Karlov Help
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Dec. 7, 2016, 1:55 p.m. by WhitemageZach
Hey everyone! I need some help finalizing my Karlov of the Ghost Council deck. I am on a budget so no Necropotence or the likes. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Karlov's Incremental Life Gain
Commander / EDH
1 COMMENT | 48 VIEWS
BlueMageBrandon says... #3
This is my friend's deck and he doesn't have access to a computer outside of school so I'll answer on his behalf.
Sorry I wasn't clear about that. I was in a rush Necropotence was just the first thing to come to my mind and he might add it, but yes, Kaya, Ghost Assassin and others were just lucky pulls.
Budget is less approx. $75; Max per card is $10 just so he can add other $2 cards and not go over budget; Meta is our group of friends: Ezuri, Claw of Progress (built from scratch - My deck), Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest, Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath (precon), and other precons. We actually havn't played any games yet as a group so I'm not quite sure. We are also going to try not to run infinite combos or tutors, hence the lack of.
I hope this helped us help you :) If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. You convinced me to add Necropotence so I'm going to do that now, lol
December 7, 2016 6:04 p.m.
JaceTheSwagSculptor says... #4
Thanks for the info. No tutors...that's really rough, it pretty much makes getting through your deck a slog fest. I'd at least consider running one or two tutors that are in your budget - Call the Gatewatch, Diabolic Tutor, Dark Petition (if you are going to just run one, this is the one I'd go with), and Increasing Ambition.
Here comes the book, I hope you're in the mood to read...From what I can see, the deck is mainly trying to win by ticking players down by enough to get them in a range where they can reasonably be hit by an Exsanguinate effect.
Here are some general tips that I can give you:
1.) Add a lot of cards that draw you cards even if they seem minuscule. Since you are not going to run tutors (or run a very limited amount of them) you need ways to get through your deck. My suggestions for some slots would be Sign in Blood, Night's Whisper, Underworld Connections, Phyrexian Arena, Necropotence, Ob Nixilis Reignited, Bloodgift Demon, Ancient Craving, Ambition's Cost, Read the Bones, Erebos, God of the Dead, and Skullclamp. Karlov of the Ghost Council and your many life gain cards should easily be able to mitigate the losses you take from the aforementioned draw spells.
2.) Get rid of the gimmicky extort creatures. Although at first it seems nice to get incrimental advantage with these from Karlov, but its just not enough to warrant slots in your list. B and W in EDH are colors that have a plethora of extrememly powerful EDH cards and you do not want to waste your slots this easily. Keep powerful cards like Crypt Ghast; Blood Baron of Vizkopa; and the souls sisters, but cards that are extort vanillas are no good.
But how will we win without a critical mass of creatures, you ask...
3.) Simply add cards that generate tokens to the deck! Tokens have so many advantages including blanking your opponent's spot removal, adding benefits to the soul sisters, are great in conjunction with mass pump spells like True Conviction or Dictate of Heliod, protect you and your planeswalkers easily, and are great at holding down the board until you can cast your GIANT Exsanguinate!!! Some examples of great cards to add would be Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Increasing Devotion, Spectral Procession, Conqueror's Pledge, Secure the Wastes, White Sun's Zenith, Hero of Bladehold, Lingering Souls, Midnight Haunting, Luminarch Ascension, Kjeldoran Outpost, Martial Coup, Heliod, God of the Sun, and Thraben Doomsayer.
If you go the tokens route some other cards to consider would be Hour of Reckoning, Marshal's Anthem, Eldrazi Monument, and Cathars' Crusade.
4.) Let universal effects do the life gain for you. Authority of the Consuls, Pontiff of Blight, and Blind Obedience.
If you would like to know how I would run Karlov of the Ghost Council with your budget as a comparison, I would be more than happy to help you out by posting an example decklist.
Hope that helps and don't forget your Orzhov Signet!
December 7, 2016 7:18 p.m.
JaceTheSwagSculptor says... #5
Holy crap! That was difficult, I built a list that was cheaper than yours. Use it as you will and I hope it helps: 0 Tutor Budget Karlov.
December 7, 2016 10:13 p.m.
For budget voltron, Ajani's Mantra and Nyx-Fleece Ram are good options.
JaceTheSwagSculptor says... #2
So...you have cards more expensive than Necropotence in this deck. It's a fairly affordable card at $7. Were those cards just random pulls or is there just something about Necropotence that you aren't particularly fond of?
To help with your deck I would like to know some things first. What is your budget? What is the max you are willing to spend on a single card? What is your meta? Casual? Competitive? Somewhere in the middle?
December 7, 2016 5:25 p.m.