House of Cards: borrowed power, permanent consequences

Frank Underwood, the Whip leads an Orzhov (white/black) Commander deck built around temporary control and sacrifice. House of Cards supplies the political cast, while Leverage supplies the decision: take a target creature an opponent controls until end of turn, untap it and give it haste. Frank triggers Leverage at the beginning of combat on your turn. The borrowed creature can change the attack immediately, but extracting another reward requires a separate sacrifice outlet.

• LEVERAGE: Gain control of a target creature an opponent controls until end of turn, untap it and give it haste. The control effect is temporary.
• THE WHIP: Frank Underwood, the Whip has ward for two mana and uses Leverage at the beginning of combat on your turn. Sacrificing a creature an opponent owns draws you a card and makes each opponent lose 1 life.
• CHIEF OF STAFF: Doug Stamper, Chief of Staff lets you sacrifice another creature to scry 1. He also gets a +1/+1 counter whenever you sacrifice a creature an opponent owns.
• ADDITIONAL INFLUENCE: Claire Underwood, First Lady gains you 2 life whenever you Leverage, then makes a target opponent lose that much life whenever you gain life. Zoe Barnes, Slugline Reporter draws a card and costs you 1 life whenever you Leverage.

Have the exit ready before borrowing the creature

Frank rewards sacrifice rather than a creature simply changing controllers. Doug therefore plays a distinct role: he provides the means to sacrifice a borrowed creature before the control effect ends. You can use it in combat first when the board permits, then decide whether to sacrifice it while you still control it. Without an outlet, Leverage remains a temporary combat tool and does not by itself trigger Frank's card draw.

President Garrett Walker adds +2/+0 and lifelink to a creature you Leverage for the turn, while Catherine Durant, Secretary of State uses Leverage twice when she enters. This House of Cards Magic Proxy deck suits players who enjoy turning an opponent's board into a resource and managing the timing between combat, life gain and sacrifice. Its Orzhov game plan makes alliances useful precisely because they have an expiry.

A 100-card Commander deck plus 4 tokens, with the existing Bracket 4 designation.