Vampire is definitely my favourite creature type in MTG, so I decided to have a vampire party and invite a demon and a human to keep things fresh.
My general is great as a two-cost manadork killer or the like, and I can combo with Blazing Torch
+
Olivia Voldaren
to turn my opponent's creatures into vampires and sneak by them. It's a bit expensive to steal them, but when it gets down to it, it's always nice.
Bloodlord of Vaasgoth
+
Falkenrath Exterminator
makes for a creature who can (ideally) pay 3 to deal 3 damage to right out of the gate, which I'm alright with, and a Whip of Erebos to make sure that I'll always have enough life resource to use for cards such as Sign in Blood, Read the Bones, or Underworld Connections. That's just the tip of the old boy's tail however; the lifegain byproduct down the line is quite the sight.
Stromkirk Captain is probably one of the most useful vampires in the deck, but is rather squishy when faced with burns and the like, so I've made a sufficient amount of grave retrieval in Raise Dead, Disentomb, and Aphetto Dredging for a partyvan full of beefed up first strike vampires. I've also thrown in a Vampiric Fury to spite your opponents just when they thought they'd delt with their first strike and extra power.
Rakdos, Lord of Riots is another of the more pragmatic creature choices because he helps bring out the more expensive hitters such as Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet and Butcher of Malakir, but also to help discharge a bigger hand that may result from a bountiful Disciple of Bolas flicker (of which is addressed in the next paragraph or two).
I never liked the clause about giving your opponent's creatures back if dear Olivia were to ever leave the battlefield, so I combo'd up Conjurer's Closet
+
Olivia Voldaren
so that I can flicker the creature to stay under my control indefinitely (I had to check to see if that works, and yes, it does). It is a 99 card deck though, so drawing that single artifact isn't always possible. That's why there are other cards to deal with negligible creature lending: Disciple of Bolas and
Bloodflow Connoisseur
do the trick just as nicely. Bonus points if you have both Conjurer's Closet
+
Disciple of Bolas
out at the same time for a procedural card draw/lifegain/creature sack steals.The closet is also a neat way for rakdos colours to shake pesky enchantments such as Pacifism or other counterparts of the same mindfulness.
Bloodflow Connoisseur
+
Butcher of Malakir
pair up quite nicely, and you get bonus points when the creature she sacks came from your opponent's board with either Olivia Voldaren or Captivating Vampire, and "screw you" points when that creature is a spawn created by Pawn of Ulamog (which would be created when your opponent's first creature becomes sacrificed! It's all too quaint for me to handle). You can also combo this entendre with Falkenrath Noble and Dark Prophecy, wherein you benefit even moreso at the expense at your opponent with regards to this one-sided exchange. I'm sure that the amount of creatures dying will be more than pleasing to other parties such as Havengul Vampire, Sangromancer, or the creature enchanted with Eternal Thirst, all the while making Tragic Slip's morbid trigger no problem at all.
Pain Magnification
is another enchantment that's sure to keep your opponent's hand size low, and can really hurt the feels when you combo Blightning
+
Pain Magnification
, wherein your opponent takes 3 damage and discards three cards. Frequent discarding starts happening when you've got Curse of Bloodletting on the field, making almost every instance of player damage result in discarding a card per source! This should certainly help your opponent reach and stay at the topdecking phase until the next game, being punished all the while by Shrieking Affliction while Sangromancer drives up the life total.
I would love comments or suggestions, because I'm always on the lookout for combos with the cards that I have. (note: I would throw in a Bloodline Keeper
if I knew anyone who wanted to trade it, but atm I can't drop 5 clams on one card as much as I would love it for this deck.)
