Chains of Mephistopheles. Haha, im sorry. If you have a chains then more power to you but eh.. Its banned in my meta for a reason. The second it touches any board here, it literally will get that player killed in about 3 turns, even after its been removed.
Hey, anyone who has a good grasp of photoshop, I ask you to please help me. I'd like a signature image to reflect my deep fondness and dedication to that which is known but unknown. The Dimir is the deck I have always seemed to have throughout many edh decks or standard play so I would like an image to reflect it please.
I'm more curious about whether any of the Gods at least deserve a look here, especially Heliod. Heliod gives your creatures Vigilance (meh), has a decent body with devotion (also sorta meh), and gives you something to do post-Epic. That "Something", in this case, poops out 2/1 creature tokens. Enchantment creature tokens! That means more Sphere of Safety, more Serra's Sanctum. It seems like it's at least a strong alternative strategy if not directly better than anything in the deck now.
This. Also, when I actually used the 60-card version of Enduring Ideal, I combined Form of the Dragon and Zur's Weirding. Auto making your life total 5 and then locking down anyone from ever drawing a card again seems pretty good.
Hey thanks, I love playing this deck. It's always a good feeling using a deck you are proud of.
As for Greed, I COMPLETELY agree with you. It was originally in the deck but in play test, it felt lackluster. I ended up removing it to get Underworld Connections. That card feels better and it also has the theme. Superstitious pirates and the like.
With the explosion of people who seem to be engaging in EDH/Commander nowadays, have we all kind of lost the reasons that the creators had for this format? There exists a multitude of ways to build a deck and I always enjoy finding new ones. Sure, there are certain forms of decks that others might begin to wish weren't around as often as it is, I'm looking at you Wort, the Raidmother and Numot, the Devastator LD decks. You know who you are, and shame upon thee. But for those of us who don't want to play those infinite winning combos or those decks that say, "No, You get a turn when I have thoroughly trounced the living snot out of that pile of cards you cared so much about," I have only one thing I want to say: You are not alone!
I think we all know that kind of person. Typically, one might want to avoid those kinds of people if you don't have a similar combo deck. Then it turns into a game of a group of people all focusing so hard on getting their instant win combos that no one is allowed to have any fun anymore. Games like this tend to make players like me sigh in a dissatisfied fashion. But, if you have a playgroup like I found who can allow you and everyone else to play a game then pat yourself on the back! You have found a group of people you should try your best to play with when you can. There's nothing better in my opinion then enjoying a great night of being a lame-o with my friends as we pit our decks against one another's in a much less bloody version of Mortal Kombat. I hope you reading this will come to enjoy the idea of effective, flavorful decks that you can enjoy playing as much as you enjoy winning with it.
Now, lets get down to business! To Defeat.. Your Friends! Erm, sorry. My Disney acts up every now and then. With the introduction of the God cards, I just rolled my eyes and thought how bad these things were going to ruin my local playgroup. But, after investigating further, I saw that these gods could offer a lot to the flavor of the decks I build. The first three things that went through my mind when I first saw Thassa, God of the Sea was this: 1 - "Oh wow, they printed Nami from League of Legends onto a card. Awesome." 2 - "Why did she only get a bident? If WotC gave her a trident, would Neptune sue?" And 3 - "God of the Sea.. God of the Sea.. Oh my god! I need to make a PIRATE DECK!"
Now that I suddenly had my epiphany, as I usually do with my decks, all I had to do was decide exactly what I wanted to do with the deck and who needs to lead the charge. When the idea of pirates come to my mind, it screams Aikido to me. Aikido decks, or "I like your shoes", or steal everything I could possibly grab. There were plenty of good legendary creatures that I could have chosen for this kind of deck to act as my Commander.. or Captain, as you will. MANY good Captains actually. I could have gone Grixis with the deck and chosen to make Gwendlyn Di Corci or the super powered Lord of Tresserhorn and gone with a fun Zombie Pirate sub-theme. Deciding against this however, I wanted to limit my colors. Thinking again this time, I came up with a few other options like Sun Ce, Young Conquerer as a young captain with something to prove or even gone with the new Thassa, God of the Sea and done a pirate/leviathan theme. I decided against these as well, thinking that I'd like to include a bit more flavor then just a horseman or a God. This left a few options and it came down to two obvious choices: Skeleton Ship and Ramirez DiPietro. Comparing the two on paper, I felt like it would be better to go with the card that actually had a Captain. Don't misunderstand, I love the Skeleton Ship. It even has a flying turtle with a skeleton pirate riding it if you look closely enough! Who doesn't want that?! Well, this deck doesn't sadly. I don't have any real ways of abusing its activated ability, so Ramirez is the Captain for me. Yar'Har Fiddle-Lee-Dee. Being a Pirate is all right with me. Now that we have a Captain to our happy band of misfits, all we need is to go and get some crew members. After visiting the local ports, isles, and markets, Ramirez gained a little bit of a following.
