Deliver Unto Evil sprang to mind immediately.Quote from Gashnaw II »
Black also got The elderspell, which can allow nicol bolas, dragon-god to win games.
EDIT: Sol Ring is banned. I like this format.
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Deliver Unto Evil sprang to mind immediately.Quote from Gashnaw II »
Black also got The elderspell, which can allow nicol bolas, dragon-god to win games.
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Quote from 3drinks »Okay, I'm a little shaky on the archetype and commander, so let me see what we've got going on here.
My first thought is why is there a lack of madness cards? You're discarding anyway so adding some for that extra effect, like, say, Reckless Wurm or Fiery Temper. I also don't understand the lack of removal, like you're asking for a blowout. Specifically, Firestorm is on-function with your deck and is certainly better than Conflagrate in most situations.
I don't "get" Hellcarver Demon, and I haven't since ROE. I know what he does, and I can read it, I just can't decipher why you'd run this over almost anything else. Maybe I'm too dense. :/
I think your reanimation suite is a bit suspect. Animate Dead? Necromancy? Reanimate? I know you're discarding, but since you're reanimating so heavily, I'd imagine you'd make terrific use of a Buried Alive and Entomb. The five drop 3/3 that does one-third of a buried alive reads as it'd be especially on-point.
I think your threat suite, while I of all people appreciate nostalgia, it reads like a greatest hits of 2012. Thunderblust? Hateflayer? Surely you'd rather reanimate Pathrazer of Ulamog and It That Betrays no? Bane of Bala Ged surely. Wurmcoil Engine would be a beating and a half.
I think your manabase could use a lot of work, even not looking to a fetch-dual-shock manabase. But I'm confident you know this and I'll leave it at that.
Zombie Infestation and Putrid Imp are surely better discard outlets than most of what you have. I'm assuming you've already considered Anvil of Bogardan? Jalum Tome is a wonderful card I discovered in WB Kaalia when I determined I couldn't reasonable use Necropotence. It's pretty efficient, cheap to activate, and colourless. Similarly, Smuggler's Copter though I'd value Jalum Tome over the Looter Scooter for this particular deck.
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Quote from OathboundOne »The Blood half of Flesh//Blood
Delirium (a card I had no idea existed until just now, works like Backlash above)
...
Harsh Justice (is a weird take on a vaguely similar effect, makes all creatures that hit you also hit their controller, but you probably don't want to be taking many hits to the face in the first place, so eh)
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DirkGently and I on the same page. Hello Hell, have you froze over yet? haha.
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I updated to shout you out as well, and my thoughts on the stax route as it relates to Kaalia. Sorry I overlooked that.
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Welcome to the most definitive Kaalia of the Vast Primer ever written for one-on-one Commander games.
~~Analysis of the Commander~~
Kaalia of the Vast has three immediate points to note which defines how I built the deck:
Her Converted Mana Cost: At a cost of 1WBR that put's her at a medium level cost. This means she can be aggressive, but will play out better in a midrange shell with some pinpoint hand disruption to “go off” first and keep her protected.
Her Ability: This is the “meat and potatoes” of our deck, and the primary reason for choosing her. She allows us to function like an Elvish Piper, but only for Angels, Demons, and Dragons – so keep those Praetors, Titans, and Primordials at home.
Mardu “Dega” Wedge: We’re in White, Black, and Red, otherwise known as the “Dega” or Mardu Wedge. This means we have access to the best tutours, respectable draw, and some of the most premiere removal available, able to answer any and every type of permanent. However, we can't interact much with spells that are on the stack trying to resolve, and we don't get to play ramp spells. Artifact mana will be our "bread and butter" acceleration, and will be important for our other tactics (i.e. Armageddon effects), although there's some contention about the use of artifact mana competing with hand disruption at the same slot. Most would say the hand disruption is far more important than the acceleration, although this is not scientifically proven to be statistically superior. YMMV. However, as this primer is suited to 1v1 games, I will be speaking from the viewpoint of hand disruption > artifact mana.
Other Commanders: I remember a time when your only choices to play Mardu was Kaalia, a 7 drop, and a Dragon. I remember playing that Dragon in a rather confused identity crisis about what it actually wanted to do. Nowadays there are a lot more options so let's address some of these choices!
Zurgo Helmsmasher - he's big, he's fast, and he loves to...obliterate you. He's oftentimes a 1 card engine but...what does he really do? Zurgo is typically the poster child for good stuff decks that eschew central themes and instead string together strong card after strong card to overwhelm an opponent. There's nothing wrong with that...but it's not as "interesting" to play. Often you can fit the "partner" commanders (usually Vial Smasher the Fierce/Tymna the Weaver) into this category as well.
Alesha, Who Smiles at Death - My second queen, indeed another deck I have thoroughly explored. Even similar to Kaalia as it can a also make use of Master of Cruelties. But that's where the similarities end. While Alesha uses the graveyard to dig up value creatures for value-over-time, like Imperial Recruiter or Stoneforge Mystic. Alesha is like the poster girl for Reveillark decks. I love both her, and Kaalia, so while I can't really advise you to choose one over the other, your choice depends on if you want a grave deck with small dudes, or a combo deck with all the fiery dragons, angelic guardians, and demonic gatekeepers of Magic history. Alesha typically, while capable of powerful plays that can swing the tempo of a game back in your favor, isn't really known for the crazy big flashy plays the commander format as a whole is known for. Thus, you won't find a lot of interest in her on the internet, it seems. Speaking from experience again, she is powerful of course, just to the average player not conducive to the commander experience they are looking for.
Edgar Markov - One of the newest inclusions to our wedge, and far, far different from what we're doing here. (Source: I built this deck too). Edgar's game plan is to gum up the board as much as possible with every cheap vampire you can find because, well, spending 1 mana for two bodies is pretty good. And he doesn't even need to be cast to do this (but when he enters the board, things just got deep)! He's not really related to what we're doing here though, (please, no e-mails or replies about how Vampiric Dragon could just as easily fit either deck based on typeline) and as such, you need to decide if you want to swarm with this, or want to smash with a draconic roar, angelic fury, and demonic scream in the deck building process.
Other commanders - Licia, Sanguine Tribune, Mathas, Fiend Seeker; Oros, the Avenger; Tariel, Reckoner of Souls; these also exist but don't really have an easily identified niche to fall into. But in the interest of inclusion, I felt it worth at least mentioning.
Reasons you would enjoy piloting this deck:
Reasons you might not enjoy piloting this deck:
Who am I? I am 3drinks, THEmtg3drinks, that Mardu Guy, lover of all things draconic, and mana denial-y. "Answer me or lose" is my motto and my decks being smash-mouth and in-your-face is testament to that. Some of my favourite decks are XBR, and I pioneered [s]Zurgo Bellstriker[/s] Kari Zev, Skyship Raider AiR and Drana, Liberator of Malakir Sui Black decks to the Duel-Commander metagame. I wrote this original Primer [s]seven[/s] about nine years ago, and in that time, this has become one of my greater joys, I've even heard this Primer referred to as "the bible of Kaalia players", which is a distinction I take a great deal of pride in.
But that's me. I'm sure you want to know who is Kaalia anyway, and what exactly gives her this power. As it turns out, she's from Alara (the Bant shard specifically, ironically enough) where she was a powerful cleric. Her birth name was Lia, and her past is one tormented by the scars of devastation.
Born as Lia, she was the crippled daughter of a farmer in Bant after the Conflux. She was born near the ruined castle of Eos. Although bullied by her peers, she hid her emerging magical abilities, which for the time being were limited to the power to destroy pebbles. When the village was destroyed by servants of the Grixis Demon Nefarox (irony here, I once played Nefarox' card in the earlier iterations of this deck. Awkward...), Lia was saved by the Nacatl Nira. Recognizing her magical abilities, Nira needed her to destroy the "keystone" of the dragon skeleton that the servants of Nefarox were reanimating. To rouse her, she named the girl Kaa (Nacatl for "power") Lia.
