I'm playing the twin angel horrors. The melded version is worth playtesting at the very least.. If there's one EDH deck that can set this up, it'll be kaalia.
But what it does have over Dragon Tempest is that it won't take a spell slot and its less fragile than due to it being a land
Gisela, the Broken Sword is so pushed, a 4/3 first strike, flying and lifelink for 4... wow Bruna, the Fading LIght on the other hand, how I wish it was not "on cast", seems like they purposely put it to screw with us. The ability is amazing though, works for Angels and most our creature-based Kaalia protectors
Gisela, the Broken Blade will make it in my deck for sure. I play multiplayer just to clarify so I have no idea on the 1v1 side. I very often find myself needing some life gain to stay in the game because everyone likes to chip away at me, because Kaalia is never blocking and when i bring in the fatties they are tapped. So a fair amount Kaalia comes out on 3 if I have the right combo and protection, but if I don't I have to play patient and try to survive using cheap removal or acting like I am weak. Gisela is perfect to play early and get a good blocker and some life gain in since Kaalia can't afford to run lifegain on anything but her and Baneslayer Angel. I am looking forward to it.
I am for sure adding both in early to make the combined version at least once but I have no intention of keeping Bruna, the Fading Light in long term the card just isn't good enough to make the cut.
But what it does have over Dragon Tempest is that it won't take a spell slot and its less fragile than due to it being a land
I agree with you that Hanweir Battlements is a land card that can't be countered. But, what land would you replace to slot in Hanweir Battlements? You probably don't want to remove a land that produces color, so what land do you envision replacing it with? In my deck, I only have two land cards that I could swap out for this card: Arcane Lighthouse and Vault of the Archangel. If I add Gisela, the Broken Sword, I could make a case for dropping Vault of the Archangel, since I'll have enough lifelinked creatures.
Coming from someone who has used flamekin village for a very long time (I have since removed it), the drawback I'm most concerned with is not really the mana it produces, but the fact that you have to tap 2 lands everytime to activate it. As far as haste-lands are concerned, Hanweir battlements is slightly worse than hall of the bandit lord, moderately better than flamekin village, and on a multiplayer note, way better than slayer's stronghold. But I agree with one of the points above, I personally would not use up a colorless slot for this. And this is coming from a guy who runs FIVE (boseiju, hall of the bandit, rishadan port, wasteland and cavern of souls which I count as colorless because cmon I only have like 3 humans in my deck).
That land is so not going in. And don't get me started on the creature part, lol (although I'd play it in Tymaret, and possibly Bellstriker).
Gisela is a shoe-in, and if you were playing Archangel of Thune there's your easy cut for it. I'm not bothering with Bruna b/c holy hell is she awful to Kaalia, despite how good the meld card is (and don't kid yourselves, the meld is ridiculously good).
This. Eldrazi angel is way up my alley. I'm willing to temporarily mess around with a crappy angel like Bruna (which in my opinion is way better than her original version simply because she decided to stop being blue) just to see if it is reasonable enough to set up.
And having Gisela (for obvious reasons) is a mind game on its own.. Imagine an opponent having this voice in his head saying "did he also include.. no.. nah.. Bruna's a terrible angel to include.. but wait.. meh.." then proceed to meld and watch his nightmares come true. Angel horror indeed
One card I would like to change is Rakdos’s Return. Any recommendation on what should I bring in?
Sorry, I'm in a rush so I won't be able to check your entire list. I will soon. If you consistently have to deal with heavy permission decks, turn rakdos' return into mind shatter and throw in a boseiju. I think reanimation and chandra would digress from what the deck tries to do. You're trying to get stuff into play from your hand, not from the grave.. Reanimation is a good plan B though in case an opponent sweeps, but the only reanimation card I will ever consider is well. reanimate. And good call on the rocks I don't miss it at all. Try dark ritual it's great
I've said before, I'm still very reluctant to post a list for now because I'm constantly switching cards around. But here's some notes from my experience on how I choose my cards:
1.) Regarding tutors: I go against a lot of control decks and aggro/disrupt so i have to be really efficient with tutoring as far as mana cost is concerned. The only tutors that made my deck were demonic tutor, tainted pact and gamble. Enlightened tutor is restricted, but it helps me get crucial pieces, so that's in as well. I find that cards that cost me 3 mana and up are too slow for comfort. But if I turned off that restriction, the one tutor I'd play for 3 mana would be grim tutor. Rhystic and beseech the queen don't get me there fast enough, but it really might be the cutthroat meta I'm in.
