Kaalia Stax & Aggro

[3drinks]

Are we gonna sit and pretend that Jeweled Lotus didn't happen? :D

Turn. One. Kaalia.
The previously technically impossible feat is now a reality.

How cool is that?

Note that you only generate one colour mana off this. And it's still not good most times. Unless you're 2c, or a welder deck, this card is garbage. And in the case of Welder, you can do the same thing with Lotus Bloom......

I'm not convinced this isn't a trap, and i reckon it'll be very hard to convince otherwise. But I'm open to being proven wrong.

[Dumoko]

`Note that you only generate one colour mana off this.`
Now I feel really ashamed :D
I missed that crucial part.

What did you mean by a trap?

[3drinks]

`Note that you only generate one colour mana off this.`
Now I feel really ashamed :D
I missed that crucial part.

What did you mean by a trap?

It's a trap card. One that looks great on paper but in practice isn't at all what you want. People are gonna throw fifty dollar bills at this though, and use this as a justification for why they refuse to cut it when they realize it's not good.

You know where it is incredible though? In Dargo, that new 7/5 giant where this thing is worth five towards it's cost.

[benjameenbear]

@3drinks is right. You would definitely need a god-hand to pull of a T1 Kaalia, and I think it requires at least 4 exact cards to be in your opening hand. Beyond the statistics of how often this could even occur (I hate math), it still leaves you with only 3 cards left in your hand, which isn't a great spot to be in on T1 (usually).

I think the Lotus was printed to increase the viability of 2 color and mono-color Commanders. Although it's REALLY annoying to see Gitrog get ANOTHER ritual effect, I think it's a net gain for the cEDH format (even if it's only marginally). Expect the price to go down as people realize that a one-time Ritual effect in a non-cEDH game has a real cost to deck-building and top-decks.

In other news, the Stax suite for Kaalia continues to get better and better. I can't wait for my preorder with Liesa and Opposition Agent to arrive.

[benjameenbear]

Commander Legends Review

• Akroma, Vision of Ixidor - just a really cool card to see. It's definitely a Flameblast Syndrome kind of card, but man it's cool and the art is gorgeous. Well done, visually, even if it's not incredibly powerful for this deck.
• Austere Command - a good reprint, grab a copy while you can. It's a great Wrath effect in more casual games for when you still want to rock Kaalia non-cEDH style (is that a thing? I dunno...)
• Court of Grace - too slow for this deck and it competes with Kaalia. But, the flavor of the card is worthy of a mention.
• Radiant, Serra Archangel - again, a really cool card that does absolutely nothing for this deck. Sad day.
• Slash the Ranks - this is a very interesting Wrath effect since it spares our Kaalia from death. I think this is a great budget include, but not for the full-on cEDH list.
• Opposition Agent - probably the best card in the set for Kaalia. Auto-include as part of the Stax package for the deck. I expect the tears to be salty when this card resolves.
• Rakshasa Debaser - sadly, another Kaalia target that suffers from Flameblast Syndrome.
• Vampiric Tutor - another welcome reprint!
• Hellkite Courser - this is a pretty cool card design, but adding on an additional Kaalia tax is risky business. BUT, getting a free Kaalia trigger could be very powerful at closing out a game at the right opportunities. I'm on the fence about including this in the main list, and my gut says no.
• Jeska's Will - a very cool "draw" effect + ritual in red, this deck is actually pretty r-lite. I could be wrong though and happy to be proven wrong.
• Liesa, Shroud of Dusk - YES. An awesome Stax effect paired with a Lifelink-ing angel is magic to Kaalia's ears. Definite include for the deck. Kaalia puts her spells into play, so Liesa's triggers should be pretty one-sided. Can't wait to see how effective she is.
• Arcane Signet - a very welcome reprint for the deck, grab a copy while they're super cheap.
• Jeweled Lotus - enabling a T2 Kaalia is great, but only if this card is in your opening hand. I think this card is super risky but could definitely be worth it, but my gut says that this deck should play it. 2 lands and Lotus with some Kaalia targets in hand could be the beginning of the end for your opponents, and the more I think about it the more I like that idea. Hmmm...
• Spectator Seating, Vault of Champions - yeah, fix the mana base some more. Duh.

