Life Advice

Commander / EDH WB (Orzhov)

BreakthroughArtist

Artifact (17)

• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Prism Ring
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Tablet of the Guilds
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Umezawa's Jitte
• 1x Wishclaw Talisman
• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Bolas's Citadel

Instant (12)

• 1x Angel's Grace
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Silence
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Abeyance
• 1x Mandate of Peace
• 1x Plunge into Darkness
• 1x Unexpectedly Absent
• 1x Zealous Persecution
• 1x Ad Nauseam

Creature (16)

• 1x Giver of Runes
• 1x Leonin Elder
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Serra Ascendant
• 1x Soul Warden
• 1x Soul's Attendant
• 1x Containment Priest
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Diamond Mare
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Mindblade Render
• 1x Wall of Omens
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• 1x Kunoros, Hound of Athreos
• 1x Ranger-Captain of Eos

Enchantment (11)

• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Bloodchief Ascension
• 1x Ashes of the Abhorrent
• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Seal of Cleansing
• 1x The Birth of Meletis
• 1x Aura of Silence
• 1x Dark Tutelage
• 1x Grasp of Fate
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Phyrexian Arena

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Ajani, Caller of the Pride

Commander (1)

Land (33)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 9x Plains
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Silent Clearing
• 11x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Field
• 1x Tarnished Citadel
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Mind Twist
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Scheming Symmetry
• 1x Unearth
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Mind Shatter
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Sickening Dreams
• 1x Toxic Deluge

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Maybeboard

Creature (7)

• 1x Blood Pet
• 1x Ethersworn Canonist
• 1x Spirit of the Labyrinth
• 1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
• 1x Alms Collector
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Rest in Peace
• 1x Leyline of the Void

Instant (5)

• 1x Culling the Weak
• 1x Hallowed Moonlight
• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Necrologia

Artifact (5)

• 1x Claws of Gix
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Grafdigger's Cage
• 1x Helm of Obedience

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Imperial Seal
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Praetor's Grasp

Land (1)

• 1x Scrubland

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Built for an environment of on-the-fly, prize-supported casual FNM pods where proxies aren't allowed.

Karlov isn't ever actively looking to go all the way himself, but if he gets there then he gets there; he goes tall and runs interference while we scheme toward our doomsday machines. The quality of any card in this list is actually quite a bit higher than it would appear in a vacuum. Contextualize his 'package' however you want, but the only card in the 99 that's there solely for its interactions with the big daddy is Shizo, Death's Storehouse, and even that slot represents a black mana source that comes into play untapped. In practice, Karlov is a turn-two boogeyman that punches faces and zaps dudes while we execute a game plan based on availability - a storm line through Bolas's Citadel, Ad Nauseam into Sickening Dreams through Null Rod effect, or even actual commander damage through opposing anti-storm setups.

Life gain is a means to an end: Ad Nauseam, Necropotence, Aetherflux Reservoir, Bolas's Citadel, and the commander himself all really leverage the gains, but we're never looking to hoard life points; we'll begrudgingly lean on Phyrexian Arena and Dark Tutelage when we have to, but if given the opportunity to thicc Impulse, we'll Plunge into Darkness like the princess isn't in another castle.

We aren't exactly expecting to die to the most efficient combo lines, and while we aren't completely caught off guard by certain blue or black instant-speed win conditions, sometimes it's an abundance of blue instants or bold jank that just gets you.

The utility of being able to swap cleanly into Kambal, Consul of Allocation - and even Kunoros, Hound of Athreos at much weaker tables - has been one of my favorite things about this list. Karlov is the go-to lead because he can threaten to kill spellslingers, police the board, eat removal, and be hard carried post grind fests.

Notable opposing commanders include The First Sliver, Kenrith, the Returned King, Kess, Dissident Mage, Zur the Enchanter, Urza, Lord High Artificer, and Yisan, the Wanderer Bard.

Listing these in maybeboard instead of a sideboard so as not to influence the price trackers: Culling the Weak and Diabolic Intent and Claws of Gix are tools for letting us sacrifice appropriate hate bears on the turn we're looking to go off. Idyllic Tutor can also grab Spirit of the Labyrinth or Eidolon of Rhetoric.

Tune your kills to the hate you want to run. Necrologia allows another Sickening Dreams line with ritual mana, Anguished Unmaking and Generous Gift are highlighted for the paranoid. Blood Pet and Lotus Petal can come in when you know you just won't need Helm of Obedience, while Karlov at the top and additional storm hate can set up the helm itself.

Obvious upgrades: Fetches and Scrubland, Mox Diamond, Imperial Seal, and any future cards similar to current slots but at lower CMC. Would love to try Crypt Ghast alongside a final-form mana base as well, but we don't see a lot of taxes and the ramp benefit seems marginal - 4 is a lot to pay for access to extort.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 43 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	1.90
Tokens	Cat 2/2 W, Wall 0/4 C