I started playing Magic when Ixalan debuted and this is my first constructed deck design. I've found this deck a lot of fun to play and can hold its own in Standard.
Colours
Black/White
Goals
- Put lots of vampires on the board
- Pump them up
- Combo
- Drain life without needing to get damage through
- Survive on minimal mana
Go Wide
Call to the Feast, Elenda, the Dusk Rose, Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle and Legion's Landing
all create 1/1 White Vampire Tokens with Lifelink.
There are4 copies each of Skymarcher Aspirant, Vicious Conquistador and Legion Lieutenant, which are 1-drop and 2-drop.
Going wide with the tokens helps to Ascend.
Pump
Legion Lieutenant and Radiant Destiny give immediate +1/+1 to each Vampire (including Tokens). Radiant Destiny also gives Vigilance to all Vampires in this deck (including Tokens) once you Ascend.
Getting even 2 of these pump cards onto the battle field has big benefits:- Vampire Tokens are now 3/3 with Lifelink- Skymarcher Aspirant is now a 1-mana 4/3 (with Flying if you Ascend)- Vicious Conquistador is now a 1-mana 3/4 that deals 1 damage immediately on every attack
Combos
All combos in this deck work with Forerunner of the Legion. He gives +1/+1 to a target creature whenever a Vampire enters the battlefield.
If you can get 2 Forerunner of the Legion on the battle field, all of these pumps double.
Forerunner of the Legion + Twilight Prophet
work for a 2-turn combo. Requires the City's Blessing. With Twilight Prophet on the battle field, play Forerunner of the Legion and bring a 4-mana cost creature to the top of your library. Then, on your upkeep, draw that 4-mana cost creature and deal 4 damage to opponent.
Unblockable Life Drain
Vicious Conquistador and Sanctum Seeker both deal damage immediately when attacking. Play Call to the Feast to bring in tokens. Then, on the next turn, play Sanctum Seeker immediately before combat and swing with all of the tokens (and any other vampires that are convenient).
Minimal Mana
Everything in this deck is 4 mana cost or less. Big creatures come through getting out multiple pump cards and triggering Forerunner of the Legion's ability. 5 mana seems to be the point where this deck comes alive. Unclaimed Territory helps have the required mana colour for casting creatures since every creature is a vampire.
Removal
Walk the Plank is cheep creature removal, unless you're battling Merfolk.
Vampire's Zeal is semi-creature removal since it gives +2/+2 and First Strike. It's likely to help a vampire in combat and can prevent a creature with Death Touch from touching your creature.
