You play it for exactly that. Prevents exile/destroy/gain control of and you gain 1 life. It is almost an auto-include in every EDH deck in my opinion. Additionally, you need more 1-2 more lands and more mana rocks (Gilded Lotus, Thran Dynamo, Darksteel Ingot, and/or Coalition Relic) because you're in a rampless color combo.

I actually had quite a few mana rocks in my old deck iteration, but I've cut them since they don't ramp on the turn they come out and removing them opens up room for more card draw and tutor effects. My line of thinking is that I'll be able to find the combo pieces faster along with 1 of the many cheap reanimation effects and play the piece without the need for a lot of mana anyways. For example, the classic Entomb + Reanimate . Dropping a Gilded Lotus slows me down a turn, can be a dead draw too early or too late in the game, and may just end up being excessive mana in my case. My compromise is mana rocks like Grim Monolith that accelerate me on the turn they come down so at least one of the drawbacks I mentioned before goes away. If I ever get a hold of a Mana Crypt I will certainly add that in as well. As for High Market, I may as well replace Hall of the Bandit Lord since it doesn't have that many useful targets and this would provide a bit more open utility. And finally, in regards to my number of lands, I know that 36 is slightly on the low side and generally 37-38 is optimal, but so far I haven't really had trouble with getting mana screwed. I think the partial paris mulligan definitely helps to lessen the chances of that happening. Thanks for the suggestions!

How do you feel about Heartless Summoning? -1 less is a small price to pay to have my creatures cost two less..keeps Kaalia coming back after she dies without too much difficulty along with helping if shes been bodied one to many times

TheMaggotPrince I'm not quite sure how to feel about Heartless Summoning. There's no denying that the card has its uses in some decks, but I rarely cast Kaalia with this deck since she often isn't important to my usual win conditions. So, it really wouldn't be doing me any favors if intended for use with her. If anything, it would be used to drop combo creatures a little faster. While that can be helpful in some scenarios, I already have plenty of ways to get my combo pieces onto the battlefield for a fraction of their actual cost (like reanimation spells and effects like Sneak Attack) and I wouldn't want to be drawing this card too late in the game. I'm having a tough time seeing a card worth replacing with this, but I'll definitely look into options. Thanks for the suggestion!

No problem, Sneak Attack is a much better card. I run the traditional Kaalia in 1v1 format, honestly i want to run it to help me push my creatures out if Kaalia dies (which happens often) still just formulating a way to defeat that damn Brago player without having to give up too much of my build to specifically deal with him

So you tend to play 1v1, but with EDH rules/bans? Some people use Duel Commander bans for this type of gameplay which would open you up to cards like Griselbrand that are normally banned in regular EDH. You get him out and your opponent better have a fast answer. Of course you also lose some cards like Sol Ring. If you want to stick with regular EDH rules/bans when playing 1v1 against Brago, you could add in another tutor like Vampiric Tutor. Also, Nevermore is amazing in 1v1 and especially against decks that put their commander to heavy use (like you!). If you're getting countered a lot, maybe Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast. Hallowed Moonlight is a cool answer to a flicker. Aside from that. your best bet at protection are cards you already have like Mother of Runes, Grand Abolisher, and the swords. If his deck likes to search a lot, add in a Stranglehold. Lastly, mardu colors can suck at drawing cards which means you get less fuel for Kaalia. Maybe add in a Painful Truths. It's almost always a draw 3 and worth it. In the end, though, some decks inevitably have a tough time against others. These suggestions are there to minimize that edge.

:D wow thanks so much..id looove to play french but no one at my shop plays french :/ i might just add Nevermore because its sitting around in my cards..hmm..i really wish people would play french, id gladly give up my sol ring so i could get G-banned lol

Insidious Dreams looks a bit odd here. You might be better off using Gamble. A friend of mine also has a Kaalia deck. He uses Sire Of Insanity and Armageddon. Both cards are quite effective and might be worth your consideration.

And since you play mostly 1v1, disruption is most definitely the way to go.

Megalomania I thought Insidious Dreams would be a weird fit, too, until I tried it out. It can actually set the deck up fairly well for a combo win. The only awkward time is when it's the only card in my hand or I only have 1 other besides it. Gamble is definitely something I've been meaning to try out! I had Sire Of Insanity in my beatdown version, but it hurts me a lot in this combo-oriented Kaalia deck since I don't want to be discarding my hand all the time. Armageddon was another card I had in my old version, but I cut it since it was primarily used to solidify my lead over everyone after dropping a huge creature. In my current version, it would only really be useful if I use it in combination with something like Avacyn to protect all of my stuff. To me, that sort of reliance isn't worth a slot. Also, I actually use this deck in multiplayer and almost never in 1v1. For 1v1, this deck can operate a bit too slow against aggro matchups so I'd recommend a classic Kaalia build for that. In the comments I was just offering some 1v1 advice in case that got a bit confusing. Thanks for the feedback, though!

