Main Strategy
The main strategy with Kaalia of the Vast is to cheat out big creatures fast and go on the attacked to take out opponents quickly. When Kaalia attacks you put a angel, dragon, or demon on the battlefield from your hand and attacking so most creatures in this deck fall under those categories. I also tried to find creatures that gave an extra bonus in protection for your board, dealt extra damage to opponents, locked opponents out of the game, ect. Also because you are putting these creatures directly onto the board instead of casting them I tried to avoid creatures with casting effects but focused on ETB (Enter the Battlefield) effects.
Creatures
I'll go through a few of the biggest creatures and how their effects can be the most beneficial to you. Avacyn, Angel of Hope By far one of the best angels. A flying, vigilant, indestructible 8/8 that gives other creatures you control indestructible is huge for this deck. It makes it so much more difficult for your opponents to respond to your creature threats. Balefire Dragon This can help a lot with dealing extra damage to opponents creatures. One key to playing Kaalia is that opponents don't know what creatures you will be putting onto the battlefield so often they won't have answers to the creatures when they are played. Since Balefire Dragon is flying, it can usually hit your opponent for 6 then dealing 6 damage to all of their creatures as well which will probably kill most of them. Balefire Dragon can be extremely powerful anytime an opponent is running a token deck. Gisela, Blade of Goldnight This lets spells and creatures do double damage to opponents and permanents opponents control but only half damage to you and your permanents. The key here is that you are not the only one doing double damage, opponents also do double damage to each other but can only do half to you. Rune-Scarred Demon has an ETB tutor effect so you can find another creature or combo piece you may be missing. Iona, Shield of Emeria This lets you lock your opponents out of the game by not letting them play a specific color. This effect doesn't effect you though so it doesn't matter if you choose a color that you run too. Some creatures don't work with Kaalia's ability but still can be powerful in this deck. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite buffs your creatures and weakens opponents creatures, and Grand Abolisher prevents opponents from playing spells on your turn.
Mana Ramp
There are multiple mana rocks in this deck to help with the mana ramp. Mana ramp is important because you are going to be very Aggro in getting out your commander quick then hitting your opponents hard. It will also help out in countering the Commander tax that will build up over time as Kaalia is killed or removed by other spells. With mana rocks I tried to avoid ones that added only colorless mana. Thought Vessel is included because having no max hand size is huge for this deck when you need your creatures to be in your hand to place them onto the battlefield. Otherwise Gilded Lotus and Darksteel Ingot add any color of mana you choose. I also have Burnished Hart and Solemn Simulacrum to search for basic lands to put onto the board.
Removal
Removal is extremely vital when playing Kaalia of the Vast When you are putting large creatures onto the battlefield you don't want your opponents to block them. You want to finish opponents quick, so there are multiple target removal spells. Most of them, like Swords to Plowshares and Utter End, also exile the permanent they target instead of just destroying them as well. There are also a few board wipes in case another board starts to grow large enough that it becomes difficult to find answers to. Merciless Eviction and Akroma's Vengeance can hit artifacts and enchantments too if they are needed for that purpose.
Card Draw and Tutor
Because you are putting cards from your hand directly to the battlefield, you go through your hand fairly quickly so it is important to get some card draw. Phyrexian Arena will let you draw and extra card at the beginning of your turn but it will cost 1 life. Skullclamp will let you draw two cards if the creature it is equipped to dies. Harvester of Souls lets you draw a card whenever a nontoken creature dies. He also has deathtouch so he can take out creatures easily but if you are needing card draw then I would avoid attacking or blocking with him when possible. Indulgent Tormentor can let you draw a card but it forces opponents to either sacrifice a creature or pay 3 life to prevent you from doing it. So if you don't get the card draw you still are hurting your opponents. For tutors I only have a couple because there are not many cards you can combo off with in this deck. I've added Demonic Tutor and Diabolic Tutor so you can get two combo cards that you are looking for, otherwise card draw will work just fine when running Kaalia.
Protection
Even though you'll be getting some large creatures down pretty quick, it is always good to have some extra protection. One of my favorites is Winter Orb. This makes it so players can only untap 1 land per turn. This won't effect you as much though because you are playing cards for free. This works a little better in the early game when everyone is fully tapping out to get their boardstate built up and when you get your commander out. If it comes out during the latter game when everyone has a solid boardstate this can make you a target instead so everyone will try to kill you to get rid of Winter Orb. Most of the time though someone will try to counterspell it or destroy it instead though and it probably won't last longer than a full turn. Ghostly Prison just discourages opponents from attacking because they don't want to leave mana open to attack you or if they play a lot of cards and are tapped out then they won't be able to attack you. Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are included to add some extra protection to your creatures with shroud and hexproof. Boros Charm is mainly included to provide indestructible to your creatures for a turn when there is a board wipe. Alongside that Teferi's Protection can have your creatures faze out during a board wipe or when getting hit hard by creatures.
Extra Damage
These cards are your finishers. To start out we have True Conviction this enchantment gives all your creatures double strike and lifelink. When you have a bunch of heavy hitting creatures and then give them double strike most opponents who block your creatures will lose theirs in the process. Most of the creatures in this deck have flying as well so if opponents can't block flyers then they will take heavy damage. You will also gain lots of life from it. When you have True Conviction down, it will start combo with other cards like Boros Charm or Avacyn, Angel of Hope. An army of Flying, Double Strike, Lifelink, Indestructible creatures is a force to be reckoned with. The next card for this category is Strionic Resonator. This can let you copy Kaalia of the Vast's ability every turn to put two creatures onto the battlefield. The last card is my favorite and extremely undervalued. This card is Helm of the Host. This card is amazing, at the beginning of your combat create a token that is a copy of equipped creature that token has haste and if the creature is legendary the token is not legendary. The token also stays on the battlefield, it doesn't leave after your turn is over. So every combat create a token that is a copy of Kaalia of the Vast to get extra creatures down. You can create a token of Iona, Shield of Emeria to pick another color that opponents can't play and completely lock them out of the game. You can create a token that is a copy of Tariel, Reckoner of Souls so every turn you can take two creatures out of opponents graveyards. The possibilities are endless with this card, and if your opponents don't recognize how good it can be then they are in trouble.
Conclusion
Kaalia of the Vast is such an incredible commander and there is a reason why the precon deck was reprinted in Commander Anthology. If you were to buy the precon deck you can use half the cards that deck without changing it much too. Kaalia is definitely better as a 1v1 type of deck but with commander it is a multiplayer format so I wouldn't suggest using this deck in a game with more than 4 players because you can easily become the target and teamed up on because you are the biggest threat.
Let me know what you think of the deck! I am always looking for suggestions on what cards could work better and cards I could have missed! Just leave your comments down below and if you like the deck give it an upvote so others can see it!
