Only Cats Allowed (G/W Standard Cat Tribal)

Standard Smart_TJ

SCORE: 18 | 41 COMMENTS | 16365 VIEWS | IN 14 FOLDERS


Aaerys says... #1

Interesting deck.

So, from my first thoughts, you're playing a lot of singles. The more copies you have of a card, the more likely you are to draw it. Cards like Durable Handicraft I would be playing no less than 4 copies especially as most of your creatures only have one or two power, you'll need to boost them. If you do that, Ambuscade is pointless as you wont be able to remove high creatures. Although maybe sideboard them incase you play against deathtouch

December 16, 2017 8:17 p.m.

Smart_TJ says... #2

Thanks for your thoughts, the mess with singles is mostly because this what I've scrapped together over the last few months, and has a lot of added stuff to fill in the gaps that I thought would work.

December 16, 2017 8:36 p.m.

Atroxreaper says... #3

I'd up the oath of ajani to 4 and work towards acquiring anointed procession and the rest of the cat staples.

December 18, 2017 11:25 a.m.

Smart_TJ says... #4

Yeah, that's what I'm trying for. I'm going to see what I can scrounge up at the store I'm gonna be doing a standard showdown at on Wednesday before it starts. I really wish I had a few anointed procession, but they're really expensive right now, and I just don't have that much money

December 18, 2017 2:37 p.m.

JAPuckett85 says... #5

Thanks for upvoting my EDH WonderCats deck! So I'm looking at your deck here, and I have a few suggestions- in fact, I built a deck in response to seeing yours JUST to give you my own take on a Cat-Tribal Standard deck, Standard Cat Tribal. I mostly play Modern, & cats really aren't strong enough for Modern, but there are some decent cards in Standard right now for cats- namely Adorned Pouncer, Longtusk Cub, Prowling Serpopard, & Regal Caracal, so I would definitely use a full 4x playset of each of those! If going all-cat tribal, then Pride Sovereign is a bomb late game, especially with Anointed Procession, Vanquisher's Banner, & Regal Caracal, as well as early-value repeaters like Sacred Cat. I would drop all the other cats, to be honest- they are not nearly strong enough! Watchers of the Dead is okay as a sideboard option against a dedicated graveyard strategy, but even then will miss the things you actually want to get rid of. Feral Prowler just wastes mana for a chump-blocker that replaces itself; Stalking Tiger is far too little value for it's CMC; Wily Bandar is maybe ok in Draft, but not in constructed; etc, etc. Ambuscade is only worth running if your creatures have high enough Power for it to be a reliable removal spell (cat's don't have high enough power, unless you are already winning). Definitely replace Tranquil Expanse with the strictly-better Scattered Groves. Sunpetal Grove is a 4x must, too. I would also replace Call for Unity with Vanquisher's Banner, which has less restrictive mana-color-requirements and more immediate value. Anyways, check out theStandard Cat Tribal deck I made to show what I would consider running! I just built it, so it is not polished & is sorely lacking removal, but it's meant to be super-aggro anyway. Good luck!

December 20, 2017 2:21 a.m.

Smart_TJ says... #6

Yeah thanks, I would love a few better Tranquil Expanses and anointed procession and stuff, it's just that I don't have a huge budget, and this is mostly the stuff that I've been able to find at the gaming store I go to when I'm there anyway, so it's not great. That's why it's not as great as I designed it. The reason for ambuscade, is because this variation of cats utilizes +1/+1 counters, and it actually works really well as a combat trick on either offensive or defensive if you have even like a 3/3 or a 4/4. I'm doing a Standard Showdown tonight, so I'm gonna try to replace my Stalking Tiger, Feral Prowlers and Wily Bandars for some better creatures. I'm also going to replace the energy aspect of the sideboard with some stuff that I've found I need for certain matches against certain meta decks. I need enchantment removal (Demystify/Fragmentize), God Removal (Pious Interdiction), and stuff that makes my creatures hexproof (Blossoming Defense). Thanks for your feedback.

December 20, 2017 8:29 a.m.

JAPuckett85 says... #7

Blossoming Defense is great (so is Heroic Intervention!). I personally like Fragmentize better than Demystify just for it's flexibility, but both are pretty good. Pious Interdiction doesn't remove the biggest threats of the gods: their abilities. I would use Sorcerous Spyglass, Cast Out, or Ixalan's Binding instead. FYI, upgrading most that stuff to what you want would only cost maybe $40 or so.

