It embarrasses me to say that its in the cube, but Spawnwrithe ! My friends just love it! Highly overrated in our cube group. When it appears in the draft there is almost always an argument over how good/ crap it is. Needless to say, I cringe every time I see it in the draft. hahaha
Hi 3drinks. Are you running Disciple of Bolas in your current deck? You mention it in a previous post and it seems pretty damn good! If so, what did you take out?
Also, do you experience any trouble from opponents playing Jitte? I currently run Stoneforge Mystic to get my own Jitte (amongst other equipment - swords, greaves, etc.) to stop their Jitte shenanigans, however my previous build geared more so toward multi so hopefully the discard will help this problem.
The deck only runs 1 form of graveyard hate (Bojuka Bog)? Do you have any issues with decks that love to reanimate?
Cheers
Hey 3drinks, have a tourney soon and looking to play kaalia. Just wondering if you could fill me is as to why you don't run Coldsteel Heart instead of either Charcoal Diamond or Marble Diamond? Seems to have a little more versatility - not that it will make significant changes to how the deck plays, just thought is offers more insurance that the deck runs as smoothly as possible. Cheers.
I have Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in play with some Islands, Swamps and Plains. My opponent has Plains and Swamps on his side of the board. I cast Sundering Titan. I destroy one of my opponent's Plains and Swamps.
My question is, do I have to destroy my Island even though it is a swamp in addition to being an Island, due to Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth? ie. when i select to destroy an Island I view my Islands as swamps?
I say this all the time on this website because this is the only place where i hear ppl clamoring for bannings on a daily basis; If 6-drop creatures are owning you, then you need to reform your deck with ways to fight it or you deserve to lose. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Thought I'd share with you my Kaalia list I'm running atm. The cards with the asterisks are the ones I'm not 100% convinced on. Suggest away if there are cards you think are worth trying.
I also used to run Admonition Angel which I found to be really effective, but the risk was too high, so I have taken it out.
I also don't have any of the old school dual lands so I'm playing the painlands in their place.
The basis of the deck is to ramp up, make sure the path is clear for Kaalia with hand disruption, then drop and swing. I will only generally ramp out for a super quick Kaalia when my opponent is tapped out and i have greaves or swiftboots in play and know the coast is clear. The ramp also enables me to obv. hard cast dudes when I find that Kaalia is too expensive to play (if killed/ exiled multiple times).
I have never used sneak attack yet so I am not sure about its effectiveness - how have you found it to play?
I do believe that the best play style of Kaalia is control. Sure, its awesome when you can drop Kaalia super quick, but in my experience I have found her to be killed/ exiled immediately more often than not if you don't ensure that she's safe to play (by playing disruption).
Another 2 cards that I think are pretty handy are Grand Abolisher and Necropotence. I do find that the deck can run out of gas so Necro is awesome in keeping it full, but probably not so great with the moderate reanimation stuff you're running. Grand Abolisher is another way to protect Kaalia and is also useful as an early dude/ blocker (if need be).
I'm surprised you don't run some lower cost disruption in the deck considering it is built for 1 v 1? I have found cards like Thoughtseize,Duress, Tidehollow Sculler, Inquisition of Kozelik and Mind Twist to be handy in being able to drop Kaalia next turn know its not going to get path'd, swords'd, or killed any other way.
I think the relative high cost of your cards also means that if Kaalia is killed/ exiled in early turns, it makes it hard to come back as you have to continue to build your mana base whilst they start dropping their threats.
Have you thought of running Stoneforge Mystic considering you are running the Swords? I have also found jitte to be a thorn in the side of the deck, especially if the opponent has counters on it before Kaalia is even on the board. I run stoneforge with SoFI, SoFF and jitte (mainly to stop opponent's jitte).
Maybe have a think about changing the following creatures:
1 Adarkar Valkyrie
1 Baneslayer Angel (maybe)
1 Bladewing the Risen
1 Blinding Angel
1 Reya Dawnbringer
1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls
1 Urabrask the Hidden
I don't think these creatures are ball breakers when they hit the field, and it gives you a little space to help lower the CMC of the deck (Hellkite Charger would also work well with SoFF).
Hope you get a few ideas from the post - obv. just an opinion, but again, have found the disruption to be real handy, especially against decks like Edric!
I also think your creature count and CMC is too high and you need some more card draw - as you would know, kaalia can run out of gas pretty quickly. Considering the deck is 1 v 1, I think Syphon Mind could be changed over for Phyrexian Arena or Necropotence.
Screaming baby here so have to cut this post short
Good luck with the deck
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Hope to hear the good news that you won with Kaalia. Will you let us know what you played against? Cheers.
Also, do you experience any trouble from opponents playing Jitte? I currently run Stoneforge Mystic to get my own Jitte (amongst other equipment - swords, greaves, etc.) to stop their Jitte shenanigans, however my previous build geared more so toward multi so hopefully the discard will help this problem.
The deck only runs 1 form of graveyard hate (Bojuka Bog)? Do you have any issues with decks that love to reanimate?
