This project of putting dice onto cards interested one of my friends and he made a "Dice on cards" deck that featured Jenara, Asura of War as the general. This deck ran the full gamut of putting dice onto things: Graft, Predatory Hunger type cards, Spikes, Oran-Rief the Vastwood, et cetera, et cetera. I found the deck to be quite enjoyable, but I had two major problems with it: A) Blue, green and white seem like the logical choice for a deck like this. Many of their cards already put counters on themselves and those cards, on their own, are quite good. Not to put down the deck, but it seemed too easy. Also, B) It wasn't my deck. I want my own dice on my own cards. Call me selfish, because that is how I am.
I began my search for my own way of putting those little cubes onto my cards. I wanted a general that puts dice on itself but lent itself to other strategies and didn't cause the deck to have tunnel vision:
Now that we have our general to help us march into battle, lets go through the deck card by card and see why it is going into the deck:
Black Creatures
Blood Artist - Along with being a vampire, this little art student takes advantage of ALL creatures hitting the graveyard. So if your opponent swings into another one of your opponents and trades creatures, you gain life and make an opponent of choice to lose some life (or spread it around). This guy can also be a game over scenario if there are enough creatures and someone plays Wrath of God/Damnation.
Blood Seeker - Fun story with this guy: I was in a game and I played him and everyone of my opponents played a creature and I said "Alright, lose one" and each of my opponents asked me why they were losing life. After a couple of turns they were all grumbling about how the Blood Seeker needed to die. The great thing with Blood Seeker is that it stops the turbo token decks and in the end game, you can actually lock someone out of the game and when they are at a low enough life total, they simply cannot play any more creatures until they deal with him. Fringe playable limited card. EDH house.
Vampire Hexmage - Kind of goes against the strategy of putting counters on cards, but the Hexmage is here because she great against a pesky planeswalker. I would absolutely play a card that was BB "Destroy Target Planeswalker". This way, I get it in a body.
Gatekeeper of Malakir - Many times in EDH, there will be a board wipe and the first card played afterwards is their general. The gatekeeper can stop loner creatures and add presence to the board.
Screeching Bat / Stalking Vampire- There are better vampires out there, but I personally like flip cards and I like the versatility. You can beat on the ground or in the air, also, there are weird mini-synergies with cards like Skeletal Vampire and things that interact with bats.
Dark Impostor - Ah, we get to a card that puts dice on it! Dark Impostor is also just a house. Exiling is the new destroy in a big way. Taking a Woodfall Primus off the table and not triggering its persist or removing a Anger from the battlefield and not putting it into their graveyard is huge. If you have Dark Impostor and six mana up, you are carrying a loaded gun. Everyone begins to walk on egg shells around you. Play it and you'll see what I mean.
Vampire Nighthawk - Beats in the air, gains some life, has deathtouch. What more could a girl ask for?
Captivating Vampire - A vampire lord that has a snowball control magic effect?! Waiter? Check please.
Bloodflow Connoisseur - A connoisseur of putting dice on cards! This little gem makes it very hard to one for one when you are sacrificing your creatures and turning them into pips.
Mirri the Cursed - When I was first making this deck, Mirri was the first creature I was thinking of, but I decided that I needed a second color to make this all work together. Mirri is collecting keywords like a hoarder is collecting those little plastic pizza stands that keep the pizza to sticking to the top of the box...at least that is what I envision hoarders collecting. She trades well with first strike, she gets her damage in with flying and she can turn sideways the turn she comes in. And she is a vampire cat. KITTY!
Bloodline Keeper/Lord of Lineage - The big mama jamma flip vampire. A bunch of players I have played against or have played this card have thought that you need five vampire tokens to flip him, also that it takes an activation to flip him. Neither is true. You need five VAMPIRES on the table. Period. Counting the Bloodline Keeper, you actually only need four more. With a deck like this, I have found myself playing him and immediately flipping him on the same turn.
