Pitiless Pontiff

Creature — Vampire Cleric

{1}, Sacrifice another creature: Pitiless Pontiff gains deathtouch and indestructible until end of turn. (Damage and effects that say "destroy" don't destroy it.)

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (51)

Dazard on Daddy Eddy

1 year ago

Thank you for your feedback!

I finally had the time to play with this within a 4 player group and i managed to place a good 2nd. i got boardwiped three times and always clawed my way back into having the most dominant army on the table rather fast thanks to card draw. But after quickly amassing a horde of vampires i fell really short in the politics department, where i seemed to be "the bad guy" from round one. And it's hard to argue with that, if you have a bunch of guys out who are basically all about "killing stuff" and "getting stronger". :D Nevertheless, i had a blast with this deck, always being a deadly threat to my opponents. i guess i takes some practice as well in negotiating on the table just like you need to know your cards.

i took out Door of Destinies and replaced it with Shared Animosity. the door is just to slow for this deck, while shared animosity can instantly boost your vamps as soon it hits the table.

I also took out Falkenrath Gorger and Stromkirk Condemned, i am not down the discard/madness road, so these two won't really support my general strategy. Instead i added Skymarcher Aspirant, which is just another one drop with flying and Pitiless Pontiff to give me another sacrificer, especially to guarantee to get some use out of Skullclamp, just in case my vampire tokens are being buffed by some other effects.

And Bolas's Citadel is now in, just to see how it will turn out. I figured that with so many low mana spells in this deck, paying some life here and there in order to cast them won't be a big deal for my lief counter, especially in a deck that has lifelink.

Still not sure which one of the "big guys" i should be running constantly and which ones belong to the sideboard.

Mrinconspicuous on Army of Martyr Vampires

2 years ago

Nice list, I was thinking of changing my vamps deck to Elenda.

I would think about taking out Pitiless Pontiff for Indulging Patrician given the ammount of potential lifegain you're running and you have plenty of sac outlets.

Pawn of Ulamog also seems strong as the tokens can immediately sac themselves for extra triggers. Maybe take out Solemn Simulacrum as it's lackluster compared to some of your other pieces.

I also find Phyrexian Arena generally overrated and Herald's Horn might work better as 90% of your creatures are vampire and most have at least 1 generic, unless the reveal clause is an issue.

Other than that, seems pretty tight.

Spirits on Undying Persistence

3 years ago

Forgot my friend Erebos, Bleak-Hearted , definitely one of my fav's and fits your indestructible/god theme too. Phyrexian Arena is a good 6 power draw.

Last couple topics,

I made an assumption and grouped Draw above Damage, and Deathtouch above Token.

Deathtouch 16%, Control 16%, Damage/Life 15%, Recursion 8%, Token 6%, Draw 6%, Discard 2%, Ramp 2%, Land 29%

Further on Card Advantage (which includes draw):

I know why your doing it and the thought process behind it, but here's an alternative perspective.

Your cards like Blood Divination , Costly Plunder , Pitiless Pontiff , Bone Splinters , Final Payment , Severed Strands , Spark Harvest are usually paired with LTB effect (like your damage/life and afterlife abilities), more along lines of Grave Pact (Also Dictate of Erebos , Butcher of Malakir , Dark Prophecy , Nightmare Shepherd , Etc.) or Reveillark / Academy Rector types.

The issue is Blood Divination why not Necropotence ( Greed ) for CMC1 less, and no sacrifice, let's you refill your hand anytime, Grim Haruspex /Etc. Why Spark Harvest / Bone Splinters over Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile or Mortify or even Bloodchief's Thirst / Generous Gift if your after planeswalkers.

So how are creatures getting into the graveyard, if your not sacrificing them along with other effects, a value engine!! Skullclamp is a necessity, Viscera Seer is strong, Phyrexian Altar (this card is cEDH level though), more things like Priest of Forgotten Gods & Ayara, First of Locthwain . Why sacrifice a deathtouch creature to LTB damage/life when you can Corpse Knight instead and get the value up front? Yahenni, Undying Partisan , Village Rites is ok because its CMC1 and Instant, you don't need tutor in battlecruiser/low (up to power 5), but cards like Diabolic Intent which also feed into things like Mausoleum Secrets are value. Ashnod's Altar , Doom Foretold , Razaketh, the Foulblooded , etc.

Key is value in / value out. Don't waste the value out just to enable your recursion. Value-in, Value-out, then recur. More Immortal Servitude (battlefield), less Soul Salvage (hand). Reanimate / Animate Dead (anyone's graveyards), Unburial Rites , Victimize , Agadeem's Awakening  ^Flip, Revival / Revenge , Command the Dreadhorde , Blood for Bones .

