Those are some of my favourites, but a Commander deck using this card wants lots of powerful Angels, Demons, and Dragons to put into play with Kaalia.
faisjdas
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(8 votes)
She has a pretty giant target painted on her forehead
I guess that's why they gave us Lighting Greaves in each of these things
Cyberium
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(6 votes)
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. The flavor text really makes me wonder why Kaalia is so ***ed.
Malnourished_Student
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Sooo much awesome potential in this card. I'll be including some fetch-lands and Admonition Angel. Swing -> Drop big angel -> Sac lands and remove blockers! Awesome.
Kryplixx
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Beautiful art + fun ability = win
LadyAngus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Mind-blowing ability, absolutely no denying that, but marked for death. Easily taken care of by "this creature can't attack" effects. Sure, Lightning Greaves can help her, like they can help any creature, but your opponent can still respond to their casting or equipping.
TheSwarm
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(4 votes)
She is so pretty, and Definantly AMAZING.
SgtSwaggr
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Absolutly stunning, both in ability and art. Michael Komark is arguably the best artist in the game.
With Rakdos, the Defiler in hand and Oni of Wild Places, you can instigate a pretty painful lockdown.
WateryMind
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My dream play:
Swing. get in. Drop Akroma. Laugh evilly.
MrBarrelRoll
★★★★☆ (5.0/5.0)(10 votes)
The only thing I don't like is how very linear EDH decks with her commanding it are going to be. Play Kaalia, cheat big creature into play, beat face, repeat. Which isn't to say she isn't an amazing, awesome card and commander, it's just that she doesn't really lend to the most varied of strategies.
Qazior
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
She will cause dramatic beatdowns if allowed to live. As said before, got a huge target marked right on her forehead. Btw, a flying human cleric?
Tynansdtm
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(9 votes)
Little known fact: flying stacks. She has a second set of wings behind her first. Only blockable by other double flying creatures and flying creatures with reach.
DevourerJay
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
IF she was real, I'd want her to carry my baby :D
Sironos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you like demons and dragons, you'll likely not be fond of angels, so my advice is to replace the white goodie-two-shoes angels with white removal or more demons and dragons (vorthos).
Awesome general, is bound to attract all kinds of hate towards you just by having her as general. This is a Timmy's dream.
Feralsymphony
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(9 votes)
Character Bio: Kaalia of the Vast sits within her mountain chapel pondering both the heavenly host and the infernal horde, tormented by her past, scarred by devastation. Her once-simple life as a cleric was reduced to ashes when shadowy beings massacred her congregation. Somehow she survived, but her soul was fractured, and a growing hatred soon grew in the cracks. Now, driven by a righteous fury and an unholy thirst for revenge, Kaalia broods feverishly, amassing her vast power, waiting to unleash her apocalyptic might upon any who stand in her way.
ThisisSakon
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I need more of her! Why is she so expensive!!!!!!
Oh wait, the same reason I need more of her. She's amazing...
Huffytreefolkman
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Hell hath no fury like your girlfriend PMSing. but on a serious note she's a cleric guys, and there's one cleric that ruduces he cost by reduces her cost to
This card makes EDH deck construction so boring and linear. EDH is supposed to be a social format that promotes creativity. It's a good general, I just don't see how it fits the purpose of Commander.
Kryptnyt
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(8 votes)
@blink182zombies If you check out "competitive" edh decklists, they tend to run very similar decklists, no matter the general. A lot of Spikes end up making the same decks over and over. More than anyone else, Spikes need a good reason to make a new deck, and try out new cards. Do the spikes do that? Sometimes. Anyway, is this going to be Sarkhan's girl?
The only other thing missing from Kaalia in EDH is more card draw to make sure you have enough crazy creatures to dump. Promise of Power is great, Moonlight Bargain is pretty good, and a Wheel of Fortune and the cheatable Dragon Mage are absolute musts.
My friend got a little bit ahead of himself and put Sunblast Angel on the battlefield with Kaalia's effect. He traded me the angel after that game.
Pheso
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Me: "Time for some board cleaning guys" Them: "But you only have one white mana." Me: "Tap for Kaalia, equip Grieves for 0, swing, drop Balefire Dragon (proxy)"
God...this card is going to love Innistrad
starfox444
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In a recent game my friend dropped Malfegor with this. I then responded with Gather Specimens and laughed meniacally.
SeiberTross
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
A horrifyingly good commander to be sure.
The strategy with her: R.P.K.C. (Reanimate, Protect, Kill, Creatures)
Protect: I'll spare you the ton of ways to protect her, but two big ones are Emerge Unscathed, because it often leads to 3 protected attacks and Apostle's Blessing for the colorless quality. Of course equips can play in here as well, but I'm a fan of instant speed.
