Welcome to the first edition of Arena Ambitions, a series of deck techs for use in Magic: Arena. The closed beta may be under NDA, but it's public knowledge that the card pool is currently limited to Ixalan block constructed. This offers a unique deckbuilding challenge for many who would normally consult Top 8 results for inspiration. As an avid brewer, my goal is to share fun, flavorful, and unique decks that may not be 100% optimal tournament lists. I plan to upload gameplay footage with commentary when the NDA is lifted. To kick things off, here is my take on the Legion of Dusk with B/W vampires.
The plan
There are only so many ways to build a given tribe, especially when you're limited to a single block. What I've put together is a mix of low-cost, efficient vampires with the potential to grow and overwhelm the board. Skymarcher Aspirant, Vicious Conquistador and Adanto Vanguard are all great early game creatures on their own, but each has value in different scenarios as the game progresses. Aspirants will often take flight by turn 5 or 6 to provide air support to their Sadistic cousins. The extra point of toughness on Vicious Conquistadors is relevant shockingly often, and the guaranteed ping each attack can make all the difference in a board stall. Adanto Vanguard can chump block for days and is a real pain for our opponent to deal with outside of effects like Moment of Craving.
The real threats turn our seemingly feeble creatures into a force to be reckoned with. Legion Lieutenant and Radiant Destiny are best played with at least two other bodies to buff. Generally I prefer to play the enchantment first as it's less likely to eat removal and makes our Lieutenants ETB a bit sturdier. The vigilance from the City's Blessing makes attacking less risky, especially in the air, and is usually activated by turn 5 or 6. Eight anthems are A LOT of work to get through in this format, and once you establish a healthy armada the game will be over soon.
All of these +1/+1 effects are great, but they're useless if we don't have any creatures. In the event of a boardwipe, Legion's Landing and Call to the Feast are great for reestablishing your dominance. Lifelink on 1/1s might seem cute at first, but lead to MASSIVE swings with one or two buffs. Flipping Adanto, the First Fort is a breeze and enables a consistent stream of meat when we get stuck in a topdeck war.
A weakness that heavy tribal decks tend to share is a lack of card draw. Dusk Legion Zealot, Arguel's Blood Fast and Champion of Dusk give us eight shots every draw to dig for gas when our resources are exhausted. As an added bonus, all of these cause life loss to trigger Paladin of Atonement's EOT ability. A beefy Paladin can win games on it's own, via smashing face or much needed life gain. Temple of Aclazotz + Paladin of Atonement can bring you back from the brink in a pinch.
As much as I'd like to go all in on the offensive, sometimes you just need to tell your opponent "NO." Ixalan's Binding does just that, taking care of problematic creatures or otherwise untouchable artifacts and enchantments. Bonus points for Binding an enemy Binding.
Wrap up
I hope you find this deck to your liking! I've had great success so far and would love to hear your thoughts. After playing against a few different versions of the tribe I truly feel that tokens and a go-wide strategy are one of the better iterations. There is enough early pressure and late game inevitability that lead to few truly bad match ups.
I would like to put together a collection of fun decks for those in the Arena beta that are struggling with the current card pool. What have you been running into? What cards deserve a closer look? Leave me a comment with your suggestions and I will do my best to give it a shot. Benefit_of_the_Doubt, signing out!
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