MTG Salvation

Hi all,

My 14 year old niece is obsessed with Legend of Zelda. I've talked with her about Magic before and she seemed a little interested. I'm not sure if she would like Magic or not, but I am visiting her this Christmas and I thought it would be fun to give her a deck and play together while I'm in town. I've looked at other threads, but I can mostly only find EDH decks that are Zelda themed. I don't want to spend a ton of money because I don't even know if she'll like it, but I want to build her a decent enough casual deck that she won't lose every game against me. Also, a deck that's interesting so she'll enjoy learning, but not one that's so complicated that she'll quit on the spot. I know that Magic seems to have a bit of a learning curve. The cards that I have found seem cool, but I need some good creatures and need to tie everything together.

Any ideas?

Here are some cards that I've found so far:

Hankyu

Lightning Greaves

Mask of Memory

Grappling Hook

Sunblade Elf reminds me of Link and a cheap card like Sword of Vengeance can represent the Master Sword.

Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely grab Sword of Vengeance!

Quote from BibboTheFirst »

Sunblade Elf reminds me of Link and a cheap card like Sword of Vengeance can represent the Master Sword.

Another option would be a using merfolk to represent Zoras.

Kind of fits the Zelda armor and weapons.

viridian longbow links crossbow
golem-skin gauntlets silver/gold gauntlets
unerring sling slingshot
kitesail sailcloth
king macar, the gold-cursed gannondorf

Link

Thanks for the suggestions everybody. I did a bunch of looking around today and here's what I've come up with.

Not sure where I'm going with this, but I love all of the equipment. I think she'll love the Zelda vibe from those. Also, I think my creatures have a Zelda feel to them as well. What do you all think? What can I add to this or what can I do to make this a playable deck? I like where I'm headed right now. Thanks again!

EDIT: I think I like the idea of having a bunch of Legendary Creatures that she can play with. That with Heroes' Podium might be a fun idea?

Any thoughts?

tolsimir wolfblood maybe shouldn't be the full 4 copies.

Maybe 1-2 enlightened tutor would be useful?

I would add some more creatures to the deck.
watchwolf fits almost perfectly (twilight princess).

Alright, here's what I came up with. How'd I do? Sufficient for a 14 year old Zelda-obsessed Magic Beginner?

Can't say much about the Zelda equivalents, but there is something really important about your mana, that I want to adress.

Blue is mostly a splash color, since it is only required for 8 cards. The issue with a splash color is, that double colored costs are much harder to pay, especially with only 8 sources for that color of mana. So I think, that a different bounce spell would make for far easier use than Boomerang. You want your niece to be able to cast her spells when she draws them. Echoing Truth or one of the many other 2- or 3-mana variants of bounce spells which require only one blue mana will serve better. And how important is it for you that she can bounce lands? Because that's really the only true advantage Boomerag has over most other similar spells. If it's primarily to bounce creatures anyway, you get even more options, at three mana you can get a cantrip (Repulse) or some other additional effect.

Though honestly, I would cut the bouncing completely and instead go for some white all purpose answers like Oblivion Ring, Banishing Light, Angelic Purge or Faith's Fetters. There should be something that fits the Zelda-verse. And having at least some answers to permanently deal with a threat is essential.

The Alara triland Seaside Citadel would make for an overall better multiland for this deck. If this is already too expensive for your introductory deck, Evolving Wilds, Terramorphic Expanse, Unknown Shores, Bant Panorama, etc. are much more effective color fixing, since they all give the deck access to all its three colors. Of course, you have to add a basic Island to fetch for many of those. Even the 8 dual lands you have in the deck have better equivalents in Sejiri Refuge/Tranquil Cove and Thornwood Falls. And of course, white/green versions exist, too (Blossoming Sands and Graypelt Refuge).

Thank you Rezzahan for the reply. To be honest, the mana was the one thing that I was worried about the most. If you were creating this deck, what sort of mana ratio would you follow? How many forest/plains/islands vs. those dual and non basic lands? Thanks again!

Quote from Rezzahan »

Can't say much about the Zelda equivalents, but there is something really important about your mana, that I want to adress.

Blue is mostly a splash color, since it is only required for 8 cards. The issue with a splash color is, that double colored costs are much harder to pay, especially with only 8 sources for that color of mana. So I think, that a different bounce spell would make for far easier use than Boomerang. You want your niece to be able to cast her spells when she draws them. Echoing Truth or one of the many other 2- or 3-mana variants of bounce spells which require only one blue mana will serve better. And how important is it for you that she can bounce lands? Because that's really the only true advantage Boomerag has over most other similar spells. If it's primarily to bounce creatures anyway, you get even more options, at three mana you can get a cantrip (Repulse) or some other additional effect.

Though honestly, I would cut the bouncing completely and instead go for some white all purpose answers like Oblivion Ring, Banishing Light, Angelic Purge or Faith's Fetters. There should be something that fits the Zelda-verse. And having at least some answers to permanently deal with a threat is essential.