Kill: Get rid of the blockers and future attackers, duh. Phyrexian Purge has been a particularly awesome one for me, gets rid of the early board and its a good trade off even if you're getting rid of a mulldrifter. This deck attacks to work, get rid of things that will hurt you.
Creatures: Use creatures that give you flexible options OVER face-punching power. For instance, Hoard-Smelter Dragon is an absolute MUST for this deck, repeatable artifact destroy means screwing up opponents early game sol ring and signets, gets rid of annoying equipments & combos, and devestates Sharuum the Hegemon & Reaper King decks. Rune-Scarred Demon, Bloodgift Demon, Deathless angel all good examples of this principle and should be immediate adds as well.
TL;DR: The one card you weren't thinking about, and is just devastating with the Kaalia deck?
This is insanity on a stick in this deck. Tempered Steel for EVERY creature in the deck. And adding 2 toughness to Kaalia means she can get over the early flying blockers opponents will try too put down to respond to her.
Etsap
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Just a rules note for the curious, when Kaalia puts a creature onto the battlefield, it does NOT trigger "When a creature attacks" abilities, because the creature wasn't on the battlefield at the beginning of the declare attackers step. It also doesn't have to pay for Propaganda effects. See Gemini Engine rulings for similar notes. This means Kaalia is amazing with Rakdos the Defiler, but not so good with Victory's Herald, Flameblast Dragon, or Mana-Charged Dragon.
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I got beat up by this card in the Classic room on MTGO. Now I'm a believer.
boneclub
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@Feralsymphony: Based on your story (pretty awesome, btw), if she had a TV Show, I would say her opening title sequence should be The Rolling Stones "Paint It Black"
pedrodyl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
why the condition where you have to attack an opponent? it's not like you can attack anything else...
I'll be honest, not a fan. EVERY time I've played her she was killed IMMEDIATELY, even with the Lightning Grieves that come in the decks. Not only that, but the deck is filled with so many big costing creatures, that some decks could just overrun you by the time you get them out. Ok, use Kaalia to get them out for free, I get it, but how can you get them out with her if they keep killing her before hand? The bullseye on her head is just way too big. Not only that, what if they have a creature with flying, reach, or just in general anti-flying permanents out? She's not strong enough to take down most of them, and if the whole point is for her to be swinging like a madman, she's going to end up dead more often than not. If I could change her ability, it'd be "T: Put an Angel, Demon, or Dragon creature card from your hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. Only activate this ability during the declare attackers step, and only once during your turn." You get the same effect except instead she remains alive, and she even gets depowered some since if you have multiple combat steps, you can keep throwin' angels, demons, and dragons out (if you managed to get her to survive up to that point) but you can't do that anymore with this new one. Either that, or tap it to put one of the three down, it gains haste, and then you sac it at the end of turn. Or hell, give her regenerate. Not like it'd be out of color for white or black. Make it cost one of each, and there ya go, now she can swing into stuff and drop creatures without worry.
merigold
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@edrodyl - you can attack planeswalkers, which does not trigger her ability
DarthParallax
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(9 votes)
Timmy: (scribbles 'and', instead of 'or')
Johnny, Vorthos, Spike, and Melvin: O.O
Timmy: ^_^
But seriously, folks--
Kaalia needs lots of help, because she has a really awkward cost. (1 colorless is tres annoying when you're trying to understand 'what's so great about Sol Ring?' :p)
Thankfully, the colors are anything BUT awkward- really it's pretty disgusting:
You know how Commanders like Equipment? Stoneforge Mystic. You know how Commanders like Board Wipes? Read the colors. You get 'em all o.o Ditto for Targeted killing if you want. You know how Commanders like Card Draw? Necropotence, I hear, draws rather a lot of cards. Especially after a Congregate. Oh, and there's always Bob (Dark Confidant).
Anyone can search Gatherer for the 15 or so highest rated Angels, Demons, and Dragons. Spikes will probably settle what the 'best' ones to use are in fairly short order. I say go ahead and run your Serra Angels, Shivan Dragons, and Lords of the Pit, because frankly these colors are a match made IN Heaven, FOR Hell, ON Earth. Avatar of Slaughter is 'the wrong type' and fits disgustingly perfectly. The on-color Titans are good times too. The support cards for Red, White, and Black put together get you: Tons of Death, Tons of Reanimating, and Tons of Swingy Bombs in general. Hell Warp the World while you're at it.
The specific card choices matter the least because of the ludicrous redundancy in Magic in these three colors of EXACTLY the things you want to be doing. Compare to Blue and Green, which to me are colors that of course have their own power, but feel to me like the question of 'strictly better' or not matters MUCH more.
