Introduction: Ascending the Tribal
As people get used to the new cards from Core Set 2020 (M20), a metagame is slowly emerging and some of the new decks seem to stick around.
The deck I am praising to be one of the best around might not be the best deck by a wide margin as most decks are very close, but looking at powerlevel and consistency I think it is the frontrunner while being hard to hate out.
I started M20 Standard playing some old decks with new additions from M20 like Mono Red, White Weenie, Gruul Dinosaurs, Simic Ramp and Mono Blue – all were fine but really not something to be excited about. This was when I started giving the new kid on the block a try : Orzhov Vampires.
The Decklist
- Christian Hauck
- – Orzhov Vampires
- Test Deck
7 《Plains》
7 《Swamp》
4 《Godless Shrine》
4 《Isolated Chapel》
1 《Temple of Silence》
-Land (23)- 4 《Knight of the Ebon Legion》
4 《Skymarcher Aspirant》
4 《Adanto Vanguard》
4 《Legion Lieutenant》
2 《Dusk Legion Zealot》
2 《Sanctum Seeker》
4 《Champion of Dusk》
-Creature (24)-
7 《Swamp》
4 《Godless Shrine》
4 《Isolated Chapel》
1 《Temple of Silence》
-Land (23)- 4 《Knight of the Ebon Legion》
4 《Skymarcher Aspirant》
4 《Adanto Vanguard》
4 《Legion Lieutenant》
2 《Dusk Legion Zealot》
2 《Sanctum Seeker》
4 《Champion of Dusk》
-Creature (24)-
2 《Cast Down》
1 《Mortify》
4 《Legion’s Landing》
1 《Oath of Kaya》
4 《Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord》
1 《Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants》
-Spell (13)-
1 《Mortify》
4 《Legion’s Landing》
1 《Oath of Kaya》
4 《Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord》
1 《Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants》
-Spell (13)-
4 《Duress》
3 《Noxious Grasp》
2 《Despark》
2 《Legion’s End》
2 《Gideon Blackblade》
1 《Vona, Butcher of Magan》
1 《Cast Down》
-Sideboard (15)-
3 《Noxious Grasp》
2 《Despark》
2 《Legion’s End》
2 《Gideon Blackblade》
1 《Vona, Butcher of Magan》
1 《Cast Down》
-Sideboard (15)-
This is my current version of Vampires I played to Top 10 Mythic Constructed while not playing an abstruse amount of Arena. I tested a lot of different possible cards in the Maindeck and Sideboard until I came up with the configuration I like the most.
The reason I believe Vampires is the best deck choice right now is pretty simple – It just wins a lot of games, is very consistent in its gameplan and difficult to answer. Thinking about how the deck is built and what it is trying to accomplish it becomes clear that Vampires isn’t just a brew from M20 – It is here to stay!
7 Facts about Orzhov Vampires
1) The Deck Mulligans Very Well
I had multiple games where I had to mull down to 6 or 5 while still being very live to win or in fact did win the match. All you need is black and white mana and some early Vamps, 2 to 3 lands is all you need in the beginning of the game – 《Legion’s Landing》 sometimes helps you to get the third mana source and Sorin makes sure you are able to get those 《Champion of Dusk》 onto the Battlefield to never run out of gas.
2) Has Nut Draws Which Are Very Hard to Beat
The perfect opener is 1-drop into 2-drop (or double 1-drop) into Sorin, bringing a 《Champion of Dusk》 into play and draw some cards. This tempo swing leaves you with a massive board of creatures, a Planeswalker and a hand with more threats and/or interaction to come as early as turn 3 which is nearly impossible to beat, especially if your opponent on the draw.
3) Has an Aggressive, Proactive Gameplan
Vampires is still an aggro deck and no matter what you are up against, a nice curve of Vampires filled with some 《Legion Lieutenant》s or an early growing 《Knight of the Ebon Legion》 into 《Adanto Vanguard》 will do the job most of the time.
4) Is Able to Go Late and Outvalue Your Opponent
Most aggressive decks tend to run out of gas in the late stages of the game, without any reach and with bad topdecks your fate seems sealed. Mono Red’s biggest strength is it’s ability to stay relevant late game with 《Experimental Frenzy》, Vampires achieve this goal with 《Champion of Dusk》 snowballing into more Vampires and sometimes a flipped 《Adanto, the First Fort》 providing you more attacker or infinite fodder for 《Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord》.
5) Has a lot of Synergies but Is not Reliant on Them
The Vampires obviously go pretty well together as nearly every card has Vampire somewhere written on it, they pump each other or have other synergies with Sorin, 《Champion of Dusk》 or 《Sanctum Seeker》. Other than that cards like 《Knight of the Ebon Legion》, 《Skymarcher Aspirant》 and 《Adanto Vanguard》 are just good aggressive costed creatures which would go well in other non Vampire-based beatdown decks as well, they just happen to be Vampires which fits the deck perfectly.
