With the sets not coming out for another week or two I still have time to acquire necessary cards. I know I need to probably update the land base, just have to find the necessary lands at cheap prices.
Hi, there. I'm also eventually going to build Edgar Markov myself and I've built tribal vampires before, so I'll try and lend my two cents. You're going to need some good enchantment to give your vamps more of an edge.
Stensia Masquerade: A cheap enchantment that can help give your Vampires an edge in combat and pump up those who actually hurt a player.
Whip of Erebos: While some vamps have natural lifelink and other cards grant it for a turn or so, this can add a little more redundancy and even bring back a creature for one more swing in a pinch.
Cathars' Crusade: This is a big one. Yeah, it's not flavorful but combine with Edgar's Eminence ability and you're getting twice the rewards.
Exquisite Blood: This is, out and out, a good card. Anytime your opponents lose life, you'll benefit. The fact that so many of your creatures already have lifelink means that you will be gaining a lot of life. Going further, it also combos with Sanguine Bond to win you the game.
Authority of the Consuls: A nice, cheap way to slow down your opponents and give your vamps more openings to connect with a player.
I actually don't agree with some of the choices in the OP
1. To Start, cards like Sengir Vampire, Bloodbrand Vampire, and Blood Host don't really tend towards tier 1 power (even if they have the potential to build over time).
2. While I can certainly understand the temptation to use every white vampire available, Bloodcursed Knight isn't a top-grade card. Likewise, I would hold off on Cliffhaven Vampire unless you want to focus HEAVILY on the life-gain angle.
3. Both Crovax the Cursed and Ascendant Evincar might be worth pulling out as well. The former actively weakens all of your nonblack vampires (such as the mono-white vamps coming in Ixalan or Innistrad's Stromkirk Noble/Falkenrath Gorger, both of which would be killed by the evincar.
4. Finally, Vampire Nocturnus might be a bit of a liability. While it's one of the few vamp lords, you can only put so many low drops that cost three black mana in a 4-color deck and Necropotence seems more useful than the nocturnus for this purpose... and revealing the top of your library gives away information. For similar mana concerns, you might want to replace Dark Prophecy with Grim Haruspex (even though tokens don't trigger the latter).
Kismet: More expensive than Authority or Blind Obedience, however, it does drastically slows down all your opponents at once even more than the others.
Urza's Incubator: For when you want to making playing tribal cheaper.
Aphetto Dredging: For when you need a get a few creatures back. Not to mention that replaying those vampires will net you more tokens and trigger ETB effects.
Some cards I'd consider cutting:
Sengir Vampire: It's just not that good of card. 5 CMC for a 4/4 flyer with an inconsistent ability just sounds like mana that would be better spent some where else.
Crovax the Cursed : 4 CMC for a 4/4 who you've got to maintain by sacrificing creatures and that you have to spend mana to give evasion to? Not really worth it, me thinks. He just doesn't do enough to warrant him, unlike the other vampire legends: Drana, both versions of Olivia, Anowon. Compared to them, Crovax is nothing.
Ascendant Evincar : My problem with this guy is that there are so many other cards that do his job better for less mana. Yes, he hurts your opponents but he can also hurt you should you play any mono R vamps. Honestly, though, it's his high CMC that is the turn off, at least to me. I just feel like the six mana would be better spent on something else.
Vampire Nocturnus: He's a good card but by playing a tri-colored deck, he's super conditional. He will never be as good as he would be in a mono B deck.
I actually don't agree with some of the choices in the OP
1. To Start, cards like Sengir Vampire, Bloodbrand Vampire, and Blood Host don't really tend towards tier 1 power (even if they have the potential to build over time).
2. While I can certainly understand the temptation to use every white vampire available, Bloodcursed Knight isn't a top-grade card. Likewise, I would hold off on Cliffhaven Vampire unless you want to focus HEAVILY on the life-gain angle.
