MTGNexus

So I made an offhand comment in the new card thread about the possibility of building a Grail based deck now that we have a whole lot of Arthurian legend tech from Eldraine.



I've done theme decks in the past, and while I don't for a minute think this is a deck that could in any way be considered competitive, feasibly win a game, or do anything other than meld two nerd cultures, it's still a fun thought experiment to me. I'm not at all sure I want to actually build such a deck, so I thought it might be a cool idea to think-tank it with other Python fans. Because sometimes it's not about winning; sometimes it's about requesting that your opponents cut down the tallest tree in the forest wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiith.....a HERRING!

Here's the major characters/plot points of the film. Feel free to suggest must includes, and let's see if we can round out a deck!

• King Arthur
  Kenrith, the Returned King
• Patsy, his trusty steed
  Squire
  Noble Squires
• Excalibur
  Embercleave
• Sir Bedevere the Wise
• Sir Lancelot the Brave
• Sir Galahad the Pure
• Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot
  Norin the Wary
• Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-Film
  Crib Swap
• Historian
  Kaho, Minamo Historian
• Dennis
• 'I am your king.' 'Well I didn't vote for you'
  Plea for Power
• 'The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. THAT is why I am your king!'
  Emry, Lurker of the Loch
• "Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. "
  Council's Judgment
• 'Help! Help! I'm being repressed!'
• Witch
  Mistmeadow Witch
• 'She turned me into a newt!......I got better.'
  Frogify
• 'BUUUURN THE WITCH!!'
  Unruly Mob
  Witch Hunt
• Black Knight
  Oathsworn Knight
• ''Tis but a Scratch'
  Festering Wound
• Camelot
• 'Let's not go to Camelot. 'Tis a silly place.'
  Fork in the Road
• French Soldiers
  Goblin Diplomats
  Taunting Elf
• 'Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!'
  Provoke
• 'Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!'
  Taunt
• Trojan Rabbit
  Akroan Horse
• Catapult
  Skull Catapult
  Bartered Cow
• Holy Grail
  Chalice of Life
• Knights who say Ni
• 'You must find.......A SHRUBBERY!'
  Vine Trellis
• 'Chop down the mightiest tree in the forest with....a HERRING!'
  Mystic Remora
• Three-headed knight
• Castle Anthrax
  Castle Ardenvale
• Tim the Enchanter
  Prodigal Sorcerer
• Rabbit of Caerbannog
  Rabid Wombat
• Brother Maynard
• The Holy hand grenade of Antioch
  Ratchet Bomb
• The Beast of Aaaargh
  Scour from Existence
• Castle of Aaargh
• Swamp Castle
  Castle Lochtwain
• Bridge of Death
  Ensnaring Bridge
• Bridge Keeper
  Gadwick the Wizened
• African and Indian Swallows
  Colourful Feiyi Sparrow
• Police
  Azorious Arrester
  Arrest
  Deputy of Detention

Clearly there's no dramas if this doesn't end up working out. I just thought I should at least make an effort to back up my wild proclamations, and thought it might be fun to enlist any Python fans to help make it happen.

toctheyounger wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Black Knight
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge

I vote Oathsworn Knight instead.

toctheyounger wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Tim the Enchanter

Prodigal Sorcerer|26039
This was decided long ago.

We do have one Sparrow. It's not very good, but it's better than the Squire you already have >_<

I think for several of these, you're just going to have to alter the art to make it fit.
There's no "3 headed knight", but there's decent flavorfully-named/ability knights you could choose and then have someone paint a three headed knight on there

Lancelot must have haste.

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn for Sir Not Appearing in this Film.

I am in love with this and I will ponder cards

rabid wombat - its no bunny but

you may need a trebuchet and random stuff to shoot in case you are taunted a second time

Feyd_Ruin wrote: ↑

4 years ago

toctheyounger wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Black Knight
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge

I vote Oathsworn Knight instead.

toctheyounger wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Tim the Enchanter

Prodigal Sorcerer|26039
This was decided long ago.

We do have one Sparrow. It's not very good, but it's better than the Squire you already have >_<

I think for several of these, you're just going to have to alter the art to make it fit.
There's no "3 headed knight", but there's decent flavorfully-named/ability knights you could choose and then have someone paint a three headed knight on there

Oathsworn is in. No doubt.

Prodigal Sorcerer, yes, it's not a contest at all.

Patsy has to be Squire. Look at the likeness:


Sparrow I'm convinced with. It'll do just fine.

The N82O Molecule wrote: ↑

4 years ago

rabid wombat - its no bunny but

you may need a trebuchet and random stuff to shoot in case you are taunted a second time

All great ideas. Rabid Wombat is kind of perfect. None of the other rabbits really suit perfectly.

edit - Assuming there's no arguments against this addition?
'She turned me into a newt!......I got better.'
Frogify

"Chop down the tallest tree in the forest with... A HERRING!"
Mystic Remora

Going fairly random with "Hey.. this sounds like it fits" list.

Taunting Elf
"Now go away, before he taunts you a second time!"

