Karlov - spellslinger by user2758384

Format: Commander

Commander: Karlov of the Ghost Council

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 43

Deck overview

This deck is an Orzhov Lifegain Voltron and Aristocrats midrange deck commanded by Karlov of the Ghost Council. The primary strategy leverages cheap, repeatable lifegain triggers—such as Soul Warden, Authority of the Consuls, and Creeping Bloodsucker—to rapidly grow Karlov with +1/+1 counters. By Turn 3, the deck establishes an operational engine capable of threatening instant-speed creature exile to police opposing threats. By Turn 5, Karlov represents a formidable lethal combat threat that closes out opponents alongside group-drain payoffs like Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, Enduring Tenacity, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Backed by premium Orzhov removal (Swords to Plowshares, Anguished Unmaking, Farewell), the deck maintains strong board control while leveraging life as an expendable resource for card advantage via Black Market Connections, Greed, and Erebos, God of the Dead. Its main vulnerability lies in creature-focused combat exposure across multiple turns.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Authority of the Consuls
  • 1 Bastion of Remembrance
  • 1 Black Market Connections
  • 1 Blind Obedience
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Castle Locthwain
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Cliffhaven Vampire
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Creeping Bloodsucker
  • 1 Crypt Ghast
  • 1 Damnation
  • 1 Dauthi Voidwalker
  • 1 Dawn of Hope
  • 1 Deadly Dispute
  • 1 Debt to the Deathless
  • 1 Despark
  • 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
  • 1 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
  • 1 Enduring Tenacity
  • 1 Erebos, God of the Dead
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Exsanguinate
  • 1 Farewell
  • 1 Feign Death
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fetid Heath
  • 1 Flawless Maneuver
  • 1 Generous Gift
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
  • 1 Greed
  • 1 High Market
  • 1 Infernal Grasp
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
  • 1 Karlov of the Ghost Council
  • 1 Marauding Blight-Priest
  • 1 Mind Stone
  • 1 Morbid Opportunist
  • 1 Mortify
  • 1 Night's Whisper
  • 1 Ophiomancer
  • 1 Orzhov Basilica
  • 1 Orzhov Signet
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 8 Plains
  • 1 Plumb the Forbidden
  • 1 Pontiff of Blight
  • 1 Pristine Talisman
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reassembling Skeleton
  • 1 Sanguine Bond
  • 1 Scoured Barrens
  • 1 Shattered Sanctum
  • 1 Shineshadow Snarl
  • 1 Sign in Blood
  • 1 Skrelv's Hive
  • 1 Skullclamp
  • 1 Snowfield Sinkhole
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Soul Warden
  • 1 Soul's Attendant
  • 1 Stroke of Midnight
  • 1 Suture Priest
  • 8 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Syndic of Tithes
  • 1 Tainted Field
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Thrull Parasite
  • 1 Tithe Drinker
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Undying Malice
  • 1 Vault of Champions
  • 1 Village Rites
  • 1 Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
  • 1 Vizkopa Guildmage
  • 1 Voice of the Blessed
  • 1 Well of Lost Dreams