The upcoming Commander 2020 gave us a cycle of powerful spells you can play for free if your commander is on the battlefield: Obscuring Haze, Flawless Maneuver, Deflecting Swat, Fierce Guardianship, and Deadly Rollick. They are even stronger in the new casual format of Oathbreaker, where a planeswalker counts as your commander and starts in your command zone along with a signature spell. You can cast this instant or sorcery if your planeswalker is in play, and if you pick any from this new cycle, the first time will be free. After that, you will only have to pay two colorless more for the normal commander tax.

Last week, my article used Obscuring Haze to protect Vivien, Monsters' Advocate. This time I am showcasing more of the set in four decks spanning from competitive to flavor-first. Let's start with the one that casual players have been waiting for to keep their lovely creatures safe.

The first deck will feature the free spell Green mages have always wanted: Flawless Maneuver. Now, you could pair this with any number of beatdown decks, but if there is one tribe that deserves to be protected more than any other, it's Cats. The last time I built a Cat Tribal Oathbreaker deck, I had to make do with Inspiring Call. It's a fine card, but it doesn't allow you to go all-in on kitties. If you have too many on the battlefield, someone may judge you harshly with Wrath of God. But now, no longer must you worry about over-committing and ending up alone, a crazy cat lady with no fur babies.

Ajani's Kitties 2.0 | Oathbreaker | AE Marling

• Locket (2)
• 1 Ajani, the Greathearted
• 1 Flawless Maneuver

• Creatures (31)
• 1 Adorned Pouncer
• 1 Ajani's Pridemate
• 1 Arahbo, Roar of the World
• 1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
• 1 Bronzehide Lion
• 1 Cubwarden
• 1 Fleecemane Lion
• 1 Frondland Felidar
• 1 Frontier Explorer
• 1 Hungry Lynx
• 1 Initiate's Companion
• 1 Jazal Goldmane
• 1 Jungle Lion
• 1 Kaheera, the Orphanguard
• 1 King of the Pride
• 1 Leonin Relic-Warder
• 1 Leonin Vanguard
• 1 Loam Lion
• 1 Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist
• 1 Mtenda Lion
• 1 Oreskos Explorer
• 1 Pride Sovereign
• 1 Prowling Serpopard
• 1 Qasali Pridemage
• 1 Qasali Slingers
• 1 Regal Caracal
• 1 Sacred Cat
• 1 Savannah Lions
• 1 Scrounging Bandar
• 1 Skyhunter Skirmisher
• 1 Wild Nacatl

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride

• Instants (2)
• 1 Inspiring Call
• 1 Pounce

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Hardened Scales

• Lands (23)
• 4 Forest
• 7 Plains
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Fabled Passage
• 1 Fortified Village
• 1 Horizon Canopy
• 1 Karn's Bastion
• 1 Razorverge Thicket
• 1 Savannah
• 1 Scattered Groves
• 1 Sunpetal Grove
• 1 Temple Garden
• 1 Windswept Heath

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A cat's every movement is a Flawless Maneuver, from their strut, to their poise, to their adorable purr. In addition to giving our Cats some warm and fuzzy indestructibility, we can add some new cards from Ikoria to this deck. Cubwarden is a strong addition, but Frondland Felidar is downright irresistible. With this show-cat in play along with Ajani, the Greathearted, we can attack with all our kitties, hold priority, and then tap out our opponents' blockers. They will have to succumb to the cuteness of our cat show. First prize goes to Frondland Felidar.

Remaking this deck also allows us to give some much-deserved attention to Kaheera, the Orphanguard. No, we can't play them as a companion, but they're still perfect in the maindeck. The official Oathbreaker rules prohibit companions hanging out at your elbow in exile. That's fine. Our locket is already like starting out with the eighth and ninth cards in hand. We don't need a tenth.

Cats may be charming, but they're also super effective in Oathbreaker. Attacking with efficient creatures with vigilance is a winning strategy, especially when they can survive board wipes thanks to our new signature spell.

