Intro

Welcome to my Teysa Karlov EDH guide.

This is the first EDH deck I ´ve ever built. For the past 11 months I have been actively playing and upgrading this deck as my main. With every new expansion I was able to find new cards to try and upgrade the list. It had many goals throughout the past year, but I have eventually decided to opt for the death-trigger strategy, that slowly pings your opponents down before one explosive finale, that should win you the game. Currently, the deck focuses on assembling pieces from three important categories to win the game - death triggers, something to die and trigger them and a way to kill our creatures, since our opponents won´t.

With that being said, this deck is not really competitive. It can be consistent, but it is adjusted for a slower meta, where games can last anywhere between 10 to 20 turns. It will not win you the game on turn 5, but it can establish a nice board state by then. I personally enjoy that with the right permanents, most of your spells do much more that what they say on the tin, usually with bonuses of chipping away at your opponents´ life total or giving you resources to advance further.

Bi-product of this playstyle is the incredibly oppressive environment you create with a board state that heavily punishes your opponents for interacting. Often, your opponents should think twice about removing or blocking your board pieces, leaving them for you to decide their fate.

In this guide I will walk you through the general strategies and goals of the deck and give some commentary on each individual piece. We will get to see how some of the rules of the game work in favour of the deck and how we can use them to our advantage. I will also recommend some interesting cards that are currently not parts of the deck, but were either heavily considered at some point, or were included, but got thrown out.

Cards

>Lands

I don´t have much to say about the land base, except that it currently has all possible lands within my budget. I have included all lands that don´t enter tapped or have a way doing so, with only a few exceptions. Mana fixing has never been an issue with this deck, usually it´s the mana deficiency, since Orzhov doesn´t have access to much ramp.

> Cards

• Bojuka Bog - can be substituted if there´s no graveyard meta in your group. I run this only as a situational response.
• Caves of Koilos - can tap for generic and enters untapped, so you don ´t fall off the curve. Paying 1 life for anything in commander is barely a price, especially with the many heal effects the deck packs.
• Command Tower - a staple card for a reason. There´s no excuse to not run it in any multicoloured commander deck.
• Fetid Heath - should you run into manafixing issues, here´s you solution. Also taps for colourless.
• Godless Shrine - essentially a dual land. No one cares about losing 2 life in a 40 life format.
• Isolated Chapel - with 20 basic lands in the deck, there´s a very minuscule chance this should enter tapped.
• Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire - a very good modal card for the deck, especially since we sacrifice and self-destruct a lot.
• Orzhov Basilica - mostly for mana-fixing, can be used to bounce Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire or Windbrisk Heights
• Phyrexian Tower - helps you get ahead of the curve, while triggering on-death triggers. Sacrifice effects are very favourable in this deck for many reasons as we will get to see.
• Shattered Sanctum - Just an objectively good land, remember, most turns are not the first two turns!
• Shineshadow Snarl - great addition from Strixhaven, haven´t had it enter tapped so far.
• Tainted Field - should have a problem tapping for coloured mana. The colourless option helps you make sure you don´t fall off the curve.
• Vault of Champions - the goal of the deck is to kill all of your opponents in one turn, so through most of the game, you will have enough opponents for this to enter untapped.
• Westvale Abbey // Ormendahl, Profane Prince - a remnant of the token-focused era of the deck. It´s still nice, however, to have a big creature that can survive your board wipes to finish your opponents off.
• Windbrisk Heights - remember how I said that deck can have problems with insufficient mana? This card can help you go around that, casting any spell for essentially 2 white mana if you attack with three creatures, which is not hard to achieve with this deck and the tokens it generates.

>Part I - Sacrificial Lambs

These are the cards you want to get on the battlefield ASAP to create a wall of bodies that your opponents will have to remove before the triggers get there too. The thing is, that this deck also focuses on generating tokens on death, meaning that removing one creature will more often than not result in many more taking its place.

