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.
39 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.
I’m kinda new to MTG, so this might be stupid.
Have you ever considered running 2-3 Kalastria Highborn in this? It would add counters to Bloodchief Ascension pretty well, and add to the lifegain potential of the deck. The downside is that its 5$ per copy, but its totally worth it in my opinion. Even though this is not a vampire deck, it just worked out so that 1/2 of your creatures are vampires anyway. It would work even better if we added in earlier suggested vampires, like Bloodghast and Gatekeeper of Malakir.
Also, I just realized that Vampire Aristocrat also works really well (w/ Kalastria Highborn). Sac a creature and a black mana to deal 2 damage, gain 2 life, and get a 4/4 aristocrat until end of turn.
Brain, thanks for the comments. Kalastria Highborn seems like a great addition if you add more vampires to the deck. I’ve seen the card in a couple winning Vampires decklists.
I haven’t seen Aristocrat in any winning lists but he might be worth testing.
he wants the banshees for the 3 damage, this deck its not suposed to be slow its fast damage.
black knight doesnt get protection from journey to nowhere or Oblvion ring. Once in battlefield these 2 enchantments are no longer white spell its consider as abilities.
chicken, Black Knight does get protection from Journey and O Ring.
For the M10 version, pro white means “This creature can’t be blocked, targeted, dealt damage, or enchanted by anything white.”
The phrase “anything white” includes white permanents like Journey and O Ring.
As much as i like the immediate satisfaction from howling banshee, it is easily replaced by kalastria highborn. first off, she’s just better, but second, she offers more tricks. she gives easy counters to bloodchief ascension with her ability. This is not difficult to do, seeing as you can sacrifice hexmage and pay one mana to gain 2 and have them lose 2. Also, as someone stated earlier, bloodghast are quite nice for putting on consistent damage. not to mention he’s going to die a lot, setting off kalastria’s ability if you have open mana.
Second, may i am not seeing something that i should be, but why not exchange tendrils for hideous end. i saw them in your sb and disagreed a little. it simply destroys it and helps with the counters for BA. you would also need an obsurd ammount of swamps to take something big out, where hideous does it with 3.
perfect scenario:
1st-bloodchief
2nd-bloodghast/hexmage
3rd-kalastria – swing and either deal damage or kalastria does
4th-nighthawk – swing with whoever and either deal 2 or kalastria does (even if she’s the one dying)
5th-nighthawk swings – setting off bloodchief – second main phase mind sludge
That’s more than likely game and a reoccurring scenario due to the cohesiveness and simplicity of the deck.
All in all, i love BA, and am glad it’s getting recognition. keep up the deck creation.
josh, thanks for the tips. I think they are very solid. I would definitely include Kalastria and Bloodghast. Hideous is probably good too but I’m not sure if you have a lot of Jund in your meta since it can’t kill Leech and Thrinax. Maybe a 2-of will work?
so i am going to runa variation of this deck in a ptq however i am having some problems setting up a side deck i was hoping i could get a little help here’s the main deck so far…
4 black knights
4 vamp hexmage
4 kalastria highborn
4 vamp nighthawk
4 malakir bloodwitch
4 gatekeep malakir
4 bloodchief a
4 urge to feed
3 mind sludge
23 land also
I think the deck needs 3 Sign in Blood and 4 Bloodghast. I would probably cut -2 Bloodwitch, -1 Urge to Feed, -1 Hexmage, -1 Black Knight, for them. Also, notice that you have two open spots.
For sb, you could go with a combination of Duress, Mind Rot, Doomblade, Pithing Needle, and Tendrils.
ive tried the deck with blood ghast and more often then not it did not help for my win condition so i took it out for black knight which worked alot better the other reason i dont wanna go with bloodghast is i dont have fetch lands so he wont come back as often for me so thanks for the tips ill prob add the sign in bloods and tweak my numbers on the sb
cisco,
Good point on the fetchlands. In that case, Bloodghast is not as good and I wouldn’t play them in the deck.
Hi Dee,
This is a fantastic site, and I enjoy reading through the various decks and comments.
Anyway, I ran into this deck on your site one day, and decided to build my own variation of it. It got to the final at FNM, but still could not beat Jund. I think with the right draw, however, it could have potential at beating Jund.
Here is my full decklist.
