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Hello all!
I am pleased to present my second completed modern deck. This is a modern cat tribal deck that aims to do well at all stages of the game. When I started this brew, my goal was to make cats as competitive as possible, and after years of testing, I have come to the conclusion that they are EXTREMELY underrated. Cats have the ability to put pressure on your opponent early while synergizing together with multiple forms of in-tribe utility to curve out into the mid and late game reliably. Pair all of this with some powerful artifacts and enchantments, and cats become a surprisingly well-rounded threat. With all of that being said, let's get into the breakdown.
Creatures (=ↀωↀ=)
Loam Lion: It's a Kird Ape for the cats. Our mana base makes her a 2/3 the second she hits the field 9 times out of 10. She's awesome at trading early and curves out into the mid/late game reliably with the help of our lords and pump spells.
Wild Nacatl: If you're running cats, she is a MUST at 4 copies. Our mana base allows her to be a 3/3 by turn 2 most of the time. This alone makes her hard for a lot of decks to deal with. She's amazing at getting in early game damage and curves out well into the mid/late game.
Steppe Lynx: The newest MVP to this iteration of my cats. Steppe Lynx is consistently a 4/5, thanks to the help of our fetches. With her, and the help of additional boosts, we can swing in for over a quarter of our opponents health by turn 2 or 3. She really increased the aggressiveness of our tribe, which was already aggressive to begin with.
Qasali Pridemage: The exalted trigger he offers our cats helps us to speed up the clock, and the naturalize effect he offers is extremely helpful in the current meta. Run at least 2. We are currently running 4 to speed up our damage output.
Qasali Ambusher: Free cat at instant speed? Yes please. Provides our cats with a bit of tempo and can act as a form of spot removal if we have lords out. Good as a 3 of, but may be considering putting it at 4. Only issue is that our opponents have to attack us first.
King of the Pride: He's arguably our best lord. Best case scenario is we drop him on turn 3 with two other cats. He dies easily to removal, but forces our opponents to waste resources on him. Besides, our build helps our cats hold their own without the need of the lords.
Pride Sovereign: The biggest beater in the deck. Can generate us additional token value if we exert her. Definitely a must in cat tribal. I added her back in after strenuous testing. The deck really loves having her as a 2 of.
Feline Sovereign: Another lord. We mostly run her to increase the probability of hitting a lord by turn 3, but the naturalize effect she offers our cats is extremely helpful in the right match ups.
Kaheera, the Orphanguard: Ikoria blessed us with another cat lord that offers our felines vigilance. This is extremely relevant in more aggressive match ups and allows us to swing in freely. Being able to wish her from outside of the game when we are in desperate need of a boost to our cats can be a make or break in closer match ups.
Planeswalkers (=ↀωↀ=)
Ajani, Caller of the Pride: The modern meta has become faster and faster over the past year. We need to keep up and good old Ajani here really makes that possible. His first ability is fine, but his -2 is really where he shines. He allows us to kill our opponent on turn 3 with the right set up. Definitely a game changer.
Artifacts (=ↀωↀ=)
Esika's Chariot: Probably one of my favorite cards in the entire deck. We run this over Coco because our cats can curve out reliably on their own. Also, unlike Coco, Esika's chariot cannot whiff. The chariot helps to build our board state while offering us another threat on board when we crew it. Since our cats have high base power, and have multiple lords at their disposal, crewing this is extremely easy. The ability to copy any cat token our deck generates is also extremely useful.
Enchantments (=ↀωↀ=)
Rancor: I cannot say enough good things about this card. It turns even our 1 drop cats into massive threats early and the recursion allows us to utilize it throughout the mid and late game. The only thing worse than a high powered cat, is a high powered cat with trample.
Instants (=ↀωↀ=)
Path to Exile: One of the best removal cards in white. You would be stupid not to run this at at least 3 copies. Helps us deal with threats that the cats cannot get over.
Lightning Helix: Removal plus utility. We've been testing this for a bit and it's been going well. Unsure if there are better spells for this shell.
Lands (=ↀωↀ=)
Windswept Heath, Wooded Foothills, Temple Garden, Sacred Foundry, Forest, and Plains: This mana base can be painful, but is a necessary evil in order to speed up our cats and allow them to excel. Even with the burn, we usually end up ahead of our opponents in terms of life total after only a couple swings.
That wraps up the card breakdown. I truly hope you enjoyed it. Cats definitely don't get NEARLY enough credit as a tribe. I hope you have just as much fun as I have had meowing through modern. Feel free to leave feedback and suggestions below. The cats may have your tongue, but do they have your fingers too? O_o
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