"Tinker Belle" just not enough? Need moar Tutoring? How about Demonic Tutor? And Bladewing the Risen? And Idyllic Tutor? Token Generators: Dragonmaster Outcast, Luminarch Ascension, Skirsdag High Priest. Just pick one for lawlz. You know how the best draw spell in the game is secretly BLACK, not Blue? (Contract From Below) Land Tax is WHITE, not Green.
I don't know how long it will take to maximize the build, but I foresee Kaalia eventually becoming the Ultimate Commander- Not because of Timmy- that color combination just says 'PAIN. LOTS AND LOTS OF PAIN.' to me.
If you choose to NOT take the EDH path, she has somefriends waiting....
Salient
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(11 votes)
Play Kaalia
Attack w/Kaalia; put Lord of the Pit into play tapped and attacking
Next turn, sacrifice Kaalia to Lord of the Pit
...who's the commander now, puny human??
Lose your Lord of the Pit to whatever
Replay Kaalia from command zone; put Reya Dawnbringer into play
Dawnbring the Lord of the Pit back to play
Next turn, sacrifice Kaalia to Lord of the pit
I wasn't finished with you!
FoxxyEDarko
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really wish these commander cards were legal in other formats rather than legacy :/
BMK43
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Hey Guys- I'm a little underwhelmed here. I do absolutely love Kaalia and her abilities but my problem is that she has to be attacking in order to put the additional creature out and in EDH with multiple players, attacking leaves one wide open for the next guy. A simple damage or removal to Kaalia leaves her right back in the commander zone with the need for 2 more colorless to cast out again. Hit her twice and she almost becomes prohibitive to get out and in the meanwhile my hand was filling up with huge currently uncastable demons,dragons and angels! In the meanwhile, I was not fetching any smaller blockers and was left wide open and gutted. I was in fact getting a bit mana hosed for about 4 turns which probably did me in overall but I feel like this deck relies too heavily on Kaalia and once shes down n out, the deck falters hard. Which makes me question building edh decks around the commander's abilities. Commanders are easily wiped. Whispersilk Cloak? Sure with a 1 in 99 chance of coming out. Not the answer. However, I could in fact imagine a normal deck with 4 Kaalia etc etc... Comments to help? I really do love this deck to death but I'm a bit concerned. Maybe further plays will turn things around...
JimmyNoobPlayer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Another reason to pick up the Ghostly Possessions your friends throw out?
D3nt3
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Say what?? Nobody mentioned running her with Rakdos the Defiler?? For sure the best creature to drop with Kaalia by far, since his first ability won't trigger:
"The creature card is already tapped and attacking as it's put onto the battlefield. Any abilities that trigger when a creature becomes tapped or when a creature attacks won't trigger for that card."
Get attacked by Kaalia and BAAAM... 7/6 flying trample attacking you and if you take any single damage you have to sac half of your stuff. Game finisher!
And BTW, they share colors!
Lief098
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Well, they just spoiled Avacyn, Angel of Hope, and I'm pretty sure she's gonna be an auto-include in every Kaalia deck ever.
What she does: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Avacyn, Angel of Hope (5WWW)
Flying, Vigilance Avacyn, Angel of Hope and other permanents you control are indestructible.
8/8 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Personally, I'm looking forward to running her in reanimator, but Kaalia players are gonna have a boatload of good times with Avacyn too.
MANABURNWASGOOD
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
She's a very fun casual commander. I personally enjoy playing with her, but as was mentioned, she will always have a target on her. In my deck I run whispersilk, mask of avacyn, the boots, greaves, those equipments that will keep her around, but if you're playing her, you're going to be a target, and since people will have a tendency to run a lot of beef with her (myself included) she can be pretty slow at times, BUT, the colors, her colors are key, three of the best removal colors around. White can run disenchants, oblivion ring, wraths, swords to plowshares, and all of the other creature, artifact and enchantment removal that has. Then you have black for removal and search with the tutors and rune-scarred and the bloodgift, blood speaker, and pestilence demon are all fun. and then there's red for just mass destruction if need be, sneak attack can also help supplement getting that beef out.
Those are just the mono colored spells. Then you have to gold beauty Vindicate for B/W.
Yeah, she's a target, but if the deck is done right, there is a metric ton of stuff to help her survivability. Hell, let her go to the graveyard...living death, reanimate. So many possibilities.
Must I mention Rakdos, oh, and who won't be using the new Avacyn in a deck, combined with Iona...opponent = rage quit
endersblade
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
I foresee the price of this card maybe going up a bit when Avacyn Restored releases...
I've been used to playing relatively slow EDH decks. I made a deck with Kaalia as the general....holy crap. Absolute freaking beat down. Angels, Demons, and Dragons....they just don't get much angrier than that.
tcollins
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Rune-Scarred Demon for some serious tutoring in EDH, not to mention beating some face with a 6/6 flyer coming in to play. Or if you're REALLY nuts....try plopping a Hellcarver Demon or Rakdos the Defiler.
