Tuesday Night Takeover

Brewed EDH Karador, Ghost Chieftain Reanimator

This Cemetery is Full time for an eviction!

Art: Karador, Ghost Chieftain by Todd Lockwood

Welcome to another installment of Brewed Edh:

Today’s deck is Abzan Reanimator utilizing Karador, Ghost Chieftain. Reanimator is one of magic’s oldest strategy that focuses on value creatures that you can constantly reanimate and benefiting from ETB’s and things never staying dead. Reanimator is a fun and interesting playstyle!

The Deck

Karador Reanimator

Commander (1)
Karador, Ghost Chieftain

Creatures (40)
Walking Ballista
Spore Frog
Stitcher’s Supplier
Viscera Seer
Blood Artist
Cankerbloom
Cathar Commando
Fauna Shaman
Golgari Thug
Priest of Fell Rites
Saffi Eriksdotter
Satyr Wayfinder
Skull Prophet
Fiend Hunter
Fleshbag Marauder
Golgari Brownscale
Knight of Autumn
Opposition Agent
Plaguecrafter
Stinkweed Imp
Yavimaya Granger
Corpse Augur
Disciple of Bolas
Solemn Simulacrum
Thalia and The Gitrog Monster
World Shaper
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Golgari Grave-Troll
Gravebreaker Lamia
Massacre Girl
Reveillark
Shriekmaw
Izoni, Thousand-Eyed
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
Sun Titan
Protean Hulk
Sheoldred, Whispering One
Archon of Cruelty
Ashen Rider
Craterhoof Behemoth

Planeswalkers (1)
Grist, the Hunger Tide

Spells (13)
Reanimate
Worldly Tutor
Diabolic Intent
Heliod’s Intervention
Life from the Loam
Buried Alive
Cultivate
Eldritch Evolution
Incarnation Technique
Teferi’s Protection
Incarnation Technique
Living Death
Vanquish the Horde

Artifacts (5)
Skullclamp
Sol Ring
Altar of Dementia
Chromatic Lantern
Phyrexian Altar

Enchantments (5)
Animate Dead
Growing Rites of Itlimoc
Greater Good
Guardian Project
Dictate of Erebos
Lands (35)
Boseiju, Who Endures
Bountiful Promenade
Command Tower
Deathcap Glade
Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
Exotic Orchard
Forest
Geier Reach Sanitarium
Godless Shrine
Horizon Canopy
Indatha Triome
Isolated Chapel
Llanowar Wastes
Plains
Sunpetal Grove
Swamp
Temple Garden
Twilight Mire
Undergrowth Stadium
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Vault of Champions
Woodland Cemetery
Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Why Karador, Ghost Chieftain?

There are a lot of options for Reanimator decks, strong options include Meren of Clan Nel Toth and Nethroi, Apex of Death. I think Karador gains the edge over these decks by not only being easier to cast based on your graveyard but being able to guaranteed cast a card from your graveyard every turn is powerful. We have many small creatures to get out early, as well as many creatures with ETB’s so constantly reanimating them can not only fill our graveyard but set up for a big with cards like Living Death and Craterhoof Behemoth. We can control the board with cards like Massacre Girl by being able to cast her multiple times in a turn.

Deck Overview

The main goal of this deck is to fill our graveyard as much as possible, we have many small creatures with powerful ETB’s like Satyr Wayfinder which can fill our graveyard and reanimate very well with Living Death and our various other reanimation spells. A large Living Death combined with a Craterhoof Behemoth is a great way to end games. We can also win with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Walking Ballista for a quick combo win. Karador is also very easy to cast since we can fill our graveyard early and often. We have a lot of card advantage being able to sacrifice and reanimate cards like Corpse Augur to gain huge advantage. We also have a large dredge package so cards like Golgari Grave-Troll can be very large very early. Cards like Life from the Loam allow us to recur lands regular. Karador is a fun midrange commander deck with a lot of potential from the graveyard and from combos

Strengths of the Deck:

  • Things that die don’t stay dead
  • Combo potential
  • 3 color allows us to play a wide range of cards
  • We can start filling the graveyard and attacking early

Weaknesses of the Deck:

  • Tough matchups against graveyard hate
  • Bad against combo decks
  • Bad against Spellslinger Decks
  • Late game can be tough if we get outpaced

Deck Stats:

Sample Hands:

Main win conditions:

Besides Mikaeus + Walking Ballista one of our other main win conditions is a large board with craterhoof behemoth. With the low cost of cards we have in our deck it is easy to fill up our board very quickly.

Walking Ballista[/scryfall]

Conclusion

Karador is an interesting version of a reanimator deck, even though we play a lot of cards that most reanimator decks play, being 3 color lets us play a wider range of spells. We have a well positioned deck with good amount of creatures and a lot of ways to get them back. Our combo potential can be done early so we good against aggressive strategies as well. This deck is not the strongest version of reanimator but is still a fun and enjoyable experience!

Thanks for reading to the end!

Would love to hear your feedback on the deck!