Kaalia Stax

# KAALIA OF THE VAST

Cali Commander — Beginner's Deck Primer

Strategy: Mardu Prison / Reanimator / Fast Combo

Main goal: Disrupt the opponent, bring powerful creatures into play cheaply, and win through combat, creature combos, or storm.

1. How Does This Deck Work?

Kaalia costs {1}{R}{W}{B}. Whenever she attacks, we may put an Angel, Demon, or Dragon from our hand onto the battlefield tapped and attacking without paying its cost.

But Kaalia isn't required for most wins. Our major strategies are:

• Reanimator: Return Griselbrand, Karmic Guide, or Hoarding Broodlord from the graveyard.
• Kiki-Jiki: Create unlimited flying attackers with Restoration Angel.
• Broodlord: Assemble an Underworld Breach and Tendrils of Agony finish.
• Worldgorger Dragon: Loop lands and surveil triggers, then finish with Mount Doom, Kiki-Jiki, or Broodlord.
• Prison: Use Deafening Silence, Drannith Magistrate, and other cards to restrict the opponent.
• Kaalia attacks: Put Master of Cruelties or another threat directly into combat.

Important words: Reanimate means return a creature from a graveyard; tutor means search for a card; blink means exile and return a creature; surveil means look at the top card and optionally put it into the graveyard; storm copies a spell based on earlier spells cast that turn.

2. Starting the Game

Look for mana, a winning plan, and protection.

Fast mana: Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Jeweled Lotus, Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, and Lotus Petal.

Enablers: Entomb, Buried Alive, Reanimate, Priest of Fell Rites, Hoarding Broodlord, or tutors.

Protection: Silence, Orim's Chant, Thoughtseize, Grand Abolisher, and disruptive creatures.

Three strong opening plans:

1. Entomb + Reanimate: Put Griselbrand into our graveyard, then return him early.
2. Buried Alive + reanimation: Assemble the Kiki-Jiki/Restoration Angel combo.
3. Early prison: Play Drannith Magistrate or Deafening Silence to buy time.

Mulligan hands with expensive creatures but no way to use them, insufficient colors, or no meaningful early play.

Beginner tip: Ask what we can accomplish during the first three turns.

3. Understanding Kaalia

Kaalia's attack trigger puts a qualifying creature from our hand directly into combat. That creature wasn't declared as an attacker, so its own “whenever this creature attacks” triggers don't happen. Its enter-the-battlefield abilities still work.

Best attack targets:

• Master of Cruelties: Threatens an immediate win.
• Hoarding Broodlord: Tutors for a combo card.
• Griselbrand: Pays seven life to draw seven cards.
• Iona, Shield of Emeria: Stops spells of a chosen color.
• Razaketh, the Foulblooded: Sacrifices creatures and pays life to tutor.

Haste: Arena of Glory can grant haste using mana spent on Kaalia. Lightning Greaves and Skateboard provide haste when equipped. Bitter Reunion can sacrifice itself to give our creatures haste.

Beginner tip: An immediate reanimation combo may be better than casting Kaalia.

4. Kaalia + Master of Cruelties

Need: Kaalia ready to attack and Master of Cruelties in hand.

1. Attack with Kaalia; put Master onto the battlefield tapped and attacking.
2. If Master isn't blocked, its ability makes the opponent's life total one.
3. If Kaalia also gets through, she deals at least two damage and wins.

Master's restriction on attacking alone doesn't prevent this: Kaalia never declared Master as an attacker.

Warning: If Master is blocked, its ability doesn't work. If Kaalia is blocked, the opponent may survive at one life.

5. Buried Alive → Unlimited Angels

Need: Buried Alive and a way to return Karmic Guide.

1. Cast Buried Alive to put Karmic Guide, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, and Restoration Angel into our graveyard.
2. Reanimate Karmic Guide. Her enter-the-battlefield ability returns Kiki-Jiki.
3. Tap Kiki-Jiki to make a token copy of Guide. The copied Guide returns Restoration Angel.
4. Restoration Angel blinks Kiki-Jiki, returning him untapped.
5. Tap Kiki-Jiki to copy Restoration Angel. The Angel token blinks Kiki-Jiki. Repeat for unlimited flying Angel tokens with haste, then attack to win.

