Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Counter Qasali Slingers: Practical Approaches for MTG Play
In the sprawling, cat-collecting world of Commander 2017, Qasali Slingers stands out as a green behemoth with a deceptively simple trick. This 5-mana Cat Warrior—bearing Reach and a trigger that blasts artifacts or enchantments when a Cat you control enters the battlefield—creates a unique pressure on the board. Its exact line, “Whenever this creature or another Cat you control enters, you may destroy target artifact or enchantment,” invites you to think twice about how you value your supports and how your opponents leverage their own auras and tools. 🧙♂️🔥
What makes Slingers tricky isn’t just its stats (a sturdy 3/5 for a blue-green world that loves big Beasts and bigger boards). It’s the timing and multiplicity of enters. Imagine a swarm of Cat tokens flooding the battlefield or a single, polished behemoth stomping in solo. Each entry is a potential mini-sabotage for artifacts and enchants on the battlefield—whether those artifacts are mana accelerants, mana rocks, or a protective aura that keeps a key creature alive. The flavor text—“All things will crumble, whether by time or by force”—reads as a prophecy you can see unfold in real time, especially when your opponents have built around artifact/enchantment engines. ⚔️
Countering Slingers effectively means shifting your deck’s priorities, not just throwing removal at it. You want to dampen the advantage of the enter-the-battlefield trigger while preserving your own board presence. That’s a balancing act of tempo, removal, and strategic planning. Here are practical paths you can take, whether you’re on the defense or planning a counter-offensive that can tilt the game in your favor. 🎲
Direct answers: removing the problem or denying its synergy
- Targeted artifact and enchantment removal: Cards like Disenchant, Revoke Existence, or Krosan Grip (split second) can cleanly erase problematic auras, mana rocks, or artifacts that would otherwise fuel a Slingers’ reach. When Slingers heads your way and your opponent has a critical artifact on the battlefield, a timely removal spell can prevent a cascade of destroy-target effects from hitting your side. 🛡️
- Exile-based removal: Exiling artifacts or enchantments—via Beastiary staples like Beast Within, Assure life with a few exile effects, or Bane of Progress in certain builds—stops recurrences and prevents graveyard-based recursion from sneaking back into play. Exile often outlasts fragile board states and keeps Slingers from leveraging a second or third enter trigger later in the game. 💎
- Plan to answer the cat-enter triggers: Since the trigger happens on Cat enters, you don’t need to instantly kill Slingers to blunt its impact. If you’re dealing with cat-heavy boards, consider board wipes or wipes that leave fewer artifacts and fewer enchantments behind, reducing the targets the trigger can snag. In multiplayer, this also reduces the political leverage Slingers can wield when opponents attempt to pile on artifact-heavy setups. 🧙♂️
- Protective play and tempo: If you suspect a heavy artifact suite is coming, you can protect your own artifacts with protective spells or play non-artifact alternatives. This reduces the weaponry Slingers can destroy and can buy you multiple turns to convert your own plan into a winning board presence. It’s not just about removing Slingers; it’s about removing the battlefield’s explosion radius around it. 🔥
Dealing with the broader Cat-tribal angle
Qasali Slingers shines in Cat tribal or Cat-token-heavy decks, where the enter-the-battlefield trigger can chain with other Cats for repeated destruction of artifacts and enchants. If you’re facing a rhythm that includes multiple Cats entering, you’ll want to plan for the inevitability of more triggers. In those moments, leaning into noncreature threats or robust permanent removal can maintain parity while you prepare for a longer game where your opponent’s board stabilizes again. Remember, the goal is not just to survive the next swing but to outvalue the longer arc of the game. 🧭
“All things will crumble, whether by time or by force.”
Flavor aside, the practical takeaway is that Slingers rewards careful timing and selective restraint. A well-timed removal spell or a strategically chosen artifact or enchantment destruction can reset the pace, push your opponent into awkward plays, and tilt a multiplayer match in your favor. If you’re piloting green, you’ll want to lean into your best removal suite and avoid overcommitting to artifact-rich boards that Slingers can weaponize with minimal effort. The goal is to keep the battlefield clean enough to prevent the cascade of Enter triggers from spiraling out of control. ⚙️
Lore, art, and the collector’s angle
For collectors and lore enthusiasts, Qasali Slingers represents the broader theme of balance between ferocity and restraint in green’s protective instincts. The artwork by Izzy captures that catlike grace—an agile hunter perched on a lush background that hints at a world where every artifact and enchantment has a story, good or bad. In Commander 2017, rarity and print dynamics add a little sparkle to a deck’s value, with Slingers standing as a solid rare that can anchor a Cat-centric strategy without requiring the most exotic fixes. Its presence in a casual or competitive table reminds us that green isn’t only about ramp; it’s about the ecosystem—the artifacts and enchants that flirt with danger and reward careful play. 🐾
For players who track card prices and editions, Slingers sits as a reasonable investment within its Commander 2017 slot, trading around a few dollars depending on condition and market. It’s a card that invites discussion on how a single trigger can alter board state for multiple players, and it’s a perfect talking point about value in a format built on social negotiation and synergy. 💬
Practical tips for building around Qasali Slingers
- Favor removal options that double as answers to other green threats, ensuring you aren’t over-committing to one plan.
- Evaluate whether you want to lean into Cat synergy or diversify with non-Cat elements to minimize the Slingers’ impact.
- Carry a mix of exile and destruction to handle both the Slingers and its most dangerous artifact/enchantment targets.
- In multiplayer games, watch for political alliances that hinge on artifact-rich boards; use that awareness to time your removal and pressure strategically.
As you refine your counterplay, a clean desk can help—and a reliable workspace accessory never hurts. If you’re looking to optimize your desk for long sessions of deckbuilding and strategic thinking, consider a well-made mouse pad. The Neon Gaming Mouse Pad (Custom 9x7 Neoprene with Stitched Edges) offers a smooth surface for precise clicks and steady movement between those critical clutch plays. Check it out here: Neon Gaming Mouse Pad.
Whether you’re a veteran of Cat-heavy builds or a thoughtful counter-strategist, the key to prevailing over Qasali Slingers is balance: preserve your board, prune what you don’t need, and strike at the right moment with purpose. And if you need a quick reading buddy while you map out your plan, a good article or two from the wider network can help you see the game from fresh angles. 🧙♂️🔥💎⚔️🎨🎲