Falkenrath Noble - Like his more artistic friend, Falkenrath Noble enjoys watching other creatures die, however, the great thing about the Noble is that he can get in some damage himself. Pair the Noble and the Blood Artist up and you can put your opponents on a pretty quick clock.
Stromkirk Patrol - Another fringe playable limited card that really finds a home in EDH. A little on the costly side, but, like a lot of cards in this deck, it has the "Slith" ability (deriving from Slith Firewalker, meaning that these cards deal combat damage and get +1/+1 counters on them). EDH, as well as most multi-player formats, require a different mind set when looking at cards. Cards like Stromkirk Patrol looks really terrible in a one v. one scenario, but in multi-player, you will often have an exposed opponent that you can attack and get in that combat damage to get the slith trigger. With a couple of counters on these guys, it can start to get out of hand quickly. Plus, it puts dice on my cards.
Bloodlord of Vaasgoth - Holy dice on cards Batman! Same thinking with the slith abilities, you can often find yourself getting in cheap damage, so the bloodthirst can be easily achieved. Every game that I have played with this deck that I have gotten the Bloodlord, I have gotten the bloodthirst on him and bloodthirst on all of my creatures. Very easy to pull off and lots of dice on card. Win win.
Anowon, the Ruin Sage - If this guy doesn't grief, I do not know who does. When you throw Anowon down, he can become a big board presence and really help the cause, just be sure he gets some back up because he is going to have a target on him as soon as you windmill slam him onto the battlefield.
Repentant Vampire - Well here is a real wiz bang magic card. This guy was really a star when you could put damage on the stack, now, he is just going to be a little bit racist sometimes.
Sengir Vampire - An oldie but goodie. When you look at cards like Sengir, you really notice the power creep.
Vein Drinker - The first rule about fight club is... Ulvenwald Tracker made a big splash once he was first debuted because now a creature actually said "Go fight another creature." Very glam. Vein Drinker fell to the background because she lacked the word "fight." At least, that's why I think she fell out of favor. Vein drinker does exactly what our friend Fight Bear does, only she gets bigger each time each fights.
Nirkana Revenant - A shade and a mana flare for swamps. Not much more to see here. Move along...Quick side note: If you tap a Badlands for red, it still produces an extra black. The more you know!
Skeletal Vampire - Vampires like bats. Bats like vampires. Case closed. Actually, there are some fun things you can do with the Skeletal Vampire: If you have Black Market out, you can go really deep with sacrificing bats and making mana. Same goes with the Blood Artist/Falkenrath Noble. Plus I guess you can have synergy with the Screeching Bat....moving on.
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet - Much like the Dark Impostor, having Kalitas and three black mana up is a loaded gun and I have an itchy trigger finger. Bite and steal. Bite and steal. Love it.
Red Creatures
Stromkirk Noble - Again, another vampire with the slith ability. This one is more harder to block then he seems on the surface. Humans are everywhere in EDH and this guy will slip past them every time. Get your strut on!
Bloodcrazed Neonate - A slith vampire that has to attack each turn. Dice on cards!....Yeah, I'm okay moving onto the next card too.
Stromblood Berserker - I am not sold on this guy, but he is very hard to block. More dice on more cards.
Falkenrath Exterminator - This is where the slith ability is really going to shine. You get some damage in with the Exterminator and then he can clear the way himself. Shoot some guys, slith, shoot some more guys, slith it up! This guy can also get really dangerous when you have Bloodlord of Vassgoth out and you can get some bloodthirst dice on him. Wild west! Yeeeeehaw!
Rakish Heir - Speaking of how good slith is, how about giving it to all of your vampires? Putting dice on cards are fun. Also, this ability stacks. Remember that.
Markov Blademaster - Another slith vampire that can get out of hand VERY quickly. Remember the double strike deals damage each time, so say you have three +1/+1 counters. You connect with an opponent so you deal first strike damage and deal four damage to them, you get another counter and then deal five damage to them. Hack hack!
