Any particular reason that you don't run Scroll Rack? I find myself with a decent amount of mana most games and the deck lets you shuffle quite a bit.
I'm also considering Restoration Angel - it lets you protect kaalia, recycles Sun Titan/Stoneforge/Rune-scarred/Bogardan Hellkite/Hoarding Dragon/Thundermaw Hellkite
I don't run Scroll Rack mostly because I don't own one and it's still pricey enough that I'm reluctant to get it when I need to save up to move out at the moment. That, and I run into the same problem I face anytime I start making changes: What do I cut for it? With the GPT's popping up in my area recently, I haven't had much of a chance to play it with figuring it out in mind. A couple of options are there, but I'm not sure though.
But you're right, it's a really good card that I should start running at some point. Thanks.
The thing about Restoration Angel is that it's strictly worse than Cloudshift in this list, which I already run. I say 'strictly worse' because so much of our creature base is comprised of angels that I'd want to save/reset. Cloudshift does the same thing, but better because it DOES affect angels, costs 3 less, and can be tutored for with Sunforger. It also exiles things permanently if you're using it on Angel of Serenity, which Restoration Angel can't do (as my opponent found at the GPT a couple of weeks ago).
Even then, my meta is filled with more sweepers than spot removal, so Cloudshift doesn't actually do a lot of saving. It's more of a reset button to get another effect out of our ETB effects than anything else, and it's been doing it pretty well so far.
I don't run Scroll Rack mostly because I don't own one and it's still pricey enough that I'm reluctant to get it when I need to save up to move out at the moment. That, and I run into the same problem I face anytime I start making changes: What do I cut for it? With the GPT's popping up in my area recently, I haven't had much of a chance to play it with figuring it out in mind. A couple of options are there, but I'm not sure though.
But you're right, it's a really good card that I should start running at some point. Thanks.
The thing about Restoration Angel is that it's strictly worse than Cloudshift in this list, which I already run. I say 'strictly worse' because so much of our creature base is comprised of angels that I'd want to save/reset. Cloudshift does the same thing, but better because it DOES affect angels, costs 3 less, and can be tutored for with Sunforger. It also exiles things permanently if you're using it on Angel of Serenity, which Restoration Angel can't do (as my opponent found at the GPT a couple of weeks ago).
Even then, my meta is filled with more sweepers than spot removal, so Cloudshift doesn't actually do a lot of saving. It's more of a reset button to get another effect out of our ETB effects than anything else, and it's been doing it pretty well so far.
There's also Phyrexian Reclamation also allows for more recoveries. Cloudshift is great, but it's only once use. PR can be used time and again and even force a zerg to break through blockers.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.
Individualities may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.
Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success.
Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.
There's also Phyrexian Reclamation also allows for more recoveries. Cloudshift is great, but it's only once use. PR can be used time and again and even force a zerg to break through blockers.
Wow, that's....amazing. Truly, spectacularly, amazing. That's going on my next xmas wish list for sure.
Actually, I'd just been thinking about cutting Debtor's Knell, and this fills the role I wish DK did very nicely. Thanks for the tip.
Okay, I'll admit it. It's been a while. But I've been swamped with testing the R2R guilds and taking over a community leading podcast/website the past half-month, so can you blame me?
....probably.
Updates!
I'm actually getting ready to cut Academy Rector and some of the more expensive enchantmens (Debtor's Knell, True Conviction), for more efficient cards that I can cast and expect to survive long enough for me to use them, Phyrexian Reclamation being one of them.
As for the new GTC cards, I might be trying Boros Charm, and Aurelia's Fury looks very nice, but I'm primarily interested in the new dragon we'll be getting. Stealing other people's mana rocks and swords is a big boon to this deck, particularly since it helps us accelerate into our MLD strategy.
I've been considering Aurelia for the longest time now (what with her being spoiled early and all), but ultimately, I don't think I'll be able to fit her in here. She'll be awesome in my Jor Kadeen deck, and very possibly Mayael and Ruhan, but for a deck that's already crammed angels, demons, and dragons that have immediate effects when Kaalia flashes them in, she doesn't quite fit the bill.
TL;DR - Aurelia's "Flameblast Syndrome" means that she's not on my highest of priorities to find a spot in Kaalia's build.
Also, is it just me or is the MLD aspect of the deck scaring off people from commenting in this thread? I know there's a number of people who frequent 3drinks's one-on-one thread, but never anyone here...
I've been using Kaalia for a while, it was actually my second deck, after Captain Sisay.
The main reason I don't run a MLD suite is because I don't have any of the good ones lol, I mostly just run a beatfacey style, trying to hit hard and fast.
I've been meaning to get my hands on an Armageddon, and I kind of want to be greedy here and even get a Ravages of War, but i highly doubt that my wallet could handle the strain.
Mainly because I'm dead broke until I get my first paycheck lol
Also, is it just me or is the MLD aspect of the deck scaring off people from commenting in this thread? I know there's a number of people who frequent 3drinks's one-on-one thread, but never anyone here...
It might be partly that, but it's also partly how many posts you as a user have, and how many pages/responses you already have on the thread.
I've been using Kaalia for a while, it was actually my second deck, after Captain Sisay.
The main reason I don't run a MLD suite is because I don't have any of the good ones lol, I mostly just run a beatfacey style, trying to hit hard and fast.
I've been meaning to get my hands on an Armageddon, and I kind of want to be greedy here and even get a Ravages of War, but i highly doubt that my wallet could handle the strain.
Mainly because I'm dead broke until I get my first paycheck lol
You don't really need to have GOOD ones per se in order for MLD to be effective. There are plenty of budget options that I recommend, like Boom // Bust and Decree of Annihilation. If you run enough basics, even Ruination would be acceptable.
That's a really decent combo, too. I have a preference against infinite combos, though.
It might be partly that, but it's also partly how many posts you as a user have, and how many pages/responses you already have on the thread.
Well, ya, there's always that. Maybe hosting the podcast will get a few more people to check it out? Lol. My primary concern is that there isn't a lot of discussion about card choices or suggestions from the intertronz (though the few I've gotten have been really good).
Looking at the latest list you have and how I normally play mine, I think there's a few changes you should make.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence - I've tried her out. She really doesnt have enough bang for her buck. She may stop activated abilities of creatures, but in EDH, I'm not as worried about that as I am about ETB effects.
Tariel, Reckoner of Souls - As the card states, random. In EDH, you want to directly target stuff in peoples graveyards for better effect.
Bogardan Hellkite - IMO, not enough damage. Yes it can potentially kill someone in a 1v1 but I would rather replace is with Ryusei, the Falling Star as a replacement. My group runs a lot of creatures and I'd rather have a wrath for ground pounders then just doing 5 damage.
Hoarding Dragon - Can be iffy. In my PG, theyre more likely to RFG it then let it die because they know whats in my deck.
Eternal Dragon - No bang for its buck. If it had an ETB ability I would have kept it in from my original build. It may only get you lands but if your land base is set up well enough, you wont have much need for plains cycling. I'm almost out of room for basic lands.
Thundermaw Hellkite - I used to have this in when it came out. Turns out my group doesnt play as much flyers as I would have imagined. So he was ditched for something better.
Academy Rector - People would rather take the 1 or exile him rather then have you let him go to the grave.
Stoneforge Mystic - Because she ends up being a 2 mana tutor for an equipment, I would rather replace her with either a Kaalia enabled creature or replace her with a Steelforger's Gift. Because you would want it to be faster effect, paying 1 for an equipment to your hand then 2 is much better.
Sun Titan - Too limited in this deck. I would just chuck it for a better flying creature.
Sunforger - Because this deck isn't made to be a sunforger deck, I would just check it anyways. Put in probably Swiftfoot Boots or another Sword.
Debtor's Knell - I know you love the card, I did too, but then I discovered Unburial Rites. DK doesn't stay up on the field for very long, if your group is smart enough, so getting a reanimation spell twice from UR is better then never getting DK off at all.
Hide // Seek - Doesn't do enough to help you win the game. I'd rather replace it with a spot kill.
I know you like the LD plan for the deck but as I've mentioned before, I think games are more fun if you dont just autowin from LDing and getting people upset at you. I would keep with just Armageddon and use it as a threat for the group. You can still win games by just hinting you have it in your hand.
Quicksilver Amulet - Seems to be a must in this deck with everyone now because its Kaalia on a stick.
Utvara Hellkite - Just ridiculous in this deck. Easily one of the biggest treats in my deck.
Wheel of Fortune - Just an amazing card. If you can't get one, Reforge the Soul works just as well.
Lord of the Void - Think of it as what we get to replace what would have been Griselbrand.
Merciless Eviction - This is still on my chopping block. Because I don't have this yet, I still haven't decided if I want it AND Austere Command in my deck, or a single version of either.
Angelic Arbiter - Great for stopping opponents. Lots of the times I feel they end up playing spells instead of attacking.
Dragon Mage - I found this to be awesome, especially with multiple attack phases to cycle through your opponents deck and refresh your hand for Kaalia.
Gisela, Blade of Goldknight - Auto include in this deck. Doubling all your damage and halving all the damage done to you is a game winner.
Moonveil Dragon - A great card to give all your creatures firebreathing at once.
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon - Great for distracting treats away from your general. Beating face with an infect 4/4 flyer is more important then a 2/2 Kaalia that drops stuff they dont care about.
Defense Grid - This is perhaps one of the best cards in my deck. I don't mind making other peoples stuff cost more. It never effects my turn. Having this out and Grand Abolisher just makes them sit and twiddle their thumbs while you beat face.
Mimic Vat - Nothing like making tokens of Angel of Despair every turn. Same thing with all your other flying fatties, especially if they have great ETB/LTB effects.
