you have - use instead
aegis angel - bogardan hellkite isn't so much $.
angelic arbiter - eternal dragon when you get w/x duals, otherwise hellkite tyrant is pretty saucy.
basandra - stormbreath dragon? glorybringer is pretty reliable.
bladewing the risen - balefire dragon is the obvious missing sore thumb. mordant dragon is decent.
linvala - use other linvala.
akroma's vengeance - toxic deluge
pyroclasm - drown in sorrow
promise of power - ancient craving
syphon mind - ambition's cost
earthquake - rolling earthquake
zombify, necromantic summons, rise from the grave, unburial rites - reanimate, animate dead, necromancy, dance of the dead
diabolic tutor - demonic tutour? gamble?
ultimate price - go for the throat
plunge into darkness - enlightened tutor
sulfurous blast - fire covenant
mortify - vindicate
terminate - dreadbore/hero's downfall
I think you need a grand abolisher or at least a defense grid in here!
inexpensive duals
temple cycle
checks (Dragonskull/Clifftop/Chapel)
sulfurous springs isn't that much.
path of ancestry is strictly better than nomad outpost.
three manlands.
the enemy fastlands aren't too high.
canyon slough?
the ONS cycling lands are better options than your colourless/tapped lands.
city of brass and mana confluence. reflecting pool complements these nicely. grand coliseum is an ebt version of these.
You are the best! Some are a bit over my budget since I wanna keep most cards under 5$ haha but I can tinker with this list. Thanks a lot for the ideas!
You are the best! Some are a bit over my budget since I wanna keep most cards under 5$ haha but I can tinker with this list. Thanks a lot for the ideas!
Yeah, he seems quite playable in the deck, depending on your curve. Being able to potentially draw multiple fatties can definitely help keep your gas going.
I think he's definitely worth testing. Maybe multiplayer though whereas in 1v1 he probably draws you a thoughtseize effect.
I don't like how he's mostly a one and done. I like my effects to be recurrent (especially on damage dealt here) or be an activated ability (Razaketh).
But even in Multiplayer, if u are running about 20 ADDs, then the odds of you drawing multiple cards is quite low.
How good is a demon that has an etb of comes into play and draw 1/2 and lose 1/2.
Lyra Dawnbringer on the other hand looks interesting; 5 mana 5/5 with flying, first strike and lifelink.
Giving your other angels +1/+1 and lifelink is added bonus
Shalai,Voice of Plenty would be a definite include IF we could run it.
Too bad it has G.
I think he's definitely worth testing. Maybe multiplayer though whereas in 1v1 he probably draws you a thoughtseize effect.
I don't like how he's mostly a one and done. I like my effects to be recurrent (especially on damage dealt here) or be an activated ability (Razaketh).
In multiplayer, we could definitely use recurring effects. Belzenlok needs blinking or a high curve deck to be effective, though the risk of a top heavy deck is that you may have trouble hardcasting if Kaalia isn't getting deployed. If we really need a ton of card drawing, Skeletal Scrying and Necropotence seem better. Flavor-wise, it is supposed to be the strongest demon Liliana contracted with, but the stats don't live up to it.
Lyra....that's another Baneslayer. And I saw it earlier and didn't pick up on it. That's a good fit, though right now I don't even have Archangel of Thune in there after finally getting one (and I'm still enjoying the Dragonstorm build anyway).
Well, I am here again, I have been playing Kaalia for a year now, I 1v1 its nuts but in multi I have 0% winrate in 4 ppl table and a low winrate in 3ppl table.
I am trying a new approach to the deck and I want to know your insights.
Challenges to solve:
1. My playgroup focus on me since I am shuffling Kaalia, one of the players has actually said that every time I polay Kaalia he will be focusing all his attacks at me from turn zero so it is not a perception.
