Always? It doesn't seem like five mana for two power fits this deck very well.

Does a Maga-ball really count as general damage? I thought since the card said the player "loses life" it wouldn't count as damage.

The 21 damage that he drains when he comes into play won't make someone lose (some of the time), but the 21 damage that he deals when he attacks next turn will.

I made a version of the Maga deck and I absolutely love playing with it. It's not nearly as powerful as most good EDH decks because they simply run better cards, but it's a total blast to play. I took a lot of your suggestions on the cards I considered "iffy" and they've worked out great. How would you improve the deck if you took away the budget restrictions? Would a lot of mass removal make the deck (Damnation, Mutilate, Decree of Pain all seem good) or would you keep a lot of spot removal and try to play fatter creatures?

So far I've liked Puppeteer Clique as a graveyard hoser that can get you some powerful comes-into-play effects at times or simply find a big dude to bash with for a turn. More card drawing seems good too and for that I like Phyrexian Arena and Mind's Eye. Some big dudes that seem good might be dread, mortivore, and visara the dreadful (off the top of my head). blood speaker also combos with stronghold overseer, tombstalker, reiver demon and others.

Thoughts?

Glad you like it!

Your comments all seem pretty accurate. I normally play multiplayer, so if I decided to upgrade the deck, I would definitely include Kagemaro (who also works quite well with Blood Speaker), Damnation, Decree of Pain, Nevinyrral's Disk and Oblivion Stone right away.

Next in would be card advantage engines. Draw is great, like you said. I find myself tutoring for Phyrexian Etchings in most of my games. Therefore, Mind's Eye, Phyrexian Arena and Necropotence would be thrown in next.

I'm not sure whether or not I'd go with the big dudes plan. They hit hard, and you definitely have the mana to play them, but going in that direction would fundamentally change the nature of the deck (it might be better after all, though). Right now, the deck is focussed on recurring smaller utility guys over and over, and I like that. Since Maga doesn't usually need help from another creature, I'd probably leave that part of the deck the way it is.

Other cards I might throw in: Sol Ring, Demonic Tutor, Urborg Tomb, Volrath's Stronghold, Liliana Vess, Oversold Cemetery, Profane Command, and a smattering of bomby creatures to replace jank like Helldozer and Grotesque Hybrid

I KNOW you didn't just call Helldozer "jank"...

I think I might cry.

Actually, you got me. Since I wrote that comment, I've completely revised my opinion. Helldozer is actually just too good (especially in a deck that makes the hedonistic amount of mana that Maga does). I'm posting just to say this.

If you're playing mono-black and you want to win, play Helldozer. It's actually better than Myojin of Night's Reach.

That's why I took him out. I wanted to reduce the rare count, and he wasn't as much fun. Actually, he's a ton of fun, but not when you're spamming him to his maximum potential. I'm happy to limit myself while deckbuilding, but doing so in-game feels bad.

Where is Angus?

Commander Karn, Silver Golem AKA Swiss Army Golem

Artifact Creatures (6)

Metalworker
Metalwork Colossus
Mindless Automaton
Platinum Angel
Steel Hellkite
Walking Ballista

Artifacts (49)

Aetherworks Marvel
Akroma's Memorial
Basalt Monolith
Blinkmoth Urn
Candelabra of Tawnos
Contagion Clasp
Contagion Engine
Crawlspace
Darksteel Forge
Doubling Cube
Dreamstone Hedron
Erratic Portal
Everflowing Chalice
Expedition Map
Farsight Mask
Fractured Powerstone
Gonti's Aether Heart
Hedron Archive
Howling Mine
Kyren Toy
Loreseeker's Stone
Magistrate's Scepter
Mangara's Tome
Mind Stone
Mirage Mirror
Mirrorworks
Nevinyrral's Disk
Paradox Engine
Planar Bridge
Portcullis
Powerstone Shard
Prismatic Lens
Pristine Talisman
Prototype Portal
Sensei's Divining Top
Serum Tank
Sisay's Ring
Skyship Weatherlight
Sol Ring
Spine of Ish Sah
Sunset Pyramid
Tamiyo's Journal
The Chain Veil
Thought Vessel
Thran Dynamo
Throne of Geth
Ur-Golem's Eye
Urza's Blueprints
Worn Powerstone

Planeswalkers (4)

Karn Liberated
Karn, Scion of Urza
Ugin, the Ineffable
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Lands (40)

Arch of Orazca
Blast Zone
Buried Ruin
City of Shadows
City of Traitors
Cloudpost
Crystal Vein
Darksteel Citadel
Deserted Temple
Dust Bowl
Encroaching Wastes
Eye of Ugin
Field of Ruin
Geier Reach Sanitarium
Glimmerpost
Inventors' Fair
Karn's Bastion
Mage-Ring Network
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
Mystifying Maze
Nephalia Academy
Petrified Field
Phyrexia's Core
Reliquary Tower
Rishadan Port
Sea Gate Wreckage
Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
Strip Mine
Tectonic Edge
Temple of the False God
Thespian's Stage
Urza's Mine
Urza's Power Plant
Urza's Tower
Vesuva
Wasteland
Wastes x3
Zhalfirin Void


This deck started when a friend and I were brainstorming new EDH deck ideas and thought, Karn would be stupid because you couldn't even use basic lands (at the time, prior to OGW). I built it for the lolz. It immediately was quite powerful due to the smash face of a jillion artifacts that can walk and the abundance of colorless mana from Everflowing Chalice/Contagion Engine. I loved using the Prototype Portal to copy everything, Platinum Angel and Contagion Engine being kinda fun, Pristine Talisman being useful, etc. Karn is a relatively innocuous leader as he rarely has a positive power, but he makes other artifacts nasty. The current incarnation of the deck has so many ways to win that it is fun figuring out the secret until it is "My Turn" then no one else has fun anymore. Then it is time to break out the zombies and give everyone a chance. This deck is now my "Nuclear Option".

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