I would recommend Aurelia, the Warleader to get more out of Kaalia's effect. Plus that double attacking effect helps you cheat another demon, dragon, or angel from your hand onto the field. I would recommend putting a Steel Hellkite and Tyrant's Familiar in there for nice permanent removal. It's kind of a cheap move, but throwing in Gisela, Blade of Goldnight in there makes the game move a lot faster. Master of Cruelties is a really good card for this deck for a easy 5-6 turn win. He's pretty useless after he gets onto the field unless you have a Rogue's Passage, or Whispersilk Cloak out to make him unblock able. I run a Kaalia deck that revolves around nothing but heavy hitting demon, dragons, and angels, along with different board wipes and a few potential life gaining techniques Kaalia, Smash!

@commander_beef most of the cards you listed were in my old beatdown style deck, but I've moved onto being purely combo. I found that in multiplayer someone usually has an answer to my commander and, after awhile, she will cost just as much as my big demons/dragons/angels if I don't manage to close out the game decisively within the first few turns. An infinite combo is an automatic win if I manage to land one, which is fairly easy with this deck's setup. It's definitely a change from the traditional Kaalia deck, but in multiplayer it's much more evil and has a way better win record.

You can read my description for a more in depth explanation of how this unique version of Kaalia works, but essentially I have a bunch of reanimation and tutor effects to fetch up the combo pieces along with looters to draw through the deck ASAP. There's quick mana acceleration to help me drop the pieces fast, but no mana rocks that will delay me a turn. Finally, there's some counter hate added in for when the inevitable blue deck shows up. The added bonus to this whole plan is that you rarely look like a target to those that are unaware of how your deck works especially since you don't really need to cast Kaalia all too often.

Sorry to break it to you, but Deal Broker is technically NOT legal in commander. (according to gatherer)

TheDarkSlayer21 Official commander rules state that the format follows vintage legality along with its own select banned list. Deal Broker is completely legal as it is legal in vintage and not on the banned list.

Oh, i did not know that. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

No problem! :) Happy building with this new knowledge haha

I realise that for an Alesha EDH deck this is the least original suggestion ever, but Master of Cruelties is pretty sweet to 1-hit a player turn 3/4 with Alesha.

Master of Cruelties is definitely a fun card for both Alesha and Kaalia! I actually used to run it and would frequently piss off whoever was unlucky enough to not have a blocker ready in my playgroup. Unfortunately, the card also paints a huge target on my head once the first attempt is made so, even if I manage to take out a single person, the other players will react swiftly to take me down a notch. In the end it's kind of like a one-shot deal that takes a decent amount of effort to reset and makes people really pay attention to my graveyard (which I prefer to keep intact haha). It's a tough choice since it's such a satisfying card to win with, but I'd prefer my line of play to be something that just outright wins against the whole pod and doesn't have a clunky mana cost. Now if I'm in a 1v1 scenario, I'd instantly include this. Thanks for the suggestion!

This deck might like Dolmen Gate or Iroas, God of Victory to prevent the loss of your creatures when you reanimate with Alesha.

Thanks for the suggestions, Jellosea! I don't usually mind combat damage, though, since a lot of my reanimation targets will be combo pieces. I can simply respond with the initiation of the combo before combat damage is assigned. It can suck when I'm just trying to reanimate a utility creature, but I'm not sure I'd want to cut anything just to add in a single protection card or 2 for such a scenario.

This is absolutely brutal in the best ways! I don't really have anything to offer, as I have never had the misfortune to go against an Alesha deck. I am curious though as to what you would cut for Imperial Seal, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Bazaar of Baghdad and any other cards you might play if price was not a factor in order to make the deck as tuned as you feel it could be.

Demonic Tutor is better than Imperial Seal imo and $865 less.

Not in all cases, and certainly not in all decks (I.E. ones that care about the top card of the deck). Also I never suggested to replace one with the other. He might have both in a tuned list. Tutors are tutors, and cheap tutors that don't reveal any information are the best. What I was asking is what a tuned deck might look like if money was not a factor in the building process.

Forcefield

Catgroove Hey, glad you like the deck! If I were able to afford those cards, I'd probably swap Tabernacle and Bazaar in to replace 2 utility lands. Something like maybe High Market, Boseiju, Who Shelters All if the meta isn't very blue, or maybe a basic. As for Imperial Seal, it's a tough call. Perhaps Victimize since I've noticed that I tend to have one too many reanimation effects in some games. Or, maybe Deal Broker since he's a looter and Imperial Seal can fill a card selection role.

Jellosea Forcefield seems like a great anti-aggro/anti-beatdown card. Are there any situations where its useful outside of aggro decks, though? It'd be an interesting sideboard card for sure, but I'm not seeing where else it has potential (like where in combo/control matchups)

Forcefield shines at stopping voltron decks in their tracks. Aside from them, it's a generally good deterrent card in multiplayer games. Why attack you, and only do 1 commander/regular damage when they could get in the full amount against another player? The obvious downside is if an opponent is just going wide with tokens, it won't provide as much protection.