All-in-all, Opposition Agent and Liesa make the decklist hands down, so I'll need to adjust the decklist again to incorporate them into the deck. Probably alongside the Lotus too. Sigh.

[SaintForthigan]

Went in for my first ever prerelease, and came out having pulled Opposition Agent, both bondlands, Lisea, and a Signet--seems the powers that be finally want me catching up on deck upgrades

[benjameenbear]

Nice! Congrats on the haul.

[Wallycaine]

[*]Hellkite Courser - this is a pretty cool card design, but adding on an additional Kaalia tax is risky business. BUT, getting a free Kaalia trigger could be very powerful at closing out a game at the right opportunities. I'm on the fence about including this in the main list, and my gut says no.

Worth pointing out, Hellkite Courser doesn't add to your commander tax. Because it's just putting Kaalia directly into play, rather than casting her, it does not count against "how many times have you cast Kaalia this game" for the purposes of the commander tax. The downside, of course, is that cheating it out with Kaalia doesn't get you anything but a 6/5 flyer, but there's little "risk" to bringing Kaalia into play off the Courser.

[benjameenbear]

Ah, thank you for pointing that out! That makes the Hellkite a little more attractive as a possible Kaalia option. I still don't think it will make the list, however.

Opposition Agent looks to be super awesome. I seriously can't wait to cast it in response to fetch-lands, Yisan, and tutors.

[Wraith223]

Need to update list

[benjameenbear]

The OP list is already updated @Wraith223?

[Wraith223]

Awesome!

[Wraith223]

How about adding deflecting swat?

[benjameenbear]

Good call @Wraith223. I like the idea of conceptually locking people out via Possibility Storm, but it just hasn't come up in practice or execution or tutor lines. It's going to be replaced with Deflecting Swat.

[benjameenbear]

Well, Kaldheim is pretty awesome with sweet Kaalia targets.

The most notable of which (that I highly recommend preordering before the price spikes!) is Burning-Rune Demon. Make no mistake, this is basically an ETB Intuition effect that Kaalia can put into play tapped and attacking. As long as you have a solid recursion package (2-4 slots) this Demon acts as an ETB tutor effect. This is incredibly powerful for this list, as it enables more consistency to the deck without diluting the power of Kaalia's triggered ability.

Weathered Runestone looks like another great Stax piece for the deck, particularly with the rise of Underworld Breach as a combo outlet/enabler that nearly every cEDH deck has pivoted towards.

Can't wait to see what else pops out in this set. I have a feeling that there's going to be a few more sleepers that will eventually see their full value recognized over time.

[3drinks]

The idea with Intuition daemon is to get Underworld Breach + Sevinne's Reclamation - similar to the way 43Lands would grab intuition < life from the loam, academy ruins, engineered explosives.

But Faithless Looting + Razaketh, the Foulblooded/Vilis, Broker of Blood works as well if you have some sort of effect like Unburial Rites around.

[benjameenbear]

Great point @3drinks. I think the Demon is fantastic and opens up more Combo plays for the decklists it's in. Grabbing Breach + Reclamation sounds like a fantastic way to assemble a Breach loop or Worldgorger combo.

Either way, this set has been pretty good for new Angels and Demons. Haven't found an Angel yet that's going to make the cut, but there's still time.

[3drinks]

The demonic tutour demon should make the cut, as should the hexproof from walkers angel that offers a sac outlet. I'm a fan of the return to hand for three life guy, but optimally I don't think it's high iMPACT enough at the top end...it's better designed for zenith seeker. Honestly, most the A/D/D in this set would seem better designed for new Kaalia.

[benjameenbear]

Alright, formal set review for Kaldheim.

