DimirLegendary Creature — Human NinjaKotose, the Silent Spider
Mana value5Rank#17,755
The Commander
When Kotose enters, exile target card other than a basic land card from an opponent's graveyard. Search that player's graveyard, hand, and library for any number of cards with the same name as that card and exile them. Then that player shuffles. For as long as you control Kotose, you may play one of the exiled cards, and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast it.
Guide
Gameplan
Kotose is a Dimir tempo-value commander that steals an opponent's best card the moment she enters, often a key combo piece or bomb, while exiling every copy. You play a controlling, interactive game with ninjutsu, theft, and recursion, repeatedly blinking or re-casting Kotose to strip multiple opponents' libraries. Win by leveraging the stolen resources and grinding out the table with card advantage.
Strengths
- Steals a powerful card AND removes all copies from hand/library/graveyard, hitting tutored singletons and combo pieces
- Color-fixing built in—spend mana of any color for the stolen card
- Repeatable with blink/bounce/sacrifice to plunder multiple opponents
- Ninjutsu and evasion synergy fits a tempo-disruption shell
- Doubles as graveyard hate against reanimator and recursion decks
Weaknesses
- Whiffs against empty graveyards—needs a target other than basic lands
- Five mana for a 3/3-ish body that dies easily, costing the stolen card
- Loses access to the exiled card if Kotose leaves play permanently
- No inherent win condition; relies on stolen value and a separate kill
- Vulnerable to graveyard hate and removal that strands your own theft
Key Cards
- Deadeye Navigator — Soulbond + blink lets you re-trigger Kotose every turn to rob the whole table.
- Ghostly Flicker — Cheap repeatable blink to steal another card and reset her enter trigger.
- Yuriko, the Tameless — Ninjutsu partner-in-spirit; both reward unblocked attackers and topdeck damage.
- Cyclonic Rift — You can steal it off an opponent and the bounce-and-recast loop keeps Kotose value flowing.
- Sakashima of a Thousand Faces — Copies Kotose to fire a second theft trigger and double your plunder.
- Reflector Mage — Bounce/blink target that protects tempo and pairs with repeated ETB abuse.
Upgrade Path
Add consistent blink/bounce engines (Deadeye Navigator, Ghostly Flicker, Conjurer's Closet) and clone effects to multiply her trigger, plus efficient ramp to reach five mana early. Tighten the interaction suite with counters and cheap removal so you survive to keep Kotose around, and include a compact win package—Thassa's Oracle plus self-mill, or an evasive beater with Whispersilk Cloak—so all that stolen value converts to a kill. Cards like Aetherflux Reservoir or stolen storm pieces can turn the theft engine into a finisher.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Grind out the table with stolen bombs and overwhelming card advantage
- ▸Cast a stolen Cyclonic Rift or finisher to swing a stalled game
- ▸Assemble a ninja/evasion beatdown backed by topdeck damage
- ▸Hijack an opponent's combo or game-ending spell and use it yourself
Archetypes
- Control — Dimir interaction plus graveyard disruption keeps opponents off their key cards.
- Blink — Flickering Kotose repeatedly re-triggers her steal-and-exile ability for runaway value.
- Theft/Steal — Her whole identity is taking opponents' best cards and casting them yourself.
- Ninjas — As a Ninja she slots into evasion and ninjutsu shells that punish unblocked attackers.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BU), by popularity.
