The reason they got beaten by a kitten is because this feline menace can do a lot of heavy lifting even when youre not comboing off
This huge Demon provides you with all sorts of ways to combo off
Slow-developing cards (like effects which count cards in your graveyard) are viable in any deck, even without great supporting synergies
Navigating through the combat/removal math involved to keep your board presence advantage over your opponent's during the midgame requires almost perfect execution of dealing with the Genie or Elsa before and opposing Belle comes down
While these decks aren't going to be competitive against seasoned players, they're effective enough to show what makes for good synergy and basic combos
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Elite Spellbinder, and Reidane, God of the Worthy all delay your opponents non-creature answers for at least a turn or two