No Sky for Old Men

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive Creature Cheat Flying Midrange Protection Ramp RBW (Mardu) Theme/Gimmick

Valengeta

Lands (34)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Blightstep Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Graven Cairns
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Minas Morgul, Dark Fortress
• 1x Minas Tirith
• 1x Nomad Outpost
• 3x Plains
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Savai Triome
• 1x Shattered Sanctum
• 1x Silent Clearing
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of Champions
• 1x Vault of the Archangel

Utility (6)

• 1x Dragon Tempest
• 1x Iroas, God of Victory
• 1x Isshin, Two Heavens as One
• 1x Karlach, Fury of Avernus
• 1x True Conviction
• 1x Whip of Erebos

Protection (10)

• 1x Dolmen Gate
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x General's Kabuto
• 1x Giver of Runes
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mithril Coat
• 1x Mother of Runes
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Draw and Tutors (9)

• 1x Black Market Connections
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Imperial Seal
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x The One Ring
• 1x Trouble in Pairs
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Dragons (8)

• 1x Ancient Copper Dragon
• 1x Balefire Dragon
• 1x Blast-Furnace Hellkite
• 1x Cavern-Hoard Dragon
• 1x Goldspan Dragon
• 1x Hellkite Tyrant
• 1x Steel Hellkite
• 1x Terror of the Peaks

Ramp (8)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Conviction
• 1x Talisman of Hierarchy
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence

Commander (1)

Angels (8)

• 1x Angelic Field Marshal
• 1x Angelic Skirmisher
• 1x Aurelia, the Warleader
• 1x Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1x Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• 1x Platinum Angel
• 1x Sephara, Sky's Blade
• 1x Serra's Emissary

Demons (8)

• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Archfiend of Despair
• 1x Bloodletter of Aclazotz
• 1x Kothophed, Soul Hoarder
• 1x Rakdos, Lord of Riots
• 1x Rakdos, Patron of Chaos
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1x Vilis, Broker of Blood

Removal (8)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Damn
• 1x Deadly Rollick
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Vanishing Verse
• 1x Vindicate
• 1x Wrath of God

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Maybeboard

Utility (7)

• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Brave the Sands
• 1x Flowering of the White Tree
• 1x Gimli's Reckless Might
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Rising of the Day
• 1x Seize the Day

Protection (4)

• 1x Champion's Helm
• 1x Conqueror's Flail
• 1x Silence
• 1x Surge of Salvation

Angels (1)

• 1x Angelic Guardian

Dragons (1)

• 1x Dragonlord Kolaghan

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This is my 7th Commander deck, and my personal take on a Kaalia build

Strategy

• We want to start dropping powerful creatures with Kaalia's ability as soon as possible. Some of the creatures best suited for early game are Rakdos, Lord of Riots and Ancient Copper Dragon for ramp, Vilis, Broker of Blood for card advantage, Terror of the Peaks for free flexible damage, Avacyn, Angel of Hope for endurance, to name a few

• We carry a good supply of protective spells to enable Kaalia and/or safeguard key creatures, complemented by a nice selection of removal spells to handle threats. It is advisable to procure Lifelink swiftly to balance out life loss, from both domestic and foreign sources

• If we get the chance, we want to try to achieve the Main Combo, which will dish out plenty of damage, and usually lead to at least a kill or two

Main Combo: 4x Damage 10-Hit Rampage

This deck can perform a combo that translates into 5 combat phases with First Strike, Vigilance, Lifelink and Kaalia being able to cheat into play 2 creatures per phase, but this combo base can be even further enhanced

Required combo pieces:

• Kaalia of the Vast
• Angelic Skirmisher
• Isshin, Two Heavens as One
• Aurelia, the Warleader
• Karlach, Fury of Avernus

Optional combo pieces:

• Blast-Furnace Hellkite or True Conviction
• Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
• Dragon Tempest is not required but is advisable to have
• Iroas, God of Victory
• Archfiend of Depravity
• Bloodletter of Aclazotz
• Angelic Field Marshal as an alternative to Angelic Skirmisher

How it works:

1. With the required pieces assembled, at the start of combat phase 1, we will be choosing Vigilance on the Skirmisher and attacking with at least Kaalia. We shouldn't attack with Aurelia on this phase if we have three or more other creatures in hand

2. Isshin and Kaalia will make it so that we can now drop two other creatures from the hand just before Karlach triggers. They will gain First Strike and untap with whoever else attacked this phase. Karlach then grabs us 2 additional combat phases, and Aurelia another 2 if she attacked this time

3. On the second combat phase we will choose either Lifelink or First Strike on the Skirmisher, and then the last ability for the third. If we didn't attack with Aurelia already, we should do so now, but cheating two more creatures into play before she triggers so that they also untap. Only then will Aurelia add her 2 combat phases, courtesy of Isshin

4. Meanwhile, Kaalia will always trigger twice due to Isshin's effect, allowing for two creatures to be brought directly into play each of the 5 attacks, which will make our waves increasingly more devastating and rewarding

5. If either the Hellkite or Conviction are out too, the attacking creatures will deal two hits on 5 attacks, for a total of 10 hits per creature in one turn

