Karador

Commander / EDH BGW (Abzan, Junk) Goodstuff Midrange Multiplayer Rock Toolbox

SlickWizard

Creature (37)

• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 1x Ashen Rider
• 1x Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
• 1x Baneslayer Angel
• 1x Cavalier of Dawn
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Farhaven Elf
• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x God-Eternal Oketra
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Kitchen Finks
• 1x Knight of Autumn
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Noxious Gearhulk
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Protean Hulk
• 1x Qasali Pridemage
• 1x Remorseful Cleric
• 1x Restoration Angel
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Siege Rhino
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Springbloom Druid
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Tireless Tracker
• 1x Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
• 1x Vindictive Lich
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Voice of Resurgence
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Woodland Bellower

Land (36)

• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Field of the Dead
• 2x Forest
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Golgari Rot Farm
• 1x High Market
• 1x Indatha Triome
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Murmuring Bosk
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 2x Plains
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Selesnya Sanctuary
• 2x Snow-Covered Forest
• 2x Snow-Covered Plains
• 2x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 2x Swamp
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Bastion
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Instant (4)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares

Commander (1)

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Eerie Ultimatum
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Maelstrom Pulse
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Rishkar's Expertise
• 1x Skyshroud Claim
• 1x Vindicate

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Elemental Bond
• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Journey to Eternity  ^Flip
• 1x Mirari's Wake
• 1x Sylvan Library

Artifact (5)

• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
• 1x Garruk, Cursed Huntsman
• 1x Liliana, Dreadhorde General

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Maybeboard

Creature (2)

• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Shriekmaw

Instant (1)

• 1x Chord of Calling

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This is a Karador, Ghost Chieftain Deck not focused on abusing graveyard synergies or combos but instead on grinding out an excessive amount of value in multiplayer games. For those of you who are familiar with the modern format this deck can be described as a very large version of Jund; that is ready to grind for days. Getting to this benchmark in the deck building process has included a very large amount of play testing and tuning with over 130(!) different cards having been removed and replaced with more efficient options to date.

The creatures are the heart and soul of the deck with 35 being the minimum number that I would run and still feel confident that the deck is doing what it wants to do. A big reason for the high creature count is to the ability to cast Karador, Ghost Chieftain on the cheap, for maximum value, in order to re-buy creatures who have managed to end up in the graveyard and keep on generating value. Supporting creatures for graveyard recursion include Sun Titan, Sheoldred, Whispering One, and Karmic Guide. These creatures allow the deck to generate multiple sources for recursion and can occasionally be so effective that it is difficult to cast Karador, Ghost Chieftain for a reduced cost.

Supporting the recursive creatures are value generating creatures that have effects when the enter or leave the battlefield. These include Wood Elves, Solemn Simulacrum, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Siege Rhino, and Plaguecrafter among many, many others. This cast of characters is very good at interacting with the opponent or building up our own board state simply by being cast and often times for not very much mana. However the real hidden strength of many of these creatures is that they are relatively small and cheap and often live short lives on the dangerous battlefields of the Commander world. A quick death for Solemn Simulacrum, for example, often means an even quicker rebirth in this deck and another trip to value town all over again. The next level of interaction with the value generating creatures is to build up a board state of creatures that generate additional value from the coming and going of the value creatures. These include all stars such as Trostani, Selesnya's Voice, Panharmonicon, and God-Eternal Oketra.

These small or smaller value creatures often struggle to close out a game if unsupported so the deck has an A-Team of heavy hitters to beat down and close the game. The standouts here are Archangel of Thune, Woodland Bellower, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, and Grave Titan. All of them are very large and can be disruptive to the game plan of opponents or be generally hard to remove. In addition to being able to brawl on the ground with opposing creatures many of the critters in this category also generate incremental value or give addition value to other creatures in the deck.

The non-creature spells in the deck are included to wither support the creature heavy focus of the deck like Birthing Pod and Buried Alive or to answer opposing permanents. The removal that has stayed in the deck throughout the tuning process have primarily earned their spots by being incredibly flexible and powerful. The deck isn't looking to kill absolutely all of its opponents stuff but it is definitely looking to remove critical game pieces to disrupt its opponent's best laid plans.

Over the years some combos have made their way into the deck in order to end stalled out six player games at the end of the night. These are:

1. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Viscera Seer + Walking Ballista : This is the juiciest combo in the deck and the easiest to assemble thanks to Protean Hulk. By playing and then sacrificing hulk, say to a High Market or Phyrexian Tower, you can search your library for Karmic Guide and Viscera Seer. The guide will reanimate the hulk which can then be sacrificed to the seer to tutor up two more creatures, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Walking Ballista. The ballista will not die immediately due to Mikaeus's ability giving it +1/+1. Use the seer to sacrifice the ballista which will trigger undying, granted by Mikaeus, to return the ballista with a +1/+1 counter on it. The ballista can fire that off at whomever or whatever you would like and then be sacrificed again in a continuous loop. This results in infinite damage to your opponents and if you want to their creatures. You are also allowed to infinitely scry (see below breakdown) for a removal spell if they have some means of protection against the ballista like Leyline of Sanctity.

2. Archangel of Thune + Kitchen Finks + Viscera Seer : This is the fall back combo of the deck that can be executed at instant speed but needs a combat step to win the game. By sacrificing Kitchen Finks to Viscera Seer it will return to the battlefield via a persist trigger. The ETB life gain of the finks will trigger Archangel of Thune give everyone a +1/+1 counter ability which will annihilate the -1/-1 counter from persist to 'reset' the finks. This loop can per performed infinite times to result in an infinite life total, infinitely large creatures (except the finks), and infinite scrying. Infinite scry allows you short cut it by picking up your deck, reviewing the order, and cut it wherever you would like to set up future draws. Combine the infinite power with trample and/or flyers (like Archangel herself) to attack for lethal damage. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed can also be substituted for Archangel of Thune in a pinch allowing you to return the finks by alternating between undying and persist but will not give your creatures infinite power.

It should be noted that all of these combos need the graveyard to work and are going to be pertinently disrupted by a Rest in Peace or other hate pieces. The best recourse against hate is to either remove it or bring the beats against the player who has it on the table.

Hope you like the deck and find this large stack of Abzan Good stuff interesting and possibly inspiring.

Please up vote!

Date added	10 years
Last updated	4 years
Key combos	Archangel of Thune + Kitchen Finks + Viscera Seer Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Viscera Seer + Walking Ballista
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	20 - 0 Mythic Rares 44 - 0 Rares 11 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.75
Tokens	Clue, Elemental */* GW, Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Emblem Garruk, Cursed Huntsman, Golem 3/3 C, Soldier 1/1 W, Wolf 2/2 BG, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie Warrior 4/4 B
Folders	1 Current Line Up