This deck is a reactive deck. You won't actually develop your own end game unlike other decks which might try to assemble a combo or flood the board with threats. Instead, you'll be reacting to any threats your opponents drop, and attack with any creatures you've got on the board. The early game will be dedicated to developing your mana base as the more mana you have, the stronger the deck becomes when you decide to show yourself as a threat (you'll understand when you play the deck). Many of the cards in the deck generate card advantage for you but come with high casting costs. The longer the game can go on, the greater of an advantage you'll get.
More specific explanations of how the deck works are listed in the "Single Card Explanations" section.
One additional thing. This deck is made for social and casual purposes in a multiplayer environment. Anything that is abusive to other players, anything that stops my opponent from being able to play his deck and any instant-win cards or combos will never be played in this deck.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain: Many of the creatures in this deck are really awesome and no deck worthy of being played will run these creatures without recursion backup for the inevitable hate that they will bring. Karador frees up many slots in your deck that would otherwise be dedicated to recursion spells.
One drawback with Karador is that he wants lots of creatures in your graveyard yet can only recur one of them at a time. Outside of being able to recur something from your graveyard, he's not that great of a creature.
In this deck, you're generally going to want to focus on playing without him until the late game. If you try to bring him out too early, you'll likely not have anything of worth in your graveyard to recur and you may not even have the mana to cast a creature from your graveyard. In general, you never want to cast Karador unless you can also cast a creature worth casting from your graveyard. Just because you can use him to recur your Sakura-Tribe Elder doesn't mean you should bring him into play. You'll generally want to use him to recur creatures that will keep you alive and/or win you the game.
You'll also want to hold back on casting him so you don't encourage your opponents to use their graveyard hate on you. Although you generally want to stop your opponents from developing a board state that will hurt your graveyard, by staying out of your graveyard, your opponents are more likely to use cards such as Withered Wretch on each other. Don't be the first player to dig into your graveyard.
Sakura-Tribe Elder: Nothing special. A rampant growth on a chump blocker.
Yavimaya Elder: Awesome card; gets you two lands for one card when he hits the graveyard. To make it easier to get him to the graveyard, he also cycles once you get him into play which means you're getting two basic lands, drawing a card and possibly getting a chump blocker for 3GG.
Sylvan Scrying: Gets you any one land out of your library (including non-basic lands). I'd stay away from using it to fetch your dual lands or basics as you have other spells that can do that.
Cultivate: Gets you two lands for one card and puts one of those lands into play.
Far Wanderings: It's a more expensive Rampant Growth in the early game but once you get 7 cards in your graveyard (such as by casting tutors, mana ramp spells, and Wrath of God effects), it fetches 3 basic lands for one card. Really great card.
Gaea's Bounty: A lot of the best ramp spells in the deck get basic lands. I play them because they get multiple lands for a single card. Gaea's Bounty is one of very few cards that can get multiple non-basic lands as long as they are forests. This works out very well when searching for cards like Bayou, Overgrown Tomb, Savannah, and Temple Garden which in turn can help a deck with a heavily G land base find more sources of W and B.
Journey of Discovery: Pulls two basic lands out of your deck and puts them into play (if you pay the entwine cost).
Kodama's Reach: Gets you two basic lands for one card and puts one of those lands into play.
Solemn Simulacrum: A really great card all around. Gets you one land when he comes into play. The benefit of using him is that he doesn't require any specific color of mana which makes him really good at fixing mana in a 3-color deck. He also replaces himself when he dies.
Expedition Map: Gets you any one land out of your library (including non-basic lands). I'd stay away from using it to fetch your dual lands or basics as you have other spells that can do that.
Sol Ring: Produces 2 on the turn it comes into play for the cheap casting cost of 1. Really great card that new players don't rate highly enough.
Austere Command: A great card that can selectively destroy multiple permanents and leave your permanents safe. One thing to note is that this card views Karador as having a casting cost of 8 even if you spent BGW to cast him.
Akroma's Vengeance: Destroys everything except planeswalkers and lands. Can be cycled if you have one of your artifacts/enchantments out.
Planar Cleansing: Destroys EVERYTHING excluding lands (this includes planeswalkers).
Pernicious Deed: Destroys all cards of a specific mana cost or less. Most of your important spells have high casting costs so Deed generally won't hurt you much unless you really need to get rid of a bad high-CC permanent your opponent has.
Wrath of God: Was nice in 4th edition when it said "Bury all creatures" but its current wording still gets the job done. Remember all your wrath effects require WW.
Rout: Another Wrath of God that costs 1 more but allows you to play it as an instant for 2 more. Generally best used as an instant (unless you can't spare the mana) as no one ever suspects an instant Wrath of God.
Decree of Justice: Expensive creature destruction but you get a card for each creature it destroys (including your own). If for some reason you don't want to do that, you can also cycle it to give all creatures -2/-2.
Plague Wind: Wrath of God in black that doesn't affect you. Has one hell of a mana cost though.
Mangara of Corondor: Gives a Vindicate-effect but exiles instead so it can deal with indestructible permanents. Comes on a body with summoning sickness so you have to wait until your next turn to use but if it does die, Karador can always bring him back. Only has one use as he exiles himself when he goes off.
Archon of Justice: Unlike Mangara, this guy can be used over and over again. The hard part is that he has to get sent to the graveyard in order to exile something. Luckily, he's a decent sized creature with flying for a decent mana cost.
Exclusion Ritual: A Desert Twister variant that exiles instead of destroys and the exiled card stays exiled even when Ritual leaves play. The second ability is likely useless in a singleton format. Be careful about exiling permanents of your opponents that you also play in your deck.
Necrotic Sliver: 6 mana Vindicate on a 2/2 body. Works well with Karador if you run out of creatures to recur from your graveyard.
Angel of Despair: Big flying angel with a Vindicate-effect when it enters the battlefield.
Maelstrom Pulse: Another Vindicate effect that can sometimes get a 2:1 if multiple opponents are playing the same card. It's also really good against massive amounts of tokens with the same name. Loses a little worth in a singleton format though.
Vindicate: Destroys anything that isn't indestructible. This card is as expensive as it is good.
Glissa Sunseeker: Capable of destroying any artifact every turn. Nowadays, you can fill up your mana pool to destroy an artifact without suffering mana burn. However, since you'll be casting a spell every turn, you can fill up your mana pool, destroy an artifact, and then use that mana to cast a spell. Her drawback is somewhat of a negative since it requires you to use the ability on your turn (if you want to cast a spell) or not cast a spell so you can do it during another player's turn.
Serenity: The biggest drawback of this card (to offset its low cost) is that you have to wait until your next turn before it goes off but it doesn't care how many artifacts/enchantments are in play. Note that it destroys itself as it goes off and doesn't require you sacrifice it. If you make it indestructible, it will go off every turn.
Purify: Simple card requires no explanation. Doesn't get enough recognition for the work it does.
Fracturing Gust: The benefit of this card is not the life gain (although that is nice when there are a lot of artifacts/enchantments in play) but that you can cast it as an instant.
Inheritance: There will be more creatures dieing than players playing enchantment removal. This has the potential to net you a ton of cards if you have the mana. Plus it combos really well with your many wrath effects.
Soul's Majesty: There's not too many creatures in the deck for this to target, but there are many ways to get a big creature onto the battlefield. The biggest drawback is removal in response to you targeting your big creature.
Mind's Eye: If you have the mana and it's not dealt with, this can easily draw you more cards than many of the other popular card drawers in this format. Additionally, you get the cards piecemeal so you don't have to discard.
Academy Rector: Allows you to get any of your enchantments when it hits the graveyard (but she gets exiled if you use this ability, so you only get one use). You'll likely want to get Mirari's Wake or Mana Reflection so you can start winning but you can also search up answers for creatures (Planar Chaos), artifacts/enchantments (Serenity), something indestructible (Exclusion Ritual) or blow up everything (Pernicious Deed). If you need creatures, you can search up Defense of the Heart.
Rune-Scarred Demon: Tutor on a big body. You'll want to be aggressive with him as he'll help you finish the game. If he dies, Karador can bring him back and you can tutor up some more pressure for your opponent.
Demonic Tutor: Acts as effectively any card you want for 1B. Tutors are effectively like second and third copies of your best cards and make your deck more consistent (if you like that sort of thing).
Grim Tutor: Another tutor. Costs you 3 life to cast unfortunately.
