Arahbo, Roar of the World is one of those Commanders that can turn anyone into a cat lover. One never considers themselves a "cat person" until a card like this shows up on their playmat. Commanders that are typal-based (built around a single Creature type) tend to be narrow, but Arahbo doesn't have to be. As one of the Eminence Commanders, Arahbo's signature ability works even from the Command Zone, it's very powerful.

Unlike the others, though, it needs a little setup before it can leverage that power. This should be considered a strength rather than a weakness, especially since we're not just building Arahbo as a Cat typal Commander. That's the easy way out.

Suit Up the Cats: A New Take On Arahbo EDH Decks

Cats are a well-represented Creature type in Magic. There are approximately 343 Cats in Magic, making it simple to build a decent Cat typal deck. What most people might not realize is that Cats come with a subtheme: Equipment.

Arahbo's Eminence ability targets a Cat in play and gives it a buff. While he's on the field, Arahbo also has an activated ability that grants a Cat Trample and pumps it even further. The only thing that would make this better is giving the Cats resilience--and this deck does exactly that, in the best way possible.

How to Build a Cat Tribal Equipment Deck with Arahbo

There is a lot of Equipment synergy within the Cat kindred archetype. Selesnya has some sweet cards that will make suiting up our kitties efficient and easy. Mirrodin and Commander 2017 were especially good for the archetype and helped solidify this unique brand of typal-Equipment deck as a viable strategy forever. Now, we will go over the different categories of felines for our Arahbo deck.

Equipment Tutors

The core of the deck needs to be Cats, obviously. However, since we're mixing things up, it won't just be "Cats that pump other Cats." We're going to build around a few Cats that search up Equipment. Since they're Cats, they can also get pumped by Arahbo while he sits safely in the command zone. Our candidates are:

• Taj-Nar Swordsmith
• Armored Skyhunter
• Kemba, Kha Enduring
• Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith

Taj-Nar Swordsmith is a classic Equipment-matters Cat from the original Mirrodin that is an extremely versatile Equipment tutor. Armored Skyhunter takes an Equipment or Aura from the top six cards of your library and puts it right onto the battlefield. Kemba, Kha Enduring doesn't actually tutor any Equipment, but they do allow us to save a lot of mana on Equip costs. If you are running Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith, then it's usually a good idea to run his signature weapon, Hammer of Nazahn, as well.

Utility Cats

We also want a few utility Cats that gain us incremental advantage over time, so we'll look at options that provide card draw, Lifegain, and the like. For this, We opt for some affordable picks (not you, Ocelot Pride), which give us a decent base to build from:

• Keeper of Fables
• Alms Collector
• Realmwalker
• Emeritus of Truce
• Pridemalkin
• Prowling Serpopard
• Qasali Slingers
• Feline Sovereign

Keeper of Fableswill keep our hand full of cards, as long as we can keep hitting our opponents with combat damage. This is important, as Selesnya is not always very good at drawing cards. Alms Collector fills a similar role, while also slowing down our opponents who try to draw a fistful of cards. Realmwalker is a staple card for Green-based typal strategies, and slots easily into this list.

Equipment Payoffs

Finally, we want a few payoff Cats to lean on for advantage. For this, we included an array of good beaters (aggressive attackers) that grow, along with those that give us more Cat bodies to leverage:

• Regal Caracal
• Balan, Wandering Knight
• Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar
• Kemba, Kha Regent
• Arahbo, the First Fang
• Sovereign Okinec Ahau
• Leonin Warleader
• Ajani's Pridemate
• Malamet Brawler
• Brimaz, King of Oreskos
• Leonin Relic-Warder
• Lost Leonin
• Bronzehide Lion

Regal Caracal gives all our Cats Lifelink, which helps us stay alive. Balan, Wandering Knight can become a win out of nowhere if we have enough Equipment on the field. Kemba, Kha Regent hands us a free board of Cats just for attaching Equipment to her, which we do anyway.

Brimaz, King of Oreskos, Arahbo, the First Fang, and Leonin Warleader are all great at creating an army of Cat Tokens on their own, and they can quickly repopulate the field after a board wipe like Supreme Verdict

Sovereign Okinec Ahau keeps our Cats getting bigger each time they connect, bringing inevitability to the game plan. Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar stops opponents from casting Instant-speed removal during combat. Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist is probably our all-star, giving us Reach while stopping opponents from hitting us back.

Honorary non-Cats in the deck are there to give us an Equipment payoff for playing our suits:

• Puresteel Paladin
• Stoneforge Mystic

Now that we have the Cats, we need the things to put on them. Let's move on to the Equipment.

Equipment for the Cats: Thundercats, Ho!

There are few better feelings than having a huge, hulking Cat on both attack and defense, armed to the teeth so well that all your opponent can do is shrug and take it. That's the goal with these Equipments.

