diff --git a/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_placeholder_widget.cpp b/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_placeholder_widget.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..da4fe09e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_placeholder_widget.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#include "visual_deck_editor_placeholder_widget.h"
+
+VisualDeckEditorPlaceholderWidget::VisualDeckEditorPlaceholderWidget(QWidget *parent) : QWidget(parent)
+{
+    mainLayout = new QVBoxLayout(this);
+    mainLayout->setAlignment(Qt::AlignCenter);
+    setLayout(mainLayout);
+
+    // Image label with the background image
+    imageLabel = new QLabel(this);
+    imageLabel->setAlignment(Qt::AlignCenter);
+    imageLabel->setStyleSheet(R"(
+        QLabel {
+            background-image: url(theme:backgrounds/card_triplet.svg);
+            background-repeat: no-repeat;
+            background-position: center;
+        }
+    )");
+    imageLabel->setFixedSize(300, 300);
+
+    textLabel = new QLabel(this);
+    textLabel->setAlignment(Qt::AlignCenter);
+    textLabel->setWordWrap(true);
+    textLabel->setStyleSheet(R"(
+        QLabel {
+            color: palette(mid);
+            font-size: 14px;
+            padding: 10px;
+        }
+    )");
+
+    mainLayout->addWidget(imageLabel);
+    mainLayout->addWidget(textLabel);
+
+    retranslateUi();
+}
+
+void VisualDeckEditorPlaceholderWidget::retranslateUi()
+{
+    textLabel->setText(tr("Add cards using the search bar or database tab to have them appear here"));
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_placeholder_widget.h b/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_placeholder_widget.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..de2362a81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_placeholder_widget.h
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#ifndef COCKATRICE_VISUAL_DECK_EDITOR_PLACEHOLDER_WIDGET_H
+#define COCKATRICE_VISUAL_DECK_EDITOR_PLACEHOLDER_WIDGET_H
+
+#include <QLabel>
+#include <QVBoxLayout>
+#include <QWidget>
+
+class VisualDeckEditorPlaceholderWidget : public QWidget
+{
+    Q_OBJECT
+
+public:
+    explicit VisualDeckEditorPlaceholderWidget(QWidget *parent = nullptr);
+    void retranslateUi();
+
+private:
+    QVBoxLayout *mainLayout;
+    QLabel *imageLabel;
+    QLabel *textLabel;
+};
+
+#endif // COCKATRICE_VISUAL_DECK_EDITOR_PLACEHOLDER_WIDGET_H
diff --git a/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_widget.cpp b/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_widget.cpp
index af1c0a2b3..ca0541de0 100644
--- a/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_widget.cpp
+++ b/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_widget.cpp
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ VisualDeckEditorWidget::VisualDeckEditorWidget(QWidget *parent,
                 &VisualDeckEditorWidget::onSelectionChanged);
     }
 
+    updatePlaceholderVisibility();
     retranslateUi();
 }
 
@@ -181,15 +182,13 @@ void VisualDeckEditorWidget::initializeScrollAreaAndZoneContainer()
     zoneContainer = new QWidget(scrollArea);
     zoneContainer->setSizePolicy(QSizePolicy::Expanding, QSizePolicy::Expanding);
     zoneContainer->setObjectName("zoneContainer");
-    zoneContainer->setStyleSheet(R"(
-    QWidget#zoneContainer {
-        background-image: url(theme:backgrounds/card_triplet.svg);
-        background-repeat: no-repeat;
-        background-position: center;
-    }
-)");
     zoneContainerLayout = new QVBoxLayout(zoneContainer);
     zoneContainer->setLayout(zoneContainerLayout);
+
+    // Create placeholder widget
+    placeholderWidget = new VisualDeckEditorPlaceholderWidget(zoneContainer);
+    zoneContainerLayout->addWidget(placeholderWidget);
+
     scrollArea->addScrollBarWidget(zoneContainer, Qt::AlignHCenter);
     scrollArea->setWidget(zoneContainer);
 }
@@ -208,6 +207,17 @@ void VisualDeckEditorWidget::retranslateUi()
     searchPushButton->setText(tr("Quick search and add card"));
     searchPushButton->setToolTip(tr("Search for closest match in the database (with auto-suggestions) and add "
                                     "preferred printing to the deck on pressing enter"));
+
+    if (placeholderWidget) {
+        placeholderWidget->retranslateUi();
+    }
+}
+
+void VisualDeckEditorWidget::updatePlaceholderVisibility()
+{
+    if (placeholderWidget) {
+        placeholderWidget->setVisible(indexToWidgetMap.isEmpty());
+    }
 }
 
 // =====================================================================================================================
@@ -258,6 +268,7 @@ void VisualDeckEditorWidget::constructZoneWidgetsFromDeckListModel()
 
         constructZoneWidgetForIndex(persistent);
     }
+    updatePlaceholderVisibility();
 }
 
 void VisualDeckEditorWidget::updateZoneWidgets()
@@ -398,4 +409,4 @@ void VisualDeckEditorWidget::onSelectionChanged(const QItemSelection &selected,
             }
         }
     }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_widget.h b/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_widget.h
index 5789155b8..13065d623 100644
--- a/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_widget.h
+++ b/cockatrice/src/interface/widgets/visual_deck_editor/visual_deck_editor_widget.h
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include "../cards/card_size_widget.h"
 #include "../general/layout_containers/overlap_control_widget.h"
 #include "../quick_settings/settings_button_widget.h"
+#include "visual_deck_editor_placeholder_widget.h"
 
 #include <QCheckBox>
 #include <QListWidget>
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ public:
 
     void setSelectionModel(QItemSelectionModel *model);
     void onSelectionChanged(const QItemSelection &selected, const QItemSelection &deselected);
+    void updatePlaceholderVisibility();
     QItemSelectionModel *getSelectionModel() const
     {
         return selectionModel;
@@ -96,6 +98,7 @@ private:
     QScrollArea *scrollArea;
     QWidget *zoneContainer;
     QVBoxLayout *zoneContainerLayout;
+    VisualDeckEditorPlaceholderWidget *placeholderWidget;
     // OverlapControlWidget *overlapControlWidget;
     QHash<QPersistentModelIndex, QWidget *> indexToWidgetMap;
 };