Yup, it's another Edgar Markov deck popping up here and yes I do know I'm late to the vampire party in that regard, but that's part due to the fact that I didn't initially intend to build a deck with him at the helm. In fact, this list started out as an Elenda, the Dusk Rose Aristocrat like build, but as I started compiling the list I ended up with a few things that made me sway away from her a little bit, at least as the Commander itself. First of all, Elenda is quite build around and in general you'd be casting her once maybe twice in order to go off with her token generation. Secondly, as the list came along I just had a few red cards I would love to run with her, after which I looked at my Mardu Commander options and ended up with Edgar as a decent choice due to the token generation.
I still wanted to make use of Elenda as a win condition, but where Elenda loves to go wide with token generation Edgar narrows itself down more to a vampire token strategy. Furthermore, I needed ways to actually get and get back Elenda when needed, resulting in a Mardu Vampire Aristocrats concoction. The only big problem was that the list wanted to be a pillowfort yet lacked all the defensive pieces to make that work, making it more feel like a storm kind of playstyle... but then a bad one.
Unhappy with how that was coming together, I decided to look at other Edgar Markov decks and stumbled upon ISBPathfinder's Low Mana Curve Build and liked the aggressive stance of the deck. Unfortunately, being on a budget I simply didn't have access to all the pieces in his list, but it functions as a nice base to build my own variant from. Now, this version of the deck isn't going to be as efficient as his build, but being in a fairly casual meta myself at this moment I can play around with cards that I do enjoy or just want to try out.
First note, the mana base is still a work in progress and is something I will be tweaking next, I am just making use of the cards that I do have around right now and focused on getting some cards to round out the rest of the deck first.
Strategy
The deck mainly tries to play the low curve aggro game while trying to generate a bunch of (mainly) vampire tokens as well. Since the deck still runs Elenda there are a few sacrifice outlets present to aid with that and added Karmic Guide/Reveillark as alternative win condition options as well. Additionally, the deck runs a light +1/+1 counter synergy as well.
Budget Cuts
Definitely the most notably missing cards for me are Bloodline Keeper and Purphoros, God of the Forge. They are simply slightly more costly cards nowadays hence why they are being left out of the deck. Yeah, I know I run a few far more costly cards, but those are cards I already own and move between decks. And for the time being I'm only planning to do the more affordable tweaks to the deck, pretty much trying to stay with cards that cost less than $3 a piece right now.
I know it's not a vampire, but have you thought about trying Twilight Drover? It would really fit in with the token theme, particularly when you've got one of your sac outlets going.
It could definitely do some work in the deck, so will have to see how much it fits into things. So far I've been trying to limit how many different kinds of tokens the deck generates, since it's no longer an all out Aristocrats list like it initially turned out. I'll be giving it some thought though, so thanks for the suggestion!
It's called that way as it's working somewhat with building up on +1/+1 counters through attacking, so charging up on counters and charging in to get them.
Some small tweaks were made to the deck, with a few updates to the mana base in progress. More notable changes are Toxic Deluge being switched out for Austere Command, Deluge hurts in many ways and the life loss in this deck can quickly add up. Austere Command can act more selective and helps more against any stax effects that stop the aggro plan.
Additionally, in contemplating Twilight Drover for the deck, I ended up actually bringing in Teysa, Orzhov Scion for just slightly more utility. I cut Reckless Fireweaver for it, which was pretty much a 'cute' inclusion with incidental upside. It wasn't good enough and this way I didn't have to cut a vampire for it either.
While I'm planning a few more changes to the deck, I did switch around a few cards to help the tweak the deck and test a few other cards until I get to acquire the cards that I'm missing. Behind the Scenes was interesting to try but simply not good enough, seeing that I pulled Urborg out of one of my other decks and added it here, I decided to give Filth a go. With a few sac outlets it shouldn't be too big of an issue to get it into the graveyard.
