Vampire Quick Deck Tech

[ZamatoElite]

Vampire decks are a lot of fun. I'm building a full one right now.

[Blizzard500]

do some legacy decktech! in the past u did legacy decknology and that was uber awesome! please do more!

[vankirwin30]

Why fetch lands?

[pigeonbeatbox]

I F*CKING LOVE VAMPIRE CARDS *Breathe* lol .. Entering my first tournament this weekend! It is only a friendly so taking along my Vampire's to bring some pain! My deck is essentially a recreation of the Blood Hunger deck from Duals of the Planeswalkers 2012, including the "Unlockable cards" where I have made slight changes due to not having all of the cards in the deck! Grave Titan like a BOSS!

[ravenprey666]

@pigeonbeatbox lol... grave titan is a zombie :P

[pigeonbeatbox]

@ravenprey666 Yea I know lol, but as I said my deck is a replica of the Blood Hunger Vampire deck "With A Few Changes Due To Not Having All of The Cards" :-P so where I am missing vampires I am gaining Grave Titan & a few other beasts :-)

In other news I came second in the tournament today :-)

[FrostMageonu]

perfect, because of you i will buy that perfect vampire nocturnus, which costs about 12€ in Portugal, an acceptable price for me:)

btw should i buy Mirri, the Cursed as well?

Thank you :)

[BBoyTarzan510]

Could you make a new vid with the 2012 core set for standard?

[BBoyTarzan510]

are there any cards like geosurge but for black mana?

[ravenprey666]

@BBoyTarzan510 Dark Ritual... but nothing in standard if thats what you're playing.

[BBoyTarzan510]

@ravenprey666 awesome. thank you for the info. watch your videos all the time and congrats on your new baby

[spekbakker]

@BBoyTarzan510 Dark ritiual ?

[Inzanepiratical]

@spekbakker I think he's talking more along the lines of 5 or more mana at once. Closest thing for black that I can think of is a cabal coffers around mid game.

[Guudni]

gahh i hate playing against a vampire player they are so annoying, but bloodghast is by far the coolest creature in magick

[themegamanx990]

love it

i play vampires so this made a lot of scene and it is going to help me with a new deck i'm making thanks

[Paintdizzle17]

night wisper is betteer 1-1swampbut who cares when mono

[jimmybrown11111]

I play vintage so im not forced to have a crappy vampire deck hahahahahahahahahaha

[wishingboy10]

fetchlands....bloodghast attack block by wall of omens use disfigure to kill the wall then fetch ur land UEOT then poof! bloodghast in ur battlefield again.

[mrorangeguy]

Just a note for those asking: There are fetchlands in the deck to shuffle it when Vampire Nocturnus isn't showing you a black card on top.

[WeirdSchizo]

@mrorangeguy Also you thin out your deck and get them back with Grim Discovery.

[JimButter10]

@mrorangeguy and for bloodghasts

[Pkaff]

What is the point of havin' fetchlands where you pay 1 life to fetch swaps, and only swamps? Besides from shuffling your deck you get nothing out of it. If you instead play an extra 8 swamp, by the time you would've drawn the fetchland you have drawn an extra swamp instead. Right?

[KuzumonoStory]

@Pkaff Gets back Bloodghast, thins the deck so so you're drawing spells instead of swamps, helps manipulate your library in case Nocturnus isn't showing a black card on top.

[xenadon]

In my Standard black vampires, I play Sorin Markov with some Gul Draz vampires and Ruthless Cullblades. Turn 6, Sorin comes into play, puts their life total at 10 and you bash with whatever cards have intimidate. If you have 2-3 Gul Draz vampires in play it definitely puts them in a spot. In their attack phase they'll probably go for Sorin, which protects your life total for a bit (or at least less damage), and then you get to bash again and again.

[Intotheorchard]

@xenadon If they aren't at 10 by turn six you probably lost anyway. Sorin is meh in standard.

[Tobolococo]

What about the lacerator ?