Many lifetimes ago, along the shores of Dominaria, a man wandered along the shore. He knew his destiny was to be a man of great value. One that would get everything he wanted and more. Luckily for him, he noticed the small glimmer of light that shined in the setting sun. He ran to it, feeling it pull to him or rather it pulled him to it.
He picked up a small bottle with a frown. He sighed in disappointment and dropped it back into the sand, not believing his luck, but stopped short upon hearing the sound of something clanking around inside the discarded jug. He picked it back up and poured the contents into his hand. Damp sand slowly covered his hand in muck, but there, laying inside the palm of his hand was a treasure he didn't at that time fathom the importance it would have in his life: a Ring of Three Wishes.
A wide smile crossed his face and he pocketed the trinket, knowing he could get a good price for it at the Trading Post the next day. Later that night however, in the candle light of his shanty, he examined the item in his fingers. With a quick inspection, three small gems glowed much more brightly then they should. He grew a bit timid, slowly putting the ring onto his hand. He stopped just before putting it on his finger, worried for a moment, but in a quick rush of courage, he slid the ring on his finger. He stayed there for a few moments, as if waiting for something to happen. When nothing did he let out a happy sigh and watched the ring on his finger, laying on his straw filled mattress.
Sudden explosions blasted through the night air. He jumped off his bed and laid low, slowly inching towards the door. He looked out at the night sky that was slowly filling with smoke. A pirate raid was befalling the local town again. The High Market would surely be plundered and many of the locals might meet a Sudden Death. He bit his lip and went to his candle, blowing it out and going back to his bed. If he made himself as unseen as possible, maybe they'd leave him be. He held his only two possessions that held any value to him in his hands. One held the ring he had just found while the other held a Mystic Compass that never pointed north, an heirloom of his father that was his only trinket to remember him by. In the darkness, with the loud booms of the invading Pirate Ship in the distance, the man quickly fell asleep. He wished he could be like those he saw: Pirates. Scourge of the seas that lived how they pleased sounded quite good to him. The gems on his ring glowed brighter for a moment then died down to dull, colorless glass.
A loud voice boomed at him all of a sudden, jolting him awake. "Ay! Whelp! Out of my bed if you know what's good for you!" He was grabbed by the collar and dragged out of a bunk. The pirate rambled on angrily at him but the man just cowered till he was dropped onto a hard wooden floor. Not recognizing the floor as his home, he looked around the bunk filled room and then ran out the door. He was frantic, thinking he was captured and somehow slept through it. He ran up some stairs and ended up on a deck. It was covered with men working and cleaning their ship. He ran to the rail and looked out to see them docked at an island he didn't recognize.
"Captain on deck!" echoed out from the ship, coaxing the men to drop everything they were doing and stand up at attention. A man with a long coat, boots, and wavy hair stepped out from his quarters. He looked out and was happy with the sight before him. He strolled out to the deck, but stopped short on his way to the galley when he saw one who seemed more interested in looking at the island and breathing heavy. He strolled his way over to the man and spoke quietly to him. "Ay, Matey.." he said to get his attention. But when the swab wouldn't look at him he slowly growled an argh to himself and shouted, "Ay!"
This prompted the man to turn around in fear at the imposing captain before him. The man suddenly found the captain's hand to his throat and with a quick movement of his hand, the swab landed on the deck on his side. "A month in the brig for those who disrespect their captain, swine! Change me mind, if you can, cur!"
The man stuttered but the right-hand of the captain walked up to the man's defense. "Sir, I believe he's new here. T'would be a shame to waste fresh muscle down bellow."
The Captain thought it over and walked over to the little man. "Learn yer place fast, whelp.." The man reached into his coat, retrieving a flintlock pistol and held it casually in his hand. He began to examine it nonchalantly as he spoke. "First time ya get the generosity of me hospitality." He pointed the gun at the now shaking man, the barrel of the pistol pointing directly at the eye of the poor swab. "Second? Well. No ones tried.. Doubt ya wanna be the first, eh?" This made the man shake his head. "Good lad. Now, what be yar name, whelp?"