Golden Demise more often than not wasn't doing enough and while it feels bad to cut into my limited removal, I opted to add some more offensive power instead. Gruesome Fate might seem perhaps less efficient in an Aristocrat like list but the deck can build numbers quickly so it's worth a shot. Alesha, Who Smiles At Death was interesting but fairly situational, not being a vampire made me cut her in favor of some more card draw through Minions' Murmurs.
Right now, I'm still looking to improve the evasion in this deck, as well as card draw a bit more. After that I'll start looking into where and what kind of answers I need to add to the deck.
Added Iroas, God of Victory was added as trying a new means of giving my creatures some evasion and doubles up on a Reconnaissance like effect, while the counters part of Stensia Masquerade is nice the first strike part has been less impressing and since I'm cutting the one card that benefits of this, I felt that it was time to take Masquerade out. That other card being Mer-Ek Nightblade, when it's there it does do a fair bit of work but it's been eating removal a fair bit. So with Masquerade out I switched Nightblade into Metallic Mimic; while not a vampire itself, sadly, it helps spreading around some counters and they do stick around even when Mimic is removed.
While I'm not sure if it will stick around, I did end up adding Retribution of the Ancients to take advantage of the counters this deck builds and provide some form of removal through it as well. I opted to cut Gifted Aetherborn for her, losing the little bit of lifelink might be annoying but the main reason for the cut is simply the double black casting cost of it. Additionally, I took out Vampire Cutthroat which was pretty much card number 99 when I made this list anyways, in favor of some reanimation through Phyrexian Reclamation.
And the other card cut is Diabolic Tutor, which I took out in order to add some more regular card draw in the form of Tymna the Weaver, as well as to tweak the curve of the deck a tad after all these changes.
It's been tempting to add Abzan Battle Priest, as while no vampire spreading the lifelink all around can be nice, as the deck is fairly taxing on my life total.
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Edgar Markov's
Counter Charging Aristocrats
I still wanted to make use of Elenda as a win condition, but where Elenda loves to go wide with token generation Edgar narrows itself down more to a vampire token strategy. Furthermore, I needed ways to actually get and get back Elenda when needed, resulting in a Mardu Vampire Aristocrats concoction. The only big problem was that the list wanted to be a pillowfort yet lacked all the defensive pieces to make that work, making it more feel like a storm kind of playstyle... but then a bad one.
Unhappy with how that was coming together, I decided to look at other Edgar Markov decks and stumbled upon ISBPathfinder's Low Mana Curve Build and liked the aggressive stance of the deck. Unfortunately, being on a budget I simply didn't have access to all the pieces in his list, but it functions as a nice base to build my own variant from. Now, this version of the deck isn't going to be as efficient as his build, but being in a fairly casual meta myself at this moment I can play around with cards that I do enjoy or just want to try out.
So here is my current list:
1 Duskborne Skymarcher
1 Guul Draz Vampire
1 Indulgent Aristocrat
1 Insolent Neonate
1 Pulse Tracker
1 Quag Vampires
1 Shadow Alley Denizen
1 Stromkirk Noble
1 Vicious Conquistador
1 Viscera Seer
2 Blood Artist
2 Blood Seeker
2 Bloodthrone Vampire
2 Dusk Legion Zealot
2 Falkenrath Exterminator
2 Legion Lieutenant
2 Martyr of Dusk
2 Metallic Mimic
2 Oathsworn Vampire
2 Olivia's Bloodsworn
2 Tithe Drinker
2 Zulaport Cutthroat
3 Drana, Liberator of Malakir
3 Forerunner of the Legion
3 Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle
3 Rakish Heir
3 Stromkirk Captain
3 Teysa, Orzhov Scion
3 Tymna the Weaver
4 Elenda, the Dusk Rose
4 Filth
4 Iroas, God of Victory
4 Pitiless Plunderer
4 Sanctum Seeker
5 Champion of Dusk
5 Karmic Guide
5 Malakir Bloodwitch
5 Reveillark
1 Arid Mesa
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Cavern of Souls
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Flooded Strand
1 Godless Shrine
1 Graven Cairns
1 Marsh Flats
1 Mountain
1 Nomad Outpost
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Path of Ancestry
4 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Survivors' Encampment
7 Swamp
1 Tainted Field
1 Tainted Peak
1 Unclaimed Territory
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath
ENCHANTMENTS - [9]
1 Legion's Landing
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Reconnaissance
1 Retribution of the Ancients
2 Goblin Bombardment
2 Hidden Stockpile
2 Impact Tremors
3 Necropotence
4 Anointed Procession
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Scapegoat
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Urge to Feed
2 Wear // Tear
3 Anguished Unmaking
SORCERIES - [5]
2 Demonic Tutor
3 Gruesome Fate
3 Molten Psyche
4 Minions' Murmurs
6 Austere Command
ARTIFACTS - [6]
0 Chrome Mox
0 Mox Diamond
1 Animation Module
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
3 Ashnod's Altar
COMMANDER - [1]
6 Edgar Markov
Strategy
The deck mainly tries to play the low curve aggro game while trying to generate a bunch of (mainly) vampire tokens as well. Since the deck still runs Elenda there are a few sacrifice outlets present to aid with that and added Karmic Guide/Reveillark as alternative win condition options as well. Additionally, the deck runs a light +1/+1 counter synergy as well.
