Ok, played a lot of games with him today and found out few weaknesses:
1) You need a lot of low CMC creatures that gives you life triggers to get charges on Karlov. That's ok, but any -1/-1 spell shuts you down. I was quite lacking protection
2) Because of lot low and weak creatures, you can't attack that well. You can exile some creature here and there, but the difference between 4/4 Karlov and 16/16 Karlov is quite visible. Still, you can't exile all creatures your 2 or 3 enemies generate.
3) Protection for Karlov. Even with Swiftfoot boots, Lightning Greaves, and Mother of Runes, he was still dying a lot. Then he lost counters and when you recast him, you have 2/2 without anything for lot mana
4) You need a lot of equipments or other utility creatures to make him unblockable or to give him trample. Otherwise, it doesn't matter how big he is. Had him like 46/46 and still couldn't get through because of 1/1 tokens. And I could exile only 3 creatures per turn.
5) Even with cards like Phyrexian Arena, Sign in blood, Promise of power and so on I had regularly my hand empty, because of all the cheap creatures.
I will need to work on some balance between lifegain, protection and some support for Karlov. I think I will need to rework it a bit..
Ok, played a lot of games with him today and found out few weaknesses:
1) You need a lot of low CMC creatures that gives you life triggers to get charges on Karlov. That's ok, but any -1/-1 spell shuts you down. I was quite lacking protection
2) Because of lot low and weak creatures, you can't attack that well. You can exile some creature here and there, but the difference between 4/4 Karlov and 16/16 Karlov is quite visible. Still, you can't exile all creatures your 2 or 3 enemies generate.
3) Protection for Karlov. Even with Swiftfoot boots, Lightning Greaves, and Mother of Runes, he was still dying a lot. Then he lost counters and when you recast him, you have 2/2 without anything for lot mana
4) You need a lot of equipments or other utility creatures to make him unblockable or to give him trample. Otherwise, it doesn't matter how big he is. Had him like 46/46 and still couldn't get through because of 1/1 tokens. And I could exile only 3 creatures per turn.
5) Even with cards like Phyrexian Arena, Sign in blood, Promise of power and so on I had regularly my hand empty, because of all the cheap creatures.
I will need to work on some balance between lifegain, protection and some support for Karlov. I think I will need to rework it a bit..
I played Karlov casually in my group in a solid B/W lifegain deck. The decks in my group are strong, but not too competitive (infinite combos, turn 4 kills not seen).
I did a few 1 on 1 matches to test is out. The first match was against an average Jarad deck. I was able to win with commander damage both times.
The second match was against Anafenza 'Counters Matter' deck. I am able to Return to Dust a Cathars' Crusade and Chromatic Lantern which keeps him in check and allows me a tough win. Second match I lose, but just barely (he taps out against me, but I lack enough life to pull out a win with Hatred.) Bitterblossom kept me alive against his god hand, really impressed with it. Third match I am more in control. He drops a Necropolis Regent with a Corpsejack menace out which gave me concerns, but my Soul Warden, Karlov, Ajani's Pridemate,Fiendslayer Paladin and Defiant Bloodlord really start taking a toll. I ping him to death at the end.
To you point Phoenix:
- Bitterblossom/Lingering Souls is a must to me. Elite token producers work well with the soul sister/blood artist shenanigans.
-Essence Harvest is a must card. I was able to have a 20 point life swing with it. This along with Hatred are just bombs.
-While it won me a game, Fiendslayer Paladin/Defiant bloodlord are just not that great. Fiendslayer in particular underwhelmed except as a chump blocker to get me some life.
-Blood Baron of Vizkopa is just underwhelming. Replaced him with Divinity of Pride.
-Greed was helpful. The B cost is very efficient, and I don't know if Erebos is worth adding.
-I actually ran into issues where my hand was full and I couldn't get the mana I needed.
-Elspeth Tirel was a magnet for their creatures attacks as expected, but I was able to use her +2 twice. Will continue to keep her and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad as planeswalkers.
-Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath added. His ability to extort every turn or drop a fatty every other might be worth it. His ultimate is relevant to refill my hand if needed.
-Added Tragic Arrogance today. With Blood Artist effects in my deck, and Karlov designed to exile the remaining creature I feel its the perfect match in this voltronish strategy we have here.
