The Chieftain's Surge

Commander / EDH* BGW (Abzan, Junk) Combo Reanimator Toolbox Umori, the Collector

TommyNL89

1. Ramp - Mana dorks (14)

• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Gemhide Sliver
• 1x Manaweft Sliver
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Knight of the Reliquary
• 1x Shaman of Forgotten Ways
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Vorinclex, Voice of HungerGC

2. Removal (16)

• 1x Qasali Pridemage
• 1x Scavenging Ooze
• 1x Aura Shards
• 1x Fiend Hunter
• 1x Harmonic Sliver
• 1x Necrotic Sliver
• 1x Oblivion Stone
• 1x Pernicious Deed
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Sin Collector
• 1x False Prophet
• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Shriekmaw
• 1x Butcher of Malakir
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Ashen Rider

3. Card advantage - Drawing cards (5)

• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Garruk, Caller of Beasts
• 1x Lurking Predators
• 1x The Great Henge

4. Card advantage - Filling grayeyard (4)

• 1x Stitcher's Supplier
• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Death's Oasis
• 1x Golgari Grave-Troll

5. Recursion (10)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Saffi Eriksdotter
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Ramunap Excavator
• 1x Renegade Rallier
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Reveillark
• 1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One

6. Miscellaneous - Good stuff (6)

• 1x Kami of False Hope
• 1x Gaddock Teeg
• 1x Restoration Angel
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

7. Sac outlets (4)

• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter

8. Tutors (3)

• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon

9. Wincons (3)

• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1x Primal Surge

Land - Basics (6)

• 2x Forest
• 2x Plains
• 2x Swamp

Land - Fetch (4)

• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath

Land - Three coloured (4)

• 1x Ancient Ziggurat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Indatha Triome
• 1x Murmuring Bosk

Land - Two coloured (8)

• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Golgari Rot Farm
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Land - Utility (12)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Dakmor Salvage
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 1x Field of Ruin
• 1x Field of the Dead
• 1x High Market
• 1x Mosswort Bridge
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Tectonic Edge
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vesuva

Commander (1)

Companion (1)

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Sideboard

Other (15)

• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Spore Frog
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Stinkweed Imp
• 1x Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
• 1x Beast Whisperer
• 1x Dimir House Guard
• 1x Magus of the Disk
• 1x Umori, the Collector
• 1x Harvester of Souls
• 1x Regal Behemoth
• 1x Soul of the Harvest
• 1x Protean Hulk
• 1x Woodfall Primus

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The Surge

This modern-layout, creature-heavy, casual Karador build is centered around using Primal Surge to its full potential as a win condition and thus the deck does not contain any other instants or sorceries. Consequently, resolving the Surge will put the entire library onto the battlefield and that almost certainly results in a victorious outcome. However, I rarely cast the game-winning sorcery spell as I prefer to exclusively hardcast it to end long-running games in which all players got to play their game of Elder Dragon Highlander. I've purposefully not made any card choices dedicated to making it easier to play the Surge. It's powerful enough as it is, and sometimes a welcome end to a dragged out game. At turn 10, I would much rather lose to a powerful combo than to an opponent that draws their deck and still needs several turns, often taking ages, to win the game. Including a single game-winning card in your deck can be quite controversial and can lead to negative reactions, so I have always tried to use it with caution.

That being said, running Primal Surge this way puts restraints on card choices as only permanents are included in this list. I've further limited myself to using exclusively cards with a modern layout, so that means no access to cards like Academy Rector, Wood Elemental etc. Some reprints can be rather expensive (Hermit Druid, Survival of the Fittest) and I tend to stick to a budget of max $50 per card. I have obtained my copy of Karador, Ghost Chieftain in 2013 and this list has been evolving ever since.

Umori the Collector SB conversion

under construction

The deck only contains 15 noncreature spells which is the exact size of a sideboard. Swapping all of them for creatures lets us use Umori, the Collector as a companion for Karador. I'm currently playing around with the idea to run the deck as a collector whenever I start an EDH game and them SB a bunch of creatures out for the Surge and other non-creature permanents.

