Mother: "Counter your targeted bounce/kill/etc." Which Kaalia decks can have a problem with.
Conspiracy, Patriarch's Bidding, Blood Speaker etc I don't understand. Tricolor to me is already cramped enough for deck space, why do people run such wacky interactions? . Yes I have a competitive streak, but I'm not all Spike.
^ That also applies to your Sunblast strategy. You could run that convoluted mess, or you could just run Terminus...
I personally don't run that combo (Deck in Signature =P), and I do run Terminus, however it looked like he was going for more of a fun way to put creatures into play with the portals, so you might as well take advantage of it.
Mother of Runes still doesn't look that great to me because you get to use it once per turn. If that guy doesn't do it, the next guy will if she's being that much a problem. I used to run her, but cut her after I realized she really didn't do much. Kaalia should have Boots/Greaves anyway, so the point is moot. That's how I see it at least. If she works out for you, more power to you =)
There are a few cards in here that I find to be too gimmicky for the deck.
Belebe's Portal and Urza's Incubator are neat, but honestly, I wouldn't run them. Angels will be your best choice and you have 14 of them. Which is all fine, but there will be times when you're sitting on an Incubator going "Man, one more mana would be great right now," Staring at 6 lands and a Rune-Scarred Daemon after someone just dropped a Wrath of God. It doesn't do enough, I feel.
The Portal has a little more merit because you can throw something like Conspiracy into the deck and name Demon. That way, you get a TON of mileage out of Bloodspeeker, and admittedly, it also helps the Incubator, though I would still cut it. If you want to go with the whole "I cheat things into play" aspect of Kaalia, I would put in a Cryptic Gateway and I'll tell you why later for some real fun.
Mother of Runes is a card I see in a lot of Kaalia decks and I'm not sure why. It's really not that great. Kaalia gets protection from a single color for a turn and now you have a tapped 1/1 for the other 3-7 turns.
I would leave the Sunblast Angel in for what I'm about to suggest and put Urabrask, the Hidden in place of Mother. Try to squeeze a bunch of Tutors, and then add these two cards:
Have the two out with a graveyard full of creatures (Like Urabrask and Sunblast angel) that are now all the same type of creature. with Warstorm Surge, you probably just killed someone as well as destrying all their tapped creatures that just entered the battlefield. Oh, they all have haste, so go get them!
Yes and no. My group is well aware of what my deck can do, but they are also well aware of what everyone else's decks can do, which I use to my advantage. My combo pieces do get interrupted and wayward bogs are usually a pain in the ass, but I can play passively enough to shift the bullseye or at least avoid it as best I can. Trust me when I say there are some nasty decks in my meta, even with our group wide ban of infinite win combo (it's possible in this deck, but I'd only use it to counter one of our players who follows that rule very loosely). Rafiq, Sharoom, Rikku, Kresh, Karavek, Spymaster, and Mimeoplasm all make regular appearances and all put big targets on their heads, which gives me time to do a few (sometimes not so) subtle things.
Bloodspeeker Has won a very special place in any deck that runs black for me. It's a recurring tutor for demons, what's not to love? Let's pick out a few good ones.
Absolutely. I used to be all about trying to put her out as soon as possible and then go for broke with the fatties, but you know what? When there are 3-7 other players in the game, that doesn't seem like a smart idea. Oblivion Stone usually makes its way into every deck, and white is a fairly common color, which means Wrath effects. Land destruction? Sure, you can do that, but all you'll do is paint a target over your head unless you generate enough steam. There's nothing like saying, "I'll cycles Decree of Annihilation," and hearing, "In response, Geth's Verdict?" Then what? Twiddle your thumbs while the ramp decks out race you? My mono red deck is the deck that runs land destruction because Akroma, Angel of Fury Is immune to the two most common and best removal colors AND she can't be countered.
More to the point, I ran a "traditional" style Kaalia deck and it's a joke compared to this one. This deck recently won an 8 player game BEFORE my adjustments for Worldfire (there were more than I thought, actually). The best part is that it did it WITHOUT it's combos. Not once did the Sun Titan bomb go off. My old Kaalia deck wouldn't have done anything the whole game.
