Thank you to everyone contributing in the disscution about Edgar Markov. I just got the preconstructed deck and i want to build a deck around him but i have questions i know maybe this isn't the place to ask but i havent seen a thread like this anywhere else.
I was wondering if Edgar Markov could be viable when playing under MTGO rules (30 life points, banned and restricted cards, etc, etc). I know people have tested that here but i just want to make sure it is viable before i invest.
I saw the list that Cainsson posted on page#5 on this topic and it looks solid, thank you. I was wondering if anyone has tried Mirri the cursed. Haste first strike and flying plus if you deal combat dmg to a player mirri gets a +1/+1 counter. Not bad for a 4cmc that puts 4 power on the board (and possibly 5).
The meta in my LGS looks like the following: zurgo, baral, titania, tasigur control, eldrazi, infect, Mono white Kytheon, Jeskai Narset control (i am sure there are others but i cant remeber now. Not Doran, Marchessa). In your opinion, how good Edgar Markov is against those decks?
Thank you everyone for reading and for your help, it is much appreciated.
Lol I happened to be online so i might as well try to pitch in.
To clarify, bulk of the discussion in this thread is not for the MTGO format, it's for 20 life french. Just keep that in mind when reviewing decklists here and seeing how well they perform.
30 life is a far cry from 20 in terms of viable decks in the meta, so although the gameplan is similar, the success rate will differ. Edgar is soft to combo, which makes that extra 10 life a problem. Against fellow aggro, his board state beats out mono-white and zurgo. I'm not sure how much unblockable and protection tech that infect deck has, but 10 poison is much easier to dish out than 30 dmg imo. totally not sure about eldrazi, narset and tasi.
There's an mtgo banlist thread somewhere, and I posted just now asking if edgar markov is surviving that meta. I'm curious as well. you might wanna check that thread out once in a while in case a response pops up.
They should never have unbanned Fastbond... I did see a few of those lists that did use goblin guide and such indeed, always wondered why would you add that to a deck that would be better of with almost any 1 mana vampire...
What did Kalitas deck use that could stop vampires? Or was Kalitas himself already the issue due to the 4 toughness + lifelink?
Would you know by any chance how that kalitas did against the other decks? I don't see it winning against zurgo, titania or any kind of partner combo for that matter.
They should never have unbanned Fastbond... I did see a few of those lists that did use goblin guide and such indeed, always wondered why would you add that to a deck that would be better of with almost any 1 mana vampire...
What did Kalitas deck use that could stop vampires? Or was Kalitas himself already the issue due to the 4 toughness + lifelink?
Have you posted a list anywhere?
Was planning to build an Edgar, and was wondering about putting GGuide in.
Thanks
Page 5 in this thread.
Sounds like the Deck was geared towards beating weenies lets say... no wonder it did wel vs Edgar, that deck is mostly weenies, not much has 3 or more toughness as far as I know at least... Apart from a few top curvers lets say...
I just saw they made a new Pulse Tracker which is a 1/2 seems like a nice one to add for more aggression...
Also the new white enchantment looks like a nice little tech.. ^^
Kalitas has gotten 1st the past two weeks. It beats Edgar, Arhabo, Karlov, Aggro/Midrange partners and Selvala/Nissa Combos. It also has beaten Titania through turbo-fog locks with Mike+Trike.
There's only two people playing Zurgo at my LGS because every white-running deck is running Authority of the Consuls. And Kalitas does somewhat well vs them because Kalitas himself is hard to deal with, has all the instant speed removal in the world vs the Ball Lightning clones, and he's semi-consistently hitting 10 mana turn 6 with Exsanguinate/Drain Life.
We can't know if Edgar is viable in the MOL meta because the card doesn't exist online and will not be released until november.
are paper MTGO tourneys not a thing yet? there's a few over here, but very far between. i don't think there's been one post C17 yet locally.
Nah, out here it's all.....multiplayer. I talk of DC a lot, and try to get people interested. But...then they see Fastbond is legal and they throw their hands in the air.
it's not too terrible tbh. it's not like titania has access to enlightened tutor.. don't get me wrong it's disgusting and i believe it shouldn't have been unbanned.. but as it stands i feel it has slightly more game winning potential than price of progress in zurgo, but slightly less than force of will. in tournaments, i've won games vs fastbond and have witnessed people overcome it as well... but I've never won against a resolved force of will in duel commander.
This week my version of deck Uncle Ed went to the same store where he 4-0 last week. This time, people were packing hate (engineered plague / Night of Soul's Betrayal / etc) and boardwipes (Marchesa, Keranos). 3-0-1. Small sample size but remains consistent.