-Just remember that Karlov's Exile ability costs WB in addition to removing counters. Its easy to forget.
Ok, played a lot of games with him today and found out few weaknesses:
1) You need a lot of low CMC creatures that gives you life triggers to get charges on Karlov. That's ok, but any -1/-1 spell shuts you down. I was quite lacking protection
2) Because of lot low and weak creatures, you can't attack that well. You can exile some creature here and there, but the difference between 4/4 Karlov and 16/16 Karlov is quite visible. Still, you can't exile all creatures your 2 or 3 enemies generate.
3) Protection for Karlov. Even with Swiftfoot boots, Lightning Greaves, and Mother of Runes, he was still dying a lot. Then he lost counters and when you recast him, you have 2/2 without anything for lot mana
4) You need a lot of equipments or other utility creatures to make him unblockable or to give him trample. Otherwise, it doesn't matter how big he is. Had him like 46/46 and still couldn't get through because of 1/1 tokens. And I could exile only 3 creatures per turn.
5) Even with cards like Phyrexian Arena, Sign in blood, Promise of power and so on I had regularly my hand empty, because of all the cheap creatures.
I will need to work on some balance between lifegain, protection and some support for Karlov. I think I will need to rework it a bit..
I played Karlov casually in my group in a solid B/W lifegain deck. The decks in my group are strong, but not too competitive (infinite combos, turn 4 kills not seen).
I did a few 1 on 1 matches to test is out. The first match was against an average Jarad deck. I was able to win with commander damage both times.
The second match was against Anafenza 'Counters Matter' deck. I am able to Return to Dust a Cathars' Crusade and Chromatic Lantern which keeps him in check and allows me a tough win. Second match I lose, but just barely (he taps out against me, but I lack enough life to pull out a win with Hatred.) Bitterblossom kept me alive against his god hand, really impressed with it. Third match I am more in control. He drops a Necropolis Regent with a Corpsejack menace out which gave me concerns, but my Soul Warden, Karlov, Ajani's Pridemate,Fiendslayer Paladin and Defiant Bloodlord really start taking a toll. I ping him to death at the end.
To you point Phoenix:
- Bitterblossom/Lingering Souls is a must to me. Elite token producers work well with the soul sister/blood artist shenanigans.
-Essence Harvest is a must card. I was able to have a 20 point life swing with it. This along with Hatred are just bombs.
-While it won me a game, Fiendslayer Paladin/Defiant bloodlord are just not that great. Fiendslayer in particular underwhelmed except as a chump blocker to get me some life.
-Blood Baron of Vizkopa is just underwhelming. Replaced him with Divinity of Pride.
-Greed was helpful. The B cost is very efficient, and I don't know if Erebos is worth adding.
-I actually ran into issues where my hand was full and I couldn't get the mana I needed.
-Elspeth Tirel was a magnet for their creatures attacks as expected, but I was able to use her +2 twice. Will continue to keep her and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad as planeswalkers.
-Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath added. His ability to extort every turn or drop a fatty every other might be worth it. His ultimate is relevant to refill my hand if needed.
-Added Tragic Arrogance today. With Blood Artist effects in my deck, and Karlov designed to exile the remaining creature I feel its the perfect match in this voltronish strategy we have here.
-Just remember that Karlov's Exile ability costs WB in addition to removing counters. Its easy to forget.
I didn't try it 1v1 games,just FFA games of 4 people. I will need to try 1v1 games, how is he doing there.
- I was thinking about Bitterblossom, didn't include it though. I was not sure if I should include some token package. I will need to test it.
- Essence Harvest is going right in. I didn't check a lot of commons while building this deck. Bad it is not an instant. With 40/40 Karlov, it is really a valuetown.
- Blood Baron didn't make the cut. I was considering him first, because of lifelink and protections, but as oyu said, Divinity is a lot better.
- Greed got also cut because I got Erebos. Greed's ability is 1 mana cheaper, but Erebos is indestructible, prohibits opponents from healing and it's not that hard to make him a creature. Not sure about Greed.
- Sorin, Lord of Innistrad is great. 1/1 blockers which pumps Karlov, why not. Had him out in a game and he did a lot of job. I have also Ajani Goldmane. He's also a magnet, even when he is not doing anything actually. People are afraid of that ultimate, because in Karlov, I had often 60+ life.. I like Elspeth Tirel, need to try him.
