The Flying Dutchman

by Puschkin on 20 April 2016

Main Deck (61 cards)

Sideboard (5 cards)

Artifacts (1)


Enchantments (1)

Submit a list of cards below to bulk import them all into your sideboard. Post one card per line using a format like "4x Birds of Paradise" or "1 Blaze", you can even enter just the card name by itself like "Wrath of God" for single cards.


Deck Description

This is a theme deck. Something that was quite common in the good old days of Magic when the mayority of players were pen&paper roleplayers. These days, theme decks are almost unheard of, so I thought, post one!
"The Flying Dutchman" is a theme deck I made a loooong time ago, I even went as far as trading for all those cards like Drowned that nobody ever uses. Updated it a little bit, regarding the lands, mostly. Please read the associated RPG which can be found in the "How to play" section!

EDIT:
The deck isn't meant to be played but I understand some would. Here some annotations:
* Star Compass is useless in this deck because it lacks basic lands. I run it because of the falvour text and no Swamps and Islands because they don't fit into the story. If you play this deck you need to add some basic lands or replace Star Compass with Mystic Compass to have something useful (it can be used to remporarily neutralize opponent's lands)
* Other cards in the sideboard are possible additions to the theme once I worked out how to fit them into the RPG.

How to Play

Legend has it that Ramirez dePietro, this maniacal Dutch sea captain of a Merchant Ship, was struggling to round the Cape of Good Hope in the teeth of a terrible gale that threatened to sink his ship and all aboard. The sailors warned him to turn around, the passengers pleaded, but the captain, either mad or drunk, refused to change course. Instead, he pressed on. Monstrous Breaking Waves pummeled the sides of the ship, howling winds bent the masts and tore at the sails, but still the captain held his course, swearing a blasphemous oath: "I WILL round this Cape even if I have to keep sailing until Doomsday!"

This wasn’t unheard. A Brine Hag put a spell on the entire crew, telling them to change course and thus luring them to run the ship on a nearby Coral Reef. The crew did as they were told, unable to resist, as if they were commanded by a Siren’s Call.
The Brine Hag whispered to the captain:
"As a result of your actions you are condemned to sail the oceans for eternity with a ghostly crew of Walking Dead, bringing death to all who sight your Ghost Ship, and to never make port or know a moment's peace".

And so, his ship sunk and became a Watery Grave for Ramirez and his men. But it wouldn’t stay on the floor of the ocean. For centuries from then on, the Flying Dutchman was seen piloting his Skeleton Ship, its canvas spread, its masts creaking in a Denying Wind. Sometimes, it was said, he led other ships astray, onto Darkslick Shores and and Dreadship Reefs. In the rigging of his Bog Rats infested ship, some said, they could see a crew of Drowned sailors, grinning miserably as they put on ever more sail. Those who saw the captain himself claimed that he was repentant, clasping the wheel on the quarterdeck, pleading the heavens for Mercy at last. He would frequently check his Star Compass which always points home instead of north … but he would never reach Rishadan Port again.

Deck Tags

  • Theme

Deck at a Glance

Social Stats

66
Likes

This deck has been viewed 7,547 times.

Mana Curve

Mana Symbol Occurrence

0401900

Card Legality

  • Not Legal in Standard
  • Not Legal in Modern
  • Legal in Vintage
  • Legal in Legacy

Deck discussion for The Flying Dutchman

Legend has it that Ramirez dePietro, this maniacal Dutch sea captain of a Merchant Ship, was struggling to round the Cape of Good Hope in the teeth of a terrible gale that threatened to sink his ship and all aboard. The sailors warned him to turn around, the passengers pleaded, but the captain, either mad or drunk, refused to change course. Instead, he pressed on. Monstrous Breaking Waves pummeled the sides of the ship, howling winds bent the masts and tore at the sails, but still the captain held his course, swearing a blasphemous oath: "I WILL round this Cape even if I have to keep sailing until Doomsday!"

This wasn’t unheard. A Brine Hag put a spell on the entire crew, telling them to change course and thus luring them to run the ship on a nearby Coral Reef. The crew did as they were told, unable to resist, as if they were commanded by a Siren’s Call.
The Brine Hag whispered to the captain:
"As a result of your actions you are condemned to sail the oceans for eternity with a ghostly crew of Walking Dead, bringing death to all who sight your Ghost Ship, and to never make port or know a moment's peace".

