Why Vampires is a Good Choice For Standard
January 8, 2010
Vampires started off as a popular deck in Standard. Then everyone realized that Jund was the best deck. Vampires soon became less popular since it has a poor matchup versus Jund. However, I think the time is now ripe for Vampires to be a force in the metagame.
In this premium article, Cedric Phillips talks about how he’s been winning a lot on Magic Online with Vampires. He says people are tired of playing Jund and are looking instead to play decks that beat it. He believes that Vampires has great matchups against those non-Jund decks.
I think he’s right.
Also, he wrote the article before last weekend’s SCG 5K Standard Open, where LSV got 1st place with UWR Control, so there should be more people moving away from Jund.
Preying on Non-Jund Decks
Vampires has many advantages versus most of the decks in the field.
It’s mono black so it makes Flashfreeze a dead card. Also, it has good discard (Duress, Mind Rot, Mind Sludge) and Bloodghast to further make the control matchup a good one. Most control decks have little to no counters in game one to stop the discard since they are playing Flashfreeze.
Gatekeeper of Malakir is a beating versus the shroud creatures, Wall of Denial and Sphinx of Jwar Isle. And Vampire Nighthawk can trade with them.
Malakir Bloodwitch is awesome against Baneslayer Angel, Knight of the Reliquary, Woolly Thoctar, and Steppe Lynx. And she dodges Path to Exile and Ajani Vengeant all day.
Tendrils of Corruption is great versus burn and Goblin Bushwhacker.
If you’re looking for a good deck in Standard, give Vampires a try and let my know how it goes.
Here’s my current list.
| Mono Black Vampires | |||||||||||
Spells (15) Creatures (21)
Lands (24) | Sideboard (15) |
| |||||||||
17 Responses to “Why Vampires is a Good Choice For Standard”
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I agree that Vampires has potential and can win. I won my first FNM with a vampire deck. While true that it does a bit poorly against Jund, it works wonders against all the white control floating around. Personally, I like running Quest for the Gravelord. It helps by counteracting some of the advantages Jund has via their removal. Or they waste a pulse taking it out, which works for you if it means keeping your vampires alive for another turn of nocturnus.
Thanks for the comment. I might have to test Quest.
Btw, Vampires definitely has potential. Yesterday, a 14 year old kid playing Vampires won a high profile 300 person tournament, beating Jund in the finals
Apparently I’m a total noob– I can’t figure out why there are eight fetch lands in a mono black deck. Are they all used to trigger bloodghast? How is this worth it?
Yes, to trigger bloodghast and to shuffle the deck to get a non-land on top for Nocturnus.
I like it, it’s fun.
Why not feast of blood in the sideboard instead of doom blade?
What’s sideboard plan in general with the extras (bloodwitch, bloodghast, sludge)? What about grim discovery?
What are you taking out to board in the removal?
Cheers,
B
I like Doom Blade over Feast of Blood because in the matchups where lifegain is important (like Boros Bushwhacker and Mono Red Aggro), those decks have a lot of removal so it can be difficult to meet the requirement of 2 Vampires on the battlefield. Also, in those matchups, I sb out Bloodghast so it’s even harder to meet the requirement.
Doom Blade is instant speed so it can kill the haste creatures of Mono Red Aggro (Hell’s Thunder, Hellspark Elemental, Ball Lightning, Elemental Appeal) while Feast of Blood is a sorcery.
With the extras, I bring in Bloodwitch versus any midrange or control white deck. Bloodghast and Sludge comes in versus control.
Grim Discovery is my attempt at combating Blightning lol. I’m still testing it but it hasn’t been awful.
Here are my sb plans regarding removal:
Bushwhacker
+3 Marsh Casualties
+2 Doom Blade
-2 Duress
-1 Bloodghast
-2 Mind Sludge
Naya or GWB Midrange
+2 Doom Blade
+2 Deathmark
+1 Bloodwitch
-2 Duress
-3 Hexmage
Mono Red Aggro (Red Deck Wins)
+2 Doom Blade
-2 Mind Sludge
I agree that Vampires is kind a in a good spot in the meta game. The deck is very good against pretty much anything that is supposed to beat Jund. And you know, sometimes you get there versus Jund aswell.
However I don’t like the fact that many people is skimping on Bloodghast and Malakir Bloodwitch. From my experience those (along with Nocturnus) is the most important creatures in your deck. In my book not playing 4x of both of them is… less than optimal.
