I bet that guy is playing Derevi or Jace, VP too...irony. Complaining about Kaalia in Commander is like complaining about RDW in Standard. Scrubs will moan about anything they can't beat/mis-assess/plays good cards/can't afford. It's their mantra.
Oh and they're one of those "spirit of the format" knobs?! Oh geez........... #GitGudScrub
Welp looks like I'm going to post on those boards for the first time in a few years..................
What are some good stax elements to include? I've been running what seems a hybrid list between 1v1 and multiplayer. I know this is for more traditional but the majority of games we end up playing end up being MP.... I have Ghostly Prison and Defense Grid. Anything else worthy of including for some early game protection to try to get to that middle to end game? I was thinking Winter Orb and Aura of Silence...
Just noticed the link below has an outdated deck list. I need to update that but it gives a general idea of what I'm running. I know off the bat, I'm not running all the swords or Wear/Tear, but have more card draw (Painful Truths and Read the Bones).
Winter orb makes people hate you. It's not much of protection in a political sense. I like no mercy because it strictly punishes people for swinging at you. If you have the budget, maze of ith would be great too.. You might think master warcraft, batwing brume and deflecting palm are bad choices due to the 1-time use nature of it, but combined with ghostly prison and no mercy, helps discourage people from going for you. If your strategy is to cast kaalia late and go for the win (which I think is a good idea), then those cards I mentioned are really helpful in doing the job..
About STAX, I think queen marchesa can pull that off a bit better.. Also, if you have a reanimator thing going on and you also wanna add defensive spells on top of that, I think throwing in stax will dilute the quality of your strategies a bit. If you ask me, since the point of the deck is not a turn 3 kaalia, you can just drop all your mana rocks, bump your land count to 38-39, then just add more sweepers and attack deterrents.
I took a peek at your list, and overall I think you need to figure out your main strategy and stick to it, rather than having a few cards here and there to have an answer to all situations.. I have some suggestions:
1.) You play phyrexian reclamationobzedat's aid, reanimate, sheoldred and angelic renewal but you don't have unburial rites, animate dead, cauldron of souls, buried alive or entomb. I think if you're going to go reanimator you might as well complete the package for consistency. But I've said many times that my stand on reanimator is that other decks can do it better, and I'd rather just cut all the reanimator elements and replace them with a pillow fort package, stall till the endgame then unleash heavnely inferno on the weakened opponents.
2.) I think waves of aggression can go. In general extra combat steps aren't worth it unless you consistenly have 2 or more big creatures in hand.. This makes Aurelia kinda bad too. If I were to play an extra combat type of spell with the purpose of bringing down extra creatures, it would be seize the day. It's super underrated.
3.) I'm not sure how relevant playing too many swords is to the deck. As far as equipment goes, champion's helm, whispersilk cloak and swiftfoot boots makes a bit more sense. You can keep light and shadow for the reanimation I guess..
5.) You might want to consider bringing your big creature count down.. Or if you're determined to play that many, throw in quicksilver amulet to assist kaalia in bringing them out, or sneak attack for crazy synergy with phyrexian reclamation.
6.) If legion's initiative is there mostly to dodge sweepers, then maybe you should take it out because you have reanimator elements going on to bring them back anyway.
These are just suggestions and I've never played your deck so take them with a grain of salt
I definitely appreciate the comments. Let me update that deck list because it's actually a bit different now. Reading through it, it's not too representative to what I'm playing now. Regardless of the actual cards, I get what you're saying and can definitely make some changes taking that into account.
What are some good stax elements to include? I've been running what seems a hybrid list between 1v1 and multiplayer. I know this is for more traditional but the majority of games we end up playing end up being MP.... I have Ghostly Prison and Defense Grid. Anything else worthy of including for some early game protection to try to get to that middle to end game? I was thinking Winter Orb and Aura of Silence...
Just noticed the link below has an outdated deck list. I need to update that but it gives a general idea of what I'm running. I know off the bat, I'm not running all the swords or Wear/Tear, but have more card draw (Painful Truths and Read the Bones).
Winter orb makes people hate you. It's not much of protection in a political sense. I like no mercy because it strictly punishes people for swinging at you. If you have the budget, maze of ith would be great too.. You might think master warcraft, batwing brume and deflecting palm are bad choices due to the 1-time use nature of it, but combined with ghostly prison and no mercy, helps discourage people from going for you. If your strategy is to cast kaalia late and go for the win (which I think is a good idea), then those cards I mentioned are really helpful in doing the job..
About STAX, I think queen marchesa can pull that off a bit better.. Also, if you have a reanimator thing going on and you also wanna add defensive spells on top of that, I think throwing in stax will dilute the quality of your strategies a bit. If you ask me, since the point of the deck is not a turn 3 kaalia, you can just drop all your mana rocks, bump your land count to 38-39, then just add more sweepers and attack deterrents.
I took a peek at your list, and overall I think you need to figure out your main strategy and stick to it, rather than having a few cards here and there to have an answer to all situations.. I have some suggestions:
1.) You play phyrexian reclamationobzedat's aid, reanimate, sheoldred and angelic renewal but you don't have unburial rites, animate dead, cauldron of souls, buried alive or entomb. I think if you're going to go reanimator you might as well complete the package for consistency. But I've said many times that my stand on reanimator is that other decks can do it better, and I'd rather just cut all the reanimator elements and replace them with a pillow fort package, stall till the endgame then unleash heavnely inferno on the weakened opponents.
2.) I think waves of aggression can go. In general extra combat steps aren't worth it unless you consistenly have 2 or more big creatures in hand.. This makes Aurelia kinda bad too. If I were to play an extra combat type of spell with the purpose of bringing down extra creatures, it would be seize the day. It's super underrated.
3.) I'm not sure how relevant playing too many swords is to the deck. As far as equipment goes, champion's helm, whispersilk cloak and swiftfoot boots makes a bit more sense. You can keep light and shadow for the reanimation I guess..
5.) You might want to consider bringing your big creature count down.. Or if you're determined to play that many, throw in quicksilver amulet to assist kaalia in bringing them out, or sneak attack for crazy synergy with phyrexian reclamation.
