[EDH] Karn, Silver Golem

[socialite]

No longer updated here. Check main EDH Deck List (http://mtgcommander.net/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=7777) forum.

[GGoober]

Looks super solid. I think Thran Turbine isn't worth the slot. I had some dissatisfaction with Semblance Emblance and Helm of Awakening. The way I play Karn is:

1. Mana acceleration (about 15 slots, you're missing Ur-Golem's Eye, Sisay's Ring and Dreamstone Hedron. They kinda look bad on paper, but when you pair them up with other Accelerants, they do a lot, and they beat a ton as well)

2. Card advantage: Karn dumps the hand super fast, so this is huge. I run as many as I can fit that isn't bad: Tower of Fortune (awesome with your mana generation), Phyrexian Portal is insane card advantage in Karn. I also run Uba Mask (which I see you do, is awesome against blue decks and great with Bazaar). I also recently added Mirrorworks (which you did as well) and the card is insane lol

3. Prison cards. Portcullis, Winter Orb are all time stars.

I think overall you have a better list than mine (heavily un-updated on this forums) and I will refer to your list and work accordingly.

Also, you have most of this Koreanized? :P I can't imagine playing Korean cards in EDH casual settings. You get a million people asking what the card does O_O

Voltaic Construct and Rings of Brighthearth are by far the most busted cards in the deck. I play Planar Portal for the lols (haven't been pleased with it), but if you can sneak a Lodestone Golem or Rings of Brighthearth or Voltaic Key under it, it's huge shenanigans. Blightsteel Colossus wants a word with you! My Karn list is about 80% competitive, 20% fun. I added a ton of Golems to make it fun e.g. Titan Forge, Darksteel Colossus, Platinum Emperion. They're still decent cards by themselves.

[socialite]

Hey Metalwalker,
Thanks for taking the time to post.


Looks super solid. I think Thran Turbine isn't worth the slot. I had some dissatisfaction with Semblance Emblance and Helm of Awakening.

I tend to agree it was put in as filler and helps with activation costs at worse it's 2 free Karn animations however, with the amount of mana this deck can produce there is most likely something more relevant for that slot.

I sort of understand not liking Helm of Awakening. Besides the card disadvantage Semblance Anvil is a non symmetrical cost reduction of 2 mana for the entire deck and it's worked well for me.


1. Mana acceleration (about 15 slots, you're missing Ur-Golem's Eye, Sisay's Ring and Dreamstone Hedron. They kinda look bad on paper, but when you pair them up with other Accelerants, they do a lot, and they beat a ton as well)

The problem I have with those three is that they produce minimal mana for their cost. Producing 2 and costing 4, 3 and 6 for the Dreamstone Hedron isn't all that efficient. The Hedrons draw effect seems kinda weak, out of the three the Hedron is the one I would consider the most because it at least has another ability.


2. Card advantage: Karn dumps the hand super fast, so this is huge. I run as many as I can fit that isn't bad: Tower of Fortune (awesome with your mana generation), Phyrexian Portal is insane card advantage in Karn. I also run Uba Mask (which I see you do, is awesome against blue decks and great with Bazaar). I also recently added Mirrorworks (which you did as well) and the card is insane lol

Phyrexian Portal seems interesting. I will have to try it; I worry that you could totally wiff on it which makes it a lot worse though in group play with a little politicking it could be busted i.e. a 1 and 9 pile. Tower of Fortunes is too slow, arguably Thran Tome is my worst card advantage engine but I still can't see replacing it with this.


3. Prison cards. Portcullis, Winter Orb are all time stars.

By order of my opponents reactions: :confused::mad::cry:


Also, you have most of this Koreanized? :P I can't imagine playing Korean cards in EDH casual settings. You get a million people asking what the card does O_O

Most of it, almost done with the Korean portion. There are still a few foils to get and I still need a Mishra's Workshop. I added a few more scans and will keep updating it as the cards come in.


Blightsteel Colossus wants a word with you! My Karn list is about 80% competitive, 20% fun. I added a ton of Golems to make it fun e.g. Titan Forge, Darksteel Colossus, Platinum Emperion. They're still decent cards by themselves.

Titan Forge was in there for a little bit I was underwhelmed.

One really strong part about playing Karn is that you blank all sorcery based creature removal in your opponents decks. None of those creatures or the countless other decent artifact creatures provide a strong enough ability (and can avoid getting auto hated and removed instantly by someone at the table) to make me want to run them.

On another note have you tried Knowledge Pool? I'm unsure if it would be counterproductive to the prison strategy.

[vilik]

Hi.

