Pinball Wizard - Karona, False God EDH

Commander / EDH Enchantment Five Color Multiplayer Voltron

Caerwyn

Lands (38)

• 1x Aether Hub
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Darigaaz's Caldera
• 1x Dromar's Cavern
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 3x Forest
• 1x Gemstone Mine
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Meteor Crater
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 3x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Tarnished Citadel
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Treva's Ruins
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Creatures (15)

• 1x Argothian Enchantress
• 1x Auramancer
• 1x Celestial Ancient
• 1x Chromanticore
• 1x Eidolon of Blossoms
• 1x Heliod's Pilgrim
• 1x Herald of the Pantheon
• 1x Lotus Cobra
• 1x Mesa Enchantress
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Ramunap Excavator
• 1x Sovereigns of Lost Alara
• 1x Verduran Enchantress
• 1x Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
• 1x Windborn Muse

Other Enchantments (9)

• 1x Copy Enchantment
• 1x Defense of the Heart
• 1x Enchanted Evening
• 1x Enchantress's Presence
• 1x Opalescence
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Sigil of the Empty Throne
• 1x Starfield of Nyx
• 1x Sylvan Library

Pillowfort Enchantments (7)

• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Collective Restraint
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Lightmine Field
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Sphere of Safety
• 1x Sterling Grove

Sorceries and Instants (5)

• 1x Calming Verse
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Genesis Wave
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Open the Armory

Commander (1)

Voltron Enchantments (10)

• 1x Armadillo Cloak
• 1x Canopy Cover
• 1x Eldrazi Conscription
• 1x Ethereal Armor
• 1x Gift of Immortality
• 1x Shield of the Oversoul
• 1x Steel of the Godhead
• 1x Vow of Flight
• 1x Vow of Lightning
• 1x Vow of Wildness

Removal (8)

• 1x Banishing Light
• 1x Consulate Crackdown
• 1x Darksteel Mutation
• 1x Detention Sphere
• 1x Grasp of Fate
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Song of the Dryads
• 1x Stasis Snare

Ramp Enchantments (7)

• 1x Dawn's Reflection
• 1x Exploration
• 1x Fertile Ground
• 1x Mirari's Wake
• 1x Overgrowth
• 1x Trace of Abundance
• 1x Utopia Sprawl

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Ever since she was a young god, she's been a fickle thrall. Akroma, Page, Zagorka, she's got parts of them all. I ain't seen nothing like her, in any card I draw. That Karona the False God sure makes a mean pinball.

Why Karona?

Karona is an interesting card. is a difficult mana cost to muster, particularly for a card which promptly stabs you in the back. However, her ability sets her apart from other Voltron commanders--she can attack every single turn.

In a four player game, presuming she attacks each turn, she will swing for between 20 to 32 damage the round she is played. With Vow of Wildness, this number is increased to 32 to 44 damage. Her tribal ability, though not overly helpful to yourself (unless Sigil of the Empty Throne is in play), may dissuade tribal players from attacking you.

That said, though she has many boons, she is difficult to play. Unless you have a particularly strong pillowfort established, Karona should not be cast unless you can play one of the Vows alongside her--generally, this means 9 mana is required to get her onto the battlefield.

She is also susceptible to sacrificing, enemies purposefully running her into deathtouch creatures, or other shenanigans opponents might do while she is under their control.

Overall, she is not a high tier commander, but certainty quite fun.

Basic Gameplay

This deck relies heavily on enchantment synergies, allowing for card draw, protection, and creature production. In the early game, your goal is to build your pillowfort, enchant your lands to be more productive, and use removal enchantments to take out threats. Once you have a solid set of protections and sufficient mana, you cast Karona or other win conditions.

Voltron Pieces

Vow of Lightning, Vow of Flight, and Vow of Wildness were seemingly designed for Karona. Vow of Wildness is generally the best, as it gives +3/+3 and Trample, allowing commander damage to more easily pass through. That said, Vow of Lightning is great when an opponent has large/deathtouch creatures, and Vow of Flight's evasion is always useful. The other two Vows are not used - Vow of Duty is pretty useless on a creature that will never block, and Vow of Malice has no practical effect, unless colourless creatures are super popular in your playgroup.