6.) If legion's initiative is there mostly to dodge sweepers, then maybe you should take it out because you have reanimator elements going on to bring them back anyway.
These are just suggestions and I've never played your deck so take them with a grain of salt
Yujipooji's idea of reanimation is different from mine.
I don't need to put any of my creatures into my graveyard. I expect my opponents to do that for me. So, I wouldn't use Entomb or Buried Alive.
Whispersilk Cloak and Champion's Helm are too slow. Generally, you want to be able to cast and use the Equipment on the same turn. Whispersilk Cloak takes 5 mana and Emperor's Helm takes 4 mana. Since equipping is sorcery speed, that makes these pieces of Equipment less appealing. If you want to choose one, take Emperor's Helm.
So your idea of reanimation is not really a deliberate strategy, but rather a response to people killing your dudes? If that's the case I'd narrow the reanimation to just reanimate, animate dead, unburial rites and bruna, the fading light.
As for the cloak and helm suggestions, I suggested them as equipment in place of swords, not as must-add pieces. Like the context was that if he were to play equipment, I would have played those 2 instead of war and peace etc.. But I agree with you though, if rkjunior could just stick to greaves and boots and take out stoneforge mystic for another tutor like gamble or maze of ith as an attack deterrent, that might be a more efficient choice. I don't like spending too much mana to equip and stuff either.
..........Yeah I got my thoughts in that thread. Rude, brash, blunt. But I am unashamed. don't call for a ban of MY deck, because you are a scrub.
I didn't bother going back to that thread to read because I still need my IQ in the future.. But dude the guy's a selective reader, and he really IS a scrub so you might end up feeding the unintentional troll like that. It might also give him a bit of moral leverage and you'll have the obligatory "blah blah you have good points but that was uncalled for" type of replies and end up providing him with sympathizers. But freedom of speech and all so whatevs lol
..........Yeah I got my thoughts in that thread. Rude, brash, blunt. But I am unashamed. don't call for a ban of MY deck, because you are a scrub.
I didn't bother going back to that thread to read because I still need my IQ in the future.. But dude the guy's a selective reader, and he really IS a scrub so you might end up feeding the unintentional troll like that. It might also give him a bit of moral leverage and you'll have the obligatory "blah blah you have good points but that was uncalled for" type of replies and end up providing him with sympathizers. But freedom of speech and all so whatevs lol
1.) Maybe 38 lands is better just so that you get to drop em more often? But if it's not an issue to you in multi, you can ignore this. But I think forbidden orchard and smoldering marsh should be city of brass and mana confluence.
2.) Deathrender is a bit too expensive, That can just be unburial rites if you're mainly aiming to revive someone. Kolaghan's command is nice to bring a beater back in hand to cheat out, and can double up as artifact hate.
3.) This is more of a personal thing but I like Reya Dawnbringer over Sheoldred for 2 reasons. One, it only affects your creatures, so it garners less hate. Two, Reya is an angel and even as a spike-y duel commander player, I still like being on theme.
4.) Still not a fan of extra combat steps, and aurelia and waves of aggression should be something else.
5.) What's grand abolisher for? Do you get interrupted a lot during your turn? Unless you have a dedicated counter deck in your playgroup, I think you can live without him. Because reliability-wise, he tends to just get blown away in a sweep or something and he ends up as a blank. I think expedition map gives you more miles so that you can search for either hall of the bandit lord or cavern.
6.) I'm not a fan of having that many big creatures in the deck. It's a bit much. I wouldn't go above 18, and even then I'd find the optimal to be 15-16 for multiplayer. That can give you room for extra lands, tutors and attack deterrents. I mean you already have ways to revive threats, so there's less reason to play that many.
7.) You'll love command beacon. This card alone makes crucible of worlds a better inclusion than grim monolith. Since you have strip mine and armageddon already, crucible has more synergy than some of the pieces in your deck.
..........Yeah I got my thoughts in that thread. Rude, brash, blunt. But I am unashamed. don't call for a ban of MY deck, because you are a scrub.
I didn't bother going back to that thread to read because I still need my IQ in the future.. But dude the guy's a selective reader, and he really IS a scrub so you might end up feeding the unintentional troll like that. It might also give him a bit of moral leverage and you'll have the obligatory "blah blah you have good points but that was uncalled for" type of replies and end up providing him with sympathizers. But freedom of speech and all so whatevs lol
Maybe so. But I couldn't help myself.
Yeah I can tell based on your comments over here HAHA like i said freedom of speech, which he exercised as well leading to that very colorful thread so it evens out. In other news, Kaladesh inventions gonna make me broke again.
I had been using Deckstats but TappedOut is way more polished. I like it.
As for my list, I like where you're coming from and can see some immediate changes.
-Deathrender (I like the versatility of Kolaghan's Command, plus the +2/+2 doesnt really mean much. Kaalia isn't winning on Commander damage).
-Grand Abolisher (Mainly play vs Combo decks so control isn't an issue.)
-Thalia, Heretic Cathar (I had a foil and it was a cute effect, but this spot is valuable)
-Aurelia, the Warleader (How often is Aurelia going to actually be 'attacking' vs being put on the board by Kaalia. Another valuable spot)
-Waves of Aggression
-Sheoldred, Whispering One (Love this guy but I like synergy better. Bringing back Reya)
-Temple of Silence
-Temple of Triumph
I was running Command Beacon before and may try to find a spot for it. I was thinking of going up to 37 lands but I'm unsure what to cut. I'm looking for 2 spots, for Command Beacon and Crucible of Worlds.
1.) In your playgroup, what purpose does linvala serve that a sweeper can't do better? It might be the same issue with grand abolisher in a sense. She might be more often than not a blank when people are sweeping the board once in a while to get rid of creatures with annoying abilities for you. Unless she's a pet card of yours or something, I think she's not an integral piece.
2.) Since you have more than enough draw spells, sword of fire and ice has little use, and by extension stoneforge mystic. At the end of the day Kaalia's not an equipment-centered deck. You can add in swiftfoot boots for redundancy with greaves, but it still doesn't warrant a need for stoneforge.