When the Commander deck series was first released, three of my friends and I each went out and each bought a different deck. I had really wanted the Political Puppets deck, because it played more to my style, but it was sold out. So, I defaulted into buying Heavenly Inferno. At the time, I was a little disappointed. But now things have changed...
Pipikako
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Fits great in my black/white deck. Angels and Demons kinda works great together with her...
Trygon_Predator
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
One of the most brutal Commanders. Kaalia, along with The Mimeoplasm, is one of those few that are immediate threats the moment they come roaring out of the command zone. You'd better be prepared to take her out as soon as she hits the battlefield, or be prepared to face the rising tide of Angels, Demons, and Dragons. And there are a lot - a lot - of them. Innistrad alone has given Kaalia such toys as Avacyn, Angel of Hope, Angelic Overseer, Griselbrand, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, Balefire Dragon...
Night on Bald Mountain- by Mussorgsky + Through the Fire and Flames- by DragonForce + I Wish I Had An Angel- by Nightwish = Kaalia of the Vast. E. nuf. SAID!
And SERIOUSLY, WATCH THIS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92OBNsQgxU&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL0BD11298BD17737A
Just skip to track 3. Couldn't you SO imagine Kaalia singing with Tarja's voice :O although I could see her playing the 'axe' like the Viking dudes too xD
And it's not just 'Creature-Angel' that makes some cards stand out as favorites for Kaalia, adrian. For example, creatures like Serra Angel, or creatures with lifelink, or first strike- i.e., anything remotely defensive.
You want hasty Dragons, DOUBLE striking Angels (because, for some unholy reason, they MAKE those now o.O) and Demons of Blasphemously Powerful Terror. If it looks like Avatar of Slaughter with Wings, put it in. If it looks like Jace, the Mind Sculptor with Wings, put it in. If it looks like Barney the Dinosaur with Wings, leave it out.
The only exception to the 'No Defense' rule is Indestructible. You should be Wrathing the Board every turn. Wraths should actually be like Nukes, and thus count as offense, not defense. I'm talking Cold War In Hell END OF THE WORLD levels of nuking. Wrath effects in a Kaalia deck should be like Targeted Removal effects in a Red Deck Wins deck. You should ALWAYS have one in hand or in play. Thanks to Griselbrand and Necropotence and Nicol Bolas knows WHAT else, there are enough exploitable effects either on creatures or ways to get your spells online that casting them shouldn't be an issue.
Oh yeah and I guess Griselbrand has lifelink. I suppose we can let him in. Maybe. He seems likely to do something bad (like EAT OUR SOUL) if we reject his application. :p
adrian.malacoda
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
Saying (insert angel or demon here) goes great in your kaalia deck is like saying a sliver goes great in a sliver queen deck. Duh.
Kaalia comments are now about as old as doom blade comments. We don't need your comment to tell us if it goes great in your kaalia deck. We can read the "Creature - Angel" on the card.
@Arachnos
You could use Dragon Arch to put other creatures from your hand into play... the ones you'd normally cheat into play with Kaalia herself. You couldn't use Dragon Arch to cheat Kaalia in, though, because the command zone is not your hand.
@ParallaxtheRevan
Relation to DarthParallax?
Dream_Twist
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I dislike this card because EDH is supposed to fun and casual. They go and print some ridiculous nonsense like this and it should cost a lot more mana. If you get a good enough hand and a lightning grieves on her it's game. I strongly dislike this card. Very bad mistake making it, and could potentially be used outside of EDH as well.
imsully2
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
I'm thinking Angelic Overseer makes sense, she's automatically Indestructible and Hexproof if brought in with Kaalia so flavor-wise I like the combo
Also I feel like the black part of her keeps getting screwed, Kokusho and Griselbrand getting banned, it just seems like they've banned all of blacks best options and left some ok stuff that can't keep up with white
Ferlord
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
It's very ironic that Kaalia's colours are that of a Bulls-Eye, because she is a giant target.
I hate playing with her, because once she hits the field, the game turns from "teehee, I'm making 20 tokens" to "Oh sh*t! Kaalia! Wrath of God, Wrath of God, Wrath of God!
pokeruz1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
EDH 1 on 1 My Zur vs Kaalia, i summon zur, he gets kaalia, i attack before kaalia can attack, i fetch pacifism, instant scoop
Lash_of_Dragonbreath
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@adrian.malacoda: 9999 stars to your comment.
@parralaxtherevan: I wouldn't be so eager to wipe the board with Kaalia. It's a super-aggro deck, why the hell would you want wipe the board when you probably have more value than your opponent in it? Unless we're talking about red sweepers on creatures (Ryusei, the Falling Star, Scourge of Kher Ridges) which are undeniably awesome in it.