Sword of Feast and Famine - This can be on the chopping block if you want, but I would would keep it in because of all the evasion your creatures have. Untapping all my mana is great when MP2 I can slap in a fatty or extra enchantment/spells. You can even run this with the combo with Aggravated Assault for infinite attack steps.
Diabolic Revelation - Don't have anything in your hand? Have a SoFaF? Why not tutor for a whole new hand? I've won so many games with this by just tutoring for 5 cards.
Reanimate - This is just beastly in the deck. So you lose live? Doesn't matter when you swing for 20 damage with 3 creatures on the field.
Animate Dead - Who doesn't like ADing an Avacyn FTW for 2 mana?
Fervor - Can be good or not. But great early or late game when Kaalia isnt out and you got mana for hard casting creatures. Beats having to spend live on the Hall of the Bandit Lord.
I'm not a fan of Sarkhan in this deck. Great for Karrthus, but not so much for Kaalia. Also not a fan of Syphon Mind since the card scales down later in the game as people get knocked out.
Looking at the latest list you have and how I normally play mine, I think there's a few changes you should make.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence - I've tried her out. She really doesnt have enough bang for her buck. She may stop activated abilities of creatures, but in EDH, I'm not as worried about that as I am about ETB effects.
In my meta, Linvala gives people fits. Too many people using activated abilities on their dudes. She was going to get cut at one point, but then a friend re-built his Merieke Ri Berit deck.
Tariel, Reckoner of Souls - As the card states, random. In EDH, you want to directly target stuff in peoples graveyards for better effect.
The list hasn't bee updated yet (waiting on my booster box before I update), but I'm already cutting Tariel for the new stuff.
Bogardan Hellkite - IMO, not enough damage. Yes it can potentially kill someone in a 1v1 but I would rather replace is with Ryusei, the Falling Star as a replacement. My group runs a lot of creatures and I'd rather have a wrath for ground pounders then just doing 5 damage.
I tried Ryusei, but I never felt the impact. I also started adding in smaller utility creatures that he was in danger of killing, so he got the axe. With Bogardan, I really like that he's a Cloudshift target for another spray. I don't have to worry about killing a bunch of dudes, rather I just have to clear the air for Kaalia, which he does on a regular basis.
Hoarding Dragon - Can be iffy. In my PG, theyre more likely to RFG it then let it die because they know whats in my deck.
I have enough sac outlets that he's working alright so far, but I know what you mean. He'll probably be getting the axe for the new tyrant.
Eternal Dragon - No bang for its buck. If it had an ETB ability I would have kept it in from my original build. It may only get you lands but if your land base is set up well enough, you wont have much need for plains cycling. I'm almost out of room for basic lands.
Worst case scenario's been that he makes sure I get a land drop. He may get cut in the future if/when better stuff comes out, but he's doing his job so far by fetching my shocks and duels...ya know, since those have PLAINS land type.
Thundermaw Hellkite - I used to have this in when it came out. Turns out my group doesnt play as much flyers as I would have imagined. So he was ditched for something better.
Flyers annoy me wherever I go. Kaalia loves riding him into battle.
Academy Rector - People would rather take the 1 or exile him rather then have you let him go to the grave.
Again, not updated yet, but I'm cutting the rector too, as well as the more expensive enchantments.
Stoneforge Mystic - Because she ends up being a 2 mana tutor for an equipment, I would rather replace her with either a Kaalia enabled creature or replace her with a Steelforger's Gift. Because you would want it to be faster effect, paying 1 for an equipment to your hand then 2 is much better.
Sun Titan - Too limited in this deck. I would just chuck it for a better flying creature.
...you're kidding, right? I played w/o the titan for a long time. Eventually, I added him in and he was an instant WOW factor for me. He retrieves my swords, lands, smaller utility cards, and he does it every time he attacks. He's been a godsend for what my deck's been needing, and I don't see myself cutting him anytime soon.
Sunforger - Because this deck isn't made to be a sunforger deck, I would just check it anyways. Put in probably Swiftfoot Boots or another Sword.
MY deck is built to have a sunforger package, which is partly why I don't run Vindicate...yet, lol. In a deck where I've had a hard time getting card advantage, the hammer has always been a constant. I've found myself tutoring for it before I go for a sword of X and Y as well. Instant speed answers from the deck have been great for keeping Kaalia in the game when she's spent and I don't have access to my draw spells.
Debtor's Knell - I know you love the card, I did too, but then I discovered Unburial Rites. DK doesn't stay up on the field for very long, if your group is smart enough, so getting a reanimation spell twice from UR is better then never getting DK off at all.
Also getting cut. Primary reason why I'm cutting Rector to begin with. It's getting replaced with Phyrexian Reclamation, which I really like.
Hide // Seek - Doesn't do enough to help you win the game. I'd rather replace it with a spot kill.
I quite disagree. This card has been FANTASTIC in my experience. In a game where getting back artifacts and enchantments gets easier all the time, tucking them away is really good and, believe it or not, helped me win SEVERAL games. Don't underestimate the Jester's Cap half of the card either. If I'm playing a combo deck, and I know what they need, playing this to slice out their key card becomes back breaking. Overall, I've never been disappointed to get this card when I draw it.
I know you like the LD plan for the deck but as I've mentioned before, I think games are more fun if you dont just autowin from LDing and getting people upset at you. I would keep with just Armageddon and use it as a threat for the group. You can still win games by just hinting you have it in your hand.
It certainly wasn't fun for me every time I started to get going, only to have someone wrath the board or straight up hate me out. For me, MLD is just as viable a strategy as combo, prison, or anything else. I even say on the front of the primer that people need to get over the social-stigma against LD spells in general. LD gives Kaalia a chance to close out the game and actually win. I don't have a way to reuse the spells unless I get Mistveil Plains online, and even then I only have so many tutors to get them. If I auto-win because I played it, then my deck did what I built it to do and we can just shuffle up for another game. If I'm already getting hated out because I'm playing Kaalia, then I'm justified in using any means necessary to come out on top.
You maybe right on the Urborg and the Orchard, but I've been very happy with the other three you list. Vault has been a wonderful surprise since it helps to give me the gas I need to stay in a game (especially since I'm constantly being beaten down here and there), and makes attacking me difficult if I have untapped mana. Flagstones takes advantage of my MLD by putting me a turn ahead of everyone else after a board wipe, and Darksteel Citadel does that similarly.
Some cards I would recommend for the deck I've talked about before:
I don't like sorcery speed answers for this deck, personally. Partly because it takes away from the Sunforger package. Vindicate is the only one I'd make an exception for, and that'll be hard enough for me to get for various reasons.
Quicksilver Amulet - Seems to be a must in this deck with everyone now because its Kaalia on a stick.
Used to run it. Cut it because it was too costly mana-wise for me, particularly since I can't protect it with boots or bring it back with the titan.
Utvara Hellkite - Just ridiculous in this deck. Easily one of the biggest treats in my deck.
I run him in my Karrthus deck, but I don't like his Flameblast Syndrome. There's faster stuff from Gatecrash and R2R that I find a lot better.
Wheel of Fortune - Just an amazing card. If you can't get one, Reforge the Soul works just as well.
Umm...I DO run Reforge the Soul. Plays great with Liliana and Top. My list isn't THAT outdated, is it? I would be running the Wheel if I had one, though.
Lord of the Void - Think of it as what we get to replace what would have been Griselbrand.
Cut Tariel for him, actually.
Merciless Eviction - This is still on my chopping block. Because I don't have this yet, I still haven't decided if I want it AND Austere Command in my deck, or a single version of either.
I'd rather have neither. I don't like modular effects in a deck where I'm either way behind or way out front. Give me Akroma's Vengeance ANY day over this. I have one, and I still don't want to run it in 3 of the 4 decks I play BW in.
Angelic Arbiter - Great for stopping opponents. Lots of the times I feel they end up playing spells instead of attacking.
...that's in there too. Did you just gloss over my list?
Dragon Mage - I found this to be awesome, especially with multiple attack phases to cycle through your opponents deck and refresh your hand for Kaalia.
Gisela, Blade of Goldknight - Auto include in this deck. Doubling all your damage and halving all the damage done to you is a game winner.
Ya...those are in there too...
Moonveil Dragon - A great card to give all your creatures firebreathing at once.
I like him better in a two color deck, or a deck that has a lot of heavy red in it. This deck doesn't. Not worth it, imo.
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon - Great for distracting treats away from your general. Beating face with an infect 4/4 flyer is more important then a 2/2 Kaalia that drops stuff they dont care about.
I don't like running stuff just to be a distraction. It takes him three turns to kill someone naked, and even if I strap a sword to him, the sword just gets blown up defensively as soon as I declare an attack. His infect is also counter-productive to how I want to win.
Defense Grid - This is perhaps one of the best cards in my deck. I don't mind making other peoples stuff cost more. It never effects my turn. Having this out and Grand Abolisher just makes them sit and twiddle their thumbs while you beat face.
Brand new add that I need to update. I like that the titan can bring it back.
Mimic Vat - Nothing like making tokens of Angel of Despair every turn. Same thing with all your other flying fatties, especially if they have great ETB/LTB effects.
Not a fan of this since I don't like my guys being exiled forever if it gets blown up.
Sword of Feast and Famine - This can be on the chopping block if you want, but I would would keep it in because of all the evasion your creatures have. Untapping all my mana is great when MP2 I can slap in a fatty or extra enchantment/spells. You can even run this with the combo with Aggravated Assault for infinite attack steps.
I DO want this in here, but I need to trade for one. :/ It'll replace Darksteel Plate when I do.
Diabolic Revelation - Don't have anything in your hand? Have a SoFaF? Why not tutor for a whole new hand? I've won so many games with this by just tutoring for 5 cards.
See, that's the thing about DR, it's TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE for my tastes. I was only ever in a position to tutor 1 or 2 cards off of it, so I cut it for Reforge the Soul, which I like a lot better for this build.