3. Both Crovax the Cursed and Ascendant Evincar might be worth pulling out as well. The former actively weakens all of your nonblack vampires (such as the mono-white vamps coming in Ixalan or Innistrad's Stromkirk Noble/Falkenrath Gorger, both of which would be killed by the evincar.
4. Finally, Vampire Nocturnus might be a bit of a liability. While it's one of the few vamp lords, you can only put so many low drops that cost three black mana in a 4-color deck and Necropotence seems more useful than the nocturnus for this purpose... and revealing the top of your library gives away information. For similar mana concerns, you might want to replace Dark Prophecy with Grim Haruspex (even though tokens don't trigger the latter).
I was planning on running just black or black/* vampires. So the Evincar wouldn't hurt my field. I don't know if I want to go the Purphoros route since I use that as one of my kill ways in Norin and I get targeted just for that.
As for sac effects, I have both Altars, and Crovox would give me a 3rd, yet providing a larger body in the process.
Sanguine Bond is in the precon, and I do have an extra Exquisite blood. I have a Metallic Mimic, forgot about that card.
As for Cliffhaven Vampire, it combos as well with Exquisite Blood killing everyone on the board.
Kismet: More expensive than Authority or Blind Obedience, however, it does drastically slows down all your opponents at once even more than the others.
Urza's Incubator: For when you want to making playing tribal cheaper.
Aphetto Dredging: For when you need a get a few creatures back. Not to mention that replaying those vampires will net you more tokens and trigger ETB effects.
Some cards I'd consider cutting:
Sengir Vampire: It's just not that good of card. 5 CMC for a 4/4 flyer with an inconsistent ability just sounds like mana that would be better spent some where else.
Crovax the Cursed : 4 CMC for a 4/4 who you've got to maintain by sacrificing creatures and that you have to spend mana to give evasion to? Not really worth it, me thinks. He just doesn't do enough to warrant him, unlike the other vampire legends: Drana, both versions of Olivia, Anowon. Compared to them, Crovax is nothing.
Ascendant Evincar : My problem with this guy is that there are so many other cards that do his job better for less mana. Yes, he hurts your opponents but he can also hurt you should you play any mono R vamps. Honestly, though, it's his high CMC that is the turn off, at least to me. I just feel like the six mana would be better spent on something else.
Vampire Nocturnus: He's a good card but by playing a tri-colored deck, he's super conditional. He will never be as good as he would be in a mono B deck.
Well, those are my thoughts.
I will have to look at the Sensia Masquerade. I don't have a copy so it slipped through my mind. I don't own a Whip of Erebos, so I'll have to go purchase one from tcgplayers.
I’m not sure what you mean by Tier 1, but the Edgar Markhov deck will struggle against competitive metas. In Tier 1, you need a combo. For tier 1.5-2’ish with a combat-oriented deck, you will need mass land destruction and tax effects. But, I have the following recommendations if you just want to make a solid, combat-oriented deck.
1) Drop any vanilla or “French vanilla” vampires at greater than 2cmc, including Sengir Vampire, Crovax, Blood-Cursed Knight, etc. Meanwhile, consider some of the ones at 1-2 cmc that don’t seem that good at first glance, like Falkenrath Exterminator, Child of Night, so on. The tokens add up really quickly. I think the deck would be happy with 15-18 creatures of cmc 2 and less, not necessarily all vampires.
2) For card advantage, Skullclamp is a must, along with all the equipment tutors you can get in White. I also think Tymna the Weaver and Grim Haruspex would be solid with all of the small Vampires. I would caution against all the slow-moving, control-style draw like Phyrexian Arena for this deck.
3) For the 3 slot, I like mana-rocks that produce 2 for this 6cmc commander – Coalition Relic, Ashnod’s Altar, Worn Powerstone, etc. It will be really nice to get in on Turn 4 for the first attack.
4) All the good extra combats and damage multipliers for these colors. I particularly like Fervent Charge, since it can double-up against extra combats like Aurelia, the Warleader.
