Ghave is one of the most played commanders. As the wedge with the most playable generals, he has some stiff competition, but no one else interacts with so many cards and mechanics. I've seen Ghave decks built as Rhys-like token swarm decks, and I've seen Ghave Stax, using him to pad out your permanent counts for things like Tangle Wire and Smokestack. For all that variety, the way I play him is likely the most common, lots of creatures with enter the battlefield effects and recursion.
List here: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/ghave-13-01-14-1/
The deck is very mana hungry. It wants as much mana as possible since Ghave always gives me something to do with my mana. I run four mana artifacts and a staggering nine rampant growth effects. Half of those are creatures, giving me enormous value from being both a spell and a body. That's another core tenet of the deck, with fifteen enters the battlefield creatures and another seven sacrifice or leaves the battlefield creatures. My aim is for utility, not bulk. Ghave should provide any extra bodies I need, but two token makers are present, Deranged Hermit and Avenger of Zendikar. Deranged Hermit is crazy efficient. The echo cost can actually be a reasonable self-sacrifice option and his 1 power makes him a solid Reveillark target. The other token maker is Avenger, though he has other uses...like making my opponents super dead. The way the deck usually kills though is through a recursion loop. Such as Saffi + Sun Titan + sac outlet. Or Saffi + Reveillark + Sac out. The thing about three card combos in EDH is that they are pretty hard to line up with 100 card singleton decks. Ghave is perfect here because he stands in as a third piece in so many interactions. He provides both fodder and a sacrifice outlet. I still don't play too many tutors, instead playing the resource accrual game. I draw cards and ramp lands until I stumble into a combo interaction. This style of multiple open ended pieces is reminiscent of Pod decks in modern, where you were completely capable of killing your opponent through value creatures but have a dangerous secondary option if people don't stop you from getting Phyrexian Alter in play with Saffi and Reveillark.
Cards worth a specific mention:
Archangel of Thune- This card turns on a whole host of combos, and is just really good with the deck. This plus Kitchen Finks, Blood Artist, or Trostani can give you infinite +1/+1 counters. Kitchen Finks in particular is super value with Archangel, removing his own -1/-1 counter. High Market is great as a way to double the number of creatures you have. Gain a life, put a counter on all your creatures then turn the counters into creatures and eat another creature. Its mana intensive but I've built massive boards out of this relatively simple interaction.
Blood Artist - The most common way to make my opponents die, Artist is just solid sitting in play draining people since so many creatures die in EDH. The 0 power ensures you can get him back mid combo with Reveillark and Greater Good, and he takes counters just as well as any creature.
Carrion Feeder - Carrion Feeder is a classic sacrifice card, and the counters can be turned back into saprolings at a moments notice. Mostly he's in the deck to have something to Pod for at one mana. I've considered putting in Veteran Explorer, but the odds of people having enough basics to keep up with me are quite high.
Grim Haruspex - A recent addition, I am not so sure this is what I want to be doing. It should probably be Dark Prophecy, but I am somewhat wary of the life loss clause on that card. A second Fecundity is very welcome with the way the deck is built, its just a matter of the cost.
Juniper Order Ranger - Excellent in combination with any of the persist creatures, JOR gets enormous with Ghave on the table in short order.
Skullmulcher - The mulcher machine converts creatures into counters and cards. Ghave then converts the counters into creatures. I wish he had a base of 2 power for Reveillark shenanigans, but he's been a solid inclusion since day one.
Birthing Pod - A phenomenal value card, Pod got banned in modern for a reason, and Ghave has the same plan with the card. Accrue permanents and eventually win by putting some combination of creatures into play that immediately end the game. There are mana costs that have a deeper selection than others, but there's at least one card at each spot on the curve.
Bitter Ordeal - This is a card I'm torn on. On the one hand its a really efficient way to end the game and is a very real card in a sacrifice oriented deck even without going infinite. On the other hand its inclusion does push the deck a lot more toward the combo end of the spectrum. I have it in right now, but consider taking it out frequently.
Maelstrom Pulse - This could be Vindicate, but I like the option of nailing opposing tokens or clones. This is a very important card since a Torpor Orb really screws up our game plan. I've considered putting Vindicate into the deck on top of Pulse just to be able to answer troublesome permanents.
Carnival of Souls - Perhaps the most suicidal inclusion in the deck, Carnival lets me generate a continuous stream of mana from Ghave. The life loss is offset by Trostani and Blood Artist, but I still don't play this card lightly. It does give me extra resources where otherwise I wouldn't be able to create a loop.
Earthcraft - This card doesn't need to much explanation, but it is particularly good here since I have multiple mana doublers and continuous token production.
The deck is fun and pushes the edge of a four on the bullshit scale. Its a combo deck, but since most of its pieces are permanents most people can interact with the deck without special considerations. Perhaps the most insidious part of Ghave is that it takes advantage of the soft-ban on Armageddon. It plays so many rampant growths as a way to permanently be ahead on mana. This isn't uncommon among EDH decks, but since Ghave just needs mana to build a win with his abilities its particularly dangerous.
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