Karador ETB Reanimator

Commander / EDH* BGW (Abzan, Junk) Reanimator

strembl7

DRAW (11)

• 1x Deal Broker
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Evolutionary Leap
• 1x Graveborn Muse
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Soul of the Harvest
• 1x Wall of Blossoms
• 1x Yavimaya Elder

ETB (22)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Aura Shards
• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Big Game Hunter
• 1x Butcher of Malakir
• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Felidar Cub
• 1x Fiend Hunter
• 1x Gatekeeper of Malakir
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Mimic Vat
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Resolute Archangel
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1x Satyr Wayfinder
• 1x Shriekmaw
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Sylvan Ranger
• 1x Wall of Blossoms
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Yavimaya Dryad

GOOD (6)

• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Golgari Grave-Troll
• 1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One

LAND (36)

• 1x Ancient Ziggurat
• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Fertile Thicket
• 4x Forest
• 1x Golgari Rot Farm
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mortuary Mire
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 1x Orzhov Guildgate
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 6x Plains
• 1x Rupture Spire
• 1x Selesnya Guildgate
• 1x Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1x Shambling Vent
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Transguild Promenade
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vivid Grove

LTB (7)

• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Mimic Vat
• 1x Reveillark
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Yavimaya Elder

MILL (16)

• 1x Attrition
• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Deadbridge Chant
• 1x Deal Broker
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Evolutionary Leap
• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x Golgari Grave-Troll
• 1x Hermit Druid
• 1x Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
• 1x Jarad's Orders
• 1x Nyx Weaver
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Satyr Wayfinder
• 1x Victimize

RAMP (9)

• 1x Frontier Siege
• 1x Hermit Druid
• 1x Mirari's Wake
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Sylvan Ranger
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Yavimaya Dryad
• 1x Yavimaya Elder

REANIMATE (9)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Deadbridge Chant
• 1x Hell's Caretaker
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Reveillark
• 1x Saffi Eriksdotter
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Victimize

REMOVAL (20)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Aura Shards
• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Big Game Hunter
• 1x Duplicant
• 1x Felidar Cub
• 1x Fiend Hunter
• 1x Gatekeeper of Malakir
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Pernicious Deed
• 1x Planar Outburst
• 1x Putrefy
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Resolute Archangel
• 1x Shriekmaw
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Unmake
• 1x Wrath of God

TUTOR (5)

• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x Jarad's Orders
• 1x Nyx Weaver
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon

Commander (1)

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Maybeboard

Other (18)

• 1x Academy Rector
• 1x Archon of Justice
• 1x Ashen Rider
• 1x Black Market
• 1x Conjurer's Closet
• 1x Cream of the Crop
• 1x Deathreap Ritual
• 1x Debtors' Knell
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star SL
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Planar Cleansing
• 1x Stinkweed Imp
• 1x Survival of the Fittest
• 1x Terastodon

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This deck is designed to be played both single and multiplayer without huge downsides. It is not super competitive in the sense that it does not tutor into combos right off the start. It's FUN instead. This deck is a amazing because your graveyard is just an extension of your hand.

Deck strategy:

Phase 1: Dick Around

Spend the first few turns getting land and getting junk into your graveyard. Use creatures like Nyx Weaver , Satyr Wayfinder , and Hermit Druid to get the first few cards into the graveyard. You want a sac-cantilever like Fauna Shaman , or Evolutionary Leap , or Birthing Pod to dump those cards once the ETB has been used up.

Phase 2: Karador

Once there are enough creatures in the graveyard to get some value out of Karador, bring him down. You usually want to wait until you have enough mana to cast a creature from the graveyard on the same turn. There ought to be something good in there by now: Fauna Shaman , Hermit Druid , Linvala, Keeper of Silence ,

The rest of the deck is removal to take down quick commanders like Animar, Soul of Elements and Muzzio, Visionary Architect or to deal with early combo pieces, or even just to play politics.

