(Blood Artist | Art by Johannes Voss)

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EDH is one of the best formats in Magic: The Gathering (MTG) because you can pretty much build any kind of deck that interests you.

While there are a ton of possibilities out there, it's common for Commander players to pick a specific theme to build around.

One way to do this is by choosing one of the many creature types and building a deck that takes advantage of the special abilities and effects that type has access to.

One of the most popular "kindred" or typal decks to build, according to EDHREC data, is a Vampires deck. Vampires are a powerful, flavorful, and synergistic type in MtG.

They've been around a long time, with the first one, Krovikan Vampire, seeing print in Ice Age. These first vamps, including the popular character Baron Sengir and his relatives, were excellent early attempts at bringing the creature from Gothic horror to life on Magic cardboard.

Many of the first bloodsuckers had simple abilities that quite cleverly illustrated how vampires tended to feed off their prey while growing stronger in the process.

As time has passed, more and more creatures with the Vampire type have been printed. Many modern sets and planes have utilized the type as a theme in one or more colors, including Innistrad, Zendikar, Ixalan, and Streets of New Capenna.

Continue reading to learn the basics of building a Vampire kindred deck in EDH, including pointers on which Vampire commander to run and how to make use of the creature type's synergies.

What does a Vampires EDH deck look like?

So, you're building a Commander deck and have decided to dip into a Vampires strategy. Your first step should probably be to make room for a lot of creatures with the Vampire type line!

After all, kindred or typal synergies are usually at their most powerful when you have a critical mass of that creature with abilities that work well together.

While Vampires' sub-themes and color identities may differ between sets and planes, you should have no problem finding a lot of creature synergies to incorporate into your deck.

For example, Vampires will often have something to do with simultaneously gaining life while making opponents lose life.

This is usually referred to as "draining" in MtG parlance. Sanctum Seeker is from the plane of Ixalan and Blood Artist is from Innistrad, yet both are linked by their mechanical identity. Wispdrinker Vampire, who calls Ravnica home, is another source of drain effects!

When building an EDH deck, it's important to think about how you want to win the game. Vampires offers a lot of paths to victory, some more straightforward than others.

As a deck that is usually made up primarily of creatures, you can look to win the game by pumping up your Vampires with "lords" and attacking. Legion Lieutenant, Captivating Vampire, and Markov Baron are examples of creatures that make your other bloodsuckers more effective.

This doesn't mean aggression is the only path to victory. Vampires decks can win many other ways I'll discuss below, including through sacrifice effects and draining combos. Your choice of color identity and commander will help you figure out how you'll take down tables.

Which commander should I play in my Vampires deck?

Just as Vampires decks can incorporate the most powerful and synergistic members of the type from different settings, you can build Vampire decks with commanders of different color identities. Throughout Magic's history, the creature type has appeared most often in black, with white and/or red Vamps not far behind.

This means that you can easily build a powerful Mardu () deck. There's a reason Edgar Markov is the most popular Vampire commander by far — as well as one of the top 10 most played commanders overall. He gives you access to all the best the creature type has to offer: more lords, and more removal, and a steady stream of Vampire tokens to grow!

Playing Edgar also gives you access to a potentially game-winning combo. As long as you've gained life, which should be easy enough to do in Vampires, you can repeatedly sacrifice and re-cast Oathsworn Vampire using Phyrexian Altar and the token Edgar gets you. Just add a Blood Artist and that's a win!

Two colors can do the trick!

You could just as effectively stick to two colors and build something in either Orzhov () or Rakdos (). You could build also a Boros () deck by playing either Odric, Blood-Cursed or a commander in that color identity that isn't a Vampire.

Choosing two colors instead of three offers a lot of upside: you can focus on specific sub-themes or synergies, you don't need to play as many non-basic lands, and you can play hidden gems or lesser-known Vampires that might not make the cut in a powered-up Mardu build.

There are other quirkier or less common options available, too. Thanks to the character team-up cards from March of the Machine, Elenda and Azor allows you to build an Esper () deck with a Vampire at the helm!

You can also build a mono-colored deck, with mono-black giving you the most options by far.

Ultimately, you should consider different factors when deciding which commander to run: which colors you want to play, which sub-themes you want to build around, and which cards resonate the most with you! Read on to learn about sub-themes in Vampires.

Which creatures should I play in my Vampires deck?

I mentioned above that the Vampires creature type includes a lot of lords who can buff your whole team. But, that isn't the only thing your host of bloodsuckers can do!

