Hey friends. Your EDHREC precon guru is back, and he’s tapping on your window. Go ahead, invite him in! 

In our Precon Review of Blood Rites, the Orzhov Vampire deck from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, we saw that this deck has the makings of a strong aggro/Aristocrats deck, but needs a bit more focus.

We’ll break our upgrades up into two parts: budget (~$5 or less) and non-budget ($5 or more).

Vampyre Folklore

To recap, this deck is led by Clavileño, First of the Blessed, a 2/2 Vampire Cleric that turns an attacking Vampire into a Demon that creates a 4/3 flying token when it dies. So obviously we want to attack, and we want our creatures to die.

Our backup singer is Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher. For five mana, this Vampire Soldier gets a +1/+1 counter whenever a player sacrifices a permanent, and you gain a life. When she attacks, you can return a permanent with mana value less than or equal to her power from the graveyard to the battlefield. 

The synergy with these two is awesome. Both want you to attack, and Clavileño wants you to sacrifice your creatures to turn them into something bigger, just for Carmen to bring the original creature back.

Here’s the original decklist:

Let the Right One In

Having a sacrifice outlet at all times is crucial for this deck. So we’ll start our upgrade by adding a few. Acolyte of Aclazotz can tap to sacrifice a creature, with a bit of life drain thrown in. Bloodmist Infiltrator can sac a creature when it attacks, and also sneak in some damage. With the anthems and +1/+1 counters in the deck, it’s likely to be more than just three damage. Relic Vial was one of the most egregious exclusions from the precon, and is something almost every deck led by a Cleric should be running. And then we have two lands. There’s High Market, which has been in so many precons before now, it amazes me that it was forgotten here. And Westvale Abbey pulls double duty as both a sac outlet and token maker (I’ve heard having a 9/7 flying lifelinker is pretty nice too).

For more Aristocrats and life drain effects, we’ll include Bastion of Remembrance and Tenured Inkcaster. And of course, we’ll add Sanguine Bond for the Sanguine Bond + Exquisite Blood combo. I’m not a huge fan of two-card combos, but I know most of you are. And there’s no way to tutor for either piece, so it’s not going to become the main win condition for the deck. Just a happy lil' alternate win-con.

We’ll happily bring a non-Vampire into the fold if it’s worth it. And with all these triggers from creatures dying, Teysa Karlov is most definitely worth it. If all she did in the deck was double your 4/3 Vampire Demon token-making, I’d say that’d be enough. But that’s a small fraction of the death triggers in this deck. Alternatively, or in addition, you could add Drivnod, Carnage Dominus.

Preacher of the Schism is a win/win, as we’re either getting a Vampire token or card draw. Inspiring Leader turns our 4/3 tokens into 6/5s, in addition to buffing all the 1/1 tokens in the deck. Conjurer's Mantle is great for card advantage, while Explorer's Scope either ramps us or gives us information. I know Explorer’s Scope may not look like much, but I’ve had enough games with it where I got three or four lands out of it to know that it’s far more powerful than it appears. Especially in a deck like this were our game plan revolves around attacking.

Lastly, for a bit of extra recursion, let’s throw in a Bishop of Rebirth.

We’ll call our familiars to dispose of these corpses: Blade of the Bloodchief, Bloodghast, Butcher of Malakir, Dusk Legion Zealot, Glass-Cast Heart, Heirloom Blade, Kindred Boon, Martyr of Dusk, Nighthawk Scavenger, Oathsworn Vampire, Radiant Destiny, Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, Temple of the False God, Windbrisk Heights.

Here’s the budget upgraded decklist:

The Count’s Finest

Time to don your ascots and other fine frippery, cuz it’s time for our non-budget upgrades.

Anointed Procession is just what we need to fill our board with more Vampires, Vampire Demons, and, of course, Treasure from Smothering Tithe and Black Market Connections, which are both also getting added. And let’s make even more Vampires with Bloodline Keeper. 

Liliana, Dreadhorde General can also make Zombie tokens, but that’s not why she’s here. The card draw and sacrifice effects are far more relevant.

These Vampires will happily borrow a few tools from the Phyrexians. Phyrexian Tower and Phyrexian Altar both let us sacrifice our creatures for profit. And why not throw a Skullclamp on them to extract more information?

Did you know that both Clavileño and Carmen have multiple triggered abilities? Roaming Throne knows (honestly, this card can go in almost any typal deck). With Clav and Roaming Throne, you’ll get two attack triggers, and when those dying Vampire Demons create tokens, they’ll be doubled as well.

And last is Coat of Arms, so that we can overpower our enemies in a swift fashion and still have time for our dalliances before sunup.

These frocks are worn: Commander's Sphere, Conjurer's Mantle, Explorer's Scope, Inspiring Leader, March of the Canonized, Pact of the Serpent, Promise of Aclazotz, Rogue's Passage, Village Rites.

Here’s the non-budget upgraded decklist:

Once Bitten

That’s it for our Upgrade Guide for Blood Rites. What did you think? Anything I missed? Anything I should’ve left in? What’s your favorite Vampire movie? Let me know in the comments. And be sure to keep checking back for more precon guides here on EDHREC.

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