Although Kaalia was successful in destroying the dragon skeleton, Nefarox rose and killed her family, all the villagers and Nira too. When she awoke, Kaalia felt empty. Like her insides had been ripped out, and there was just shadows left instead. Somehow she had survived, but her soul was fractured, and a growing hatred soon grew in the cracks. Now, driven by a righteous fury and an unholy thirst for revenge, Kaalia broods feverishly, amassing her vast power, waiting to unleash her apocalyptic might upon any who stand in her way. - https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Kaalia#History
I chose Kaalia because I love my demons and dragons, and I wanted something I could tune to be competitive (circumventing mana costs with big, powerful creatures is a pretty competitive strategy) but not something that would make other players feel hopeless because, let's be honest, the average Commander player is not playing an S-Tier "cEDH" deck and pubstomping precon/modified precon level decks with a scumbaggery Zur deck is only fun once (Source: I used to play a Zur deck, it truly is an awful, awful experience for everyone involved). Kaalia allows me to play hard, and be strong but without crushing the average player's spirit with a wall of countermagic and combos that can only be interacted with on the stack. But also, because I have a very large collection of Angels, Demons, and Dragons in my collection (aka my "Shrine to Mardu") and that just-so-happens to be what Kaalia enjoys the most. What a lucky coincidence...
1x Kaalia of the Vast
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Arid Mesa
1x Badlands
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Command Tower
1x Fetid Heath
1x Flooded Strand
1x Godless Shrine
1x Graven Cairns
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Mana Confluence
1x Marsh Flats
1x Mountain
1x Phyrexian Tower
1x Plains
1x Plateau
1x Polluted Delta
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Rugged Prairie
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Scrubland
1x Smoldering Marsh
1x Snow-Covered Mountain
1x Snow-Covered Plains
1x Snow-Covered Swamp
1x Strip Mine
1x Swamp
1x The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Wasteland
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Baneslayer Angel
1x Bloodgift Demon
1x Dark Confidant
1x Doom Whisperer
1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
1x Grand Abolisher
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Lord of the Void
1x Lyra Dawnbringer
1x Master of Cruelties
1x Rakdos the Defiler
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Sire Of Insanity
1x Steel Hellkite
1x Thunder Dragon
1x Thundermaw Hellkite
1x Armageddon
1x Cataclysm
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Duress
1x Grim Tutor
1x Hymn to Tourach
1x Inquisition of Kozilek
1x Mind Twist
1x Night's Whisper
1x Ravages of War
1x Thoughtseize
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Vindicate
1x Wildfire
1x Dragon Tempest
1x Earnest Fellowship
1x Moat
1x Necropotence
1x Stranglehold
1x Chaos Warp
1x Demonic Consultation
1x Dismember
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Fire Covenant
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Orim's Chant
1x Pyroblast
1x Rakdos Charm
1x Red Elemental Blast
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Tainted Pact
1x Unexpectedly Absent
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Boros Signet
1x Defense Grid
1x Isochron Scepter
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Mana Crypt
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Sol Ring
1x Talisman of Indulgence
1x Ajani Vengeant
1x Liliana of the Veil
Deck stats: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/kaalia-of-the-vast-2019/
Now, as would normally be expected of a list one has worked on for nine years, I have run a lot of different cards, in and out, always trying new things, and have settled on the current list that I have. I do feel a lot of the cards I am running, like Vindicate or Moat are fairly self-explanatory in their reasoning for inclusion, however, I would like to touch on some cards that I haven’t seen in other Kaalia of the Vast lists, or that other people may not agree upon. So without further ado, some of those cards which I feel may merit more discussion include;
Rakdos the Defiler- Ahh yes, the OG BFF to our Queen. Normally Rakdos looks like a very “high-risk, high-reward” card, and in most scenarios you would be correct. However as our Queen brings him in after the declare attackers step, we get to skip this “Flameblast Syndrome” effect (this term will be explained later in the Primer) and then they still need to sacrifice half their board when he connects. So they lose half their board, and take at least seven to nine damage. This, of course, most likely results in a win for us and a loss for them. Think of it like a one-shot “Annihilate X, where X is half the non-demon permanents that opponent controls...rounded up”.
Master of Cruelties- At first glance this looks like he's merely okay-ish, a five mana 1/4 with first strike and deathtouch seems decent. But he doesn't even fly! Oh wait, he can only attack alone! Why 3drinks, just why would you ever consider this guy in an aggressive deck? Well it goes like this; Kaalia has the ability to cheat this guy in with her ability and if he isn't blocked, he will set their life total to one on the declare blockers step...which means when combat damage happens, Kaalia's two damage will be enough to finish off said player. So with Master, we have an honest to god one-shot kill "combo". And since Kaalia can come down on t3 with haste with some regularity...yeah, you do the math. This guy is probably not quite so hot in multiplayer though, so I would cut him for Avacyn, Angel of Hope in such a scenario; she's a bit too defensive, but in an a-typical multiplayer game, the mass indestructibility will probably come in handy. Or, at least prove much more useful than Master would be in such an environment.
Baneslayer Angel/Thundermaw Hellkite/Doom Whisperer- The aforementioned "five drop cycle" (a mythic five drop of each creature type and colour showing what the deck does). The benefits of these are twofold. Their primary purpose is, at five cmc, they are very castable on their own which is useful if, for whatever reason despite our best efforts, Kaalia isn’t able to get going. However that’s not all as they each have secondary uses. Since this deck will eat up a large chunk of its life total, Baneslayer’s lifelink will help to not outright kill us from doing what we need to do. Bloodgift is a Phyrexian Arena with a relevant typeline (and probably one of our best Kaalia target at this CMC range), while Thundermaw’s purpose is to clear the skies to and allow us to alpha strike unopposed. You can make similar arguments for the other 4-5 drop range of creatures a la; Stormbreath Dragon, Lyra Dawnbringer, Doom Whisperer, Butcher of the Horde and etc. These are important because if you play a deck where your curve starts at seven, you're overly reliant on Kaalia which breeds inefficiency and bad times when people do answer your commander.
Steel Hellkite- What’s not to love about this guy? He doesn’t need a specific colour of mana to play, nor does his Firebreathing care what colour is pumped into it. But his real strength is being a one-sided Engineered Explosives on damage dealt. Yes, you read that right. That’s strong – very strong. This is one of the guys I would consider a “Core” piece, right next to Rakdos the Defiler and Master of Cruelties. As a bonus, he’s even searchable via Enlightened Tutor.
Lord of the Void- Like to steal other's threats? Want to eat into someone's deck? Exile certain key cards maybe sometimes? This guy has literally no downside, and all upside, I can't believe he's a demon tbh. But he is. And Kaalia hasn't ever been happier. This is like the gold standard "good stuff" creature for us.
Thunder Dragon- I have a sweet, sweet Starter 99 copy of this guy with BB perfect fit sleeves to hide the one eye sore to an otherwise great art, but his effect is also pretty good anyway. Fry some tree hugging elves, get some face damage in the skies. You could run Hellkite Tyrant instead, either or would be a meta choice. I find where Hellkite Tyrant would be good, typically those artifact decks have ways to make sure he doesn't connect.
Cataclysm & Fire Covenant - These are my go-to sweepers. For three mana and INSTANT speed, I can conjure up a sweeper killing only what I need and nothing that I don't, making it the ultimate scalpel of efficient killing. For one more mana though, I get the sheer destructive power of one of the best sweepers in the format, capable of leveling entire battlefields - except for ours, of course, since keeping Kaalia is often more than enough to break the alleged symmetry of the card. Sometimes you need a little more than Fire Covenant but not as much oomph as Cataclysm, and that's why I also play Toxic Deluge. As an added benefit,
67% of our sweepers get underneath Gaddock Teeg. I don't get what the big deal is about Teeg, he never seems to inhibit my own deck...