Reanimate - This is just beastly in the deck. So you lose live? Doesn't matter when you swing for 20 damage with 3 creatures on the field.
Animate Dead - Who doesn't like ADing an Avacyn FTW for 2 mana?
I don't. That moves Kaalia into a reanimator build, where I'm just as content to reload my hand with new options with wheel effects, which I can flash in with Kaalia.
Fervor - Can be good or not. But great early or late game when Kaalia isnt out and you got mana for hard casting creatures. Beats having to spend live on the Hall of the Bandit Lord.
I still prefer the Hall, painful as it can be at times, partly because people can forget what lands you have. If I had less quality stuff to run, then maybe, but for now everything is doing its job.
Necromancy - IMO, better than Dance of the Dead. No upkeep cost for it and Necromancy can be played at instant speed.
Oblation - Even though this gives the opponent 2 cards, it's always worth it when you tuck their general. Almost and auto include in here.
I will NEVER be okay with giving someone two cards when I'm spending one to get rid of something. At least Chaos Warp has a chance to Whiff and wheel effects let me draw too.
It took me FOREVER to finally get around to it, but the decklist is finally updated!
IN: Magus of the Moat, Hellkite Tyrant, Lord of the Void, Animate Dead, Phyrexian Reclamation, Defense Grid
OUT: Tariel, Reckoner of Souls, Hoarding Dragon, Academy Rector, Debtors' Knell, True Conviction, Living Death
The Great Gatecrash update has heralded in a new chapter in Kaalia. The smaller utilities of Defense, Animate Dead, and Reclamation help streamline Kaalia SO much more easily than the obscenely bulky spells did. I really like that all three can be brought back with Sun Titan too! The new dragon and Demon are finally pushing out one of my pet cards, Tariel (RIP...), and Hoarding Dragon which never did much for me and fought with Kaalia over the open sac outlet. Magus of the Moat is a most brilliant replacement for a certain multi-hundred dollar enchantment, and replaces the rector who's job has been outsourced now that bulky enchantments aren't our thing anymore.
I'm still looking at Boros Charm, but I need some time playing around with the stuff I just added in. Like Magus and Reclamation. Those cards are all-stars.
Today was the first time in almost two months that I've gotten to play Kaalia (she just got back from being full-art'd which I'll post when I can scan her in), so she was begging to let loose her demons of war.
....My friend's Mimeoplasm deck combo'd out for a win, and Maelstrom "Whooped" all over my face in the second game. Ah well.
First one, Kaalia got off extremely slow because I couldn't get to my black to Vampiric Tutor for some greaves or Reforge the Soul. Maelstrom got a turn five Wanderer because he Mana Drain'd Kaalia (though Cavern of Souls kept her from being countered, he got the mana anyway) before Mimeo combo'd for about 15 mins.
I quickly killed Mimeo game two, but then it just dragged. It would be a routine of I cast Kaalia, someone plays a wrath, and I draw into more lands. A turn four Gisela is great, but when you blank on Kaalia's next three swings, you're going to have momentum problems. Fortunatley, I was able to tutor up Necropotence to refill on gas. Unfortunately, four of my seven cards were lands. By the time I was making a board presence, Wanderer already had Kozilek out and a couple of other beasties. The only reason I had lived to that point was because Captain Sisay had been sniping his mana base and was flaunting an Avacyn equipped with Sword of Kaldra.
Phyrexian Reclamation proved its worth by getting my Magus of the Moat back at that very opportune time, who in turn helped me out by keeping eldrazi monstrosities at bay...at least, until Maelstrom used Bribery to grab Angel of Serenity and exiled Kaalia, Magus, and Grand Abolisher. I died on his next turn when I used Reclamation to get back my Rune-Scarred Demon and couldn't find a wrath cheap enough to wipe the board (I was one mana short of casting Akroma's Vengeance).
Today's lesson: Start finding a slot for Wrath of God.
Also, enjoy some pics that I'll be putting up on the main post:
Boros Charm is SICK! If you can get Armageddon + Boros Charm, it's basically an auto-win. It's like having a second Instant speed Avacyn. I'm not sure if you're still playing Cloudshift, but that is what I would cut for the Charm.
One of my main problems with this deck is getting all 3 colors consistently. Cards like Darksteel Citadel and Flagstones of Trokair clog up the mana base (despite helping vs LD) and make for inconsistent draws. Consider adding Gemstone Mine (the 3 counters usually aren't an issue since you play mass LD anyway) and City of Brass. If you can get a hold of one, add Mana Crypt. Can you say turn 1 Kaalia? (Crypt + 2 signets + Mana Vault + Ancient Tomb...only 5 cards!)
The best way to get expensive old cards is to trade dealers at tournaments. I traded a bunch of Zen fetches + a Crucible and a few other things for a Mana Crypt and Unlimited Savanna. Didn't spend a penny.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Psychologically, you have to have confidence in yourself and this confidence should be based on fact." -- Bobby Fischer
Boros Charm is SICK! If you can get Armageddon + Boros Charm, it's basically an auto-win. It's like having a second Instant speed Avacyn. I'm not sure if you're still playing Cloudshift, but that is what I would cut for the Charm.
One of my main problems with this deck is getting all 3 colors consistently. Cards like Darksteel Citadel and Flagstones of Trokair clog up the mana base (despite helping vs LD) and make for inconsistent draws. Consider adding Gemstone Mine (the 3 counters usually aren't an issue since you play mass LD anyway) and City of Brass. If you can get a hold of one, add Mana Crypt. Can you say turn 1 Kaalia? (Crypt + 2 signets + Mana Vault + Ancient Tomb...only 5 cards!)
The best way to get expensive old cards is to trade dealers at tournaments. I traded a bunch of Zen fetches + a Crucible and a few other things for a Mana Crypt and Unlimited Savanna. Didn't spend a penny.
Indeed, Boros Charm IS a sick card. I'm just messing around with some other moving parts at the moment to see what should stick and what doesn't before I make another round of cuts...that, and all of the standard players are hogging them all. I opened a box AND a fat pack and only pulled one. D< My Aurelia deck needed it more, so it got the nod over a deck that's still picking through the cream of the crop.
And why does everybody keep saying to cut Cloudshift? Maybe I'm just playing in an odd meta, but it's been cache-money for me so far. In fact, I was disappointed I didn't have it available during my aforementioned second game against Maelstrom because it would've saved my Magus from getting picked off by Angel of Serenity. Even then, the only reason I didn't have it was because it saved Gisela from getting Swords to Plowshares'd. I run it any every white deck I can because it does so much for me.
City of Brass might be okay, but I absolutely DESPISE Gemstone and Mana Crypt. Never mind the price tag (even if I wanted to, I don't have enough trade to try and get one outside of grinding pucca trade), the coin flipping and counters for lands is FRIGGIN' ANNOYING. I was fine with playing vivids in other decks until I realized just how annoying those counters are. I don't care if it's an amazing card, having to flip a coin every turn really yanks my chain, and so does having to be careful with a counter on a land where it really matters.
I haven't read through all the discussions in the topic, so forgive me if anything here is redundant. I did go over the primer itself though. Thanks for the awesome decklist! I made a few modifications to my own list.
I would recommend that you ignore the fact you don't have/can't afford certain cards in the primer itself. This limits it's potential as an educational source and budget is irrelevant if you are playing on cockatrice. You can list your paper deck swap outs if you want to.
I strongly suggest adding Rakdos, Lord of Riots. He's played very well in my build. I see he's on your watch list... not sure what that indicates.
Kaalia can negate his primary disadvantage. You'll be casting creatures for nothing. IMO he's was built for this deck. With plenty of draw in the deck, you can be pumping out a lot of creatures in a turn.
Creatures that I like that you don't have include:
Archangel of Strife - allows you to alpha strike multiple players Bladewing the Risen - getting things back from your yard is really valuable. Kuro, Pitlord - can take care of all annoying enemy fliers and small utility creatures. Mordant Dragon - nice for removal purposes Ob Nixilis, the Fallen - I run every fetchland that I can, so ole Ob gets huge pretty quickly. Utvara Hellkite - I know he suffers from flameblast syndrome, but it's still a devastating ability. Victory's Herald - lifelink can be save you. Especially if you've been abusing Necropotence like I tend to do.
I'd advocate adding something like Hysteria to give ALL your creatures haste cheaply and permanently because you will be hard casting them often. Sorry if I didn't notice something like that in your deck already... it's really upped my game.
Why no Living Death? I find I typically have a stack of shiny fatties in my graveyard. Also with reforge the soul and dragon mage both in the deck, it seems to make a lot of sense.
Might I suggest Ravages of War in place of Catastrophe? It seems like you will rarely be wanting to kill ALL creatures.
Aurelia, the Warleader seems really awesome in this regard even with the Flameblast Syndrome (which is ultra lame btw. I wish they had found a way around that with Kaalia's ability)
I think you need more ramp. You should be getting Kaalia out turn 2 or 3.
I also find that Necropotence helps me win A LOT of games. I put more tutors in my build to make sure I get a chance to use it every game. Reliquary Tower becomes a necessary addition. Something like Ivory Tower can also be very nice to make sure I keep my hand full without killing myself.
I suggest adding some backups to Kaalia. Things like
Quicksilver Amulet - probably the better of the bunch Deathrender - love this card but it's mana intensive to set up Sneak Attack - better in a reanimation themed Kaalia deck but still very very strong Guild Feud - pretty weak really without academy rector but still can be fun
I would suggestion splitting your card options section into three subsections to make it less confusing. Take a look a my primer for an example. The three subsections are Current Cards, Possibilities, and Notable Exclusions (which btw, I think you really need this section. It prevents a lot of redundant explanations)
This post ended up being a lot longer than I originally intended. But Kaalia is one of my favorite generals next to Niv and I spend a fair amount of time piloting her. She's likely to be the next deck I try to get in paper. <3 yay!
Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate the feedback.
Adding some sections to the primer front page SHOULD go on my to-do list. I've just been pretty busy lately making sure that the Commandercast shows get edited and uploaded on time (which can be pretty hectic when I other stuff I need to do...like Valentine's with my gf... >_> ). A cards I don't use section also seems pretty good. I'll see if I can answer these in order.
1) MONEY/BUDGET - My personal preference is to list the deck as it is in real life. I don't use cockatrice for much outside of virtual deck construction, so there's no point in my trying to put together a list full of hundred dollar cards I'm never going to actually get. My groups are fine with proxies, but I don't proxy anymore and if I did, it would have to be something I'd actually be willing to buy.
2) RAMP - Ya, I should try and find more room for artifact ramp, but I REFUSE to get any of the "money ramp". Diamonds should be fine enough.
3) EXTRA ATTACK STEPS - I haven't tried the new list enough to know if extra attacks steps would be a viable option yet. Right now those slots are geared towards protecting Kaalia who seems to have trouble sticking to the board in some play groups.
4) CARDS I DON'T USE - I'm under a serious time crunch to get the next episode edited, so I don't have time to list them here. I'll save that for when I upgrade the front page.
With that said, it is V-day week....so I think Saturday will lend itself well to playing my two sweet heart decks, Kaalia and Sigarda (maybe Yeva will tag along too). We'll see how testing goes with the new builds.
Happy Valentine's Weekend everyone! Because it's V-day weekend, I decided it was a good time to take some of my special girls out for a spin, with Kaalia, Sigarda, and Yeva (Having gotten Kaalia full-arted and Sigarda+Yeva were both pre-release pulls). Got in a good three games with Kaalia, and three more with the other two.
Game One: They tucked Kaalia with a Chaos Warp on turn three and laughed. I wrathed away their lands with Catastrophe on turn five and laughed back.
Okay, it was more like I had a Bloodgift Demon out and I saw that the Rafiq player was still missing the green he needed and the Aurelia player was getting close to playing his war leader. I figured that demon would help me draw into some lands and wrathed. The demon got swords'd, but it was alright since I still drew into the lands I needed (with some artifact ramp) and got Sun Titan out before I wrathed again with Armageddon (THIS is why I love Sun Titan in this build). I was able to ramp my lands back, tutor Kaalia back, and proceeded to smash face.
This is also a proper example of how you SHOULD be playing MLD, that is to say, to take advantage of your opponent's slower starts while you have superior resources/artifact mana available. They were sitting ducks for most of the game. It might have been the "dirtiest" I've ever played the deck, but it got me a relatively quick, quality win.
Game two...didn't go quite as cleanly. I had a land wipe in hand, but I couldn't really use it when I wanted to since I was quickly put on the defensive by the Rafiq player (Gideon being bumped by Rafiq is REALLY hard to deal with when you've run out of cards). I needed to top-deck into either some sort of answer or some massive card draw spell, but I got lands. -_- That'll happen from time to time.
I think the biggest problem with that game was that my mana fixing wasn't the best. Tweaking the mana base is something that'll have to wait until my next paycheck though (I plan on taking out Darksteel Citadel, despite my likeness of it, for Fetid Heath when I get a copy).
The other guys swapped out Aurelia for Edric and Rafiq for Olivia before the third game.
I went with a Stoneforge Mystic into Lightning Greaves, despite having Hall of the Bandit Lord out just to make sure Kaalia had some protection from Olivia's machine gun. Of course, because Edric hit the field, I started to get hit by small utility vampires from Olivia. Didn't matter though.
Kaalia came out turn four and swung Iona at Edric (declaring blue, of course). Edric was all but locked out at this point.
Olivia played Blood Moon on her turn (effectively turning everything I had but a swamp into mountains, it didn't hurt that badly thansk to Kaalia), but Edric used his Gaea's Cradle to cast Avenger of Zendikar in response since he had Leyline of Anticipation in play and needed some sort of threat on the board.
By now, the combination of using Hall and being hit by smaller dudes "for value" was getting to my life total. I needed to leave Iona back to block the avenger, but Kaalia found a Karmic Guide. I sent her and the flashed-in Guide at the Olivia player to refresh my hand, and brought back a Mysty that had been used to chump block before, searching up the Sword of Fire and Ice, which I played and equipped to Mysty.
With Iona sitting back to block, and needing to draw some cards, Edric sent a couple of guys towards Olivia who passed too.
I maneuvered my equipment onto Kaalia so she had her sword and the greaves before going back to smacking the Edric player, flashing in Baneslayer Angel, shooting Edric with the sword and drawing into some Swiftfoot Boots to equip to Kaalia while moving the greaves over to Iona.
Olivia cast herself, which was pretty much it before I started my turn.
I suited Kaalia up some more by giving her the Darksteel Plate and swung at Edric again, getting my first hit in with Lord of the Void, who snatched away a Sower of Temptation, letting me steal Olivia away, who I used to pick off a couple of small vamps.
Swinging the crew at Edric the next turn brought him down to 1 before I shot him with the sword trigger (giving Olivia back to her owner since Sower was no longer in play). Unfortunately, he started shuffling up before I could remind him that Lord would let me check for an ETB effect I could use before I killed him off of the sword trigger.
Olivia shot the Lord, turning him into a vampire and threatening to steal him next turn, but Kaalia & Co. swung in, flashing in an Angel of Serenity to exile Olivia and two other annoying utility creatures she had. He was dead next turn.
What did we learn today?
1) The biggest problem left to fix with the deck is its mana-base and its ramp. I plan on cutting one or two spells for artifact ramp (like Coldsteel Heart), and switching some of the colorless lands for mana colors I don't seem to have enough of.
2) Phyrexian Reclamation continues to be an all-star, no doubts about it, as it was the only thing that kept me in the second game as long as I was. It's just unfortunate that I didn't have the right colors to use it as efficiently as I wanted to.
3) Using MLD spells at the right time wins you games. Playing when you have even the smallest lead can turn games into blow-outs, but trying to get into position to play one can be frustrating. I probably would have done much better in game two if I had considered using Cataclysm as a creature wrath earlier instead of conserving it as a MLD spell.
That's it for this week! I'll be editing like mad later this week, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to upgrade the front page, but stay tuned!
Yesterday's weekly session yielded some frustration, but it all ended well...and by that, I mean that after three or four games of losing to Maelstrom or Hazezon, Kaalia wrathed away everyone's lands with Catastrophe.
Of course, my opponent tried to use Chaos Warp to get rid of Kaalia in response, and if it weren't for CLOUDSHIFT, he would have succeeded, and probably would have won the race for damage since I was at lower life with just a Steel Hellkite and he had a Regal Force getting pumped by a Mirari's Wake and a Sol Ring.
Thanks to Cloudshift, I was able to keep Kaalia, watched his lands get blown away, flashed in Rakdos, the Defiler on the next turn, and said GG.
I'm also cutting Eternal Dragon and Tithe for more mana acceleration. Right now I only have a Marbled Diamond to put in, but I plan on picking up some talismans or something when I get paid later. The rest of the deck is working okay right now, I just have to get this mana ramp fixed. :/
Cloudshift does seem like decent utility for this deck since it depends on permanents so heavily. It also works amazing with your enters the battlefield effects. Have you used it to that end very much?
How have Darksteel Plate and Akroma's Vengeance been for you? Those are the only things that really stuck out to me. Plate just seems uber mana hungry, and I'm wondering on Vengeance because Kaalia tends to like her rocks and boots. /shrug
Cloudshift does seem like decent utility for this deck since it depends on permanents so heavily. It also works amazing with your enters the battlefield effects. Have you used it to that end very much?
And I approve of more mana accel!
I thought you would.
Ya, I've used Cloudshift to reset a Bogardan Hellkite or an Angel of Despair from time to time. It's primary use has been saving Kaalia from spot removal, though, so in that respect its performed very admirably.
How have Darksteel Plate and Akroma's Vengeance been for you? Those are the only things that really stuck out to me. Plate just seems uber mana hungry, and I'm wondering on Vengeance because Kaalia tends to like her rocks and boots. /shrug
Akroma's Vengeance has been aces for me. Too often I find myself way behind on board presence because people snipe at my permanents (mana rocks to keep me off Kaalia, enchantments because they don't like it when I have stuff like Stranglehold, and my creatures are usually pretty scary). It's a good card to have to even the playing field, especially if you can break the symmetry by roaring back with a follow-up hasty Kaalia.
The Darksteel Plate is going to come out. The mana isn't that big a hassal since I usually want it mid-to-late game, but rather I'm cutting it because my meta uses a lot more exile/clone/tuck effects that render it virtually pointless. I'm going to experiment with the Sword of War and Peace since it's another life-renewer and gives Kaalia relevant protections (protects against exile effects like swords and path while protecting from Chaos Warp). If that doesn't work out, I'll either spring for another Sword of Feast and Famine or just use the slot for more ramp.
Sword of War and Peace is a decent idea. I should consider adding that to my own list. IDK though, generally either set of boots is superior by virtue of less mana investment (on the initial cast Kaalia + SoWaP is 3WBR) and it gets even worse after that, and that still doesn't provide haste for all that.
I do however, like that it gives me a faster clock when I try to voltron people with her, i guess. And, life gain is a thing for us to be weary of, as we both know. Definitely LMK how that turns out.
Yesterday's weekly session yielded some frustration, but it all ended well...and by that, I mean that after three or four games of losing to Maelstrom or Hazezon, Kaalia wrathed away everyone's lands with Catastrophe.
Of course, my opponent tried to use Chaos Warp to get rid of Kaalia in response, and if it weren't for CLOUDSHIFT, he would have succeeded, and probably would have won the race for damage since I was at lower life with just a Steel Hellkite and he had a Regal Force getting pumped by a Mirari's Wake and a Sol Ring.
