Hello everyone. With the holiday season upon us, I won't have as much time to play Magic at my local game store, but I will be able to play games with my family members. As you likely know by now, I love playing decks that are themed around specific creature types, and I find that many other casual players like these kinds of decks as well. So, with that in mind, I have a few kindred decks for you this week that you can try out, either at a local tournament, or just for fun against your friends. Let's get started.

Abzan Knights

Ever since I was a little boy, I've loved Knights. Luckily for me, Knights are a well-supported creature type. The deck I have for you featuring Knights also includes an enchantment sub-theme as well. Let's take a look at the deck.

Abzan Knights | FDN Standard | JayVillain, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (19)
• 2 Danitha, New Benalia's Light
• 2 Mosswood Dreadknight
• 2 Syr Armont, the Redeemer
• 2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
• 3 Slumbering Keepguard
• 4 Knight of Grace
• 4 Knight of Malice

• Instants (6)
• 2 Cut Down
• 2 Destroy Evil
• 2 Royal Treatment

• Enchantments (11)
• 1 Virtue of Loyalty
• 2 Nowhere to Run
• 4 Sheltered by Ghosts
• 4 Ethereal Armor

• Artifacts (2)
• 2 Patchwork Banner

• Lands (23)
• 2 Swamp
• 3 Forest
• 3 Plains
• 1 Hushwood Verge
• 2 Blooming Marsh
• 2 Brushland
• 2 Concealed Courtyard
• 2 Llanowar Wastes
• 3 Caves of Koilos
• 3 Razorverge Thicket

• Sideboard (7)
• 1 Adaptive Automaton
• 1 Knight of Dusk's Shadow
• 1 Midnight Reaper
• 1 Slumbering Keepguard
• 1 Werefox Bodyguard
• 1 Tear Asunder
• 1 Shardmage's Rescue

Buy This Deck Export text Export Arena

There are a lot of great enchantments in this deck that will help out your team. Every Knight needs a suit of armor, and what better type of armor could they have than Ethereal Armor. This enchantment gives the enchanted creature first strike plus +1/+1 for each enchantment you control. With other great enchantments like the Royal Role created by Royal Treatment, Sheltered by Ghosts, Nowhere to Run, and Virtue of Loyalty, the creature enchanted with Ethereal Armor is sure to become a huge threat.

Patchwork Banner is a terrific addition to a deck like this. Since all of the creatures in this deck are Knights, you'll want to choose Knight as the chosen creature type when you play Patchwork Banner. This will give all of your creatures a +1/+1 bonus. Patchwork Banner can also be used to provide you with 1 mana of any color, helping you bring out bigger threats more quickly.

Selesnya Cats

Next, I have a Green and White deck for you that focuses on the Cat creature type. Let's check it out.

Selesnya Cats | FDN Standard | DrRuckus, aetherhub.com user, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (34)
• 1 Skrelv, Defector Mite
• 2 Ironpaw Aspirant
• 3 Progenitor Exarch
• 4 Arahbo, the First Fang
• 4 Knight-Errant of Eos
• 4 Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar
• 4 Leonin Vanguard
• 4 Savannah Lions
• 4 Skyknight Squire
• 4 Streetwise Negotiator

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Sheltered by Ghosts

• Lands (22)
• 1 Forest
• 9 Plains
• 4 Brushland
• 4 Hushwood Verge
• 4 Razorverge Thicket

• Sideboard (14)
• 1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
• 1 Ajani's Pridemate
• 1 Cat Collector
• 1 Enduring Innocence
• 1 Felidar Cub
• 1 Helpful Hunter
• 1 Jazal Goldmane
• 1 Kutzil's Flanker
• 1 Regal Caracal
• 1 Roaming Throne
• 1 Wary Thespian
• 1 Raise the Past
• 1 Mishra's Foundry
• 1 Soulstone Sanctuary

Buy This Deck Export text

Arahbo, the First Fang is a key creature for this deck. While this Cat Avatar is on the battlefield, all of your other Cats get +1/+1. You'll also get to create a 1/1 Cat creature token whenever Arahbo or another nontoken Cat you control enters the battlefield. This can allow you to build up quite a large clowder of Cats pretty quickly.

With all of these Cats on the battlefield, Skyknight Squire should have no problem getting the three +1/+1 counters on it to provide it with flying. You should also have no problem having three or more creatures under your control which will give Leonin Vanguard +1/+1 until the end of the turn and you one point of life. Additionally, since your creatures have access to so many +1/+1 bonuses or counters, you should have no trouble drawing an extra card each turn when Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar is in play.

This deck does have a couple of notable non-Cat creatures in it. The first is Knight-Errant of Eos, which is included due to its ability to be cast through convoking. By using your creatures to help cast this Human Knight, your mana can be used to bring out more and more Cats. There's also a copy of Skrelv, Defector Mite. Skrelv allows you to give another creature you control protection from a specific color. That creature gains hexproof from that color and can't be blocked by creatures that are that color. It's a great way to negate targeted removal or to push through damage when attacking.

Rakdos Lizards

The final deck I have for you focuses on Lizards, and loves to deal small amounts of damage to its opponent to achieve some substantial rewards. Let's take a look at the deck.

Rakdos Lizards | FDN Standard | JayVillain, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (30)
• 2 Fireglass Mentor
• 2 Hellspur Posse Boss
• 2 Valley Flamecaller
• 4 Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate
• 4 Flamecache Gecko
• 4 Gev, Scaled Scorch
• 4 Hired Claw
• 4 Iridescent Vinelasher
• 4 Viashino Pyromancer

• Instants (7)
• 2 Bitter Triumph
• 2 Burst Lightning
• 3 Long Goodbye

• Sorceries (2)
• 2 Feed the Swarm

• Lands (22)
• 6 Mountain
• 6 Swamp
• 1 Mudflat Village
• 1 Raucous Theater
• 1 Restless Vents
• 1 Rockface Village
• 2 Cavern of Souls
• 4 Blazemire Verge

• Sideboard (7)
• 1 Valley Flamecaller
• 2 Adaptive Automaton
• 1 Burst Lightning
• 1 Withering Torment
• 1 Crash Through
• 1 Nowhere to Run

Buy This Deck Export text Export Arena

In addition to Gev, Scaled Scorch, there are a few other ways that you can deal direct damage to your opponent, triggering those abilities that happen only if your opponent lost life this turn. If you attack with one or more Lizards while Hired Claw is in play, it will deal 1 damage to your opponent. There's also Iridescent Vinelasher, whose landfall ability deals 1 damage to your opponent whenever a land enters play under your control. Finally, when Viashino Pyromancer enters the battlefield, it will deal 2 damage to your opponent or a planeswalker.

Yo increase the damage output of your team, you'll want to get Valley Flamecaller onto the battlefield. This Lizard Warlock allows your other Lizards (in addition to some other creature types not found in this deck) to deal an additional point of damage whenever those creatures would deal damage to a permanent or player. You can also have Hellspur Posse Boss in play, which will provide haste to all of your other outlaws. Since many creatures in this deck fall within this category, most of your team will be able to attack immediately once they are successfully cast.

Wrapping Up

Decks that are focused on specific creature types can be a lot of fun to play. There is usually a lot of synergy between the cards within these decks, which makes them great starting points for newer players.

What do you think of these decks? 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