Chapter I
The Design
what this deck wants
Edgar Markov is a Vampire aristocrats-tribal deck that leverages Edgar's Eminence engine from the command zone — every Vampire spell you cast spits out a 1/1 Vampire token, so a curve of cheap Vampires builds a wide board for free. From there you either go wide and beat down (Edgar's attack trigger pumps the whole team) or pivot into aristocrats drain and life-loss combos to kill the table without combat. The deck can grind through wraths thanks to token generation and drain payoffs, and it packs several two-card infinite loops for a fast, resilient close.
Win Conditions
Written by the Familiar from this decklist
Chapter II
Vital Signs
power, speed, and what the deck is made of
- Power
- 6.9 / 10
- On par · bracket 4
- Speed
- fast
- pressuring by turn 3, lethal or comboing turns 5–7
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Lands
- 35
- of 99
- Avg. MV
- 2.75
- nonland
- Spells
- 64
- nonland
Power is the Analysis tab’s score. The six deck-health scores below are the same ones the deck page and the Familiar use.
Deck health · the same six scores as the deck page
Computed from deck data
Chapter III
The Arsenal
the cards that carry the deck
The engine — Eminence makes every Vampire spell a free token even from the command zone, and his attack trigger counters up the whole army; the deck's whole curve exists to spam Vampire casts.
Core aristocrats payoff — every creature death drains, turning combat, sacrifices and combos into damage.
Finds a missing combo piece, a payoff, or interaction — with Vampiric Tutor and Diabolic Intent it makes the combos consistent.
Best draw engine in a token deck — equip a 1/1 Eminence token, it dies, draw two, repeat; keeps the swarm refueling.
Free sac outlet and mana engine; the linchpin of every Oathsworn Vampire recursion loop.
Second Blood Artist effect; redundancy that makes the drain plan and combos resilient to removal.
Computed from deck data
Chapter IV
Sequence
how the game unfolds
EARLY: land a fast mana rock (Sol Ring, Ancient Tomb) and start casting cheap Vampires — Vampire Cutthroat, Shadow Alley Denizen, Viscera Seer, Cordial Vampire — each one triggering Edgar's Eminence for a bonus token even before Edgar is on the board. MID: cast Edgar (or keep him in the zone if you'd rather beat down), deploy anthem/payoff pieces like Cordial Vampire, Captivating Vampire, Shared Animosity, and drain engines Blood Artist, Cruel Celebrant, Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, Marauding Blight-Priest. Attack with Edgar to counter-pump the whole team. LATE: close with a wide alpha strike buffed by Edgar's attack trigger and Shared Animosity, an Exsanguinate for the table, or assemble one of the drain/altar infinite loops to end the game outright.
Ramp is lean but sharp. Repeatable ramp (4): Sol Ring, Black Market, Master of Dark Rites, Phyrexian Altar — plus Ancient Tomb, Cabal Coffers/Urborg, and mana medallions Jet Medallion/Bontu's Monument effectively cheapen your Vampires. Burst mana (4): Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Black Market Connections, Smothering Tithe — one-shot spikes that fuel an explosive Edgar-plus-Vampires turn or a fat Exsanguinate. The curve is low and aggressive: avg CMC 2.75 with 13 cards at 0–1 and 17 at 2, so you're deploying multiple bodies (and multiple Eminence triggers) per turn. Gas comes from a deep draw suite — Necropotence, Phyrexian Arena, Skullclamp, Black Market Connections, Night's Whisper, Twilight Prophet, Welcoming Vampire.
Ramp
Written by the Familiar from this decklist
Chapter V
The Opening
what to keep, what to ship
Keep 3–4 lands with at least one cheap Vampire and ideally a mana rock or ritual. The ideal hand: 3+ lands, Sol Ring or a Dark Ritual, and two low-drop Vampires so Eminence starts pumping tokens turn 1–2. A hand with a draw engine (Necropotence, Skullclamp, Phyrexian Arena) plus lands is a strong keep since it refuels the swarm. Ship hands with 1–2 lands, no early plays, or all top-end (Bloodthirsty Conqueror, Bolas's Citadel, Banner of Kinship) with nothing to do before turn 4.
Ramp
Written by the Familiar from this decklist
Chapter VI
The Close
how it ends
- Go wide and swing: build a Vampire army off Eminence tokens, cast Edgar and attack to put +1/+1 counters on every Vampire, then finish with Shared Animosity and Captivating Vampire/Cordial Vampire anthem effects for an alpha strike.
- Aristocrats drain: Blood Artist, Cruel Celebrant, Falkenrath Noble, Marauding Blight-Priest, and Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose convert every death and lifegain into table-wide life loss.
