Ghave - In the Spirit of Teysa Karlov

[Nimbaway]

Welcome to the thread about what is currently my Main EDH Deck

GHAVE, GURU of SPORES
In the Spirit of Teysa Karlov

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This deck was initially designed to be a Teysa Karlov list, but in piecing something together for her I was lacking a few cards in my collection and simply desired a bit more ramp effects as well. So adding green to her put me in the search for an alternative Commander to helm the deck and Ghave, Guru of Spores was in the spirit of what I wanted to be doing: tokens and combos with death involved.

I've opted to not go full on Ghave tech with the deck though, mainly focusing on dying triggers to go with Teysa and a minor subtheme involving spirit tokens. Flyers were often a bane to my decks, so this helps mitigate that weakness a tad bit. The other reason not to go mass tokens or all out combo with this deck is simply because it's being done in my playgroup already, this allows me to play a more unique version of Ghave and have the fun I'd like to have.

The big elephant, or rather beast, in the room is the inclusion of Protean Hulk. I'm not going to lie in that it generally does set up a potential win, but I've not built the deck around the card either. The amount of tutors in the deck is limited so it's not something I consistently have access to, and so far in a lot of situations I've been desiring fetching other cards over it. Even when I do play out Hulk, I tried to keep it so that certain combos need more than what it can put on the board. Sometimes those missing pieces might be already on the board when I play it, giving my opponents some time to interact. It's only when Teysa Karlov is on the board that things get nuts.

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Decklist

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander

1 Ghave, Guru of Spores

Creature

1 Ant Queen

1 Avacyn's Pilgrim

1 Birds of Paradise

1 Blood Artist

1 Carrion Feeder

1 Corpse Knight

1 Cruel Celebrant

1 Elves of Deep Shadow

1 Eternal Witness

1 Good-Fortune Unicorn

1 Grim Haruspex

1 Incubation Druid

1 Jade Mage

1 Knight of Autumn

1 Leonin Relic-Warder

1 Lesser Masticore

1 Ministrant of Obligation

1 Orzhov Enforcer

1 Plague Engineer

1 Protean Hulk

1 Sakura-Tribe Elder

1 Seraph of the Scales

1 Teysa Karlov

1 Tithe Taker

1 Viscera Seer

1 Weaponcraft Enthusiast

1 Whisper, Blood Liturgist

1 Zulaport Cutthroat

Artifact

1 Ashnod's Altar

1 Chromatic Lantern

1 Nim Deathmantle

1 Skullclamp

1 Sol Ring

1 Spawning Pit

1 Thornbite Staff

Instant

1 Anguished Unmaking

1 Assassin's Trophy

1 Eladamri's Call

1 Enlightened Tutor

1 Kaya's Guile

1 Krosan Grip

1 Swords to Plowshares

Enchantment

1 Animate Dead

1 Anointed Procession

1 Aura Shards

1 Cathars' Crusade

1 Cryptolith Rite

1 Dance of the Dead

1 Dictate of Erebos

1 Divine Visitation

1 Doubling Season

1 Phyrexian Arena

1 Martyr's Bond

1 Necrogenesis

1 Smothering Tithe

1 Sylvan Library

Sorcery

1 Cultivate

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Diabolic Intent

1 Martial Coup

1 Nature's Lore

1 Skyshroud Claim

Planeswalker

1 Liliana, Dreadhorde General

Land

1 Bojuka Bog

1 Brushland

1 Buried Ruin

1 Canopy Vista

1 Command Tower

1 Exotic Orchard

1 Field of the Dead

5 Forest

1 Godless Shrine

1 Hall of Heliod's Generosity

1 High Market

1 Isolated Chapel

1 Jund Panorama

1 Krosan Verge

1 Mana Confluence

1 Murmuring Bosk

1 Opal Palace

1 Overgrown Tomb

2 Plains

1 Sandsteppe Citadel

1 Sunpetal Grove

5 Swamp

1 Tainted Wood

1 Temple Garden

1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

1 Windswept Heath

1 Woodland Cemetery

Approximate Total Cost:

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Currently there is one card on this list that I do want to address in why it's being included (for now). Divine Visitation is a bit of a pet card in the deck and it takes up my one pet card per deck slot. It's not an optimal solution and probably something I should cut, but there are times it simply does some fun stuff.

Change Log

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July 19th, 2020
+ Corpse Knight
+ Field of the Dead
+ Thornbite Staff
- Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
- Butcher of Malakir
- Plains

[Nimbaway]

Made my Core Set 2020 update to the deck, which only added two new cards for the deck. Corpse Knight is simply another finisher in that it has a way to deal damage when going through a loop. Field of the Dead is something I'm testing out, the CIPT on it is not so great but occasionally a game drags out and this puts something on the board. So am going to see how it performs in the deck.

Another 'strange' inclusion I made is Thornbite Staff which opens up some lines as well, mainly with Whisper, Blood Liturgist and Incubation Druid. Though it could be an awkward draw in some situations.

Still considering one change. I feel I'm not running that many creatures and have a higher enchantment count, so been considering switching Dictate of Erebos out for Butcher of Malakir. The only reasons I've not done so yet is CMC and Butcher being more vulnerable to removal. two things which are definitely notable.