- Ob Nixilis is already included and it was worth it. But he is quite costy for giving you 1-2 life and draining 1 life. Never got to ultimate. Maybe he will be cut out in favor of Elspeth or Bitterblossom.
- Tragic Arrogance looks interesting, great tip. I will test it.
Yep, forgot it few times and didn't let mana open. I think that if you need a lot of life triggers to pump him and remove 6 counters, that ability should be for free. Just as Teysa, Orzhov Scion's ability is. Maybe that would be too much, maybe not..
Little note about Erebos: DO NOT RUN HIM IF YOUR META IS HEAVY ON THEFT/REVIVAL. That's all.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Hellgrammite, do you happen to have a deck list for Karlov? I too have play tested Karlov and came to many of the same conclusions. He can knock out an opponent if they don't set out a blocker within the first few turns, I managed that on T4 thanks to a T1 Soul Warden. He needs reliable triggers. Lifelink helps, so does extort. He needs protection and plenty of it. And evasion is huge.
I pretty much only had Mother of Runes in my deck and after a few turns you just durdle, grow fat and exile. This makes him an even bigger target as everyone starts staring at the 46/46 on the board that still gets chump blocked. Since then I added more evasion/protection in the form of auras and equipments. The auras, namely Unquestioned Authority/Pentarch Ward/Eternal Thirst, have a dual purpose or synergize well so they aren't a total waste if destroyed.
Also Divine Reckoning is another wrath that can destroy everything else and leave Karlov up. You can then exile whatever is left over.
Here is what I am using right now. I am likely removing Thrull Parasite for Mother of Runes. Also going to try and get a little more White in the manabase.
Thanks broseph! I've grown attached to the little extort critters. They're cheap and can trigger Karlov multiple times. They won't stop much but Tithe Drinker at least has lifelink. Their downside is that they are mana hungry and so is Karlov. Hence why I don't run Serene Steward, Underworld Coinsmith, or Cradle of Vitality. How has Unspeakable Symbol worked for you? I've contemplated it but don't know if I can find a spot. I think the only thing I need now is the ability to recur things like with Sun Titan. My deck is on tappedout:
Cradle of Vitality I think is too expensive too.
Coinsmith has no-cost lifegain on a stick, that can trigger soul sister/blood artist shenanigans. Its other ability is just gravy.
I keep thinking about Sun Titan. Just such a good white card. Might add it in. Need to play more games and see what I need.
I think some tutor effects need to be splashed in.
Righteous Confluence is bad I think, because of that high mana cost. Try Orim's Prayer. You have 11 or how much enchantments, is Underworld Coinsmith even worth it? What about Heliod? Like, why would you have him in the deck? Producing tokens for 4 mana? Or vigilance? I don't see him giving something useful.
Also, I suggest Moonlit Wake, Wurmcoil Engine, Sun Titan. Sun Titan is great, like most of the deck is 3 mana or cheaper. Sun Titan is nice value. Mother of Runes is great way how to protect Karlov. Also, you have lot of ways how to produce tokens, yet I don't see Skullclamp.
Righteous Confluence is bad I think, because of that high mana cost. Try Orim's Prayer. You have 11 or how much enchantments, is Underworld Coinsmith even worth it? What about Heliod? Like, why would you have him in the deck? Producing tokens for 4 mana? Or vigilance? I don't see him giving something useful.
Also, I suggest Moonlit Wake, Wurmcoil Engine, Sun Titan. Sun Titan is great, like most of the deck is 3 mana or cheaper. Sun Titan is nice value. Mother of Runes is great way how to protect Karlov. Also, you have lot of ways how to produce tokens, yet I don't see Skullclamp.
Thanks for feedback. Usually takes about 5 or 6 games before I get a good feel for a deck and what needs to be changed.
I have about 19-20 permanents in the list above that qualify as enchantments so Coinsmith seems worth it.
Heliod I have yet to draw in a game yet. I do feel iffy about him, and I could see him getting replaced. Producing 1-2 tokens every turn late game can be very helpful to stall out a turn or two. Likely will be replacing with Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim.
