Uncle Karlov - RETIRED

Commander / EDH Control Counters Lifegain Soul Sisters Voltron WB (Orzhov)

foxboy93

Creature (26)

• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 1x Archivist of Oghma
• 1x Auriok Champion
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Esper Sentinel
• 1x Giver of Runes
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Lion Sash
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Phyrexian Revoker
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Resplendent Angel
• 1x Serra Ascendant
• 1x Shattered Angel
• 1x Soul Warden
• 1x Soul's Attendant
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Sunscorch Regent
• 1x Suture Priest
• 1x Twilight Prophet
• 1x Witch of the Moors

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Arguel's Blood Fast  ^Flip
• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Grasp of Fate
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Polluted Bonds
• 1x Sigarda's Splendor
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Land (34)

• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Castle Locthwain
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 6x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 6x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Vault of Champions
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath

Instant (9)

• 1x Ad Nauseam
• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Fracture
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Commander (1)

Artifact (14)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Bolas's Citadel
• 1x Mox Amber
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Pristine Talisman
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x The Ozolith
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Cleansing Nova
• 1x Damn
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Sign in Blood

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Maybeboard

Creature (34)

• 1x Abzan Battle Priest
• 1x Abzan Falconer
• 1x Ajani's Pridemate
• 1x Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Bloodthirsty Aerialist
• 1x Cliffhaven Vampire
• 1x Containment Priest
• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Dread Presence
• 1x Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
• 1x Hagra Constrictor
• 1x Hopeful Initiate
• 1x Keeper of the Accord
• 1x Liesa, Shroud of Dusk
• 1x Luminous Broodmoth
• 1x Lurrus of the Dream-Den
• 1x Mangara, the Diplomat
• 1x Marauding Blight-Priest
• 1x Nighthawk Scavenger
• 1x Obzedat, Ghost Council
• 1x Ranger-Captain of Eos
• 1x Ranger of Eos
• 1x Restless Bloodseeker  ^Flip
• 1x Sangromancer
• 1x Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 1x Speaker of the Heavens
• 1x Twinblade Paladin
• 1x Tymna the Weaver *f-etch*
• 1x Veinwitch Coven
• 1x Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
• 1x Voice of the Blessed
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Wall of Reverence

Sorcery (18)

• 1x Ambition's Cost
• 1x Ancient Craving
• 1x Command the Dreadhorde
• 1x Damnable Pact
• 1x Farewell
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Painful Lesson
• 1x Painful Truths
• 1x Pointed Discussion
• 1x Secret Rendezvous
• 1x Steelshaper's Gift
• 1x Syphon Mind
• 1x Torment of Hailfire
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Tragic Arrogance

Instant (10)

• 1x Blood Pact
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Disenchant
• 1x Erebos's Intervention
• 1x Heliod's Intervention
• 1x Infernal Grasp
• 1x Kaya's Guile
• 1x Plumb the Forbidden
• 1x Succumb to Temptation
• 1x Worthy Cause

Land (7)

• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Shattered Sanctum
• 1x Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Witch's Clinic

Enchantment (16)

• 1x Abiding Grace
• 1x Ajani's Welcome
• 1x Angelic Accord
• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Ashes of the Abhorrent
• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Bitterblossom
• 1x Black Market Connections
• 1x Dance of the Dead
• 1x Felidar Retreat
• 1x Greed
• 1x Griffin Aerie
• 1x Gryff's Boon
• 1x Rest in Peace
• 1x Retreat to Hagra
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol

Artifact (15)

• 1x Archaeomancer's Map
• 1x Azor's Gateway  ^Flip
• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Bontu's Monument
• 1x Brainstone
• 1x Cosmos Elixir
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Fountain of Renewal
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Netherborn Altar
• 1x Profane Memento
• 1x Robe of Stars
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x The Book of Exalted Deeds
• 1x Vorrac Battlehorns

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Ajani, Strength of the Pride

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After a very long time, I think its about time I talk about the deck a bit! I'll continue to make changes of course, but lets get a REAL description in here!

Karlov of the Ghost Council is a deck I always love to play. I consider this my "most competitive" deck. I love that this deck can just shift gears depending on what you draw, depending on whats going on. Of course, any Karlov deck is a "life gain deck", and then "weaponizing life gain". Whether thats Voltron with Karlov, using Aetherflux Reservoir or just the good old "drain and gain", Karlov I feel can do it all. We aren't focused on "I need to gain 10+ life", the deck is focused on gaining small life. But a life here and a life there isn't allot; lets gain it on EVERYONE'S turn!

Auriok Champion, Soul Warden, Soul's Attendant, Authority of the Consuls and Suture Priest are my "Soul Sister" package. Cards that say "Whenever a creature enters, gain life". my meta is FULL of creatures coming into the field. Most of the commanders are entering as creatures and triggering, flicker effects are making me gain life, infinite TOKENS are gaining me life so all of these solidify my strategy and meta with creatures. Suture Priest is a new addition. After having went up against an infinite turn deck that literally just makes creature tokens and swings till we are dead, this will hopefully slow players down. Not only that, it punishes players other than me for playing creatures.

Kambal, Consul of Allocation and Sunscorch Regent (soon to join Shattering Angel) all work on my opponent's casting spells or just playing out their turn. Sunscorch gets bigger and bigger, Kambal drains and gains and Shattering Angel basically asks if you want to miss a land drop or give Karlov two counters. We of course have some Extort cards (Blind Obedience, Crypt Ghast and Tithe Drinker) to help us spend some of our extra mana on spells to help gain some more life. (Most) Of these cards are low CMC so they can come down early and help us to gain life if we don't got anything else going on. I havent used Extort a lot, but I feel as though I should try to more now!

