VAMPS
Deck Help forum
Posted on April 22, 2011, 10:56 a.m. by gcosta5987
I've been trying to put together a standard vampire deck, I have some groundwork cards like malakir blood witch, gatekeeper, lacerator, and viscera seer, as well as one kalastria highborn, but I'm not gonna have the money anytime soon to splurge on a playset of bloodghasts and kalastria highborn.
My question is, is it even worth playing vamps in standard if you're not gonna play bloodghasts? or four Kalastria Highborn?
insertcleverid says... #3
I guess the answer to your question is another question: Are you playing for money or fun? The standard tourney I go to is only $5 and I get 3 or 4 hours of entertainment out of it, so its worth it even if I don't have a tier 2 deck to play. If you're after fun, then vamps is the way to go. They're a blast to play. If what you're really after is store credit or cash, then no. Don't waste your time with vamps at all. They're not competetive in my meta, anyway. I assume yours is somewhat comprable.
On the other hand, tourneys are the best places to trade for cards, so I always go with an idea for the cards I'd like to get but don't want to pay for.
As for your deck, my thoughts on it are that 2 bloodghasts is all you need. But a 4-of of highborn is probably a must.
store.tcgplayer.com has them @ $4.48 each, which is waaaaaay cheaper than I bought my playset for. Bloodgast for $6.75, which is still too much, IMHO. Hopefully that's cheaper than you've seen it.
April 22, 2011 12:16 p.m.
π_is_the_word says... #4
Firstly, @AegairEtapa Vampires is good against Caw-Blade, all you do is disrupt their few creatures and then Mark of Mutiny their Baneslayer Angel and it is game.
Second, you need Bloodghast s and Kalastria Highborn s. I have played with some sort of Vampires list since I started playing Magic over a year ago and Bloodghast and Highborn are the best vampire cards.
National qualifiers last weekend showed that even though vampires have been left for dead by many people they still can out do Boros for Top 8s.
And, lastly, If you are planning to run Malakir Bloodwitch you will not be happy.
My list:deck:no-one-ever-expects-the-spanish-inquisition (I'm thinking I will have to change the name again, it no longer fits with the deck.)
April 22, 2011 12:41 p.m.
AegairEtapa says... #5
_is_the_word is it now? I presumed that if the Stoneforge Mystic resolves that Vampires is in a tough spot. Then again you yourself are splashing red as seems common.
Sorry for my mistakes then .;; I'm better with rulings and card interactions than tournies.
April 22, 2011 12:54 p.m.
π_is_the_word says... #6
Stoneforge Mystic is okay pre-board and post-board. You just Lightning Bolt /Arc Trail their creatures so that they don't get more than 1 creature on the field. Then when they equip the sword at some point you drop a Gatekeeper of Malakir kicked and its GG. Sword and DoJ aren't game enders as long as you know what you are doing. It all comes down to player skill. And, Vampires even though it seems like a Hyper-Aggro deck is actually a mid-range deck. Mid-Range is great for stopping Caw-Blade because it keeps up with Caw-Blade.
Post-Board is similar, but you hold back a hard removal spell for Baneslayer Angel /Sun Titan .
April 22, 2011 1:41 p.m.
Black has stupid amounts of creature removal. Just take out their creatures.
I played Vamps for my first few months playing magic, and there are a few cards you NEED to have to have success playing Vamps in standard:
Those are essential for a good vamp deck, then in the next level down you have Kalastria Highborn s and Bloodghast s. I personally love to use Anowon, the Ruin Sage but thats more of a personal thing.
April 22, 2011 1:51 p.m.
gcosta5987 says... #9
2 bloodghasts is doable, I guess ill have to try and trade for more highborns.
I really do just play for fun, but I would like to win a few times while im doing it. I understand that its dependant on my meta, but from your experiences what do you guys think it takes to make a truly competitive vamp deck?
other than playsets of highborns and bloodghasts of course.
My meta has A LOT of RDW and a lot of RG ramp, only the occasional sword wielding squadron hawk is finds its way in.
April 23, 2011 8:50 p.m.
Vamps generally do very well with creature removal. My first vamp deck had Quag Sickness , Doom Blade , Urge to Feed , and Feast of Blood . Yea, nothing stayed in the table for long.
April 24, 2011 3:04 a.m.
AegairEtapa says... #11
Really? Well, even bad decks can win sometimes, and your Vampire deck is better than the decks I've used before. So sure go for it! One of my terribad decks won a game before that it had no reason to. AKA against Goblins staying alive then topdecking Carnifex Demon and wiping their board
AegairEtapa says... #2
Do you enjoy playing the game? Would you happily play Standard and lose alot? If the answer's yes to both of them, then go for it!
If the answer is no.. Well.. You're going to have an interesting time deck building to say the least. Vamps isn't the best deck in standard right now, it's no Caw-blade. But, it doesn't mean you can't have a fun time, especially dependant on your meta.
April 22, 2011 12:09 p.m.