This deck was inspired by a EDHREC Cast suggestion for a different take on Kalamax as a commander. Swing in to tap Kalamax and take advantage of opponents that do not block who think they will take minimal damage. With the right cards in hand you can take out an opponent with one swing on turn 3-5. The deck includes several copy spells to abuse the infinite +1/+1 counter combo with Kalamax, as well as some ways to use his large power to generate advantages for you.
The deck is also full of combat tricks to cast on your opponent's turns to keep the board clear of problematic blockers. Alternatively you can use these combat tricks politically to stay on your opponents good side while adding +1/+1 counters to Kalamax if he is tapped. This can work really well if there is another Voltron style deck at the table that would otherwise almost kill an opponent.
This brings us to the third part of this deck's plan, fogs. The deck is not running as many as I would like, however I have found in play testing the deck that the current amount of cards with this effect is about right for always having one ready to go. A card I really wanted to include here was
Glacial Crevasses
however I do not think it really has a home in this deck since I typically need every land I have to ensure early game eliminations. Like the combat tricks, the fogs can be used as a political tool to keep certain opponents alive for your benefit.
There were probably over 100 instants once I had started this process that gradually had to be whittled down. I originally considered rituals until I realized I did not have that much red in the deck. Land based combat tricks,
Strength of Cedars
and
Downhill Charge
were also eliminated in favor of more consistently performing cards. I also considered cards that helped copy spells more, such as
Wort, the Raidmother
or
Swarm Intelligence
, but found these cost too much mana when the deck wants to be casting more instants.
There were a lot of cool or interesting effects and interactions that the cut cards would have produced but ultimately were too slow or cumbersome to work in the final deck. I think the one I would like to most address is
Fling
. I debated a lot about this card since the perfect scenario could eliminate all three opponents in one turn. I feel like it could have a home in the deck if the copy spells and tutors were enhanced. At that point though the deck is taking a different direction than originally intended.
In terms of current weaknesses, the deck probably needs a little more ramp to ensure Kalamax comes out as early as possible. This is why a lot of 1-2 mana ramp sources that are not instants are in the deck. Cards like
Harrow
or
Crop Rotation
would be fantastic if Kalamax is out and tapped, but not nearly as good when I need to be ramping up to cast him in the first place. when the hand has no ramp spells in it, you will likely be playing a land and passing the turn until turn 4.
Removal is another aspect I would like to enhance to pave the way for Kalamax to kill an opponent, despite the creatures/artifacts/enchantments they control. This would also help with 1/1 deathtouch blockers and/or Kalamax not having trample. As it stands there really is not any enchantment removal, and only one artifact removal card in the deck. An effect like
Cyclonic Rift
would be nice to have if I had the card.
The deck also struggles with consistent card draw. My thought here is to add more card draw spells that are low to the ground that are good with or without Kalamax. This is why
Thrill of Possibility
and
Frantic Search
is in the deck. The drawbacks of
Thirst for Meaning
and
Thirst for Knowledge
seemed too great for a deck that does not focus on either of those themes.
I think the last thing I will say is that while I did not start out wanting to make this a budget deck, the cards and theme sort of lent themselves to that idea. So with that in mind I did not include better mana fixing lands or cards like
Deflecting Swat
or
Fierce Guardianship
. These would be great additions if you have them, but I do not think the deck is ever going to be competitive enough to justify spending the money on cards like that.