1.1) Regarding Demonic consultation: It's great in getting the card you want. I've played it for months and never lost due to that top 6 clause. But the sad thing is, I HAVE lost due to an unspoken implied downside: you never know what your library looks like after you get the card you want. Let's face it, kaalia's not a true combo deck wherein once the set pieces are in play you automatically win. We have to swing and kill via combat, so it's multi-step and won't really end the game abruptly. Trust me, if you take the state of your library for granted and just dig away not knowing when it will end, it can come back to bite you, because that's all you have for the rest of the game. This is why I play gamble instead.
3.) Regarding haste: I think with all our options for haste enablers, anger is easily outclassed by dragon tempest, greaves and hall of the bandit lord. Those 3 are really all you need before it starts to get redundant.
4.) Regarding hand disrupt: I used to play tidehollow sculler, mesmeric fiend, brain maggot and sin collector, to make a full hand disrupt package of around 8-9 I think to rid opponents of answers. It was a great idea on paper, but against control and their highly efficient draw-go strategies, and even green decks that have a sylvan library, discarding doesn't matter if they end up drawing more answers. That's why I took it down a notch and decided to make some cuts. I chose to take out the 4 creatures I mentioned above mainly because I like sweepers. Against any creature-based decks, a timely sweep followed by kaalia the following turn is pretty much difficult for opponents to stomach. There's an obvious counter-synergy if I sweep the board but simultaneously give them cards in hand. Sin collector is well, 1 more mana to cast and takes out only instants and sorceries. I gave him a shot, believe me. But in the end this is my final hand disrupt package, and it gets the job done: thoughtseize, duress, inquisition of kozilek, distress, castigate, hymn to tourach, and mind shatter. Don't forget liliana of the veil's +1 and you'll realize there's enough hand disruption in the deck already. Mind shatter is my ultimate stalemate breaker against control. transgress the mind I have a problem with, because the most problematic cards you want to pick out of an opponent's hand would be counterspells, spot removal, and the occasional sword of feast and famine/fire and ice. addle is a better choice. I'd actually even play blackmail first.
Since I already talked about sweepers..
5.) I love sweeping. A well-timed sweep is one of the keys to generating that asymmetrical board state that kaalia aims to generate. But just like everything else for my ideal kaalia deck, it has to be efficient. The ones that made the cut for me are toxic deluge, damnation and sudden demise (formerly fire covenant which is GREAT, but I couldn't handle the life loss involved). I also like sudden demise over fire covenant because it hits hexproof. If you feel like you need 4 sweepers, I'd include fire covenant of course but 3 sweepers are enough when you have tutors. That's part of why i keep my tutors 2 cmc and below, to increase the chances of sweeping the same turn I tutor for one. And with my sweeper choices, they double-up as spot removal for geist, sigarda and narset(UGH.).
6.) Though imperial recruiter is great, kaalia unfortunately can't use him as well as her mardu sister/brother alesha, who smiles at death. I'd take this out to give your deck more precious space to work effectively.
7.) I highly suggest cutting the reanimator package, except maybe reanimate if you really like taking things back from the grave, but only as a plan B in case a beatstick dies. Reanimator in general is not a good direction for the deck simply because other decks in the format do it WAY better (ex. anything that plays that necrotic ooze combo). I'd cut buried alive, reanimate, animate dead and yawgmoth's will.
8.) Boros charm should be lightning bolt. I've played duel commander for years, and 90% of the time i've used boros charm as a planeswalker killer. The other 5% was used as a dead draw, and the other 3% as fodder for chrome mox, and the other 2% was for the occasional indestructible. Let's face it, no high-level commander deck out there will just sit there and let you do a boros charm + armageddon/sweeper combo. Taking all this into account, 1 less mana and the ability to hit creatures makes the substitution an easy choice.
