Stromkirk Mentor

Creature — Vampire Soldier

When Stromkirk Mentor enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on another target Vampire you control.

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
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (19)

LordBlackblade on

4 years ago

Alright, let's get down to it! Anje Falkenrath is relatively new and I'm not yet sold on her validity as a vampire commander. My primary hang up is the overall weakness of madness as a mechanic. It is still critically underrepresented on cards, and of those that do exist only a handful are actually any good. I'm not saying it can't be done, just that I am skeptical that it can compete with existing vampire archetypes.

Mana Base Show

I like to start with the mana base in any deck I look at as it is (in my opinion) most crucial in the smooth operation of a deck. To start, your land count looks good, right about the sweet spot for a deck of this type. That said, there are a few sub-optimal choices in lands I would like to point out.

Cut

• Bloodfell Caves
• Cinder Barrens
• Great Furnace
• Vault of Whispers

I try and avoid tap lands at all costs if possible. When running a low-to-the-ground deck like this, the loss of tempo from a tap land can be more damaging than the loss of color availability. In addition, I would discourage the use of artifact lands unless you are going for a specific artifact theme. This is simply because artifact lands are easier to destroy than regular lands and aren't worth the risk with literally no benefit in this particular list.

Add

• Ancient Ziggurat
• Blood Crypt
• Bloodstained Mire
• Graven Cairns
• Luxury Suite
• Path of Ancestry
• Unclaimed Territory
• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

I feel that any of these lands would be strong adds to your list. While some of the cards are a bit on the pricey side, I do feel they would improve the flow and power level of the deck.

Creatures Show

Vampires are usually pretty aggressively costed and there are a literal bevy of them to choose from. The key is choosing the cream of the crop to run in a singleton format.

Cut

• Bloodcrazed Neonate
• Bloodhall Priest
• Bloodsworn Steward
• Erdwal Ripper
• Falkenrath Reaver
• Heir of Falkenrath  ^Flip
• Incorrigible Youths
• Markov Crusader
• Stromkirk Mentor

Many of these creatures are either too costly or too under-powered for this format. It is important to remember that in EDH, efficiency is key. I would discourage playing any creature that falls short of the formula (Power+Toughness)/2=Converted Mana Cost (e.g. A 2/2 for two mana or better) unless it is especially crucial for your deck to function.

In addition impact is crucial. Bloodhall Priest for example is fairly costed, but doesn't do enough to advance your board state for the cost.

In

• Champion of Dusk
• Cordial Vampire
• Dusk Legion Zealot
• Malakir Bloodwitch
• Stromkirk Occultist
• Twilight Prophet
• Vicious Conquistador

These creatures are all what I would describe as impactful or highly efficient. When I mean impactful, cards like Malakir Bloodwitch make a big splash when they hit and are still relevant after the fact due to their efficient bodies. In terms of efficiency, Vicious Conquistador can put in a lot of work in the early game as a cheap, go-wide card.

Instants Show

In general 1-1 removal and "small" damage are not that great in EDH. Shoot for cards that are either modal a la Rakdos Charm or hit multiple targets such as Anger of the Gods or any board wipe (obviously most of these effects are sorceries rather than instants). Vampiric Fury seems just okay. Again in EDH these are just okay and are usually superseded by repeatable and/or static effects.

Out

• Fatal Push
• Fiery Temper
• Lightning Axe
• Lightning Bolt
• Sorin's Thirst

I don't have any good tips for adds here, but I would encourage you to look for modal or mass effect type cards for this category.

Sorceries Show

Honestly, these seem fine. I would urge you to add some more card draw. Things like Night's Whisper and Read the Bones are pretty solid choices.

In

• Burning Inquiry
• Cathartic Reunion
• Night's Whisper
• Read the Bones
• Tormenting Voice

These all seem like good choices to me and many of them double as potential madness triggers essentially negating their downsides.

Artifacts Show

Most of these are pretty standard; however, there are a couple that don't really fit your plan that I would personally cut.

Out

• Basilisk Collar
• Eldrazi Monument
• Rakdos Cluestone

Basilisk Collar is a solid equipment, but this is neither a voltron nor combo build that can effectively utilize it. I like Eldrazi Monument for its power; however, you lack the ability to produce enough fodder to sustain it long-term. Finally, Rakdos Cluestone is simply outclassed by other mana rocks, most notably my suggestion Talisman of Indulgence .

In

• Herald's Horn
• Talisman of Indulgence

Herald's Horn is just a good card in any tribal deck and I would highly recommend it!

My overall impression is that you've got a decent base here, but have made several choices that I see a lot of new EDH players make in their early decks. In general, you could use more card draw and I would encourage you to take a look at EDHREC or other vampire decks on here for inspiration in terms of what kinds of effects truly shine in EDH versus other formats.

DanaBarrosReincarnate on 8 Whack aggro

7 years ago

i know this has already been mentioned before, but if you can swing it, you should really consider adding (AT LEAST) the following cards:

2x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
3x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
2x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
3x Asylum Visitor
4x Grasp of Darkness
3x Transgress the Mind

though i like Voldaren Pariah  ^Flip for flavor, i'm not really convinced that it's worth it. she's a 3/3 for that requires sacrificing THREE creatures to do anything even halfway decent...maybe you can squeeze her in as a one-of? as an alternative win-con? iunno

in terms of which cards to remove, i would prob do:

-4x Nightmare
-4x Vampire Noble
-2x Stromkirk Mentor
-4x Resourceful Return
-4x Carrier Thrall

Nightmare isn't synergistic enough for including ANY really, let alone x4; Vampire Noble = just plain awful; Stromkirk Mentor is OKAY, but Kalitas is MUCH better; Resourceful Return is meh, especially with only 2x artifacts in the entire deck;

& maybe the hardest cut overall, Carrier Thrall--i understand the synergy with Indulgent Aristocrat, i do, but your curve is wayyyyyyyyy maxed on in the 2-drop, so you really need to cut something clogging up that spot. for creatures to sacrifice in-game, you'd still have:

4x Vampire Noble
2x Stromkirk Mentor (who have already served at least half of its purpose w/ the ETB trigger)
3x Asylum Visitor (if necessary)

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$i know my suggestions might break the bank a bit, but Amonkhet coming out soon, prices on a lot of cards are dropping pretty significantly. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet & Drana, Liberator of Malakir are still pretty expensive (around $50 for all five), BUT yahenni is only 1$, visitor is only $.60, & grasp/transgress fluctuate between $1 to $2.

SORRY FOR THE NOVEL / HOPE THIS HELPS !!

Ekaan92 on

7 years ago

Personally I would change Bold Impaler with Insolent Neonate since its more flexibl and can trigger madness I would also change Stromkirk Mentor with Incorrigible Youths since it fits more into your aggro plan , and can also trigger off madness to become super cheap, and they curve really well with Furyblade Vampire that's potentially 8 damage turn 3 with just two cards.

And I would also change Bloodmad Vampire with Heir of Falkenrath  ^Flip since in my opinion thats one of the strongest vampires in standard. It's a 3/2 with flying that triggers madness for one black & colorless, that's insane! It's also dirt cheap

Blard on W/B Vampires WIP copy

7 years ago

Stromkirk Mentor or Indulgent Aristocrat might work you should also try tribal staples like Adaptive Automaton

Pevira on Vampires

7 years ago

-2 Stromkirk Mentor for +2 Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet?

Tedaboy on

7 years ago

It's a good start for a budget deck. If you're interested in getting more competitive, cut many of the cards that aren't important to your strategy, and include more copies of the cards that are. For example, you probably don't want cards like Stromkirk Mentor, and Elusive Tormentor  ^Flip and you probably want a full 4 copies of Gifted Aetherborn and Stromkirk Condemned. Also, cut your deck down to 60 cards. It makes it much more consistent.

Laszlokh on Olivia Voldaren-Commander (Red/Black Vampire Deck)

7 years ago

Rakish Heir seems better than Incorrigible Youths as you don't need to discard anything and buffs your vampires. Stromkirk Captain seems better than Stromkirk Mentor because it is a more universal boost. Markov Blademaster I think would work better than Furyblade Vampire because you don't have that much madness. Phyrexian Arena can help you draw cards because you have a pretty low cmc. Necropolis Regent seems better than a Chancellor of the Dross as it buffs your creatures. Bloodlord of Vaasgoth seems like a better Markov Dreadknight because you don't need to discard anything. You have two Terminates, maybe replace one with a Feast of Blood? Curse of Bloodletting instead of Mark of the Vampire seems good. Blood Tribute seems pretty good. Kalastria Highborn is better than Falkenrath Noble. BTW, you are down four cards.

Kappa1234 on

7 years ago

cut Elusive Tormentor  ^Flip Cryptbreaker Markov Crusader Alms of the Vein Welcome to the Fold Reckless Scholar Bloodmad Vampire Markov Dreadknight Stromkirk Mentor . most of the reason for these is too little effect for high mana, or not enough synergy. Instead add Asylum Visitor Heir of Falkenrath  ^Flip Stromkirk Condemned Olivia, Mobilized for War and Collective Brutality .

If you want a great deck cut the blue and just go Red Black. the blue cards don't have any effect that red or black doesn't except counterspells but this deck doesn't need them. blue right now makes the deck less consistent in mana draws, and will give less odds to find a useful card.

I am sorry if I am destroying the identity of the deck, I am helping it to be a win more games.