And Kaalia is overhyped. Sure, she's brutal in 1vs.1. Sure, she cheats Avacyn, Angel of Hope, into play on turn 5. But remove her before she swings and you've completely disrupted her tempo.
Alsebra
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@ParallaxtheRevan - Why do you gotta hate the Phelddagrif??
TheWrathofShane
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Fail card is fail. To many Timmy nubs referencing this on anything remotely relevant, leading me to a .5/5 rating.
I find it interesting how she's willing to work with demons, given that the one she's apparently seeking vengeance against is Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis. Apparently, he slaughtered the Leonin that gave her the name Kaalia (it was just Lia before).
@TheWrathOfShane Yknow, between your comments whining about your church on all the devil creatures from Innistrad block and on stuff like this, you're like a living breathing example of a failpost.
VirusVescichetta
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Angels and demons and dragons, OH MY!
GrimjawxRULES
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
This card ruins the fun of EDH. If you play competitively, go ahead and use her, but if you're playing casual, your friends are going to hate you sooner or later.
Lord_of_Gelectrodes
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So powerful! It would be hilarious if they ended up banning a card from Commander as a commander.
KingRusty
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Shooot, I don't even run her in commander, personally, I think I'd like to run something less easily removed, but she works wonders in 60-card decks.
Tutor Avacyn, Angel of Hope and play Kaalia (Use Dash Hopes to discourage removal) Drop Avacyn next turn covering Kaalia and my army of vampires and angels attacking with her. Smile wide and evil and laugh if it's total overkill.
Kaalia gives me Avacyn; Kaalia makes my day. :)
Barring giants like Worldspine Wurm though. The thing is, she's not overpowered when faced with casual decks that drop things like that as fast as you do. Elvish Piper is the green equivalent, if they need it given the massive mana ramp green has. (I say this because my brother uses it.) Kaalia won't always be available as you may not always draw her. Sure, she can be tutored, but I'd rather search Thought Hemorrhage and get rid of Elvish Piper or nuisances like Eldrazi Con***ion or Asceticism. The only reason I mention all this is because I often hear about how overpowered Kaalia is. Really not. Unless you're lucky enough to consistently draw her you really only have a .07% chance of drawing her; that's if you run 4.
In commander, she's a much bigger issue since she's always available and you wouldn't typically play her unless you had a big reason in your hand, but given any other player can just as easily pick something "overpowered" means Kaalia can be overcome. Take Phage the Untouchable for example, It That Betrays is particularly dirty. Nicol Bolas actually makes a terribly sadistic general. It all depends, but I'd like to point out Kaalia, no matter the format, isn't OP. She's just useful in decks that facilitate her stats and ability.
Aside from that, she just bugs my Timmy a bit because I've been making all kinds of Demon decks for years. Unplayable, huge, demons and decks filled with them all in the name of "These are so awesome!"; but this card makes stuff like that too easy. Hear me out..
To me; part of Timmy-ism is actually paying the huge mana cost. I can get a 9/9 for 3 mana off of a Titan Forge and Coretapper; but that doesn't feel even half as huge as the Sundering Titan to my Timmy. Getting a 6/4 wind-mill slammed Pit Spawn feels bigger and way more bad ass. Why? Because you paid huge mana for it. Timmy's don't want to Show and Tell or Kaalia in my experience; they want to ramp into a giant beast and smile smugly at the achievement of *casting* huge things. Anyone can get a 20/20 indestructible T3; but it's too easy. It's two cards. Timmy wants the cogs to work in a Rube Goldberg kinda way; building the suspense as this ramp into that ramp plops something unstoppable and big way too early.
I like to think that true Timmys would bypass this card and run Rakdos the Defiler as their general; suffering all of his drawbacks in the name of hardcasting and dealing with an oppressive creature. To feel like they're really wrangling with a demon that's crushing them as much as it's crushing you.
This is what I think Wizards doesn't understand. Lord of Riots is big; but he's too easy. Kaalia drops *big*; but it's free. There's no suffering or accomplishment when the card just says "Here's some fat." The accomplishment of putting down a fearsome creature with fearsome art and suffering all the bad things it wants to do to you is what makes it fun.
Apologies for the wall of text; but I'm passionate about my Demons. (And golems.)
Three_Toe
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I am in favor of the notion that EDH should be casual and fun, but to those who dislike this card for that reason, I think you are misdirecting your frustration. People are competitive, cards are not. A Card is only as good as the other x in the deck make it. it is true that this commander doesn't leave a lot of room for creative deck-building, but it itself doesn't make a powerful, no-fun deck. I bought this very early in my EDH playing career, and I didn't own all the flashy Kaalia targets, so I was essentially using her for tempo, not ramp (similar, i know, but the difference is plopping down a serra angel with her turn 5 so I can use my 5 mana on other things, versus getting out iona, shield of emeria 100 turns early).