Thanks to Cloudshift, I was able to keep Kaalia, watched his lands get blown away, flashed in Rakdos, the Defiler on the next turn, and said GG.
I'm also cutting Eternal Dragon and Tithe for more mana acceleration. Right now I only have a Marbled Diamond to put in, but I plan on picking up some talismans or something when I get paid later. The rest of the deck is working okay right now, I just have to get this mana ramp fixed. :/
haha I read all of that in your voice. I recently replaced Boom/Bust with Decree of Annihilation (for the cycling mode, obv). I just wonder how often that extra mana will come back to bite me. I think it's a good trade off for being instant speed uncounterable.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Psychologically, you have to have confidence in yourself and this confidence should be based on fact." -- Bobby Fischer
Sword of War and Peace is a decent idea. I should consider adding that to my own list. IDK though, generally either set of boots is superior by virtue of less mana investment (on the initial cast Kaalia + SoWaP is 3WBR) and it gets even worse after that, and that still doesn't provide haste for all that.
I do however, like that it gives me a faster clock when I try to voltron people with her, i guess. And, life gain is a thing for us to be weary of, as we both know. Definitely LMK how that turns out.
Strictly speaking, I'll always tutor for boots first since they're hell of a lot faster in the early game, but that could be said about Fire/Ice or Light/Shadow too, and they're fairly strong for a deck that's looking to take out multiple people at once. I'll be looking for WaP mid-to-late game and I'll report back with results. *salutes*
haha I read all of that in your voice. I recently replaced Boom/Bust with Decree of Annihilation (for the cycling mode, obv). I just wonder how often that extra mana will come back to bite me. I think it's a good trade off for being instant speed uncounterable.
I tried Decree, and I was surprised at how hard it was for me to have the seven open that I needed to cast instant speed wrath effects. During the time I want to be casting land wraths, I often have things I want to do with my mana, and when I have that mana availble, it's usually because I don't have anything to play and it's a dead card until I can build board position. I ended up cutting for Akroma's Vengeance so I'd have a harder wrath for dealing with problem permanents.
How have you felt about using angelic renewal? I was not entirely sold on this card myself until recently, when I discovered some much appreciated synergy with a lot of my deck. First, as an enchantment, it dies to enchantment removal. not really that notable, until I realized that some people would rather kill this enchantment before it gets to save Kaalia, rather than say, hold that removal for my arena, stranglehold, phyrexian reclamation or aggravated assault that may or may not be about to hit the field. second, it plays nicely with my the ETB effects in the deck, such as angel of despair and a sac outlet like high market for instant speed spot removal, or a pseudo cloudshift. third it is recurrable with my sun titan, and this creates the possibility of abusing angelic renewal every turn in an ideal situation, and at the very least getting two triggers out of this thing even swinging into suicide with my titan. I guess fourth would be mentioning how it keeps Kaalia around after removal but that implies sending her to the graveyard and isn’t just obvious to us, it’s obvious to opponents too. I suppose I should mention that I don’t have a ghostway and would really like to try it out either in place of, or in conjunction with angelic renewal.
What do you think of using underworld connections as a card draw source? Are lands to fragile and tight to waste an enchantment on? Does this perhaps turn some of our colorless lands into something more than just filler manna until their abilities become relevant in the game (which sometimes never happens)? I’m looking at you slayers stronghold and vault of the archangel). Do we actually not want to invest anything onto lands because we plan to blow them up before we can get mileage out of them like that? I am writing another post with a deck list and some other questions about land wipes versus mana rocks, but I think I wrote enough for now... sorry if its disjointed. It’s pretty late, its midterms this week and I am taking a break from studying with my girlfriend. We both really like this primer by the way; everyone seems to offer valuable feedback and knows what they are talking about. Props to the 1v1 list dudes too, that’s actually where I started. Anyway, thanks for reading, and thanks again for 6 pages of hellish insight.
How have you felt about using angelic renewal? I was not entirely sold on this card myself until recently, when I discovered some much appreciated synergy with a lot of my deck. First, as an enchantment, it dies to enchantment removal. not really that notable, until I realized that some people would rather kill this enchantment before it gets to save Kaalia, rather than say, hold that removal for my arena, stranglehold, phyrexian reclamation or aggravated assault that may or may not be about to hit the field. second, it plays nicely with my the ETB effects in the deck, such as angel of despair and a sac outlet like high market for instant speed spot removal, or a pseudo cloudshift. third it is recurrable with my sun titan, and this creates the possibility of abusing angelic renewal every turn in an ideal situation, and at the very least getting two triggers out of this thing even swinging into suicide with my titan. I guess fourth would be mentioning how it keeps Kaalia around after removal but that implies sending her to the graveyard and isn’t just obvious to us, it’s obvious to opponents too. I suppose I should mention that I don’t have a ghostway and would really like to try it out either in place of, or in conjunction with angelic renewal.
What do you think of using underworld connections as a card draw source? Are lands to fragile and tight to waste an enchantment on? Does this perhaps turn some of our colorless lands into something more than just filler manna until their abilities become relevant in the game (which sometimes never happens)? I’m looking at you slayers stronghold and vault of the archangel). Do we actually not want to invest anything onto lands because we plan to blow them up before we can get mileage out of them like that? I am writing another post with a deck list and some other questions about land wipes versus mana rocks, but I think I wrote enough for now... sorry if its disjointed. It’s pretty late, its midterms this week and I am taking a break from studying with my girlfriend. We both really like this primer by the way; everyone seems to offer valuable feedback and knows what they are talking about. Props to the 1v1 list dudes too, that’s actually where I started. Anyway, thanks for reading, and thanks again for 6 pages of hellish insight.
First of all, thank you very much for the feedback. It always makes me happy to hear that people actually do like this thread (though I still plan on upgrading the first page at some point. Hosting a podcast and playing Katawa Shoujo all week kinda eats your time away ).
Angelic Renewal is a pretty interesting card by itself, but the synergy with Sun Titan is what makes it stand out to me. Kinda reminds me of the Reveillark/Saffi Eriksdotter shenanigans that some people use.
Since I often have a shrouded Kaalia (boots, greaves, swords, etc), I do find that my opponents often resort to using clone effects to get rid of her, and since I'm not opposed to sending Kaalia to the graveyard in order to get her back with Phyrexian Reclamation, I could see myself using Angelic Renewel to skip the hard-casting process.
My only concern is with my meta, since they tend to pack a lot of tuck/exile effects. Yes, I can sacrifice Kaalia with a Phyrexian Tower and bring her back with renewal, but then Terminus is still on the stack and is going to tuck her anyway.
I'll put it up for consideration, but until I figure out how to smooth out my mana-rocks, trying it out isn't a top priority. Definitely an interesting choice though!
As for my thoughts on the other two cards:
Ghostway: If you're meta is particularly wrath heavy, then go for it! I ended up taking it out because I realized I just wanted to stop spot removal or needed to keep at least one or two guys back to block. Part of the reason Cloudshift is still in the deck.
Underworld Connections: I guess you can count it as a mana dump when you don't have a hand, but I find that either I often don't have the extra mana to spare on something that taps my land, or I end up doing it during my turn to dig for an answer instead of at the end of my opponent's turn, which is the stronger play. I prefer the auto-draw of Phyrexian Arena.
Not only that, but since we use a number of wheel effects to super-charge our hand, as well as Necropotence and Promise of Power, I find that a second "gradual draw" effect is too slow for Kaalia. Arena is fine because of its low cost and auto-draw ability. Underworld is just too because it ties up resources we need early game, and requires you to "de facto" pay a mana each time you use it. 1 life > 1 life AND a mana
As a side note, I'd actually argue that Vault has been pretty good to me, to the point where it's the land I tutor for most often with non-restrictive tutors.
I don't run Scroll Rack mostly because I don't own one and it's still pricey enough that I'm reluctant to get it when I need to save up to move out at the moment. That, and I run into the same problem I face anytime I start making changes: What do I cut for it? With the GPT's popping up in my area recently, I haven't had much of a chance to play it with figuring it out in mind. A couple of options are there, but I'm not sure though.
But you're right, it's a really good card that I should start running at some point. Thanks.
The thing about Restoration Angel is that it's strictly worse than Cloudshift in this list, which I already run. I say 'strictly worse' because so much of our creature base is comprised of angels that I'd want to save/reset. Cloudshift does the same thing, but better because it DOES affect angels, costs 3 less, and can be tutored for with Sunforger. It also exiles things permanently if you're using it on Angel of Serenity, which Restoration Angel can't do (as my opponent found at the GPT a couple of weeks ago).
Even then, my meta is filled with more sweepers than spot removal, so Cloudshift doesn't actually do a lot of saving. It's more of a reset button to get another effect out of our ETB effects than anything else, and it's been doing it pretty well so far.
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren
There's also Phyrexian Reclamation also allows for more recoveries. Cloudshift is great, but it's only once use. PR can be used time and again and even force a zerg to break through blockers.
Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.
Individualities may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.
Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success.
Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.
Wow, that's....amazing. Truly, spectacularly, amazing. That's going on my next xmas wish list for sure.
Actually, I'd just been thinking about cutting Debtor's Knell, and this fills the role I wish DK did very nicely. Thanks for the tip.
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren
....probably.
Updates!
I'm actually getting ready to cut Academy Rector and some of the more expensive enchantmens (Debtor's Knell, True Conviction), for more efficient cards that I can cast and expect to survive long enough for me to use them, Phyrexian Reclamation being one of them.
As for the new GTC cards, I might be trying Boros Charm, and Aurelia's Fury looks very nice, but I'm primarily interested in the new dragon we'll be getting. Stealing other people's mana rocks and swords is a big boon to this deck, particularly since it helps us accelerate into our MLD strategy.
