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My second EDH deck, and my first foray into the multicolored. An obvious work in progress. The main idea of the deck is to benefit from multiple life gain triggers while steadily draining life from your opponents. My experience with EDH thus far has definitely helped to shape this deck. It is coming together much more efficiently than my first, and I am much more aware of what does and does not work in EDH. Looking forward to some constructive feedback. I play pretty much every Saturday at my LGS, so any changes take about a week to be "battle-tested" in a real game.

Try setting sort to Custom to see my thought process when designing the deck!

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Karlov of the Ghost Council is a powerful, versatile commander. His triggered ability powers him up every time you gain life. This makes him strong enough to make commander damage a real threat. His activated ability is even more powerful. By paying two mana and removing six counters (read three triggers worth) of counters from him, we can exile any creature. This repeatable, easily-charged removal helps deal with threats and make holes in the enemy line for Karlov to slip through.

Some cards have a place in (nearly) every EDH deck. Most of these so-called staples serve one purpose: color fixing. As the number of colors in a deck increases, so too does the need for color fixing. The primary method of color fixing in the deck is through effective use of dual and fetch lands. My research on the topic has lead me to create what I believe to be an optimized mana base for the deck. This was achieved by removing as many tap lands as possible and replacing them with dual lands that have a way to enter the battlefield untapped.

The Battlebond Lands Show

The Check Lands Show

Command Tower Show

The Fetch Lands Show

The Filter Lands Show

The Pain Lands Show

The Pathways Show

The Shock Lands Show

The Signets Show

The Slow Lands Show

The Tainted Lands Show

The Talismans Show

Miscellaneous Mana Fixers Show

The majority of the combos in the deck rely on parts of the infamous Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond combo.

Removal is a key concept in many EDH decks. If your deck doesn't have the ability to counter a spell, removal is the next best option. The key deciding factor for removal spells in this deck is versatility. Any spell that does more than simply destroy a creature is an outstanding choice.

The deck has more ways to win than one might expect for a life gain deck. The most basic win-con is for us to stack any off the life gain triggers below in order to make Karlov of the Ghost Council enormous, and then swing for commander damage. In addition to these, there are a few other, somewhat more insidious win conditions tucked away within the deck.

Life Gain Triggers Show

Win Conditions Show

Any given deck has a number of sub-themes running in the background of the overall deck architecture. In this particular deck, our two sub-themes are rather minor, but still present and powerful nonetheless.

Card Advantage Show

Protection Show

The decks biggest weakness is being in a state of being unable to gain life. This is usually due to opponents' interference: Erebos, God of the Dead, Sulfuric Vortex, Rain of Gore, etc. However, it can also be a failing of our own if we fail to play any life gain engines early enough in the game. A first turn Soul Warden or Authority of the Consuls is a great foundation towards victory when starting out. Failing to drop those early life gain triggers can dramatically affect the deck's overall performance.

Suggestions

Updates Add

Subbed in Heliod, Sun-Crowned and Generous Gift for Utter End and Vindicate.

Vindicate is good, but Generous Gift is instant speed. The 3/3 token is a minor inconvenience at best.

Utter End is just too expensive to cast at four mana for single target removal. Heliod, Sun-Crowned was basically made to go in this deck, his effect just synergizes so well with Karlov of the Ghost Council.

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Revision 30 See all

(2 years ago)

-1 Cosmos Elixir main
+1 Farewell main
Date added 7 years
Last updated 2 years
Key combos
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

7 - 0 Mythic Rares

48 - 0 Rares

17 - 0 Uncommons

10 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.69
Tokens Elephant 3-3 G, Horse 5/5 W, Soldier 1/1 W w/ Lifelink, Treasure
Folders decks, EDH, Completed Decks
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