Comments (70)
Akroma, Angel of Wrath, Archangel of Strife or Iona, Shield of Emeria.
Demon of Death's Gate, Kuro, Pitlord or Pestilence Demon.
Dragon Tyrant, Bogardan Hellkite, or Vampiric Dragon.
Those are some of my favourites, but a Commander deck using this card wants lots of powerful Angels, Demons, and Dragons to put into play with Kaalia.
I guess that's why they gave us Lighting Greaves in each of these things
Swing. get in. Drop Akroma. Laugh evilly.
Btw, a flying human cleric?
Awesome general, is bound to attract all kinds of hate towards you just by having her as general. This is a Timmy's dream.
Kaalia of the Vast sits within her mountain chapel pondering both the heavenly host and the infernal horde, tormented by her past, scarred by devastation. Her once-simple life as a cleric was reduced to ashes when shadowy beings massacred her congregation. Somehow she survived, but her soul was fractured, and a growing hatred soon grew in the cracks. Now, driven by a righteous fury and an unholy thirst for revenge, Kaalia broods feverishly, amassing her vast power, waiting to unleash her apocalyptic might upon any who stand in her way.
Oh wait, the same reason I need more of her. She's amazing...
but on a serious note she's a cleric guys, and there's one cleric that ruduces he cost by
If you check out "competitive" edh decklists, they tend to run very similar decklists, no matter the general. A lot of Spikes end up making the same decks over and over. More than anyone else, Spikes need a good reason to make a new deck, and try out new cards.
Do the spikes do that? Sometimes.
Anyway, is this going to be Sarkhan's girl?
The only other thing missing from Kaalia in EDH is more card draw to make sure you have enough crazy creatures to dump. Promise of Power is great, Moonlight Bargain is pretty good, and a Wheel of Fortune and the cheatable Dragon Mage are absolute musts.
Oh, and World at War.
Them: "But you only have one white mana."
Me: "Tap for Kaalia, equip Grieves for 0, swing, drop Balefire Dragon (proxy)"
God...this card is going to love Innistrad
The strategy with her: R.P.K.C. (Reanimate, Protect, Kill, Creatures)
Reanimate: Trust me, the kill spells will fly out of hands early and often. Reya Dawnbringer, Unburial Rites (so good, don't underestimate flashback), Torrent of Souls, Karmic Guide (now an angel!), and of course Phyrexian Reclamation are all fantastic options that you don't see in many current Kaalia decks.
Protect: I'll spare you the ton of ways to protect her, but two big ones are Emerge Unscathed, because it often leads to 3 protected attacks and Apostle's Blessing for the colorless quality. Of course equips can play in here as well, but I'm a fan of instant speed.
Kill: Get rid of the blockers and future attackers, duh. Phyrexian Purge has been a particularly awesome one for me, gets rid of the early board and its a good trade off even if you're getting rid of a mulldrifter. This deck attacks to work, get rid of things that will hurt you.
Creatures: Use creatures that give you flexible options OVER face-punching power. For instance, Hoard-Smelter Dragon is an absolute MUST for this deck, repeatable artifact destroy means screwing up opponents early game sol ring and signets, gets rid of annoying equipments & combos, and devestates Sharuum the Hegemon & Reaper King decks. Rune-Scarred Demon, Bloodgift Demon, Deathless angel all good examples of this principle and should be immediate adds as well.
TL;DR: The one card you weren't thinking about, and is just devastating with the Kaalia deck?
Fervent Charge
This is insanity on a stick in this deck. Tempered Steel for EVERY creature in the deck. And adding 2 toughness to Kaalia means she can get over the early flying blockers opponents will try too put down to respond to her.
Johnny, Vorthos, Spike, and Melvin: O.O
Timmy: ^_^
But seriously, folks--
Kaalia needs lots of help, because she has a really awkward cost. (1 colorless is tres annoying when you're trying to understand 'what's so great about Sol Ring?' :p)
Thankfully, the colors are anything BUT awkward- really it's pretty disgusting:
You know how Commanders like Equipment? Stoneforge Mystic. You know how Commanders like Board Wipes? Read the colors. You get 'em all o.o
Ditto for Targeted killing if you want.
You know how Commanders like Card Draw? Necropotence, I hear, draws rather a lot of cards. Especially after a Congregate. Oh, and there's always Bob (Dark Confidant).