Beseech the Queen: Another tutor with a somewhat nasty mana cost. The benefit is that if you don't have all the B to cast, you can pay 2 for each B you don't have.
Diabolic Tutor: More expensive Demonic Tutor but gets the job done.
Fierce Empath: Only able to search up a few of the creatures in your deck, but those are the best creatures in your deck.
Defense of the Heart: Acts as a slower, but cheaper, Tooth and Nail. The drawback is that it requires any single opponent (rather than all of them collectively) to have 3 creatures before it can go off which allows your opponents to play around it. Good against token decks though.
Chord of Calling: Tutors up any creature in your deck for an additional GGG. You can also use your own creatures in play to help reduce the cost. The best thing about this though is that it's instant.
Tooth and Nail: With one card, you can search up two creature cards out of your deck and then put two creatures into play. Note that the creatures you search for don't have to be the ones you put into play. You'll likely never want to cast this without paying its entwine cost.
Eladamri's Call: Pretty cheap creature tutor in colors you'll likely have when you want to cast it. The drawback is that you have to show your opponents what you searched for so make sure you search for something you want to put into play right away or you could draw some discard hate your way. Luckily it's an instant so you can do it at the end of the last opponent's turn and then cast the creature on your turn.
Sheoldred, Whispering One: This guy does a lot for you. Sheoldred will force your opponents to sacrifice a creature on their upkeeps while you wait for your turn to come around again. Then you get to use his second ability which lets you recur a creature from your graveyard for free. Him and Karador are great pals.
Eternal Witness: Regrowth on a body. Awesome when you can get her into the graveyard to recur with Karador or Sheoldred. Also, the artwork is pretty sexy.
Regrowth: Returns one card from your graveyard to your hand. Sort of like a green Demonic Tutor but for your graveyard.
Restock: Returns 2 cards from your graveyard to your hand, another 2 for 1 trade. Unfortunately it exiles itself. Generally you want this to recur non-creature spells as Sheoldred and Karador can handle the creatures.
Praetor's Counsel: This is a really great G card that I'm starting to see in more and more EDH decks. This puts your entire graveyard into your hand. Its second ability is beneficial if you have a huge graveyard because you won't have to discard anything you picked up due to no longer having a maximum hand size. This also means you can save a spot in your land base because you don't have to play Reliquary Tower.
Stonecloaker: The drawback isn't much of a drawback when you target itself. For 2W you can exile any card in any graveyard at instant speed. Most spells that deal with the graveyard target the cards in it, so this guy can effectively counter anything that digs in the graveyard. Unfortunately, he doesn't stop Mimeoplasm as the targets aren't chosen until it's too late to remove the targets.
Celestial Force: Celestial Force doesn't look all that threatening when he comes into play, which draws less hate my way. The great thing about him is "At the beginning of each upkeep..." which scales with the number of players in a multiplayer game. This guy will likely get me 12 life (and then some) if he survives until my next turn which is an effect that I've wanted in my deck since I hated dropping under 20 life and then having some random X spell do me in.
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief: A pretty bad ass flying beater. Her ability to destroy creatures can be used the turn she comes into play (although you'll need at least BBBB to both cast her and use the ability) since it doesn't require T. It can also stop indestructible creatures (without Shroud/Hexproof). Her ability also buffs up her power so she can hit pretty hard. If there's no creatures in play, she can target herself and hit someone for up to 7 damage (it's unlikely that someone would play a spell that can kill her as a 7/1 but couldn't kill her as a 4/4).
Spike Weaver: This card has saved me in just about every game where I could draw him. He fogs multiple times per casting (such as on each of your opponents attack phases only to be recast from the graveyard on your turn) and he can force himself into the graveyard (to be recast or avoid removal). Some decks attempt to kill you by loading up their general with equipment and auras in order to kill you in one hit and this guy will stop that from happening. Lethal damage may be on the table and if any opponent sends enough damage to kill you your way, then Spike Weaver will save your butt.
Primeval Titan: This guy gets ANY two land cards from your deck and puts them directly into play. He then does it again when he attacks. All those lands can really help you ramp into your end game spells while your opponents are still struggling to develop their board. Generally, he shouldn't be used to find your basic or dual lands until those are the only lands left to play. Also, don't fetch Vesuva and Maze of Ith at the same time since you have to choose a land to copy with Vesuva before both cards can come into play. You won't be able to choose your own Maze because it won't be in play.
Pull From Eternity: In just about every game I've played, I've always had at least one card exiled. And it's not just because of my opponents; Restock, Praetor's Grasp, Mangara of Corondor, and Academy Rector all exile themselves. Pull From Eternity also is part of a 3 card combo along with Restock and Praetor's Grasp which allows me to recover all my exiled cards. Pull From Eternity also stops cards with imprint.
Mana Reflection: DOUBLES your mana. Anything that produces mana, produces double that. Sol Ring and Temple of the False God produces 4 instead of 2. Unfortunately, Mana Reflection doesn't take Mirari's Wake into account when doubling the mana production. With Mana Reflection and Mirari's Wake out, permanents that produce 1 will produce 3 and permanents that produce 2 will produce 5.
Crime/Punishment: This card carries a ton of utility and will never, ever be a dead draw. As soon as you draw it, you'll be looking through your opponents' graveyards for creatures/enchantments to recur and you'll be eyeing the board to see what casting costs the permanents your opponents share. This card is generally a staple in any BGW deck.
Maze of Ith: Pretty awesome card for defense. It's not listed with the lands because it doesn't produce mana. Almost as good as Spike Weaver but only affects a single creature and it has to target that creature as well. Still, it can be good at stopping a big, random dude coming your way and its presence is enough to cause your opponents to attack each other.
Not much to say about the lands. Generally, the only reason to play non-basics over basic lands is to help fix my colors. However, playing too many non-basics has drawbacks. The first is Blood Moon which will wreck you. The second one is that many of the best green mana fetch spells only fetch basics. They're the best because they get more than one land at a time which is one form of card advantage. These spells also provide another type of card advantage because by having fewer lands in your deck, your draws become better because the chance of you top decking a land is much lower. For the most part, I've never really been color screwed so I see no reason to replace my basic lands with more non-basics.
A warning about Vesuva and Primeval Titan; if you use the Titan to search up Vesuva and another land (such as Maze of Ith), Vesuva won't be able to copy the second card you search for. Instead, search up a land you want to copy on Titan's first trigger, and then the next turn, if/when he attacks, search up Vesuva to copy the land.
8/16/2011
The first card I removed was Reiver Demon. Every time I drew him, his mana cost (BBBB) would prevent me from casting him even when I hit 8 mana. Additionally, he doesn't trigger when recurred from the graveyard with Karador. So he had to go.
Multani, Maro Sorcerer-He was a dead draw in all but a few circumstances. It was nice to see players with very few cards in their hand but then I drew Multani and realized what a waste of a draw he was. Sisters of Stone Death came in instead.
Planar Collapse/Catastrophe: The deck was a bit heavy on wrath effects so I took out the weakest one (Collapse). Catastrophe gave me the option to destroy lands, but I never used it. I upgraded it to Planar Cleansing (just about the same cost) which also destroys artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers.
Celestial Force came in for the life gain which I wanted one card in the deck to have.
8/18/2011
Had a hand with Celestial Force(5WWW) in it and had enough lands to produce 8 but I couldn't generate the WWW needed to cast Force. Wooded Bastion and cards like it are really good for not only fixing mana, but being able to generate a lot of mana of a single color.
8/19/2011
Brought in Valkyrie because a creature with Vigilance (and evasion) along with a tap ability is cool. Replaced Gilt-Leaf Palace with Overgrown Tomb since Celestial Force can recoup any life loss. It can also be found with Krosan Verge/Grasslands. Replaced Volrath's Stronghold with Strip Mine since it might get more use. I've only ever once used Volrath's Stronghold and it generates negative card advantage anyways since it replaces your draw with a creature from your graveyard who could otherwise be recurred with Karador.
Also adjusted the mana base a bit. The deck is running about 25%/36%/39% B/G/W but I kept it slightly more heavy towards G as all my color fixers are G.
8/22/2011
I've wanted a consistent way to remove artifacts an enchantments. I have spells that are able to destroy multiple artifacts/enchantments all at once (including my own) and cards that can destroy any permanent 1:1 which includes artifacts/enchantments but I didn't have anything that could destroy an artifact or enchantment turn after turn.
