"I am become Death..." [PRIMER]

Commander / EDH Aristocrats Counters Lifegain RBW (Mardu) Reanimator Sacrifice Vampires

DavidBray

Creature (34)

• 1x Athreos, God of Passage
• 1x Bishop of Rebirth
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Bloodcrazed Paladin
• 1x Bloodghast
• 1x Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip
• 1x Bloodline Necromancer
• 1x Captivating Vampire
• 1x Cordial Vampire
• 1x Cruel Celebrant
• 1x Drana, Liberator of Malakir
• 1x Elenda, the Dusk Rose
• 1x Falkenrath Noble
• 1x Forerunner of the Legion
• 1x Gatekeeper of Malakir
• 1x Immersturm Predator
• 1x Indulgent Aristocrat
• 1x Kalastria Highborn
• 1x Knight of the Ebon Legion
• 1x Legion Lieutenant
• 1x Malakir Bloodwitch
• 1x Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle
• 1x Patron of the Vein
• 1x Rakish Heir
• 1x Sanctum Seeker
• 1x Stromkirk Captain
• 1x Twilight Prophet
• 1x Vampire Hexmage
• 1x Vampire of the Dire Moon
• 1x Verrak, Warped Sengir
• 1x Vindictive Vampire
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
• 1x Welcoming Vampire

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord

Land (35)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Battlefield Forge
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Caves of Koilos
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Haunted Ridge
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Nomad Outpost
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 2x Plains
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Savai Triome
• 1x Secluded Courtyard
• 1x Shattered Sanctum
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Sundown Pass
• 6x Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vault of the Archangel
• 1x Westvale Abbey  ^Flip

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Damn
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Olivia's Wrath
• 1x Vindicate

Commander (1)

Instant (12)

• 1x And They Shall Know No Fear
• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Bedevil
• 1x Body Count
• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Cauldron Haze
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Plumb the Forbidden
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Artifact (8)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Idol of Oblivion
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Vanquisher's Banner

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Dark Prophecy
• 1x Etchings of the Chosen
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Stensia Masquerade

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Maybeboard

Land (2)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Cavern of Souls

Creature (1)

• 1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan

Instant (1)

• 1x Akroma's Will

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Anointed Procession
• 1x The Meathook Massacre

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Minions' Murmurs

Artifact (2)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Phyrexian Altar

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Edgar Markov vampire tribal deck which follows aristocrats tactics. Uses cheap vampires, vampire tribal sources, token generators (both vampire and otherwise), Blood Artist pain sources, sacrifice outlets, and boardwipes to set up a significant life swing when creatures on either side of the board die.

Vampire +1/+1

Legion Lieutenant - simple, but mana efficient, being on-curve and able to make a difference early game.

Stromkirk Captain - Legion Lieutenant with first strike upside. More costly, but more impactful.

Captivating Vampire - Legion Lieutenant but more costly. However, late game the control ability can have a significant impact on the boardstate.

Indulgent Aristocrat - does that say 'each'? Sacs inconsequential token

Cordial Vampire - solid board grower, working wonderfully in tandem with Indulgent Aristocrat to go wide after every loss.

Bloodline Keeper   - somewhat slower Legion Lieutenant, but its utility is considerably stronger and its pump when flipped much stronger, also.

Rakish Heir - whilst the deck does not focus on attacking, this rewards success, especially from evasive tokens. Doesn't quite do everything you want it to, but is still strong.

Stensia Masquerade - Rakish Heir in enchantment form, making it harder to remove and allowing me to attack with less fear for my creatures surviving.

Patron of the Vein - lots of enemy creatures will be dying, especially with Grave Pact in play, and every one lost has worth...just not quite as effective on a board wipe.

Vanquisher's Banner - the argument could be made for any of the +1/+1 artifacts, but the additional draw provided by Vanquisher's Banner is hard to beat.

Etchings of the Chosen - choose 'vampire'. Comes with some slight viability as a sac outlet and protection for important cards, though you ideally want to sac for free.

Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord - can't imagine using his first +1 on anything other than a vampire, so a +1/+1 counter is a +1/+1 counter, with deathtouch and lifelink to boot.

Drana, Liberator of Malakir - so cheap for such a huge effect. Her body isn't the strongest, at first, but there are many creatures to help that.

Vampire Tribal

Sanctum Seeker - Pulse Tracker on a grand scale. Definitely makes the case for not sacking my army till the second main phase.

Malakir Bloodwitch - another argument for keeping your army till the last minute.

Forerunner of the Legion - tribal tutor. Kill, recur, repeat.

Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord - unlikely to use his -3, as many vampires cost less than his mana cost to cast, but squeezing out a fast Patron of the Vein or Bloodline Necromancer is sometimes useful.

And They Shall Know No Fear - oh, how I wish it wasn't that art, but now - very specifically - only my vampires get indestructable for the low, low price of 2CMC. That's 1 mana less than the other cards of this effect! Could Akroma's Will be better? Probably, but on curve, this is faster.

Recursion

Bloodghast - not as potent with a starting life total of 40, but that recursion!

Cauldron Haze - incredible surprise instant that few new opponents see coming, returning my board state to a shadow of its former self, but alive, and - most importantly - still triggaring death triggars and, in some cases, instantly retriggaring Blood Artist (such as Bloodcrazed Paladin, Bloodghast, Indulgent Aristocrat, etc.).

Malakir Rebirth   - providing a land in a pinch, this sits as a soft counterspell to save a specific creature cough probably Blood Artist cough.

