I
Chapter I
The Design
what this deck wants
Written by the coach from this decklist
Token Generation
- Edgar Markov aristocrats built for a fast Vampire tribal go-wide plan that pivots into an infinite-drain kill. Edgar's Eminence pumps out a 1/1 Vampire token every time you cast a Vampire spell (even from the command zone), so every creature you play grows the board twice; his attack trigger anthems the whole team with +1/+1 counters. The deck floods the field early, drains life with aristocrats payoffs like Sanctum Seeker and Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, and closes with any of a dozen life-swing combos anchored on Exquisite Blood / Sanguine Bond.
II
Chapter II
Vital Signs
power, speed, and what the deck is made of
Computed from deck data
7.0/ 10
Power · High-power
- Consistency
- 6.9
- Resilience
- 3.3
- Interaction
- 10.0
- Speed
- 7.7
Speedfastpressuring by turn 3, lethal combo threat around turn 5–6
Difficultyadvanced
Lands33of 100
Avg. MV2.90nonland
130–1
162
173
134
55
36+
Role coverage
5RampRocks and lands: Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Jet Medallion, Patchwork Banner (Vampire cost reducer), Springleaf Drum, plus Crypt Ghast/Cabal Coffers/Urborg for a black mana surge — repeatable, keeps the Vampire chain flowing every turn.
2Burst manaDark Ritual and Cabal Ritual — one-shot spikes that deploy Edgar a turn early or chain two-plus Vampires in a turn for extra Eminence tokens.
8Card drawDeep and aristocrats-flavored: Necropotence, Phyrexian Arena, Dark Prophecy, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Skullclamp (turns 1/1 tokens into cards), Preacher of the Schism, Welcoming Vampire, Sensei's Divining Top, and Sign in Blood keep the gas coming.
2InteractionThin spot removal — Vindicate, Gatekeeper of Malakir, Soul Shatter, Deflecting Palm — plus stax pieces Ghostly Prison, Authority of the Consuls, and Mother of Runes to protect key creatures.
3Board wipesAsymmetric or edict-based: Toxic Deluge (scalable, you rebuild fastest), Soul Shatter, and the wipe-adjacent Sorins (Sorin, Solemn Visitor) — used to clear blockers while your token engine recovers.
III
Chapter III
The Arsenal
the cards that carry the deck
Computed from deck data
Commander
Engines
Tutors
Protection
Spot Removal
Board Wipes
Card Draw
Ramp
Protection
Spot Removal
Board Wipes
Card Draw
IV
Chapter IV
Sequence
how the game unfolds
Written by the coach from this decklist
Utility
- EARLY: land, a mana rock, and start deploying one-drop Vampires (Vicious Conquistador, Knight of the Ebon Legion, Vampire of the Dire Moon) — each cast makes an extra token off Eminence even before Edgar hits play. Get Edgar down turn 3–4 (ideally accelerated) so every subsequent Vampire spell doubles up. MID: cast Vampires to build a wide board, attack with Edgar to slap +1/+1 counters on everyone, and drop drain engines — Sanctum Seeker, Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat, Vito — so combat and removal bleed the table. LATE: close with combat damage from a counter-pumped army, or assemble an infinite loop (Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond/Vito, or Aetherflux Reservoir + Exquisite Blood) to drain all opponents at once. Demonic Tutor finds the missing combo half.
- Ramp is light and lean on rocks: Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Jet Medallion, Patchwork Banner (repeatable, taxes down Vampires), Springleaf Drum, plus Crypt Ghast and Cabal Coffers/Urborg for a mono-black surge. That's a modest 5 repeatable sources — the deck leans on a low curve rather than heavy acceleration. Burst mana is two rituals — Dark Ritual and Cabal Ritual — one-shot spikes that power out Edgar a turn early or chain multiple Vampires in one turn for extra tokens. The curve is aggressive and bottom-heavy: 13 cards at 0–1, 16 at two, 17 at three, average CMC 2.9. This is a deck that wants to dump its hand, not durdle.
V
Chapter V
The Opening
what to keep, what to ship
Written by the coach from this decklist
Ramp
- Keep 2–4 lands with at least one early play and ideally a mana rock. A great hand: 3 lands, Sol Ring or Arcane Signet, and a couple of cheap Vampires or Edgar himself castable by turn 3–4. Cheap Vampires are fine keeps even without Edgar since they still develop the board and enable Eminence once he lands. Ship one-landers, all-lands-no-action, and clunky hands full of five-drops with no ramp — this curve punishes slow starts. A hand with Demonic Tutor and mana is strong since it finds Edgar or a combo piece.
VI
Chapter VI
The Close
how it ends
Written by the coach from this decklist
Token Generation
- Go-wide combat: flood tokens via Eminence, then attack with Edgar Markov to drop +1/+1 counters on the whole team — Stromkirk Captain, Captivating Vampire, and Sorin planeswalkers add anthem/lifelink for overwhelming swings.