The mousy man cleared his throat and spoke quietly. "J-John."
The Captain nodded and stood up quickly, with a hand on his hip and the other holding the pistol at his side, he spoke proudly. "Captain Ramirez DePietro, whelp. Remember it 'cause I'll be remembering ya. Yea?" John only nodded slowly. "Ya'll notice this ain't no regular ship, boy." The Captain raised his hand, showing the ring that the man once wore just the night before. "Gods of different planes grant me fortune. Ghosts and serpents do as I command. I have friends on different worlds ya've never heard about. Nothing is too far from me grasp. Ya'll soon learn, ya've just woken up to the best thing ta ever happen to ya. Be more thankful, fer the ring appears only to those worthy of me time. Great wealth awaits ya, whelp. Prepare yarself." With that the captain walked away with the first mate to the galley, breakfast was calling his name.
John just looked around, finally noticing the fish that worked alongside the humans, merfolk he'd later find out. Thada Adel, Acquisitor acted as the top ranking one on the ship. No one even guessed how she got the treasures she did but they wouldn't complain about results. Sol Ring s, Expedition Maps to treasure, even a torturous Helm of Obedience that would bend even the strongest wills to the Captain's.
He saw the Deadeye Navigator at the helm of the ship. He could drive the ship itself through the worst Devastation Tide imaginable and wouldn't bat an eye. He once was a captain of a ship himself, the Ghost Ship was actually the second ship of the Captain's armada, along with the War Barge and the Predator, Flagship. All ready to protect the mother ship as needed.
Even the creatures of the ocean themselves would follow the Captain. From the lowliest Sand Squid to the super powered Kracken: Wrexial, the Risen Deep.
The Charisma of the Captain was powerful indeed. He even gambled his own soul against a god, Thassa, God of the Sea. This won him the favor of a god that day. He was the first to ever defeat the deity in a ship race around Rishadan Port.
John shook his head, he knew that he'd been abducted, dropped here, and his life would be forever changed. He was surprised with himself that he wasn't feeling anxious or sad. Somewhere, deep inside, he knew it was a new start for him. With all these fantastic beings and creatures and the promise of wealth and status, he felt somehow content. Before he could really think about it, a loud voice boomed to the crew.
"Look lively men!" The first mate yelled out. "We be headin' to a Reliquary Tower off the coast in the Alaras! Plunder and treasure for those with arms strong enough to carry it!" And with that the crew cheered and prepared the ship to go.
You know.. for a pirate deck..
Ok, let me just stop you right there.
I know what you are already going to say. The lack of pirate typed creatures are quite obvious. But, there in lies the exact thought behind my deck. ANYONE can be a pirate, if you think about it. All they need is a lust for coin, a cleverness that the common criminal lacked, and had enough sense to know that following a ruthless captain meant trusting his decisions and also knowing that failure to do so will result in your corpse joining the figurehead on the bow of the ship till the gulls finished with you. Half the flavor of the deck now comes from the fact that you'll be stealing a lot of creatures from your opponents. Those new swabs will be your pirate crew till they prove themselves otherwise. Blackbeard would be proud.
-Thieves, Swabs, and Spirits-
Kukemssa Pirates and Notion Thief: Always willing and able to take what is "theirs", these two thieves always take the things you'll want most: Sol Rings and Card drawing. Removing the best toys in play or stealing someone trying to Blue Sun's Zenith for a win condition.. you're doing exactly what a pirate is supposed to.
Thada Adel, Acquisitor and Empress Galina: Ah, merfolk. Even creatures of the sea can be pirates. In fact, many consider criminals on the sea to automatically be a pirate anyway so this makes complete sense. Stealing legendary permanents and taking a scalpel to an opponents deck to ruin their big name artifacts is always fun. Ramirez's Thada seems to love taking Mindslavers from opponents and just leaving it in exile, no one likes them anyway.
Deadeye Navigator and Ghost Ship: Pirates will follow a charismatic leader, even in death. With a navigator like this driving your ship, what is there to fear? A Deadeye Navigator and drive your ship through the roughest Devastation Tide and a world shattering Cyclonic Rift without even batting an eye. Fear is not something spirits are known to have anymore.
