When I first inherited my magic card collection from my stepbrother years ago, my stepbrother had built 5 decks- one for each color. The black one was vampire tribal and the first deck that I played and owned. Now, visiting back on that nostalgia, this is an upgraded version of that same deck, utilizing newer cards and stronger synergies. Here is an explanation of the cards.
Card Choice Explination
Vampire Lacerator- Incredibly powerful as a 2/2 for 1 mana, we don’t care too much about our own life total, hoping to end out the game before it becomes an issue.
Vicious Conquistador- Though it won’t trade damage with a Goblin Guide, Vicious Conquistador is essentially another 2/2 for 1 mana.
Vampire Cutthroat- While not as powerful as the above two vampires, Vampire Cutthroat offers lifelink and evasion, making it another powerful addition to this deck.
Pulse Tracker- A baby Vicious Conquistador, I only put it here to add redundancy and consistency.
Gifted Aetherborn- Incredibly powerful for its cost, it puts both lifelink and evasion (in the form of deathtouch) on a 2/3 body for only 2 mana.
Gatekeeper of Malakir- Decent enough as a 2/2 for 2 mana, the kicker cost offers efficient removal from turn three and onwards.
Victim of Night- Argueably one of the best removal spells for mono-black in modern, Victim of Night is unconditional removal against almost all decks in modern.
Grasp of Darkness- More removal, this targets the creatures Victim of Night cannot in addition to being able to destroy indestructible creatures.
Captivating Vampire- The cheaper of our two lords, not only does it pump our creatures, it’s second ability (while rarely used) can steal our opponents creatures.
Vampire Nighthawk- Basically puts Gifted Aetherborn on wings. I don’t need to explain how that is very strong and can finish games off by building our life total while dealing damage in the air.
Vampire Nocturnus- Possibly the strongest tribal lord in all of mtg, Vampire Nocturnus pumps all our creatures by +2/+1, and gives all of them evasion through flying. The only disadvantage is that with approximately 1/3 of our deck being lands there will always be turns where we aren’t getting this additional advantage.
Sideboard Options
Walk the Plank- This can be brought out in a mirror-match, as well as in more grindy games where more removal in necessary.
Tormod's Crypt- This is to be brought out against any deck using graveyard strategies.
Damping Sphere- This card completely obliterates storm and tron decks.
Vampire Hexmage- Takes out Chalice of the Void, Walking Ballista, Arcbound Ravager, and any planeswalker. In addition, it easily shrinks Scavenging Ooze.
Pithing Needle- Takes out key cards for combo decks and decks particularly reliant on any one, key card.
Duress- Added hand disruption, to take out threats before they’re cast, since we don’t have counterspells. I chose this over Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek since i can already take out creatures with removal and the creatures I have, and Duress is more budget-friendly.