3.) Your creature count still looks a little congested. If you can cut down your creature count to 20, that would give you so much more breathing room. Already mentioned linvala. Angel of despair has too little impact for a multiplayer game, and you already run vindicate and anguished unmaking so I think you're set.
4.) You might not be too comfortable with this bit, but if we follow the argument that we don't want kaalia out too early, you don't need mana rocks.. at all. Just play 38-39 lands, play crucible and you're set. I can personally vouch for this particular adjustment. If there was one major change that elevated my DC kaalia's power level, it was this one. In multiplayer, having no ramp also lets opponent's guard down, because more often than not when they see you cast a signet or something, they'll most likely have you in their sights.
5.) With your kaalia assault delayed to end-game, early-mid game is all about defense. If you follow my advice and remove rocks and cut down on creatures a bit, you'll have so much more room for them. No mercy, ghostly prison, master warcraft etc. You won't be disappointed, especially if your group tends to hate on you.
6.) Clearing that much room will also give you a chance to really polish your tutor package. Gamble, beseech the queen, diabolic tutor come into mind. Think of tutors as an extra copy of every card in your deck, and you'll realize how much consistency that brings to the table.
7.) Akroma's vengeance might hurt you especially if you have sneak attack or crucible out. This should be either black sun's zenith, toxic deluge or even day of judgment. Cataclysm if you're not really iffy about being hated, or if you want to save it for endgame.
That said though, your list already looks better than before. Up to you how much farther you wanna take it.
Edit: If you're going to play cloudshift to protect kaalia from spot removal, you should instead play earnest fellowship. I picked this up the moment 3drinks started using it, and I haven't looked back since. It protects kaalia from pretty much 90% of targeted removal. I'd save it for end game of course when it's time to cast kaalia.
I'm obviously VERY hard at here at the office haha. I love the discussion and I think I'm getting to a solid place. The deck was fun but I think this will give it more legs.
I left Linvala, Keeper of Silence. Seems like almost everyone plays some sort of creature combo in my meta so this helps. With all the equipment, I like Stoneforge Mystic as another tutor plus a way to cheat equipment in, if needed.
I think the only addition I might want to have is Defense Grid but I'm not quite sold on it yet. It'd be good as a late game play once I bring Kaalia out, I think.
1.) About rakdos, if you save him for your last opponent it's not really a problem.
2.) I'm still not too sold on stoneforge, I'd rather it be another tutor. At least that way you can search for anything. See #4
3.) Thundermaw hellkite I think should be cut: Same argument as angel of despair, impact seems a little small for multiplayer, and by endgame you want something that can kill. This isn't it.. baneslayer angel might be better because she at least gains you life.
4.) About Karmic Guide: along with phyrexian reclamation, angelic renewal, reanimate, obzedat's aid and bruna, you don't need guide. BUT instead of suggesting to cut her, I would rather suggest you add entomb. This isn't a full on reanimation deck so I would never suggest buried alive at this point, but entomb is definitely worth it for instant speed one mana. And for more synergy, I'd turn angelic renewal into animate dead.
5.) If you decide to run entomb, I highly recommend anger. Even at 3 people left on the table, a really powerful play would be to entomb anger at the end of your turn. The surprise haste will throw people off guard.
6.) About defense grid: that might be a bad idea in a playgroup with combo. You want them to be interrupted as much as possible, and grid will prevent you from doing that to a major extent.. take note it applies to every player on every turn. You get taxed as long as it's not your turn so that's a minus. In 1v1, or duel commander it's a beast, but not in MP.
7.) Sire of insanity should be cut: I've mentioned this in previous posts, Sire is not a real "beatstick". His lack of evasion and only 4 toughness does almost nothing, and I was saying this in the context of a 1v1 30-life format. What more in MP? More importantly though, since we're switching to a more sustainable and drawn-out strategy, we want cards in hand, and if sire just dumps them in one go, it'll be for nothing. If you want to attack opponents' hands, mind twist is the way to go. It's a good way to punish a player who you think is picking on you, and it disarms someone who looks like he's setting up for a combo.
8.) I'm not a fan of utvara hellkite: when cheated in with kaalia, he does nothing until the next turn, and even late game there is a relatively high chance he'll be removed. In that case he was just a 6/6 flier. It would have been nice if the trigger happened when dealing combat damage or something, but it doesn't. I've used him in older lists so I kind of know. I would replace him for another tutor. Diabolic is still good.
9.) If you feel like your deck is still mana hungry after runnung 38 lands, given all the cuts I suggested above, you'll have room for thran dynamo (which is strictly better than grim mono in this deck) and gilded lotus. These kinds of ramp I don't mind in this list because they make 3 mana on their own, which we can sink into a lot of things late game.
11.) Since you're going to start your offense late, it actually reduces your chances of having creatures dying and going to the grave in the first place.. Because of that, you can thin out your reanimation just a bit to add one more haste enabler like dragon tempest. Problem is, don't cast these things when you're on the radar. Do it when everyone's busy or when one guy is really set to kill. This will also give you room for more sweepers: speaking of..
13.) Quicksilver amulet: I misread it's activation cost. You're basically paying 8 to get your first creature cheated into play, and 4 for the subsequent ones. It's a steep cost. And since you wanna bring out the guns late game, the theory is kaalia still only costs 4 at that point. So I suggest strionic resonator instead to cheat 2 creatures per swing. Besides, you already have sneak attack as a "second Kaalia" so you're in good shape even without amulet. Speaking of sneak attack..
14.) Sneak attack is awesome, but there's a certain way of using it with kaalia to be able to maximize it. It's part of why even 3drinks who made this primer isn't a fan of it. Not saying he doesn't know how to use it, it's more likely that he'd rather not. Quite frankly I don't either, but since you're playing around 20+ threats, this list can make more use of that enchantment, hence my suggestion. Anyway, first off if you're using it end game to dump your hand into play for a game-winning alpha strike, that's already kinda worth the inclusion. But here's why I keep mentioning phyrexian reclamation.. What puts this enchantment over the top is when you can find a way to recycle threats, like for example volrath's stronghold or Reya. However, if during your playtesting you find that your sneak attack just tends to sit there (especially since we've redesigned the deck in such a way that we get more value out of Kaalia), you shouldn't be afraid of cutting it. Given all that though, sneak attack is a very good plan B for cheating dudes out.. The creatures dying end of turn also protects you from insurrection and blatant thievery.
