Qasali Ambusher

Creature — Cat Warrior

Reach

If a creature is attacking you and you control a Forest and a Plains, you may play Qasali Ambusher without paying its mana cost and as though it had flash.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (51)

wallisface on Feline Feelings

2 years ago

lhetrick13 In response to “I do like your idea of lowering the creature count and just stalling until the pieces are in place… Would I almost play it more like a control deck at that point with a focus on disrupting and annoying opponent until I get the pieces I need in play to take an advantage?”

You play it like a midrange deck. Using “The Rock”, “Young Pyro”, or “Bloodbraid-Jund” decks as examples, none of these ran more than around 14-17 creatures, instead focusing heavily on killspells and disruption. The idea being that their creatures and top-decks should “out-value” whatever the opponent is up to, so the plan becomes to just grind-out the game until you win through incidental value gains.

So, your plan would be to have almost all of your non-creature cards disrupt and destroy/exile your opponents stuff, with your creatures then providing value over time. Your best 3 creatures for doing this are Brimaz, King of Oreskos, Leonin Warleader, and Qasali Ambusher (these are also generally the best cards you’re running), so you’d probably want playsets of them. I think you’d need to find another 3-5 “value-engine-creatures” from elsewhere though, as nothing else you’re running fits the bill. You could splash black for Cauldron Familiar and Witch's Oven to get you to 16 creatures - black also incidentally gives you a bunch more ways to mess with the opponent, both through killspells, and hand-disruption.

lhetrick13 on Feline Feelings

2 years ago

wallisface - I made some changes based on your thoughts. I did keep Reciprocate and Heroic Intervention in for now. I do not disagree with you there are times when Reciprocate can not remove the creature I need it to but it is a low cost way to rid the board of a creature without a negative caveat like Path to Exile. I added Reciprocate in recently and will play test it with the other removal cards and see how it feels. Heroic Intervention I just have a hard time parting with as it has saved some many games...but there are other games where I just sit on it so I hear you.

Otherwise, I added some lands and balanced out the mana curve a bit. I know it is still a little heavy on the 3 CMC but you would be surprised at how many games I can sneak Qasali Ambusher in for free with the only prerequisite being possession of a forest and plains and a creature attacking you. So in my mind, I slide those three over to more of a 2 CMC at most although technically they are a 3 CMC.

I do like your idea of lowering the creature count and just stalling until the pieces are in place...Never played a deck like that before so it is intriguing to me. Would I almost play it more like a control deck at that point with a focus on disrupting and annoying opponent until I get the pieces I need in play to take an advantage?

lagotripha on Hans Gruber likes this deck (Budget)

2 years ago

Territorial skycat is a little awkward to build around, but since you are in selesnya have you considered a cat tribal variant?

Steppe Lynx, Wild Nacatl , Loam Lion , Qasali Ambusher to get use out of lands. Feline Sovereign, Pride Sovereign, King of the Pride as lords.

Scythe Tiger in the sideboard for control matchups.

It'd certainly offer an aggro strategy to mix things up with your regular playgroup, so that they can't overprepare for this midrange/combo style.

lagotripha on Nethroi Cat Deck

3 years ago

There are a few notable cats from magic history if you want to dig them up - The one drops in particular are pretty good.

1 Loam Lion , Leonin Vanguard , Steppe Lynx , Wild Nacatl

2 Leonin Arbiter Leonin Relic-Warder (classic DnT pieces) Qasali Pridemage Rakshasa Deathdealer

3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos Qasali Ambusher

There are a few more if you want 1/1s or chunky green/white blockers, but there are enough creatures to make the tribe ok - the only reason they aren't great is that they are a little unfocussed - Pride of the Clouds wants flying creatures, steppe wants landfall, nacatyl particular lands, arbiter tax effects, warder flicker, etc etc.

Best of luck - a nethroi brew feels more likely to work out than anything else I can think of.

Halflingz on

3 years ago

Raining Cats and Dogs Nice work bdodds, I think you have selected a handful of great cards but I'd think you could benefit from an earlier CatDog play and cheaper creatures to really start raining cats and dogs. Even without Aluren, every creature coming in with an extra token produces insane value. Especially considering your general's ability.

Below, I would like to outline 4 core concepts and considerations. Ramp, Creatures, Protection, Draw.

Ramp - Prioritizing cards that help you play Rin & Seri turn 3! Nature's Lore Rampant Growth Three Visits Boros Signet Selesnya Signet Gruul Signet Talisman of Conviction Talisman of Unity Talisman of Impulse Fellwar Stone This should be easy to replace the ramp packaging you already have. Look to cut cards like Explosive Vegetation, Chromatic Lantern, Obelisk of Naya, etc.

Creatures - Prioritizing 3CMC or less and upping your creature count to closer to 30! Think about adding creatures that fullfill multiple roles and allow you to run less other stuff. Qasali Pridemage is a great example cause it can pump a swinger +1/+1 as well as remove a pesky enchant or artifact.