> Cards

• Anointed Procession - a very straightforward card. Doubles the amount of tokens we generate, works multiplicatively with Teysa, meaning that an Afterlife 1 creature would generate four(!) spirits
• Call the Coppercoats - at an instant speed and a somewhat low mana cost, I recommend saving this for the end of the last opponent´s turn for maximum results when other might also not have a response. Alternatively, turn an opponent´s attack into a massive amount of death triggers while protecting your own life total.
• Carrier Thrall - two bodies for the price of 2 mana with one of them giving you some mana back. Works great with Teysa on board
• Doomed Dissenter - great target for sacrifice, since he can bring out more additional bodies upon death
• Doomed Traveller - same as Doomed Dissenter, but at a lower cost
• Elspeth, Sun´s Champion - her +1 ability helps us swarm the battlefield with bodies while protecting her from attacks. You might not even get to use her ultimate, since the soldiers should end up dead and the game won.
• Field of Souls - essentially giving all creatures and additional instance of Afterlife. Turns any non-token creature into a small value engine for death triggers
• Imperious Oligarch - pop in early, swing and when your opponents attack you, block for a death trigger and an additional body
• Kaya the Inexorable - great value engine and gem from Kaldheim. Also gives your creatures an Afterlife ability and once she hits her ultimate, she can enable some shenanigans with our sacrifice outlets. No removal lasts forever anymore.
• Ministrant of Obligation - the most bang for you buck. With Teysa around, this card can give you five bodies for just three mana, which means great value in this deck.
• Orzhov Enforcer - deathtouch is another reason why your opponents will think twice about attacking you. Don´t feel bad about sending this lass to her death to kill a large attacker, since she will leave behind a new creature we can use further.
• Pawn of Ulamog - gives all deaths additional value to help us get ahead of the curve. The Spawns´ ability allows them to sacrifice themselves instantly for some last-minute triggers if necessary.
• Seraph of the Scales - deathtouch, vigilance and leaves behind additional bodies. There is nothing about this card that wouldn´t make it fit into this deck.
• Solemn Simulacrum - both land ramp and card draw are thing Orzhov is generally starved off, the Sad Robot can help us with both. The card draw also doubles with Teysa on the field.
• Tithe Taker - little bit of stax into the mix. His value mostly lies in the Afterlife ability, though.

>Part II - Pingers

The bread and butter of this deck. These rascals will help you win the game once enough creatures die. The more of these guys you can get on the battlefield, the fewer bodies you need to actually win. And remember, all of their death triggers are doubled through Teysa.

Be cautious watching the triggers and read the cards carefully. It has happened many times, that I have decided to wipe my board to get rid of one player, only to find out I have actually won the game.

> Cards

• Bastion of Remembrance - artifacts are more difficult to remove than creatures. Bastion will also survive through all of our board wipes, meaning we won´t have to worry about getting another trigger on the field if one board wipe isn´t enough for some reason. The soldier token is just an insult to injury for our opponents.
• Blood Artist - the token pinger. Triggers from opponents creature too, but can only hurt one player per trigger.
• Cruel celebrant - an essential pinger, can single-handedly destroy your opponents´ life totals.
• Falkenrath Noble - pretty much just flying Blood Artist for double the price. Can still easily win you the game with some help.
• Syr Konrad, the Grim - the bane of mill and graveyard decks. But watch out! The damage is doubled only if triggered through a creature death, otherwise it pings for 1.
• Vindictive Vampire - a generic pinger that doesn´t count itself. Bit more costly, but can often be the last piece you need to win.
• Zulaport Cutthroat - on par with Cruel Celebrant, a cheap and strong card for the deck

>Part III - Sacrificial Altars

So, our opponents don´t want to kill our creatures? Do we have to do everything around here?

Yes. And it feels even better that way.

These cards are meant to enable death triggers en masse without our opponent´s help. At his point it is worth noting two important rulings from Gatherer:

"If a creature dying at the same time that another permanent you control leaves the battlefield causes a triggered ability of that permanent to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time."
"If a creature dying at the same time as Teysa (including Teysa itself dying) causes a triggered ability of a permanent you control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time."

This means that board wipes will not only trigger our pingers as if they were still on the battlefield, they will also still be doubled, making for some enormous hits coming from your side every time you wipe the board.

> Cards

• Ashnod´s Altar - probably the best sacrifice outlet in the game, Solves our mana issues while triggering on-death effects across the board
• Bloodthrone Vampire - A bit worse Carrion feeder, still a relatively cheap infinite sacrifice outlet
• Carrion Feeder - any free sacrifice outlet is akin to a one-sided board wipe in this deck. This card is a classic and deservedly so.
• Damn - a great addition from Modern Horizons 2. While generally versatile, I recommend saving it to utilize it´s overload effect. But if the situation calls for a spot removal, this card can be of great help.
• Hour of Revelation - don ´t worry about the cost, there will always be at least 10 non-land permanents on the field. If there´s not, why are you even using it, save it for a bigger board.
• Kaya´s Wrath - a generic board wipe, the mana cost shouldn´t cause many problems.
• Plumb the Forbidden - a hidden gem from Strixhaven. It took me a while to recognize the value of this card. "But wait, it´s just draw, why is it here?" You see, any card, that has you sacrificing creatures a a part of its cost comes with a hidden upside. The death trigger essentially cannot be countered. If you sacrifice your entire board, the only thing your opponents can respond to, is the triggers. If they counter this spell, they are countering the draw and loss of life, not the sacrifice part. Since it´s already on the stack and its cost is paid, the creatures are dead and cannot be removed in response. The only thing your opponents have left is healing over the damage or somehow negating it.
• Viscera Seer - another staple sacrifice outlet. You can use it to look for your win-cons easily or just wiping your entire board to win.
• Wrath of God - THE board wipe. There is nothing more left to say.