Just get in early and often and stick one or two draw sources, and you should have a lot of fun with this general.
Edgar will almost certainly never be a tier one competitive general, but by being three colors he can do a lot of competitive things, just slower than the best decks
If you want it to win as many games as possible, your general strategy is going to be tutoring for combo pieces and ending the game instantly with a combo, or building up a board quickly then locking your opponents out of the game.
smokestack and contamination can both take advantage of edgar's eminence to lock people out of the game, and you can run bloodghast as well to keep it going
If the goal is to assemble a Vampire army to maximize Edgar Markov triggers and Vampire tribal synergy, then I think the pool of vampires worth running is pretty small. Of the 161 Vampires in the game, only about 35 would make a first cut:
I think that if you further want to make it competitive the 6+ CMC options would probably all get cut, and then you need to either commit to a beatdown plan (mass pump effects), a combo plan (Cloudstone Curio, Fruity Pebbles, Mana Echoes, etc.), or perhaps even a Control plan. I think you really need to know what your plan is going to be in order to figure out what "staples" are going to be necessary.
Not sure if it has come up yet but Mana Echoes I think is a slam dunk for this commander. The more vampires you play the cheaper they get especially as the tokens will trigger it for free.
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EDH BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern: RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
If the goal is to assemble a Vampire army to maximize Edgar Markov triggers and Vampire tribal synergy, then I think the pool of vampires worth running is pretty small. Of the 161 Vampires in the game, only about 35 would make a first cut:
I think you are little harsh here. Looking at the one drops I think there a lot more playable ones than just 2.
Bold Impaler looks kinda horrible but he has 2 toughness which you means you run something like Cauldron of Souls and he can survive the reanimation. Guul Draz Assassin. If the game goes late you dump mana in him and have very efficient removal. Insolent Neonate. Synergies with Gorger and menace is no joke. Shadow Alley Denizen. Edgar makes black vamps. Viscera Seer. Really? Not good enough?
If the goal is to assemble a Vampire army to maximize Edgar Markov triggers and Vampire tribal synergy, then I think the pool of vampires worth running is pretty small. Of the 161 Vampires in the game, only about 35 would make a first cut:
I think you are little harsh here. Looking at the one drops I think there a lot more playable ones than just 2.
Bold Impaler looks kinda horrible but he has 2 toughness which you means you run something like Cauldron of Souls and he can survive the reanimation. Guul Draz Assassin. If the game goes late you dumb mana in him and have very efficient removal. Insolent Neonate. Synergies with Gorger and menace is no joke. Shadow Alley Denizen. Edgar makes black vamps. Viscera Seer. Really? Not good enough?
No I agree that there aren't many impactful vampires in print yet.
For the vampires you listed, you can add the text "put a 1/1 vampire into play" to them and they still won't have the impact you want of an edh spell.
They are on theme yes, but the request used the term "tier 1 competitive deck" so I am taking the position that cards must be very strong to warrant inclusion.
The moment you think Viscera Seer doesn't make it into tier 1 competitive decks...I mean...seriously...
Either way, in 1v1 Edgar may be tier 1 (They're talking about banhammering him already), in multiplayer he simply isn't going to be that. He can, however, dominate average EDH tables pretty well. But he can never, EVER, dream about trading blows with the insanity that is Food Chain, Ad Nauseam or any of the other crazy combo decks that rule competitive EDH tables.
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My Commander decks:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
I think you are little harsh here. Looking at the one drops I think there a lot more playable ones than just 2.
Bold Impaler looks kinda horrible but he has 2 toughness which you means you run something like Cauldron of Souls and he can survive the reanimation. Guul Draz Assassin. If the game goes late you dump mana in him and have very efficient removal. Insolent Neonate. Synergies with Gorger and menace is no joke. Shadow Alley Denizen. Edgar makes black vamps. Viscera Seer. Really? Not good enough?
Of the ones you list above, I don't consider any of them playable except Viscera Seer (which is definitely playable as a free sac outlet to trigger Blood Artist, Kalastria Highborn, Falkenrath Noble, etc. and to use those 1/1's to dig through your deck if need be). That may be harsh, but the primary issue with tribal decks is that you need to be generating so much value with each card to overcome the eventual board wipes that you will be playing into.
The only way that I see the others becoming playable is if you are on an all-out aggro plan with Anthem effects, worrying less about tribal synergies and more about just pure numbers. I can see that possibly working in 1v1. At that point, pretty much any 1 or 2-drop Vampire becomes "playable".
But to go back to my initial point that I made in that post; you really need to decide what your plan of action is going to be before you can decide what "staples" the deck should run.
I'm trying my hand at an aristocratic strategy. I still aggro for damage of course, but I gain advantage with sac outlets. Also, for backup win cons I can burn the table with Purphoros and/or Impact Tremors, or play Malakir Bloodwitch, sac her, then use recursion to burn the entire table.
I'm trying to make room for Dictate to Erebos, but I'm not sure what to remove.
I am not sure if it was a good idea to necro this thread (woth the rules around here), but seeing how it has been, I actually agree and feel that updating the list and concept is important.
I only got my hands on the deck at the end of October and am limited to my small casual budget play group. I cannot speak of highly competitive metas, but I can reflect on what has and has not worked for me.
As with any deck, improving the mana base helps a lot. Moving from lands which come into play tapped and getting shicl lands, City of Brass & Mana Confluence and so forth help a lot. The only lands I have which EtB tapped now are the Scry Temples, the tri-colored mardu land, and the tribal scry land which comes in the deck.
With an unlimited budget, it has been proven that low casting cost vampire suported with fast mana, fast tutors, Necropotence style card draw and Purphoros is really the best way to play. Really, the ability to hit everyone at the table for 4 because you cast a one drop is game changing. In normal situations, having 3 opponents add up to 120 life to chew through is darn near impossible before somebody hits a combo. Purphoros changes that math and suddenly you are asked to cast 10 or fewer creatures before everybody dies. Add in attacks and you can put opponents into a potition where they look at their hands and scoop.
On a budget, things change a lot. That is kind of where I am. I own a lot of great cards which are comitted to other decks. Instead, I have built Edgar Markov with more of a low casting cost plus anthem effect and card draw to refil my hands.
While I love Whip of Erebos as a card, several of these non-anthem effects are actually really weak. They do not move our board state forward. In my Ghoulcaller Gisa deck, Whip allows me to reanimate a creature with an EtB trigger and re-sacrifice after combat to make more zombies. In Edgar Markov, our Eminance trigger is when you cast the creature, not like Inalla when it comes into play, so even the reanimate is not as effective. Very few of our vampires have EtB triggers as well, which makes reanimating them less desireable and useful.
A lot of cards fall into these traps. Cards which seem good, but really are not.
I tried playing "value vampires," but that was far too slow and the value really wasn't there.
The most effective way I have been able to play is by vomitting out one and two drops early, following up with an anthem, and then holding up protectionnfrom a wrath. Boros Charm, Rootborn Defense, Teferi's Protection, Archangel Avacyn. That kind of stuff needs to save us from a board wipe.
Like a hunter in the wild, have no mercy and pick off the weak. Do not wait for them to get stronger later. Take advantage of their slow start and weak position to remove them from the game. Then take stock of who is in a poaition of power and work woth a potential ally to take down the Alpha at the table and try to turn a game into a duel.
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"Whatever style you wish to play, be it fast and frenzied or slow and tactical, the surest way to defeat your opponent consistently is by dominating him or her in the war of card advantage." - Brian Wiseman, April 1996
I already own Vampiric tutor, demonic tutor, Dictate of Erebos, Grave Pact.
