If you like to be the King of the game and unleash the mighty power and strength of the king of beasts , then Cat Tribal is the right deck for you! Let’s see how we can roar and let our opponents tremple with our feline ferocity!
I love tribal decks because they combine synergy and flavor and of course power. On top of that you can find many unique cards that support a tribe and can be great budget options as those cards work only on a specific tribal deck and are bad to unplayable to any other deck. That’s why I will try building and presenting a series of decks for all those who share the love for tribal decks.
Cat is a creature type used for felines. In Magic, the term refers to both regular cats and other feline creatures such as lions and tigers. The first creature to bear the type was Cat Warriors in Legends (though the Savannah Lions from Alpha was later issued errata to become a Cat). All cats are said to be descended from Arahbo, the primordial essence of all cats in the Multiverse. (source MTG Wiki)
Back to 2017, with the release of Feline Ferocity, Arahbo, Roar of the World came to MtG, offering us the ultimate Cat Tribal commander. Although his ability that trigger whenever another Cat we control attacks and let us pay 
to buff it with +X/+X until end of turn, where X is its power, is quite strong, his true power comes from his Eminence ability : At the beginning of combat on our turn another target Cat we control gets +3/+3 until end of turn. That makes him the ultimate Cat support card as by combining his abilities he can turn even a small cute cat into a ferocious beast that can devour our opponents.
It is worthy to be mentioned that even if Arhabo is a commander that favors “going tall” strategy, he can be a great card even with a “going wide” strategy, as having always a target for his powerful free Eminence ability, can really make a difference, as even a 1/1 cat can become a 4/4 and if we activate his last ability it can then become a 8/8 with Trample which is a potential finisher. Building a balanced deck around both strategies (going both tall and wide) can be very powerful.
Although you can call it a precon upgrade, my build is more a precon remake than an upgrade so you can start from zero and buy singles. The optimal building option depends on the price and availability of the cards.
Synergy Diagram
I always like to make a simple synergy diagram in order to deeply comprehend the potential and the strategy areas that are supported by the commander when I choose top-down building. But in some cases, I do a mix of top-down and bottom-up building.
Let’s analyze the main goals of the deck:
- Add the best Cats. Our priority is to add the ones that have synergy with the Cat Tribe.
- Add Cat Tribal Support. Cards that create Cat tokens or have Cat Tribal synergy are great additions for our build.
- Add cards that support “going wide” strategy. Cards that buff our Cats horizontally are very powerful.
- Add some powerful equipment to support our going “tall strategy”. Voltron effectiveness can be multiplied with the help of Arahbo, Roar of the World.
- Add cards that synergize with our strategies. To make the best out of our strategies, we can further amplify them by adding cards that support many of our strategies.
For the sake of flavor some of the choices are not optimal, but are (usually budget friendly) alternatives that greatly fit the Cat Tribal theme.
The deck:
Cat Tribal
Comparative Analysis
Let’s see how the deck compares to the general ratios of my deckbuilding guide.
34 Lands
13 Ramp: Kindred Summons , Rishkar’s Expertise , Sol Ring , Herald’s Horn , Zendikar Resurgent , Cultivate , Sword of the Animist , Mirari’s Wake , Nature’s Lore , Patchwork Banner , Mosswort Bridge, Myriad Landscape, Blighted Woodland
11 Target Removal: Qasali Pridemage , Stalking Leonin , Qasali Slingers , Feline Sovereign , Felidar Cub , Ajani Unyielding , Kabira Takedown , Argentum Armor, Bridgeworks Battle, Razorgrass Ambush, Khalni Ambush
2 Board Wipes: Wrath of God , Ajani, Strength of the Pride
3 Graveyard Recursion: Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants , From the Rubble, Adorned Pouncer (self-recursion with Eternalize)
2 Graveyard Hate: Kutzil’s Flanker , Lion Sash
4 Tutors: Taj-Nar Swordsmith , Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith , Heirloom Blade , Conjurer’s Mantle
7 Protection: Bronzehide Lion , Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist , Prowling Serpopard , Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar , Swiftfoot Boots , Hammer of Nazahn, Sovereign Okinec Ahau (self-protection)
11 Card Draw: Rishkar’s Expertise , Herald’s Horn , Zendikar Resurgent , Alms Collector , Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar , Ajani Unyielding (kinda), Keeper of Fables , Harmonize , Soul’s Majesty , Bonders’ Enclave , Scattered Groves (1/2), Botanical Plaza (1/2)
8 Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions: Arahbo, Roar of the World , Claws Out , Sovereign Okinec Ahau (kinda), Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist, Jazal Goldmane, Nacatl War-Pride, Raksha Golden Cub , Colossus Hammer, Kindred Summons
As we see from the comparative analysis, the rates per category are quite good. There is no score below the optimal low average and five categories are above the optimal max average. We see a spike in Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions at 8 which shows we have multiple ways to finish the game, while Protection at 7 and Tutors at 4 are highlights of our Cat Tribal.
