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.