Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is a commander that dramatically alters how the game is played. There are sixty commanders that include the word "dies" in the text. This means that there are sixty other commanders who are likely relying on creatures dying for their decks to work. Someone running Athreos, God of Passage, Marchesa, the Black Rose, or Syr Konrad, the Grim, is not going to be happy to see you dropping Kalitas on the table.

Kalitas, Exiler of Creatures | Commander | Bruce Richard

• Commander (1)
• 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

• Creatures (33)
• 1 Abhorrent Overlord
• 1 Abyssal Persecutor
• 1 Avatar of Woe
• 1 Butcher of Malakir
• 1 Carrion Feeder
• 1 Crypt Ghast
• 1 Death Baron
• 1 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
• 1 Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1 Fell Shepherd
• 1 Fiend of the Shadows
• 1 Gempalm Polluter
• 1 Geralf's Messenger
• 1 Ghoulcaller Gisa
• 1 Grave Titan
• 1 Gravedigger
• 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1 Indulgent Tormentor
• 1 Liliana's Reaver
• 1 Liliana, Heretical Healer
• 1 Malakir Bloodwitch
• 1 Overseer of the Damned
• 1 Pontiff of Blight
• 1 Shriekmaw
• 1 Skirsdag High Priest
• 1 Smothering Abomination
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Spirit of the Night
• 1 Thief of Blood
• 1 Thopter Assembly
• 1 Vampire Nighthawk
• 1 Will-o'-the-Wisp
• 1 Zombie Master

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 1 Liliana of the Dark Realms
• 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited

• Instants (2)
• 1 Malicious Affliction
• 1 Scour from Existence

• Sorceries (2)
• 1 Army of the Damned
• 1 Black Sun's Zenith

• Enchantments (7)
• 1 Black Market
• 1 Carnival of Souls
• 1 Dictate of Erebos
• 1 Endless Ranks of the Dead
• 1 Pestilence
• 1 Phyrexian Arena
• 1 Underworld Connections

• Artifacts (13)
• 1 Champion's Helm
• 1 Charcoal Diamond
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Darksteel Plate
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1 Oblivion Stone
• 1 Perilous Vault
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Spine of Ish Sah
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of Light and Shadow

• Lands (40)
• 31 Swamp
• 1 Barren Moor
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Darksteel Citadel
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Opal Palace
• 1 Polluted Mire
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Strip Mine
• 1 Temple of the False God

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This doesn't even consider the fact that virtually every Commander deck out there uses graveyard recursion. When your opponents lose this source of cards from their decks, they are simply not going to function as well as before.

When I first built the deck, I believed the best way to deal with this was to get Kalitas out as quickly as possible in every game. Once I got to four mana, it was go time. It meant that my opponents were less able to deal with Kalitas since I was making sure that they couldn't effectively load the graveyard. The problem is that this encourages opponents to swing at you... a lot. I would be forced to cast and recast Kalitas again and again to keep them off their graveyard resource. Not surprisingly, this was a losing proposition. I recall more than one game paying 12 mana for Kalitas.

This forced a change in gameplay. I have started waiting until later in the game to put Kalitas out. When he joins the fray, I usually have a way to protect him now. Whether it is the usual variety of footwear, or something more exotic like the Sword of Light and Shadow, I am a little more careful with him.

I recently played a three-player game that ended with a Black Market reaching 18 counters on one round of the table due to a Teysa deck sacrificing many creatures. I then had the chance to cast and sacrifice Perilous Vault, then play out Kalitas, Avatar of Woe, and a Fiend of the Shadows that managed to work together to get me the win in a couple of turns.

It was during this game that I realized that there were a few cards that were working against each other in the deck and adjustments needed to be made.

Cards on the Brink

Black Market. I do love this card; that's the reason it is in the deck. It is the reason that I was able to win the game I was just talking about. The problem is that the card does very little if Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is out. Only your creatures die, so it just doesn't pile up the counters the way it would otherwise. It was originally put in the deck to discourage my opponents from all the graveyard shenanigans. I thought they would be reluctant to give me all that mana, so they would lay off recursion loops and such. That is not the case at all. While it can still perform, it is on the edge.

Malicious Affliction. It does a great job, but it is in there to be used when Morbid triggers. This often means I'm waiting for one of my own creatures to die before I use it. Not a fan of that.