- Aristocrats drain: Sanctum Seeker, Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat, and Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose bleed the table dry through attacks, deaths, and lifegain triggers.
- Infinite drain combo: Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond (or Vito/Bloodthirsty Conqueror/Enduring Tenacity/Marauding Blight-Priest) loops lifegain into lifeloss, killing all opponents at once.
- Storm/damage combo: Sensei's Divining Top + Aetherflux Reservoir + Bolas's Citadel for near-infinite draw, storm, and Reservoir damage; or Aetherflux Reservoir + Exquisite Blood for infinite damage.
VII
Chapter VII
Assemblies
pieces that lock together
Written by the coach from this decklist
Sanguine Bond + Exquisite Blood → infinite drain, kills the table
- Resolve Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood on the battlefield
- Trigger any lifegain or lifeloss — e.g. drain an opponent with Sanctum Seeker or gain from a lifelink attack
- Sanguine Bond turns your lifegain into opponent lifeloss
- Exquisite Blood turns that lifeloss into your lifegain, restarting the loop
- Loop until all opponents are at zero
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose + Exquisite Blood → infinite drain
- Have Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose and Exquisite Blood in play
- Gain any life to start the chain
- Vito converts lifegain into opponent lifeloss
- Exquisite Blood converts that lifeloss back into lifegain, looping to zero
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose + Bloodthirsty Conqueror → infinite drain
- Control Vito and Bloodthirsty Conqueror
- An opponent loses life (or gain any life to seed it)
- Bloodthirsty Conqueror gains you life per life lost; Vito turns your gain into their loss
- Loop until the table dies
Sanguine Bond + Bloodthirsty Conqueror → infinite drain
- Have Sanguine Bond and Bloodthirsty Conqueror out
- Cause any opponent life loss to seed the loop
- Bloodthirsty Conqueror gains you life; Sanguine Bond turns that gain into opponent loss
- Repeat to zero
Exquisite Blood + Enduring Tenacity → infinite drain
- Resolve Exquisite Blood and Enduring Tenacity
- Trigger any lifegain — a lifelink hit or drain
- Enduring Tenacity drains opponents when you gain; Exquisite Blood gains you life when they lose
- Loop the whole table out
Marauding Blight-Priest + Exquisite Blood → infinite drain
- Control Marauding Blight-Priest and Exquisite Blood
- Gain life to start it
- Blight-Priest makes an opponent lose 1 whenever you gain life; Exquisite Blood gains you life on their loss
- Loop until dead
Enduring Tenacity + Bloodthirsty Conqueror → infinite drain
- Have Enduring Tenacity and Bloodthirsty Conqueror in play
- Seed with any opponent life loss
- Conqueror gains you life; Tenacity drains opponents when you gain
- Loop to zero
Aetherflux Reservoir + Exquisite Blood → infinite damage + lifegain
- Resolve Aetherflux Reservoir and Exquisite Blood
- Pay 50 life to fire Reservoir at an opponent, dealing 50 damage (they lose life)
- Exquisite Blood gains you the life back from their loss
- Repeat Reservoir activations for infinite damage across the table
Sensei's Divining Top + Aetherflux Reservoir + Bolas's Citadel → near-infinite draw/storm/damage
- Have Bolas's Citadel, Sensei's Divining Top, and Aetherflux Reservoir out with high life
- Cast Sensei's Divining Top off the top with Citadel (paying life), building Reservoir's storm count
- Draw Top, replay it repeatedly — each cast counts toward Aetherflux and gains life back via lifegain payoffs
- Fire Aetherflux Reservoir for lethal once storm count is high
Marauding Blight-Priest + Bloodthirsty Conqueror → infinite drain
- Control Marauding Blight-Priest and Bloodthirsty Conqueror
- Cause any life loss to seed
- Conqueror gains you life; Blight-Priest drains an opponent each time you gain
- Loop until the table is dead
VIII
Chapter VIII
Handling
counsel and common errors
Written by the coach from this decklist
Lifegain
- Sequence cheap Vampires to maximize Eminence tokens — casting two one-drops nets two bonus tokens; hold rituals to chain multiple Vampires in a single turn for a token burst.
- Edgar's counters only trigger when HE attacks, so get him in even into open mana when you have a wide board — the anthem is often worth more than saving him.
- Don't overextend into an open board wipe; with Blood Artist/Zulaport out, a wipe can actually push damage, but respect Toxic Deluge-style effects that also hit your team.
- Hold Demonic Tutor until you know whether you need a combo half, Edgar, or interaction — it's your only real tutor, so spend it decisively.
- Skullclamp your 1/1 tokens for value, but watch board presence — don't clamp away your attackers when a lethal Edgar swing is available.
- Track your own life total around the drain combos — Aetherflux and Bolas's Citadel loops cost life, so sequence lifegain payoffs first.
- Remember Eminence works from the command zone before Edgar is even cast — start making tokens turn one with cheap Vampires if Edgar is stuck.