Overview:

This Kaalia of the Vast deck is a classic "cheat-and-swing" strategy leveraging the commander's ability to deploy massive Angels, Demons, and Dragons for free. The deck employs explosive mana acceleration to cast Kaalia early (potentially T2-3), then uses her attack trigger to overwhelm opponents with game-ending threats like Avacyn, Angel of Hope and Master of Cruelties. Secondary win conditions include damage amplifiers (Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, Twinflame Tyrant), combo lines with Razaketh, the Foulblooded tutoring, and value engines like Necropotence. Kaalia is both the enabler and primary vulnerability - the strategy collapses if she's repeatedly removed.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Explosive Start (T1-3): Mulligan aggressively for fast mana (Mana Vault, Dark Ritual, Sol Ring) and protection (Lightning Greaves). Deploy Kaalia ASAP using rituals/rocks.
2. Threat Deployment (T3-5): Attack with Kaalia to cheat game-warping creatures:
   • Combat Dominance: Avacyn, Angel of Hope (indestructible board), Sephara, Sky's Blade (flying indestructible)
   • One-Shot Kills: Master of Cruelties (sets life to 1), Balefire Dragon (board wipe on attack)
   • Value Engines: Razaketh, the Foulblooded (tutor engine), Ancient Copper Dragon (Treasure generation)
3. Protection & Recovery: Use free interaction (Deflecting Swat, Deadly Rollick) and recursion (Reanimate, Animate Dead) to maintain momentum. Teferi's Protection blanks opposing wipes.
4. Closing the Game: Amplify damage with Terror of the Peaks/Dragon Tempest triggers or Archfiend of Despair life loss effects. Hellkite Tyrant provides an alternate artifact-based win.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands including at least one colored source
• Prioritize T1 accelerant (Mana Vault > Sol Ring > Talisman) + protection (Greaves/Boots)
• Reject hands without early ramp or excessive high-CMC creatures

Key Tips:

• Sequence Kaalia protection before deploying her - equip Swiftfoot Boots pre-combat
• Use Reconnaissance to pseudo-vigilance Kaalia while removing blockers
• Opposition Agent + fetchlands disrupts opponents while ramping you
• Hoarding Broodlord fetches critical interaction like Teferi's Protection or Deflecting Swat

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Commander-dependent strategy folds to repeated removal (Kaalia taxed to 8+ mana)
• Limited card advantage without Kaalia triggers or Necropotence online
• Cursed Totem/Linvala shuts off Razaketh/creature-based mana

Moderate

• Struggles against flying blockers (needs Rogue's Passage or trample enablers)
• Graveyard hate disrupts Reanimate/Animate Dead lines
• Artifact destruction hits critical mana rocks and The One Ring

Minor

• Life payment effects (Necropotence, Ancient Tomb) enable aggressive decks
• Limited stack interaction beyond protection spells

Most Important Cards:

• Kaalia of the Vast (Strategy linchpin)
• Mana Vault (T1 Kaalia enabler)
• Avacyn, Angel of Hope (Board wipe immunity)
• Razaketh, the Foulblooded (Tutor engine)
• Teferi's Protection (One-sided wipe protection)
• Necropotence (Card advantage engine)
• Master of Cruelties (One-shot kill)
• Deflecting Swat (Free interaction)
• Ancient Copper Dragon (Mana acceleration)
• Dragon Tempest (Damage amplifier)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 8/10
Can deploy lethal threats as early as T3-4 with perfect hands (T1 vault → T2 Kaalia + protection → T3 Master of Cruelties). Average goldfish win ~T5-6.

Resilience: 5/10
Multiple protection spells and some recursion, but over-reliance on Kaalia makes the deck fragile to targeted removal. Limited recovery from board wipes without Avacyn.

Consistency: 7/10
12 tutors and premium draw (Necropotence, The One Ring) find key pieces, but creature-heavy list risks clumping.

Interaction: 6/10
Efficient targeted removal (7 instant-speed answers) and free protection spells, but lacks board wipes beyond Vanquish the Horde and limited counterspells.

Rating Justification:

This deck achieves cEDH-adjacent speed with T3-4 kill potential through explosive mana and tutors, but its commander dependency and vulnerability to interaction cap its ceiling. While capable of high-power plays, the lack of compact combos and reliance on combat damage place it below optimized cEDH lists.

Power level: 7.5 - 8.0