Deck Highlights, synergy and flavor options:
Ramp
Mirari’s Wake works both as an Anthem giving our creatures +1/+1 and as a mana doubler. A top pick for our Cat Tribal!
Rishkar’s Expertise is a great pick for our Cat Tribal as it can let us draw a great number of cards and at the same time it let us play for free a spell with 5 mana or less.
Patchwork Banner is one of the best cards for Tribal builds as it combines ramp and tribal support. Being both a mana rock and a Tribal Anthem gives us amazing value for its mana cost. Of course it is a top pick for our Cat Tribal!
Herald’s Horn is great for every creature tribal deck. It works both as ramp and a kind of card draw, so it is very valuable for our Cat Tribal.
Kindred Summons costs a lot, but can be a ramp bomb to the point that it becomes a finisher/surprise card. A great pick for our Cat Tribal.
Zendikar Resurgent also costs a lot, but is a mana doubler and a great card draw engine for creature decks. A top pick for our Cat Tribal.
Sword of the Animist offers repeatable ramp as long as we’re attacking with the equipped creature. Another great pick for our Cat Tribal.
Special mention: Although Oreskos Explorer and Hunting Cheetah cannot be counted as ramp, they greatly help us being on curve by filling our hand with lands which is also very important. They are Cats so they also have Cat Tribal synergy, greatly fitting our build.
Target Removal
Feline Sovereign is a top card for Cat Tribal as it is both a Cat Lord, while at the same time it offers repeatable target artifact/enchantment removal, whenever a Cat we control deals combat damage to a player.
Qasali Slingers has also amazing Cat Tribal synergy and offers repeatable target artifact/enchantment removal, on Cat ETB, so it is another top pick for our build.
Qasali Pridemage by paying and sacrificing it, let us destroy target artifact/enchantment. Felidar Cub by sacrificing it, let us destroy target enchantment. Nice additions that fit our Cat Tribal theme.
Stalking Leonin is a nice creature removal option that fits the Cat Tribal theme.
Ajani Unyielding with -2 exiles target creature with the downside that its controller gains life equal to its power. Although he costs a lot, his power lies in flexibility as he can be either a repeatable creature removal, or a great non-land card draw source.
Argentum Armor is a mana greedy equipment but also a very powerful one. It gives equipped creature +6/+6 and on attack trigger it destroys target permanent.
Board Wipes
Ajani, Strength of the Pride is a situational but powerful and potentially repeatable board wipe that works in Cat Tribal since we have enough lifelink creatures that can be buffed with Arahbo, Roar of the World and net us a great amount of life. With +1 we get life equal to the number of creature we control and the number of planeswalkers we control, so he can set up the board wipe all by himself if we have enough creatures (which is quite possible due to our going wide strategy). With -2 he can even create a token that’s a copy of Ajani’s Pridemate that has synergy with lifelink. A great card overall for our build.
Wrath of God is an old white staple board wipe, that remains a powerful option.
Graveyard Recursion
Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants can be used either to buff up to two creatures with a +1/+1 counter with +1, or to return target creature with mana value 2 or less from our graveyard to the battlefield with -2. Both abilities work well with our Cat Tribal.
From the Rubble is an expensive but powerful graveyard recursion engine that works well in white Tribal decks with high mana value creatures so it fits well in our Cat Tribal.
Graveyard Hate
Lion Sash is a great addition to our deck because it is both a Cat and an Equipment so it ranks high in synergy with our Cat Tribal. By paying at instant speed, we can exile target card from a graveyard and add a +1/+1 counter on it. Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each +1/+1 counter on Lion Sash, which greatly fits our going tall strategy.
Kutzil’s Flanker is a flexible Cat that let us choose among three options on ETB. The third option is to exile target player’s graveyard which makes it a solid graveyard hate card for Cat Tribal. The other options are either to gain 2 life and scry 2, or to put a +1/+1 counter on Kutzil’s Flanker for each creature that left the battlefield under our control this turn which (combined with Flash) make him an ideal card to follow a board wipe, as it can become really huge.
Tutors
Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith is a great Equipment tutor and has special interaction with Hammer of Nazahn, letting us put it on the battlefield (instead of hand). Moreover, whenever an equipped creature we control attacks, we may tap target creature defending player controls, which is a nice way to evade big threats. A great inclusion for our Cat Tribal.