Sand Squid, Inkwell Leviathan, Colossal Whale and Wrexial, the Risen Deep: After defeating Thassa, God of the Sea in a race around Rishadan Port, Ramirez has officially earned the favor of the beasts of the sea. The mightiest Krakens and Sea Swallowers are now his as he needs. Whats better then having shipbreakers and tide makers under your control? Not much, but it'd have to involve either money, women, or some kind of combination of the two for a Captain like him.
Where to begin where to begin.. There are PLENTY of steal effects in this deck. That is quite literally its point. Since most of the deck will be stealing via enchantments, its a good idea to have a Skull of Orm ready. A real fun thing to do is to soul bound the stolen creature to your Deadeye Navigator and when the creature comes back to your control and your enchantment falls off, fish it out of the drownyard.
Take Possession, Confiscate, and Volition Reins: The end all, be all, take anything that you want on the board. I like that, quite a lot. The Captain doesn't sail into the game with many outstanding things, but you don't need to. That's what everyone else's decks are there for!
Vedalken Shackles and Helm of Obedience: Its good to have some creature steal not enchantment based. It's even better that Ramirez can sail off to the Academy Ruins to pick up a fresh trinket, should one break.
Bribery, Acquire, and Stolen Goods: When push comes to shove, it's really good to just grab another library and start searching. Now, on a serious note, if you are going through another player's deck, be sure to do so quickly and do your best not to hold the game up too long. I can't begin to express how many times we've sat at a table with one player who bribery'd a player, copied it against 2 others, and we all just left to get a sandwich while they searched. Use those cards and do so fast. That being said, buying extra hands for a ship couldn't be more accurate.
-Ports, Wharfs, Harbors, and Yards-
There are plenty of fun lands to use in these colors. Black and blue automatically mean Islands and Swamps, but non-basics in my playgroup tend to be hated on with things such as Blood Moon and Ruination so I try to use them sparingly.
Dreadship Reef: The home port for Captain Ramirez, the place where they store all the booty they have gained when they weren't raging war in the high seas against others.
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea: Center of the Sea? Yes please! This is basically Thassa's home when she's not being called upon.
Nephalia Drownyard: A lost graveyard on the shore. All the crewman buried here are spared from Davey Jones Locker, but at a price. They, instead, continue working as they did during their lives: for the Captain and his goals.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: A common ground for these pirates. The poor slobs who pray here keep bringing more and more goodies to the temple to gain their god's favor. When in doubt, Ramirez usually just plunders the shrine at his leisure. The poor slobs.
High Market: Well, a Pirate needs a good place with buyers to buy their stolen trinkets at a "fair" price. The Trading Post here is the best selection, after all.. If it can't be had here, it can't be had on any world.
This is one of those decks that I love JUST as much playing as I did making. I even have a rule with this deck. I have to talk like a pirate while my Captain is on the field. This may annoy some, but if it does, I haven't been told yet. People who underestimate the power of this deck just don't understand its strength. I don't need many good cards because I have mine, yours, the guy next to you, the lady down the street, and the cards Ramirez hides up his sleeves. With the charisma and the charm of Captain DePietro, few can get away from his control. Blessings from the gods, the reach of the sea, and with the luck of the devil himself, Ramirez is just a coin loving cut throat looking out for the next biggest score.
Remember! The deck was made with the idea of flavor behind it. I want to leave you with one last thing to remember: Loose lips.. sinks ships.
Make everyone hate you.
On the far left we have Vela the Night-Clad as head of my Ninja Assassination Deck. http://media.wizards.com/images/magic/daily/mm/mm196_8bmrpbwx63.jpg
In the left middle, we have the new Guildmaster in all of his glory. Lazav, Dimir Mastermind makes those who face him grind their minds. http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130114221405/mtg/images/7/76/Feat224_hq21euyxht_2.jpg
In the right middle, the mighty Dralnu, Lich Lord stands alone. When asked to make a creature-less edh deck, I couldn't think of a better general then the Lich Lord. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7e6f0n0yzDc/UEpZDfECMxI/AAAAAAAAAaA/0l9DHkoOqWQ/s1600/Dralnu-Lich-Lord.jpg
Finally on the far right, possibly my favorite Dimir General is Circu, Dimir Lobotomist. Focusing on aura return cards to abuse his triggers, it was a ton of fun. http://s.cghub.com/files/Image/000001-001000/914/404_stream.jpg
If I can request that across the bottom of the sig pic it says "HOUSE DIMIR", then it will complete the effect.
If anyone can help me, I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance.