I've been considering Aurelia for the longest time now (what with her being spoiled early and all), but ultimately, I don't think I'll be able to fit her in here. She'll be awesome in my Jor Kadeen deck, and very possibly Mayael and Ruhan, but for a deck that's already crammed angels, demons, and dragons that have immediate effects when Kaalia flashes them in, she doesn't quite fit the bill.
TL;DR - Aurelia's "Flameblast Syndrome" means that she's not on my highest of priorities to find a spot in Kaalia's build.
Also, is it just me or is the MLD aspect of the deck scaring off people from commenting in this thread? I know there's a number of people who frequent 3drinks's one-on-one thread, but never anyone here...
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren
The main reason I don't run a MLD suite is because I don't have any of the good ones lol, I mostly just run a beatfacey style, trying to hit hard and fast.
I do have a really ridiculous combo, mainly Warstorm Surge + Conspiracy (naming Dragons most commonly) + Restoration Angel, for an infinite damage combo.
I've been meaning to get my hands on an Armageddon, and I kind of want to be greedy here and even get a Ravages of War, but i highly doubt that my wallet could handle the strain.
Mainly because I'm dead broke until I get my first paycheck lol
It might be partly that, but it's also partly how many posts you as a user have, and how many pages/responses you already have on the thread.
--- Meren of Clan Nel Toth --- Jhoira of the Ghitu --- Prime Speaker Zegana ---
--- Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief --- Ghoulcaller Gisa --- Akroma, Angel of Fury --- Titania, Protector of Argoth ---
You don't really need to have GOOD ones per se in order for MLD to be effective. There are plenty of budget options that I recommend, like Boom // Bust and Decree of Annihilation. If you run enough basics, even Ruination would be acceptable.
That's a really decent combo, too. I have a preference against infinite combos, though.
Well, ya, there's always that. Maybe hosting the podcast will get a few more people to check it out? Lol. My primary concern is that there isn't a lot of discussion about card choices or suggestions from the intertronz (though the few I've gotten have been really good).
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren
Some other cards I like in my version of this deck:
New cards from Gatecrash I'm considering
Rafiq of the Many UWG
Sedris, the Traitor King URB
Kaalia of the Vast RWB
Savra, Queen of Golgari GB
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice GW
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails EquipmentW
Linvala, Keeper of Silence - I've tried her out. She really doesnt have enough bang for her buck. She may stop activated abilities of creatures, but in EDH, I'm not as worried about that as I am about ETB effects.
Tariel, Reckoner of Souls - As the card states, random. In EDH, you want to directly target stuff in peoples graveyards for better effect.
Bogardan Hellkite - IMO, not enough damage. Yes it can potentially kill someone in a 1v1 but I would rather replace is with Ryusei, the Falling Star as a replacement. My group runs a lot of creatures and I'd rather have a wrath for ground pounders then just doing 5 damage.
Hoarding Dragon - Can be iffy. In my PG, theyre more likely to RFG it then let it die because they know whats in my deck.
Eternal Dragon - No bang for its buck. If it had an ETB ability I would have kept it in from my original build. It may only get you lands but if your land base is set up well enough, you wont have much need for plains cycling. I'm almost out of room for basic lands.
Thundermaw Hellkite - I used to have this in when it came out. Turns out my group doesnt play as much flyers as I would have imagined. So he was ditched for something better.
Academy Rector - People would rather take the 1 or exile him rather then have you let him go to the grave.
Stoneforge Mystic - Because she ends up being a 2 mana tutor for an equipment, I would rather replace her with either a Kaalia enabled creature or replace her with a Steelforger's Gift. Because you would want it to be faster effect, paying 1 for an equipment to your hand then 2 is much better.
Sun Titan - Too limited in this deck. I would just chuck it for a better flying creature.
Sunforger - Because this deck isn't made to be a sunforger deck, I would just check it anyways. Put in probably Swiftfoot Boots or another Sword.
Debtor's Knell - I know you love the card, I did too, but then I discovered Unburial Rites. DK doesn't stay up on the field for very long, if your group is smart enough, so getting a reanimation spell twice from UR is better then never getting DK off at all.
Hide // Seek - Doesn't do enough to help you win the game. I'd rather replace it with a spot kill.
I know you like the LD plan for the deck but as I've mentioned before, I think games are more fun if you dont just autowin from LDing and getting people upset at you. I would keep with just Armageddon and use it as a threat for the group. You can still win games by just hinting you have it in your hand.
Have a look at my mana base. Getting the mana fixing right can be a pain. Some of the lands you run are really unneccesary (Vault of the Archangel, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Forbidden Orchard, Flagstones of Trokair, Mistveil Plains, Darksteel Citadel).
Some cards I would recommend for the deck I've talked about before:
Vindicate - Great in this deck if you can get one. If you cant, a Dreadbore or Wrecking Ball works just as good.
Quicksilver Amulet - Seems to be a must in this deck with everyone now because its Kaalia on a stick.
Utvara Hellkite - Just ridiculous in this deck. Easily one of the biggest treats in my deck.
Wheel of Fortune - Just an amazing card. If you can't get one, Reforge the Soul works just as well.
Lord of the Void - Think of it as what we get to replace what would have been Griselbrand.
Merciless Eviction - This is still on my chopping block. Because I don't have this yet, I still haven't decided if I want it AND Austere Command in my deck, or a single version of either.
Angelic Arbiter - Great for stopping opponents. Lots of the times I feel they end up playing spells instead of attacking.
Dragon Mage - I found this to be awesome, especially with multiple attack phases to cycle through your opponents deck and refresh your hand for Kaalia.
Gisela, Blade of Goldknight - Auto include in this deck. Doubling all your damage and halving all the damage done to you is a game winner.
Moonveil Dragon - A great card to give all your creatures firebreathing at once.
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon - Great for distracting treats away from your general. Beating face with an infect 4/4 flyer is more important then a 2/2 Kaalia that drops stuff they dont care about.
Defense Grid - This is perhaps one of the best cards in my deck. I don't mind making other peoples stuff cost more. It never effects my turn. Having this out and Grand Abolisher just makes them sit and twiddle their thumbs while you beat face.
Mimic Vat - Nothing like making tokens of Angel of Despair every turn. Same thing with all your other flying fatties, especially if they have great ETB/LTB effects.
Sword of Feast and Famine - This can be on the chopping block if you want, but I would would keep it in because of all the evasion your creatures have. Untapping all my mana is great when MP2 I can slap in a fatty or extra enchantment/spells. You can even run this with the combo with Aggravated Assault for infinite attack steps.
Diabolic Revelation - Don't have anything in your hand? Have a SoFaF? Why not tutor for a whole new hand? I've won so many games with this by just tutoring for 5 cards.
Reanimate - This is just beastly in the deck. So you lose live? Doesn't matter when you swing for 20 damage with 3 creatures on the field.
Animate Dead - Who doesn't like ADing an Avacyn FTW for 2 mana?
Fervor - Can be good or not. But great early or late game when Kaalia isnt out and you got mana for hard casting creatures. Beats having to spend live on the Hall of the Bandit Lord.
Gratuitous Violence - Great if you like have Gisella Jr on a stick.
Necromancy - IMO, better than Dance of the Dead. No upkeep cost for it and Necromancy can be played at instant speed.
Oblation - Even though this gives the opponent 2 cards, it's always worth it when you tuck their general. Almost and auto include in here.
Mono Konda| Sakashima| Yahenni| Ashling| Selvala|C Karn
Guilds Grand Arbiter| Meren| Gisa & Geralf| Scorpion God| Omnath| Sisay| Karlov| Avacyn| Jhoira v2| Rashmi|
Shards WUB Oloro|GWU Roon|RGW Jurassic Park|UBR Nekusar|BRG Kresh|
Clans RWU Narset|WBR Vampires|BGW Doran|UBG Muldrotha|URG Animar|
4-Colors GWUB Atraxa|BRGWSaskia|RGWU Hydra Hug| UBRGYidris|WUBRBreya|
5-Color WUBRG Super Friends
Extra Decks Titania| Taigam| Locust God| Cats| Tishana| Kumena| Squirrels| Slimefoot} Baron|RGW Samut|UBR Pirates|UBR Mairsil| WUBRG Ramos|
I'm not a fan of Sarkhan in this deck. Great for Karrthus, but not so much for Kaalia. Also not a fan of Syphon Mind since the card scales down later in the game as people get knocked out.
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren
IN: Magus of the Moat, Hellkite Tyrant, Lord of the Void, Animate Dead, Phyrexian Reclamation, Defense Grid
OUT: Tariel, Reckoner of Souls, Hoarding Dragon, Academy Rector, Debtors' Knell, True Conviction, Living Death
The Great Gatecrash update has heralded in a new chapter in Kaalia. The smaller utilities of Defense, Animate Dead, and Reclamation help streamline Kaalia SO much more easily than the obscenely bulky spells did. I really like that all three can be brought back with Sun Titan too! The new dragon and Demon are finally pushing out one of my pet cards, Tariel (RIP...), and Hoarding Dragon which never did much for me and fought with Kaalia over the open sac outlet. Magus of the Moat is a most brilliant replacement for a certain multi-hundred dollar enchantment, and replaces the rector who's job has been outsourced now that bulky enchantments aren't our thing anymore.
I'm still looking at Boros Charm, but I need some time playing around with the stuff I just added in. Like Magus and Reclamation. Those cards are all-stars.
Today was the first time in almost two months that I've gotten to play Kaalia (she just got back from being full-art'd which I'll post when I can scan her in), so she was begging to let loose her demons of war.
....My friend's Mimeoplasm deck combo'd out for a win, and Maelstrom "Whooped" all over my face in the second game. Ah well.
First one, Kaalia got off extremely slow because I couldn't get to my black to Vampiric Tutor for some greaves or Reforge the Soul. Maelstrom got a turn five Wanderer because he Mana Drain'd Kaalia (though Cavern of Souls kept her from being countered, he got the mana anyway) before Mimeo combo'd for about 15 mins.
