The Markov Bloodlines

Commander / EDH RBW (Mardu) Tribal Vampires

Migerusan

Creature (30)

• 1x Anowon, the Ruin Sage
• 1x Bishop of Rebirth
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Bloodcrazed Paladin
• 1x Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip
• 1x Bloodlord of Vaasgoth
• 1x Butcher of Malakir
• 1x Captivating Vampire
• 1x Champion of Dusk
• 1x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
• 1x Dusk Legion Zealot
• 1x Elenda, the Dusk Rose
• 1x Falkenrath Noble
• 1x Forerunner of the Legion
• 1x Indulgent Aristocrat
• 1x Kalastria Highborn
• 1x Legion Lieutenant
• 1x Malakir Bloodwitch
• 1x Markov Blademaster
• 1x Nirkana Revenant
• 1x Olivia Voldaren
• 1x Patron of the Vein
• 1x Sanctum Seeker
• 1x Shadow Alley Denizen
• 1x Stromkirk Captain
• 1x Twilight Prophet
• 1x Vampire Cutthroat
• 1x Vampire Nighthawk
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Vona, Butcher of Magan

Instant (7)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Rakdos Charm
• 1x Succumb to Temptation
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Terminate
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Land (36)

• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Mortuary Mire
• 3x Mountain
• 1x Nomad Outpost
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 3x Plains
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 4x Swamp
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Unclaimed Territory
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of the Archangel

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Anointed Procession
• 1x Arguel's Blood Fast  ^Flip
• 1x Fervor
• 1x Legion's Landing  ^Flip
• 1x Mana Echoes
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Smothering Tithe

Commander (1)

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Blood Tribute
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x New Blood
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Patriarch's Bidding
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Vandalblast
• 1x Vindicate
• 1x Wrath of God

Artifact (8)

• 1x Darksteel Ingot
• 1x Elixir of Immortality
• 1x Herald's Horn
• 1x Mardu Banner
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

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Edgar the Patriarch

When playing tribal it is important to understand the advantages certain commanders offer to the tribe. Edgar Markov is the most impactful vampire commander there is, creating a board presence that can be felt even when he is not on the battlefield thanks to eminence.

Furthermore, the advantages over other vampire commanders such as Olivia Voldaren or Anowon, the Ruin Sage is his color identity. Mardu is an aggresive color combination and will keep other players in check with enough removal and constant attacks.

Growing Ranks

The reason behind every creature being a vampire is the eminence ability, eminence requires a lot of commitment and in other decks it could be dangerous to stay within a single type of creature, but on this deck it works perfectly because it provides double the amount of tribal pieces we want. This deck relies on numbers, and there are cards which will rewards us for having a large number of creatures.

1. Anointed Procession is an amazing card which will double the amount of tokens, and triple our creature count if played early. For every vampire we cast, we get two more, what's not to like?
2. Legion's Landing   provides two things: vampire tokens, and a source of mana. Played early means we will quickly have a a reliable source of vampires beyond Edgar and a source of mana if needed. Late game provides a way to obtain more vampires once our resources have been depleted.
3. Mana Echoes has an effect which rewards numbers, and with the cards mentioned before, trust me when i say we will have numbers. For every vampire who enters the battlefield we get colorless mana depending on the amount of vampires we control, this turns every token into a cost reduction effect for all other spells. With this card out, chaining several spells in a turn becomes quite easy.
4. Champion of Dusk provides card advantage based on our numbers, we will lose life as a result but with the lifegain this deck provides we'll barely feel it. Don't be afraid to cast the champion to draw only two or three cards, it doesn't need to draw our entire deck to be good.
5. Malakir Bloodwitch is an excellent way to regain life lost throughout the game and leave an opponent within kill range. Generally we want to cast this while our numbers are large. Let's not hold this for too long and use it when we deem appropriate.
6. Twilight Prophet with the City's Blessing becomes the most reliable way to obtain card advantage, inflict damage, and gain life all in the same turn. The prophet is an all around all-star in this deck, with four lands, and three vampires casted we'll get the city's blessing early on, and while that might seem unlikely, this deck will reach ten permanents every game at one point or another.

