Typal decks are one of the most popular types of MTG Commander deck. Focusing a deck around a creature type can create some unique, and explosive synergies. Sometimes, the decks can be rather easy to build, as well, as the payoffs for the deck are incredibly clear. For all the MTG typal fans out there, a new universal payoff is coming in MTG Foundations.
Kinship Banner is an easy inclusion in any typal Commander deck that wants to go wide. As long as you have a ton of creatures in play when you resolve the banner, even if you get board-wiped, all of your subsequent creatures are going to be gigantic.
Banner of Kinship
Banner of Kinship is a five mana artifact that permanently buffs your creatures of a chosen type. The scale of this buff depends on how many of those creatures are in play as Banner of Kinship enters. Typal decks that can generate lots of tokens may benefit the most from this card the most.
Imagine generating an unreasonable amount of tokens on the board and slamming this bad boy down. This could be particularly fun with the Commander Cadira, Caller of the Small. Create a ton of Rabbit Tokens, then name Rabbits with Banner of Kinship. Even giving all Rabbits +10+10 is game-warping, and getting to that number with Kadira is a reasonable affair. Considering all of the recent Rabbit support from Bloomburrow, Banner of Kinship could become an M.V.P in those decks.
While having a ton of creature tokens of the same type is the easiest way to use Banner of Kinship, it’s not the only way. Proliferate strategies can increase the number of fellowship counters on the artifact, which will scale the buff to your type of choice. This could allow Banner of Kinship to see play in typal strategies that may not necessarily go as wide as possible.
Will This See Play Outside of Commander?
We doubt it, but Banner of Kinship will be Standard legal for a really long time. The problem with a card like the Banner is, for two-player formats, it is very much a ‘win more’ card that cannot provide value on its own. You need a board of creatures to allow this five-mana artifact to do anything. That’s a lot of mana to waste on a card when you need other things in play for it to provide value.
Of course, with the right board state, Banner of Kinship provides far more value than the average MTG five-drop. That said, the extra hoops to jump through are not ideal in Standard play. As a result, we doubt that Banner of Kinship will ever see Standard play outside of extreme circumstances.
Even if it’s not a Standard staple, the card is likely to make an impact in Commander. Lots of go-wide typal strategies will add this to their repertoire and, even if players somehow survive the initial board and you get reset, Banner of Kinship will make every subsequent creature you play a gigantic threat.