Alright... now let's talk Karlov of the Ghost Council.
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Nov. 5, 2015, 2:52 p.m. by RedUndead40
I'm liking this guy a bit better than Daxos.
My gut instinct is to go heavy WB lifegain / control, let Karlov get huge, exile a ton of creatures at once, then swing next turn when he is huge again.
Does that seem like a reasonable build? Or does anyone have a different idea on how to brew this guy?
RedUndead40 says... #3
Yeah he definitely has a spot in any Oloro deck.
But I want to make this guy a legit commander. Extort can still be good though, namely with Blind Obedience, Crypt Ghast, and Pontiff of Blight.
I can see Karlov getting 10+ counters per turn with the right setup, which leaves a lot of removal / voltron potential.
November 5, 2015 3:15 p.m.
Blind Obedience, Crypt Ghast, and Pontiff of Blight are some extort cards worth playing.
November 5, 2015 3:17 p.m.
Ajani's Pridemate is probably his closest twin :p lifelink critters or True Conviction will also just make him huge. I like this guy... I mostly run 
with oloro aside from pillowfort but I can almost see myself switching to this guy and I wouldn't have to change much :p Cradle of Vitality and moreso Archangel of Thune have great synergies here. Gives him more +1/+1 counters when you gain life. Bloodchief Ascension I feel needs a mention. Sorry, just spit ballin here
November 5, 2015 3:35 p.m.
Blood Baron of Vizkopa and Obzedat, Ghost Council approve. I don't think he is as a strong as Daxos for Tiny Leader, but he's good for sure.
November 5, 2015 3:43 p.m.
RedUndead40 says... #7
Bloodchief Ascension is a great suggestion, lots of potential triggers for Karlov there.
November 5, 2015 3:48 p.m.
Chalice of Life Flip, Pristine Talisman, Suture Priest, soul sisters, Blood Artist, Sun Droplet, and Kokusho, the Evening Star all goodies you can throw in there. Oh and the lands that ETB and give you life.
November 5, 2015 5:43 p.m.
RedUndead40 says... #10
Excellent suggestions all! Alright, I'm not so sad that I pulled BW out of my playgroup lol
November 5, 2015 6:45 p.m.
scopesightzx says... #11
You'd be gaining a lot of life, so how about Unspeakable Symbol?
November 5, 2015 7:27 p.m.
Here, I put together this list of stuff I thought would be good with him: Karlov of the Ghost Council List
I was going to cut it down to 100 cards and refine it a little, but I already have a Teysa, Orzhov Scion deck that I'm really proud of, and I feel like this deck would pretty much play the same usuing life instead of tokens.
The key with Karlov I think is to find cards that give you the most triggers of small, incidental life gain, and then stack them. Here are some of the cards I think are particularly effective:
For lifegain triggers the following are probably best: ETB triggers: Soul Warden/Soul's Attendant/Auriok Champion/Healer of the Pride; Attack Triggers (these will add up): Patron of the Kitsune/Righteous Cause, Mass Lifelink: True Conviction/Noble Purpose/Victory's Herald, Extort Triggers: Pontiff of Blight/Blind Obedience/Crypt Ghast/Treasury Thrull; Spell Triggers: Angel's Feather/Demon's Horn/Paradise Plume/Staff of the Death Magus/Staff of the Sun Magus/Tablet of the Guilds/Contemplation; and Miscellaneous: Bloodchief Ascension, Exquisite Blood,
You could also probably get Sangromancer working, as well as Blood Artist/Falkenrath Noble/Deathgreeter/Moonlit Wake/Suture Priest/Proper Burial/Zulaport Cutthroat, but those would probably only work if you got a token/sacrifice theme going, as would Ghost Council of Orzhova and Vampiric Rites.
As a general rule, I'd leave out any cards that don't gain you life more than once per turn, they're just not worth it. (Sorry, Obzedat, Ghost Council...)
Then you're going to want cards that like it when you gain lots of life. I didn't find too many that were worthwile, but here: Archangel of Thune, Angelic Accord, Sanguine Bond, Vizkopa Guildmage, and Well of Lost Dreams.
Since there isn't really that much that directly benefits you for just gaining life, I felt it was the best strategy to cash in on all the powerful cards that encourage you to use your life as a resource, since you're going to be having so much of in anyway: Necropotence, Phyrexian Arena, Graveborn Muse, First Response, Phyrexian Reclamation Slaughter, Snuff Out, Ashes to Ashes, Hellfire, Toxic Deluge, Erebos, God of the Dead, and Greed.
Since six counters is as significant amount of power to be losing from your commander, you might as well include a couple ways to double up on his ability: Illusionist's Bracers and Rings of Brighthearth.
Lastly, and this is what I had yet to implement in the list I just made, since Karlov is probably going to get very big very fast, you might as well use commander damage as your primary win-con. Include a bunch of equipment to keep him on the board and hard to block: Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Darksteel Plate, Shield of Kaldra, Whispersilk Cloak, Prowler's Helm, Trailblazer's Boots, Sword of Light and Shadow, Sword of War and Peace, Umezawa's Jitte (Those last 3 work especially well with Karlov.), and Stonehewer Giant/Stoneforge Mystic.
Hopefully that gave some people some ideas. Maybe I'll work on the list a little later now that I've spent a little more time thinking about this.
Flagellum says... #2
Mmm I know he would go great with Oloro, Ageless Ascetic in fact now I need to find a spot... this guy might work well with extort effects too. Only problem is the extort critters are a bunch of weenies and people don't take kindly to life gain. Didn't have much luck with them and Oloro. Ended up being blocking fodder for the most part.
November 5, 2015 3:11 p.m.