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[[Primer]] Karlov's Will

Commander / EDH* Lifegain Multiplayer Primer Soul Sisters Voltron WB (Orzhov)

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Creature (25)

Enchantment (10)

Land (35)

Instant (7)

Commander (1)

Commander: Karlov of the Ghost Council

Artifact (14)

Sorcery (6)

Planeswalker (2)

My Consecration. My Commerce. My Guild.

The Primer

This section will provide explanation about this Primer, the reason why I chose to play Orzhov/Karlov, pro's/con's and introduction about Orzhov.

Karlov

The Orzhov Syndicate

The Orzhov Syndicate is the Ravnican guild of business, where the values of white and black meet and the dead exist solely to rule. Nearly every business in Ravnica ties back to the Orzhov in some way or another. While they bear the facade of a religious group and may have been a true faith at the signing of the Guildpact, they now worship only profit and power.

The Orzhov guild is founded on the beliefs that wealth is power, that structure breeds wealth, and that guilt creates structure. The guild is a combination of a religion, credit-lending agency, and crime syndicate. An ostentatious hierarchy of priests, enforcers, and ghostly councilors rules over a congregation of guilt-bound loyalists, indebted ghosts, and thrull servants. Should somebody be in debt to them, that person must work off their debt even beyond death. Many Orzhov guild members believe that their actions are necessary for making Ravnica the best it can be, and they are unscrupulous in their methods of seizing power. Most Ravnicans see the Orzhov as a corrupt organization, but many are attracted by promises of wealth, prestige, and longevity.

Their white flavor is exemplified by how they have a strong sense of tradition and community, reflected by the fact that they still partake in all of their ancient rituals and customs despite not worshiping any gods. It is also symbolized in how they hoard their wealth, but are shown to share with family members or close friends. Their black flavor can be seen in that they regularly deal with the dead, they never give to charity if they can help it, and continually violate the spirit of the law merely to meet their own ends.The Orzhov know also how to create thrulls out of remnants of past debtors.

Guild Leader: The Obzedat, the Ghost Council

The Orzhov guild is ruled by the Obzedat, a council of ghostly autocrats who have maintained their wealth and power even as they've shed their mortal forms. Members of the Obzedat are called the Deathless, as they have managed to cheat mortality, maintaining their consciousness (and their greed) beyond the threshold of death. Most of the Deathless appear as morbidly obese high priests or nobles, but sickly, pale, and ghostly in form. They are as paranoid and spiteful as dictators, often going out of their way to thwart ambitious underlings, crush rumormongers, and spy on potential enemies. They crave wealth, respect, and loyalty. The Obzedat rarely speak directly with those outside the guild; instead, they communicate through the official Grand Envoy, Teysa Karlov.

Guild Champion: Teysa, Grand Envoy of the Obzedat

The greedy, patriarchal ghosts of the Obzedat and the bickering leaders of the various cartels tend to be poor spokespeople for the Orzhov Syndicate. The human Teysa Karlov has taken a special, unprecedented position called "Grand Envoy," serving as the official speaker and ambassador for the members of the Obzedat ghost council. Once an advokist and lawmage who was instrumental in forging the current wording of the Guildpact, Teysa is now of middle age, her youthful resourcefulness streaked with wisdom and perspective. She has grown into her ambition well; her unique position allows her not only to express the will of the Deathless, but also to mold policy for her guild. While Teysa is not the official ruler of the guild, (the Obzedat still holds that position), many believe that to cross Teysa is to cross the entire Syndicate.

Hierarchy

The Syndicate used to be presided over by a council of ghosts, the Obzedat, in Orzhova, the Church of Deals. Below the obzedat stood the olicharchs, elite families who have belonged to the Orzhov for generations, and the pontiffs (executive managers). Ministrants are the priests and practitioners of Orzhov's religion. This is the highest position anyone can hope to obtain without being born within the guild. On the same level stand the knights. who provide the muscle for collecting money on time and in an orderly fashion. The lowermost position in the guild is taken by the syndics (attorneys, advisors, accountants, couriers etc.). Borrowers are not part of the guild, but they can't escape their debt even after their death.

Unlike most churches, at Orzhova it's best to pray before you arrive

The Cartels

Reporting to the Obzedat is a web of competing cartels, which are the individually operating units of the Orzhov Syndicate. Each cartel claims different territories and markets across Ravnica, and each has its own internal hierarchy of priests, advokists (lawmages), enforcers, and others. Each cartel is ruled by a cardinal or kingpin whose role is somewhere between gang leader, bank manager, and high priest.