Now, as far as Tainted Strike goes, I feel dirty using it. It's a $.20 card that can easily one shot someone. It's your Sniper Rifle waiting for it's kill shot on that out of control player who drops his guard for a turn. Just last week, someone was really getting out of hand at the right time. I believe the board was wiped the previous turn and he didn't have a creature out, though he had some leftover mana. He obviously had a response to anyone attacking him and I played it out of him. I dropped Gisela, Blade of Goldnight (or cheated, I don't remember) and declared my equipping of Lightning Greaves knowing full well he was going to remove her in response, which he did. After he was done, I cast Faith's Reward, followed by Tainted Strike, equipped Greaves and swung for the kill. It's actually a perfect example of one of the strengths of the deck.
One of the comments my deck gets quite often is how unassuming it is until all of the sudden, someone's dead and it's one of my favorite things about it. You are very non-threatening. Amazingly non-threatening until the bomb drops, which is usually why I can sneak a forked Buried Alive in as often as I do. People are looking around at the Rafiq with a Sword of Vengeance or the Mana Reflections that just dropped. Meanwhile, my board might have a Rune-Scarred Demon or a Solemn Simulacrum. Then all of the sudden next turn, that guy who tapped out and crippled Rafiq just ate 50 damage.
If you're looking for more ways to one shot people via Infect, Grafted Exoskeleton is a fantastic choice. I run it in Akroma (AoF) and Drana and haven't been disappointed. It equips for cheap and works as a sac outlet (makes me wish I had a Skull Clamp). Then there's the whole +2/+2 infect part, too.
Creatures that can use it are plentiful. Moltensteel Dragon, Akroma, Angel of Fury, Dragon Tyrant, and Gisela, Blade of Goldnight are my go to TS cards with Kaalia. Really any card with a pump effect, though I've stopped using Moltensteel, because I realized it was only in there because of Tainted Strike. That's bad because Tainted strike isn't a win condition, it's a sniper rifle. Don't forget, you can also use it on your opponent's creatures, too.
Thank you for your comments. I did put a fair amount of thought into the internal synergies of the deck. Take this for example. If you notice, all of my Demons are ways to fix my hand, which means Bloodspeaker is an amazing tool despite only having three of them. If I find myself in a situation where I might not want him or Worldgorger Dragon in my hand, I'll cast Demonic Collusion and discard them to keep my tutor.
There are just so many fun things to do in these colors, I almost have trouble playing anything else
Four person game and I can't tell you who the other two were playing because the only ones that matter at this point are Jhoria and my Drana. Blightsteel Colossus is suspended and one of the decks goes to Praetor's Grasp The Jhoria deck, which gets Counterlashed into an Obliterate. The other two players scoop, but I decide to tough it out because I had land and a Geth's Verdict in my had as well as a Pawn of Ulamog on the board, which gave me 4 spawns. Blightsteel hits play, I block with 3 Spawns and got to 9 infect, which I then proceed to Verdict his only creature and then top deck an Extraplanar Lens followed by a Sorin Markov, which ultimately doomed him.
Another fun one is my 3rd turn Kaalia kill.