Nice Korean cards.

Cards I run in my Karn you might want to look at:

Winding Canyons - my creatures have flash, yay!
Tectonic Edge - Wasteland no. 2
Walking Atlas - I run 40 land and 10+ accel
Worn Powerstone - solid accel, ditch the Turbine
Steel Hellkite - colorless removal, plus you already run Greaves
Ward of Bones - if you want to go the lock route, plus it's good /w lands like Scorched Ruins and Lotus Vale
Akroma's Memorial - fun /w more aggro Karn

Plus I run Kozilek, Butcher of Truth (draw) and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre (tutorable Null Rod kill if you already have Eye of Ugin)

And of course, make room for the new Karn planeswalker :)

How are the following?

Anvil of Bogardan - I'd rather just run draw
Semblance Anvil - seems risky, I'd run Dreamstone Hedron
Kill Switch - what is the purpose? Lock the board /w Mycosynth Lattice? Seems super douchey
Myr Welder - is this guy any good? Seems slow...
equipment - seems strange /w so few creatures

Cheers

- Vilik

PS I'd love to see the whole deck once is foiled / Korean.

[GGoober]

Ertai I probably have more foils than you do for this deck (and a Workshop :P) but I'm lacking a couple of Korean cards (I do own a number/playsets of the Stompy/Stax Korean cards) but I think personally for myself it's bad for me to play Korean cards when people play EDH and go "Huh, what does this do? x100"

Anyway, I'm too friggin lazy to update my list, but yeah Karn has been the most fun EDH deck I've played. He's fragile, but he's quite bonkers 80% in most games. Since I play EDH for fun, I usually don't go nuts with Karn, and just play it laid back and once in awhile try to form shenanigans (Prototype portals into Voltaic Keys untapping Prototype portals untapping Tower of Fortunes/Planar Portal etc and untapping Monoliths and just keep going with Rings of Brighthearth <3)

Anyway, what's your playgroup like? Competitive? Casual?

[socialite]

Winding Canyons - my creatures have flash, yay!
I don't play a lot of creatures, meh.


Tectonic Edge - Wasteland no. 2
The requirements for use make it useless for locking down an opponent.


Walking Atlas - I run 40 land and 10+ accel
Shrug.


Worn Powerstone - solid accel, ditch the Turbine
I don't believe any CIPT cards are good in EDH despite what the majority of the casual community thinks.


Steel Hellkite - colorless removal, plus you already run Greaves
Hellkite was on a short list for creatues to add to the deck, perhaps I will take a second look.


Ward of Bones - if you want to go the lock route, plus it's good /w lands like Scorched Ruins and Lotus Vale
Totally didn't see this - I'll have to try it out. For 6 mana it's ability is pretty limited - if I already have a lock do I really need to prevent them from playing thing's Im already tapping down or destroying?


Akroma's Memorial - fun /w more aggro Karn
Totally didn't see this - I'll have to try it out.


Plus I run Kozilek, Butcher of Truth (draw) and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre (tutorable Null Rod kill if you already have Eye of Ugin)
Not a huge fan of the Titans.

Karn the Planeswalker will go in for sure.



How are the following?

Anvil of Bogardan - I'd rather just run draw
Semblance Anvil - seems risky, I'd run Dreamstone Hedron
Kill Switch - what is the purpose? Lock the board /w Mycosynth Lattice? Seems super douchey
Myr Welder - is this guy any good? Seems slow...
equipment - seems strange /w so few creatures

What draw would you run over Anvil? It's a symmetrical draw like some of the draw artifacts I do not run as I believe them to be pretty weak. Anvil, at least, requires no activation cost and has added benefits.

I like Semblance Anvil "it's a non symmetrical cost reduction of 2 mana for the entire deck".

I understand your thoughts on Kill Switch but it gets hit by a ton of removal in the format in addition it requires additional cards to combo with. Really it's useful for tapping down other artifacts not under my control and can be used to shut down things like Howling Mine on my opponents turn.

Myr Welder has been decent I'd be lying if I said I've tested him a lot because I haven't. There aren't many targets for him - possible cut.

Equipment is really for Karn, Darksteel Plate is great (indestructable artifacts + Karn Animate = fantastic).


Anyway, what's your playgroup like? Competitive? Casual?
Competitive but to be honest I'd play this vs. Casual players anyday. I fully believe intent is what dictates wether one is a douche not the indvidual card choices.

On another note: Despite my lack of creatures I run a pretty decent recurring removal package so I'm wondering if Mimic Vat would be as bonkers in Karn as it is in other decks.

