Everybody loves cats! Well, most people do anyway, and those who don’t still love cats in Magic The Gathering. Cats are everywhere in the planes of Magic. Many don’t know this but there are close to as many cats as there are elves. They’ve become such a prominent tribe in magic that Wizards of the Coast have begun printing cat planeswalkers. More cat cards like Ajani and Lord Wingrace and more are expected to release in future sets (Spoilers!) But what are the best cat cards?
Table Of Contents
Introduction
Cats in Magic may yet have 9 lives (depending on how you build your deck can change this fact however) but those cute and fuzzy creatures of relentless murder are everybody’s dream. But this begs the question, what cat creatures should you run in your commander decks? After all with hundreds to pick from it becomes difficult to decide. Well I’m here to help you pick between only the best cat cards in magic. Which 10 cats are the best is determined by 3 main factors, their usability in commander primarily as well in other formats, their printed abilities, and of course their artwork!
Here are the top ten best cat creatures Wizards of the Coast have ever printed:
10: Glittering Lynx
Glittering Lynx is a cat you’ve probably never heard of if you’re new to Magic. Even some veterans don’t know that this card exists because at face value, it’s not all that special. Glittering Lynx is a 1/1 that has a passive effect “Prevent all damage that would be done to Glittering Lynx”. The downside is any opponent may pay 2 to negate this effect.
The best part about this card is it’s extremely cost-effective at one white mana and its ability to just completely block a ton of damage very early on in the game. Most players refuse to pay the 1 for Rhysic Study, nevermind paying two to kill a little furball. This would set them back from building a
9: Stalking Leonin
Cards like Stalking Leonin are exactly what you should be looking for in a commander deck. His presence on the
This three mana 3/3 is already solid to begin with. The ability to secretly select an opponent and then exile one of their creatures when they attack you makes it better. This cat card is phenomenal because many similar effects cause you to sacrifice the creature or enchantment the ability is tied to. Instead, this cat creature can just snipe away any creature attacking you one time.
When you factor in newer white flicker effects like Extirpate and Eerie interlude, the ability becomes even more attractive. This cat is surely one of the more powerful mind games in cat tribal and a must-have for arguably any cat commander deck.
8: Leonin Relic Warder
If you’re looking for power, Leonin Relic-Warder is the cat card for you. Even players who don’t run cat deck tribals still run Leonin Relic Warder. This cards ability to activate infinite combos and take the game by surprise for just two white mana is straight value. I’ve taken numerous games by storm with this card in my 99. It even see’s a bit of play in modern aristocrats acting as a cheap combo piece while doubling as artifact and enchantment removal.
In the right deck, Leonin Relic-Warder is a card that can win you games. However, it has a big downside of being double white pipped but in the right deck this inconvenience is negligible. Pair this sucker with Animate Dead and a Zulaport Cutthroat]/c] or [c]Blood Artist and you’ve got yourself infinite damage. Alternatively, use Phyrexian Altar for infinite mana or a Soul Warden for infinite life!
7: Ajani Goldmane
Ajani is not like the other cats on this list because he is not technically a “cat creature”. He is still a cat though (referencing his artwork) and powerful enough to be included in this list.
Ajani Goldmane is a 4 cost planeswalker that immediately hits the kill list when it enters the battlefield. This cat planeswalker from Gatewatch has an ultimate ability that creates an avatar that has power and toughness equal to your life total. In commander this generally means you’re slapping a 40/40 onto the
Additionally, Ajani’s +1 gains you 2 life, and his -1 will make the avatar or another creature gain a +1+1 counter and vigilance till the end of turn. Those cats that scratch at your opponent’s health can now also defend you too.
6: Lurrus, The Dream Den
What’s better than a cat? A cat that haunts your dreams and the battlefield and that’s exactly what Lurrus, The Dream Den does. A three mana 3/2 with lifelink that lets you recast permanents from your graveyard is incredible value. Your cards just keep coming back to haunt your opponents.
While not only a fantastic card in commander Lurrus also is a staple card in many decks in modern and pioneer making it overall one of the best cat creatures in all of Magic. Did Esper Sentinel die? Bring em back. Gravecrawler? Who needs a Zombie? Oh no my Sol Ring was smelted, let’s just get it back! Lurrus, The Dream Den is one of the best cat creatures for its cost that MTG has printed. Could they have made a more adorable nightmare cat? Probably not.