I removed Novablast Wurm because out of all the games I've played with him, he never attacked. He's probably a better creature when I can give him haste.
Removing Mirari's Wake might seem silly to some people because there's nothing bad about doubling the mana output of your lands. Unfortunately, the +1/+1 from Mirari's Wake has actually been detrimental to me in the past. Spike Weaver is an awesome card which stops your opponent(s) from winning. When he runs out of counters, he goes to the graveyard and I can recur him with Karador. Not so with Mirari's Wake out. Instead he stays in play and becomes a useless 2/2 creature. Then I get beat down by creatures/generals whose damage I can't stop. Since Mirari's Wake had potential to be detrimental to me, I had to remove it.
Adjusting the mana base also gave me a reason to bring Temple Garden in.
8/23/2011
I've been wanting a way to get rid of indestructible creatures much easier. I also like the idea of a creature that can consistently destroy other creatures. Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief was perfect for this as she's not only a creature, but can use her ability the turn she comes into play. She can also be a nice beater. She's weak to Shroud/Hexproof but 10% of my deck is dedicated to handling creatures with those abilities. To find room for Drana, Adarkar Valkyrie had to go which is a shame since I hadn't had a chance to abuse her yet.
Anyways, to take some white out of my deck, I removed Kirtar's Wrath in favor of Decree of Pain. The threshold on Kirtar's really isn't all that great of a benefit. With Decree, since I might end up destroying my own creatures as well, I can at least draw a card out of it. The drawback of Decree is its mana cost which my deck is able to handle.
You'll also notice that I added in 2 lands yet only removed 1. In many games I've been missing my land drops usually because I don't draw lands. This is really perfect if my deck had a shorter curve. Unfortunately, I have some expensive spells and this deck needs to at least be able to cast two spells every turn (especially with Karador since I need to cast a creature from my graveyard after casting him, or it's just a waste).
In the past, I've really never had mana problems. It's just that I wasn't making land drops (because I kept top decking bombs). I really like where the deck is now, except that it's pushing me into using cheaper spells with this mana base (the mana base is absolutely perfect for a deck with a lower curve). Since I really want those bigger spells, the next best alternative was to add lands. Additionally, With cards like Drana and the loss of Mirari's Wake, the deck needs more lands. I figure a good starting point would be to add a single land for now.
To make room for the additional land, I took out Darksteel Plate. I never used any of my tutors to find it and it never really did much for me when I did cast it (I do remember equipping it to a Sakura-Tribe Elder. The loss of it only forces me to rely on Karador more which isn't a bad thing with the other changes listed above.
8/29/2011
The additional land added earlier is really working out well. I'm playing lands every turn and have the mana to cast my spells. The problem with drawing lands and playing spells is I eventually empty my hand. [card]Graveborn Muse[card] just doesn't draw me cards when I need it and has to stay alive for many turns to get me a good return.
I decided to find cards that would draw me more cards than Graveborn Muse could (assuming he lived for 4 turns). I chose Inheritance and Soul's Majesty out of the following cards:
Karmic Justice was pulled out to make room. In many games it never really did anything and when it did, it wasn't all that significant. Better to draw more cards and find a win condition or direct answer.
Akroma's Vengeance came in to replace Day of Judgment. Day of Judgment allows creatures to regenerate so I figured I might as well get a bigger effect out of it. I've also wanted more mass artifact/enchantment destruction so Akroma's was a direct upgrade (almost).
Homeward Path came in after I raged in a game where I kept getting creatures stolen directly out of my library and graveyard. Plus, there really wasn't any lands that were problematic enough for me to want to deal with using Strip Mine.
9/4/2011
The land changes of 8/23/2011 in which I added an additional land are working too well. I'm laying a land every turn and top decking lands but am just not drawing as many spells. I decided to go back to the original 37 mana-producing lands and went with an extra mana fetch spell, Gaea's Bounty.
The loss of Yawgmoth's Will might confuse some. When Will is used to cast sorceries out of the graveyard, it exiles them. With Praetor's Counsel in the deck, I really don't like anything being exiled from my graveyard. If I played more permanents such as more cheap artifacts, enchantments, and creatures, Will might have stayed in the deck. As it stands right now, just about every card I'm casting goes straight to the graveyard and I'm better off with another copy Regrowth in the form of Recollect. Keeping the spells in my graveyard can then allow me to get off a huge Praetor's Counsel.
Just something I find a little perplexing: Karador's strength is that he can re-cast creatures from the graveyard, but you've got very few creatures in your deck. Also, the only way you seem to have to actually get most of your creatures into your graveyard is by blowing them up. Finally, there doesn't seem to be any kind of a backup plan unless you can keep your opponents completely off the board.
Karador is powerful, but the more ways you have to get your own stuff out of the graveyard and back into action, the better. I would take out Regrowth and Restock for these.
I've personally found the best strategy for Karador involves getting lots of enchantments down. These cards allow you to better tutor enchantments, protect them while they're on the board, and get them back if they get blown up. Combine Replenish with a recurring Eternal Witness and you should be laughing.
Being as your strategy is graveyard-based, you're going to need to protect it from cards like Bojuka Bog, Withered Wretch and Scavenging Ooze. These cards do just that.
This suggestion is more dependant on your metagame than the others. If anyone in your playgroup is running Relic of Progenitus, they could well and truly screw you over if your graveyard is full. Simply keeping this card in hand will allow you to have an answer that beats out Relic's sac ability and protects your graveyard. Plus, it's a great card regardless.
Another suggestions relating to Relic of Progenitus. If that does happen to you, getting these cards going will allow you to get your stuff back from exile.
These cards speak for themselves. Your stuff *is* going to die. The card draw that Skullclamp enables could be absolutely priceless, and Lightning Greaves is another way to protect your general from getting stolen.
Remember what I was saying about a lack of win conditions? These guys are win conditions. Their built-in Indestructibility means that your opponents are going to have a much rougher time killing them, while you can just keep nuking the board and they'll survive. Of course, bear in mind, they are fairly attractive targets for Bribery, and Blightsteel is a target for Acquire.
I realize you're trying to run a more casual deck, so these may not be for your, but I think they're good ideas. What would I take out of your deck? Simple: most of your ramp. Your mana base is solid enough so that you won't get colour-screwed, and ramping out hardcore in the early game is just going to draw the hate down on you before you can deal with it. You want to surprise people, make yourself seem innocuous and lull them into a sense of false security, and then WHAMO! Nukes, recursion and board presence, ahoy!
Although I have 19 creatures in the deck, I also have 8 spells that are capable of tutoring up a creature which makes my deck act as if it had 27 creatures.
The only way you seem to have to actually get most of your creatures into your graveyard is by blowing them up.
I don't want my creatures in the graveyard. But if they do go there, I have a few ways to get them out.
Finally, there doesn't seem to be any kind of a backup plan.
You're right about this.
Plan A: Attack with creatures.
Plan B: Recur creatures from graveyard. Do plan A.
For your individual card choices:
Oversold Cemetery/ Debtors' Knell: I don't like cards that require me to wait until my next turn. I need cards that will do something for me right away. Sheoldred is better than both. (Due to this deck's consistency, I don't need multiple recursion cards).
Genesis: Generally if I had anything in my graveyard worth recurring, I'd want to get it out with Karador instead. Genesis did used to be in the deck, but I always wanted to spend my mana on other, greater things.
Privileged Position/ Greater Auramancy: Shroud doesn't appear all that great in a multiplayer environment. Most players play mass removal rather than targeted removal (with a few minor exceptions). These cards feel very situational and I need something that will always benefit me every time it's drawn.
Enlightened Tutor: These cards are really bad in a multiplayer environment. It puts the card on top of your library. For the cost of a card you get a card on top of your library. These kinds of tutors essentially kill your draw phase. It's always better to play a tutor that puts the card directly into your hand or into play. Which brings me to:
Idyllic Tutor: Neat card but Academy Rector is somewhat better. I also have better tutors (Demonic Tutor, Diabolic Tutor, etc) that let's me fetch non-enchantment cards if I need it.
I've personally found the best strategy for Karador involves getting lots of enchantments down.
We'll see. Having lots of non-indestructible enchantments in play can be detrimental as Oblivion Stone is played in a lot of commander decks (because it's cheap and comes with the precons).
