Karador, Ghost Chieftain

[Azrael]

This is my current Karador list. The core idea is working ok, but it needs some optimization.

Plan A is tutoring up Hermit Druid. From there, you reanimate stuff with Karador, Dread Return, and Unburial Rites, doing something like Sun Titan into Lighting Greaves into Kessig Cagebreaker, or Craterhoof Behemoth.

Plan B is rebel chain with Mirror Entity. Rebel chain is also a pretty reliable supply of removal, thanks to Bound in Silence and Big Game Hunter.

It has a number of options to freeze people out from doing nasty things to it, such as Gaddock Teeg and Sun Titan/Contamination lock.

I'm aiming to get Diabolic Intent for it.

I need to figure out whether Worm Harvest is good enough, consider Crucible of Worlds and/or Life from the Loam for a land destruction lockout, Grave Titan *probably* needs in, and see if I can pack in any more card draw (maybe Greater Good, but so many of my guys
are smaller). Stoneforge Mystic/Sword of Fire and Ice is a possibility, not sure if it's good enough/fast enough.

The rebel chain is a pretty decent mana sink, and it will inevitably kill people if not stopped or raced, but it's a tad on the slow side if my mana development goes slowly. That might speed up if I pack in more ways to ramp up, such as tutors for Gaea's Cradle. On the other hand, I also want to make sure my creature count says nice and high for Karador.

Questionable slots are asterisked.

Updated: 5/6/13

[deck]
1 Karador, Ghost Chieftain

1 Sakura Tribe Scout
1 Skyshroud Ranger
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Hermit Druid
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Bloom Tender
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Blight Speaker
1 Defiant Falcon
1 Amrou Scout
1 Big Game Hunter
1 Mirror Entity
1 Lin Sivvi
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Eternal Witness
1 Krosan Restorer
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Academy Rector
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Kessig Cagebreakers
1 Sun Titan
1
Grave Titan
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Craterhoof Behemoth

1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Doubling Cube
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Expedition Map
1 Crucible of Worlds

1 Garruk Wildspeaker

1 Worldly Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Necrologia
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Moonlight Bargain
1 Enlightened Tutor

1 Exploration
1 Animate Dead
1 Necromancy
1 Bound in Silence
1 Contamination
1 Overgrowth
1 Mirari's Wake
1 Mana Reflection

1 Sylvan Scrying
1 Life from the Loam
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Promise of Power
1 Dread Return
1 Harmonize
1 Unburial Rite
1 Ambition's Cost

1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Homeward Path
1 Wasteland
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Strip Mine
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Barren Moor
1 Savannah
1 Scrubland
1 Bayou
1 Temple Garden
1 Godliness Shrine
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Marsh Flats
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Windswept Heath
1 Polluted Delta
1
Arid Mesa
1 Flooded Strand
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Command Tower
1 Fetid Heath
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Twilight Mire
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 Swamp
1 Plains
2 Forest
[/deck]

[Azrael]

Threw in Weathered Wayfarer, Grave Titan, Crucible, Life from the Loam, Myr Battlesphere, Sakura Tribe Scout, Skyshroud Ranger. (Cut Sheoldred, Night's Whisper, Stone-Seeder, Dance of the Dead, Worm Harvest, Reanimate, Altar of Bones)

Really unsure about some of those picks. I'm wondering about trying to squeeze in Sylvan Scrying and Expedition Map in particular, since those are good at tutoring both Gaea's Cradle for Plan B, and Strip Mine and co. for Plan C, with Life from the Loam and Crucible.

But, I also want to make sure I can go fast. Lots of tough choices to balance.

Kind of feel like I need somewhere else to cut, since Gaea's Cradle will be much better with Grave Titan and Battlesphere added in, and the land destruction plan will be much better with more land tutors.

Maybe I do something weird like cut Victimize and something else.

[Manasjap]

You could consider dropping the lonely Sword of Feast and Famine, it's a great card of course but I'm not sure how many times you'll be able to just swing with a dude to make it work effectively.

[Azrael]

You could consider dropping the lonely Sword of Feast and Famine, it's a great card of course but I'm not sure how many times you'll be able to just swing with a dude to make it work effectively.

Think so? There's a pretty high creature quotient, and it's a pretty mana hungry deck.

I cut Doubling Cube for similar reasons; by the time it would be effective, the game is probably about to end.