This. Also, when I actually used the 60-card version of Enduring Ideal, I combined Form of the Dragon and Zur's Weirding. Auto making your life total 5 and then locking down anyone from ever drawing a card again seems pretty good.
As for Greed, I COMPLETELY agree with you. It was originally in the deck but in play test, it felt lackluster. I ended up removing it to get Underworld Connections. That card feels better and it also has the theme. Superstitious pirates and the like.
I think we all know that kind of person. Typically, one might want to avoid those kinds of people if you don't have a similar combo deck. Then it turns into a game of a group of people all focusing so hard on getting their instant win combos that no one is allowed to have any fun anymore. Games like this tend to make players like me sigh in a dissatisfied fashion. But, if you have a playgroup like I found who can allow you and everyone else to play a game then pat yourself on the back! You have found a group of people you should try your best to play with when you can. There's nothing better in my opinion then enjoying a great night of being a lame-o with my friends as we pit our decks against one another's in a much less bloody version of Mortal Kombat. I hope you reading this will come to enjoy the idea of effective, flavorful decks that you can enjoy playing as much as you enjoy winning with it.
Now, lets get down to business! To Defeat.. Your Friends! Erm, sorry. My Disney acts up every now and then. With the introduction of the God cards, I just rolled my eyes and thought how bad these things were going to ruin my local playgroup. But, after investigating further, I saw that these gods could offer a lot to the flavor of the decks I build. The first three things that went through my mind when I first saw Thassa, God of the Sea was this: 1 - "Oh wow, they printed Nami from League of Legends onto a card. Awesome." 2 - "Why did she only get a bident? If WotC gave her a trident, would Neptune sue?" And 3 - "God of the Sea.. God of the Sea.. Oh my god! I need to make a PIRATE DECK!"
Now that I suddenly had my epiphany, as I usually do with my decks, all I had to do was decide exactly what I wanted to do with the deck and who needs to lead the charge. When the idea of pirates come to my mind, it screams Aikido to me. Aikido decks, or "I like your shoes", or steal everything I could possibly grab. There were plenty of good legendary creatures that I could have chosen for this kind of deck to act as my Commander.. or Captain, as you will. MANY good Captains actually. I could have gone Grixis with the deck and chosen to make Gwendlyn Di Corci or the super powered Lord of Tresserhorn and gone with a fun Zombie Pirate sub-theme. Deciding against this however, I wanted to limit my colors. Thinking again this time, I came up with a few other options like Sun Ce, Young Conquerer as a young captain with something to prove or even gone with the new Thassa, God of the Sea and done a pirate/leviathan theme. I decided against these as well, thinking that I'd like to include a bit more flavor then just a horseman or a God. This left a few options and it came down to two obvious choices: Skeleton Ship and Ramirez DiPietro. Comparing the two on paper, I felt like it would be better to go with the card that actually had a Captain. Don't misunderstand, I love the Skeleton Ship. It even has a flying turtle with a skeleton pirate riding it if you look closely enough! Who doesn't want that?! Well, this deck doesn't sadly. I don't have any real ways of abusing its activated ability, so Ramirez is the Captain for me. Yar'Har Fiddle-Lee-Dee. Being a Pirate is all right with me. Now that we have a Captain to our happy band of misfits, all we need is to go and get some crew members. After visiting the local ports, isles, and markets, Ramirez gained a little bit of a following.