Life payoff cards are where its at. This goes back to "weaponizing life gain". Not just for Karlov, but to also help us in general or to help pay for some of our cards. Archangel of Thune I think is obvious. Adding a +1 counter to ALL of our creatures means that Karlov gains 3 counters instead of 2 each time I gain life. That means sometimes I can pass the turn and have Karlov already have 6 counters to exile targets that I don't like out there. Serra Ascendant is also a great card. Of course, having it come down on T1 is amazing, but its also just a great flyer and a big body. Lifelink is static so its always going to help trigger Karlov. And I'm pretty sure I don't have to explain what Aetherflux Reservoir does! Other life pay off cards are cards that let us pay life to do things. There are times where I can just churn through my deck with Bolas's Citadel, paying some small or big life to get things. Not to mention with Reservoir and Sensei's Divining Top, or even just the Reservoir, you can be getting back life as you go though your deck. Of course cards like Greed, Necropotence and Arguel's Blood Fast   all let us dump life to turn into cards or resources. Recently added is Heliod, Sun-Crowned. I feel that this will be a powerhouse in this deck. At its WORST, it makes a Soul Sister into a bigger threat, or I get Heliod big. At its best, I get 3 counters on Karlov for 1 trigger. Not only that, it is indestructible and can give lifelink, a very strong effect for one more mana than Vizkopa Guildmage

Q: Why not Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood? Both are great cards! A: You're right; but this isn't a big mana deck. I don't have Cabal Coffers to generate crazy amounts of mana to play both in a turn. For a while, I ran the combo and it just didn't do enough. Then if you take out one part, people immediate think you have both. So if you aren't running both, I recommend not running either

Q: Why not those cards that care about life total? Like Felidar Sovereign and Test of Endurance A: These are definitely options, however I find it boring or people immediately go "Anyone have a removal spell for that?" or "Attack him so he's not above 50!". If I was a pillow fort deck, or running Kambal at the helm I'd consider it more assertively. The CMC vs the effect is not great. Sure, a chance to just outright win is amazing, but is it also fragile

I have mentioned Kambal already, but Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Twilight Prophet, Exsanguinate (and hopefully soon Debt to the Deathless) are all possible win cons. Not to mention even if they aren't, they still fit the theme with "Gain life". Another good way to close out a game? Swinging in with Karlov! We have a small Voltron package to help Karlov get in some damage. Whispersilk Cloak is obviously great for the unblockable part, but also lets us have Shroud so our opponents cannot easily get rid of him. Umezawa's Jitte is also great, cause even if you lose Karlov and Jitte has counters on it, you can ALWAYS just recast Karlov and remove counters to gain life and put those counters on Karlov. It also goes hand in hand with your flyers or anything just to get counters on it. Not to mention, it can be used for utility creature removal! Shadowspear is a new addition here; a redundant effect of Arcane Lighthouse is great, it comes down early and gives two relevant effects, in the form of lifelink and trample. Trample means we are guaranteed to get in damage, and even if they block with a big boy, as long as Karlov has counters, we can exile the blockers and the damage can now go through. Sword of Light and Shadow is a card I love and hate. SoL&S lets me get a creature back, but it also gains me life. Giving protection from the two most important colors means it is much less likely to be killed by a random Path to Exile or like effect.

A new addition to this description: Protection. I have moved on from cards like Lightning Greaves. Greaves is fine, but most times I DONT need to have haste. Haste is nice, but even if I cant attack, Karlov begins to a crew counters and can now be used to nuke opponents' creatures. Eldrazi Displacer is a nice card, allowing more ETB triggers to happen from my Soul Sisters if I need to flicker something, lets me reuse cards like Recruiter of the Guard, but most importantly; protection for Karlov and the Sisters. As well, Mother of Runes (and soon to be Giver of Runes), along with previously mentioned Cloak and Sword, this gives me a nice little package to prevent players from targeting Karlov directly. It is reuseable and allows me to use it both offensively and defensively as needed. Need to get damage in? Name a color and swing. Removal pointed at Karlov? Protection from it. Protection also comes in the form of Teferi's Protection and Angel's Grace. TP lets me phase out, but also saves my board. Grace is an emergency "stop" button against combo decks that win by damage, or try a "I win the game effect". Sure I might not come in first, but I'm not coming in last either.

I won't talk about the removal package, cause I think its obvious and strong. Orzhov (IMO) has the BEST "Catch all" cards in the format. Not only do you get Swords to Plowshare and Path to Exile, but you get Anguish Unmaking, Utter End and so much more. Board wipes are also plain Jane and pretty obvious (working on getting another one in there to help with consistency). Ramp is typical artifacts stuff and Smothering Tithe so really not much else to talk about.

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This deck is my pride and joy, and I'm always looking for recommendations. Of course, I need to tailor it to my meta, but this deck is LOTS of fun to play and I never really feel like I'm not doing anything. Even if someone Pithing Needle or Phyrexian Revoker Karlov, you can "player remove" them with him getting large. Even Torpor Orb effects doesn't have much against us, though it slows us down quite a bit. The only REAL threat I find is combo decks who just make you draw your deck, or infinite direct damage or an Erebos, God of the Dead will we get a piece of removal. There are few times where I sit there and don't have a response or something to try and do.

Drop a comment if you enjoy this deck and if you can think of some sweet things to put in! Thanks guys!

Date added	6 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	18 - 0 Mythic Rares 48 - 0 Rares 13 - 0 Uncommons 9 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.62
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W w/ Vigilance, City's Blessing, Elephant 3-3 G, Treasure
Folders	EDH References, Favourites