And so, his ship sunk and became a Watery Grave for Ramirez and his men. But it wouldn’t stay on the floor of the ocean. For centuries from then on, the Flying Dutchman was seen piloting his Skeleton Ship, its canvas spread, its masts creaking in a fearful wind. Sometimes, it was said, he led other ships astray, onto Darkslick Shores and and Dreadship Reefs. In the rigging of his Bog Rats infested ship, some said, they could see a crew of Drowned sailors, grinning miserably as they put on ever more sail. Those who saw the captain himself claimed that he was repentant, clasping the wheel on the quarterdeck, pleading the heavens for Mercy at last. He would frequently check his Star Compass which always points home instead of north … but he would never reach Rishadan Port again.

6
Posted 20 April 2016 at 15:09

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It's a like from me.

1
Posted 20 April 2016 at 16:34

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Freakin awesome! Specially the story you wrote. +1 for the captain.

1
Posted 22 April 2016 at 17:44

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Mainboard, sideboard, and STARBOARD!

GEDDIT?! BECAUSE...

I'll show myself out...

4
Posted 22 April 2016 at 14:09

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That went overboard...

7
Posted 22 April 2016 at 14:10

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ARR, matey! At least we aren't bored :)

4
Posted 22 April 2016 at 14:29

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Im walking the plank!















(I tried...)

1
Posted 22 April 2016 at 14:31

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I love the flavor here. :). Ghost ships and undead pirates. Reminds me of secret of monkey island.

0
Posted 22 April 2016 at 16:55

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Yeah, unfortunately there is no rum or grog card in magic, not even beer, just wine.
And I should probably have waited until international speak like a pirate day, but that would have been september ...

Anything else here I missed? Maybe Carnivorous Death-Parrot as the captain's pet. Just have to work him into the RPG somehow.

0
Posted 22 April 2016 at 17:03

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Lol... :)
That would be great. Perhaps village cannibals as well?

0
Posted 22 April 2016 at 17:09

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I just realized there are zombie-rats meanwhile. I added Bog Rats because that's what I ran originally and The Dark looks cool, but thinking about it, the rats would die, too, and either come back as zombie rats or not at all. Rancid Rats, Rotting Rats, can't make my mind up. And maybe let's have a Bad Moon shining on them :)

0
Posted 22 April 2016 at 17:33

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I would include some basic lands, so Star Compass isn't completely useless.

1
Posted 22 April 2016 at 18:16

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This is not meant to be played although you could. I could replace it with Mystic Compass, though, which is never useless since I can use it to neutralize opponent's lands. However, Star Compass has that nice flavour text which I used in the RPG.
Adding Mystic Compass to the sideboard. Thanks.

0
Posted 22 April 2016 at 18:23

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Ah, ok. I knew it was a theme deck, but thought maybe the intent was to play it sometime for fun, as well.

0
Posted 22 April 2016 at 18:30

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Richard Wagner. You win.

1
Posted 22 April 2016 at 19:51

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He is ... well, was my fellow countryman :) Never seen the play, though.

0
Posted 22 April 2016 at 19:54

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This be the saltiest deck I've seen since Kiora sent a Crashing Wave at me Merchant Ship on our Treasure Hunt. Ay, I had to lift me eye patch to wipe a tear away from me bad eye it stirred me brined heart so.

3
Posted 23 April 2016 at 16:08

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Ahoy! Bartender, bring this lovely seadog a bottle of rum before his wooden leg starts itching again!

2
Posted 24 April 2016 at 14:39

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Argh, if only me bleeding checkbook could afford a good mahogany leg...

1
Posted 25 April 2016 at 11:29

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That sideboard needs some Spreading Seas :)

1
Posted 24 April 2016 at 03:49

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Sideboard: Cards I will try to work into the actual deck but need to rewrite the RPG accordingly. I am pooling ideas before I do that.

0
Posted 24 April 2016 at 14:40

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Great theme build. And nice story

1
Posted 24 April 2016 at 13:29

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Thanks. The story is cobbled together from several versions of the legend, mainly basing on the version of the story with Van der Decken as the captain.

0
Posted 24 April 2016 at 14:46

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Cool it's fun to read and you going to do any follow ups on the story? Or build another deck to continuing the story?

0
Posted 24 April 2016 at 14:58

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I like this idea and currently have made a deck following similar themes. please check it out.
http://www.mtgvault.com/worldsoul/decks/descent-into-madness/

1
Posted 27 April 2016 at 03:10

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Ya know, I was reading the instructions on deck building (yes, I was bored), and it said "a good deck doesn't just play well, it tells a story." You my friend just made one of the best story decks of all time, IMHO.