[ZakanaHachihaCBC]

not really good i say...

[S3ANnnnn]

nerds

[pdrochhh]

@S3ANnnnn you sir are an asshole

[pulpheadhorsemen]

Shall i put in my vampire deck the Doom Blade card?? thanks...

[masterc111jb]

No

Too situational and there are just better cards

[overlordjacen]

You definitely use Doom Blade, as many as you have.

[BloodnutXcom]

@pulpheadhorsemen I would recommend it. you have enough removals as it is (gatekeeper, disfigure and tendril of corruption). I wouldn't side board it either because the most probable colors to swarm you with creatures beyond your ability to remove are whites and greens and that is why Deathmark is in you sideboard.

Good luck.

[vicenteb370]

i have 4 malakirs foil 4 hexmages 4 gatekeepers four nighthawks and 2 vamp nocturnus. PS: Quest for the Gravelord is pretty cool and gives a huge boost

[vankilsing]

I love the "Quick Deck Tech" series as it helps a nub like me greatly! :D

[strigen]

samesies. great job evanz

[FFTARoxorz05]

Pretty straight forward, I like it. Its interesting to see people who really don't get the deck in all these responses.

[Bobaganewsh]

would somebody please tell me why I should use 8 fetch lands in this deck when the only landfall card is bloodghast?

[pmanzh]

Grim discovery & Vampire Nocturnus!

As well as the usual deck thinning effects...

P

[MasterOGA]

@Bobaganewsh Vampire Nocturnus, gives you a chance to find a black card after the shuffle

[Jomon]

Evan, I agree that a deck list would be nice, or at least a skeleton for one. Aside from that, seems very nice! Good job at giving a large amount of info about the deck, while keeping the video short!

[xMrDonutx]

i love this idea of videos from you your commentary is always very good and spot on and your way of explaining things is both humorous and informative. Keep up the good work and congrats on your star city games employment!

[cbielling]

Liked the video but I agree that a decklist should be part of the video for reference.

[NorrYtt]

Wow. No decklist? Should be a 0:10 a list I can freezeframe on.

2 clicks away is too far.

[jocopman]

i would have added sorin markov

[TeddyFilmz]

Love the new series Evan!

At the end of the show, show us a deck list instead of the side-bar option. Also, maybe show an example game against other top standard decks like Jund, BB, or WUR control.

Also, do extended decks or legacy decks, Scapeshift is a deck I lost to in the PTQ and show some rogue decks by locals. I made a Simic deck waaaaay back in Ravnica days with Graft. Fun as hell to play!

[dauboi]

i dont see the need of using the fetchlands, its just ramping the deck build cost up ridiculously.. especially if all you need is monoblack

[xXLagwagonXx]

bloodghast and vampire nocturnos read them u will understand

[Dalninja121]

Why would i want basic information about a deck everyone knows about....? A twelve year old could've made this deck just by looking at available standard cards, and you do little more then explain what they do. What happened to speculation and spoilers?

[xaoslegend]

give it a chance why? So you can give other players your money?

[Phiz787]

Magic Tech?

[maxiewawa]

You should mention the link to an example decklist (it's in the show notes )

[reddemunn]

Nice series, I look forward to more of these. Grats on the StarCity gig.

[kratos123]

WOW this is awesome Vampire Hexmage is just what ive been looking for to make my Dark Depths deck! vampires are so awesome i also cant wait to make a vampir deck

[Phiz787]

A little late...arent you kratos?

[deviaan]

This is a great idea. Especially for people returning to magic.

[ughfdsa]

Might not be a bad idea to include strengths and weaknesses of the selected decks for future videos. Overall, it was a good watch, but I think it could include a little more.

[4GDragon]

May us Jund players have one of these too? I have a decent enough deck to go against Jund its just that I'm the ONLY one playing Jund in FNM's now...everyone is going for Vamps or Mill...Bloodghast love mills. (Ghast are in my Jund)

[voodooiam]

@4GDragon ghasts in ur jund!? elaborate plz

[4GDragon]

@voodooiam BloodGhast.

