With the Magic the Gathering release of Zendikar, players across the nation are all clamoring to build new decks. One of the strongest creature types to emerge from the set is “Vampire”. these creatures use a “Bleed” tactic and are relentless in their high powered damage dealing combined with life gain. While the standard format is dominated by decks running vampire decks, Vampires can also compete in vintage and kick some serious but in casual. Here are some tips on building an effective Vampire deck:

Start Small:

Vampires are some of the most cost effective cards around for a very small amount of mana, some very east to play first or second turn cards can be played. Blood seeker works exceptionally well. As does Bloodghast, Gatekeeper of Malakir, and Guul Draz Vampire.

All four of these uber-powerful cards can start the game off in your favor. Every little loss of life counts with vampires so cards like Blood Seeker can immediately start working for your cause. Bloodghast is almost like a down payment for later. If for some reason it leaves play, all you need to do is play a land. Get your opponent to 10 life and they have a very pesky problem! Imagine 4 of those coming at you every turn! Going along with the 10 life or less deal, Guul Draz Vampire transforms from a plain old 1/1 to a practically impossible to block 3/2 once your opponent hits the 10 life mark! Just with these four guys holding down the first few turns, the game is already looking to swing in your favor!

Once you establish whose boss in the beginging, bring out the heavy artillery:

These cards will not only gain you back any life you’ve managed to loose by now, they will punish your opponents dearly:

Vampire nocturnus is the staple of all vampire decks. Back when M10 came out there was some scepticism about whether the card was useful. Recently the price has increased by over 300% and people are kicking themselves for not keeping theirs from M10. Mr. Nocturnus gives all your Vampires +2/+1 and flying much of the time. A glimpse of Undead Warchief shows through in him and he will be running decks for many years to come. The Nighthawk is one of the most versitile cards ever printed and the Bloodwitch gains an unspeakable amount of life for its controller, especially in multiplayer! While Crovax may be slightly out dated, he is a vampire and his abilities can prove useful in a close game. (Or just kill all those $%#%ing Soul Wardens your opponents have out). These cards will be the cards that win you the game.

Now, how can we ensure that we can get this deck to run efficiently and consistently? With all of the life gain these guys provide, an old favorite of mine comes to mind… (along with three other cards that provide some excellent support to the deck) Here’s where you can make your deck scary:

While I believe that Demonic Tutor and Necropotence are restricted to 1 per deck in vintage, the both can provide unearthly acceleration to your deck. Especially with the life gaining Vampires such as Nighthawk and Bloodwitch, Necropotence can really pay off during a game, allowing you to draw many more cards than your opponents durring the game! While Bubbling Muck is many times overlooked and overshadowed by High Tide, especially working with a full hand and small creatures can be the card that breaks the game open!

Lastly with the new planeswalkers being all the rage, Sorin should be the cherry on top of your vampire deck sundae:

With his second ability, Sorin is capable of triggering all of your “10 life or less” Vampires as soon as he hits the table! Toss a couple of Dark Rituals into your deck to ensure he gets out despite his large mana cost. And if all else fails just gain control of your opponents turn and have them turn on themselves… or add counters and draw some more cards from Necropotence! this guy is 1000% Vampire deck staple and should be used in any and all Vampire decks!

By following these simple rules and tips, you’re well on your way to building a fun and competitive deck, just remember, you can only have one Necropotence in a deck, along with Demonic Tutor. Vampire Nocturnus on the other hand should be 4 or bust, even with the price almost as high as Mox Diamond.

PS. If that’s not enough for you…

Try this:

Do I smell a 2nd or 3rd turn indestructible flying 20/20?

enough said.

Thanks for reading! 

(images thanks to www.magiccards.info)