[GGoober]

I run mimic vat in my karn list, but you need a bunch of sac outlets (which should be played in EDH lists to avoid treachery and Hinder-effects).

You definitely need Helm of Possession in this deck. I personally focus on quite a number of sac outlets because I also run 1 Scarecrone for shenanigans with Sundering Titan, Forgemaster etc.

In my list I also go for Possessed Portal. Since I play Temporal Aperture, Bottled Cloister, Planar Portal, Phyrexian Portal, all these are quite backbreaking. I also play Skyship Weatherlight (Demonic Tutor in the deck together with Planar Portal). When paired up with Voltaic Key or Rings of Brighthearth or a Voltaic Construct with Karn in play and tons of mana, it's quite retarded.

[socialite]

I run mimic vat in my karn list, but you need a bunch of sac outlets (which should be played in EDH lists to avoid treachery and Hinder-effects).

You definitely need Helm of Possession in this deck. I personally focus on quite a number of sac outlets because I also run 1 Scarecrone for shenanigans with Sundering Titan, Forgemaster etc.

In my list I also go for Possessed Portal. Since I play Temporal Aperture, Bottled Cloister, Planar Portal, Phyrexian Portal, all these are quite backbreaking. I also play Skyship Weatherlight (Demonic Tutor in the deck together with Planar Portal). When paired up with Voltaic Key or Rings of Brighthearth or a Voltaic Construct with Karn in play and tons of mana, it's quite retarded.
I ran Helm for a while but dropped it. You make a decent argument for having it perhaps I will try it again.

Possessed Portal seems pretty good that was on my radar but I did not understand the card correctly till I read it for a 3rd time.

I have also run Skyship before it's great to animate it with Karn, bounce it back to you hand with Eratic Portal and recast it. I just found it to be really slow.

Right now I want to take out Thran Turbine and Myr Welder that leaves 2 slots to play with. Possessed Portal is in as the card seems really busted. What else - Helm?

[Ace/Homebrew]

Quicksilver Fountain will shut down any opponent playing 3 or more colors.
The lands remain Islands even if they can deal with the fountain.

Obviously not as strong a card against mono-colored strategies...

[socialite]

Quicksilver Fountain will shut down any opponent playing 3 or more colors.
The lands remain Islands even if they can deal with the fountain.

Obviously not as strong a card against mono-colored strategies...

Really slow I don't believe it's worth a spot.

Edit:

I was wrong about Tectonic Edge; just being able to hit that utility land is probably worth the slot. No one likes getting drained out by an unanswered Cabal Coffers.

[Scrubby]

Hey, I've been playing Karn a while and have a few suggestions:

Good Candidates

Cyclopean Tomb is great for picking off utility lands or cutting an opponent off from a color. It's the better and original quicksilver fountain.
Meekstone - you only have 3-4 creatures in your deck (including Karn) that would be affected by it. In the mean time, you animate your real army and swing into their desolate, tapped forces.
Mishra's Helix is pretty bomb.
Vedalkan Orrery and Shimmer Myr - create nice surprises. They're not for everyone's taste though.
If you're feeling spendy, Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale is absolutely pretty nice. Combined with the aforementioned Mishra's Helix and your Winter Orb has yielded amazing results.
If you're feeling super mean, Mycosynth Lattice and Worldslayer are backbreakers. They're also funsuckers tho :/

Not-So-Hots?

Kill Switch - Do you realize that this is a Karn deck? it seems that you're using this card to punch your opponents once in the face while punching yourself five times in the face.
Teferi's Puzzle Box - Does this really add cards to your situation? (search soul now)
Anvil of Bogardan - Same as above. Also, playing Karn, you should rarely have more than 7 cards in your hand. They should be out on the table. (more searching)
Thran Tome - Does this draw you the cards you want?
Well of Knowledge - I realize that you will usually have access to the most mana at the table, but do you really want to give that guy playing rofellos an out to dig like a mad man for his null rod?
I agree with the other guys about the Myr Welder and the Semblance Anvil. Welder has never really worked out for me either, and in the late game i want mana for activation costs more than for casting stuff.
Static Orb - i think it's tempting to want this card to be another winter orb, because it's so phenomenal for you and your artifact-mana-sneakyness. But it's not orb #2. It actually hoses you too. I'd reconsider its usefulness.
Mox Diamond - Hot in legacy, not so much in EDH. You'll have time to play your lands. perhaps something like worn powerstone or dreamstone hedron instead?

Nods

Twanos's Coffin - I never really read this one before. Nice, i'll have to try it out.
Bazaar of Baghdad - those are few and far between and they're dope to see in action. Nice work. personally i wouldn't include it in the land count, but however you like is cool.

