pie chart

That which is dead will kill you quickly (Karlov)

Commander / EDH Combo Lifegain

Denthrass


Sideboard

Creature (2)

Instant (1)

Sorcery (1)

Artifact (2)


Maybeboard


At its core this deck is very simple: Gain life, Grow Karlov of the Ghost Council, and kill your opponents with commander damage. If that doesn't work, you can fall back on Exquisite Blood plus either Sanguine Bond or Vizkopa Guildmage to end the game.

Karlov, unsurprisingly, is the central focus of this deck. Therefore, there are a few cards in this deck that exclusively buff, or work the best with, Karlov.

Sunbond has quite a bit of versatility, serving as both a threat or deterrent when paired with Lifelink as this combo will cause Karlov to more than double in size every time he attacks or blocks. It can also turn your burst healing into pseudo damage. As well as serving a good removal bait, to more reliability get combo out.

Ajani Steadfast can give Karlov lifelink, vigilance and first strike. this not only allows you to gain exorbitant amounts of life from your (probably huge Karlov, but vigilance means that Karlov can still protect Ajani on the ground.

Elspeth, Knight-Errant will give Karlov flight, often allowing you to sneak in that last bit of commander damage.

Firstly there is the obvious Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond combo, however, Vizkopa Guildmage will do the same thing as Sanguine Bond meaning you have two combo enablers in this deck, instead of one.

Vizkopa Guildmage and Sanguine Bond can turn all your healing into damage. often allowing you to kill people outright with giant heals like Congregate.

Tainted Sigil is another MVP of this deck. when used in conjunction with the combo above it will double your damage in the case of Sanguine Bond however, if you have Vizkopa Guildmage out it will multiply the damage dealt by the amount of opponents you are facing. getting even more insane if you bring a Sun Titan into the equation. the other function of Tainted Sigil is allowing you to ignore most any swing at you (granted it wont kill you outright).

One thing i have noticed with that deck is that although it can be insanely fast one on one, you need to really slow down your game-plan in most multiplayer games. you can easily kill a single person early, but doing so paints such a huge target on your chest that you will hardly ever survive the resulting onslaught.

Any suggestions to improve the deck are appreciated.

Suggestions

Updates Add

the deck has almost completely evolved, 8 months of play + new sets will do that

Comments View Archive

Date added 8 years
Last updated 7 years
Key combos
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

15 - 1 Mythic Rares

35 - 2 Rares

20 - 3 Uncommons

18 - 2 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.24
Tokens Cat 2/2 W, Emblem Ajani Steadfast, Emblem Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Emblem Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Human Cleric 1/1 BW, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 W, Vampire 1/1 B w/ Lifelink, Vampire Knight 1/1 B, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders Deck Ideas
Votes
Ignored suggestions
Shared with
Views