Flavor of the Month: Kenrith and the Holy Grail
'Tis a Silly Place
Welcome to Flavor of the Month, where we use cards' flavor as a guide to building decks!
Last time around, we built a deck around Shakespeare flavor text that cast Magic characters as roles in one of his plays. This time around, we're going from the highest literature given to us by the English to something... well, something completely different. We're going to build a deck based on the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail!
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is one of the funniest movies ever made. If you think that's hyperbole, allow me to clarify: from where I'm sitting, it is the funniest movie ever made. From the first joke of the horse hooves that you hear over the hills actually being a guy banging a pair of coconuts together to the... well, let's say, abrupt ending, it's the silliest and most sublime ninety minutes there is. Actually, strike that, there are jokes before that "first joke," in the opening credits. A bunch of them, in fact. It's one of those movies that has an incredible amount of jokes packed into every minute, with many small details that reward the close watcher.
If you haven't seen the movie, this article isn't gonna do much for you (and whatever, we got your click already, sucker! [Editor's note: It is Commander's Herald's official position that our readers are not, in fact, suckers]). But do yourself a favor and go watch it, then come back and read this. Seriously, it's on Netflix right now; I promise it's worth it (well, the movie for sure, but hopefully this article, too).
Back? Good. I know, right? Anyway, now that we've all watched it--or rewatched it for the seventh time--let's get to building a deck, eh?
In this series, we build decks flavor-forward, meaning we follow the flavor of the cards--flavor text, lore, art, whatever--and let that inform the way the deck wants to be built. So let's get on with it, and what better way to get on with it than finding our leading man?
Ingredients
Yes, I griped exactly one article ago about Kenrith, the Returned King being a boring, generic commander... but that's only if you're using him as a generic, five-color goodstuff commander! In this case, he makes perfect sense. Kenrith is loosely based on King Arthur, as the original trip to Eldraine had a major focus on Arthurian legends and tropes, so much so that a number of our cards will come from Throne of Eldraine. Plus, the original Kenrith art by Kieran Yanner is pretty much a dead ringer for Graham Chapman's King Arthur in the film.
Five colors will allow us to not have to make any concessions on our cards; if they fit the theme or a joke, they can go in! Now let's assemble the Round Table.
Here we see Aryel, Knight of Windgrace as Sir Lancelot the Brave, boldly charging in and making aggressive moves; Danitha Capashen, Paragon as Sir Galahad the Pure, providing aid and life to others; and Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage as Sir Bedevere the Wise, less a Knight than a Wizard, so wise in the ways of science that he figured out how to cast a bunch of your sorcery-speed stuff as if it had flash. Of course, we still have to find a Sir Robin, and is there a better coward in all of Magic than Norin the Wary?
There are no real synergies with Norin going in and out to be found in this deck; it's just too perfect a fit to pass up. Try singing a few bars of the Brave Sir Robin song every time he runs away. Hasn't gotten old for me yet. And of course, we have The Circle of Loyalty, representing the Round Table and its knights. History of Benalia's art reminds me of the storybook-esque interstitials that play between "chapters" of the movie, and with those last two cards, we see a thematic and mechanically synergistic strategy for this deck: Knights, particularly of the token variety! Arthur/Kenrith can sink mana to buff them up and lead them on their quest.
Far as I'm concerned, this deck is base-level functional enough that we can dispense with the niceties and get to the reason we're here: to see what cards we can stuff in that obliquely or directly reference moments in Monty Python and the Holy Grail!
Preparation
Turns out, there are a lot of cards that fit perfectly a particular moment or character. I'm not going to go over each one here, but check out the decklist below and see what other references I've snuck into the deck. Suffice it to say, there are a lot, so let's go over some of the more fun or interesting ones.
Everyone's favorite rabbit with a vicious streak a mile wide is our recently printed Regal Bunnicorn; cute at a glance, but actual dynamite when it gets down to it. Fortunately, Brother Maynard (Tribute Mage) is around to fetch the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch--a Ratchet Bomb--with which to snuff it.
Of course, if you venture farther in the rabbit's cave, you'll find the Black Beast of Aaaaaargghh: Yargle, Glutton of Urborg.
The scene at Swamp Castle is perfectly captured by the Charming Prince, who is Trapped in the Tower at the castle: Castle Locthwain in our deck. He's kept in there by some highly ineffective guards: -our Clone, I mean just look at 'em... until Sir Lancelot comes in and turns the wedding upside down with a little Destructive Revelry.
Sir Arthur and his knights are on a quest, after all, so we shouldn't forget to include that with Quest for the Holy Relic. In a little bit of serendipity, once you've assembled all five members of the Round Table (or other creatures, I guess), you can complete your quest and claim the Holy Grail: our Chalice of Life. With Kenrith's lifegain ability, it shouldn't be hard to flip the chalice and start draining our opponents.
Arthur and his knights were viciously taunted by the French in one of the movie's most iconic scenes, and the art and mechanical function of Goblin Diplomats is just perfect for them; they're even up on the ramparts, and you can practically hear the one on the left deliver the eternal line "I fart in your general direction!"
I actually made the executive decision to include a few Un-cards that aren't technically Commander-legal, but they fit so well into the deck and aren't doing anything too wild. Check with your playgroup ahead of time, but I bet most won't worry about these specific ones. One of my favorite running jokes in the film is Arthur being unable to properly count ("One, two, five!") , so Baron Von Count is a fun way to represent that. The Three-Headed Goblin is, obviously, the self-bickering Three-Headed Giant that Robin runs into (and then away from). And Spirit of the Season is that fun little interstitial scene of the seasons changing and then going out of order.
There is one more silver-bordered card, and it's Castle Anthrax... I mean, City of Ass. The temptation of Sir Galahad took place here, with Containment Priest and Linden, the Steadfast Queen in the deck to represent Zoot and Dingo (though to stick with the bit I think you refer to them as a different one of those characters every time they come up). Yes, it's a crude joke, but both the card in Unhinged and the scene in the movie are crude as well, so it seems right to me.
Here's one of the silliest scenes in all of cinema history: the Knights Who Say "Ni"! Master of the Wild Hunt's imposing stature and horns look just like the namesake knights. There are no herrings in Magic outside of a playtest one, and although we are using a couple of silver-bordered cards, I don't think we dip into that particular well, so Mystic Remora will do. And of course, all the Knights truly want is to Cultivate some shrubberies, so they send our heroes on an Expedition.
There are some who call him...Tim.
Finally, Oathsworn Knight might be the coolest Holy Grail piece we got, even if only because it is, I believe, the only card intentionally referencing the movie. The knight comes in with four counters (limbs) and every hit he takes lops one off. He also is relentless in his attacking, never knowing when to give up. It's perfect.
Yield
That's quite a few of our little in-jokes and references, now let's see the whole deck!
Tell me in the comments below or on social media what you think about this build, and any other little jokes you're able to spot in the decklist! That's it for today; until next time, be well!
