Nortlov of the Ghost Council

Commander / EDH Budget Lifegain Multiplayer Voltron WB (Orzhov)

GALL0WSHUM0R

Lifegain (20)

• 1x Beacon of Immortality
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Chalice of Life  ^Flip
• 1x Crypt Incursion
• 1x Divinity of Pride
• 1x Drana's Emissary
• 1x Elixir of Immortality
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Nyx-Fleece Ram
• 1x Obzedat, Ghost Council
• 1x Pride Guardian
• 1x Soul Warden
• 1x Soul's Attendant
• 1x Sunscorch Regent
• 1x Suture Priest
• 1x Tavern Swindler
• 1x Vampire Nighthawk
• 1x Venser's Journal
• 1x Wall of Reverence

Boardwipes (6)

• 1x Day of Judgment
• 1x Fumigate
• 1x Killing Wave
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Wrath of God

Voltron (4)

• 1x Cradle of Vitality
• 1x Fireshrieker
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Spirit Mantle

Mana (38)

• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Leechridden Swamp
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x New Benalia
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 1x Orzhov Guildgate
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 12x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scoured Barrens
• 1x Shimmering Grotto
• 12x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Win Cons (10)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Bond of Agony
• 1x Debt to the Deathless
• 1x Defiant Bloodlord
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Phyrexian Processor
• 1x Sanguine Bond
• 1x Serra Avatar
• 1x Vizkopa Guildmage
• 1x Wall of Limbs

Other creatures (3)

• 1x Ajani's Pridemate
• 1x Athreos, God of Passage
• 1x Crested Sunmare

Commander (1)

Removal (12)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Condemn
• 1x Darksteel Mutation
• 1x Dismember
• 1x Glaring Spotlight
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Oblivion Ring
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Unmake
• 1x Vindicate

Card Advantage/Recursion (6)

• 1x Alhammarret's Archive
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Reveillark
• 1x Sorin, Grim Nemesis
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Well of Lost Dreams

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My Karlov lifegain/voltron/combo-ish deck. I play pretty casual so this isn't meant to be brutal, but it's got some teeth. The goal is to get a lot of little lifegain procs for Karlov, make him huge, and swing for lethal in less than ten turns. If it gets past that you're solidly in durdle and lifedrain territory. You make sure you always have the highest life total, and the deck is so packed with boardwipes and removal that you can fairly effectively control a more casual table.

Vizkopa Guildmage is an all-star player in this deck. My group has been looking into Pauper Commander, and the only reason I'm not planning to run her as my commander is because I think my group might shoot me.

This decklist isn't 100% current. I no longer run Aetherflux Reservoir because I found that I won every time it hit the field and that started to get boring. If I were to upgrade the deck for a less casual environment, it would be an auto include. I would consider it mandatory in pretty much every lifegain deck. I also cut Felidar Sovereign because winning on my upkeep for doing basically nothing besides being lucky my opponents didn't have the removal they need is anticlimactic.

You may note that I didn't include Sol Ring. That's because my playgroup is solidly in the camp that it should be banned, and did so in our meta. Obviously, most people use Sol Ring, so it's a good idea to throw that in somewhere if you're making this deck.

My group has also agreed not to run two-card infinite combos, so the famous Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond combo is out. If your group is okay with them, by all means run both. I went with Sanguine Bond for my deck to facilitate a more burn-ish playstyle (and because I already had a playset and Exquisite Blood is $20). Exsanguinate, Debt to the Deathless, and especially Beacon of Immortality become game-ending bombs with it, Viz, and/or Defiant Bloodlord on the field. If you want to push your Karlov deck in a more Voltron direction, you might prefer Exquisite Blood, since it effectively gives all your spells and creatures lifelink.

I cut Bond of Agony because it's terrible. I thought it would be useful since I would have the life to spend, but the X in its mana cost really hurts it. Also, the life has to be paid on cast, not on resolution. There are few things worse than spending 11 mana and 10 life to kill someone only to have Bond of Agony countered. It's still in this list because I can't remember what I replaced it with. Probably an Orzhov Cluestone or something. That's how much I hate Bond of Agony.

Wait no it was Pontiff of Blight.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	7 years
Key combos	Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 25 - 0 Rares 30 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.23
Tokens	Horse 5/5 W, Minion X/X B, Vampire Knight 1/1 B
Folders	Mardu Lifegain