Hello everyone. We're just a couple of weeks from the release of Kaldheim. Until then, you'll still need Standard decks to play at your local (virtual) Friday Night Magic event or against your friends. This week I have a trio of three-colored decks for you to use in your quest for fun and victory. Let's get started.

Naya Cats

We start this week with a Naya deck featuring a herd of cats. Let's take a look at the deck.

Naya Cats | ZNR Standard | PileOfCards, aetherhub.com user

• Companion (1)
• 1 Kaheera, the Orphanguard

• Creatures (23)
• 2 Huntmaster Liger
• 2 Snapdax, Apex of the Hunt
• 3 Kaheera, the Orphanguard
• 4 Cubwarden
• 4 Feline Sovereign
• 4 Garrison Cat
• 4 Regal Leosaur

• Instants (2)
• 2 Heroic Intervention

• Enchantments (11)
• 3 Banishing Light
• 4 Felidar Retreat
• 4 Glorious Anthem

• Lands (24)
• 1 Forest
• 2 Plains
• 1 Animal Sanctuary
• 2 Brightclimb Pathway
• 2 Temple of Plenty
• 4 Branchloft Pathway
• 4 Cragcrown Pathway
• 4 Needleverge Pathway
• 4 Savai Triome

• Sideboard (1)
• 1 Kaheera, the Orphanguard

Buy This Deck Export text format Export Arena format

The tribe of Cats has been a favorite of mine since Amonkhet, so I'm looking forward to trying this deck out. The Companion for this deck, Kaheera, the Orphanguard, provides a +1/+1 bonus to each other Cat you control. Since all of the creatures in this deck are Cats, it's important to get a copy of Kaheera into play as quickly as possible. Kaheera also provides vigilance to each Cat you control, so you'll still be able to attack whenever you can without leaving yourself vulnerable to getting blown out by a counter attack.

This deck has a few other ways of boosting your Cats stats as well. Feline Sovereign acts as another 'lord' for your Cats, giving them all +1/+1 and protection from Dogs. Since Feline Sovereign isn't Legendary, you can have all four copies of it in play at the same time, providing a huge boost. You're also able to destroy an artifact or enchantment your opponent controls whenever your Cats are able to deal combat damage to your opponent. Against certain decks, this can be crippling.

Felidar Retreat is another card that can give your creatures a permanent boost. When landfall happens, you can choose to create a 2/2 Cat Beast creature token, or to put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control (in addition to giving them vigilance until the end of the turn). This deck also has a playset of Glorious Anthem, which provides a +1/+1 bonus to all of the creatures you control. Finally, your creatures will gain a temporary bonus when either Regal Leosaur or Huntmaster Liger mutate. As you can see, you have the potential to have some truly large Cats when you play this deck.

Jeskai Party

The next deck I have for you attempts to use the party mechanic to its advantage. Let's take a look at it.

Jeskai Party | ZNR Standard | absurd_heroine, aetherhub.com user

• Companion (1)
• 1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den

• Creatures (27)
• 2 Sea Gate Stormcaller
• 3 Archpriest of Iona
• 3 Fireblade Charger
• 3 Grotag Bug-Catcher
• 4 Luminarch Aspirant
• 4 Merfolk Windrobber
• 4 Nimble Trapfinder
• 4 Overwhelmed Apprentice

• Instants (9)
• 2 Concerted Defense
• 3 Unsummon
• 4 Opt

• Sorceries (2)
• 2 Spoils of Adventure

• Lands (22)
• 2 Mountain
• 2 Plains
• 6 Island
• 4 Needleverge Pathway
• 4 Raugrin Triome
• 4 Riverglide Pathway

• Sideboard (1)
• 1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den

Buy This Deck Export text format Export Arena format

With the party mechanic, your goal is to get a Cleric, a Rogue, a Warrior, and a Wizard in play at the same time. This will give you a full party and will allow you to get the most value from the abilities on those creatures that have to do with the number of creatures in your party. This deck includes creatures of all of these types that cost either one or two mana, allowing you to assemble a full party quickly.

One of the best creatures in this deck is Nimble Trapfinder. While this Human Rogue's stats are nothing to brag about, you'll be able to make it easily unblockable as long as you play another party member before attacking. This ability to become unblockable still works after you've assembled a full party, but you'll gain an additional ability allowing you to draw extra cards when your creatures deal compat damage to your opponent. Those extra cards can give you quite an advantage over your opponent as the game goes on.

The party mechanic hasn't proven to be super powerful due to the fact that you need to have specific creature types in play, and that can be easily dirsupted. However, the fact that it doesn't dominate the Standard scene doesn't mean that it's not worth playing. There will be times that this deck struggles, but there will also be times when this deck shines. When it shines, you'll understand just how powerful the party mechanic can be if it goes unchecked.

Sultai Mill

If you're not into aggressive or midrange decks, the final deck I have for you this week might be right up your alley. Let's check it out.

Sultai Mill | ZNR Standard | Sonio, aetherhub.com user

• Instants (16)
• 4 Heartless Act
• 4 Negate
• 4 Rain of Revelation
• 4 Thirst for Meaning

• Sorceries (5)
• 2 Bala Ged Recovery
• 3 Shadows' Verdict

• Enchantments (17)
• 2 Kiora Bests the Sea God
• 3 Titans' Nest
• 4 Dead Weight
• 4 Shark Typhoon
• 4 Teferi's Tutelage

• Lands (24)
• 1 Forest
• 3 Swamp
• 5 Island
• 1 Fabled Passage
• 1 Temple of Deceit
• 1 Temple of Malady
• 1 Temple of Mystery
• 3 Fabled Passage
• 4 Clearwater Pathway
• 4 Zagoth Triome

Buy This Deck Export text format Export Arena format

At its heart, this is a control deck. There are numerous spells dedicated to creature destruction and countering your opponent's noncreature spells in this deck. They include Shadows' Verdict, Heartless Act, Dead Weight, and Negate. By using these spells, you allow the game to go longer, giving you more time to get additional lands into play. These extra lands enable you to play more powerful spells than your opponent plays, giving you the upper hand.

This deck has a couple of different means of winning the game. As indicated in its name, this deck can win by milling your opponent. The best way of doing this is to play Teferi's Tutelage early in the game. This will allow you to mill two cards from your opponent's deck during each of your draw steps. Naturally, if you're able to get multiple copies of Teferi's Tutelage into play, you can win much more quickly. There are also playsets of Thirst for Meaning and Rain of Revelation in this deck, which allow you to draw additional cards during your turn, milling your opponent even more.

If you find yourself having trouble winning by milling your opponent, you can still win in the traditional way by attacking with creatures. However, since there are no creature spells in this deck, those creatures will be created in other ways. Shark Typhoon can be used in two different ways, either by cycling it to create a one-time creature creation effect, or by casting it as an enchantment. As an enchantment, you'll be able to create a Shark token with flying every time you cast a noncreature spell. Another enchantment you can use to defeat your opponent is Kiora Bests the Sea God. This saga creates an 8/8 Kraken creature token and gives you the ability to steal an opponent's most powerful creature. Either of these can allow you to get the win.

Wrapping Up

Kaldheim is almost here, and I'm looking forward to seeing the new decks that are created with these new cards. However, it's nice to see that Standard still has innovative decks to offer even now.

What do you think of these decks? Do you have any suggestions for improvements? Let me know by leaving a comment below. Also, feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!

-Mike Likes