[voodooiam]

@4GDragon i know u mean bloodghast, im asking for a mental breakdown as to why you'd run them in jund

[markofthenewells]

I recently got a friend back into Magic, and he destroyed what I thought was a well thought out RGW Naya Deck with a simply constructed Vampire deck, and it's only going to get harrier when Worldwake comes out. It's a really fun deck to play and a great challenge to work around.

[Bladelighting08]

I haven't played magic in a little while since the rotation of lorwyn moving out of standard but I still love to watch the magic show. I thought vampires where suppose to be a budget deck, I don't understand why you need fetch lands in it, its a mono color deck, fetch lands are a uneeded cost to your deck. Unless i'm missing something grim discovery is only only card that cares about the fetch lands.

[Nactra]

you are missing two things:

1)Activating a fetch during the opponent's turn allows ou to reanimate bloodghast at instant speed.

2)Sometimes,Vampire nocturnus will reveal a swamp,wich does not count as a black card.These times,you are really happy to have the ability to fetch,shuffle,and reveal a card that activate the pump+flying effect.

[Bladelighting08]

I see makes sense

[voodooiam]

@Nactra that should be self explanitary

[Wowraider16]

it can be to an extent b/c most of the cards are cheap but its those few key cards that make the deck good and also put the price at $200+

[Bladelighting08]

ya thats the thing that made me want to take a break from magic, I can build a cheap deck but in order to make it good I have to spend alot of money for the mana and once lorwyn went out and my tribal lands and mutavaults where useless I was like k time to take a break and save up some money.

[frintOsan]

Cool vid, Evan. Explaining WHY each card is run in the sideboard can be really helpful for players to understand what hurts this deck as well as ways to counteract such threats. I also agree with other posts - some in-game action would be really cool. :)

[mtalbot015]

Love the new videos, but I liked the older videos you used to do that would show gameplay of the deck on MTGO or another program such as MWS.

[ragajones]

Hey Evan,

Like the new format for this presentation that isn't "the magic show" proper - quick, clean, and packed with info.

God, I hope you don't stop producing the original show - that is such a staple to me and mine in Phoenix...

Congrats on your new baby - keep up the good work.

Clay Jones - Phoenix

[Pringlesman]

Good video, would be nice if it showed a sample decklist or two.

[knightmare113]

...um... vampires' mana curve don't start out at hexmage, they start out at Vampire Lacerator...

[tbeaterX]

most people stopped running lacerator cause theres a lot better thing to play instead of him.

[OpalElegy]

..um... yeh.. um... but... um.. yeh...

[CyrusReborn]

Lacerator is an aggro creature, vampire deck is the strongest when it's build around midrange. Lacerator has no place in vampires for now, WWK might change it.

[KilliaK]

Well... I have been using mine in the deck. They are a fantastic one drop but hatefull lategame cards. If we had a Ranger of Eos-like vamp I think it would/could see play. At this moment I think Midrange/Control Vamps even after Worldwake are the best options. Simply because Mind Sludge IS that powerfull and Vamps have the best 2,3,5 drops.

[CyrusReborn]

It's too early to say that, there are more vampires that aren't spoiled yet. There is a chance we get a rare 1 drop, that grows as the game proceeds. Something like Figure of Destiny :) Then we can also play 4x Lacerator, having 8 "good" 1 drops will make aggro playable. I am going to test both aggro and midrange vampires to see what is the best. I am also going to try some MBC and MBA decks based on Abyssal Persecutor, god i love that card more than Kalistria Highborn :p

[roykillany]

love it, hope you can do more!

what i would really love is gameplay footage, so maybe that could come in in the future?

[stelerscyth]

Can marsh casualties target white knight? I'm just wondering the rules behind protection from white. Does it imply all black spells or is marsh casualties an exception because it deals -1/-1 counters.

