Deck name comes from a joke we have here at home - referring to the toe beans on a cat’s paw, but one that still has its claws are “spicy.” We thought it was funny, anyway.
Arahbo cat mostly-tribal. Decided to buff up the equipment and heavy hitters for Arahbo's triggers, and stick to the original theme of the deck overall. I actually really love the theme and it's the main reason I got it, other than the cats themselves. Toss in some equipment tutors like
Stoneforge Mystic
and
Steelshaper's Gift
and we're off to the races!
Arahbo could probably be swapped out for Nazahn, but I think Arahbo nets better performance overall.
The Strategy!
Primary Wincon, let's be honest - it's just clawing face with combat damage.
Other wincons include:
1) Commander Damage via
Arahbo, Roar of the World
+ any Equipment
2)
Felidar Sovereign
+ lifegain
3) Fleecemane Lion + Worldslayer
because Thundercats HOOO
At its heart this is a Voltron-style, Go Tall deck. We want to push damage through with one creature. With all of our tutors we can always find the one equipment we need to get that damage in.
Trample? We got
Behemoth Sledge
.
Unblockable?
Kusari-Gama
unless they want to lose their creatures.
Need to protect our cat hero? We got that, too!
Indestuctible?
Hammer of Nazahn
!
Hexproof?
Swiftfoot Boots
!
Sac-Proof?
Assault Suit
!
This deck is meant to Go Tall, but it can go a little Wide, too. It's not meant to be a wincon, but it's there just so we always have a creature to hit with. Losing a creature in Voltron is the worst, so having ways to replace them is impostant.
Kemba, Kha Regent
,
Brimaz, King of Oreskos
,
Jedit Ojanen of Efrava
, and
Pride Sovereign
all call their pridemates, while
White Sun's Zenith
calls a lot of them.
Nahiri, the Lithomancer
finishes up our token makers by making guys that bypass Equip costs, even if they don't get
Arahbo, Roar of the World
's
Giant Growth
ability. A 1/1 with
Argentum Armor
on it is still a threat.
The additional of
Parallel Lives
gets our cat tokens going crazy, but also
Bloodforged Battle-Axe
!
The Cat Army!
There are actually a lot more cats than I realized, and found it hard to decide what to include and what not to. After some time and consideration, I think I've fallen on a group that I really like.
Balan, Wandering Knight
- Since this is an equipment heavy deck, she fits right in. Double strike and an Equip All Everything ability for 2 mana is just awesome.
Brimaz, King of Oreskos
- Great body with vigilance, and makes some extra bodies is just the kind of cat we're looking for.
Felidar Sovereign
- This is a wincon with enough life gain. I've come across enough combo shinanigans to know that you need at least one "You Win the Game" card in the deck.
Fleecemane Lion
- Definitely our best cat. Hard to kill (nigh impossible with
Assault Suit
).
Fleetfoot Panther
- Why don't I see this card being run in other cat decks?! It's a tragedy. This is a 3/4 Flash body for 3. If that's not value enough, this guy's bounce ability is amazing when viewed as a bonus rather than a restriction. It can allow us to reuse the ETB triggers of
Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith
or
Stoneforge Mystic
, or just save a creature we like from a wrath, exile, or sacrifice spell. Total utility on a 3-cost body.
Jedit Ojanen of Efrava
- Sometimes unblockable and makes cat-bears that are also sometimes unblockable. One of our heavy hitters.
Kemba, Kha Regent
- This may be a Go Tall deck, so the inclusion of a Go Wide creature is a little awkward, but she lends herself to Equipment decks so well it's just hard to say no. Plus she makes an army of cat-bears faster than anything else in the deck. Not much else going on for her, though.
Leonin Abunas
- Gotta protect our equipment somehow! Could just
Darksteel Forge
it, but this guy is a cat-bear on top of that great ability.
Leonin Shikari
- Alongside
Sigarda's Aid
and/or
Puresteel Paladin
, my equipment gets crazy.
Leonin Skyhunter
- Basic cat-bear with evasion. This card is the perfect 2-drop. 5 damage on turn 3 that will probably be unblockable is nothing to snuff at.
Leonin Warleader
- Brimaz lite.
Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist
- An upgraded
Dueling Grounds
, is ideal for a Go Wide strategy, but is good control in a deck that doesn't utilize an army of blockers either. Perfect with
Maze of Ith
Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith
- Tribal equipment tutor with a control ability is just what we want. Plus, if I do choose to find his
Hammer of Nazahn
, well, you know how perfect those two cards are for each other, right? Also fun with
Blade of Selves
.
Pride Sovereign
- Yet another cat that's better in a Go Wide strategy, but he's just too good to pass up for 3-mana. With
Blade of Selves
he pumps himself up, and with
Staff of Domination
his exert isn't so bad.
Qasali Pridemage
- 3/3 for 2 with an in response removal is flat out value.
Qasali Slingers
- A second
Aura Shards
effect. Combos with a
Fleetfoot Panther
that bounces itself.
Regal Caracal
- Awesome Cat Lord. Pretty much auto incude.
Sabertooth Nishoba
- Now a Cat thanks to an Oracle update, this guy is the beatstick of this deck. Two relevant protections and Trample make this guy good, but with the free Arahbo trigger his 8/8 stats make him a huge threat, even unequipped.