Anyone can search Gatherer for the 15 or so highest rated Angels, Demons, and Dragons. Spikes will probably settle what the 'best' ones to use are in fairly short order. I say go ahead and run your Serra Angels, Shivan Dragons, and Lords of the Pit, because frankly these colors are a match made IN Heaven, FOR Hell, ON Earth. Avatar of Slaughter is 'the wrong type' and fits disgustingly perfectly. The on-color Titans are good times too. The support cards for Red, White, and Black put together get you: Tons of Death, Tons of Reanimating, and Tons of Swingy Bombs in general. Hell Warp the World while you're at it.
The specific card choices matter the least because of the ludicrous redundancy in Magic in these three colors of EXACTLY the things you want to be doing. Compare to Blue and Green, which to me are colors that of course have their own power, but feel to me like the question of 'strictly better' or not matters MUCH more.
"Tinker Belle" just not enough? Need moar Tutoring? How about Demonic Tutor? And Bladewing the Risen? And Idyllic Tutor? Token Generators: Dragonmaster Outcast, Luminarch Ascension, Skirsdag High Priest. Just pick one for lawlz. You know how the best draw spell in the game is secretly BLACK, not Blue? (Contract From Below) Land Tax is WHITE, not Green.
I don't know how long it will take to maximize the build, but I foresee Kaalia eventually becoming the Ultimate Commander- Not because of Timmy- that color combination just says 'PAIN. LOTS AND LOTS OF PAIN.' to me.
EDIT: IGNORE THIS POST. Elbrus, the Binding Blade + Stoneforge Mystic.
Vorthos, Spike, Melvin, Timmy: 8O 0_________________________O that's....just....dumb. really really dumb.
Johnny: >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D >:D
Attack w/Kaalia; put Lord of the Pit into play tapped and attacking
Next turn, sacrifice Kaalia to Lord of the Pit
...who's the commander now, puny human??
Lose your Lord of the Pit to whatever
Replay Kaalia from command zone; put Reya Dawnbringer into play
Dawnbring the Lord of the Pit back to play
Next turn, sacrifice Kaalia to Lord of the pit
I wasn't finished with you!
"The creature card is already tapped and attacking as it's put onto the battlefield. Any abilities that trigger when a creature becomes tapped or when a creature attacks won't trigger for that card."
Get attacked by Kaalia and BAAAM... 7/6 flying trample attacking you and if you take any single damage you have to sac half of your stuff. Game finisher!
And BTW, they share colors!
What she does:
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Avacyn, Angel of Hope (5WWW)
Flying, Vigilance
Avacyn, Angel of Hope and other permanents you control are indestructible.
8/8
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Personally, I'm looking forward to running her in reanimator, but Kaalia players are gonna have a boatload of good times with Avacyn too.
Those are just the mono colored spells. Then you have to gold beauty Vindicate for B/W.
Yeah, she's a target, but if the deck is done right, there is a metric ton of stuff to help her survivability. Hell, let her go to the graveyard...living death, reanimate. So many possibilities.
Must I mention Rakdos, oh, and who won't be using the new Avacyn in a deck, combined with Iona...opponent = rage quit
I've been used to playing relatively slow EDH decks. I made a deck with Kaalia as the general....holy crap. Absolute freaking beat down. Angels, Demons, and Dragons....they just don't get much angrier than that.
And SERIOUSLY, WATCH THIS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92OBNsQgxU&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL0BD11298BD17737A
Just skip to track 3.
Couldn't you SO imagine Kaalia singing with Tarja's voice :O
although I could see her playing the 'axe' like the Viking dudes too xD
And it's not just 'Creature-Angel' that makes some cards stand out as favorites for Kaalia, adrian. For example, creatures like Serra Angel, or creatures with lifelink, or first strike- i.e., anything remotely defensive.
You want hasty Dragons, DOUBLE striking Angels (because, for some unholy reason, they MAKE those now o.O) and Demons of Blasphemously Powerful Terror. If it looks like Avatar of Slaughter with Wings, put it in. If it looks like Jace, the Mind Sculptor with Wings, put it in. If it looks like Barney the Dinosaur with Wings, leave it out.
The only exception to the 'No Defense' rule is Indestructible. You should be Wrathing the Board every turn. Wraths should actually be like Nukes, and thus count as offense, not defense. I'm talking Cold War In Hell END OF THE WORLD levels of nuking. Wrath effects in a Kaalia deck should be like Targeted Removal effects in a Red Deck Wins deck. You should ALWAYS have one in hand or in play. Thanks to Griselbrand and Necropotence and Nicol Bolas knows WHAT else, there are enough exploitable effects either on creatures or ways to get your spells online that casting them shouldn't be an issue.
Oh yeah and I guess Griselbrand has lifelink. I suppose we can let him in. Maybe. He seems likely to do something bad (like EAT OUR SOUL) if we reject his application. :p
Kaalia comments are now about as old as doom blade comments. We don't need your comment to tell us if it goes great in your kaalia deck. We can read the "Creature - Angel" on the card.