Even the darkest corners of Ravnica still lie in the shadow of the Church

Long lived

The high-ranking members of the Orzhov use magical means to extend their lives, but are mutated in many ways that they pass on to their offspring. For example, one of Teysa Karlov's legs is practically useless, and therefore she has been forced to use a walking cane since she learned to walk. Members of the Obzedat were called the Deathless, as they had managed to cheat mortality, maintaining their consciousness (and their greed) beyond the threshold of death. Most of the Deathless appeared as morbidly obese high priests or nobles, but sickly, pale, and ghostly in form. They craved wealth, respect, and loyalty.

Under the influence of Bolas

To boost their declining profits in an unstable economy, the Orzhov have begun offering "protection services", promising to shield their customers both from physical harm and fiscal disaster, with the underlying threat that those who refuse to pay will become targets of Orzhov's own thugs and enforcers. Lately, the planeswalker Kaya has taken control as guildmaster of Orzhov after taking down the Obzedat. She has done this at the behest of Nicol Bolas, in exchange for him helping her "troubled family". Despite Teysa warning against it, Kaya has been freeing people from the debt they owe the guild, particularly the bound ghosts.

"Time to let the dead be dead" - Kaya to Teysa

The decklist itself is pretty straight forward, I try to explain all the card choices I've made. If anything is not clear or you doubt I choice I've made I'd love to discuss it in the comments and love to see your angles on a certain card choice.

Also in my current meta easy combo's are a bit frowned upon, including by myself. Therefor I'm 99% sure I don't run any big combos in this deck, at least not actively. Some people do enjoy them and it would make it more competitive, it's just not my cup of tea.

I have organized this primer into cardtypes, and every card I give a short explanation why I run it.

I have been playing magic for nealy 15 years now and I always have had a major weakspot for White and Black. Therefore I really wanted to play an Orzhov deck with mechanics that really represented the guild. In my opinion is Karlov the alternative for Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim especially if you don't want to go for the big lifegain and tokens. Wich a lot of other color combination can give you as well. The fact that Karlov focuses on small lifegain triggers and taxing other people really embraces the Orzhov spirit for me.

