Doubling Down on Death

Commander / EDH Aristocrats Reanimator Sacrifice Tokens WB (Orzhov)

LordBlackblade

Creature (23)

• 1x Athreos, God of Passage
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Cruel Celebrant
• 1x Elenda, the Dusk Rose
• 1x Falkenrath Noble
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Hallowed Spiritkeeper
• 1x Junji, the Midnight Sky
• 1x Luminous Broodmoth
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Morbid Opportunist
• 1x Nether Traitor
• 1x Pawn of Ulamog
• 1x Pitiless Plunderer
• 1x Sifter of Skulls
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Vindictive Lich
• 1x Vindictive Vampire
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Woe Strider
• 1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Agadeem's Awakening  ^Flip
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Farewell
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Syphon Mind

Instant (19)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Brought Back
• 1x Cauldron Haze
• 1x Deadly Dispute
• 1x Despark
• 1x Faith's Reward
• 1x Feign Death
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Hagra Mauling  ^Flip
• 1x Kabira Takedown  ^Flip
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Reckoner's Bargain
• 1x Second Sunrise
• 1x Sudden Salvation
• 1x Supernatural Stamina
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Undying Evil
• 1x Undying Malice

Artifact (9)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy

Commander (1)

Land (33)

• 1x Brightclimb Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x High Market
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 8x Plains
• 1x Shattered Sanctum
• 11x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of Champions

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Bastion of Remembrance
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Kaya's Ghostform
• 1x Revel in Riches
• 1x Smothering Tithe

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Welcome to my Teysa Karlov EDH deck. This is the newest entry into my deck collection, having just been built following the release of Ravnica Allegiance. When the spoilers first dropped, there weren't too many cards that caught my eye; however, Teysa Karlov jumped out right away. He ability was new and unique, as well as a strategy that I personally enjoy (graveyard shenanigans). I took to building the deck like a fish to water, and to be honest the construction process was very organic. The cards just seemed to flow together very naturally, and I had to do very little digging to find cards that did exactly what I wanted. The deck is completely based around death triggers, specifically the value that can be accrued from them and repeating them multiple times.

Try setting sort to Custom to see my thought process when designing the deck!

The Commander

Looking at Teysa Karlov we essentially have two components here. The first, and the primary focus of the deck, is the doubling of death triggers. Any effect that involves a creature dying is duplicated. I've seen some confusion on what is actually doubled, so allow me to clarify. Teysa doubles effects like Skullclamp, but not effects like Costly Plunder. The second component is the token enhancement. Vigilance and lifelink are nothing to sneeze at, and the incidental life gained from attacking with tokens can help offset life paying effects like Night's Whisper. In my take on this build, I have chosen to focus more on the death triggers aspect of Teysa rather than the token aspect, though there are still some powerful token generating effects included in the deck.

EDH Staples

Some cards have a place in (nearly) every EDH deck. Most of these so-called staples serve one purpose: color fixing. As the number of colors in a deck increases, so too does the need for color fixing. The primary method of color fixing in the deck is through effective use of dual and fetch lands. My research on the topic has lead me to create what I believe to be an optimized mana base for the deck. This was achieved by removing as many tap lands as possible and replacing them with dual lands that have a way to enter the battlefield untapped.

The Battlebond Lands Show

These lands come in untapped if you have two or more opponents. In casual EDH, that should be the vast majority of games.

• Vault of Champions

The Check Lands Show

These lands check to see if you have a given land type under your control. We'll usually have a basic land under our control, making this an easy requirement to meet.

• Isolated Chapel

Command Tower Show

The land of lands in EDH, Command Tower should be in every multicolor EDH deck.

• Command Tower

The Filter Lands Show

These lands are able to tap for a colorless mana on their own, or can be used to filter mana of one color into another color.

• Fetid Heath

The Pain Lands Show

An underrated type of dual land, the pain lands deal one damage to you when tapped for either of their colors; however, they can also be tapped for a colorless mana at no penalty.

• Caves of Koilos

The Pathways Show

These relatively simple lands are great! They always come in untapped, and let you choose what you need on the spot. I'm not saying they are as good as the fetch lands; however, their ability to fix you is quite high.

• Brightclimb Pathway  

The Shock Lands Show

Get Shocked in order to get an untapped dual land into play. The shock lands are true color-fixing staples in any format.

• Godless Shrine

The Slow Lands Show

Strictly better battle lands. Only punish you on turns 1 and 2, which is not the majority of the game. Most of the time they function as untapped dual lands.

