Re: Kaalia Stax & Aggro
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2020 12:47 am
@Dumoko
I'm glad that my comment was helpful. Like @3drinks, I too share a passion for Kaalia and her power level. I intially created her because I was absolutely infuriated with a good friend's Animar, Soul of Elements list. It was fast, it was consistent, and I hated getting killed by Craterhoof Behemoth. It is still my least favorite card in all of EDH because of that Animar list, followed closely by Bane of Progress. I built Kaalia to absolutely obliterate the Animar deck, and it wildly succeeded. Kaalia was 10-3 when we kept track of games where Kaalia and Animar were at the same table, and I definitely gloated about it lol.
So the reason that I skimp on Board protection spells a la Boros Charm or Teferi's Protection is because the list, as I've built it, has very different play style. Which is important and very necessary, given the suite of Stax cards that I employ, but the general principle remains true in sharing advice with you, Dumoko.
You see, Kaalia is a known quantity with a deservedly fearsome reputation. A lot of people see her and their gut reaction is fear and "let's kill her on sight when it's convenient to do so, and let's make it convenient quickly" kind of mentality. They'll say they're not targeting you, but really they're hyper aware of Kaalia and will make plans to manage her impact by killing her or Wrathing the table (yes, Wrathing is the correct slang term for having mass removal options like Wrath of God, Damnation, etc.). So, what this means is that over time, rushing Kaalia out without the proper setup becomes a liability and hindrance to you in the long term because she's going to die so often.
This means, then, that in order to get maximal value out of Kaalia's trigger you need to have a favorable board state where Kaalia can come in swinging, right away, and survive for multiple turn cycles so that you can overwhelm your opponents in mana and board advantage. I've decided to create these favorable board states via Stax pieces; when your opponents cannot effectively utilize their mana sources then they're, by necessity, unable to remove Kaalia effectively. So, in lieu of adding Stax and MLD to your list, which I respect, I think you should perhaps evaluate your playstyle.
Rushing Kaalia is good and well, particularly when you have a clear window to do so in the early game, but I think that building Card Advantage engines, building a solid mana base, and answering threats of your opponent's with removal effects BEFORE casting Kaalia might be more effective for you. In the absence of your Kaalia, your opponents are more likely to spend their removal effects earlier and on different targets than your Commander. This means that, after you resolve a Mythos of Snapdax and you've created a lovely board state for yourself, you can now cast Kaalia and have a greater chance to utilizing her effectively since your opponents spent their removal on other things that needed an answer.
That's the great thing about Kaalia; the individual card quality in your list is higher than other decklists, generally speaking. This means that Kaalia, while an integral part of your core strategy of smashing face, is simply gasoline to the powerful flame that your deck already is. So, my suggestion is to try slowing down your deployment of Kaalia. It will leave your opponents guessing at what your plans are and will inevitably cause them to spend their removal effects on different targets which will protect your Kaalia without having to spend card slots in your decklist dedicated to protecting her.
TL;dr I don't personally play mass protection spells in my own decklist because my playstyle and suite of cards creates favorable board states for me without having to use dedicated slots to do so.
Since your opponent's strategy is to go Aggro early, then I would suggest looking at more mass removal effects of your own. If I recall, you're already playing Earthquake, so maybe looking at the newly reprinted Rolling Earthquake or Shatter the Sky as additional Wrath effects to control your opponent's board development could be a good idea.
Alright, so Angelic Arbiter. Here's my thoughts on it: unless you're playing in a truly Aggro environment, where people turn creatures sideways and attack EVERY turn cycle, the Arbiter simply doesn't do enough to slow down Combo decks (of which I primarily play against). Combo decks aren't seeking to attack with creatures, so they literally don't care about her effect. However, it sounds like your kitchen table DOES look for true Aggro strategies, so the Arbiter will certainly seem more valuable to you given your playgroup.
Reaper from the Abyss is a pretty decent card, actually. I think I cut it for a different Kaalia target and I personally haven't missed it but it's a great effect for tables where creatures die from blocks every turn. Go for it!
I really like Morbid Curiosity in Kaalia decks, since a lot of Kaalia targets have juicy CMC's for this card to shine, but if you feel you have enough Card Draw at any given point, roll without it. I include it because I really like the effect.
To perhaps elaborate on why Vilis, Broker of Blood is so good is because it turns a game action that happens super generically (especially in EDH) and adds a Necropotence type of effect. Do your opponents risk attacking you for 10+ damage and give you 10+ cards to deploy? That's a losing situation, especially if you're a removal heavy deck (which you are) because you can leverage those cards and in greater volume than your opponents. Vilis is a way for you to deter people from attacking you simply from his static ability alone; the ability to kill creatures is a plus, in my opinion. And when you're playing card effects that cause you to lose life... well, it's like literally like getting cards for free, without spending any mana whatsoever to get those cards. That's the power of Vilis. He allows you to draw cards for a game action that generally occurs FOR FREE. EDH, in the end, does become a game of resource advantage and Vilis allows you to reign supreme. I strongly suggest giving him a go and watch him. I guarantee that you will find him valuable, particularly since you're playing a Reanimator strategy.
Kaalia is a deck that is worth the investment, in my opinion. I've had her built since she first came out and I've never taken her apart in all that time. She's simply gotten better over time as new cards come out. So, investing in those $8+ cards will be worth your investment, comrade.
What are the specific decks you play against? I'd be happy to offer insights on how you can combat them directly if you'd like.
