Used historically to shut down Splinter Twin and Kiki-Jiki in Modern, Linvala has long been a powerful sideboard option against combo
Some would also argue that a good token commander can always get by without the ability to generate tokens if it has a strong enough payoff like Purphoros, God of the Forge, and theres plenty of evidence that aligns with that school of thought
Some players have been playing blue for The Reality Chip, Spell Pierce, Teferi, Time Raveler, and Meddling Mage to help with the combo and control matchups, but the Orzhov Hammer decks folks are used to are still alive and kicking as well
Karlov was a member of the Orzhov ruling council once upon a time, and hes been given a new lease of (un)life in this set
Zilortha, Apex of Ikoria is also an 8/8 themselves, making them one of the biggest Creatures attached to a battle, especially as Invasion of Ikoria can be cast for as low as three mana
But I can see this topending a kind of Rakdos removal pile that tips into control from midrange in Standard
