My wife is allergic to cats. It's a shame, really - I like them, the cocky little jerks. But the problem I'm having is most of the Cats in Magic are the big, anthropomorphic kind - Ajani and others like him, mostly bipedal, who talk and carry weapons and stuff. It should come as no surprise to anyone but I don't think Ajani Goldmane would have any interest in being someone's pet.

But there is one little cat who is clearly a cat. Walks on four legs. Cute ears and tail. Red glowing light from the eyes and mouth. That's normal, right?

Falthis comes from the cycle of mono-colored animal familiars with Partner, all of which help Commanders you control. It's a clever design, really - lore often says magic users have animal familiars for a variety of uses, and in this world, we're spellcasters, right? The familiar helps us and is our companion.

But there's no rule you have to use a Partner, and I have a deck I play all the time in real life to prove it. That said, I was still surprised when I looked at EDHREC and found out this deck has two decks. That's it. I didn't think the number would be high, but two? C'mon, people! Doesn't anyone play weird stuff anymore?

Because this is a legit Commander. For three mana, we get a 2/2 with Deathtouch (no one wants to block that) and Menace (which means we'll be able to kill both things that block it, in the event someone does). Is it just me, or is this not crying out for a Voltron build? Let's get to it.

We're building with my Top-5 Deck-building Tips for Beginners, here, so we start, as always, with 40 Lands. We're Mono-Black, of course, so we have some flexibility to run the colorless utility Lands. Rogue's Passage is a shoo-in, as is War Room. All the Cycle Lands are here. We're going to be using a fair bit of spot removal, so Arcane Lighthouse and Detection Tower both make an appearance. We do have Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, which famously can make a lot of mana, but it's far from necessary if you want to build the deck and don't feel like splurging. I think I'm going to build this, and I won't put them in. We include a couple of ways to buff up Falthis and some randoms like Witch's Cottage and Witch's Clinic (the latter a way to use excess mana). Throw in a Pit of Offerings and a bunch of Basics and we're good to go.

Three mana Commander means eight pieces of acceleration, and only time will tell if that many need to be in here. I can say in play-testing the mana was nice to have. The only way to race to Falthis is with Sol Ring, so we're not going cheap, we're going quality: three mana rocks, baby! We try to make them useful, because I think a rock that can turn into another use later, when the rock is less important, is often better than a cheaper rock. Thought Vessel and Decanter of Endless Water both help us keep our Hands if we overdraw. Bonder's Ornament, Infernal Idol, and Mind Stone all draw us cards, each in its own way. Sonic Screwdriver, meanwhile, is quickly becoming my favorite mana rock of all time - it's like a Trading Post that taps for mana! We also have Sword of the Animist, which is pretty hilarious on that cat.

With draw, we're looking for 10 - 12 pieces, with the number depending on how repeatable it is. Most of our draw is not, so we're going to lean a little harder here. We have a raft of draw-twos: Sign in Blood, Succumb to Temptation, Vulturous Aven. Black Market Connections and Phyrexian Arena are both here too, making sure we draw a little extra every turn. Bilbo's Ring and Rogue's Gloves will both draw us one when Falthis attacks. I definitely want to mention Derelict Attic // Widow's Walk. This Room is great for us. Widow's Walk is expensive, but because it's stapled to an effect we already want, it's great. Someday you're going to have four mana and nothing else to do, and Widow's Walk is going to be there for you.

Next up is interaction, but here's the thing: I knew going into this build we were going to do Voltron with lots of spot removal to make Falthis even more difficult to block (and to keep us alive while we scratch everyone to death). So, let's just slide right past this and go to building to our Commander, shall we?

First up we're going to suit up. Falthis will often be able to sneak her way through, but an eleven-turn clock isn't going to worry anyone too much. We've got all kinds of stuff in here: Blackblade Reforged, Loxodon Warhammer, Colossus Hammer, Batterskull, Leyline Axe, and Kaldra Compleat. We're going to buff her up, give her Double Strike, make her Unblockable, make her Indestructible, even give her Hexproof.

We are running Brass Squire, but that's about it in terms of Equipment support. If you really want to go hog-wild on this idea, Partner Falthiss with something so you can run Puresteel Paladin and stuff.

Argentum Armor is there because I really like building my own Eldrazi. But most of these particular pieces are interchangeable - run what you'd like. Just make sure her Power is going up.

Vorpal Sword felt absolutely necessary in this build. The idea of this goofy cat sneaking in and murdering you with a Vorpal Sword is hilarious. Plus it's cheap and gives an early-game Power boost.