Rune-Scarred Demon- It’s a body that gives us an extra Demonic Tutor. While I wouldn’t quite classify him as a “Core” piece, he’s still really, really good, and the closest single card to “Core” without actually being “Core”. And I don’t know about you, but I love to have an extra universal tutor that puts the card directly into my hand, while also not revealing the card.
Defense Grid- As I mentioned previously, Kaalia’s arch-nemesis is U. This keeps them off your back for a bit as they don’t really want to spend 4U on that Mana Leak. It also helps this is tutourable on turn one via your Enlightened Tutor. Grand Abolisher has joined the Grid in keeping people's spells to themselves as well, at least during my turn. Sometimes you just want people to leave your turn alone, and this is a great tool for the job. Although honestly, the more I start to play Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast in everything, the less happy I am about seeing The Grid. It's still probably correct to play, but I wonder if we can get by with just the Abolisher and Conqueror's Flail. I should test that some time...
Dark Confidant- YOU’RE PLAYING WHAT?! Why would anyone play this card in a Kaalia deck?! While on the surface Confidant looks rather painful, in actuality it’s as the old saying goes; The better your deck, the better Confidant becomes.” Indeed this is why we don’t play thirty some-odd Angels, Demons, & Dragons. Because of the speed at which he comes down, we are drawing an extra card as early as turn three. If Confidant is removed before then (and by all rights, we should never be allowed to untap with him) then great, that’s one less removal that can be aimed at Kaalia. If Confidant isn’t removed, then we just win by virtue of seeing way more cards at a faster rate than our opponent will. He’s also a Human which means we can play him off our Cavern of Souls for added benefit. The other reasoning to playing this card is sort of sneakier, however. It’s well known that a lot of players will misevaluate this card’s power level. Indeed, they will see this and expect us to flip Ionas and Rune-Scarreds all day long, but they’re only fooling themselves. That’s fine – I will gladly accept a win because of my opponent’s misguided threat assessment.
Sire of Insanity- This guy is like a Mind Twist who bashes for six on his own; and also a respectable early-game Kaalia target. While it looks very symmetrical, take a look at his rules text again "At the beginning of each end step, each player discards his or her hand.". This actually works exceedingly well in our favour. Who cares if we don't have a hand when no one else does and we have eight plus power on the board (and a commander who is quite capable of applying more power quickly and easily). Additionally, cheat this out on t3 on the play, for example. Now, your opponent needs to top deck each removal spell, land drop, threat, and ramp spell, each turn. But they only draw one card a turn at this point. the other important bit about this guy, and this is my personal favourite reason; nobody can sandbag answers anymore. Everyone draws, plays everything they can, and then discards the rest. Pretty sweet, if you ask me. Yes, he's that good, and you can't justify any reason why you shouldn't be playing him. Nope.
Teferi's Protection- It's the ultimate in protection, covering you, your board, uhh...everything, really. Can combo with Ravages of War for the low, low cost of 5WW. I mean, okay, I wouldn't play it just to phase out my lands in response to a 'Geddon. But like...it could happen. And it's a good protective spell in and of itself.
Earnest Fellowship- The key Enchantment. It’s like, a Mother of Runes that doesn’t need to target and is protecting multiple creatures at the same time. Indeed having a Kaalia with protection from 60% of the color pie is scary. But it’s not without its own quirks. In order to minimize the symmetrical nature of this card, you need to switch out all of your multicolored removal because such spells have twice as much of a chance to get blocked by this Enchantment. For this list, the only multicolored creature removal is the sorcery-speed Vindicate, because hitting any kind of card is pretty good. Note that I removed Mother of Runes from this deck for Fellowship as one blocks the other, and typically Fellowship is more survivable. In my experiences, of course.
Necropotence- Ah. The iconic bread-and-butter B card. I don’t feel this needs justification, but I will add a disclaimer. If you don’t have the best of the best mana, then do yourself a favor and don’t stress your manabase for this; Stick with Phyrexian Arena instead. Additionally, if you prefer to move through your deck with loot effects, then I really don't think you want Necro - honestly, a Jalum Tome would serve you just as well (as I discovered in the white border version).
Moat- A very, very pricey card that is very, very hard to acquire. But if you can, you will see how this absolutely shuts down a myriad of decks. If you don’t have one of these and/or can’t afford to spring for this, then consider Sneak Attack in its place (I have a love-hate relationship with it here because I find my threat density is a bit low [~13%] for SA to be at peak efficiency). Stranglehold is another reasonable option that I feel is criminally underplayed, even by myself.
Balefire Dragon- Wraths are good. Dragons are good. Wraths on Dragon bodies are even better, right? Right. You're playing this. No, no arguments. It's here.
Cavern of Souls- Since we want to make sure our Kaalia resolves, every game, this Land is of the utmost importance. In 98% of games, you will name Human (which also helps to make our Confidant and Abolisher uncounterable too), but occasionally you might have the game where you draw this late and you use it to force through some big scary Dragon. This Land is absolutely what I would consider a “Core” piece.
Hall of the Bandit Lord- This our second most-important Land, right behind Cavern of Souls. This makes sure, when we play Kaalia (or any other threat), that threat will get to attack. Summoning Sickness is Kaalia’s second Achilles Heel (the first being XU), so having access to Haste, on a Land, is well worth the three life it costs us to use. Just like Cavern, this Land is also what I would consider a “Core” piece.
I’m not going to touch on every piece of removal, as I feel they are self-explanatory. But I will touch on some whose value is not immediately visible.
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale- Turns out when you have a commander that puts large creatures on the board, you don't need a large board presence to be a threat. This means we can use Tabernacle to keep pesky heavy creature decks moving at the speed of slow while we're barely inhibited by an upkeep of 1 - 2. This card does require a mild degree of deckbuilding alteration though, such as fewer dorks on board such as Grand Abolisher or Mother of Runes, you can replace them with say...Glory or Defense Grid. See how that works? Or, assuming you're like most [sane] players that can't/refuse to afford the $1.6k Tabernacle, you can just as easily invert these changes to the pre-Tabernacle state.
[s]Council’s Judgment- This card. Like holy crap, what was R&D smoking to print this?! You pay three mana and get to exile something an opponent controls, and it bypasses Shroud and Hexproof because it doesn’t target. You will either name one thing, and your opponent will name the same thing, or your opponent will name something else and thus loose two cards. Is 1WW worth “Exile target nonland permanent.” Or “Exile two target nonland permanents.”? I'd only play this in single player though as you can't fully control will of the council in multiplayer.[/s]
Red Elemental Blast/Pyroblast - Gone is the long-standing Council's Judgment as I make the deck more adaptable. Rather than spend three on my turn, I've moved to these two Blasts to protect my board rather than remove one card on board. There's nothing wrong with council's, and it could be more correct over vindicate (though giving up the ability to hit lands is a tough sell, for me anyway). Anyway, times change, deck's change, but our ideals never change. And that ideal, like any other Kaalia deck ever, is "ruin the U player's day before the U player ruins yours." Have you ever tried these two in games? You'd be shocked at how often they're live and just how many "oops" moments you can stop with these cards. And the stories they create, the table will have quite the shock when the counterspell comes from the Kaalia deck.
Unexpectedly Absent- It’s like, someone made an Oblation that doesn’t give the recipient of it a Divination. You can spend WW in response to a fetchland or any sort of shuffle effect to get rid of any nonland permanent. Or you can just buy time by shipping a problematic nonland permanent some number of cards from the top. Alternatively, you can even use it defensively by returning a card of yours you want to keep (such as protecting Kaalia herself from impending doom) to the top of your library, ready to draw again next turn.