2. We 'agreed' not play fast combos, so a deck can have some kind of combo but cannot be built only to go fo the combo (I am not interested either in mardu combo anyway)
Because of point No. 1 this is what happens most of the time.
a. At turn 3-4 I start getting attacked by each player (Unless someone is in a very fast aggro deck the first attack wont came up until T3)
b. If I have the mana to cast Kaalia everyone will save the mana and answers for her to counter/kill/control even if there are 5 8/8 dinosaurs in the table.
I put some early creatures like Baneslayer angel and Bloodgift demon for utility and survival , because I am the focus of every single attack I have Blinding angel to at least be able to skip one of my opponents.
Because of point B, I need to prevent or punish people for playing in my turn so I have Defense grid and Price of glory to make them think twice, I also have Grand abolisher.
Because of point B is rarely the occasion of me casting Kaalia freely and attacking, people saves their reponses and mana for her, so I want two things now, I want for my opponents to have no lands and no hand. For those purposes I have Sire of insanity and Oppression and because lands are silly I also have Desolation.
Untapping more than 2 lands a turn is just to OP for our opponents so lets remember the Starks and play Winter orb
Because creatures attacking us are worthless I have Damnation and Wrath of god, just 2 boardwipes yes.
Kaalia wants to see all the world burn, so I packed Armageddon , catastrophe and Cataclysm (if I ever get a ravages of war it will be swapped for this) also our opponents does not need those mana rocks, so I have also a Vandablast
We need some counterspells so I have Apostle's blessing and faith's shield to help save our people dodge those nasty removals, I also have Silence because it works as a preemptive counterspell, if I want to cast a geddon then I can spare the extra mana to shut down the answers
Kaalia likes to feel pretty, so I have a Quicksilver amulet just for her, cheating our stuff for 4 mana, not that bad anyway
I need cards, I am not in blue, but we have some options read the bones, dragon mage, harvester of souls, bloodgift demon, phyrexian arena, Solemn simulacrum (I count him as a rock and a card draw). Yes Necropotence is missing I have the card, but by turn 6-8 I am at 10 life because of the aggro I get so in this very first build of 'pillowfort Kaalia' I will try it without it, then if I see my plan worked and I can get to turn 6-9 with 15+ life then Ill add necropotence
I have 12 mana rocks (14 if I count solemn simulacrum and dark ritual as mana rocks) because I need to be able to ramp as hell, start hardcasting some dudes or wiping the world and having the mana to play my stuff
The big dudes:
Because at some point it will be time for Kaalia to get revenge this is my prime team:
Hellkite tyrant: or also know as 'All your base are belong to us'
Kokusho, the evening star: This card normaly is bad, but because is just cost 6 it is hardcastable, and if he dies to removal or blocking something important I will get 15 life gain while each my opponents loses 5, so... good deal.
Sire of insanity: who needs cards? I am happy topdecking are you not? well, sorry then because for Kaalia is super important that she can attack and nobody cast any shennanigan.
Master of cruelties: Is a bad card for multiplayer, but one of my opponents hate this guy a lot, and is one of the reasons he focus on me, so I will play this guy and save it just for him.
Iona, shield of emeria: She is great, but I have never ever played her and have her last for an entire table turn, so unless your opponents are all playing a monocolored deck, the fear is not justifiable.
Gisela, blade of goldnight: Whats better than opponents taking damage? taking double damage, and whats better than that? well they taking double damage and us taking half damage off course
I will try her in my next EDH session, I would love to read your comments and toughs about this strategy or approach, will it work? what would you change? are those rocks enough? tha card draw can be better?
And the most important question, do you think I will be able to stand a 3:1 with this strategy?
This is the complete decklist if you want to see it
In 1 vs. 1, it's pretty good. In multiplayer, I am not convinced it is as good. While opponents can't gain life, they also don't have to damage each other to avoid the creature's triggered ability, and the Kaalia player becomes an immediate target.
In 1 vs. 1, it's pretty good. In multiplayer, I am not convinced it is as good. While opponents can't gain life, they also don't have to damage each other to avoid the creature's triggered ability, and the Kaalia player becomes an immediate target.
Accurate. In a sense, this feels like an Avatar of Slaughter that's actually on type.