9.) With all the tutors, I really don't feel the need to include grand abolisher. Defense grid isn't picky with mana colors, less susceptible to spot removal, and can be fetched by enlightened tutor.
10.) Regarding Sire of insanity: With 4 toughness and no evasion, this guy's not exactly the dude who's gonna win you the game. Because of this, he absolutely destroys draw-go decks but is actually a liability against aggro. I cut him because there are many kaalia targets out there who can do better than 50-50.
11.) I recently re-sleeved phyrexian arena. We need cards. Period. You mentioned having a slower build, and this makes this even more important for you.
12.) Question about blood moon, did you get the idea from this forum, or are you just as crazy as me? Well I tell you it's worth every dead draw in mono-colored matches. Too good against every deck in the meta that uses nonbasics. I'd go all in on this and throw in magus of the moon. Only a few things in this world feel better than casting an uncounterable magus via cavern of souls against narset.
If you've read till this point you'll notice I suggested a bunch of cards to cut.. So along with the mana rocks you wanna get rid of (good riddance I say), you'll have a bunch of empty slots to fill. Here's a list of options after looking at your list:
1.) More lands: 37 won't cut it, especially with the new mulligan rule. 39-40 might be the ideal. Not as optional as the rest. Do it. I was actually stubborn with 37-38 and lost so many matches because I couldn't make land drops. Worst way to lose a game, next probably to being cheated. In a control heavy meta, I suggest boseiju. Few things feel better than an uncounterable sudden demise against geist of saint traft, one of which being an uncounterable magus of the moon against narset.
2.) More beatsticks: Including sire of insanity who himself is not an efficient beater, you have 8 beatsticks. Congratulations, you are officially the first person in this entire forum whom I am advising to actually increase your beatstick count. I think you should move up to 10 just so you can draw them more consistently. Some options:
a.) Beaters you can cast without kaalia can pressure opponents, especially those who think stopping your deck starts and ends with your general. Baneslayer angel and stormbreath dragon have done well for me, but if you want full synergy with the blood moons, thundermaw hellkite is a viable option. I also suggest pre-ordering that new gisela.
3.) bitterblossom has little to no synergy in this deck, but provides evasive chump-blockers to buy us time to set up when going against aggro, and adds much-needed pressure against control decks. All-around threat for 2 mana. A bargain too good to pass up, for me at least.
4.) Mass land destruction. In haste-less scenarios, a turn 3-4 kaalia followed by a rune-scarred demon --> tutor for armageddon --> win will happen more often than you think. Just 1 will do, to float around your deck just in case. armageddon is the staple choice, ravages of war if you're feeling fancy. I mean worst case if you don't need it you can imprint into chrome mox or use as discard fodder to the liliana of the veil/nahiri's first ability
5.) More removal. It's nice to have around 10 spells (excluding sweepers) that can deal with creatures, 3-4 that can deal with enchantments/artifacts, and 3-4 that can deal with planeswalkers. Overlaps can occur like in vindicate/council's judgment to save deck space.
This. Eldrazi angel is way up my alley. I'm willing to temporarily mess around with a crappy angel like Bruna (which in my opinion is way better than her original version simply because she decided to stop being blue) just to see if it is reasonable enough to set up.
And having Gisela (for obvious reasons) is a mind game on its own.. Imagine an opponent having this voice in his head saying "did he also include.. no.. nah.. Bruna's a terrible angel to include.. but wait.. meh.." then proceed to meld and watch his nightmares come true. Angel horror indeed
The Eldrazi have taken hold of your opponents' minds. They will go mad trying to see if you have the meld combo or not. lol In the meantime, I suspect opponents will just spend removal on her instead of Kaalia.
Gisela is a shoe-in, and if you were playing Archangel of Thune there's your easy cut for it. I'm not bothering with Bruna b/c holy hell is she awful to Kaalia, despite how good the meld card is (and don't kid yourselves, the meld is ridiculously good).
