Vampires in Besieged Standard

Black-Red Vampires takes down the first SCG Open of the year, despite the Kuldotha Rebirth decks popping up all over the place:

Matt Landstrom, 1st Place

4 Bloodghast
2 Captivating Vampire
4 Pulse Tracker
4 Vampire Lacerator
3 Viscera Seer
4 Kalastria Highborn
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir

2 Dark Tutelage
3 Go for the Throat
3 Arc Trail
4 Lightning Bolt

4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Lavaclaw Reaches
4 Dragonskull Summit
6 Swamp
3 Marsh Flats
2 Verdant Catacombs

Sideboard
2 Demon of Death's Gate
3 Skinrender
2 Doom Blade
1 Arc Trail
4 Forked Bolt
2 Duress
1 Dark Tutelage
2 Vampire Nighthawk

In the coverage after the tournament, he basically said that he didn't test at all except against Kuldotha Red, but that he would change the sideboard up a little bit to incorporate more Vampire Nighthawks and a Shatter effect for Ratchet Bombs, Kuldotha Red, and others. He believes the Forked Bolt underperformed, Go for the Throat was somewhat awkward against Kuldotha Red since he couldn't kill Chimeric Mass, and he added the 3 Go for the Throats to the main deck, taking out a Captivating Vampire, an Arc Trail, and a Dark Tutelage. He is using Captivating Vampire for the lord effect (+1/+1) to boost his team rather than the "steal a dude" part of the card.

That said, his Go for the Throats absolutely wrecked Valakut. I am not sure how to play this, since Kuldotha Red makes Go for the Throat a tricky proposition due to Chimeric Mass and other artifact creatures.

He only lost 5 games in the entire tournament: 13 rounds, including 0 games lost in the top 8.

Remember, one of us can play this deck, I have the whole thing minus a couple of Lavaclaw Reaches and the Go for the Throats...

Vampires always seems to perform at SCG events, but with the exception of Eric F from World's they really haven't gotten a lot of high level play. I'd be interested to see if as much of an aggressive metagame shows up in Paris.

His sideboard is a little odd. More specifically, only 2 Demon for the Valakut matchup, which can be an extremely rough matchup for Vampires if they don't have A LOT of pressure. Not to mention post-board having to face Pyroclasm. Demon usually breaks the matchup for the Vampires player so surprised to see only 2.

I'll proxy up this version for the gauntlet, editing the Eric F version.

If I was to play any aggro deck it would be Vampires. Vampires has the consistancy that the other ones don't have and best of all it has card draw.

I don't think Captivating Vampire is necesary at all in Vampires. Sure it can put on pressure, but I just think that its overkill. I would rather play Vampire Nighthawk in that spot for invasion.

Why don't people play 4 Viscera Seer in vampires anymore? I think it's the best card in the deck. Also if you are going the DoDG plan post board 12 1 drops are necessary.

If I was to play this deck at PT Paris I would be playing 3 Dark Tutelage main. I feel control is going to dominate and if you can get Dark Tutelage to resolve you should win.

The list I would play(without testing):

// Lands
4 [WWK] Lavaclaw Reaches
4 [M11] Dragonskull Summit
4 [SOM] Blackcleave Cliffs
2 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
6 [9E] Swamp (3)
3 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs

// Creatures
4 [M11] Viscera Seer
4 [ZEN] Bloodghast
4 [WWK] Pulse Tracker
4 [WWK] Kalastria Highborn
4 [ZEN] Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 [ZEN] Vampire Lacerator

// Spells
4 [M10] Lightning Bolt
3 [M11] Dark Tutelage
2 [SOM] Arc Trail
4 [ROE] Inquisition of Kozilek

// Sideboard
SB: 2 [SOM] Arc Trail
SB: 3 [M11] Manic Vandal(Maybe had 3 spots open)
SB: 3 [M11] Demon of Death's Gate
SB: 2 [MBS] Go for the Throat
SB: 3 [ZEN] Vampire Hexmage
SB: 2 [ZEN] Vampire Nighthawk

With valakut playing Slagstorm/pyroclasm in the main, I think Inquisition is pretty juicy right now.