Armadillo Cloak is a wonderful enchantment that not only gives trample, but also ensures you gain life when your opponents use Karona.

As an aside, the four above enchantments also make great pseudo-removal spells if you are in a bind, as they prevent a threat from attacking you or have all damage said threat deals to you effectively negated. They also are useful for table politics, as you can grant allies a boon, without worrying about it being turned against you.

Shield of the Oversoul grants Karona +2/+2, flying, and indestructible.

Canopy Cover is used as it is one of the few enchantments with its particular effect, and provides evasion to boot. Unlike hexproof, which leaves Karona open to opponent spells when under their control, Canopy Cover ensures only you can interact with Karona. It also grants Karona some evasion.

Ethereal Armor provides massive boosts to power and toughness.

Gift of Immortality allows Karona to come back from the dead should an opponent sacrifice her or otherwise get her killed.

Chromanticore is a powerful creature in its own right, although its casting cost is a bit inconvenient. As an aura, it provides a considerable boon to Karona, and encourages players to attack, as they will benefit from lifelink. Granting your opponents health is, of course, not always ideal. That said, your ultimate goal is to win through commander damage, not by actually killing your enemy.

Other Win Conditions

Celestial Ancient, combined with the number of enchantments in the deck, can pump itself and its fellow creatures fairly quickly.

Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger provides a strong body, vastly improves your ramp, and cripples your enemies mana.

Sovereigns of Lost Alara is particularly deadly alongside Karona, allowing you to cheat out Auras, and giving her an extra +1/+1 when she attacks on your turn. If Sovereigns is on the field, you can cast Karona at her casting cost, and immediately attack and place one of the Vows on her.

Sigil of the Empty Throne provides a number of blockers and strong, evasive bodies for offense. As they all share the angel tribal, they combo well with Karona's +3/+3 tribal ability.

Defense of the Heart should be used to cheat out Vorinclex. Your second creature should depend on your needs. Sovereign can be used if you intend to cast Karona next turn. Celestial Ancient is great if you have a fist full of enchantments, and intend to play a number of them with the extra mana Vorinclex provides.

Genesis Wave is a great card, and allow you to cheat out additional auras, synergistic creatures/enchantments, or possible bombs.

Enchanted Evening and Calming Verse are a devastating combo, completely destroying every opponent's board, while leaving your intact.

Enchanted Evening + Opalescence is, perhaps, my favourite combo in the game, which I accidentally stumbled upon while making this deck. Enchanted Evening turns all permanents, including lands, into enchantments. With Opalescence in play, all lands-turned-enchantments are now creatures with a power/toughness equal to their converted mana cost--0/0s. This destroys all lands as a state-based action, preventing any player from playing lands for the rest of the game. With Mirari's Wake on the field, your lands will survive this horrific wrath, leaving you to laugh as other players desperately try to make their mana rocks perform in a landless world.

Play for Full Effect

My Other Gimmicky Decks

If you enjoyed this deck, and want to check out other poorly contrived ideas based around terrible cards, please feel free to check out my other decks:

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240 Card Modern Battle of Wits

Modern Caerwyn

SCORE: 48 | 23 COMMENTS | 11223 VIEWS | IN 9 FOLDERS

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Mr. Smith Goes to Ravnica

Modern Caerwyn

SCORE: 42 | 13 COMMENTS | 1984 VIEWS | IN 6 FOLDERS

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Top Ranked	Achieved #51 position overall 6 years ago Achieved #22 position in Commander / EDH 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Enchantment 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Five Color 3 years ago
Date added	7 years
Last updated	4 years
Key combos	Enchanted Evening + Opalescence
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 57 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.39
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Energy Reserve, Spirit 1/1 C
Folders	Ancient Dinosaur Immortals!, Karona, Interesting Commander Decks, TO DO LIST, More EDH, Dekcs, EDH, SHIT I LIKE, Found, Commanders