Luminous Broodmoth / Lurrus of the Dream-Den could be some cool interaction with the graveyard.

Topic Interaction:

Kinda touched on it, in previous. Control 16% is quite a bit, inline with power level. If you replace Ashen Rider , Bone Splinters , Final Payment , Severed Strands , Spark Harvest . Some should become the "sac outlets", like Skullclamp / Viscera Seer and some just better interactions (Instant speed whenever possible). Anguished Unmaking , Utter End , Swords to Plowshares , Merciless Eviction , Plaguecrafter / Demon's Disciple (Better Fleshbag Marauder unless your utilizing the Zombie part), Shriekmaw , Path to Exile , Generous Gift , Deadly Rollick , Dire Tactics , Hagra Mauling  ^Flip, Unmake there's lots.

Burglar Rat : If you like him! Elderfang Disciple , Yarok's Fenlurker , Rotting Rats (with Unearth).

If you want to jump on a teams chat or anything when you have some time happy to help, just discord chat me, hopefully something that helps you focus this deck to a 4-5

ramamast on vampire tribunal

3 years ago

@multimedia,

thanks for the feedback I used your advise to alter the deck. I also came across a few more options for the deck. Would Cliffhaven Vampire be a good substitution for Epicure of Blood ? And can the cards Pitiless Pontiff and Etchings of the Chosen be of any use? I also want to get a commbination of the following cards of around 10 euros: Merciless Eviction 1.16, True Conviction 1.15, Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet 3.10, Olivia Voldaren 2.31, Kindred Boon 2.00, Captivating Vampire 5.00, Patron of the Vein 6.82, New Blood 3.50, Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose 4.50. Which ones should I go for?

Osbert on The Dark Knight

3 years ago

Curious why you aren't running Mirror Entity . It's basically a Craterhoof Behemoth but in white and even makes a vampire token on cast. I would take out Dark Imposter for it because Imposter's ability cost is not worth the effect.

Skullclamp is such a broken card in this deck that Steelshaper's Gift becomes a better Enlightened Tutor in a lot of situations. Mausoleum Secrets would be a fitting cut for it.

Sac outlets are good and the cheaper they are the better. I'd throw in Viscera Seer , Pitiless Pontiff , & Bloodthrone Vampire and take out Gifted Aetherborn, Falkenrath Aristocrat, and Mavren Fein Dusk.

Phyrexian Arena is a slow card that could be worth replacing with Dark Prophecy already found in your maybe list. Same CmC but you will draw WAY more cards off Prophecy.

If you want to play deeper into the aristocrats theme Pawn of Ulamog & Pitiless Plunderer are just houses of value that can also be part of an infinite combo involving looping Oathsworn Vampire while controlling a Blood Artist effect. Phyrexian Altar also fits in this loop but is prohibitively more expensive to purchase than the others. If you went this route I would remove Vona Butcher of Magan and maybe Olivia's Bloodsworn? Vona is clunky and high CmC and the Bloodsworn doesn't seem super useful given that none of your creatures will be particularly large and most of your mana will be spent deploying your forces and holding up interaction. It's still a useful effect just not very efficient.

Fibonachos on Orah Cleric Tribal

3 years ago

Good looking list! One or two suggestions, if you are going for life-gain Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim might be better value than Pitiless Pontiff. That being said, I'm not sure there is enough life gain to make Speaker of the Heavens worth. Other great 1 costs would be Mother of Runes and Giver of Runes. A sweet tutor to consider is Buried Alive, and good recursion in Victimize. Hope that helps!

SilentPlague on Blood is Constant

3 years ago

This is very similar to a deck I just put together. Seeing you have Athreos, God of Passage,you can pair it well with cards such as Corpse Knight and Cruel Celebrant for a constant wheel of life gain and opponent life loss. Then use Pitiless Pontiff and Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim to keep cycling that wheel. Teysa Karlov helps quicken the pace of this as well, but you are wasting the second ability if you can't get a bunch of tokens. Only reason I don't use her.

SilentPlague on Evolving Magic

3 years ago

craigm104, I agree I need a way to get my creatures off the board more often with Athreos, God of Passage out. I keep a rule for myself to not put more than 2 legendary creatures into a deck. So I have added in Pitiless Pontiff to help with the self sacrifice. Nothing wrong with some indestructible and death touch. I did add Debt to the Deathless into the sideboard to use for multiplayer games. No reason not to. If I add Teysa Karlov, I think I would need to add Beckon Apparition, but I want to keep the deck down to as few spells as possible for now. Her other ability would make her really good though in this deck. I mainly want to see if mutate can be a decent substitute for spells. For it to really work, Wizards probably need to add some more 1 drops in future sets that utilize the ability. Thanks for the help.