[MTG][EDH]Karlov of the Ghost Council

[TAG]

'Ol Flame-o's been busting my chops with getting my deck online for suggestions, so I figure what the hell.

 

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/karlov-smash/

 

Currently, the only card I'm seeking to get for the deck is Eight-And-A-Half Tails.

 

The main object of the deck is to get many 1-point lifegain triggers quickly to get Karlov big enough to kill via commander damage in 1-2 hits, then give Karlov some form of evasion to bypass enemy defenses and win the game.

 

Some things I've noticed with the deck while playing:

-A game that gets out Soul Warden or Soul's Attendant turn 1 is very prone to spiral in my favor if either of those cards are not dealt with.  Those two, along with Auriok Champion (even if I can't get it out turn 1), are probably the shining stars in terms of life gain, even if they are not necessarily out turn 1-2.  Games that start with a Turn 1 Soul Warden/Soul's Attendant and Turn 2 Karlov are WILDLY different from games that do not have a turn 1 Soul Warden/Soul's Attendant.

 

-Cards that gain me a huge ball of life in one shot are nice, but they don't really go with the deck's game plan, as Karlov gets two +1/+1 counters regardless of how much life I gain in a single instance.

 

-Unsurprisingly, the deck kinda flounders if the vast majority of my life gain is at the bottom of the deck (which has happened once), as I am betting everything on my commander and thus need the life gain to make Karlov big enough to kill.  I can deal with some of the evasion being a bit far down into the deck, but I need the life gain.

 

-Almost all of my removal is exile-based and can hit enchantments for one reason and one reason only: Erebos, which prevents me from gaining life as long as my opponent controls him, which in turn effectively shuts down my deck.  I guess in the off-chance that someone has something else to prevent life gain or, I dunno, casts Nevermore or something random like that, I have answers for that too, but the primary reason to have so much stuff that can exile enchantments is to deal with Erebos, which I consider one of the biggest threats to my deck.

 

Cards I'm not above cutting:

 

Angelic Accord - I initially put this to sorta benefit from the life gain on the side, but I find that it hasn't been doing me much good.  While I'm gaining a nice amount of life throughout the game, I'm not sure I'm consistently hitting 4+ a turn enough to really warrant this card.  If I get Karlov up and running, then I don't really need this card.  If I don't get Karlov up and running, this card doesn't really make the situation much better.

Patron of the Kitsune - I've found that neither this nor its enchantment equivalent (Righteous Cause) has been doing much for me, but I still feel like there's room for one of them.  If I had to cut one of them, I'd cut Patron first, as it's more susceptible to removal and costs one more mana than Righteous Cause.

 

Bloodchief Ascension - Attempts at using this card has shown me that it's difficult to get counters onto the card on my own, and I haven't had much luck in getting my opponents to put counters on it for me.  It has not impressed me, and I certainly wouldn't object to cutting it for something more reliable.

 

Opal Palace - I'm finding that I'm not needing to cast him from my command zone as frequently as I expected, and as such, it does not seem like the Opal Palace's secondary ability is as powerful as I would have thought.

 

So yeah, this is basically what I've figured out so far, and any suggestions you guys might have would be welcome.

[Sixty]

test of endurance for more alt win? probably cut a card from you cut list

[TAG]

test of endurance for more alt win? probably cut a card from you cut list 

I've yet to successfully win via Felidar Sovereign, and that only requires 40 life.  On the upside, Test of Endurance only costs 4 mana to play as opposed to 6 and isn't susceptible to creature removal like Felidar Sovereign.  On the minus side, I find it harder to maintain 50+ life than 40+ life, which would make it harder to justify running.  I dunno, Felidar admittedly doesn't thrill me (I more run it in the chance that I might win by accident), and ToE doesn't do too much for me either.  If my deck were more geared towards gaining a million life at a time as opposed to multiple +1 life triggers, I'd be more likely to consider it.