Play Like a Vampire (Vintage MTG Deck)

Play Like a Vampire

Vintage* Infinite Combo Lifegain Midrange Necropotence Theme/Gimmick Vampires

BlinkTwice

Creature (24)

Planeswalker (1)

1x Sorin Markov

Land (21)

Enchantment (3)

Artifact (2)

2x Isochron Scepter

Instant (6)

Sorcery (3)

Sideboard

Creature (4)

Enchantment (1)

1x Grave Pact

Artifact (2)

Instant (6)

Sorcery (2)

The way the deck operates is to drain your opponents down by using kill cards with Blood Artist and utilizing Kalastria Highborn 's ability to punish aggro-heavy decks hard if they decide to swing, chumping with Gatekeeper of Malakir or a token that Bloodline Keeper can provide. Use your Isochron Sceptor with Go for the Throat or Geth's Verdict to put death on a stick and really trigger those drain taxes. Once you have 2 or more Blood Artists out, the triggers start to get really nasty. Around then would be a good time to tutor or drop your Necropotence and utilize the draining effects from Blood Artist and lifegain from Vampire Nighthawk to ensure you always have a hand full of answers and responses. If they somehow keep up with the massive draining, dig/tutor for your auto-wins, Sorin Markov + Sorin's Vengeance or Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond . If you know your going up against an artifact deck or a deck heavy on indestructible, bring in the Dismembers. There is plenty of sacrifice already built in to deal with Shroud and Hexproof. With that in mind, you should have board control locked almost every game.

Just about every card in the deck is highly synergetic, and it works well in both 1v1 and multiplayer.

Blood Artist - The core bread-and-butter of this deck. This deceptive little 2-drop goes a long way when left to do its job. To those not familiar with it (and to those who don't think too hard about its ability), this is usually what will kill them. Having only one out is decent enough; one life drain for each creature death. Reasonable, and in most cases, it is dismissed like an annoying mosquito. But once you put a second one down, things can quickly start getting out of control from your opponents' persective. With only two out, thats 2 life being drained for each creature that dies. You want your own chump-blockers to die to help stack up the triggers. Say your opponent swings with two creatures, and you block with two creatures, effectively killing both yours and his. That's four creatures that died, and 2 damage that you deal as a result for each death. That's 8 life that you just sucked out of your opponent. Just imagine how bad it gets when you have three out, and in the rare cases... all four. It's enough to kill most opponents very quickly while you've done nothing but gain life at the cost of your chump-blockers, making them not so useless after all. you want your chumps to die to get the most out of the triggered ability. It stacks, It multiplies, it wins. Whatever you do, don't let your Blood Artist die. He is your most valuable creature, and deceptively so. Against those who know his potential though, beware, he is strong boltbait.

- Say hello to Blood Artists sister, as I like to call her. Though her ability is somewhat similar to her brother's, it is utilized in a more defensive way (it only triggers off the death of your own creatures, all of which are vampires), where as the Blood Artist can be used both offensively and defensively without you having to lift a finger or pay any mana. What makes her just as dangerous though is each triggered death saps two health, not one, for the low cost of one per death. Keep in mind this trigger can only be paid once per occuring death unless you have more than one Kalastria Highborn . Go ahead and add that to the no-pay drain your Blood Artist just did simultaneously and you probably just killed someone, if not leaving them with single digit health. And again, it only costs you one per trigger. When faced with heavy-aggro opponents, I run all four of my Kalastria Highborn , switching out the two Guul Draz Assassin because they'll take too long to level up against their fast-paced aggro tempo. It's highly worth it. She, like her brother, also attracts boltbait (probably more-so for being a square 2, though you'd rather lose her than him.)

- This is essentially Diabolic Edict with legs for a kicker of . Never play this card unless you're paying 3 for the CMC + kicker. The sacrifice component triggers Blood Artists ability, so it really is required that you pay the kicker. That is why he's there. After that, he's your chump-of-choice, above any other in the deck (the other prime choice being a 2/2 flying token, but chump with the Gatekeeper of Malakir first as Flying can be invaluable against some match-ups). Keep in mind that he is one of your go-to responses to creatures with Shroud, Hexproof, Indestructible, and Regeneration.