[socialite]

Cyclopean Tomb is great for picking off utility lands or cutting an opponent off from a color. It's the better and original quicksilver fountain.
Meekstone - you only have 3-4 creatures in your deck (including Karn) that would be affected by it. In the mean time, you animate your real army and swing into their desolate, tapped forces.
Mishra's Helix is pretty bomb.
Vedalkan Orrery and Shimmer Myr - create nice surprises. They're not for everyone's taste though.
If you're feeling spendy, Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale is absolutely pretty nice. Combined with the aforementioned Mishra's Helix and your Winter Orb has yielded amazing results.
If you're feeling super mean, Mycosynth Lattice and Worldslayer are backbreakers. They're also funsuckers tho :/
Kill Switch - Do you realize that this is a Karn deck? it seems that you're using this card to punch your opponents once in the face while punching yourself five times in the face.
Teferi's Puzzle Box - Does this really add cards to your situation? (search soul now)
Anvil of Bogardan - Same as above. Also, playing Karn, you should rarely have more than 7 cards in your hand. They should be out on the table. (more searching)
Thran Tome - Does this draw you the cards you want?
Well of Knowledge - I realize that you will usually have access to the most mana at the table, but do you really want to give that guy playing rofellos an out to dig like a mad man for his null rod?
I agree with the other guys about the Myr Welder and the Semblance Anvil. Welder has never really worked out for me either, and in the late game i want mana for activation costs more than for casting stuff.
Static Orb - i think it's tempting to want this card to be another winter orb, because it's so phenomenal for you and your artifact-mana-sneakyness. But it's not orb #2. It actually hoses you too. I'd reconsider its usefulness.
Mox Diamond - Hot in legacy, not so much in EDH. You'll have time to play your lands. perhaps something like worn powerstone or dreamstone hedron instead?
Twanos's Coffin - I never really read this one before. Nice, i'll have to try it out.
Bazaar of Baghdad - those are few and far between and they're dope to see in action. Nice work. personally i wouldn't include it in the land count, but however you like is cool.

Cyclopean Tomb: Like Quicksilver Fountain it just seems so slow. I do like that you can target lands as you choose. I may try it.

Meekstone: I don't like that this still allows creatures to swing. In addition I find that cards like this are typically the first removed by artifact destruction quickly followed by an alpha strike. I play Ensnaring Bridge because it's the best of the best and actually stops them from swinging.

Mishra's Helix: I already play this.

Vedalkan Orrery: Could you give me an example of where this is worth the 4 Mana investment? While most of the deck is permanent based - playing them as instants doesn't seem like it would have much of an impact.

Shimmer Myr: Same as Orrery but worse.

Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale: I thought this was banned at first - I was wrong; this is going in.

Mycosynth Lattice: I already play this.

Worldslayer: Meh. Again not a lot of creatures - the ability is annoying - I already play Disk/Stone.

Kill Switch: Better than I believe you think it is. It's combotastic and helps lock down opponents fast mana.

Teferi's Puzzle Box: You should try this. It's really good at cycling through the deck to find combo/lock pieces whereas this totally screws with any decks that actually try to sculpt their hand and sandbag i.e. Clique.

Anvil of Bogardan: Howling Mine #2. Sucks that it feeds graveyards but not having to rely on top decks in Karn is pretty damn good. Digs for answers without an activation cost more relevant than you'd think. (Null Rod).

Thran Tome: Worst of the draw I run. Ends up being a mini FOF every turn and is fun for politicking in multiplayer.

Well of Knowledge: I make more mana than most (Gay Elf is banned). This is so much more broken for me. Not to mention a little group hug once and a while in a primarily prison based deck is nice.

Static Orb: You're right this isn't Winter Orb #2 it's better. I have a plethora of ways to tap this bad boy and shut it off for myself.

Mox Diamond: Good fast mana, I'd trade a land to be +1 land drops vs. my opponents any day.

Twanos's Coffin: I know right? Great defensive card for Karn as well.

Bazaar of Baghdad: Stated before but a beast with Uba Mask.

Thanks for the suggestions, keep it up.

Added a few more scans.

[vilik]

Hi.

I have several more suggestions / questions.




Teferi's Puzzle Box: You should try this. It's really good at cycling through the deck to find combo/lock pieces whereas this totally screws with any decks that actually try to sculpt their hand and sandbag i.e. Clique.



Hmmm. I admit I have not tested this, but it seems weak for taking a slot and essentially only filtering. I already have trouble fitting in everything I want.




