Arahbo, the First Fang – Foundations
Date Reviewed: December 16, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 5.0
Limited: 4.0
Multiplayer: 3.25
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
A sort of proper “Cat lord”, only legendary this time. Arahbo, the First Fang is another version of one of the Commander 2017 face cards. This one is a lot more aggressively costed, though, both in mana value and output; Arahbo represents 4/4 worth of stats split over two bodies, and the ability to add what’s functionally another 2/2 on top of every other Cat you bring in can really make the fur and the fury fly.
Arahbo’s “cheapness” is a boon, but it also is a slight issue in that the buff he gives is just numbers and raw stats. A 2/2 isn’t the hardest thing to out in this day and age, and given that Cats as a tribe trend towards smaller and more efficient bodies, Arahbo, the First Fang can sometimes become a bit of a fulcrum point for a deck to have the muscle to muscle through things. All that said, this is still a decently efficient body that synergizes with what Cats already liked to do, and if you can play your cards carefully, he can represent the extra bit of power to get you over the finish line.
Constructed: 3.5 (not essential to the Cat gameplan, but he helps a lot and is not terrible on his own)
Casual: 5 (kitty)
Limited: 4 (there are enough Cats to make it viable in Limited, but you’ll definitely need to build carefully to make it work)
Multiplayer: 3.25
Commander [EDH]: 3.75 (play this in the 99, not at the helm; Cats really want access to Selesnya cards in order to really shine)
One of the things I’ve always liked about core sets is the simple and elegant variants or baselines of cards, and it’s hard to get much more elegant than Arahbo. “Play lots of cats” is, for many players, what they were going to do anyway even before he starts stacking combat bonuses and making you search the house for tokens. He is a rather straight-up combat card and thus might require a little backup from trickier cards, but he’s also capable of just ending games out of nowhere if people can’t deal with him or forget to do so.
Constructed: 3.5
Casual: 5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
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