- A solid one drop (the only one you use if you don't count Dark Ritual) that has a relatively cost-effective level-up ability. I typically only invest in his ability when I'm facing a control deck or a combo deck. If you're playing against Zoo or another fast-paced, heavy aggro style deck, switch him out for Kalastria Highborn , as it will take too long to level up, (unless you use a Dark Ritual) and by the time you get the ability, it will have costed you many turns, and potentially many life-points. Though it will probably be a bloody mess, both for your chump creatures and your opponents life-force, the switch is worth it versus aggro. Assuming your fighting against control/combo though, go ahead and put the two points in when you can afford it, and reap the rewards of -2/-2 in the mid game and -4/-4 in the late game for only one ; another decent pathway to death on a stick. It's also highly worth pointing out that Guul Draz Assassin is an invaluable option when fighting against Indestructible and regeneration.

- What can I say? This guy speaks for himself and is incredibly solid. Though for the in-depth analyse, I will point out his tactical purpose. No, I did not just throw him in for being one of the most solid three drops in the cube (though, it's my personal opinion that he is the best French Vanilla creature ever printed, followed closely by Invisible Stalker). He has synergy that can't be ignored. Having Lifelink, he helps a lot with keeping your life in check when using Necropotence, and he's your only early-game Flyer, which can often prove to be your only protection. My favorite aspect though, is his static Deathtouch. It gives him the versatility of being a threatening wall that will scare your opponents into a pacifist playstyle, or being a menacing marauder with a wonderful toughness of three, meaning any hopes of killing him through blocking is probably going to be by a valuable creature that the opposing player isn't going to want to lose. And if they chump with three weenies or token flyers, then that's great! Distribute a single damage (with Deathtouch) to as many creatures as you can, let your Vampire Nighthawk die, and proceed to collect the Lifelink health and drain effects from Blood Artist and Kalastria Highborn . It's a win/win in your situation. Though he is boltbait, it isn't as bad as losing your drainers, as they are your core.

- One of your primary boss cards, he is a great resource. He gives you chumps, which can be very important when you know you'll be blocking a lot of aggro. More so, when you transform him, everyone else just got a lot more threatening with a static +2/+2. Kalastria Highborn and Vampire Nighthawk will no longer be boltbait either, which is relieving, though Blood Artist isn't so lucky. Try your best not to tap him for the token until the endstep before your turn starts. That way if he ever gets targeted for removal, you'll at least get that one extra token out for tapping him on the stack, and until it gets to that point, he's still a fat 5/5 blocker (though I don't block with him if I can help it). Get a second one out, or even a third, and you can start playing heavy aggro yourself, often getting more damage through in the air. He is your go-to choice for playing aggro against your opponents.

- This well-known sinister figure is a staple of nearly all vampire decks, more so the mono-black ones like Play Like a Vampire and the countless other ones out there. Though I don't run more than one, I include him for two reasons: he gives all my creatures flying, and he is another good booster to stand alongside the Lord of Lineage when I decide to go aggro. He is also one of the main reasons I run a mono-black vampire deck instead of Black-Red for the Stromkirk Captain . Had Vampire Nocturnus never been printed, I more than likely would be splashing red for the first-strike component that Stromkirk Captain can provide along with some burn. Alas, he is a very real card, and so I like to play mono-black to further help ensure my top card is always black. Keep in mind though, Lands are colorless. So when your top card is a Swamp, you're SOL. I guess it's personal preference, but with every nonland card minus one artifact being a black card, I'd rather take the chance to have my top card be black and get the +2/+1 and Flying over having a consistant +1/+1 and First-Strike and potential mana-issues that splashing red would come with. The bottom line is: If you're running mono-black vampires, you need atleast one Vampire Nocturnus.

- How this card eluded me for so long, I will never know. It was the second to last card I obtained in order to complete this deck (the last being Necropotence to solve my top-decking issues) This is your highest mana-cost creature and for good reason: she doubles your effective mana-output for all but two of your lands (Rogue's Passage and Bojuka Bog). If you had any mana issues before casting her, they're now over; you'll have plenty of mana left over to keep your kill cards available. Being able to pump her is an excellent defense against burn, and an even better offense against... well a lot of creatures. My only qualms with this 6-drop card is the lack of Flying. Though, I'm probably being biased, as I am a huge fan of Flying. That aside, this card is great and still maintains as my favorite creature in the deck. I do not mind going out of my way to end the game with her and a well-used Rogue's Passage (Only in casual games of course; competitively, I win anyway that's fastest).

