So, this is my first attempt at an EDH deck. I chose Kaalia Of The Vast as my commander, because I am a Vorthos at heart and adore the flavor and lore of demons and angel cards. I enjoy Commander, which I have played several times previously using a friends' Sharuum and Sedris decks, as it allows me to play with cards I would never get to use in Standard.
My playgroup consists of 4-6 people, and we tend to be fairly casual. I am hoping to keep this deck below 200$, and I already have about a quarter of the deck, including Kaalia.
My playgroup enjoys board wipes, and I have incorporated board wipes of my own to handle my friends' insane token deck. I have also incorporated graveyard effects a la Grimoire Of The dead to take advantage of all the bodies.
I have chosen the creatures i have due to effects I find interesting, same with the spells. If you see any themes in my deck that could be expanded, or any cards that are out of place or poor choices, please alert me. I am also fishing for interesting cards that fit with my deck that I have missed.
Thank you for the time spent reading this, and if you have any additional questions please ask. All advice and commentary is welcome.
By the way, both Iona and land destruction are not available to me - they have been deemed "saddening" by our edh group, and as such we have a gentlemen's agreement not to play them.
There are two main things that catch my eye when I look at your decklist: firstly that your curve is very high. If kaalia gets killed/stolen, you will have a hard time keeping up with other decks as you won't be able to cast a lot of your cards. For that reason, I would cut cards like Avatar of Woe, Reiver Demon and Visara, as you can't cheat them in and they cost a lot of mana to cast. The same applies to warstorm surge, ring of three wishes (black has better tutors), soul conduit and the like as they don't further your initial gameplan of swinging with Kaalia but cost a lot of mana. Your deck lacks a lot of the 2cmc ramp artifacts such as the signets, so you could add those in instead. The second point is that your manabase is very slow due to your inclusion of 15 lands which always come-into-play-tapped and another bunch which conditionally come into play tapped. You also play a lot of colorless lands which can make it hard for you to cast Kaalia. Dual lands can be pretty expensive, but a stable manabase is the most important thing for any deck, so it is well worth the investment. This tool is pretty good for building your manabase. Its worth checking out the two primers for Kaalia, as they contain a lot of useful information.
I considered your advice about my mana base and curve, and decided to keep several of the cards you recommended removing due to enjoying playing with them, but also to remove several others and try to fix my mana. The result is something like this:
I tried for more mana-producing artifacts, as well as a more diverse spell base, yet one with some degree of focus. I also decided to remove several creatures, preferring instead to have more spells.
"The distance between genius and insanity... Is measured only by success."
-Elliot Carver, Tomorrow Never Dies
"If violence isn't solving it, you're obviously not using enough!"
-Me
A kid at my local gameshop wanted to break a twenty.
"You got 2 tens?" he asked me.
"No, but I probably got 3 fives." I replied.
"Perfect!"
"You might want to check your math there."
I run my own kaalia deck too, but i don't run any tutors (outside basic land fetch) in any of my decks since i lend out my decks to others (and its tough to sit and watch someone who has no idea what they are looking for look for things).
I prefer to have tutoring since it allows you to find a silver bullet for a given threat. Even in a Kaalia list, there are weaknesses. For example, Humility pretty much has it's way with this deck. To answer it, you need a non-creature card that can remove an enchantment, or an Ulamog. How about if any of the hundreds of other possible scenarios were to come up where you are in a bad spot. It's just nice to be able to find what you need when you need it.
I don't know if you can realistically keep this list under $200. Kaalia lends herself to goodstuff lists.
"The distance between genius and insanity... Is measured only by success."
-Elliot Carver, Tomorrow Never Dies
"If violence isn't solving it, you're obviously not using enough!"
-Me
A kid at my local gameshop wanted to break a twenty.
"You got 2 tens?" he asked me.
"No, but I probably got 3 fives." I replied.
"Perfect!"
"You might want to check your math there."
If you're still looking for a couple of answers there is some pretty good stuff with the last few sets, like: Utter End, Banishing Light/O Ring, or Erase that are all on the relatively cheap side for non-creature removal.