Anvil of Bogardan: Howling Mine #2. Sucks that it feeds graveyards but not having to rely on top decks in Karn is pretty damn good. Digs for answers without an activation cost more relevant than you'd think. (Null Rod).



Same here. Actually probably every other deck I play against uses graveyard more than Karn, so I don't like this. I run Crystal Ball insted or this. Not great, but ok.




Thran Tome: Worst of the draw I run. Ends up being a mini FOF every turn and is fun for politicking in multiplayer.



I run Urza's Blueprints. The initial investment is high, but this bad boy is quite nutty with all the untap effects. Worst case scenario It's draw 2 for 6. Other colorless draw is Book of Rass.




Well of Knowledge: I make more mana than most (Gay Elf is banned). This is so much more broken for me. Not to mention a little group hug once and a while in a primarily prison based deck is nice.



I run this also and like it.




Static Orb: You're right this isn't Winter Orb #2 it's better. I have a plethora of ways to tap this bad boy and shut it off for myself.



Seconded.




Mox Diamond: Good fast mana, I'd trade a land to be +1 land drops vs. my opponents any day.



Too fair. Can't be animated by Karn. I'd still run Sisay's Ring / Ur-Golem's Eye




Bazaar of Baghdad: Stated before but a beast with Uba Mask.



Nice interaction. Missed this one. Damn you tho - now I have to shell out money on Bazaar :)

Questions:

How is Urzatron for you? I ran it but cut it for utility lands. I don't recall myself ever assembling it. If I have chance to tutor for land I always go for Workshop / Stripmine anyway.

How is Gemstone Caverns? Seems lackluster...

What is the reason to run Phyrexian Furnace over Relic of Progenitus?

What is the reason not to run Sensei's Divining Top?

Suggestions:

If you are really hardcore into locking the game, especially /w cards like Smokestack and Possessed Portal, I'd run more token producers like Springjack Pasture, Gods' Eye, Gate to the Reikai, Myr Battlesphere or maybe even Pentavus.

Cheers,
- Vilík

[socialite]

How is Urzatron for you? I ran it but cut it for utility lands. I don't recall myself ever assembling it. If I have chance to tutor for land I always go for Workshop / Stripmine anyway.

In my honest opinion the land list I presented in the opening post is the best possible combination for Karn. You could run more lands (all of which would be sub par due to the lack of more decent colorless lands) but I've found the number I'm currently at works for me and is close enough to the magic number of 37.

That being said despite the fact that you rarely assemble them the idea that you can makes Urza's lands better then any colorless producing land not in my list.


How is Gemstone Caverns? Seems lackluster...

Same as above - better than what's left; obviously when Caverns is in your opening hand it's even more solid.


What is the reason to run Phyrexian Furnace over Relic of Progenitus?

While Relic is great (I plan on running it in my sideboard along with Tormod's Crypt) I want a graveyard hate card in the main that is reusable as opposed to a one time use like Relic. In addition the Furnace also cycles.


What is the reason not to run Sensei's Divining Top?
I had it in for a while and took it out due to a lack of actual shuffle effects to compliment it. One could argue that it is still good at digging but if that's all I'm using it for why not run something that digs much better i.e. Puzzle Box.

-

About tokens: while they help with feeding some of the lock pieces, the majority of token producing cards are weak and more cute than good (I understand this is the main point of the format I just like my slots filled with good cards).

Smokestack is best used in conjunction with Spine of Ish Sah. (Set at 1 they lose 2 permanents a turn - 1 of their choice - 1 of yours, you lose Spine and replay it).

[vilik]

Smokestack is best used in conjunction with Spine of Ish Sah. (Set at 1 they lose 2 permanents a turn - 1 of their choice - 1 of yours, you lose Spine and replay it).


Nice. I actually missed this interaction also.

Well, seems like you have the deck pretty much polished out then. I don't really have anything else to add ATM.

GL

- Vilik

[socialite]

Nice. I actually missed this interaction also.

Well, seems like you have the deck pretty much polished out then. I don't really have anything else to add ATM.

GL

- Vilik

Thank you.

The OP has been updated to reflect current changes.

[Scrubby]

I've found some usefulness with Vedalkan Orrery and Shimmer Myr popping in an end-of-turn Nev's disk or Mirror Universe. Usually their best worth is playing my whole hand at the end of their turn, Karn as well, then surprise swing/ bust out/whatever. Obviously there are enough great artifact strategies out there and you may be going for a different, more controlling one. Null Brooch is ok...I also run Al-abara's Carpet, which is occasionally a cool surprise to an otherwise-deadly attack.

ps - how has mirrorworks worked out for you? i've been considering it but haven't brought myself to take out something else for it.

pps - have you considered doubling cube?

