As Goes Light, So Goes Darkness

Commander / EDH* Aggro Angels Combo Demons Dragons RBW (Mardu)

Thundagawd

Land (32)

• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Eiganjo Castle
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Nomad Outpost
• 1x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Shadowblood Ridge
• 1x Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Slayers' Stronghold
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Malice
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Temple of Triumph
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of the Archangel
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Mardu Ascendancy
• 1x Necromancy
• 1x Oversold Cemetery
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Strands of Night

Creature (24)

• 1x Academy Rector
• 1x Aurelia, the Warleader
• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Bearer of the Heavens
• 1x Bloodgift Demon
• 1x Emeria Shepherd
• 1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
• 1x Mad Prophet
• 1x Master of Cruelties
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Resolute Archangel
• 1x Reveillark
• 1x Rummaging Goblin
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1x Ryusei, the Falling Star
• 1x Tariel, Reckoner of Souls
• 1x Thundermaw Hellkite
• 1x Utvara Hellkite
• 1x Yosei, the Morning Star

Artifact (10)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Blade of Selves
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Darksteel Ingot
• 1x Elixir of Immortality
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Quicksilver Amulet
• 1x Sol Ring

Commander (1)

Sorcery (18)

• 1x Armageddon
• 1x Beacon of Unrest
• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Council's Judgment
• 1x Day of Judgment
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Revelation
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Dreadbore
• 1x Exhume
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Victimize
• 1x Wrath of God

Instant (9)

• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Death Denied
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Grim Harvest
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Utter End
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

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Maybeboard

Creature (9)

• 1x Angel of Despair
• 1x Angelic Arbiter
• 1x Angelic Skirmisher
• 1x Archangel of Tithes
• 1x Baneslayer Angel
• 1x Guardian of the Gateless
• 1x Harvester of Souls
• 1x Humble Defector
• 1x Lord of the Void

Artifact (5)

• 1x Elixir of Immortality
• 1x Staff of Nin
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Instant (2)

• 1x Entomb
• 1x Unexpectedly Absent

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Replenish

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I've always wanted to make a Kaalia of the Vast deck, when I first got into Commander, I was looking around for potential Commander Candidates. Kaalia caught my eye, but to build a deck around her was way out of my price range, so I worked on other decks instead, but now, with the Commander 2015 decks out, and all my friends finally getting into the format, I decided to take the plunge and finally get around to building it.

Rather than go the "Summon as many huge creatures as fast as possible" route many people initially think of when Kaalia comes to mind, I instead decided to include several tutors, and a LOT of recursion, which would instead turn the deck into a Combo/Aggro hybrid which would come out fast & hard, and potentially finish off an opponent in a single turn, while leaving myself well defended enough to prevent too harsh of a retaliation.

Tutors:

Tutors are vital in a deck like this in order to set up combos rather than relying on blind draws, so naturally, I included a lot.

Academy Rector, Rune-Scarred Demon, Enlightened Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Buried Alive, Demonic Tutor, Diabolic Revelation, Diabolic Tutor, Idyllic Tutor

Recursion:

Recursion is also vital to the strategy of the deck, as some of the tutors send the chosen card(s) to the graveyard rather than to your hand/top of the deck. It can salvage a combo, or simply bring back annoying creatures (Being able to play the same card multiple times is invaluable in a Highlander format. Being able to bring back something like Iona, Shield of Emeria, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, or even Grand Abolisher several times is a nightmare for your opponents)

Volrath's Stronghold, Emeria Shepherd, Karmic Guide, Reveillark, Grim Harvest, Death Denied, Exhume, Reanimate, Beacon of Unrest, Victimize, Necromancy, Oversold Cemetery, Phyrexian Reclamation, Strands of Night

Draw Power:

Bloodgift Demon, Mad Prophet, Rummaging Goblin, Phyrexian Arena, Night's Whisper, Read the Bones, Sign in Blood

And finally, we have the combos:

Blade of Selves is a card that synergizes well with a LOT of the cards in the deck, as many of the creatures have ETB effects that work well with Kaalia of the Vast, so with Blade of Selves you can abuse those ETB/On Death effects:

• Blade of Selves + Kokusho, the Evening Star = insane lifedrain (more players = more copies = more damage).

