Karador, Junk Reanimator Primer (Commander / EDH MTG Deck)

Karador, Junk Reanimator Primer

Commander / EDH BGW (Abzan, Junk) Competitive Control Infinite Combo Primer Reanimator

bloodysmurf11

Instant (3)

Sorcery (13)

Enchantment (5)

Artifact (3)

Creature (40)

Land (35)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Karador, Ghost Chieftain

Maybeboard

Instant (1)

1x Eladamri's Call

Sorcery (1)

1x Dread Return

This is my iteration of Karador, Ghost Chieftain. it's a deck intended for extremely competitive environments and is build around a massive web of synergies. it's original intended purpose was to be a fun graveyard reanimation deck but over the course of two years and numerous tweaks it's become the board controlling monster it is today. There are a few combo only cards but those are build in as a back up plan if things go down south.

The deck is not a budget build but some cards can be replaced by cheaper alternatives. It won't function at the same competitive level but it would still be very strong.

By making this primer I hope to help other players with building their own version of Karador. He's a great commander that can be used and abused in many different ways so I hope you enjoy reading my primer.

Lastly, if you're looking for a more casual build I don't recommend building and playing this deck. If your group can't handle these type of tournament level decks than I would suggest playing something else. Winning is fun and all but just grinding other players into a pulp isn't fun for anyone else.

Primer Show

Overview

Archtype: Junk Reanimator

The term Junk refers to a pile of cards that are seemingly random and expensive within the colors. Reanimator refers to a deck that concentrates on bringing creatures back from the grave. Usually these creatures have a high converted mana cost and huge impact on the battlefield. Reanimating instead of hardcasting circumvents the mana cost, hence it's popularity.

This deck aims to be both. A junk deck that reanimates big creatures for value or for the combo win. I build my deck to control the board until I can find the pieces for the combo and if the combo gets disrupted there are numerous back-up plans which I will describe in detail.

Why this deck is centered around combo is because I believe it to be the strongest strategy in a competitive multiplayer format. The reasoning behind this is because of the inherent non-interactiveness of combos. Opponents either remove one of the pieces or lose, period. Life points, cards in the library, poison counters, these are all pretty much irrelevant when using an infinite combo.

Why ?

The junk colors have the best reanimation suite there is in MtG. All three bring some form of recursion or reanimation to the table. with Eternal Witness, with Sun Titan, Reveillark, Karmic Guide and with Victimize and Unburial Rites. These are just a few examples of cards that I use in this list but there are many, many more out there. In addition to having the best reanimation spells available junk also posseses a very strong arsenal of tutors, especially for creatures. Tooth and Nail, Worldly Tutor, Buried Alive, Demonic Tutor and Green Sun's Zenith are a few examples of extremely effective tutors that are available in these colors. While packing a lot of searching utility, this color combination also brings a metric ton of boardcontrol to the game. Cards like Wrath of God, Damnation, Necrotic Sliver, Maelstrom Pulse and Pernicious Deed are all excellent cards for controlling the board.

These are a few reasons why junk is a very strong color combination for EDH. ramp and card draw are two others. This deck doesn't focus on these two aspects as much as the aforementioned aspects.

Why Karador, Ghost Chieftain?

Playing Karador, Ghost Chieftain as your commander gives you permanent access to a reanimation effect that is cheap and easy to use. Yes, it is that simple because no other commander in these colors can give you a similar effect. Teneb, the Harvester is another reanimator commander but his effect is only useable when he attacks and damages a player. he also costs six mana before commander tax so losing him is not an option. This would mean packing the deck with cards like Lightning Greaves and other protection cards just to keep your commander on the board. That is THE main reason for playing Karador since he's usually low cost because of his first ability and gives you reanimation on the spot without any prerequisites.

The other generals in junk colors are fun to play and can be extremely strong like Ghave, Guru of Spores or Doran, the Siege Tower but not a single one of them matches Karador concerning reanimation strategies.

Why build this Deck?

Because you love reanimating stupidly strong creatures like Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger or Iona, Shield of Emeria for low costs or you get a thrill from blowing people's lands to bits with Acidic Slime or Woodfall Primus. Maybe you just like riding the value-train that is Birthing Pod or Survival of the Fittest or dredging stuff into the graveyard with Golgari Grave-Troll is your shtick. If these things pique your interest then this might just be the deck for you. They certainly did for me.