Only real difficulty is Titania, but if she doesn't get those opening hands that beat any deck she can be dealt with.
This week my version of deck Uncle Ed went to the same store where he 4-0 last week. This time, people were packing hate (engineered plague / Night of Soul's Betrayal / etc) and boardwipes (Marchesa, Keranos). 3-0-1. Small sample size but remains consistent.
Only real difficulty is Titania, but if she doesn't get those opening hands that beat any deck she can be dealt with.
How does a FoW win you the game I wonder? Yes it's a great counter and it can help win games, but FoW on and off itself does nothing but stop 1 spell...
Over here we do play 30 life, but yeah MTGO in general is an online format.. only rarely do you hear it's a thing on paper for most places... DC is mostly where it's at... Though overall we play mostly only EDH here and less DC/MTGO Duels.. Most like playing multiplayer a lot more than 1 vs 1.. ^^
I could try and get some tests on Edgar here if I do get time to play 1v1, but my list is far from optimal right now..
Though I would add, having played mostly 30 life for quite a long time, Combo has never really been much of an issue here.. though quite a few here run control decks.. ^^
FoW on its own is good, but what makes it often a game-winner is that chained with even just 1 counter spell on the same turn, or used to protect your tapout wincon in control decks, it's enough to really swing the game's momentum in your favor, or snowball if you're even slightly ahead. When I get countered then my next spell gets FoW'd, or if an opponent taps out to a planeswalker or general then still is able to counter my answer, I just lose. A counterspell for 0 with a less restrictive drawback than pact of negation is just crazy good. Not saying ban it lol, just sayin it's practically a wincon when the right spell is countered.
Lol I could really use some data on 30 life edgar myself, so please update us here if you get any testing done. =)
As for combo, it's gonna lose out to control decks naturally, but I was talking about combo in the context of edgar markov in 30. Edgar markov and i guess aggro in general has less ways to interact with combo than control.
FoW on its own is good, but what makes it often a game-winner is that chained with even just 1 counter spell on the same turn, or used to protect your tapout wincon in control decks, it's enough to really swing the game's momentum in your favor, or snowball if you're even slightly ahead. When I get countered then my next spell gets FoW'd, or if an opponent taps out to a planeswalker or general then still is able to counter my answer, I just lose. A counterspell for 0 with a less restrictive drawback than pact of negation is just crazy good. Not saying ban it lol, just sayin it's practically a wincon when the right spell is countered.
Idk man.....I recall playing Zurgo vs Tasigur, where he Force'd my t1 Zurgo (on his mull to 5), and then he lost. I would argue Mental Misstep is way more of the swingy blowout than Force is. Misstep is absurd and doesn't even ask you pitch an extra card.
P/S.
Getting Zurgo Misstep'd is the ultimate feel bads.
I have decided to invest in the deck, yolo right?. I will use the list provided by Cainsson but making a few changes. I would like your opinion about the changes.
-1Daretti, ingenious iconoclast; +1 Hammer of purphoros. Same CMC. Gives vampires haste and if we get flooded (which shouldnt happen) we can get golem tokens, not the optimal but good overall.
-1 Pulse tracker; +1 Mirri the cursed. Pulse tracker is great in your opening hand and maybe if you get him in the first 2-4 turns but after i think he is a dead draw. Mirri in the other hand has a 4CMC, haste, first strike, flying and when she deals combat damage to an opponent, she gets a +1/+1 counter, making her very good late game and a no so dead draw in your opening hand curving nicely, and if she goes unanswered she can win games. Did i mention she is a kitty and a vampire?
What do you guys think? Does these changes makes sense to you. I would appreciate any advice.
FoW on its own is good, but what makes it often a game-winner is that chained with even just 1 counter spell on the same turn, or used to protect your tapout wincon in control decks, it's enough to really swing the game's momentum in your favor, or snowball if you're even slightly ahead. When I get countered then my next spell gets FoW'd, or if an opponent taps out to a planeswalker or general then still is able to counter my answer, I just lose. A counterspell for 0 with a less restrictive drawback than pact of negation is just crazy good. Not saying ban it lol, just sayin it's practically a wincon when the right spell is countered.
Idk man.....I recall playing Zurgo vs Tasigur, where he Force'd my t1 Zurgo (on his mull to 5), and then he lost. I would argue Mental Misstep is way more of the swingy blowout than Force is. Misstep is absurd and doesn't even ask you pitch an extra card.
