“Four Hellcats back to back, we the KittyBoyz“
Art:King of the Pride
by Jonathan Kuo
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
King of the Pride is a very cool commander for one of magic’s coolest creature types. Whether you love mono-white or just love cats, King of the Pride is a sweet leader in the command zone. This deck is a straight-up combat deck and is perfect for players of any skill level, whether new or old I think they all will enjoy this one. We have an equipment sub-them in the deck as some of our cats care about being equipped, and making our already buffed cats more evasive and stronger is not something we will say no to. Mono-White is a very fun strategy, and I have been having a blast with this one. I hope you all enjoy this as well. Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support!
The Deck:
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King of the Pride Cats!
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Why King of the Pride?
King of the Pride is the perfect commander for our deck and a card we want to cast as soon as possible. Since we are in mono-white, we don’t really have any ramp, but when we turn three, we always want to be casting King of the Pride unless we know an opponent might counter out. We want to commit King of the Pride as soon as possible, they buff every single creature in our deck, and we have a ton of ways to protect them from various forms of single-target removal like Loran's Escape
, Apostle's Blessing
and Shelter
. Since we are heavy on protection for our commander, we are a little weak to edicts or pretty much any sacrifice effects; luckily, these are not super prevalent in Pauper EDH, but matchups that are heavy on them, like Mayhem Devil
can be tough for us. The biggest weakness of King of the Pride is that they don’t give themself the buff, so they are quite weak in combat, and we almost never want to attack or block with them unless it is a last resort.
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! I also highlighted some of my favorite cards in the deck!
Creatures:
We have a ton of awesome cats, and let’s check out some of my favorites, creatures that are evasive are very strong and work very well with our commander, so Skyhunter Skirmisher
, Skyhunter Patrol
and Tabaxi Toucaneers
are all evasive strong creatures that we can hit for a ton quite regularly. Basri's Acolyte
is another very strong cat since it buffs two of our other cats and has lifelink, and is a pretty decent attacker/blocker even without our commander out. Bola Slinger
is another strong creature that can help us control opponent’s boards in combat, and the backup ability is nice to get some additional stats. The same is true for Jamuraan Lion
, who we rarely attack or block with and mostly just use their ability. We have some cats who care about being equipped, and that is the main reason for the equipment subtheme; all of these cards are quite strong. We have Leonin Lightbringer
, which is quite hard to remove outside of combat and can chip in for damage a ton. Leonin Squire
is a great piece of recursion for the deck and can help us get some of our cheap equipment back if they fell victim to removal earlier. Skyhunter Cub
is another great evasive creature who only needs one piece of equipment to get quite out of hand.
Instants:
We are in mono-white, but that actually gives us access to some very strong instant speed removal like Crib Swap
and Generous Gift
, which are great ways to take out creatures or in the case of Generous Gift actually anything, we do give creatures to our opponents but this is a worthwhile tradeoff for us. Your Temple Is Under Attack
can help our creatures in combat by giving them indestructible, and the supplemental card draw is nice and can even help us make a friend. Riot Control
is a mono-white pet card for me since it is a very strong albeit a little expensive fog and can help us regain a ton of life, especially against creatures or any type of aggressive strategies. To finish off our instant package, we have a few ways to protect King of the Pride from removal, like Loran's Escape, Shelter, and Apostle's Blessing.
Sorceries:
We are quite low on sorceries, but my two favorites are Silverflame Ritual
and Inspiring Roar
since we often have a pretty full board, we can make them even stronger, combined with King of the Pride is very strong. We also have Righteous Charge
, which, depending on the size of our board, can easily be a finisher. Recommission
is one of the few pieces of recursion in the deck and is perfect for some of our stronger creatures like Skyhunter Skirmisher. And last but not certainly not least, we have Bring to Trial
, which is a strong removal for decent-sized threats our opponents run out.
Artifacts:
We do have two mana rocks in Bonder's Ornament
and Marble Diamond
but we are not heavy or dependent on mana rocks at all because we are an overall decently low-cost deck, and we are also mono-white so these are here mostly for a little extra mana early. We do have an equipment subtheme, so let’s go over some of our awesome equipment! Greatsword of Tyr
needs no introduction and is an absolute powerhouse. Buffing a creature and helping us control how our opponent’s block is so good. We also have Vorrac Battlehorns
and Haunted Cloak
, which are both ways to help us chip in with some damage even if our opponents can block, both great ways to make our creatures more evasive. Hedgewitch's Mask
doesn’t have a ton of use in the early game besides its buff, but in the late game, it often just makes it unblockable and is also very cheap to run out there. We do have some great early-game equipment like Goldvein Pick
, which can help us get ahead on mana and Leonin Scimitar
isn’t the strongest equipment but activates our creatures that care about equipping and is quite on theme.
Enchantments:
To start off, we have two great and cheap ways to take out opponents’ creatures/commanders in Oblivion Ring
and Journey to Nowhere
, which help you remove whatever the biggest creature threat our opponents have. We also have a couple of defensive enchantments in Benevolent Blessing
and Pentarch Ward
, which are typically placed on King of the Pride to protect them from single-target removal or any kind of damage from a specific color.
Land Base:
Since we are a mono-colored deck, we do have quite a simple land base; this does not mean we don’t have some strong lands here because we absolutely do. To start off, we have lands that generate supplemental card draws like Desert of the True
, Secluded Steppe
, and The Fair Basilica
, which all help us address one of white’s biggest weaknesses which is card draw. Idyllic Grange
is one of my favorite lands in the deck since it gives a creature a permanent +1/+1 which is perfect for our commander. There is not too much to say about the rest of the lands; being in mono-color allows us to have a mostly basic landbase. I have had no issues with this landbase and find it works very well for the deck.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Our commander buffs every single creature in our deck because we are packed to the brim with nothing but changelings and cats.
- We have a ton of protection for our commander; now, we are weak to edict effects but are generally quite strong against any type of single-target removal.
- While we only have a few creatures that get inherit benefits from the equipment, with the buff from King of the Pride
and our equipment, it allows us to make our creatures more evasive with strong equipment like Vorrac Battlehorns and Haunted Cloak.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- We do have some sources of supplemental card draw in the deck, but being in mono-white limits us, and we don’t have a ton of draw.
- We are light on removal; we have multiple ways to protect our commander/creatures, but outside of combat, we don’t have a ton of resources to remove opponents’ creatures/commanders, as well as artifacts and enchantments.
- Since we are a creature deck, we are generally weak to creature hate as we don’t have a ton of recursion.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops within the deck. We are a straight-up combat deck, and we are greatly aided by our commander, who buffs every single creature in the deck, while many of our creatures, even with the buff, are not that strong defensively. The buff allows us to be very strong offensively especially combined with effects like Silverflame Ritual and Inspiring Roar. There are a surprising amount of cats that fly, and these evasive creatures, like my personal favorite Skyhunter Skirmisher, allow us to hit for huge chunk damage on an opponent. We also have a decent suite of equipment and creatures that get buffed by it to help round out our combat package and our main win condition.
Conclusion:
King of the Pride is a very cool commander that I have been having an absolute blast with, and cats are a very fun and cool creature type to pilot. Even though we are in Mono-White, I think this deck is quite strong, at least for combat decks, and is a fun and flavorful deck. I have personally given this deck to new players who just love cats and love the gameplay as a new player and the flavor of it all. If you are looking for a fun and flavorful mono-white deck, or you just simply love cats, I hope you enjoyed this one. Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support!