Hello and welcome to Daily Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Kalain, Reclusive Painter!

Kalain is a two mana 1/2 with when they enter you create a Treasure token and other creatures you control enter the battlefield with an additional Treasure token for each mana from a Treasure spent to cast them.

Kalain wants us to go big with Treasures in order to get out a ton of big creatures the more mana we spend using those Treasures. Ideally we want to have a ton of Treasure generation, but we can also include some artifact synergies to help us win.

The goal, get a ton of Treasures in play and use them to make big creatures and have a backup win using the fact that we generate a ton or artifacts.

The first thing we need to do is to find ways to accelerate our Treasure generation so we can start casting big creatures.

Xorn is the perfect creature for this deck because whenever we make any number of Treasure tokens we get an additional token. While this isn’t the biggest multiplier, this does allow us to net an additional Treasure when we cast spells like Big Score or Unexpected Windfall.

Captain Lannery Storm creates a Treasure token when they attack while getting bigger whenever we sacrifice a Treasure token, Goldspan Dragon creates a Treasure token whenever it attacks or is the target of a spell and doubles the amount of mana your Treasures generate, and Professional Face-Breaker creates a Treasure token whenever one or more creatures you control deal damage to a player and can sacrifice a Treasure token to let you play the top card from your library.

If we need a way to clear the board then we also have access to Blood Money as a way to clear the board and create a tapped Treasure token for each nontoken creature destroyed this way.

We can also make use of death triggers using Pitiless Plunderer by having whenever a creature a creature we control dies we make a Treasure token, Impulsive Pilferer to create a Treasure token when it dies which we can Encore to make three more Treasure tokens later, or Zhentarim Bandit which makes a Treasure token if it attacks and we pay 1 life.

The next thing we need are creatures to cast to get massive creatures with the Treasure tokens we make.

Marut is an interesting creature in that if mana from a Treasure was spent to cast it, we create a Treasure token for each mana from a Treasure spent to cast it. If we happen to have a Goldspan Dragon out then we can spend four Treasure to get eight Treasures back, while also giving the Marut eight +1/+1 counters.

If we want to strike quickly with the creatures that have +1/+1 counters, then Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch is perfect because she gives other creatures we control with +1/+1 counters haste, meaning if we cast a big thing with at least one Treasure to give it one +1/+1 counter, then that huge creature can attack immediately.

If we happen to cast a Shivan Devastator then it effectively doubles the number of +1/+1 counters it comes into play with, Exocrine to get massive and deal a ton of damage to each player and other creature, and Stonecoil Serpent to have a resilient threat to deal damage.

In fact Hangarback Walker, Marketback Walker, and Walking Ballista are ways for us to get more value out of the Treasures by giving them way more counters to make more Thopters, draw more cards, or deal some extra damage.

While we could go for the tried and true aggro plan, we should also be prepared in making use of our Treasures in other ways.

Marionette Apprentice is one such way because whenever another creature or artifact we control is put into the graveyard from the battlefield, each opponent loses a life. We can take a massive swing of life if we have a large sum of Treasures, so it can act as a deterrent in a way unless they spend removal to destroy the Marionette Apprentice.

Arcbound Condor can be a way to get rid of creatures by giving them -1/-1 whenever a Treasure comes into play, Summoning Station to make a bunch of 2/2 Pincher creature tokens by untapping whenever a Treasure is put into the graveyard, Blinkmoth Urn to be an additional source of mana if it is untapped by making a colorless mana for each artifact each player controls, or Reckless Fireweaver to deal 1 damage to each opponent whenever an artifact we control enters.

Of course one of the guaranteed ways to win in a Treasure deck is Revel in Riches, which makes a Treasure token whenever a creature an opponent controls dies and at the beginning of our upkeep if we control ten or more Treasures we win the game.

It is a card that people will see coming, but there is another way to win via Evereth, Viceroy of Plunder, who can put a +1/+1 counter on themselves if we sacrifice a creature or artifact and if that artifact was a Treasure then Evereth gains lifelink until end of turn and when Evereth dies we can pay one and a red or black to deal damage equal to their power to each opponent.

Kalain is an engine Commander in that we need other pieces to make the deck work, but Kalain plays a part by making our creatures bigger whenever we use Treasure tokens. We don’t have too many points of interaction and the deck relies on our opponents being focused on our opponents rather than us.

Still, I do think it is an interesting deck that offers some flexibility when playing with a Treasure strategy.

Thank you for reading, see you tomorrow for the next Daily Commander!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual