{"ops":[{"insert":"Deck Philosophy"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This deck was my first EDH deck back before Commander became an officially supported format by Wizards. I had just gotten"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"into the game in University when Innistrad came out and I absolutely loved the mechanic of spreading vampirism and stealing other's creatures that "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Olivia Voldaren"}},{"insert":" was able to facilitate, so I pretty much immediately threw together a tribal vampires deck. Over the years, this deck has by and large stayed a Tribal Vampires deck that I've just continued to add whatever new and powerful Rakdos Vampires look neat and ideally play towards the stealing other people's creatures. Much later this deck underwent a rework that polished it up significantly to have somewhat improved synergies, mana curve, and general playability from what was by and large just a collection of \"good\" vampires.\n\nThere are several Tutors in the deck as well as the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Exquisite Blood"}},{"insert":"/"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sanguine Bond"}},{"insert":" combo ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Bloodthirsty Conqueror"}},{"insert":"/"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose"}},{"insert":") so it is a reasonably high power deck despite their being no large cohesive strategy to the deck itself. Unlike other current contemporaries like the powerful "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Edgar Markov"}},{"insert":" Vampire decks, this deck is intended to get more midrange Vampires on the board supported by anthem effects than going wide with lots of small ones. There are small nods towards Aristocrat style gameplay which would probably make the deck more cohesive, and several of the Vampires in the deck frequently feel like dead cards more often than they should given my inclination to dump mana into Olivia's second ability rather than playing out another permanent. Clearly there is space to improve the deck with cohesive strategies and ramp but part of me finds the current collection of Vampires quaint?\n\nThis deck does not play very well online due to the card theft.\n\nGameplay"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The idea early game plan is to ramp into getting Olivia out early and start using her first ability to get a bit bigger with +1/+1 counters while tutoring out the combo pieces needed for the infinite combo.\n\nThe mid game should be trying to protect yourself as much as possible while assembling the combo pieces. There are a number of duplicate pieces that can be used for the combo instead of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"just"},{"insert":" the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Exquisite Blood"}},{"insert":"/"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sanguine Bond"}},{"insert":", and there are several tutors to help bring them out but even still it may not be reliably fast. During this part of the game it is mostly a trap holding five mana open for "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Olivia Voldaren"}},{"insert":"'s second ability because that mana is likely better spent on playing out additional creatures, and will just give further incentive for opponents removing her from the board. Instead, incidental mana can be spent to ping creatures and make her bigger.\n\nLate game is all about triggering the infinite combo. Theoretically there is a decent (bad by Bracket 4 standards) Vampire Tribal Battlecruiser deck here as well that could potentially be used to find a win.\n\nBracket"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"This deck is Technically a Bracket 4 Deck due to the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ability "},{"insert":"to win on early turns with an infinite combo, however if played against proper Bracket 4 decks would be routinely destroyed. In practice this deck has not proven itself to be either reliable or fast enough to assemble the combo before turn 6 even with the ramp and tutoring included. Power-level wise the deck is far more appropriate at Bracket 3 with appropriate T0 declarations.\n\nThat said, I am wanting to push this deck a little closer to Bracket 4 by improving its toolkit while still maintaining the "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Olivia Voldaren"}},{"insert":" + Vampire Tribal concept even if that will be the thing holding it back the most. I have included a couple of the Game Changer tutors, however few of them available to Rakdos appeal to me other than perhaps "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Imperial Seal"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Demonic Tutor"}},{"insert":" which are not so thematic to the deck to justify the cost, and the few ramp Game Changers are just not worth obtaining at market prices.\n\nIt would not be hard to downgrade this to a definitively Bracket 3 deck simply by removing either the Drain or Gain half of the combos and replace them with something else since the two-card combo is what is dragging the deck into Bracket 4 territory.\n\nA Few Notable Cards:"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gorgon's Head"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Basilisk Collar"}},{"insert":" are ideally equipped to Olivia in order to make her first ability a 2 mana instant speed repeatable removal ability, but comes at the cost of not being able to steal said creature. I would however much rather have a more vampire themed equipment."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Staff of Nin"}},{"insert":" is a card that I love conceptually but find the 6 mana difficult to accept. The deck has undergone some improvements to it's draw engines and may be justified in removing it or replacing it with a more effective draw spell."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Don't neglect the Utility Lands like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Accursed Duneyard"}},{"insert":" in particular as a protection piece."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Everflowing Chalice"}},{"insert":" would be better served in a different deck that can proliferate the charge counters and this deck could generally benefit from more ramp tools."},{"attributes":{"list":"ordered"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n\n"}]}