Vine Trellis or Nature's Lore or Treefolk Harbinger (if any other treefolk?)
"You must find... A SHRUBBERRY!!!!"

Plea for Power
"I am your king."
"Well I didn't vote for you. "
Festering Wound
" It's Only a flesh wound."

Provoke
"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries"

Fork in the Road
"On second thought lets NOT go to Camelot, tis a silly place"

Any of the Sword of XY Series, etc
" You think your king just because some hag threw a sword at you?"

Emry, Lurker of the Loch
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government…"

Council's Judgment
"Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. "

[mention]Feyd_Ruin[/mention] that alter is exquisite, and all of these make excellent additions. We're coming along nicely here.

GloriousGoose wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn for Sir Not Appearing in this Film.

I feel like Em fits better for the Beast of Aaaaaaargh. The one that disappears when the animator has a sudden heart attack.

Sir Not Appearing in This Film was a baby and there aren't many of those in this game for obvious reasons. Crib Swap might work because of removing a baby, but I'd use the only creature that looks like a baby, Child of Alara Edit: Actually, use Crib Swap so he doesn't appear in this deck!

Sir Robin is slightly braver than Norin the Wary, but way less brave than anything else, so I'd pick him.

Wasn't there a historian that got killed? Kaho, Minamo Historian is the only historian, so if we want him there's not many choices.

The Beast of Aaaaaaargh was Scoured from Existence, so...

As for the ending, Arrest. 'nuf said.


Edit: The french catapult should get some cards too. There's a few catapults, (and one trebuchet,) but only Skull Catapult makes you sacrifice a creature. As for ammo, Bartered Cow is the only cow unless you'd rather have an ox. Also, I'm not sure if Akroan Horse as the Trojan Rabbit works because of being based on the same thing or is a flavor fail when someone who doesn't sacrifice it immediately gains control of it.

Kezzerdrix is the closet thing to the killer rabbit and it stinks

Anything else rabbit like that's deadly

toctheyounger wrote: ↑

4 years ago

GloriousGoose wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn for Sir Not Appearing in this Film.

I feel like Em fits better for the Beast of Aaaaaaargh. The one that disappears when the animator has a sudden heart attack.

Well, Emmy is banned, and wouldn't be able to appear in the deck, so I was thinking...

I actually used to have a casual Holy Grail theme deck way back in the day. I don't remember the whole decklist, but some of the standouts that I haven't see here yet were:

Sir Robin
Craven Knight

Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film
Knight of the Mists (always not paying the U and targeting himself.

"Go away, or I shall taunt you a second time"
Taunt

Killer Bunny
Kezzerdrix

"It's just a flesh wound"
Cursed Flesh (the Exodus version has a guy's arms falling off)

Obviously, these all sacrifice playability for theme, so you know, judgement call.

Have made some further additions as suggested, and while I can say this isn't going to be a successful deck, it will certainly be a silly one.

CTNC wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Sir Robin is slightly braver than Norin the Wary, but way less brave than anything else, so I'd pick him.

Wasn't there a historian that got killed? Kaho, Minamo Historian is the only historian, so if we want him there's not many choices.

The Beast of Aaaaaaargh was Scoured from Existence, so...

As for the ending, Arrest. 'nuf said.


Edit: The french catapult should get some cards too. There's a few catapults, (and one trebuchet,) but only Skull Catapult makes you sacrifice a creature. As for ammo, Bartered Cow is the only cow unless you'd rather have an ox. Also, I'm not sure if Akroan Horse as the Trojan Rabbit works because of being based on the same thing or is a flavor fail when someone who doesn't sacrifice it immediately gains control of it.

All of this is pretty good stuff. The historian needs to be in so that there's a reason for Lancelot getting nicked by the fuzz at the end. And I think Akroan Horse is as close as we'll get. There's no way we can make sure it flops, so I think you just need to suspend disbelief here.

CommanderMaster999 wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Kezzerdrix is the closet thing to the killer rabbit and it stinks

Anything else rabbit like that's deadly

We've got Rabid Wombat for a reasonable fill in. It's...probably about as close as we'll get to be fair.

GloriousGoose wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Well, Emmy is banned, and wouldn't be able to appear in the deck, so I was thinking...

Fair point. Em can be in the illegal sideboard.

Lysyc12 wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Obviously, these all sacrifice playability for theme, so you know, judgement call.

Hey, we're here for historical accuracy and trueness to a theme. I'm personally under no illusions regarding this deck ever in a million years playing successfully. I like Taunt btw, it's in.

I've gone with some Azorius guild cards for the police. What do we think for the Bridge of Death bridgekeeper? I was thinking maybe Djinn of Wishes for the three question vibe?

Holy Grail? = Chalice of Life

Swamp Castle? Castle Locthwain

Dunharrow wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Holy Grail? = Chalice of Life

Swamp Castle? Castle Locthwain

Both good suggestions. It leaves me without a Castle of Aaargh, but probably suits better as the castle built on three ruins in a swamp.

Camelot = Castle
Rabbit = Vizzerdrix