BW , Remove six +1/+1 counters from Karlov : Exile target creature.
2/2
Now, besides the obvious voltron "Put a bunch of swords on him and play good valuable lifelink beaters (Divinity of Pride comes to mind)", I KNOW there is a way to break this guy. Some interaction that makes him go insane. When I first read the card, I thought the same thing I thought when I first read Ezuri, Claw of Progress : "cool card, but it doesn't have W in it for the REAL token insanity. Then I thought of cards like Sage of Hours
or Mycoloth
and realized how hard you can break him, that in mind, I just KNOW that even though Karlov does not have G in him for the real +1/+1 counter synergy, I just know you can make him work.
Unfortuntaly, his abillity costs mana, which means going infinite is probably out of the picture, but going infinite isn't that fun anyways, I still believe there are cards that combined with him can allow exiling 5-6 creatures per turn.
So, ehm, any suggestions? Cards that break him?
Edit : With everyone's awesome suggestions, I've made a list of cards. This is NOT a decklist. I've noted the ones that go into Tiny leaders.
An awesome and destructive way to get a ton of counters on him would be Pestilence Demon and friends with something to give them Lifelink. One use of the ability then gives him 2 counters so he won't die while everything else does. After all the creatures are dead, he goes in for the kill with the likely huge amount of counters. Add in Archangel of Thune for even more insanity.
I'm sure there's a bunch of tokens+etb lifegain combos that would break him too but this interaction is one of my favorite lifegain related.
Confessor could be good here. Pay a bunch of life to Necropotence, discard all but the best seven, then have enough life gain triggers to make Karlov lethal.
Student of Ojutai could be similarly good if you are playing with Dark Ritauals, Yawgmoth's Will, etc.
Anything with First Strike + Lifelink is particularly good as it gives you the life before Karlov deals his damage. True Conviction is quite good because it does this to your team and then makes him even better with normal strike damage.
Classic all-star Loxodon Warhammer gives Karlov evasion and makes him bigger with each connect.
An awesome and destructive way to get a ton of counters on him would be Pestilence Demon and friends with something to give them Lifelink. One use of the ability then gives him 2 counters so he won't die while everything else does. After all the creatures are dead, he goes in for the kill with the likely huge amount of counters. Add in Archangel of Thune for even more insanity.
I'm sure there's a bunch of tokens+etb lifegain combos that would break him too but this interaction is one of my favorite lifegain related.
I've been kind of interested in playing a deck that does something with incremental life gain, rather than massive lifegain (i.e. I want Archangel of Thune and Ajani's Pridemate to be savage beasts).
Ehm, again, thanks for the suggestions, but what I am really searching for here is stuff to interact with Karlov's second abillity. All these lifegain trigger cards are fantastic, don't get me wrong, and he is a force to be reckoned with even if just one of them is on the battlefield, but the whole "Lifegain triggers" thing fits Oloro, Ageless Ascetic .
I don't just want to play "Oloro without the U".... I want to play Karlov. And I know his second abillity just feeds off of his first one, but I really want to be able to use it to the maximum amount. Again, the goal here is to have a unique deck that can't just be turned into an Oloro deck by adding some good blue spells.
Ehm, again, thanks for the suggestions, but what I am really searching for here is stuff to interact with Karlov's second abillity. All these lifegain trigger cards are fantastic, don't get me wrong, and he is a force to be reckoned with even if just one of them is on the battlefield, but the whole "Lifegain triggers" thing fits Oloro, Ageless Ascetic .
I don't just want to play "Oloro without the U".... I want to play Karlov. And I know his second abillity just feeds off of his first one, but I really want to be able to use it to the maximum amount. Again, the goal here is to have a unique deck that can't just be turned into an Oloro deck by adding some good blue spells.
If you just want to abuse his ability, run him in Ghave instead of building around him. You get green with him so it goes bonkers. Oloro and karlov have similar shells to be effective. Oloro uses life gain to draw cards. Karlov uses life gain to smash face or kill things. With that being said, run illusionist bracers and rings of brighthearth.
I agree. We should all only play g/x decks because they are the most objectively fun and anyone who disagrees does not know the truth about EDH. Everyone should just play their decks because interaction beyond high fiving about how many land are in play is unfun and equivalent to casting Stasis while kicking puppies. I for one will never play with anyone who casts tutors, removal spells, blue cards, things I arbitrarily decide I don't like but will probably cast myself later.
Necropotence + Confessor doesnt work, since Necro exiles any card that's discarded. Necrologia might work, but during the discard phase extra cards are discarded all at once, not one at a time. Karlov really wants numerous triggers in small amounts.