December 20, 2017 10:35 a.m.

Smart_TJ says... #8

Yeah, that last bit is the problem. I don't really have another $40 to sink into this thing. The reason I'm still going to have a few demystify is because it's instant speed which is better against some things, like getting rid of a cartouche of knowledge before the creature it's attached to kills me. And for the gods, I do agree that being able to get rid of the abilities with cast out would work much better, and I'll see what I can do on that front. Thanks for the advice though.

December 20, 2017 1:36 p.m.

Smart_TJ says... #9

Okay, pro tip: don't try this deck against Ramuncap Red

December 20, 2017 9:54 p.m.

AlamoPatriot says... #10

Nice deck. Can't go wrong with cats! Upvoted

December 28, 2017 11:07 a.m.

Atroxreaper says... #11

Cats can hold its own against RDW about a 50/50 matchup.

December 28, 2017 11:19 a.m.

Smart_TJ says... #12

Thanks everyone for upvoting! It's because of you guys that we've been able to make the top page a few times. Let's keep it going! I'll update this for my new, actually useful sideboard soon.

December 28, 2017 3:49 p.m.

Cards in the deck that are useless:

Feral Prowler

Pouncing Cheetah

Scrounging Bandar

Stalking Tiger

Watchers of the Dead

Wily Bandar

And for the love of god explain why Pride Sovereign isn't in this.

January 1, 2018 7:24 p.m.

Smart_TJ says... #14

Like I have said in earlier comments, this is stuff I've scrounged up, I have added Pride sovereign, and got rid of all of those except watchers of the dead (good in side board) and pouncing cheetah, which is actually awesome, especially when you have things like Rhonas's Monument and Durable handicraft and all, especially because nobody sees it coming. Nobody.

January 2, 2018 3:14 p.m.

Smart_TJ says... #15

I'll update it soon-ish hopefuly.

January 2, 2018 3:14 p.m.

Shyvana_ says... #16

I'm just going to throw this down here and hope you find some help out of it, it's my own cat tribal standard deck.


Hour of Cat-astrophe

Standard Shyvana_

SCORE: 6 | 14 COMMENTS | 842 VIEWS | IN 4 FOLDERS


January 10, 2018 4:38 p.m.

Kizmetto says... #17

Radiant Destiny Pride Sovereign Sunpetal Grove Metallic Mimic (if you're going for the +1/+1 counter theme...) should be added into the deck. Remove Wily Bandar Watchers of the Dead Stalking Tiger Scrounging Bandar. I think you should go up with Longtusk Cub and Prowling Serpopard or move the serpopard to the sideboard. Maybe look into more removal, or if you want Baffling End would fit too. maybe even Huatli, Radiant Champion could find a home here, as well as Anointed Procession and the white god, oktra.

January 11, 2018 9:28 p.m.

Smart_TJ says... #18

Thanks for the thoughts. First, this hasn't been updated for rivals or my most recent changes to the deck itself. Also, this is what I've scrounged up and isn't complete. Also, this is my version of budget, which isn't that much, so I can't afford better duel lands or metallic mimic. Oketra is a no because SHE IS NOT A CAT!!!. This is ONLY cats allowed. Lastly, anointed procession is a no go because I don't have THAT many tokens in the deck. Everything you said to remove is stuff I have removed, just not updated, except for scrounging bandar, because it's a +1/+1 counter theme, and watchers f the dead is dec in sideboard. thanks for the advice though

January 12, 2018 3:15 p.m.

Smart_TJ says... #19

Okay, I just updated the deck to what it is now.

January 12, 2018 6:19 p.m.

If you want to have 4-5 mana cards in your deck, you MUST play more lands. 19 lands is not enough to keep you from being mana screwed in most games. I'd go up to 23 lands and cut the Call for Unitys. You're not running enough creatures to make that enchantment worth it anyway, plus the new Radiant Destiny is better. You have a lot of protection spells for your relatively-few creatures. I'd try to max out on the better cats over using Divine Verdict or the maindeck Fragmentize. Getting the full set of Pride Sovereign and Adorned Pouncer should be your top priority, then fill in the space with other cats. Finally, one of the better spells I've seen used in a WG aggressive deck is Appeal / Authority. It works especially well with Adorned Pouncer. I've seen it just win games out of nowhere, and I'd cut some non-creatures spells for them Durable Handicraft and Growing Rites of Itlimoc  Flip aren't as strong at ending the game. Hope some of that helps, good luck!