Liliana of the Veil- This performs a number of roles for me here. The first, is it allows me to grind out your hand, and the second is an edict effect every other turn. All in the package of a three mana planeswalker. Sometimes, she just goes on to win the game on her own. Her best friend is Ajani Vengeant, and together, they like to take over a game. I only play planeswalkers in single player as they need to be protected, that's hard to do in multiplayer, and even harder to do in a deck like Kaalia that doesn't protect herself well anyway. Admittedly, I'd like to add a third planeswalker to the deck; Nahiri, the Harbinger (even if she doesn't play so nicely with my Earnest Fellowship).
Wildfire- So we get to sweep mana sources and creatures smaller than Kaalia's threats? Because that's fair...and oh, hey, Kaalia is even protected from it by our own Earnest Fellowship. Low-key this is my favorite sweeper ever and I'll always try to find some justification to play it anyway but...it's just extra good here.
Rakdos Charm- The ultimate in silver bullet cards. It’s common use is as a Shatter, however I picked it up as I felt I wanted another piece of graveyard hate. But it even has a third (sometimes relevant) function where it can stop the Kiki-Mite or other similar setups involving the creation of an arbitrarily large number of creatures. But here’s the best part about it, you don’t even need an arbitrarily large number of creatures to make it work either – what if an opponent just resolved an Avenger of Zendikar, or an Ezuri, Renegade Leader just vomited it’s hand on the table? You can even use it as burn for the last few points of life. Rakdos Charm is a true hidden gem in every sense of the word.
Tainted Pact/Demonic Consultation - Yeah, you could exile the named card in the top six and punt the game. That is a legitimate concern. But you know what these really are? Cheap, one and two mana instant speed universal tutours that we can use in response to Kaalia's trigger. With the Pact though you do have to build your deck in a certain way to be able to use it (seven basics max; three basic, three snow basic, one wastes) but doing so enables you to find the exact card you need at the exact time you need it. That's fantastic.
Orim's Chant - I wouldn't have added this on it's own merits, but since I looked at our answer suite I saw our cmc range was quite low. Low enough to include the stick. With "the stick" in place, adding chant was a no-brainer to me.
“Flameblast Syndrome” is a term I coined in the creation of this list after the notable Flameblast Dragon. It refers to creatures that have abilities in the format of “Whenever ~ attacks, do [insert really cool action here]”. These creatures should be relegated to low-level picks if at all for Kaalia decks as their ability won’t trigger when our commander puts them onto the board that turn. So they don’t add anything except their combat damage to our gameplan unless we get to untap with them. However, if their effect is powerful enough, they may be worth considering…but that power level must be extremely high. Currently there is only one creature with such a distinction in this list, and it is the only creature we have that has a beneficial form of “Flameblast Syndrome”. He is Rakdos the Defiler, one of the signature combos of the deck.
Kaalia is a combo deck disguised as an aggro deck, which is a common misconception about the deck that many people make. Our goal is to create a gamestate where we can attack safely and unopposed, repeatedly, with our 2/2 flyer. If we can do that, we will win (or rather, we're one tutour away from a win). As such, anything that doesn't help us to create such a gamestate is unnecessary to our gameplan. Often once we get to four mana, we don't need lands because...well, this is a commander who does her best impersonation of an Elvish Piper, this puts the deck in the best position to benefit from Armageddon effects, and other similar Mass Land Destruction effects. This will not net you many friends, but you weren’t gonna get any friends from bringing Kaalia anyway most likely, so you might as well rub some salt in their wounds while you’re at it. Kaalia in her nature, is not a reactive general, but a proactive one (what draws me to this). If you’re playing this deck, you are the aggressor, not your opponent. You need to get yourself in the driver’s seat and maintain the pace of the game. Don’t let an opponent dictate your pace, you dictate the pace your opponent can respond at!
For years and years the single biggest request I've received from posters coming into this primer, is a dedicated multiplayer list. And in those years, I never had a true answer. Well, towards the end of 2018, I started experimenting with a few dedicated archetypes - specifically you may remember the brief discussions user Shiroe the Enchanter and I had here about Dragonstorm and it's validity. You might also remember my epiphany I had over Liliana's Contract too. In the months that followed, I learned valuable things.
So here's what we can do;
- Liliana's Contract is straight forward. You get demons on the board, four of them to be precise, and you keep them there. This is helped by Boros Charm and Teferi's Protection, and - in the event of someone wisely sweeping the board, Patriarch's Bidding (demon, of course) to rebuild effortlessly. There's also Obzedat's Aid to bring back the enchantment should someone try to get smart and take that away from you, and hey you'd even get another draw4 off that.
- Worldgorger Dragon combo is a bit trickier, but this can savagely be done on someone else's end step which is much more rewarding to execute. I won't go into details of how "the loop" works, because if you're reading this far, you're probably familiar with WGD combo anyway (if not, hit me up in this thread and I can elaborate for you). So, once you've established the loop and have an "arbitrarily large amount of mana", I've chosen two options to kill. Either Aurelia's Fury to do it all from the stack and kill everyone else with a single spell, and Shivan Hellkite which makes for both a great end to your WGD chain (and as I recall, was the original combo) but on it's own it's not so bad as it makes for a reaonable mana sink creature that often goes overlooked in the a-typical game of commander. Oh and he's compatible with our commander too. What a delightful coincidence. Both versions of this combo are three card (dragon, reanimation aura, mana sink effect) I win the game combos and can all go off instant speed (if you used Necromancy in place of Animate Dead on WGD).
1x Kaalia of the Vast
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Arid Mesa
1x Badlands
1x Battlefield Forge
1x Blackcleave Cliffs
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Canyon Slough
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Caves of Koilos
1x City of Brass
1x Command Tower
1x Concealed Courtyard
1x Fetid Heath
1x Flooded Strand
1x Godless Shrine
1x Graven Cairns
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x Inspiring Vantage
1x Mana Confluence
1x Marsh Flats
1x Mountain
1x Plains
1x Plateau
1x Polluted Delta
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Rugged Prairie
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Scrubland
1x Smoldering Marsh
1x Snow-Covered Mountain
1x Snow-Covered Plains
1x Snow-Covered Swamp
1x Swamp
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Academy Rector
1x Archfiend of Despair
1x Bloodgift Demon
1x Butcher of the Horde
1x Dark Confidant
1x Defiler of Souls
1x Demonlord Belzenlok
1x Doom Whisperer
1x Kothophed, Soul Hoarder
1x Lord of the Void
1x Master of Cruelties
1x Rakdos the Defiler
1x Rakdos, the Showstopper
1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
1x Reaper from the Abyss
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Shadowborn Demon
1x Shivan Hellkite
1x Sire Of Insanity
1x Sower of Discord
1x Worldgorger Dragon
1x Abrade
1x Aurelia's Fury
1x Boros Charm
1x Dismember
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Entomb
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Pyroblast
1x Red Elemental Blast
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Teferi's Protection
1x Tithe
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Liliana's Contract
1x Moat
1x Necromancy
1x Armageddon
1x Cataclysm
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Grim Tutor
1x Idyllic Tutor
1x Living Death
1x Night's Whisper
1x Obzedat's Aid
1x Patriarch's Bidding
1x Ravages of War
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Vindicate
1x Boros Signet
1x Chrome Mox
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mox Diamond
1x Orzhov Signet
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Sol Ring
1x Talisman of Indulgence
Deck stats: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/3drinks-approved-multiplayer-option/
Now, WGD isn't for everyone, and the combo certainly has it's risks (you know, the whole blown out of the game by a well timed removal spell...). While I opted for it as a backup "shortest distance between two points is a straight line", or for those looking to a different approach, you should take a read through benjameenbear's Kaalia list. Differences include a more STAXy approach to my own which, differences aside, I'm not fully with that strat as I don't think Kaalia compliments the idea to the best as opposed to, say, Helmsmasher (indestructible, hasty, three turn clock) or Markov (Smokestack fodder for days and days) but nevertheless I don't disregard it as an alternative entry for the commander itself. I leave that opinion to you to decide if it's worth going the stax route as Kaalia, or if it's more beneficial to you to dedicate slots to player elimination instead, or which ever mixture of the two leads you to the most efficient player elimination. You can check out that primer here: https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/779071-kaalia-destroyer-of-hope-stax-reanimator-decklists.
