"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 within 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."
Prepare to feel the wrath of the Heavenly Inferno!
Kaalia of the Vast has been one of the most appealing commanders to me for a long time. I put off spending a lot of money on a deck for a while, but the time has come to give in (somewhat, still trying to go budget).
Mardu is my favorite color combo, and my other main Commander deck is also Mardu. Kaalia is so powerful, and the flavor of her card and her art is phenomenal. Even the name "Heavenly Inferno" is awesome.
Budget Kaalia decks aren't something that you see every day. Although it may be above some people's price range, I've still tried to make this one fairly budget-friendly. I started with the Commander Precon as a base but have since improved upon it, and will continue to do so. At the moment (9/25) I've spend around $70 on it, and $40 to get the precon, so a little over $100.
This deck is incredibly fun, in multiplayer or 1v1. It's pretty fast when it wants to be, and has held it's own fighting more expensive decks I've played it against, such as Nekusar's Wheels of Death and Bad Luck Brion
You can't help but love dropping huge, powerful creatures way before it's normal to. Akroma, Angel of Fury on turn 3? Yes please. Oops, I dropped my Lord of the Void and now I'm stealing your creatures. Oh man, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight got out and she's doubling all the damage I deal to you, and cutting your damage in half.
Angels, Demons, and Dragons are some of the most powerful creatures in Magic. Not to mention they're insanely fun, and all of their art is dope and flavorful. Some of the best ones have high CMCs though, but that doesn't matter with Kaalia on the field. Dropping 8 CMC creatures before you have 5 mana is so much fun. Paints a big target on your back in multiplayer, but it's worth it seeing the fear in your opponents' eyes when you instantly murder someone with Master of Cruelties. Usually if that happens, you're dead before your next upkeep, but again, worth it.
So I may have a little problem. I really like blowing up other people's creatures. I have over 8 targeted removal spells along with some other removal, in board wipes and a couple of creatures. I can't help but keep nuking creatures and other permanents with Mortify, Path to Exile, Terminate, or others. And then Earthquake comes in and wipes all the unfortunate souls stuck on the ground, which rarely hurts my side of the board.
Almost all of the artifacts and enchantments I have serve one of two purposes: Ramping into big creatures and making sure Kaalia of the Vastcan keep coming out and dropping big creatures, or protecting Kaalia.
Dragon Tempest is mainly for speeding up Kaalia and all of my other flying creatures so they can get their punches in faster.
Strionic Resonator, ahh how I love it. Getting to copy Kaalia's ability and drop two huge creatures for the price of, well, ? I'll take that any day of the week. The Resonator also works for some of my other creatures, for example Rune-Scarred Demon and Lord of the Void. Heck yeah.
Overall this Kaalia of the Vast deck is a blast to play. Win or lose, you'll always have a good time. Dropping powerful, high CMC creatures early in the game never gets old. With so many options of Angels, Demons, or Dragons, Kaalia decks will constantly be evolving and changing, adding new combos, new creatures, new ways to win and have fun.
Thanks for reading all this if you did, feel free to give it an upvote or leave some suggestions in the comments!
Thanks for the love! I've had quite a few upvotes from the enticement of the name of the deck, which I am quite proud of. Haven't updated this deck much recently, but I appreciate the continued support!
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