Spirit of the Night. This card was put in the deck because it is a pet card. I love how it swings. When it gets on the battlefield, it is a game-changer. It is amazing how difficult it is to take down. The obvious problem is the nine mana to cast it. This is a creature from a bygone era, when good creatures cost far too much mana. If this creature were printed now I suspect it would barely be seven mana.

Pontiff of Blight. The Cleric is here as an alternate way to win. I thought that with a handful of Zombies, I could take someone down just by casting Carrion Feeder with six extort triggers. Instead what I have discovered is that the deck's curve is high and adding extort to the cost just makes it even more impossible to effectively use.

Cards to Consider

Rankle, Master of Pranks. This card is a valuable utility card that could go into a lot of Black decks. A 3/3 flying creature with haste for four mana is solid. You are going to get plenty of blocks and hit plenty of times with a flying creature this big. Add in the rest of the text box and you are getting a massive bonus. The ability to force players to discard cards, and a way to for you to draw a card when you desperately need it is a valuable thing. Forcing everyone to sacrifice a creature, especially when Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is out there, means that you can get that creature back, while everyone else is exiling it and giving you a 2/2 Zombie. On most attacks with Rankle, you will likely deal three damage to an opponent and two of three of your opponents will have to sacrifice a creature. Even if one of those is a token creature, you'll still be getting a 2/2 Zombie token to replace the creature you are sacrificing, and that is all plus side!

My favorite part is the choices Rankle offers. Not only are you picking and choosing the best options at the right time, you can make the offers to other opponents too. If someone wants to draw a card badly enough, will they take four damage to make it happen? You can give them their card and force everyone to discard as well!

Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose. This was a recently revealed card from Core Set 2021, coming out in a few weeks. While this fellow will certainly find a place in my Grenzo, Dungeon Warden deck, I think he works well with Kalitas too. Kalitas already has lifelink, so Vito will make Kalitas hit just that much harder. Kalitas swings for three and is blocked. You gain three life and Vito's ability causes an opponent of your choice, to lose that much life!

The obvious use is to double up the damage to a single opponent. Either they block and still take the three damage, or they don't, and now take six. The other way to use it is to swing at a friendly player in the game. They block with a token creature that dies, and you send that life loss at the leader in the game who is pinning everyone down! Admittedly, you are going to become that leader pretty quick if you are gaining life and doing damage to someone else, but it is an option.

The other nice part about Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose is the "All In With Zombies" option. If you happen to have a handful of Zombies, Vito can give them all lifelink. Suddenly that attack into an opponent that has the creature to stop it isn't a suicide attack, since it is gaining you, say, thirteen life and costing an opponent 13 life and a few creatures.

This doesn't need to be happening during your combat either. If you are sitting there with four zombies and Vito, and 5 mana up, your opponent has to know that you are going to gain nine life if you attack them, so they better be real sure it is worth it. That is a hell of a deterrent!

Species Specialist. While Kalitas is no Zombie theme deck, there are plenty of Zombies in the deck, and they are mostly there to die. Whether they are dying so Kalitas can be bigger, dying as a chump blocker, or dying for some other noble cause, the Zombies are dying. As long as they are already on the way out, why shouldn't you get to draw a card? Admittedly, with Kalitas out, you aren't drawing cards when Zombies your opponents control die, but unless you are running Tombstone Stairwell, you probably weren't counting on that.

(Tombstone Stairwell with Species Specialist!? OMG)

I also like to note that the "may" clause is on the card, so if you have just cast Army of the Damned and someone decides it is time for a Day of Judgement, you don't have to draw all thirteen cards, just as many as you want to. For me, that will likely be about... thirteen.

(With Tombstone Stairwell, you will not want to draw for every dying Zombie. Trust me)

Titan Hunter. Titan Hunter is practically made for this deck! When Kalitas is out, no creatures your opponents control will be dying. This means that unless they kill one of your creatures, Titan Hunter is going to deal four damage to them. On your turn, Kalitas will likely be demanding you sacrifice a Zombie to make him a little bigger, to the Titan Hunter does nothing to you! I love finding cards like this that, by themselves, look fine, but paired with the right card, just turn to gold!

I hope you enjoyed our walk with Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. With all of the recently released cards, I expect many of your decks will be seeing a rebuild or fine tuning as well! Let me know of other cards you think would work well in Kalitas! I'm always up for a little upgrading!

Bruce Richard

@manaburned