I began playing EDH around the release of Innistrad. I wanted to craft a deck that could play alongside the Commander Precons that my friends had played and evolved for some time. I'd always loved dragons, so when I saw Sheldon Menery's Karrthus deck I set out to make a ramp-y Dragon Tribal. The deck was a ton of fun to play (and still is), but as my playgroup developed their decks to be stronger and stronger I realized that a slow, beatdown deck wasn't going to be very successful. The changes that were made to the deck happened in waves. The first wave aimed to filter out cards that played poorly and replace them with utility cards and answers. I removed excess dragons and put in board wipes, spot removal, etc. Even after these changes the deck was still a blast to play, albeit a bit more competitive.
My EDH playgroup continued to develop, and I set out to make other decks. The result was that everytime I came back to Karrthus, the deck would perform less effectively than the last time I played it. After its initial creation and update, the deck would do extremely well and then gradually fall off (as blue, and its counterspells, infected my meta like the plague). The deck was having difficulties dealing with any sort of trickery. The next wave included defense against blue magic (Spellbreaker Behemoth, Vexing Shusher) and more ramp to make the deck faster, but as a deck that relies on combat damage to win, Karrthus and his dragons had a difficult time overwhelming a game with high-costed creatures alone (especially when everyone else had equally potent creatues).
The latest iteration is a Control-Aggro variant. I focused on a tighter, strong mana curve by removing chunky creatures and spells for efficient spot removal and draw. The deck focuses on removing significant threats from the board while ensuring damaging creatures hit and stick to the battlefield. I'm happy to say the deck is just as fun as when I first made it. With the legend-rule change of M14, I added lands like High Market and Homeward Path to keep clone effects from blowing me out. The deck will always be a work in progress and all criticism and suggestions are welcome!
7 Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Vexing Shusher
3 Yavimaya Elder
3 Dragonspeaker Shaman
3 Fierce Empath
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Spellbreaker Behemoth
4 Drumhunter
5 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
6 Dragon Broodmother
6 Steel Hellkite
6 Hellkite Charger
7 Bladewing the Risen
7 Balefire Dragon
7 Dragon Mage
7 Knollspine Dragon
8 Scourge of Kher Ridges
8 Hellkite Overlord
8 Utvara Hellkite
10 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Chromatic Lantern
4 Quicksilver Amulet
4 Thran Dynamo
2 Sylvan Library
3 Phyrexian Arena
4 No Mercy
4 Greater Good
4 Leyline of Lifeforce
4 Crucible of Fire
5 Asceticism
6 Dragon Roost
6 Warstorm Surge
2 Hull Breach
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Rampant Growth
3 Cultivate
3 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Ashes to Ashes
4 Decimate
4 Diabolic Tutor
5 Creeping Renaissance
8 Decree of Pain
8 Insurrection
9 Blasphemous Act
9 Plague Wind
0 Earthquake
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Worldly Tutor
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Chaos Warp
3 Beast Within
0 Comet Storm
0 Fault Line
5 Sarkhan the Mad
6 Sorin Markov
7 Karn Liberated
7 Mountain
7 Forest
5 Swamp
1 Strip Mine
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Command Tower
1 Forbidden Orchard
1 City of Brass
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Gruul Turf
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Skarrg, the Rage Pits
1 Homeward Path
1 High Market
Background
I began playing EDH around the release of Innistrad. I wanted to craft a deck that could play alongside the Commander Precons that my friends had played and evolved for some time. I'd always loved dragons, so when I saw Sheldon Menery's Karrthus deck I set out to make a ramp-y Dragon Tribal. The deck was a ton of fun to play (and still is), but as my playgroup developed their decks to be stronger and stronger I realized that a slow, beatdown deck wasn't going to be very successful. The changes that were made to the deck happened in waves. The first wave aimed to filter out cards that played poorly and replace them with utility cards and answers. I removed excess dragons and put in board wipes, spot removal, etc. Even after these changes the deck was still a blast to play, albeit a bit more competitive.
My EDH playgroup continued to develop, and I set out to make other decks. The result was that everytime I came back to Karrthus, the deck would perform less effectively than the last time I played it. After its initial creation and update, the deck would do extremely well and then gradually fall off (as blue, and its counterspells, infected my meta like the plague). The deck was having difficulties dealing with any sort of trickery. The next wave included defense against blue magic (Spellbreaker Behemoth, Vexing Shusher) and more ramp to make the deck faster, but as a deck that relies on combat damage to win, Karrthus and his dragons had a difficult time overwhelming a game with high-costed creatures alone (especially when everyone else had equally potent creatues).
The latest iteration is a Control-Aggro variant. I focused on a tighter, strong mana curve by removing chunky creatures and spells for efficient spot removal and draw. The deck focuses on removing significant threats from the board while ensuring damaging creatures hit and stick to the battlefield. I'm happy to say the deck is just as fun as when I first made it. With the legend-rule change of M14, I added lands like High Market and Homeward Path to keep clone effects from blowing me out. The deck will always be a work in progress and all criticism and suggestions are welcome!