True Believer/ Leyline of Sanctity: I'm not too sure about the benefit of these effects yet. Still need to play more games. I'm not too concerned with cards that mess with my graveyard as I've got answers to them all (except for Stonecloaker). Generally, I try to wait to dig into my graveyard until it starts to look better than drawing from the top of my library. Even if I wanted the effect, I'd probably not go with True Believer as he's too fragile.
Krosan Grip: I'd actually disagree that this is a good card in a multiplayer environment. It destroys 1 artifact/enchantment for your one card. Generally, I'd want to get a 2:1 trade at a minimum. Split second is nice, but just isn't enough.
Pull from Eternity/ Riftsweeper: I do like this card, but it doesn't do anything on its own. It requires help from another source and that's not a pleasant form of card advantage. Riftsweeper sucks in practice.
Equipment: I run Darksteel Plate. It meshes a bit better with my deck than other equipment. Skullclamp is best when you have multiple creature and/or tokens that you can kill off with it. It's not good to attach to a creature and hope that creature dies. Mind's Eye gives me decent, reliable card draw anyways. Also, other players who steal my general don't keep him for long.
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre/ Blightsteel Colossus: Dead draws in the early and middle game. You need a ton of mana to get these guys online. Both seem singularly aggressive towards one player. Making a single player sacrifice 4 permanents instead of every player sacrificing one (Ulamog) can draw a lot of hate towards myself. Killing a player in one hit with Blightsteel Colossus seems like a jerk move too.
WHAMO! Nukes, recursion and board presence, ahoy!
This actually requires a lot of mana. I play online and ramping up your mana doesn't seem to draw a lot of hate. Lots of players do it, playing Sol Rings, signets, etc. It's generally how you use the mana that causes players to start choosing enemies.
Getting into the late game will probably have me casting Karador for whatever he costs, casting a creature from my graveyard, and then casting a spell in my hand so it doesn't fill up forcing me to discard. This requires a lot of mana.
This deck runs 19 creatures, each one capable of winning me the game...eventually.
If anybody has any suggestions, I could replace Volrath's Stronghold with another land and Sisters of Stone Death with another creature. Price doesn't matter (financial and mana both).
Volrath's has come out many times and yet I've only ever used it once to replace my draw with a creature in my graveyard. Not sure what to use though. Volrath's is also never my first pick with Sylvan Scrying, Expedition Map, or Primeval Titan (who has ALWAYS gone for Maze of Ith + Krosan Verge coming into play followed by Vesuva + one other card the next turn when it attacks).
For the Sisters, I just haven't had a chance to use them yet. Not sure if they are really good or just decent.
The deck is working pretty well in its current iteration. One game I got Traumatized which was actually pretty cool. Karador came in for BGW, pulled out Eternal Witness which got me Praetor's Counsel which I then casted the next turn. Then I got hit with Monomania. FML
Otherwise the deck is pretty resilient. Gained 12 life with Celestial Force in one game. In another, got flooded with mana yet still managed to draw enough wraths and such to keep myself alive. The deck doesn't seem to like drawing TOO many cards until the end game. An extra card every turn is nice. Drawing too many cards requires me to discard spells which are harder to get back from the graveyard compared to creatures.
Played against a mono-U deck whose commander was Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur but didn't feel too threatened by him. He costs 10 and mono-U can't generate that quickly. I can easily race to 5GGG and tutor up a Praetor's Counsel which makes Jin an even worse version of Consecrated Sphinx (who is freakin' awesome if you're playing U).
Played against a Wrexial deck who got a Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves out in response to my Titan grabbing Maze of Ith. Wrexial got through once and played with my graveyard, but I eventually got him.
Opposing Darksteel Plates have become less and less of a problem now in my deck's current configuration.
Eldrazi scare me a bit because they all have Annihilator, are colorless, and some are indestructible. One player who had an Eldrazi commander scooped early in the game after I cast Purify so I'll see how everything works out in the future.
I liked the idea of Adarkar Valkyrie but had to take her out. I still like the idea but I'm thinking it might be better to go with Indestructibility or Aegis Angel since I'd really want to protect Mind's Eye or Mana Reflection when blowing up the board. They both have their strengths and weaknesses and I need to find a spot in the deck to include them first.
Sadly, Mana Reflection tends to paint a big bullseye on your face in a lot of games, especially online. People tend to do degenerate things with grim/basalt monoliths, Palinchrons, etc with Mana Reflection. However, if you are in a stable play group then they know your tendencies in that area :).
Btw with Innistrad coming I see a lot of deck filled with cards with graveyard hate.
Do you mind is time to protect ourself?
You would think so, right? But with Innistrad coming out, everyone else is going to be playing cards that take advantage of the graveyard. This is actually good for us. Like I've stated in the original post, you don't want to be the first person to start digging into your graveyard, otherwise all the hate will come your way. But if someone else decides to do something with their graveyard, such as putting flashback spells in it, all the hate will go their way. Our best defense is the fact that other people will be digging into their graveyard first.
If you really want a card that will give you Shroud/Hexproof, I'd wait until Innistrad and go with Witchbane Orb.
Boneyard Wurm might see play in more creature-heavy, Karador decks.
Creeping Renaissance will definitely come in for either Restock or Regrowth (probably both which will free up a deck slot). The deck runs more sorceries (29) than creatures (19) so it will almost act like a second Praetor's Counsel.
Divine Reckoning won't come in. It has the same drawback as Day of Judgment (doesn't stop regeneration). It can be used twice, and I'd likely have the mana to use it twice, but Creeping Renaissance, Praetor's Counsel, and Pull from Eternity should allow me to reuse my better mass creature destruction spells. Plus it's bad, because it lets one live. Will likely see play in Voltron-style decks.
Grimoire of the Dead will likely not go in my deck. I expect to see other decks use it though but it will be difficult to get off as each opponent will get 4 turns to respond to it. I have multiple wraths to deal with it if it does go off.
Moldgraf Monstrosity might find a place in the deck. His value to the situation at hand is inversely proportional to the value of Karador (unless there are no creatures in my graveyard).
Reaper From the Abyss could go in if I can find a slot for him. He's a nice, big, flying beater that can take out practically any creature, but he does need someone to enable Morbid before he starts paying for himself.
Unburial Rites will likely never see play in a Karador deck. It is otherwise a good card.
Witchbane Orb I'm not sure about. It's not too often that I, myself, am targeted so I'm going to say no to these types of cards until things start happening that I feel these kinds of cards would be beneficial to me. I want cards that will have a direct impact on the game, every game. There are times where this will be a dead draw and that's not acceptable to me.
Woodland Sleuth might be a nice spell to play after I wrath the board. But it duplicates what Karador can do so he won't be going in.
None of the rest of the cards really stand out, which includes all the rare lands. Any of the cards that would go into the deck from INN are listed above.
My deck, specifically above, doesn't run a lot of creatures so Splinterfright would be weak. I also dislike the idea of milling myself. I know it might be silly, but I'm afraid that I'll mill away any of my recursion cards so any sorceries that are lost, will be lost for good.
Orb has the benefit of destroying curses. The INN ones seem like crap, but something tells me we might get some more powerful ones in the coming expansion(s).
For the time being, I'm mostly holding off on the above deck list until INN comes out. There are a few drastic changes I want to do for this deck. It will still be a controll-ish deck headed by Karador but I'd like to get more creatures into the deck. Right now I'm looking at getting [card]Ohran Viper[card] in there, the Urborg-Coffers combo, Moats, and a few other power creatures that I've wanted to add in.
I'd also like to redo the mana package by only using creatures. Even though the creatures not currently listed in the decklist are probably worse than the spells they are replacing, their synergy with Karador (being creatures) can ultimately make them better in the long run. They can also give me a bit more of a defense against really aggressive Volron decks as one weakness of the deck, currently, is that it doesn't put creatures into play in the early game. This makes me look like a prime target for anybody who needs a player to hit (Ohran Viper, Skullbriar, bloodlust, etc).
Magic continues to surprise me with cards I never knew about, and I constantly stumble upon cards that I think would make the deck list better or otherwise give me a new direction to push a deck. A simple concept I ran across gave me reason to build a second Karador deck which ended with 70% of the non-land spells being creatures (and it's not like those other Karador decks). Not sure if I should post it and maintain two Karador lists (which I don't mind doing), or just sticking to one. I'm still testing it though. I like to play a good 5 games with no changes to the decklist before I decide to post it.
EDIT: New Karador deck is up to 81% creatures out of the non-land spells.
