I tried cavern and didn't like it. Normal swamps are more consistent here. The reason I bring up Abrupt is because the only thing that really does concern me about control is Detention Sphere and Oblivion Ring . And, I tried Highborn. Didn't like it. Kalastria Highborn is a card I regard more as a card you build around, not that you splash. Hell, I only recently started running Bloodghast over Pulse Tracker because being able to shrug off a boardwipe is great.

Why don't you have Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip yet?

I tried out both Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip and Falkenrath Aristocrat , and while they were good, using them along with Vampire Nocturnus and Olivia Voldaren leads to too many 4 mana cards clogging my hand, which leads to the deck being too slow. The mana curve is everything. I hate to ignore a suggestion like this, but I'm gonna have to pass on this one.

Regardless, I appreciate the input from all of you. And yes, I'm basically a spike/vorthos cross with a bit of melvin.

and @RedZebraTape the name is a reference to Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest. lol.

Crazy, I see no reference to TBDM even though this deck shares a name with one of their albums.

Anyway, great vampire tribal you got here. +1

@alulien it's a reference to the infamous line from Castlevania 2. I'm a HUGE Castlevania fanboy.

Gotcha. It's kind of funny: the album that I mentioned is named after the line from Castlevania. If you're into metal, check em out.

Olivia's too good. Don't wanna even think about not using her. She's pretty much a walking game over for my opponents.

THANK YOU FOR THE TBDM REFERENCE

I can't help but think that this deck would run a bit smoother with some draw power. Including Night's Whisper into the deck may give you that extra bit of steam that you need to end the game early.

Well, If I went that route I feel Sign in Blood is better. But If I really wanted draw that badly I'd invest in a set of Dark Confidant (which I want to anyway at some point).

Sign in Blood is better than Night's Whisper . Not only is your entire mana base duals so you don't have to ever worry about having the double black up, but you can also use it to Shock an opponent should you swing out and fall just short of a kill. Dark Confidant is also definitely a very powerful choice (as well as Liliana of the Veil if you can afford them), but the question is going to be what do you take out for either of them.

I have one Lily, but I don't like her as a one-of. And I'm worried that if I did either I'd end up offsetting my deck's tempo. I tried Bloodghast and Viscera Seer over the trackers and lacerators, and while the deck became a lot more consistent especially mid-late game, I found it just wasn't fast enough. This deck enjoys hitting the ground running.

Dark Confidant might not be ideal for you then. Remember, it needs to be on the board an entire turn before it starts to pay back on the investment and isn't really meant to be a blocker, unlike the rest of your creatures which can at least intimidate your opponent from attacking and then have to deal with them the next turn.

Updated the sideboard. I'm seeing way less Tron now, so I decided to swap Ghost Quarter out for Dragon's Claw since burn has been my worst match up for a while. My strongest consideration otherwise would have to be siding 2 Spellskite for infect/twin.

Changed out my Pulse Tracker set for Bloodghast in the main because Liliana of the Veil has become pretty common lately.

I think you should switch out 2 Blackcleave Cliffs for 2 Dragonskull Summits. Cliffs are better for early game and summits are better late game. If you get a cliffs later, it becomes an awkward tap land which is not the best in modern.

I had 4 Dragonskull Summit prior to getting my second set of fetches. I really wasn't impressed by it. I like having it for the sake of flavor, but it just wasn't pulling its weight.

What about adding in 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth? I also feel like you should add a Mountain in case an opponent drops a Blood Moon. One of the biggest problems with the Rakdos guild is hardly any enchantment removal.

I've been considering dropping a swamp in favor of Urborg. It usually just ends up helping opponents. But there's something valuable in the ability to tap a fetch for mana. It lets me hold my search until Nocturnus needs it. I do fetch into swamps a lot, which makes blood moon much less scary.

+1! good name, idea, and execution

Love vampire decks. What about Captivating Vampire?

I used him back when this was pure black. After the Innistrad block I feel Stromkirk Captain is better.

Why not run both of them?

Space, mana curve and more than 8 lords is just unnecessary.