This is my Brawl deck for vampires. Its still a bit of a WIP, but I'll go over my ideas so far.
Overall game plan: The deck wants to hit hard early with as many small creatures as possible, using anthems and removal to bash away at foes. Its mostly a go-wide token deck with sub-themes of lifegain (useful for Vona as well as other draining cards) and life-loss without direct combat.
The deck's early game is to get as many small vamps on the board as possible, using 1 and 2 CMC creatures to pound away until token generation gets online. It has some small removal to get rid of the minor nuisance creatures and ramp creatures coming on board.
Once you hit 3 mana, you start cooking. You should have a few tokens on the board and start getting some buffing abilities on board from Legion Lieutenant and Radiant Destiny. Your 4 and 5 drops start bringing out big guns like Vona (for combat, lifegain and spot removal) and Elenda (who you want to go-big with and or possibly sacrifice to go wide). Since Elenda doesn't get tokens for going to the Command zone, she is playing 2nd fiddle to Vona, who is nice to pull out when your foe get his big-gun out; 7 life is nothing compared to the pain of a dinosaur or god!
Of course, even with 30 life 7 is a lot to pay to neutralize your foes, so luckily there is some lifegain aside from lifelink. Moment of Craving, Inspiring Cleric, and Arterial Flow are less about their main features as topping off your deck from the life loss your deck wants. If your lucky enough to get Temple of Aclazotz out; well, lets just say it synergizes well with both Elenda (after she's grown fat) and Tomb of the Dusk Rose (exile big foes, bring them under your control, and sac them for life).
Late game is about outpacing foes using card-draw and getting one or both of your big-artifacts on the board. The Immortal Sun shuts down a lot of decks that are PW happy and RD + TIS + VB + LL = +4/+4 to all your vampires and tokens!
Right now, Dusk is the only Panic button, but its good because it misses most of your low-to-the-ground creatures. Never takes out annoying PW you can't hit with other removal, and Foresake the Worldly is our only specific artifact and enchantment removal (although Vona hits them as well). I might want to look at Vona's Hunger at some point.
The deck is running 22 lands, but that's because there are three hidden lands (Adanto, Tomb, Temple) hidden on the flip-cards. Additionally, most cards are no more than 6 mana and it curves mostly at 2-3.
Suggestions: Right now, its about tuning things. Suggestions are welcome, especially in finding better answers and the best vampires. The goal is to keep the deck low cost, which is why Vraska's Contempt and Fatal Push aren't on the menu.
1 Vona, Butcher of Magan
Creature
1 Bloodcrazed Paladin
1 Vicious Conquistador
1 Adanto Vanguard
1 Elenda, the Dusk Rose
1 Paladin of Atonement
1 Bishop of Binding
1 Dusk Legion Zealot
1 Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle
1 Skymarch Bloodletter
1 Legion Lieutenant
1 Skymarcher Aspirant
1 Forerunner of the Legion
1 Twilight Prophet
1 Martyr of Dusk
1 Sadistic Skymarcher
1 Bishop of Rebirth
1 Sanctum Seeker
1 Bishop of the Bloodstained
1 Inspiring Cleric
1 Paladin of the Bloodstained
1 Famished Paladin
1 Champion of Dusk
1 Cast Out
1 Legion's Landing
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
1 Radiant Destiny
1 Profane Procession
Land
1 Concealed Courtyard
1 Desert of the Glorified
1 Desert of the True
1 Shefet Dunes
1 Unclaimed Territory
1 Forsaken Sanctuary
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Memorial to Folly
7 Plains
7 Swamp
Artifact
1 Vanquisher's Banner
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Forsake the Worldly
1 Moment of Craving
1 Vicious Offering
Sorcery
1 Dusk // Dawn
1 Never // Return
1 Call to the Feast
1 Queen's Commission
1 Arterial Flow
This is my Brawl deck for vampires. Its still a bit of a WIP, but I'll go over my ideas so far.
Overall game plan: The deck wants to hit hard early with as many small creatures as possible, using anthems and removal to bash away at foes. Its mostly a go-wide token deck with sub-themes of lifegain (useful for Vona as well as other draining cards) and life-loss without direct combat.
The deck's early game is to get as many small vamps on the board as possible, using 1 and 2 CMC creatures to pound away until token generation gets online. It has some small removal to get rid of the minor nuisance creatures and ramp creatures coming on board.
Once you hit 3 mana, you start cooking. You should have a few tokens on the board and start getting some buffing abilities on board from Legion Lieutenant and Radiant Destiny. Your 4 and 5 drops start bringing out big guns like Vona (for combat, lifegain and spot removal) and Elenda (who you want to go-big with and or possibly sacrifice to go wide). Since Elenda doesn't get tokens for going to the Command zone, she is playing 2nd fiddle to Vona, who is nice to pull out when your foe get his big-gun out; 7 life is nothing compared to the pain of a dinosaur or god!
Of course, even with 30 life 7 is a lot to pay to neutralize your foes, so luckily there is some lifegain aside from lifelink. Moment of Craving, Inspiring Cleric, and Arterial Flow are less about their main features as topping off your deck from the life loss your deck wants. If your lucky enough to get Temple of Aclazotz out; well, lets just say it synergizes well with both Elenda (after she's grown fat) and Tomb of the Dusk Rose (exile big foes, bring them under your control, and sac them for life).
Late game is about outpacing foes using card-draw and getting one or both of your big-artifacts on the board. The Immortal Sun shuts down a lot of decks that are PW happy and RD + TIS + VB + LL = +4/+4 to all your vampires and tokens!
Right now, Dusk is the only Panic button, but its good because it misses most of your low-to-the-ground creatures. Never takes out annoying PW you can't hit with other removal, and Foresake the Worldly is our only specific artifact and enchantment removal (although Vona hits them as well). I might want to look at Vona's Hunger at some point.
The deck is running 22 lands, but that's because there are three hidden lands (Adanto, Tomb, Temple) hidden on the flip-cards. Additionally, most cards are no more than 6 mana and it curves mostly at 2-3.
Suggestions: Right now, its about tuning things. Suggestions are welcome, especially in finding better answers and the best vampires. The goal is to keep the deck low cost, which is why Vraska's Contempt and Fatal Push aren't on the menu.