1x Karador, Ghost Chieftain
Mana Ramp/Fixing (12)
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Yavimaya Elder
1x Sylvan Scrying
1x Cultivate
1x Far Wanderings
1x Gaea's Blessing
1x Journey of Discovery
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Explosive Vegetation
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Expedition Map
1x Sol Ring
Mass Destruction (3)
1x Austere Command
1x Akroma's Vengeance
1x Planar Cleansing
1x Pernicious Deed
Mass Creature Destruction (5)
1x Wrath of God
1x Rout
1x Damnation
1x Decree of Pain
1x Plague Wind
Single-Target Permanent Removal (7)
1x Mangara of Corondor
1x Archon of Justice
1x Exclusion Ritual
1x Necrotic Sliver
1x Angel of Despair
1x Maelstrom Pulse
1x Vindicate
1x Soltari Visionary
1x Glissa Sunseeker
1x Serenity
1x Purify
1x Fracturing Gust
Card Draw (3)
1x Inheritance
1x Soul's Majesty
1x Mind's Eye
Tutors (11)
1x Academy Rector
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Grim Tutor
1x Beseech the Queen
1x Diabolic Tutor
1x Fierce Empath
1x Defense of the Heart
1x Chord of Calling
1x Tooth and Nail
1x Eladamri's Call
Recursion (6)
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
1x Eternal Witness
1x Regrowth
1x Recollect
1x Restock
1x Praetor's Counsel
Defense/Utility/Enablers (9)
1x Stonecloaker
1x Celestial Force
1x Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
1x Spike Weaver
1x Primeval Titan
1x Pull from Eternity
1x Mana Reflection
1x Crime/Punishment
1x Maze of Ith
7x Plains
4x Swamp
9x Forest
1x Bayou
1x Command Tower
1x Exotic Orchard
1x Fetid Heath
1x Grasslands
1x Homeward Path
1x Krosan Verge
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Rupture Spire
1x Savannah
1x Scrubland
1x Temple Garden
1x Temple of the False God
1x Twilight Mire
1x Vesuva
1x Wooded Bastion
This deck is a reactive deck. You won't actually develop your own end game unlike other decks which might try to assemble a combo or flood the board with threats. Instead, you'll be reacting to any threats your opponents drop, and attack with any creatures you've got on the board. The early game will be dedicated to developing your mana base as the more mana you have, the stronger the deck becomes when you decide to show yourself as a threat (you'll understand when you play the deck). Many of the cards in the deck generate card advantage for you but come with high casting costs. The longer the game can go on, the greater of an advantage you'll get.
More specific explanations of how the deck works are listed in the "Single Card Explanations" section.
One additional thing. This deck is made for social and casual purposes in a multiplayer environment. Anything that is abusive to other players, anything that stops my opponent from being able to play his deck and any instant-win cards or combos will never be played in this deck.
Karador, Ghost Chieftain: Many of the creatures in this deck are really awesome and no deck worthy of being played will run these creatures without recursion backup for the inevitable hate that they will bring. Karador frees up many slots in your deck that would otherwise be dedicated to recursion spells.
One drawback with Karador is that he wants lots of creatures in your graveyard yet can only recur one of them at a time. Outside of being able to recur something from your graveyard, he's not that great of a creature.
In this deck, you're generally going to want to focus on playing without him until the late game. If you try to bring him out too early, you'll likely not have anything of worth in your graveyard to recur and you may not even have the mana to cast a creature from your graveyard. In general, you never want to cast Karador unless you can also cast a creature worth casting from your graveyard. Just because you can use him to recur your Sakura-Tribe Elder doesn't mean you should bring him into play. You'll generally want to use him to recur creatures that will keep you alive and/or win you the game.
You'll also want to hold back on casting him so you don't encourage your opponents to use their graveyard hate on you. Although you generally want to stop your opponents from developing a board state that will hurt your graveyard, by staying out of your graveyard, your opponents are more likely to use cards such as Withered Wretch on each other. Don't be the first player to dig into your graveyard.
Sakura-Tribe Elder: Nothing special. A rampant growth on a chump blocker.
Yavimaya Elder: Awesome card; gets you two lands for one card when he hits the graveyard. To make it easier to get him to the graveyard, he also cycles once you get him into play which means you're getting two basic lands, drawing a card and possibly getting a chump blocker for 3GG.
Sylvan Scrying: Gets you any one land out of your library (including non-basic lands). I'd stay away from using it to fetch your dual lands or basics as you have other spells that can do that.
Cultivate: Gets you two lands for one card and puts one of those lands into play.
Far Wanderings: It's a more expensive Rampant Growth in the early game but once you get 7 cards in your graveyard (such as by casting tutors, mana ramp spells, and Wrath of God effects), it fetches 3 basic lands for one card. Really great card.
Gaea's Bounty: A lot of the best ramp spells in the deck get basic lands. I play them because they get multiple lands for a single card. Gaea's Bounty is one of very few cards that can get multiple non-basic lands as long as they are forests. This works out very well when searching for cards like Bayou, Overgrown Tomb, Savannah, and Temple Garden which in turn can help a deck with a heavily G land base find more sources of W and B.
Journey of Discovery: Pulls two basic lands out of your deck and puts them into play (if you pay the entwine cost).
Kodama's Reach: Gets you two basic lands for one card and puts one of those lands into play.
Explosive Vegetation: Gets you two basic lands and puts both into play.
Solemn Simulacrum: A really great card all around. Gets you one land when he comes into play. The benefit of using him is that he doesn't require any specific color of mana which makes him really good at fixing mana in a 3-color deck. He also replaces himself when he dies.
Expedition Map: Gets you any one land out of your library (including non-basic lands). I'd stay away from using it to fetch your dual lands or basics as you have other spells that can do that.
Sol Ring: Produces 2 on the turn it comes into play for the cheap casting cost of 1. Really great card that new players don't rate highly enough.
Austere Command: A great card that can selectively destroy multiple permanents and leave your permanents safe. One thing to note is that this card views Karador as having a casting cost of 8 even if you spent BGW to cast him.
Akroma's Vengeance: Destroys everything except planeswalkers and lands. Can be cycled if you have one of your artifacts/enchantments out.
Planar Cleansing: Destroys EVERYTHING excluding lands (this includes planeswalkers).
Pernicious Deed: Destroys all cards of a specific mana cost or less. Most of your important spells have high casting costs so Deed generally won't hurt you much unless you really need to get rid of a bad high-CC permanent your opponent has.
Wrath of God: Was nice in 4th edition when it said "Bury all creatures" but its current wording still gets the job done. Remember all your wrath effects require WW.
Rout: Another Wrath of God that costs 1 more but allows you to play it as an instant for 2 more. Generally best used as an instant (unless you can't spare the mana) as no one ever suspects an instant Wrath of God.
Damnation: Wrath of God in black.
Decree of Justice: Expensive creature destruction but you get a card for each creature it destroys (including your own). If for some reason you don't want to do that, you can also cycle it to give all creatures -2/-2.
Plague Wind: Wrath of God in black that doesn't affect you. Has one hell of a mana cost though.
Mangara of Corondor: Gives a Vindicate-effect but exiles instead so it can deal with indestructible permanents. Comes on a body with summoning sickness so you have to wait until your next turn to use but if it does die, Karador can always bring him back. Only has one use as he exiles himself when he goes off.
Archon of Justice: Unlike Mangara, this guy can be used over and over again. The hard part is that he has to get sent to the graveyard in order to exile something. Luckily, he's a decent sized creature with flying for a decent mana cost.
Exclusion Ritual: A Desert Twister variant that exiles instead of destroys and the exiled card stays exiled even when Ritual leaves play. The second ability is likely useless in a singleton format. Be careful about exiling permanents of your opponents that you also play in your deck.
Necrotic Sliver: 6 mana Vindicate on a 2/2 body. Works well with Karador if you run out of creatures to recur from your graveyard.
Angel of Despair: Big flying angel with a Vindicate-effect when it enters the battlefield.
Maelstrom Pulse: Another Vindicate effect that can sometimes get a 2:1 if multiple opponents are playing the same card. It's also really good against massive amounts of tokens with the same name. Loses a little worth in a singleton format though.
Vindicate: Destroys anything that isn't indestructible. This card is as expensive as it is good.
Soltari Visionary: When he damages an opponent (doesn't matter if in combat or not), you can destroy an enchantment that opponent controls. The awesome thing about this guy is that he has shadow and no one plays shadow creatures in multiplayer. This guy will be unblockable and you can pick off enchantments every turn that he's not dealt with. Combines well with //gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&subtype=+[%22Equipment%22">&text=+[target]+[player]+[damage]+![sacrifice]+[{T}]+![prevent]"]certain pieces of equipment.