Pros

Board control
Resilient graveyard reanimation
Combo
Answers for just about anything
Lots and lots of value plays
Can win without a bajillion mana
Can win without the commander ever hitting the board
Commander rarely costs more than three or four mana
Has numerous backup plans if the combo fails

Cons

Vulnerable to repeated graveyard hate
Torpor Orb shuts down a lot of creatures
Is not friendly in the slightest
Extreme aggro decks like Krenko, Mob Boss are your worst enemy
Containment Priest and Grafdigger's Cage are a huge pain

Card Choices

Lands

3-3-9 split: This is a tri-color deck and the 3-3-9 split refers to the three shocklands, the three abur lands and the nine fetchlands available to these colors. The main reason for playing the 3-3-9 split is fixing your colors. This practically garantuees you get your colors when you need them. It also lets you play cards with highly saturated color costs like Massacre Wurm without having to spend resources.

Gaea's Cradle: One of two lands that are worth using a Demonic Tutor on. The amount of mana this land produces alone is so ludicrous you'll be happy to have it on the board anytime.

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth + Cabal Coffers: Urborg fixes all the black mana you may ever need and Cabal Coffers is just extra gravy on top. Knight of the Reliquary can fetch these up if Gaea's Cradle is already on the field. Insane amounts of mana... What more needs to be said?

Ancient Tomb: One land, Two mana. The damage you take is nothing compared to the acceleration this land provides. It's basically a better version of Temple of the False God since you don't need to have five lands in play.

Bojuka Bog: Graveyard hate in land form. It costs nothing to slam down and remove someones graveyard from the game and gives you one of your colors. Definite no-brainer.

Boseiju, Who Shelters All: The other land besides Gaea's Cradle that can warrant using a Demonic Tutor on. It's kind of a double-edged blade with this land. You don't ever want to see it in a matchup without counterspells but if you do play against those pesky blue players this is a must have land. Uncounterable Tooth and Nail? yes please!

Command Tower: EDH classic, there is just no reason not to play this land, ever.

Dryad Arbor: Sac fodder, chump-blocker, ramp with Green Sun's Zenith pairs extremely well with Gaea's Cradle this card is a powerhouse in and of itself. The versatility this land gives is ludicrous. Auto-include in almost every green deck. The only drawback is the fact that it's a creature and thus vulnerable to boardwipes.

High Market: A land that can sacrifice a creature to protect it from being exiled and in general a sacrifice outlet. Pairs extremely well with Yosei, the Morning Star and Kokusho, the Evening Star.

Phyrexian Tower: Functionally the same as High Market but the it can produce is invaluable at times. Very, very strong land.

Maze of Ith: Protect yourself from Voltron generals or creatures that trigger abilities when doing damage. it can also act as pseudo vigilance for your own creatures. This card has saved me on numerous occasions and can also be used to create (temporary) allies. The only real downside is that it doesn't produce mana on it's own. Luckily this deck runs Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth for that.

Mirrorpool: A relatively new land that I'm still playtesting. I found that it's use is somewhat limited because of the colorless manacost needed for the activation but nothing feels as good as copying a Tooth and Nail.

Wooded Bastion , Twilight Mire, Fetid Heath: Filterlands for filtering your mana. Nothing more to be said about these.

Control

Acidic Slime: Part of a combo in the deck and an otherwise all around staple card for green. Relevant removal stapled onto a deathtouch body. My primary use for this card is blowing up problematic utility lands.

Ashen Rider: Exiles any permant with his ETB trigger. Does the same when he dies. The only downside is his high mana cost but i guess they had to make it balanced somehow. This card is best used with some form of reanimation like Karmic Guide to circumvent his high cost.

Duplicant: Mainly in here to have a colorless answer to an opposing Iona, Shield of Emeria. While Iona doesn't hurt the deck that much, since it's a tri color deck, it's still usefull to have a back up. This card also goes right through protection from colors.

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite: The praetors are all good. Elesh Norn just better than most. The -2/-2 is not to be underestimated in EDH. She absolutely hoses token strategies and buffs your own guys for an alpha strike. Combines really well with Massacre Wurm for -4/-4, there aren't many creatures that can take that.

Fleshbag Marauder: This card is in my opinion one of the absolute worst nightmares for opponents to play against. Think about it, Cruel Edict that hits EVERY player for only one mana more and it's recurable... Ludicrous value and I'm almost always happy to see him in my hand.

Harmonic Sliver: I know Reclamation Sage is easier to cast with the same effect and body. But I also play Necrotic Sliver and if they do his the table together it can be devastating. Otherwise it's just your standard artifact/enchantment removal. Mainly used to blow up cards like Sylvan Library or Sol Ring.

Necrotic Sliver: A recurable Vindicate on a body. Also pairs well with Harmonic Sliver. Being able to destroy any permanent is no joke in EDH.

