i would have never thought of kiki-jiki as a combo in here, that's pretty funny. fellow kaalia player, +1 from me

also another good fetch for equipment/aura is Open the Armory

fyi since kaalia forces master of cruelties to come out tapped and attacking his down to 1 life doesn't work. it's exactly like aurela. you will not get another attack phase if you bring her out with kaalia

Kaalia of the Vast taps & attacks. Triggered ability resolves which puts Master of Cruelties onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. You don't need to worry about overcoming Master of Cruelties restriction at this point because Master of Cruelties never attacks this turn. At the end of the declare blockers step, if Master of Cruelties remains unblocked, his triggered ability reduces the opponents life to 1. During the damage assignment step, if Kaalia of the Vast remains unblocked, she will deal 2 damage to the opponents life, which we know to be at 1. An opponent at -1 life, as a state based effect, player is removed from game and you win the game assuming there are no other players or effects in play. You are correct that once Master of Cruelties is on the battlefield this no longer works, because he can only attack alone.

ya I completely forgot about the not.blocked part. haha

Is stone forge mystic really worth it in here for two equipment cards? I normally demonic tutor for my greaves or swiftfoot boots, if I haven't drawn them already.

Agreed Stoneforge Mystic isn't as necessary with only the 2 equipment cards. I used to play Sword of Feast and Famine which made her have additional utility, but have removed it from mainboard. I also play Demonic Tutor and would like to eventually add Grim Tutor. My thinking was that Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are so critical to my game plan, if I could add an unlimited number, how many would I add? I use Steelshaper's Gift because it only adds 1 CMC, and I kept Stoneforge Mystic because she can recursively activate with Reveillark to bring the second boots in. In additional she provides board position and adds 2 CMC to the boots. She works better than Open the Armory, and there's no other 1 CMC spells that put an equipment into the hand, I don't believe. Perhaps a Sensei's Divining Top would be better utility than Stoneforge Mystic. Excellent evaluation.

I run a lot of dirty stuff in my Kaalia deck.Aggravated Assault + Sword of Feast and Famine - better than hellkite in my opinion because you don't have to worry about hellkite staying alive. (Though I do run a hellkite as well with it just in case).

Sundial of the Infinite + Sneak Attack and/or Whip of Erebos Using the Sundial to make the creatures stay at the end of your turn.

I added Conjurer's Closet to the deck and tutor for it with Rune-Scarred Demon so I can tutor at the end of each of my turns.

Animate Dead + Worldgorger Dragon + Stuff that costs lots of mana. Using this combo you could get infinite mana by exiling everything then bringing it all back by bouncing animate dead and worldgorger back and forth and tapping your mana in response, creating an infinite mana loop which you could then use to cast an X spell such as your Entreat the Angels - this one doesn't always work because Worldgorger Dragon has to be in the graveyard. But it is still fun. :P

Also I run a lot of shut down cards once kaalia is out. like Cataclysm, Winter Orb, Armageddon

Thanks for the comments MrKavanagh!

I've added Aggravated Assault to my maybeboard, I originally had Sword of Feast and Famine in there with Hellkite Charger but removed it to play test the Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker combos. A powerful consideration for sure. The extra equipment also up-values the Stoneforge Mystic

Looking at Sundial of the Infinite, I could Whip of Erebos / Sneak Attack play a creature, then during my end step allow the delayed trigger of Whip of Erebos / Sneak Attack to go onto the stack, then in response end the turn and the creature remains. Very interesting. With Whip of Erebos it would still exile whenever it left the battlefield, but it's a semi-permanent unburial. Adding to maybeboard, must be other cards to abuse with Sundial of the Infinite.

I considered Worldgorger Dragon quite a bit, I decided not to go with him primarily because, Worldgorger Dragon enters the battlefield, with the ETB trigger on the stack, he is removed by any targeted instant removal, then his LTB trigger goes on the stack. LTB resolves, nothing is exiled yet. ETB triggers and exiles all my permanents. I basically hand the win away to a Path to Exile, Terminate, Etc. any instant removal. Too much risk for me!

I also wanted to play more of an aggro Kaalia of the Vast instead of a lockdown type. But if this doesn't work, it's where it will have to go.