Glissa Sunseeker: Capable of destroying any artifact every turn. Nowadays, you can fill up your mana pool to destroy an artifact without suffering mana burn. However, since you'll be casting a spell every turn, you can fill up your mana pool, destroy an artifact, and then use that mana to cast a spell. Her drawback is somewhat of a negative since it requires you to use the ability on your turn (if you want to cast a spell) or not cast a spell so you can do it during another player's turn.
Serenity: The biggest drawback of this card (to offset its low cost) is that you have to wait until your next turn before it goes off but it doesn't care how many artifacts/enchantments are in play. Note that it destroys itself as it goes off and doesn't require you sacrifice it. If you make it indestructible, it will go off every turn.
Purify: Simple card requires no explanation. Doesn't get enough recognition for the work it does.
Fracturing Gust: The benefit of this card is not the life gain (although that is nice when there are a lot of artifacts/enchantments in play) but that you can cast it as an instant.
Inheritance: There will be more creatures dieing than players playing enchantment removal. This has the potential to net you a ton of cards if you have the mana. Plus it combos really well with your many wrath effects.
Soul's Majesty: There's not too many creatures in the deck for this to target, but there are many ways to get a big creature onto the battlefield. The biggest drawback is removal in response to you targeting your big creature.
Mind's Eye: If you have the mana and it's not dealt with, this can easily draw you more cards than many of the other popular card drawers in this format. Additionally, you get the cards piecemeal so you don't have to discard.
Academy Rector: Allows you to get any of your enchantments when it hits the graveyard (but she gets exiled if you use this ability, so you only get one use). You'll likely want to get Mirari's Wake or Mana Reflection so you can start winning but you can also search up answers for creatures (Planar Chaos), artifacts/enchantments (Serenity), something indestructible (Exclusion Ritual) or blow up everything (Pernicious Deed). If you need creatures, you can search up Defense of the Heart.
Rune-Scarred Demon: Tutor on a big body. You'll want to be aggressive with him as he'll help you finish the game. If he dies, Karador can bring him back and you can tutor up some more pressure for your opponent.
Demonic Tutor: Acts as effectively any card you want for 1B. Tutors are effectively like second and third copies of your best cards and make your deck more consistent (if you like that sort of thing).
Grim Tutor: Another tutor. Costs you 3 life to cast unfortunately.
Beseech the Queen: Another tutor with a somewhat nasty mana cost. The benefit is that if you don't have all the B to cast, you can pay 2 for each B you don't have.
Diabolic Tutor: More expensive Demonic Tutor but gets the job done.
Fierce Empath: Only able to search up a few of the creatures in your deck, but those are the best creatures in your deck.
Defense of the Heart: Acts as a slower, but cheaper, Tooth and Nail. The drawback is that it requires any single opponent (rather than all of them collectively) to have 3 creatures before it can go off which allows your opponents to play around it. Good against token decks though.
Chord of Calling: Tutors up any creature in your deck for an additional GGG. You can also use your own creatures in play to help reduce the cost. The best thing about this though is that it's instant.
Tooth and Nail: With one card, you can search up two creature cards out of your deck and then put two creatures into play. Note that the creatures you search for don't have to be the ones you put into play. You'll likely never want to cast this without paying its entwine cost.
Eladamri's Call: Pretty cheap creature tutor in colors you'll likely have when you want to cast it. The drawback is that you have to show your opponents what you searched for so make sure you search for something you want to put into play right away or you could draw some discard hate your way. Luckily it's an instant so you can do it at the end of the last opponent's turn and then cast the creature on your turn.
Sheoldred, Whispering One: This guy does a lot for you. Sheoldred will force your opponents to sacrifice a creature on their upkeeps while you wait for your turn to come around again. Then you get to use his second ability which lets you recur a creature from your graveyard for free. Him and Karador are great pals.
Eternal Witness: Regrowth on a body. Awesome when you can get her into the graveyard to recur with Karador or Sheoldred. Also, the artwork is pretty sexy.
Regrowth: Returns one card from your graveyard to your hand. Sort of like a green Demonic Tutor but for your graveyard.
Recollect: See Regrowth.
Restock: Returns 2 cards from your graveyard to your hand, another 2 for 1 trade. Unfortunately it exiles itself. Generally you want this to recur non-creature spells as Sheoldred and Karador can handle the creatures.
Praetor's Counsel: This is a really great G card that I'm starting to see in more and more EDH decks. This puts your entire graveyard into your hand. Its second ability is beneficial if you have a huge graveyard because you won't have to discard anything you picked up due to no longer having a maximum hand size. This also means you can save a spot in your land base because you don't have to play Reliquary Tower.
Stonecloaker: The drawback isn't much of a drawback when you target itself. For 2W you can exile any card in any graveyard at instant speed. Most spells that deal with the graveyard target the cards in it, so this guy can effectively counter anything that digs in the graveyard. Unfortunately, he doesn't stop Mimeoplasm as the targets aren't chosen until it's too late to remove the targets.
Celestial Force: Celestial Force doesn't look all that threatening when he comes into play, which draws less hate my way. The great thing about him is "At the beginning of each upkeep..." which scales with the number of players in a multiplayer game. This guy will likely get me 12 life (and then some) if he survives until my next turn which is an effect that I've wanted in my deck since I hated dropping under 20 life and then having some random X spell do me in.
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief: A pretty bad ass flying beater. Her ability to destroy creatures can be used the turn she comes into play (although you'll need at least BBBB to both cast her and use the ability) since it doesn't require T. It can also stop indestructible creatures (without Shroud/Hexproof). Her ability also buffs up her power so she can hit pretty hard. If there's no creatures in play, she can target herself and hit someone for up to 7 damage (it's unlikely that someone would play a spell that can kill her as a 7/1 but couldn't kill her as a 4/4).
Spike Weaver: This card has saved me in just about every game where I could draw him. He fogs multiple times per casting (such as on each of your opponents attack phases only to be recast from the graveyard on your turn) and he can force himself into the graveyard (to be recast or avoid removal). Some decks attempt to kill you by loading up their general with equipment and auras in order to kill you in one hit and this guy will stop that from happening. Lethal damage may be on the table and if any opponent sends enough damage to kill you your way, then Spike Weaver will save your butt.
Primeval Titan: This guy gets ANY two land cards from your deck and puts them directly into play. He then does it again when he attacks. All those lands can really help you ramp into your end game spells while your opponents are still struggling to develop their board. Generally, he shouldn't be used to find your basic or dual lands until those are the only lands left to play. Also, don't fetch Vesuva and Maze of Ith at the same time since you have to choose a land to copy with Vesuva before both cards can come into play. You won't be able to choose your own Maze because it won't be in play.
Pull From Eternity: In just about every game I've played, I've always had at least one card exiled. And it's not just because of my opponents; Restock, Praetor's Grasp, Mangara of Corondor, and Academy Rector all exile themselves. Pull From Eternity also is part of a 3 card combo along with Restock and Praetor's Grasp which allows me to recover all my exiled cards. Pull From Eternity also stops cards with imprint.
Mana Reflection: DOUBLES your mana. Anything that produces mana, produces double that. Sol Ring and Temple of the False God produces 4 instead of 2. Unfortunately, Mana Reflection doesn't take Mirari's Wake into account when doubling the mana production. With Mana Reflection and Mirari's Wake out, permanents that produce 1 will produce 3 and permanents that produce 2 will produce 5.
Crime/Punishment: This card carries a ton of utility and will never, ever be a dead draw. As soon as you draw it, you'll be looking through your opponents' graveyards for creatures/enchantments to recur and you'll be eyeing the board to see what casting costs the permanents your opponents share. This card is generally a staple in any BGW deck.
Maze of Ith: Pretty awesome card for defense. It's not listed with the lands because it doesn't produce mana. Almost as good as Spike Weaver but only affects a single creature and it has to target that creature as well. Still, it can be good at stopping a big, random dude coming your way and its presence is enough to cause your opponents to attack each other.
A warning about Vesuva and Primeval Titan; if you use the Titan to search up Vesuva and another land (such as Maze of Ith), Vesuva won't be able to copy the second card you search for. Instead, search up a land you want to copy on Titan's first trigger, and then the next turn, if/when he attacks, search up Vesuva to copy the land.