6. Gisela will double the damage of each hit. This means that each creature will pack the punch of two, or four if they have Double Strike

7. Tempest will make creatures that enter via Kaalia on the first and second phases able to attack on the remaining ones due to Haste. This enchantment is not required but is advisable to have it set up prior to starting the combo for maximum damage

8. Iroas makes dealing with Flying enemies much easier, since we can be elusive with Menace on top of not fearing losing creatures if they are blocked

9. The total life loss for an opponent can be increased to astronomical levels if the Archfiend and Bloodletter have sneaked their way to the battlefield during all this

10. Field Marshal allows the combo to start too. We need Vigilance, but with Skirmisher we can also add Lifelink and First Strike

Angels

The Angels are focused on Buffs and Protection

• Angelic Field Marshal grants Vigilance to all my creatures including itself
• Angelic Skirmisher grants useful combat abilities
• Aurelia, the Warleader gives an extra combat phase
• Avacyn, Angel of Hope makes my permanents hard to remove from the board
• Gisela, Blade of Goldnight doubles damage on opponents and halves damage on myself
• Platinum Angel makes victory a sure thing
• Sephara, Sky's Blade makes most of my creatures tough as steel
• Serra's Emissary protects from the most dangerous card type in the match

Demons

The Demons are focused on Terror Tactics and Card Advantage

• Archfiend of Depravity severely limits creature numbers for the opponents
• Archfiend of Despair negates opposing Lifegain and doubles their total Lifeloss at the end of turns
• Bloodletter of Aclazotz doubles any instance of enemy Lifeloss during my turn
• Kothophed, Soul Hoarder makes dying enemy permanents (including tokens) give me extra cards
• Rakdos, Lord of Riots is great to reduce the costs of creatures after successful attacks
• Rakdos, Patron of Chaos provides more Board Control or Card Draw
• Rune-Scarred Demon is a tutor on a 6/6 Flying body
• Vilis, Broker of Blood is an amazing draw engine since I have quite a bit of self-damage

Dragons

The Dragons are focused on Ramp and Heavy Damage

• Ancient Copper Dragon produces up to 20 Treasure tokens per successful hit on an opponent
• Balefire Dragon board wipes foes if it can connect
• Blast-Furnace Hellkite grants Double Strike to ANY creature attacking one of my opponents
• Cavern-Hoard Dragon gives more Treasure depending on enemy Artifact count
• Goldspan Dragon not only provides more Treasure, it doubles its value
• Hellkite Tyrant steals Artifacts like mana rocks and brings an alternate win condition
• Steel Hellkite destroys multiple permanents of a specific mana value
• Terror of the Peaks dishes out free damage whenever another creature enters the field

Draw and Tutors

Draw:

• Black Market Connections gives more Treasure, more Draw and/or disposable creatures (that trigger Dragon Tempest)
• Phyrexian Arena gives an extra card at the start of each turn
• The One Ring grants temporary ultimate Protection and increasingly more cards
• Trouble in Pairs punishes opponents' boldness

Tutors:

• Demonic Tutor, Grim Tutor, Imperial Seal and Vampiric Tutor usually fetch for crucial creatures like Avacyn, Platinum, Riot Rakdos, Copper Dragon, Vilis or combo pieces, among others
• Enlightened Tutor usually fetches for protective artifacts or powerful enchantments

Protection

• Dolmen Gate is great to enable Kaalia and reckless attacks
• Flawless Maneuver and Mithril Coat grant Indestructible
• General's Kabuto and Whispersilk Cloak are tailor made for Kaalia, negating Removal and making attacks safe
• Giver of Runes and Mother of Runes grant Color Protection
• Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots shelter from Removal and give speed
• Teferi's Protection is another spell that provides temporary top-tier Protection

Ramp

• Staple EDH rocks in Arcane Signet, Chromatic Lantern, Mana Crypt and Sol Ring
• Talisman of Conviction, Talisman of Hierarchy and Talisman of Dominance are my colors' rocks
• Smothering Tithe taxes opposing draws with Treasure

Removal

• Anguished Unmaking, Vanishing Verse and Vindicate take care of threatning permanents
• Deadly Rollick, Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares exile dangerous creatures
• Damn can be used as creature hate or board wipe
• Wrath of God is the most iconic board wipe spell in the game

Utility

• Dragon Tempest grants Haste and free damage from playing Dragons
• Iroas, God of Victory grants Menace and safe attacks, on a big and solid body
• Isshin, Two Heavens as One doubles the trigger on Kaalia
• Kaalia of the Vast allows strong fliers to be cheated into play
• Karlach, Fury of Avernus provides another combat phase blessed with First Strike
• True Conviction and Whip of Erebos grant crucial Lifelink to mitigate my self-damage and give longivety. Also, Conviction doubles hits for all my creatures and Whip gives a way for the dead to avenge themselves

The deck is looking solid but I'm open to suggestions! Hope you have enjoyed it!

Date added	3 months
Last updated	3 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	26 - 0 Mythic Rares 65 - 0 Rares 6 - 0 Uncommons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.98
Tokens	Shapeshifter 3/2 C, Treasure