Turn 1 - Land > Ring > Greaves
Turn 2 - Land > Ingot
Turn 3 - Land> Kaalia > Equip > Attack and Drop Moltensteel Dragon followed by Tainted Strike
This deck requires a little bit of a background introduction that isn't terribly long. I first got into commander with the Heavenly Inferno starter deck and had a really rough time because the reason I started playing was because everyone else in my game store was playing EDH and I wanted to get in on the fun. Kaalia was my first general that I called my own and I loved her, but unfortunately I was warned that she has the tendency to fall short, especially in bigger multiplayer games. This was something that seemed to have been proven time and time again as I played, even as my deck evolved once I had gotten specific cards I had been looking for and made the deck more akin to a real EDH deck and not a Precon. Eventually, I wound up dismantling her and had a fun Doran deck, but all the while I kept thinking back to Kaalia and thinking of ways to make her work. The biggest question in my head was, "How can I make the deck self sufficient without Kaalia?" Because every kaalia deck I've seen put the focus on her and instantly ground to a halt whenever she inevitably got tucked. Of all places, the inspiration for the new and improved Kaalia came from a play that accidentally happened in Doran. Immediately, I thought about how Kaalia could run wild with it, and believe me when I said she did and still does. The funny thing is that it only works with WBR and there really aren't any in that color set that are worth playing besides Kaalia. I'm OK with that because she was my first and I've managed to make her a real terror. =)
Anyway, now that story time is over, let's get on with it, shall we?
Note that I know Griselbrand is on the banned list, but my group has voted to allow him. I don't know why considering the abuse my Monoblack gave him last weekend, but I'm not complaining. Also, I know my mana base could be a little better, but I'm working with what I have here. This deck is 100% in front of me right now.
Now, the general rule of thumb with this deck that my friends have all accepted is that if I ever fork a Buried Alive, someone will be taking at least 44 damage to the face. That will be explained below. The deck as a whole is largely about cheating creatures into play and using them to win in one way or another. You may be wondering why certain things are in here and I will explain.
The big combo in the deck involves forking Buried Alive and putting the following cards in your graveyard:
The 6th is largely up to you depending on what you want to do. I'm sure you can see where this is going, but I will continue on anyway. The catalyst to the beating is this guy, Doomed Necromancer. Play him and activate his ability thanks to Anger and bring back the Titan. Because saccing him is part of the cost, he is in the graveyard when the Titan hits play, which brings him back. Sac him again and bring back Bladewing, which then brings back the Tyrant. Next declare your attackers, bring back the Necro once more, which will bring back Gisela. That's 44 damage. If kaalia's out and you have something like a Thundermaw Hellkite in your hand, there's very little they can do to stop it.
I'm sure by now you've noticed the Worldfire and the Worldgorger Dragon, which brings us to our next installment. For the low low price of 10 mana, you can Sneak Attack your Dragon into play and the cast Worldfire, which is pretty much an atuowin for you anyway. But wait! There's more! It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to have a Bogardan Hellkite waiting on the table, either. I mean, hell, you can put it into play with another R at same time. That way you get to split 5 damage to all those players who are now at 1 life. It's pretty fun. There's a good chance Rune-Scarred Demon might also be in play as well, which means you can search him up can cast him with all your untapped lands. Ghostway is another means of getting around the side effects of crushing the world, but it's more costly. Reanimate those Primeval Titans whenever you can!
Worldgorger synergizes with Sneak Attack in another way as well. We all know the Animate Dead infinite combo, but it serves another purpose as well. You can use it to sneak a bunch of creatures in, animate the dragon, to effectively flicker them all, and then rez something else. That way, you don't have to sac them. Yes, I am aware that you have infinite mana and could cast them anyway, but this is more fun! Also, my group is largely against infinite win combos, hence why I have omitted Comet Storm.
The biggest problem Worldgorger faces is getting removed with his ability on the stack, but fear not, for I have a solution! it's a little known fact that Worldgorder Dragon is Not of This World! This card has won me enough games that I have trouble leaving home without it. In this case, it is perfect for preventing the annoyance of your dragon getting smashed before your cards make it back into the field.
The rest of the deck should be pretty self explanatory, except for maybe Tainted Strike, which is there as a means to snipe someone out of the game. I took Moltensteel Dragon out of the deck because his only purpose was to abuse TS, but yes it is deadly. Now, I slap it on Gisela/Tyrant/Steel Hellkite/Bladewing or something and call it a day.
The point of the deck is to really utilize Grave Pact. When things leave the field, usually to the husk, not only does the opponent sac one or more creatures, but something else happens. That being said, I overlooked Murderous Red Cap. Though, it is a tad expensive. Husk costs 3 whereas Red Cap costs 4, and usually on 4th turn I want to drop grave pact or tutor for a pact. I could also drop it into the GY with the Exhumer and take it back with the Doomed Necro, though. Something to think about for sure.