P/S.
Getting Zurgo Misstep'd is the ultimate feel bads.
Well, zurgo is actually one of the worst examples to demonstrate force of will's power level. It's one of the few times it's not as good, especially if it was used on zurgo himself.
Well, zurgo is actually one of the worst examples to demonstrate force of will's power level. It's one of the few times it's not as good, especially if it was used on zurgo himself.
Also why do I see all the lists run Fire Covenant? Is it really that good?
I can't think of any deck with rakdos colors available that fire covenant wouldn't benefit greatly. I do admit it's one of those cards that you don't really fully appreciate until you use it yourself a few times. This went in and out of my mardu decklists and it took me months to realize that this is an auto-include. I've gotten myself down to less than 5 life for this as early as turn 4, and I still ended up winning because of it. Getting an x-for 1 sweep on your opponent's turn then untapping to do your thing is just a huge momentum swing and is often worth paying any amount of life, provided it's not vs burn. But even then, I still get miles off this vs zurgo. After all, most red dudes have less toughness than power.
So it's a 30 life format version, if you don't play 20 life I assume.. I think it's a pretty nice list indeed... not really anything odd there.. Maybe only missing Vampire Nocturnus, or does his boost mostly not work wel enough for you?
Also why do I see all the lists run Fire Covenant? Is it really that good?
I had Nocturnus in but lent the deck to a friend and when he gave it back to me, Nocturnus was replaced by something I don't know. Fire covenant is one of the best cards available, you pay 8~12 life and win the game.
Contamination. smart. though what's the ankh for? and do you have any post-ixalan modifications in mind already?
Contamination is as much of a free roll as it gets in this deck. Ankh is against slow control and Titania. If it comes down fast it deals more damage than anything (had it deal 10 against a Titania that fetch'd, got it back and cracked it again, just to have everything die to Covenant).
Post-Ixalan, the Vampire Hellrider comes in and the 2nd Pulse Tracker. Tested the white enchantment a lot and it kinda sucks.
So it's a 30 life format version, if you don't play 20 life I assume.. I think it's a pretty nice list indeed... not really anything odd there.. Maybe only missing Vampire Nocturnus, or does his boost mostly not work wel enough for you?
Also why do I see all the lists run Fire Covenant? Is it really that good?
I had Nocturnus in but lent the deck to a friend and when he gave it back to me, Nocturnus was replaced by something and now I can't find it anymore. Fire Covenant is one of the best cards available, you pay 8~12 life and win the game.
Contamination. smart. though what's the ankh for? and do you have any post-ixalan modifications in mind already?
Contamination is as much of a free roll as it gets in this deck. Ankh is against slow control and Titania. If it comes down fast it deals more damage than anything (had it deal 10 against a Titania that fetch'd, got it back and cracked it again, just to have everything die to Covenant).
Post-Ixalan, the Vampire Hellrider comes in and the 2nd Pulse Tracker. Tested the white enchantment a lot and it kinda sucks.
So it's a 30 life format version, if you don't play 20 life I assume.. I think it's a pretty nice list indeed... not really anything odd there.. Maybe only missing Vampire Nocturnus, or does his boost mostly not work wel enough for you?
Also why do I see all the lists run Fire Covenant? Is it really that good?
I had Nocturnus in but lent the deck to a friend and when he gave it back to me, Nocturnus was replaced by something I don't know. Fire covenant is one of the best cards available, you pay 8~12 life and win the game.
Contamination. smart. though what's the ankh for? and do you have any post-ixalan modifications in mind already?
Contamination is as much of a free roll as it gets in this deck. Ankh is against slow control and Titania. If it comes down fast it deals more damage than anything (had it deal 10 against a Titania that fetch'd, got it back and cracked it again, just to have everything die to Covenant).
Post-Ixalan, the Vampire Hellrider comes in and the 2nd Pulse Tracker. Tested the white enchantment a lot and it kinda sucks.
How about the new vampire suntail hawk and the 2 drop with flash?
The mirror was the reason I put it in the first place, but then we noticed that it makes impossible to create blockers. The opponent gets so behind on the board that it's even funny. We had more effects in (Thalia, Blind Obedience, the white creature) but costing more than 1 mana makes it hard to play it and another vampire, so we ended up staying with just the best one.
Turn 1 vampire followed by turn 2 this and another 1 drop is a very strong opener.