Also, as it's a trigger, you could duplicate it via Strionic Resonator for [near if not actually] lethal in most cases. That's nifty.
So I finally came around to a Duel-Commander list I like, am incredibly confident towards, and am ready to share because I'd play this in any 1v1 format.
So I finally came around to a Duel-Commander list I like, am incredibly confident towards, and am ready to share because I'd play this in any 1v1 format.
So I finally came around to a Duel-Commander list I like, am incredibly confident towards, and am ready to share because I'd play this in any 1v1 format.
I find it amusing that Balance and Griselbrand are legal in the french duel commander format.
They really are fine, tbh. Balance is balanced, ironically enough. Gbrand isn't any worse than the other threats really. What, you'd rather I just kill you with MoC?
Sower of Discord was spoiled. 6 mana for a 6/6 flying with an ability that is actually useful in 1 vs. 1 or multiplayer. This card could have a place in a standard Kaalia build.
I thought about this at work towards the end of my shift last night (re: early morning). So, we never cast our commander more than twice in most games, right? What if we cast our commander, it gets removed, then next turn we run out a hasty golem and "gol-cast" Kaalia. Now if they remove her, we will just gol-cast again. If they remove the Golem...then we get a Kaalia trigger. There's a lot of pros and cons here, and I'm not sure it really makes sense in a list, at least as tight as my list.
Pros
- gol-casting Kaalia lets us get around her commander tax issues.
- gol-casting presents a real dilemma for an opponent to remove the golem, or waste another removal on the commander we're casting for free.
- gives us a strong incentive to play Mishra's Workshop (not that most players could afford this, but if you had one...)
Cons
- no synergy with the rest of the main deck.
- needs haste to be effective (but we do have lots of haste sources).
- at five mana, it's as much as some of our A/D/D suite and does nothing if Kaalia is already out.
Sower of Discord was spoiled. 6 mana for a 6/6 flying with an ability that is actually useful in 1 vs. 1 or multiplayer. This card could have a place in a standard Kaalia build.
Is it? Because in 1v1 this reads "when you deal damage to a player, deal that much to yourself as well." It turns us into a Flesh Reaver. It's a pretty good great multiplayer card though since you can choose two opponents and then attack a third. I'd expect it to not live very long of course, but it can do some incredible amounts of damage at least.
Sower of Discord was spoiled. 6 mana for a 6/6 flying with an ability that is actually useful in 1 vs. 1 or multiplayer. This card could have a place in a standard Kaalia build.
Is it? Because in 1v1 this reads "when you deal damage to a player, deal that much to yourself as well." It turns us into a Flesh Reaver. It's a pretty good great multiplayer card though since you can choose two opponents and then attack a third. I'd expect it to not live very long of course, but it can do some incredible amounts of damage at least.
In 1 vs. 1, even if the targets are yourself and the opponent, it guarantees that if they hit you, they take equal damage. Yes, there are other "Eye for an Eye" style cards, but this one is a relevant creature type with a reasonable body. I concede the ability isn't as robust as it would be in multiplayer, since you wouldn't choose yourself most likely in multiplayer.
Sower of Discord was spoiled. 6 mana for a 6/6 flying with an ability that is actually useful in 1 vs. 1 or multiplayer. This card could have a place in a standard Kaalia build.
Is it? Because in 1v1 this reads "when you deal damage to a player, deal that much to yourself as well." It turns us into a Flesh Reaver. It's a pretty good great multiplayer card though since you can choose two opponents and then attack a third. I'd expect it to not live very long of course, but it can do some incredible amounts of damage at least.
In 1 vs. 1, even if the targets are yourself and the opponent, it guarantees that if they hit you, they take equal damage. Yes, there are other "Eye for an Eye" style cards, but this one is a relevant creature type with a reasonable body. I concede the ability isn't as robust as it would be in multiplayer, since you wouldn't choose yourself most likely in multiplayer.