Also to be known as "The Baseline Kaalia", this is a non-changing list of cards for the starter player to begin their journey with and determine if this deck is for them or not (white border are compartively cheaper than their black border cousins) but the main point is that once you have this, you're done. And if you even like the cards, you can buy a pack of black border perfect fits from a retailer like SCGames to hide the atrocious white borders and mix them well with the rest of your collection. This list replaces the former "baseline" deck that was just commons and uncommons as it 1) could still be edited even today, and was ~$460 for a visibly lower power level deck. The white border deck, sans grim tutor, could be had for just over $200, but most of that is in your "evergreen" cards - the tutours and basic essentials you would play in other decks even if you decided Kaalia wasn't for you.
FWIW, this is not the first white border challenge I've completed, so full disclaimer, I have some experience with what I'm looking for. See here: (3drinks co-builds White Border Chromium!). Now, of course Kaalia herself isn't white border. So we're either making an exception since she isn't in the 99 card stack anyway, or commissioning an alter. Take your pick.
So, if you know me, you know white border cards trigger me to no end. So WHY would I ever subject myself to this? The answer, is challenge. Back in the day when corre sets had white borders, creatures sucked and instants ruled the world. We're not really reinventing the wheel here, but this is a different style of Kaalia with the basic threats from 3ED - 9ED and a stronger noncreature mix. Note when I say "basic" in regards to our creature suite, that doesn't mean "bad" (although, yes, some of these cards are far below par especially by today's standards) but rather it means they are more straight forward in their application. There is less reliance on etb effects (lawd, if only Torpor Orb was a WB print...but I digress) and more emphasis on the punch and the ability to maintain your CA while your mediocre beatsticks do their job. Plus, you can put people on tilt as they watch themselves get their butts kicked by a stack of what they believe to be "white border trash". You'll smile as they remark "whoa, that was printed in corre?!" and they'll look on in fear as they realize the consistency you have since all your tutours are still available (less tainted pact/consultation and gamble, which is perfectly serviceable). People got a faster start than you? Never fear, you still have six sweepers main deck including three ways to wipe lands (with mana rock support, of course).
In the end, this challenging project has taught me that this could serve as a stronger "baseline" deck as it will never change (white border production has been discontinued) while offering a showcase of the general effects you want in the deck should you want to improve it. Or, at the very least, this stands as the go to list should you just want to "troll" your opponents with a white border stack.
One last note; this deck features only English printed cards (no Spanish Mana Crypt guys, sorry) and no to the "Salvat" deck series, to maintain the integrity of the concept. I also opted not to include P3K cards since their reprints are black border (see Ravages of War), and their otherwise not reprinted cards (such as False Defeat and Zodiac Dragon are prohibitively expensive for what you'd otherwise get. The idea of WB commander is both a challenge with the more straightforward corre set cards, and an exercise in usability based on budget, and P3K fails on all of these prerequisites.
One last thing, do yourself a favour and make sure you get the sweet 7ED art for Fallen Angel. It's easily superior to all the rest of her arts.
1x Anarchist
1x Angel of Light
1x Archangel
1x Blinding Angel
1x Crimson Hellkite
1x Demonic Hordes
1x Dragon Whelp
1x Elder Land Wurm
1x Fallen Angel
1x Lord of the Pit
1x Pearl Dragon
1x Seraph
1x Serra Angel
1x Shivan Dragon
1x Thunder Dragon
1x Two-Headed Dragon
1x Volcanic Dragon
Sorcery (19)
1x Ancient Craving
1x Armageddon
1x Ashen Powder
1x Ashes to Ashes
1x Breath of Life
1x Catastrophe
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Disintegrate
1x Dregs of Sorrow
1x Dust to Dust
1x Earthquake
1x Grim Tutor
1x Living Death
1x Reanimate
1x Resurrection
1x Rolling Thunder
1x Wildfire
1x Wrath of God
1x Zombify
Artifact (9)
1x Charcoal Diamond
1x Defense Grid
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Fire Diamond
1x Loxodon Warhammer
1x Mana Vault
1x Marble Diamond
1x Nevinyrral's Disk
1x Sol Ring
Instant (11)
1x Diabolic Edict
1x Disenchant
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Eye for an Eye
1x Fork
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Red Elemental Blast
1x Reprisal
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Terror
1x Vampiric Tutor
Commander (1)
1x Kaalia of the Vast
Land (38)
1x Badlands
1x Battlefield Forge
1x Caves of Koilos
1x City of Brass
1x Drifting Meadow
1x Mishra's Factory
6x Mountain
9x Plains
1x Plateau
1x Polluted Mire
1x Scrubland
1x Smoldering Crater
1x Strip Mine
1x Sulfurous Springs
10x Swamp
1x Urborg Volcano
1x Animate Dead
1x Fervor
1x Land Tax
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Sacred Mesa
1x Ankh of Mishra
1x Blood Moon
1x Breeding Pit
1x Cursed Rack
1x Death Pits of Rath
1x Divine Offering
1x Duress
1x Exhume
1x Goblin Vandal
1x Hymn to Tourach
1x Hypnotic Specter
1x Inferno
1x Ivory Tower
1x Jalum Tome
1x Jester's Cap
1x Kismet
1x Library of Leng
1x Mana Vault
1x Manabarbs
1x Mind Twist
1x Necropotence
1x Paralyze
1x Pestilence
1x Pillage
1x Prismatic Ward
1x Purify
1x Royal Assassin
1x Serpent Generator
1x Sinkhole
1x Skull of Orm
1x Sonic Burst
1x Static Orb
1x Story Circle
1x Stupor
1x The Hive
1x Tormod's Crypt
1x Urza's Armor
1x Winter Orb
1x Yawgmoth Demon
Sideboard is your "overage pool" of cards to swap out be it 1v1 or multiplayer or any other archetype you want to try. One thing of note, is that you don't have a lot of options for enchantment removal specifically. You have disenchant, and purify, and plenty of artifact removal...but not really enchantment. So you're going to need to make sure what you're really hitting is truly a troublesome target for you. Make your answers count.
Second note: You do not have the mana base to support Necropotence in any degree of consistency. You might think you do. It's a trap. You don't. Save yourself the $6 and use Jalum Tome instead.
And again, happy reading, and may your games always be decisive!
1
Because some people wouldn't be satisfied until a card gave them a free draw7, and a happy ending.
1
The worst is when you hype yourself up for it, buy the cards, put it together and then say "well crap why the hell did I buy this crap?"
4
I want to talk about a little project of mine I’ve been working on for around the two years mark. As some of you may know, or many of you could guess, I’m fairly anti-blue and pro-red. But I play one-on-one almost exclusively compared to multiplayer. What does this mean for in a Commander sense? Well we all know how overbearing Blue as a colour can be in the format, what with Mana Drains, Time Spirals, Curse of the Swines, and commanders like Azami, lady of Scrolls or Teferi, Mage of Zhalfirs. But! In my continuing venture to force people to take notice of Red as a colour, I’ve been working with a friend of mine to show people that just because Red is all about burn and small quick dudes, doesn’t mean it isn’t very good for the format on it’s own.
