Okay, so this is my first deck built. Ever. I'm fairly new to MTG.
Anyway, this deck focuses on lifelink and similar effects to take your opponent's life and smear it all over the floor. I'm going to separate the description into categories per type of card so it's easier to follow and describe. I go over each and every card and why they're useful, but there's a TL;DR at the bottom.
It's a 62-card deck, so any suggestions on what to eliminate would be super helpful. I'm thinking taking out one of the Typhoid Rats, but then I need to take out one more and I'm not sure what to remove.
Enchantments
Exquisite Blood and Sanguine Bond will stack off of each other and result in an automatic win unless they're stopped with an instant or something like that. That was the founding concept of this deck, though it's morphed into quite a bit more than just "get these enchantments on the board and you win".
Tainted Remedy is an excellent counter to all those pesky life-stacking decks. Those kinds of decks will slow you down, but you'll still win in the end if you get that Sanguine Bond/Exquisite Blood combo (I'm just gonna call it SBEBC from now on for simplicity.) out on the field. However, since you'll be draining their life very quickly, this serves as insurance.
Elixir of Immortality has a few reasons for being in there. First and foremost, it gives you life. But it's also great for a few other reasons to be explained later.
Land
22 land is a decent mana curve for this deck, I think. I was thinking of going 20, but I have some fairly expensive cards in here, so I thought 22 would be the safer choice.
Piranha Marsh is great for setting off your SBEBC and still provides mana.
Equipment
Loxodon Warhammer is the only equipment in the deck, and I have two of them for a very important reason; trample. A fair amount of my creatures have lifelink already, but the +3/+0 and trample are devastating, especially if equipped to a Vampire Nighthawk or Griselbrand.
Sorcery
Sorin's Vengence doesn't even need SBEBC. It's just a massively overpowered hit. Sure, it costs 7 mana, but that's why the curve is so high.
Assassinate is good in a pinch, because it will take out any tapped creature. Attack and then cast this during second main phase? Boom. Either they take a direct hit or it's a tapped creature. Fairly cheap and great for taking out high-profile targets that tend to come with green decks.
Blood Tribute can be kicked by tapping any untapped vampire, and this deck has a lot of vampires. This is nearly as strong as Sorin's Vengeance, depending on the opponent's life. If they're stacking life and you haven't managed to get one of your Tainted Remedies out of your deck yet, it's even stronger. Also very good if you're low on HP and they've got a decent amount.
Crypt Incursion works well for healing you (and damaging them if you have Sanguine Bond on the field), but also works even better considering your creatures with deathtouch will probably ravage the battlefield.
Diabolic Tutor is great for actually finding something you need, like Platinum Angel or a part of your SBEBC.
Creatures
Stuffy Doll is an indescructible blocker that will basically make it impossible for your opponent to attack you with any high-profile creatures they may have on the battlefield. Since you choose who blocks what, you can have your Stuffy Doll block that 12/12 creature and deal all that damage to the enemy player. It's expensive, but, you know, mana curve.
Platinum Angel is great for being in a tight spot. It's an artifact creature, so a little easier to take out, but it's also flying and 4/4, so it carries a punch while it's on the battlefield. It's a little heavy on cost, so I'd be wary when using it.
Divinity of Pride is a great card to have; 4/4 with lifelink and flying. And another 4/4 if you have over 25 life, which you probably will once your lifelink stacking hits them a couple times. Add a Loxodon Hammer to this and suddenly you have 11/8 with trample, flying, and lifelink.
Typhoid Rats are simple. One mana, 1/1, deathtouch. Can block and wipe out high-profile targets unless they have first strike or some sort of instant backing them up.
Gatekeeper of Malakir adds to the theme of taking out your enemy's creatures.
Bloodghast is fantastic, especially if you get it out early on. It'll keep coming back as you throw in some land, and it has haste. Meaning you can just keep whipping it out over and over again. It might not be that powerful, but it's great for an endless barrage of creatures. Just what you'd ask for in an undead army. Also, since there are a few cards in my deck (like Griselbrand) that will let me mill it, I can avoid paying the mana cost to get him on the field.
Blood Seeker is very straight forward; make them lose life. If you have your SBEBC on the field, they can't even summon creatures without losing them game. Heh.
Blood Artist follows the same concept. If they attack and destroy something you blocked with, lifelink!
Griselbrand is the game changer (aside from deathtouch and your Loxodon Warhammers buffind up creatures with deathtouch). Not because of the 7/7, but because of the ability. It lets you mill your deck to find certain cards... and guess what? Those elixirs of immortality? Yeah. play those next round and all the cards you had to discard will just be right back in the library. Talk about recycling. The best part is, you'll probably have life to spare to do this at least 2 times, if not 3 or 4, due to your lifelink and SBEBC.
But if Griselbrand isn't scary enough, then Bloodline Keeper almost definitely is. A deck focused on vampires. With two of these in it. Power AND numbers.
Phyrexian Arena allows you to draw an extra card per turn at the cost of one life. Not a big deal, since lifelink will keep that sustained. In the long run it can be a little bit of a risk, but 2 cards per turn can be worth it.
With Vampire Envoy, you can attack (and without reach or flying, they can't block) or block (with decent toughness) and tap to trigger lifegain.
Vampire Nighthawks because no vampire or lifelink deck is worth mentioning without 4 of these.
Planeswalkers
Liliana Vess Want to swarm the enemy? That -8. The -2 is also amazing just for finding cards you need. You can also just do this twice right off the bat, since her original loyalty is 5. Oh, and that +1 can slow down your opponent before they can even cast their spells.
Liliana of the Dark Realms is actually something I stumbled upon when I went to the store. I originally wanted Liliana of the Veil, but that costed more than my entire deck, and this one worked better for my deck anyway. Starting with 3 loyalty, I can search my deck for land, something that would cost Liliana Vess -2 to do if I needed swamps that badly. I probably won't use the -3 too too often unless I really need a powerhouse - deathtouch and lifelink typically do all the damage I need. But the -6 is the real beauty, since it multiplies my mana pool by 4.
Sideboard
Nothing super major in here. I haven't put much thought into the sideboard, to be honest. Mostly just cards I'd like to put into my deck but can't, the exception of Bog Serpent, Wall of Bone, and Will-o'-the-Wisp.
Bog Serpent was originally in but I tossed it. I only have it in the side deck just in case there's a situation that calls specifically for him. I'll easily toss him out of the side deck if there's a space problem.
Wall of Bone isn't particularly great, but it's 1/4 and it can regenerate.
Same concept for Will-o'-the-Wisp; it's flying, it can regenerate, makes an excellent blocker, and it only costs one mana.
TL;DR
A massively powerful lifelink deck with an auto-win combo inside with several deck-searching cards to not only draw it out, but also any land or creatures I may need. Focuses on vampires. A major feature is that I can mill my own deck through various means (mainly paying life, but the lifelink will keep me sustained, especially if I get the specific card I need) and then throw it all back into the library with Elixir of Immortality.