You're missing the issue. It's a bidirectional Eye for an Eye. So if I hit them for 10 damage, I lose 10 life. If they hit me for 10 damage, they lose 10 life. Given Kaalia tends to play lots of life loss cards to be aggressive it means that you're really playing with fire. It doesn't lock you out of winning without a life gain source (since if you swing lethal your opponent will lose as a state based effect before the trigger can resolve) but it is super dangerous.
You're missing the issue. It's a bidirectional Eye for an Eye. So if I hit them for 10 damage, I lose 10 life. If they hit me for 10 damage, they lose 10 life. Given Kaalia tends to play lots of life loss cards to be aggressive it means that you're really playing with fire. It doesn't lock you out of winning without a life gain source (since if you swing lethal your opponent will lose as a state based effect before the trigger can resolve) but it is super dangerous.
Whoa, I misread the card. You're right. It works both ways, to it's useless in 1 vs. 1.
FWIW, I still have one of these in my cart saved for later. Because "why not". But I don't see an immediate opening for it, outside of a saucy demonic Kaalia build.
Thanks for taking a look at my Multiplayer Primer!
How has Earnest Fellowship been performing for you? I don't particularly like it for multiplayer games because you can limit the amount of interaction that your opponents can do on each other, especially when the majority of them are playing U/x decks. I don't like the idea of turning off my opponent's ability to interact with each other and personally prefer to play Stax pieces in a multiplayer game. I am, however, open to the idea of giving the Fellowship a good test but wanted to get some up to date observations if possible. I'm almost certain that you've discussed it somewhere in the 170+ pages of this thread...
Thanks for taking a look at my Multiplayer Primer!
How has Earnest Fellowship been performing for you? I don't particularly like it for multiplayer games because you can limit the amount of interaction that your opponents can do on each other, especially when the majority of them are playing U/x decks. I don't like the idea of turning off my opponent's ability to interact with each other and personally prefer to play Stax pieces in a multiplayer game. I am, however, open to the idea of giving the Fellowship a good test but wanted to get some up to date observations if possible. I'm almost certain that you've discussed it somewhere in the 170+ pages of this thread...
I have at length actually, yes! Earnest Fellowship, indeed at one point was actually the namesake of the deck "Fellowship Kaalia" as a distinction between that, Duel-Commander Kaalia, DragonstormKaalia (yeah, you read that right...warning, that deck is NOT cheap, FYI). What Fellowship does, is grants Kaalia protection from 60% of the colour pie and all it asks us to do is to diversify our removals to be mono-colour (Go For the Throat/Fatal Push instead of Terminate, Dismember instead of Lightning Helix, etc). This means Kaalia at worst is susceptible to Song of the Dryads/Beast Within or Pongify/Treachery/Gilded Drake type of effects. To me, that kind of "sacrifice", if you can even call it that, is well worth the extreme protection. We'd otherwise be on Apostle's Blessing or Emerge Unscathed anyway, which I find to not be nearly as strong or consistent as Fellowship is.
you have - use instead
aegis angel - bogardan hellkite isn't so much $.
angelic arbiter - eternal dragon when you get w/x duals, otherwise hellkite tyrant is pretty saucy.
basandra - stormbreath dragon? glorybringer is pretty reliable.
bladewing the risen - balefire dragon is the obvious missing sore thumb. mordant dragon is decent.
linvala - use other linvala.
akroma's vengeance - toxic deluge
pyroclasm - drown in sorrow
promise of power - ancient craving
syphon mind - ambition's cost
earthquake - rolling earthquake
zombify, necromantic summons, rise from the grave, unburial rites - reanimate, animate dead, necromancy, dance of the dead
diabolic tutor - demonic tutour? gamble?
ultimate price - go for the throat
plunge into darkness - enlightened tutor
sulfurous blast - fire covenant
mortify - vindicate
terminate - dreadbore/hero's downfall
I think you need a grand abolisher or at least a defense grid in here!
inexpensive duals
temple cycle
checks (Dragonskull/Clifftop/Chapel)
sulfurous springs isn't that much.
path of ancestry is strictly better than nomad outpost.
three manlands.
the enemy fastlands aren't too high.
canyon slough?
the ONS cycling lands are better options than your colourless/tapped lands.
city of brass and mana confluence. reflecting pool complements these nicely. grand coliseum is an ebt version of these.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
Happy to be able to help you.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
I don't like how he's mostly a one and done. I like my effects to be recurrent (especially on damage dealt here) or be an activated ability (Razaketh).