Glorious Anthem

While a board full of creatures can be impressive, it doesn't threaten a victory if there is a lack in power. Edgar himself is able to boost the power of our vampires but there is a need for redundancy.

1. Legion Lieutenant and Stromkirk Captain both give other vampires +1/+1, and the captain provides them with first strike, plain and simple but it provides exactly what we need.
2. Captivating Vampire like the lieutenant and captain above gives other vampires +1/+1, but it also has the ability to steal other creatures once we have enough vampires.
3. Bloodline Keeper   needs a bit of work, but once transformed gives other vampires +2/+2. Let's not ignore how he is able to provide tokens by himself even without transforming.
4. With Drana, Liberator of Malakir there is always the chance for her to be blocked, we have to look for an opening and strike when the opportunity presents itself, with her evasion she has the advantage over regular blockers so it is likely to boost our creatures.
5. Indulgent Aristocrat sacrifices a vampire and lets the others grow stronger. With the amount of tokens we are able to produce we'll often have enough fodder for this effect to take place.
6. Patron of the Vein is removal spell which provides an immediate boost to all of our creatures. It combos well with Butcher of Malakir and the aforementioned Indulgent Aristocrat.
7. Bloodlord of Vaasgoth is a massive boost to any vampires we cast after combat. Attacking with enough vampires to ensure the effect to take place is a must, but given the nature of the deck it won't be a problem.
8. Stensia Masquerade is a wonderful card, it provides a keyword which discourages blocking and boosts creatures who dealt damage, the madness keyword can be used in response to a discard effect.
9. Finally, Sorin, Lord of Innistrad is our best bet to permanently boost our creatures. We have to play smart with this planeswalker, create an emblem and then create tokens until we create a second emblem, likely we can get two +1/+0 emblems with the amount of blockers we can produce.

Nevermore

These are some cards not included for various reasons. Personally i like these cards but i don't think they fit thematically with the deck.

1. Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle doesn't fit with the deck, he provides one token with attacks of non-token creatures. Half of our creatures will always be tokens and overall i find him to be very slow.
2. Vampire Nocturnus is an amazing card, but it should be played within a mono-black deck. Triple means that often it will be a dead draw because of our three color identity.
3. Necropolis Regent suffers from the same problem as nocturnus above, triple is difficult to obtain in a three color identity, and at six cmc we could be casting Edgar himself.
4. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is a nice card, but it fits better within a zombie tribal. Also, his sacrifice ability benefits only himself.
5. Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet is powerful indeed, but given his lack of haste it is unlikely to survive to use his ability. A vampire dragged down by its cmc, slow ability, and the huge target it paints on itself.
6. Call the Bloodline is a card i would love to play, creating lifelink vampire knights sounds fun as hell, but it doesn't fit the thematic of the deck. This card fits better with Olivia, Mobilized for War in a madness deck.
7. Exquisite Blood and Sanguine Bond are a powerful combination, and a flavorful way to win in this deck. Despite this, i feel that ten mana for two enchantments which have no guarantee of remaining in the battlefield is a lot.
8. Dictate of Erebos and Grave Pact could potentially be included, but given the lack of sacrifice outlets i rather avoid these. I also dislike Grave Pact's triple as it is difficult to obtain.

Badlands

Dual lands and fetch lands are the cream of the crop of mana bases in EDH. I would love to replace some of the lands which are not as reliable either by entering the battlefield tapped or not providing the necessary mana.

1. Polluted Delta and Verdant Catacombs can replace Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse for faster interaction, they fetch shocklands and dual lands, also they can fetch basics if you so desire.
2. Badlands and Scrubland could replace Sacred Foundry and Clifftop Retreat . White and Red are colors that function as a supporting role, but aren't as necessary as Black is, also this shift in mana base could potentially allow for more restrictive black spells.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	2 years
Exclude colors	UG
Splash colors	WR
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 42 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.11
Tokens	City's Blessing, Emblem Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Treasure, Vampire 1/1 B, Vampire 1/1 B w/ Lifelink, Vampire 1/1 W, Vampire 2/2 B