I've been wanting to make Kaalia deck for awhile because I just love the flavor and concept of her as a general. I was originally going to make it a more casual list, but I recently took apart my Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed and Gisela, Blade of Goldknight EDH decks; So I not only want to reassemble a more competitive deck, but I've also got extra cards in the appropriate colors lying around. Fate? Yes, I do believe it is.
I've been lurking around the forums here looking over various Kaalia lists and trying to piece together one of my own. The basic plan of the deck is to claim a superior board position and then destroy all lands. Ramp is an extremely popular strategy at my store, so this will be a good way to keep them in check. Here's the list I came up with:
Ok, so I'm worried about a couple of things here that perhaps more experienced Kaalia players could answer for me:
1. Is the deck too reliant on Kaalia? I've tried to include recursion options and additional ways to sneak creatures into play, but I'm not sure it's enough.
2. Is there enough ramp? Are there any glaring omissions to your typical Kaalia list?
3. Is there too few lands? I didn't want to add too many since I tend to blow them all up anyway.
Notable Exclusions:
1. Land Tax - I've only got 6 basic lands in the deck, so I didn't feel it was worth it.
2. Sun Titan - This is a really strong card, but can't attack while Moat is in play. Should I include it anyway?
3. Hall of the Bandit Lord - Adding only colorless, ETBT, and requiring 3 life whenever you tapped it was kind of a drag. I tried it and wasn't really impressed.
4. Gamble - I felt like with the black tutoring options this wasn't really needed.
5. Swiftfoot Boots - I just...couldn't find room. Suggest a cut?
6. Anything > CMC 7 that isn't a Dragon, Demon or Angel. I don't think I'll be able to cast these after a series of LD spells, but maybe I should include a few for the late game anyway as a backup plan?
7. Anything that has a continuous mana investment, such as Quicksilver Amulet. Doesn't seem very useful with only a few lands in play.
So as you can see I like the look of the list on paper but really hesitant about its actual performance in a real game, specifically mana issues and if it can get there after establishing board position.
Anyone have any thoughts, comments or card suggestions?
Thanks for any and all help!
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My apologies, children, for I am afraid I cannot save you all.
I think you probably do want to consider Quicksilver Amulet for the very reason you listed, with only a few lands in play if your general gets tucked you are going to have a bad time. With a deck built around cheating creatures into play, I think you need to prepare for the case that your first, second, third cheaters get blasted.
I'm not a huge fan of Angel of Despair just because Kaalia draws so much hate, if you do sneak somthing into play you want it to do more than remove a single permanent. Similarly Thunder Dragon seems rather lackluster.
Your deck is very offensive in nature, with MLD you have a great way to stop everyone else in their tracks once you are in a better board state than them. What I think you need to worry about however is what do you do once they are in a better board state than you? I would suggest more mass destruction like Wrath of God, Damnation, Decree of Pain, etc...
I think with the current build you are going to have rough games against permission based decks, or decks that have a similar strategy of heavy offense if they get a faster start than you.
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I've been lurking around the forums here looking over various Kaalia lists and trying to piece together one of my own. The basic plan of the deck is to claim a superior board position and then destroy all lands. Ramp is an extremely popular strategy at my store, so this will be a good way to keep them in check. Here's the list I came up with:
1 Kaalia of the Vast
Planeswalkers
1 Liliana Vess
Angels
1 Angel of Despair
1 Angel of Serenity
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Gisela, Blade of Goldknight
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Karmic Guide
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Demons
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Rakdos, Lord of Riots
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
Dragons
1 Balefire Dragon
1 Eternal Dragon
1 Hellkite Tyrant
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Thunder Dragon
Creatures
1 Academy Rector
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
Artifacts
1 Boros Signet
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Coalition Relic
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Erratic Portal
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Mox Diamond
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Sunforger
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Impending Disaster
1 Moat
1 Necropotence
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Sneak Attack
1 Stranglehold
Instants
1 Cauldron Dance
1 Chaos Warp
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Mortify
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Return to Dust
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Tainted Pact
1 Terminate
1 Tithe
1 Vampiric Tutor
Sorceries
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 Armageddon
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Grim Tutor
1 Identity Crisis
1 Ravages of War
1 Vindicate
Lands
1 Arid Mesa
1 Badlands
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Buried Ruin
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Command Tower
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Fetid Heath
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Godless Shrine
1 Graven Cairns
1 High Market
1 Homeward Path
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Marsh Flats
1 Maze of Ith
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Mountain
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Plains
1 Plateau
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Scrubland
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Strip Mine
1 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Volrath's Stronghold
Ok, so I'm worried about a couple of things here that perhaps more experienced Kaalia players could answer for me:
1. Is the deck too reliant on Kaalia? I've tried to include recursion options and additional ways to sneak creatures into play, but I'm not sure it's enough.
2. Is there enough ramp? Are there any glaring omissions to your typical Kaalia list?
3. Is there too few lands? I didn't want to add too many since I tend to blow them all up anyway.
Notable Exclusions:
1. Land Tax - I've only got 6 basic lands in the deck, so I didn't feel it was worth it.
2. Sun Titan - This is a really strong card, but can't attack while Moat is in play. Should I include it anyway?
3. Hall of the Bandit Lord - Adding only colorless, ETBT, and requiring 3 life whenever you tapped it was kind of a drag. I tried it and wasn't really impressed.
4. Gamble - I felt like with the black tutoring options this wasn't really needed.
5. Swiftfoot Boots - I just...couldn't find room. Suggest a cut?
6. Anything > CMC 7 that isn't a Dragon, Demon or Angel. I don't think I'll be able to cast these after a series of LD spells, but maybe I should include a few for the late game anyway as a backup plan?
7. Anything that has a continuous mana investment, such as Quicksilver Amulet. Doesn't seem very useful with only a few lands in play.
So as you can see I like the look of the list on paper but really hesitant about its actual performance in a real game, specifically mana issues and if it can get there after establishing board position.
Anyone have any thoughts, comments or card suggestions?
Thanks for any and all help!
I'm not a huge fan of Angel of Despair just because Kaalia draws so much hate, if you do sneak somthing into play you want it to do more than remove a single permanent. Similarly Thunder Dragon seems rather lackluster.
Your deck is very offensive in nature, with MLD you have a great way to stop everyone else in their tracks once you are in a better board state than them. What I think you need to worry about however is what do you do once they are in a better board state than you? I would suggest more mass destruction like Wrath of God, Damnation, Decree of Pain, etc...
I think with the current build you are going to have rough games against permission based decks, or decks that have a similar strategy of heavy offense if they get a faster start than you.