MTG Salvation

It actually, is, yes. I came across it in the Kaalia discord. I'm still theory crafting it in a wishclaw talisman brew with Gerrard/2nd Sunrise and shallow graves. Welders and memory jars of course.

It's spicy. But a bit overwhelming, so I'm taking my time before I introduce it to the primer.

So over the past week and a half, I've stumbled onto a breakthrough with this commander that brings her up to the cDH levels, no it's not STAX or prison. It's combo, and it revolves around Razaketh, the Foulblooded...

Some day I'm going to get around to combining this primer with my Zenith Kaalia primer to make this a total hub for all things Kaalia in general. Idk if this is something that carries any real genuine interest though in this era of social media killing traditional forums.

Kaalia is where I see this shining most, but I don't think it's good enough at the seven slot. He already has double strike, so on the one trigger he's only buffing Kaalia, which isn't enough...but if you have one other angel, demon, or dragon out, consistently when you drop this, that just might push it over the edge.

Interestingly, I think this thing's value is in a blink shell. Ironically, new Kaalia comes to mind since you have Astral Slide to repeat it, and Heartless Summoning to cheat it faster...

Hi, your friendly neighborhood 3drinks here, dropping some personalized insight on the topic at hand;

Quote from Xcric »

a lot of the more busted cards that have become staples in every single deck of whatever color(s) were designed with edh in mind. it turned the format into a nuclear arms race and i think thats actually where the problem lies as a whole. why its shifted so heavily away from battlecruiser style magic.

Imagine thinking an eternal format where games are determined by mana superiority instead of any other type of metric wasn't already doomed to become an arms race. It's always been this way, you just never realized it.

Quote from Xcric »

personally, i do really miss the days where nothing was designed with commander in mind. where we had to scour databases and collections to find neat synergies and old cards rather than just shove whatever new hotness from whatever new set into every deck.

Times change, formats evolve for the times, stop being a hipster and listen to the words of one Paul Levesque;

"In life, really, you have only two choices. To adapt...or perish."

Quote from Card Slinger J »

The real problem with EDH / Commander lies in players essentially running "playsets" of functionally identical cards in their decks to where they greatly minimize their chances of drawing bad cards whether it's through deck thinning or from search abilities. The Singleton aspect of the format is really just an illusion to get players thinking that the odds of someone at the table being able to combo off on turn 5 or earlier isn't likely when it actually is. When it does happen someone at the table is likely to get salty about it unless the pod proceeds to scoop phase. This is a part of the reason why Fetchlands became a problem in Standard and Modern because they made mana bases far too consistent in combination with the Shocklands.

Man, get the hell outta here with this "blame fetchlands" bull*****. This isn't 1996 anymore, we're not fixing our mana with painlands and city of brass. And shaming the use of functional reprints? Why? Like we should be jamming rend flesh and devour in shadow as go to removals a near decade latre, times have to change to keep players invested. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking how blessed I am that I'm given more powerful cards to play so I have to put fewer questionable cards in my decks. I can't with this idea, what the hell. If you want to live in the nostalgia days, go build a white border deck. I know I have - and it's still consistent enough, if you know where to look.

Quote from sH0opdAwoOp »

I just wanted to stop in and say how glad I am to see thet this thread is still active and that 3drinks is still here. Back when I was in grad school and had half a dozen close friends who all played EDH almost daily, Kaalia was the first 75% deck that I made, and this thread and 3drinks' input on how to build Kaalia for 1v1 vs. multiplayer were huge influences on that build. All those friends have long since moved away, I've had 2 kids, and with those and other factors I haven't played paper magic in years. Some recently-printed legends piqued my interest, though, so I thought I'd just poke my head back in and, like I said, it warms my heart to find this thread still here. I'd of been super sad if it had fallen into disrepair.

Well there's a name I haven't seen in years. Good to see you're doing well!

Yes, Kaalia is still close to my heart, even as i reach what i believe to be her apex - the Lilliana's Contract combo. I also developed the new Kaalia under an Astral Slide package, over on mtgnexus. Speaking of nexus, this ou s where I've mostly migrated over to, it's like a rebirth of mtgsally without the spaghetti code built on an adware framework that is this site. You should swing by, get discussion pumping again.

Quote from BloodyMangus »

I don`t have much data as I play maybe twice a month in a multiplayer setting and maybe a few times 1v1 online.
My opinion on Backdraft Hellkite is that it seems vulnerable and slow. Say you cheat him with Kaalia, he does nothing that turn and you hope he survives till the next turn which is not very likely seeing how much creature removal there is edh. Even if you meet optimal conditions to hard cast him for 5 with a haste enabler in play there`s is a good chance you`re either tapped out or close to being tapped out so you`re only flashbacking one low casting cost card which is basically what Chandra, Acolyte of Flame does anyway.