Restoration Angel blinks Kiki-Jiki, never another Angel.

Using Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead, or Necromancy on Guide

All three black reanimation Auras work with Karmic Guide, but require correct trigger ordering because Guide has protection from black.

1. The Aura returns Guide, then falls off because it cannot legally enchant her.
2. The Aura's leave-the-battlefield ability triggers to sacrifice Guide. Guide's reanimation ability also triggers.
3. Put the sacrifice trigger onto the stack first, then Guide's trigger above it.
4. Guide returns Kiki-Jiki. Before the sacrifice trigger resolves, Kiki copies Guide, whose token returns Restoration Angel.
5. Restoration Angel blinks Kiki-Jiki. Start the unlimited-Angel loop while the sacrifice trigger is still waiting.

The original Guide may eventually be sacrificed, but our winning engine is already established.

Priest of Fell Rites improves Buried Alive

If any one of Guide, Kiki-Jiki, or Restoration Angel is already in our graveyard, Buried Alive can find Priest of Fell Rites and the other two combo creatures instead.

1. Buried Alive puts Priest and the two missing creatures into our graveyard.
2. Pay {3}{W}{B} to unearth Priest, returning it with haste.
3. During our main phase, tap Priest, pay three life, and sacrifice it to return Karmic Guide.
4. Guide returns Kiki-Jiki; Kiki copies Guide to return Restoration Angel. Complete the unlimited-Angel loop.

Why this matters: Unearth and Priest's reanimation are activated abilities, not spells. Ordinary counterspells can't counter those abilities, although cards that counter abilities, remove targets, or disrupt the graveyard still work. Buried Alive itself is still a counterable spell.

Beginner tip: Practice both the normal three-creature Buried Alive pile and the Priest plus two pile.

6. Graveyard Setup and Reanimation

Fill our graveyard: Entomb finds any card; Unmarked Grave finds a nonlegendary card; Buried Alive finds three creatures. Faithless Looting and Bazaar of Baghdad draw and discard. Gamble tutors, then randomly discards.

Return creatures:

• Reanimate: Costs {B} and life equal to the creature's mana value.
• Animate Dead / Dance of the Dead / Necromancy: Reanimation Auras, including our Worldgorger enablers.
• Persist: Returns a nonlegendary creature with a -1/-1 counter.
• Goryo's Vengeance: Temporarily returns a legendary creature, such as Griselbrand.
• Shallow Grave: Returns the top creature card of our graveyard with haste until the end step.
• Priest of Fell Rites: Taps, pays three life, and sacrifices itself to reanimate a creature at sorcery speed.

Priest normally needs haste or a turn on the battlefield before tapping. Its unearth ability returns it from the graveyard with haste. Bitter Reunion, Lightning Greaves, and Skateboard also grant haste.

Griselbrand + Children of Korlis: Griselbrand pays seven life to draw seven cards. Sacrifice Children to regain life lost this turn, including the life paid to Griselbrand. Ranger-Captain of Eos can search for Children.

Worldgorger restriction: To begin its intended loop, use only Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead, or Necromancy. Don't put Worldgorger into play using Kaalia or another reanimation spell.

7. Hoarding Broodlord → Underworld Breach

Broodlord tutors a card face down into exile when it enters, lets us play that card, and gives our spells cast from exile convoke (we can tap creatures to help pay).

1. Put Hoarding Broodlord into play. Search for Saw in Half, then cast it from exile.
2. Saw destroys Broodlord and makes two smaller Broodlord tokens. Their triggers find Burnt Offering and Underworld Breach.
3. Cast Burnt Offering, sacrificing one Broodlord token. Its mana value is still eight, so we produce eight mana in black and/or red.
4. Cast Underworld Breach. With sufficient graveyard cards, escape Saw in Half, targeting the remaining Broodlord token.
5. The new Broodlord tokens tutor for Grinding Station and Lion's Eye Diamond.
6. Use Breach and cheap artifacts to generate mana, mill cards, and build storm. Finish with Tendrils of Agony.

Grinding Station sacrifices an artifact to mill three cards; another artifact entering untaps it. Lion's Eye Diamond sacrifices itself for three mana of one color but discards our hand.