These are some that I recently purchased to toy around with:
Phyrexian Arena
Gifted Aetherborn
Yahenni, Undying Partisan
Bloodbond Vampire
Drana, Liberator of Malakir
Sengir Vampire
Coat of Arms
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Voldaren Pariah
Bloodline Keeper
Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Sorin Markov
Dark Prophecy
Blood Host
Blood-Cursed Knight
Ascendant Evincar
Olivia Voldaren
Cliffhaven Vampire
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Harsh Mercy
Vampire Nocturnus
Olivia, Mobilized for War
Crovax the Cursed
Kalastria Highborn
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
With the sets not coming out for another week or two I still have time to acquire necessary cards. I know I need to probably update the land base, just have to find the necessary lands at cheap prices.
BWREDGAR MARKOV VAMPIRESBWR
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
Ya, maybe something like Falkenrath Gorger and some discard outlets for some janky battle tricks. (:
Stensia Masquerade: A cheap enchantment that can help give your Vampires an edge in combat and pump up those who actually hurt a player.
Whip of Erebos: While some vamps have natural lifelink and other cards grant it for a turn or so, this can add a little more redundancy and even bring back a creature for one more swing in a pinch.
Cathars' Crusade: This is a big one. Yeah, it's not flavorful but combine with Edgar's Eminence ability and you're getting twice the rewards.
Exquisite Blood: This is, out and out, a good card. Anytime your opponents lose life, you'll benefit. The fact that so many of your creatures already have lifelink means that you will be gaining a lot of life. Going further, it also combos with Sanguine Bond to win you the game.
Authority of the Consuls: A nice, cheap way to slow down your opponents and give your vamps more openings to connect with a player.
Anointed Procession: Double those vampire tokens!
Another good card is Patriarch's Bidding. Your board got wiped? Well, you'll just bring them all back.
Indulgent Aristocrat: Since you'll be making so many extra vamps with Edgar, sacrifice a few and pump your entire army.
BK'rrik Goodstuff
GWSythis Enchantress
URYusri Coin Flip
BRGKorvold Tokens
BGUYarok Lands Matter
WUBRaffine Looter
1. To Start, cards like Sengir Vampire, Bloodbrand Vampire, and Blood Host don't really tend towards tier 1 power (even if they have the potential to build over time).
2. While I can certainly understand the temptation to use every white vampire available, Bloodcursed Knight isn't a top-grade card. Likewise, I would hold off on Cliffhaven Vampire unless you want to focus HEAVILY on the life-gain angle.
3. Both Crovax the Cursed and Ascendant Evincar might be worth pulling out as well. The former actively weakens all of your nonblack vampires (such as the mono-white vamps coming in Ixalan or Innistrad's Stromkirk Noble/Falkenrath Gorger, both of which would be killed by the evincar.
4. Finally, Vampire Nocturnus might be a bit of a liability. While it's one of the few vamp lords, you can only put so many low drops that cost three black mana in a 4-color deck and Necropotence seems more useful than the nocturnus for this purpose... and revealing the top of your library gives away information. For similar mana concerns, you might want to replace Dark Prophecy with Grim Haruspex (even though tokens don't trigger the latter).
As far as directions for a deck, the vampire tribe is nicely positioned to enter a more Aristocrats theme. Kalastria Highborn (which you noted), Blood Artist, Falkenrath Noble, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Pawn of Ulamog, Viscera Seer, and Bloodghast can all easily fit into a vampire deck, after all.
From there, you just need a couple of additional sac outlets (Ashnod's Altar, Phyrexian Altar, Goblin Bombardment, and maybe Bloodthrone Vampire for another vampire), some revival (such as Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, Oversold Cemetery, Phyrexian Reclamation, Rally the Ancestors, and Reveillark), some boardwipes (wrath of God, Damnation, Chain Reaction, and Blasphemous Acts).
Other Notable Inclusions you might consider are:
Purphoros, God of the Forge: 4 damage to each enemy's face (or planeswalker) for each vamp you cast
Teysa, Orzhov Scion: Turn your vamp tokens into spirit tokens as they die, which you can sack to kill things. Works well with aristocrats.