Taj-Nar Swordsmith is another great Equipment tutor that on ETB let us pay 
to search our library for an Equipment card with converted mana cost X or less and put that card onto the battlefield. It is too mana greedy for tutoring high mana Equipment, but can be great for tutoring low mana Equipment. Overall it fits our Cat Tribal build.
Heirloom Blade gives equipped creature +3/+1 and on death trigger let us tutor the first Cat from the top of our library, into our hand. Conjurer’s Mantle gives equipped creature +1/+1 and Vigilance, and on attack trigger let us search the top six cards of our library for a Cat among them and put it into our hand. Both work wonders in Tribal decks since they work on same creature type with the equipped creature (and in our Cat Tribal that is Cat).
Protection
Bronzehide Lion has self-protection by paying at instant speed gaining indestructible until end of turn. In addition when it dies, we return it to the battlefield and it’s an Aura enchantment with enchant creature we control and ” : Enchanted creature gains indestructible until end of turn “. A great protction card for out Cat Tribal.
Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist is a top utility card for Cat Tribal as it supports both going wide and going tall strategies. It supports our going wide strategy whenever it attacks by making each opponent can’t block with more than one creature (making our Cats evade enemy creatures, setting up a potential finisher move) and at the same time it supports our going tall strategy by letting no more than one creature attack us each combat (which is great for protection).
Prowling Serpopard is essential in our Cat Tribal as it makes all our Cats immune to counterspells which is great in a creature-heavy deck.
Hammer of Nazahn is a powerful Equipment that has special synergy with Cat Tribal because it can be tutored with Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith directly onto the battlefield and it makes all our Equipment to be attached for free on ETB to target creature we control. Moreover, it buffs equipped creature with +2/+0 and indestructible, which is a powerful protection. A top tier Equipment and a must-have for our build.
Card Draw
Soul’s Majesty and Rishkar’s Expertise are cards that works greatly in decks with creatures with high power, so they naturally fit in our Cat Tribal due to the free buff provided by Arahbo, Roar of the World. We can expect to draw many cards from them.
Alms Collector is a great ulitily card that can limit down the draw of our opponents, while at the same time it draws cards for us. Can be extra effective in a 4-player table.
Ajani Unyielding with +2 let us reveal the top three cards of our library and put all nonland permanent cards revealed this way into our hand, which is like card draw. His real power lies in flexibility as we have already mentioned earlier in the article.
Keeper of Fables is a card draw engine in green non-human creature-heavy decks and is optimal in Cat tribal since it is a Cat. A great addition for our build.
Bonders’ Enclave is a land that by paying 
can be a consistent draw source in creature-heavy decks with high power creatures (4+) and it has optimal synergy with our deck since with Arahbo, Roar of the World even a 1/1 creature can become 4/4 for free each turn.
Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar is an amazing addition to our Cat Tribal. It protect us by making our opponents unable to cast spells during our turn, while at the same time it works as a draw engine in our build as it has “Whenever one or more creatures you control each with power greater than its base power deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.” and that works wonders with all our strategies and of course with Arahbo, Roar of the World.
Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions
Arahbo, Roar of the World as we have already analized, can turn any Cat into a finisher. Our commander is the manifestation of feline power!
Claws Out is an instant that has great Cat Tribal synergy as it costs less to cast for each Cat we control. That means that in the right timing it will cost just , which is ideal for a surprise finishing move. A +2/+2 buff at instant speed in a board full of cats can be more powerful than it seems. Love the flavor too!
Sovereign Okinec Ahau has a powerful ability for our Cat Tribal: “Whenever Sovereign Okinec Ahau attacks, for each creature you control with power greater than that creature’s base power, put a number of +1/+1 counters on that creature equal to the difference.” Works wonders with all our strategies and of course with Arahbo, Roar of the World making our Cats huge. Having Ward
is an important self-protection that may prove critical.
Jazal Goldmane by paying at instant speed lets attacking creatures we control get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of attacking creatures. That alone can result in a finishing move. He also has First strike which synergizes well with our Equipment strategy. A top pick for our Cat Tribal!
Nacatl War-Pride on attack trigger let us create X tokens that are copies of Nacatl War-Pride and that are tapped and attacking, where X is the number of creatures defending player controls. Although the tokens are temporary, the fact that they must be blocked (by exactly one creature if able) makes them super effective, as that means that our other Cats will be unblocked. A nice finisher for our Cat Tribal.