15.) Just saw your manabase. You don't need vault of the archangel. That should be another colored land, or if you really like utility, homeward path. With very high quality creatures on board, control magic is something that should never be taken for granted. Cracking an expedition map take back a stolen creature is a solid play.
Edit: Switch read the bones with necropotence for GG's. Now that's a combo with sneak attack lol
Gonna process this stuff tonight and see what I like. One thought I had while driving home from softball was replacing Liliana Vess for Sorin, Grim Nemesis.
Gonna process this stuff tonight and see what I like. One thought I had while driving home from softball was replacing Liliana Vess for Sorin, Grim Nemesis.
If I were to choose between 2, Vess is better for card specificity. But I'm not a big fan of walkers in general because we have very few ways of protecting them. It's not like we have blockers lol. Nahiri is in a way an exception because you get to ultimate with her really quick. But even then I suggested her in place of vess, not as an addition. If I were to build a multiplayer deck, I would either play no walkers, or play only Nahiri, then save her for a 1v1 situation.
Gonna process this stuff tonight and see what I like. One thought I had while driving home from softball was replacing Liliana Vess for Sorin, Grim Nemesis.
If I were to choose between 2, Vess is better for card specificity. But I'm not a big fan of walkers in general because we have very few ways of protecting them. It's not like we have blockers lol. Nahiri is in a way an exception because you get to ultimate with her really quick. But even then I suggested her in place of vess, not as an addition. If I were to build a multiplayer deck, I would either play no walkers, or play only Nahiri, then save her for a 1v1 situation.
Yeah, it's definitely a flex spot for sure. I think Nahiri is a permanent fixture but I may experiment with that slot of Liliana. I like the card advantage of Sorin coupled with the table drain.
Sneak Attack is a great card, but I find if I'm not sneaking in an Emrakul, I'm not using it to it's fullest. Maybe Legacy/DC spoils me. >_<
LOL. well he has tons of beatsticks in his deck and has recursion effects, so it's more of a quantity thing.
Exactly. Being able to swing with a fatty, then bring it back for cheap with some sort of recursion then do it all over again is what I'm looking forward to.
I wouldn't play both resonator and quicksilver amulet.. It'll suck to have too many ways to empty your hand.. with an empty hand lol. If I were to choose between the two, strionic might be better coz quicksilver's a bit too slow since activating costs 4 and they don't come down attacking. The way the deck's looking though, you're in good shape with neither. That'll give you room for gilded lotus/thran dynamo for extra mana if you feel like you need it, one more sweeper, or even lapse of certainty in case you need to disarm a sweep or a combo from going off.
I wouldn't play both resonator and quicksilver amulet.. It'll suck to have too many ways to empty your hand.. with an empty hand lol. If I were to choose between the two, strionic might be better coz quicksilver's a bit too slow since activating costs 4 and they don't come down attacking. The way the deck's looking though, you're in good shape with neither. That'll give you room for gilded lotus/thran dynamo for extra mana if you feel like you need it, one more sweeper, or even lapse of certainty in case you need to disarm a sweep or a combo from going off.
Thanks for all the help. I realize this is a 1v1/Traditional thread but there isn't much of an active Multiplayer thread. You guys seem to be on top of it here
I wouldn't play both resonator and quicksilver amulet.. It'll suck to have too many ways to empty your hand.. with an empty hand lol. If I were to choose between the two, strionic might be better coz quicksilver's a bit too slow since activating costs 4 and they don't come down attacking. The way the deck's looking though, you're in good shape with neither. That'll give you room for gilded lotus/thran dynamo for extra mana if you feel like you need it, one more sweeper, or even lapse of certainty in case you need to disarm a sweep or a combo from going off.
Thanks for all the help. I realize this is a 1v1/Traditional thread but there isn't much of an active Multiplayer thread. You guys seem to be on top of it here
No prob I get you, there's not much of a duel commander thread for kaalia so I tend to dump my ideas here as well. This thread may be labelled as traditional 1v1, but the regulars here have a lot of experience with anything Kaalia related. Shiroe is mostly a multiplayer guy, I'm more on the cutthroat DC side, and 3drinks can probably even build a kaalia legacy deck if someone asks nicely lol. It's also nice to have people ask questions here, they keeps us all sharp.
Last piece of advice that I can think of as of now: Depending on how often you play and how tuned the decks in your meta are, you might eventually reach a point where even if you're just sitting pretty during the early-mid game, people will still be gunning for you because they'll be terrified of the damage you do end-game. So this is where deck ratio has to be readjusted once more and the pillow-fort package I was yapping about becomes worth discussing. That defense + offense thing will be what I predict to be the eventual equilibrium. But since that day may or may not come, that's getting ahead of myself. For now, enjoy the new list and I hope it does great.
Last piece of advice that I can think of as of now: Depending on how often you play and how tuned the decks in your meta are, you might eventually reach a point where even if you're just sitting pretty during the early-mid game, people will still be gunning for you because they'll be terrified of the damage you do end-game. So this is where deck ratio has to be readjusted once more and the pillow-fort package I was yapping about becomes worth discussing. That defense + offense thing will be what I predict to be the eventual equilibrium. But since that day may or may not come, that's getting ahead of myself. For now, enjoy the new list and I hope it does great.
The decks are borderline degenerate. Take a look at my Animar or Teysa deck and it will let you know. I see everything from creatureless Narset, Blinky Roon, Child of Alara, Ezuri, etc.. They're all DUMB. lol. What have you been using for a pillowfort package?
Oh and they're one of those "spirit of the format" knobs?! Oh geez........... #GitGudScrub
Welp looks like I'm going to post on those boards for the first time in a few years..................
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Updated deck list...