Kaldheim Set Review

• Valki, God of Lies // Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor - Tibalt's actually a good planeswalker now? What is this? This is a decent card but simply not high impact enough or synergistic with the core strategy of the deck to get a slot. Sorry Tibalt! Maybe one day!
• Toralf, God of Fury // Toralf's Hammer - this could be a VERY interesting card for this deck. It makes Balefire Dragon potentially lethal for your opponents, but doesn't directly do anything by itself. I look at this card as a damage amplifier, and Toralf sadly doesn't have the right creature type to earn a spot in the deck.
• Burning-Rune Demon - this card plays exactly like the famed Intuition. Have you ever presented your opponent with a Catch-22 situation that benefits you? It's glorious. And that's exactly what this card is. It opens up another Combo enabler, gets you two different Stax pieces, two different high-impact Kaalia targets, the list of benefits go on. It's also a 6/6 for 6 CMC, so it's already good value by itself. GRAB A COPY if you're serious about playing Kaalia. I fully expect this card to jump into the $10-$15 dollar range in the next 3-4 months once people realize how good it is for Commander.
• Goldspan Dragon - another impactful Dragon for Kaalia, it DOES suffer from Flameblast syndrome (based on the wording in the card's text). However, the CMC is attractive enough that you can easily hardcast this Dragon and start accumulating Treasures. Very good card, I highly recommend grabbing/trading into a copy when you can.
• Eradicator Valkyrie - the art is SO COOL for this card and it's a decent card on its own. If you play in a heavy planeswalker meta, than this Valkyrie could be a great addition for your deck. Sadly, she doesn't quite have an impact for the types of decks that this one consistently faces, so it will stay in the potentials box for now.
• Doomskar - a decent Wrath effect that stays hidden from discards or Wheels and has a reduced CMC when Foretold. It's fairly decent, but inferior to Toxic Deluge or Fire Covenant imo.
• Tibalt's Trickery - this is a VERY dangerous card, given the composition of cEDH games. I'd hate to be countering a counterspell and then have my opponent flip over Ad Nauseam and win. I'll personally wait to see if perform before I make any final judgments for this particular card. Stack interaction in Mardu is always welcome, but the cost of a free cast to a more powerful card is definitely a legit concern.
• Dream Devourer - this is an interesting card in that it hides potential combo pieces from hand interaction or Wheel effects, but I'm not sure it's worth it. I have mixed feelings about the card and will probably wait to see it in play (via proxy) before I determine if it earns a deck slot.
• Glorious Protector - a nice way to save your creatures from a Wrath effect, I think this card is solid. It's not going to be a flashy card but it will do its job and do it well. It doesn't have the greatest synergy with Kaalia however, and I think that the Protector is better-suited for nu-Kaalia.
• Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire - suffers from Flameblast Syndrome (since Kaalia skips the declaring of Varragoth as an attacker and thus nullifying his Boast ability should Kaalia's trigger be the means of putting it into play). BUT, the synergy with Opposition Agent is NEAT. I like the art personally and think that this Demon is actually pretty decent, so I'm picking up a copy while they're fairly cheap. I could see his price increasing since his ability is quite powerful even if it's expensive.
• Shepherd of the Cosmos - an interesting Reanimate effect, I could see this Angel being quite powerful in pulling back certain Stax pieces or combo pieces directly to play. Definitely worth considering, I haven't decided in which capacity it could fit for this decklist.
• Immersturm Raider - an interesting ETB effect printed onto a cheap Kaallia-ready body. Probably not good enough to include but still worth mentioning, particularly if you decide to go a Reanimator route.
• Immersturm Predator - this is repeatable graveyard removal stapled onto a Kaalia target with a decent CMC. I like it, but there aren't too many decks that rely heavily on their graveyard at the moment.
• Firja's Retribution - a very cool card that depends on your Angel count. This list has a pretty even split between the 3 Kaalia creature types, but I could see this card making a strong appearance in an Angel-centric list.
• Firja, Judge of Valor - a cool Angel with a very interesting ability. Should be fairly easy to trigger, but it may not be enough to justify.
• Weathered Runestone - what Grafdigger's Cage should have been in the first place. I think this is a fantastic Stax piece in the right meta, so use this card accordingly.

[Swift2210]

The optimal Kaalia line I have seen my friend run is: swing with Kaalia put down Razaketh, the Foulblooded. Sac a creature to get and play Dockside Extortionist. Sac it to get and play Zulaport Cutthroat. Sac Kaalia to get and play Leonin Relic-Warder. Sac it to get and play Animate Dead on Leonin Relic-Warder. Have it exile Animate on etb. It dies and Animate re-enters on Leonin. Repeat until lethal and then end loop on Dockside. So have Raz in hand with another creature in play, swing with Kaalia. His deck is centered upon cheating Raz into play. It's pretty quick.

