Kataki, War's Wage

Gameplan

Kataki is a mono-white stax commander: cheaply tax every artifact in play so opponents bleed mana or sacrifice their mana rocks, treasures, and equipment while you run a near-artifact-free creature deck that punches through unimpeded. You curve out into hatebears and tax pieces, lock the table out of acceleration, then close with efficient white creatures or token swarms.

Key Cards

• Thalia, Heretic Cathar — Stacks with Kataki to make opponents' artifacts and creatures enter tapped, deepening the lock.
• Smothering Tithe — Ironically one of white's best ramp/draw engines—run it knowing it survives since you can pay the , generating Treasure that you can afford.
• Land Tax — Non-artifact card advantage and fixing that keeps mono-white from flooding while you tax others.
• Archon of Emeria — Pairs perfectly to limit spells per turn and tax nonbasics, compounding the stax shell.
• Mangara, the Diplomat — Punishes the extra activity opponents take trying to play around your taxes, refilling your hand.

Upgrade Path

Add more low-curve white disruption like Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, and Leonin Arbiter to turn the deck into a true prison, and lean on nonartifact ramp/draw such as Land Tax, Esper Sentinel, and Smothering Tithe to fuel it. Tighten the wincon with anthems (Intangible Virtue, Skullclamp draw avoided—stay artifact-light) and a finisher like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite to slam shut a board you've already starved.