Confluence...I am unsure about. Exiling enchantments in EDH is always good, especially with Sun Titans and such I see in every white deck bringing back enchantments like crazy. Gaining 15 life or putting three 2/2 creatures with vigilance also has synergy with the soul sisters theme (by either triggering creatures ETB, or pumping up your life for Hatred.)
Orin's Prayer is like a poor mans Righteous Cause. It gives you some life, but my opponents will happily give that to me in order to deal 10 commander damage in a turn or swing at me with a few 4/4 creatures with a sword on them.
Wurmcoil is nice, but is going to be a big target in EDH since people run exile effects a lot (Return to dust, Oblivion Ring). Still doesn't mean I shouldn't run it, but Wurmcoil basically is up there with a PW for getting targeted quickly in multiplayer.
PLaying this deck so far, it really works well as a control deck. It needs to stall your opponent. 1/1 creatures or 2/2 vigilance tokens don't look like much, but they trigger soul sister/blood artist shenanigans and can quickly add 12 counters to Karlov.
*Skullclamp is generally frowned up on my playgroup. Its a powerful card, no doubt, but I don't play EDH in tournament settings and cards like clamp are on the head shake list.
Replying to this thread since it's the first hit on google.
My main addition is spirit loop. It gains you life, which also stacks with lifelink. It also puts itself back into your hand whenever it's destroyed. Wow, talk about value and at only 2cmc. Secondly, castigate. I feel this is a must for 1v1 and still a super unused and flavorful W/B card.
As for the rest of the thread, I feel people are too focused on turning Karlov into a pseudo voltron with a lot of cheap lifegain cards supporting this mission. The problem here besides his lack of protection or haste is that the rest of the deck sucks outside of infinite combos you may throw in after he surely is removed. I had a tuned voltron Kaalia deck long ago and I know how terrible it is as the table size and skill grows.
Instead, I started this deck with a W/B control shell. Wipes, wipes, more wipes and the insane targeted removal of W and W/B cards. After that you are safe to fill in the spots to experiment, with voltron additions (imo) being the weakest or riskiest outside of 1v1. What I learned and eventially did instead was to put a chunk of clutch creatures in that have to be answered (instead of your general being answered!) and move the deck's mission along in some way: pestilence demon sun titan ashen rider wurmcoil engine baneslayer angel divinity of pride.
The low and mid cmc areas of the deck are weak on solid creatures due to the removal shell and lack of threatening creatures without OTHER kinds of support in the deck (say, a token or sacrifice theme). To solve this I put in recursion. Remember, things are dying alot because of the W/B control (wipe) shell. Specifically, I put in either insanely high value recursion or recursion that targets the enemies gy (reanimate, animate dead, phyrexian reclamation). I could see rise of the dark realms in a certain meta, however I opted for storm herd instead. The trick here was not going so deep into recursion that it turned into a typical recursion deck and wasn't a control/lifegain deck anymore.
All said and done, Karlov will be nothing but a finisher if the cards and board come together correctly, or if I need bait for removal. There will be no massive lifegain swings outside of pestilence demon with a spirit loop, or a pumped debt to the deathless. This means cards like well of lost dreams lose power. Karlov, like the past commanders I've used for this deck were nothing but a W/B color provider.
W/B legendaries have had an insane boost in the past two years. I feel that Karlov excels as a super removal engine instead of voltron.
Kaalia's Army of AnnhilationRWB
Obzedat, Ghost Council - Life Gain MattersWB
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Fatty Reanimator ToolboxBG
Nekusar, the Mindrazer - Draw to DieRBU
Marath, Will of the Wild - Token Pump and TapGWR
Roon of the Hidden Realm - Blink to BleedWBG
Does anybody have an idea of a card that says whenever you put counters on target creature you gain life equal to number of counters. I would also like to be an enchantment,creature,or a artifact
Does anybody have an idea of a card that says whenever you put counters on target creature you gain life equal to number of counters. I would also like to be an enchantment,creature,or a artifact
Nothing quite like that, but Archangel of Thune puts a +1/+1 counter on everything every time you gain life. Cradle of Vitality also lets you put +1/+1 counters on one creature when you gain life. There's also Serene Steward and Sunbond.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
1) You need a lot of low CMC creatures that gives you life triggers to get charges on Karlov. That's ok, but any -1/-1 spell shuts you down. I was quite lacking protection
2) Because of lot low and weak creatures, you can't attack that well. You can exile some creature here and there, but the difference between 4/4 Karlov and 16/16 Karlov is quite visible. Still, you can't exile all creatures your 2 or 3 enemies generate.