Cheers
Quick question about Sundering Titan and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth:
I have Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in play with some Islands, Swamps and Plains. My opponent has Plains and Swamps on his side of the board. I cast Sundering Titan. I destroy one of my opponent's Plains and Swamps.
My question is, do I have to destroy my Island even though it is a swamp in addition to being an Island, due to Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth? ie. when i select to destroy an Island I view my Islands as swamps?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Roger that!!! Couldn't have said it any better.
Mana Drain perhaps?
Thought I'd share with you my Kaalia list I'm running atm. The cards with the asterisks are the ones I'm not 100% convinced on. Suggest away if there are cards you think are worth trying.
I also used to run Admonition Angel which I found to be really effective, but the risk was too high, so I have taken it out.
I also don't have any of the old school dual lands so I'm playing the painlands in their place.
The basis of the deck is to ramp up, make sure the path is clear for Kaalia with hand disruption, then drop and swing. I will only generally ramp out for a super quick Kaalia when my opponent is tapped out and i have greaves or swiftboots in play and know the coast is clear. The ramp also enables me to obv. hard cast dudes when I find that Kaalia is too expensive to play (if killed/ exiled multiple times).
I have never used sneak attack yet so I am not sure about its effectiveness - how have you found it to play?
I do believe that the best play style of Kaalia is control. Sure, its awesome when you can drop Kaalia super quick, but in my experience I have found her to be killed/ exiled immediately more often than not if you don't ensure that she's safe to play (by playing disruption).
Check it out and lmk what you think.
Cheers
Commander(1)
1 Kaalia of the Vast
Creatures(19)
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
1 Angel of Despair
1 Balefire Dragon
1 Baneslayer Angel**
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Desolation Angel**
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Hellkite Charger
1 Hoard-Smelter Dragon
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Karmic Guide
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Mother of Runes
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Scourge of Kher Ridges
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Yosei, the Morning Star
Sorceries(15)
1 Armageddon
1 Boom // Bust**
1 Castigate
1 Cataclysm
1 Damnation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Duress
1 Gerrard's Verdict
1 hymn to Tourach
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Mind Twist
1 Reanimate
1 Thoughtseize
1 Vindicate
1 Wrath of God
Instants(11)
1 Dismember
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Go for the Throat**
1 Mortify
1 Path to Exile
1 Skeletal Scrying
1 Swords to Plowshare
1 Terminate
1 Unmake**
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Volcanic Fallout** Played due to Edric
Artifacts(12)
1 Boros Signet
1 Chrome Mox**
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Umezawa's Jitte
Enchantments(4)
1 Bitterblossom
1 Necropotence
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Sneak Attack**
Planeswalker (1)
1 Ajani Vengeant
Lands(37)
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
1 Arid Mesa
1 Marsh Flats
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Verdant Catacomb
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Fetid Heath
1 Graven Cairns
1 Command Tower
1 Battlefield Forge
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Sulfurous Springs
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse**
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Homeward Path**
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Plains
4 Mountain
3 Swamp
Another 2 cards that I think are pretty handy are Grand Abolisher and Necropotence. I do find that the deck can run out of gas so Necro is awesome in keeping it full, but probably not so great with the moderate reanimation stuff you're running. Grand Abolisher is another way to protect Kaalia and is also useful as an early dude/ blocker (if need be).
Also, how does Stranglehold play in the deck?
I don't think you will regret running Mind Twist. Good luck!
I'm surprised you don't run some lower cost disruption in the deck considering it is built for 1 v 1? I have found cards like Thoughtseize,Duress, Tidehollow Sculler, Inquisition of Kozelik and Mind Twist to be handy in being able to drop Kaalia next turn know its not going to get path'd, swords'd, or killed any other way.
I think the relative high cost of your cards also means that if Kaalia is killed/ exiled in early turns, it makes it hard to come back as you have to continue to build your mana base whilst they start dropping their threats.
Have you thought of running Stoneforge Mystic considering you are running the Swords? I have also found jitte to be a thorn in the side of the deck, especially if the opponent has counters on it before Kaalia is even on the board. I run stoneforge with SoFI, SoFF and jitte (mainly to stop opponent's jitte).
Maybe have a think about changing the following creatures:
1 Adarkar Valkyrie
1 Baneslayer Angel (maybe)
1 Bladewing the Risen
1 Blinding Angel
1 Reya Dawnbringer
1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls
1 Urabrask the Hidden
I don't think these creatures are ball breakers when they hit the field, and it gives you a little space to help lower the CMC of the deck (Hellkite Charger would also work well with SoFF).
Hope you get a few ideas from the post - obv. just an opinion, but again, have found the disruption to be real handy, especially against decks like Edric!
Thoughtseize
Duress
Castigate
Inquisition of Kozilek
Hymn to Tourach
Mind Twist
I also think your creature count and CMC is too high and you need some more card draw - as you would know, kaalia can run out of gas pretty quickly. Considering the deck is 1 v 1, I think Syphon Mind could be changed over for Phyrexian Arena or Necropotence.
Screaming baby here so have to cut this post short
Good luck with the deck