Today I bring you a bit of a challenge. I'm a big fan of theme decks - I think it makes the game a lot more fun and flavorful when every card feels like it belongs in the deck. The other day, I stumbled across Dark Depths for the umpteenth time, and had a thought. The card itself is very flavorful and interesting - the moment it hits the field, there's this sense of impending doom as the counters tick down, waiting for your 20/20 nightmare machine to hit the battlefield and end the game. Now, being a big H.P. Lovecraft fan, I immediately thought of a deck with a cult theme, with lots of weenies and subterfuge and Dark Rituals as your cult bides time until they can finish the ritual to release your eldritch horror. Unfortunately, the cards that would be good or necessary in a deck like this aren't necessarily the most flavorful.
So here's my thought. I'm going to gather all the cards I need to make a good, fun Dark Depths deck, and then alter all of the card art and possibly the flavor-text to make them fit within the theme of the Silver Twilight Lodge, an H.P. Lovecraft cult. For example, Dark Depths could be altered to be 'Silver Twilight Ritual', an art piece such as this edited to size and printed on high-quality paper, and the card text altered to read "Rite" counters instead of "Ice" counters. The idea is to, after a lot of hard work and time, have a deck that still follows all the rules of MTG, but has a very strong, fun, Lovecraftian theme.
Since I'm altering the card art and 'theme', anything that would work within the deck, goes. Distress could be "Coerce", relating to the cult using intimidation tactics. Clockspinning could be "Fevered Incantations" or "The Dark Speech", relating to something that would speed up the ritual. I'm just spitballing here, but you get the idea. The only "Rules" for this project is that it has to be playable within a casual group, and not use any of the 'cheats' to get Marit Lage out on the field. So no Vampire Hexmage or Thespian's Stage business. I would like the deck to be focused mainly on cultist characters, things that would be considered 'subterfuge', perhaps another land that could be used as the "Silver Twilight Lodge". As well as a few bigguns before Marit Lage that could be altered to be Star Spawn and other Eldritch Horrors brought out from other dimensions. Remember, this is supposed to be fun and casual above all else. It's for my casual circle as well as being a fun project, rather than some tournament killer.
Some cards I have considered are: Dark Ritual - This card is practically made for this deck, turns one mana into a counter gone from Dark Depths as well as requiring little/no alteration. Clockspinning - another 'one mana=one counter' card. Expedition Map - To find Dark Depths. Could be altered to be "Begin the Rites", "Ritual Preparation" or something similar. Maze of Ith - Stall all day erryday. "Whispers From Beyond" or "Paranoia", to the effect that driving someone crazy would keep them from attacking.
Additionally, a planeswalker could be altered to be Carl Sanford, the cult's leader in the fluff. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver would probably be quite thematic.
Let me know your thoughts! I know that I might get some flak for trying to do Dark Depths sans the 'cheat' cards, but keep in mind that this is for fun and is not meant to be highly competitive. I'd also like to add that this will involve card alteration and not proxies/fake cards. I know I mentioned that before, I just don't want to step on anyone's toes if that's against forum rules. Cheers!
Today I bring you a bit of a challenge. I'm a big fan of theme decks - I think it makes the game a lot more fun and flavorful when every card feels like it belongs in the deck. The other day, I stumbled across Dark Depths for the umpteenth time, and had a thought. The card itself is very flavorful and interesting - the moment it hits the field, there's this sense of impending doom as the counters tick down, waiting for your 20/20 nightmare machine to hit the battlefield and end the game. Now, being a big H.P. Lovecraft fan, I immediately thought of a deck with a cult theme, with lots of weenies and subterfuge and Dark Rituals as your cult bides time until they can finish the ritual to release your eldritch horror. Unfortunately, the cards that would be good or necessary in a deck like this aren't necessarily the most flavorful.
So here's my thought. I'm going to gather all the cards I need to make a good, fun Dark Depths deck, and then alter all of the card art and possibly the flavor-text to make them fit within the theme of the Silver Twilight Lodge, an H.P. Lovecraft cult. For example, Dark Depths could be altered to be 'Silver Twilight Ritual', an art piece such as this edited to size and printed on high-quality paper, and the card text altered to read "Rite" counters instead of "Ice" counters. The idea is to, after a lot of hard work and time, have a deck that still follows all the rules of MTG, but has a very strong, fun, Lovecraftian theme.
Since I'm altering the card art and 'theme', anything that would work within the deck, goes. Distress could be "Coerce", relating to the cult using intimidation tactics. Clockspinning could be "Fevered Incantations" or "The Dark Speech", relating to something that would speed up the ritual. I'm just spitballing here, but you get the idea. The only "Rules" for this project is that it has to be playable within a casual group, and not use any of the 'cheats' to get Marit Lage out on the field. So no Vampire Hexmage or Thespian's Stage business. I would like the deck to be focused mainly on cultist characters, things that would be considered 'subterfuge', perhaps another land that could be used as the "Silver Twilight Lodge". As well as a few bigguns before Marit Lage that could be altered to be Star Spawn and other Eldritch Horrors brought out from other dimensions. Remember, this is supposed to be fun and casual above all else. It's for my casual circle as well as being a fun project, rather than some tournament killer.
Some cards I have considered are:
Dark Ritual - This card is practically made for this deck, turns one mana into a counter gone from Dark Depths as well as requiring little/no alteration.
Clockspinning - another 'one mana=one counter' card.
Expedition Map - To find Dark Depths. Could be altered to be "Begin the Rites", "Ritual Preparation" or something similar.
Maze of Ith - Stall all day erryday. "Whispers From Beyond" or "Paranoia", to the effect that driving someone crazy would keep them from attacking.
Additionally, a planeswalker could be altered to be Carl Sanford, the cult's leader in the fluff. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver would probably be quite thematic.
Let me know your thoughts! I know that I might get some flak for trying to do Dark Depths sans the 'cheat' cards, but keep in mind that this is for fun and is not meant to be highly competitive. I'd also like to add that this will involve card alteration and not proxies/fake cards. I know I mentioned that before, I just don't want to step on anyone's toes if that's against forum rules. Cheers!