3) Protection for Karlov. Even with Swiftfoot boots, Lightning Greaves, and Mother of Runes, he was still dying a lot. Then he lost counters and when you recast him, you have 2/2 without anything for lot mana
4) You need a lot of equipments or other utility creatures to make him unblockable or to give him trample. Otherwise, it doesn't matter how big he is. Had him like 46/46 and still couldn't get through because of 1/1 tokens. And I could exile only 3 creatures per turn.
5) Even with cards like Phyrexian Arena, Sign in blood, Promise of power and so on I had regularly my hand empty, because of all the cheap creatures.
I will need to work on some balance between lifegain, protection and some support for Karlov. I think I will need to rework it a bit..
I played Karlov casually in my group in a solid B/W lifegain deck. The decks in my group are strong, but not too competitive (infinite combos, turn 4 kills not seen).
I did a few 1 on 1 matches to test is out. The first match was against an average Jarad deck. I was able to win with commander damage both times.
The second match was against Anafenza 'Counters Matter' deck. I am able to Return to Dust a Cathars' Crusade and Chromatic Lantern which keeps him in check and allows me a tough win. Second match I lose, but just barely (he taps out against me, but I lack enough life to pull out a win with Hatred.) Bitterblossom kept me alive against his god hand, really impressed with it. Third match I am more in control. He drops a Necropolis Regent with a Corpsejack menace out which gave me concerns, but my Soul Warden, Karlov, Ajani's Pridemate,Fiendslayer Paladin and Defiant Bloodlord really start taking a toll. I ping him to death at the end.
To you point Phoenix:
- Bitterblossom/Lingering Souls is a must to me. Elite token producers work well with the soul sister/blood artist shenanigans.
-Essence Harvest is a must card. I was able to have a 20 point life swing with it. This along with Hatred are just bombs.
-While it won me a game, Fiendslayer Paladin/Defiant bloodlord are just not that great. Fiendslayer in particular underwhelmed except as a chump blocker to get me some life.
-Blood Baron of Vizkopa is just underwhelming. Replaced him with Divinity of Pride.
-Greed was helpful. The B cost is very efficient, and I don't know if Erebos is worth adding.
-I actually ran into issues where my hand was full and I couldn't get the mana I needed.
-Elspeth Tirel was a magnet for their creatures attacks as expected, but I was able to use her +2 twice. Will continue to keep her and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad as planeswalkers.
-Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath added. His ability to extort every turn or drop a fatty every other might be worth it. His ultimate is relevant to refill my hand if needed.
-Added Tragic Arrogance today. With Blood Artist effects in my deck, and Karlov designed to exile the remaining creature I feel its the perfect match in this voltronish strategy we have here.
-Just remember that Karlov's Exile ability costs WB in addition to removing counters. Its easy to forget.
I didn't try it 1v1 games,just FFA games of 4 people. I will need to try 1v1 games, how is he doing there.
- I was thinking about Bitterblossom, didn't include it though. I was not sure if I should include some token package. I will need to test it.
- Essence Harvest is going right in. I didn't check a lot of commons while building this deck. Bad it is not an instant. With 40/40 Karlov, it is really a valuetown.
- Blood Baron didn't make the cut. I was considering him first, because of lifelink and protections, but as oyu said, Divinity is a lot better.
- Greed got also cut because I got Erebos. Greed's ability is 1 mana cheaper, but Erebos is indestructible, prohibits opponents from healing and it's not that hard to make him a creature. Not sure about Greed.
- Sorin, Lord of Innistrad is great. 1/1 blockers which pumps Karlov, why not. Had him out in a game and he did a lot of job. I have also Ajani Goldmane. He's also a magnet, even when he is not doing anything actually. People are afraid of that ultimate, because in Karlov, I had often 60+ life.. I like Elspeth Tirel, need to try him.
- Ob Nixilis is already included and it was worth it. But he is quite costy for giving you 1-2 life and draining 1 life. Never got to ultimate. Maybe he will be cut out in favor of Elspeth or Bitterblossom.