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
How good is a demon that has an etb of comes into play and draw 1/2 and lose 1/2.
Lyra Dawnbringer on the other hand looks interesting; 5 mana 5/5 with flying, first strike and lifelink.
Giving your other angels +1/+1 and lifelink is added bonus
Shalai,Voice of Plenty would be a definite include IF we could run it.
Too bad it has G.
In multiplayer, we could definitely use recurring effects. Belzenlok needs blinking or a high curve deck to be effective, though the risk of a top heavy deck is that you may have trouble hardcasting if Kaalia isn't getting deployed. If we really need a ton of card drawing, Skeletal Scrying and Necropotence seem better. Flavor-wise, it is supposed to be the strongest demon Liliana contracted with, but the stats don't live up to it.
Still. I'd pick them both up.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
I am trying a new approach to the deck and I want to know your insights.
Challenges to solve:
1. My playgroup focus on me since I am shuffling Kaalia, one of the players has actually said that every time I polay Kaalia he will be focusing all his attacks at me from turn zero so it is not a perception.
2. We 'agreed' not play fast combos, so a deck can have some kind of combo but cannot be built only to go fo the combo (I am not interested either in mardu combo anyway)
Because of point No. 1 this is what happens most of the time.
a. At turn 3-4 I start getting attacked by each player (Unless someone is in a very fast aggro deck the first attack wont came up until T3)
b. If I have the mana to cast Kaalia everyone will save the mana and answers for her to counter/kill/control even if there are 5 8/8 dinosaurs in the table.
So, my very first challenge seems to be surviving the early focus, in that case I added Ghostly Prison, Windborn muse, No mercy and Magus of the moat (Cheaper version of moat)
I put some early creatures like Baneslayer angel and Bloodgift demon for utility and survival , because I am the focus of every single attack I have Blinding angel to at least be able to skip one of my opponents.
Because of point B, I need to prevent or punish people for playing in my turn so I have Defense grid and Price of glory to make them think twice, I also have Grand abolisher.
Because of point B is rarely the occasion of me casting Kaalia freely and attacking, people saves their reponses and mana for her, so I want two things now, I want for my opponents to have no lands and no hand. For those purposes I have Sire of insanity and Oppression and because lands are silly I also have Desolation.
Untapping more than 2 lands a turn is just to OP for our opponents so lets remember the Starks and play Winter orb
Because creatures attacking us are worthless I have Damnation and Wrath of god, just 2 boardwipes yes.
Kaalia wants to see all the world burn, so I packed Armageddon , catastrophe and Cataclysm (if I ever get a ravages of war it will be swapped for this) also our opponents does not need those mana rocks, so I have also a Vandablast
Because we do want to play lands I have Crucible of worlds
For spot removal I have, Return to dust, Path to exile, Swords to plowshares, Vindicate and wear/tear.