In a Cat Tribal deck, include a pet card or two. For me, it's the now strictly worse Pounce. Always play casual decks with cards that make you happy. If they're not the strongest option, that's all the more reason to include them. The political advantage of playing fun spells will help balance out their text. The table is more likely to attack cutthroat decks.

Lukka is a new powerhouse in Oathbreaker. His -2 ability allows you to transform something as adorable as Filigree Familiar into something monstrous as Void Winnower. By playing no creatures with a converted mana cost four through six, our three-drops become dangerous.

The strategy has just one vulnerability. When we target our little critter with Lukka's -2, a cruel foe could kill our creature in response. That would prevent the ability from resolving, and Lukka's pet would never grow up to become a titan. If only there were a signature spell that could protect our critter, at that critical moment. Ideally, it would be free.

Oh, yay! Now Lukka' newfound friend will grow up into a beautiful monster. With a flick on spiked tail, we can deflect any kill spell to another target. Then we will be free to devour.

Lukka's Odds | Oathbreaker | AE Marling

• Locket (2)
• 1 Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast
• 1 Deflecting Swat

• Creatures (18)
• 1 AEther Membrane
• 1 Combat Celebrant
• 1 Goblin Chainwhirler
• 1 Hanweir Garrison
• 1 Imperial Recruiter
• 1 Magus of the Moon
• 1 Simian Spirit Guide
• 1 Taurean Mauler
• 1 Void Winnower
• 1 Filigree Familiar
• 1 Palladium Myr
• 1 Pilgrim's Eye
• 1 Captain Lannery Storm
• 1 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
• 1 Emrakul, the Promised End
• 1 Feldon of the Third Path
• 1 Squee, the Immortal
• 1 Tuktuk the Explorer

• Instants (6)
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Fire Prophecy
• 1 Fling
• 1 Lightning Bolt
• 1 Seething Song
• 1 Through the Breach

• Sorceries (5)
• 1 Chain Lightning
• 1 Disrupt Decorum
• 1 Faithless Looting
• 1 Irencrag Feat
• 1 Thud

• Enchantments (4)
• 1 Ashling's Prerogative
• 1 Curse of Opulence
• 1 Mass Hysteria
• 1 Need for Speed

• Artifacts (2)
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Ruby Medallion

• Lands (23)
• 17 Mountain
• 1 Desert of the Fervent
• 1 Hanweir Battlements
• 1 Mishra's Factory
• 1 Ramunap Ruins
• 1 Scavenger Grounds
• 1 Sunscorched Desert

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Thank you, Alex Enders, for clueing me into the power of Deflecting Swat in this strategy. In my early testing, this deck is both fun and brutal. I hope to write about it further next week.

Gaining immediate access to the free spell Deflecting Swat is key to this strategy, as we will often be tapping out to cast our five-mana planeswalker. The instant does great work as a signature spell. But not every powerful card does its best work face-up in the command zone.

Revealing a counterspell will warn opponents to play around it, which they can do by attacking your planeswalker first. Instead we'll conceal Fierce Guardianship within the 58. As with all these potent instants, they could benefit a variety of decks. I'm choosing one from my first Oathbreaker article. Just as Cats Tribal needed Wrath protection, this tribal sea-monsters deck wants free counters to protect its beautiful Krakens and Leviathans.

Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner | Oathbreaker | AE Marling

• Locket (2)
• 1 Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
• 1 Whelming Wave

• Creatures (15)
• 1 Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle
• 1 Birds of Paradise
• 1 Dandan
• 1 Deep-Sea Kraken
• 1 Elder Deep-Fiend
• 1 Lorthos, the Tidemaker
• 1 Mesmerizing Benthid
• 1 Nadir Kraken
• 1 Serpent of the Yawning Depths
• 1 Sharktocrab
• 1 Shipbreaker Kraken
• 1 Stormsurge Kraken
• 1 Stormtide Leviathan
• 1 Trench Gorger
• 1 Tromokratis

