Creature (25)
Land (24)
Sideboard
Sorcery (9)
Enchantment (3)
Artifact (3)
Maybeboard
Enchantment (1)
If you're looking for a hyper-competitive deck, Vampires is not really it right now. However, flooding the board with small creatures and turning them sideways is always a decent strategy and the new Ixalan Black/White vampires are actually pretty darn good at doing just that. You may not Top 8 a GP with this list but there's no reason you couldn't steal an FNM with it, and on a shoestring budget, too. Plus smashing face with your vampire horde is really quite fun.
But enough of my rambling. On to the deck! (And make sure to read to the end for upgrade suggestions.)
Our Sanguine Congregation
I'm gonna start with the payoff creatures first: Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle and Sanctum Seeker. These guys look somewhat unassuming but they're actually very strong. Mavren Fein is a below-par body on his own but most of the time we'll be able to trigger him on the turn we cast him, and once we're swinging consistently, he's a massive value engine that feeds perfectly into our go-wide strategy. Sanctum Seeker is also below-curve but a 3/4 actually attacks pretty well into a lot of boards, and then there's his ability, which is absurd. Play this guy on turn four and every one of your creatures becomes a master of attrition fighting. If you ever get out more than one, your opponent will likely die on the next swing.
To make sure we can trigger Mavren Fein and Sanctum Seeker consistently, we're running a few evasive and pseudo-evasive creatures: Duskborne Skymarcher, Adanto Vanguard, and Skyblade of the Legion. Duskborne Skymarcher is a great turn-1 play and its ability makes it relevant even after it's been outclassed later on. Adanto Vanguard attacks as a 3/1 into virtually any board and ensures we can keep a board state through most wraths; paying 4 life to keep it alive is a real cost, but this deck has just enough Lifelink and drain to make it reasonable. Skyblade of the Legion is basically Vanguard 5-8. It's a Shock-proof turn 2 play that can almost always attack safely on turn 3 to get that Mavren Fein value started early, plus it blocks a lot of flyers in a pinch. It isn't the best card in our deck but the evasion is really important.
Finally, we have our value creatures to fill in the gaps: Vicious Conquistador, Gifted Aetherborn, and Queen's Commission. Vicious Conquistador is effectively a 2/2 for B when attacking into an open board, it can block Bomat Courier for days, and it gets one point of damage through even when blocked. Not bad for the cost. Gifted Aetherborn is an amazing card that's way above the curve, but it's also going for $3 a pop right now, and our mana isn't the strongest so I'm only running two to help lighten the mana load as well as the budget. Queen's Commission helps accelerate our board very efficiently while also filling in a gap in our curve, plus the lifelink is nice.
Implements of Holy Conquest
Our removal package is... a bit janky. Fatal Push is way out of our budget, so we're running Vampire's Zeal instead. Combat tricks are rarely in vogue for Constructed formats, I know, but our creatures are going to become outclassed pretty quickly and Vampire's Zeal might just be the key to helping us force damage through, plus it's really nice on our Lifelinkers. Walk the Plank is an obvious inclusion; the Sorcery speed makes it really clunky but it does the job.
The Promised Lands
Other than the usual budget stuff (Forsaken Sanctuary and basics), we're also running a spicy Desert package: Ifnir Deadlands to pick off blockers, Shefet Dunes to set us up for huge slams, and a copy of Scavenger Grounds to give us better Game 1s against graveyard shenanigans. Shefet Dunes is particularly notable since it powers up our go-wide plan perfectly, pumping the team when we start to flood out.
Prayers Answered
The sideboard mostly makes itself. Crook of Condemnation is more graveyard hate, Lost Legacy hamstrings combo, Duress helps with non-creature matchups, and Ixalan's Binding is some catch-all removal with upside. Where things start to get interesting are with Dusk / Dawn. Most of our creatures naturally have only 1 or 2 power so in the right matchups, Dusk/Dawn can take out our opponent's board while leaving our own untouched (seriously, this card is gas in the right matchups.
Temptations
I designed this deck to be bargain-basement cheap, but there are a lot of ways it can be improved very easily for a few more bucks.
First and foremost, replace Forsaken Sanctuary for Concealed Courtyard. This deck has greedy color requirements and a low curve, a rough combination. Being able to play an untapped dual land on turn 1 would allow you to play a Duskborne Skymarcher into a Gifted Aetherborn into a Mavren Fein into a Sanctum Seeker, all without having to drain yourself with a desert. This is a massive upgrade, allowing you to empty your hand and start swinging much, much more efficiently. You should also probably add a second Scavenger Grounds while you're at it (in place of a basic land), since that card can auto-win you a lot of matchups.
Once you've upgraded your mana, drop two Skyblades and go up to the full 4 Gifted Aetherborns, which is such a strong card. Seriously, I've had opponents hit me with a turn-2 Lay Bare the Heart, see a hand of white mana, great White creatures, removal, and Gifted Aetherborn, and still take Gifted Aetherborn. They never want to have to deal with this on the battlefield, and I do not blame them.
Then, take out Vampire's Zeal and one Walk the Plank for 4x Fatal Push. That change more than doubles the budget but Push is unparalleled at what it does. You'll notice an improvement in play instantly.
I haven't had a chance to test it but it's possible that Legion's Landing is better than Duskborne Skymarcher; I'm not convinced the deck really wants ramp or to grind out one 1/1 vampire each turn for 3 mana, but the opportunity cost for playing it is really low so I could see how Legion's Landing might be really good. Still, it's rather pricey so I left it out of the initial build.
Finally, Cast Out is probably better than Ixalan's Binding for the sideboard. Ixalan's Binding has real upside, don't get me wrong, but the combination of Cycling and Flash makes Cast Out probably better overall, allowing for blow-outs while also letting you use your mana more efficiently.
Go Forth
And that about covers it. Thanks for reading, and I hope you like the deck; it's done surprisingly well in testing so far, considering the budget. Sanctum Seeker is a really powerful Magic card and it will win you way more games than you think. Let me know if you have any suggestions!
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Revision 3 See all
(6 years ago)
| +4 | Adanto Vanguard | main |
| -1 | Bishop of the Bloodstained | side |
| -2 | Bishop's Soldier | main |
| -1 | Dusk / Dawn | side |
| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 6 years |
| Last updated | 6 years |
| Legality | This deck is not Standard legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 8 - 5 Rares 25 - 6 Uncommons 15 - 4 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.11 |
| Tokens | Vampire 1/1 W |
| Folders | ST decks, Mono Black Troll, stand, 0014 Műszak utáni fehér vámpíroskodás |
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