Kaalia of the Vast - "Competitive Aggro"
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 172 | 85 COMMENTS | 131673 VIEWS | IN 157 FOLDERS
Aether Revolt —Jan. 18, 2017
Thoughts on the three most recent creatures Kaalia has access to:
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Herald of Anguish - While the most competent of the bunch, I would only recommend it to a casual player or as a placeholder until you can get something better. Given it's current price, I can't recommend either unless you've preordered or crack it in a pack. Improvise is irrelevant and the activated ability is difficult to abuse in typical builds.
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Exquisite Archangel - It's only effective in a battlecruiser meta without combo decks present. At most it only delays combo by one swing, effect, or turn. Plantinum Angel is cheap enough can the better option if you desire the effect and have a way to remove her from the field.
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Freejam Regent - It's basically a Shivan Dragon with Improvise. It's not worth a second glance.
The creatures from this block are bogged down with set-specific mechanics that detract from their powerlevel. Too much work needs to go in to take advantage of effects that detract from the overall synergy of the deck. Kaalia wants strong, independent creatures that can immediately warp the board or generate a must-answer situation, which these do not not provide.
I've said it before, but there's definitely been a drought of decent Kaalia-cares creatures. It's understandable that they'd want to link their "flagship" creatures with the mechanics of a specific set to sell packs, but it's still disappointing to have so sets come and go with a decent addition to the roster. It's a shame- I feel we're two or three bombs away from having something close to a "definitive" competitive creature pool.
We'll see what the future brings. The Amonkhet sets seem as though they've great potential for demons and dragons.Maybe we can get something close to a Gearhulk on a Kaalia-cares stick.
AlexRuzhyo says... #2
It seems I voiced my typical "Expansion Update" in a Reddit post. I'll add one to this page soon.
Herald of Anguish - He's "not bad" but there's definitely better. The only real value you're getting out of him is the discard effect as the improvise and the activated ability being irrelevant in most builds. He's one of those cards I'd recommend for a casual player as a competent placeholder, though his price will stop me from doing that for a couple of years.
Exquisite Archangel - There's better. It doesn't phase most combo decks. Lab maniac only needs to draw another card, most other infinites only need do what they've been doing one more time. If you really want the effect there's always Platinum Angel if you have a way to ditch it at the right time.
Freejam Regent - Firebreathing and improvise. Nothing to give a second glance.
I'm really hoping for something juicy soon. I feel as though Kaalia's two or three bombs from having a "definitive" competitive creature roster. This last round of creatures, while interesting, focus around the mechanics of the set. Energy, improvise, and fabricate really don't gel well with what the deck wants to do. It's been sometime since they made an angel, demon, or dragon that's capable of standing on its own. They're still making competent creatures just not on Kaalia relevant bodies. Hell, I'd love if any of the Kaalia-colored Gearhulks were on Kaalia-relevant bodies.
misterpizza says... #1
Herald of Anguish? Seems weak, but is a threat that "has to be dealt with" at some point.
January 16, 2017 4:30 p.m.