Random sideboard plans:

Valakut:
-3 Dark Tutelage
-2 Arc Trail
+3 Demon of Death's Gate
+2 Go for the Throat

UB control/UW Control
-4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
+3 Vampire Hexmage
+1 Go for the Throat

Mirror
-4 Inquisition of Kozilek
-3 Dark Tutelage
+2 Vampire Nighthawk
+2 Arc Trail
+2 Go for the Throat
+1 Vampire Hexmage

Koldotha Red
-3 Dark Tutelage
-4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
+2 Arc Trail
+2 Vampire Nighthawk
+3 Vampire Hexmage

I agree with many of your ideas about Vamps, but these are the reasons for the deck design from the guy who built the deck:

1. Captivating Vampire pumps all of your Vamps, and increases the damage clock. It's kinda like playing Goblin Bushwhacker with kicker. I am not a huge fan of the card either, and I think Vampire Nighthawk is a great call for the main deck, since you really want to be the control player against Kuldotha Red.
2. Dark Tutelage is a liability/dead card against Kuldotha Red, and the deck creator went -1 Dark Tutelage to both add Go for the Throat and decrease the number of dead cards in the deck.
3. Viscera Seer is for combo, not aggro, so you don't ever really want to play it on turn 1, hence the reason for 3 instead of 4.
4. Arc Trail was originally a 4of due to the aggressive matchups, and I would keep it at 3.
5. Inquisition of Kozilek seems amazing in the deck right now, and it would probably be my card of choice for the deck to handle both Kuldotha Red and the Control matchups.

Not sure if Manic Vandal is fast enough to take out Ratchet Bomb, which is going to be everywhere due to Kuldotha Red. You will probably have to rely on Inquisition of Kozilek + Duress to make that work.

I would also think about Marsh Casualties as a 2of in the sideboard for aggressive matchups.

I think the deck is well-positioned right now, which is a lot more than I thought before I saw how the metagame changed with Kuldotha Red in the format. Go for the Throat can be a liability, which means that Control doesn't really know what spot removal to play effectively.

I almost would rather play Teetering Peaks than Lavaclaw reaches. I mean how often do you really use it and win compared to just a single teetering peaks. Usually when you activate the man land you are losing the game to no creatures on the table.

Seer is run x3 because of it's lack of effectiveness in the Valakut and Aggro Matchups. Against control, you don't want another 1 drop other then Seer. I've never minded running 4x Seer though, given how quick you need to punch out a Demon in the Valakut matchup.

@ Reaches vs. Peaks - Reaches may not be used that often, but taking out a BR source for a R source in a deck that already has enough trouble with Spreading Seas wouldn't be recommended by me.

I'm going to go out on a limb and disagree with the rest of the team, and say that Captivating Vampire is a good maindeck choice for two reasons:

1. In an aggro heavy metagame (which new formats always are), being able to pump your guys means more of your team is able to survive trading with KRed guys, which is an edge you need
2. Against Valakut and RUG, having Captivating Vampire allows you to play a turn three guy who not only has an immediate effect on how much damage you will do that turn, but because everyone is boosted you no longer have to overcommit into Pyroclasm or Slagstorm, and you can build your team back after everyone dies the first time without limiting how much damage you can do pre-clasm.

It's not the best card in the deck, but I think it's a pretty versatile maindeck choice- and a good one for the metagame.

I agree with Joey here. The lord effect is pretty good at the moment. Pushing damage as fast as possible is very relevant and boosting stuff out of pryoclasm range is good.

Ken

I agree with Joey here. The lord effect is pretty good at the moment. Pushing damage as fast as possible is very relevant and boosting stuff out of pryoclasm range is good.

The board still gets swept by pyroclasm unless you have the 2 Captivating Vampires in the deck on the table. If we were talking about Vampire Noctournus here I would be playing Noctournus all day. However I've never played with Captivating Vampire so I wouldn't know how useful he really is. It just feels like overkill.

I know it doesn't prevent board sweeping. In fact, that's not what I said.

What it does is allow you to play fewer creatures and still deal the same amount of damage, thus making it so you can recover from a board sweeper more effectively.

Words, people. How you use them really does change the meaning.

Joey wrote:I know it doesn't prevent board sweeping. In fact, that's not what I said.

