Teysa Karlov

Hello all! Today we will be covering the history and cards of Teysa Karlov. Teysa has an interesting history and one I personally enjoy! I hope you enjoy it.

Age and Appearance

Despite Teysa looking like a young adult or an adult in their 20s or 30s, she is actually 112 years old and she's human. Teysa also walks with a cane because of her lame leg.

History

Teysa Karlov is the current Matriarch of the Karlov family, but before that was a long bumpy road.

The scion of one of the most respected Orzhov families (House Karlov) Teysa was employed as a notable "advokist", or lawmage. Her reputation and her name always came before her, but then she was made a baroness of the Utrava reclamation Zone. While being the baroness, Teysa comes in contact with Zomaj Hauc, who at the time had schemes to one day take over and control Ravnica; but, with a force of warriors recruited from various places, including the Ravnican Guilds and her wealth of experience, arcane knowledge, and magic that allowed her to control a dragon! Teysa was successful in stopping Hauc. In return, he gained the respect of the inhabitants of the area and consolidated her power and authority.

Eventually, Teysa was called upon by Feather as her advokist for being involved in the Nephilim attacks and the events surrounding the disappearance and return of the Parhelion.

After the breaking of the Guildpact and the Decamillennial (ten thousandth anniversary), Teysa was actively involved in the drafting of a new, non-magical Guildpact. This was for Ravnica's peace, order, and good government and relations. Teysa now has been made the first and only Grand Envoy of the Orzhov Syndicate! She became the official speaker and ambassador for the guild master, the Obzedat.

However, Teysa was unsatisfied with that position and wanted more. She made a secret with the Boros knight we know as Tajic, the plans were to remove the Obzedat from power. Teysa then tricked the Living Guildpact into letting her enter the Obzedat's Chamber. Teysa almost retrieved the final evidence of the financial corruption of the Obzedat, but, in the end, her plan was foiled by her ghostly grandfather, and after she was stripped of her office of advokist and grand envoy by the Ghost Council and put into prison.

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Teysa remained in prison for a long time. The Ghost Council was using corrupt officials to their advantage to make sure they kept Teysa locked away at all costs. During this call, Teysa was magically kept alive to prevent her from becoming a ghost, this is how she is 112 years old and is a human. 

Thanks to her apprentice, Tomik Vrona, Teysa had been able to keep up with the events in the outside world. Kaya sent by their mutual friend, Nicol Bolas, came to free Teysa from the prison, and Teysa insisted that their involvement should stay hidden from everyone.

 As Ral Zarek, Hekara and Vraska staged an elaborate invasion of rot zombies as a distraction, Kaya broke into the catacombs and killed Teysas' Grandfather Karlov and all other members of the current Obzedat.

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Through a loophole in the Orzhov rules, Kaya was then immediately the new leader of the guild. Kaya now the head of the Orzhov Syndicate, Teysa was reinstated as the most powerful oligarch of the Guild.

 After a while, the War of the Spark happened, and after the War of the Spark, the new Living Guildpact assigned Kaya the task of assassinating Liliana Vess. This finally then cleared the way for Teysa to take the reigns as Matriarch of the Orzhov's leading oligarch family. Yay!


This is simply just a small summary of her story, if you want more details then feel free to look through the links that I linked at the end of this blog!


Teysa's Cards


Next, we will examine Teysa's cards. There are 4 cards in total, 1 from each Ravnica block and 1 that is a vanguard card. 


Teysa Karlov

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If a creature dying causes a triggered ability of a permanent control to trigger, that ability triggers an additional time.

Creature tokens you control have vigilance and lifelink.

Teysa Karlov the newest print of Teysa. This card was printed in Ravnica Allegiance. This Teysa is all about death triggers and giving tokens lifelink and vigilance. 

She is a 2/4 and costs 4 mana total.

This Teysa focuses more on helping a deck than creating and buffing tokens but is a great commander to use! The death trigger ability is very powerful when with the right cards. The great thing about this card is that as a commander the deck can function with or without her on the battlefield! 

Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts

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Vigilance, protection from creatures

Whenever a creature deals combat damage to you, destroy that creature. Create a 1/1 white and black Spirit creature token with flying.

Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts was printed during the set Dragon's Maze in the Return to Ravnica block. Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts is focused on destroying creatures that deal damage to you and making tokens off of that ability. She is a 4/4 and costs 7 mana total to cast. She has vigilance and protection from creatures which can come in handy when facing a mainly creature deck or a deck that focuses on dealing damage with creatures to win (i.e. Light-Paws, Tana, the Bloodsower, etc)


For 7 mana, the card is very balanced. In this deck, it'd be awesome to have Teysa Karlov in the deck just to give those spirit tokens a little boost. Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts is also a very impressive and strong card to run in a deck or as a commander. 

Teysa, Orzhov Scion

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Sacrifice three white creatures: Exile the target creature.

Whenever another black creature you control dies, create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying.

Teysa, Orzhov Scion was printed during Guildpact in the original Ravnica block. Teysa, Orzhov Scion is focused on creating tokens when black creatures die and using white creatures to sac and then exile target creatures. 

This Teysa specializes in the removal of all types, along with building a small army for you to play with. Teysa is a great sac outlet and token generator and pairs well with the other two copies of Teysa that were previously discussed.

 She's a 2/3 for 3 mana which is amazing for her abilities, but she is still a balanced card for the costs. 

Teysa, Orzhov Scion Avatar

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Here is an interesting card, this is a vanguard card featuring Teysa.

Whenever a nontoken creature dies, create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying.

(Hand Modifier: +0, Life Modifier: -2)

Now Vanguard I don't know much about, but this Teysa focuses on using creatures to create tokens. When a nontoken dies, create a token. So basically, trading creatures for tokens and building upon that. 

All Teysas have to do with tokens and creatures dying which is something I love about these cards. They all keep their theme and to me, that's just awesome! 


Well, that's all for today. I hope you enjoyed learning about Teysa Karlov, put in your comments below what you think about her and her printings. Have a good day/night!


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