• Shattered Sanctum

The Tainted Lands Show

The tainted lands are a form of black-only dual land originally printed in the Torment set. They have since all received a modern reprint save for Tainted Peak. They are excellent duals and function most similarly to the check lands.

• Tainted Field

Miscellaneous Mana Fixers Show

These cards don't fit into the other mana-fixing staple categories, but are used still widely used and can be quite powerful.

• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - A staple in any black deck. Allows all of our lands to tap for black

Removal Suite

Removal is a key concept in many EDH decks. If your deck doesn't have the ability to counter a spell, removal is the next best option. The key deciding factor for removal spells in this deck is versatility. Any spell that does more than simply destroy a creature is an outstanding choice.

• Anguished Unmaking - Exile any nonland permanent for three mana and three life

• Despark - A rising star from War of the Spark. While the removal is conditional, you'll usually have a target, and its a bargain at two CMC

• Dictate of Erebos - Literally Grave Pact with flash for one more mana

• Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire - Situational removal; however, it costs us nothing to run

• Farewell - A more flexible Merciless Eviction, minus the ability to deal with planeswalkers

• Generous Gift - A white Beast Within is quite powerful

• Grave Pact - This cards capitalize on all of the self-sacrificing that the deck does by tacking a non-ascended Vona's Hunger onto each creature we sacrifice

• Hagra Mauling   - Usually an over-costed Murder; however, it has a low opportunity cost to run

• Kabira Takedown   - Situational removal; however, it has a low opportunity cost to run

• Path to Exile - A white staple. One mana answer to most creatures

• Swords to Plowshares - Strictly better Path to Exile

The Strategy

The deck's basic strategy is to "double down" on death effects by using Teysa Karlov. Any trigger with a death component can thus be exploited for value.

Death Triggers Show

The main win-condition in the deck is to drain our opponents' life en masse using death triggered life drain effects. All of these cards are doubled by Teysa Karlov, making them especially potent.

• Bastion of Remembrance - Essentially Zulaport Cutthroat on an enchantment. More difficult to remove

• Blood Artist - The original, and most famous in-class. Straightforward drain whenever a creature dies. Single target

• Cruel Celebrant - Zulaport Cutthroat's ability with a twist, stapled to a slightly stronger body

• Falkenrath Noble - A meatier, flying Blood Artist

• Syr Konrad, the Grim - A beefed up Blood Artist that also counts creatures leaving graveyards

• Vindictive Lich - Options are king in EDH, and doubling those options makes this card dynamite

• Vindictive Vampire - Damage instead of loss of life, but hits every opponent. Only sees our creatures

• Zulaport Cutthroat - My personal favorite. Only sees our creatures, but is loss of life based

Reanimation Show

To achieve maximum value fro our death triggers, it behooves us to try and repeat them. These reanimation effects can be thought of as blink effects that utilize the graveyard instead of exile. Cheap and efficient were the most important qualifications for this category.

• Agadeem's Awakening   - Low opportunity cost with a high ceiling. Can get several creatures back at once

• Animate Dead - Reanimates a creature for two mana and a small debuff to its power

• Athreos, God of Passage - Especially nasty with Teysa Karlov. Six life to prevent getting a creature back is nothing to sneeze at

• Brought Back - Two mana, return two permanents. Good for wipe recovery or extra value

• Cauldron Haze - Can allow us to cycle through all of our creatures if necessary

• Faith's Reward - Allows us to cycle through our entire board if necessary

• Feign Death - Another card in the Undying Evil family

• Kaya's Ghostform - Returns the enchanted creature or planeswalker to play when they die or are exiled. Very versatile

• Junji, the Midnight Sky - Reanimates something on death for a paltry 2 life. With our commander out, that is some serious value

• Luminous Broodmoth - Essentially Mikaeus, the Unhallowed light

• Malakir Rebirth   - A lot like Demonic Gifts, but being a dual-faced card, has more versatility

• Nether Traitor - Practically legendary for its ability to be repeatedly recurred. Increases the effects of our loops drastically

• Reanimate - One mana and some life to get any creature back to the battlefield

• Second Sunrise - Similar to Faith's Reward allows us to cycle our entire board if need be

• Sudden Salvation - A more recent, weaker Second Sunrise effect. Not as powerful, but still very good

• Supernatural Stamina - A cheaper Demonic Gifts, but the creature enters tapped

• Takenuma, Abandoned Mire - Overcosted card recursion; however, it costs us nothing to run

• Undying Evil - Gives a creature undying for one mana

• Undying Malice - Essentially a second copy of Undying Evil

Sacrifice Outlets Show

Any deck that relies heavily upon death triggers needs a way to guarantee that their creatures will die. Sacrifice outlets give us the power to control exactly when we want our creatures to die, usually with some additional benefit.