For my deck at least, I probably just include Gisela in addition to Archangel of Thune, since I'm running Vault of the Archangel. I think I have enough lifelink creatures to possibly replace Vault with some other land that's not Hanweir Embattlements.
My Brisela combo is to be honest more of a personal issue than anything else. My deck has been criticized in the past for not having enough flavor, or for playing too many hate cards and that I'm losing the deck's identity because of it. What. My deck can have master of cruelties as its only creature and it will still have more flavor than most top tier decks out there. Second, you know what's sweeter than flavor (no pun intended)? Winning. So yeah, I want brisela to work, as a "flavorful" way of telling people to suck it.
For the record: When I enter a tournament and go against a monk tribal narset, I'll increase my beatstick count to 40, making sure to include reiver demon, sunblast angel, and flameblast dragon.
What are your guys thoughts on. Gamble, Thunder Dragon(have a sidisi and elves deck that bothers me), and Sneak Attack for multiplayer?
Gamble: Generally, yes. It's another < 3 CMC tutor. The random discard risk is often worth taking.
Thunder Dragon: Meta-dependent. It's usually not the first pick in a competitive Kaalia deck. Usually, Steel Hellkite, Rakdos the Defiler, and Balefire Dragon take care of the elves problem.
Sneak Attack: Generally, no. Competitive Kaalia decks don't usually have a lot of creatures to fuel Sneak Attack. However, if you have a repeatable reanimation method, this might work.
Thunder bro is a fairly meh, ranging from a french vanilla 5/5 to doing something three turns too late. Sneak Attack is fine, but an optimal 1v1 list should be having ~12 threats. The only thing I want to sneak in is Griselbrand (or tutour demon), everything else I can pass on.
What are your guys thoughts on. Gamble, Thunder Dragon(have a sidisi and elves deck that bothers me), and Sneak Attack for multiplayer?
Traditional commander gives you the option of vampiric tutor so gamble might be unnecessary at that point, but still viable. Sneak attack is a great card, but not a good fit for kaalia. If you're having problems with ground troops, Sudden demise is the way to go.
so i started using silence and orims chant and so far they are back breaking/life saving. i can basically time stop my opponents or just play draw go until i have enough mana to basically kill them in the same turn. I play duel commander btw
orim's chant has always been in my maybe-board, but my playmates over here love heavy permission, so it just doesn't resolve. In what situations and against which decks do you find them effective? I'd love to sleeve a dci foil version of orim's chant and it'll help to at least hear from you in which matchups you found it useful.
What are your guys thoughts on. Gamble, Thunder Dragon(have a sidisi and elves deck that bothers me), and Sneak Attack for multiplayer?
Traditional commander gives you the option of vampiric tutor so gamble might be unnecessary at that point, but still viable. Sneak attack is a great card, but not a good fit for kaalia. If you're having problems with ground troops, Sudden demise is the way to go.
I'd play Gamble in addition to, FWIW. Probably even before Vampiric, since it puts the card in my hand.
It helps against combo decks(I have a jori en and a couple gitrogs in my meta) and against situations where you basically have the win and you just need your board to win the following turn, it blanks them from wrathing. they are very flexible and with defense grid /grand abolisher it is very hard to answer out side of wasting a counterspell.
It helps against combo decks(I have a jori en and a couple gitrogs in my meta) and against situations where you basically have the win and you just need your board to win the following turn, it blanks them from wrathing. they are very flexible and with defense grid /grand abolisher it is very hard to answer out side of wasting a counterspell.
if that's the reasoning behind the chant, you might want to just play additional hand disrupt and pick off his sweepers.. that way you have the added benefit of scouting his hand. But I admit it might be a bit more relevant than mana tithe as far as similar 1 cmc instants are concerned.. hmm.. i'd still play that new card collective brutality from eldritch moon since it can double as removal.
Bout your list, I'm not on my laptop yet so i'll properly comment on the list maybe tomorrow.
What are your guys thoughts on. Gamble, Thunder Dragon(have a sidisi and elves deck that bothers me), and Sneak Attack for multiplayer?