[thefallenangelsora]

marsh casualties does not target anything. protection from white only stops targeting and damage from said protection. because marsh casualties does not target the creatures but the player, marsh casualties makes the player put -1/-1 or -2/-2 counters on their creatures regardless of protection.

[planeswalkerkhc]

It doesn't "target" white knight. It targets your opponent, so it gets rid of white knights like wrath of god does for all creatures.

[gymkidarman]

hmm how about

evan's corner!

[asdme92]

why do you need the fetchlands in an all black deck??????

[apocalex13]

mana filtering - less lands in deck (after using a fetch, uses 2 lands instead of 1) means a higher chance of drawing a threat card (nonland).

[daynrk]

The main reason u need fetchlands is so when u play your vampire nocturnus u can filter the top card if its non black

[nv88]

and to recur bloodghast as well :)

[planeswalkerkhc]

Synergy, to switch out the top card of your deck if it's a land when nocturnus is in play. Also, it helps landfall for your bloodghast.

[asdme92]

gotcha lol

[Frankacy]

There wasn't a gleam of anything interesting or creative in this video. Sucks.

[secretspy1]

some people might not read all the posts, or be very good at deck making. just because your and expert and dont like it, look on the other side.

[nekoraynos]

Vampires are extremely straight-forward, so much so that it hurts sometimes.

[lukejf01]

What about Hideous End?

[blithium]

Hideous End costs too much, and the two life, while good, isn't quite good enough to pay for the extra black mana needed to cast it.

[mastuhgamuh90]

so how do you sb against jund?

[Khetti]

Extra Mind Sludge. That card is pretty hard for Jund to come back from.

[Nocat88]

How about some match-up notes. How to play the deck vs each deck.

[SaoPauloOrBust]

This is a good idea.

[Lestat13TheVampire]

The only acceptable vampire decklist? How rare, vampires attracts the worst of crowds.

[Toadman1911]

Nice feature, keep it up! I like the vampires a lot myself... :)

[tyty6293]

I would love to see what which deck list you are talking about. Put it in the info box to the left of the video. Otherwise, I like the deck tech.

[MyLittlePwnys]

Anowon, the Ruin Sage is going to be so sick in this deck

[dragoon0248]

Lightning Bolt Test: Anowon, the Ruin Sage FAILS :S

[MyLittlePwnys]

so does nighthawk but people still play that card

[MyLittlePwnys]

plus it kill Sphinx of Jwar Isle and any shroud/pro black guy

[shadowofzo]

I like but I would add a few decklist from different tournements.

[necrid110]

Why the fetch lands? other than bloodghast, nothing has land fall so why would you need the fetchlands when you could just use swamps instead and not loose the life?

[DoctorPhanan]

@necrid110 Fetches gain card advantage with Grim discovery. They also give you a shuffle to potentially hit a black card with Vampire Nocturnus

[Sagramorbald]

Interesting idea, this "quick deck techs". I vote you explain Eldrazi Green next, I see a lot of newbs saying it's worthless because of the nature of the deck, without removal and without huge creatures per se.

[Shuray]

I liked, keep doing it (:

[dragoon0248]

Name`s good, "Instant Deckbuilding" would be cool too.:)

What do you think about Urge to Feed? Could it be a replacement for Disfigure? I won`t ask you out about Anowon...he`s not *that* good in Standard Aggro Vamps.

Can`t for the new regular Magic Show, because we all love Spoilers. And we love em`even more, if you talk about them. :D

[irvinjoseph]

just sayin thanx for everything you do for this game we all love mr. erwin.

[Vinifera7]

Vamps are looking even more exciting with the new ones coming out for Worldwake.

[KilliaK]

Hehehe, I feel the "Urge to Feed".

[ncherry713]

LOVE THAT CARD

[Mustustus]

I see nothing wrong with that statement :P

[danbaker90]

lol did you see the new 5 drop vamp, as if youd play that over bloodwitch or mindsludge, id rather splash red and play bituminous blast

[Mustustus]

Splashing is one surefire way to fuck over a vampire deck.