Thanks for the feedback, very much appreciated.

This needs Sneak Attack and Hall of the Bandit Lord

Thanks jhjameszilla I returned Hall of the Bandit Lord back into the mainboard. I've also added Dragon Tempest. I'll have to pickup a Sneak Attack and a Sundial of the Infinite to test those out.

I like your combo take on this deck. Have you considered Sigil of the New Dawn and/or Nim Deathmantle to save/recurr your creatures? Crucible of Worlds + Command Beacon also negate the commander tax you might accrue with all the hate.

Thanks Enral

Sigil of the New Dawn is a litte worse Phyrexian Reclamation due to a higher CMC and having to activate during a trigger. I don't play Phyrexian Reclamation either, mainly because it only helps when Kaalia of the Vast is working well (playing creatures from my hand). If so 1 or 2 resolved creatures is usually enough board position based on their abilities. I run a couple re-animates Reanimate and Animate Dead incase Kaalia of the Vast is being controller. On occasion I'll have a Kaalia of the Vast and no creatures in my hand, that's when I really miss a Phyrexian Reclamation.

Nim Deathmantle is a bit expensive to equip at 4 CMC, however, it recursively protects the same creature over and over. Not a bad strategy either I suppose, but most of my creatures are there to protect themselves, my board, control opponents, etc. Will have to playtest it a bit, see how often it activates. Whose killing 8/8 angels/demons/dragons that often? Might help keep Kaalia of the Vast alive though, similar to your Command Beacon thoughts. Must be some combos with Nim Deathmantle will have to research.

Crucible of Worlds is an amazing card, If I decided to go the Cataclysm + Armageddon + Winter Orb route with the deck idea, that will be a desirable combo. A Crucible of Worlds without the Command Beacon in my current deck format doesn't do much for me, so I try my best to avoid cards that do nothing on their own unless they are paired. Pretty much each card in the deck has value on it's own, even Goblin Bombardment for example, is a key combo card, but on it's own protects my angels/demons/dragons from being taken control of as an example.

I'll try the Nim Deathmantle and do some research I'm just worried about the trigger timing and the 4 mana cost. Crucible of Worlds I'll keep on the backburner incase I change the deck flavor.

Thanks for the suggestions, They are VERY much appreciated, I really want to get excellent other perspectives and make this deck run consistent.

Crucible of Worlds would also work with Arid Mesa, Marsh Flats, Bloodstained Mire, Flooded Strand, Windswept Heath and Evolving Wilds in further consideration and evaluation.

Nice deck +1. Would you mind reviewing and upvoting my St Traft Azorius Control?

Spirits, I run a Kallia deck as well, +1 from me! I was reading through your comments, looking for new ideas for my build, and I came across the same question when it come to Kaalia's interaction with Master of Cruelties, so I did some research and as I understand, when he is put on the battlefield using Kallia's ability, he is already attacking, he was never declared as an attacker in the declare attackers step, therefore his ability to reduce the opponent to 1 life does not apply. I was sad to discover this, but good to know. Feel free to fact check me, but I have pulled the Master from my deck as it doesn't really do what I had hoped it would.. check it out if you have time! Kaalia's Vastest Mardu-siest most-es Evil-iestes may the mana be with you.

I like your Stranglehold + Maralen of the Mornsong synergy. Very smooth. What do you think about other stax cards like Eidolon of Rhetoric, Rule of Law, or Thalia, Heretic Cathar to throw off opposing blue players' game plans?

Hey Splashy thanks for the comment.

I don't think Eidolon of Rhetoric or Rule of Law are suitable in mine. In the 3 spot, which is usually turn 2 or 3, I need a Dark Confidant, Phyrexian Arena or to Tutor and play a Lightning Greaves or Dragon Tempest to setup for a turn 3 Kaalia of the Vast. This deck is Combo then Aggro. In a deck that runs Winter Orb or Armageddon type control would be more suitable. I prefer more protection than prevention, example Grand Abolisher prevents doing anything to my Kaalia of the Vast on my turn, or a Mother of Runes. I also find Serra Ascendant will also burn a control spell normally reserved for Kaalia of the Vast early on.

