-by KingOfTheDepths
This deck tech is going to cover the most successful deck in the Noble format so far; a deck with multiple powerful variations and exceptional performance. Most excitingly, a deck that simply doesn’t exist on the competitive scene in other MTG formats! At the time of writing this article, Kitty has a format tournament performance Of 19-3, for a staggering 86% winrate and multiple 3-0's from several different pilots, as well as Bones’ Quarterly Win!
The Origins of Kitty
It may not be well known in the Discord, but Kitty is actually the first format-original Noble deck to exist! The earliest musings for the deck now known as Kitty came from collaborative efforts from myself and BoshNRoll discord denizen sWhim (who later left the format). The pair was attempting to create a list that broke the Innistrad draft card Quiet Speculation by fetching 3x spells for massive value, turning Speculation into "Triple Demonic Tutor". They quickly zeroed in on Cabal Therapy, Lingering Souls, and Battle Screech. These cards, alongside Gitaxian Probe as a key enabler for Therapy, became the "core" of the list; however, Doomed Traveler and Skullclamp were quickly added due to their synergy with the flashback spells. The original list was on snow lands and Arcum's Astrolabe to enable Clarion Spirit triggers and the three-color mana base, and ran the iconic removal spells Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, and synergistic newcomer Rite of Oblivion, borrowed from player Avacad0's work on Abiding Grace. The list tended to struggle with mana issues, as the snow mana relied much too heavily on Astrolabe, but had undeniable late-game power due to the huge amount of card draw and selection options.
Esper Flackback 1.0 Decklist
4 Arcum's Astrolabe
4 Battle Screech
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Cabal Therapy
4 City of Brass
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Faithful Mending
2 Intangible Virtue
4 Lingering Souls
2 Lunarch Veteran
3 Prismatic Ending
1 Prismatic Strands
3 Quiet Speculation
2 Rite of Oblivion
1 Skullclamp
3 Snow-Covered Island
6 Snow-Covered Plains
3 Snow-Covered Swamp
2 Sudden Edict
SIDEBOARD:
2 Counterbalance
2 Damping Sphere
1 Dovin, Hand of Control
2 Prismatic Strands
1 Rite of Oblivion
3 Rotten Reunion
2 Test of Talents
2 Zealous Persecution
Early testing of the Esper Flashback deck revealed that the deck had a "hole" - it was missing a relevant token-producing creature to enable Cabal Therapy, Skullclamp, and Rite of Oblivion. The creature identified to fill this gap was Clarion Spirit, which is able to generate massive value with the flashback spells. The Flashback deck put up reasonable results, snagging a 2-1 at several monthly competitions and in general becoming known as "the deck that can stuff control". However, the meta at the time was very aggro-focused, and the deck went silent for several months as players chose to innovate in other spaces. I really enjoy the creative inclusions of cards like Rally of Wings and Intangible Virtue in this list!
Esper Flashback 2.0 Decklist
4 Arcum's Astrolabe
2 Ash Barrens
3 Battle Screech
1 Bojuka Bog
3 Bone Shards
4 Cabal Therapy
4 City of Brass
3 Clarion Spirit
4 Doomed Traveler
3 Evolving Wilds
3 Faithful Mending
3 Intangible Virtue
1 Karakas
4 Lingering Souls
1 Prismatic Strands
2 Quiet Speculation
2 Rally of Wings
2 Rite of Oblivion
2 Skullclamp
2 Snow-Covered Island
5 Snow-Covered Plains
2 Snow-Covered Swamp
SIDEBOARD: 2 Damping Sphere
1 Dovin, Hand of Control
2 Narset, Parter of Veils
2 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Palace Jailer
3 Prismatic Ending
2 Prismatic Strands
2 Rotten Reunion
The next big breakthrough for the list came in early 2023 with the printing of Gond Gate. I identified the gates mana base as a potential fix for the mana problems that had plagued the deck, and the inclusion of Basilisk Gate opened the door to a pauper all-star which would eventually be the "missing link" to the deck's success, as well as its namesake: Sacred Cat. Sacred Cat was a lifelink creature, which made it a relevant blocker and attacker, and shored up the previously poor burn matchup. The Cat was also a reasonable topdeck, could be replayed from the graveyard without being cast, making it a choice effect against counter magic. Most importantly, The Cat was an amazing enabler for the deck's other key spells like Skullclamp, Basilisk Gate, and Cabal Therapy; and as the key and most notably synergy piece, eventually gave the deck the new moniker "Kitty". I brought the newly designed Esper Kitty deck to a weekly tourney on the new Noble format server, where I achieved the coveted 3-0, the first for the deck. Other notable new inclusions were Orzhov Pontiff main deck to pump the spirit tokens for lethal or flexibly sweep away the opponent's blockers, Sheffet Dunes as a way to achieve the same effect on an untapped white source, and a 1-of Marshalling Cry as a tutor target for Quiet Speculation. Kitty fell somewhat out of favor with the rise of turbo-initiative lists, which was an extremely difficult matchup for the decklist, but was never forgotten.