1 Ramirez DePietro
Ports
1 Academy Ruins
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Command Tower
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Darkwater Catacombs
1 Dreadship Reef
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 High Market
14 Island
1 Jwar Isle Refuge
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Reliquary Tower
7 Swamp
1 Tainted Isle
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Underground River
1 Watery Grave
Pirate's Plunder
1 Dimir Signet
1 Expedition Map
1 Explorer's Scope
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Khalni Gem
1 Mystic Compass
1 Ring of Three Wishes
1 Sisay's Ring
1 Skull of Orm
1 Sol Ring
1 Acquire
1 Blatant Thievery
1 Bribery
1 Charisma
1 Commandeer
1 Confiscate
1 Control Magic
1 Corrupted Conscience
1 Desertion
1 Enslave
1 False Demise
1 Memory Plunder
1 Mind Control
1 Steal Artifact
1 Take Possession
1 Treachery
1 Vedalken Shackles
1 Volition Reins
The Captain's Armada
1 Ghost Ship
1 Pirate Ship
1 Predator, Flagship
1 War Barge
I Don't Like It, Get Rid Of It
1 Capsize
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Devastation Tide
1 Oubliette
1 Sudden Death
1 War Tax
1 Coastal Piracy
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Piracy
1 Stolen Goods
1 Trading Post
1 Treasure Hunt
1 Treasure Trove
1 Underworld Connections
Hands for Hire
1 Jace Beleren
1 Liliana Vess
The Crew
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Empress Galina
1 Kukemssa Pirates
1 Notion Thief
1 Sakashima the Impostor
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
Beasts of The Sea
1 Colossal Whale
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Sand Squid
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 Wrexial, the Risen Deep
1 Ramirez DePietro
Land (38)
1x Academy Ruins
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Command Tower
1x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Darkwater Catacombs
1x Dreadship Reef
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x High Market
14x Island
1x Jwar Isle Refuge
1x Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1x Nephalia Drownyard
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Reliquary Tower
7x Swamp
1x Tainted Isle
1x Temple of Deceit
1x Underground River
1x Watery Grave
Artifact (15)
1x Dimir Signet
1x Expedition Map
1x Explorer's Scope
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Helm of Obedience
1x Khalni Gem
1x Mystic Compass
1x Predator, Flagship
1x Ring of Three Wishes
1x Sisay's Ring
1x Skull of Orm
1x Sol Ring
1x Trading Post
1x Vedalken Shackles
1x War Barge
1x Capsize
1x Commandeer
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Desertion
1x Memory Plunder
1x Sudden Death
Enchantment (16)
1x Charisma
1x Coastal Piracy
1x Confiscate
1x Control Magic
1x Corrupted Conscience
1x Enslave
1x False Demise
1x Oubliette
1x Persuasion
1x Steal Artifact
1x Take Possession
1x Treachery
1x Treasure Trove
1x Underworld Connections
1x Volition Reins
1x War Tax
Creature (15)
1x Colossal Whale
1x Deadeye Navigator
1x Empress Galina
1x Ghost Ship
1x Inkwell Leviathan
1x Kukemssa Pirates
1x Notion Thief
1x Pirate Ship
1x Sakashima the Impostor
1x Sand Squid
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Thada Adel, Acquisitor
1x Thassa, God of the Sea
1x Wrexial, the Risen Deep
1x Acquire
1x Blatant Thievery
1x Bribery
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Devastation Tide
1x Piracy
1x Stolen Goods
1x Treasure Hunt
Planeswalker (2)
1x Jace Beleren
1x Liliana Vess
He picked up a small bottle with a frown. He sighed in disappointment and dropped it back into the sand, not believing his luck, but stopped short upon hearing the sound of something clanking around inside the discarded jug. He picked it back up and poured the contents into his hand. Damp sand slowly covered his hand in muck, but there, laying inside the palm of his hand was a treasure he didn't at that time fathom the importance it would have in his life: a Ring of Three Wishes.
A wide smile crossed his face and he pocketed the trinket, knowing he could get a good price for it at the Trading Post the next day. Later that night however, in the candle light of his shanty, he examined the item in his fingers. With a quick inspection, three small gems glowed much more brightly then they should. He grew a bit timid, slowly putting the ring onto his hand. He stopped just before putting it on his finger, worried for a moment, but in a quick rush of courage, he slid the ring on his finger. He stayed there for a few moments, as if waiting for something to happen. When nothing did he let out a happy sigh and watched the ring on his finger, laying on his straw filled mattress.
Sudden explosions blasted through the night air. He jumped off his bed and laid low, slowly inching towards the door. He looked out at the night sky that was slowly filling with smoke. A pirate raid was befalling the local town again. The High Market would surely be plundered and many of the locals might meet a Sudden Death. He bit his lip and went to his candle, blowing it out and going back to his bed. If he made himself as unseen as possible, maybe they'd leave him be. He held his only two possessions that held any value to him in his hands. One held the ring he had just found while the other held a Mystic Compass that never pointed north, an heirloom of his father that was his only trinket to remember him by. In the darkness, with the loud booms of the invading Pirate Ship in the distance, the man quickly fell asleep. He wished he could be like those he saw: Pirates. Scourge of the seas that lived how they pleased sounded quite good to him. The gems on his ring glowed brighter for a moment then died down to dull, colorless glass.
