The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

Commander / EDH

CardboardHorde

Land (40)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Concealed Courtyard
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Flagstones of Trokair
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Glimmerpost
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x High Market
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Kabira Crossroads
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 6x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Radiant Fountain
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Scoured Barrens
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Seraph Sanctuary
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 5x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of the Archangel
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Vesuva
• 1x Windswept Heath

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Ajani, Caller of the Pride
• 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1x Sorin Markov

Creature (21)

• 1x Archangel of Thune
• 1x Auriok Champion
• 1x Baneslayer Angel
• 1x Bastion Protector
• 1x Crested Sunmare
• 1x Filigree Familiar
• 1x Gisela, the Broken Blade  ^Meld
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Lone Rider  ^Flip
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Pious Evangel  ^Flip
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Serra Ascendant
• 1x Soul Warden
• 1x Soul's Attendant
• 1x Sunscorch Regent
• 1x Suture Priest
• 1x Tree of Perdition
• 1x Tymna the Weaver
• 1x Vizkopa Guildmage

Artifact (11)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Hammer of Nazahn
• 1x Key to the City
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x O-Naginata
• 1x Pristine Talisman
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Umezawa's Jitte
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak
• 1x Zuran Orb

Commander (1)

Instant (11)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Benevolent Offering
• 1x Brave the Elements
• 1x Demonic Consultation
• 1x Hatred
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Rally the Ancestors
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Tainted Strike
• 1x Valorous Stance
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Duelist's Heritage
• 1x Faith's Fetters
• 1x Felidar Umbra
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Unspeakable Symbol

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Essence Harvest
• 1x Righteous Confluence
• 1x Solemn Offering
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Tragic Arrogance

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Maybeboard

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Alliance of Arms
• 1x Divine Reckoning
• 1x Return to the Ranks
• 1x Spectral Reserves
• 1x Survival Cache
• 1x Terashi's Grasp

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Elspeth Tirel

Land (1)

• 1x Sejiri Steppe

Instant (5)

• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Faith's Reward
• 1x Lapse of Certainty
• 1x Second Sunrise
• 1x Silence

Creature (1)

• 1x Sun Titan

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Ashes of the Abhorrent
• 1x Bloodchief Ascension
• 1x Ragged Veins

Artifact (2)

• 1x Grafted Exoskeleton
• 1x Well of Lost Dreams

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Karlov of the Ghost Council utilizing a low converted-mana-cost, Voltron strategy.

This is my favorite deck. Most Karlov of the Ghost Council decks utilize this commander for control purposes first, and as an aggressive threat second. I personally think this should be reversed. He is one of the easiest commanders to get to 21 damage with. This is probably why most people think Karlov of the Ghost Council is a relatively sub-par commander, leading to him being under-used (in my opinion). The fact that he's underused allows me to surprise most people who sit across from this build for the first time, and allows me to play a deck that, while not good enough for cEDH, is better than most 75%-style decks without protest at more casual tables.

Opening Hands

This deck wants opening hands that guarantee casting Karlov of the Ghost Council on turn 2, and can curve into him being an attacking 4/4 by turn 3. An ideal hand contains a 1-mana Soul Warden-effect, 2 lands that can produce a combination of and , a life-gain land, a finisher card, and a card to protect Karlov. That being said, most hands that can cast Karlov of the Ghost Council on turn 2 are keep-able, regardless of the remainder of the hand.

Game-Plan

This deck is aggressive, trying to eliminate at least 1 player as soon as possible. This means that sequencing can be critical in the early-game.

Turn 1 doesn't always have a play, but the best hands will have a Soul Warden, Soul's Attendant, or card:Serra Ascedant.

Turn 2 will almost always resolve Karlov of the Ghost Council, with the exception of hands that contain a 2-mana Soul Warden-effect (e.g. Auriok Champion or Suture Priest); in which case, Karlov will follow on turn 3 in order to enter as a 4/4.