Karlov is considered a Tier 3 powerlevel commander or High Tier Powerlevel according to Commanders by Power Level [EDH Tier List]. In my opinion a prime example of a 75% deck. We can disrupt cEDH decks and just as well play with more casual based decks. That being said we do pack a whole range of removal and in my experience really casual decks don't do well against it.
  • You like B/W control
  • You like lifegain
  • You like looking after a lot of triggers going on
  • You like playing tempo
  • You like winning on commander damage
  • You like exiling creatures
  • You like doing your taxes every year
  • You don't like decks that centre around a commander
  • You hate paying attention to triggers
  • You feel lost when you dont have acces to blue
  • You don't like whiping the board or spotremoving threaths
  • You think taxes are useless
  • You like big dumb creatures
I don't play that much creatures in this deck (at least not as much as I do in other decks). Most of the creatures either give a small lifegain trigger or they benefit from a lifegain trigger.
  • Angel of Destiny Very spicy alternate wincon. The 15 more life than our starting total is very doable. You should not be just dropping this one, but more in a turn where you know you can win the game.
  • Archangel of Thune Flying (evasion) and lifelink to trigger Karlov. This card is insane, with buffing up your field or getting Karlov live.
  • Auriok Champion Gives us a life whenever a creature enters the battlefield, so also when opponents play creatures and in multiplayer that happes quite often. The build in protection from black and red is a bonus
  • Crested Sunmare Big payoff for when you gain life, wich most of the time is EVERY turn! So a 5/5 horse every turn, is not bad at all!
  • Dark Confidant Card advantage and in return we pay a bit of life, with all the triggers going on we can easily support this.
  • Daxos, Blessed by the Sun Another Soul Warden effect. Generates lifegain triggers.
  • Giver of Runes Gives Karlov evasion and protection.
  • Heliod, Sun-Crowned Gives lifegain, makes Karlov bigger with tokens and can turn into a 5/5 indestructible, all for 3 mana, yes please.
  • Kambal, Consul of Allocation Bane of control players aka The Taxman. He makes people pay, a lot. Most of the time not annoying enough for people to remove him, but he does so much work for you
  • Liesa, Shroud of Dusk Same effect as Kambal. Not 100% sure about her yet, because she doesnt generate any lifegain triggers.
  • Marauding Blight-Priest Turns our lifegain triggers into lifeloss for our opponents.
  • Mother of Runes Same as Giver of Runes she gives protection and evasion. Very good when you start hitting with Karlov.
  • Serra Ascendant 6/6 lifelink flying for one mana, no brainer.
  • Soul Warden One of the 2 soul sisters. Whenever a creature enters (any creature) gives us a life triggers, insanely good.
  • Soul's Attendant The other soul sister. Does exactly the same as Soul's Attendant
  • Sun Titan We use him to get our small lifegainers back, like Soul Warden
  • Sunscorch Regent Everytime an opponents casts (!!!) something you gain one life, thank you very much
  • Suture Priest Taxing version of Soul Sisters. Does one damage when a creature enters on opponents side and gives a life when we enter a creature. Less good than the other 3, still very valuable.
  • Twilight Prophet She is a bit slow, but after a turn she will start giving us card advantage, lifegain trigger and lifeloss for our opponents.
  • Vilis, Broker of Blood Vilis is an insane value piece and will give us a lot of cards in return for some life. Next to that he is an 8/8 flyer so you can stomp face with him.
  • Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose He is a Sanguine Bond on a stick with the ability to give all our creatures lifelink, for only 5 mana. Things get scary when he hits into a boardstate!
  • Vizkopa Guildmage A weaker version of Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose , but still good nonetheless. She can finish games very quickly or at least put you on a comfortable spot.
  • Vona, Butcher of Magan Bit slow but its still permanent removal, and very much on theme in a lifegain deck.
  • Weathered Wayfarer My go to card when it comes to mana fixing in Commander when playing white. The ability to fetch your Cabal Coffers for one mana is insane.
  • Witch of the Moors So much value, she turns our lifegain trigger into a Dictate of Erebos effect. But thats not all, we can also reanimate a creature.
Instants are mostly there to deal with threats or tutor for stuff. Nothing special here, just your usual Orzhov staples.
A handfull of Sorcery spells, also no reall surprises here. Mostly Wrath effects.
We only play a small amount of planeswalkers. Im not a huge fan of walkers, since they often get targeted instantly in our playgroup.
  • Ajani, Strength of the Pride Where I do not run Ajani's Pridemate because I dont think it has impact enough on the boardstate. This planeswalker does, he gives us pridemates and also has the ability to wipe the board.
  • Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord Gives our creatures lifelink on our turn, wich is very good for Karlov and has the ability to return something small from our graveyard.
We play quite a lot of artifacts. Some of them are used to win us the game, but they also give us cardadvantage. And since B/W doesnt really have any reall ramp, all of our manarocks are in here.
  • Aetherflux Reservoir A finisher. Nico combo with Bolas's Citadel and if needed you can evaporate one of your opponents.
  • Arcane Signet One of the best manarocks in the game
  • Bolas's Citadel So much value. We can kinda assume we are at a comfortable life total at all times. This card will give us so much cards, just dont forget not to play your lands from your hands when you have this out on the field.
  • Cosmos Elixir Not a 100% sure yet, I've put it into the deck a few days ago. Potentionally a very good addition. It functions somewhat as Phyrexian Arena and otherwise it will generate a lifegain trigger every turn.
  • Expedition Map Used to go for Cabal Coffers or Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • Orzhov Signet Generic manarock
  • Pristine Talisman Mana rock + Lifegain trigger.
  • Shadowspear I still remember when I saw the preview of this card and went "Oh Karlov is gonna like this". It removes hexproof so we can actually target stuff with Karlov his ability. Also it gives Karlov trample AND lifelink. Big Yes.
  • Swiftfoot Boots Karlov often gets hated off the table, this helps.
  • Sword of Light and Shadow I love playing enough recursion to get my stuff back. This does that, and more. Makes Karlov bigger, gives him some protection from the colors that have most spot removal and it generates a lifegain trigger.
  • Talisman of Hierarchy Generic manarock
  • Umezawa's Jitte Can give us instant speed lifegain triggers, that we can start collection and wait till Karlov is back on the battlefield.
  • Well of Lost Dreams Card draw when you gain life. Yes it costs mana, but still. It can draw you a lot of cards.
Reasonable amount of enchantments. But that's often with any Orzhov deck. A lot of echantments support lifegain as well.
  • Authority of the Consuls Enchantment that delays our enemies, so you can maybe get a swing in with Karlov, but more importantly it generates a lot of lifegain triggers.
  • Blind Obedience Mostly played for extort to generate lifegain triggers, but the delay effect on our opponents aint half bad either!
  • Bloodchief Ascension For one mana this generates so much hate! I love to play it, its a taxing effect that generates lifegain triggers as soon as its live.
  • Dawn of Hope Card draw on lifegain triggers.
  • Exquisite Blood Part of the notorious 2 card combo. The card generates so insanely many lifegain triggers, its just too go not to run.
  • Necropotence The best card draw spell in black. We have enough life to spare, why not refill our entire hand every turn.
  • Phyrexian Arena Extra card every turn for only 3 mana, really good when you play orzhov.
  • Phyrexian Reclamation IMO one of the best recursion effects in the game, it does so much for so little mana.
  • Sanguine Bond Part two of the notorious two card combo. It's a wincon on itself when you look at the amount of lifegain triggers we have.
  • Smothering Tithe Whenever I play this card I end up with a ton of treasures. This card always pays itself back.
In this section I will only go over the utility lands, since everything dual colored is pretty much self explanatory.
Karlov needs a bit experience to be piloted. It is definitely not your typical Gruul/Green deck where you just stomp opponents. As with blue you are constantly busy with threat assessment, but in our case we take care of permanents on the battlefield. Our removal is plenty, but limited and you constantly have to asses if the boardwipe is worth it. Next to that, people don't like their creatures being exiled. Therefor when Karlov hits the table you are instantly a treat. Next to controlling the battlefield we like to take our opponents out one by one with commander damage. Karlov hits like a truck and only need 21 to take someone out. If all else fails we have plenty of other big beaters and spells that can end the game.
  • Mana fixing. We only need 2 mana to cast Karlov.
  • Drop a early lifegainer. Early game Karlov + for example a Soul's Attendant give Karlov a flying almost unstoppable start. 2 lifegainers is almost game winning. Also early game protection is vital, Mother of Runes , Lightning Greaves or Giver of Runes . Early game people will still have their removal and Karlov is a juicy target to remove. Protect him at all cost or just cast him again for 4 mana.
    • This is where Karlov shines. Try taking out opponents with commander damage. Protect Karlov and try to control the field with Karlovs ability and other spells we run. This is the time where we want to take at least 1-2 opponents out, we are no battlecruiser and going into late game against 3 opponents is bad news for us.
    If Karlov is still castable, cast him and protect him. Keep controlling the board by exiling creatures. Otherwise try other bombs like Archangel of Thune to drag the game in. We are not the best deck to go really late game, but it is possible to win.
    We are quite easy happy with our hands, 2-3 lands with at least 1 black and 1 white is a good start. Maybe some removal and definitely a cheap lifegainer. Try to avoid greedy hands with heavy drops. We want a quick start.
    This section can be found below at the updates. All changes i'll make I will explain in that section.
    This section will be hosting a list of cards where I'm still in doubt off.
      Nothing right now