• Altar of Dementia - A two mana, free sac outlet is always a win

• Ashnod's Altar - The exemplar of all sac outlets. Free sacrifice to gain two mana

• Carrion Feeder - A one mana, free sacrifice outlet

• Diabolic Intent - Sacrifice a creature to tutor

• High Market - A sacrifice outlet on a land

• Phyrexian Altar - Ashnod's Altar's big, color-generating, brother

• Phyrexian Tower - Turn a creature into mana. Sac outlets on land are always welcome

• Viscera Seer - Much like Carrion Feeder, a one mana, free sacrifice outlet. Unlike Carrion Feeder the scry can be useful

• Woe Strider - A more expensive, but equipped with recursion version of Viscera Seer

• Yahenni, Undying Partisan - Picture a three mana, free sacrifice outlet that can protect itself from removal. Like it? Here it is

Token Generation Show

Many Teysa Karlov decks focus heavily upon her token-buffing ability. In this deck, that theme is present, but not to the same degree as in many of the decks I have seen. All of the token generators below receive a serious boost from Teysa Karlov's death-doubling ability.

• Elenda, the Dusk Rose - Both of Elenda's triggers get buffed by Teysa Karlov. That's quadruple value

• Hallowed Spiritkeeper - At worst, this card has afterlife 1. At best, it creates a massive token board when it dies

Sub-Themes

Any given deck has a number of sub-themes running in the background of the overall deck architecture. In this particular deck, our two sub-themes are rather minor, but still present and powerful nonetheless.

Card Draw Show

Being able to draw more cards allows us to see more of our deck in a given game. Black gives the deck access to several powerful draw effects.

• Deadly Dispute - A strictly better Costly Plunder. Refunds part of its cost via creating a treasure token

• Demonic Tutor - Not truly card draw, but exceptionally powerful card selection

• Grim Haruspex - Very powerful card draw engine in this deck. Teysa Karlov doubles this effect

• Midnight Reaper - Essentially Grim Haruspex, but we take damage for each draw

• Morbid Opportunist - Unfortunately our commander won't double this trigger; however, it is still very reliable card draw

• Night's Whisper - Two mana and two life draws you two cards

• Read the Bones - Scry two, draw two cards, and lose two life all for three mana

• Reckoner's Bargain - Another Costly Plunder variant. Gains us a token amount of life as well as the card draw

• Skullclamp - This card is already quite powerful, but coupled with Teysa Karlov its quite disgusting

• Syphon Mind - Amazing card advantage. Puts you two cards up on each opponent

Mana Acceleration Show

Mana fuels all of our spells, so it makes sense that having more of it, earlier, is a great thing. Ramp is considered especially powerful in EDH due to the average length of the games and the mana cost of the cards involved. I chose mostly mana accelerators that synergize with Teysa Karlov.

• Arcane Signet - Two mana and produces either of our colors. A staple

• Fellwar Stone - Usually a second Arcane Signet in most games. At minimum it will tap for functionally colorless mana

• Orzhov Signet - Color-fixing and ramp staple. Gives both of our colors at minimal cost

• Pawn of Ulamog - The only thing better than getting mana is getting a sacrificable body along with it

• Pitiless Plunderer - This card is insane. The fact that it doesn't care if the creature is a token or not really amps up its power

• Revel in Riches - Basically Black Market, but you can save the mana for later

• Sifter of Skulls - Essentially Pawn of Ulamog but makes slightly bigger tokens

• Smothering Tithe - This new all-star completes our treasure-ramping package. Most opponents will not pay especially if they draw several cards

• Sol Ring - As the old saying goes, "Sol Ring, nintey-eight cards to go." Has a slot in any EDH deck

• Talisman of Hierarchy - Two mana rocks are very good, and the talismans can even produce colored mana

Weaknesses

Like any graveyard-centric deck, graveyard hate puts a major damper on our game plan. That's more of just a meta thing, but most players run at least some graveyard hate. Our best bet is to try and hold up our removal for things like Rest in Peace.

Another significant weakness of these colors is mana acceleration. There is very little effective ramp in black and white. What ramp we do run is rather expensive. Our best bet is to draw as many cards as possible in order to ensure we can hit our land drops.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 37 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.70
Tokens	Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Elephant 3-3 G, Goat 0/1 W, Human Soldier 1/1 W, Morph 2/2 C, Spirit 1/1 W, Treasure, Vampire 1/1 W
Folders	Completed Decks, iLike