Land: (23)
20x Swamp
3x Bojuka Bog
Creatures: (17)
4x Hexmage
4x Black Knight
4x Nighthawk
4x Banshee
1x Bloodwitch (I basically count her as a 5th Banshee)
Other Spells: (20)
4x Bloodchief
4x Consuming Vapors (or if you prefer, hideous end)
3x Sign in blood
3x Mind Sludge
3x Corrupt
2x Sorin Markov
1x Liliana Vess
As far as the main deck goes, I have found corrupt to be much better than tendrils, and it does more damage than consume spirit ever could. Though it costs 2 more mana, you can target the player as well, often ending the game outright by the point you can cast it. Consuming Vapors and vampire nighthawk will keep you alive until it comes out.
The 3 Bojuka Bogs rarely hinder your mind sludge and corrupt, but are so very useful. So many decks use their graveyard, and it’s wonderful to get rid of them with the drop of a land. I’ve also replaced 1 Sorin from the original deck with 1 Liliana. She comes out a turn earlier, and if the ascension is active, she is worth 2 life drain per turn, as well as providing a tutor for those difficult moments. Also, she keeps the pressure on them if she comes out the turn after mind sludging them. They have to top deck and play whatever they draw or lose it immediately.
Black knights are infinitely more useful than Bloodghasts or Highborns, as their first strike ability and pro-white-ness is unmatchable early game. With highborns, you have to rely on your creatures to die, and there aren’t enough vampires in the deck for her ability to be useful anyway. Bloodghasts are woeful defensively, and you need early game blockers, especially with the damage you will do to yourself with Banshee and sign in blood. And having two first-strikers out is absolutely amazing defensively.
Hexmage stays in no matter what, as her first-strike and sac ability is unmatched. She can be gotten rid of easier than black knight, but you can always sac her in response, making her immune to mind control-like effects, and anything blue plays, simply by sacking her. She takes out anything with counters when she dies, as well, which is a nice little bonus. Planeswalkers, levelers, allies, quests all fall before the Hexmage. Her and black knight are a great team, not just for this deck, but any mono black deck.
I feel this is a good combination of attack and defense, which is why I have found that this deck works well, even if you *don’t* draw the ascension.
——————————————————————————————
Sideboard: (15)
3x Sadistic Sacrament
3x Duress
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Gatekeeper of Malakir
3x Contaminated Ground
The sideboard is actually the strongest part of this deck. It can combat against almost any archetype, I have found.
Sadistic sacrament comes in against control or combo decks to remove the cards they need, or cards that you won’t be able to easily deal with, before they can even come out.
Duress also comes in against control to remove any pesky counterspells.
Inquisition can go either way… Bring it in against control for counterspells as well, or against aggro to remove fast, low-cost creatures. (Goblin Guide, I’m looking at you)
Gatekeepers are wonderful against aggro decks, or black decks (if you are playing hideous end and not consuming vapors main deck.)
Contaminated ground is the most underrated card ever. It combos directly with the ascension to give you counters, and slows down dual colour decks, as well as stopping manlands, such as that dreaded celestial colonnade. Also goes great against Valakut ramp. I’ve used it to great effect many times against such decks. Bring it in anytime a deck has a shaky mana base.
As I said, this deck can also, (surprisingly enough), hold its own and is tough to beat even if you don’t draw the ascension. It only has trouble against one deck, Jund, but since that is rotating out soon, and I’ve built this deck with no cards that rotate out this October, it will outlast Jund, and I see a very promising future for it in the next year of standard.
It is a lot of fun to play and I recommend it to anyone.
Thanks for the inspiration!
As an alternative, you could also run the 8-swamp fetch lands (Verdant catacombs/Marsh Flats). Though they cost you one life per fetch, it does thin the deck out at no loss of momentum. I did not put them in however, as I cannot afford them, but they would improve the deck.
Also, in the sideboard, you could take out both inquisitions and 1 gatekeeper, and put in 3x Consume the Meek for white weenie or ally decks. Very, very useful.
These would improve the deck overall, but it does work well either way.
@ Kalast
Welcome! Glad you enjoyed the site.
Great overview of your deck
Looks solid. I would play 1-2 more lands but that’s because I hate losing to mana screw hehe.
I like Grave Titan versus Jund if you can fit it somehow in the sb.
You’d play more lands? But your deck only has 23, same as mine. The only difference is I run a few Bojuka Bogs instead of swamps.
Grave Titan is great, but he costs waaaaaaaay too much (financially) haha
However, players can tweak it to their liking. Even I have tweaked it a little from this since I played it last. But this is definitely the foundation which the deck should be built upon.
Good point lol about the lands. Actually, I think 24-25 lands and 4 Sign in Blood has become the common number for Mono Black decks like this one (including Vampires which has a lower mana curve) which have done well in tournaments. That’s why I like adding a land or two. But if 23 is working out for you, no need to change it