Karador Toolbox

Commander / EDH* BGW (Abzan, Junk) Midrange Multiplayer Primer Reanimator Toolbox

mattitude

Creature (42)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Ashen Rider
• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Burglar Rat
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Dimir House Guard
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Felidar Guardian
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Knight of Autumn
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Mindslicer
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Protean Hulk
• 1x Qasali Pridemage
• 1x Ravenous Chupacabra
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Remorseful Cleric
• 1x Reveillark
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon *f-pre*
• 1x Saffi Eriksdotter
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Satyr Wayfinder
• 1x Scavenging Ooze
• 1x Shriekmaw
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Sin Collector
• 1x Skyclave Apparition
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Spore Frog
• 1x Stinkweed Imp
• 1x Stitcher's Supplier
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Woodfall Primus
• 1x Yosei, the Morning Star

Land (35)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Bayou
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Forest
• 1x Forest
• 1x Gavony Township
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Murmuring Bosk
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Plains
• 1x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Secluded Steppe
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Tranquil Thicket
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Commander (1)

Instant (6)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Life from the Loam
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Tragic Arrogance

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Aura Shards
• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Survival of the Fittest
• 1x Sylvan Library

Artifact (5)

• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring

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(As a quick note, the basics in this deck are Guru, Beta, and Euro lands. Not sure how to format the Euro lands in)

10/8/18: This deck has undergone multiple changes over the past year, including a heavier focus on forcing some combos (namely Kokusho) due to my meta getting a bit more cutthroat. A lot of what I write about below is still mostly relevant, but I definitely need to redo this "primer". I'll get to it eventually, though I'm mostly just working on blinging this deck out :)

While there is a combo in this deck, I don't play this as a combo deck. This is meant to be a toolbox control type of deck a la the modern Birthing Pod decks of old. This is my oldest EDH deck and I've been tweaking it here and there ever since its inception. I've also started foiling it out since it's my favorite deck I've built so far.

I typically like to start the game with some form of ramp and engine card (Birthing Pod, Greater Good, Sun Titan, etc.) / board wipe and see where the deck takes me from there. The deck is chock full of answers and ways to tutor / reanimate those answers. All stars in the deck include Life from the Loam, Stinkweed Imp, Disciple of Bolas, Phyrexian Altar, Phyrexian Tower, Greater Good, Birthing Pod, and the number one MVP Spore Frog. Seriously, that little guy has carried me way too many times to count; there are games I've won solely due to him. Spore Frog has actually grown to be the most hated card in my playgroup and there are quite a few stories that revolve around him. In the early game, cards I tend to tutor for are the dredgers Life from the Loam and Stinkweed Imp (especially with Entomb!). Stinkweed Imp may be my most tutored card in the deck because of it's dredge 5 ability and because it's a wall that nobody wants to attack into. I've noticed that opponents tend to leave me alone if he's around since the Imp is a cheap, recursive creature that isn't worth someone else's time to get rid of. Other early tutors are Solemn Simulacrum, Birthing Pod, or any cheap form of interaction. Late game tutors tend to vary depending on the how the game is going, but Spore Frog is usually somewhere in there to keep me somewhat safe. Karador himself is used as more of a backup plan if one of my early engines didn't get enough early advantage, recurring whatever is available to him in the graveyard. I also tend to play him in the late game to close things out since he becomes an insane value engine.

The most used "answer" card I use is probably Shriekmaw followed by Reclamation Sage. They're both cheap and easily recurrable. All other creatures tend to take the focus off these two (for being a large threat) or are used to cycle these cards in and out of the graveyard easily (Restoration Angel, Saffi Eriksdotter). My favorite wrath in the deck is Merciless Eviction due to its exile ability and flexibility. I've been in many sticky situations where the only card in all of Magic (to my knowledge) that would get me out of a bad situation was Merciless Eviction. I also aim to have at least one sac outlet at most times on the board, so Eviction has rarely affected me. The runner up wrath is probably Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite since she tends to swing the game wildly in my favor. Of course there are other answers and ways to deal with permanents, but it would take me forever to describe each card's role in the deck!

