With the introduction of Amonkhet Remastered on MTG Arena, key pieces of the Pioneer cats deck entered Historic. Last week we discussed the arrival of Sacred Cat, Pride Sovereign, and Regal Caracal in our Amonkhet Remastered article.
Cats in Pioneer are very good at dominating the ground and preys on other creature-based aggro decks by going wide and big. The Historic version is missing powerhouses such as Fleecemane Lion and Brimaz, King of Oreskos but still has plenty of other options. The mana base transitions perfectly from Pioneer to Historic and the deck has solid sideboard options. Much like its Pioneer counterpart, Historic cats have the ability to go wide with token generation, go big with lords, and has a meaningful life gain sub-theme.
Life Gain Synergies
These are our early plays and help us set the pace going into the mid-game. Leonin Vanguard followed by Ajani's Pridemate curve perfectly into each other and pushes the opponent towards using a removal spell. Sacred Cat gains life and works well with Ajani's Pridemate and comes back from the graveyard after a board wipe. Ajani's Pridemate also works well with our late-game plays such as Leonin Warleader and Regal Caracal and is one of the ways the deck goes big by putting potentially multiple +1/+1 counters on them per turn.
Cat Lords
Although they have no two-mana lords, cats have some of the most powerful lord affects. Kaheera, the Orphanguard as a companion so we always have a lord to pump our cats to close out the game. Feline Sovereign is another great lord and offers the deck some main deck enchantment removal, which is nice in best-of-one scenarios. Regal Caracal is most definitely the best card in this deck. It pumps the team, makes more cats, and the life gain wins most damage races.
Token Producers
Pride Sovereign gets absolutely massive and adds a tremendous amount of pressure by making extra tokens. On and average board this thing can get to be an 8/8 or even a 10/10 while pumping out cats if we have no good attacks. I'm even curious to see a card like Always Watching thrown in here to give it vigilance so it can attack and exert in the same turn. Leonin Warleader is a high risk but high reward. Four mana for a sorcery speed spell that doesn't do anything when entering the battlefield is risky, but if it gets to attack it runs away with the game. Adding two tokens with lifelink with a lord in play adds upwards of six extra power to the battlefield per turn.
Rest Of The Curve
Lurrus of the Dream-Den is spicy, but I will admit not essential to the build. It does its job though by letting us cast our cheap creatures from the graveyard, and the lifelink helps against burn decks. Bronzehide Lion is our replacement for Fleecemane Lion. Bronzehide Lion is still a solid option; it can protect itself against removal if you have the mana up and comes back as an aura to protect other things later, while still being a two mana 3/3.
Removal Spells
This removal package isn't the most impressive but if timed well with the right targets it will get the job done. Conclave Tribunal hits anything that can trouble us that doesn't have haste. We can convoke it out for cheap if we have some extra tokens sitting around. The situation we want to avoid is having to tap out for it during a turn we really wanted to advance our board. Seal Away is situational but can be played with Lurrus of the Dream-Den and is a popular budget option.
Cats in Historic was a deck I was really excited about when Amonkhet Remastered was released. Although we are missing a few important cards from Pioneer, perhaps we will see those cards enter the format through something like Jumpstart. Thanks for reading and check out some of our other articles in the archive. Follow us on social media to stay up to date for future articles and join the Fellowship.
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