Magic: The Gathering—Commander (2014 Edition) is coming soon, and spoilers are coming even sooner. As someone who is geeked about every single spoiler season, I'm having a tough time waiting. With each Commander (2014 Edition) deck promising fifteen brand-new cards and with a few precision reprints being financially relevant, it behooves me to stay glued to spoilers. With five new mono-colored decks coming out, I'm also excited about how accessible Commander is going to be even to brand-new players. Remember that the first Commander deck I ever built was an Omnath, Locus of Mana deck so I could teach my wife how to play a little more advanced decks than she could on Duels of the Planeswalkers. If someone newish to Magic and completely inexperienced with Commander wants to give it a shot, all that person needs is $30 and a favorite color, and I'm really excited about the coming influx of new players.

White seems awkward to me. It doesn't do the things I like to do in Commander very well. All of its removal is either mass removal—a necessary evil, but nothing I am excited about—or its removal forces you to compensate your opponent for his or her trouble. Even a solid utilitarian removal spell like Oblation, which can bury someone’s commander deep in his or her deck gives that player compensatory cards on top of not being all that in the spirit of 75% play. White doesn't do well at drawing cards, untapping your permanents (Saying, "I have no sympathy for permanents without vigilance," seems to express a pretty white attitude) or punishing your opponent for doing something other than overextending. White does a lot of stuff well, but it's not the sort of stuff I like. I don't like to Armageddon players’ lands, I don't like to prevent them from playing multiple spells or untapping or using artifacts. Don't get me wrong; I like those things a lot in Legacy! But when I play 75% Commander, I am primarily concerned with not preventing my opponents from doing too many things, preferring to punish them.

Some of the best commanders, a lot of them Angels, tend to do just that. Linvala, Keeper of Silence was the cornerstone of a Naya deck with Vengevine and Eldrazi Conscription I took a stab at the Pro Tour with, but I don't feel bad about turning off Birds of Paradise and Cunning Sparkmages when I'm playing Standard. I wouldn't feel as good about it with Linvala as my commander, nor would I want to set up one-sided Armageddons with Avacyn, Angel of Hope. Eight-and-a-Half-Tails looks to be a bit of fun, but if I am going to set up a weenie swarm, there is only one deck I can think of. I want to build a Kemba, Kha Regent deck.

I didn't want to merely build Voltron, so I want the other creatures in the deck to significantly contribute to my victory. I also want to limit the power level of the deck, so I think if I insist that the creatures in the deck are Cats or feature cats in the art, I can build a powerful, synergistic creature base without having to worry if it's in the spirit of 75% to use Stoneforge Mystic. So this isn't quite Voltron, it's not quite tribal, it's just a decent Kemba deck to get me over my aversion to mono-white. Let's get into some trouble, shall we?

Kemba, Kha Regent ? Commander | Jasont Alt

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (10)
• 1 Ajani's Chosen
• 1 Leonin Abunas
• 1 Leonin Relic-Warder
• 1 Leonin Shikari
• 1 Seht's Tiger
• 1 Spirit of the Hearth
• 1 Taj-Nar Swordsmith
• 1 Whitemane Lion
• 1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
• 1 Raksha Golden Cub

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 1 Ajani Goldmane
• 1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride

• Spells (46)
• 1 Oblation
• 1 Return to Dust
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Akroma's Vengeance
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Catastrophe
• 1 Mass Calcify
• 1 Arrest
• 1 Banishing Light
• 1 Cathars' Crusade
• 1 Crusade
• 1 Glorious Anthem
• 1 Honor of the Pure
• 1 Marshal's Anthem
• 1 Oblivion Ring
• 1 True Conviction
• 1 Argentum Armor
• 1 Basilisk Collar
• 1 Batterskull
• 1 Caged Sun
• 1 Champion's Helm
• 1 Coat of Arms
• 1 Darksteel Ingot
• 1 Darksteel Plate
• 1 Deathrender
• 1 Eldrazi Monument
• 1 Gauntlet of Power
• 1 Grappling Hook
• 1 Infiltration Lens
• 1 Kusari-Gama
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Loxodon Warhammer
• 1 Mask of Memory
• 1 Pennon Blade
• 1 Slate of Ancestry
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Strata Scythe
• 1 Strionic Resonator
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1 Sword of Fire and Ice
• 1 Sword of Light And Shadow
• 1 Sword of Vengeance
• 1 Whispersilk Cloak
• 1 Konda's Banner
• 1 Spear of Heliod

• Lands (41)
• 35 Plains
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Emeria, The Sky Ruin
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 Windbrisk Heights
• 1 Eiganjo Castle
• 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

Buy This Deck

I so badly wanted to cheat and say, "Heliod is an enchantment in this deck!" to circumvent my own Cat rule that I imposed on myself, but I opted to have a little integrity. If you want to jam a Heliod, God of the Sun, it won't invalidate this as a 75% deck, so feel free. I think he'd be good.

The utility creatures I found with pictures of cats on them made me smile, too. There are some very good Cats. Leonin Shikari made me play Lightning Greaves on top of the Swiftfoot Boots for some instant-speed, creature-saving shenanigans. I like Spirit of the Hearth in the deck, and Raksha Golden Cub, despite being expensive, has a lot of utility and is a lot of fun. Even Whitemane Lion seems to be a winner, saving you from danger. Brimaz, King of Oreskos brings friends, Leonin Relic-Warder is useful in a pinch, and Seht's Tiger can prevent you from a lot of bad scenarios. Feel free to use Tiger and bounce him with Whitemane Lion; just don't count on it happening a ton because we're light on creatures. We really want to be using tokens.

I have a lot of non-Equipment artifacts in the deck as well because mono-colored decks should run cards like Caged Sun and Gauntlet of Power. Eldrazi Monument is a colorless Overrun sometimes and should be a solid utilitarian card the drawback of which is attenuated by how easily you bring creatures out.

What do we think? Is this too Voltron? Is it too tribal? Or is it just right? Did I forget your favorite white card that would be perfect in here? Had you never even heard of Taj-Nar Swordsmith because he does such a poor impression of Stoneforge Mystic? Leave it in the comments section. Thanks for reading, and keep sending me decklists to altjason17 at gmail dot com. I can always use inspiration. Until next week!