Wheel of Fortune: Supports any madness sub-theme while maintaining your constant supply of vampires.
Sanguine Bond + Exquisite Blood: Because vampires (and aristocrats in particular) are big on life gain, why not go for the infinite combo. If you want to be more fair (and tribal), replace the first piece with Defiant Bloodlord
Cathar's Crusade: Costs the same as Dictate of Heliod and lets those vampire tokens do serious work.
Licia, Sanguine Tribute: If you are already running Skeletal Scrying, Necropotence, Painful Truths, and Night's Whispers, you might get some nice use out of this commander.
Skullclamp: Hasn't been mentioned yet but pretty obvious.
Metallic Mimic + Captivating Vampire + Door of Destinies: For tribal support.
Anger: If you do decide to go with the discard route, this is the easiest way to give all of your dudes haste. Bonus style points if you pack filth with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
Vampire Hexmage + Thief of Blood: Utility against superfriends.
Kismet: More expensive than Authority or Blind Obedience, however, it does drastically slows down all your opponents at once even more than the others.
Boros Charm: This will save your field. Trust me.
Urza's Incubator: For when you want to making playing tribal cheaper.
Aphetto Dredging: For when you need a get a few creatures back. Not to mention that replaying those vampires will net you more tokens and trigger ETB effects.
Some cards I'd consider cutting:
Sengir Vampire: It's just not that good of card. 5 CMC for a 4/4 flyer with an inconsistent ability just sounds like mana that would be better spent some where else.
Crovax the Cursed : 4 CMC for a 4/4 who you've got to maintain by sacrificing creatures and that you have to spend mana to give evasion to? Not really worth it, me thinks. He just doesn't do enough to warrant him, unlike the other vampire legends: Drana, both versions of Olivia, Anowon. Compared to them, Crovax is nothing.
Ascendant Evincar : My problem with this guy is that there are so many other cards that do his job better for less mana. Yes, he hurts your opponents but he can also hurt you should you play any mono R vamps. Honestly, though, it's his high CMC that is the turn off, at least to me. I just feel like the six mana would be better spent on something else.
Vampire Nocturnus: He's a good card but by playing a tri-colored deck, he's super conditional. He will never be as good as he would be in a mono B deck.
Well, those are my thoughts.
BK'rrik Goodstuff
GWSythis Enchantress
URYusri Coin Flip
BRGKorvold Tokens
BGUYarok Lands Matter
WUBRaffine Looter
I was planning on running just black or black/* vampires. So the Evincar wouldn't hurt my field. I don't know if I want to go the Purphoros route since I use that as one of my kill ways in Norin and I get targeted just for that.
As for sac effects, I have both Altars, and Crovox would give me a 3rd, yet providing a larger body in the process.
Sanguine Bond is in the precon, and I do have an extra Exquisite blood. I have a Metallic Mimic, forgot about that card.
As for Cliffhaven Vampire, it combos as well with Exquisite Blood killing everyone on the board.
I will have to look at the Sensia Masquerade. I don't have a copy so it slipped through my mind. I don't own a Whip of Erebos, so I'll have to go purchase one from tcgplayers.
BWREDGAR MARKOV VAMPIRESBWR
1) Drop any vanilla or “French vanilla” vampires at greater than 2cmc, including Sengir Vampire, Crovax, Blood-Cursed Knight, etc. Meanwhile, consider some of the ones at 1-2 cmc that don’t seem that good at first glance, like Falkenrath Exterminator, Child of Night, so on. The tokens add up really quickly. I think the deck would be happy with 15-18 creatures of cmc 2 and less, not necessarily all vampires.
2) For card advantage, Skullclamp is a must, along with all the equipment tutors you can get in White. I also think Tymna the Weaver and Grim Haruspex would be solid with all of the small Vampires. I would caution against all the slow-moving, control-style draw like Phyrexian Arena for this deck.
