In the world of MTG, not all creature types are created equal. While it’s common to see typal strategies like Humans and Elves pop up in Constructed thanks to the sheer number of payoffs available, less abundant creature types can struggle to make their presences felt.
That’s why it’s so cool to see Minotaur Typal of all archetypes earn a 5-0 in a Legacy League last week! Thanks to the power of a forgotten artifact from Homelands, this deck, chock full of beefy threats, was able to find success. This is one of the most unique Legacy lists we’ve ever seen, so if you’re tired of playing the same boring strategies, Minotaur Typal could be right up your alley.
Building Around Didgeridoo
As a whole, the best Minotaurs printed over the years are just too inefficient to be hard casting in Eternal formats. Even with elite accelerants like Ancient Tomb and Chrome Mox in the mix, the biggest, burliest threats of the bunch aren’t strong enough to make up for their vulnerabilities to Daze and Swords to Plowshares.
This is where Didgeridoo, the artifact that ties this whole strategy together, enters the equation. As a one-mana play, sneaking this past Daze should be a breeze. From there, a simple three-mana activation enables you to put a Minotaur of any cost directly into play at instant speed, potentially ambushing opposing attackers in the process.
Your best Minotaur is definitely Boros Battleshaper because of its versatility. During your opponent’s turn, you can use its triggered ability to hold back a flier such as Insectile Aberration or force a small creature like Ocelot Pride to suicide attack into your squad. Meanwhile, on your turn, you can force that same flier to chump block Battleshaper or ensure your opponent’s big threat can’t block at all.
After Battleshaper, we have Sethron, Hurloon General which helps you generate a wide board of creatures. In conjunction with Moraug, Fury of Akoum and a Fetchland, you should have no problem attacking for lethal damage out of nowhere.
Funnily enough, you also get to make use of Akoum Warrior as another creature to cheat into play. It may not be super powerful, but the fact that it doubles as a land and a threat makes its inclusion well worth it.
Given how important it is to find Didgeridoo so you don’t get your hand clogged up with expensive Minotaurs, Urza’s Saga plays a super important role. It adds extra redundancy as a tutor for Didgeridoo, while also letting you grab potent one-ofs to bolster specific matchups. Your sources of mana acceleration help you take advantage of making Constructs to clog up the board, too.
Notably, while Didgeridoo does make it trivial to create an overwhelming board state, the process of putting in multiple beefy creatures will still take some time. As such, you need ways to slow the opponent down and keep pressure off of you. Luckily, this deck has some tricks up its sleeve.
Messing with the Opponent
As a Boros shell that lacks counter magic, your best avenue to victory against combo decks is to slam Sphere of Resistance on turn one off Ancient Tomb. Not only does this halt any opposing combo piece from Sneak Attack to Balustrade Spy, but it also taxes all cantrips and Rituals.
The downside, of course, is that Sphere has a symmetrical effect, but you can break the parity rather easily. Didgeridoo works around Sphere of Resistance since you don’t need to cast your creatures at all. The more copies of Sphere you play once Didgeridoo is on the battlefield, the better.
While Sphere is great against combo and control, Swords to Plowshares does a great job buying you time against the creature-heavy decks. Whether you need to take care of a small creature or a bomb as big as Marit Lage, Swords delivers at such a low cost.
When things are clicking, this deck is capable of some extremely scary draws that are hard to beat. The fact that most of your creatures outsize Fatal Push and Lightning Bolt is a huge luxury in the field. Unfortunately, though, Minotaur Typal has its limitations when it comes to resiliency.
Too Many Eggs in One Basket
As you might expect for a deck that relies so heavily on one artifact, things can go south quickly if you can’t find Didgeridoo or it gets blown up right away. Even though the presence of Urza’s Saga makes it more likely you’ll find your precious tool, that’s assuming Saga doesn’t get tagged by Wasteland. Plus, simple hate pieces like Collector Ouphe make closing games significantly harder.
This isn’t to say that hard casting your Minotaurs is impossible, especially if you can stick Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and start making Treasures. The problem is that this process is slow and weak to counterspells. In some games, just getting Didgeridoo tagged by Force of Will may set you too far behind while your hand gets clogged with copies of Battleshaper.
These issues, coupled with your reliance on Sphere to have a chance versus fast combo decks, make Minotaur Typal far from a tier one archetype. If you’re playing in a high-stakes tournament, this is not a deck we’d recommend to boost your win rate. That being said, it’s rare to see such an off-the-wall creature type make a splash in a high-powered format like this. If you’re looking to surprise your friends at your next FNM with an unexpected and fun deck that still has a chance to compete, consider giving Minotaur Typal a shot.
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