What it does is allow you to play fewer creatures and still deal the same amount of damage, thus making it so you can recover from a board sweeper more effectively.

Words, people. How you use them really does change the meaning.

Not you... was replying to Ken

Meant the same in essence. It increases on board damage without forcing you to overextend in to sweepers.


Ken

I side with Joey & Ken on the Captivating Vampire. His ability is quite relevant in the Valakut matchup during game 1 and the +1/+1 boost to everyone helps in the mirror match and KRed

Mono Black Vampires

// Lands
14 [9E] Swamp (3)
4 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
4 [ZEN] Marsh Flats

// Creatures
4 [M11] Viscera Seer
4 [M11] Captivating Vampire
4 [ZEN] Vampire Lacerator
4 [ZEN] Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 [WWK] Kalastria Highborn
4 [ZEN] Bloodghast
4 [WWK] Pulse Tracker

// Spells
4 [MBS] Go for the Throat
4 [ROE] Inquisition of Kozilek
2 [ZEN] Blade of the Bloodchief

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [M11] Dark Tutelage
SB: 2 [ZEN] Marsh Casualties
SB: 3 [ZEN] Disfigure
SB: 3 [ZEN] Vampire Hexmage
SB: 4 [M11] Demon of Death's Gate

I've been messing around with mono black vampires tonight. I feel in a format that is shifting to control just straight mono black could be the way to go for vampires. Red causes lands to come into play tapped and lightning bolt just isnt very effective vs control unless you draw them in multiples. No one plays Mark of Mutiny in the sideboards of vampires anymore, so that reason isn't really valid. Also not playing red can allow to me to have enough room to play Captivating Vampire as a playset.

Blade of the Bloodcheif is a card that I'm starting to really like. At worse it pretty much gives shroud to your best creature. Then there are the random times where it can win you the game post pyroclasm if you have a Viscera Seer on the table. UB is the same situation vs Black Sun Zenith. UW control however, the card is very dead.

Dark Tutelage in the sideboard:
I said that the format is going to shift to control, but I don't think it is the right call to main deck Dark Tutelage. It's only useful in 2 match ups. It's pretty much dead against any aggro deck, Ramp and RUG/BUG. You are not trying to fight a long game in any of those match ups.

My sideboard:
Overall pretty random. Needs help. Nothing else to say.

I did test against UB Control a friend of mine is planning on taking to DC. I went 4-1 preboard and 2-1 postboard. The 1st game post board I lost because I never saw Skinrender coming. Skinrender is apparently the new sideboard tech on MODO.

I origionally boarded vs UB Control
-2 Blade of the Bloodcheif
-4 Gatekeeper of Malakir(Dead against Grave Titan)
+3 Dark Tutelage
+3 Vampire Hexmage

Then when I saw Skinrender I realized I needed Gatekeeper:
-2 Blade of the Bloodchief
-1 Captivating Vampire
-3 Dark Tutelage

I took Vampire Hexmage back out because I didn't know what to replace it with to keep it in. However, I did win game 2 and 3 post board. Hexmage is probally only best againt Gideon and aggro anyway.

Thats about it please feel free to comment. I'm sure someone thinks BR vampires is better because it has recent results, but no one plays mono black vamps

Given our groups recent testing with Vampires on both Tuesday night (Vampires vs UB Control) and Wednesday (Vampires vs Valakut, KRed) I would suggest a different direction. Basically, playing red and not making the deck mono black. Your statement about shifting to control seems odd given the results of the last SCG event.

I've been following along with Joey's metagame predictions and we both think control is on the rise, but I'm not sure I'm ready to play mono black Vampires which has a much worse matchup then the red version does against Boros, KRed, and the mirror.

Also, I'm a little skeptical on the Captivating Vampire after our recent testing session. I'm also stunned to see the switch from you, given your "I don't like it" last week. You went from 0 - 4 just like that. Losing Lavaclaw Reaches also hurts a lot. It's also your only real "comes into play tapped" land anyway, which doesn't hurt the deck.

Vampires is Vampires, but I like the BR direction far more then the Mono Black direction. Your results against UB make sense, given that it's a bad matchup for UB anyway.