8/16/2011
The first card I removed was Reiver Demon. Every time I drew him, his mana cost (BBBB) would prevent me from casting him even when I hit 8 mana. Additionally, he doesn't trigger when recurred from the graveyard with Karador. So he had to go.
Multani, Maro Sorcerer-He was a dead draw in all but a few circumstances. It was nice to see players with very few cards in their hand but then I drew Multani and realized what a waste of a draw he was. Sisters of Stone Death came in instead.
Planar Collapse/Catastrophe: The deck was a bit heavy on wrath effects so I took out the weakest one (Collapse). Catastrophe gave me the option to destroy lands, but I never used it. I upgraded it to Planar Cleansing (just about the same cost) which also destroys artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers.
Celestial Force came in for the life gain which I wanted one card in the deck to have.
8/18/2011
8/19/2011
Also adjusted the mana base a bit. The deck is running about 25%/36%/39% B/G/W but I kept it slightly more heavy towards G as all my color fixers are G.
8/22/2011
I removed Novablast Wurm because out of all the games I've played with him, he never attacked. He's probably a better creature when I can give him haste.
Removing Mirari's Wake might seem silly to some people because there's nothing bad about doubling the mana output of your lands. Unfortunately, the +1/+1 from Mirari's Wake has actually been detrimental to me in the past. Spike Weaver is an awesome card which stops your opponent(s) from winning. When he runs out of counters, he goes to the graveyard and I can recur him with Karador. Not so with Mirari's Wake out. Instead he stays in play and becomes a useless 2/2 creature. Then I get beat down by creatures/generals whose damage I can't stop. Since Mirari's Wake had potential to be detrimental to me, I had to remove it.
Adjusting the mana base also gave me a reason to bring Temple Garden in.
8/23/2011
I've also disliked the way my deck has been slowly moving towards a more white base. I use green to fix my colors and to ramp early game since it has the best spells for doing that. A deck that was heavily white, might not be able to find the green early game to cast these spells. It also would have to use //gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&type=+[%22Artifact%22">&text=+[%22Basic%20land%22]+[%22search%20your%20library%22]"]artifact or //gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&color=+@%28+[W">%29&text=|[%22basic%20landcycling%22]|[%22Search%20your%20library%20for%20a%20plains%22]|[%22Plainscycling%22]|[%22search%20your%20library%20for%20up%20to%20three%20basic%22]"]white spells to find lands which are inefficient.
Anyways, to take some white out of my deck, I removed Kirtar's Wrath in favor of Decree of Pain. The threshold on Kirtar's really isn't all that great of a benefit. With Decree, since I might end up destroying my own creatures as well, I can at least draw a card out of it. The drawback of Decree is its mana cost which my deck is able to handle.
You'll also notice that I added in 2 lands yet only removed 1. In many games I've been missing my land drops usually because I don't draw lands. This is really perfect if my deck had a shorter curve. Unfortunately, I have some expensive spells and this deck needs to at least be able to cast two spells every turn (especially with Karador since I need to cast a creature from my graveyard after casting him, or it's just a waste).
In the past, I've really never had mana problems. It's just that I wasn't making land drops (because I kept top decking bombs). I really like where the deck is now, except that it's pushing me into using cheaper spells with this mana base (the mana base is absolutely perfect for a deck with a lower curve). Since I really want those bigger spells, the next best alternative was to add lands. Additionally, With cards like Drana and the loss of Mirari's Wake, the deck needs more lands. I figure a good starting point would be to add a single land for now.
To make room for the additional land, I took out Darksteel Plate. I never used any of my tutors to find it and it never really did much for me when I did cast it (I do remember equipping it to a Sakura-Tribe Elder. The loss of it only forces me to rely on Karador more which isn't a bad thing with the other changes listed above.
8/29/2011
I decided to find cards that would draw me more cards than Graveborn Muse could (assuming he lived for 4 turns). I chose Inheritance and Soul's Majesty out of the following cards:
1 Soul's Majesty
1 Momentous Fall
1 Tower of Fortunes
1 Promise of Power
Karmic Justice was pulled out to make room. In many games it never really did anything and when it did, it wasn't all that significant. Better to draw more cards and find a win condition or direct answer.
Akroma's Vengeance came in to replace Day of Judgment. Day of Judgment allows creatures to regenerate so I figured I might as well get a bigger effect out of it. I've also wanted more mass artifact/enchantment destruction so Akroma's was a direct upgrade (almost).
Homeward Path came in after I raged in a game where I kept getting creatures stolen directly out of my library and graveyard. Plus, there really wasn't any lands that were problematic enough for me to want to deal with using Strip Mine.
9/4/2011
The loss of Yawgmoth's Will might confuse some. When Will is used to cast sorceries out of the graveyard, it exiles them. With Praetor's Counsel in the deck, I really don't like anything being exiled from my graveyard. If I played more permanents such as more cheap artifacts, enchantments, and creatures, Will might have stayed in the deck. As it stands right now, just about every card I'm casting goes straight to the graveyard and I'm better off with another copy Regrowth in the form of Recollect. Keeping the spells in my graveyard can then allow me to get off a huge Praetor's Counsel.
Some cards I would recommend:
- Oversold Cemetery
- Genesis
- Debtors' Knell
Karador is powerful, but the more ways you have to get your own stuff out of the graveyard and back into action, the better. I would take out Regrowth and Restock for these.
- Privileged Position
- Greater Auramancy
- Enlightened Tutor
- Idyllic Tutor
- Replenish
I've personally found the best strategy for Karador involves getting lots of enchantments down. These cards allow you to better tutor enchantments, protect them while they're on the board, and get them back if they get blown up. Combine Replenish with a recurring Eternal Witness and you should be laughing.
- True Believer
- Leyline of Sanctity
Being as your strategy is graveyard-based, you're going to need to protect it from cards like Bojuka Bog, Withered Wretch and Scavenging Ooze. These cards do just that.
- Krosan Grip
This suggestion is more dependant on your metagame than the others. If anyone in your playgroup is running Relic of Progenitus, they could well and truly screw you over if your graveyard is full. Simply keeping this card in hand will allow you to have an answer that beats out Relic's sac ability and protects your graveyard. Plus, it's a great card regardless.
- Riftsweeper
- Pull from Eternity
Another suggestions relating to Relic of Progenitus. If that does happen to you, getting these cards going will allow you to get your stuff back from exile.
- Skullclamp
- Lightning Greaves
These cards speak for themselves. Your stuff *is* going to die. The card draw that Skullclamp enables could be absolutely priceless, and Lightning Greaves is another way to protect your general from getting stolen.
- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
- Blightsteel Colossus
Remember what I was saying about a lack of win conditions? These guys are win conditions. Their built-in Indestructibility means that your opponents are going to have a much rougher time killing them, while you can just keep nuking the board and they'll survive. Of course, bear in mind, they are fairly attractive targets for Bribery, and Blightsteel is a target for Acquire.
I realize you're trying to run a more casual deck, so these may not be for your, but I think they're good ideas. What would I take out of your deck? Simple: most of your ramp. Your mana base is solid enough so that you won't get colour-screwed, and ramping out hardcore in the early game is just going to draw the hate down on you before you can deal with it. You want to surprise people, make yourself seem innocuous and lull them into a sense of false security, and then WHAMO! Nukes, recursion and board presence, ahoy!
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
Although I have 19 creatures in the deck, I also have 8 spells that are capable of tutoring up a creature which makes my deck act as if it had 27 creatures.
I don't want my creatures in the graveyard. But if they do go there, I have a few ways to get them out.
You're right about this.
Plan A: Attack with creatures.
Plan B: Recur creatures from graveyard. Do plan A.
For your individual card choices:
Oversold Cemetery/ Debtors' Knell: I don't like cards that require me to wait until my next turn. I need cards that will do something for me right away. Sheoldred is better than both. (Due to this deck's consistency, I don't need multiple recursion cards).
Genesis: Generally if I had anything in my graveyard worth recurring, I'd want to get it out with Karador instead. Genesis did used to be in the deck, but I always wanted to spend my mana on other, greater things.
Privileged Position/ Greater Auramancy: Shroud doesn't appear all that great in a multiplayer environment. Most players play mass removal rather than targeted removal (with a few minor exceptions). These cards feel very situational and I need something that will always benefit me every time it's drawn.