3) For the 3 slot, I like mana-rocks that produce 2 for this 6cmc commander – Coalition Relic, Ashnod’s Altar, Worn Powerstone, etc. It will be really nice to get in on Turn 4 for the first attack.
4) All the good extra combats and damage multipliers for these colors. I particularly like Fervent Charge, since it can double-up against extra combats like Aurelia, the Warleader.
Just get in early and often and stick one or two draw sources, and you should have a lot of fun with this general.
If you want it to win as many games as possible, your general strategy is going to be tutoring for combo pieces and ending the game instantly with a combo, or building up a board quickly then locking your opponents out of the game.
sanguine bond + exquisite blood creates an infinite combo that wins the game
mikaeus, the unhallowed + triskelion creates an infinite combo that wins the game
splinter twin or kiki-jiki, mirror breaker + village bell-ringer or zealous conscripts creates an infinite combo that wins the game
armageddon, ravages of war, catastrophe, blood moon, magus of the moon, wildfire, winter orb, static orb can let you pull ahead on the board using edgar's eminence and prevent your opponents from having mana to contest you
smokestack and contamination can both take advantage of edgar's eminence to lock people out of the game, and you can run bloodghast as well to keep it going
You can also run reanimator stuff
animate dead
reanimate
necromancy
entomb
buried alive
And reanimate combo pieces or haymakers like elesh norn, grand cenobite or Razaketh, the Foulblooded
For utility:
Tutors:
enlightened tutor
gamble
Recruiter of the Guard
imperial recruiter
Card draw:
necropotence
wheel of fortune
Removal:
swords to plowshares
path to exile
vandalblast
toxic deluge
Fast mana:
sol ring
mana crypt
mana vault
boros signet
orzhov signet
rakdos signet
1 CMC
Falkenrath Gorger
Indulgent Aristocrat
2 CMC
Asylum Visitor
Blood Artist
Bloodcrazed Neonate
Bloodghast
Falkenrath Exterminator
Gatekeeper of Malakir
Heir of Falkenrath
Kalastria Highborn
3 CMC
Bloodmad Vampire
Captivating Vampire
Drana, Liberator of Malakir
Markov Blademaster
Olivia, Mobilized for War
Rakish Heir
Stromkirk Captain
4 CMC
Bloodhall Priest
Bloodline Keeper
Falkenrath Aristocrat
Falkenrath Noble
Olivia Voldaren
Vampire Nocturnus
5 CMC
Anowon, the Ruin Sage
Blood Baron of Vizkopa
Bloodline Necromancer
Bloodlord of Vaasgoth
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
Falkenrath Marauders
Malakir Bloodwitch
6+ CMC
Guul Draz Overseer
Necropolis Regent
Nirkana Revenant
Butcher of Malakir
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Baron Sengir
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
https://edhrec.com/commanders/edgar-markov
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnqZb1WUlic&t=2711s
BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
I think you are little harsh here. Looking at the one drops I think there a lot more playable ones than just 2.
Bold Impaler looks kinda horrible but he has 2 toughness which you means you run something like Cauldron of Souls and he can survive the reanimation.
Guul Draz Assassin. If the game goes late you dump mana in him and have very efficient removal.
Insolent Neonate. Synergies with Gorger and menace is no joke.
Shadow Alley Denizen. Edgar makes black vamps.
Viscera Seer. Really? Not good enough?
No I agree that there aren't many impactful vampires in print yet.
For the vampires you listed, you can add the text "put a 1/1 vampire into play" to them and they still won't have the impact you want of an edh spell.
They are on theme yes, but the request used the term "tier 1 competitive deck" so I am taking the position that cards must be very strong to warrant inclusion.
Either way, in 1v1 Edgar may be tier 1 (They're talking about banhammering him already), in multiplayer he simply isn't going to be that. He can, however, dominate average EDH tables pretty well. But he can never, EVER, dream about trading blows with the insanity that is Food Chain, Ad Nauseam or any of the other crazy combo decks that rule competitive EDH tables.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance - Oops! All Chandras.