Raksha Golden Cub costs a lot but has both Equipment and going wide synergy so it greatly fits our build. As long as it is equipped, Cats we control get +2/+2 and have double strike, which is a powerful finisher in Cat Tribal.
Colossus Hammer gives colossus stats and if we manage to give equipped creature a form of evasion, it becomes a finisher. Works wonders with Arahbo, Roar of the World as both can make even a 1/1 token a 28/28 trampler which may oneshot an opponent. It’s Hammer time!
Other synergy pieces
Great Cats
Adorned Pouncer has Double strike, so it is a great target for the free buff of Arahbo, Roar of the World. In addition, it has Eternalize and we can recur it from the graveyard as a 4/4 black Zombie Cat with no mana cost. A great addition to our Cat Tribal.
Kemba, Kha Enduring is an top card for our Cat Tribal as is has great synergy with most of our strategies. On Cat ETB, it let us attach for free target Equipment to that creature which is insane. In addition, it buffs Equipped creatures with +1/+1 and by paying at instant speed she creates a 2/2 white Cat creature token.
Leonin Shikari is a great utility card that let us activate equip abilities any time we could cast an instant. A nice addition to our Cat Tribal.
Mirri, Cat Warrior is a powerful Cat with First Srtike, Forestwalk and Vigilance, so it is a great target for Equipment and buffs. A nice inclusion for our Cat Tribal.
Balan, Wandering Knight is a powerful Cat Knight with First strike and Double strike as long as two or more Equipment are attached to it. Its true power comes from its last ability: by paying we attach all Equipment we control to Balan. Superb Equipment synergy and high potential in our Cat Tribal.
Other
Ajani, the Greathearted works great with most of our strategies, as it gives creatures we control Vigilance, which is great for both going wide and going tall strategies. Wit +1 we gain 3 life, while with -2 we put a +1/+1 counter on each creature we control and a loyalty counter on each other planeswalker we control. A nice addition to our Cat Tribal.
Animal Sanctuary is a utility Land that by paying it let is put a +1/+1 counter on target Bird, Cat, Dog, Goat, Ox, or Snake. A nice thematic inclusion for Cat Tribal.
Rogue’s Passage by paying 
makes target creature unblockable this turn so it greatly fits the going tall strategy of our Cat Tribal.
Cat Token Producers : 14 cards
Pride Sovereign is not just a token producer, but also gets +1/+1 for each other Cat we control, so it supports both goinf wide and goind tall strategies.
Cat Tribal Lord effects / buffs : 10 cards
Hungry Lynx can provide multiple times the horizontal buff of +1/+1 counters but that happens whenever a Rat dies. It also provide protection from Rats and is a top flavor hit and a political card among others.
Equipment : 10 cards
Naturally Equipment support going tall strategy. Bloodforged Battle-Axe has “Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, create a token that’s a copy of Bloodforged Battle-Axe.” which makes it ideal for supporting our going wide strategy too.
Equipment Synergy : 7 cards
Let’s see some more statistics about our deck. Some important info to care about is the mana curve and the card type distribution, as it can help us understand better our deck and may indicate where there is space for improving it.
Mana Curve
The mana curve seems not too far from average. There are some more drops at positions 3-4 and 6-7 and a few less drops at positions 1-2. There is a spike at position 3 and an absence of 8+ drops.
Card Type Distribution
The Cat Tribal Card Type Distribution shows the dominant creature-heavy theme with 37 creatures. Artifacts follow at 12 due to our Equipment strategy. All other categories have a much smaller presence with Instants at 6, Enchantments at 4, Sorceries at 7 and Planeswalkers at 4. No Battles are present for the time.
Of course statistics and comparative analysis are great tools but they don’t always tell the whole truth, since many factors like synergy and combo pieces are hard to be measured numerically. For example in this deck, with our commander Arahbo, Roar of the World, and his powerful Eminence ability that is always available, the overall power/utility increase of our Cats is much higher than the one the numbers show. Eminence has high gravity in early game, while his last ability can be activated in mid to late game, and by combining them we kinda upgrade the it to a more powerful version with a cost. Moreover, it gives us a chance for unique deck building as we can build around having a 4+ power creature always available, without having an actual 4+ power creature available since with the free buff, even a 1/1 cat token can be a 4/4. That allows us to build both going tall and wide, which normally is not optimal.
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If you liked the deck, don’t forget to revisit the article after every major new release as I will try to keep my decks updated and examine any potential upgrades. If you want to keep being updated, you can follow mtgbudgetcommander.com on social media (facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, linkedin, reddit, tumblr, medium).
If you like my tribal series, you can check my other tribal decks.