Massacre Wurm: I love this card. It's a big wurm with two awesome abilities. Can win the game with Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. Obliterates tokens and utility creatures and is recurable. The only real downside is it's mana cost which has three in it.

Qasali Pridemage: What I like about this card is it's ability to stop people from playing their artifacts. Exalted is just extra gravy but not the reason to play him. Easily recurable with Karador, destroys any artifact or enchantment for just one mana. Save to say that he's a powerhouse when it comes to removing stuff.

Mindslicer, Sadistic Hypnotist: These are in here to control opponents hands. putting the whole table in topdeck mode with Mindslicer is extremely valueable if you're up against heavy counterspell players. Same goes for the hypnotist but to a lesser degree because you can't do it at instant speed. These cards can basically win you the game right there and then if played correctly since actually having cards to play is what magic is all about. Once resolved you can just play stuff from your graveyard untill you drown your opponents in value.

Sheoldred, Whispering One: Mostly a lightning rod in the deck but if she sticks around it becomes a larger and larger problem for your opponents. An awesome card for building up pressure by recurring your own creatures and controlling theirs. The problem is that she gets removed really fast most of the time hence why I usually play her as a lightning rod.

Woodfall Primus: A part of one of the combos of the deck but can be played to remove those nasty utility lands. Persist makes this creature extremely valueable to recurr because you just get to do it again if he gets blown up.

Krosan Grip: I once played against an enchantment based prison style deck that used Humility, back then I didn't use this kind of removal, save to say I lost that game and vowed to never not be able to answer humility. As a side note, it's one of the few, if not the only card that can get rid of Sensei's Divining Top on it's own because of split second.

Path to Exile: One mana, remove any creature from the game. The drawback is they get a land, but cheap removal like this is a must have in a format riddled with Blightsteel Colossus's and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre's.

Pernicious Deed: The versatility this card brings is insane. Being able to blow up artifacts, creatures and enchantments in any range is just increadibly strong. It hoses tokens, destroys animated lands, wrecks mana rocks and annihilates utility creatures.

Damnation, Wrath of God: The whole reason why boardwipes are called wrath effects. These cards are low cost, destroy all creatures and won't allow regeneration. That last part isn't that relevant most of the time but when it is you sure like the fact that you put these in over day of judgment.

Maelstrom Pulse: Low cost, great range and destroys anything with the same name. Destroy everyone's Sol Ring or all those Avenger of Zendikar tokens. Great and versatile card.

Utility

Dimir House Guard: Primarily used as a sac outlet for one of the combos. The thing with this card and the main reason why it's in the deck is because it doubles as a tutor for some of the best cards in this deck. It can fetch up Greater Good or Birthing Pod or Wrath of God. These are three extremely relevant reasons for playing this card. What''s even better is that he has the decency to put himself in the graveyard so that Karador costs less to play. Amazing card for this deck.

Disciple of Bolas: Can draw you a ton of cards and functions as a sac outlet. Being able to recur him makes him even better. The lifegain is mostly just a bonus but can help you out in a pinch.

Eternal Witness: Green staple card. Returns any card from your graveyard to your hand for only 3 mana and leaves a body behind. Recurring this creature generates so much value it's ridiculous.

Golgari Grave-Troll: Since this is a reanimator style creature based deck with fourty creatures in it, dredging almost becomes the same as drawing 6 cards. Generates a metric ton of value and then some. Karador will cost three mana in almost no time at all with this bad boy in the graveyard.

Knight of the Reliquary: I almost exclusively use this to fetch my Gaea's Cradle or Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and for that alone it's worht a spot in the deck. What makes this card even better for this list is that it's tutorable with Woodland Bellower .

Loyal Retainers: In my opinion a grossly underestimated card for reanimation. Yes you can only use it in your first main phase, yes it's only legendary creatures... but isn't Iona, Shield of Emeria legendary? Isn't Yosei, the Morning Star legendary? I rest my case. Only costs three mana aswell, seriously, this card is a must answer threat for opponents.

Oracle of Mul Daya: Generates value like it's no man's business. The fact that you can play lands from the top of your library will help smooth out draws if she sticks around.

Lotus Cobra: I was hesitant at first to put this little guy in. After all how much can one maybe two mana be? Well, it kind of turns out that it's a really big deal. Especially with fetchlands. Being able to churn out spells just because you played a few lands is incredible. I put this card in once and never looked back it's that amazing.

Sakura-Tribe Elder: Admittedly the deck plays a low amount of basic lands but being able to ramp into them with a low cost creature that kills itself in the process is just to much value for this deck to pass up.

Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger: I usually just reanimate this hulking monstrosity for his mana doubling effect. The fact that he also functions as a semi-stax effect is just a bonus. One of the downsides is that people hate him with a passion and gets removed almost instantly, but by that time, the damage is usually already done.

Wood Elves: Ramp that brings one of your lands untapped into play on a creature body. it's just too bad he doesn't kill himself right of but that's no real downside.

Sol Ring: I think Sol Ring is the stapliest of staples that ever stapled in commander. EVERY deck runs one and this deck is no exception.

Solemn Simulacrum: So much value pressed into one robot. Ramping when he enters the battlefield and drawing you a card when he leaves. Another great commander staple. This card can also draw you the whole deck when comboing.

Spore Frog: I personally like this card the most in the deck. Seemingly so innocent but an absolute terror when it comes to controlling attacks. Incredibly hard to deal with for voltron commanders and next to impossible to remove from the game since you can just sacrifice it in response. Definite all-star card and absolutely insane utility.

Sun Titan: fair costed huge body with an extremely relevant ability. You can recur Loyal Retainers for that other legendary creature you need or get Eternal Witness back for extra value plays. Another way to use him is as a janky ramp spell by getting back one of your fetchlands or other lands. Insanely strong utility creature and I'm always happy to see him.

Sensei's Divining Top: It's in here to smooth out draws and occasionaly to grab that one card that you really, desperately need. It's a staple for a reason because it's cheap, hard to remove and let's you practically play with a stacked deck.

Greater Good: This is one of the deck's engines. Once this thing comes online and starts rolling you'll be drowning your opponents in card advantage. It almost always gets removed as soon as it hits the table or gets counterspelled, but if you manage to get it through it will just dig through your deck like crazy.

Sylvan Library: much the same as Sensei's Top, It's mostly in here to smooth out draws but I've been known to take eight damage and draw two extra cards. Super versatile and really strong card.

Life from the Loam: Another dredge engine like the troll. Being able to pick up your lands again i so strong. Dredging an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and then getting it back in hand is great.

Unburial Rites: The main reason I play this card is because of the flashback cost. People won't oftenly check your graveyard for some unknown reason and having this lie in there as a ticking bomb can really swing the game around.

Victimize: Three mana two for one reanimation. Such incredible value from this one card alone. reanimate your strongest creature and Eternal Witness and you get to do it all over again! Seriously though, this card is just insane for it's value.

Win Conditions

Boonweaver Giant + Pattern of Rebirth: The main combo I usually go for. The combo goes thus: Have boonweaver giant enter the battlefield with a sac outlet and tutor Pattern of Rebirth with it. Sac the giant and fetch Karmic Guide. Karmic Guide recurs the giant and the giant recurs pattern of rebirth. Sac the giant again and tutor Saffie eriksdotter. Sac Saffi to protect Karmic Guide and sacrifice Karmic Guide to recur the giant. Sac the giant again to get Reveillark out of your library. Sacrifice Karmic Guide and then Reveillark to recur Karmic Guide and Saffi. karmic Guide recurs Reveillark and from that point on it's just the well known Saffi + Reveillark + Karmic Guide combo explained below, but every time you do it you fetch one creature out of the deck and into play.

Saffi Eriksdotter + Karmic Guide + Reveillark: With these three out on the board you can recur everything in your graveyard ad infinitum. The combo goes as follows: Sacrifice Saffi to recur Reveillark. Then sac Karmic Guide and then Reveillark. Reveillark triggers and recurs Saffi and Karmic Guide which gives you one extra creature back from you graveyard.

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Triskelion: Another combo built in for redundancy and easily tutorable with Tooth and Nail. What you do is, is you take of one counter from triskelion to ping a player and then the remaining two to kill Triskelion itself. Mikaeus will give triskelion undying and return it to the battlefield. Then you just repeat the process until everyone is dead.

Iona, Shield of Emeria: Mainly a windcondition against mono colored decks and otherwise it's just a massive stax effect that people have to play around. Pairs really well with Loyal Retainers.

Yosei, the Morning Star/Kokusho, the Evening Star: Yosei soft locks are devastating to control players. Having this available as a failsafe is important because your combos can be disrupted. Kokusho is mainly in here as a back up failsafe for our failsafe since it's harder to win with repeated kokusho reanimations.

Living Death: What happens when a huge graveyard gets reanimated all at once? yeah you win the game. It's primarily used as a failsafe for our numerous other failsages but I've won so many games with just one Living Death it's a must have for this deck.

As a final note on the winconditions for this deck. Combos can and will be disrupted. Play it smart and try to lock down people before attempting a combo. Anticipate opponents boardstates and try not to get countered or your piece removed. This sounds easier than it actually is and playing with these types of decks is hard. The failsafes are there for a reason so it's not the end of the world if your combo gets destroyed or disrupted, it's designed to transition smoothly into a grindy value game from that point on.