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Kiora, Master of the Depths

• Instants (5)
• 1 Fierce Guardianship
• 1 Force of Will
• 1 Mana Drain
• 1 Stubborn Denial
• 1 Swan Song

• Sorceries (3)
• 1 Creeping Corrosion
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Wash Out

• Enchantments (8)
• 1 Burgeoning
• 1 Fertile Ground
• 1 Greater Good
• 1 Kiora Bests the Sea God
• 1 Ominous Seas
• 1 Spreading Seas
• 1 Utopia Sprawl
• 1 Wild Growth

• Artifacts (2)
• 1 Bident of Thassa
• 1 Empowered Autogenerator

• Lands (24)
• 6 Island
• 8 Forest
• 1 Botanical Sanctum
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Lonely Sandbar
• 1 Lotus Field
• 1 Simic Growth Chamber
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Waterlogged Grove
• 1 Yavimaya Coast
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

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You'll notice I included some expensive counterspells. Those are superfluous. For budget options, see my original article. Though Kiora can win games by keeping the seas clear with Whelming Wave, this deck is more flavorful than powerful. And in casual multiplayer formats, that's the best way to play.

Alongside Fierce Guardianship I've listed another new card in Ominous Seas. It's more fun than powerful, unless you chart a course to this combo.

To fend off such large Blue creatures you would need some strong removal, such as the last free spell in our cycle, Deadly Rollick. I chose to include this with a planeswalker with a higher converted mana cost: Ashiok, Nightmare Muse. We will tap out to play Ashiok and have the kill spell ready to terrify. Unlike a counterspell that we want to conceal, Deadly Rollick is best face-up in the command zone. Its presence acts as a scarecrow and will encourage your opponents to attack each other rather than see their creature walk straight into exile.

We gain upside from the exile clause with Ashiok's ultimate. With all our defenses, our master plan is to attain it. To make it more likely we will also play The Elderspell and Settle the Score, along with a handful of cards that proliferate.

Deadly Dreams | Oathbreaker | AE Marling

• Locket (2)
• 1 Ashiok, Nightmare Muse
• 1 Deadly Rollick

• Creatures (5)
• 1 Baleful Strix
• 1 Flux Channeler
• 1 Hunted Nightmare
• 1 Oblivion Sower
• 1 Thing in the Ice

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 1 Ashiok, Dream Render
• 1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver

• Instants (12)
• 1 Cyclonic Rift
• 1 Decoy Gambit
• 1 Drown in the Loch
• 1 Fierce Guardianship
• 1 Heartless Act
• 1 Hero's Downfall
• 1 Negate
• 1 Spell Pierce
• 1 Tale's End
• 1 Tyrant's Scorn
• 1 Void Shatter
• 1 Vraska's Contempt

• Sorceries (7)
• 1 Contentious Plan
• 1 Flaying Tendrils
• 1 Nightmare Unmaking
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Scheming Symmetry
• 1 Tezzeret's Gambit
• 1 The Elderspell

• Enchantments (4)
• 1 Ashiok's Erasure
• 1 Ever-Watching Threshold
• 1 Parasitic Impetus
• 1 Psychic Impetus

• Artifacts (4)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Astral Cornucopia
• 1 Dimir Signet
• 1 Everflowing Chalice

• Lands (24)
• 4 Swamp
• 6 Island
• 1 Ancient Tomb
• 1 Bad River
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Creeping Tar Pit
• 1 Fetid Pools
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 1 Karn's Bastion
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Scavenger Grounds
• 1 Sunken Hollow
• 1 Watery Grave

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Yes, we are playing the combo of Heartless Act and Thing in the Ice. Beyond that, our powerful spells are fuelling our opponents' nightmares. Flaying Tendrils and Nightmare Unmaking will stock their exile pile. Then their lost friends will fight against them after Ashiok's ultimate. Just be on the lookout for a Homeward Path that could foil your schemes.

Until next time, may your foes' dreams be full of terror.