5: Lord Windgrace
Lord Windgrace is the second cat planeswalker in the top 10 cats because of his insane value generation and combo potential. Being a planeswalker commander that runs 3 colors makes Lord Windgrace the most versatile cat there is in the entire game. It also means the number of combos a commander deck using him can run is incredible.
This panther can ramp you lands, filter your hand, or blow up 9 non-land permanents on the battlefield. Oh and when he blows them up, you replace them with, you guessed it CATS!
On his own Windgrace is not that powerful. His synergy with other cards in the format allows him to be one of the most powerful cat planeswalker cards ever printed though. Amazing how powerful the text “Can be your commander” truly is in the game of MTG.
4: Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist
When you think of popular cat commanders Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist is most people’s second pick. She has a not too expensive price tag coming in at around 22$ for a mint foil and has a built-in silent arbiter effect. That makes it extremely difficult for people to hit you through combat damage.
A three drop 3/2 with first strike who stops your opponents from double blocking your creatures. If Mirri is tapped, only one creature can attack you at a time.
Play something that gives your creatures menace and Mirrari becomes an immediate threat to the entire battlefield. Your opponents have react almost immediately or lose the game fairly quickly. Also, how could you hate this phenomenal commander when her alternate art is this adorable!
3: Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Another more popular legendary cat card is Brimaz, King of Oreskos. If you like powerful token spam decks that run cards like Anointed Procession, then Brimaz is the cat for you.
For just two white and a colorless mana, Brimaz makes you cats each of your combats. When he blocks, he makes more. You both punish the attacker and generate more blockers/attackers for the next round.
Ranking in not only the list of most powerful cats in MTG, he also makes for one of if not the best mono-white commanders. Since most mono-white cats buff each other very well, this synergy is what makes Brimaz so great. If only he had an alt art as epic as Mirri, he would have ranked higher.
2: Regal Caracal
It’s not very often that a regular, cheap rare can beat the mythic commanders and combo-piece cats. However, Regal Caracal is just too dang powerful in cat tribal for it not to be on the Top 10 best cat cards in MTG list.
Regal Caracal is a pretty hefty 5 CMC cat creature that has pretty bad stats at 3/3. Because of the effects on Regal Caracal though, this must-have cat tribal piece is not one to skip. He has the passive effect of giving all your cats +1/+1 and lifelink (something white needs a ton of for most decks) and an ETB effect that puts two 1/1 cat tokens onto the battlefield.
This gets you a 4/4 cat and two 2/2 cats that all have lifelink. Thanks to a welcome abundance of flicker like cards like Cloudshift, Conjurer’s Closet and Ephemerate, a cat deck with this card is just insane value. You’ll flood your
1: Arahbo, Roar of the World
Finally, we end this list off with the big cat himself Arahbo, Roar of the World. Ahrabo is an exceptional 5 mana Selesnya pipped cat avatar that with its Eminence ability. He gives one of your cats +3/+3 from the battlefield or even the Command Zone.
Originally printed in Commander 2017 and once again with a stunningly cute secret lair drop Ahrabo slides past Regal Caracal as the best commander, and the best cat creature of any other cat in Magic the Gathering due to his crazy power and eminence effect. His other activated ability costs three CMC and doubles the power of any cat on the battlefield. It can also be used on every single cat you control.
No other cat brings down the damage hammer quite as hard as Arahbo can and it’s no wonder his secret lair card is $40 on its own, its just too darn cute. A perfect fit for any cat deck and our number one best cat card.
Honorable Mention: Beastmaster Ascension
So not a cat creature, cat planeswalker, or even necessarily a cat decks staple, Beastmaster Ascension has a cat, well, 5 cats in every iteration of its art on it so that’s why it’s my choice for an honorable mention.
Attacking with 7 creatures once it enters play makes this enchantment give all your creatures an incredible +5/+5. If that wasn’t awesome enough for a cat deck, this monster of an enchantment only cost 3 mana is green. This one of the easiest turn two plays that ramp up the power of your creatures by an incredible margin in just a swing or two.
Conclusion
That’s all for now. We hope this list help you find the purrfect card for your deck. If you want to take a look at some of our other lists, click one of the links below.