We need some counterspells so I have Apostle's blessing and faith's shield to help save our people dodge those nasty removals, I also have Silence because it works as a preemptive counterspell, if I want to cast a geddon then I can spare the extra mana to shut down the answers
For protection I packed 2 pair of boots (Swiftfoot boots and lighning greaves) and a Whispersilk cloack
Kaalia likes to feel pretty, so I have a Quicksilver amulet just for her, cheating our stuff for 4 mana, not that bad anyway
I need cards, I am not in blue, but we have some options read the bones, dragon mage, harvester of souls, bloodgift demon, phyrexian arena, Solemn simulacrum (I count him as a rock and a card draw). Yes Necropotence is missing I have the card, but by turn 6-8 I am at 10 life because of the aggro I get so in this very first build of 'pillowfort Kaalia' I will try it without it, then if I see my plan worked and I can get to turn 6-9 with 15+ life then Ill add necropotence
I have 12 mana rocks (14 if I count solemn simulacrum and dark ritual as mana rocks) because I need to be able to ramp as hell, start hardcasting some dudes or wiping the world and having the mana to play my stuff
The big dudes:
Because at some point it will be time for Kaalia to get revenge this is my prime team:
Hellkite tyrant: or also know as 'All your base are belong to us'
Kokusho, the evening star: This card normaly is bad, but because is just cost 6 it is hardcastable, and if he dies to removal or blocking something important I will get 15 life gain while each my opponents loses 5, so... good deal.
Harvester of souls: Good blocker, and card draw
Sire of insanity: who needs cards? I am happy topdecking are you not? well, sorry then because for Kaalia is super important that she can attack and nobody cast any shennanigan.
Master of cruelties: Is a bad card for multiplayer, but one of my opponents hate this guy a lot, and is one of the reasons he focus on me, so I will play this guy and save it just for him.
Iona, shield of emeria: She is great, but I have never ever played her and have her last for an entire table turn, so unless your opponents are all playing a monocolored deck, the fear is not justifiable.
Rakdos the defiler: Annihilator 50%, yes please
Utvara hellkite: I know she is bad, but Kaalia is just fond of her, and I love to see her play with a couple dozen dragons
Steel hellkite: boardwipes, more boardwipes!!!
Gisela, blade of goldnight: Whats better than opponents taking damage? taking double damage, and whats better than that? well they taking double damage and us taking half damage off course
I will try her in my next EDH session, I would love to read your comments and toughs about this strategy or approach, will it work? what would you change? are those rocks enough? tha card draw can be better?
And the most important question, do you think I will be able to stand a 3:1 with this strategy?
This is the complete decklist if you want to see it
1x Arid Mesa
1x Armageddon
1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Baneslayer Angel
1x Battlefield Forge
1x Blackcleave Cliffs
1x Blinding Angel
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bloodgift Demon
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Boros Signet
1x Cataclysm
1x Catastrophe
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Caves of Koilos
1x Chrome Mox
1x City of Brass
1x Clifftop Retreat
1x Command Tower
1x Commander's Sphere
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Damnation
1x Dark Ritual
1x Defense Grid
1x Desolation
1x Dragon Mage
1x Dragon Tempest
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Earnest Fellowship
1x Faith's Shield
1x Faithless Looting
1x Ghostly Prison
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Grand Abolisher
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Harvester of Souls
1x Hellkite Tyrant
1x Homeward Path
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Jeweled Amulet
1x Kaalia of the Vast
1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Lotus Petal
1x Magus of the Moat
1x Mana Vault
1x Master of Cruelties
1x Mimic Vat
1x Mother of Runes
2x Mountain
1x No Mercy
1x Oppression
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Path to Exile
1x Phyrexian Arena
8x Plains
1x Price of Glory
1x Quicksilver Amulet
1x Rakdos Carnarium
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Rakdos the Defiler
1x Read the Bones
1x Return to Dust
1x Reverberate
1x Rugged Prairie
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Silence
1x Sire Of Insanity
1x Sol Ring
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Steel Hellkite
1x Sulfurous Springs
3x Swamp
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Talisman of Indulgence
1x Tectonic Edge
1x Thran Dynamo
1x Utvara Hellkite
1x Vandalblast
1x Vindicate
1x Wear / Tear
1x Whispersilk Cloak
1x Windborn Muse
1x Winter Orb
1x Wrath of God
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net
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https://twitter.com/THEmtg3drinks/status/998656469011714050?s=19
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
In 1 vs. 1, it's pretty good. In multiplayer, I am not convinced it is as good. While opponents can't gain life, they also don't have to damage each other to avoid the creature's triggered ability, and the Kaalia player becomes an immediate target.