6) Has Reach to Close Games while being Creature Based
Having reach to close out games on a board where your creatures are unable to connect is not typical for a tribal aggro deck but Sorin’s ability to 《Lightning Helix》 even players combined with an timely 《Sanctum Seeker》 or even 《Oath of Kaya》 present some damage to your opponent out of nowhere.
7) Has Access to a Strong Sideboard for a 2-color Deck
I really like the sideboard options black and white has to offer, 《Duress》 is always welcome in sideboard for fringe strategies, Control decks and 《Scapeshift》.
In addition to that, Vampires has access to the best removal suit Standard has to offer: 《Noxious Grasp》 might be the best color-hate card from M20, hitting all kind of white and green creatures as well as 《Nissa, Who Shakes the World》 and Teferi. Pair that with some 《Despark》, 《Legion’s End》 and 《Cast Down》 and you are equipped for all threats out there.
The sideboard is rounded up with some Planeswalkers to present pressure while not overextending into sweepers, all in all this is basically all you can ask for from a 2-color Sideboard.
Honorable Mentions: 《Knight of the Ebon Legion》 & 《Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord》
These two new cards from M20 are basically the only reason the deck exists – they are not only the core of the deck, they are pushed to the limit in terms of powerlevel.
《Knight of the Ebon Legion》
I immediately fell in love with the Knight after I played a few games with it and I think it might be one of the best 1-drops ever printed for Standard. The card kept impressing me, he is good early, good in midgame and also unbeleieveably strong late which makes him never a bad topdeck at any stage of the game.
The extra point of toughness prevents the Knight from getting killed early by a 《Goblin Chainwhirler》 or 《Fanatical Firebrand》 and lets him attack into a 《Gruul Spellbreaker》 or 《Ripjaw Raptor》 while treatening an activation. Once he gets an extra counter he’s also safe from a 《Cry of the Carnarium》 and what looks to be a tiny beatstick snowballs into a game ending powerhouse very quickly.
《Knight of the Ebon Legion》 is a must-answer-threat which gets around some damage-based answers pretty well while being hard to block or even double block thanks to Deathtouch. It acts as a mana sink late, synergies with 《Adanto Vanguard》 and your Planeswalkers and the list goes on and on – all of that for just one single black mana.
《Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord》
Next of is 《Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord》 who first caught my eye when I saw him in the spoiler as he looks more like a 4-mana Planeswalker when you compare his abilities to other 3CC or 4CC Planeswalkers. This power creep is due to the fact that you have to build your deck around Sorin, making him only playable in Vampire-focused strategies. Cards like these rarely see play as the decks they are tailor-made for lacking some cards to be competitive most of the time. Luckily this is not the case this time – Orzhov has access to the Ixalan Vampires and to the new additions from M20, resulting in a well rounded deck without any fillers.
Sorin comes down and either Vialing a 《Champion of Dusk》 for the nut start or staying on the battlefield with 5 loyalty which makes him very hard to kill. His plus abilities work in a way which let you control combat, giving you always good attacks to keep pressure up. I already mentioned the reach he provides by 《Lightning Helix》 the opponent, additionaly the lifegain from both abilities compensate 《Adanto Vanguard》 activations and 《Champion of Dusk》‘s Enter the Battlefield trigger.
Tips & Tricks
Sideboarding Guide
Orzhov Vampires Mirror
Against Orzhov Vampires Mirror
Out
In
Esper
Against Esper
Out
In
Simic Nexus
Against Simic Nexus
Out
In
Mono Red
Against Mono Red
Out
In
Simic Flash
Against Simic Flash
Out
In
Boros Feather
Against Boros Feather
Out
In
Jund Dinosaurs
Against Jund Dinosaurs
Out
In
Temur Elementals
Against Temur Elementals
Out
In
《Scapeshift》
Against Scapeshift
Out
In
Mono Blue
Against Mono Blue
Out
In
Simic / Bant Ramp
Against Simic / Bant Ramp
Out
In
Conclusion & Going Forward
Orzhov Vampires is definitely one of the best decks in Standard right now, it is easy to pick up and straight forward with its gameplan. As other decks might get more hype in short term, the metagame always changes and decks react to what is doing well. Vampires is so consistent that even if it has a target on it’s back it is a classic deck which is hard to hate out and I expect it to stay in the meta which can not be said for every other hot deck out there.
Going forward with the 《Scapeshift》 Deck getting more and more popular, I can see adding even a third copy of 《Legion’s End》 to the Sideboard or even a copy Maindeck as it clears out all Zombie Tokens while being very flexible and switch it for the 《Temple of Silence》 as it would be the first card I would cut from the Maindeck.
As always, if you have any questions hit me up on Twitter @ChrHauck or watch me crushing the ladder with Vampires on Twitch!
Let’s follow the instructions 《Champion of Dusk》 gave us;
“Drench these golden streets in the blood of our enemies.“
Thanks,