1x Angel of Despair
1x Angel of Serenity
1x Angelic Arbiter
1x Aurelia, the Warleader
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Bloodgift Demon
1x Bruna, the Fading Light
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Gisela, the Broken Blade
1x Grand Abolisher
1x Hellkite Tyrant
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Karmic Guide
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Lord of the Void
1x Master of Cruelties
1x Rakdos the Defiler
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Scourge of Kher Ridges
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
1x Sire Of Insanity
1x Steel Hellkite
1x Stoneforge Mystic
1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1x Thundermaw Hellkite
1x Utvara Hellkite
Planeswalker (1)
1x Liliana Vess
Instant (8)
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Cloudshift
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Path to Exile
1x Rakdos Charm
1x Skeletal Scrying
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Akroma's Vengeance
1x Armageddon
1x Damnation
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Dreadbore
1x Merciless Eviction
1x Obzedat's Aid
1x Painful Truths
1x Read the Bones
1x Reanimate
1x Vindicate
1x Waves of Aggression
1x Wrath of God
Artifact (11)
1x Boros Signet
1x Darksteel Plate
1x Deathrender
1x Grim Monolith
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Sol Ring
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
Enchantment (3)
1x Angelic Renewal
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
Land (36)
1x Arid Mesa
1x Badlands
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Clifftop Retreat
1x Command Tower
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Fetid Heath
1x Forbidden Orchard
1x Godless Shrine
1x Graven Cairns
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Marsh Flats
2x Mountain
1x Phyrexian Tower
2x Plains
1x Plateau
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Rugged Prairie
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Scrubland
1x Shadowblood Ridge
1x Smoldering Marsh
1x Strip Mine
2x Swamp
1x Temple of Silence
1x Temple of Triumph
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Vault of the Archangel
1x Volrath's Stronghold
GWUBAtraxa and Her Superfriends
WUB Oloro, the Life Drain Train
URG Animar, Soul of Elements
WBR Kaalia of the Vast
BWTeysa Karlov, Scion of Orzhov
R Purphoros, Goblins of Pain ($100 Budget Challenge)
U Talrand, Fun Police (Needs updating)
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
So your idea of reanimation is not really a deliberate strategy, but rather a response to people killing your dudes? If that's the case I'd narrow the reanimation to just reanimate, animate dead, unburial rites and bruna, the fading light.
As for the cloak and helm suggestions, I suggested them as equipment in place of swords, not as must-add pieces. Like the context was that if he were to play equipment, I would have played those 2 instead of war and peace etc.. But I agree with you though, if rkjunior could just stick to greaves and boots and take out stoneforge mystic for another tutor like gamble or maze of ith as an attack deterrent, that might be a more efficient choice. I don't like spending too much mana to equip and stuff either.
I didn't bother going back to that thread to read because I still need my IQ in the future.. But dude the guy's a selective reader, and he really IS a scrub so you might end up feeding the unintentional troll like that. It might also give him a bit of moral leverage and you'll have the obligatory "blah blah you have good points but that was uncalled for" type of replies and end up providing him with sympathizers. But freedom of speech and all so whatevs lol
Maybe so. But I couldn't help myself.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
That list above seems more polished..
1.) Maybe 38 lands is better just so that you get to drop em more often? But if it's not an issue to you in multi, you can ignore this. But I think forbidden orchard and smoldering marsh should be city of brass and mana confluence.
2.) Deathrender is a bit too expensive, That can just be unburial rites if you're mainly aiming to revive someone. Kolaghan's command is nice to bring a beater back in hand to cheat out, and can double up as artifact hate.
3.) This is more of a personal thing but I like Reya Dawnbringer over Sheoldred for 2 reasons. One, it only affects your creatures, so it garners less hate. Two, Reya is an angel and even as a spike-y duel commander player, I still like being on theme.
4.) Still not a fan of extra combat steps, and aurelia and waves of aggression should be something else.
5.) What's grand abolisher for? Do you get interrupted a lot during your turn? Unless you have a dedicated counter deck in your playgroup, I think you can live without him. Because reliability-wise, he tends to just get blown away in a sweep or something and he ends up as a blank. I think expedition map gives you more miles so that you can search for either hall of the bandit lord or cavern.
6.) I'm not a fan of having that many big creatures in the deck. It's a bit much. I wouldn't go above 18, and even then I'd find the optimal to be 15-16 for multiplayer. That can give you room for extra lands, tutors and attack deterrents. I mean you already have ways to revive threats, so there's less reason to play that many.
7.) You'll love command beacon. This card alone makes crucible of worlds a better inclusion than grim monolith. Since you have strip mine and armageddon already, crucible has more synergy than some of the pieces in your deck.
8.) Skeletal scrying please. Also, Thalia, Heretic Cathar is nice and all, but I think kaalia doesn't get to do much with it other than annoy people.
Again, grain of salt lol
Yeah I can tell based on your comments over here HAHA like i said freedom of speech, which he exercised as well leading to that very colorful thread so it evens out. In other news, Kaladesh inventions gonna make me broke again.
I hope they don't call for a ban lol
As for my list, I like where you're coming from and can see some immediate changes.
-Deathrender (I like the versatility of Kolaghan's Command, plus the +2/+2 doesnt really mean much. Kaalia isn't winning on Commander damage).
-Grand Abolisher (Mainly play vs Combo decks so control isn't an issue.)
-Thalia, Heretic Cathar (I had a foil and it was a cute effect, but this spot is valuable)
-Aurelia, the Warleader (How often is Aurelia going to actually be 'attacking' vs being put on the board by Kaalia. Another valuable spot)
-Waves of Aggression
-Sheoldred, Whispering One (Love this guy but I like synergy better. Bringing back Reya)
-Temple of Silence
-Temple of Triumph
+Mana Confluence
+City of Brass
+Reya Dawnbringer
+Kolaghan's Command
+Expedition Map
+Sneak Attack
+Quicksilver Amulet (I like another outlet for bringing people in)
+Nahiri, the Harbinger
I was running Command Beacon before and may try to find a spot for it. I was thinking of going up to 37 lands but I'm unsure what to cut. I'm looking for 2 spots, for Command Beacon and Crucible of Worlds.
Thoughts?