- One-shot drain: a big X on Exsanguinate or Bolas's Citadel aggression closes stalled boards.
- Infinite combos: assemble any of the Vito/Exquisite Blood or Oathsworn Vampire + Phyrexian Altar loops to drain or mill the table instantly.
Utility
Written by the Familiar from this decklist
Chapter VII
Assemblies
pieces that lock together
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose + Exquisite Blood → each life gain drains an opponent, which gains you life via Exquisite Blood, looping infinitely
- Have Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose and Exquisite Blood both on the battlefield
- Gain 1 life from any source — Vito makes each opponent lose that much life
- Exquisite Blood sees an opponent lose life and gains you that much life
- The lifegain re-triggers Vito, draining opponents again — repeat until all opponents are dead
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose + Bloodthirsty Conqueror → opponents losing life gains you life, Vito drains them for the lifegain — infinite drain
- Resolve Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose and Bloodthirsty Conqueror
- Trigger any life loss on an opponent — Bloodthirsty Conqueror gains you life
- Vito converts that lifegain into opponents losing life
- The loop repeats infinitely, draining the whole table
any life loss you cause gains life, Blight-Priest drains on your lifegain
- Have Marauding Blight-Priest and Exquisite Blood in play
- Gain any life — Marauding Blight-Priest makes each opponent lose 1
- Exquisite Blood gains you life from that loss
- Repeat the loop until opponents are dead
Marauding Blight-Priest + Bloodthirsty Conqueror → life loss gains you life, life gain drains opponents — infinite
- Resolve Marauding Blight-Priest and Bloodthirsty Conqueror
- Cause an opponent to lose life — Bloodthirsty Conqueror gains you life
- Marauding Blight-Priest drains each opponent for your lifegain
- Loop infinitely for the win
Edgar Markov + Oathsworn Vampire + Phyrexian Altar → infinite cast/sacrifice loop generating infinite tokens, death and ETB triggers
- Have Edgar's Eminence active (in command zone or battlefield), Oathsworn Vampire, and Phyrexian Altar
- Sacrifice Oathsworn Vampire to Phyrexian Altar for one mana
- Cast Oathsworn Vampire from graveyard (its ability lets you cast it if you gained life this turn) using the Altar mana
- Each cast triggers Eminence for a token and Altar death triggers; repeat for infinite tokens, deaths and ETBs — win with Blood Artist effects on board
Bontu's Monument + Oathsworn Vampire + Phyrexian Altar → infinite lifegain, drain and death triggers via the recast loop
- Have Bontu's Monument, Oathsworn Vampire, and Phyrexian Altar in play
- Sacrifice Oathsworn Vampire to Phyrexian Altar, netting mana
- Recast Oathsworn Vampire — Bontu's Monument drains each opponent 1 on the Vampire ETB
- Repeat infinitely for lethal drain and lifegain
Oathsworn Vampire + Phyrexian Altar + Jet Medallion → infinite death/ETB triggers and storm count from free recasting
- Have Oathsworn Vampire, Phyrexian Altar, and Jet Medallion out
- Sacrifice Oathsworn Vampire to the Altar for one mana
- Recast it — Jet Medallion reduces the black cost so the Altar mana fully pays for it, netting neutral mana
- Loop for infinite death/ETB triggers and storm count, winning with an aristocrats payoff
Written by the Familiar from this decklist
Chapter VIII
Handling
counsel and common errors
- Cast cheap Vampires BEFORE committing Edgar when you can — Eminence works from the command zone, so you get tokens without exposing him to removal, then drop him for the attack pump.
- Sequence Skullclamp onto expendable 1/1 tokens for card flow, but hold it if you need the bodies as attackers or combo fodder.
- Don't tap out into open removal when going for a Vito/Exquisite Blood or altar loop — hold Boros Charm, Teferi's Protection or Deflecting Swat to protect the win.
- Watch your own life total: Necropotence, Bolas's Citadel, Vampire Cutthroat and Ancient Tomb all cost life, so track it against aggressive tables.
- Board wipes are thin — overextend carefully; keep a Vampire or Skullclamp in hand to rebuild after an opponent's wrath, since Eminence lets you re-swarm fast.
- Against life-gain hate or graveyard hate, remember Oathsworn Vampire's loops require gaining life that turn — sequence a Blood Artist or lifegain trigger first.
- Use Edgar's attack trigger as a mana-free anthem: even a modest board becomes lethal with the counters plus Shared Animosity.
Card Draw
Written by the Familiar from this decklist