[Group Think] Scorched Bant (K&T)

[3drinks]

I realized last night that Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis looked Therosian in appearance as well as thematically and functional. It's come to my attention that I don't get politics and *gasp* I don't understand why everything i do gets me ostracized from a table. Shocker, I know. So I had this idea to totally flip things and do something not overtly threatening (the commander choice), and go full Vorthos on the deck (building to Theros lore).

I'm fascinated by the prospect. But...how would I build in such a way? Anyone wanna group think this commander while staying true to Therosian lore?

[Hawk]

I realized last night that Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis looked Therosian in appearance as well as thematically and functional. It's come to my attention that I don't get politics and *gasp* I don't understand why everything i do gets me ostracized from a table. Shocker, I know. So I had this idea to totally flip things and do something not overtly threatening (the commander choice), and go full Vorthos on the deck (building to Theros lore).

I'm fascinated by the prospect. But...how would I build in such a way? Anyone wanna group think this commander while staying true to Therosian lore?

I for one am shocked, simply shocked

It's tough to know where to start, so for me I'd actually start with a few cards. Kynaios and Tiro were two lovers who helped carve out civilization on Theros. To me, two must-include cards are thus:

Guardians of Meletis - the monument to the two.
The Birth of Meletis - the Saga depicting the creation of the city they helped found (I think?).

I'd say close to that is also making sure to include Ephara, God of the Polis, their patron and Theros' god of cities.

There's ~18 other cards that reference "Meletis" from a flavor perspective, but honestly they are all pretty weak draft chaff. I think these three give your deck a clear direction:

- Plan A (the basic gameplan): You are a durdle turtle deck. You want to play lots of defensive creatures to draw lots of cards and use K&T to draw more cards and play more lands to play more cards. It's a simple simic strategy bolstered by Red and White cards for better interaction.
- Plan B (how you win): You are a toughness-matters deck. K&T have a huge butt, and Guardians and Bith make cheap defenders. I'd double-down on that. Your actual wincon is to use High Alert, Wakestone Gargoyle, Assault Formation, Arcades, the Strategist, etc., to beatdown. This plays nicely with Plan A - you already wanted to run stuff like Wall of Omens and Jungle Barrier so you can just go ham now with Axebane Guardian and Overgrown Battlement as the deck's mana engine.
- Plan C (the subtheme): Ephara wants you to have some flicker and flash, and K&T sort of support it too by dropping extra lands on your end step. While I'd say the core chassis of the deck basically just looks like an Arcades deck that gets to play Aether Membrane, Vent Sentinel, and Flamewright, the surrounding shell should have lots of instant-speed trickery and flickers. Again, that plays okay with your basic gameplan since plenty of your defenders will have an EtB.

That's what I'd do. The other more "obvious" route is to just do a Scorched Bant Constellation deck which is...fine....but not anything particularly special. My proposed plan leans better into K&T's strengths without abandoning their Therosian roots the way making a Landfall deck might.

[3drinks]

Defender blink............it's like I'm playing wr defenders all over again. Think that was the shot in the arm I needed to find that something different, so thanks for that.

Ephara is great, I can use it with Sacred Mesa to good effect, and that continues to foster that vibe of peace and serenity in their city. Oh, and I can play the [good] unicorns to great effect.

Win con can be kessig wolf haxx (run). Seems solid and easy enough to protect, under the radar enough.

[3drinks]

Breakthrough. Realizing that this shouldn't pidgeon hole into Therosian lore exclusively, but instead draw upon Greek history & mythology as a whole.

Akroan Horse and Gorgon's Head for example.

Or I just go back to tinkering Dargo/Tormod and doing the same thing I've been doing.