@Arachnos
You could use Dragon Arch to put other creatures from your hand into play... the ones you'd normally cheat into play with Kaalia herself. You couldn't use Dragon Arch to cheat Kaalia in, though, because the command zone is not your hand.
@ParallaxtheRevan
Relation to DarthParallax?
Also I feel like the black part of her keeps getting screwed, Kokusho and Griselbrand getting banned, it just seems like they've banned all of blacks best options and left some ok stuff that can't keep up with white
I hate playing with her, because once she hits the field, the game turns from "teehee, I'm making 20 tokens" to "Oh sh*t! Kaalia! Wrath of God, Wrath of God, Wrath of God!
@parralaxtherevan: I wouldn't be so eager to wipe the board with Kaalia. It's a super-aggro deck, why the hell would you want wipe the board when you probably have more value than your opponent in it? Unless we're talking about red sweepers on creatures (Ryusei, the Falling Star, Scourge of Kher Ridges) which are undeniably awesome in it.
And Kaalia is overhyped. Sure, she's brutal in 1vs.1. Sure, she cheats Avacyn, Angel of Hope, into play on turn 5. But remove her before she swings and you've completely disrupted her tempo.
@TheWrathOfShane
Yknow, between your comments whining about your church on all the devil creatures from Innistrad block and on stuff like this, you're like a living breathing example of a failpost.
It would be hilarious if they ended up banning a card from Commander as a commander.
Tutor Avacyn, Angel of Hope and play Kaalia (Use Dash Hopes to discourage removal)
Drop Avacyn next turn covering Kaalia and my army of vampires and angels attacking with her.
Smile wide and evil and laugh if it's total overkill.
Kaalia gives me Avacyn; Kaalia makes my day. :)
Barring giants like Worldspine Wurm though. The thing is, she's not overpowered when faced with casual decks that drop things like that as fast as you do. Elvish Piper is the green equivalent, if they need it given the massive mana ramp green has. (I say this because my brother uses it.) Kaalia won't always be available as you may not always draw her. Sure, she can be tutored, but I'd rather search Thought Hemorrhage and get rid of Elvish Piper or nuisances like Eldrazi Con***ion or Asceticism. The only reason I mention all this is because I often hear about how overpowered Kaalia is. Really not. Unless you're lucky enough to consistently draw her you really only have a .07% chance of drawing her; that's if you run 4.
In commander, she's a much bigger issue since she's always available and you wouldn't typically play her unless you had a big reason in your hand, but given any other player can just as easily pick something "overpowered" means Kaalia can be overcome. Take Phage the Untouchable for example, It That Betrays is particularly dirty. Nicol Bolas actually makes a terribly sadistic general. It all depends, but I'd like to point out Kaalia, no matter the format, isn't OP. She's just useful in decks that facilitate her stats and ability.
Aside from that, she just bugs my Timmy a bit because I've been making all kinds of Demon decks for years. Unplayable, huge, demons and decks filled with them all in the name of "These are so awesome!"; but this card makes stuff like that too easy. Hear me out..
To me; part of Timmy-ism is actually paying the huge mana cost. I can get a 9/9 for 3 mana off of a Titan Forge and Coretapper; but that doesn't feel even half as huge as the Sundering Titan to my Timmy. Getting a 6/4 wind-mill slammed Pit Spawn feels bigger and way more bad ass. Why? Because you paid huge mana for it. Timmy's don't want to Show and Tell or Kaalia in my experience; they want to ramp into a giant beast and smile smugly at the achievement of *casting* huge things. Anyone can get a 20/20 indestructible T3; but it's too easy. It's two cards. Timmy wants the cogs to work in a Rube Goldberg kinda way; building the suspense as this ramp into that ramp plops something unstoppable and big way too early.
I like to think that true Timmys would bypass this card and run Rakdos the Defiler as their general; suffering all of his drawbacks in the name of hardcasting and dealing with an oppressive creature. To feel like they're really wrangling with a demon that's crushing them as much as it's crushing you.
This is what I think Wizards doesn't understand. Lord of Riots is big; but he's too easy. Kaalia drops *big*; but it's free. There's no suffering or accomplishment when the card just says "Here's some fat." The accomplishment of putting down a fearsome creature with fearsome art and suffering all the bad things it wants to do to you is what makes it fun.
Apologies for the wall of text; but I'm passionate about my Demons.
(And golems.)
No one is saying you can't run casual cards. electropotence, magus of the moat, earthquake. No one's saying you have to run general tucks like chaos warp, terminus, or BS like Master of cruelties or sorin markov. So, in summation, hate the player not the game, son.