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Kalamax - Instant Speed Tribal Primer

Commander / EDH Combo Control Dinosaurs Primer RUG (Temur) Tempo

GHOSTE666

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Instant (39)

Land (34)

Enchantment (4)

Sorcery (1)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Kalamax, the Stormsire

Creature (11)

Artifact (10)

Maybeboard

Instant (23)

Creature (8)

Planeswalker (1)

Artifact (5)

Enchantment (3)

⤋ Kalamax - Instant Speed Tribal Primer ⤋
Background => Kalamax, the Stormsire, Illustrated by
Nicholas Gregory on

⤋ find Primer below ⤋


Background => Kalamax, the Stormsire, Illustrated by
Nicholas Gregory on
  1. Get Kalamax, the Stormsire onto the battlefield.
  2. Get it tapped, either by attacking or another spell / ability.
  3. Start generating value in form of card draw and selection.
  4. Control the board at instant speed. No need to bounce threats that don't attack you.
  5. Work through your deck and fill your graveyard slowly for even more interaction.
  6. React with some unexpected - and maybe also copied - counterspells.
  7. Get back lands from your graveyard.
  8. Be very flexible and win the game by beatdown, damage to each opponent, infinite turns...
  9. Use your spells more than once.
  10. Win the game out of nowhere.

The deck has the following lines / wincons. It's sorted by my personal favorite first.

Chandra's Ignition + Twincast

  • Wait for a spell put on the stack.
  • Make sure Kalamax is tapped.
  • Cast Twincast, targeting the spell on the stack with the original, targeting the original Twincast with the copy.
  • Copy Twincast as long as you want to, growing Kalamax as big as you want to.
  • Cast Chandra's Ignition.
  • Win the game.
Isochron Scepter + Mystical Tutor + Nexus of Fate

  • Cast Isochron Scepter imprinting Mystical Tutor.
  • Search Nexus of Fate (or already have it in your hand). Cast it and shuffle it back into your library.
  • Do stuff. Start your extra turn, untap Scepter searching for Nexus of Fate again.
  • Take infinite turns. Win the game.
Chord of Calling + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Pestermite

The following strong synergies assume that Kalamax is on the battlefield tapped.
Thrill of Possibility

Additional costs are costs that you may (or must) pay to successfully cast the spell. (see )
=> That means we discard 1 card and draw 2x2 = 4 cards in total for just !
Frantic Search

Dig 4 cards deep, fill our graveyard and "gain 3 mana"? Hell yeah! How does it work?
  • Cast Frantic Search for 3.
  • Kalamax triggers and the copy goes onto the stack.
  • Let the copy resolve, draw 2, discard 2. Untap up to 3 lands.
  • While the original is still on the stack, tap those 3 lands again to net you 3 mana (or more).
  • Let the original resolve and untap those lands again.
Manamorphose

Gain 2 mana and draw 2 cards? Hell yeah! Description not necessary ;o)
Crop Rotation + Harrow

Same to additional costs again (see Thrill of Possibility).
Remand

If we have "nothing better to do" we can interact with an opponent's spell on the stack and draw 1 card for like:
  • Cast Remand targeting the spell on the stack.
  • Target the original Remand with the copy.
  • Return the original to your hand, draw a card.
Gilded Drake

The little Drake works extremely well with our tempo / bounce spells:
Snap

Broken down this is: Bounce 2 creatures and gain 2 (or more) mana.
Dockside Extortionist + Temur Sabertooth

Could also be a Wincon because you can fetch it with a copied Chord of Calling but it assumes that your opponents control at least 5 artifacts and enchantments. Also it's the same argumentation as the Scepter Combo: Kalamax is no infinite mana payout.