Updated list here:
1x Angel of Despair
1x Angel of Serenity
1x Angelic Arbiter
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Bloodgift Demon
1x Bruna, the Fading Light
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Gisela, the Broken Blade
1x Hellkite Tyrant
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Karmic Guide
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Lord of the Void
1x Master of Cruelties
1x Rakdos the Defiler
1x Reya Dawnbringer
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Scourge of Kher Ridges
1x Sire Of Insanity
1x Steel Hellkite
1x Stoneforge Mystic
1x Thundermaw Hellkite
1x Utvara Hellkite
Artifact (12)
1x Boros Signet
1x Darksteel Plate
1x Expedition Map
1x Grim Monolith
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Quicksilver Amulet
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Sol Ring
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Angelic Renewal
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
1x Sneak Attack
Instant (9)
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Cloudshift
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Kolaghan's Command
1x Path to Exile
1x Rakdos Charm
1x Skeletal Scrying
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Vampiric Tutor
Planeswalker (2)
1x Liliana Vess
1x Nahiri, the Harbinger
Sorcery (12)
1x Akroma's Vengeance
1x Armageddon
1x Damnation
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Dreadbore
1x Merciless Eviction
1x Obzedat's Aid
1x Painful Truths
1x Read the Bones
1x Reanimate
1x Vindicate
1x Wrath of God
Land (36)
1x Arid Mesa
1x Badlands
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Cavern of Souls
1x City of Brass
1x Clifftop Retreat
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Fetid Heath
1x Forbidden Orchard
1x Godless Shrine
1x Graven Cairns
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Mana Confluence
1x Marsh Flats
2x Mountain
1x Phyrexian Tower
2x Plains
1x Plateau
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Rugged Prairie
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Scrubland
1x Shadowblood Ridge
1x Smoldering Marsh
1x Strip Mine
3x Swamp
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Vault of the Archangel
1x Volrath's Stronghold
GWUBAtraxa and Her Superfriends
WUB Oloro, the Life Drain Train
URG Animar, Soul of Elements
WBR Kaalia of the Vast
BWTeysa Karlov, Scion of Orzhov
R Purphoros, Goblins of Pain ($100 Budget Challenge)
U Talrand, Fun Police (Needs updating)
2.) Since you have more than enough draw spells, sword of fire and ice has little use, and by extension stoneforge mystic. At the end of the day Kaalia's not an equipment-centered deck. You can add in swiftfoot boots for redundancy with greaves, but it still doesn't warrant a need for stoneforge.
3.) Your creature count still looks a little congested. If you can cut down your creature count to 20, that would give you so much more breathing room. Already mentioned linvala. Angel of despair has too little impact for a multiplayer game, and you already run vindicate and anguished unmaking so I think you're set.
4.) You might not be too comfortable with this bit, but if we follow the argument that we don't want kaalia out too early, you don't need mana rocks.. at all. Just play 38-39 lands, play crucible and you're set. I can personally vouch for this particular adjustment. If there was one major change that elevated my DC kaalia's power level, it was this one. In multiplayer, having no ramp also lets opponent's guard down, because more often than not when they see you cast a signet or something, they'll most likely have you in their sights.
5.) With your kaalia assault delayed to end-game, early-mid game is all about defense. If you follow my advice and remove rocks and cut down on creatures a bit, you'll have so much more room for them. No mercy, ghostly prison, master warcraft etc. You won't be disappointed, especially if your group tends to hate on you.
6.) Clearing that much room will also give you a chance to really polish your tutor package. Gamble, beseech the queen, diabolic tutor come into mind. Think of tutors as an extra copy of every card in your deck, and you'll realize how much consistency that brings to the table.
7.) Akroma's vengeance might hurt you especially if you have sneak attack or crucible out. This should be either black sun's zenith, toxic deluge or even day of judgment. Cataclysm if you're not really iffy about being hated, or if you want to save it for endgame.
That said though, your list already looks better than before. Up to you how much farther you wanna take it.
Edit: If you're going to play cloudshift to protect kaalia from spot removal, you should instead play earnest fellowship. I picked this up the moment 3drinks started using it, and I haven't looked back since. It protects kaalia from pretty much 90% of targeted removal. I'd save it for end game of course when it's time to cast kaalia.
Removed
Added
Going to try your suggestion and go with no signets. I'm going to leave Sol Ring and Grim Monolith (for now) and see how it performs. Added Command Beacon back and an additional Plains to go to 38 lands. I think I like Dark Petition over Diabolic Tutor, the 1 extra mana has a lot of upside for Spell Mastery. Aura of Silence was a fairly even swap for Rakdos Charm and I think Rakdos the Defiler in a MP game hurts me more than helps.
I left Linvala, Keeper of Silence. Seems like almost everyone plays some sort of creature combo in my meta so this helps. With all the equipment, I like Stoneforge Mystic as another tutor plus a way to cheat equipment in, if needed.
I think the only addition I might want to have is Defense Grid but I'm not quite sold on it yet. It'd be good as a late game play once I bring Kaalia out, I think.
Thoughts?
1x Angel of Serenity
1x Angelic Arbiter
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Bloodgift Demon
1x Bruna, the Fading Light
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Gisela, the Broken Blade
1x Hellkite Tyrant
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Karmic Guide
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Lord of the Void
1x Master of Cruelties
1x Reya Dawnbringer
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Scourge of Kher Ridges
1x Sire Of Insanity
1x Steel Hellkite
1x Stoneforge Mystic
1x Thundermaw Hellkite
1x Utvara Hellkite
Planeswalker (2)
1x Liliana Vess
1x Nahiri, the Harbinger
Artifact (10)
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Darksteel Plate
1x Expedition Map
1x Grim Monolith
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Quicksilver Amulet
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Sol Ring
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Whispersilk Cloak
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Kolaghan's Command
1x Path to Exile
1x Skeletal Scrying
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Vampiric Tutor
Sorcery (13)
1x Armageddon
1x Damnation
1x Dark Petition
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Dreadbore
1x Gamble
1x Merciless Eviction
1x Obzedat's Aid
1x Painful Truths
1x Read the Bones
1x Reanimate
1x Vindicate
1x Wrath of God
Enchantment (7)
1x Angelic Renewal
1x Aura of Silence
1x Earnest Fellowship
1x No Mercy
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
1x Sneak Attack
Land (38)
1x Arid Mesa
1x Badlands
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Cavern of Souls
1x City of Brass
1x Clifftop Retreat
1x Command Beacon
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Fetid Heath
1x Forbidden Orchard
1x Godless Shrine
1x Graven Cairns
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Mana Confluence
1x Marsh Flats
2x Mountain
1x Phyrexian Tower
4x Plains
1x Plateau
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Rugged Prairie
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Scrubland
1x Shadowblood Ridge
1x Smoldering Marsh
1x Strip Mine
2x Swamp
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Vault of the Archangel
1x Volrath's Stronghold
GWUBAtraxa and Her Superfriends
WUB Oloro, the Life Drain Train
URG Animar, Soul of Elements
WBR Kaalia of the Vast
BWTeysa Karlov, Scion of Orzhov
R Purphoros, Goblins of Pain ($100 Budget Challenge)
U Talrand, Fun Police (Needs updating)
1.) About rakdos, if you save him for your last opponent it's not really a problem.
