Can Karn, Silver Golem be a good commander?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on June 1, 2015, 1:45 a.m. by DrLitebur
I am thinking of making an EDH deck with Karn, Silver Golem as the commander. Can a deck like this be feasible? I already know that the idea of the deck will be to make artifacts into creatures and smash face with said artifacts, and use things like All Is Dust to keep the board from getting too bad. The question is, can this type of deck be competitive? Or should I bother?
I think Memnarch is just better if you're trying to get janky with artifacts. Then, you get Blue.
If you're looking to stay colorless, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth or Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre are probably your better options. Yeah; they cost a lot, but you're probably going to be running a ton of rocks.
June 1, 2015 1:49 a.m.
Karn can be a fun commander to use and annoying to play against. As far as competitive not 100% sure.
June 1, 2015 1:50 a.m.
If it's Karn's specific ability you want, see: Sydri, Galvanic Genius
June 1, 2015 1:52 a.m.
CastleSiege says... #6
One of my friends runs a colorless Karn deck and it's packed with stupid infinite combos. It's really degenerate lol
June 1, 2015 2:16 a.m.
RoarMaster says... #7
With Karn you basdically just want to run ramp rocks, card draw, and board wipes. Ramp and draw and cast ramp until you have a huge field of artifats, wipe, animate and attack FTW. Add in combos as you feel.
June 1, 2015 2:21 a.m.
PepsiAddicted says... #8
yupp what CastleSiege and RoarMaster said. its strong and fast but not very flexible if you dont get a half decent starting hand (lol well what edh deck is...). you wont get much love for playing colorless ramp, keep that in mind. it is very competitive but often lacks in multiplayer (again, flexibility). but its a TON of fun. ive been hooked on karn for quite a while now.
Walking Fridges And Stuff Playtest
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 91 | 24 COMMENTS | 15557 VIEWSmemnarch is on the same lvl but the decks turn out more control-ish most of the time. ulamog and kozilek are strong but not half as combo heavy and way more repetitive (1.ramp, 2.play gen, 3.profit gets a bit boring after a while and karn offers every infinite combo etc thats in the book). depending on your playstyle you can go fair or unfair (turn2 infinite mana and lettuce lol) and you can play/mix aggro, combo or stax for example (i mean you can basically do whatever you want but these 3 types of karn decks i see the most).
10/10 would build again.
June 1, 2015 2:48 a.m.
I read the title to this thread and my first thought was, "Unfortunately."
I have ... shall we say, "dealt with" a Karn deck on more than one occasion, and my solution was to, well, blow up or steal his field basically every turn until he stopped animating lands and watching them incidentally die because 0/0 creatures now.
Just, before you do anything, check with you playgroup and make sure what you want to do with Karn is not going to make them not want to play with you. Social contracts, and what-not.
June 1, 2015 3:10 a.m.
PepsiAddicted says... #10
Yes and do the same for cards like Mycosynth Lattice because it can generate a lot of frustration.
June 1, 2015 3:17 a.m.
Yeah... last time someone else Mycosynth Latticed, I Bane of Progressed anyway. But I've also got me a bad reputation for dealing with "threats" in aggressive manners. My goal was to make either him not run the card, or remember to protect himself first.
June 1, 2015 3:36 a.m.
I have a friend who built a Karn deck, he runs no infinite combos, and it acts like a giant toolbox. Its not degenerate, and is actually fun to play against as there's lots of pieces, which on their own are not particularly scary, but when assembled in the right combination become a problem. The trick is to not let him get there in the first place.
My advice is you are making a deck on theme, rather than a tool of death which is why you are running Karn as your general.
June 1, 2015 7:52 a.m.
PepsiAddicted says... #13
Hes asking how competitive it is and karn edh is always a toolbox
June 1, 2015 8:23 a.m.
It's a bummer you can't run Arcum Dagsson or Muzzio, Visionary Architect in there as well.
Elbrus, the Binding Blade Flip, Akroma's Memorial, Darksteel Plate, and even Lich's Tomb are great artifacts to include.
June 1, 2015 8:31 a.m.
Thanks guys. I appreciate the input. I have a few ideas of what I will run, and while I do not have a Mycosynth Lattice yet, it is on my wish list. I have the Urza lands, all the mana rocks I can think of, and the Darksteel Forge I need to combat things like Shatterstorm. I recently aquired a copy of All Is Dust and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon will be joining the party too. Just some of the high points I am thinking of. The question is, with mana base, do I just use whatever land, knowing they will produce colorless mana? Or do I have to find all sorts of those lands that produce only colorless mana?
June 1, 2015 7:47 p.m.
RoarMaster says... #17
You will have to find all the lands that produce colorless. There are plenty to choose from though.
June 1, 2015 10:01 p.m.
@DrLitebur Karn is a blast to play wish i had seen this thread sooner. What Would Karn do??? is my version of him. He is fairly resilient from my many games played with him. But as others have said expect a LOT of hate after people have seen him in action. A good Karn deck doesnt just play artifacts he is a political master.
Example: This a nice board wipe your casting, let me help and turn all your artifacts into creatures so they die as well.
Just be advised these decks get expensive REALLY fast. Most "budget" decks of Karn are still expensive compared to other "budget" decks.
PepsiAddicted has a really good deck and there are a good number of Karn, Silver Golem decks on this site. If you have any questions just let me know.
June 7, 2015 5:58 p.m.
Jeggard I just built my own version of a Karn, Silver Golem deck. I think I didn't do too badly with it, and it wasn't too expensive. I had most of the pieces, save for the lands which I think I spent like $20 to acquire all that I needed to complete the deck.
RoarMaster says... #2
Yes, Karn is badass. A well built Karn deck is something to be feared. feared and possibly hated. just be aware your playgroup may start running Shatterstorm.
June 1, 2015 1:49 a.m.