• Blade of Selves + Ryusei, the Falling Star = basically a boardwipe against non-flyers (Containing mostly Angels/Demons/Dragons, the vast majority of creatures in this deck have flying by default).

• Blade of Selves + Yosei, the Morning Star = can potentially lock down a player's entire board.

• Blade of Selves + Rune-Scarred Demon = Free tutors every combat phase.

• Blade of Selves + Utvara Hellkite = Exponential amount of token generation.

• Blade of Selves + Master of Cruelties = I shouldn't really have to explain this one, it pretty much puts everyone into a really uncomfortable position with relatively little risk to the creature itself.

• Blade of Selves + Karmic Guide or Blade of Selves + Reveillark = free recursion every combat phase.

Moving away from Blade of Selves, we come into combos revolving primarily around Avacyn, Angel of Hope. Being able to make everything you own indestructible can lead so brutally one-sided board wipes.

• Avacyn, Angel of Hope + Wrath of God (Alternatively, Day of Judgment) = kill everyone else's creatures

• Armageddon + Avacyn, Angel of Hope = cripple everyone else's mana reserves (I like to compare this to attacking another player's workers in a game of Starcraft. Just completely cuts off their resources)

• Avacyn, Angel of Hope + Bearer of the Heavens + sac outlet or self-removal = Basically Game Over. If you have a strong enough board presence and the other players are essentially forced to return to square one, the odds of coming back from that are virtually nonexistant.

--In each above case, Boros Charm can substitute Avacyn, Angel of Hope--

And lastly, some combos revolving primarily around recursion abuse:

Crucible of Worlds + Strip Mine = Every turn you don't have a land drop, you destroy an opponents land and play Strip Mine from your graveyard. Makes for some very nasty attrition long-term

Strands of Night + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth = Lets you sac any land to get the desired effect (Urborg will have too be tutored up if Strands of Night is played, as there's only 1 actual swamp in the deck not counting the Shocklands).

Crucible of Worlds + Strands of Night = Alleviates a lot of the strain Strands of Night's recursion would otherwise cause on your mana base.

Crucible of Worlds + Emeria Shepherd = Free recursion, basically. (Pair it with the Strands of Night + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth combo listed previously and you get some sweet synergy).

Other than that, there's all the combos involving Kaalia of the Vast herself, but those are all rather straightforward, though the big one to look out for is the infamous Kaalia of the Vast + Master of Cruelties combo (Which can come out as early as turn 2 if you have the proper cards in your opening hand.

So far it seems good in theory (My playgroup consists of friends I've known/been playing with for a very long time, and very few of them play Control builds, and even then, there's a lot of counter hate in the form of things like Quicksilver Amulet, and Kaalia of the Vast herself). It's also worked rather well in the playtester too (Though that's not saying much), but I'd rather turn to the community for any further advice to improve the deck!

Date added	9 years
Last updated	7 months
Key combos	Crucible of Worlds + Strip Mine Kaalia of the Vast + Master of Cruelties Armageddon + Avacyn, Angel of Hope Blade of Selves + Kokusho, the Evening Star Blade of Selves + Ryusei, the Falling Star Blade of Selves + Yosei, the Morning Star Blade of Selves + Rune-Scarred Demon Blade of Selves + Utvara Hellkite Blade of Selves + Master of Cruelties Blade of Selves + Karmic Guide Blade of Selves + Reveillark Avacyn, Angel of Hope + Wrath of God Avacyn, Angel of Hope + Bearer of the Heavens Strands of Night + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth Crucible of Worlds + Strands of Night Crucible of Worlds + Emeria Shepherd
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 53 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.71
Tokens	Copy Clone, Dragon 6/6 R, Goblin 1/1 R
Folders	Commander, Nice decks