3 Cursed Totem
3 Loxodon Warhammer
3 Vulshok Gauntlets
4 Glittering Lion
3 Glittering Lynx
4 Leonin Den-guard
3 Leonin Skyhunter
3 Skyhunter Cub
4 Skyhunter Prowler
3 Skyhunter Skirmisher
2 Disenchant
4 Swords To Plowshares
22 Plains |
 Cursed
Cats.
Description of deck by it's author
(quoted):
Let me introduce you to the Rhystic mechanic,
as well as a pair of feline siblings: Glittering Lynx and Glittering
Lion. They have the magic words “prevent all damage” on them, which
tends to be some good in multiplayer… If not for that pesky addendum of
“No, wait, do not prevent all damage if any sod at the table is willing
to pay X.”
Thankfully, our lovely game comes with a built-in solution, too: Cursed
Totem.
Cursed Totem can be the total nuts. It shuts down Wellwisher, Psychatog,
Grave-Shell Scarab, Triskelion, Twilight Drover, Avatar of Woe,
Masticore, Morphling, Birds of Paradise…. The list goes on and on. Any
creature-based shenanigans your opponents were planning will be probably
be prevented by this marvelous artifact. If I'm going to confine myself
to a trickless beatdown based deck, so will everybody else.
On the other hand, it can also paint a big red target on your forehead –
plenty of people are going to be really upset that your dippy artifact
in your dippy cat deck is going to prevent them from pulling off their
Really Cool Trick. Their first priority will be to Take You Down! with
whatever else their deck does that Cursed Totem doesn't protect you from
– and that can be very unpleasant.
But are you defenseless? Hardly.
Before I continue, however, I must confess to a tragic fact: I am
lacking in material wealth. The little money I do have tends to go
primarily towards food, heat, and shelter, not cardboard. My decks,
therefore, tend to be devoid of all too many pricey rares. This includes
dual lands. This means my best decks are usually mono-colored
monstrosities. The Pussy Deck is no exception.
Glittering Lynx, Glittering Lion and Cursed Totem lock me into a
mono-White Cat deck. Mono-white for financial reasons, tribal for
flavor. That means the meat and bones of it will in fact be in
Mirrodin's Leonin. If you look at the Cats available from that block, as
I did, you will notice the following features:
1) Most don't have activated abilities. (Aha! I smell Cursed Totem
synergy!)
2) Most are small and wimpy.
3) Plenty of them fly.
4) Lots of them do cool things when armed with Equipment.
5) Many don't tap to attack.
Now, of these features, #2 and #4 quite heavily suggest the inclusion of
some armaments to flesh out our feline fighters. Shopping for
inexpensive multiplayer bombs in the Equipment department quickly leads
us to the Loxodon Warhammer aisle… And it's an absolute beat stick. It
gives your pint-sized Cats a much needed power boost and helps keep your
own health in the green as well. Life gain gets better with every extra
mage at the table.
My other choice is perhaps a little more inspired. Vulshok Gauntlets is
a perfect fit for this deck, due to #5. It's cheap to acquire, cast and
Equip. It huge-ifies your Cats, and its drawback is irrelevant when
handed to a Leonin Den-Guard or Skyhunter Prowler. In the worst-case
scenario, you can move it around after you attack, or Equip it to a
Glittering Lion for a huge, nigh-indestructible blocker (with the Totem
out).
That leaves removal. Occasionally, your opponents are going to insist on
casting creatures before your Cursed Totem comes online, or that it
won't shut them down effectively enough. Likewise, enchantments and
artifacts might be a problem. The latter is a no-brainer: Disenchant.
For the former, I have Swords to Plowshares, so I'm using those. If
you're as poor as I am and Swords-to-Plowshares-less, may I suggest
Devouring Light, Afterlife or Path of Peace, depending on what your
problem creatures are.
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