- Tragic Arrogance looks interesting, great tip. I will test it.
Yep, forgot it few times and didn't let mana open. I think that if you need a lot of life triggers to pump him and remove 6 counters, that ability should be for free. Just as Teysa, Orzhov Scion's ability is. Maybe that would be too much, maybe not..
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
I pretty much only had Mother of Runes in my deck and after a few turns you just durdle, grow fat and exile. This makes him an even bigger target as everyone starts staring at the 46/46 on the board that still gets chump blocked. Since then I added more evasion/protection in the form of auras and equipments. The auras, namely Unquestioned Authority/Pentarch Ward/Eternal Thirst, have a dual purpose or synergize well so they aren't a total waste if destroyed.
Also Divine Reckoning is another wrath that can destroy everything else and leave Karlov up. You can then exile whatever is left over.
1 Karlov of the Ghost Council
Creatures
1 Ajani's Pridemate
1 Archangel of Thune
1 Auriok Champion
1 Blood Artist
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Deathbringer Liege
1 Divinity of Pride
1 Drana's Emissary
1 Ghost Council of Orzhova
1 Karmic Guide
1 Nyx-Fleece Ram
1 Obzedat, Ghost Council
1 Pontiff of Blight
1 Rhox Faithmender
1 Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
1 Serene Steward
1 Serra Ascendant
1 Soul Warden
1 Soul's Attendant
1 Souls of the Faultless
1 Suture Priest
1 Thrull Parasite
1 Underworld Coinsmith
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Vizkopa Guildmage
1 Wall of Reverence
1 Zulaport Cutthroat
1 Elspeth Tirel
1 Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Spells
1 Batterskull
1 Bitterblossom
1 Blind Obedience
1 Debt to the Deathless
1 Debtors' Knell
1 Essence Harvest
1 Exquisite Blood
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Go for the Throat
1 Greed
1 Hatred
1 Heliod, God of the Sun
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Lingering Souls
1 Mortify
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Obzedat's Aid
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Pristine Talisman
1 Return to Dust
1 Righteous Cause
1 Righteous Confluence
1 Sanguine Bond
1 Sol Ring
1 Sunbond
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Tragic Arrogance
1 True Conviction
1 Unmake
1 Unspeakable Symbol
1 Utter End
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Command Tower
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Godless Shrine
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Orzhova, the Church of Deals
11 Plains
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Scoured Barrens
1 Shambling Vent
11 Swamp
1 Tainted Field
1 Temple of Silence
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vault of the Archangel
Tappedout.net/mtg-decks/uncle-karls-fun-house/#c2424278
Edit: Somehow I missed that Eternal Thirst didn't give flying like I thought it did heh, so that leaves a spot free.
Coinsmith has no-cost lifegain on a stick, that can trigger soul sister/blood artist shenanigans. Its other ability is just gravy.
I keep thinking about Sun Titan. Just such a good white card. Might add it in. Need to play more games and see what I need.
I think some tutor effects need to be splashed in.
Also, I suggest Moonlit Wake, Wurmcoil Engine, Sun Titan. Sun Titan is great, like most of the deck is 3 mana or cheaper. Sun Titan is nice value. Mother of Runes is great way how to protect Karlov. Also, you have lot of ways how to produce tokens, yet I don't see Skullclamp.
Thanks for feedback. Usually takes about 5 or 6 games before I get a good feel for a deck and what needs to be changed.
I have about 19-20 permanents in the list above that qualify as enchantments so Coinsmith seems worth it.
Heliod I have yet to draw in a game yet. I do feel iffy about him, and I could see him getting replaced. Producing 1-2 tokens every turn late game can be very helpful to stall out a turn or two. Likely will be replacing with Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim.
Confluence...I am unsure about. Exiling enchantments in EDH is always good, especially with Sun Titans and such I see in every white deck bringing back enchantments like crazy. Gaining 15 life or putting three 2/2 creatures with vigilance also has synergy with the soul sisters theme (by either triggering creatures ETB, or pumping up your life for Hatred.)
Orin's Prayer is like a poor mans Righteous Cause. It gives you some life, but my opponents will happily give that to me in order to deal 10 commander damage in a turn or swing at me with a few 4/4 creatures with a sword on them.