1 Aegis Angel
1 Angel of Despair
1 Angel of Serenity
1 Angelic Skirmisher
1 Aurelia, the Warleader
1 Avatar of Woe
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Boros Guildmage
1 Deathless Angel
1 Demon of Death's Gate
1 Desecration Demon
1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Harvester of Souls
1 Hellrider
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Lord of the Void
1 Malfegor
1 Master of Cruelties
1 Mother of Runes
1 Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis
1 Rakdos, Lord of Riots
1 Reaper from the Abyss
1 Reiver Demon
1 Restoration Angel
1 Reya Dawnbringer
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Shadowborn Demon
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Sire of Insanity
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls
1 Twilight Shepherd
1 Visara the Dreadful
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Day of Judgment
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Dreadbore
1 Eldrazi Conscription
1 Grimoire of the Dead
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Mimic Vat
1 Mortify
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Planar Cleansing
1 Rakdos's Return
1 Resurrection
1 Return to Dust
1 Ring of Three Wishes
1 Rise of the Dark Realms
1 Soul Conduit
1 Stranglehold
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Terminate
1 Thornbite Staff
1 True Conviction
1 Warstorm Surge
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Wrecking Ball
1 Akoum Refuge
1 Ancient Ziggurat
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Boros Garrison
1 Boros Guildgate
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Command Tower
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Forbidden Orchard
1 Godless Shrine
1 Isolated Chapel
2 Mountain
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Orzhova, the Church of Deals
2 Plains
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace
1 Rupture Spire
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Shimmering Grotto
1 Slayers' Stronghold
1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
2 Swamp
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Meadow
1 Windbrisk Heights
So, this is my first attempt at an EDH deck. I chose Kaalia Of The Vast as my commander, because I am a Vorthos at heart and adore the flavor and lore of demons and angel cards. I enjoy Commander, which I have played several times previously using a friends' Sharuum and Sedris decks, as it allows me to play with cards I would never get to use in Standard.
My playgroup consists of 4-6 people, and we tend to be fairly casual. I am hoping to keep this deck below 200$, and I already have about a quarter of the deck, including Kaalia.
My playgroup enjoys board wipes, and I have incorporated board wipes of my own to handle my friends' insane token deck. I have also incorporated graveyard effects a la Grimoire Of The dead to take advantage of all the bodies.
I have chosen the creatures i have due to effects I find interesting, same with the spells. If you see any themes in my deck that could be expanded, or any cards that are out of place or poor choices, please alert me. I am also fishing for interesting cards that fit with my deck that I have missed.
Thank you for the time spent reading this, and if you have any additional questions please ask. All advice and commentary is welcome.
By the way, both Iona and land destruction are not available to me - they have been deemed "saddening" by our edh group, and as such we have a gentlemen's agreement not to play them.
Standard:
GBW Siege Rhino Midrange
Commander
Playing:
UGB Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Working On:
B Mirri, The Cursed
UG Vorel Of The Hull Clade
BRWC Mardu Shops - Tymna and Akiri Artifacts BRWC
1 Aegis Angel
1 Angel of Despair
1 Angel of Serenity
1 Angelic Skirmisher
1 Aurelia, the Warleader
1 Avatar of Woe
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Deathless Angel
1 Demon of Death's Gate
1 Desecration Demon
1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Harvester of Souls
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Lord of the Void
1 Malfegor
1 Master of Cruelties
1 Rakdos, Lord of Riots
1 Reaper from the Abyss
1 Reya Dawnbringer
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Shriekmaw
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls
1 Twilight Shepherd
1 Visara the Dreadful
1 Liliana Vess
1 Sorin Markov
1 Black Market
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Boros Signet
1 Cauldron of Souls
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Conjurer's Closet
1 Dark Prophecy
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Day of Judgment
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Dreadbore
1 Eldrazi Conscription
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Grimoire of the Dead
1 Legion's Initiative
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Living Death
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Orzhov Signet
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Quicksilver Amulet
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Ring of Three Wishes
1 Rise of the Dark Realms
1 Soul Conduit
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Terminate
1 Thornbite Staff
1 Twilight's Call
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Wrecking Ball
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Boros Garrison
1 Boros Guildgate
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Command Tower
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Godless Shrine
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Mountain
1 Orzhov Basilica
1 Orzhov Guildgate
6 Plains
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Shimmering Grotto
7 Swamp
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Vivid Meadow
1 Windbrisk Heights
I tried for more mana-producing artifacts, as well as a more diverse spell base, yet one with some degree of focus. I also decided to remove several creatures, preferring instead to have more spells.