Hmm. Okay, so in the optimal condition where you hardcast dragon, attack, and maybe rebuy a one drop (plowshares, we'll say) you got in for 5 and exiled their best guy for 3WRR which isn't a terrible rate, though it isn't good either. On the other hand, with Chandra and casting that same plowshares in that turn, you're paying 1WRR - you save two mana and lose the five point swing. That's on the first turn. Assuming they would stick around, chandra is gonna cast one more </= 3 spell and then go away while the dragon is going to past in flames which clearly is way better.

My verdict is the dragon clearly has way more upside than chandra, and is better any turn after the first, and is usually better although not strictly so on the first, than chandra. Chandra is also always 1RR (really four, since you're not casting this without rebuying something) while Dragon is sometimes free with Kaalia, and can be okay if not exciting on it's own. It's also drawing some fire off Kaalia, or at least should as it's a much more scary threat than my 2/2 flyer.

Hmm. The power level for walkers to get into this deck is incredibly high (where looking at Liliana of the Veil levels and geddon Ajani V, plus sometimes Nahiri). So I'm a bit skeptical of new walkers that remain mostly untested. At first glance, it appears to play similarly to Recoup, but with only flashing back cmc </= 3.

Compare to dragon that is sometimes free (this always costs 3), and let's us flashback any in our grave and isn't limited to one spell. If that sounds like I'm being a bit harsh, I apologize. Do you have any data to contribute about the proposed card that would suggest it to perform better than a repeating past in flames? I'd love to analyze it.

So I misevaluated Backdraft Hellkite. Turns out getting a free four cmc sorcery on attacks is pretty good. So uhhh, yeah, despite the non-synergy with contract, I think that's a bit too strong to resist.

Hey look, now we can mass ramp too! Can't wait for this guy to make everyone else roll their eyes.

Quote from Jeff2302 »

This card is really good! but isnt Balefire Dragon and Steel Hellkite generally better?

This dragon has the problem of costing RRR
Though a reanimator package and sneak attack would help this card's inclusion.

Not strictly better. This guy can create a 11 point swing or just annihilate a board with pinpoint strikes. I'd say it's role is different enough.

And, hey, it retailed for under a buck so what's the harm?

As hard as I am on Flameblast Syndrome, this is just the kind of ridiculousness I need to see to justify breaking my rule against it.

Quote from WTech_9D »

How do you think the banning of Iona affects Kaalia decks in general?

It doesn't. Iona hasn't been strong enough to play in six years.

Quote from Chill_Gamer »

Quote from 3drinks »

Quote from Chill_Gamer »

Finally got the money to buy the pre-con deck for Kaalia of the Vast and I got Sephara and New Kaalia coming in. I can't wait to become public enemy #1 at the table

You bought the stock Heavenly Inferno?! I always thought that was a bit too much of a markup for what the deck contained. Wish I'd have known, I'd point you towards the starter "white border" Kaalia. At least for the investment, you'd get a stronger, more cohesive deck (and most of the cost comes from the tutour suite/abu duals. without those, the whole list is practically pennies). Anyway, welcome aboard, and feel free to follow my continued dedication to the deck over on @mtgnexus!

Honestly, the thought of having something playable and ready for future upgrades is nice to know

I do dislike the lack of low cost plays in the deck (something I want to fix) I want to play later today to get a better feel for it.

I wish the stock Heavenly Inferno actually was able to keep it's original pieces as you begin optimizing the Kaalia deck. But noooooo, instead they put in multi-kicker guys and a high drop that only works if you cast it. Way to work in anti-synergy, R&D.

Still, it brings me such joy to see more new Kaalia pilots coming into the format.

Demons, huh?

This might pique your interest then.

The best thing about demons is having your very own dedicated I win card.

Quote from Chill_Gamer »

Finally got the money to buy the pre-con deck for Kaalia of the Vast and I got Sephara and New Kaalia coming in. I can't wait to become public enemy #1 at the table

You bought the stock Heavenly Inferno?! I always thought that was a bit too much of a markup for what the deck contained. Wish I'd have known, I'd point you towards the starter "white border" Kaalia. At least for the investment, you'd get a stronger, more cohesive deck (and most of the cost comes from the tutour suite/abu duals. without those, the whole list is practically pennies). Anyway, welcome aboard, and feel free to follow my continued dedication to the deck over on @mtgnexus!

Quote from tstorm823 »

Maelstrom Nexus


This card was not picked randomly, but it picks randomly itself, so I consider that a reasonable trade.

I know that I'm half a year shy of my intended tenure on this thread, but this is the thread's finale, my final Random Card of the Day. I don't know if anyone has a mind to pick up where I left off with a new random card thread here on Salvation, but there is a successor already rolling elsewhere full of familiar faces for those interested.

It's been great doing this, thank you to everyone who made this thread fun every day.

I thank you for the opportunity to carry on the legacy of this thread, a forum game and mtgsally tradition that has become one of the more looked forward to games to-date. And, thank you for allowing the opportunity to hand this tradition over to my hands.