A loud voice boomed at him all of a sudden, jolting him awake. "Ay! Whelp! Out of my bed if you know what's good for you!" He was grabbed by the collar and dragged out of a bunk. The pirate rambled on angrily at him but the man just cowered till he was dropped onto a hard wooden floor. Not recognizing the floor as his home, he looked around the bunk filled room and then ran out the door. He was frantic, thinking he was captured and somehow slept through it. He ran up some stairs and ended up on a deck. It was covered with men working and cleaning their ship. He ran to the rail and looked out to see them docked at an island he didn't recognize.
This prompted the man to turn around in fear at the imposing captain before him. The man suddenly found the captain's hand to his throat and with a quick movement of his hand, the swab landed on the deck on his side. "A month in the brig for those who disrespect their captain, swine! Change me mind, if you can, cur!"
The man stuttered but the right-hand of the captain walked up to the man's defense. "Sir, I believe he's new here. T'would be a shame to waste fresh muscle down bellow."
The Captain thought it over and walked over to the little man. "Learn yer place fast, whelp.." The man reached into his coat, retrieving a flintlock pistol and held it casually in his hand. He began to examine it nonchalantly as he spoke. "First time ya get the generosity of me hospitality." He pointed the gun at the now shaking man, the barrel of the pistol pointing directly at the eye of the poor swab. "Second? Well. No ones tried.. Doubt ya wanna be the first, eh?" This made the man shake his head. "Good lad. Now, what be yar name, whelp?"
The mousy man cleared his throat and spoke quietly. "J-John."
The Captain nodded and stood up quickly, with a hand on his hip and the other holding the pistol at his side, he spoke proudly. "Captain Ramirez DePietro, whelp. Remember it 'cause I'll be remembering ya. Yea?" John only nodded slowly. "Ya'll notice this ain't no regular ship, boy." The Captain raised his hand, showing the ring that the man once wore just the night before. "Gods of different planes grant me fortune. Ghosts and serpents do as I command. I have friends on different worlds ya've never heard about. Nothing is too far from me grasp. Ya'll soon learn, ya've just woken up to the best thing ta ever happen to ya. Be more thankful, fer the ring appears only to those worthy of me time. Great wealth awaits ya, whelp. Prepare yarself." With that the captain walked away with the first mate to the galley, breakfast was calling his name.
John just looked around, finally noticing the fish that worked alongside the humans, merfolk he'd later find out. Thada Adel, Acquisitor acted as the top ranking one on the ship. No one even guessed how she got the treasures she did but they wouldn't complain about results. Sol Ring s, Expedition Maps to treasure, even a torturous Helm of Obedience that would bend even the strongest wills to the Captain's.
He saw the Deadeye Navigator at the helm of the ship. He could drive the ship itself through the worst Devastation Tide imaginable and wouldn't bat an eye. He once was a captain of a ship himself, the Ghost Ship was actually the second ship of the Captain's armada, along with the War Barge and the Predator, Flagship. All ready to protect the mother ship as needed.
Even the creatures of the ocean themselves would follow the Captain. From the lowliest Sand Squid to the super powered Kracken: Wrexial, the Risen Deep.
The Charisma of the Captain was powerful indeed. He even gambled his own soul against a god, Thassa, God of the Sea. This won him the favor of a god that day. He was the first to ever defeat the deity in a ship race around Rishadan Port.
John shook his head, he knew that he'd been abducted, dropped here, and his life would be forever changed. He was surprised with himself that he wasn't feeling anxious or sad. Somewhere, deep inside, he knew it was a new start for him. With all these fantastic beings and creatures and the promise of wealth and status, he felt somehow content. Before he could really think about it, a loud voice boomed to the crew.
"Look lively men!" The first mate yelled out. "We be headin' to a Reliquary Tower off the coast in the Alaras! Plunder and treasure for those with arms strong enough to carry it!" And with that the crew cheered and prepared the ship to go.
I know what you are already going to say. The lack of pirate typed creatures are quite obvious. But, there in lies the exact thought behind my deck. ANYONE can be a pirate, if you think about it. All they need is a lust for coin, a cleverness that the common criminal lacked, and had enough sense to know that following a ruthless captain meant trusting his decisions and also knowing that failure to do so will result in your corpse joining the figurehead on the bow of the ship till the gulls finished with you. Half the flavor of the deck now comes from the fact that you'll be stealing a lot of creatures from your opponents. Those new swabs will be your pirate crew till they prove themselves otherwise. Blackbeard would be proud.
-Thieves, Swabs, and Spirits-
Kukemssa Pirates and Notion Thief: Always willing and able to take what is "theirs", these two thieves always take the things you'll want most: Sol Rings and Card drawing. Removing the best toys in play or stealing someone trying to Blue Sun's Zenith for a win condition.. you're doing exactly what a pirate is supposed to.