I did a bit of playtesting and Karlov can attack an opponent for lethal on turn 3 with Zuran Orb + Second Sunrise.
Necropotence + Confessor doesnt work, since Necro exiles any card that's discarded. Necrologia might work, but during the discard phase extra cards are discarded all at once, not one at a time. Karlov really wants numerous triggers in small amounts.
I did a bit of playtesting and Karlov can attack an opponent for lethal on turn 3 with Zuran Orb + Second Sunrise.
Necropotence + Confessor doesnt work, since Necro exiles any card that's discarded. Necrologia might work, but during the discard phase extra cards are discarded all at once, not one at a time. Karlov really wants numerous triggers in small amounts.
Karlov of the Ghost Council
BW (Mythic)
Whenever you gain life, put two +1/+1 counters on Karlov
BW , Remove six +1/+1 counters from Karlov : Exile target creature.
2/2
Now, besides the obvious voltron "Put a bunch of swords on him and play good valuable lifelink beaters (Divinity of Pride comes to mind)", I KNOW there is a way to break this guy. Some interaction that makes him go insane. When I first read the card, I thought the same thing I thought when I first read Ezuri, Claw of Progress : "cool card, but it doesn't have W in it for the REAL token insanity. Then I thought of cards like
Sage of Hours
or Mycoloth
and realized how hard you can break him, that in mind, I just KNOW that even though Karlov does not have G in him for the real +1/+1 counter synergy, I just know you can make him work.
Unfortuntaly, his abillity costs mana, which means going infinite is probably out of the picture, but going infinite isn't that fun anyways, I still believe there are cards that combined with him can allow exiling 5-6 creatures per turn.
So, ehm, any suggestions? Cards that break him?
Edit : With everyone's awesome suggestions, I've made a list of cards. This is NOT a decklist. I've noted the ones that go into Tiny leaders.
4 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
4 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
4 Ajani Goldmane
5 Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
3 Vindicate (*)
4 Debt to the Deathless
7 Sorin's Vengeance
5 Archangel of Thune
8 Pestilence Demon
1 Soul Warden (*)
1 Soul's Attendant (*)
2 Nyx-Fleece Ram (*)
6 Pontiff of Blight
2 Ajani's Pridemate (*)
5 Agent of Masks
2 Blood Artist (*)
2 Vizkopa Guildmage (*)
4 Obzedat, Ghost Council
5 Ghost Council of Orzhova
7 Celestial Force
6 Patron of the Kitsune
7 Serra Avatar
4 Student of Ojutai
3 Drana's Emissary (*)
3 Vampire Nighthawk (*)
5 Divinity of Pride
6 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
6 Felidar Sovereign
5 Resplendent Mentor
5 Geist-honored Monk
3 Fiend-Slayer Paladin (*)
3 Staff of the Sun Magus (*)
3 Staff of the Death Magus (*)
2 Angel's Feather (*)
4 Whip of Erebos
2 Pristine Talisman (*)
2 Zuran Orb (*)
2 Ajani's Mantra (*)
2 Cradle of Vitality (*)
5 Sanguine Bond
6 True Conviction
3 Curse of the Forsaken (*)
3 Recumbent Bliss (*)
5 Righteous Cause
3 Bloodchief Ascension (*)
4 Polluted Bonds
5 Subversion
3 Unmake (*)
3 Second Sunrise (*)
4 Faith's Reward
WUR Control
WB Tokens
I'm sure there's a bunch of tokens+etb lifegain combos that would break him too but this interaction is one of my favorite lifegain related.
Nyx-fleece Ram is another good option to consider...
If something else comes to my mind, I will leave a comment
Happy brewing!!
I've been thinking in terms of just synergy you have
- Contemplation
- Ajani's Pridemate
- Debt to the Deathless
- Sorin's Vengeance
- Agent of Masks
- Blood Artist
- Ajani Goldmane
- Serra Avatar
- Spirit Loop
- Ajani's Mantra
- Vizkopa Guildmage
- Sanguine Bond
- Angelic Accord
- Angel's Feather
- Staff of the Sun Magus (Wow. This card is actually good in somewhere.)
- Staff of the Death Magus " "
- ANY Extort card.
These are all really good cards with Karlov, but none of them feel like they're really going over the edge. Anyone got anything blatantly awesome we missed?
WUR Control
WB Tokens
Student of Ojutai could be similarly good if you are playing with Dark Ritauals, Yawgmoth's Will, etc.
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
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Drana's Emissary
Zulaport Cutthroat
Basilisk Collar
Vampire Nighthawk
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
Sorin, Lord of Innistrand
Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Divinity of Pride
Ghost Council of Orzhova
Obzedat, Ghost Council
ALso, any creature with Lifelink actualy.