[socialite]

ps - how has mirrorworks worked out for you? i've been considering it but haven't brought myself to take out something else for it.

pps - have you considered doubling cube?

Mirrorworks is pretty busted; 2 mana copy of any card in the deck. Not sure what else to say.

Doubling Cube was on my radar but it seemed like overkill. I know a lot of people who are in love with it but none of their decks already produce the amount of mana this deck does once it gets going. I'll let you know if I try it.

[GGoober]

Yeah Mirrorworks is shenannigans, and one of the best cards in the deck. I once copied two Possessed Portal on turn 6. Was pretty backbreaking. I had a Temporal Aperture in play so I was able to survive my own Possessed Portal, since Temporal Aperture + Mirrorworks kept my permanent count up as well. note that Possessed Portal says: At the end of EACH player's turn, EACH player sacs a permanent unless he/she discards a card. If you're playing a multiplayer game, it's a hyper smokestack clearing the board while Karn's the only deck that can keep churning stuff and drawing tons of cards.

Another time, I copied Memory Jar, you can imagine how that game went. lol

I have Vedalken Orrery in my build, and it's underwhelming. It's coming out for Karn Planeswalker.

Never played Spine of Ishy-Ashy but that's sick, also note that you can animate it with Karn and sac it to a sac outlet and reuse it. Karn is a deck that needs sac outlets, it's the deck's only defense against other decks since you don't play instants/sorceries. Everything in your yard is better than they gaining control of your shit or removing things from the game.

When EDH unbans Metalworker, I'll take the format a little more seriously. Right now, it's a joke that such a narrow card is being banned (he only works in Karn/Dagson/Sharum decks, nothing else), and seriously he dies to everything, and if your opponents don't counter him or StP him, it's their fault for letting a 3-mana spell through. It's not like Rofellos is banned (as a non-general) because he's completely unfair in forest.dec.

[socialite]

Never played Spine of Ishy-Ashy but that's sick, also note that you can animate it with Karn and sac it to a sac outlet and reuse it.

Yup. It's a great card.

I'm not sure what I'm going to cut for Karn, the Released. :(

[vilik]

If the full spoiler for NPH at http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=317624 is legit, we need to make room for Unwinding Clock.

- Vilik

Edit: And I will probably run Phyrexia's Core as an additional protective sac outlet.

[GGoober]

Granted it's a symmetrical effect to everyone, it does shut off card drawing from blue players and serves as a 2nd Uba Mask effect. Thoughts?
Basically Karn is all permanents.dec, so you would most likely benefit from this.

Omen Machine
6
Artifact Rare
Players can't draw cards.
At the beginning of each player's draw step, that player exiles the top card of his or her library. If it's a land card, the player puts it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, the player casts it without paying its mana cost if able.

And Unwinding Clock is going in for sure, busted as hell.

This is also going in, can't believe you guys didn't catch it:

Land Uncommon
{T}: Add 1 to your mana pool.

1,{T} , Sacrifice an artifact: You gain 1 life.
Another sac outlet without the foil being $40 (cough cough High Market)


And wtf is this? This looks like a super fun card to play:

Soul Conduit
6
Artifact Rare
6,{T} : Two target players exchange life totals.

lmao.

[vilik]

This is also going in, can't believe you guys didn't catch it:

Land Uncommon
{T}: Add 1 to your mana pool.

1,{T} , Sacrifice an artifact: You gain 1 life.
Another sac outlet without the foil being $40 (cough cough High Market)





Edit: And I will probably run Phyrexia's Core as an additional protective sac outlet.

[socialite]

I wouldn't run Omen Machine in my build at least as I'm primary going the prison route. Allowing them to cast their spells for free is counter productive. Unwinding Clock and Phyrexian Core are in for sure though I'm not certain what to cut yet.

Few updates

Pithing Needle out - Karn, the Released in. Pithing Needle was only good in corner cases vs. certain generals - while Karn is somewhat underwhelming a non artifact Vindicate effect that works upon coming into play is still better.

Lux Cannon out - Steel Hellkite in. Lux Cannon was getting removed far too much and was really only fast enough if I had an untap effect on the board. Hellkite removes all sorts of junk and is a win condition rolled into one; firebreathing on this guy is significantly underrated this guy is easily 10+ power a swing.

[mrjumbo03]

Why no Mox Opal in the list? It's even better than Mox Diamond in this deck...

Also, I'd think Temple Bell would be better than howling mine in this deck considering you run Rings of Brightearth, Voltaic Key and when NPH is released, Unwinding Clock...

