WonderCats

Commander / EDH* JAPuckett85

SCORE: 32 | 15 COMMENTS | 3416 VIEWS | IN 16 FOLDERS


First EDH Experience —Nov. 11, 2017

Played my first EDH games- & my deck did GREAT! First match, I lost too much life with Sylvan library before the guy playing Nekusar, the Mindrazer made everyone discard/draw our entire hand while losing 3 life per card, then he got an extra turn & did it again. Match #2 with same group: I got my revenge on Mr. Mindrazer by taking hm out by T5, then one guy stole the top FOURTEEN cards of another player's library, casting all under his control (which included Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Sword of Body and Mind, Sword of Light and Shadow), but on my next turn I cast Triumph of the Hordes and hit him with EIGHTY-EIGHT Infect damage, on a Hexproof/Indestructible/Trampler! Prowling Serpopard + Mirari's Wake + Triumph of the Hordes + Swiftfoot Boots + Hammer of Nazahn + Duelist's Heritage + both abilities on Arahbo, Roar of the World + another player having Gisela, Blade of Goldnight. My other 3 creatures (now with Infect) took out everyone except the guy playing Gisella, Blade of Goldnight, & he won because I left no blockers. Obviously, I am still learning EDH (I am used to Modern). Game #3: I finally won! My winning boardstate was Stirring Wildwood equipped with Swiftfoot Boots, Quietus Spike, & Sword of Fire & Ice! Nobody had a flier in play, so my little 1/1 flier (Skyhunter Skirmisher) took a guy with 42 life down to 7 life with one attack (because Eminence/Quietus/Mirari's), but even with Swiftfoot Boots the Skyhunter Skirmisher got killed on an opponent's turn. I had Duelist's Heritage already in play, however, as well as Mirari's Wake, so on my following turn I had enough mana to animate Stirring Wildwood, equip it with Swiftfoot Boots & Quietus Spike, then cast/equip Sword of Fire and Ice onto it as well, which was then was able to hit my other opponent for lethal- & he was at 28 life and all of his creatures were "Blue''! The last guy conceded with 7 life left. Sweet first EDH experience, & I am loving my Cats!

Spirits says... #1

Hi JAPuckett85,

Here's some ideas for you, keep in mind I'm still working on my deck, Arahbo, Xenagos... for Cats. I also found MegaMatt13 deck helpful when starting out my build Arahbo's Killer Kittens.

I focused on Lost Leonin and the power of the Eminence trigger with him. Ajani, Caller of the Pride is perfect with him to win, but I also found Duelist's Heritage (Works good with most other cats too!) and Berserk (Works with double strike cats or to remove an opponents creature), both make him more powerful. The nice thing of Duelist's Heritage is that it can be tutored with Enlightened Tutor or Idyllic Tutor or other like Academy Rector whatever your preference.

In my testing too I found that good cats over lots of cats was more efficient, thus why I play Sylvan Tutor, Eladamri's Call and Worldly Tutor which pull either Lost Leonin or Felidar Sovereign for the most part. I also run Green Sun's Zenith usually pulling Rhonas the Indomitable or Fleecemane Lion, another viable good target would be Birds of Paradise which can act as another CMC 2 mana ramp, but I haven't got that in just yet, still testing.

I also found Triumph of the Hordes to work good with the Cat + Eminence theme. I have a Sword of Feast and Famine in my binder, but chose not to include it for now because the protection prevents the Eminence trigger, but it's a good sword, if you have something to do with the extra mana. The problem is for Arahbo, Roar of the World you can overload the cats and then still play during post-combat main phase. I don't run a cat horde/token synergy so that's why I choose not to run it.

Rhonas the Indomitable is awesome, 5/5 indestructible deathtouch and he can attack with ANY cat + eminence trigger! Talk about Aggro tempo for . Darksteel Forge is pretty expensive, and I dont think the artifacts are the key to winning with Arahbo, Roar of the World in my opinion. Puresteel Paladin is amazing for the draw! Keep him! Trailblazer's Boots I'd honestly rather put more trample enablers instead, but I've seen other deck play the evasion angle too.

I find Grafted Exoskeleton terrorizes opponents much better (and faster) than a Quietus Spike. The deathtouch is nice, but why not just kill the player?

I'd rather have some more draw, like Hunter's Insight than a VERY High CMC Jareth, Leonine Titan. Only gets the +7 when blocking, so not really the greatest. I know he's hard to remove, and has the built in evasion, but too much.

I've had good success with Chameleon Colossus, his built in ability means you don't need to cast Arahbo, Roar of the World and he can proc well with things like Duelist's Heritage, Ajani, Caller of the Pride, Berserk and Equipment. I elected to go Stonehewer Giant over Stoneforge Mystic but won't discourage you there, she is awesome.

Don't see a lot of abilities, like Mirari's Wake in your deck, so not sure the need for White Sun's Zenith what some 2/2 cats are going to really accomplish for you, except with maybe a Triumph of the Hordes or something. I'm trying to work Metallic Mimic back into my deck, In testing I found him too slow for my taste, but he would be good with White Sun's Zenith as well.

I find Loxodon Warhammer better than Behemoth Sledge because of the extra offense, but with Felidar Sovereign I play both, also like the Basilisk Collar just hate doesn't have any +X to the power, but the deathtouch helps with the evasion factor anyway.

I've had others question my use of Pride Sovereign, I'm undecided on him right now, just lack of Cats with real utility why he remains pretty much. Puresteel Paladin + Bloodforged Battle-Axe is an awesome interaction, but in testing I found Bloodforged Battle-Axe was a little too slow without him around for me.

I don't play as much control, which is why things like Godsend don't make the 99. Cat's aren't here to block, unless you run a Qasali Ambusher most can't even block flyers Skyhunter Skirmisher obviously being an exception, and let's be real, noone is going to walk into an unfavorable blocking situation and have anything of value exiled with Godsend. Accepting cats dont block well, it means it's your opponents choice which creatures to get exiled or not, It doesn't hit opponents commanders, and unless they are playing a unburial type deck, with commander format being singleton it's not stopping recast of anything in the majority of circumstances. Anyway just my thought on that.

Best of luck. I'm always continuing to develop, so hopefully with have some better insights in the future. +1

October 22, 2017 11:03 p.m.

MegaMatt13 says... #2

Hi, like the deck :)

I agree with Spirits suggestions and just want to suggest that overall I think you will find it to be helpful to lower your average CMC. Cards like Argentum Armor, Kindred Summons, and Jareth could be cut to streamline the deck.

I would also suggest cutting the number of tapped lands you run. A few is fine but you have quite a lot. You're only in 2 colours so you don't need that much fixing. Elfhame Palace, Blossoming Sands, Graypelt Refuge, Selesnya Guildgate, Selesnya Sanctuary, and Tranquil Expanse could all just be replaced with basic lands or some utility lands like Reliquary Tower or Scavenger Grounds.

Growing Rites of Itlimoc  Flip could also be cut. The point of Arahbo is to have just one or two cats out at a time. You won't have enough creatures at once to make the Growing Rites really worth it. Something like Nature's Lore which can fetch Canopy Vista or Scattered Groves could go in its place.

Hope this helps!

October 23, 2017 12:41 a.m. Edited.