SMaSH Series challenge

Howdy all, I am a beginning brewer with about 10 brews including 4 BIAB all grain ones under my belt. I'm intrigued by the SMaSH idea, especially when it comes to learning my malts and hops. So, the general idea is to make a series of different types of beer using only the same malt and hops. I've decided to use Maris Otter for my base malt, and am thinking Amarillo for my hops. What do y'all think? Also, for the styles, I'm thinking pale ale, IPA (maybe IIPA?) saison, strong ale, maybe even a california common.

Overall, the goal is to improve my technique, learn about different styles, and make some good, KISS beers.

Maris otter is my favorite. I have made a SMaSH with MO and Amarillo and i enjoyed the combo. You cant really go wrong, my only advice is if you want to really grasp just the malt and hop flavors find a nuetral yeast like S-04.

The idea of doing SMaSH is to really learn base malts and hops not beer styles.
I have used MO several times and love it.
my suggestion is to use the MO and pick several hop varieties that you think you may like or might use the most of, and pick a hop schedule and make a one beer using one hop until you have tried all the hops.

I've brewed several SMaSH beers so far, with great success; if repeated requests for more is an indication.
I like to base the recipe on an English Pale type beer, for OG and IBU bitterness; I feel this gives a nice basis for the malt and hop character to shine through.
I've done several MO as the base, with Sorachi Ace and Centennial hops and a Munich with Chinook, all turned out great! In fact, my brother has requested the MO and Sorachi Ace again for the holidays - a great drinker that can take the edge off during the hassles of the holidays!
For all-round drinkers, you can't beat a smash for simplicity and drink-ability!

That's my .02 anyway.