The deck typically wins through overwhelming board presence through grinding opponents out or Living Death, although the Saffi / Karmic Guide / Revillark / Sun Titan loops have definitely gotten me a win here and there. I've even won off of little dorks and Gavony Township, that was probably my most interesting victory.

Although this is a pretty stock Karador list in my opinion, I don't want to go the dedicated combo route with it. I don't like running combos (I think they're boring), but I keep at least one in to end the game quickly if it's dragging on too much. Also since the combo needs lots of pieces that are fairly easy to interact with, I feel okay running it.

Some recent additions are Puppeteer Clique (over Grey Merchant), Animate Dead (over Reanimate), Strip Mine (over Krosan Verge), Anguished Unmaking (over Utter End), Traverse the Ulvenwald (over Buried Alive), Grave Titan (over Wurmcoil Engine), and Mirari's Wake (over something I can't remember, so it's probably staying in!). These cards are all being tested out, but they've all performed very well for me so they're probably permanent additions.

Notable Omissions
Hermit Druid: He was in for my first draft of the deck, but he always made me a target and I could never close the game from there. Without the deck being dedicated to him, I don't think he's good early game and I don't think he's relevant late game.

mikeaus, the unhallowed: I haven't tried him out, but I'm nervous that he'll steer the deck to a more combo-centered deck.

Buried Alive: I only recently took the card out and I have to say, I don' really miss it. I've always felt awkward with it in my hand since what it typically did was get Stinkweed Imp back into my hand through dredge while opening up my other two creatures to graveyard hate. It didn't really matter what they were, people were scared of the dumped creatures anyways. So since I could never really dump a bomb in the graveyard, it just felt awful.

Fauna Shaman: I tried to keep the creatures to ETB effects (even though the number one MVP breaks this rule). No other real reason.

Wood Elves: I go back and forth on this card over Yavimaya Granger. If I play Wood Elves on curve though, it's not like I have too many spells to cast on one mana. I also like that Granger can grab any basic and that it sacs itself to cheapen Karador.

Yavimaya Elder: Too expensive for what I want to do with my mana. He doesn't ramp either (lands in hand are not the same as lands on the battlefield).

Cultivate / Kodama's Reach: I'd rather have my ramp spells be attached to creatures somehow, especially at this mana cost.

Golgari Grave-Troll: I had him in early drafts of the deck. Literally only used to dredge. I found getting too many cards quickly into my graveyard just made me a target (even if I didn't have enough mana to abuse it). So essentially the same reasoning as Hermit Druid, except much more expensive to cast without any real board presence once he shows up.

Yosei, the Morning Star: I actually REALLY love this card in the deck since it's so effective at ending the game or stopping someone else from winning the game. But that was part of the problem: it was never a fun way to end the game, it was sometimes too effective. And when it was down to only one-on-one, Yosei just made opponents miserable. I also like my answers to destroy my opponents threats, not prevent them from being played. So for the enjoyment of my opponents and the "spirit of EDH", I decided to unfortunately bench Yosei.

Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord: Another card that started in the early draft. He has a difficult mana cost, he's an expensive sac outlet, and I don't run enough big beefy creatures to take full advantage of the group slug ability. I don't care if he's a large creature himself if he has no evasion to help him get through, and he notably cannot sac himself.

Demonic Tutor: I still wonder if I should pick this up at some point. Unless the tutor is attached to a creature, I kinda like my tutors to be semi-restrictive. No real reason I haven't tested it, I guess.

Deadbridge Chant: Another early card that I ended up cutting. Same reasoning with Hermit Druid/ the Troll, and it's very expensive mana wise. I also don't like the random aspect.

Phyrexian Arena: I've never had an issue with card advantage or card draw in this deck. I also like Sylvan Library more.

