Vampires Post WWK

With about 1/3 of the new set spoiled, it is already pretty apparent that Vampires will be the new Kithkin of Standard and the new Faeries of Zendikar Block Constructed. With only 3 GOOD Vampire cards spoiled so far, I am personally very excited to see what more will come. I have been a fan of Vampires since the release of Zendikar (Malakir Bloodwitch is one of my favorite cards from the set) and I was excited to see Vampires finally take home a major victory at the Star City Games 5K in Dallas/Fort Worth. Current Vampire lists are pretty sketchy though. The control matchup is usually pretty good, but when put face to face with another "aggro" deck Vampires just cant compete. They cant outrace RDW/Barely Boros, cant deal with Mono-White's massive amount tokens and first strikers, and cant 2 for 1 better than Jund. In fact, Vampires is hardly even a Teir 1 deck. However, this will soon change with the release of Worldwake. First off, lets take a look at the spoiled Vampires so far:

First off is Anowon, the Ruin Sage. Fans of MTG Lore and back stories will  recognize this character as Chandra Nalaar's guide to the Eye of the Ugin. As for his card representation, Anowon is pretty nuts. He fits into the higher end of the Vampire curve, being priced the same as Bloodwitch, and like the Witch has a pretty sweet ability. Sure this guy is only a 4/3 for 5 in the Vampire mirror, but in other matchups his ability can be pretty nuts. Making an opponent continually sac creatures means you will almost always maintain board control. Plus, his ability deals with the pesky shroud creatures like Sphinx of Jwar Isle and Wall of Denial. I can see this guy as a 2-of in post WWK Vampire lists as you dont want to get flooded by him and he is pretty underwhelming against faster aggro decks like RDW and Boros.

The next Vampire card is probably one of my favorite cards in Worldwake so far. Urge to Feed reminds me alot of Agony Warp but with a different "bonus". Agony Warp's bonus is that it can target multiple creatures, allowing you to negate the damage of 2 small creatures (Fog one, kill the other) or other sweet 2-for one options. Urge to Feed, on the other hand, only targets one creature, but is a perminent pump to all of your creatures. I can only imagine all the sweet combat tricks this card can be used for. It will almost definitely be a 4-of in every Vampire deck.

The final good Vampire was spoiled last week on The Magic Show. The "Lose X Life, Gain X Life" ability is fairly common amongst the Vampires of Zendikar. Kalastria Highborn gives every Vampire you control this ability for the small cost of a black mana. The usefullness for this card can be quite numerous. First off, it makes Wrath effects like Day of Judgement and Earthquake much better for you. If your opponent DoJ's your board of Bloodghast, Highborn, and Nighthawk, and you have BBB open, all of a sudden their 4 mana just set them back 6 life while boosting your life total 6 more than it was before. This guy is definitely worth testing in Vampire lists to come.

In conclusion, I will leave you all with this possible post WWK Vampire list:

3x Bloodghast

4x Gatekeeper of Malakir

2x Kalastria Highborn

4x Vampire Nighthawk

4x Vampire Nocturnus

3x Malakir Bloodwitch
2x Anowon, the Ruin Sage

4x Urge to Feed

4x Sign in Blood

4x Tendrils of Corruption

2x Mind Sludge

1x Eldrazi Monument

4x Marsh Flats

4x Verdant Catacombs

15x Swamp

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment on the deck.

-David