Wurmcoil is nice, but is going to be a big target in EDH since people run exile effects a lot (Return to dust, Oblivion Ring). Still doesn't mean I shouldn't run it, but Wurmcoil basically is up there with a PW for getting targeted quickly in multiplayer.
PLaying this deck so far, it really works well as a control deck. It needs to stall your opponent. 1/1 creatures or 2/2 vigilance tokens don't look like much, but they trigger soul sister/blood artist shenanigans and can quickly add 12 counters to Karlov.
*Skullclamp is generally frowned up on my playgroup. Its a powerful card, no doubt, but I don't play EDH in tournament settings and cards like clamp are on the head shake list.
This thread is a year old and seemingly resolved. Why respond to it now?
My main addition is spirit loop. It gains you life, which also stacks with lifelink. It also puts itself back into your hand whenever it's destroyed. Wow, talk about value and at only 2cmc. Secondly, castigate. I feel this is a must for 1v1 and still a super unused and flavorful W/B card.
As for the rest of the thread, I feel people are too focused on turning Karlov into a pseudo voltron with a lot of cheap lifegain cards supporting this mission. The problem here besides his lack of protection or haste is that the rest of the deck sucks outside of infinite combos you may throw in after he surely is removed. I had a tuned voltron Kaalia deck long ago and I know how terrible it is as the table size and skill grows.
Instead, I started this deck with a W/B control shell. Wipes, wipes, more wipes and the insane targeted removal of W and W/B cards. After that you are safe to fill in the spots to experiment, with voltron additions (imo) being the weakest or riskiest outside of 1v1. What I learned and eventially did instead was to put a chunk of clutch creatures in that have to be answered (instead of your general being answered!) and move the deck's mission along in some way:
pestilence demon
sun titan
ashen rider
wurmcoil engine
baneslayer angel
divinity of pride.
The low and mid cmc areas of the deck are weak on solid creatures due to the removal shell and lack of threatening creatures without OTHER kinds of support in the deck (say, a token or sacrifice theme). To solve this I put in recursion. Remember, things are dying alot because of the W/B control (wipe) shell. Specifically, I put in either insanely high value recursion or recursion that targets the enemies gy (reanimate, animate dead, phyrexian reclamation). I could see rise of the dark realms in a certain meta, however I opted for storm herd instead. The trick here was not going so deep into recursion that it turned into a typical recursion deck and wasn't a control/lifegain deck anymore.
Finally, I plan on trying to implement an equipment package that lends itself to both life gain and recursion (think sword of light and shadow, Umezawa's Jitte, loxodon warhammer, basilisk collar), batterskull, stoneforge mystic. This will be the final and most complicated section to balance, but it may be super efficient and work well with the wipe, recursion and lifegain strategy.
All said and done, Karlov will be nothing but a finisher if the cards and board come together correctly, or if I need bait for removal. There will be no massive lifegain swings outside of pestilence demon with a spirit loop, or a pumped debt to the deathless. This means cards like well of lost dreams lose power. Karlov, like the past commanders I've used for this deck were nothing but a W/B color provider.
W/B legendaries have had an insane boost in the past two years. I feel that Karlov excels as a super removal engine instead of voltron.
Kaalia's Army of Annhilation RWB
Obzedat, Ghost Council - Life Gain Matters WB
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Fatty Reanimator Toolbox BG
Nekusar, the Mindrazer - Draw to Die RBU
Marath, Will of the Wild - Token Pump and Tap GWR
Roon of the Hidden Realm - Blink to Bleed WBG
(W/U)(B/R)GForm of Progenitus, Shape of a Scrubland
BRGJund Tokens with Prossh, the Magic Dragon Foil
URGAnimar, the RUG CleanerFoil
RRRFeldon of the Third Path 2.0 Foil
BG(B/G)Not Another Meren DeckFoil
UR(U/R)Mizzix, Y Control and X Burn Spells
(W/U)(B/R)GHarold Ramos - The 35 Foot Long Twinkie (In +1/+1 counters)
UB(U/B)Dragonlord Silumgar
Nothing quite like that, but Archangel of Thune puts a +1/+1 counter on everything every time you gain life. Cradle of Vitality also lets you put +1/+1 counters on one creature when you gain life. There's also Serene Steward and Sunbond.
On phasing: