Carth the Lion
BGLegendary Creature — Human Warrior

Carth the Lion

Mana value4EDHREC#6,806

The Commander

Whenever Carth enters or a planeswalker you control dies, look at the top seven cards of your library. You may reveal a planeswalker card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.

Planeswalkers' loyalty abilities you activate cost an additional [+1] to activate.

Guide

Gameplan

Carth turns planeswalkers into a value engine: he tutors planeswalkers from the top seven on ETB and on every superfriend's death, and he pumps every loyalty ability by +1 so your planeswalkers ult faster and stay safe. Deploy ramp early, drop Carth turn four, then chain planeswalkers each turn for card advantage and board control until you reach an ultimate or overwhelming value. The game plan is grind: out-card and out-board everyone, then close with a powered-up ultimate or an army of tokens.

Strengths

  • Relentless card advantage that refills with every planeswalker cast or death
  • The +1 to loyalty abilities makes ultimates trivially reachable and keeps walkers alive
  • Deep, redundant tutoring smooths draws and finds answers or threats
  • Plays a long grindy game few decks can match for raw value
  • Recovers from board wipes by rebuilding planeswalker presence

Weaknesses

  • Slow and clunky against fast combo or aggressive decks
  • Planeswalkers are fragile to creature decks and direct removal
  • Relies heavily on Carth himself—repeated commander removal hurts the engine
  • Light on instant-speed interaction; vulnerable on opponents' turns
  • Mana-hungry; needs lots of ramp to deploy multiple walkers per turn

Key Cards

  • Doubling SeasonDoubles loyalty so planeswalkers enter ready to ultimate immediately, busted with Carth's +1.
  • The Chain VeilLets you activate each planeswalker multiple times per turn for explosive loyalty value and combo potential.
  • Deploy the GatewatchDrops two planeswalkers from the top ten, perfectly synergizing with Carth's dig and superfriends shell.
  • Oath of TeferiDoubles planeswalker activations and gives flash-like deployment, multiplying Carth's engine.
  • Vraska, Golgari QueenOn-color repeatable removal and sacrifice value whose death triggers Carth's tutor.
  • Pir, Imaginative RascalAdds an extra loyalty counter to every ability, stacking with Carth's bonus for instant ultimates.

Upgrade Path

Add the strongest fast mana and ramp (Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Three Visits, fetch-dual mana base) so you can deploy Carth plus a walker early and chain multiples per turn. Lean into combo finishers with The Chain Veil alongside cost reducers and loyalty doublers (Doubling Season, Pir) for explosive turns. Round out with cheap interaction and protection like Heroic Intervention, Assassin's Trophy, and Teferi's Protection to survive the slow early game while your engine assembles.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

  • Game-ending planeswalker ultimates like Vraska or Liliana that lock out or kill opponents
  • The Chain Veil + planeswalker loops for infinite mana, draw, or board presence
  • Overwhelming with token armies from planeswalkers like Garruk or Vraska
  • Grinding opponents to empty hands and decks via relentless card advantage

Archetypes

  • SuperfriendsCarth is the premier BG planeswalker engine, tutoring and protecting a wide planeswalker board.
  • ControlPlaneswalkers provide repeatable removal, card draw, and board presence to grind opponents out.
  • ComboThe Chain Veil plus loyalty doublers can generate infinite activations and mana with the right walkers.
  • TokensMany planeswalkers make armies, and Carth keeps them flowing for a go-wide finish.

Combos

Combos via Commander Spellbook.

Related Commanders

Same color identity (BG), by popularity.

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