EDIT: Just realized that Umezawa's Jitte is broken. You hit, you gain 2 life, twice, Karlov gets 4 +1/+1 counters
Classic all-star Loxodon Warhammer gives Karlov evasion and makes him bigger with each connect.
GX Tron XG
UR Phoenix RU
GG Freyalise High Tide GG
UR Parun Counterspells RU
BB Yawgmoth Token Storm BB
WB Pestilence BW
Pestilence Demon/Crypt Rats/Thrashing Wumpus + Whip of Erebos (or, better yet - Vizkopa Guildmage!) = profit (which, appropriately, is what Karlov would want most anyway :p)
WU Bruna UW | R Kiki-Jiki R | RB New Chainer BR
Legacy - Burn | Pauper - Reanimator | Aristocrats | Burn
@votechainer2016
I've been kind of interested in playing a deck that does something with incremental life gain, rather than massive lifegain (i.e. I want Archangel of Thune and Ajani's Pridemate to be savage beasts).
http://www.commandercast.com/category/articles/generally-speaking
Follow me on Twitter: @generalspeak
It breaks the card sideways.
Draft my Mono-Blue Cube!
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Mastery of the Unseen
Pristine Talisman
Garbage, but maybe Royal Herbalist
Sunscorch Regent
Suture Priest
Underworld Coinsmith
Wingmate Roc
Want to be a better Magic player? Read the rulings forum and check out the comprehensive rules!
Patron of the Kitsune too for redundancy. Also think about Claws of Gix, an already awesome sac outlet that gets better here.
Glimmerpost
Kabira Crossroads
Radiant Fountain
Scoured Barrens
Seraph Sanctuary
And lands with activated abilities:
Blighted Steppe
High Market
Miren, the Moaning Well
Nomad Stadium
Orzhova, the Church of Deals
Phyrexia's Core
Springjack Pasture
Starlit Sanctum
Vault of the Archangel
I also really like Disciple of Bolas and Palace Siege in this deck. Of course, Exquisite Blood and Exsanguinate.
WU Bruna UW | R Kiki-Jiki R | RB New Chainer BR
Legacy - Burn | Pauper - Reanimator | Aristocrats | Burn
@votechainer2016
I don't just want to play "Oloro without the U".... I want to play Karlov. And I know his second abillity just feeds off of his first one, but I really want to be able to use it to the maximum amount. Again, the goal here is to have a unique deck that can't just be turned into an Oloro deck by adding some good blue spells.
WUR Control
WB Tokens
If you just want to abuse his ability, run him in Ghave instead of building around him. You get green with him so it goes bonkers. Oloro and karlov have similar shells to be effective. Oloro uses life gain to draw cards. Karlov uses life gain to smash face or kill things. With that being said, run illusionist bracers and rings of brighthearth.
I did a bit of playtesting and Karlov can attack an opponent for lethal on turn 3 with Zuran Orb + Second Sunrise.
EDH Decks:
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Tajic, Blade of the Legion
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Purphoros, God of the Forge
Ezuri, Renegade Leader 1v1
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher 1v1
Hythonia the Cruel
Trying to build:
Jenara, Asura of War
Designing a Custom Set:
Clash of the Cultures: 5 Wedges, 5 Cultures
Providing Artwork for:
Archester: Frontier of Steam
I did a bit of playtesting and Karlov can attack an opponent for lethal on turn 3 with Zuran Orb + Second Sunrise.
EDH Decks:
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Tajic, Blade of the Legion
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Purphoros, God of the Forge
Ezuri, Renegade Leader 1v1
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher 1v1
Hythonia the Cruel
Trying to build:
Jenara, Asura of War
Designing a Custom Set:
Clash of the Cultures: 5 Wedges, 5 Cultures
Providing Artwork for:
Archester: Frontier of Steam
Both work. Necropotence has a triggered ability, not a replacement effect. Confessor triggers separately for each card discarded in any case. Dark Deal and Ill-Gotten Gains also go well with Confessor.
Current Decks
GTitania midrange
RGThromok tokens/goodstuff | UB Grimgrin zombie tribal
GW Sigarda enchantress | R Godo voltron
U Braids aggro | WR Kalemne punisher
RU Mizzix storm | BUG Mimeoplasm competitive reanimator | UG Ezuri infect
I wonder if Kraken's Eye or Wurm's Tooth would be playable, given the power level of those respective colors in this format.
GX Tron XG
UR Phoenix RU
GG Freyalise High Tide GG
UR Parun Counterspells RU
BB Yawgmoth Token Storm BB
WB Pestilence BW