Karlov Lifegain Shenanigans

Commander / EDH Budget Casual Lifegain Soul Sisters Voltron WB (Orzhov)

SrPantuflas

Creature (27)

• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Children of Korlis
• 1x Deadeye Tracker
• 1x Deathgreeter
• 1x Drana's Emissary
• 1x Gifted Aetherborn
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x High Priest of Penance
• 1x Intrepid Hero
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Lone Rider  ^Flip
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Ranger of Eos
• 1x Soltari Visionary
• 1x Soul Warden
• 1x Soulmender
• 1x Soul's Attendant
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Sunscorch Regent
• 1x Suture Priest
• 1x Thraben Inspector
• 1x Tithe Drinker
• 1x Vampire Nighthawk
• 1x Vizkopa Guildmage
• 1x Whitemane Lion

Instant (7)

• 1x Abolish
• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Apostle's Blessing
• 1x Forsake the Worldly
• 1x Renewed Faith
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Tainted Strike

Land (35)

• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Kabira Crossroads
• 1x Mortuary Mire
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 10x Plains
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Scoured Barrens
• 1x Secluded Steppe
• 1x Shambling Vent
• 8x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Ancient Craving
• 1x Ashen Powder
• 1x Ashes to Ashes
• 1x Dusk / Dawn
• 1x End Hostilities
• 1x Essence Harvest
• 1x Fragmentize
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Syphon Mind
• 1x Victimize

Commander (1)

Artifact (12)

• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Key to the City
• 1x Mirage Mirror
• 1x Orzhov Keyrune
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Pristine Talisman
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sun Droplet
• 1x Tablet of the Guilds
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Palace Siege
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Retribution of the Ancients
• 1x Righteous Cause
• 1x Tortured Existence
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol

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Maybeboard

Land (5)

• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x Kabira Crossroads
• 1x Seraph Sanctuary
• 1x Shambling Vent
• 1x Temple of Silence

Artifact (1)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir

Creature (4)

• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 1x Hex Parasite
• 1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 1x Ranger of Eos

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Felidar Umbra
• 1x Sunbond

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Alliance of Arms
• 1x Toxic Deluge

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This is a budget deck, my initial plan was to make a deck under 100 USD, but Volrath's Stronghold happened. Then I really liked the playstyle so I'm upgrading it.

+1 Add a loyalty symbol to upvote!

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Goal: Start with cheap ways to gain little amounts of life: The best one is any of the Soul Sisters. Other options are Suture Priest, Deathgreeter, Blood Artist, Authority of the Consuls. Or lifelink with Lone Rider/ Tithe Drinker / Gifted Aetherborn.

Enter Uncle Karl, On your 2nd or 3rd turn., get a couple counters on him. Good moment to play any gain life land.

Keep the lifegain with the cards listed above or Drana's Emissary, Kambal, Consul of Allocation, Pristine Talisman, Renewed Faith, Vampire Nighthawk,

Keep enemy creatures at bay attacking with Karlov, nobody likes taking tons of commander damage.

Around the 5th or 6th mana source (ramp or land) and while having a Karlov with 6 counter or more, you should have always mana untapped, so you can be able to exile, if someone wipe the table, drop an annoying creature, or try to combo something. You can use that as a political tool too. Instant-speed exile is scary.

If you can play Righteous Cause, Sunscorch Regent or charge the Sun Drop the amount of counters can get crazy.

Steelshaper's Gift or Stoneforge Mystic tutoring Whispersilk Cloak or Basilisk Collar on Karl. Or use Key to the City to win with Commander Damage.

I don't run too many mana rocks, since the average CMC is less than 3.

Retribution of the Ancients I love to make cards like this work, is an alternative for Karlov exile ability, this just destroy creatures but using six counters and killing two /3 for or three /2 for is better in many cases than exile just one, having the flexibility to keep just one black mana source untapped to deal with threats helps our curve too.

Profane Memento looks a bit lame, but if you play Toxic Deludge or Pestilence and keep Karlov alive, you get tons of counters, and if you have Retribution of the Ancients + Deathgreeter and/or Blood Artist uncle Karl become a killing machine.

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Combos and Wincons:

This is a pretty straightforward Voltron-ish deck, no Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond . No Felidar Sovereign or Test of Endurance to win.

Children of Korlis + Unspeakable Symbol or Children of Korlis + Unspeakable Symbol + Vizkopa Guildmage

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further developments:

Ranger of Eos : To look for Soul Sisters, Mom or Children of Korlis. Not sure what more to add or change, i'm open to suggestions!

Non budget Improvements:

Better mana base: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth instead of swamp or tapland. Concealed Courtyard. instead of tapland or basic. Love the simple life of playing with basics so I'm not sure to go deep on the fixing. Fetches and shock and duals are the way to go for a solid land base.

Archangel of Thune to pump weenies. Dang this card is too expensive hope too see it in Iconic Masters.

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Maybe:

More Voltron cards? Bastion Protector, Gift of Immortality, Shielded by Faith, Spirit Mantle.

Any recommendation is appreciated! I'm looking for cards outside of the ones listed at edhrec.

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Cards out:testing the deck with less Extort enablers. They are kinda slow, Tablet of the Guilds is slower at first but then help and triggers without extra mana.

Aetherflux Reservoir its sadly not doing too much, since we don't have a safe big lifegain triggers, just tons of little ones.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	7 years
Key combos	Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond Children of Korlis + Unspeakable Symbol Children of Korlis + Unspeakable Symbol + Vizkopa Guildmage
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 25 - 0 Rares 28 - 0 Uncommons 26 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.51
Tokens	Clue, Morph 2/2 C