Creatures
4x Bloodghast
4x Child of Night—Sideboard out with Doom Blade vs. Red
4x Gatekeeper of Malakir
4x Vampire Nighthawk
Spells
4x Shadowfeed—Sideboard out with Duress vs. Red
4x Sign in Blood—Cast on yourself
4x Diabolic Tutor—Use only to find land for turn 5
4x Sanguine Bond
4x Blood Tribute
Land
Swamp x24
Just for Fun
Liliana Vess x2
I’ve beaten most decks in 6-8 turns 90% of the time.
Ok if the first guy said he was a noob, then I’m a noob x 2. What is the sideboard? And my deck right now is White/Black (vampires), which I like because of the life gain and celestial smthing that gives me double life and +3/+3. I know that the Kendikar white/black combo isn’t as powerful as it used to be, but should I go all vampires? I just preordered the monoblack deck for Worldwake so I’m thinking about it. Your thoughts…
John, I think white/black is fine but just make sure most of your cards have something to do with vampires. This makes your deck more synergistic. For example, the more vampires you play, the better Vampire Nocturnus is.
Learn more about sideboards here.
Thanks, that link on sideboards helped. I’ve heard people talk trash on the white/black deck, saying the Zendikar/Worldwake combo isn’t what it used to be in times past. Although I see why people go with mono black vampires, I want to see if I cant make this deck work. Its becoming a good aggro/control deck that holds up well against most decks I’ve played against.
No prob and good luck with your deck. Care to share your list?
Yeah here’s my list:
75 Cards (incl. sideboard)
White:
1 Admonition Angel
1 Celestial Matle
2 Sheildmate’s Blessing
2 Journey to Nowhere
2 Pitfall Trap
2 Nimbus Wings
1 Landbind Ritual
1 Serra Angel
1 Lightkeeper of Emeria
1 Conqueror’s Pledge
1 Rest for the Weary
10 Plains (Land/Nonbasic)
Black:
1 Bloodgast
2 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Vampire Hexmage
3 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Mind Sludge
1 Malakir Bloodwitch
1 Kalitas
1 Disfigure
2 Grim Discovery
1 Quest for the Gravelord
1 Hideous End
1 Smother
1 Guul Draz Specter
1 Blood Tribute
1 Corrupted Zendikon
1 Diablolic Tutor
1 Needlebite Trap
1 Urge to Feed
1 Mire Blight
13 Swamp (Land/Nonbasic)
Artifact
1 Amulet of Vigor
1 Explorer’s Scope
1 Expedition Map
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Everflowing Chalice
Like I said, not your typical build but there are so many variations possible within this deck that I never get bored with it and it does alright against your mainstream builds. I find that the randomness doesn’t distract from the power of my deck too much. Depending on the hand I draw I already know whether I’m aggro or control… ie whether I’m going to attack quickly or control the action until I can attack big in the late game. Let me know what you think though, Im open to suggestions.
I forgot about 2 Pacifisms that I also through in… And in no way am I done shaping this deck or a pro at magic, I’ve just asked around a lot and haven’t had someone else to guide my deck building since I haven’t seen to many black/white decks. I didn’t mean to sound like I knew a ton up above, but I have been to a couple local tournaments since my last post.
I think the biggest thing to figure out the best cards, make them a 4-of, and cut out the rest. For example, why not have 4 Gatekeepers? The 3rd and 4th Gatekeepers are better than Landbind Ritual and Mire Blight.
What cards would you take out of my deck other than those? I’d like to hear your thoughts on how you’d build a white/black deck.
I think the following cards are subpar:
1 Celestial Matle
2 Sheildmate’s Blessing
2 Journey to Nowhere
1 Rest for the Weary
2 Mind Sludge (only good in a deck with Swamps as the only lands)
1 Guul Draz Specter
1 Blood Tribute
1 Corrupted Zendikon
1 Diablolic Tutor
1 Needlebite Trap
1 Mire Blight
1 Amulet of Vigor
1 Explorer’s Scope
1 Expedition Map
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Everflowing Chalice
I would build white/black like this deck that got 2nd in a single elimination tournament with 82 players.
4 Arcane Sanctum
4 Marsh Flats
2 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Arid Mesa
6 Plains
4 Swamp
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Baneslayer Angel
4 Emeria Angel
2 Path to Exile
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Honor of the Pure
3 Brave the Elements
2 Duress
SB
1 Duress
4 Devout Lightcaster
3 Wall of Reverence
3 Luminarch Ascension
2 Zealous Persecution
2 Martial Coup