January 23, 2018 8:36 a.m.

Shyvana_ says... #21

4 Pride Sovereign are so much better than 4 Pouncing Cheetahs. They're the same stats, same cost, but one can get large incredibly fast and also is a token generator.

January 23, 2018 9:08 a.m.

Smart_TJ says... #22

Thank you both, I do think a land or two more could make it work a bit better, though it's usually okay, Call for Unity is actually really good for a deterrent if anything, and is usually better for more. Again, it's not updated for RIX and I'm just getting the cards I can when I'm at my gaming store so it's not perfect, the protection is actually really useful, I'm gonna try to cut down a bit, but all too often I have issues with them targeting my best cats that are setting me up for the long game like adorned pouncer before I buff it. I'm also trying to keep the buff enchantments in general because half of my deck's strategy is to swarm and then buff it all. And things like growing rites of itlamoc is something I just want a few of floating around because it's pretty nice earlier on. Finally, appeal to authority is something that I never thought of but could actually work really well in the deck in general

Also, I actually want to keep the pouncing cheetahs because they are actually really good, and when combined with things like rhonas's monument can be incredible. I am also trying to acquire more pride sovereigns though because they are also really good.

Thank you both for your advice

January 23, 2018 4:18 p.m.

MightyRooster says... #23

I like it! I never thought of using call for unity. I have a cat deck too, but I focus on using anointed procession to create way too many cats. Check out my deck if you want, I find that researching other examples of similar strategies helps a lot. (Suggestion: Feral Prowler, it's a card draw cat, good for synergy)

February 6, 2018 7:01 p.m. Edited.

Smart_TJ says... #24

I used to have some feral prowlers in the deck, but they took up space that I really wanted to have for things like more Adorned Pouncers and stuff, but if I free up some space, I might consider it.

Call for Unity in my opinion is such an underrated card. It forces so many decisions with no good result. Lose 10 life, or take out a bunch of attackers, and the rest of them and any more to come get buffed. It really gets fun when you start getting more than one on the battlefield.

For this deck, I always wanted to make a cat deck since amonkhet came out, and I was looking a cards, and decided, I'm doing green-white anyway (which are my favorite colors, especially together btw) why not focus on +1/ +1 counters? And it works great! I'm frankly confused why nobody else seems to have come up with this idea and/or actually made it work, because I did.

February 7, 2018 7:18 a.m.

+3xAdventurous Impulse (3x$0.25), +2xLlanowar Elves (2x$0.25), +2xMemorial to Unity (2x$0.25), +3xLongtusk Cub (3x$0.25), +3xPride Sovereign(3x$0.99), +4xCompulsory Rest(4x$0.25), +1xRegal Caracal ($1.49), +1xForest, +2xProwling Serpopard(from sideboard)(+21) =$7.97 (US$ from cardkingdom. Maybe not the regal and a sovereign if buying locally)

-4 scrounging bandar, -4 pouncing cheetah, -4 call to unity, -2 durable handycraft, -4 abascade, divine verdict, oath of ajani, growing rites of itlamoc (-21)

So with Dominaria getting released in less than a week cards I'd consider are Adventurous Impulse, Llanowar Elves and maybe even a couple Memorial to Unity. Elves lets you play your spells a turn early and the others make it a lot harder to get screwed on mana while letting you dig for your tribal bombs.

I'm assuming you don't have more Longtusk Cubs because with Ixalan, when you say you last updated the deck, being when energy was the entire meta they might have been a little pricy. They are a penny a piece now so I'd suggest picking up a couple over Pouncing Cheetah or Scrounging Bandar.

The removal package is a little slow and I'd suggest Compulsory Rest, Gideon's Reproach or Cast Out to replace the Divine Verdict and suchlike.

Also I'd run more lands. At least 23.

Durable Handicraft, Call for Unity and Oath of Ajani arn't viable in standard atm. You're sacrificing tempo to force through damage late game. Most well tuned control or mid-range decks could easy stabilize before you start to do anything really aggressive, aggro will keep those cards dead in your hand and combo will have you dead on turn 4. Not to mention that anything leaning on removal only needs to one for one your creatures and render your random do nothing enchantments useless without even having to directly answer them. Your best strategy with this type of deck is to either bite hard and not let go or play cards like Vanquisher's Banner or Lifecrafter's Bestiary and draw so many cards your opponent runs out of removal.

April 22, 2018 3:05 a.m.

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