Traditional commander gives you the option of vampiric tutor so gamble might be unnecessary at that point, but still viable. Sneak attack is a great card, but not a good fit for kaalia. If you're having problems with ground troops, Sudden demise is the way to go.
I'd play Gamble in addition to, FWIW. Probably even before Vampiric, since it puts the card in my hand.
But vampiric end of turn is a way stronger play i believe. You lose a draw technnically but you don't risk randomly losing the card you fetch. Man if this thing wasnt banned in DC.. but then again i'd have a crapload of monoblack sidisis to deal with
What are your guys thoughts on. Gamble, Thunder Dragon(have a sidisi and elves deck that bothers me), and Sneak Attack for multiplayer?
Traditional commander gives you the option of vampiric tutor so gamble might be unnecessary at that point, but still viable. Sneak attack is a great card, but not a good fit for kaalia. If you're having problems with ground troops, Sudden demise is the way to go.
I'd play Gamble in addition to, FWIW. Probably even before Vampiric, since it puts the card in my hand.
But vampiric end of turn is a way stronger play i believe. You lose a draw technnically but you don't risk randomly losing the card you fetch. Man if this thing wasnt banned in DC.. but then again i'd have a crapload of monoblack sidisis to deal with
Magic theory dictates technically speaking, the Vamp EoT is the stronger play. But I prefer the Gamble, and here is why;
When I'm all-in on Kaalia, I sometimes only have that turn before you stabilize to get an answer ready. If I draw Vamp Tutour on that turn, it's too late. If I draw Gamble, I can win. Losing that draw can (and has) cost me a game I should have won.
Gisela, the Broken Sword is so pushed, a 4/3 first strike, flying and lifelink for 4... wow
Bruna, the Fading LIght on the other hand, how I wish it was not "on cast", seems like they purposely put it to screw with us. The ability is amazing though, works for Angels and most our creature-based Kaalia protectors
I am for sure adding both in early to make the combined version at least once but I have no intention of keeping Bruna, the Fading Light in long term the card just isn't good enough to make the cut.
After play testing Emeria Shepherd it doesn't quite make the cut needing a plains can be tough sometimes(not horrible though if someone is on a budget). @ShiroeTheEnchanter however Angelic Arbiter worked great thanks to your suggestion. I play against Sidisi, Brood Tyrant , Brago, King Eternal , and Marchesa, the Black Rose a lot so it crippled those decks.
I agree with you that Hanweir Battlements is a land card that can't be countered. But, what land would you replace to slot in Hanweir Battlements? You probably don't want to remove a land that produces color, so what land do you envision replacing it with? In my deck, I only have two land cards that I could swap out for this card: Arcane Lighthouse and Vault of the Archangel. If I add Gisela, the Broken Sword, I could make a case for dropping Vault of the Archangel, since I'll have enough lifelinked creatures.
I'm glad to hear that Angelic Arbiter works in your meta.
Gisela is a shoe-in, and if you were playing Archangel of Thune there's your easy cut for it. I'm not bothering with Bruna b/c holy hell is she awful to Kaalia, despite how good the meld card is (and don't kid yourselves, the meld is ridiculously good).
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
And having Gisela (for obvious reasons) is a mind game on its own.. Imagine an opponent having this voice in his head saying "did he also include.. no.. nah.. Bruna's a terrible angel to include.. but wait.. meh.." then proceed to meld and watch his nightmares come true. Angel horror indeed
Sorry, I'm in a rush so I won't be able to check your entire list. I will soon. If you consistently have to deal with heavy permission decks, turn rakdos' return into mind shatter and throw in a boseiju. I think reanimation and chandra would digress from what the deck tries to do. You're trying to get stuff into play from your hand, not from the grave.. Reanimation is a good plan B though in case an opponent sweeps, but the only reanimation card I will ever consider is well. reanimate. And good call on the rocks I don't miss it at all. Try dark ritual it's great
I've said before, I'm still very reluctant to post a list for now because I'm constantly switching cards around. But here's some notes from my experience on how I choose my cards:
1.) Regarding tutors: I go against a lot of control decks and aggro/disrupt so i have to be really efficient with tutoring as far as mana cost is concerned. The only tutors that made my deck were demonic tutor, tainted pact and gamble. Enlightened tutor is restricted, but it helps me get crucial pieces, so that's in as well. I find that cards that cost me 3 mana and up are too slow for comfort. But if I turned off that restriction, the one tutor I'd play for 3 mana would be grim tutor. Rhystic and beseech the queen don't get me there fast enough, but it really might be the cutthroat meta I'm in.