- A staple to all mono-black decks, it pains me to say I only run two of these now instead of a playset, after deciding I'd rather have 22 lands instead of 20. There were no other nonland options that I could remove without seriously disrupting the synergy of the deck. However, after hundreds of games of playtesting, and growing tired of only get 1 to 2 land in my opening hand more often than not as well as often getting mana-screwed throughout the early/mid game, the choice was finally made. Still, it is an amazing card which I deem required in any mono-black deck. The mana boost is broken in my opinion and can be abused to produce all kinds of surprises.

- My prefered kill-card of choice, it goes well with the vampire gimmick, so I run a playset. It is also my primary choice to imprint onto Isochron Scepter for death on a stick. I almost never cast Go for the Throat on my turn, as I prefer to leave my mana open and hold on to my kill cards until the last acceptable moment so as to have more options on the table and have stronger targets to cast it on. However, there are cases when you dont have a choice but to cast it on your turn. Remember, having mana open to use on an opponents turn when you're running mono-black creature destruction is a very threatening prospect to your opponent. I cannot count the number of times my opponent has passed on playing creatures or swinging, simply because I had two mana open to kill something... sometimes not even having a kill card in hand. It is the threat and fear of not knowing what I'm holding, but still having the mana open to cast the inexistant card that pacifies my opponent sometimes. Call it bluff, that's probably the best word. Nevertheless, the fear is for good reason. This card can take care of a good 75% of creatures in the Gatherer, though that is just my guessed estimate. It is still a great card and is worth money for a reason.

- This card is more situational than Go for the Throat , but for many reasons, it makes the cut for main deck. For one, it helps remove creatures that have Shroud, Hexproof, Indestructible, and Regeneration. It is always good to have that versatility. You'd kick yourself for realizing all of your kill cards are hindered because of one word they all share: "target". So being able to target the player instead helps avoid that possible hangup. For another reason, it makes the targeted player lose a life in addition to losing a creature and giving you an edge on board control. A two mana kill card that also deals damage to the player is great. And speaking of two mana, that brings me to my final reason for keeping it main deck. It can also imprint on Isochron Scepter, making it death with taxes on a stick. All of these reasons make Geth's Verdict too good to pass up.

- Another sacrifice card, that when used effectively, you can force a fatty down and grant yourself a lot of health. It shuts down indestructible, Shroud, Hexproof, and Regeneration. Plus, the gained health that can be used to safely draw more cards with Necropotence. Decent enough. It's disappointing that it can't imprint on Isochron Scepter, but the potential health that you can gain using it in conjunction with your drain effects can make it massively worth it.

- A solid card, capable of killing creature or planeswalker, I obviously include one due to the second option. Though if the option to kill a creature instead wasn't in the card, I wouldn't use it. It's versatility and options with this card that brought it aboard. Now if only it was a 2 mana instant, I would run a playset. That, however, would probably get it banned, if not restricted. I could be wrong though; we'll never know.

- A strong choice for my side board. I often switch out Tribute to Hunger and Hero's Downfall for this when facing deck's heavy with Indestructible or regeneration. Since the deck has numerous ways of gaining health, paying 2 isn't asking for your arm or leg. Even tapping Rogue's Passage for can fill the void after paying the life. That can lead to your opponent underestimating your capability with only one colorless open to use and lead them to make a very big mistake.

- New to the side board, I'm still playtesting its effectiveness. However, considering all the death this deck can produce to trigger its Morbid ability, I am confident that it is here to stay. Incredibly cost-effective at one , it dishes out more than twice the negatives that Dismember puts out, which helps a ton against aura decks. The power and toughness is almost never going to be something you'll need to consider when using the Morbid trigger. Potentially, at least two creatures will have died in the turn you will have used this, and with this deck, the more deaths, the better. Further more, it shuts down indestructible creatures and pesky regeneration.

- The go-to card for creature destruction in this deck, throw it out with a Go for the Throat or Geth's Verdict and make it very difficult for your opponents to keep creature's on the field. It's very helpful early game. Tap it when you're attacked by something dangerous, or even better, at your opponent's endstep so you can safely choose the best option of what to kill. Often leaving it untapped will inhibit your opponent from attacking for fear of the responding ability. If you get it in your opening hand with one of the two-drops mentioned above, it really shuts down the opponent's early game. Your enemy will catch on quickly that anything they play is going to immediately die. There are few solutions to an Isochron Scepter imprinted with a kill card, and being able to deal death for two mana every turn fits nicely in the strategy of Play Like a Vampire.