Vampires offer several well-supported creature-based sub-themes that give you alternative paths to victory beyond simply attacking.

Draining

Vampires really do love draining opponents' life totals, so you could lean into that sub-theme. Twilight Prophet, Malakir Bloodwitch, and Falkenrath Noble all help you advance that game plan, albeit in slightly different ways.

You don't have to work too hard to drain your opponents for a massive amount with a full board of creatures and a Bloodwitch or Sanctum Seeker. Even just including recursive elements in your deck can get you a ton of value from your synergy payoffs.

Playing Edgar Markov or another commander that can generate tokens like Elenda, the Dusk Rose can supercharge this game plan.

Sacrificing

Sacrifice is a common theme in the color black, and Vampires are no strangers to this kind of thing in various media and in Magic. Like in other decks, incorporating a sacrifice theme into your Vampires deck will involve playing a good mix of both enablers and payoffs.

Enablers in this case are creatures — preferably with the correct creature type, so they benefit from and contribute to other kindred synergies — that have abilities that sacrifice other creatures. Vampires boasts a lot of cheap enablers, including Viscera Seer, Indulgent Aristocrat, and Master of Dark Rites. Bartolomé del Presidio is another great one, albeit in two colors.

Payoffs, on the other hand, are effects that reward you for doing the sacrificing. Blood Artist is the quintessential "sac" payoff that also happens to be a Vampire. Zulaport Cutthroat isn't one, but it's an excellent card that makes your synergies more redundant.

You can also opt for some bigger, beefier payoffs that do more powerful things when you sacrifice stuff, like Butcher of Malakir and Vein Ripper.

Finally, to make things more consistent, you can also consider allocating slots in your deck to cards that generate fodder — er, I mean, creature tokens — for your sacrifice engines.

This is another thing that makes Edgar Markov such an excellent kindred Commander. Elenda, the Dusk Rose also gives you a huge boost here, while also offering combo potential alongside utility cards.

Are there any utility cards I should play with Vampires?

Speaking of utility cards, a good Vampires deck should be able to utilize several cards that aren't creatures but that still contribute to your overall game plan. Glass-Cast Heart is an excellent example of a Vampire-specific build-around that helps a kindred deck in several ways.

It gives you Blood tokens, which can sometimes be sacrificed but also give you card selection, 1/1 tokens that can be buffed or sacrificed, and an alternate win condition when things don't go exactly as planned for you.

Ashnod's Altar and Phyrexian Altar can also be very useful in Vampires decks that lean into sacrifice, but they can also enable combos like the one with Oathsworn Vampire.

Speaking of combos, Exquisite Blood is one half of several game-winning combos in a Vampires deck alongside Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, Marauding Blight-Priest, and Sanguine Bond.

Playing utility cards isn't all about assembling combos, however; some artifacts and enchantments simply help you beat your opponents up! Herald's Horn, Vanquisher's Banner, and Door of Destinies all buff your team.

March of the Canonized, meanwhile, gives you a lot of tokens that either benefit from these buffs or give you material to sacrifice.

Finally, New Blood is a unique sorcery that just screams "Play me in a Vampires deck!" and calls back to Captivating Vampire.

What EDH format staples should I include?

So, you've chucked all the coolest Vampires into your deck after choosing your favorite Legendary Creature to lead them into battle. But, don't forget to make room for some of the format's most generically powerful cards!

Skullclamp, Swiftfoot Boots, and Lightning Greaves don't have anything to do with Vampires, but they're all excellent equipment that give creature-based decks a big boost and protect your important synergies.

You probably want to run removal as well. It's likely you're running black in your Vampires deck, so having access to staples like Feed the Swarm and Kindred Dominance will help you stop your opponents from enacting their game plans before you go off yourself.

Farewell and Blasphemous Act are excellent options in two of the theme's next most common colors, as are Swords to Plowshares and Rakdos Charm.

Finally, you can never go wrong with running some of EDH's most powerful utility cards in your deck, like Reanimate and Demonic Tutor in black, Smothering Tithe in white, and Faithless Looting in red. There are a lot of options to choose from, so look to select the ones that contribute to your game plan the most!

I'm afraid your investigation has reached a dead end.

Those were the basics for building a Vampires-based deck in EDH! Vampires are one of the most iconic and plentiful creature types in Magic: The Gathering, so deckbuilders truly have a lot of options and pathways to victory to choose from.

There's really no wrong way to build a Commander deck, as long as you remember color identity restrictions, so get out there and unleash your horde of bloodsuckers on your opponents!

Nick Price