Also, I don't understand the reasoning of Phyrexian Furnace over Relic of Progenitus, Relic is reusable too...

Lastly, are the 2 equipments really needed despite having only a few creatures?

Other than those, sick deck my friend!

[socialite]

Why no Mox Opal in the list? It's even better than Mox Diamond in this deck...

I like when my acceleration actually accelerates rather then starting offline and becoming active once I have already cast 2 permanents.


Also, I'd think Temple Bell would be better than howling mine in this deck considering you run Rings of Brightearth, Voltaic Key and when NPH is released, Unwinding Clock...

2 vs. 3 mana. I would rather spend my untap effects on better things. Howling Mine is rarely symmetrical when you can attack with it and tap it down by a number of different methods.


Also, I don't understand the reasoning of Phyrexian Furnace over Relic of Progenitus, Relic is reusable too...

Exile the bottom card of target player's graveyard vs. Target player exiles a card from his or her graveyard.

I'd prefer if I eventually removed that Genesis rather than never.


Lastly, are the 2 equipments really needed despite having only a few creatures?

Indestructible artifacts are very underrated as Karn animation targets and prevents him from getting Wrath'd off the board etc etc. Grieves provides necessary cover for Karn and utility creatures like Arbiter.

[GGoober]

I did not realize that Howling Mine only functioned untapped. Straight into my list! Although it would require me to change my playstyle on playing Karn earlier (see below).

I personally don't play any equipments in my list (another +2 slot). The reason being. I only play Karn when I'm going in for the win in 1-2 turns, or when I have almost locked my opponents out of interactions i.e. playing spheres/Land-D/Smokestacks etc.

The great part of Karn, whether 1v1 or multiplayer, is blanking and being immune to all the creature-removal your opponent plays. When I do get to strike with Karn, I'll have a buttload of artifacts in play and a ton of mana so unless they Grip Karn, I'll be able to animate most things and go in for the win, rinse repeat playing Karn if he does get removed next turn for another swing.

Just playstyle, I've felt the need for Greaves and other equipments to be unnecessary in this deck.

[socialite]

Drastic changes! After some games I've decided to rethink my approach regarding the current list.

Pulling a few cards:
Helm of Awakening (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Helm%20of%20Awakening) Counterproductive to the primary form of disruption.
Semblance Anvil (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Semblance%20Anvil) After a few games I've come to the conclusion that Imprint is the suck.
Scroll Rack (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Scroll%20Rack) Just like Top this thing is nigh underwhelming without shuffle effects.
Karn, the Released (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Karn,%20the%20Released) Yeah he looks cool - Shahrazad effect is bogus and Spine puts him to shame.
Kill Switch (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Kill%20Switch) Great combo with lattice dick - even more dick when people steal it from you.
Darksteel Plate (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Darksteel%20Plate) They shouldn't be playing spells and if they are you can just recast Karn.
Lightning Greaves (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Lightning%20Greaves) See Darksteel Plate - tuck effects suck balls - oh well gotta learn to deal, right?
Silent Arbiter (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Silent%20Arbiter) Fucks with alpha strikes - Artifact + Creature - so easy to remove, bye.

That leaves 8 slots open.

In regards to focus it has come to my attention that Karn is far better suited for 1v1 due to the nature, function, and form of the deck. In addition most groups just hate you out when they see your general and (rightfully so) assume prison deck.

With that in mind I've decided to revisit the idea of sphere effects in the list. To be honest I initially dismissed sphere effects in EDH as a format. My belief at the time was that sphere effects by design only work effectively in conjunction with other lock pieces/more sphere effects. Extrapolating from that belief I felt a 100 card singleton list would cause consistency issues i.e. dropping a sphere and not being able to follow it up with an appropriate lock piece. In addition I felt that in a format of mana ramp and huge bombs the addition of 1CC to a spell would be shrugged off by the majority of the decks out there.

After having a small conversation with Carlos from COMMANDERCAST sphere effects are a go. He made some decent counterpoints which are roughly highlighted below.


In a cutthroat environment, decks are designed to be hyper efficient. Curves are usually pretty low and decks have a very specific plan that they're trying to execute. It's important to keep in mind that you're changing the other deck's plan by at least one turn. Potentially more if they were counting on playing multiple spells in a single turn - so while it's a time walk at first inspection - it could throw people off by two or more turns.The following list includes the four spheres and cards that compliment the effect on what I believe to be a relevant level.

