Deck Last Updated: August 24ht, 2022.
Vampire Deatheaters is a deck I've reworked (and renamed) many times, with help from commenters. The deck is a vampire tribal deck which primarily plays around the first strike and deathtouch combo. It's an aggressive deck, where almost every move you make increases your vampires' power through +1/+1 counters. The deck used to be weak and inconsistent, but with some inspiration from GiantMonsterGames's Vampire Tribal - Budget, the deck has become very powerful. The two decks were originally similar, even before I found the Vampire Tribal - Budget deck, and I feel they are different enough that I haven't just copied their deck. As a bonus, the name "Vampire Deatheaters" is really heckin' edgy. Perfect to impress goth girls. But it does loosely describe the deck. The deck, with the sideboard, has a lot of creature removal and many card abilities trigger on creature deaths.
Thank you to Lame_Duck, kamarupa, owenger, lhetrick13 and Saccox for suggestions which have made it into the deck.
Mainboard
The deck's main creatures are Vampire of the Dire Moon, Gifted Aetherborn and Vampire Nighthawk. They are essentially the same creature but with different CMC, power and toughness. These Vampire creatures combo together with Stromkirk Captain to create the nasty first strike and deathtouch combos: Stromkirk Captain + Vampire of the Dire Moon
, Gifted Aetherborn + Stromkirk Captain
and Stromkirk Captain + Vampire Nighthawk
.
Stensia Masquerade is another source of first strike, but only while you're attacking. It also adds +1/+1 counters to Vampire creatures that deal damage to your opponent.
+1/+1 counters are the other strong focus of the deck. Your creatures gain +1/+1 counters through the following cards: Blade of the Bloodchief, Cordial Vampire, Urge to Feed and the previously mentioned Stensia Masquerade. Cordial Vampire is a particularly important combo for that purpose. Lastly, all three creatures: Vampire of the Dire Moon, Gifted Aetherborn and Vampire Nighthawk have the lifelink ability making Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose (added to the deck by popular demand) a secondary damage source. Although costly, Sangueine Bond does the same, doubling down on the secondary damage source. The combos are: Sanguine Bond + Vampire of the Dire Moon + Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
, Gifted Aetherborn + Sanguine Bond + Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
and Sanguine Bond + Vampire Nighthawk + Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
. Retrubition of the Ancients adds another way of removing creatures. The Cordial Vampire + Retribution of the Ancients
combo has the possibility of giving you a net zero or even a net positive number of +1/+1 counters. Two copies of Sign in Blood add extra card draw.
The deck has adequate mana and I run a pretty basic set of lands. I play Temple of Malice because I like the scry ability. Cinder Barrens should be seen as a placeholder land to be replaced by whatever dual-land type you prefer.
Sideboard
The sideboard needs some work, and suggestions are welcome. As it stands, it has a lot of extra destruction cards. Victim of the night is a normal destroy card, Bedevil has more utility, and Yahenni's Expertise works as a board clear. I've chosen Urge to Feed for the mainboard since -3/-3 is often enough to kill a creature and because of its ability to add more +1/+1 counter. I see Bolt Bend as a type of counterspell and Oblivion's Hunger as a potential creature protection card.
Upgrades and Card Swaps
This rework of the deck is powerful and plays much better than the original plays. As always, any feedback is welcome.