1.1) Regarding Demonic consultation: It's great in getting the card you want. I've played it for months and never lost due to that top 6 clause. But the sad thing is, I HAVE lost due to an unspoken implied downside: you never know what your library looks like after you get the card you want. Let's face it, kaalia's not a true combo deck wherein once the set pieces are in play you automatically win. We have to swing and kill via combat, so it's multi-step and won't really end the game abruptly. Trust me, if you take the state of your library for granted and just dig away not knowing when it will end, it can come back to bite you, because that's all you have for the rest of the game. This is why I play gamble instead.
2.) Regarding planeswalkers: Chandra, flamecaller should be Ajani Vengeant. I play rishadan port, sinkhole and pillage, and if you include the obligatory wasteland and vindicate, that's a pretty sweet mana denial package right there.
3.) Regarding haste: I think with all our options for haste enablers, anger is easily outclassed by dragon tempest, greaves and hall of the bandit lord. Those 3 are really all you need before it starts to get redundant.
4.) Regarding hand disrupt: I used to play tidehollow sculler, mesmeric fiend, brain maggot and sin collector, to make a full hand disrupt package of around 8-9 I think to rid opponents of answers. It was a great idea on paper, but against control and their highly efficient draw-go strategies, and even green decks that have a sylvan library, discarding doesn't matter if they end up drawing more answers. That's why I took it down a notch and decided to make some cuts. I chose to take out the 4 creatures I mentioned above mainly because I like sweepers. Against any creature-based decks, a timely sweep followed by kaalia the following turn is pretty much difficult for opponents to stomach. There's an obvious counter-synergy if I sweep the board but simultaneously give them cards in hand. Sin collector is well, 1 more mana to cast and takes out only instants and sorceries. I gave him a shot, believe me. But in the end this is my final hand disrupt package, and it gets the job done: thoughtseize, duress, inquisition of kozilek, distress, castigate, hymn to tourach, and mind shatter. Don't forget liliana of the veil's +1 and you'll realize there's enough hand disruption in the deck already. Mind shatter is my ultimate stalemate breaker against control. transgress the mind I have a problem with, because the most problematic cards you want to pick out of an opponent's hand would be counterspells, spot removal, and the occasional sword of feast and famine/fire and ice. addle is a better choice. I'd actually even play blackmail first.
Since I already talked about sweepers..
5.) I love sweeping. A well-timed sweep is one of the keys to generating that asymmetrical board state that kaalia aims to generate. But just like everything else for my ideal kaalia deck, it has to be efficient. The ones that made the cut for me are toxic deluge, damnation and sudden demise (formerly fire covenant which is GREAT, but I couldn't handle the life loss involved). I also like sudden demise over fire covenant because it hits hexproof. If you feel like you need 4 sweepers, I'd include fire covenant of course but 3 sweepers are enough when you have tutors. That's part of why i keep my tutors 2 cmc and below, to increase the chances of sweeping the same turn I tutor for one. And with my sweeper choices, they double-up as spot removal for geist, sigarda and narset(UGH.).
6.) Though imperial recruiter is great, kaalia unfortunately can't use him as well as her mardu sister/brother alesha, who smiles at death. I'd take this out to give your deck more precious space to work effectively.
7.) I highly suggest cutting the reanimator package, except maybe reanimate if you really like taking things back from the grave, but only as a plan B in case a beatstick dies. Reanimator in general is not a good direction for the deck simply because other decks in the format do it WAY better (ex. anything that plays that necrotic ooze combo). I'd cut buried alive, reanimate, animate dead and yawgmoth's will.