I quickly killed Mimeo game two, but then it just dragged. It would be a routine of I cast Kaalia, someone plays a wrath, and I draw into more lands. A turn four Gisela is great, but when you blank on Kaalia's next three swings, you're going to have momentum problems. Fortunatley, I was able to tutor up Necropotence to refill on gas. Unfortunately, four of my seven cards were lands. By the time I was making a board presence, Wanderer already had Kozilek out and a couple of other beasties. The only reason I had lived to that point was because Captain Sisay had been sniping his mana base and was flaunting an Avacyn equipped with Sword of Kaldra.
Phyrexian Reclamation proved its worth by getting my Magus of the Moat back at that very opportune time, who in turn helped me out by keeping eldrazi monstrosities at bay...at least, until Maelstrom used Bribery to grab Angel of Serenity and exiled Kaalia, Magus, and Grand Abolisher. I died on his next turn when I used Reclamation to get back my Rune-Scarred Demon and couldn't find a wrath cheap enough to wipe the board (I was one mana short of casting Akroma's Vengeance).
Today's lesson: Start finding a slot for Wrath of God.
Also, enjoy some pics that I'll be putting up on the main post:
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren
One of my main problems with this deck is getting all 3 colors consistently. Cards like Darksteel Citadel and Flagstones of Trokair clog up the mana base (despite helping vs LD) and make for inconsistent draws. Consider adding Gemstone Mine (the 3 counters usually aren't an issue since you play mass LD anyway) and City of Brass. If you can get a hold of one, add Mana Crypt. Can you say turn 1 Kaalia? (Crypt + 2 signets + Mana Vault + Ancient Tomb...only 5 cards!)
The best way to get expensive old cards is to trade dealers at tournaments. I traded a bunch of Zen fetches + a Crucible and a few other things for a Mana Crypt and Unlimited Savanna. Didn't spend a penny.
Indeed, Boros Charm IS a sick card. I'm just messing around with some other moving parts at the moment to see what should stick and what doesn't before I make another round of cuts...that, and all of the standard players are hogging them all. I opened a box AND a fat pack and only pulled one. D< My Aurelia deck needed it more, so it got the nod over a deck that's still picking through the cream of the crop.
And why does everybody keep saying to cut Cloudshift? Maybe I'm just playing in an odd meta, but it's been cache-money for me so far. In fact, I was disappointed I didn't have it available during my aforementioned second game against Maelstrom because it would've saved my Magus from getting picked off by Angel of Serenity. Even then, the only reason I didn't have it was because it saved Gisela from getting Swords to Plowshares'd. I run it any every white deck I can because it does so much for me.
City of Brass might be okay, but I absolutely DESPISE Gemstone and Mana Crypt. Never mind the price tag (even if I wanted to, I don't have enough trade to try and get one outside of grinding pucca trade), the coin flipping and counters for lands is FRIGGIN' ANNOYING. I was fine with playing vivids in other decks until I realized just how annoying those counters are. I don't care if it's an amazing card, having to flip a coin every turn really yanks my chain, and so does having to be careful with a counter on a land where it really matters.
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren
I haven't read through all the discussions in the topic, so forgive me if anything here is redundant. I did go over the primer itself though. Thanks for the awesome decklist! I made a few modifications to my own list.
I would recommend that you ignore the fact you don't have/can't afford certain cards in the primer itself. This limits it's potential as an educational source and budget is irrelevant if you are playing on cockatrice. You can list your paper deck swap outs if you want to.
I strongly suggest adding Rakdos, Lord of Riots. He's played very well in my build. I see he's on your watch list... not sure what that indicates.
Kaalia can negate his primary disadvantage. You'll be casting creatures for nothing. IMO he's was built for this deck. With plenty of draw in the deck, you can be pumping out a lot of creatures in a turn.
Creatures that I like that you don't have include:
Archangel of Strife - allows you to alpha strike multiple players
Bladewing the Risen - getting things back from your yard is really valuable.
Kuro, Pitlord - can take care of all annoying enemy fliers and small utility creatures.
Mordant Dragon - nice for removal purposes
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen - I run every fetchland that I can, so ole Ob gets huge pretty quickly.
Utvara Hellkite - I know he suffers from flameblast syndrome, but it's still a devastating ability.
Victory's Herald - lifelink can be save you. Especially if you've been abusing Necropotence like I tend to do.
I'd advocate adding something like Hysteria to give ALL your creatures haste cheaply and permanently because you will be hard casting them often. Sorry if I didn't notice something like that in your deck already... it's really upped my game.
Price of Glory can be a nice blue hate card.
Why no Living Death? I find I typically have a stack of shiny fatties in my graveyard. Also with reforge the soul and dragon mage both in the deck, it seems to make a lot of sense.
Might I suggest Ravages of War in place of Catastrophe? It seems like you will rarely be wanting to kill ALL creatures.
I also noticed your lack of things like Hellkite Charger, World at War, Waves of Aggression, Relentless Assault, Savage Beating, Aggravated Assault, Seize the Day and Breath of Fury. While I realize these are somewhat hit or miss, when they hit they hit HARD. I would appreciate an explanation in the Primer as to why you choose not to use multiple combat phase cards. I typically run one or two of them because they are really fun and deadly when you can manage to pull it off.
Aurelia, the Warleader seems really awesome in this regard even with the Flameblast Syndrome (which is ultra lame btw. I wish they had found a way around that with Kaalia's ability)
I think you need more ramp. You should be getting Kaalia out turn 2 or 3.
I would add the following ramp:
Chromatic Lantern - you seem to have a lot of colorless utility lands. In a tri color deck, that can sometimes be harmful. Lantern negates that problem.
Mana Crypt
Mana Vault
Diamond Mox
Chrome Mox
Mox Opal - if you add these artifacts, metalcraft shouldn't be a problem.
Sphere of the Suns
Also, more draw and handcycling wouldn't hurt.
Necrologia
Faithless Looting
Wheel of Fortune
Overwhelming Forces or Decree of Pain or Dregs of Sorrow
Seizan, Perverter of Truth
I also find that Necropotence helps me win A LOT of games. I put more tutors in my build to make sure I get a chance to use it every game. Reliquary Tower becomes a necessary addition. Something like Ivory Tower can also be very nice to make sure I keep my hand full without killing myself.
I suggest adding some backups to Kaalia. Things like
Quicksilver Amulet - probably the better of the bunch
Deathrender - love this card but it's mana intensive to set up
Sneak Attack - better in a reanimation themed Kaalia deck but still very very strong
Guild Feud - pretty weak really without academy rector but still can be fun
I would suggestion splitting your card options section into three subsections to make it less confusing. Take a look a my primer for an example. The three subsections are Current Cards, Possibilities, and Notable Exclusions (which btw, I think you really need this section. It prevents a lot of redundant explanations)
This post ended up being a lot longer than I originally intended. But Kaalia is one of my favorite generals next to Niv and I spend a fair amount of time piloting her. She's likely to be the next deck I try to get in paper. <3 yay!
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
Adding some sections to the primer front page SHOULD go on my to-do list. I've just been pretty busy lately making sure that the Commandercast shows get edited and uploaded on time (which can be pretty hectic when I other stuff I need to do...like Valentine's with my gf... >_> ). A cards I don't use section also seems pretty good. I'll see if I can answer these in order.
1) MONEY/BUDGET - My personal preference is to list the deck as it is in real life. I don't use cockatrice for much outside of virtual deck construction, so there's no point in my trying to put together a list full of hundred dollar cards I'm never going to actually get. My groups are fine with proxies, but I don't proxy anymore and if I did, it would have to be something I'd actually be willing to buy.
2) RAMP - Ya, I should try and find more room for artifact ramp, but I REFUSE to get any of the "money ramp". Diamonds should be fine enough.
3) EXTRA ATTACK STEPS - I haven't tried the new list enough to know if extra attacks steps would be a viable option yet. Right now those slots are geared towards protecting Kaalia who seems to have trouble sticking to the board in some play groups.
4) CARDS I DON'T USE - I'm under a serious time crunch to get the next episode edited, so I don't have time to list them here. I'll save that for when I upgrade the front page.
With that said, it is V-day week....so I think Saturday will lend itself well to playing my two sweet heart decks, Kaalia and Sigarda (maybe Yeva will tag along too). We'll see how testing goes with the new builds.
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren
Game One: They tucked Kaalia with a Chaos Warp on turn three and laughed. I wrathed away their lands with Catastrophe on turn five and laughed back.
Okay, it was more like I had a Bloodgift Demon out and I saw that the Rafiq player was still missing the green he needed and the Aurelia player was getting close to playing his war leader. I figured that demon would help me draw into some lands and wrathed. The demon got swords'd, but it was alright since I still drew into the lands I needed (with some artifact ramp) and got Sun Titan out before I wrathed again with Armageddon (THIS is why I love Sun Titan in this build). I was able to ramp my lands back, tutor Kaalia back, and proceeded to smash face.
This is also a proper example of how you SHOULD be playing MLD, that is to say, to take advantage of your opponent's slower starts while you have superior resources/artifact mana available. They were sitting ducks for most of the game. It might have been the "dirtiest" I've ever played the deck, but it got me a relatively quick, quality win.
Game two...didn't go quite as cleanly. I had a land wipe in hand, but I couldn't really use it when I wanted to since I was quickly put on the defensive by the Rafiq player (Gideon being bumped by Rafiq is REALLY hard to deal with when you've run out of cards). I needed to top-deck into either some sort of answer or some massive card draw spell, but I got lands. -_- That'll happen from time to time.
I think the biggest problem with that game was that my mana fixing wasn't the best. Tweaking the mana base is something that'll have to wait until my next paycheck though (I plan on taking out Darksteel Citadel, despite my likeness of it, for Fetid Heath when I get a copy).
