Fetch lands can also fetch shock lands like Blood Crypt. That's why they're so expensive.

What are your thoughts on sideboarding 2x Thoughtseize, while removing 1 Engineered Explosives and the Grafdigger's Cage? I have been playtesting the Thoughtseize and Surgical Extraction combo, and when it comes on the first hand, wow. The life loss notwithstanding, saving some trouble in several rounds by waxing a heavy duty card before the other lays mana is pretty explosive.

I'd keep the cage but maybe swap a single EE AND Rakdos Charm for a pair of Thoughtseizes.

I don't like it. For one I'd just use Inquisition. Second, there's a reason I have those at higher numbers. That reason is affinity. Also Merfolk to a lesser degree. But affinity is such a huge deal now, as it always has been, that you don't want to be short on hate for the deck. But both cards are quite versatile too. With Rakdos Charm it's easier to ask "what doesn't this hit?"

Also, your life total DOES matter in a format where Burn is as common as it currently is. If Eidolon of the Great Revel didn't exist, I could afford to be more reckless with life costs. But this deck is already quite weak to burn as it is.

True. Still not sure about it as a 3x but local metas dictate. I can see Grafdigger's Cage becoming the new premier hate card if Eldritch Evolution lives up to the speculation it's received.

I agree regarding Eidolon of the Great Revel. I hate burn. And that card is a huge reason why.

Really sweet take on the Vampire tribal! You have a few really interesting choices and I dig it very much. +1 from me. I got a mono-black Vampire in my profile if you think you need new perspectives! Keep on sucking that blood! :) PS. Kalastria Highborn is really good at keeping you alive till the time comes

Highborn is really good but I feel she's a card you build around, not one you just toss in. Viscera Seer + Kalastria Highborn + Blood Artist + Bloodghast is an engine. You can easily toss in Vampire Nocturnus + Gatekeeper of Malakir or Dark Confidant, maybe Captivating Vampire or Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. Add some removal, Go for the Throat, Hero's Downfall and Tragic Slip are great options. now toss in some Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize, throw in 8 fetch lands, a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, a Cavern of Souls, an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, and like 11 swamps, and you've got yourself a highborn deck.

Oh snap you sure know your vamp stuff! But I'll turn my intentions around and take on your suggestions to my decks :D

Why does it have Nocturnus as my general there? This isn't an EDH deck. There's no option under "edit", how do I fix that?

You probably accidentally listed it as edh. It's on the right toolbar in the edit menu under format.

Or something else weird shrugs

I finally posted the deck I have been using the past few weeks; wanted to throw out the recognition and thanks for your deck and comments... That being said, if you have any suggestions, I'd more than appreciate them.

Usurped Vampires

Have you tried the 4th Stromkirk Captain with the 21 lands? You posed that question months ago, and I am having success with your deck with 21 lands... the first strike aspect almost draws all of the removal to Runo, so has been totally worth the ditching a Polluted Delta. Also, I commonly play all 3 originally purchased NES Castlevania games, and have to say... The RPG feel of Simon's Quest was a great variation to the series, but the original has to remain my favorite of them all. I also wish I would have kept one in the original Toys R Us packaging.

I tried 21, it works okay, but I find 22 is better in terms of consistency. I rarely have to mulligan like this.

On the topic of land screw.
(its chances can be calculated, which is faster, and more reliable than playtesting - as reaching big enough sample size takes a LOT time)

For me it appears that these decks need 3 mana to function, and 4 to be able to cast anything
So the chance of having 3 lands at t3 (on the play):
with 21 lands it is 76,11%
with 22 lands it is 79,63%
And having 4 (or more) lands on t4 (on the play):
with 21 lands it is 58,75%
with 22 lands it is 63,65%

And after this it comes down to personal preference, as to what chances are acceptable to you

I played with your exact 75 and I want to share the results.

Total 3-1

Game 1: 2-0 against human/aristocrats. Stromkirk Noble did the job.

Game 2: 0-2 against UB mill. Basically lost to Ensnaring Bridge. Even post sideboard 1Rakdos Charm in opening hand and 2 in the graveyard. I saw 3 bridges and maybe the deck has 4, if that deck becomes more popular Kolaghan's Command might need to be in this version of the deck.

Game 3: 2-0 against Titan Valakut, which it was top 8 in the GP, their last word was "Unreal!" lol

Game 4: 2-0 against UWG Boggles.Gatekeeper of Malakir and Engineered Explosives did the job.

I hope this is helpful and it would be good if more people who play the deck post their results.

Great insight ALBO. I honestly see mill close to never so this was good to know.

I built your version too, decided to try it next modern and see how it does, not until next Friday though.

I still have the ghost quarters in mine, do the fulminator mages work better? I could buy them real quick if you all think it does

They both can get rid of valakut or the urza lands but the mage wont slow you down nor will give them a replacement land. Plus you can just destroy one of their dual lands with the mage if they are stuck with 2 or 3 lands, just so you can make it more fun for them.

Fulminator can also chump block and sac as he dies. blocking a creature and simultaneously killing a manland is a pretty sweet deal, and he's also black for Nocturnus.

So, was testing out the deck this past weekend, against a Simic Control type deck, and had been playing around with how I side out... The most I swapped out were 4x Lacerators, 1x Polluted Delta, and the 2x Olivias. Just curious as to which cards you swap out when having to pop new ones in. I replaced with 3x Inquisition of Kozilek, 2x Thoughtseize, and 2x Surgical Extraction, which worked very well into the midrange turns (a lot of removal, return, and steal coming from his side, which these cards helped to negate). As the sideboarding is still pretty new to me, I'd like any insight to better or more productive swap outs, please.

Olivia is kind of mandatory imo. Surgical isn't a mainboard card.

So, do you not remove cards when you grab something from your sideboard? Just add them to the 60 already there??? Again, the concept is still very new to me, so that is why the elementary question about which cards you swap out if you toss in something from the side... I know that it probably all depends on what type of deck you are against dictating which cards get swapped, but I'm looking for just a general idea on getting started with sideboarding.

you have to swap between main and side, it's the rule. a sideboard is used to hit specific problem matchups. I try to tailor mine to hit as much of the meta as possible. side cards are often highly situational. that's why they're side cards. Let's use Deathmark as an example. Useless as a mainboard card, since not all decks use white or green creatures. But as a sideboard card it's incredible because zoo and abzan decks are so prevalent. If you wanted to make a small sacrifice in mana for versatility to hurt more decks, you would sideboard Self-Inflicted Wound for hexproof auras.