That Thalia, Heretic Cathar is pretty good. Nice static ability, slows the opponents down which makes you look faster. I don't quite have the room to fit her in on the 3 slot, but she is very good and I could see building other synergies around her as well, Winter Orb for example has GREAT Synergy.

this deck looks super intense. I used to play Kaalia a few years ago but mine wasn't optimal but it was still intense.

I can only imagine how powerful this one is

No prob Spirits, the list looks good. Winter Orb is awesome and I used to run it in conjunction with Mana Web and War's Toll to lock out the table. Very very strong card in kaalia. On that note though what do you think about Static Orb or Tangle Wire? Both can effectively be copies of winter orb in the deck and are a great play the turn after dropping Kaalia.

Grand abolisher is mvp, I use him in my list to protect the kiki jiki or worldgorger combos, in addition to kaalia. I'm seriously considering Silence, Orim's Chant, and Defense Grid back in as even more protection.

It's interesting to compare our lists because we're both trying to work combo into kaalia but our ways of doing so are very different. I'm favoring a more reanimate/ stax driven route where as you're trying to perfect the aggro/ control.

Thanks for the compliment motleyslayer. I really enjoy playing it. Hoping for it to continue to develop and grow.

Hey Splashy,

Mana Web is pretty effective in this format, especially with a resolved Static Orb or Winter Orb. I like both. It's target opponent, so War's Toll gives you the additional coverage, but you may see all lot of creatures coming at you each turn. Tangle Wire is definitely a classic, but in this application, not quite as good as your alternatives.

I've often considered Silence, it really needs Split Second in my opinion to be effective. If you cast it pre-emptive you might force their hand and control which doesn't help, or if you wait to respond, they still may have a response. Could be a dead draw in many circumstances too. For my build, I play several Instant removal, you play fewer but still you may find Defense Grid can hurt you as much as them on occasion if an opponent is pushing for a win.

Crucible of Worlds seems like it should work in your format with Armageddon and Cataclysm. You could also add a Command Beacon to maintain that CMC 5 Kaalia of the Vast as well. Land Tax may also be interesting after also but Kaalia of the Vast has so few basic lands it's not really worth it. Could pair it with a Strip Mine or the other Strip Mine, can't remember it's name off the top of my head, but exactly identical ability. Once you clear the board, Crucible of Worlds your Strip Mine to keep the board locked.

Piranha Marsh doesn't seem worth the enters tapped.

Dance of the Dead should work with your unburial, as well as your Worldgorger Dragon combos. Pairs well with a Turn 1 Entomb as well.

Looking again, the Piranha Marsh seems critical for the Worldgorger Dragon Combo. My bad Splashy.

Spirits Haha, yeah I'd love to play Crucible of Worlds but I just can't afford one at the moment. Same reason why there's no dual lands in my deck XD

Strip Mine and Wasteland not being in the deck is because crucible isn't there. My list is already very color intensive and having too many colorless lands that don't participate in a combo can hurt it badly.

It's funny that you brought up Land Tax however because I've got one in the mail at the moment. It's going to replace Thran Dynamo and from my playtesting with tax, it can get scary in conjunction with Insidious Dreams.

I've thought about Dance of the Dead but paying mana to untap the reanimated creature always turned me off. I'll have to test it out and see how it works, but that was really the main reason why it isn't already in there.

If you want to run Mana Web the good news is that it's been oracled so that it now reads "opponents" instead of just "target opponent". War's Toll is still the more powerful effect, but for being colorless web is certainly good.

Spirits I am a huge fan of this deck and have drawn a lot of inspiration from it having recently made my own Kaalia deck. I can't wait get some of the cards I need to create a similar hyper aggro deck like this one is.... (Imitation is the purest form of flattery haha). However in the mean time I have tried to just build something to play with at my local card shop. Do you think as a fellow Kaalia player you could take a look at my deck and give some advice?? Thanks for posting for fellow Mardu players!! http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/kaalia-master-of-winged-creatures/

Thanks for the kind comment trebek19. I'm working to make this a really complete guide for Kaalia of the Vast. Glad you found it useful. I'll take a look at your deck.