Then we're going to kill stuff. We have a quartet of board wipes. Deadly Tempest will almost always be easiest on us. Final Act because options are always great. Tegwyll's Scouring because it leaves behind little dudes who can Block and carry Equipment. And Decree of Pain because pulling off Decree of Pain always feels amazing.

And we have point removal. We have enough mana I felt it was worth going for the good stuff, so we've got it: Baleful Mastery, Hero's Downfall, Vraska's Contempt. By the time the table is scared of Falthis, you'll have your spot removal ready and deadly. And we draw enough Cards to make sure we keep drawing our removal.

Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar | Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commander (1)
• 1 Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar

• Creatures (4)
• 1 Brass Squire
• 1 Chainer, Dementia Master
• 1 Murderous Rider
• 1 Vulturous Aven

• Instants (12)
• 1 Baleful Mastery
• 1 Breathe Your Last
• 1 Crushing Disappointment
• 1 Demon's Due
• 1 Devour in Shadow
• 1 Eat to Extinction
• 1 Feed the Cycle
• 1 Hero's Downfall
• 1 Poison the Cup
• 1 Succumb to Temptation
• 1 Vraska's Contempt
• 1 Withering Torment

• Sorceries (8)
• 1 Deadly Tempest
• 1 Decree of Pain
• 1 Final Act
• 1 Night's Whisper
• 1 Read the Bones
• 1 Sign in Blood
• 1 Syphon Mind
• 1 Tegwyll's Scouring

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Black Market Connections
• 1 Derelict Attic // Widow's Walk
• 1 Phyrexian Arena

• Artifacts (32)
• 1 Argentum Armor
• 1 Batterskull
• 1 Bilbo's Ring
• 1 Blackblade Reforged
• 1 Bloodforged Battle-Axe
• 1 Bonder's Ornament
• 1 Brass Knuckles
• 1 Brotherhood Regalia
• 1 Champion's Helm
• 1 Colossus Hammer
• 1 Commander's Plate
• 1 Darksteel Plate
• 1 Decanter of Endless Water
• 1 Fireshrieker
• 1 Gisa's Favorite Shovel
• 1 Hammer of Nazahn
• 1 Haunted Plate Mail
• 1 Infernal Idol
• 1 Kaldra Compleat
• 1 Leyline Axe
• 1 Loxodon Warhammer
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Rogue's Gloves
• 1 Shadowspear
• 1 Silver Shroud Costume
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Sonic Screwdriver
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of the Animist
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Trailblazer's Boots
• 1 Vorpal Sword

• Lands (40)
• 21 Swamp
• 1 Arcane Lighthouse
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 Barren Moor
• 1 Cabal Coffers
• 1 Castle Locthwain
• 1 Desert of the Glorified
• 1 Detection Tower
• 1 Forge of Heroes
• 1 Ghost Quarter
• 1 Opal Palace
• 1 Pit of Offerings
• 1 Polluted Mire
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Tectonic Edge
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1 War Room
• 1 Witch's Clinic
• 1 Witch's Cottage

Buy This Deck Export text

I feel like I have to build this just because it's about the fairest Mono-Black deck I've ever built. None of my friends enjoy playing against those decks, but I think they'll like this one! Falthis is a surprisingly effective little carrier of destruction, and thinking about the optics of a funky black cat with jack-'o-lantern lights carrying a bunch of axes, brass knuckles, and wearing a pair of boots is just great fun.

Again, feel free to take out Coffers/Urborg, which should reduce the cost for the deck some. Also, if you don't want to buy a Colossus Hammer or Commander's Plate, don't sweat it. Ogre's Cleaver would be fun. Or whatever random Equipment you already own. Just lean Power, not Toughness. (Though, Wizards? We could really use a reprint of Shadowspear. Please? Thanks.)

I should also say I started this deck with all 10 (11? Kind of 11) Swords of X and Y in the build. They are very, very good; and each one is strong. The deck would do well with them, but the thing was it felt a little... wrong. This isn't a highly-trained swordmaster choosing her weapon carefully based on the terrain and the slight breeze coming from the southeast. This is a cat, likely terrified, certainly demonic, trying very hard to claw your face off. Not to mention, the Swords are often specific: sometimes you need pro Blue and Green, so you get Body and Mind and you're off. Without running face-down tutors in this deck, there was no way to get the right one at the right moment, and the deck doesn't want tutors. It wants to throw whatever it can on the cat and send it at you.

Thanks for reading.