The Alara triland Seaside Citadel would make for an overall better multiland for this deck. If this is already too expensive for your introductory deck, Evolving Wilds, Terramorphic Expanse, Unknown Shores, Bant Panorama, etc. are much more effective color fixing, since they all give the deck access to all its three colors. Of course, you have to add a basic Island to fetch for many of those. Even the 8 dual lands you have in the deck have better equivalents in Sejiri Refuge/Tranquil Cove and Thornwood Falls. And of course, white/green versions exist, too (Blossoming Sands and Graypelt Refuge).

I'd run maybe 6-8 of those lands, no more because that will really slow down the deck due to the enters-tapped clause. Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse fall into that category as well, since their fetched land enters tapped and they cannot tap for mana themselves. Those 8 blue producing lands seem fine to me, for a splash, my worries for that color were mostly about the double costed Boomerang. The other cards only need one blue mana and even if that is not available in the early game, the cards are not essential in that stage of the game. Overall, the even distribution of the other two colors among your lands is good choice. It probably could be tweaked towards one color or the other a bit by one land, but those colors are pretty close.

I'd try some Bant Panoramas, for their ability to tap for mana themselves, so if that is the 5th or 6th land needed for the costlier cards, those can be played right away. Of course, with a fetchland that can only fetch basics, that single basic Island is important.

Something like this perhaps

It definitely needs to be tweaked further, though. You want as much color fixing for all three colors as you can get away with without hindering the deck too much. But of course, the good multilands are way out of the price range for this introductory deck.

There are also a lot of green land fetch options ala Rampant Growth to fix the mana issues, in which case green becomes more important and the land base would have to be tilted towards green more. Or some mana fixing artifacts like Prismatic Lens or Manalith, of which there are also numerous options. Both of these approaches would also accelerate the mana development and allow for earlier play of the more expensive cards like Tolsimir. The downside being, that they do little else, so they become quite useless in the later game.

Since mana's not settled yet, may I suggest Expedition Map? Zelda has a bunch of map work. The map will let you tutor for the fixing you can afford and is dirt cheap itself.

I tried to get some themeing on the lands too. Here's some ideas, mostly based on ocarina of time:

Guredo desert - Ancient Ziggurat, Archaeological Dig, Painted Bluffs, Survivors' Encampment
Hyrule Castle Town - Azorius Guildgate
Deku Tree - Boseiju, Who Shelters All (unfortunately not great here and a bit expensive)
Kakariko Village - Gavony Township, Vec Townships
Zora's Domain - Glacial Fortress
Lost Woods - Dowsing Dagger Lost Vale
Anying wind waker - Remote Isle
Fairy Fountain - Safe Haven Selesnya Sanctuary

Awesome, Thanks! Do you have any idea how I should split up the mana for this deck? I'm taking out the Boomerang by the way. I'll add two of something else, but I'm not sure yet. I want to get this mana right though. Obviously, I don't want too many of the lands that come into play tapped, but I'm not sure how many of those plus plains, islands, forests, etc...

Quote from Kumlekar »

I tried to get some themeing on the lands too. Here's some ideas, mostly based on ocarina of time:

Guredo desert - Ancient Ziggurat, Archaeological Dig, Painted Bluffs, Survivors' Encampment
Hyrule Castle Town - Azorius Guildgate
Deku Tree - Boseiju, Who Shelters All (unfortunately not great here and a bit expensive)
Kakariko Village - Gavony Township, Vec Townships
Zora's Domain - Glacial Fortress
Lost Woods - Dowsing Dagger Lost Vale
Anying wind waker - Remote Isle
Fairy Fountain - Safe Haven Selesnya Sanctuary

If you're running 24 land you can probably get away with 6-8 tap lands and still be fine. I'd run a Drowsing Dagger in the main deck. Its pretty good fixing. The lands themselves could look like this.

Thanks again! How does this look?

Quote from Kumlekar »

If you're running 24 land you can probably get away with 6-8 tap lands and still be fine. I'd run a Drowsing Dagger in the main deck. Its pretty good fixing. The lands themselves could look like this.

endofnight's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
1x Azorius Guildgate 1x Vec Townships 4x Glacial Fortress 1x Remote Isle 4x Selesnya Sanctuary 1x Survivor's Encampment 4x Island 4x Plains 4x Forest

Well, I had to bite the bullet and order tonight if I want the cards to reach my niece around Christmas. $68! a little pricey for someone who might not even be interested in Magic, but hey it's family

Thank you all for the help!

We forgot the map.
expedition map or renegade map.

pestermite is almost perfect for Navi.

druidic satchel also feels a bit like link.

Update: She loved the Zelda themed deck, learned super quick, and now is into Magic! Thanks for all the help. Much appreciated!