If Mono Black Vampires is better against control, then I am surprised that no one played Mono Black Vampires at the Pro Tour, which probably has a higher percentage of control decks than most SCG events.

I have a feeling that Mono Black Vampires is not the way to go.

All of the lists in the 18+ points section are RB.

Hope this helps.

If I was going to build Mono Black Vampires, I would include a lot more early disruption than just bringing the beats. I have a feeling you will need more Duress than what you currently play.

I agree with Tom. I was looking at the lists today and the RB Vampires list at the bottom (18 points) were built differently from the ones that finished a little higher. You should give those a look...

I wouldn't play Vampires right now in a format filled with Sword of Feast and Famine. You can only answer so many Squadron Hawks.

Lightning Bolt and Arc Trail aren't terrible answers, especially when you play BR Vamps.

The problem with Vamps is Spreading Seas, which is just a kick in the 'nads.

4 Viscera Seer
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Pulse Tracker
4 Bloodghast
4 Kalastria Highborn
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
2 Captivating Vampire
2 Dark Tutelage
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Arc Trail
2 Go for the Throat
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Dragonskull Summit
3 Lavaclaw Reaches
4 Marsh Flats
1 Verdant Catacombs
7 Swamp

Sideboard
3 Demon of Death's Gate (kills Valakut)
1 Dark Tutelage (kills control)
2 Marsh Casualties (kills Kuldotha Red)
1 Go for the Throat (kills control cards dead)
1 Mark of Mutiny (an extra Demon vs. Valakut)
3 Inquisition of Kozilek (have to stop control)
3 Vampire Hexmage (have to kill Gideon Jura)

The main deck is strong against aggro/Squad Hawks/Stoneforge Mystic due to Arc Trail and Bolt (no pro-red), and the sideboard rounds out the rest of the control matchups. I feel like this main deck is weak to the non-creature version of Valakut, but not bad against the Lotus Cobra builds.

I added an extra swamp/land to hopefully have less problems with Spreading Seas, but I could see taking it out if necessary after testing. The increased # of 3cc spells in the deck might require the 23rd land. I don't like all 4 Lavaclaw Reaches, but I think I am the only one who agrees with this.

I have also thought about adding the miser's Sword of Body and Mind/Sword of Feast and Famine to the main deck somewhere to help in the Valakut matchups. Sword of Feast and Famine is probably worse than the mill ability of Body and Mind, but pro-black is really nice against UB Control.
I would not mind taking this to DC, and I own all of the cards except for 1 Captivating Vampire.

Arc Trail doesn't help when there is a sword on the table. Lightning Bolt doesn't kill an equipped Stoneforge Mystic. Gatekeeper isnt enough. Sure you can hold your mana open just to kill in response but thats not effective enough with only 4 instant speed burn. Go For the Throat isn't effective enough because it costs 2. Your best answer is Crush or Shatter.

To play Devil's advocate:
Lightning Bolt does kill an equipped Squadron Hawk.
Arc Trail will remove both Stoneforge Mystic AND a Squadron Hawk before the Sword can come down.

In Reitzl's match against UW, he played a very early Arc Trail on just a Stoneforge Mystic to make sure that Sword did not come out early.

I'm not saying it's a great plan, but it still has outs.

Yes but to Arc Trail an early stoneforge you lose all your tempo. Unless your board is 3x lacerator by turn 3 and then they cast day and then you have been immediately 4 for 1'd. However it's a 20% chance that they actually have day of judgment by turn 4, but statistics are not true in this game for some reason(they always have it).

Your stats are a little off, just to throw that out there. If they run 4 Day's they should see one once every 15 cards. 7 card opening hand + 3-4 draw steps depending on play / draw, not counting cards seen by earlier Preordains. Assuming no preordains and them on the play (10 cards), thats 66.66% chance that they will have a Day of Judgment. Not 20%.

If they run only 3, the percentage still only comes down to 50%.

I was looking at it the wrong way for math. However you math is wrong too according to an odds calculator. 53% on the play 57% on the draw. If 3 in the deck 43% on th play 46% on the draw.

I simplified the math so I could do it in 10 seconds as opposed to figuring out the exact percentages. But if you need the small victory then so be it.