Tutors

Demonic Tutor/Diabolic Intent/Rune-Scarred Demon/Sidisi, Undead Vizier: These are the four cards in the deck that can tutor for any other card. Usually I tutor for Survival of the Fittest with one of these unless I really need something else right then. These tutors effectively double any card in your deck since you can search them up with these at will.

Fierce Empath: recurrable tutor on a stick for six converted mana cost or higher creatures. Amazing card for getting some of your wincons in your hand or if you need that Massacre Wurm. Getting this card with Woodland Bellower gives you alot of card advantage since you basically get three cards for one.

Woodland Bellower : When this card was originally spoiled I immediatly knew it was going to end up in this deck. being able to tutor and play some of your best utility creatures is incredible. Grabbing Eternal Witness will get one of your cards back from your graveyard or searching up Harmonic Sliver lets you destroy an artifact or enchantment. The versatility this card brings alone is more than worth it's admittedly high mana cost.

Worldly Tutor: I usually use this to get Knight of the Reliquary or Lotus Cobra in early game and in mid/late game I just grab whatever creature I need the most or one of my wincons. Versatile tutor at instant speed for one mana.

Birthing Podd: Birthing Pod is probably one of the strongest tutors in this deck. The reason for that is because of the mana curve that I build into it. Every single creature except for Iona can be podded into another creature. It kills a creature you control, strengthening your graveyard, Searches for something and just dumps it onto the battlefield. Saccing Acidic Slime into Woodland Bellower is just a tiny example of the tricks you can do with this.

Buried Alive: Getting three creatures from your deck for three mana is just ludicrous. The fact that they go to the graveyard is even better for these type of decks. You can get your combo into the graveyard or Iona, Shield of Emeria + Loyal Retainers. The card is extremely versatile and requires quite alot of practice to play correctly in my opinion.

Green Sun's Zenith : Mostly used for ramping with Dryad Arbor but the fact that it's scaleable and puts your creature on the battlefield makes this card extremely versatile.

Traverse the Ulvenwald: I'm currently still playtesting this card and so far I like it. Being able to choose between a land or creature makes it great since delirium shouldn't really be that much of a problem most of the time. Still I'm playtesting this and have as of yet to make a real judgment about this card.

Tooth and Nail: Mainly used to just grab Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Triskelion for the combo win. It can also be used for Massacre Wurm + Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite as a pseudo boardwipe. The possibilites with this card are numerous and it can be used to deal with alot of situations.

Survival of the fittest is hands down the absolute strongest card in this deck bar none. It's incredibly cheap, puts creatures in your graveyard where you want them to be, searches for any creature that you may need or your combo pieces and it's reusable over and over again. Seriously, if you have a Demonic Tutor in hand there's a 90% chance you'll be grabbing this card out of your library. It really is that strong, it's basically what this deck was build around.

Omissions

Vampiric Tutor: I took it out to test out Traverse the Ulvenwald, otherwise it's in the deck.

Eladamri's Call: It's a great tutor and I almost put it in there, but I just prefer Worldly Tutor above this one since it costs one mana less.

Early game

In the early stages of the game you want to start establishing your board and build up your graveyard. Ramping with Lotus Cobra into some other ramp spells are a few very strong early turn plays. Playing cards like Sakura-Tribe Elder help fill out your graveyard.

Mid game

This is where you want to start assembling your engines and your board control. Playing low cost creatures like Harmonic Sliver are good plays to keep artifacts and enchantments in check whike you keep building up. Having Greater Good or Survival of the Fittest on the board is going to help you get the card advantage you need as well as dig for answers to anything your opponents are trying to do. This is where the deck really shines as it is build to be able to respond to practically anything you're opponents try to throw at you. Try to keep that graveyard nice and full and you'll be winning in the late game most likely.

Late game

Now that you have succesfully controlled the board you can try and use one of the combos in the deck. it's imperative that you keep an eye on counterspells and removal effects and if one of your combos fail, there is always a back up plan. Yosei, the Morning Star softlocks or Living Death are great alternatives when the combo gets interrupted.

Comments, criticism and suggestions are always welcome and I hope that you enjoyed my primer for Karador, Ghost Chieftain.

I will try and keep this primer updated as I invariably tweak, cut and add cards. If you like the primer please upvote the deck and support all the other Karador players out their.

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Date added	8 years
Last updated	7 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	18 - 0 Mythic Rares 54 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 7 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.12
Tokens	Copy Clone
Folders	Old Primer
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