Turn 3 will typically try to advance Karlov of the Ghost Council to a 4/4 or more, utilizing the cards previously referenced, a land that enters to provide a life-gain trigger (e.g. Glimmerpost, Kabira Crossroads, and others), or a creature that provides a life-gain trigger (e.g. Pious Evangel  , Filigree Familiar, and others). If the opening hand doesn't support a fast kill, or a permission deck is going to make a long-game more ideal, cards like Tymna the Weaver, Phyrexian Arena, or Necropotence may be the better play.

Turn 4 is when the deck can take a player out of the game via Commander damage. At this point, good hands will be able to produce a Karlov of the Ghost Council with power and toughness in the double-digits, and any finisher card will be able to take someone out. Cards like Tainted Strike (providing infect), Ajani, Caller of the Pride (providing evasion and double-strike), or even Unspeakable Symbol (at a relatively large cost).

If a player isn't eliminated by Turn 4, Turn 5 will prepare for a longer game by advancing the board with efficient threats like Crested Sunmare , Baneslayer Angel, Sunscorch Regent, Archangel of Thune, or Gisela, the Broken Blade (if it wasn't cast the previous turn), or by casting cards that help to refill our hands (see the turn 3 game-plan for examples). If a player was eliminated, the plan won't change much, but the ideal hand will have an Aetherflux Reservoir to finish the other player off, or a way to protect Karlov of the Ghost Council in order to turn the onslaught onto another player.

At this point, there's a good chance Karlov of the Ghost Council has been dealt with somehow, and this is a good turn to recast him with, hopefully, some kind of protection, and if not, one of the efficient threats listed for turn 5. This will often be a rebuilding phase. As for powerful effects on these late turns, there's really only 1 card in the deck that takes until this late into the game to be cast, and that's Sorin Markov. If this card is in hand, it's best to hold it until the "-3" ability can be paired with a large threat to eliminate an opponent.

Notable Cards

The following cards are worth mentioning to either justify their inclusion, provide insight into synergies in the deck, and/or to explain their importance:

Bastion Protector is 1 of the best turn 3 plays. It provides indestructibility the turn after Karlov of the Ghost Council is played, and a pseudo-life-gain trigger in the static +2/+2 buff.
With any Soul Warden-effect, this card provides Karlov of the Ghost Council 14, +1/+1 counters (7 life-gain triggers) at instant-speed. Because it's an instant, the player being attacked can often be chosen to gain the life and spirits. The spirits won't matter, since it'll be cast after blockers are declared, and the life-gain is irrelevant when they often die to Commander damage.
Crested Sunmare is a "board-in-a-can" in this deck. This card will typically take at least 2 cards to deal with, and with a Soul Warden-effect can provide an indestructible 5/5 on anybody's turn.
This card is a bit risky, but when it's in your hand, this deck has access to a lot of great, protection spells (e.g. Valorous Stance, Brave the Elements, and others) to keep Karlov of the Ghost Council alive at instant-speed. Some other great cards to tutor for include Benevolent Offering/Rally the Ancestors (with a Soul Warden-effect in play or the graveyard, respectively), removal (Swords to Plowshares), or finishers (Hatred).
Duelist's Heritage is a fantastic political card, but also provides a pseudo-life-gain trigger on turn 3 (essentially turning Karlov of the Ghost Council into a 4/4). In the late-game, it turns into a finisher card by turning a lot of smaller creatures into threats.
This card provides the deck with a little reach when Karlov of the Ghost Council is lacking evasion, with the bonus of a life-gain trigger. This is probably 1 of the weakest cards in the deck, since it needs the Commander in play to even be effective.
This card is very good in this deck. It pulls triple-duty by providing protection (pseudo-indestructibility), a way to add +1/+1 counters to Karlov of the Ghost Council, and large chunks of life (increasing over time). The latter is important for utilizing Aetherflux Reservoir.
This deck leans heavily on explosive turns, extending itself heavily in those turns to eliminate players. Grand Abolisher provides protection during those turns to ensure it doesn't all fall apart, or at the very least, demands an answer that could be used later in that turn. Additionally, this card is tutor-able with Recruiter of the Guard, and can be pulled from the graveyard on critical turn with Rally the Ancestors.
Similar to O-Naginata, this card provides evasion, but also provides hand-sculpting in a pinch.
This card is included primarily due to the interaction between lifelink, first strike, and Karlov of the Ghost Council. Specifically, the first strike damage results in a life-gain trigger prior to Karlov of the Ghost Council dealing combat damage, making the target 2 damage closer to dying to Commander damage. It also comes out in the early game, representing critical, early-game life-gain triggers. The flip-side of the card is usually gravy.
There are plenty of games where this deck gets Karlov of the Ghost Council to enormous sizes, but just needs evasion. O-Naginata provides trample to alleviate this, without increasing the average converted-mana-cost, due to its low mana and equip-costs (3 mana, total).
This card, similar to Benevolent Offering, can turn Karlov of the Ghost Council into threat at instant-speed, for very little mana (3-4 mana). Unlike Benevolent Offering, it requires that the Soul Warden-esque creatures be in the graveyard. The reason I include it, currently, is to rebuild Karlov of the Ghost Council after a board-wipe, or to allow me to extend into board-wipes more aggressively. In the future, this may be replaced with a similar card- Faith's Reward.
This card is fantastic in any Voltron strategies, since it's a board-wipe that lets you keep the creature you have "suited-up." Another key point of this card is how it allows you to choose what isn't destroyed, allowing the pilot to remove blockers, leaving behind a tapped creature, in order to provide a form of evasion. Lastly, its ability to hit such a large swatch of card types, in conjunction with the fact that this deck utilizes a wide variety of card types, makes it all the more powerful.
This card is a finisher, in that it typically makes Karlov of the Ghost Council lethal to whoever it targets. This also makes it a pretty great political card.
Umezawa's Jitte is already a great card, but Karlov of the Ghost Council takes advantage of it even more-so. The ability to remove a counter to gain 2 life gives Karlov of the Ghost Council a permanent +2/+2 without even requiring the equipment to be equipped to him. This means the smaller, more dispensable creatures in the deck can be equipped to generate counters. Furthermore, after the board is wiped, the Umezawa's Jitte retains its counters, each representing +2/+2 for Karlov of the Ghost Council, and doesn't require the equipment to be equipped to use them!
This card gives Karlov of the Ghost Council a bit of reach by using both abilities, gaining life equal to his power, and resulting in all opponents losing that much life. In the early-game, it can provide some much-needed life-gain, often in large chunks (for cards like Aetherflux Reservoir).
This card provides multiple life-gain triggers without spending mana. The cost do this is considerable, but the low converted-mana-cost of the deck makes lands less important, and this is usually only used to keep Karlov of the Ghost Council out of range from damage removal, or to eliminate a player/win the game. Zuran Orb has a nice synergy with Flagstones of Trokair.

Printing Choices

My end-goal is to foil this entire deck, with the following guidelines:

• Pre-release promo-foils from my personal pre-release kits are the highest priority (currently, none are included).
• If the previous criteria is not met, the first foil printing to come in a booster-pack set, excluding special printings within booster-packs (e.g. no Time-Shifted or Masterpiece printings), are preferred.
• If the previous criteria can't be met, then judge promo-foils are preferred.
• If none of the previous criteria are met, I'll typically try to get the first printing, or the cheapest printing.

I think this deck plays relatively different than a majority of Commander styles (most being slower, big-mana decks), and even straying from typical Voltron strategies (e.g. there's only 1 aura in the deck, and Karlov of the Ghost Council doesn't have natural protection). I understand if it doesn't jive with a lot of people who try it for the first time. If you do give it a try, remember to play aggressively, but don't forget to play politically- playing multiplayer games with an aggressive deck is generally an uphill battle to begin with.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 44 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.72
Tokens	Cat 2/2 W, Emblem Elspeth, Knight-Errant, Horse 5/5 W, Knight 2/2 W w/ Vigilance, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 W
Folders	Too rich for my blood...