Enlightened Tutor: These cards are really bad in a multiplayer environment. It puts the card on top of your library. For the cost of a card you get a card on top of your library. These kinds of tutors essentially kill your draw phase. It's always better to play a tutor that puts the card directly into your hand or into play. Which brings me to:
Idyllic Tutor: Neat card but Academy Rector is somewhat better. I also have better tutors (Demonic Tutor, Diabolic Tutor, etc) that let's me fetch non-enchantment cards if I need it.
We'll see. Having lots of non-indestructible enchantments in play can be detrimental as Oblivion Stone is played in a lot of commander decks (because it's cheap and comes with the precons).
True Believer/ Leyline of Sanctity: I'm not too sure about the benefit of these effects yet. Still need to play more games. I'm not too concerned with cards that mess with my graveyard as I've got answers to them all (except for Stonecloaker). Generally, I try to wait to dig into my graveyard until it starts to look better than drawing from the top of my library. Even if I wanted the effect, I'd probably not go with True Believer as he's too fragile.
Krosan Grip: I'd actually disagree that this is a good card in a multiplayer environment. It destroys 1 artifact/enchantment for your one card. Generally, I'd want to get a 2:1 trade at a minimum. Split second is nice, but just isn't enough.
Pull from Eternity/ Riftsweeper: I do like this card, but it doesn't do anything on its own. It requires help from another source and that's not a pleasant form of card advantage. Riftsweeper sucks in practice.
Equipment: I run Darksteel Plate. It meshes a bit better with my deck than other equipment. Skullclamp is best when you have multiple creature and/or tokens that you can kill off with it. It's not good to attach to a creature and hope that creature dies. Mind's Eye gives me decent, reliable card draw anyways. Also, other players who steal my general don't keep him for long.
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre/ Blightsteel Colossus: Dead draws in the early and middle game. You need a ton of mana to get these guys online. Both seem singularly aggressive towards one player. Making a single player sacrifice 4 permanents instead of every player sacrificing one (Ulamog) can draw a lot of hate towards myself. Killing a player in one hit with Blightsteel Colossus seems like a jerk move too.
This actually requires a lot of mana. I play online and ramping up your mana doesn't seem to draw a lot of hate. Lots of players do it, playing Sol Rings, signets, etc. It's generally how you use the mana that causes players to start choosing enemies.
Getting into the late game will probably have me casting Karador for whatever he costs, casting a creature from my graveyard, and then casting a spell in my hand so it doesn't fill up forcing me to discard. This requires a lot of mana.
This deck runs 19 creatures, each one capable of winning me the game...eventually.
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
Thanks.
If anybody has any suggestions, I could replace Volrath's Stronghold with another land and Sisters of Stone Death with another creature. Price doesn't matter (financial and mana both).
Volrath's has come out many times and yet I've only ever used it once to replace my draw with a creature in my graveyard. Not sure what to use though. Volrath's is also never my first pick with Sylvan Scrying, Expedition Map, or Primeval Titan (who has ALWAYS gone for Maze of Ith + Krosan Verge coming into play followed by Vesuva + one other card the next turn when it attacks).
For the Sisters, I just haven't had a chance to use them yet. Not sure if they are really good or just decent.
The deck is working pretty well in its current iteration. One game I got Traumatized which was actually pretty cool. Karador came in for BGW, pulled out Eternal Witness which got me Praetor's Counsel which I then casted the next turn. Then I got hit with Monomania. FML
Otherwise the deck is pretty resilient. Gained 12 life with Celestial Force in one game. In another, got flooded with mana yet still managed to draw enough wraths and such to keep myself alive. The deck doesn't seem to like drawing TOO many cards until the end game. An extra card every turn is nice. Drawing too many cards requires me to discard spells which are harder to get back from the graveyard compared to creatures.
Played against a mono-U deck whose commander was Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur but didn't feel too threatened by him. He costs 10 and mono-U can't generate that quickly. I can easily race to 5GGG and tutor up a Praetor's Counsel which makes Jin an even worse version of Consecrated Sphinx (who is freakin' awesome if you're playing U).
Played against a Wrexial deck who got a Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves out in response to my Titan grabbing Maze of Ith. Wrexial got through once and played with my graveyard, but I eventually got him.
Opposing Darksteel Plates have become less and less of a problem now in my deck's current configuration.
Eldrazi scare me a bit because they all have Annihilator, are colorless, and some are indestructible. One player who had an Eldrazi commander scooped early in the game after I cast Purify so I'll see how everything works out in the future.
New to Commander? Read the Above article.
You would think so, right? But with Innistrad coming out, everyone else is going to be playing cards that take advantage of the graveyard. This is actually good for us. Like I've stated in the original post, you don't want to be the first person to start digging into your graveyard, otherwise all the hate will come your way. But if someone else decides to do something with their graveyard, such as putting flashback spells in it, all the hate will go their way. Our best defense is the fact that other people will be digging into their graveyard first.
If you really want a card that will give you Shroud/Hexproof, I'd wait until Innistrad and go with Witchbane Orb.
Some cards from Innistrad I'm looking at:
Bramblecrush will likely not get used. Desert Twister is superior and Vindicate is superior to Desert Twister.
Boneyard Wurm might see play in more creature-heavy, Karador decks.
Creeping Renaissance will definitely come in for either Restock or Regrowth (probably both which will free up a deck slot). The deck runs more sorceries (29) than creatures (19) so it will almost act like a second Praetor's Counsel.
Divine Reckoning won't come in. It has the same drawback as Day of Judgment (doesn't stop regeneration). It can be used twice, and I'd likely have the mana to use it twice, but Creeping Renaissance, Praetor's Counsel, and Pull from Eternity should allow me to reuse my better mass creature destruction spells. Plus it's bad, because it lets one live. Will likely see play in Voltron-style decks.
Grimoire of the Dead will likely not go in my deck. I expect to see other decks use it though but it will be difficult to get off as each opponent will get 4 turns to respond to it. I have multiple wraths to deal with it if it does go off.
Moldgraf Monstrosity might find a place in the deck. His value to the situation at hand is inversely proportional to the value of Karador (unless there are no creatures in my graveyard).
Reaper From the Abyss could go in if I can find a slot for him. He's a nice, big, flying beater that can take out practically any creature, but he does need someone to enable Morbid before he starts paying for himself.
Unburial Rites will likely never see play in a Karador deck. It is otherwise a good card.
Witchbane Orb I'm not sure about. It's not too often that I, myself, am targeted so I'm going to say no to these types of cards until things start happening that I feel these kinds of cards would be beneficial to me. I want cards that will have a direct impact on the game, every game. There are times where this will be a dead draw and that's not acceptable to me.
Woodland Sleuth might be a nice spell to play after I wrath the board. But it duplicates what Karador can do so he won't be going in.
None of the rest of the cards really stand out, which includes all the rare lands. Any of the cards that would go into the deck from INN are listed above.
What do you think about Splinterfright? It's a growing threat that fuels CA for Karador without risking too much of your GY at once.
Orb has the benefit of destroying curses. The INN ones seem like crap, but something tells me we might get some more powerful ones in the coming expansion(s).
For the time being, I'm mostly holding off on the above deck list until INN comes out. There are a few drastic changes I want to do for this deck. It will still be a controll-ish deck headed by Karador but I'd like to get more creatures into the deck. Right now I'm looking at getting [card]Ohran Viper[card] in there, the Urborg-Coffers combo, Moats, and a few other power creatures that I've wanted to add in.
I'd also like to redo the mana package by only using creatures. Even though the creatures not currently listed in the decklist are probably worse than the spells they are replacing, their synergy with Karador (being creatures) can ultimately make them better in the long run. They can also give me a bit more of a defense against really aggressive Volron decks as one weakness of the deck, currently, is that it doesn't put creatures into play in the early game. This makes me look like a prime target for anybody who needs a player to hit (Ohran Viper, Skullbriar, bloodlust, etc).
Magic continues to surprise me with cards I never knew about, and I constantly stumble upon cards that I think would make the deck list better or otherwise give me a new direction to push a deck. A simple concept I ran across gave me reason to build a second Karador deck which ended with 70% of the non-land spells being creatures (and it's not like those other Karador decks). Not sure if I should post it and maintain two Karador lists (which I don't mind doing), or just sticking to one. I'm still testing it though. I like to play a good 5 games with no changes to the decklist before I decide to post it.
EDIT: New Karador deck is up to 81% creatures out of the non-land spells.