Conditions Allow - Kitsa, Otterball Elite EDH
(Kitsa, Otterball Elite | Art by Zoltan Boros)
Slippery as an Otter
Hello, and welcome back to Conditions Allow, where I take a legendary creature with a downside and try to turn it into a strength. In my travels through Bloomburrow so far I've seen a lucky fool and a noble knight. Today I'm taking a break from fairy tail heroics to watch a professional match of otterball, starring Kitsa, Otterball Elite.
Kitsa, Otterball Elite is a two-mana legendary Otter with prowess and the ability to copy an instant or sorcery spell as long as her power is three or greater. Functionally, this means Kitsa, Otterball Elite can copy the second spell you cast every turn. She also has vigilance, allowing you to attack and activate her ability in the same turn while getting the most benefit from prowess in combat possible. Unfortunately, this ends up being rather mana-intensive, leaving fewer resources available for defense than a mono-blue deck might be used to. This encourages you to lean into the aggressive playstyle, casting numerous spells to quickly deal lethal commander damage.
As a Voltron commander, Kitsa, Otterball Elite suffers from being mono-blue compared to other prowess-focused commanders. These decks are built around combat tricks, like Titan's Strength and Fists of Flame, which grant major power boosts. Blue combat tricks are usually defensive, or they make your creatures harder to block. This means you're mostly reliant on prowess to boost Kitsa, Otterball Elite's power, and casting seven or eight spells every turn simply isn't realistic.
Embrace Metamorphosis
Luckily, blue does have another way to boost your creature's power. Rather than temporary power buffs, you can increase the base power and toughness of a creature by letting it take the form of another creature. These Majestic Metamorphoses offer a significant boost in power that's often accompanied by flying, although they do not stack. They don't overwrite the +1/+1 from prowess either, though, making them perfect first spells to cast in a turn. Kitsa, Otterball Elite doesn't want to copy them, and you only need to follow up with one or two spells to deal a respectable amount of commander damage.
Recent sets have also ensured there are enough of this effect to make them the centerpiece of a deck. The best are Dreadful as the Storm and Serpentine Ambush, which set Kitsa's power to five. Most others make her a 4/4, which hits that crucial plus three threshold. Honorable mention also goes to Twisted Image for giving a functional +2 power.
Lastly, I am of course including the more traditional combat tricks available to blue that make Kitsa, Otterball Elite unblockable. Evasion is vital for any Voltron strategy, and these spells ensure you can deal damage consistently.
Something Worth Copying
With the power issue at least partially solved, we now need some spells worth copying to follow up with. There's no shortage of excellent options, but I can't think of anything I'd rather copy more than Narset's Reversal. By targeting the original Narset's Reversal with the copy, you can return itself and another spell to your hand while still resolving their effects. This is great for keeping a key spell in hand, either Shadow Rift or Dreadful as the Storm being excellent candidates, and it also has some combo potential, which I'll get more into a little later.
First, though, I want to quickly mention the spells you'll be copying most often: cantrips. I wanted all of these to be cheap instants so they could be cast in combat and leave mana available to activate Kitsa, Otterball Elite's ability, so none of these offer actual card advantage. Copying them with Kitsa is an important way to keep your hand full.
This is especially true of these three cantrips, each of which untaps a creature. Kitsa, Otterball Elite can copy them as long as you have two extra mana, usually allowing you to draw two or three extra cards. These are also excellent candidates for re-use with Narset's Reversal.
For some actual card advantage, I'm including Ojer Pakpatiq, Deepest Epoch and Archmage Emeritus. Case of the Ransacked Lab could also go here, but I think of it more as ramp. Ojer Pakpatiq, Deepest Epoch in particular is powerful in this deck because you want instances of specific effects on every turn, and Pakpatiq lets you cast the exact same spells two turns in a row, ensuring you attack for big damage turn after turn. Archmage Emeritus, on the other hand, combos spectacularly with Narset's Reversal, drawing three extra cards every time you copy it.
Copy More Than Spells
By far the best spell to combo with Narset's Reversal, however, is Time Warp. In concert with Kitsa, Otterball Elite, these two spells let you take infinite turns. This deck isn't reliant on a combo to win the game, but it is nice as an escape button when you need it. You can even find both pieces very quickly by copying Solve the Equation, although it's better not to. Kitsa will be tapped, so you can't combo right away, and everyone will know you have the pieces in hand, making you a prime target. Unless you know you won't be disrupted before your next turn, it's better to wait and draw the two spells naturally.
Throw in a few removal spells and a couple mana rocks, and here's the final decklist.
Kitsa, Otterball Elite certainly lacks the raw power of Eluge, the Shoreless Sea, but that doesn't mean she can't outmaneuver your opponents. Copying spells opens up a lot of opportunities for trickery, especially with an otherwise straightforward strategy. You also don't have to take Kitsa in a Voltron direction. She could helm a respectable control deck, but she's perhaps most at home in a more tempo playstyle, ensuring your disruptive spells resolve around any counterplay.
But what do you think? How have you built Kitsa, Otterball Elite? Let me know in the comments, and thanks for reading!