The mirror was the reason I put it in the first place, but then we noticed that it makes impossible to create blockers. The opponent gets so behind on the board that it's even funny. We had more effects in (Thalia, Blind Obedience, the white creature) but costing more than 1 mana makes it hard to play it and another vampire, so we ended up staying with just the best one.
Turn 1 vampire followed by turn 2 this and another 1 drop is a very strong opener.
that's something to keep in mind when i draft my list then, thanks. that marven fein dude not gonna make the cut for you? he basically 3-for-1 the turn he's cast.
FNM results.
vs Jenara 2-0
vs Edgar 2-1
vs Titania 2-1
vs Kalitas 2-1
vs Queen Marchesa 2-1
I had exceedingly good luck vs Titania and Kalitas. Authority of the Consuls saved me from Mike+Trike game one and had Vindicate in hand when he cast Engineered Plague game three. Titania got the turbofog lock at 4 but I drew Lightning Bolt then Kolaghan's Command.
Thanks for the Clarification what makes Fire Covenant a strong card, really didn't think it would be that great a card, but hearing what was said about it I do get its inclusion and why it would be a must include more now. Thanks again, defo putting it at the high end of my must get cards... ^^
Currently not buying anything, hoping to maybe trade some cards first, but when I am that card is gonna be on the list for sure...
Authority is another card I really wanna have but don't own a copy off also... Really shows how good the card is when it can just outright stop Mike+trike.. ^^
Congrats btw Cainsson, that is a really wel done FNM there...
Fire covenant is less than a dollar lol, the problem is finding one.
Stop trying to take away the one cool thing Mardu can do. I'm not afraid of the Edgar deck. I'm not afraid of a bunch of 1-2cmc 1/1s. Bring it. I can beat it, I'm not gonna run away from events. I'm not gonna play the same decklists of a year ago and cry and complain that I can't beat a new deck that just came up because I failed to adapt. Deckbuilding is never ever going to be a one-and-done exercise, in order to keep your deck good, you have to keep tweaking and tuning it, every day, every week, every event you play lest you be left behind.
Give me Zedruu. Give me Wydwen. Give me Titania. Hell give me Alesha or Kaalia...I will brew to be the best for whatever metagame I expect to face. And I know I'm not the only one that is confident enough in their deckbuilding ability to brew this way. If I didn't know how to brew, I wouldn't have been confident enough to take Zurgo Helmsmasher Duel-Commander to a MODERN FNM. But I did, and, I became a celebrity at my LGS for it. For putting Fish on tilt via Wildfire.....
You just have to know your meta. If you can't figure that out, you might as well be playing a 99 card blind pile. Because that's as good as your deckbuiding can be.
Edgar is not a problem because we play at 20 life. He would be a problem even in a 30 life format, because he gives the player an emblem that can't be interacted with and that generates tons of advantage. That is not an issue of life points, the card is basically perverting the idea of playing commander by giving you a free effect without ever needing to move your commander from the command zone. That's why it should be banned.
I disagree a bit here, there are decks that are powerful on 30HP and decks that are powerful on 20HP, This is clearly much more powerful on 20HP. The reason is what I said on the MTGO ban speculation thread, there are decks that do not care how many creatures you are putting into play, or whatever you are doing, as long as you are not disrupting enough or killing fast enough. The 10HP cushion is enough for a couple of decks to have a positive matchup against Markov, even more against Arahbo. Put this deck against Animar, Selvala, Nissa or Maelstrom Wanderer, such decks are hardly playable on 20HP or will be slower than Markov, Markov to be fast has too few interactions and therefore you need to ask the question for 30HP, how often can Markov kill on turn4/5? That is the turn for combo decks, and the reason why combo is not present on 20HP, Zurgo kills consitently on T4, so does Markov, but with 30HP how often does that happen if there is actually a hand that kills on T4 with 30hp.
I would actually say this will be a powerful deck on MTGO, but what will probably take the meta and are banwothy are Kess and Inalla, for how they fight the meta at 30hp.
Anyway all that said, I wouldn't worry too much if you are playing this deck on 30HP, but on DC it will probably get banned very soon, it fights the current meta with perfection, it does even better than Bruse. Bruse got banned because he putted C.A, life gaining and pressure all in the same deck, Markov does all that because Vampires have lifelink, creates token and pressures life points fast... He is a threat even bigger than Bruse was.
Lol I happened to be online so i might as well try to pitch in.
To clarify, bulk of the discussion in this thread is not for the MTGO format, it's for 20 life french. Just keep that in mind when reviewing decklists here and seeing how well they perform.