Esper Flashback 3.0 Decklist
2 Basilisk Gate
1 Battle Screech
3 Black Dragon Gate
3 Cabal Therapy
4 Citadel Gate
4 Clarion Spirit
3 Faithful Mending
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Lingering Souls
1 Marshaling Cry
2 Orzhov Pontiff
4 Prismatic Ending
2 Quiet Speculation
2 Rite of Oblivion
4 Sacred Cat
4 Sea Gate
2 Skullclamp
8 Snow-Covered Plains
4 Swords to Plowshares
SIDEBOARD:
3 Deafening Silence
2 Hydroblast
2 Palace Jailer
2 Prismatic Strands
3 Purify the Grave
3 Spell Pierce
The next breakthrough with the list came when fellow discord moderator Bones was tinkering with a fair Black/White list that could run wastelands, exile-based removal, and discard in a manner reminiscent of Legacy and Modern historic powerhouse "Dead Guy Ale". Bones called his deck "Deadgates" to highlight the similarities to the classic Legacy deck "Dead Guy Ale" (a similar black white midrange value pile) and "Caw Gates" (A similar Gates deck in pauper playing flying creatures and Basilisk Gate) His original lists were focused on Lingering Souls as the only win condition, but I persuaded Bones to try out Sacred Cat and Clarion Spirit to fill out the threat package. The first tourney win for this version of Kitty was running an absolutely massive suite of discard spells with Cabal Therapy, Inquisition of Kozilek, and Hymn to Tourach; as well as 4x copies of maindeck wasteland and an all-in Gates mana base. Bones dropped the Speculation package entirely, opting instead for a whopping 12x maindeck exile removals spells to complement the efficient threat package, and went deep on the full 4x Skullclamp to absolutely dominate the late game, dropping the blue splash entirely. Bones also was trying the classic pauper card "Squadron Hawks", which was borrowed from the decklist "Caw-Gates", a similar Pauper strategy. This spin on the deck, going deep on removal and disruption, proved perfect for both the metagame and Bones' playstyle.
Orzhov Kitty / Deadgates Decklist:
2 Basilisk Gate
2 Battle Screech
4 Black Dragon Gate
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Citadel Gate
2 Clarion Spirit
3 Gond Gate
3 Hymn to Tourach
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Karakas
4 Lingering Souls
2 Orzhov Guildgate
1 Plains
3 Prismatic Ending
3 Rite of Oblivion
4 Sacred Cat
4 Skullclamp
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Wasteland
SIDEBOARD:
3 Blossoming Calm
3 Deafening Silence
2 Engineered Plague
3 Faerie Macabre
1 Gaea's Blessing
3 Orzhov Pontiff
The final iteration on the decklist towards where it stands today came from Bones and I talking about how to streamline the deck to apply more pressure early and have an overall more positive matchup spread. We decided to maindeck the Pontiffs, play 4x Clarion Spirits, play Probes again, and eschew the Wastelands in favor of a more consistent mana base.
Orzhov Kitty, The Deck
Orzhov Kitty / Deadgates Decklist
2 Basilisk Gate
4 Black Dragon Gate
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Citadel Gate
4 Clarion Spirit
4 Gitaxian Probe
2 Gond Gate
1 Karakas
4 Lingering Souls
4 Orzhov Guildgate
3 Orzhov Pontiff
4 Plains
4 Prismatic Ending
3 Rite of Oblivion
4 Sacred Cat
4 Skullclamp
1 Swamp
4 Swords to Plowshares
SIDEBOARD:
3 Bastion of Remembrance
2 Blossoming Calm
3 Deafening Silence
2 Duress
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
3 Stone of Erech
Kitty is a unique archetype because it is clearly not a "goodstuff" pile, but is rather built completely around abusing powerful synergies between its cards. After all, no one reads Sacred Cat and thinks, "this card is busted!", but they may sing a different tune after encountering it on the battlefield.
Kitty can attack from so many different angles! It can "go tall" with Basilisk Gate and Sacred Cat, "go wide" with Clarion Spirit and Lingering Souls, "go long" with late game inevitability from Skullclamp and flashback spells, or play the aggro role with a flood of early threats. It can pick off the opponent's threats in a 1-for-1 game of attrition with Prismatic Ending, Swords to Plowshares, and Rite of Oblivion, and it can stuff token and combo decks with Deafening Silence, Orzhov Pontiff, and Cabal Therapy. It can be situationally built to attack hands, graveyards, or deal more direct damage thanks to the high number of flex slots, making the list extremely shape-able to the pilot's preference.
Kitty is built to shred against blue control decks, thanks to Cabal Therapy, Lingering Souls, Rite of Oblivion, Skullclamp, and Sacred Cat itself. However, it also does very well into aggro decks, with Sacred Cat providing free blocks, 9x exile removals spells, and a mainboard token sweeper.
Kitty is unique in that the core of the deck is essentially mono-white with a black splash, and it is already on a Gates mana base. This means the list can easily play a third color of choice. Indeed, Esper, Mardu, and Abzan Kitty decklists have all been brewed!
