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Commander Nexus
  1. Commander Nexus
  2. Commanders
  3. Kotis, the Fangkeeper

Command zone

Kotis, the Fangkeeper

Kotis, the Fangkeeper

Legendary Creature — Zombie Warrior

Kotis wants a deck that casts extra spells for free off the top of its deck. It also works in a deck built around Library Manipulation, Warriors or Zombies.

  • Mana cost1 genericblackgreenblue
  • Blue, Black, Green ()
  • Power / toughness2 / 1
  • RarityRare

Indestructible

Whenever Kotis deals combat damage to a player, exile the top X cards of their library, where X is the amount of damage dealt. You may cast any number of spells with mana value X or less from among them without paying their mana costs.

Build a deck with Kotis Find it in the app

Archetypes

Cards That Fit Kotis, the Fangkeeper

Picked for what they do in Kotis's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Kotis's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Kotis, the Fangkeeper

explain how Kotis works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 4 Apr 2025

If an exiled card has {X} in its mana cost, X is 0 for the purpose of determining its mana value.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Apr 2025

If any of the spells you cast has {X} in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X when casting it without paying its mana cost.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Apr 2025

Since you are using an alternative cost to cast the spells, you can’t pay any other alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs, such as kicker costs. If the spells have any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those.

Wizards of the Coast 4 Apr 2025

You cast the spells from among the exiled cards while Kotis’s last ability is resolving and still on the stack. You can’t wait to cast them later in the turn. Timing restrictions based on the card’s type are ignored.

4 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Kotis, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryUBGPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue, B for black, G for green. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.Cascade/Free CastCascade decks cast extra spells for free, straight from the top of their deck, every time they cast the right card. Cascade turns over cards from the top of your library until it hits a cheaper spell, which you may cast without paying for it.Open the Cascade/Free Cast pageCard SelectionImproves what you draw rather than how much: you look at the top few cards of your library and decide what stays on top. Ponder lets you rearrange the top three, Serum Visions lets you scry, and Consider lets you surveil. It makes your draws more reliable without giving you extra cards.Open the Card Selection pageFree CastCan be cast without paying its mana cost when a condition is met, often "if you control your commander". Because it costs nothing, you can still answer something after your mana is already spent. Fierce Guardianship, Deflecting SwatOpen the Free Cast pageLibrary ManipulationCards that let you look at, rearrange or play from the top of your deck, so you control what you draw next.Open the Library Manipulation pageImpulse DrawExiles cards from the top of your library and lets you play them for a short time, usually only that turn. You have to use them or lose them. Act on Impulse Prosper, Tome-BoundOpen the Impulse Draw page