10 Best Cat Deck Commanders
Man’s best friend has got nothing on these Cat commanders. Since the Feline Ferocity Commander deck came out, Cats got a serious power-up in Magic: The Gathering. Most frequently found in green and white, Cat decks are combat-focused builds with creature type and equipment synergies. They are a top-tier creature, and a well-piloted Cat deck is incredibly hard to stop in combat.
Whether you’re looking to swarm the battlefield with Cat tokens, give your furry friends some shiny swords to play with, or create a single, unstoppable feline, consider some of these commanders if you’re looking to build a Cat deck.
10/10 Jedit Ojanen, Mercanery
One of the rare cats to have blue in their colouring, Jedit Ojanen is a legendary Cat in Magic: The Gathering lore. This build is centered around blinking Jedit Ojanen and other legendary creatures out of the battlefield. Not only does this strategy offer protection from removal, but by paying one green mana when a legendary creature enters the battlefield, you get to create a 2/2 Cat Warrior token.
Blue and white will blink your legendary creatures while green and blue offer cards such as Adrix and Nev, Twincasters to double the amount of Cat tokens you generate. You’ll be using a lot of legendary creatures in this deck, so include cards like Reki, the History of Kamigawa to get beneficial triggers when you cast them.
9/10 Raksha Golden Cub
An incredibly powerful late-game commander, Raksha Golden Cub is best used when you have already amassed a powerful army of Cat creatures. Equip him with protective equipment such as Lightning Greaves, and suddenly all your creatures will get +2/+2 and double strike, one of the most powerful combat abilities in the game.
Paired with other creatures like King of the Pride, which gives +2/+1 to all Cats, even your lowest power creatures become massive threats. If Raksha isn’t removed, your opponents will find themselves in an inescapable onslaught of claws and whiskers.
8/10 Jinnie Fay, Jetmir’s Second
While Jinnie Fay is not expressly a Cat commander, she can easily be built that way. Her ability to turn any token entering the battlefield into a 2/2 Cat token with haste synergizes so well with Naya colours. With access to creating Saproling, Soldier, Goblin, and even treasure tokens, the whole strategy with this deck is so spam token generators like Grand Crescendo and Black Market Tycoon.
Of course, you’ll want to include Cat staples like Regal Caracal and Feline Sovereign to boost the Cat tokens you’re creating. Be sure to include protection for Jinnie Fay, as without her, you’ll be dealing with a random assortment of token types that don’t have many synergies together.
7/10 Jetmir, Nexus Of Revels
Jinnie Fay’s boss cares less about Cats and more about the sheer volume of creatures you have, but there’s no reason he can’t work as a purely Cat commander. Similar to Jinnie Fay, you’ll want to have a focus on creating Cat creature tokens to get as many of them as possible onto the battlefield, using enchantments like Felidar Retreat. The more creatures you control, the stronger they get.
Having access to red offers some versatility with instants like Naya Charm and Chaos Warp, which can help supplement the limited removal that green offers. With enough creatures out, Jetmir plus the sorcery Titanic Ultimatum is almost a surefire way to take a player out of the game.
6/10 Brimaz, King Of Oreskos
Brimaz, King of Oreskos will fall somewhere between a Cat token and Voltron deck. His ability triggers whenever he attacks or blocks, wherein you generate a 1/1 Cat Solider token that attacks or blocks in tandem with him. This ability will be able to trigger with frequency due to his vigilance ability.
You’ll want to include equipment cards like Stoneforge Masterwork to ensure that Brimaz can attack every turn and not be destroyed through combat. Additionally, include utility artifacts like Obelisk of the Urd to boost the power of your Cat tokens, allowing them to stay on the battlefield after Brimaz attacks or blocks.
5/10 Kaheera, The Orphanguard
The companion mechanic from Ikoria was an interesting new mechanic for the Standard format, but even without utilizing it, many of these companions make excellent Commanders. Kaheera, the Orphanguard, runs a very straightforward deck, simply giving all of your Cats +1/+1 and vigilance.
With so many cards to boost the power and toughness of your Cat creatures, the added ability to block as well as attack each turn makes this deck especially difficult to beat in straightforward combat. You’ll want to build a wide board and then use sorceries like Overrun and Overwhelming Stampede to give every creature a boost and attack for massive damage.
4/10 Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith
Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith is the perfect option if you’re looking to run a powerful equipment deck. Not only do your equipped creatures have the ability to tap a defending creature when they attack, but when Nazahn enters the battlefield, you get to search your library for Hammer of Nazahn. It is one of the most powerful equipment cards in Magic: The Gathering. When it’s on the battlefield, you get to attach any new equipment that enters the battlefield directly to a creature you control, eliminating the need to pay equip costs.
On top of that, Hammer of Nazahn gives the creature it’s attached to indestructible and can also be equipped as it enters the battlefield, immediately protecting any creature you want from being destroyed. You can start loading up creatures with your favourite equipment and in tandem with Nazahn’s ability, start dealing unblocked damage very quickly.
3/10 Kemba, Kha Regent
Unlike the other equipment-focused commanders on this list, Kemba, Kha Regent cares less about powerful equipment and more about cheap equipment. The more equipment attached to Kemba, the more Cat tokens you get to create at the beginning of your upkeep. That being said, you’ll still want some equipment staples like Loxodon Warhammer and Sword of the Animist.
Use cheap equipment options like Golem-Skin Gauntlets that benefit from having multiple equipment attached to Kemba or equipment like Robe of Stars to offer Kemba extra protection to make sure her upkeep ability triggers.
2/10 Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist
Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist makes it so that each opponent can only block with one creature when she attacks or only attack you with one creature when she’s tapped, making it difficult for your opponent to prevent and deal damage. Although this ability only triggers when Mirri attacks, you’ll undoubtedly be beefing her up with equipment, and first strike will deter opponents from blocking her.
You could go for a lot of Cat tokens or keep your build primarily to regular Cat creatures. Either way, Mirri prevents you from being overrun by opponents with a large number of creatures as long as she’s attacking each turn.
1/10 Arahbo, Roar Of The World
The eminence ability is one we likely won’t see again in Commander and for good reason. It’s a ridiculously powerful ability that is active even when your commander is in the command zone. Arahbo, Roar of the World, gives a target Cat +3/+3 at the beginning of combat, meaning by turn two, with creatures like Sacred Cat and Loam Lion, you’ll be able to attack your opponents with a 4/4. This damage can add up quickly in the early game if not stopped.
If that wasn’t strong enough, in conjunction with all the other Cat synergies you can create, you could pay three mana to double another Cat’s power and give it trample when Arahbo is in play. Arahbo is undoubtedly the king of the pride when it comes to Cat commanders.
