Kona, Rescue Beastie Commander Deck Tech
Kona, Rescue Beastie | art by Brian Valeza
How to Train your Monsters, Inc.
One of the coolest aspects of the three-block set structure used to be how the Block Constructed format would show the synergistic development of mechanics in a set. I'm reminded of a Rogue brew that used River Kelpie from Shadowmoor alongside Reveillark from Morningtide and the retrace mechanic from Eventide. How does an old Esper Block Constructed graveyard deck relate to a mono-green Commander deck from earlier this year? Just like River Kelpie, Kona, Rescue Beastie benefited substantially from the sets that immediately succeeded its muted debut in Duskmourn: House of Horror. First, Aetherdrift brought back Vehicles, and now Tarkir: Dragonstorm has added harmonize cards, which made me wonder if there was now a critical mass of support, and the answer may surprise you!
Cheating
Kona, Rescue Beastie cheats large permanents into play for a reduced cost, in this case it has to tap and not die, similarly to Inspired from Theros block. We won't always have our commander out, however, so we need other ways to get those permanents into play, besides waiting and playing lands, of course.
Primal Surge is the secret sauce that puts the deck over the top. While harmonize cards, like Nature's Rhythm, inspired the deck, I quickly realized that the cheating effects, tapping effects, threats, and card velocity permanents could all be accomplished with permanents, while cutting Nature's Rhythm cost the deck very little in exchange for enabling a massive game-winning spell.
Tapping
One way to get our commander tapped is to pay for a crew or saddle cost. Veloheart Bike provides a way to ramp into our big spells, while District Mascot is a sneaky removal piece.
Another way to tap our commander is to use it for mana. Loam Dryad is part of a series of functional reprints where a cheap creature and a friend taps to combine to make a mana. Kona is a Beastie that makes a good bestie for those types of effects, and can even do it itself with Enduring Vitality or Cryptolith Rite out.
Green has a wealth of Vehicles in its garage just begging to be taken out to play. Smuggler's Copter is perhaps the most entertaining to take for a spin as it combines a means of tapping Kona, an evasive early beater, and card filtering that green desperately needs.
There are even some threats among the jalopies! Reaver Titan is a massive beater, and we can even crew Vehicles with other already-crewed Vehicles (still not sure how that works visually) to meet high crew requirements.
Threats
If there's one thing green does better than any other color, it's everything. That's how the meme goes, but, in reality, green is head and shoulders above the other colors when it comes to big, beefy threats. Terastodon is a classic, combining removal with huge power and toughness as well as politics.
Titan of Industry is one of the few Green Titans that isn't banned. It is, however, a giant creature that makes a big impact. Impervious Greatwurm is another huge creature, and it happens to have convoke, providing another way to tap Kona.
Woodfall Primus is another removal spell disguised as a massive beater, giving us a powerful permanent to cheat in and a way to protect ourselves while we work towards winning.
Speaking of winning, Primal Surge is a huge rush, but also a huge risk. Craterhoof Behemoth and Akroma's Memorial provide hasty damage, while Titania's Song animates our Vehicles and enables large alpha strikes.
Draw
Cream of the Crop is a strong way to set up the top of the library for Lurking Predators: each feeds the other, as Predators puts large creatures out, then Cream sets up the top to put another large creature on top to put out with the next Predator trigger.
Greater Good is another card that digs equal to power. It provides raw card advantage as well as giving us a way to use our Vehicles to dig for more permanent sources of power and damage.
The general plan is to get Kona tapped to trigger Survival and cheat in large permanents. The deck can be grindy, but it can also make some gaudy board states and has exciting play patterns.
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