1
Posted 30 April 2016 at 15:24

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That's giving me more credit than due since I didn't come up with the story, I just build a deck around a legend/myth that is quite commonly known over here in europe, especially in my country (germany) which happens to be neighbours of dutchland, where the historical figure comes from.

0
Posted 01 May 2016 at 13:52

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I would have to agree with LordCinder you did a great job building this deck around the story. Weather it's your story or not this is the best story telling deck I have read

1
Posted 01 May 2016 at 13:56

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Well, thanks then :)

0
Posted 14 October 2020 at 19:14

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More people should be doing this!

1
Posted 01 May 2016 at 23:03

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Posted 02 May 2016 at 08:49

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This deck is not designed to be played. This deck is designed to tell a story. Didn't you read the Deck Description? (I always read the Deck Description)

2
Posted 02 May 2016 at 11:09

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Is there anymore theme like decks on this website? I would love to check them out!

0
Posted 03 May 2016 at 10:20

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Well, I made one, link above.

0
Posted 03 May 2016 at 12:17

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Thank you. I'll check it out!

0
Posted 03 May 2016 at 19:08

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Well, why don't you use deck search? You could search for the tag "theme" for example ... that's what tags actually are for. A quick search yielded this gem here:
http://www.mtgvault.com/lucasenra/decks/deranged-mardu-hospital/
(it's not from me)

I also made two other decks that might interest you:
http://www.mtgvault.com/puschkin/decks/library-assholes/
It has a theme and RPG and this time the deck itself also has a theme, mechanic wise.

http://www.mtgvault.com/puschkin/decks/occ-selfawareness-trip/
This one just has an RPG that I added retrospectively to advertise the deck. It's more on the lol side of things, though :)
EDIT: The RPG can be found in the first comment, not the description!

0
Posted 03 May 2016 at 19:18

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I'm loving this theme! I kinda have some motivation to make my own now.

0
Posted 03 May 2016 at 19:08

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Drogskol Captain? The Flying Dutchman needs a captain to sail her

1
Posted 03 May 2016 at 21:15

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Ramirez DePietro is the captain. Drogskol Captain is a good suggestion, however, Ramirez is actually the reason why I made this deck. Here, from a discussion in the City of Solitude deck:

"Yeah, I wish there would be more pirates to add but somehow they all suck. The ones I use here also suck if it wasn't for City of Solitude.

Ramirez de Pietro was my first legend (card type), first card from the Legends expansion and first golden card. In fact it was the first golden card my playgroup has ever seen. Which is why he still has a special place in my heart, no matter how outdated he is meanwhile. He is still the captain of the pirate deck of my dreams."
"You made me walk down Memory Lane in Nostalgia Park ... I made a theme deck back then to honour Ramirez."

And this deck is the result :)

0
Posted 03 May 2016 at 21:37

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Hey people! This deck was so amazing, you inspired me to make my own story deck. Please come take a look!

http://www.mtgvault.com/lordcinder/decks/the-legend-of-king-macar/

2
Posted 04 May 2016 at 06:06

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I was thinking about something:
The Hot Page is stale as american mainstream beer (I know you have great micro breweries, so shut up^^) and the MTGVault team hasn't done anything about the site in years. They promised to change the algorythm of the Hot Page, but they also said they'll bring the forums back "soon". Well, the forums are still down, in fact they were already down when I registered in september 2013 ...

So, what I suggest is:
If you had a deck on Hot Page and the discussion dried up, you might as well stop listing your deck as public, hence removing it from Hot Page and making room for others. I have currently 2 decks occupying precious slots on Hot Page even though nobody has replied to them in weeks. So, what I will do is make them private soon. I am asking you politely to do the same once you haven't gotten any replies for a considerable amount of time.
I will, however, list them again after some time, because otherwise they would end up in Nirvana. But until then other decks will have a shot at Hot Page and meanwhile my stale decks can't get any new Likes (which seems to be the main factor for Hot Page, not the actualy activity), so hopefully it won't immediately hog up Hot Page again.

I don't actually expect anyone to follow my example but at least I tried to fix this site.

0
Posted 28 May 2016 at 10:07

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that is a very good point.

0
Posted 28 May 2016 at 12:13

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I like this idea.

0
Posted 29 May 2016 at 16:56

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Since the main page has been fixed, I made this public again. Also, I worked Denying Wind into the RPG.

Are there any new possible addition in the latest couple of sets? Anything martim or piratey?

0
Posted 23 February 2017 at 09:35

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yeah, great job mate. good ideas and story.

0
Posted 20 February 2018 at 02:22

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