Reanimate: I liked the card, I just think Animate Dead is more abusable in this deck.

Unburial Rites: Just a worse Reanimate in my experience. Often too expensive to use while in hand, and usually not as useful as I'd like while it was in the graveyard.

Strange Additions
Sin Collector: I don't think this is that strange of an inclusion, but I rarely see him in any decklists. He's my only way of dealing with instants and sorceries, I love him.

Unravel the Aether: There are a lot of God generals in my playgroup. This was a great meta call before the tuck rule was updated!

Restoration Angel: This is basically used as another free ETB effect while sometimes also being a combat trick. She helps smooth the deck, even if she is a nonbo with Linvala and Karmic Guide. I also like her as an extra "oomph" factor that the deck really benefits from to help it go over the top.

Ashen Rider: lol just kidding

Hero's Downfall: One of the few cheap ways to kill a planeswalker. Since I can reuse my "answer" creatures so easily and run some flexible wraths, I feel like I can afford a lot of spot removal.

Phyrexian Altar: I really don't understand why I don't see this card brought up more often in EDH decks, much less Karador decks. This card is absolutely insane, especially in conjunction with Hallowed Spiritkeeper. Those two together turn this deck into a weird pseudo storm deck.

Tragic Arrogance: I think the fact that it sacrifices AND I get to sculpt the battlefield to my liking makes this card busted. That sort of control over the boardstate is great and makes it very easy for me to pick off any last remaining "threats" I let stick around.

The Cycling Lands: A very nice engine with Life from the Loam that is difficult to interact with. Not the most mana efficient, but it works well to get the ball rolling for a turn or two.

Reclamation Sage (PROMO): Yeah there's a foil version available for Rec Sage, but the promo art looks so cool!

Cards in the Maybeboard
Scavenging Ooze: I've just never tried this card in the deck before. Not sure why, I might have to do that if my playgroup adapts to a more graveyard-centered meta.

Riftsweeper: I'm the target of a lot of exile effects, so I'm thinking of trying this card out. I don't think it does enough though, and even through grave hate and mass exile I haven't had too much trouble closing out a game.

Wrath of God / Damnation: My wraths are expensive, so I'm thinking of turning to one of these to stop an early lead. Although my deck can't consistently get Instants/Sorceries, so I'm not sure if it matters that much.

Toxic Deluge: Same as above, although this one is one mana cheaper.

Arbor Elf / Elvish Mystic / Mana Dork: With the new mulligan rule, I've noticed my deck has some starting hands with a top-heavy curve. It also got much less consistent with a decent early game hand. I'm thinking of cutting one of my 6+ drops for a mana dork, but it's so hard to actually do it.

Scrubland: Just waiting for a non-Damaged one to pop up on TCG Player!

Mana Crypt: With the new reprint, I might just have to finally pick one up!

Verdant Catacombs / Marsh Flats: Waiting for the reprints.

Duplicant: The 6 drop spot is probably the most flexible spot in the deck, and I think I might want another "answer" card up there. Not sure, have to do more testing with the current list.

So that's my description for the deck. Thanks for reading if you actually slogged through the whole thing. I'm sorry in advance if it's not as descriptive as it should be, but there's just so much detail I could write about this deck that I kept it to the main points. I'm always up for critiques and suggestions, or any pointers and tips. I think the deck is weak to extremely fast aggro decks (damn you Xenagos) or potentially spell heavy decks (never really faced too many of those). I think the deck has too few 2 drop creatures while the 6 drop spot is the most flexible, so any suggestions there are welcome. I like to think that the deck is highly tuned at this point and runs pretty well for what it tries to do. I'm quite proud of it.

Although Cyclonic Rift still fucks my shit up :)

Date added	9 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 57 - 0 Rares 15 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.28
Tokens	Illusion */* U
Folders	EDH Decks, EDH decks I want, Followed EDH decks, Cool budget lists