To dredge or not to dredge

Recently I came across a Karador cEDH tutorial on YouTube by Laboratory Maniacs where /u/djmoneghan was quoted (jokingly) describing Karador, Ghost Chieftain as "the worst card in the deck". Even though my list differs a lot from his, this statement holds true for my deck, kind of. In any case, it does so more now than it ever did before. Naturally, der Geisterhäuptling's high CMC and ability combined require some preparation before value can be generated. As I've played the deck throughout the years, I've diverted from a graveyard centered strategy to a more conservative style of play. This means that it generally takes longer for me to get to the point of actually casting the Antlered Reanimator and subsequently get to work reanimating creatures. It is my experience that relying heavily on graveyard filling strategies is extremely powerful but proportionally susceptible to GY hate. Instead of running Leyline of Sanctity and Shalai, Voice of Plenty (which only prevents targeted GY Hate) to deal with the existence of (mainly) Bojuka Bog, I've decided to focus less on graveyard filling and instead lean toward a more grindy, reactive style of play. The graveyard filling cards that are included in this list are ones that have the potential to bin massive amounts of cards (Greater Good, Altar of Dementia, Death's Oasis) and let you go off on the spot or are just too good to leave out (Stitcher's Supplier, Golgari Grave-Troll). This way, I keep my graveyard at a non-threatening, manageable size during the majority of the game. It prevents a Crypt or Relic from having the wrecking effect of a sledgehammer or the potential to keep me in a stalemate (e.g. Having a hand full of dredge/graveyard cards while staring down at a Crypt on the other side of the table.

Strategy

The general game plan for the deck is to start with putting out mana dorks or ramp creatures and keep flooding the board with ETB creatures interacting with the board, assisted by the non-creature spells that function to generate card advantage. Karador is incredibly resilient by itself but for it to really shine you need to fill up the graveyard. As I've previously stated, I chose to divert from that as a dedicated strategy. Therefore, I've found that I needed to add additional recursion spells to interact with my graveyard before I get to the late game where Capitano Fantasma can shine. Overall, Karador, Ghost Chieftain has become less and less a focus of the deck and more of a extra layer of resilience in an already fairly resilient list that can operate and win independent of its general.

Ramp

Rocks become dorks and I think you cannot run enough of them. Birds of Paradise, Llanowar Elves, Elvish Mystic, Avacyn's Pilgrim, Deathrite Shaman, Manaweft Sliver, Gemhide Sliver, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Wood Elves, Shaman of Forgotten Ways, Knight of the Reliquary, Solemn Simulacrum.

Self mill

Graveyard-filling cards are limited to Golgari Grave-Troll, Altar of Dementia, Death's Oasis, Greater Good and Stitcher's Supplier as I prefer to play the game slow and not risk using the graveyard too much. Instead, I choose to play cards that fill it up fast when going off. The graveyard is also filled by cards like Pernicious Deed and Oblivion Stone. Fauna Shaman can do some work but mostly I count for the graveyard to be naturally filled by the many creatures the deck already runs. If needed, facilitated by one of many sac outlets.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth is included as a way to protect myself against mill strategies and protect me from decking myself.

Sacrifice outlets

I hate when my guys get exiled. That's why I love to have a sacrifice outlet available. This deck runs seven in total, of which five are free to be activated at instant speed (Viscera Seer, Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter, Greater Good, Ashnod's Altar and Altar of Dementia)

Win conditions

Greater Good is the all star of the deck. Combos with Sun Titan and Saffi Eriksdotter for an alternative win con. As does Altar of Dementia. Another wincon is available in the Biorhythm mana dork. The list includes many of the usual suspects from the Abzan reanimator suite like Karmic Guide, Rark, big Mike, ewit, Rallier, Sun Titan, Saffi and a plethora of creatures with various ETB abilities like acid ooze, draindragon, combotree and TheBetterBaldAngel. Amongst these, many combo's can be made to win the game. Finally, Craterhoof Behemoth has been known to pack a punch.

Sliver subtheme

The deck contains a Sliver subtheme: Manaweft Sliver, Gemhide Sliver, Harmonic Sliver and Necrotic Sliver. Getting additional value from combining these is good fun and happens surprisingly often. I have yet to encounter a Sliver EDH player, but I imagine these will come in handy when I do.

Notable exclusions

No Boonweaver combo. I still have to give it a try as I have recently obtained a Pattern of Rebirth. I'm thinking it leads to linear plays. The same reason I try not to include two card combo's, although I did at some point ran both Big Mike and his persisting SinkholeTree but I can justify that by their demanding casting costs.

Future changes

Cards to cut for better alternatives once I obtain them:

• Elvish Piper for Fiend Artisan
• Rune-Scarred Demon for Sidisi, Undead Vizier

Wishlist:

• Phyrexian Tower
• Cabal Coffers
• Cavern of Souls
• Strip Mine
• Dark Confidant

I'm considering including one of these 9CMC targets to pod Karador for:

• Apex Altisaur
• Void Winnower
• Myojin of Life's Web
• Blazing Archon
• Molderhulk

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thank you for reading

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Exclude colors	UR
Splash colors	WBG
Legality	This deck is not valid to have Umori, the Collector as a companion
Rarity (main - side)	16 - 0 Mythic Rares 49 - 9 Rares 18 - 1 Uncommons 10 - 5 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.05
Tokens	Emblem Garruk, Caller of Beasts, Morph 2/2 C, The Monarch, Zombie 2/2 B