Thada Adel, Acquisitor and Empress Galina: Ah, merfolk. Even creatures of the sea can be pirates. In fact, many consider criminals on the sea to automatically be a pirate anyway so this makes complete sense. Stealing legendary permanents and taking a scalpel to an opponents deck to ruin their big name artifacts is always fun. Ramirez's Thada seems to love taking Mindslavers from opponents and just leaving it in exile, no one likes them anyway.
Deadeye Navigator and Ghost Ship: Pirates will follow a charismatic leader, even in death. With a navigator like this driving your ship, what is there to fear? A Deadeye Navigator and drive your ship through the roughest Devastation Tide and a world shattering Cyclonic Rift without even batting an eye. Fear is not something spirits are known to have anymore.
Sand Squid, Inkwell Leviathan, Colossal Whale and Wrexial, the Risen Deep: After defeating Thassa, God of the Sea in a race around Rishadan Port, Ramirez has officially earned the favor of the beasts of the sea. The mightiest Krakens and Sea Swallowers are now his as he needs. Whats better then having shipbreakers and tide makers under your control? Not much, but it'd have to involve either money, women, or some kind of combination of the two for a Captain like him.
-Time To Enlist-
Where to begin where to begin.. There are PLENTY of steal effects in this deck. That is quite literally its point. Since most of the deck will be stealing via enchantments, its a good idea to have a Skull of Orm ready. A real fun thing to do is to soul bound the stolen creature to your Deadeye Navigator and when the creature comes back to your control and your enchantment falls off, fish it out of the drownyard.
Take Possession, Confiscate, and Volition Reins: The end all, be all, take anything that you want on the board. I like that, quite a lot. The Captain doesn't sail into the game with many outstanding things, but you don't need to. That's what everyone else's decks are there for!
Corrupted Conscience, Control Magic, Mind Control, Enslave, and Treachery: Your army. The new swabs need to learn quickly just who is the captain 'round here. Your word is law and if others don't like it then they can enjoy your brig till they know better (Oubliette).
Vedalken Shackles and Helm of Obedience: Its good to have some creature steal not enchantment based. It's even better that Ramirez can sail off to the Academy Ruins to pick up a fresh trinket, should one break.
Bribery, Acquire, and Stolen Goods: When push comes to shove, it's really good to just grab another library and start searching. Now, on a serious note, if you are going through another player's deck, be sure to do so quickly and do your best not to hold the game up too long. I can't begin to express how many times we've sat at a table with one player who bribery'd a player, copied it against 2 others, and we all just left to get a sandwich while they searched. Use those cards and do so fast. That being said, buying extra hands for a ship couldn't be more accurate.
-Ports, Wharfs, Harbors, and Yards-
There are plenty of fun lands to use in these colors. Black and blue automatically mean Islands and Swamps, but non-basics in my playgroup tend to be hated on with things such as Blood Moon and Ruination so I try to use them sparingly.
Dreadship Reef: The home port for Captain Ramirez, the place where they store all the booty they have gained when they weren't raging war in the high seas against others.
Nephalia Drownyard: A lost graveyard on the shore. All the crewman buried here are spared from Davey Jones Locker, but at a price. They, instead, continue working as they did during their lives: for the Captain and his goals.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: A common ground for these pirates. The poor slobs who pray here keep bringing more and more goodies to the temple to gain their god's favor. When in doubt, Ramirez usually just plunders the shrine at his leisure. The poor slobs.
High Market: Well, a Pirate needs a good place with buyers to buy their stolen trinkets at a "fair" price. The Trading Post here is the best selection, after all.. If it can't be had here, it can't be had on any world.
This is one of those decks that I love JUST as much playing as I did making. I even have a rule with this deck. I have to talk like a pirate while my Captain is on the field. This may annoy some, but if it does, I haven't been told yet. People who underestimate the power of this deck just don't understand its strength. I don't need many good cards because I have mine, yours, the guy next to you, the lady down the street, and the cards Ramirez hides up his sleeves. With the charisma and the charm of Captain DePietro, few can get away from his control. Blessings from the gods, the reach of the sea, and with the luck of the devil himself, Ramirez is just a coin loving cut throat looking out for the next biggest score.
Remember! The deck was made with the idea of flavor behind it. I want to leave you with one last thing to remember: Loose lips.. sinks ships.