If you want one of the strongest Orzohv Commanders, then you’ll want to go with Grandad Karlov.
Orzhov is the best color pairing for lifegain and sacrificing in Magic. Seriously, look at the majority of legendary black and white creatures, and you’ll find that they fit into one of those two boxes. However, they can sometimes struggle to feel really powerful, in our opinion, without a lot of work. What if there was a Commander that didn’t need much to really pop off, though? Well, that’s where Karlov of the Ghost Council comes in.
Karlov is a two-mana 2/2 that gets two +1/+1 counters whenever you gain life, and you can pay two mana and remove six of those counters to exile another creature. This can go very well for you very quickly, and we’re going to break down everything you need to know about this old, ghostly fella.
Lore Intro
Karlov of the Ghost Council
Ravnica Remastered, Mythic
This Karlov is indeed related to Teysa Karlov and is, in fact, her grandfather. However, he’s also a ghost, or was one. Once a member of the Obzedat, a powerful council that oversaw the Orzhov Syndicate on Ravnica, he was a schemer well-known for taking tithes and pandering to the fanatics who would willingly fund him and his group.
However, when Kaya decided that she’d had enough of all of this, he was on the list of her assassination targets and fell to her while trying to figure out who had set Kaya on the Obzedat in the first place. So he’s double-dead, but that doesn’t mean you can’t play him in Commander.
Strengths
Market Price: $13.56
Market Price: $50.83
Karlov of the Ghost Council is an incredibly strong Commander. At two mana, it’s incredibly easy to cast, and while it comes in with only two toughness, that’s almost laughably easy to rectify. Not only that, but it has built-in removal, so you can exile any potential creature-based threats once you gain enough life, and it only becomes stronger in a well-built deck.
In essence, if you have a strong turn-one play, Karlov effectively becomes a 4/4 straight away, and then you can continue growing it and either turn it sideways to take people out or use it as a control tower. Either way, you will run away with the game for as long as you can protect it because it’s just that strong.
Weaknesses
The only real weakness Karlov has is that it doesn’t have Hexproof or Ward. There’s no natural protection, which means that you have to work around that by using cards like Swiftfoot Boots, or ideally Whispersilk Cloak, which also makes it unblockable. Outside of that, it’s vulnerable to board wipes, but so are most Commanders. We’re sort of clutching at straws here.
Recommended Archetypes
Naturally, we’ll be going for a lifegain strategy here. There’s basically no point in playing Karlov of the Ghost Council in any other deck, and certainly not at the head of one. You will aim to gain life in as many increments as possible rather than gaining a lot of life all at once. That’s because this will trigger the +1/+1 counter effect more often, and that’s the main aim here.
You can also lean a little bit into something akin to an Equipment or Aura-focused (sometimes called Voltron) strategy as well, but it’ll be a minor lean. Basically, if you can give Karlov trample or make it unblockable, then you’ll be able to turn all that life into a winning strategy instead of just stalling the game out. Look, it’s reasonable if you want to play a single game of Commander for four hours where nobody wins, but we like variety, and that means you have to have an actual win condition.
Key Cards
If you’re looking to brew your own Karlov of the Ghost Council deck, then these are the cards we recommend starting with:
- Soul Warden
- Heliod, Sun-Crowned
- Giver of Runes
- Aetherflux Reservoir
- Archangel of Thune
Strategy
Market Price: $12.80
Market Price: $12.63
Your strategy here is basically to try and play Soul Warden or an equivalent one-drop on turn one, then play Karlov on turn two, and you’ll already have a 4/4. Then, every time anyone plays a creature, you’ll get more counters, and it’s so remarkably easy to just build an absurdly large Karlov and start attacking or keep paying mana to remove any pesky creatures anyone else controls. Both Heliod, Sun-Crowned and Archangel of Thune are massive boosts to this deck and can pair nicely if you decide to use Walking Ballista too, especially if you go for the combo with Basilisk Collar on it.
You can then either just keep killing everything off with the power of anime and ghosts, or you can eventually win the game with something like Aetherflux Reservoir or Felidar Sovereign. Both of these can win the game all just by playing your cards onto the field, and will also stop you ever really needing to block because of the absurd amount of life you’ll be able to gain.
You’ll also want to ensure you’ve got some good protection options like Giver of Runes in play to keep Karlov safe. It’s worth noting that while a lot of the value of this deck does lie in Karlov, you can still win games pretty comfortably without it in play, thanks to the general strength of lifegain decks in Commander.
Commander
Karlov of the Ghost Council
Market Price:$849.59
Maindeck, 99 cards
Sortsort deckCommander (1)
- 1Karlov of the Ghost Council
Creature (29)
- 1Archangel of Thune
- 1Archivist of Oghma
- 1Auriok Champion
- 1Blood Artist
- 1Celestine, the Living Saint
- 1Charismatic Conqueror
- 1Crypt Ghast
- 1Enduring Tenacity
- 1Erebos, God of the Dead
- 1Felidar Sovereign
- 1Giver of Runes
- 1Grand Abolisher
- 1Guide of Souls
- 1Heliod, Sun-Crowned
- 1Kambal, Profiteering Mayor
- 1Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff
- 1Mother of Runes
- 1Ranger-Captain of Eos
- 1Resplendent Angel
- 1Rodolf Duskbringer
- 1Serra Ascendant
- 1Skrelv, Defector Mite
- 1Sorin of House Markov
- 1Soul Warden
- 1Soul’s Attendant
- 1The Gaffer
- 1Tymna the Weaver
- 1Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
- 1Walking Ballista
Planeswalker (1)
- 1Ajani, Strength of the Pride
Sorcery (6)
- 1Damn
- 1Demonic Tutor
- 1Farewell
- 1Grim Tutor
- 1Raise the Past
- 1Toxic Deluge
Instant (6)
- 1Anguished Unmaking
- 1Flare of Fortitude
- 1Flawless Maneuver
- 1Heliod’s Intervention
- 1Path to Exile
- 1Swords to Plowshares
Artifact (16)
- 1Aetherflux Reservoir
- 1Alhammarret’s Archive
- 1Arcane Signet
- 1Basilisk Collar
- 1Bolas’s Citadel
- 1Caduceus, Staff of Hermes
- 1Lightning Greaves
- 1Mindcrank
- 1Orzhov Signet
- 1Shadowspear
- 1Sol Ring
- 1Swiftfoot Boots
- 1Sword of Light and Shadow
- 1Sword of War and Peace
- 1Talisman of Hierarchy
- 1Umezawa’s Jitte
Enchantment (7)
- 1Authority of the Consuls
- 1Black Market Connections
- 1Bloodchief Ascension
- 1Exquisite Blood
- 1Necropotence
- 1Phyrexian Arena
- 1Test of Endurance
Land (34)
- 1Bojuka Bog
- 1Brightclimb Pathway
- 1Cabal Coffers
- 1Caves of Koilos
- 1Command Tower
- 1Desolate Mire
- 1Fetid Heath
- 1Ghost Quarter
- 1Godless Shrine
- 1High Market
- 1Isolated Chapel
- 7Plains
- 1Plaza of Heroes
- 1Shattered Sanctum
- 1Shizo, Death’s Storehouse
- 1Silent Clearing
- 7Swamp
- 1Tainted Field
- 1Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
- 1Vault of Champions
- 1War Room
- 1Witch’s Clinic
Now that you have all of this knowledge, you can go out into the world and be a ghost dude with lots of life. If you want to stay with Orzhov but fancy a slightly different approach, then have a look at our Commander Bestiary for Eriette of the Charmed Apple.