I would change them for the festering goblins.I don't really think they deserve a place in that sort of deck(or in any other )And I would add 3 more needles in the sb
Gasp! How could you hate Uncle Fester?
But yea, I don't really see Uncle Fester being much use in that deck. I say put the sudden spoilings in it's place. It turns their creature's off and there's nothing they can do about it.
Alright, here's a deck that was inspired by one I saw online, then made a few modifications to, then more and more and now I have this. I mainly started playing this deck on MWS with a friend of mine, and it wound up being really good. So I decided to make this my new T2 deck, and hopefully tourney deck, though I doubt it would be anything more then local stuff.
This deck does very well from the games that I've played it, and it's even managed to beat down an old onslaught block elf deck. I like it because it's different then the BB decks, and I'd rather it not be a BB deck (not that they aren't good, I just want a different approach =P). The problem now is, when I originally made it the Infectious Host was T2 legal, and now I need something to replace it. Also, I'd like to keep it mono black.
I want to try and keep this mono black so I don't have to worry about needing the right mana for nether traitors and grave pact. The BB decks are very nice and there's no doubt to them being awesome, but it doesn't have that unique feel this one has (whether it's actually unique or not =P).
I like using the exhumer to A: Dump cards that aren't of any use at the moment, B: Drop a nether traitor, while getting another creature to sac, or C: Drop something like Lim Dul into the graveyard and bring him back with a Doomed necromancer. It fits rather well with this deck.
I personally don't run that combo (Deck in Signature =P), and I do run Terminus, however it looked like he was going for more of a fun way to put creatures into play with the portals, so you might as well take advantage of it.
Mother of Runes still doesn't look that great to me because you get to use it once per turn. If that guy doesn't do it, the next guy will if she's being that much a problem. I used to run her, but cut her after I realized she really didn't do much. Kaalia should have Boots/Greaves anyway, so the point is moot. That's how I see it at least. If she works out for you, more power to you =)
Belebe's Portal and Urza's Incubator are neat, but honestly, I wouldn't run them. Angels will be your best choice and you have 14 of them. Which is all fine, but there will be times when you're sitting on an Incubator going "Man, one more mana would be great right now," Staring at 6 lands and a Rune-Scarred Daemon after someone just dropped a Wrath of God. It doesn't do enough, I feel.
The Portal has a little more merit because you can throw something like Conspiracy into the deck and name Demon. That way, you get a TON of mileage out of Bloodspeeker, and admittedly, it also helps the Incubator, though I would still cut it. If you want to go with the whole "I cheat things into play" aspect of Kaalia, I would put in a Cryptic Gateway and I'll tell you why later for some real fun.
Mother of Runes is a card I see in a lot of Kaalia decks and I'm not sure why. It's really not that great. Kaalia gets protection from a single color for a turn and now you have a tapped 1/1 for the other 3-7 turns.
I would leave the Sunblast Angel in for what I'm about to suggest and put Urabrask, the Hidden in place of Mother. Try to squeeze a bunch of Tutors, and then add these two cards:
Have the two out with a graveyard full of creatures (Like Urabrask and Sunblast angel) that are now all the same type of creature. with Warstorm Surge, you probably just killed someone as well as destrying all their tapped creatures that just entered the battlefield. Oh, they all have haste, so go get them!
Rune-Scarred Demon
Griselbrand
Bloodgift Demon
Ah hell, just drop Conspiracy and call it a day!
More to the point, I ran a "traditional" style Kaalia deck and it's a joke compared to this one. This deck recently won an 8 player game BEFORE my adjustments for Worldfire (there were more than I thought, actually). The best part is that it did it WITHOUT it's combos. Not once did the Sun Titan bomb go off. My old Kaalia deck wouldn't have done anything the whole game.
Now, as far as Tainted Strike goes, I feel dirty using it. It's a $.20 card that can easily one shot someone. It's your Sniper Rifle waiting for it's kill shot on that out of control player who drops his guard for a turn. Just last week, someone was really getting out of hand at the right time. I believe the board was wiped the previous turn and he didn't have a creature out, though he had some leftover mana. He obviously had a response to anyone attacking him and I played it out of him. I dropped Gisela, Blade of Goldnight (or cheated, I don't remember) and declared my equipping of Lightning Greaves knowing full well he was going to remove her in response, which he did. After he was done, I cast Faith's Reward, followed by Tainted Strike, equipped Greaves and swung for the kill. It's actually a perfect example of one of the strengths of the deck.
One of the comments my deck gets quite often is how unassuming it is until all of the sudden, someone's dead and it's one of my favorite things about it. You are very non-threatening. Amazingly non-threatening until the bomb drops, which is usually why I can sneak a forked Buried Alive in as often as I do. People are looking around at the Rafiq with a Sword of Vengeance or the Mana Reflections that just dropped. Meanwhile, my board might have a Rune-Scarred Demon or a Solemn Simulacrum. Then all of the sudden next turn, that guy who tapped out and crippled Rafiq just ate 50 damage.
If you're looking for more ways to one shot people via Infect, Grafted Exoskeleton is a fantastic choice. I run it in Akroma (AoF) and Drana and haven't been disappointed. It equips for cheap and works as a sac outlet (makes me wish I had a Skull Clamp). Then there's the whole +2/+2 infect part, too.
Creatures that can use it are plentiful. Moltensteel Dragon, Akroma, Angel of Fury, Dragon Tyrant, and Gisela, Blade of Goldnight are my go to TS cards with Kaalia. Really any card with a pump effect, though I've stopped using Moltensteel, because I realized it was only in there because of Tainted Strike. That's bad because Tainted strike isn't a win condition, it's a sniper rifle. Don't forget, you can also use it on your opponent's creatures, too.
Thank you for your comments. I did put a fair amount of thought into the internal synergies of the deck. Take this for example. If you notice, all of my Demons are ways to fix my hand, which means Bloodspeaker is an amazing tool despite only having three of them. If I find myself in a situation where I might not want him or Worldgorger Dragon in my hand, I'll cast Demonic Collusion and discard them to keep my tutor.
There are just so many fun things to do in these colors, I almost have trouble playing anything else
Another fun one is my 3rd turn Kaalia kill.
Turn 1 - Land > Ring > Greaves
Turn 2 - Land > Ingot
Turn 3 - Land> Kaalia > Equip > Attack and Drop Moltensteel Dragon followed by Tainted Strike
Anyway, now that story time is over, let's get on with it, shall we?
1 Kaalia of the Vast
Creatures - Other
1 Bogardan Hellkite
1 Worldgorger Dragon
1 Dragon Tyrant
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Sun Titan
1 Balefire Dragon
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1 Bladewing the Risen
1 Anger
1 Steel Hellkite
Reanimation
1 Animate Dead
1 Necromancy
1 Doomed Necromancer
1 Faith's Reward
1 Profane Command
1 Defy Death
1 Unburial Rites
1 Rise from the Grave
1 Beacon of Unrest
Single Target Removal
1 Banishing Stroke
1 Path to Exile
1 Angel of Despair
1 Condemn
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Return to Dust
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 Terminus
1 Austere Command
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Planar Cleansing
Mana/Land Fixing
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Coalition Relic
1 Sol Ring
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Expedition map
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Journeyer's Kite
1 Armillary Sphere
Card Fixing
1 Blood Speaker
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Diabolic Revelation
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Demonic Collusion
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Griselbrand
1 Sensei's Diving Top
1 Diabolic Tutor
Other Spells
1 Chandra, the Firebrand
1 Reverberate
1 Reiterate
1 Buried Alive
1 Worldfire
1 Tainted Strike
1 Ghostway
1 Sneak Attack
1 Not of this World
1 Amulet of Vigor
8 Plains
6 Swamp
6 Mountain
1 Command Tower
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Sulfurous Springs
1 Graven Cairns
1 Battlefield Forge
1 Temple of the False God
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Buried Ruin
1 Slayer's Stronghold
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Reliquary Tower
Now, the general rule of thumb with this deck that my friends have all accepted is that if I ever fork a Buried Alive, someone will be taking at least 44 damage to the face. That will be explained below. The deck as a whole is largely about cheating creatures into play and using them to win in one way or another. You may be wondering why certain things are in here and I will explain.