The Kitty sideboard cards Bones opted for this list are as follows:
Blossoming Calm: Targeted at cabal therapy decks and storm. Calm stops you from dying to tendrils or grapeshot. Also has utility vs Burn.
Deafening Silence: Also for storm. As the maindeck is really good vs creature decks, a lot of the Sideboard is dedicated hate for spell-based combo. Also a reasonable card vs Infect or Blitz.
Duress: Did I mention you have a lot for storm? Also good vs spell-based control.
Stone of Erech: This card is for opposing Clamps, as well as just being generically fine vs any graveyard value decks.
Sorcerous Spyglass: This is specifically to shore up the weakness to Wasteland, but can also name Vial, etc..
Bastion of Remembrance: This card helps you grind extremely well, keeps your life total high, and makes trading creatures bad for your opponent. Kitty makes so many creatures that your opponent can only wipe you so many times before they're just dead whether they kill the spirit tokens or not.
Kitty Gameplay
Kitty is, first and foremost, a control deck. The main plan is to keep the opponent's board clear of creatures or value-accruing permanents, and then take over the late game with your late-game grind potential, as nearly every spell in the list is a 2-for-1 or a removal spell.
The main hinderance for the deck is the enormous number of tapped lands that the decks' construction necessitates, as it is aiming to leverage Gates to their fullest extent. Therefore, it is critical to spend removal early and plan to "catch-up" late. The main cards used to bridge that gap are Sacred Cat, which can block twice while gaining life, and sweeper Orzhov Pontiff alongside the regular single-target removal suite.
Generally, you want to play out Sacred Cat as earlier as possible, but hold the Clarion Spirits until you get a guaranteed double-spell. Cast the front half of Lingering Souls immediately, but generally wait to flash it back until the opponent answers the first two tokens. Spend removal early and aggressively, as one of the ways the deck can lose is falling too far behind.
Lead on tapped lands! The tapped lands get worse as the game goes on; as the deck is very mana-hungry.
Don't be afraid to sacrifice Skullclamp to Rite of Oblivion.
Let's look at some opening hands:
This type of hand is Kitty's perfect start. It has two forms of disruption in Cabal Therapy and Swords to Plowshares, and can flexibly either spend the removal and hand attack or play Clarion Spirit and Probe to make a Spirit token on Turn 2. Skullclamp puts the hand over the top with late game staying power.
This hand is a little slower and more controlling, but is definitely a keep. It's going to be able to remove whatever the opponent plays for the first two turns, before following up with a Lingering Souls.
This type of hand is worse than the two above it, but is also very keepable. The plan is to remove or discard whatever the Opponent plays and hopefully but enough time to find a creature or Lingering Souls.
This type of hand is not keepable for the deck; it does apply some pressure, but does not disrupt the opponent in a way the deck is designed to do. This hand potentially loses the game to a pair of Lightning Bolts.
Matchup Analysis
Kitty is good into Aggro lists generally, like Blitz, traditional Burn, or aggro tribal lists. The density of answers and disruption make it favored against decks trying to "glass cannon", and it takes over the late game to bury the opponent. Here, Kitty plays the control role.
Kitty is good into Control lists, as the two-for-one nature of all of its threats, the hand disruption, and the plentiful ability to exile any permanent enable it to bury opponents in value and card advantage in the late game. Here, Kitty plays the aggro role.
Kitty is good into most Combo lists, but especially those relying on artifacts, enchantments, or tokens, as it has plentiful means to remove those permanents. The hand disruption and sideboard can be enough to bury almost any other list. Here, Kitty plays the control role.
Kitty is usually favored against Midrange lists like Abiding Grace or Esper Vial, but these matchups can be very polarizing based on the draw sequence from both decks. In these games a well-timed sweeper can be game-ending, as it opens up enough of a window for the opponent to get lethal, but it's equally polarizing to exile an Abiding Grace or Soulherder at the critical moment.
Kitty is weak into Mono-Blue Delver and Cracked Burn, which heavily leverage wasteland and cheap disruption to pull ahead and close the game quickly. In these matchups, the Gates feel like a liability. Kitty can likewise be weak specifically into turbo-waste-lock lists for the same reason.
Kitty also remains weak to Turbo-Initiative, as the threats in Kitty lack haste and don't have enough toughness to dodge X/2 sweepers... and all die to Fatal Push or Snuff Out. It is difficult to imagine a single inclusion which would swing these matchups back in Kitty's favor.
Kitty is generally weak into Cascade decks, where the massive value off of a single spell can sometimes out-pace Kitty's ability to remove the permanents. Cabal Therapy needs to pull overtime to make these matchups winnable.
Long story short - Kitty is king of fighting on traditional axes, but is can be weak to decks which move the focal point of the game to something non-standard, like lands or cards in the graveyard.
Conclusions
That's the Kitty primer! I hope other players are able to pick up and enjoy this fantastic, powerful, and unique deck. I especially recommend getting in before any potential Skullclamp bans; although the deck will absolutely still be playable if such a ban occurs. Kitty is near and dear to my heart, and is a special part of the Noble experience.
Thanks for reading!
-KingOfTheDepths
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