Bloodchief Ascension Standard Deck List (7th Place out of 56 Players)
November 25, 2009
Bloodchief Ascension was a Zendikar card that many players including pros thought would be a Standard staple. It’s cheap at one mana and when you turn it on, it’s very hard to lose. However, the card has not shown up in the popular competitive Standard decks.
That might change though because of the following Mono Black deck list that got 7th place out of a 56 player tournament yesterday on Magic Online (MTGO). The tournament was six rounds of swiss and the deck posted a 5-1 record before losing in the quarterfinals.
| Mono Black Bloodchief Ascension | |||||||||||
Spells (21)
Creatures (16) Lands (23)
| Sideboard (15) |
| |||||||||
Main Deck Analysis
Black Knight looks like a solid choice since many of the top Standard decks from Worlds were playing white. Black Knight comes down early and blocks creatures like Rhox War Monk, Steppe Lynx, Elite Vanguard, Knight of the Reliquary, and Woolly Thoctar. It avoids removal like Path to Exile and Journey to Nowhere. Also, the first strike is definitely relevant allowing it to fight creatures like Bloodbraid Elf, Goblin Guide, and Lotus Cobra without dying.
Vampire Hexmage is another two drop two power first striker. It doesn’t have protection like Black Knight but it can kill planeswalkers with its ability.
Vampire Nighthawk is a solid creature that’s being played in Vampires and some Jund decks so I wasn’t too surprised to see it. However, the last creature in the deck was definitely unexpected.
Howling Banshee is a solid limited card but not many people expected to see it as a 4-of in a top eight deck. It has good synergy with Bloodchief Ascension and flying is relevant since many decks don’t have a lot of flyers. Banshee also hurts you but the deck has 18 lifegain cards, so you can easily recoup the lifeloss.
Bloodchief Ascension works well with the other three creatures. Black Knight and Vampire Hexmage come down early and are hard to block by most other cheap creatures. Vampire Nighthawk only costs three and it has evasion.
What about the spells? How well do they combo with Bloodchief?
Sign in Blood doesn’t directly combo with Bloodchief Ascension but it is one of the best card draw spells in the format.
Consume Spirit gives you time to set up Bloodchief by killing creatures and gaining you life. Also, you can use it to add counters on Bloodchief. Late in the game, it’s a big X spell. You may be able to outright kill your opponent with all your mana laying around.
Tendrils of Corruption is an auto include. It’s the best removal spell if all your lands are Swamps. It may not put counters on Bloodchief but like Consume Spirit, it gives you time to set it up. And once Bloodchief is turned on, Tendrils gives you a lot of life.
Sorin Markov gives you the ability to Consume Spirit for two every turn. Therefore, it can add counters to Bloodchief and it can pick off small creatures.
Finally, we have Mind Sludge. Mind Sludge is already a strong card that’s played in most Vampire decks. But it’s insane when you cast it with an active Bloodchief on the battlefield.
Sideboard Analysis
Desecrated Earth comes in against multicolor decks with shaky mana bases. Duress is great against control and combo decks that don’t have a lot of creatures.
Hideous End is a nice combo with Bloodchief. Bring it in against decks with a lot of non-black creatures. Infest is a solid sweeper against aggro decks with many small creatures.
Malakir Bloodwitch seems like it should have a spot in the sideboard. It shuts down white decks especially Baneslayer. Plus, it can sometimes trigger Bloodchief. I think cutting a Duress and a Desecrated Earth for two copies is fine unless you have a lot of Day of Judgment decks in your metagame.
Also, Gatekeeper of Malakir may deserve a spot but I haven’t tested the deck enough to know what to cut. It could even be main deck worthy.
Financial Analysis
Bloodchief Ascension may be an underpriced rare because of this deck. Cardhoarder, an MTGO retailer, sells it for only 65 cents. Buying it at this price seems like a solid play since 65 cents per card is a pretty small investment.
The eBay price for a real life copy is about $2.80. I wouldn’t buy it yet at that price unless the deck starts getting popular.