The big combo in the deck involves forking Buried Alive and putting the following cards in your graveyard:
- Sun Titan
- Bladewing the Risen
- Dragon Tyrant
- Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
- Anger
The 6th is largely up to you depending on what you want to do. I'm sure you can see where this is going, but I will continue on anyway. The catalyst to the beating is this guy, Doomed Necromancer. Play him and activate his ability thanks to Anger and bring back the Titan. Because saccing him is part of the cost, he is in the graveyard when the Titan hits play, which brings him back. Sac him again and bring back Bladewing, which then brings back the Tyrant. Next declare your attackers, bring back the Necro once more, which will bring back Gisela. That's 44 damage. If kaalia's out and you have something like a Thundermaw Hellkite in your hand, there's very little they can do to stop it.I'm sure by now you've noticed the Worldfire and the Worldgorger Dragon, which brings us to our next installment. For the low low price of 10 mana, you can Sneak Attack your Dragon into play and the cast Worldfire, which is pretty much an atuowin for you anyway. But wait! There's more! It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to have a Bogardan Hellkite waiting on the table, either. I mean, hell, you can put it into play with another R at same time. That way you get to split 5 damage to all those players who are now at 1 life. It's pretty fun. There's a good chance Rune-Scarred Demon might also be in play as well, which means you can search him up can cast him with all your untapped lands. Ghostway is another means of getting around the side effects of crushing the world, but it's more costly. Reanimate those Primeval Titans whenever you can!
Worldgorger synergizes with Sneak Attack in another way as well. We all know the Animate Dead infinite combo, but it serves another purpose as well. You can use it to sneak a bunch of creatures in, animate the dragon, to effectively flicker them all, and then rez something else. That way, you don't have to sac them. Yes, I am aware that you have infinite mana and could cast them anyway, but this is more fun! Also, my group is largely against infinite win combos, hence why I have omitted Comet Storm.
What do you guys think?
Gasp! How could you hate Uncle Fester?
But yea, I don't really see Uncle Fester being much use in that deck. I say put the sudden spoilings in it's place. It turns their creature's off and there's nothing they can do about it.
4x Nantuko Husk
4x Festering Goblin
4x Skirk Ridge Exhumer
4x Nether Traitor
4x Doomed Necromancer
4x Infectious Host
2x Lum Dul the Necromancer
4x Grave Pact
Spells
4x Diabolic Tutor
4x Dash hopes
2x Terror
20x Swamp
This deck does very well from the games that I've played it, and it's even managed to beat down an old onslaught block elf deck. I like it because it's different then the BB decks, and I'd rather it not be a BB deck (not that they aren't good, I just want a different approach =P). The problem now is, when I originally made it the Infectious Host was T2 legal, and now I need something to replace it. Also, I'd like to keep it mono black.
Possible cards I'm thinking about are:
Darkness
Thrull Surgeon
Augur of Skulls
Call to the Netherworld
Though, I might replace Dash Hopes with Darkness anyway.
I am also unsure about what to include in my Sideboard.
Any comments and/or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
PS: I had originally posted this in the wrong forum, so I moved it here.
I like using the exhumer to A: Dump cards that aren't of any use at the moment, B: Drop a nether traitor, while getting another creature to sac, or C: Drop something like Lim Dul into the graveyard and bring him back with a Doomed necromancer. It fits rather well with this deck.
I might throw Call to the Nether in.