Cat Machinists (Casual)

OUTDATED: FELIDAR/OATH BANNED 11/4/2019

The Saheeli Rai + Felidar Guardian combo was a powerful, effective combo back in Kaladesh Standard where you could use Felidar's ETB ability to blink Saheeli and reset her, allowing her to use her -2 ability an infinite number of times to make a flood of cats with haste, ending the game very quickly. This got banned rather quickly, especially since there was a lack of removal to deal with the main combo piece, Felidar Guardian.

In Pioneer, the combo is legal once again, and there's new toys to protect it. Teferi, Time Raveler prevents instants from killing off either part of the combo. Creatures like Reflector Mage can stave off bigger creatures long enough to assemble the combo, and Oko, Thief of Crowns removes other player's threats by turning them into vanilla 3/3s. Finally, with some of the energy we have, we can run Harnessed Lightning for removal.

Our main engine is digging deep in our library with Once Upon a Time and Oath of Nissa. OUaT can dig for the Felidar, while Oath can dig for both pieces. In addition, Attune with Aether can help thin the deck by getting lands out.

To make sure we can get enough mana quickly, we have Gilded Goose and Sylvan Caryatid to provide ramp. The goose can also keep us alive with the Food tokens it creates, too.

For sideboarding, I've chosen to counter other strategies that I think will be popular. Pithing Needle is a great catch-all for planeswalkers, artifacts, and creatures that can enable a combo or make it harder to win. Rest in Peace stops any and all graveyard-based decks. We also have access to Veil of Summer to keep our pieces safe from removal, same with Dovin's Veto. Knight of Autumn is another great disruptor that can blow up key enchantments and artifacts. Finally, Radiant Flames acts as an excellent sweeper, killing X/3s with little trouble, thanks to the four colors of mana we're running.