Overview:

This Kaalia of the Vast deck leverages aggressive mana acceleration and commander-centric synergy to cheat out high-impact Angels, Demons, and Dragons. The strategy revolves around deploying Kaalia early (often via rituals like Dark Ritual or fast mana like Ancient Tomb), protecting her with equipment and protection spells, and using her attack trigger to drop game-ending threats like Avacyn, Angel of Hope or Master of Cruelties. Secondary strategies include reanimation (Animate Dead, Reanimate) and value engines like Bolas's Citadel or Necropotence. Kaalia is critical to the deck’s explosiveness but has functional redundancy through reanimation and cost reducers like Rakdos, Lord of Riots.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-3):
   • Prioritize fast mana (Dark Ritual, Sol Ring, Chrome Mox) to cast Kaalia by Turn 2-3.
   • Protect Kaalia immediately with Lightning Greaves, Mother of Runes, or Teferi’s Protection.
   • Use tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) to find key pieces like Mithril Coat or Smothering Tithe.

2. Midgame Threats (Turns 4-6):

   • Attack with Kaalia to cheat in threats: Master of Cruelties (instantly reducing a player to 1 life), Avacyn, Angel of Hope (indestructible board), or Terror of the Peaks (burn damage).
   • Deploy backup engines: Bolas's Citadel for card advantage or Rakdos, Lord of Riots to cast creatures at reduced costs.

3. Win Conditions:

   • Combat: Overwhelm with evasive threats like Drakuseth, Maw of Flames or Aurelia, the Warleader (extra combats).
   • Combo: Master of Cruelties + Kaalia attack (set life to 1) followed by any damage source.
   • Lock: Avacyn, Angel of Hope + Archfiend of Depravity to control opponents’ boards.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with Kaalia + protection (e.g., Mother of Runes, Swiftfoot Boots) or fast mana to cast her early.
• Prioritize at least 2-3 lands (including color-fixing like Command Tower).
• Avoid hands without ramp or protection.

Key Tips:

• Use Phyrexian Reclamation to recover Kaalia if she’s repeatedly removed.
• Deflecting Swat and Bolt Bend can redirect removal or protect your board.
• Teferi’s Protection and Flawless Maneuver negate board wipes.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Relies heavily on Kaalia sticking to the board; repeated removal cripples the strategy.
• Struggles against stax pieces like Drannith Magistrate or Aven Mindcensor that block cheating/reanimation.

Moderate

• Limited card draw outside Necropotence/Bolas's Citadel; can run out of gas if Kaalia is neutralized.
• Vulnerable to artifact hate (Vandalblast) disrupting mana rocks and equipment.

Minor

• High CMC creatures are clunky if drawn without Kaalia or reanimation.
• Weak to flyer-heavy decks outpacing its threats.

Most Important Cards:

• Kaalia of the Vast (Core enabler)
• Avacyn, Angel of Hope (Indestructible board lock)
• Master of Cruelties (One-shot combo piece)
• Dark Ritual (Explosive early Kaalia)
• Teferi’s Protection (Board wipe insurance)
• Bolas's Citadel (Value engine)
• Necropotence (Card advantage)
• Rakdos, Lord of Riots (Cost reduction)
• Demonic Tutor (Tutoring key pieces)
• Lightning Greaves (Protection for Kaalia)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 7/10

• Can deploy Kaalia and cheat 8+ CMC threats as early as Turn 3, with potential lethal by Turn 4-5 via Master of Cruelties.

Resilience: 5/10

• Multiple protection spells and recursion, but over-reliance on Kaalia makes it fragile to repeated interaction.

Consistency: 7/10

• 10+ tutors and card advantage engines ensure access to key pieces, but creature density can lead to clunky draws.

Interaction: 6/10

• Efficient spot removal (Swords to Plowshares, Terminate) and free spells (Deadly Rollick), but lacks counterspells.

Rating Justification:

This deck’s explosive speed (T3-5 wins) and tutor density place it in high-power casual tiers, but its reliance on Kaalia and vulnerability to disruption cap its ceiling. It aligns with optimized strategies but lacks the redundancy and resilience of top-tier builds.

Power level: 6.5 - 7.0