    Thank you

    First of all I would like to thank you for taking your time to read the primer and hopefully it will help you in finding new ideas for card: Karlov of the Ghost Counsil. This is the first primer I have written so any feedback is more than welcome!

    Also a special thanks to Oksnor for listening to my endless stream of ideas for tuning Karlov and helping me with making possible cuts or additions. Great deckbuilder and really worth the effort to check his decks.

    Ofcourse I don't know all of the cards (I know a lot of them) so I would love to discuss cards/the primer/strategy in the comment section. I'm almost daily on this website, so it won't take to long before I respond!

    Press here for a +1 upvote, it's much appreciated

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    Deck update — Jan. 29, 2020
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    Out: Vindicate It's a bit outdated, yes it removes permanents, but its on sorcery speed. Of all the removal I run it feels like it's the weakest. Patron of the Kitsune: 6 mana is quite steep in orzhov.

    In: Heliod's Intervention It does not destroy permanents, but it does destroy artifacts and sorceries on instant speed. Next to this it can be protection for karlov . Daxos, Blessed by the Sun Another semi-soulsister. Triggers on enter and death on my side of the board. Pretty good.

    Update — Jan. 23, 2020
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    Deck update — April 13, 2019
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    Revision 24 See all

    (3 years ago)

    +1 Cosmos Elixir main
    -1 Mangara, the Diplomat main
    -1 Sensei's Divining Top main
    +1 Twilight Prophet main
    Top Ranked
    Date added 5 years
    Last updated 3 years
    Exclude colors URG
    Legality

    This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
    Rarity (main - side)

    15 - 0 Mythic Rares

    48 - 0 Rares

    16 - 0 Uncommons

    9 - 0 Commons
    Cards 100
    Avg. CMC 2.98
    Tokens Ajani's Pridemate, City's Blessing, Horse 5/5 W, Soldier 1/1 W w/ Lifelink, Treasure
    Folders My decks, Deck Research, Deck ideas, EDH Practice, Bookmarked CMDR, Deck Ideas, the deck list, Postfetch EDH Decks, Deck ideas, Decks I want to make
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