“But 3drinks”, you’re probably thinking, “We’ve seen Krenko, Mob Boss and the new Red God as commanders. You’re not talking about anything that hasn’t ever been done!” And that’s fair, except that I’m not building a swarm deck like these two – I’m building “AiR” or All-in-Red for a forty life format. Sounds daunting? Sure. But I’m up to the task.
Now, the first thing you have to realize, when making a deck such as this work, is to throw out any such notion about mana denial being “uncool”. Second thing is you need to understand the philosophies of the colour, where it shines the most and where it will begin to lose steam – for Red, this is the early game up through the mid game. So you need to keep the game here – don’t let an opponent try to ramp to nine mana to Tooth and Nail their way to victory. This goes back to my first point about mana denial – don’t be shy to slam down a Stone Rain on that Tropical Island – because you know that Primordial or Deadeye Navigator is going to wreck the crap out of you, your deck, and your gameplan. Aside from the denial suite of cards, how do we setup such a strategy in this format though? Simple. Make every mana you spend count – maximize your damage output per mana spent ratio, just like you would in a sixty-card constructed format such as Standard or Modern. My deck for example, curves out at four and this is a hard-and-fast rule. I can't afford for anything over five mana to get stuck in my hand until the midgame when I might get a chance to play it. So what commander can possibly lead the way for such a daring archetype? Well let me tell you, I’ve tried the gauntlet of them. Let’s take a look at some of the potential candidates, shall we?
This guy seems the obvious choice, right? Five mana for a 4/3 body that can deal twenty damage in one activation! While these are good reasons, the fact remains that playing a five mana commander in a colour that doesn’t get ramp outside of mana rocks will lead to trouble in the grand scheme of things. While five mana for twenty damage is an incredible rate, the path to get there is rather lackluster. While playing your Mind Stones and Thran Dynamos to build up to the chance to cast this guy, that’s mana spent that doesn’t directly kill our opponent - in this example that’s six mana spent that just gave us some extra mana until someone plays a Shatterstorm. Add to this that the Ogre himself isn’t going to get activated until turn six at the minimum, or turn five with a haste outlet, and suddenly it becomes all too apparent that this isn’t what the AiR archetype wants to see after all. Perhaps however, that this Ogre would be more at home if this deck was designed for multiplayer, but I can’t really comment on that as I A) don’t do multiplayer much, and B) multiplayer is not what this article is about. So moving along, let’s take a look into the next legendary red creature that claimed to be commander we wanted.
Are we seeing another problem here? Five mana, much the same as the Ogre. But this one has a pretty cool benefit – he gives all of our guys haste, and slows the opponent’s guys down at the same time! And we can even curve our commander into an Inferno Titan, that’s surely too strong of an interaction to pass up, right? While that’s true, we’re still not accounting for what our colour is the strongest at. We’re still trying to play this deck as a big mana deck, throwing five drops and six drops and seven drops (oh my!) at our opponent. The only problem is, that any other colour can just do this better than us. So as much as it pained me to admit, I retired this deck in this form.
That is, until the printing of Chandra, Pyromaster in M14! She, alongside Koth of the Hammer, gave me everything I wanted for a Red deck – burn plus evasion, an extra “draw”, even if I did have to use it that turn and an ultimate that I really don’t care about, but could be cool if I hit it. So I went back to scour the list of commanders available to me, and then I saw him.
This little Goblin. Three mana for a 2/2 with an Ankh of Mishra attached. Think about it, we don’t need to hit a ton of land drops to be good – we can get by with Stromkirk Nobles and Chandra’s Phoenixes, with “big” curve toppers such as Hellrider and Hero of Oxid Ridge. While these little guys may seem fairly innocuous, combine their raw damage output with the incidental damage our three mana commander can provide us, and then know that we’re in the colour that provides the damage the fastest be it from a Black Vise or Lightning Bolt, and all of a sudden, hey, we can prey on these decks that try to “go deep” and knock them out before they could even utter the phrase “I cast Time Stretch, targeting myself”. Thanks to Zo-Zu and us getting “Chandra the Playable”, this whole deck has begun to fit together like a glove – I feel like my two years of theorycrafting, building, testing, and rebuilding has finally come to an Apex – and I want to share such a list with everyone here that has ever been interested in making this style of Red deck work!
Just when you thought this deck couldn't get any better, they go and make this guy;
This guy brings Zo-Zu to a whole new level of efficiency, capable of getting four damage in before Zo-Zu would even come down! He also doesn't require as many one drops, because 90% of the time he IS the one-drop (only better choice for a t1 play are, debatably, Goblin Guide, and that isn't even true all the time. However Guide is still a two power hasty one drop, don't kid yourself it's ridiculously good - and it doesn't always give them a "free" land...sometimes it just shows us an upcoming Supreme Verdict or Anticipate).
Kairi Sane, Pirate Princess inspired alter
Sometimes good things come to an end, and that is the case in Zurgo Bellstriker, RIP, gone too soon but never forgotten. But red decks never die, they just adapt to time. With Zurgo's banning, here comes a new challenger, Kari Zev brings her legendary monkey friend with her on this ride back to traditional RDW building philosophies - i.e. one drops that aren't the commander! Just a note though;
Two drops are gonna be super awkward if they compete with Kari Zev, so I adapted to fit more ones and the lightning serpent is the flex spot that can fill anywhere on your curve. You can still play two drops, but note the floor is gonna be incredibly high to justify going off curve for them.
