MTG Salvation

Hey gang, I'm off on another vorthos kick, looking to make a Sir Shandlar of Eberyn knights tribal deck. Green mainly for the added ramp/draw boost, and it nets me a few sweet knights. I'm trying to go for as old school possible, when possible. I envision most of this deck being old bordered, with themes of quests and damsels and chivalry, with a few new framed cards out of necessity, practicality, or awesomeness (Wilt-Leaf Liege, Knight Exemplar. It will probably have a minor enchantment theme, but I already have a full blown enchantress deck, and I want this deck to be distinctively OG M:tG flavor - Greensleeves, jousts, sorcery, etc.

Obviously this deck will sacrifice flavor for practicality. I want to find ways to manipulate flanking and banding, since this deck will be seeing a lot of it, as most of the "playable" old border knights utilize the former ability, and i'll splash in some soldiers to support the latter. Banding seems simple, but I know it'll be annoying to resolve things.

Any help coming up with some old border, storybook art that would support the deck would be much appreciated. Also ideas on best old framed lands to include, basics too.

In my old casual knight deck I had:
Order of Leitbur
Order of the White Shield
Longbow Archer
Northern Paladin together with Distorting Lens effects (which can also help the two above mentioned Orders).
Crusade
Glorious Anthem
Knighthood
Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Light and Shadow
(actually any knight-themed equipment will do )

Aysen Crusader, and make the bold claim that all knights in your deck are heroes.

Juniper Order Advocate, for amazing green-white synergy

order of the sacred torch, paladin en-vec, serra paladin, Sidar Jabari, northern/southern paladin, Steel Leaf Paladin (really wish it had flash though), Sworn Defender, warrior en-kor, Zhalfirin Commander are some good ones from way back..

do you only want knights and not some soldiers as backup? not even some Alaborn Musketeers?

Not an old school card but Pentarch Paladin is like Northern Paladin on crack. There are a lot of sick newer knights out there like
kinsbaile cavalier,
Hero of Bladehold , and
Knight of the Reliquary that could push this into actually being playable, throw in some green creature tutors and you can ensure you land your important pieces. If you want to keep up knight flavor, throw in
Quest for the holy Relic to look for
Worldslayer so you can smash the board and keep your knights through Knight Exemplar

Don't forget Kjeldoran Knight and my fav, Knights of Thorn

Quote from TheRisenDerp »

Not an old school card but Pentarch Paladin is like Northern Paladin on crack. There are a lot of sick newer knights out there like
kinsbaile cavalier,
Hero of Bladehold , and
Knight of the Reliquary that could push this into actually being playable, throw in some green creature tutors and you can ensure you land your important pieces. If you want to keep up knight flavor, throw in
Quest for the holy Relic to look for
Worldslayer so you can smash the board and keep your knights through Knight Exemplar

i think if you were to go this route, it'd just end up being your typical knights tribal. probably more powerful than the old-bordered version, but not sporting the same kinda pizzaz that old-borders have.

by the way, Jabari's Influence looks kinda knight-y, and Jihad might work for a more arabian knights theme (geddit? arabian nights/arabian knights?)

A guy in my playgroup has this deck in full old card frame black border. We all have a deck or two like this and it's hilarious good fun. I'll take a look through it as soon as I can to find stuff that isn't just a knight. Noble Steeds comes to mind. It takes a lot of going though cards online or digging through a big collection to build a deck like this but it's so much fun to play, especially against other decks of similar power level. Remember to shout out your mighty general's flavor text whenever the opportunity arises.

Quote from schweinefett »

Aysen Crusader, and make the bold claim that all knights in your deck are heroes.

Oracle text indicates that only Soldiers and Warriors can be heroes

The only thing that makes me sad about Sir Shandlar is that you can't play Haakon, Stromgald Scourge.

Knights get into fights/duels, right? so maybe a small fight theme would be good, even if it is new bordered. Ulvenvald tracker is just solid and while green white does have access to whites spot and mass removal, Knights are also about individual combat and the protection so many of them have would make them excellent duelists.

Quote from Hakim »

A guy in my playgroup has this deck in full old card frame black border. We all have a deck or two like this and it's hilarious good fun. I'll take a look through it as soon as I can to find stuff that isn't just a knight. Noble Steeds comes to mind. It takes a lot of going though cards online or digging through a big collection to build a deck like this but it's so much fun to play, especially against other decks of similar power level. Remember to shout out your mighty general's flavor text whenever the opportunity arises.

Thanks, you seem to really get what i'm going for - Noble Steeds is a great find, very on flavor.

Quote from Sinis »

The only thing that makes me sad about Sir Shandlar is that you can't play Haakon, Stromgald Scourge.

Totally off flavor and not old border. I'm looking for chivalrous questing knights and maybe some cooky old wizards for them to run into and maidens who are (totally not) in need of rescuing.

Quote from weltkrieg »

Knights get into fights/duels, right? so maybe a small fight theme would be good, even if it is new bordered. Ulvenvald tracker is just solid and while green white does have access to whites spot and mass removal, Knights are also about individual combat and the protection so many of them have would make them excellent duelists.

I like the fighting idea, but this is a case where'd I'd cut the tracker for flavor. He's totally out of the time period, and doesn't really fit the vibe I'm going for.

Thanks everyone who's given suggestions. I already have most of the knights chosen (they're mostly the ones that have been mentioned), and now I'm looking for ways to fill out the rest of the deck. If anyone has any ideas for old border lands to use in this deck, that'd be great too. I've always liked the foot path through the woods in the alpha forest art, but I realize I'll mostly be needing plains.

Seems appropriate to have every Elspeth in here as she is the Knight planeswalker. Ajani and Gideon are possibilities too. There is also the Knight that is on the conspiracy art that I hope is legendary. You should post back the final deck list for us when you finish. Sounds great!

I guess Coat of Arms goes without saying...

For Sir Shandlar specifically, maybe Ardent Militia?

Some less obvious equipment:
Horned Helm
Kite Shield
Greatsword

...or, if you're trying to eschew actual equipment, there's Runesword and Zelyon Sword.

Empyrial armor, perhaps? It was always pretty solid in ww builds, and white/green can keep hands full with cards like land tax. I mean, what knight doesn't need to tax to pay for his honor and support his liege lord?