Hallar, They Who Kick Fire

Commander / EDH Burn Counters Multiplayer Primer RG (Gruul) Voltron

Phaetion

Creature (21)

• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Citanul Woodreaders
• 1x Deathforge Shaman
• 1x Dualcaster Mage
• 1x Elfhame Druid
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Forgotten Ancient
• 1x Ghitu Chronicler
• 1x Goblin Bushwhacker
• 1x Goblin Ruinblaster
• 1x Grunn, the Lonely King
• 1x Ivy Lane Denizen
• 1x Keldon Overseer
• 1x Mold Shambler
• 1x Neheb, the Eternal
• 1x Rishkar, Peema Renegade
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Temur Sabertooth
• 1x Territorial Allosaurus
• 1x Verix Bladewing

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Doubling Season
• 1x Evolutionary Escalation
• 1x Hardened Scales
• 1x Sunbird's Invocation
• 1x Sylvan Library

Artifact (5)

• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots

Sorcery (18)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Breath of Darigaaz
• 1x Canopy Surge
• 1x Cathartic Reunion
• 1x Chandra's Ignition
• 1x Decimate
• 1x Grow from the Ashes
• 1x Harmonize
• 1x Hull Breach
• 1x Hunting Wilds
• 1x Increasing Savagery
• 1x Mana Geyser
• 1x Molten Disaster
• 1x Primal Growth
• 1x Reforge the Soul
• 1x Rishkar's Expertise
• 1x Soul's Majesty
• 1x Wheel of Fortune

Instant (12)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Comet Storm
• 1x Fork
• 1x Inspiring Call
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Overload
• 1x Reiterate
• 1x Solidarity of Heroes
• 1x Strength of the Tajuru
• 1x Unstable Footing
• 1x Vines of Vastwood

Commander (1)

Land (38)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Fire-Lit Thicket
• 12x Forest
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 12x Mountain
• 1x Opal Palace
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Sheltered Thicket
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Taiga
• 1x Temple of Abandon
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Wooded Foothills

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Maybeboard

Creature (1)

• 1x Kalonian Hydra

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The Card in Question Show

Let's break it down, shall we?

Hallar has a cheap casting cost, which will come in handy. The reason why is explained below. A 3/3 isn't bad states to start with, though they can be bolted. That said, having trample kind of makes up for it. The real meat, however, is their one ability. Hallar wants us to burn our our opponents, or take them out via Blackjack (You know what I mean). However, they force us to use cards with kicker, and that potentially limits the cards we can add into the 99.

Hallar has three different strategies going for it: Tokens, voltron, and burn.

Tokens Show

While this deck doesn't go in this direction, it's possible. You would need to run all the kicker cards that produce them for the deck to work, alongside other token staples like Beastmaster Ascension and Skullclamp. Note, however, that there aren't many cards that create tokens via kicker, thus it's the weakest strategy with Hallar. Verix Bladewing gets a pass because it's 8 damage when kicked, and he's a dragon.

Voltron Show

With Hallar and enough kicker spells, this strategy can actually work. What you would do is to dump all the +1/+1 counters on Hallar, then swing in and protect them. They already have trample, so pushing damage through shouldn't be an issue. Whether you want to run other equipment or not is up to you, but there's superior options out there that'll give Hallar a run for their money.

Burn Show

Now this is their core strategy. You want to pile on the counters, then drop some kicker spells to put all those counters to use. This strategy, alongside Voltron, are the two that work together the best, and it's good to have a backup plan in case one fails.

How many Kicker Cards are Necessary? Show

This part is the trickiest when it comes to Hallar. Let me be upfront with you: There are not many good kicker spells in EDH, let alone in R/G. But you don't want to run too few, or the deck will flop. I might have made the cardinal sin of shoving in a lot of kicker cards, but some of these have utility tacked onto them. Want to get rid of pesky fliers? Oran-Rief Recluse ad Canopy Surge can do that for you. Primal Growth is a ramp spell. Comet Storm, Molten Disaster, and Breath of Darigaaz serve as boardwipes (and in 2 cases, wincons). Gruun, the Lonely King is a giant threat. Verduran Emissary is artifact removal tacked on a body. You get the idea.

To answer this question, I would say that 15 isn't a bad number. 20 would be the maximum. Any more, and you'll run the risk of lacking ways to address situations (Enchantment removal and card draw to name a couple).

+1/+1 Counters Show

With Hallar, a +1/+1 counter subtheme is necessary because you want to pile all the counters on Hallar to accelerate the game plan. However, only they are the necessary target, which is why the +1/+1 counter cards in the deck give all its counters to one target. Those that don't at least provide the option to do so. We're not a go-wide deck that beefs up tokens. Think of Hallar wanting to go tall with some protection. This is why I said voltron works well with Hallar as a backup plan.

Protecting Hallar Show

Once they see what Hallar can do, they will raise warning bells, and try to kill them on sight. The typical protection of Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots will do the trick. Inspiring Call also works and nets you a card. Bonus points if you got another creature with counters on it. The point stands though: Hallar must have protection. They're cheap to cast, but the tax will add up quickly, so be sure to protect them once you bring them out.

Weaknesses Show

The over-reliance on kicker cards will give you less options to add staple and utility cards. Make them count. You will also be rather reliant on Hallar, so protection is a must. Hallar is also a very mana-hungry deck, so you really need to shove in as much ramp as you possibly can for them to do the thing.

Strengths Show

Hallar may allow you to fly under the radar unless you accrue too many counters, or your opponents get annoyed with each trigger. They can also be easily built on a budget if that's what you want. Most of the kicker cards are really cheap, and same with the +1/+1 counter support. Lastly, Hallar is a unique deck that allows more creative decks to shine on the format as a whole, be it casual or competitive.

Mana Curve (A Must Read for Building Hallar!) Show

Most decks have only one curve. Hallar is deceptive though because they have 2 curves: The regular one, and then one for when kicker costs are applied (Note: For simplicity, Multikicker cards are counted as having been kicked only once).

It's important to lower the kicker curve as much as you can, otherwise it would slow the deck down. My build uses cards that have a kicker cost of 4 or lower for these reasons. A more budget deck would include the higher end ones, but even then those should be slotted in sparingly.

Additional Resources Show

Here, you can find articles and other decklists which you can work with if you want to build your own Hallar Deck.

Stephen Johnson's Article at GatheringMagic, Posted 4/17/2018

Hallar's EDHREC Page. Some sweet tech in there I never thought of.

Let me know what you think, and remember to upvote if you haven't already.

Top Ranked	Achieved #24 position overall 5 years ago
Date added	6 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 32 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.16
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Karox Bladewing 4/4 R
Folders	Commander deks / EDH, EDH, Hallar, Gruul EDH