Important: One Diamond can't be sacrificed both to Station and to its own ability. Use other artifacts for milling when Diamond supplies mana. Every escape costs three other graveyard cards; the line needs enough resources and isn't automatically unlimited.

Tendrils math: Each resolution drains two life. Against 30 life, 15 total resolutions win: fourteen earlier spells plus Tendrils itself.

Beginner tip: Broodlord → Saw in Half → Burnt Offering/Breach → Grinding Station/LED → Tendrils.

8. Worldgorger Dragon — Three Winning Exits

Start only by reanimating Worldgorger from the graveyard with Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead, or Necromancy. Never start this loop through Kaalia or another reanimation effect.

The basic loop

1. The Aura returns Worldgorger.
2. Dragon enters and exiles our other permanents, including the Aura.
3. The Aura leaves, making us sacrifice Dragon.
4. Dragon leaves and returns everything it exiled, including the Aura.
5. The returning Aura enchants Dragon again, repeating the loop; or it enchants a different creature card already in a graveyard to end it.

Lands returning untapped can make mana between repetitions. Our surveil lands can repeatedly filter cards into the graveyard.

Exit A: Mount Doom damage

Mount Doom can pay {1}{B}{R} and tap to deal one damage to each opponent.

With enough other untapped mana-producing lands, each loop returns Mount Doom untapped, letting us pay for and activate its damage ability again. Repeat until the opponent loses.

Mount Doom cannot tap for both mana and damage during the same repetition.

Exit B: Surveil into Karmic Guide → Kiki-Jiki

Raucous Theater and Shadowy Backstreet surveil one whenever they enter. During the Dragon loop, they repeatedly return and surveil, even though they enter tapped.

1. Loop Dragon with one or both surveil lands on the battlefield.
2. Keep surveilling until Karmic Guide, Kiki-Jiki, and Restoration Angel are all in our graveyard.
3. On a later repetition, return the Aura attached to Karmic Guide instead of Dragon.
4. Guide returns, the black Aura falls off, and its sacrifice trigger and Guide's reanimation trigger wait on the stack.
5. Stack the Aura sacrifice trigger below Guide's trigger. Guide returns Kiki-Jiki first.
6. Before sacrificing Guide, tap Kiki to copy Guide. The copied Guide returns Restoration Angel. Angel blinks Kiki.
7. Copy Angel repeatedly for unlimited flying, hasty attackers and win in combat.

No additional reanimation spell is needed. The same Aura starts Worldgorger and later returns Guide, with the stack trick from Section 5.

Timing: The intended creature must already be in the graveyard when the returning Aura chooses what to enchant. Surveil the last piece during an earlier repetition, then switch targets on the next one.

Exit C: Surveil into Broodlord → Storm

Incase a part of the Kiki combo is unavailable, surveil Hoarding Broodlord into our graveyard and use the returning Aura to reanimate him.

• Storm finish: Broodlord finds Saw in Half or another missing piece, then follows the Underworld Breach/Tendrils line from Section 7.

Critical safety rules

Protect Dragon's first exile trigger. If an opponent removes Dragon while that trigger waits on the stack, our other permanents may be exiled permanently.

Have a real exit. A mandatory endless loop with no way to stop it can cause a draw.

Beginner tip: Remember Mount Doom, surveil into Guide/Kiki, or surveil into Broodlord.

9. Prison: Slow the Opponent

Deafening Silence: Each player can cast only one noncreature spell each turn. Excellent against storm, but it also stops our Breach/Tendrils plan while active. Remove it or take a creature-combo route.

Drannith Magistrate: Stops opposing spells cast from outside their hand, including commanders.

Opposition Agent: Punishes opposing library searches.

Dauthi Voidwalker: Exiles cards that would enter opponents' graveyards and can later let us play one.

Orcish Bowmasters: Punishes extra draws and builds an Orc Army.

Nihil Spellbomb: Exiles an opponent's graveyard. Wear // Tear removes artifacts or enchantments. Swords to Plowshares and Solitude exile dangerous creatures.

Beginner tip: Choose prison cards that interfere with our opponent more than with us.