[XjyujX]

hahahaha

[danbaker90]

nah dude, the only vamps that get to the top tables at tourneys splashed red for blightning ect.

[Mustustus]

Incorrect, for example: The mono black vampire that took first at the recent Star City tourney.

[Phiz787]

Hey Evan, Possibly one more piece of information to add could be its good/bad matchups

[jvdthwip]

The thinning from fetches is basically irrelevant.

The Bloodghast Interaction is cute.

I think fetch interaction with Nocturnus to keep your pump online as well as net an entire card late game is much more important.

[infectionsick]

very very nice!

this deck is coming so fast in our red zones! tap your cards si you dont have to!

[Sonicmaster4]

Definitely a good idea, hoping to see this well into the future.

[Slov01]

Devout Lightcaster is the real antithesis of the deck :-)

[CYBERDISC]

no 1 mana drops?

[Mustustus]

Several decks run Lacerators.

[Strichnine19]

this is a re hash of everything that has been said on mtgsalvation and is available free. unlike star city games.

[grayseeroly]

Awesome summation, also frees up valuable TMS time. Looking forward to seeing this continue long into the future.

[Goltermann87]

great idea! this is just what makes my day: a Evan Erwin telling me what to do without debating back and forth. don't get me wrong, i like the debates of new cards, but to get a fresh image of the metagame i need this one.

PS: i don't play vampires, but i put Spell Pierce in my sideboard just because of cards like mind sludge in my U/W control deck.

[cabrala7x]

Great Work, I think this video was great, and a good starting point to play the archetype, but it would be really nice to have a sample decklist.

[cowabunganinjaturtle]

Im still learning MTG and wanted to know what are the advantages of taking fetch lands in a mono color deck?  Why not just have pure swamps?

[GoldDraconian]

You thin lands out of your deck without actually playing less lands in the deck, so the quality of your draws improves without sacrificing consistency in getting early mana.

That said, if you're on a budget or you're uncomfortable with running a bunch of fetchlands, I doubt it will ruin your life if you just run swamps.

[CardGameNut]

Remember GoldDraconian that Terramorphic Expanse is legal in Standard right now. If you're on a very strict budget, 4 Expanses (or a mix of 4 proper fetches and 4 Expanses) are better than none.

[GoldDraconian]

I don't play Standard (or much Magic at all actually) right now so I wasn't looking at that, though thanks for the tip. I was going to mention that the comes-into-play-tapped thing is a nuisance, but with landfall junk and the Raise Dead variant that also grabs a land, that drawback seems negligible in comparison to the benefits.

[misanthroposy]

@GoldDraconian the only deck I run on standard nights at my local tournaments is a vampire deck. I've done it with just swamps and I've done it with eight fetchlands in my deck. The fetch lands make a big difference and a vampire deck is one of those decks where if you use your fetchlands wisely it will win you the game. Fetchlands definitely better then swamps in a vampire deck.

[CardGameNut]

Fetch lands help thin the deck so that you'll draw fewer useless land and more helpful creatures and other spells later in the game.

It also helps your Bloodghast(s) come back on your opponent's turn so they can attack on your upcoming turn...in essence acting as a manaless reanimation spell. (remember, you ARE making a land enter the battlefield when you resolve a fetchland ability).

[Mustustus]

As someone else has said, the thinning is quite negligible, the fetchlands are used primarily to fix the top card for nocturnus, and a very distant secondary use to actually "thin" the deck.

[Core1138]

Just what the doctor order!  Thank you!

[vikirosen]

This is awesome! Keep it coming!

[purpleshaman]

Really interesting idea. I like it.

[4TKMedia]

Love the tech decks :) cant wait for more!

[McHipster]

cool idea evan!

