Octopi

Concluding kindred month, today I look at octopi.

Introduction

Octopus first came to us in the 1997 Portal set. A fair number were released in 2001-02's Odyssey block. (Aside: they were then called Cephalids, a creature type that has since been folded into the octopus type). Overall, 43 have been printed to date.

Octopi are overwhelmingly mon-blue (35 cards), with a dash of multi-colored (6 cards), with the remaining two black and colorless, respectively.

Sample/Staple Cards

Octopi seem to focus on either tapping creatures or drawing/discarding cards, as shown by the below examples. There are only 8 legendary octopi (and thus eligible to be commanders); of those, Marvo or Queza would be the most powerful based on their abilities. But more viable still are the three legendary creatures that synergize with four creature types: Kraken, Leviathan, Octopus, and Serpent. Those add 100+ creatures to the card pool and enable better deck building. 

Unicorns

Continuing kindred month, today I look at unicorns.

Introduction

Pearled Unicorn (pictured above) was the first unicorn to be printed (in Alpha, 1993).

A unicorn (in myth) is elusive, beautiful, and thus to be desired. Perhaps that is why there aren't many unicorns in Magic; only 31 have been printed to date, with Jumpstart (2020) giving us the most at one time (five).

Most unicorns (24) are mono-white; 2 are mono-green, and the remaining 5 are selesnya (white-green).

Sample/Staple Cards

With a heavy emphasis on white, plus their mythical reputation, it is no surprise that unicorns specialize in gaining life, granting buffs (+1/+1 counters or abilities that last a turn), and protecting others. If you are running a unicorn Commander deck, your only two choices are Emiel or Lathiel:

You may as well include both . . . and almost every other unicorn ever printed. A handful of examples follow.

Related kindred types include Pegasi (23 cards, also mostly mono-white) and Horses (53 cards, a mix of colors). Two Commanders here include Thurid and Shadowfax, with the former limiting you to mono-white but benefiting Pegasus, Unicorn, and Horse creature types:

So counting all three types together limits in color but gives more options in card pool. 

Minotaurs

Continuing 'kindred month,' today I look at minotaurs.

Introduction

Minotaurs were introduced in the very first set (Alpha, 1993) with Hurloon Minotaur. They got a few more cards in the pre-modern era, with a few in Homelands (1995) being suitable for kindred decks. They got a big boost in the Theros block (2013-14), which added 13 new ones to the mix. The Amonkhet block (2017) added almost a dozen more.

Overall, there are 111 minotaurs to date. Of these, 96 have red as a color (and 77 as the only color); 20 cards have black as a color, making red/black this tribe's focus.

Sample/Staple Cards

It is hard to get a beat on synergies for Minotaurs. The early cards seemed mostly stand-alone or had abilities aligned with the set they were in (without any kindred aspects per se); the Theros block had a sacrifice/untap/damage theme, and Amonkhet cycle/exert/discard. Those are the main strategies that I can see.

I have a Minotaur Commander deck. Neheb is my commander, though Sethron also suits:

Staple (or just fun) Minotaurs for it include the following:

And if you're playing these guys, you simply must include a Didgeridoo:

I am working on a second Commander deck helmed by Firesong and Sunspeaker, but this one will not have a kindred theme based on its abilities.

For whatever reason, I enjoy the Minotaur creature type, and like to play on their theme of aggression.

Scarecrows

Fresh off an updated look at creature types, I will look at 4-5 specific ones this month. In prior years, I covered soldiers, merfolk, zombies, goblins, elves, skeletons, treefolk, angels, elementals, and sphinxes. Today: scarecrows.

Introduction

The first scarecrow was called as such and appeared in The Dark set (from 1994; see above graphic). We got the second, Straw Soldiers, in 1999's Portal: Three Kingdoms set. But in my mind, this creature type really started with 2008's Shadowmoor/Eventide sets—20 of the 49 scarecrows printed to date come from that era.

Scarecrows are nearly always (48/49) artifacts, and 40 are colorless; the 8 that aren't are mostly black and green.

Sample/Staple Cards

In the Shadowmoor era, scarecrows were focused on the wither mechanic or buffed when in play with certain colored creatures:

The two most expensive Scarecrows, Painter's Servant and Scarecrone, are powerful for their abilities, but only the latter is related to kindred type per se.

Later releases focused the kindred on mana-producing abilities:

And a recent release, Duskmourn, gave them a 'delirium' focus.

Deck Ideas

I have a Commander deck centered on scarecrow kindred. And for that, there is really only one choice: Reaper King. 

Reaper King's ability is impressive: "whenever another Scarecrow enters under your control, destroy target permanent." Making each of your creatures double as a removal spell is impressive indeed. Throw in some of the themes on cards shown above for additional synergies, and add a dash of board wipes and creature type buffs, and you may be in business.

With so few cards to choose from, Scarecrow is not (currently) a viable tribe in other formats, but keep an eye out . . . you never know what the future holds.