I'm glad that my comment was helpful. Like @3drinks, I too share a passion for Kaalia and her power level. I intially created her because I was absolutely infuriated with a good friend's Animar, Soul of Elements list. It was fast, it was consistent, and I hated getting killed by Craterhoof Behemoth. It is still my least favorite card in all of EDH because of that Animar list, followed closely by Bane of Progress. I built Kaalia to absolutely obliterate the Animar deck, and it wildly succeeded. Kaalia was 10-3 when we kept track of games where Kaalia and Animar were at the same table, and I definitely gloated about it lol.
So the reason that I skimp on Board protection spells a la Boros Charm or Teferi's Protection is because the list, as I've built it, has very different play style. Which is important and very necessary, given the suite of Stax cards that I employ, but the general principle remains true in sharing advice with you, Dumoko.
You see, Kaalia is a known quantity with a deservedly fearsome reputation. A lot of people see her and their gut reaction is fear and "let's kill her on sight when it's convenient to do so, and let's make it convenient quickly" kind of mentality. They'll say they're not targeting you, but really they're hyper aware of Kaalia and will make plans to manage her impact by killing her or Wrathing the table (yes, Wrathing is the correct slang term for having mass removal options like Wrath of God, Damnation, etc.). So, what this means is that over time, rushing Kaalia out without the proper setup becomes a liability and hindrance to you in the long term because she's going to die so often.
This means, then, that in order to get maximal value out of Kaalia's trigger you need to have a favorable board state where Kaalia can come in swinging, right away, and survive for multiple turn cycles so that you can overwhelm your opponents in mana and board advantage. I've decided to create these favorable board states via Stax pieces; when your opponents cannot effectively utilize their mana sources then they're, by necessity, unable to remove Kaalia effectively. So, in lieu of adding Stax and MLD to your list, which I respect, I think you should perhaps evaluate your playstyle.
Rushing Kaalia is good and well, particularly when you have a clear window to do so in the early game, but I think that building Card Advantage engines, building a solid mana base, and answering threats of your opponent's with removal effects BEFORE casting Kaalia might be more effective for you. In the absence of your Kaalia, your opponents are more likely to spend their removal effects earlier and on different targets than your Commander. This means that, after you resolve a Mythos of Snapdax and you've created a lovely board state for yourself, you can now cast Kaalia and have a greater chance to utilizing her effectively since your opponents spent their removal on other things that needed an answer.
That's the great thing about Kaalia; the individual card quality in your list is higher than other decklists, generally speaking. This means that Kaalia, while an integral part of your core strategy of smashing face, is simply gasoline to the powerful flame that your deck already is. So, my suggestion is to try slowing down your deployment of Kaalia. It will leave your opponents guessing at what your plans are and will inevitably cause them to spend their removal effects on different targets which will protect your Kaalia without having to spend card slots in your decklist dedicated to protecting her.
TL;dr I don't personally play mass protection spells in my own decklist because my playstyle and suite of cards creates favorable board states for me without having to use dedicated slots to do so.
Since your opponent's strategy is to go Aggro early, then I would suggest looking at more mass removal effects of your own. If I recall, you're already playing Earthquake, so maybe looking at the newly reprinted Rolling Earthquake or Shatter the Sky as additional Wrath effects to control your opponent's board development could be a good idea.
Alright, so Angelic Arbiter. Here's my thoughts on it: unless you're playing in a truly Aggro environment, where people turn creatures sideways and attack EVERY turn cycle, the Arbiter simply doesn't do enough to slow down Combo decks (of which I primarily play against). Combo decks aren't seeking to attack with creatures, so they literally don't care about her effect. However, it sounds like your kitchen table DOES look for true Aggro strategies, so the Arbiter will certainly seem more valuable to you given your playgroup.
Reaper from the Abyss is a pretty decent card, actually. I think I cut it for a different Kaalia target and I personally haven't missed it but it's a great effect for tables where creatures die from blocks every turn. Go for it!
I really like Morbid Curiosity in Kaalia decks, since a lot of Kaalia targets have juicy CMC's for this card to shine, but if you feel you have enough Card Draw at any given point, roll without it. I include it because I really like the effect.
To perhaps elaborate on why Vilis, Broker of Blood is so good is because it turns a game action that happens super generically (especially in EDH) and adds a Necropotence type of effect. Do your opponents risk attacking you for 10+ damage and give you 10+ cards to deploy? That's a losing situation, especially if you're a removal heavy deck (which you are) because you can leverage those cards and in greater volume than your opponents. Vilis is a way for you to deter people from attacking you simply from his static ability alone; the ability to kill creatures is a plus, in my opinion. And when you're playing card effects that cause you to lose life... well, it's like literally like getting cards for free, without spending any mana whatsoever to get those cards. That's the power of Vilis. He allows you to draw cards for a game action that generally occurs FOR FREE. EDH, in the end, does become a game of resource advantage and Vilis allows you to reign supreme. I strongly suggest giving him a go and watch him. I guarantee that you will find him valuable, particularly since you're playing a Reanimator strategy.
Kaalia is a deck that is worth the investment, in my opinion. I've had her built since she first came out and I've never taken her apart in all that time. She's simply gotten better over time as new cards come out. So, investing in those $8+ cards will be worth your investment, comrade.
What are the specific decks you play against? I'd be happy to offer insights on how you can combat them directly if you'd like.