The only other rare is Sorin Markov but it already has a relatively high price tag since it’s a mythic planeswalker. Therefore, I don’t think its price has much room to grow. I wouldn’t buy it.
Cardhoarder sells Sorin for $8.00 but Nissa Revane, a planeswalker that’s seen much more tournament play, is only two dollars more expensive. And in real life, Sorin has a higher price tag than Nissa Revane.
21 Responses to “Bloodchief Ascension Standard Deck List (7th Place out of 56 Players)”
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Why Banshees instead of Hypnotic specter? The specter comes out for 3cc and gives you card advantage + if Ascension is online hits for 4.
Hi Dee,
First of all, I wanted to say that I am a huge fan of your site, especially your limited analysis. You have helped me become a better player, so thank you.
But I just want to point out that there was a mistake in your coverage of this deck.
You said:
“Sign in Blood doesn’t directly combo with Bloodchief Ascension but it is one of the best card draw spells in the format. ”
But in actuality, sign in blood does combo with BA… It allows you to potentially add a counter for the cost of two cards… This might seem steep, but imagine this scenario. During their fourth turn they have three cards in hand. You can sign in blood them, adding the final counters to BA, and then untap and mind sludge their entire grip. If you have an active BA, your mind sludge could be a 12-20 point life swing…
@Huff
Hypnotic Specter does seem like a good idea.
@Carter
Thanks for the catch! Did not see that Sign in Blood and Mind Sludge interaction. I don’t think it will come up very often but it’s definitely good to know since the play is powerful.
Also, once you have seven mana out, playing both spells in the same turn is an option.
Hi Dee.
I have just found out about this website and its very awesome!
I just wan to ask does Vampire Hexmage can replace Hypnotic specter? Or Vampire Hexmage is better?
Coz i really thinking of play the deck its seems very fun =)
I think I would cut Banshee before Hexmage. Hexmage is great b/c it deals with planeswalkers and it’s an earlier drop. Plus, the first strike makes it hard to block versus many of the one and two drops being played in tournaments.
Hi Dee
For the Sideboard.Do u think that Sadistic Sacrament is useful?Bcoz if BloodCheif Assension has 3 counters on it,it would be very pain.But i had to think alot last nite what card to get rid with for the sideboard. i really nid your help!
Sorry if my english is bad =(
Actually, Sadistic Sacrament doesn’t work since it exiles the cards. Bloodchief Ascension only gets triggered when cards go into your opponent’s graveyard.
mmm I think bloodghast is always a good card.. And nocturnus?? hypnotic specter better than banshee. I’ve also got 4 deathmarks as sideboard, haunting echos maybe for main deck? And what do u guys think of doom blade?and Kalitas?I’ve got 2 they are very nice cards but I can’t see them fit in
I have to dissagree in the Hypnotic vs Howling banshee argument. At fourth turn, you are still looking for quest counters, and the banshee strictly does this better than the specter. The specter HAS to not be blocked or be targeted by spot removal to add a counter, while the banshee automatically, ( as long as it is not countered) adds a counter. The life loss will not affect the game 99 percent of the time, and the extra toughness is something think about. I feel that we need to be asking is, how effective is this deck if one does not draw an ascension early? does it have the power to work without the combo? if not this deck should not be attempted. I feel that there are enough pieces here where a second theme, or a stronger offense or control theme could be highlighted.
Good points, Magnus. I tested the deck a while back and it was doing well versus most decks. However, I stopped playing it because it couldn’t beat Jund.
Bloodghast goes in Vampire Hexmage’s spot.
Bloodghast does seem like it deserves a spot in the deck, if not in the main, then the sb.
Great deck, looks very fun to play.
Only one thing caught my attention: the Infest.
There are 8 creatures in this deck that would be removed by it, maybe replace it for Marsh Casualities? It only affects creatures your opponents control, and does -1 -1 for BB, however the kicker for -2 -2 is quite a pain, 5 manas total, which in the 5th turn could be a disadvantege. The opponent could have plenty creatures by then and might have done some damage. On the other hand, on the 4th turn Tendrils come out (in case of not having the Banshee) and my give you some time to play Marsh casualities kicker.