Budget Cuts
Definitely the most notably missing cards for me are Bloodline Keeper and Purphoros, God of the Forge. They are simply slightly more costly cards nowadays hence why they are being left out of the deck. Yeah, I know I run a few far more costly cards, but those are cards I already own and move between decks. And for the time being I'm only planning to do the more affordable tweaks to the deck, pretty much trying to stay with cards that cost less than $3 a piece right now.
- Iroas, God of Victory >>> Stensia Masquerade
- Metallic Mimic >>> Mer-Ek Nightblade
- Tymna the Weaver >>> Diabolic Tutor
- Phyrexian Reclamation >>> Gifted Aetherborn
- Retribution of the Ancients >>> Vampire Cutthroat
2018, Feb 18
- Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth >>> Swamp
- Filth >>> Behind the Scenes
- Minions' Murmurs >>> Golden Demise
2018, Feb 09
- Teysa, Orzhov Scion >>> Reckless Fireweaver
- Vampire Cutthroat >>> Vampire Interloper
- Austere Command >>> Toxic Deluge
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
Some small tweaks were made to the deck, with a few updates to the mana base in progress. More notable changes are Toxic Deluge being switched out for Austere Command, Deluge hurts in many ways and the life loss in this deck can quickly add up. Austere Command can act more selective and helps more against any stax effects that stop the aggro plan.
Additionally, in contemplating Twilight Drover for the deck, I ended up actually bringing in Teysa, Orzhov Scion for just slightly more utility. I cut Reckless Fireweaver for it, which was pretty much a 'cute' inclusion with incidental upside. It wasn't good enough and this way I didn't have to cut a vampire for it either.
Golden Demise more often than not wasn't doing enough and while it feels bad to cut into my limited removal, I opted to add some more offensive power instead. Gruesome Fate might seem perhaps less efficient in an Aristocrat like list but the deck can build numbers quickly so it's worth a shot. Alesha, Who Smiles At Death was interesting but fairly situational, not being a vampire made me cut her in favor of some more card draw through Minions' Murmurs.
Right now, I'm still looking to improve the evasion in this deck, as well as card draw a bit more. After that I'll start looking into where and what kind of answers I need to add to the deck.
While I'm not sure if it will stick around, I did end up adding Retribution of the Ancients to take advantage of the counters this deck builds and provide some form of removal through it as well. I opted to cut Gifted Aetherborn for her, losing the little bit of lifelink might be annoying but the main reason for the cut is simply the double black casting cost of it. Additionally, I took out Vampire Cutthroat which was pretty much card number 99 when I made this list anyways, in favor of some reanimation through Phyrexian Reclamation.
And the other card cut is Diabolic Tutor, which I took out in order to add some more regular card draw in the form of Tymna the Weaver, as well as to tweak the curve of the deck a tad after all these changes.
It's been tempting to add Abzan Battle Priest, as while no vampire spreading the lifelink all around can be nice, as the deck is fairly taxing on my life total.