30 life is a far cry from 20 in terms of viable decks in the meta, so although the gameplan is similar, the success rate will differ. Edgar is soft to combo, which makes that extra 10 life a problem. Against fellow aggro, his board state beats out mono-white and zurgo. I'm not sure how much unblockable and protection tech that infect deck has, but 10 poison is much easier to dish out than 30 dmg imo. totally not sure about eldrazi, narset and tasi.
There's an mtgo banlist thread somewhere, and I posted just now asking if edgar markov is surviving that meta. I'm curious as well. you might wanna check that thread out once in a while in case a response pops up.
here's the link: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/forum-1-vs-1-duel-commander/772974-mtgo-banlist-1v1-wizards-discussion-thread?page=38
i'd only play goblin bombardment... but for discussion's sake makeshift is better for the activation cost.
are paper MTGO tourneys not a thing yet? there's a few over here, but very far between. i don't think there's been one post C17 yet locally.
Nah, out here it's all.....multiplayer. I talk of DC a lot, and try to get people interested. But...then they see Fastbond is legal and they throw their hands in the air.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
what list are you running currently?
FoW on its own is good, but what makes it often a game-winner is that chained with even just 1 counter spell on the same turn, or used to protect your tapout wincon in control decks, it's enough to really swing the game's momentum in your favor, or snowball if you're even slightly ahead. When I get countered then my next spell gets FoW'd, or if an opponent taps out to a planeswalker or general then still is able to counter my answer, I just lose. A counterspell for 0 with a less restrictive drawback than pact of negation is just crazy good. Not saying ban it lol, just sayin it's practically a wincon when the right spell is countered.
Lol I could really use some data on 30 life edgar myself, so please update us here if you get any testing done. =)
As for combo, it's gonna lose out to control decks naturally, but I was talking about combo in the context of edgar markov in 30. Edgar markov and i guess aggro in general has less ways to interact with combo than control.
Idk man.....I recall playing Zurgo vs Tasigur, where he Force'd my t1 Zurgo (on his mull to 5), and then he lost. I would argue Mental Misstep is way more of the swingy blowout than Force is. Misstep is absurd and doesn't even ask you pitch an extra card.
P/S.
Getting Zurgo Misstep'd is the ultimate feel bads.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
I have decided to invest in the deck, yolo right?. I will use the list provided by Cainsson but making a few changes. I would like your opinion about the changes.
-1 Crackling doom; +1 Shared triumph. Very straightforward in my opinion. If you played a 1CMC vamp on turn and playing Shared triumph on turn 2 means 4 dmg in the face.
-1Daretti, ingenious iconoclast; +1 Hammer of purphoros. Same CMC. Gives vampires haste and if we get flooded (which shouldnt happen) we can get golem tokens, not the optimal but good overall.
-1 Toxic Deluge; +1 Enlightened tutor. Self explanatory, we can get any "tool" we need.
-1 Pulse tracker; +1 Mirri the cursed. Pulse tracker is great in your opening hand and maybe if you get him in the first 2-4 turns but after i think he is a dead draw. Mirri in the other hand has a 4CMC, haste, first strike, flying and when she deals combat damage to an opponent, she gets a +1/+1 counter, making her very good late game and a no so dead draw in your opening hand curving nicely, and if she goes unanswered she can win games. Did i mention she is a kitty and a vampire?
What do you guys think? Does these changes makes sense to you. I would appreciate any advice.
Thank you.
Well, zurgo is actually one of the worst examples to demonstrate force of will's power level. It's one of the few times it's not as good, especially if it was used on zurgo himself.
In our city we don't have any 20 life tournaments anymore. If you wanted data, this is it.
There was also a stream where it was Animar x Edgar yesterday. Ed won w/o breaking a sweat.
Contamination. smart. though what's the ankh for? and do you have any post-ixalan modifications in mind already?
I can't think of any deck with rakdos colors available that fire covenant wouldn't benefit greatly. I do admit it's one of those cards that you don't really fully appreciate until you use it yourself a few times. This went in and out of my mardu decklists and it took me months to realize that this is an auto-include. I've gotten myself down to less than 5 life for this as early as turn 4, and I still ended up winning because of it. Getting an x-for 1 sweep on your opponent's turn then untapping to do your thing is just a huge momentum swing and is often worth paying any amount of life, provided it's not vs burn. But even then, I still get miles off this vs zurgo. After all, most red dudes have less toughness than power.
I had Nocturnus in but lent the deck to a friend and when he gave it back to me, Nocturnus was replaced by something I don't know. Fire covenant is one of the best cards available, you pay 8~12 life and win the game.