Accurate. In a sense, this feels like an Avatar of Slaughter that's actually on type.
Also, as it's a trigger, you could duplicate it via Strionic Resonator for [near if not actually] lethal in most cases. That's nifty.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
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Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
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Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
I find it amusing that Balance and Griselbrand are legal in the french duel commander format.
They really are fine, tbh. Balance is balanced, ironically enough. Gbrand isn't any worse than the other threats really. What, you'd rather I just kill you with MoC?
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
I thought about this at work towards the end of my shift last night (re: early morning). So, we never cast our commander more than twice in most games, right? What if we cast our commander, it gets removed, then next turn we run out a hasty golem and "gol-cast" Kaalia. Now if they remove her, we will just gol-cast again. If they remove the Golem...then we get a Kaalia trigger. There's a lot of pros and cons here, and I'm not sure it really makes sense in a list, at least as tight as my list.
Pros
- gol-casting Kaalia lets us get around her commander tax issues.
- gol-casting presents a real dilemma for an opponent to remove the golem, or waste another removal on the commander we're casting for free.
- gives us a strong incentive to play Mishra's Workshop (not that most players could afford this, but if you had one...)
Cons
- no synergy with the rest of the main deck.
- needs haste to be effective (but we do have lots of haste sources).
- at five mana, it's as much as some of our A/D/D suite and does nothing if Kaalia is already out.
Is it? Because in 1v1 this reads "when you deal damage to a player, deal that much to yourself as well." It turns us into a Flesh Reaver. It's a pretty
goodgreat multiplayer card though since you can choose two opponents and then attack a third. I'd expect it to not live very long of course, but it can do some incredible amounts of damage at least.Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
In 1 vs. 1, even if the targets are yourself and the opponent, it guarantees that if they hit you, they take equal damage. Yes, there are other "Eye for an Eye" style cards, but this one is a relevant creature type with a reasonable body. I concede the ability isn't as robust as it would be in multiplayer, since you wouldn't choose yourself most likely in multiplayer.
You're missing the issue. It's a bidirectional Eye for an Eye. So if I hit them for 10 damage, I lose 10 life. If they hit me for 10 damage, they lose 10 life. Given Kaalia tends to play lots of life loss cards to be aggressive it means that you're really playing with fire. It doesn't lock you out of winning without a life gain source (since if you swing lethal your opponent will lose as a state based effect before the trigger can resolve) but it is super dangerous.
Whoa, I misread the card. You're right. It works both ways, to it's useless in 1 vs. 1.
cartsaved for later. Because "why not". But I don't see an immediate opening for it, outside of a saucy demonic Kaalia build.Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
How has Earnest Fellowship been performing for you? I don't particularly like it for multiplayer games because you can limit the amount of interaction that your opponents can do on each other, especially when the majority of them are playing U/x decks. I don't like the idea of turning off my opponent's ability to interact with each other and personally prefer to play Stax pieces in a multiplayer game. I am, however, open to the idea of giving the Fellowship a good test but wanted to get some up to date observations if possible. I'm almost certain that you've discussed it somewhere in the 170+ pages of this thread...
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
I have at length actually, yes! Earnest Fellowship, indeed at one point was actually the namesake of the deck "Fellowship Kaalia" as a distinction between that, Duel-Commander Kaalia, Dragonstorm Kaalia (yeah, you read that right...warning, that deck is NOT cheap, FYI). What Fellowship does, is grants Kaalia protection from 60% of the colour pie and all it asks us to do is to diversify our removals to be mono-colour (Go For the Throat/Fatal Push instead of Terminate, Dismember instead of Lightning Helix, etc). This means Kaalia at worst is susceptible to Song of the Dryads/Beast Within or Pongify/Treachery/Gilded Drake type of effects. To me, that kind of "sacrifice", if you can even call it that, is well worth the extreme protection. We'd otherwise be on Apostle's Blessing or Emerge Unscathed anyway, which I find to not be nearly as strong or consistent as Fellowship is.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.