Standard:
GBW Siege Rhino Midrange
Commander
Playing:
UGB Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Working On:
B Mirri, The Cursed
UG Vorel Of The Hull Clade
Karona, Warden of AlcatrazWUBRG
The EPIC EDHWUBRG
Sun Quan Aggro1U
Animar GoodstuffRUG
Horobi MBCB
Medomai NerfWU
Saffi EriksdotterGW
Zur (CF)WUB
-Elliot Carver, Tomorrow Never Dies
"If violence isn't solving it, you're obviously not using enough!"
-Me
A kid at my local gameshop wanted to break a twenty.
"You got 2 tens?" he asked me.
"No, but I probably got 3 fives." I replied.
"Perfect!"
"You might want to check your math there."
I run my own kaalia deck too, but i don't run any tutors (outside basic land fetch) in any of my decks since i lend out my decks to others (and its tough to sit and watch someone who has no idea what they are looking for look for things).
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
I prefer to have tutoring since it allows you to find a silver bullet for a given threat. Even in a Kaalia list, there are weaknesses. For example, Humility pretty much has it's way with this deck. To answer it, you need a non-creature card that can remove an enchantment, or an Ulamog. How about if any of the hundreds of other possible scenarios were to come up where you are in a bad spot. It's just nice to be able to find what you need when you need it.
I don't know if you can realistically keep this list under $200. Kaalia lends herself to goodstuff lists.
Karona, Warden of AlcatrazWUBRG
The EPIC EDHWUBRG
Sun Quan Aggro1U
Animar GoodstuffRUG
Horobi MBCB
Medomai NerfWU
Saffi EriksdotterGW
Zur (CF)WUB
-Elliot Carver, Tomorrow Never Dies
"If violence isn't solving it, you're obviously not using enough!"
-Me
A kid at my local gameshop wanted to break a twenty.
"You got 2 tens?" he asked me.
"No, but I probably got 3 fives." I replied.
"Perfect!"
"You might want to check your math there."
(W/U)(B/R)GForm of Progenitus, Shape of a Scrubland
BRGJund Tokens with Prossh, the Magic Dragon Foil
URGAnimar, the RUG CleanerFoil
RRRFeldon of the Third Path 2.0 Foil
BG(B/G)Not Another Meren DeckFoil
UR(U/R)Mizzix, Y Control and X Burn Spells
(W/U)(B/R)GHarold Ramos - The 35 Foot Long Twinkie (In +1/+1 counters)
UB(U/B)Dragonlord Silumgar
(W/U)(B/R)GForm of Progenitus, Shape of a Scrubland
BRGJund Tokens with Prossh, the Magic Dragon Foil
URGAnimar, the RUG CleanerFoil
RRRFeldon of the Third Path 2.0 Foil
BG(B/G)Not Another Meren DeckFoil
UR(U/R)Mizzix, Y Control and X Burn Spells
(W/U)(B/R)GHarold Ramos - The 35 Foot Long Twinkie (In +1/+1 counters)
UB(U/B)Dragonlord Silumgar
(W/U)(B/R)GForm of Progenitus, Shape of a Scrubland
BRGJund Tokens with Prossh, the Magic Dragon Foil
URGAnimar, the RUG CleanerFoil
RRRFeldon of the Third Path 2.0 Foil
BG(B/G)Not Another Meren DeckFoil
UR(U/R)Mizzix, Y Control and X Burn Spells
(W/U)(B/R)GHarold Ramos - The 35 Foot Long Twinkie (In +1/+1 counters)
UB(U/B)Dragonlord Silumgar