The other guys swapped out Aurelia for Edric and Rafiq for Olivia before the third game.
I went with a Stoneforge Mystic into Lightning Greaves, despite having Hall of the Bandit Lord out just to make sure Kaalia had some protection from Olivia's machine gun. Of course, because Edric hit the field, I started to get hit by small utility vampires from Olivia. Didn't matter though.
Kaalia came out turn four and swung Iona at Edric (declaring blue, of course). Edric was all but locked out at this point.
Olivia played Blood Moon on her turn (effectively turning everything I had but a swamp into mountains, it didn't hurt that badly thansk to Kaalia), but Edric used his Gaea's Cradle to cast Avenger of Zendikar in response since he had Leyline of Anticipation in play and needed some sort of threat on the board.
By now, the combination of using Hall and being hit by smaller dudes "for value" was getting to my life total. I needed to leave Iona back to block the avenger, but Kaalia found a Karmic Guide. I sent her and the flashed-in Guide at the Olivia player to refresh my hand, and brought back a Mysty that had been used to chump block before, searching up the Sword of Fire and Ice, which I played and equipped to Mysty.
With Iona sitting back to block, and needing to draw some cards, Edric sent a couple of guys towards Olivia who passed too.
I maneuvered my equipment onto Kaalia so she had her sword and the greaves before going back to smacking the Edric player, flashing in Baneslayer Angel, shooting Edric with the sword and drawing into some Swiftfoot Boots to equip to Kaalia while moving the greaves over to Iona.
Olivia cast herself, which was pretty much it before I started my turn.
I suited Kaalia up some more by giving her the Darksteel Plate and swung at Edric again, getting my first hit in with Lord of the Void, who snatched away a Sower of Temptation, letting me steal Olivia away, who I used to pick off a couple of small vamps.
Swinging the crew at Edric the next turn brought him down to 1 before I shot him with the sword trigger (giving Olivia back to her owner since Sower was no longer in play). Unfortunately, he started shuffling up before I could remind him that Lord would let me check for an ETB effect I could use before I killed him off of the sword trigger.
Olivia shot the Lord, turning him into a vampire and threatening to steal him next turn, but Kaalia & Co. swung in, flashing in an Angel of Serenity to exile Olivia and two other annoying utility creatures she had. He was dead next turn.
What did we learn today?
1) The biggest problem left to fix with the deck is its mana-base and its ramp. I plan on cutting one or two spells for artifact ramp (like Coldsteel Heart), and switching some of the colorless lands for mana colors I don't seem to have enough of.
2) Phyrexian Reclamation continues to be an all-star, no doubts about it, as it was the only thing that kept me in the second game as long as I was. It's just unfortunate that I didn't have the right colors to use it as efficiently as I wanted to.
3) Using MLD spells at the right time wins you games. Playing when you have even the smallest lead can turn games into blow-outs, but trying to get into position to play one can be frustrating. I probably would have done much better in game two if I had considered using Cataclysm as a creature wrath earlier instead of conserving it as a MLD spell.
That's it for this week! I'll be editing like mad later this week, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to upgrade the front page, but stay tuned!
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren
Of course, my opponent tried to use Chaos Warp to get rid of Kaalia in response, and if it weren't for CLOUDSHIFT, he would have succeeded, and probably would have won the race for damage since I was at lower life with just a Steel Hellkite and he had a Regal Force getting pumped by a Mirari's Wake and a Sol Ring.
Thanks to Cloudshift, I was able to keep Kaalia, watched his lands get blown away, flashed in Rakdos, the Defiler on the next turn, and said GG.
Yesterday was just FULL of Cloudshift for me yesterday. Someone tries to Rite of Replication Kaalia? Cloudshift. Path to Exile? Cloudshift. Chaos Warp? CLOUD-MOTHER-EFFIN'-SHIFT.
I'm also cutting Eternal Dragon and Tithe for more mana acceleration. Right now I only have a Marbled Diamond to put in, but I plan on picking up some talismans or something when I get paid later. The rest of the deck is working okay right now, I just have to get this mana ramp fixed. :/
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren
And I approve of more mana accel!
MY PRIMER ON NIV-MIZZET, THE FIREMIND, MY CUSTOM CARDS ON DEVIANTART
My other decks:
Kaalia of the Vast: Certified Air Raid Material
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher: NOM NOM NOM!
Aurelia, the Warleader: Warclamp
--- Meren of Clan Nel Toth --- Jhoira of the Ghitu --- Prime Speaker Zegana ---
--- Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief --- Ghoulcaller Gisa --- Akroma, Angel of Fury --- Titania, Protector of Argoth ---
I thought you would.
Ya, I've used Cloudshift to reset a Bogardan Hellkite or an Angel of Despair from time to time. It's primary use has been saving Kaalia from spot removal, though, so in that respect its performed very admirably.
Akroma's Vengeance has been aces for me. Too often I find myself way behind on board presence because people snipe at my permanents (mana rocks to keep me off Kaalia, enchantments because they don't like it when I have stuff like Stranglehold, and my creatures are usually pretty scary). It's a good card to have to even the playing field, especially if you can break the symmetry by roaring back with a follow-up hasty Kaalia.
The Darksteel Plate is going to come out. The mana isn't that big a hassal since I usually want it mid-to-late game, but rather I'm cutting it because my meta uses a lot more exile/clone/tuck effects that render it virtually pointless. I'm going to experiment with the Sword of War and Peace since it's another life-renewer and gives Kaalia relevant protections (protects against exile effects like swords and path while protecting from Chaos Warp). If that doesn't work out, I'll either spring for another Sword of Feast and Famine or just use the slot for more ramp.
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren
I do however, like that it gives me a faster clock when I try to voltron people with her, i guess. And, life gain is a thing for us to be weary of, as we both know. Definitely LMK how that turns out.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
haha I read all of that in your voice. I recently replaced Boom/Bust with Decree of Annihilation (for the cycling mode, obv). I just wonder how often that extra mana will come back to bite me. I think it's a good trade off for being instant speed uncounterable.
Strictly speaking, I'll always tutor for boots first since they're hell of a lot faster in the early game, but that could be said about Fire/Ice or Light/Shadow too, and they're fairly strong for a deck that's looking to take out multiple people at once. I'll be looking for WaP mid-to-late game and I'll report back with results. *salutes*
I tried Decree, and I was surprised at how hard it was for me to have the seven open that I needed to cast instant speed wrath effects. During the time I want to be casting land wraths, I often have things I want to do with my mana, and when I have that mana availble, it's usually because I don't have anything to play and it's a dead card until I can build board position. I ended up cutting for Akroma's Vengeance so I'd have a harder wrath for dealing with problem permanents.
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren
What do you think of using underworld connections as a card draw source? Are lands to fragile and tight to waste an enchantment on? Does this perhaps turn some of our colorless lands into something more than just filler manna until their abilities become relevant in the game (which sometimes never happens)? I’m looking at you slayers stronghold and vault of the archangel). Do we actually not want to invest anything onto lands because we plan to blow them up before we can get mileage out of them like that? I am writing another post with a deck list and some other questions about land wipes versus mana rocks, but I think I wrote enough for now... sorry if its disjointed. It’s pretty late, its midterms this week and I am taking a break from studying with my girlfriend. We both really like this primer by the way; everyone seems to offer valuable feedback and knows what they are talking about. Props to the 1v1 list dudes too, that’s actually where I started. Anyway, thanks for reading, and thanks again for 6 pages of hellish insight.
First of all, thank you very much for the feedback. It always makes me happy to hear that people actually do like this thread (though I still plan on upgrading the first page at some point. Hosting a podcast and playing Katawa Shoujo all week kinda eats your time away ).
Angelic Renewal is a pretty interesting card by itself, but the synergy with Sun Titan is what makes it stand out to me. Kinda reminds me of the Reveillark/Saffi Eriksdotter shenanigans that some people use.
Since I often have a shrouded Kaalia (boots, greaves, swords, etc), I do find that my opponents often resort to using clone effects to get rid of her, and since I'm not opposed to sending Kaalia to the graveyard in order to get her back with Phyrexian Reclamation, I could see myself using Angelic Renewel to skip the hard-casting process.
My only concern is with my meta, since they tend to pack a lot of tuck/exile effects. Yes, I can sacrifice Kaalia with a Phyrexian Tower and bring her back with renewal, but then Terminus is still on the stack and is going to tuck her anyway.
I'll put it up for consideration, but until I figure out how to smooth out my mana-rocks, trying it out isn't a top priority. Definitely an interesting choice though!
As for my thoughts on the other two cards:
Ghostway: If you're meta is particularly wrath heavy, then go for it! I ended up taking it out because I realized I just wanted to stop spot removal or needed to keep at least one or two guys back to block. Part of the reason Cloudshift is still in the deck.
Underworld Connections: I guess you can count it as a mana dump when you don't have a hand, but I find that either I often don't have the extra mana to spare on something that taps my land, or I end up doing it during my turn to dig for an answer instead of at the end of my opponent's turn, which is the stronger play. I prefer the auto-draw of Phyrexian Arena.
Not only that, but since we use a number of wheel effects to super-charge our hand, as well as Necropotence and Promise of Power, I find that a second "gradual draw" effect is too slow for Kaalia. Arena is fine because of its low cost and auto-draw ability. Underworld is just too because it ties up resources we need early game, and requires you to "de facto" pay a mana each time you use it. 1 life > 1 life AND a mana
As a side note, I'd actually argue that Vault has been pretty good to me, to the point where it's the land I tutor for most often with non-restrictive tutors.
Good luck with those mid-terms, man!
www.commandercast.com
Commandercast on Tumblr!
My EDH/Commander List:
Wedges:
Numot, the Devastator RWU
Damia, Sage of Stone GUB
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
Olivia Voldaren