Today we are going to take a look at Commander 2017's Vampiric bloodlust. We are examining what needs to be removed and what we need to put in its place.
What is Vampiric Bloodlust trying to do?
In magic, commander specifically, there are 3 ways to for an aggressive deck. We can play a few creatures and make them large (cats), we can play large creatures (dragons), or we can overwhelm them with numbers (Vampires). This is Vampiric Bloodlust's goal, play so many creatures our opponents cannot answer them all. Tokens are a very important part of this strategy as are anthem effects (like our commander). This deck also has a flavorful subtheme of draining health from our opponents. With that in mind let's take a look at what needs to be removed.
Remove:
Vein Drinker- A 6 mana 4/4 flier isn't good. her ability to fight an opposing creature just gets her killed faster. Just not worth the cost.
Licia, Sanguine Tribune- 8 mana is too expensive to play. While we can jump through the hoops to make her cheaper, I don't feel that she is worth it without dedicating more to lifegain than I'm willing to.
Skeletal Vampire- More expensive than I like and the bats wont be affected by some of our anthem effects.
Pawn of Ulamog- not the tokens we are looking for.
Rakish Heir- too vanilla
Blood Tribute- Flavorful, but meh
Ambition's Cost, Read the Bones, Skeletal Scrying- I want repeated card draw / advantage, not one time.
Outpost Siege- Not sure what this is supposed to do here.
Curse of Disturbance- Wrong kind of tokens.
Kabira Crossroads- I can think of a better land (basic plains would be).
Iffy:
Bloodsworn Steward- a 4/4 flier for 4 is fine. His ability to give our 5/5 (once he attacks) commander +2/+2 is ok as well. Giving our already hasty commander haste is a waste. This puts him down to filler level to me, which is fine. But there are other decks where he will shine (like any partner deck).
Crimson Honor Guard- Just kinda meh. I don't want to cast my commander too early and will feel rushed to do so. 4/5 for 5 doesn't impress me.
Kindred Boon- Will test before removing, but it feels like it should be in the cat or dragon deck. This deck is more about numbers than a couple powerful creatures.
Curse of Vitality- Not sure, but gives me another way to trigger lifegain triggers that may be useful. Probably needs removed.
So, I've removed 5 vampires and 2 more are on the line. 6 Other cards need replacements as well.
New Vampires
Bloodline Keeper- The most obvious addition to this deck is where I'm going first. I don't think I need to explain why this card is so good in this deck.
Cliffhaven Vampire- Turning lifegain into opponents life loss is the only way lifegain works.
Drana, Liberator of Malakir- Another walking anthem effect.
Drana's Emissary- this is the kind of filler we are looking for. It's a small enough
Indulgent Aristocrat- Sac outlet that turns our tokens into anthems.
Olivia Voldaren- This is a must answer threat that is on theme.
Sorin- Any sorin works well in this deck. I like lord of innistrad most.
Non Vampires:
Vault of the Archangel- I already put this in nearly every black and white deck I play, but it's very on theme here with incremental lifegain. Deathtouch will also ensure our small creature trade favorably with their larger creatures.
Campaign of Vengeance- This is an interesting anthem like effect for our horde of vampires.
Cover of Darkness- On theme effect that will give our entire horde evasion.
Greed- With all the lifegain paying 2 life to draw a card is worth it.
Phyrexian Arena- best repeated card draw available to mardu.
Phyrexian Reclamation- Our creatures are on the cheap side, bring them back and recast them.
That concludes my deck changes, but let's look at some other options:
Cathars' Crusade- We are already putting +1/+1 counters on our creatures. This will pump them up even faster. Stack the token to come into play before putting counters on creatures and both creatures will start out larger.
Path of Bravery- There are tons of anthem effects. This one has the benefit of giving us some life too.
Hope you enjoyed this look at Vampiric Bloodlust. See you next time.
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