1x Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
lands (37)
1x Arid Mesa
1x Barbarian Ring
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Contested War Zone
1x Mishra's Factory
23x Mountain
1x Mutavault
1x Ramunap Ruins
1x Rishadan Port
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Teetering Peaks
1x Wasteland
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Mox Amber
one drop (24)
1x Bloodlust Inciter
1x Bonesplitter
1x Burst Lightning
1x Cartouche of Zeal
1x Chain Lightning
1x Collateral Damage
1x Dynacharge
1x Falkenrath Gorger
1x Firedrinker Satyr
1x Goblin Bushwhacker
1x Goblin Guide
1x Goblin Motivator
1x Grim Lavamancer
1x Jackal Pup
1x Lava Spike
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Monastery Swiftspear
1x Reckless Abandon
1x Rift Bolt
1x Shard Volley
1x Spark Elemental
1x Thunderous Wrath
1x Vexing Devil
1x Zurgo Bellstriker
1x Abbot of Keral Keep
1x Abrade
1x Earthshaker Khenra
1x Final Fortune
1x Firebrand Archer
1x Flame Rift
1x Goblin Cratermaker
1x Hellspark Elemental
1x Keldon Marauders
1x Loyal Apprentice
1x Phyrexian Revoker
1x Reckless Bushwhacker
1x Searing Blaze
1x Smash to Smithereens
1x Smuggler's Copter
1x Sonic Burst
1x Throne of the God-Pharaoh
1x Viashino Pyromancer
three drop (16)
1x Ahn-Crop Crasher
1x Ball Lightning
1x Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
1x Char
1x Dinosaur Stampede
1x Exquisite Firecraft
1x Flame Javelin
1x Goblin Chainwhirler
1x Goblin Rabblemaster
1x Hell's Thunder
1x Insult // Injury
1x Legion Warboss
1x Magus of the Moon
1x Risk Factor
1x Tangle Wire
1x Trumpet Blast
1x Fiery Confluence
1x Hellrider
1x Koth of the Hammer
1x Territorial Hellkite
Actual ave CMC: 1.24 (+0.02)
Deck Stats: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/kari-zev-sligh/
11/27/2018
-1 Reckless Charge, Incendiary Flow, Rampaging Ferocidon, Goblin Heelcutter
+1 Firebrand Archer, Searing Blaze, Goblin Chainwhirler, Territorial Hellkite
Cards to watch: Landslide, Lathnu Hellion
Actual ave CMC: 1.22
Deck Stats: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/kari-zev-sligh/
10/10/2018
-1 Browbeat, Incinerate, Reckless Rage
+1 Goblin Cratermaker, Legion Warboss, Risk Factor
Cards to watch: Incinerate, Landslide, Lathnu Hellion, Reckless Rage
1x Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
lands (36)
1x Arid Mesa
1x Barbarian Ring
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Contested War Zone
1x Mishra's Factory
23x Mountain
1x Mutavault
1x Ramunap Ruins
1x Rishadan Port
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Teetering Peaks
1x Wasteland
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Mox Amber
one drop (26)
1x Bloodlust Inciter
1x Bonesplitter
1x Burst Lightning
1x Cartouche of Zeal
1x Chain Lightning
1x Collateral Damage
1x Falkenrath Gorger
1x Firedrinker Satyr
1x Goblin Bushwhacker
1x Goblin Guide
1x Goblin Motivator
1x Grim Lavamancer
1x Jackal Pup
1x Lava Spike
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Monastery Swiftspear
1x Reckless Abandon
1x Reckless Charge
1x Reckless Rage
1x Rift Bolt
1x Shard Volley
1x Spark Elemental
1x Thunderous Wrath
1x Vexing Devil
1x Zurgo Bellstriker
two drop (16)
1x Abbot of Keral Keep
1x Abrade
1x Earthshaker Khenra
1x Flame Rift
1x Hellspark Elemental
1x Incendiary Flow
1x Incinerate
1x Keldon Marauders
1x Last Chance
1x Phyrexian Revoker
1x Reckless Bushwhacker
1x Searing Spear
1x Smash to Smithereens
1x Smuggler's Copter
1x Throne of the God-Pharaoh
1x Viashino Pyromancer
three drop (17)
1x Ahn-Crop Crasher
1x Ball Lightning
1x Browbeat
1x Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
1x Char
1x Dinosaur Stampede
1x Dynacharge
1x Exquisite Firecraft
1x Flame Javelin
1x Goblin Heelcutter
1x Goblin Rabblemaster
1x Hell's Thunder
1x Insult // Injury
1x Magus of the Moon
1x Rampaging Ferocidon
1x Tangle Wire
1x Trumpet Blast
1x Fiery Confluence
1x Hellrider
1x Koth of the Hammer
1x Zurgo Bellstriker
Lands
1x Arid Mesa
1x Barbarian Ring
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Contested War Zone
1x Mishra's Factory
24x Mountain
1x Mutavault
1x Rishadan Port
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Teetering Peaks
1x Wasteland
1x Wooded Foothills
0 drop
1x Mox Amber
1 drop
1x Bonesplitter
1x Burst Lightning
1x Chain Lightning
1x Collateral Damage
1x Goblin Bushwhacker
1x Goblin Guide
1x Grim Lavamancer
1x Lava Spike
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Reckless Abandon
1x Shard Volley
1x Thunderous Wrath
1x Vexing Devil
1x Abbot of Keral Keep
1x Ankh of Mishra
1x Ash Zealot
1x Bloodrage Brawler
1x Earthshaker Khenra
1x Ember Hauler
1x Flame Rift
1x Goblin Wardriver
1x Harsh Mentor
1x Hellspark Elemental
1x Incendiary Flow
1x Incinerate
1x Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
1x Lightning Mauler
1x Lightning Strike
1x Mudbrawler Cohort
1x Phyrexian Revoker
1x Pyrostatic Pillar
1x Reckless Reveler
1x Searing Spear
1x Smash to Smithereens
1x Smuggler's Copter
1x Sonic Burst
1x Throne of the God-Pharaoh
1x Torch Fiend
1x Valley Dasher
1x Young Pyromancer
1x Ball Lightning
1x Browbeat
1x Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
1x Char
1x Flame Javelin
1x Exquisite Firecraft
1x Goblin Heelcutter
1x Goblin Rabblemaster
1x Hell's Thunder
1x Magus of the Moon
1x Insult // Injury
1x Rampaging Ferocidon
1x Reckless Bushwhacker
1x Rift Bolt
1x Vaultbreaker
4 drop
1x Blistering Firecat
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1x Fiery Confluence
1x Fleetwheel Cruiser
1x Hellrider
1x Hero of Oxid Ridge
1x Koth of the Hammer
1x Abbot of Keral Keep
1x Ash Zealot
1x Ball Lightning
1x Blistering Firecat
1x Eidolon of the Great Revel
1x Flametongue Kavu
1x Goblin Bushwhacker
1x Goblin Guide
1x Goblin Heelcutter
1x Goblin Rabblemaster
1x Goblin Wardriver
1x Hanweir Garrison
1x Hellrider
1x Hell's Thunder
1x Hellspark Elemental
1x Hero of Oxid Ridge
1x Keldon Champion
1x Lathnu Hellion
1x Lightning Mauler
1x Mudbrawler Cohort
1x Phyrexian Revoker
1x Reckless Bushwhacker
1x Reckless Reveler
1x Scab-Clan Berserker
1x Sin Prodder
1x Torch Fiend
1x Valley Dasher
1x Vaultbreaker
1x Vexing Devil
1x Zo-Zu the Punisher
1x Arid Mesa
1x Barbarian Ring
1x Blinkmoth Nexus
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Contested War Zone
1x Hanweir Battlements
1x Mishra's Factory
20x Mountain
1x Mutavault
1x Rishadan Port
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Tectonic Edge
1x Teetering Peaks
1x Throne of the High City
1x Wasteland
1x Wooded Foothills
Sorcery (8)
1x Bonfire of the Damned
1x Browbeat
1x Chain Lightning
1x Devastating Summons
1x Exquisite Firecraft
1x Fiery Confluence
1x Lava Spike
1x Rift Bolt
Enchantment (3)
1x Pyrostatic Pillar
1x Spellshock
1x Sulfuric Vortex
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1x Koth of the Hammer
Instant (14)
1x Burst Lightning
1x Char
1x Collateral Damage
1x Fireblast
1x Flame Javelin
1x Incinerate
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Lightning Strike
1x Price of Progress
1x Searing Spear
1x Shard Volley
1x Smash to Smithereens
1x Stoke the Flames
1x Thunderous Wrath
Artifact (6)
1x Ankh of Mishra
1x Fleetwheel Cruiser
1x Renegade Freighter
1x Skullclamp
1x Smuggler's Copter
1x Tangle Wire
1 Zurgo Bellstriker
Lands (38)
1 Arid Mesa
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Myriad Landscape (or Tectonic Edge)
26 Mountain
1 Rishadan Port
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Wasteland
1 Wooded Foothills
One Drops (11)
1 Burst Lightning
1 Chain Lightning
1 Collateral Damage
1 Faithless Looting
1 Goblin Guide
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Dwarven Blastminer
1 Dwarven Miner
1 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Madcap Skills
1 Mask of Memory
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Price of Progress
1 Reckless Reveler
1 Smash to Smithereens
1 Torch Fiend
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Winter Orb
Three Drops (20)
1 Acidic Soil
1 Blood Moon
1 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Char
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Flamewake Phoenix
1 Goblin Assault
1 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Grafted Wargear
1 Hammer of Purphoros
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Molten Rain
1 Pillage
1 Sarkhan's Triumph
1 Stone Rain
1 Sulfuric Vortex
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Tangle Wire
1 Avalanche Riders
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Furnace of Rath
1 Hellrider
1 Hero of Oxid Ridge
1 Koth of the Hammer
1 Manabarbs
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
1 Rakka Mar
1 Stoke the Flames
1 Violent Eruption
Five Drops (4)
1 Arc-Slogger
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
1 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
"Six Drops" (but really they're a two drop and a zero drop) (2)
1 Boom/Bust
1 Fireblast
So as said before, every mana spent needs to be in the most economical way possible to maximize potential damage output.