Crucible of Worlds
Dust Bowl
Ghost Quarter
Lodestone Golem
Mirrorworks
Mishra’s Helix
Mycosynth Lattice
Possessed Portal
Rishadan Port
Sculpting Steel
Smokestack
Sphere of Resistance
Spine of Ish Sah
Static Orb
Steel Hellkite
Storage Matrix
Strip Mine
Sundering Titan
Tangle Wire
Tectonic Edge
Thorn of Amethyst
Trinisphere
Wasteland
Winter Orb

The synergy is there and it takes up roughly one fourth of the deck which will hopefully alleviate any consistency issues. Planar Portal and Kuldotha Forgemaster will also help with density issues.

With four sphere effects added this leaves four more slots.

From New Phyrexia:
Unwinding Clock
Possibly Phyrexia's Core

Ring of Gix would be a great addition to the disruption package.

As Unwinding Clock brings us up to four untap effects I'd like to try Urza's Blueprints as an additional draw engine.

Doubling Cube as additional ramp.

Changes will be updated in the OP list.

[GGoober]

Helm of Awakening Counterproductive to the primary form of disruption.
Semblance Anvil After a few games I've come to the conclusion that Imprint is the suck.
Scroll Rack Just like Top this thing is nigh underwhelming without shuffle effects.
Karn, the Released Yeah he looks cool - Shahrazad effect is bogus and Spine puts him to shame.
Kill Switch Great combo with lattice dick - even more dick when people steal it from you.
Darksteel Plate They shouldn't be playing spells and if they are you can just recast Karn.
Lightning Greaves See Darksteel Plate - tuck effects suck balls - oh well gotta learn to deal, right?
Silent Arbiter Fucks with alpha strikes - Artifact + Creature - so easy to remove, bye.

Yeah I mentioned Semblance Anvil, Helm, Equipments to be subpar in the deck. Greaves is just so good but in a deck like Karn, you're usually 1-2 hitting opponents that you don't give a crap. I play Darksteel and Blightsteel which by themselves have some form of removal immunity outside of exile effect.

I never wanted to venture into the Kill Switch + Lattice shenanigans. I also never tested scroll rack since I assumed my hand was going to be empty most of the games.

I forgot about Ring of Gix, but I'm surprised you're not playing Icy Manipulator. AS much as power creep and spells has gone up tremendously these few years, Icy Manipulator is still the same old powerful annoying flexible tool that gets everything. I'll have to play Ring of Gix to up to x2 Icy effects. I've never tried Doubling Cube, could be very strong.

The way I play Karn is accelerants and draw, and untap effects (everyone should play Karn this way). Just toss out a ton of board development, draw more cards, and then smash in. I'll post my list sometime soon, but for most parts you have the ideal list right there. I just don't have time to play and sort through my EDH decks. Also since my playgroup is primarily casual, I avoid playing too many powerful cards.

I do have a question: How does Karn beat Clique and Zur in 1v1 competitive games? Icy Manipulator is great here again. AGainst Zur I can only imagine trying to tax them out with striplands.

[socialite]

Yeah I mentioned Semblance Anvil, Helm, Equipments to be subpar in the deck. Greaves is just so good but in a deck like Karn, you're usually 1-2 hitting opponents that you don't give a crap. I play Darksteel and Blightsteel which by themselves have some form of removal immunity outside of exile effect.

I never wanted to venture into the Kill Switch + Lattice shenanigans. I also never tested scroll rack since I assumed my hand was going to be empty most of the games.

I forgot about Ring of Gix, but I'm surprised you're not playing Icy Manipulator. AS much as power creep and spells has gone up tremendously these few years, Icy Manipulator is still the same old powerful annoying flexible tool that gets everything. I'll have to play Ring of Gix to up to x2 Icy effects. I've never tried Doubling Cube, could be very strong.

The way I play Karn is accelerants and draw, and untap effects (everyone should play Karn this way). Just toss out a ton of board development, draw more cards, and then smash in. I'll post my list sometime soon, but for most parts you have the ideal list right there. I just don't have time to play and sort through my EDH decks. Also since my playgroup is primarily casual, I avoid playing too many powerful cards.

I do have a question: How does Karn beat Clique and Zur in 1v1 competitive games? Icy Manipulator is great here again. AGainst Zur I can only imagine trying to tax them out with striplands.

Icy is going to go in once I find something to cut for it. Ring of Gix has won me games because it could come down and activate a turn faster where I would have been dead which is why I put it in over Icy.

I'll get back to you once I play more games against Zur and I haven't found someone in my area who plays Clique.

Also, thank you for your suggestions. I've always had better luck testing things on my own as opposed to just listening to people no offense.