"Just pick your favorite card and two to three colors and build a deck around it." Simple advice on how to build my first EDH deck which led me to my first and favorite commander, Karador, Ghost Chieftain. Started off with a $100 budget and dreams of some cool Birthing Pod chains, and now we're here. The only deck I have never taken apart. <3

Pet Cards That Shall Not Be Touched:

• Birthing Pod, the card the entire deck was based around
• Vindicate, because the art is incredible.
• Knight of the Reliquary, because it's one of my favorite cards and land toolboxes are the bee's knees.
• Deadbridge Chant because of that art.

Interactions I think are neat:

• Entomb + Life from the Loam to start building the graveyard up
• Mindslicer after someone casts a massive draw spell
• Endurance to save my own graveyard from being exiled, while still being good enough as graveyard hate to justify an inclusion
• Cabal Pit being able snipe a surprising amount of commanders and value creatures
• Grist, the Hunger Tide being castable from the graveyard
• Gaddock Teeg only stopping 7 cards in the deck

Est. 2012

> 7/15/2021 Update:

Duals back in because I'm a tryhard. Phyrexian Arena has been in the deck since Day 1, but I am going to try out Callous Bloodmage in that slot instead. With Karador and a sac outlet, I can still replicate the card draw function, but the added utility to exile graveyards or create chump blockers/food for Skullclamp is too big of an upside to pass on at least trying.

Endurance has proven to be insane in constructed play, and I think can be insane here as well. I have a high green count to keep it live, but the utility of being able to save my OWN graveyard from an exile effect cannot be ignored.

I typically balk at cutting lands, like, ever, but I feel like I have enough cheap ramp/fixing to be okay trimming one that comes into play tapped anyways for Grist, the Hunger Tide. Again, lots of utility here, and counts as a creature for my tutors, graveyard, and Karador, which is very cool.

Out | In
Llanowar Wastes | Bayou
Caves of Koilos | Scrubland
Brushland | Savannah
Phyrexian Arena | Callous Bloodmage
Remorseful Cleric | Endurance
Scattered Groves | Grist, the Hunger Tide

> 5/10/2021 Update:

Kind of re-embracing that this is my most competitive deck and re-adding a consistent way to combo off. I used to run Boonweaver Rebirth for a bit, but hated how off-brand Boonweaver Giant felt. Karador is all about creatures, not enchantments, so having an enchantment as a key piece in the combo never felt right. Protean Hulk is extremely on-brand, is easier to find with all my tutors, and if I'm enjoying the game or mistakenly picked a deck much more higher than the power level of the table, I can play it purely for value. Angel of Serenity is the natural cut here, occupying the 7-CMC creature slot of the deck.

Natural Order is another way to find Hulk, but once again can be a value play if I feel like it. And I've always wanted one. Eerie Interlude can come out, as the only time I ever really cast it was as a game-ender and Natural Order being a tutor for the game-ender fills a similar role. Blood Artist is swapped for Zulaport Cutthroat since Cutthroat does not target specific players, and so is a reliable finisher through players that have given themselves hexproof or shroud.

Deathrite Shaman was in earlier versions of the deck but I was disappointed at how infrequently there were lands in the graveyard to use as ramp, so I cut him as a dork and added Avacyn's Pilgrim or something in place. However, I'm looking for more utility cards that include incidental graveyard hate, and DRS definitely scales with the power level of the table (more fetches, etc.) so he's back in. Woe Strider is probably the worst sacrifice outlet in the deck, and with the addition of Hulk I've streamlined the process of ending the game a bit, so redundant copies of sac outlets are less valuable.

I worry that by adding Natural Order, I've added too many tutors to the deck, and I have been itching to get a copy of Knight of the Reliquary back into the deck as it's one of my favorite cards and I found the land toolbox to be more useful than I rated it back in November. Eladamri's Call is probably the worst of the tutors, so I think this is a good swap. If Natural Order turns out to be not as good as I thought it was, I could see cutting it to add Eladamri's Call back into the deck.

Out | In
Angel of Serenity | Protean Hulk
Eerie Interlude | Natural Order
Blood Artist | Zulaport Cutthroat
Woe Strider | Deathrite Shaman
Eladamri's Call | Knight of the Reliquary

> 4/22/2021 Update:

I need the dual lands to finish my Legacy deck, and I would prefer to be moving around the least amount of cards possible when I want to play different decks. While I definitely lose a few percentage points and fetchable targets, the painlands are a decent addition and while not fetchable, they at least never come into play tapped.

Out | In
Bayou | Llanowar Wastes
Scrubland | Caves of Koilos
Savannah | Brushland

> 11/22/2020 Update:

The land toolbox really isn't good enough to justify KotR, and I've been trying to find room for Greater Good for years. Seems like it's finally time to try it out. Sylvan Library got cut to go in another deck that it's a little better in. Aven Mindcensor is a nod to shutting down all of the Landfall decks in the format.

Out	In
Knight of the Reliquary	Greater Good
Sylvan Library	Disciple of Bolas
Doom Whisperer	Aven Mindcensor
Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter	Angel of Serenity
Zulaport Cutthroat	Blood Artist
Pernicious Deed	Shriekmaw

> 7/2/2020 Update:

Out	In
Dust Bowl	Geier Reach Sanitarium

> 4/10/2020 Update:

Out	In
Ravenous Chupacabra	Woe Strider
Oracle of Mul Daya	Skull Prophet
Fauna Shaman	Fiend Artisan
Maelstrom Pulse	Fiend Hunter
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed	Deadbridge Chant
Sheoldred, Whispering One	Eerie Ultimatum
Gray Merchant of Asphodel	Zulaport Cutthroat
Ghost Quarter	Strip Mine
Silent Clearing	Indatha Triome