[bobmonkey420]

Love the deck tech, it overviewed the basic principle of vampires although a sample deck list would be cool to see...other than that it's pretty good and it's nice to see all the cards like that and little notes.

[sobeit42]

i like your deck techs. the end.

[MagicPlayor]

I like the idea of Quick tech videos poping up every so often.

Maybe every now and again they can feature a deck tech with someone.

[DefiasBrotherhood]

Great new series! Keep up the good work Evan!!!!

[kingarthur0407]

lol i just made a red alert 2 mtg duel deck!i'm playing with it already!

[CyrusReborn]

4x Deathmark in the SB can be replaced by 4x Doom Blade depending on your meta. If your meta is 50% jund, deathmark is the obvious choise (also the obvious choise when you are attending a big tournament, allot of jund). Doom Blade is better for FNMs if your meta is not full of Jund.

[Mustustus]

Agreed, there are much better cards that hose the white decks right now. Deathmark was one of the first cards to leave my SB

[CardGameNut]

This is a great idea!

But as some have said, please slow down the pace a tad bit. I understand a lot about the deck and even I'M having a hard time following you at points because you're moving so quickly.

Also, maybe bring some of your The Magic Show explanation/excitement style. You know how excited you can get over certain cards when they're previewed or new combos that make the tournament scene? Bring some of that here.

I think it's a great experiment! I look forward to more of these. :)

[KevDaCutie]

Way to deck my deck list from Champs and make a video out of it..

[Scot2hott2k9]

Too bad that everyone and their mother has a Vamp list, eh?

[oOWeezyOo]

very informative video

but is it possible to show us a vampire quick deck teck 2.0 with the vamps from worldwake in it??

[Philson]

Nice Video!

Though I have a few suggestions.

Firstly, it was probably too short, clocking at 2 min+. Around 5 min would probably be better.

Also, since your purpose is to "explain the deck to a novice in a way that they can grasp the inherent interactions of the deck" I feel that the best way to do so is to show the deck in action either through MTGO or RL cards, with some commentary.

Something like what FiveWithFlores was, would be perfect imo...

[Philson]

How bout: "FiveWithEvan". LOL

[QuadmanSwe]

Did you consider attaching an example decklist?

[StanGrunder]

I would slow down a little, and post a list of all the cards mentioned in the side bar. and maybe a link to an event in the SCG deck database that has the particular archetype doing well. good idea, executed really well :)

[Magicds1]

cool

[Roxolan]

I really like this kind of videos.

But please speak (and change slides) a little slower. Currently I have to pause the video all the time.

[Khetti]

Nice quick video. Though I think you missed out an important part: using fetchlands to turn on Nocturnus if the ability "misses" (getting to shuffle and try again using your fetchlands).

Otherwise you covered everything.

[MysticDragon423]

What about Vampire Lacerator??

[NeoDolph1n]

Lacerator is not good enough to make it into the Tier1 version. There might be a combo version after Worldwake comes out (see Jacob van Lunen's column from today on MTG Daily), where he might find a home.

[Mustustus]

Disagreed, Lacerator makes for a very aggresive and more aggro based deck, not to mention his inclusion allows for turn 4 kills =P.

But he is definately the weakest card in the deck and one of the most cringe-worthy top decks.

[shooksonv2]

he's good but just not good enough. BB for 2 power that drains ur life, good for casual but definatly not playable like a card like goblin guide or kazandu blademaster

[shooksonv2]

i mean 1 black mana srry

[Ffancrzy]

Good idea, keep it up.

[Hakelous]

the new stuff is sick as well

[Joonz14]

Love it , great job once again erwin : )

[BazAU87]

Great stuff Evan, very simple to follow, well explained and thought out and very concise and to the point. There's nothing wrong with the name either.

[Melciorek]

Great. I love it. Please make more, because it's as interesting as the Magic Show :D

[woogynie]

This is cool.

[carthwolf]

Interesting

[KOJIDARTH]

I have this deck and it is amazing.

[Nocat88]

I like it. More please!