Overview:

This Kaalia of the Vast deck leverages the commander's ability to cheat massive Angels, Demons, and Dragons into play attacking. The primary strategy involves protecting Kaalia, accelerating her deployment, and using her attack trigger to bypass mana costs for devastating threats. Secondary themes include attack-trigger amplification (via Isshin, Two Heavens as One), combat damage payoffs, and leveraging powerful ETB effects. Kaalia is absolutely essential as the enabler; her removal severely cripples the deck's speed and threat deployment. While resilient to recast due to moderate ramp, repeated removal can be taxing. Key "hidden commanders" include Isshin and Aurelia, the Warleader for extra combat phases.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-3): Focus on ramping (Sol Ring, signets, talismans) and deploying protection (Mother of Runes, Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots). Mulligan aggressively for hands enabling T3-T4 Kaalia. Use Faithless Looting, Night's Whisper, and Phyrexian Arena for card filtering/draw.
2. Deploy & Protect Kaalia (Turns 3-5): Cast Kaalia ASAP. Equip Greaves/Boots immediately. Use protection spells (Boros Charm, Blacksmith's Skill, Loran's Escape) proactively. Attack with Kaalia to cheat the first threat (prioritize impactful ETBs like Angel of Despair or haste enablers like Rising of the Day/Dragon Tempest).
3. Overwhelm & Win (Turns 5-8):
   • Combat Focus: Cheat game-enders like Gisela, Blade of Goldnight (double damage), Terror of Mount Velus (double strike), Aurelia, the Warleader (extra combat), or Blast-Furnace Hellkite (double strike for all). Use Rogue's Passage for unblockable Kaalia/creatures. Overpowering Attack enables surprise extra combats.
   • Value & Disruption: Leverage ETBs (Overseer of the Damned, Rune-Scarred Demon, Vile Mutilator) for removal and board control. Archfiend of Depravity and Kardur, Doomscourge disrupt opponents.
   • Alternative Wins: Bloodletter of Aclazotz doubles life loss during your turn. Ruinous Ultimatum can reset opponents' boards late-game.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Essential: 3-4 lands (including color sources), ramp (Sol Ring, Signet, Talisman), and either Kaalia protection (Greaves, Boots, Mother) or a way to deploy her T3-T4.
• Strong Includes: Early card draw (Faithless Looting, Night's Whisper), a high-impact Angel/Demon/Dragon, or protection spells.
• Avoid: Hands lacking ramp, protection, or lands. Hands with only high-CMC creatures and no Kaalia enablers.

Key Tips:

• Protect Kaalia Relentlessly: She is the engine. Hold mana for protection spells if opponents are removal-heavy. Reconnaissance allows safe attacks and untapping.
• Sequence Threats Wisely: Prioritize haste enablers (Rising of the Day, Dragon Tempest) or protection-granters (Aegis Angel, Sephara, Sky's Blade) first. Save finishers like Gisela/Aurelia/Terror for when you can kill.
• Leverage Isshin: Doubling Kaalia's cheat trigger is backbreaking. Doubling Kardur's life loss or Battle Angels of Tyr triggers provides immense value.
• Manage Resources: Use lifegain (Gisela, Liesa, Kardur) to offset painlands and Phyrexian Arena. Smothering Tithe generates crucial mana. Liesa, Forgotten Archangel recovers key creatures.
• Interaction Timing: Use targeted removal (Swords to Plowshares, Terminate, Mortify, Anguished Unmaking) on key stax pieces or combo enablers. Board wipes (Earthquake) are primarily for recovery.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Extreme Commander Dependency: Kaalia removal severely cripples the deck's speed and threat deployment. Repeated removal makes recasting prohibitively expensive. Lacks alternative cheat engines.
• Vulnerability to Board Wipes: Struggles to rebuild after a wipe due to high average CMC and reliance on Kaalia for deployment. Limited mass recursion.
• Anti-Combat Stax: Ghostly Prison, Propaganda, Silent Arbiter, and Crawlspace severely hinder the attack-focused plan. Limited enchantment removal.

Moderate

• Graveyard Hate: Disrupts Faithless Looting flashback, Liesa, Forgotten Archangel recursion, and Bojuka Bog/Unholy Annex utility.
• Artifact/Enchantment Hate: Targets crucial protection (Greaves/Boots), ramp (Signets/Talismans), and engines (Smothering Tithe, Phyrexian Arena, Dragon Tempest).
• Countermagic Density: Struggles against decks packing heavy countermagic, lacking its own stack interaction beyond protection spells.

Minor

• Mana Base Clunkiness: Numerous taplands (Temples, Bounce lands) slow early development. Painlands cause incremental life loss.
• Limited Card Draw: Relies heavily on Phyrexian Arena and attack triggers. Can run out of gas if Kaalia is neutralized early.

Most Important Cards:

• Kaalia of the Vast (Primary engine for cheating threats)
• Lightning Greaves / Swiftfoot Boots (Essential Kaalia protection)
• Gisela, Blade of Goldnight (Combat damage multiplier, defensive buffer)
• Aurelia, the Warleader (Extra combat phases, enables multiple Kaalia triggers)
• Isshin, Two Heavens as One (Doubles attack triggers, including Kaalia's)
• Smothering Tithe (Crucial mana generation in multiplayer)
• Boros Charm (Versatile protection, removal, or finisher)
• Rising of the Day / Dragon Tempest (Grant haste, enabling immediate impact)
• Rogue's Passage (Ensures Kaalia/creatures connect)
• Rune-Scarred Demon (Primary tutor for key pieces)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 7/10

• Capable of deploying lethal threats via Kaalia as early as T4-T5 (e.g., cheating Gisela + Aurelia), with T6-T8 wins being achievable. Slower without Kaalia online.

Resilience: 5/10

• Includes protection for Kaalia and some recursion (Liesa), but heavily reliant on the commander staying alive. Struggles to recover from board wipes or repeated commander removal. Moderate card draw.

Consistency: 6/10

• Good ramp package and some card filtering/draw, but relies heavily on Kaalia connecting. Limited tutors (Rune-Scarred Demon, Insatiable Avarice) reduce access to specific answers/combo pieces.

Interaction: 6/10

• Runs efficient targeted removal (Swords, Path, Terminate, Mortify, Anguished Unmaking) and some board wipes (Earthquake, Ruinous Ultimatum). Lacks countermagic and struggles against resolved non-creature permanents like stax enchantments.

Rating Justification:

The deck possesses high potential speed (T5-6 wins possible with Kaalia) due to its commander's cheat ability and powerful threats, aligning it with Focused Competitive tiers. However, its critical vulnerability to commander removal and board wipes, coupled with moderate consistency and resilience, prevents it from reaching higher optimization. Its interaction suite is solid but lacks stack control.

Power level: 6.0 - 6.5