Kaalia of the Vast

Commander / EDH RBW (Mardu)

Arotsky1

Land (34)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Badlands
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Graven Cairns
• 1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Plains
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Silent Clearing
• 1x Smoldering Marsh
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Sunbaked Canyon
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Creature (31)

• 1x Angel of Despair
• 1x Angel of Serenity
• 1x Archfiend of Despair
• 1x Aurelia, the Warleader
• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Balefire Dragon
• 1x Bloodgift Demon
• 1x Bruna, the Fading Light  ^Meld
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Demonlord Belzenlok
• 1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• 1x Gisela, the Broken Blade  ^Meld
• 1x Giver of Runes
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Kaalia, Zenith Seeker
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Lord of the Void
• 1x Lyra Dawnbringer
• 1x Master of Cruelties
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
• 1x Platinum Angel
• 1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
• 1x Resolute Archangel
• 1x Reya Dawnbringer
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1x Sephara, Sky's Blade
• 1x Sower of Discord
• 1x Utvara Hellkite
• 1x Vilis, Broker of Blood

Instant (9)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Utter End
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Commander (1)

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Armageddon
• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Imperial Seal
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Ravages of War
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Vindicate
• 1x Wrath of God

Artifact (10)

• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Champion's Helm
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Hammer of Purphoros
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Dragon Tempest
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Smothering Tithe

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I made this deck for the soul purpose of a response deck. The meta I play at my shops has many infinite combo decks (and I do as well). But not everyone wants to play an infinite deck all the time, and NOBODY wants to keep going up against infinite combo decks all the time. That is why I enjoy this deck; it has a response to most decks.

With all the tutors in the deck finding a response is rarely difficult, it just depends on what exactly you are playing against.

Mono blue/Artifacts - Hellkite Tyrant, Linavala and Mother of Runes are big responses to this. Iona can usually shut down a mono blue deck while Hellkite Tyrant will stop them from ramping up with all the mana rocks. Linvala of course to shut down a lot of infinite combos. And Mother of Runes will help allow Kaalia to swing since blue does have a lot of flyers.

Token Generation/Heavy creature - Avacyn, Balefire, Steel Hellkite and all the board wipes. Avacyn will help keep your creatures protected while swinging in. Balefire Dragon is an amazing cards that I have literally used to shut down creature/token decks. When it connects and hits a player it deals that much damage to the players creatures. Steel Hellkite is great for tokens since you can name 0 and it will wipe out all the tokens because of his effect. And with Kaalia not having green you will notice yourself sometimes being behind, so you can easily catch up with a board wipe.

Late game decks - Master of Cruelties, Damage double creatures, Aurelia. There are some decks that take a while to build (stax, group hug, etc) Sometimes you have to put the pressure on and start hitting early. Master of Cruelties is an OTK swing with Kaalia. If you swing with Kaalia you can drop Master of Cruelties tapped and attacking. His damage goes through first since he has first strike and Kaalia's will go second thus being able to one shot your opponent. He doesn't have flying, but hopefully you can have Kaalia swinging early enough where it doesn't matter. Damage doublers such as Gisela, Archfiend of Despair, and hysterically naming yourself with Sower of Discord and another player with either of those two out. It allows for quicker resolve and defeating an opponent. And of course Aurelia. Having two attack phases is great but remember Aurelia doesn't trigger if dropped from hand from Kaalia's trigger. Having two attack phases will allow Kaalia to trigger twice and you can drop two creatures from your hand.

Please don't play cards on my turn - Grand Abolisher, and Ob Nixilis. Grand abolisher is also stellar since I'm dropping big spells on my turn. And the one huge card I added was Ob Nixilis, Unshackled. It stops combo decks from going and searching for their infinite combos, or even searching the deck for a counter spell on my turn.

*Somewhat in this category I would add Mother of Runes and Giver or Runes. Both are inexpensive ways of protecting Kaalia.

Card Draw - Bloodgift Demon, Phyrexian Arena, Dark Confidant, and Necropotence. With Kaalia you need to think of the D.A.D.'s (Demon, Angels, and Dragons) as ammo for Kaalia. If you are swinging with her and not dropping a big creature than something is wrong. Bloodgift Demon and Phyrexian Arena are great ways to increase card draw. Dark Confidant may hurt once in a while, But I would rather take some damage and drop a big creature than drop nothing at all. And Necropotence will usually get targeted but if you have a few turns with it it is an amazing card.

*Now with Vilis in here it has really stepped up a bit. He is an 8/8 and gives absurd card draw. Kaalia is basically a machine gun and you always need ammo to keep her going.

Reanimate - There are a lot of cards to list but I have noticed reanimation is fantastic in this deck.You have so man big creatures that losing them is decently devastating. But having the ability to get them back makes life a lot easier.

With everything else included (spot removal, tutors, things that give haste, and other creatures for flavor) I find this deck to be very enjoyable to play and also play against. Having no blue in the deck takes some tension off my side of the board, but by now most commander players know what Kaalia can do. And also no infinite combos (I took out Sword of Feast and Famine + Aggravated Assault) allows me to have a hand that is doable and not looking for a piece of a puzzle. I'd always say make a deck that fits your playstyle, and this is definitely mine.

Top Ranked	Achieved #44 position overall 4 years ago Achieved #27 position in Commander / EDH 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH RBW (Mardu) 4 years ago
Date added	5 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	40 - 0 Mythic Rares 40 - 0 Rares 9 - 0 Uncommons 2 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.09
Tokens	Dragon 6/6 R, Elephant 3-3 G, Enchantment Golem 3/3 C, Spirit 1/1 C, Treasure
Folders	EDH, EDH