Narset's Reversal

Unfortunately it doesn't work the way like Fork, Twincast and Reverberate.
Primal Amulet   + Baral, Chief of Compliance and so on

The deck doesn't want to be a traditional "Storm" off deck. In addition we have many spells without generic mana.
Past in Flames + Underworld Breach and so on

The deck doesn't want to be a traditional "Storm" off deck.
Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal Combo

The thing is, yes, it is a game ending combo BUT only if you have a payout. Kalamax is no payout. Isochron Scepter is a strong synergy for this deck. That's why I included it and made another game ending combo with imprinting Mystical Tutor and searching for Nexus of Fate every turn, winning by taking infinite turns (see above).
Flusterstorm

Unfortunately the copied Flusterstorm doesn't trigger Storm because the copy isn't cast.
Natural Connection

In my opinion the payout is too bad. If you play this spell on curve, Kalamax isn't on the battlefield yet. The same turn Kalamax entered the battlefield is very unlikely too. And let's assume you cast it the turn after Kalamax to get the copy, you have to spend 3 mana and get two lands into play tapped, meaning you have on untapped land and a land drop to hit. So you spend nearly an entire turn for this spell.
Seedborn Muse

It's a bomb of a card, no question, but it assumes that you have an repeatable instant speed way to tap Kalamax every turn.

Top 20 most expensive cards (including lands) and their budget alternatives:
(prices are taken from deckstats.net at 25.05.2020 cardmarket.com prices)
1. Volcanic Island

=> Temple of Epiphany, Izzet Boilerworks, Sulfur Falls, Shivan Reef
2. Tropical Island

=> Temple of Mystery, Simic Growth Chamber, Hinterland Harbor, Yavimaya Coast
3. Mana Crypt

=> Rampant Growth
4. Mox Diamond

=> Rampant Growth or something like Sakura-Tribe Elder and Farseek
5. Scalding Tarn

=> Grixis Panorama
6. Force of Will

=> Maybe an all time classic: Counterspell
7. Snapcaster Mage

=> Hard to budget because we already run Mission Briefing - maybe: Goblin Dark-Dwellers or Izzet Chemister
8. Intuition

=> Anticipate, Telling Time, Supreme Will
9. Misty Rainforest

=> Bant Panorama
10. Mana Drain

=> Counterflux, Disallow, Neutralize, Voidslime
11. Earthcraft

=> Hard to budget because we already run Cryptolith Rite - currently there is no other option.
12. Scroll Rack

=> Sorry but I don't know a "budget" alternative to Scrollrack - Sensei's Divining Top does provide the same card quality, but isn't budget too.
13. Gilded Drake

=> Another non-budget powerhouse with a unique effect... I found Spawnbroker but I guess that isn't an alternative at all.
14. Force of Negation

=> Let's make a "free Counterspell" budget.. wow.. ehm, yes, no!
15. Bloom Tender

=> Let's keep it unique.. some options might be to put in more Elf Mana dorks and replace Bloom Tender with Priest of Titania.
16. Command Beacon

=> There seems no end. Command Beacon is Unique for how it interacts with the Commandzone. Replace it by any other land that fits you.
17. Chrome Mox

=> If you follow the suggestion of Number 15 (Priest of Titania and more elvish Mana dorks), replace Chrome Mox with another Mana Elf.
18. Polluted Delta

=> Jund Panorama, Frontier Bivouac
19. Cryptic Command

=> Archmage's Charm.
20. Mind Over Matter

=> Last but not least there is no "similar" card like the powerhouse Mind over Matter.
You do want diversity and want to brew on your own? Use the prepared Scryfall queries below.
NOTE: All queries are ordered by latest and show only cards in your commander's color identity and Commander legal in general.

Ways to tap Kalamax (not enough?!): Attack, Mind Over Matter, Earthcraft.
Counterspells:

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Casual

99% Competitive

Top Ranked
Date added 4 years
Last updated 4 years
Key combos
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

14 - 0 Mythic Rares

45 - 0 Rares

18 - 0 Uncommons

13 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.67
Tokens Beast 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Drake 2/2 U, Manifest 2/2 C, On an Adventure
Folders Kalamax, Kalamax, Calimax wincon, Kalamax options, Prospective EDH, Interesting, General Decks of other People, EDH Interesting
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