I’m pretty sure my 10-year-old beat me a GAJILLION times in a row with his modified Jace-led, mostly-merfolk Magic the Gathering deck. My vampire-centric deck seemed destined for impotence with creatures constantly enchanted and beaten to a bloodless pulp despite Vraska’s potential for bad-assery.
I’m GENUINELY happy for my son, who continues to develop both a love for the game and a mind for strategy. But I’m also pretty aggravated that I constantly find myself in situations with a field full of permanently tapped creatures and/or scenarios where I am repeatedly paying to re-field creatures that have been returned to my hand.
That’s when I hit eBay.
Bursting with Joy (Division)!
With an idea in mind, I went in search of dollar- and mana-cheap, swamp-based vampires that had the ability to play nicely with other vampires and/or the potential to severely aggravate and annoy with a variety of life-taking and life-restoring powers.
In retrospect, I probably should have read up on deck-building and viable strategies. Instead, I window-shopped and frequently fell victim to “Ooooo, pretty picture!” in my research process. That said, I ended up impulse purchasing some Bloodbone Vampires, Guul Draz Vampires, Screeching Bats/Stalking Vampires, Vampire’s Bites, Vampire Envoys, and a Vampire Cuttthroat.
A bundle of Joy (Division).
A few packages — bundles you might say — arrived and it was time to start customizing my deck. I subjected the kids to Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures (see below) for the process. I now realize a completely missed opportunity to pump Bauhaus’s “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” instead.
Womp, womp.
Anyway, here’s how I modified my standard Vraska, Scheming Gorgon Planeswalker deck:
Creature (30)
- 4 Vampire Envoy
- 3 Guul Draz Vampire
- 3 Vraska’s Conquistador
- 2 Bloodbond Vampire
- 2 Queen’s Bay Soldier
- 2 Screeching Bat/Stalking Vampire
- 2 Skymarch Bloodletter
- 1 Bishop of the Bloodstained
- 1 Champion of Dusk
- 1 Deathless Ancient
- 1 Dusk Legion Zealot
- 1 Sanctum Seeker
- 1 Vampire Champion
- 1 Vampire Cutthroat
- 1 Vicious Conquistador
- 2 Inspiring Cleric
- 1 Paladin of Atonement
- 1 Legion Lieutenant
Sorcery (2)
- 2 Vraska’s Scorn
Instant (5)
- 2 Moment of Craving
- 2 Vampire’s Bite
- 1 Moment of Triumph
Land (22)
- 18 Swamp
- 4 Forsaken Sanctuary
Legendary Planeswalker (1)
- 1 Vraska, Scheming Gorgon
Taking a Joy (Division) ride?
Short story, now made extremely long, the revised deck was a Joy Division-fueled success in its first run! I was able to field enough vampires to overcome my son’s deluge of enchantments. And I was satisfied… for about 15 minutes.
The next round we played, I was over-powered by three Sphinxes and it was time to go back to the drawing board.
Womp, womp again.
A Joy (Division) to behold!
So, the process sort of worked. And by “sort of” I mean that it didn’t really work.
But I do think I’m on the right track. I subsequently picked up a pair of Defiant Bloodlords at Alpha Omega Hobby. And I also eBayed some Vampiric Links, some Blood-cursed Knights, a Guul Draz Assassin, a Gatekeeper of Malakir, and a Captivating Vampire on the cheap.
When I mix-and-match my deck to a soundtrack of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” I’ll let you know how it goes.