10. Protecting Our Winning Turn

Silence / Orim's Chant: Prevent new opposing spells for the turn; neither removes spells already on the stack.

Grand Abolisher: Stops opposing spells during our turn and restricts certain activated abilities.

Ranger-Captain of Eos: Sacrifice to stop opponents casting noncreature spells that turn; searches for Children of Korlis or Esper Sentinel when it enters.

Hexing Squelcher: Our spells can't be countered; other creatures gain ward—pay two life.

Pyroblast / Red Elemental Blast: Counter blue spells or destroy blue permanents.

Thoughtseize: Inspect the opponent's hand and remove an important nonland card.

Grief + Ephemerate: Evoke Grief, then blink it before its sacrifice trigger resolves. Grief's new enter-the-battlefield trigger removes another card; rebound can blink it again on our next upkeep.

Deflecting Swat: Change a spell or ability's target; free while we control Kaalia.

Beginner tip: Save our best protection for the turn we intend to win.

11. Other Powerful Tricks

Razaketh, the Foulblooded: Sacrifice other creatures and pay two life to tutor for any card.

Sneak Attack: For {R}, put Griselbrand, Broodlord, Iona, or Razaketh from hand into play with haste. Sacrifice it at the next end step.

Ephemerate / Malakir Rebirth: Protect creatures or reuse Grief and Broodlord's enter-the-battlefield abilities.

Urza's Saga: Searches for Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, Sol Ring, Skateboard, or Nihil Spellbomb; also makes Construct tokens.

Skateboard versus Trinisphere: Urza's Saga puts Skateboard into play without casting it. Skateboard taps opposing Trinisphere, disabling its restriction while tapped.

Arena of Glory: Can make Kaalia enter with haste when its special mana is spent to cast her.

12. Common Mistakes

• Relying only on Kaalia: We have several noncombat combo wins.
• Forgetting haste: Kaalia normally waits a turn before attacking.
• Wrong Buried Alive pile: Guide/Kiki/Resto, or Priest plus two when the third creature is already in the graveyard.
• Misplaying Karmic Guide's Auras: Stack the Aura sacrifice trigger below Guide's reanimation trigger and finish before sacrificing her.
• Starting Worldgorger incorrectly: Use only Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead, or Necromancy.
• Ending Worldgorger too early: Surveil the necessary cards first and choose a real exit.
• Forgetting Deafening Silence: It can disable our storm finish.
• Using the wrong reanimation spell: Persist needs a nonlegendary creature; Goryo's Vengeance needs a legendary one.
• Spending too much life: Griselbrand, Razaketh, Priest, and Reanimate all cost life.
• Misusing Lion's Eye Diamond: One artifact can't be sacrificed to two different abilities.

13. Ten Tips to Become a Better Kaalia Player

1. Keep hands with mana and a plan. Avoid expensive creatures without enablers.
2. Learn Buried Alive first. Guide → Kiki → Angel is a clean win.
3. Remember Priest's alternate pile. One combo creature already in the graveyard frees a Buried Alive slot for Priest.
4. Practice the Aura stack trick. All three black reanimation Auras work with Guide.
5. Use Kaalia selectively. Attack when it's better than a graveyard combo.
6. Remember Master of Cruelties. Both creatures must get through for the immediate kill.
7. Protect the winning turn. Silence, Abolisher, and Squelcher help.
8. Practice Broodlord. Saw in Half leads to Breach and Tendrils.
9. Master Worldgorger. Know its surveil, Mount Doom, and Broodlord exits.
10. Switch plans when necessary. We have combat, creature-combo, and storm wins.

Final Advice

Kaalia wins through flexibility, not one mandatory attack. Sometimes Master of Cruelties finishes combat. Sometimes Buried Alive makes unlimited Angels—including through Priest's unearth ability. Sometimes Broodlord assembles Tendrils. Sometimes Worldgorger generates Mount Doom damage or surveils into Karmic Guide and Kiki-Jiki.

Start by practicing Buried Alive → Guide → Kiki → Restoration Angel, then the Priest plus two variation and the black-Aura stack trick. Finally, learn Broodlord and Worldgorger's different exits.

Find the fastest safe win, understand the stack, protect the combo, and keep a backup plan ready!