Protection Equipment

We'll start with the protective pieces:

• Captain America's Shield
• Hammer of Nazahn
• Swiftfoot Boots
• Darksteel Plate
• Kaldra Compleat

All of these give whatever Creature they're attached to a lot of resiliencies, making a threat nearly impossible to remove. Indestructible from cards like Captain America's Shield, Hammer of Nazahn, and Darksteel Plate keeps your mana investments from being destroyed, means exile-based removal is your opponents' only answer. Swiftfoot Boots prevents your equipped cats from being targeted in the first place. It also gives Haste, allowing you a potential surprise attack with an Arahbo-buffed creature. All of this is very important to an all-in strategy like Equipments. Still, a few protection pieces alone don't make an Equipment deck.

Equipments to Win the Game

Let's look at the more splashy Equipments that makes this build worthwhile:

• Quietus Spike
• Belt of Giant Strength
• Trailblazer's Boots
• Conjurer's Mantle
• Heirloom Blade
• Loxodon Warhammer
• Vibranium Strike Gauntlets
• Lion Sash
• Sword of the Animist

Quietus Spike gives us a way to deal with pesky Lifegain decks by halving a player's life total each time it connects. Trailblazer's Boots offer a way around most blockers, since nearly everyone runs nonbasic Lands.

If a Creature carrying Heirloom Blade dies, we can simply fetch another Cat, softening the loss. Lion Sash is a two-for-one, serving as both a Cat Creature and an Equipment.

Vibranium Strike Gauntlets are great for drawing you into new Equipment and is a great combat trick thanks to its flash-speed casting. Loxodon Warhammer is strong on its own, and incremental lifegain can matter in some games. An early Sword of the Animist sets us up for explosive plays later on.

These give us around 14 pieces of Equipment to pump up our Cats and turn them into real threats. The rest of the deck fills itself out with the card draw and removal suites every deck should have.

Final Decklist: Suit Up the Cats

Suit Up the Cats | Commander | Jason Dookeran

• Commander (1)
• 1 Arahbo, Roar of the World

• Creatures (28)
• 1 Ajani's Pridemate
• 1 Alms Collector
• 1 Arahbo, the First Fang
• 1 Armored Skyhunter
• 1 Balan, Wandering Knight
• 1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
• 1 Bronzehide Lion
• 1 Emeritus of Truce // Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Feline Sovereign
• 1 Keeper of Fables
• 1 Kemba, Kha Enduring
• 1 Kemba, Kha Regent
• 1 Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar
• 1 Leonin Relic-Warder
• 1 Leonin Warleader
• 1 Lost Leonin
• 1 Malamet Brawler
• 1 Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist
• 1 Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith
• 1 Pridemalkin
• 1 Prowling Serpopard
• 1 Puresteel Paladin
• 1 Qasali Slingers
• 1 Realmwalker
• 1 Regal Caracal
• 1 Sovereign Okinec Ahau
• 1 Stoneforge Mystic
• 1 Taj-Nar Swordsmith

• Instants (6)
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Condemn
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Relic Crush
• 1 Swords to Plowshares

• Sorceries (9)
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Bridgeworks Battle
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Farseek
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Rampant Growth
• 1 Rout
• 1 Vanquish the Horde
• 1 Wrath of God

• Artifacts (20)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Belt of Giant Strength
• 1 Black Panther's Claws
• 1 Captain America's Shield
• 1 Commander's Sphere
• 1 Conjurer's Mantle
• 1 Darksteel Plate
• 1 Heirloom Blade
• 1 Kaldra Compleat
• 1 Lion Sash
• 1 Loxodon Warhammer
• 1 Patchwork Banner
• 1 Quietus Spike
• 1 Selesnya Signet
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Sword of the Animist
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Talisman of Unity
• 1 Trailblazer's Boots
• 1 Vibranium Strike Gauntlets

• Lands (36)
• 1 Animal Sanctuary
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 Canopy Vista
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 8 Forest
• 1 Fortified Village
• 1 Gavony Township
• 1 Path of Ancestry
• 8 Plains
• 1 Radiant Grove
• 1 Razorverge Thicket
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Scattered Groves
• 1 Secluded Courtyard
• 1 Secluded Steppe
• 1 Selesnya Sanctuary
• 1 Sungrass Prairie
• 1 Sunpetal Grove
• 1 Temple of Plenty
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Unclaimed Territory

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Conclusion

So there you have it: an Arahbo: a Cat-based Equipment deck that attacks on two separate axes and isn't the typical Arahbo build you'd see someone playing.

It offers a strong early-game aggro (fast, aggressive) pressure plan that opens later into Equipments, posing real, immediate threats. A combination of evasion and brute force is usually hard to answer if the table leaves you alone long enough.

Arahbo is an extremely fun and versitile Commander. If you want to push it toward something more competitive, Game Changers worth adding include the tutors Worldly Tutor and Enlightened Tutor, as well as Aura Shards and Teferi's Protection. Try it out and let us know what you think!