[benjameenbear]

@Swift2210
Definitely a strong combo line that is easy to include in the deck. I've personally stayed away from hard combos in favor of building a heavy Stax presence so buy more time. I could easily see a combo Kaalia list doing phenomenally with the Animate Cat loops, but it's just not the way this current deck is going.

[Dumoko]

@benjameenbear
Heeey, how are you doing?

I really hope you are still around and didn't lose the Kaalia passion :D

To be honest, I was counting on your "Set Review" rubric :D This time about Strixhaven.
Your opinion is very valuable for the Kaalia I built. Not about what you include yourself, rather than the highlights in general and the explanation you give on those.

I really appreciate your regular work on that!

[benjameenbear]

@Dumoko
Whoops! I totally thought I did one for Kaalia, since I did one for my other Primers, but I definitely didn't. Here you go:

Strixhaven Set Review

• Shadrix Silverquill - it's really cool that there are Elder Dragons in Enemy colors... but both of the ones here in Strixhaven are NOT good for Kaalia. They all suffer from Flameblast Syndrome hard, but I wouldn't fault someone for running Shadrix. He has a reasonable CMC to hardcast and the art is pretty awesome. Not good for an optimized list, but still solid.
• Velomachus Lorehold - suffers from Flameblast Syndrome and has no direct synergy with the deck. Pass.
• Silverquill Silencer - if you play against a Commander you hate A LOT (ie: Golos or some other ubiquitous Commander that plagues you) this could be a good way to draw cards. Otherwise, it's a little too niche for a general meta but could be good in a more established playgroup. It does have interesting applications as a tool against Breach combos that are pretty dominant in cEDH currently, but I don't think it qualifies as a legit Stax piece.
• Flamescroll Celebrant // Revel in Silence - both halves of this card are supremely useful. The Hate-bear effect is quite good in the combo-laden cEDH meta and the Silence effect can be critical for your own combo turn OR to stop someone else's combo turn. I definitely recommend picking up a copy of this one for your Stax suite.
• Vanishing Verse - solid removal piece at an attractive CMC and with the best mode available. Definitely worthwhile to pick up.
• Reduce to Memory - this is actually a solid budget removal spell. The 3/2 doesn't matter and you can exile anything (except lands, obviously).
• Fracture - a pretty solid utility removal piece, I think it's worthwhile to pick up a few copies as budget removal options at a great CMC and instant speed.
• Rip Apart - another solid utility removal piece that can hit a large swath of creatures in cEDH. Not a bad card, just wish it wasn't a sorcery.
• Thrilling Discovery - another discard X to draw X+1 spell, this is actually pretty decent as a card filtering AND card advantage engine. I wouldn't fault anyone for playing, personally, and think it's a good workhorse card. Not flashy, but it does its job well and consistently.
• Professor Onyx - while she forms a sweet combo with Chain of Smog, this isn't the deck for her. Pass.
• Strict Proctor - excellent Stax piece that I highly recommend adding to your suite. The fact that it stops ANY ETB trigger for a permanent is very good, as it cuts of landfall synergies, ThOracle, and a host of other ETB effects that you don't realize commonly happen.
• Fervent Mastery - we have a better tutor suite available, so this one isn't needed. A triple Gamble is pretty interesting though, so maybe it stands a shot of getting tested in the future.
• Wandering Archaic // Explore the Vastlands - this is a pretty cool Stax piece that disrupts the stack at a pretty powerful level. I'm not sure it earns a slot in the deck, but I definitely see the appeal of it. This card will generate a significant number of free spells for you on a consistent basis and helps stop counter wars pretty powerfully. Either way, I recommend picking one up. It's only going to get better with time.

[Dumoko]

Guys!

Please help me handle my excitement...
Is this card quite imba or i'm overhyping?

Creature - Angel
Flying

When Serra's Emissary enters the battlefield, choose a card type.

You and creatures you control have protection against the chosen card type.

it says "you".
so by picking "Creature", not only creatures get protection from creatures (unblockable + ability protection), but also the face is protected from both combat and non-combat creature damage and life loss(targeted one, of course)

Somebody please bring a fire extinguisher, cause this thing is on fire!

Or it's not?

[3drinks]

The correct way to play it is to name instant for the wierd, somewhat more expensive version of Ascetism. It's still a seven drop though and it doesn't do anything to help Kaalia attack, only enhance what she's already doing.

I'm not sold.