Kalitas, Assassin for Hire

Commander / EDH FeralKitten

SCORE: 77 | 63 COMMENTS | 11738 VIEWS | IN 47 FOLDERS


Testing Some Changes —March 23, 2016

I don't usually do this, but I'm updating the list prior to acquiring a few of the cards that were in the maybeboard. Here's what's changed:

IN: Anowon, the Ruin Sage, Gauntlet of Power, Lifeline, Necropotence, Swiftfoot Boots

OUT: Black Market, Cauldron of Souls, In Garruk's Wake, Nim Deathmantle, Skullclamp

Black Market is hit or miss, and more miss with Kalitas out unless you're sacrificing creatures so Gauntlet of Power has taken its place (thanks everyone!). In Garruk's Wake has been OK, but with so much recursion and tutoring it's hardly a requirement so Anowon, the Ruin Sage has taken that spot. Skullclamp has been less than stellar in this build, so it's been swapped for Necropotence. Nim Deathmantle was pure utility, no major combos that I was aware of so it was an easy cut for Swiftfoot Boots.

I've temporarily swapped Cauldron of Souls out for Lifeline as I want to see how it plays. I'm thinking most of the time it's going to be great with a board wipe and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, but I want to actually run it for a while to verify that.

I'll get the description updated shortly.

snotice says... #1

Perfection

March 20, 2016 1:14 a.m.

UpsettingTruth says... #2

Isnt the Blood Artist a nonbo with Kalitas? Kalitas exiles the creatures which wont trigger BA. Why not run Zulaport Cutthroat,only triggers on your guys dying but pings each opponent for each trigger.

March 20, 2016 1:52 a.m.

FeralKitten says... #3

@snotice: Thanks!

@UpsettingTruth: You have a good point. I'll see if I can a Zulaport Cutthroat up for my games tomorrow!

March 20, 2016 2:55 a.m.

FeralKitten says... #4

I decided to run both Blood Artist and Zulaport Cutthroat. They're both win conditions in the right context, and you can never have enough of those!

March 20, 2016 11:24 a.m.

naterino says... #5

Corpse Dance is a fun card to run here. If the creature is in the grave yard by the end of the turn, corpse dance does not exile it.

March 20, 2016 2:20 p.m.

Nice mono black deck FeralKitten + 1 from me.

I wrote a stax primer for my Glissa, the Traitor edh deck and was wondering if you could help me figure out how to program lists like you have for your deck.

The primer also is full of good black cards as well as plenty for all 5 colors so you should check it out when you have the time.

March 21, 2016 2:09 a.m.

FineCashew9 says... #7

Awesome. I'm in the middle of editing my own Kalitas deck, and I look at ther banner, and here your deck is. Fantastic. My deck looks pretty similar to yours, but I have more of a focus on ramp and swinging with the mass of Zombies than Voltron wins like yours.

Anyways, done with the self-promotion. Like the deck, and glad to see someone else with the idea.

March 21, 2016 8:44 p.m.

Ratty says... #8

Another creature that would help combo Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is Anowon, the Ruin Sage. If playing in a pod you'll get multiple zombies every turn.

March 21, 2016 9:01 p.m.

FeralKitten says... #9

@naterino: Corpse Dance seems like a neat card. I might give it a shot, but I'll need to get one first.

@Perfect_Phyrexia: I'm interested in trying out Glissa, so I'll give your primer a look soon. I'll reply on your profile regarding the list formatting.

@FineCashew9: As soon as I saw Kalitas spoiled I knew I wanted to build this deck. I'll definitely take a look at yours, since the next thing to evaluate for the deck is the ramp package. I'm contemplating Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual and some 2-drop rocks that produce black to help drop Kalitas a little earlier. Hopefully I'll get to do that update this week.

@Ratty: I've been thinking about upping the creature count by a few and Anowon, the Ruin Sage fits pretty well. The only (big) problem I see with him is being a magnet for removal, but then again so is the rest of this deck so to the maybeboard he goes!

And thanks to everyone who has commented and upvoted so far. I'm very motivated to really dig in and fine tune this list. If anyone is running anything similar, let me know what is/isn't working for you.

March 22, 2016 midnight

acronix says... #10

I don't think I really care for Black Market in this deck. Sure you get triggers when your own things die, but it won't get any from your opponents if Kalitas is out (which is probably most of the time). Plus it's a 5 mana enchantment that does nothing on the turn it comes out. I think I'd rather run Gilded Lotus if you really need the extra mana.

March 22, 2016 5:16 p.m.

I feel like Gauntlet of Power would be better than Gilded Lotus in this deck with all the other mana doublers. It'll make all the tokens a bit stronger too. Gilded Lotus is still a fantastic card though acronix

March 22, 2016 10:02 p.m.

FineCashew9 says... #12

I second Gauntlet of Power for the Black Market slot. Black Market is an awesome card, but death triggers aren't as common in a Kalitas deck. Just be warned, the Gauntlet helps other players in black. Could make you some allies, or hurt you. It might also help your opponents power out their hand so you can wipe it away.

March 22, 2016 11:05 p.m.

FeralKitten says... #13

I like the Gauntlet of Power suggestion here, plus it gives me an excuse to acquire one! I'll see if I can get it into the next list update.

March 22, 2016 11:13 p.m.

FeralKitten says... #14

Just thought of something. Gauntlet of Power + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth will allow my opponents to produce double mana from basics, though it will be colorless unless they're running black as well. Any opinions from people who play this combo? Is this not a big deal?

March 22, 2016 11:18 p.m.

FineCashew9 says... #15

Well, you can useGauntlet of Power + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth to your benefit. If the table likes the mana, and the players proceed to dump all of their hands out onto the table, it'll make your next wrath much more effective. I bet people won't attack the guy or girl doubling their mana, as well.

March 22, 2016 11:29 p.m.

FeralKitten says... #16

That is true, I hardly ever think about the political aspects of things like this because they are usually more threatening than helpful to people. Maybe a bit of that is the reputation I've built up at tables as well :)

I'll give Gauntlet of Power a shot and see how it goes.

March 22, 2016 11:37 p.m.

It could give you an excuse to run some degenerate X spells like Death Cloud, Killing Wave, Black Sun's Zenith, and even Diabolic Revelation

March 22, 2016 11:37 p.m.

FineCashew9 says... #18

I run Gauntlet in my list, and it actually got overlooked in favor of a Caged Sun sitting on the Bolas player's side of the table (we let him run Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker as his commander for a game - that was a mistake). If you can obviously abuse the mana, , like in Bolas's case, you'll probably come under fire more often

March 22, 2016 11:41 p.m.