Karlov Lord of Taxes

Commander / EDH Aristocrats Combo Counters Death and Taxes Lifelink Sacrifice Soul Sisters WB (Orzhov)

aantosh

Land (36)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Brightclimb Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Shambling Vent
• 1x Shattered Sanctum
• 1x Shineshadow Snarl
• 1x Silent Clearing
• 7x Snow-Covered Plains
• 3x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Snowfield Sinkhole
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of Champions
• 1x Vault of the Archangel
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Westvale Abbey  ^Flip
• 1x Windswept Heath

Artifact (7)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Bolas's Citadel
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thought Vessel

Creature (27)

• 1x Angel of Destiny
• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 1x Archivist of Oghma
• 1x Auriok Champion
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Cruel Celebrant
• 1x Daxos, Blessed by the Sun
• 1x Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
• 1x Esper Sentinel
• 1x Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Liesa, Forgotten Archangel
• 1x Lunarch Veteran  ^Flip
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Rhox Faithmender
• 1x Serra Ascendant
• 1x Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 1x Soul Warden
• 1x Soul's Attendant
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Suture Priest
• 1x Triskelion
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Voice of the Blessed
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Damn
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Vindicate

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Ajani, Strength of the Pride

Commander (1)

Enchantment (14)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Dance of the Dead
• 1x Dawn of Hope
• 1x Exquisite Blood
• 1x Kaya's Ghostform
• 1x Land Tax
• 1x Luminarch Ascension
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Phyrexian Unlife
• 1x Sanguine Bond
• 1x Solemnity
• 1x The Meathook Massacre
• 1x Underworld Connections

Instant (9)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Fracture
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Utter End
• 1x Vanishing Verse

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About the Deck

At the core this is a fun to play life gain deck with combo pieces that happen to play well with the rest of the deck. I was originally building this as a Daxos the Returned deck, but I just wasn't have as much fun with him as the commander. The second rendition of the deck was too split between Enchantments Matter and life gain, because I was playing around with running both Daxos and Karlov as interchangeable commanders. In the end I decided to leave behind the enchantments matter plan and go all in on the life gain game.

Life Gain Matters

Early Game

Engines

1 CMC

Authority of the Consuls / Lunarch Veteran   / Soul Warden / Soul's Attendant

2 CMC

Archivist of Oghma / Auriok Champion / Daxos, Blessed by the Sun / Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim / Suture Priest

Pay-Off

Serra Ascendant / Voice of the Blessed / Dawn of Hope / Heliod, Sun-Crowned

Life Drain

Blood Artist / Cruel Celebrant / Kambal, Consul of Allocation / Zulaport Cutthroat

Late Game

Engines

4 CMC

Rhox Faithmender / Ajani, Strength of the Pride / Aetherflux Reservoir

Pay-Off

Angel of Destiny / Archangel of Thune / Exquisite Blood

Life Drain

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse / Sanguine Bond

Combos

Sanguine Bond with Exquisite Blood

Very easy combo to get naturally, you're already going to want to be playing these enchantments as quick as possible due to their utility for the deck.

Sun Titan

Sun Titan Reanimate Targets

Animate Dead / Dance of the Dead / Kaya's Ghostform

Sacrifice Outlets

Ashnod's Altar: Infinite Colorless Mana

Phyrexian Altar: Infinite Colored Mana

Viscera Seer: Infinite Scrying

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician: Creature Removal and Draw

Death Trigger

Blood Artist / Cruel Celebrant / Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim / Zulaport Cutthroat / The Meathook Massacre

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed

Ping to Death

Triskelion or Walking Ballista will trigger with Mikaeus to allow you to ping your opponents to death

Attrition

Yawgmoth, Thran Physician allows you to sacrifice a creature to remove the +1/+1 counter placed on it by Mikaeus's Undying trigger. You can use this is a massive card draw engine, but you'll want a life gain ETB creature in place to negate you from draining yourself

Solemnity allows for all sacrifice outlets to go infinite as your creatures will always come back to the battlefield since Undying cannot place +1/+1 counters on them

Heliod, Sun-Crowned

Also combos with Triskelion or Walking Ballista to allow you to ping your opponents to death

Bolas's Citadel and Aetherflux Reservoir

These two cards can combo very well together as long as you have a way to manipulate the top of your library. This can be with Viscera Seer to bury lands to the bottom or Yawgmoth, Thran Physician drawing the lands to your hand.

Phyrexian Unlife and Solemnity

This two card combo will keep you alive as long as the both remain on the battlefield

Date added	2 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 52 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.64
Tokens	Ajani's Pridemate, Angel 4/4 W, Human Cleric 1/1 BW, Soldier 1/1 W w/ Lifelink