2.) I'm still not too sold on stoneforge, I'd rather it be another tutor. At least that way you can search for anything. See #4
3.) Thundermaw hellkite I think should be cut: Same argument as angel of despair, impact seems a little small for multiplayer, and by endgame you want something that can kill. This isn't it.. baneslayer angel might be better because she at least gains you life.
4.) About Karmic Guide: along with phyrexian reclamation, angelic renewal, reanimate, obzedat's aid and bruna, you don't need guide. BUT instead of suggesting to cut her, I would rather suggest you add entomb. This isn't a full on reanimation deck so I would never suggest buried alive at this point, but entomb is definitely worth it for instant speed one mana. And for more synergy, I'd turn angelic renewal into animate dead.
5.) If you decide to run entomb, I highly recommend anger. Even at 3 people left on the table, a really powerful play would be to entomb anger at the end of your turn. The surprise haste will throw people off guard.
6.) About defense grid: that might be a bad idea in a playgroup with combo. You want them to be interrupted as much as possible, and grid will prevent you from doing that to a major extent.. take note it applies to every player on every turn. You get taxed as long as it's not your turn so that's a minus. In 1v1, or duel commander it's a beast, but not in MP.
7.) Sire of insanity should be cut: I've mentioned this in previous posts, Sire is not a real "beatstick". His lack of evasion and only 4 toughness does almost nothing, and I was saying this in the context of a 1v1 30-life format. What more in MP? More importantly though, since we're switching to a more sustainable and drawn-out strategy, we want cards in hand, and if sire just dumps them in one go, it'll be for nothing. If you want to attack opponents' hands, mind twist is the way to go. It's a good way to punish a player who you think is picking on you, and it disarms someone who looks like he's setting up for a combo.
8.) I'm not a fan of utvara hellkite: when cheated in with kaalia, he does nothing until the next turn, and even late game there is a relatively high chance he'll be removed. In that case he was just a 6/6 flier. It would have been nice if the trigger happened when dealing combat damage or something, but it doesn't. I've used him in older lists so I kind of know. I would replace him for another tutor. Diabolic is still good.
9.) If you feel like your deck is still mana hungry after runnung 38 lands, given all the cuts I suggested above, you'll have room for thran dynamo (which is strictly better than grim mono in this deck) and gilded lotus. These kinds of ramp I don't mind in this list because they make 3 mana on their own, which we can sink into a lot of things late game.
10.) I think haste > unblockable, so by extension swiftfoot boots > whispersilk cloak.
11.) Since you're going to start your offense late, it actually reduces your chances of having creatures dying and going to the grave in the first place.. Because of that, you can thin out your reanimation just a bit to add one more haste enabler like dragon tempest. Problem is, don't cast these things when you're on the radar. Do it when everyone's busy or when one guy is really set to kill. This will also give you room for more sweepers: speaking of..
12.) You need 1-2 more sweepers. Toxic deluge and even day of judgment would be great.
13.) Quicksilver amulet: I misread it's activation cost. You're basically paying 8 to get your first creature cheated into play, and 4 for the subsequent ones. It's a steep cost. And since you wanna bring out the guns late game, the theory is kaalia still only costs 4 at that point. So I suggest strionic resonator instead to cheat 2 creatures per swing. Besides, you already have sneak attack as a "second Kaalia" so you're in good shape even without amulet. Speaking of sneak attack..
14.) Sneak attack is awesome, but there's a certain way of using it with kaalia to be able to maximize it. It's part of why even 3drinks who made this primer isn't a fan of it. Not saying he doesn't know how to use it, it's more likely that he'd rather not. Quite frankly I don't either, but since you're playing around 20+ threats, this list can make more use of that enchantment, hence my suggestion. Anyway, first off if you're using it end game to dump your hand into play for a game-winning alpha strike, that's already kinda worth the inclusion. But here's why I keep mentioning phyrexian reclamation.. What puts this enchantment over the top is when you can find a way to recycle threats, like for example volrath's stronghold or Reya. However, if during your playtesting you find that your sneak attack just tends to sit there (especially since we've redesigned the deck in such a way that we get more value out of Kaalia), you shouldn't be afraid of cutting it. Given all that though, sneak attack is a very good plan B for cheating dudes out.. The creatures dying end of turn also protects you from insurrection and blatant thievery.
15.) Just saw your manabase. You don't need vault of the archangel. That should be another colored land, or if you really like utility, homeward path. With very high quality creatures on board, control magic is something that should never be taken for granted. Cracking an expedition map take back a stolen creature is a solid play.
Edit: Switch read the bones with necropotence for GG's. Now that's a combo with sneak attack lol
GWUBAtraxa and Her Superfriends
WUB Oloro, the Life Drain Train
URG Animar, Soul of Elements
WBR Kaalia of the Vast
BWTeysa Karlov, Scion of Orzhov
R Purphoros, Goblins of Pain ($100 Budget Challenge)
U Talrand, Fun Police (Needs updating)
If I were to choose between 2, Vess is better for card specificity. But I'm not a big fan of walkers in general because we have very few ways of protecting them. It's not like we have blockers lol. Nahiri is in a way an exception because you get to ultimate with her really quick. But even then I suggested her in place of vess, not as an addition. If I were to build a multiplayer deck, I would either play no walkers, or play only Nahiri, then save her for a 1v1 situation.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
LOL. well he has tons of beatsticks in his deck and has recursion effects, so it's more of a quantity thing.