- Mostly in the deck to compliment the theme, it does still provide an instant win late game with Sorin's Vengeance if you use his -2. On top of that, immediately putting a player's health total to 10 really shuts down life-gain decks. Other than that though, using his +2 is a good tactic to killing off small creatures. If you hold off on his ability until the post-combat main phase, you can kill larger creatures that were blocked and survived. If you've already got the battlefield under control in terms of creatures, just use it straight to a player (or even an opposing Planeswalker), and enjoy your free drain every turn. I rarely use his bomb; it isn't really necessary, except against control decks. The first two abilities are the ones you'll be using primarily and making great use of.

- The largest drain card in the main deck, it goes hand-in-hand with Sorin Markov's -2 for an immediate win. This is why it is main deck over Exsanguinate. Often times, your early game drain will have the opponent low enough that you won't even need Sorin Markov to kill them with Sorin's Vengeance. It's a table-turner when you're losing and, more often than not, the end-game play when you're winning.

- A very straight forward card needing little analysis. It's the most overpowered tutor in MTG considering its mana cost. It's a great filler to fish for the other half of whatever combo you'd like to use, or even better... Fish for Necropotence.

- The primary reason why this deck will never be Modern legal. I refuse to remove it because the drain in Play Like a Vampire can afford the life cost of Necropotence very easily, making it the most efficient card-draw available for this deck. Top-decking was the only big flaw in this deck. Once you started, you wouldn't stop. Necropotence solved that problem. If you're doing well enough (have high enough health), you can dig for whatever card you need. Card advantage is one of the most dangerous advantages to have in MTG, so Necropotence is almost always the card I tutor for. It can, in turn, let you dig for anything, obtaining numerous other cards along the way.

- The damaging half of the infinite combo this deck runs, it can deal some massive damage with the other drain cards in the deck. When on the field with its counterpart, Exquisite Blood , the moment you gain life or an opponent loses life, the game is over. Everyone dies and you win; infinite damage dealt to your opponents, infinite life added to your veins.

- The lifegaining half of the infinite combo. It effectively converts any damage you deal to an opponent into life that you gain. This can quickly scale a losing game into a winning one. Using it with any of your drain cards yields amazing returns. Having it out on the field with its counterpart, Sanguine Bond auto wins you the game the moment you gain life or an opponent loses life. Everyone dies and you win; infinite damage dealt to your opponents, infinite life added to your veins.

- In here primarily for one reason. It can trigger the infinite combo. When you don't have the combo out though, it's always nice to be able to deal a damage with just two lands and two black permanents out. Just because you can. Though I don't use any land ramp, this card counts as a Swamp, which I've always thought was cool.

- Exile an entire graveyard, simply by laying this land down. That's pretty mean, and it's useful against Reanimators, Flashback cards, Snapcaster Mage, etc. Removing a graveyard with a land and still getting black mana for this mono-colored deck makes it a no brainer to use. Running straight basic lands is a bad idea in my opinion. Make your lands useful if and when you can. Bojuka Bog is great when you know you'll be filling an opponents graveyard with creatures fast and often.

- Every once in awhile, I find myself in a really good match up where my opponent has a strategy that can deal with the creature destruction and drain that Play Like a Vampire dishes out. When this happens, I usually have to shift into an Aggro playstyle using Lord of Lineage and Vampire Nocturnus to bash face for the win. Even then, sometimes my match up can go toe for toe, resulting in a stand-still. Rogue's Passage breaks that stand still, ensuring my creature get's through. Nirkana Revenant is the creature I prefer to use with Rogue's Passage because I can boost her to levels that can induce death.

One or more Blood Artist and killing creatures.
Using Sorin Markov + Sorin's Vengeance for an instant kill to a single player.
Bringing out Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond to kill everyone in a multiplayer game simultaneously.
Dropping Necropotence with enough lifegaining sources to ensure you don't top-deck and have the hand you need all the while keeping your life balanced.
Swinging with your creatures boosted by Lord of Lineage and/or Vampire Nocturnus

For quick reference, these are all the cards that drain your opponent and gain life in response:
Blood Artist
Kalastria Highborn
Sorin Markov
Sorin's Vengeance
Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond

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Revision 2 See all

(2 years ago)

Date added	10 years
Last updated	2 years
Key combos	Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond
Legality	This deck is Vintage legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 2 Mythic Rares 17 - 4 Rares 22 - 5 Uncommons 3 - 4 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.90
Tokens	Vampire 2/2 B
Folders	Vampire Decks!, yumm, Sweet Tribal Decks, favs, Deck Ideas and Concepts, z Others Decks
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