Athreos, God of Passage - not a vampire, but able to restock a hand with cheap vampires after a push or Lightning Bolt the opponent to the dome if not (which is, in many cases, more than the amount of damage they could inflict if attacking).

Bishop of Rebirth - with 23 creatures in the deck at 3CMC or less, an attacking Bishop can bring a creature back quite reliably, if protected adequately.

Bloodline Necromancer - not as abusable due to its high mana cost, but a lifelink body and a free vampire allows more aggressive pushes.

Token generators

Elenda, the Dusk Rose - While her first ability doesn't always fire at the perfect time due to the amount of board wipes we are running, its second ability is wonderful at filling the field with threats after we've destroyed our own army, with lifelink as well, ready to restabilise on the next turn.

Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle - certainly wish that "or more" phrase wasn't there, but a 1/1 tribal lifelink each combat is a welcome addition.

Pain Cards

Blood Artist - the linchpin of the deck. Makes every death a 2 point life swing.

Falkenrath Noble - a more expensive version of Blood Artist, but it flies and has a body.

Cruel Celebrant - a less broad, but still very welcome version of Blood Artist and Falkenrath Noble. I like killing my creatures as much as theirs, so the negatives are small.

Vindictive Vampire - a more expensive but still very welcome version of Cruel Celebrant.

Kalastria Highborn - a greater life swing but mana intensive and one-sided. Still, it's another pain triggar.

Twilight Prophet - with the number of tokens being generated in this deck, the city's blessing shouldn't be hard to achieve, at which point every non-land card becomes a bee sting and increases draw.

Sacrifice Outlets

Viscera Seer- the OG sac outlet. Scry without draw is never as strong as it could be, but sac a dozen tokens for free with a Blood Artist or a Grave Pact on the board, and all sorts of genocide begins.

Grave Pact - if you disturb so much as a hair on the lowliest of 0/1 tokens, your creatures will pay the foreit of the peace...and if I do it, your creatures will still pay the price.

Immersturm Predator - a stronger Falkenrath Aristocrat, provides another free sac outlet with indestructable plus growing its own counters by slowly wittling away the opponent's graveyard.

Gatekeeper of Malakir - not my creatures being saced, and not for free, but {B} to kill a creature on their side (possibly even a hexproof one!) is strong enough.

Ormendahl, Profane Prince   - last step finisher that can sac a majority of tokens to trigger a Blood Artist ability followed by a 9 point life swing if unblocked.

Skullclamp - with most token generators at 1/1 or 0/1, this is often a 1 mana draw 2 cards for (nearly) free. And there's even the possibility of using it to pump may creatures' attack.

Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord - turns a 1/1 vampire token into a 3/(3) lifelink kamikaze beast. All the while ticking up Sorin's loyalty.

Phyrexian Tower - turns token 1/1s into 2 mana which can be reinvested into a creature (let's say: a Bloodghast or Blood Artist or Cordial Vampire or Vampire Hexmage or...) to create a token 1/1 to immediately replace it.

Board Wipes

Damnation - blanket boardwipe piece, enabling aristocrats life swings with a good Blood Artist presence.

Damn - exciting, more versatile version of Wrath of God. "Strictly better".

Olivia's Wrath - slightly more expensive than Damnation but able to hit indestructible creatures. With Edgar's ability, there should be enough vampires on the board to make this a regular good card in hand.

Blasphemous Act - 1 mana board wipe? Sure. Almost certain to kill everything on both sides of the board, which is a slight disadvantage, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Various Utility

Welcoming Vampire - particular value, as any time a vampire is played, the token Edgar makes will trigger her ability, regardless of the power of the vampire being cast. Draw a card, stock your hand to draw a card next turn.

Bloodcrazed Paladin - vampire Spoils of Blood. Allows me to come back (big) after an opponents all-in push.

Knight of the Ebon Legion - good body, cheap cost, cheap pump in the mid game, easy to achieve activation, all mean this 1/2 become very big, very quickly.

Vampire Hexmage - kill hydras outright or make a key figure small, then bring Hexmage back for cheap with recursion cards.

Vampire Nighthawk - kills, heals, evades. The little vampire that could.

Vampire of the Dire Moon - surprisingly troublesome: you don't want to block it, but you don't want it to get through, either.

Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose - Sanguine Bond on a body that can give other creatures lifelink, all for 2 less mana. Deal. He is easier to kill and is legendary, but the deal is hard to pass up.

Dark Prophecy - Draw with every death, and with a Blood Artist effect out, no downside.

Plumb the Forbidden - on the subject of draw, this allows me to sac an unused legion of tokens before my turn to get gas for the next turn. The life-loss can add up, but is largely inconsequential with the right board pieces out.

Idol of Oblivion - If I'm not playing a vampire each turn, there's no helping me, so if I'm still in the game, I'm able to activate Idol. That's a reliable extra card per turn for no mana. Will I ever use the second ability? Never. Not once. Nay.

Body Count - draw a staggering amount of cards, possibly restocking the board immediately for {B}

Top Ranked	Achieved #12 position overall 8 years ago Achieved #7 position in Commander / EDH 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Aristocrats 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Lifegain 3 years ago
Date added	11 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 49 - 0 Rares 28 - 0 Uncommons 3 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.91
Tokens	City's Blessing, Eldrazi 10/10 C, Human Cleric 1/1 BW, Spirit 1/1 C, Vampire 1/1 B, Vampire 1/1 W, Vampire 2/2 B
Folders	Orzhov, Likes, Orzhow, Modern Ex, Decks, Wants to build decks, Vamp Black, Modern, modern, sac