Ha, yeah, I know what you mean... I just recently finished building Sneak & Show. So much fun. I get to play two of my favorites at once.
Yeah, it's definitely a flex spot for sure. I think Nahiri is a permanent fixture but I may experiment with that slot of Liliana. I like the card advantage of Sorin coupled with the table drain.
Exactly. Being able to swing with a fatty, then bring it back for cheap with some sort of recursion then do it all over again is what I'm looking forward to.
GWUBAtraxa and Her Superfriends
WUB Oloro, the Life Drain Train
URG Animar, Soul of Elements
WBR Kaalia of the Vast
BWTeysa Karlov, Scion of Orzhov
R Purphoros, Goblins of Pain ($100 Budget Challenge)
U Talrand, Fun Police (Needs updating)
Kaalia of the Vast (TappedOut w/ foils
Removed
Added
Mind Twist and Liliana Vess are on the cusp. I feel like I might have 1-2 "flex" spots depending on who I'm playing. I might try to run both Strionic Resonator and Quicksilver Amulet. Liking Toxic Deluge over Day of Judgement, also had Cataclysm and Jokulhaups available to me.
1x Angel of Serenity
1x Angelic Arbiter
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Bloodgift Demon
1x Bruna, the Fading Light
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Gisela, the Broken Blade
1x Hellkite Tyrant
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Karmic Guide
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Lord of the Void
1x Master of Cruelties
1x Rakdos the Defiler
1x Reya Dawnbringer
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Scourge of Kher Ridges
1x Steel Hellkite
1x Liliana Vess
1x Nahiri, the Harbinger
Instant (8)
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Entomb
1x Kolaghan's Command
1x Path to Exile
1x Skeletal Scrying
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Vampiric Tutor
Sorcery (15)
1x Armageddon
1x Damnation
1x Dark Petition
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Diabolic Tutor
1x Dreadbore
1x Gamble
1x Merciless Eviction
1x Mind Twist
1x Obzedat's Aid
1x Painful Truths
1x Reanimate
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Vindicate
1x Wrath of God
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Darksteel Plate
1x Expedition Map
1x Grim Monolith
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Quicksilver Amulet
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Sol Ring
1x Swiftfoot Boots
Enchantment (8)
1x Animate Dead
1x Aura of Silence
1x Earnest Fellowship
1x Necropotence
1x No Mercy
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
1x Sneak Attack
Land (38)
1x Arid Mesa
1x Badlands
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Cavern of Souls
1x City of Brass
1x Clifftop Retreat
1x Command Beacon
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Fetid Heath
1x Forbidden Orchard
1x Godless Shrine
1x Graven Cairns
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Homeward Path
1x Isolated Chapel
1x Mana Confluence
1x Marsh Flats
2x Mountain
1x Phyrexian Tower
4x Plains
1x Plateau
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Rugged Prairie
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Scrubland
1x Shadowblood Ridge
1x Smoldering Marsh
1x Strip Mine
2x Swamp
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Volrath's Stronghold
GWUBAtraxa and Her Superfriends
WUB Oloro, the Life Drain Train
URG Animar, Soul of Elements
WBR Kaalia of the Vast
BWTeysa Karlov, Scion of Orzhov
R Purphoros, Goblins of Pain ($100 Budget Challenge)
U Talrand, Fun Police (Needs updating)
I wouldn't play both resonator and quicksilver amulet.. It'll suck to have too many ways to empty your hand.. with an empty hand lol. If I were to choose between the two, strionic might be better coz quicksilver's a bit too slow since activating costs 4 and they don't come down attacking. The way the deck's looking though, you're in good shape with neither. That'll give you room for gilded lotus/thran dynamo for extra mana if you feel like you need it, one more sweeper, or even lapse of certainty in case you need to disarm a sweep or a combo from going off.
Addendum: utter end is great utility as well.
Thanks for all the help. I realize this is a 1v1/Traditional thread but there isn't much of an active Multiplayer thread. You guys seem to be on top of it here
GWUBAtraxa and Her Superfriends
WUB Oloro, the Life Drain Train
URG Animar, Soul of Elements
WBR Kaalia of the Vast
BWTeysa Karlov, Scion of Orzhov
R Purphoros, Goblins of Pain ($100 Budget Challenge)
U Talrand, Fun Police (Needs updating)
No prob I get you, there's not much of a duel commander thread for kaalia so I tend to dump my ideas here as well. This thread may be labelled as traditional 1v1, but the regulars here have a lot of experience with anything Kaalia related. Shiroe is mostly a multiplayer guy, I'm more on the cutthroat DC side, and 3drinks can probably even build a kaalia legacy deck if someone asks nicely lol. It's also nice to have people ask questions here, they keeps us all sharp.
Last piece of advice that I can think of as of now: Depending on how often you play and how tuned the decks in your meta are, you might eventually reach a point where even if you're just sitting pretty during the early-mid game, people will still be gunning for you because they'll be terrified of the damage you do end-game. So this is where deck ratio has to be readjusted once more and the pillow-fort package I was yapping about becomes worth discussing. That defense + offense thing will be what I predict to be the eventual equilibrium. But since that day may or may not come, that's getting ahead of myself. For now, enjoy the new list and I hope it does great.
The decks are borderline degenerate. Take a look at my Animar or Teysa deck and it will let you know. I see everything from creatureless Narset, Blinky Roon, Child of Alara, Ezuri, etc.. They're all DUMB. lol. What have you been using for a pillowfort package?
GWUBAtraxa and Her Superfriends
WUB Oloro, the Life Drain Train
URG Animar, Soul of Elements
WBR Kaalia of the Vast
BWTeysa Karlov, Scion of Orzhov
R Purphoros, Goblins of Pain ($100 Budget Challenge)
U Talrand, Fun Police (Needs updating)