Phase 3: Own the Board

Once your graveyard has some friends in it, and you have enough mana to work with, you can start using your graveyard as your hand, or just cheat down some fatties. Turns 5-6 should go a little something like this:

Turn 5 [5 mana]

1. Jarad's Orders into Karmic Guide (hand) and Avacyn, Angel of Hope (gy)

2. Birthing Pod one of your 3-casts for Hell's Caretaker OR Linvala, Keeper of Silence depending on your opponents' boards.

Turn 6 [6 mana]

1. Cast Karmic Guide to put Avacyn, Angel of Hope into play.

2. Sac Karmic Guide to Birthing Pod to fetch a Sun Titan from my deck.

3. Sun Titan 's ETB returns Karmic Guide to the battlefield.

4. Karmic Guide triggers a second time to raise another fattie from perdition; this time Sheoldred, Whispering One .

[If you chose Hell's Caretaker before, then you can sac any leftover sac fodder to bring back a fattie during your upkeep. If no sac fodder, cast one through Karador.]

Phase 4: Oppression

If the above doesn't already have the group throwing down their hands in defeat, its time for the long game. Get all your good cards out of your deck and just cycle them down as they get removed. Your biggest threat is combos going off that win without involving the board. Hermit Druid + Laboratory Maniac for example. Without blue to play counterspells, its difficult to do much about true combo decks. This deck is not built for that ultra-competitive meta. However, it still fares well. Just race them. Swing and watch them panic as their removals just fuel the fire.

Don't be shy to sac good stuff to Birthing Pod or Fauna Shaman . We want to fetch our key cards from the deck quickly if we can, and you can count on the Birthing Pod to get removed promptly. We can always cast that shit out of the graveyard later if we want it back. Don't be shy to wipe the board, either. Your stuff is just as good to you in the graveyard as it is in your hand. Plus, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and Golgari Grave-Troll both become monsters once the game is dragged on. I have considered throwing a Geth, Lord of the Vault in as well. We shall see. Karador is already quite reliable in that respect.

Key cards to bring out of the deck: Karmic Guide Sun Titan Reveillark Sheoldred, Whispering One

for cheating, as well as some fatties as targets for the above: Avacyn, Angel of Hope Iona, Sheild of Emeria Sheoldred, Whispering One Mikaeus, the Unhallowed Linvala, Keeper of Silence against commanders which rely on activated abilities.

These are also usually the targets of Rune-Scarred Demon , Demonic Tutor , and Jarad's Orders .

Combos

This deck runs no infinite combos, but it does run non-infinite analogues to common combos:

1. Animate Dead + Karmic Guide + Sun Titan plus a sac outlet. The difference here is that my sac outlets all require mana, like Evolutionary Leap or Birthing Pod . So, rather than going infinite, you get a bunch of creatures down instead.

2. Mimic Vat synergizes well with the ETB creatures. Common targets are: Solemn Simulacrum , Karmic Guide , Rune-Scarred Demon , and Eternal Witness or else whatever removal creature you need at the time Acidic Slime . BE CAREFUL exiling your best cards with this thing because if Mimic Vat dies while your card is still exiled, that card stays exiled.

Adjusting to your Meta

This deck is fairly easy to adjust to your taste.

Some potential changes:

To be better at multiplayer: Swap out most of the spot removal for the board wipes you see on the maybeboard.

To be more competitive: Add in your missing combo pieces. Add some infinite sac outlets to complete the Karmic Guide combo such as Ashnod's Altar . Phyrexian Altar , Fallen Angel , and a number of vampires.

To be more competitive: Dump in a bunch of tutors in the place of the self-mill cards like Satyr Wayfinder . Tutors are more direct if you're looking for combo pieces, but less effective if you just want the big graveyard of options. Access to black makes tutoring quite easy.

General

I would love to receive some feedback on this deck. I have 8 EDH decks on the go right now, and I eagerly await the release of Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest . SO, my good lands are spread fairly thin. It would be easy to improve on the mana base -- not looking for advice in that area.

Nonland card recommendations are welcomed :)

Date added	9 years
Last updated	3 years
Key combos	Animate Dead + Karmic Guide + Sun Titan Hermit Druid + Laboratory Maniac
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 40 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.88
Tokens	Copy Clone, Morph 2/2 C