8.) Boros charm should be lightning bolt. I've played duel commander for years, and 90% of the time i've used boros charm as a planeswalker killer. The other 5% was used as a dead draw, and the other 3% as fodder for chrome mox, and the other 2% was for the occasional indestructible. Let's face it, no high-level commander deck out there will just sit there and let you do a boros charm + armageddon/sweeper combo. Taking all this into account, 1 less mana and the ability to hit creatures makes the substitution an easy choice.
9.) With all the tutors, I really don't feel the need to include grand abolisher. Defense grid isn't picky with mana colors, less susceptible to spot removal, and can be fetched by enlightened tutor.
10.) Regarding Sire of insanity: With 4 toughness and no evasion, this guy's not exactly the dude who's gonna win you the game. Because of this, he absolutely destroys draw-go decks but is actually a liability against aggro. I cut him because there are many kaalia targets out there who can do better than 50-50.
11.) I recently re-sleeved phyrexian arena. We need cards. Period. You mentioned having a slower build, and this makes this even more important for you.
12.) Question about blood moon, did you get the idea from this forum, or are you just as crazy as me? Well I tell you it's worth every dead draw in mono-colored matches. Too good against every deck in the meta that uses nonbasics. I'd go all in on this and throw in magus of the moon. Only a few things in this world feel better than casting an uncounterable magus via cavern of souls against narset.
If you've read till this point you'll notice I suggested a bunch of cards to cut.. So along with the mana rocks you wanna get rid of (good riddance I say), you'll have a bunch of empty slots to fill. Here's a list of options after looking at your list:
1.) More lands: 37 won't cut it, especially with the new mulligan rule. 39-40 might be the ideal. Not as optional as the rest. Do it. I was actually stubborn with 37-38 and lost so many matches because I couldn't make land drops. Worst way to lose a game, next probably to being cheated. In a control heavy meta, I suggest boseiju. Few things feel better than an uncounterable sudden demise against geist of saint traft, one of which being an uncounterable magus of the moon against narset.
2.) More beatsticks: Including sire of insanity who himself is not an efficient beater, you have 8 beatsticks. Congratulations, you are officially the first person in this entire forum whom I am advising to actually increase your beatstick count. I think you should move up to 10 just so you can draw them more consistently. Some options:
a.) Beaters you can cast without kaalia can pressure opponents, especially those who think stopping your deck starts and ends with your general. Baneslayer angel and stormbreath dragon have done well for me, but if you want full synergy with the blood moons, thundermaw hellkite is a viable option. I also suggest pre-ordering that new gisela.
b.) Gisela, blade of goldnight is practically a 2-turn clock.
3.) bitterblossom has little to no synergy in this deck, but provides evasive chump-blockers to buy us time to set up when going against aggro, and adds much-needed pressure against control decks. All-around threat for 2 mana. A bargain too good to pass up, for me at least.
4.) Mass land destruction. In haste-less scenarios, a turn 3-4 kaalia followed by a rune-scarred demon --> tutor for armageddon --> win will happen more often than you think. Just 1 will do, to float around your deck just in case. armageddon is the staple choice, ravages of war if you're feeling fancy. I mean worst case if you don't need it you can imprint into chrome mox or use as discard fodder to the liliana of the veil/nahiri's first ability
5.) More removal. It's nice to have around 10 spells (excluding sweepers) that can deal with creatures, 3-4 that can deal with enchantments/artifacts, and 3-4 that can deal with planeswalkers. Overlaps can occur like in vindicate/council's judgment to save deck space.
Sorry for the long post guys.
The Eldrazi have taken hold of your opponents' minds. They will go mad trying to see if you have the meld combo or not. lol In the meantime, I suspect opponents will just spend removal on her instead of Kaalia.
For my deck at least, I probably just include Gisela in addition to Archangel of Thune, since I'm running Vault of the Archangel. I think I have enough lifelink creatures to possibly replace Vault with some other land that's not Hanweir Embattlements.
For the record: When I enter a tournament and go against a monk tribal narset, I'll increase my beatstick count to 40, making sure to include reiver demon, sunblast angel, and flameblast dragon.
http://www.magicspoiler.com/mtg-spoiler/collective-brutality/
I would rank this a little higher than addle.