Contamination is as much of a free roll as it gets in this deck. Ankh is against slow control and Titania. If it comes down fast it deals more damage than anything (had it deal 10 against a Titania that fetch'd, got it back and cracked it again, just to have everything die to Covenant).
Post-Ixalan, the Vampire Hellrider comes in and the 2nd Pulse Tracker. Tested the white enchantment a lot and it kinda sucks.
I had Nocturnus in but lent the deck to a friend and when he gave it back to me, Nocturnus was replaced by something and now I can't find it anymore. Fire Covenant is one of the best cards available, you pay 8~12 life and win the game.
Contamination is as much of a free roll as it gets in this deck. Ankh is against slow control and Titania. If it comes down fast it deals more damage than anything (had it deal 10 against a Titania that fetch'd, got it back and cracked it again, just to have everything die to Covenant).
Post-Ixalan, the Vampire Hellrider comes in and the 2nd Pulse Tracker. Tested the white enchantment a lot and it kinda sucks.
How about the new vampire suntail hawk and the 2 drop with flash?
Also, who gets hit hard by authority of the consuls in 30 life outside of the mirror?
Turn 1 vampire followed by turn 2 this and another 1 drop is a very strong opener.
oooh close game vs breya, that's promising. contamination would do you better i think, unless you plan to play both.
that's something to keep in mind when i draft my list then, thanks. that marven fein dude not gonna make the cut for you? he basically 3-for-1 the turn he's cast.
vs Jenara 2-0
vs Edgar 2-1
vs Titania 2-1
vs Kalitas 2-1
vs Queen Marchesa 2-1
I had exceedingly good luck vs Titania and Kalitas. Authority of the Consuls saved me from Mike+Trike game one and had Vindicate in hand when he cast Engineered Plague game three. Titania got the turbofog lock at 4 but I drew Lightning Bolt then Kolaghan's Command.
Fire covenant is less than a dollar lol, the problem is finding one.
Stop trying to take away the one cool thing Mardu can do. I'm not afraid of the Edgar deck. I'm not afraid of a bunch of 1-2cmc 1/1s. Bring it. I can beat it, I'm not gonna run away from events. I'm not gonna play the same decklists of a year ago and cry and complain that I can't beat a new deck that just came up because I failed to adapt. Deckbuilding is never ever going to be a one-and-done exercise, in order to keep your deck good, you have to keep tweaking and tuning it, every day, every week, every event you play lest you be left behind.
Give me Zedruu. Give me Wydwen. Give me Titania. Hell give me Alesha or Kaalia...I will brew to be the best for whatever metagame I expect to face. And I know I'm not the only one that is confident enough in their deckbuilding ability to brew this way. If I didn't know how to brew, I wouldn't have been confident enough to take Zurgo Helmsmasher Duel-Commander to a MODERN FNM. But I did, and, I became a celebrity at my LGS for it. For putting Fish on tilt via Wildfire.....
You just have to know your meta. If you can't figure that out, you might as well be playing a 99 card blind pile. Because that's as good as your deckbuiding can be.
Steel Sabotage'ng Orbs of Mellowness since 2011.
I disagree a bit here, there are decks that are powerful on 30HP and decks that are powerful on 20HP, This is clearly much more powerful on 20HP. The reason is what I said on the MTGO ban speculation thread, there are decks that do not care how many creatures you are putting into play, or whatever you are doing, as long as you are not disrupting enough or killing fast enough. The 10HP cushion is enough for a couple of decks to have a positive matchup against Markov, even more against Arahbo. Put this deck against Animar, Selvala, Nissa or Maelstrom Wanderer, such decks are hardly playable on 20HP or will be slower than Markov, Markov to be fast has too few interactions and therefore you need to ask the question for 30HP, how often can Markov kill on turn4/5? That is the turn for combo decks, and the reason why combo is not present on 20HP, Zurgo kills consitently on T4, so does Markov, but with 30HP how often does that happen if there is actually a hand that kills on T4 with 30hp.
I would actually say this will be a powerful deck on MTGO, but what will probably take the meta and are banwothy are Kess and Inalla, for how they fight the meta at 30hp.
Anyway all that said, I wouldn't worry too much if you are playing this deck on 30HP, but on DC it will probably get banned very soon, it fights the current meta with perfection, it does even better than Bruse. Bruse got banned because he putted C.A, life gaining and pressure all in the same deck, Markov does all that because Vampires have lifelink, creates token and pressures life points fast... He is a threat even bigger than Bruse was.