Prime Speaker Zegana - Draw for Power.
Pir & Toothy - Counterpalooza.
Arcades, the Strategist - Another Brick in the Wall.
Zacama, Primal Calamity - Calamity of Double Mana.
Edgar Markov - Vampires Don't Die.
Child of Alara - Dreamcrusher.
Of the ones you list above, I don't consider any of them playable except Viscera Seer (which is definitely playable as a free sac outlet to trigger Blood Artist, Kalastria Highborn, Falkenrath Noble, etc. and to use those 1/1's to dig through your deck if need be). That may be harsh, but the primary issue with tribal decks is that you need to be generating so much value with each card to overcome the eventual board wipes that you will be playing into.
The only way that I see the others becoming playable is if you are on an all-out aggro plan with Anthem effects, worrying less about tribal synergies and more about just pure numbers. I can see that possibly working in 1v1. At that point, pretty much any 1 or 2-drop Vampire becomes "playable".
But to go back to my initial point that I made in that post; you really need to decide what your plan of action is going to be before you can decide what "staples" the deck should run.
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
BWREDGAR MARKOV VAMPIRESBWR
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/what-is-a-man-smashes-wine-glass/
I'm trying my hand at an aristocratic strategy. I still aggro for damage of course, but I gain advantage with sac outlets. Also, for backup win cons I can burn the table with Purphoros and/or Impact Tremors, or play Malakir Bloodwitch, sac her, then use recursion to burn the entire table.
I'm trying to make room for Dictate to Erebos, but I'm not sure what to remove.
I only got my hands on the deck at the end of October and am limited to my small casual budget play group. I cannot speak of highly competitive metas, but I can reflect on what has and has not worked for me.
As with any deck, improving the mana base helps a lot. Moving from lands which come into play tapped and getting shicl lands, City of Brass & Mana Confluence and so forth help a lot. The only lands I have which EtB tapped now are the Scry Temples, the tri-colored mardu land, and the tribal scry land which comes in the deck.
With an unlimited budget, it has been proven that low casting cost vampire suported with fast mana, fast tutors, Necropotence style card draw and Purphoros is really the best way to play. Really, the ability to hit everyone at the table for 4 because you cast a one drop is game changing. In normal situations, having 3 opponents add up to 120 life to chew through is darn near impossible before somebody hits a combo. Purphoros changes that math and suddenly you are asked to cast 10 or fewer creatures before everybody dies. Add in attacks and you can put opponents into a potition where they look at their hands and scoop.
On a budget, things change a lot. That is kind of where I am. I own a lot of great cards which are comitted to other decks. Instead, I have built Edgar Markov with more of a low casting cost plus anthem effect and card draw to refil my hands.
While I love Whip of Erebos as a card, several of these non-anthem effects are actually really weak. They do not move our board state forward. In my Ghoulcaller Gisa deck, Whip allows me to reanimate a creature with an EtB trigger and re-sacrifice after combat to make more zombies. In Edgar Markov, our Eminance trigger is when you cast the creature, not like Inalla when it comes into play, so even the reanimate is not as effective. Very few of our vampires have EtB triggers as well, which makes reanimating them less desireable and useful.
A lot of cards fall into these traps. Cards which seem good, but really are not.
I tried playing "value vampires," but that was far too slow and the value really wasn't there.
The most effective way I have been able to play is by vomitting out one and two drops early, following up with an anthem, and then holding up protectionnfrom a wrath. Boros Charm, Rootborn Defense, Teferi's Protection, Archangel Avacyn. That kind of stuff needs to save us from a board wipe.
Like a hunter in the wild, have no mercy and pick off the weak. Do not wait for them to get stronger later. Take advantage of their slow start and weak position to remove them from the game. Then take stock of who is in a poaition of power and work woth a potential ally to take down the Alpha at the table and try to turn a game into a duel.