I love a good two mana commander. I also love Orzhov. White and Black go so well together. Gain a ton of life and then spend it on anything you want. This is a fun little, slightly Tron-ish deck. I have so much fun playing this one, win or lose.
Life's About the Little Things
This deck is all about lots of tiny life gain. Each time you gain a life, Karlov gets two +1/+1 counters. It's pretty amazing how fast his commander damage can add up. Here's how we go about gaining lots of small life gains.
The total life you get from Soul Warden isn't as important as how often you gain life. With 3 other players playing creatures, you can often gain life at least 3 times before it's your turn again, netting Karlov +6/+6.
I love it when a commander makes a card that seems irrelevant in commander relevant again. Having a guaranteed life gain every turn speeds up the clock on Karlov as a threat, and in a pinch, it's some card draw.
The tax man is a great commander on his own, though you'll often draw the ire of the rest of the table before he even comes out. No one likes taxes. But when he's in the 99, at least they only hate you once he's out. That life gain adds up quick and so does Karlov's strength.
There's no I in Team
This deck can't just be about Karlov. We need to have some other heavy hitters with the same interaction so we can get multiple threats going at once and insulate against our commander being targeted.
Again, another star of this deck that you rarely see in commander. I loved drafting this guy. He'll get big half as fast as Karlov and give you another threat to press or a blocker to keep you safe so Karlov can swing in there for commander damage.
Why can't everybody on your team grow like Karlov? Archangel of thune can arrange that, with some lifelink to boot to gain you extra life and get even more counters on your team.
What You Gonna Do With All That Life
Even incidental life gain can add up. Winning at 1 life and winning at 50 life are both the same so let's spend some of it.
I don't know how many games I've managed to win with Bolas' Citadel. Once it's out, I can dig for solutions to whatever problems I have. The tap ability is a great closer too.
K'rrik is another way to spend life to cast half the cards in this deck. And he can even get big and get you some of it back with lifelink
Once you're paying all this life, why not draw some cards for it. Vilis is too pricey for a main commander, but in this deck, with K'rrik or Bolas out we can get him into play for pretty low price (manawise) then draw draw draw as we pay life for things. Hello Valuetown.
Karlov, Fashion Plate
Our commander is going to be an early lightning rod once he comes out and starts swinging on turn 3. We need to keep him in the finest gear to keep him going. Of course we're packing lightning greaves, but here's more from his closet.
Darksteel plate will keep him safe from destroy effects and board wipes
Basilisk collar gives him deathtouch so opponents will not be eager to block him. The lifelink also gives him more counters each combat too.
Strata Scythe will get Karlov big and quick. Cause how often do you run into other players playing swamps?
This deck is one of my favorite Orzhov decks and really showcases how powerful life gain can be as a mechanic. It's come out of nowhere to win games with Exsanguinate and Debt of the Deathless. It's also slowly worn down my enemies with extort. All reasons why white/black is my favorite color pair.