What do you think?
Jamie, good call. I do think March Casualties is probably the better sb card. The -1/-1 actually kills many of the creatures you want to kill with Infest and you don’t have to worry about killing your own guys.
This deck dose look good with the life gain that you will see ide run a Sanguine bound or 2 witch will give you a extra win condition have things no go ur way and ide run corrupt over consume it will never hit as hard as corrupt and if you got more manna it lets you play something more or force you opponent to waste a counter on something like a specter or the Ascension and you got a free hit with the corrupt true you can do the same with the consume but again wont be as potent but if its creature kill you need ide go unmake along side the tendrils , cant remember if its still in type but ide run distress over duress one more mama and i can rip that creature that i may not have a answer for when it hits which has happened a few times and again and lets face it sometime we never see the kill when we need it but all in all looks good my self ide like to see a rack deck work with this i prefer extended and classic especially sets like torment and odyssey when MBC really shone and with all the new cards my MBC is just out right sickening
hey man sup?
i built the deck and tried it out
it worked pretty well , however, it has only one problem which you have probably already figured out.
what happens when u dont get the ascension?
the fact is that its hard to win withount it, with so many cheep removals spells going aroud, the creatures in this deck dont get to kill the opponent. bloodghast seems a very interesting add for the deck, since it would make it more aggro, but its not enough.
the good thing about this deck is the life gain, which can make you last longer , but not win the game.
the only variable i found for this deck is the red/black bloodchief ascension deck which runs with hellspark elementals, goblin guides, lightning bolts, burst lightnings, blightnings, etc. one of the most important cards in this deck is demonic dread, which can put a bloodchief acsension on the board with the cascade.
anyways , if we keep thinking about mono black, i think more creatures should be added (if you change it to extended the solution would be corrupt and sanguine bond as mentioned before), right now im thinking about Dregscape Zombie, Infectious Horror, Nyxathid, Child of Night, Dread Warlock, Hypnotic Specter , Nightmare, Gatekeeper of Malakir , Guul Draz Specter , Surrakar Marauder , Vampire Lacerator, Corpse Connoisseur (works very well with unearth creatures like the 4/4 zombie) and Viscera Dragger . Lots of options
ok thats all , what do u think? c ya
I took this deck to a tournament and did pretty well I find blood ghast helped terrifically ecspecially against a mass removal deck and counter deck. It usually worked best if turn 1 ascension, 2 bloodghast, 3 nighthawk or wait till there turn and hidious end for another counter, turn 4 sign in blood and another 2 cost, and turn 5 MIND SLUDGE when there deck is about to take off, I never lost if I mind sludge them turn 5 (besides good jund) , I used it even when the ascension was not off yet… I won almost every game and my deck was very similar it just had more bloodghast more hideous end and more malakir bloodwitch, the last of them was also very important malakir set off my ascension and helped with late game and very good against path to exile and all white creature in general,
@danizzle
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Can you give us your actual decklist?
24 swamp
3 bloodghast
2 malakir
3 mindsludge
4 sign in blood
4 bloodcheif ascension
1 howling banshee
2 sorin markov
2 tendrils of corruption
3 hideous end
3 gatekeeper of malakir
2 vampire nighthawk
3 vampire hexmage
3 comsume spirit
1 duress
I would like to buy more fetch lands possibly 8 and another blood ghast so that I would get bloodghast back that many more times
Also I am still working on this trying to make it more of my own
Oh and 1 -2 of the vamps that at begening of upkeep each player sacs a non vamp for later game if they take out the ascension or it just doesn’t come up
danizzle, thanks for the decklist. Looks interesting. I think the eight fetchlands and extra Bloodghast is a good idea.
Anowon, the Ruin Sage is the vampire that makes each player sac a non-vampire creature.