And, in case you want a second opinion about this mini-Primer of sorts, seek out Khaospawn, who is usually seen in the Primer thread for Modern Burn. Between him and I, I feel confident we can handle any question or concern that comes my way!
1 Zo-Zu, the Punisher
0-Drop
1 Mana Crypt
1-Drop
1 Black Vise
1 Bonesplitter
1 Burst Lightning
1 Faithless Looting
1 Goblin Vandal
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Legion Loyalist
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Stromkirk Noble
2-Drop
1 Ash Zealot
1 Dwarven Blastminer
1 Dwarven Miner
1 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Kargan Dragonlord
1 Magma Jet
1 Mask of Memory
1 Orcish Settlers
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Price of Progress
1 Ring of Valkas
1 Reckless Reveler
1 Smash to Smithereens
1 Stigma Lasher
1 Torch Fiend
1 Tormenting Voice
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Warren Instigator
1 Wild Guess
1 Winter Orb
1 Acidic Soil
1 Blood Moon
1 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Chaos Warp
1 Char
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Goblin Assault
1 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Grafted Wargear
1 Hammer of Purphoros
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Molten Rain
1 Pillage
1 Prophetic Flamespeaker
1 Pyrewild Shaman
1 Stone Rain
1 Sulfuric Vortex
1 Tangle Wire
1 Viashino Heretic
4-Drop
1 Avalanche Riders
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Hellrider
1 Hero of Oxid Ridge
1 Koth of the Hammer
1 Manabarbs
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
1 Rakka Mar
1 Ruination
1 Violent Eruption
Lands
1 Arid Mesa
1 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Ghost Quarter (Wasteland if you have it)
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Mutavault
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Strip Mine
1 Wooded Foothills
17 Mountain
9 Snow-Covered Mountain
9/10/2014
-1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, Tectonic Edge; +1 Inkmoth Nexus, Mountain: Valakut isn't good here as it takes way longer to get online than we want a game to go, or it's online because we're not seeing our key lands (such as Cavern). GQ interacts better with the commander than TecEdge does.
-1 Red Elemental Blast, Pyroblast, Sigiled Skink; +1 Goblin Guide, Faithless Looting, Goblin Rabblemaster: Without a way to tutour REB/Pyro, we can't rely on seeing them. So rather than "get lucky", we should instead just focus on doing what this deck does -- dish out high levels of damage at an incredibly fast rate. Skink is the "weakest" of my creatures, and thus he makes it most sense to be cut for the Goblin.
9/11/2014
-1 Act on Impulse, Curse of Stalked Prey, +1 Phyrexian Revoker, Pyrewild Shaman: Act needs (roughly) five mana to make it work, which is unacceptable here, while Curse is like a Rift Bolt - mana spent now for delayed damage next turn. Pyrewild makes up for the CA loss from cutting Act, and Revoker gives an answer to a myriad of troubling activated abilities.
9/12/2014
-1 Burning Earth, Goblin Guide; +1 Grim Lavamancer, Tormenting Voice: We don't use our graveyard aside from Crucible of Worlds and as such, is a wasted resource. Lavamancer promises to rectify that by adding a way to turn those resources into damage for a minimal mana investment. Manabarbs itself should be plenty of this effect as Burning Earth can be played around much easier (at four mana we need a higher damage threshold to make the cut). Meanwhile we love Wild Guess and Tormenting Voice gives us another (better!) version of it. Score!
9/19/2014
-1 Mox Diamond, Ancient Tomb; +1 Goblin Vandal, Winter Orb: Mox is only good on turns 1-3 (where we can play a four on t3) and after that suffers greatly diminished returns. Likewise we don't need to run on 37 lands with this deck if we're not playing Mox. Meanwhile Vandal is another fantastic one-drop with huge disruptive upside (sure, I'll trade 1 damage for an as-needed Smelt) and Orb is...well, I'd hope you can see it's fairly obvious (and we can function just fine on 1-2 lands).
9/25/2014
-1 Young Pyromancer; +1 Goblin Wardriver: Young Pyro. has seventeen cards in the deck that trigger it's ability. Wardriver meanwhile produces extra damage every turn, as long as he doesn't attack alone, and that damage scales exponentially the more bodies we add to the board. Also has one more toughness, which may be relevant.
10/9/2014
-1 Aftershock, Barbarian Ring, Goblin Wardriver, Inkmoth Nexus; +2 Mountain, +1 Purphoros, God of the Forge, +1 Warren Instigator: Two lands are not obligatory and as such, they're better suited to being basics (which means more R for us, as well as less devastated by our own non-basic hate. Instigator is an interesting choice, but we don't particularly care for all that hokey about goblins. He's a two cmc double striker with a relevant typeline that occasionally puts Goblin Rabblemaster on the board for us or deploys a previously bounced Zo-Zu for free. At his core, he is a cheap, yet powerful and exponentially dangerous threat (six point swing with a Bonesplitter is terrifying). And the last change (saved for last because there is room to debate IMHO); Aftershock is a good card. It is reliable, it deals with a multitude of permanents, consistently and absolutely. But it is slow (four mana, sorcery speed) and the one thing it can't ever do is kill our opponent. Purphoros is a fantastic mana sink for us, he adds more incidental damage (insane with a Goblin Assault effect) and four mana for six power is a good deal. Add to this he is resistant to removal and that he is not hard to get online in the least bit (just him plus our Commander is 60% of the devo requirement) and this overall adds up to a better choice at the four drop slot as it functions more efficiently at reaching our goal.
-1 Archetype of Aggression: As I was apparently one card over, this is the cut. It doesn't offer meaningful disruption, nor real evasion, nor does it haste on it's own to create immediate damage, which means this is the equivalent of a Gore-House Chainwalker -- just a dude that attacks and blocks, albeit in a very efficient manner.
“But 3drinks”, you’re asking, “What happens when you don’t get the nuts draw and Stone Rain your opponent’s turn 3 Forest and let them Cultivate their way to victory?” Ah yes, a fine question. Ramp decks exist. And to this end, we can take advantage of their huge spells, and make them really hurt with cards like Manabarbs and not to mention Zo-Zu’s ability to – Zo-Zu sees lands placed onto the board by these effects as well as lands they play per turn. So if they’re fine with eating fourteen damage to the face from a Boundless Realms, then I’m fine with them playing this – it will likely kill them outright, or put them into a position where I can dispose of them quickly… *cough* Acidic Soil *cough*.
If they’re a greedy three colour deck, that’s why we have our nonbasic disruption suite. Whether it be a Blood Moon or a Dwarven Miner (who makes a fantastic choice to pick up an Axe later, by the way), we can take solace in knowing they will have a very rough time working through that disruption – perhaps it will slow them down long enough for us to win. And hey, if push comes to shove, we’re always just a single Price of Progress away from victory against these decks…
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There's just not enough cEDH I'm exposed to to justify building to that degree in this region. Or I'm at the wrong places. If I'm not playing for money, not grinding the pro tour, my co-workers don't want to play at that level (which I can't even use my MLD here, so that's a forced learning opportunity for me to find an alt strat as well)...then what am I doing? You know? So I can only exercise my deck building philosophies within the confines of what I'm expecting to face, which right now is Gishath Dinos, Rats, more Rats, and a GAAIV theft based deck. Or the occasional game at the LGS but I can't prep for those, players come in running the gamut of first decks to Derevi STAX.
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See also, 3drinks' "Shrine to Mardu" 👀😏
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