Like many players, I enjoy playing busted strategies and “unfair games” and there's no better deck to achieve that than Orzhov SCAM in Timeless, and today, I will go over a deck that in just two days (with a bit of dedication) let me go from Bronze to Mythic in MTG Arena effortlessly.
Let’s dive right into it.
Orzhov SCAM Timeless Deck Overview
At its core, Orzhov SCAM revolves around enter-the-battlefield (ETB) creatures that disrupt the opponent, such as Grief and Solitude, and the ability to reset them through flickering with Ephemerate or reanimating them with spells like Reanimate. The combination of these effects forces opponents into tough positions, where they have to recover from an early-game setback while dealing with the deck's long-term resource advantage. This makes Orzhov SCAM one of the most punishing decks to face in Timeless, as it attacks from multiple angles and doesn't give opponents the breathing room to stabilize.
Let’s now look at the cards that make this strategy possible.
Best Card Choices for Orzhov SCAM in Timeless
Core Engine: Ketramose, the New Dawn
At the center of Orzhov SCAM's game plan is Ketramose, the New Dawn, a card that thrives in a deck filled with exile effects. Every time you flicker a creature with Ephemerate or exile a permanent with Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Ketramose ensures you aren't just disrupting your opponent—you're also refilling your hand. This constant stream of card draw makes it difficult for opponents to outgrind you, as you will always have access to fresh threats and answers.
Beyond its role as a value engine, Ketramose itself is a massive late-game threat. Menace and lifelink make it difficult to deal with in combat, while its indestructibility ensures that most removal spells fall short. The catch is that it needs seven or more cards in exile to attack or block, but in this deck, that condition is met naturally as the game progresses.
Disruptive Creatures and ETB Effects
The heart of Orzhov SCAM lies in creatures that disrupt an opponent’s game plan the moment they hit the battlefield.
Grief is the most notorious of the bunch, forcing an opponent to reveal their hand and discard a nonland card. While on its own, this effect is strong, pairing it with Ephemerate on turn one can devastate slower decks by stripping two key cards from their hand before they even get to their second turn.
Similarly, Solitude acts as both a removal spell and a stabilizing body, exiling an opponent's best creature while also having lifelink to help swing races in your favor. When played with its evoke cost and flickered before it dies, it can remove two creatures in a single turn, making it one of the deck's most oppressive plays.
Beyond the elemental incarnations, the deck features additional ETB effects that offer consistent value. Dedicated Dollmaker provides a unique interaction by temporarily exiling a nonland permanent and replacing it with a token version, which can be useful in removing threats or generating new exile synergies. Meanwhile, Recruiter of the Guard serves as a reliable way to find key creatures from the deck, ensuring you always have access to flicker targets or necessary utility pieces.
Value Generation and Late-Game Pressure
One of the key value engines in the deck is Overlord of the Balemurk, a flexible and powerful recursion tool that starts as a noncreature enchantment when cast for its impending cost. For just two mana, it immediately mills four cards and retrieves a non-Avatar creature or a planeswalker from your graveyard to your hand, ensuring you maintain a steady stream of resources. This is especially useful for bringing back creatures like Grief and Solitude, allowing you to keep disrupting and removing threats even after an opponent has attempted to stabilize.
The true strength of Overlord of the Balemurk comes from how it interacts with flicker effects like Dedicated Dollmaker and Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd. Normally, the impending mechanic forces you to wait several turns before it becomes a creature, but by flickering it with either of these cards, you can bypass that delay entirely. Instead of waiting, Overlord of the Balemurk returns to the battlefield as a 5/5 creature, immediately becoming a major threat while still providing its valuable recursion ability. This makes it both a source of card advantage and a reliable finisher that can pressure opponents in the late game.
Speaking of Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, this card is one of the deck's best flicker enablers. With flash, it can be played reactively to protect your creatures from removal or proactively to reset powerful ETB effects. Whether it's flickering Grief to strip another card from an opponent's hand, Solitude for additional removal, or Overlord of the Balemurk to bring it back as a fully sized creature, Phelia ensures that your strongest plays remain repeatable. On top of that, it grows over time with +1/+1 counters, meaning that even as a utility piece, it can become a legitimate threat.
Flicker and Reanimation Effects
Orzhov SCAM thrives on reusing its best creatures, and Ephemerate makes that easy by flickering a creature for just one mana, with rebound allowing another use on the next turn.
Reanimation, on the other hand, provides another angle, with Reanimate letting you bring back key creatures at a minimal cost. Whether it's an evoked Grief or a milled Solitude, this spell ensures that your threats keep coming back. Overlord of the Balemurk also contributes to the deck's recursion plan by milling cards and retrieving creatures, giving you yet another way to keep generating value throughout the game.
Removal and Interaction
Disruption alone isn’t always enough, and that’s where Orzhov’s strong suite of removal spells comes in.
Swords to Plowshares remains one of the best removal options, permanently exiling a creature for just one mana. While the opponent does gain life equal to its power, this is rarely an issue given the tempo advantage the deck generates.
Relic of Progenitus also finds a home here, acting as both graveyard hate and as a free way to trigger Ketramose, the New Dawn effect to draw you a card.
A few creatures in the deck also double as removal spells. Witch Enchanter, for instance, can destroy artifacts or enchantments while also offering an alternative mana source in its land form. Meanwhile, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd provides flexible flickering effects that can be used aggressively to remove opponents' threats temporarily to get through.
Tips and Tricks for Playing Orzhov SCAM in Timeless
Playing Orzhov SCAM is all about knowing when to apply pressure and when to hold back. While an early Grief plus Ephemerate can often lock an opponent out of the game, it's important to recognize matchups where this might not be the best approach.
- Another key aspect of the deck is playing around graveyard hate. Many decks will bring in cards like Relic of Progenitus or similar effects to shut down your recursion. If you suspect an opponent has these tools, it's important to bring your artifact or enchantment removal from the sideboard.
- Sequencing is also critical. Since many of your plays involve multiple interactions in a single turn, ensuring the right order can be the difference between an overwhelming board state and a misplay. For example, with an Ephemerate and a Grief, let the card discard ability resolve first, as that way you can remove a potential removal before pulling the trigger on Ephemerate.
- Another big sequence piece is to play Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd first, and Overlord of the Balemurk later, as otherwise, you will have to wait an additional turn.
- Against Show and Tell, you can gamble on holding a Witch Enchanter in hand to cheat it into play and destroy Omniscience almost instantly.
Thanks for Reading!