Grandpa Karlov

Commander / EDH WB (Orzhov)

doonmeister

Creature (25)

• 1x Angel of Destiny
• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 1x Auriok Champion
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Children of Korlis
• 1x Cliffhaven Vampire
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Deathgreeter
• 1x Defiler of Faith
• 1x Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1x Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Lurrus of the Dream-Den
• 1x Obzedat, Ghost Council
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Serra Ascendant
• 1x Soul Warden
• 1x Soul's Attendant
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Suture Priest
• 1x Tree of Perdition
• 1x Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
• 1x Vizkopa Guildmage
• 1x Wall of Blood
• 1x Wall of Reverence

Instant (2)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Return to Dust

Land (37)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Castle Locthwain
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 14x Plains
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Shattered Sanctum
• 12x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Artifact (12)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Bolas's CitadelGC
• 1x Fountain of Renewal
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Tainted Sigil
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Venser's Journal
• 1x Well of Lost Dreams
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord

Commander (1)

Enchantment (12)

• 1x Ajani's Mantra
• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Axis of Mortality
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Bloodchief Ascension
• 1x Exquisite Blood
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Sanguine Bond
• 1x Smothering TitheGC
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Council's Judgment
• 1x Damnable Pact
• 1x Day of Judgment
• 1x Debt to the Deathless
• 1x Essence Harvest
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Return to the Ranks
• 1x Revival / Revenge
• 1x Rite of Consumption
• 1x Toxic Deluge

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Maybeboard

Creature (2)

• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 1x Leonin Elder

Land (1)

• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse

Instant (1)

• 1x Hatred

Artifact (2)

• 1x Bontu's Monument
• 1x Chalice of Life  ^Flip

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Torment of Hailfire
• 1x Unburial Rites

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Karlov Life-Gain shenanigans

Objective: Win with cool life manipulation cards, or, if all that goes out the window, maybe just beat face with a massively fat commander.

Combos and synergistic cards:

Some strategies involve losing your own life to ultimately trade life totals with opponents. Cards that do this include:

Wall of Blood, Souldrinker, Unspeakable Symbol to drain one's own life. Then cards like Soul Conduit and Reverse the Sands to trade your 1 life total with that of an opponent's much larger total. Then finish them off with an extort or just let them die on their own.

Wall of Blood is also hilarious with Wall of Reverence. Pay your life down to zero, target the newly MASSIVE Wall of Blood with your Wall of Reverence, and if you have Sanguine Bond our Defiant Bloodlord out, dome someone for that amount.

The deck has tons of minor incidental lifegain. The most important thing in this deck is not the AMOUNT of life you're gaining necessarily, but the QUANTITY of triggers. It's why cards like the soul sisters (Soul's Attendant, Soul Warden, Suture Priest) and similar cards like Authority of the Consuls are so effective. Also, cards that are weak in other decks can be very impactful here. Sun Droplet gets Karlov bigger every upkeep. Righteous Cause makes people REALLY think about attacking at all.

More combos:

Venser's Journal and Necropotence work well together, letting you draw as many cards as your life can allow and get all that life back. Just don't get too greedy, you don't get the life back until your next upkeep so it can be fragile.

If Karlov gets to be above 20 power, you are in the real zone of being able to abuse him for wins. I'm not talking just about giving him unblockable with Whispersilk Cloak or Dauthi Embrace and beating face; Rite of Consumption and Essence Harvest can outright kill an opponent with a large Karlov on the field.

The only infinite in the deck is the eyeroll-inducing Sanguine Bond + Exquisite Blood combo, which I genuinely try not to ever use to win unless the game has gone on for hours and it just needs to end. Both cards are extremely synergistic and powerful on their own.

Date added	9 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 0 Mythic Rares 34 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.03
Tokens	Companion Zone, Soldier 1/1 W, Treasure
Folders	Commander
Based on	Call The Spirits- C15 EDH Deck Elfarcher73 EDH