Seht's Tiger
- A flash body is always fun, but one that can
Fog
an attack on me, or prevent some bad spell from hitting me is awesome.
Skyhunter Skirmisher
- This guy is like the perfect cat for this deck. At only 3-mana this guy can hit like a truck on turn 4 without needing any equipment at all, and can almost always get the damage in. All around great.
Sunspear Shikari
- A cat-bear that gets better when equipped. Can't go wrong with that in this kind of deck.
Taj-Nar Swordsmith
- Cat + tutor is exactly what we want in this deck, especially with
Sigarda's Aid
,
Hammer of Nazahn
, or
Puresteel Paladin
out.
Any other cats you think should be part of this package, please let me know! But do give me reasons why and suggestions on what to replace with.
Other Creatures!
This list is small. We like Cats in this deck, so if a non-cat is in the deck it had better have a good reason to be, right? Well here they are:
Puresteel Paladin
- Draw a card when I play an equipment spell, and all equip costs are reduced to 0. I mean, this guy just screams to be in this deck.
Stoneforge Mystic
- Any deck with equipment needs this card, right? Best trade ever. Find exactly the equipment I need (this deck being kind of an equipment toolbox makes tutors especially necessary), as well as bypass high casting costs like
Argentum Armor
.
Stonehewer Giant
- Reusable tutor (assuming he stays around). High cost, but they payout is awesome, especially since the tutored equipment immediately hits the field AND gets equipped!
Argentum Armor
's cost of 12 gets reduced to 2, or
Worldslayer
's 10 becomes 2. Even with the Giant's CMC of 5 plus the 2 for the ability is still less than the total cost of those two equipment.
The Equipment Package!
As far as the equipment goes in this deck, I'm running 17, which feels like a good amount, and we're also running a ton of tutors, several that are reusable with
Fleetfoot Panther
's bounce effect, or
Stonehewer Giant
's active.
I've tried to choose equipment that not only makes my creatures deadlier, but also gives me a little extra utlity as well. I was running the Kaldra set, but removing it opens the door for a bit more freedom than trying to always find a 3-card combo with my tutors. So here we go:
Argentum Armor
- Massive Power/Toughness boost + destroy any permanent one attack rather than combat damage. The Equip cost makes it hard to play until late game unless
Sigarda's Aid
or
Hammer of Nazahn
is in play, and once it "falls off" it's a bit of a pain. I feel the upsides outweigh the costs, though.
Assault Suit
- At first I hated this card, but in this deck I think it's essential. A small boost plus haste with a heavy Equip cost is less than ideal, but since this is a voltron deck that "Can't be sacrificed" clause is phenomenal! It's no
Sigarda, Host of Herons
, but at least prevents my strongest creature from falling to
Grave Pact
. Plus, the added bonus of letting my allied opponents use my creature is hilarious, especially if we all want that "one guy" to die from Commander Damage as fast as possible. An instant-tutor against mono-black and Meren decks.
Behemoth Sledge
- Just a good beatstick weapon.
Armadillo Cloak
on a hammer.
Basilisk Collar
- Deathtouch and Lifelink with ridiculously low cost. Wish it had some P/T buffs, but I'll take it anyway!
Bloodforged Battle-Axe
- I love this. It's hilarious. Someday I'll combo it with
Balan, Wandering Knight
. Someday. And
Parallel Lives
, too? Gross.
Conqueror's Flail
- Smalls buff with defense vs counter magic and combat tricks. Auto-tutor vs any deck running blue or black!
Godsend
- Always been one of my favorites. Solid +3/+3 with added removal once it connects with another creature.
Hammer of Nazahn
- Small boost plus indestructible for a moderate cost, strictly better than
Shield of Kaldra
, and I feel better than
Darksteel Plate
when the bonus ability is factored in. Allowing for equipment to auto-Equip upon ETB is just insane for stuff like
Argentum Armor
.
Heirloom Blade
- I keep going back and forth on including this card or swapping it out. It's a nice sized buff for relatively nothing, but that
Evolutionary Leap
ability when my voltron dies is really the deal maker. Replacing my creatures is extremely important in this deck to ensure that I don't burn out.
Kusari-Gama
- Great combat trick with
Sigarda's Aid
, and overall good block deterrent. With our guys huge, our opponents will want to block, and this punishes them for it.
Mask of Memory
- This deck is always hurting for card draw, and this equipment is a perfect fit.
Swiftfoot Boots
- Straight up protection and haste for cheap. I'd run
Lightning Greaves
also, but shroud blocks half of what makes
Arahbo, Roar of the World
great in this deck. I'd actually have to play him to make Greaves anything more than terrible.
Sword of Feast and Famine
- I am unsure of the power level of this card in this deck, the protection from green directly blocking Arahbo's Eminence ability. But, pro-black and untapping lands is awesome for a card that has such a low mana cost and equip cost to it.
Sword of the Animist
- Small buff and ramp, the ideal early game equipment.
Sword of Vengeance
- Buff plus keyword buffet.
Worldslayer
- I keep taking this card in and out. It's currently replacing
Rout
as a Wrath effect, but it's just so good with
Fleecemane Lion
!
Suggestions on changes and edits to my Equipment package are welcome! I did my homework, though, so come prepared to back up your choices!
