MTG Salvation

Hey all,

Here is my Multiplayer iteration of Blood Feeds The Famine, a heavy and speedy aggro deck built around Edgar Markov that is meant to swarm, abuse enter-the-battlefield effects, and overall muck up peoples' days.



The point of the deck is to just basically get a bunch of Vampires out and turn them sideways, capitalizing on both clauses aforementioned using enchantments, utility critters, and the like. Combat tricks exist in a pinch and being that we run the best removal colors in the game, a smattering of removal is in as well. So far this deck has done very well for me.

~

I also recently built myself a prototype 1v1 deck around Edgar Markov that is meant to do a slightly lighter swarming of opponents using Vampires but also focused on playing, cheating in, and recurring Curses onto one player at a time. Killed one of them in multiplayer? Replenish to off another. Coerce/threaten other players into doing what you want when you want them to, lest their creatures become 1/1s and eventually 0/0s and dead by association. The deck is more for the midrange crowd, but it still can potentially hold its own as a slightly faster-paced deck thanks to Edgar.



You'll notice I didn't use any of the newer curses except Opulence. I felt the others unnecessary because this one nets mana like mad if you get a dissenter to be the butt of the attacks, and then curse them on top of it. The mana is nice early on and very useful later as well.

Comments? Complaints? Questions? Bring 'em forward!

~Lil Kalki

Slight update: I have a second build which I find much stronger for multiplayer games, and thus am delegating this to Traditional 1v1. It will still be discussed here, but the Multiplayer deck will be focused on more. The thread title will be amended once that happens, as the new main deck is not curse-based.

~Lil Kalki

If you want to be extra gross and feel like you're cheating... try Reconnaissance. This card allows you to be hyper agressive and attack all-out while avoiding any unfavorable blocks (this is the 'fair' use).

This card also allows you to untap any first stike vampires like Edgar Markov or Drana, Liberator of Malakir after first strike damage is dealt but before normal combat damage is dealt. (handy for getting +1+1 counters from Drana to your whole team)... obviously busted with Stromkirk Captain. This card also allows you to untap after normal combat damage is dealt for pseudo vigilance as the creature is considered an 'attacking creature' all the way until the end of combat stage.

Anyways, here's my decklist... feel free to leave feedback or suggesions. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/edgars-dega-vampires/

Wait, at what point in combat would I activate Reconnaissance here? Right after first strike damage but before normal combat damage? That seems pretty amazing...! What happens if there are no blocks though, and/or everything in combat is first striking?

That is an amazing interaction... holy cow. Also any recommendations for cuts?

I'm looking at your deck now... Let me just ask on here - why no Malakir Bloodwitch?

~Lil Kalki

EDIT: Deck amended

You can activate it at any time before the end of the end of combat stage. So after blockers are declared to avoid unfavorable blocks, check. After first strike damage but before normal combat damage is dealt, check. And even after normal combat damage is dealt but prior to the end of the end of combat step, check.

Reconnaissance is insanely broken.

http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-rulings/781977-reconnaissance

And no bloodwitch because I wanted to keep the avg. cmc below 3.0. (2.98 currently)

Quote from Last Laugh »

You can activate it at any time before the end of the end of combat stage. So after blockers are declared to avoid unfavorable blocks, check. After first strike damage but before normal combat damage is dealt, check. And even after normal combat damage is dealt but prior to the end of the end of combat step, check.

Reconnaissance is insanely broken.

http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-rulings/781977-reconnaissance

And no bloodwitch because I wanted to keep the avg. cmc below 3.0.

This is a beautiful thing. Added. Thank you so much!

~Lil Kalki

- Falkenrath Gorger
+ Retribution of the Ancients to combo in with Patron of the Vein
- Soul's Attendant
+ Patron of the Vein see above
- Suture Priest
+ Blood Seeker for a vampire doing what I want the priest to usually do

~Lil Kalki

UPDATE: Further edits to formatting of decklists, as well as a shift to the deck being more budgetarily reprieved. The deck doesn't run things like Mana Crypt or duals, so I figure it fits better, perhaps moreso than Casual.

~Lil Kalki

Vampire Nocturnus would be good for a vampire deck.

You know, you're definitely right except in the case that I'm running - in my opinion - too many nonblack cards to have Nocturnus turn on most of the time it's out. I could run it in either except for that issue. Thanks for the suggestion though!

~Lil Kalki

Interesting question for the aggro-competitive crowd (that is, not so much aggressively competitive players as competitive aggro players, lol) - Should I run Harsh Mercy over some other wipe like Day of Judgment or Bontu's Last Reckoning, or nah? I have some pros and cons to weigh in on:

PROS of Harsh Mercy (vs other wraths):
+ Cheaper than any wrath over 3cmc
+ Can spare your creatures while causing mass creature destruction besides
+ 1 colored mana symbol less than most wraths
+ Can bypass both Void Winnower and Gaddock Teeg, if the meta uses it a lot
+ May cause tough decisions for opponents, depending on how many creature types are in play

CONS of Harsh Mercy (vs other wraths):
- Will not get rid of everything if your opponents have even 1 creature to spare
- Can't be cast against Brisela, Voice of Nightmares if that is relevant in meta

Now, I'm also wondering - Day of Judgment and Bontu's Last Reckoning would be the applicable potential cuts for Harsh Mercy if I am to include it. I have to compare those two if I choose to run it, so as to figure out the right one to cut:

PROS of Day of Judgment (vs Bontu's Last Reckoning):
+ Lands will untap at untap step

PROS of Bontu's Last Reckoning (vs Day of Judgment):
+ 3cmc wrath vs 4cmc
+ BB vs WW (thus a more balanced color pool overall, in that it's WBB vs WWW if playing it with Harsh Mercy [and also vs the BBWW when playing as is - more balanced as is, but also more color intensive])

I think Bontu's Last Reckoning is amazing for 3 mana but its downside is VERY painful if I'm trying to speed out to a win. Meanwhile, I've had games where 1 mana was all the difference between swinging games into my favor or not. Plus the color fixing can sometimes be important, but in a deck with twice as many swamps as plains it might be okay, all things considered.

Or is there another space for a wipe? What would that be? I don't know if running too many wipes is a good idea as we need our Vamps intact, but I'm open to suggestion.

~Lil Kalki

EDIT: Also considering the removal of Disrupt Decorum, but for the likes of Anguished Unmaking.

IN:
Anguished Unmaking - wherein spot removal is probably smarter than a mass-goading
Harsh Mercy - replaces Bontu's Last Reckoning (see below) - is less mana intensive which is permissible, and spares my dudes
Anowon, the Ruin Sage - a little Stax isn't terrible when you want to ready yourself for a tournament
Cover of Darkness - possibly better for damage output than Fervent Charge (below), also costs less
Aura of Silence - Needed more art/ench hate and this is a good one for that

OUT:
Bontu's Last Reckoning
Disrupt Decorum
Vault of the Archangel - I never see myself using it except as a mana source anyway. Let's not have to forget it and cut it entirely!
Fervent Charge
Master Warcraft - 4 mana open is too easy of a tell so this should be cut because it's reduced to a gimmick therefore

~Lil Kalki

EDIT: Slight footnote: Greaves for Boots, Exquisite for Norin, Sanguine for Darkness, to be implmented in a bit of time, but before Sunday.