>Gathering Resources

These cards exist in the deck to help us get to the important pieces faster or to make sure we always have something to do. Revival spells are also great for when important pieces are removed from our board before we fully got to utilize them.

> Cards

• Arcane Signet - a classic among mana rocks, no reason to not run it here
• Athreos, God of Passage - after a large board wipe, your opponents will think twice whether they can afford to pay the 3. Actually, it´s 6, since the trigger activates twice and your opponents´ will have to pay both times for the creature to not return to your hand. Alternatively, target an opponent with 2 or less life to make sure all creatures return.
• Athreos, Shroud-Veiled - slower than his cheaper brother, this Athreos at least guarantees a return of the creature.
• Bolas´ Citadel - an amazing draw engine with downside overcome by the many healing sources in the deck
  -Fellwar Stone - another in the series of 2-mana rocks, black is a common color among most pods and in case you end up in an Orzhov-less society, this color combo welcomes any form of ramp anyway
• Grim Haruspex - repeated card draw is very valuable in black, especially since it can be turned to two card per creature with Teysa
• Keeper of the Accord - can very easily solve our mana issues. It is not uncommon for him to bring 5+ lands during few turns. If you for some reason don´t have the largest board in the game, he can help with that, too.
• Midnight Reaper - see Grim Haruspex. The loss of life is easily offset with many healing effects found in the deck.
• Mind Stone - a personal preferred alternative to Commander´s Sphere. Two-mana rocks are simply too good to pass up on.
• Necropotence - this card singlehandedly changed the course of MTG when it came out and now people are calling for its ban in the format, we might as well enjoy it while it lasts
• Orzhov Signet - another two-mana rock, but the downside of requiring mana for activation means that you won´t be able to use it immediately if you drop it on turn 2.
• Pitiless Plunderer - this guy can easily turn into a value engine if left unchecked, even more so than Smothering Tithe. If you wipe the board with him up, he will leave you with enough resources to rebuild.
• Profane Tutor - a financially affordable good tutor. It´s power depends vastly on your meta. As I said, games in my meta take up to 20+ turns, meaning that the two-turn delay isn´t that crucial. I can definitely see removing this card in fast metas.
• Reveillark - this fluffy guy has many targets in this deck, many of which are combo pieces. Just hope you don´t open with him in hand.
• Skullclamp - yet another mistake we can abuse to our liking. It is essentially "draw 4 for 1 generic mana and a death trigger."
• Smothering Tithe - ahh, the strongest white card in commander. To be honest, I only included it in this deck because I cracked it in a pack. I can see myself removing it in favour of another card. You definitely don´t need it to run this deck properly.
• Sol Ring - mana positive rocks = man, this positively rocks
• Talisman of Hierarchy - caves of Koilos on a coin. Again, no need to think about the loss of life.
• Thought Vessel - should you find yourself holding too many cards as a result of a board wipe with Grim Haruspex on the board, this will definitely come in handy. If that doesn´t happen, it is still a two-mana rock.
• Unearth - like Reveillark, this card has many important targets in the deck that work better on the battlefield than in the graveyard.
• Victimize - now you can turn your useless spirit tokens for a juicy combo piece. Or sacrifice Ministrant of Obligation or Seraph of the Scales to grossly increase your overall board presence.
• Village Rites - a simple and effective draw spell, use it before a board wipe to increase the amount of creatures that will be destroyed or as a reaction to a removal spell.

>Interaction

Every good deck needs some interaction. We had a lot of it in the Sacrificial Altar category, but there´s also some cards we can use to hinder our opponents´ strategies without having an impact on our board.