Gamble: Generally, yes. It's another < 3 CMC tutor. The random discard risk is often worth taking.
Thunder Dragon: Meta-dependent. It's usually not the first pick in a competitive Kaalia deck. Usually, Steel Hellkite, Rakdos the Defiler, and Balefire Dragon take care of the elves problem.
Sneak Attack: Generally, no. Competitive Kaalia decks don't usually have a lot of creatures to fuel Sneak Attack. However, if you have a repeatable reanimation method, this might work.
I play Gamble and even Demonic Consultation so...
Thunder bro is a fairly meh, ranging from a french vanilla 5/5 to doing something three turns too late. Sneak Attack is fine, but an optimal 1v1 list should be having ~12 threats. The only thing I want to sneak in is Griselbrand (or tutour demon), everything else I can pass on.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Traditional commander gives you the option of vampiric tutor so gamble might be unnecessary at that point, but still viable. Sneak attack is a great card, but not a good fit for kaalia. If you're having problems with ground troops, Sudden demise is the way to go.
I'd play Gamble in addition to, FWIW. Probably even before Vampiric, since it puts the card in my hand.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
1x Ajani Vengeant
1x Angel of Despair
1x Angelic Arbiter
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Arid Mesa
1x Armageddon
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1x Badlands
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Baneslayer Angel
1x Bitterblossom
1x Blood Moon
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Castigate
1x Cataclysm
1x Cauldron Haze
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Chaos Warp
1x City of Brass
1x Clifftop Retreat
1x Command Tower
1x Council's Judgment
1x Dark Confidant
1x Defense Grid
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Dismember
1x Dragon Tempest
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Dreadbore
1x Earnest Fellowship
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Fervor
1x Fetid Heath
1x Flagstones of Trokair
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Godless Shrine
1x Graven Cairns
1x Griselbrand
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Hero's Downfall
1x Hymn to Tourach
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Kor Haven
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Lightning Helix
1x Liliana of the Veil
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Mana Confluence
1x Mana Tithe
1x Marsh Flats
1x Master of Cruelties
1x Mountain
1x Nahiri, the Harbinger
1x Nevermore
1x Night's Whisper
1x Painful Truths
1x Path to Exile
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Phyrexian Tower
1x Plains
1x Plateau
1x Polluted Delta
1x Price of Glory
1x Rakdos Charm
1x Rakdos the Defiler
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Rugged Prairie
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Scrubland
1x Silence
1x Skeletal Scrying
1x Snow-Covered Mountain
1x Snow-Covered Plains
1x Snow-Covered Swamp
1x Stranglehold
1x Sulfurous Springs
1x Swamp
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Tainted Pact
1x Terminate
1x Thoughtseize
1x Thundermaw Hellkite
1x Tithe
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Unexpectedly Absent
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Vindicate
1x Volrath's Stronghold
1x Wasteland
1x Wear / Tear
1x Windswept Heath
1x Winter Orb
1x Withering Boon
1x Wooded Foothills
if that's the reasoning behind the chant, you might want to just play additional hand disrupt and pick off his sweepers.. that way you have the added benefit of scouting his hand. But I admit it might be a bit more relevant than mana tithe as far as similar 1 cmc instants are concerned.. hmm.. i'd still play that new card collective brutality from eldritch moon since it can double as removal.
Bout your list, I'm not on my laptop yet so i'll properly comment on the list maybe tomorrow.
But vampiric end of turn is a way stronger play i believe. You lose a draw technnically but you don't risk randomly losing the card you fetch. Man if this thing wasnt banned in DC.. but then again i'd have a crapload of monoblack sidisis to deal with
Magic theory dictates technically speaking, the Vamp EoT is the stronger play. But I prefer the Gamble, and here is why;
When I'm all-in on Kaalia, I sometimes only have that turn before you stabilize to get an answer ready. If I draw Vamp Tutour on that turn, it's too late. If I draw Gamble, I can win. Losing that draw can (and has) cost me a game I should have won.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.