Need Card Suggestions for Kalamax, the Stormsire
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on April 16, 2020, 5:39 p.m. by theindigoeffect
In my opinion, the biggest hurdle to building a Kalamax, the Stormsire deck is that the Commander needs to be tapped. So...
-
What are the best cards to help Kalamax, the Stormsire compensate for having to be tapped?
-
How many of the aforesaid cards would you recommend putting in a deck?
Thanks, everyone.
multimedia says... #3
Hey, I'm playing Kalamax on a budget and the cards I use to tap it if it hasn't attacked are Holdout Settlement, Survivors' Encampment, Springleaf Drum, Smuggler's Copter and Cryptolith Rite.
Making mana by tapping Kalamax is helpful to cast spells. Settlement and Encampment are nice because they're lands. They don't take up two other spots in the deck. Rite is better if you have a secondary token them because then tokens become mana dorks.
Copter and Drum can tap Kalamax if it has summoning sickness which is helpful to tap it the same turn you cast it. Copter can tap Kalamax at any time/any number of times with crew 1.
Spells with convoke can be used to tap Kalamax even if it has summoning sickness and use the mana it makes to cast the convoke spell. Chord of Calling is a powerful convoke spell with Kalamax. Sprout Swarm with convoke and buyback can be repeatable tokens and a repeatable instant to cast for Kalamax. With convoke Kalamax plus the tokens can pay for Sprout mana cost with buyback.
April 16, 2020 8:25 p.m.
theindigoeffect says... #4
Great suggestions, guys.
Come to think of it, cards like Whispersilk Cloak and Rogue's Passage could also be effective.
April 16, 2020 10:23 p.m.
Paradise Mantle is another good option. You should also consider haste givers for when he enters the battlefield and if you're using any instants that create tokens. Also I say this with every commander, but Helm of the Host works wonders and would stack copies of instants when you cast it.
April 16, 2020 10:43 p.m.
NinjaBunny01 says... #6
One thing I see people haven't mentioned is cards like Twincast can make Kalamax infinitely big by copying the twincast card effect over and over again. So if you can cast it while attacking, it won't matter much ;). So the cards I am thinking about are: Narset's Reversal, Fork, Expansion / Explosion, Reiterate, Reverberate, and Increasing Vengeance
April 17, 2020 8:11 a.m.
triproberts12 says... #7
It really depends on what kind of deck you want to build. If you're trying to infinitely copy Fork or something, Survivors' Encampment, Holdout Settlement, and Springleaf Drum are basically free, repeatable self-tappers. A more aggressive deck that wants to attack with lightning-butt the turn he comes down might prefer the package of Expedite, Crimson Wisps, Samut's Sprint, and Accelerate.
April 17, 2020 10:06 a.m.
Flooremoji says... #8
NinjaBunny01: That dosen't work like you think it does!
April 17, 2020 3:06 p.m.
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #9
Flooremoji: Actually, it does, although I don't think you can do it during combat since the Twincast has to be the first instant you play each turn.
What happens is, you tap Kalamax, then cast a sorcery, then cast Twincast on the sorcery. Kalamax copies it. The copy targets the original Twincast. The copy resolves, Kalamax gets a +1/+1 counter, and the copy creates a new copy that also targets the original Twincast - repeat ad nauseam until Kalamax is lethal.
Of course, you now need a way to untap Kalamax to swing with him, and he's gotta survive combat/connect to win, but the idea is sound.
April 17, 2020 3:35 p.m.
Flooremoji says... #11
Oh lol didn't see his copy ability, I thought you needed an extra copy spell :)
April 18, 2020 3:08 p.m.
I plan on exploiting as many convoke/conspire cards that I can to tap our dinosaur guy out of nowhere. Also, kicker spells are twice is good as the copy is also considered kicked.
May 2, 2020 8:06 a.m.
Burnie1990 says... #13
New card in kaldiem bind the monster take his four damage and keep him tapped
PhotogenicParasympathetic says... #2
That's not a hurdle - that's an advantage! Step one: Attack with Kalamax. Step two: cast spells!
A large number of spells that you'll want to cast during opponent's turns seems ideal - you'll want to attack (tapping Kalamax), then copy a spell on each of the following turns. Counterspells are probably going to be quite strong, since copying them means you have a huge advantage against other blue decks that might try to counter back. Targeted removal (Lightning Bolt, Beast Within, Krosan Grip, Chaos Warp, Unsummon, Into the Roil, even temporary things like Icy Blast or Crippling Chill) would all be helped as well, and I'd run a lot of them to help defend you while Kalamax is tapped down. And of course, instant-speed card draw like Chemister's Insight, Frantic Search, Momentous Fall, Fact or Fiction etc. will all be at a premium here. Defensive spells like Veil of Summer and Heroic Intervention won't be as strong, but should probably still make the deck to keep Kalamax safe.
If you're looking for non combat ways to tap Kalamax, and ways to untap him freely, I suggest edhrec's page on King Macar, the Gold-Cursed, who is probably one of the better-known "needs to tap/untap to be good" commanders, and though he doesn't share colors, he'll cover a lot of the artifacts that can help your strategy. Vehicles, I imagine, could be a nice way to tap Kalamax at faster-than-instant speed.
April 16, 2020 7:01 p.m.