> Cards

• Dictate of Erebos - sacrificing your creatures now heavily impacts your opponents board, what´s not to love? Synergizes nicely with cards like Blood Artist that trigger off opponents´ creatures.
• Fracture - a versatile removal spell. Like I mentioned before, mana fixing isn ´t an issue and I the instant speed makes this card superior to Feed the Swarm.
• Go for the Throat - another cheap removal spell, The non-artifact restriction shouldn´t be a problem in most metas.
• Rite of Oblivion - Pops one of the lambs and deals with ANY nonland permanent, great for removing artifact, which Orzhov can struggle with. The sorcery speed is a downside, but to have this effect at an instant speed might be a bit too busted.
• Swords to Plowshares - ever wanted to cast a spell that Mark Rosewater himself called a mistake? You can now!
• Tragic Slip - originally a response to an indestructible creature in my meta, I found this card to be a great removal spell. It´s worth noting the instant speed, meaning it can be used pretty much any time for the -13/-13.
  • Vindicate - Non-discriminating removal at an instant speed that cna ruin your opponents day and combo

>Helpers

These cards don´t really help us work towards the general strategy of the deck, but can be used to finish our opponents or degrade their life total even faster.

> Cards

• Debt to the Deathless - If you can amass enough mana, you can use this as a finisher or to stay in the game for a while longer, since the heals can be quite hefty. Works well with Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose or Vizkopa Guildmage.
• Lightning Greaves - mostly used to protect important board pieces. The haste component can be used for some easy early swings, but I recommend keeping it on Teysa or one of the pingers so they don´t get removed before a board wipe.
• Lolth, Spider Queen - a beautiful gem from AFR. It´s very easy to hit the ultimate the turn it comes into play, since you only need two creatures to die with Teysa on board to reach the necessary loyalty. You generate a lot of fliers naturally, so you can attack each opponent for one, which then turns to 8 and then finish them off with a board wipe. Card draw is also very valuable in this deck, as you aim to assemble the combo as quickly as possible. Alternatively, use the -3 ability to build your board before wiping. There´s really not a single line of text on this card that isn´t beneficial to the deck.
• Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose - his passive ability helps you burn through your opponents´ HP even faster, while the activated ability can give you something to put your mana into in case you didn ´t hit any draw.
• Vizkopa Guildmage - a diet Vito, but its second ability actually damages ALL opponents, unlike Vito

Alternative Options

In this section I ´dl ike to take a look at some of the cards that had their place in the deck in the past. I´d also like to talk about some budget options, since no one wants to spend $250 on a deck they might not enjoy playing. I will also try to comment on some of the cards I have seen in Teysa Karlov online decklists and edhrec.com page and offer my insight into those options.

> Cards

• Butcher of Malakir - a Grave Pact on a stick. This card was in the deck for a long time, but I have eventually decided to cut it due to it´s high mana cost. It is still a very strong card in aristocrats decks if you can spare tha mana and works great even in attack-based strategies.
• Debtors´ Transport - I absolutely cannot recommend this card. It does nothing that can justify it´s high mana cost and it doesn´t even pass the vanilla test, so it´s not worth it even in attack-based strategies. You can easily find a token generator that´s much cheaper and you can find 6-mana cards that do much, much more than this goober.
• Diabolic Tutor - this card was in the deck for a short until the first time I played it. To put it quickly, four mana tutors are not worth it even in slower metas. Usually, you want to play the tutored card immediately and the high mana cost slows you down too much. You are better off just drawing a different card.
• Elenda, the Dusk Rose - an absolute beast of a card that rebuild your board after it´s death. The only issue might be the IRL price.
• Feign Death - an additional copy of Undying Evil coming from the AFR
• Massacre Wurm - Another great card, if maybe a bit expensive. If you have "any creature" triggers (such as its own) or want a clear way for your token attackers, this card is laways worth having.
• Mastermind´s Aquisition - see Diabolic Tutor
• Reanimate - a stronger version of Unearth. If price is not an issue, it is the superior version.
• Requiem Angel - I personally prefer Field of Souls, since it doesn´t go away with every boardwipe. With that being said, I think this card is still a good option for the deck.
• Secure the Wastes - historically a good card, but if you want mass token generation, I urge you to consider your local meta and with that Call the Coppercoats, since it can net you more tokens per mana spent most of the time and you will still have some left over.
• Sign in Blood - a nice budget draw option. Makes for a nice advantage in slower metas or the cockiest finisher ever.
• Toxic Deluge - probably the best board wipe in the game. Overcomes indestructible, but is quite pricey.
• Vivid Marsh & Vivid Meadow - in a two colour deck, these are esentially worse guildgates.