Cheap Utility Kitties- Adorned Pouncer Brimaz, King of Oreskos Bronzehide Lion Initiate's Companion King of the Pride Leonin Relic-Warder Oreskos Explorer Pride Sovereign Qasali Ambusher I like the returners you have for multiple cast triggers too! Can get stupid with Aluren... Whitemane Lion Temur Sabertooth Fleetfoot Panther ? Snow Hound

Cheap Utility Doggos- Abzan Beastmaster Ainok Guide Bolt Hound Resolute Watchdog Selfless Savior

Some real cheap beefers could be nice considering they make a token, but could also see not making the cut- Wild Nacatl Loam Lion Leonin Vanguard Isamaru, Hound of Konda Sacred Cat

Protection/Return - Build a huge board and keep it protected! Unbreakable Formation Rootborn Defenses Heroic Intervention Teferi's Protection Asceticism Marshal's Anthem Kindred Boon Akroma's Will Flawless Maneuver

Draw(ish) - The cheaper the cards in hand the more you gonna empty and wanna draw! Skullclamp Colossal Majesty Elemental Bond Beast Whisperer Fecundity Garruk's Uprising Descendants' Path Realmwalker Hunter's Insight Snake Umbra Lifecrafter's Bestiary Mentor of the Meek Guardian Project Return of the Wildspeaker Shamanic Revelation Slate of Ancestry Collective Unconscious Camaraderie

General good cards for Cat/Dog: Maskwood Nexus Mirror Entity Crib Swap Felidar Retreat Basilisk Collar Thousand-Year Elixir Rings of Brighthearth Seht's Tiger Shields of Velis Vel Naya Charm Kindred Summons Volatile Claws Beastmaster Ascension Titanic Ultimatum Hour of Reckoning Triumph of the Hordes Finale of Devastation Idyllic Tutor Winds of Abandon Lightning Greaves (secret lair dog art!) Coat of Arms Swiftfoot Boots Impact Tremors Rhythm of the Wild Aura Shards Shared Animosity Mirari's Wake Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip Any Cheap Changelings really...

Lands to love: Slayers' Stronghold Kessig Wolf Run Hanweir Garrison Flamekin Village Gavony Township Mosswort Bridge Spinerock Knoll Windbrisk Heights Castle Embereth

danthecolombian on Jumanji Aggro || Selesnya Surprise

3 years ago

psionictemplar, thanks again! Several of these will definitely work. I've added Act of Heroism to my Maybeboard and I'm looking to see how the others might fit in. In order to play the ambushers at little to no cost, I'd need most everyone tapped to draw in an attack. I'm still tweaking this concept and playtesting, but after turn 4-5, I lose momentum with the ambushers unless I can get a Wilt-Leaf Liege and several enchantments on the board.

Turn 1: Play a land (Forest). Play a Birds of Paradise
Turn 2: Play a land (Plains). Play Behemoth Sledge. Flash in Qasali Ambusher if attacked.
Turn 3: Play a land. Equip the sledge and smash with ambusher. Use Fog effect or Dawn Charm if BoP gets targeted. Taking damage is fine, here, too.
Turn 4: Play a land. Play Wilt-Leaf Liege as a 5/5 creature and boosting all others by 1 or 2. One mana left for fog after attacking.
Turn 5: Play a land. Play Loxodon Hierarch as a 6/6 creature. Two mana left for Ephemerate or Fog effect at end of turn.

I don't want to take advantage of your time and generosity, but do you have any thoughts here?

zapyourtumor on Mono Green Cats (Budget)

3 years ago

Pride Sovereign is great, although its probably more for GW. Feline Sovereign is a lord that also gives you artifact/enchantment removal. Prowling Serpopard is obviously great against any sort of counterspell-playing deck, although a bit expensive. Kaheera, the Orphanguard is also sorta expensive but you can just run one as a companion. Generous Stray isn't as good but its cheap and cantrips.

Some other 2-drop green cats are Feral Prowler and Initiate's Companion. Hungry Lynx is super good, but pretty expensive as well.

You could also maybe add some 1-drop cats like Scythe Leopard, Scythe Tiger, or Wild Nacatl (you'd have to run more colors for that though).

I would suggest going into GW colors. Even though the manabase won't be great with budget constraints you get access to so many more cats: Adorned Pouncer, Brimaz, King of Oreskos ($$$$), Leonin Vanguard, Regal Caracal, King of the Pride (this one is OP), Qasali Ambusher, Ajani's Pridemate (good with Leonin Vanguard, etc. This'll also give you good SB options like Felidar Cub/Qasali Pridemage (not sure if needed with Feline sovereign already removing artifacts/enchantments), Dromoka's Command, Leonin Arbiter, etc.

Magic_Aids on ▷ Metagame HATE Deck! ◁【CHONKY TAXES】

4 years ago

Qasali Ambusher could work! We used it the previous multicolored deck with Hero of Precinct One!!