is a great removal spell that gets around these limitations. It hits multiple targets, making it a very efficient play, and it forces your opponents to sacrifice their highest mana value creature or planeswalker, meaning it will always get rid of relevant threats. Since this spell kills off three things, if Orca, Siege Demon is in play when you cast it, she will gain three +1/+1 counters. Sadistic Shell Game from the new Duskmourn precons, while two mana more expensive, hits an additional target and is also worth considering.

Stinging Study

Currently in 18% of decks.

Earlier on, I argued that Sign in Blood should be cut from the deck because it simply isn't impactful enough compared to the other card draw options in this list. Stinging Study offers a more costly, but much more impactful alternative that, curiously enough, also depicts someone signing a sheet of paper with their blood. Stinging Study allows you to pay life equal to your commander's mana value to draw that many cards. That means that, in this deck, you'll be drawing seven cards at the cost of seven life for five mana. That's right, you're basically getting a Griselbrand activation, allowing you to refuel your hand completely and keep up your momentum as the game goes on.

Two-Handed Axe

Currently in 9% of decks.

As a giant angry demon, Orca is already pretty terrifying, handing her a Two-Handed Axe that doubles her strength should leave the rest of the table quaking in their boots. With this deck, your ultimate win condition will be dealing 21 commander damage to the rest of your opponents. Any cards that speed that process up are always welcome in the list. The adventure mode of this card, allows you to unexpectedly double your damage for a surprising sucker punch, while this card's equipment side provides a consistent damage buff that makes Orca incredibly intimidating. In Orca's artwork, she's punching a castle wall down with her fists, just imagine how much stronger she'll be when she's wielding a weapon.

Urabrask's Forge

Currently in 19% of decks.

This deck features a large number of token generating cards, but many of those tokens aren't exactly very strong. Whether it's the hordes of thrulls congealed in vats by Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder or the decaying zombies stitched together by Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia, lots of the tokens here are pretty weak. Of course that makes sense, this deck has a sacrifice theme so the tokens are intended to die, not to stick around and smell the roses. Urabrask's Forge spits out tokens that are simultaneously very expendable, whilst also being pretty powerful. Initially, the tokens that this card generates are 1/1 but, with every subsequent turn, as the forge gains oil counters, they become +1/0 stronger. They also have trample, like Orca herself, and sacrifice themselves during the end step allowing Orca, Siege Demon as well as cards like Blood Artist and Garna, Bloodfist of Keld to trigger their effects.

Conclusion

That brings an end to today's edition of Under The Radar. While Orca, Siege Demon may not be the strongest seven-drop out there, she's a fun execution of a simple game plan. Kill stuff, then smash face. Today's article has explored a sacrifice build, since that's the build that the average deck is focussed on, but there are other options for growing Orca out there. You could make a +1/+1 counter themed deck, using cards like Thundering Raiju, Astarion's Thirst, and Uncivil Unrest to pile more and more counters onto Orca. You could also just go for a Voltron style build, buffing Orca using cards like Excalibur, Sword of Eden, Demonic Embrace, and Embercleave. Whatever kind of deck you end up brewing around Orca, Siege Demon you're sure to have a whale of a good time.

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Ben Macready

Ben is a freelance writer from the UK. He's has been playing Magic since he was 8 years old, back when he thought Enormous Baloth was the best card in the game. You can find more Magic content from him on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2iSANUGoKzdK6XgLyB1qLw