Rockslide Elemental - Not a vampire but this guy watches other creatures die and then starts doing his own dirty work. Since he has first strike, you don't have to worry about trading. Rockslide? Try Snowball Elemental.
Taurean Mauler - Since the Mauler is a changeling, he also counts as a vampire. He can get very big very quickly and it becomes even larger, faster with the more friends you are playing with. You can also benefit off things that benefit vampires, such as the lords, sliths and bloodthirst.
Anger - Another non-vampire, but he is really only in here to give creatures haste. Players, I've noticed, are hesitant to play Anger and get a tunnel vision about getting him the the graveyard. When, in actuality, when you play Anger he becomes a 2/2, essentially, unblockable creature or a great 2/2 wall.
Havengul Vampire - A slith ability and Lumberknots ability all in one tasty vampire? I'm a big fan too. Thank you for asking.
Heirs of Stromkirk - Yet another slith ability that is nearly as hard to block as the Stromkirk Noble. Moving on.
Nearheath Stalker - I am not sold on this guy either, but, he puts a die on himself when he dies. Good in my book.
Falkenrath Marauders - Flying, haste and a double slith ability. These guys will almost always connect and get really out of hand quickly.
Gold creatures
Stromkirk Captain - There are only three(ish) creatures that are not vampires in the deck, so the captain will be handing out quite a few bonuses.
Falkenrath Aristocrat - The Aristocrat is a great addition to the deck, not only in the fact that it can give itself dice, but also because it has haste built in, which really helps when you have creatures that give you slith abilities. Plus, getting in for four is nothing to sneeze at.
Vampiric Dragon - Combos great with Braid of Fire, which I will talk about later. Despite being expensive as hell, this guy can finish a game by himself.
Artifacts and artifact creatures
Solemn Simulacrum - The sad robot just vomits value. Hard night sad robot? You need a bucket to vomit some value? I thought so.
Coalition Relic - Fixing and ramp.
Darksteel Ingot - Fixing and ramp.
Everflowing Chalice - Ramp and dice on cards.
Veinfire Borderpost - Ramp and fixing
Rakdos Signet - Same verse as the first, little bit louder and a little bit worse...well...not worse. Just fixing and ramp.
Sol Ring - Ramp.
Pristine Talisman - Ramp and the life gain will net you 5 -10 life a game.
Contagion Clasp - Make those dice on your cards bigger! Plus, it acts as one for one removal.
Contagion Engine - Same as the clasp, but is more like a Plague Wind for one player.
Expedition Map - Grabs either Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or Cabal Coffers or it can just help you fix your mana.
Sensei's Divining Top - An EDH staple, make sure you draw what you want when you want it.
Blade of the Bloodchief - This card is absolutely nuts in EDH. Even more so on a vampire. Creatures are going to die in EDH games and this will just send any one of your creatures into the stratosphere.
Swiftfoot Boots / Lightning Greaves - Haste and protection for your creatures. Not much else to say here.
Enchantments
Phyrexian Arena - I have been playing a lot of the game Fluxx with my girlfriend. We have had discussions about the best card in the game and I keep telling her that the best cards are the ones that give you card advantage. She quickly agreed. Such a nice girlfriend. Seriously, card advantage in any game is absolutely huge and Magic the Gathering is no different. The more cards you see, the more cards that you will be able to beat your opponents. The Arena is just card advantage.
Braid of Fire - This card is a little tricky. You have to go a little deep to see the true value of this card. You are going to constantly be adding red mana in your upkeep, so you are going to have to spend it before you keep going. This isn't a problem though because our general will be able to use her first ability to bite all of your opponents creatures. This also works with the aforementioned Vampiric Dragon.
Black Market - Another card that is going to add us gobs of black mana that we can use with Olivia. Plus, you get to keep track of the last two cards with dice.
Planeswalkers
Sorin Markov - Sorin is really unfair in EDH. To be able to play one card that does thirty damage to one player is ridiculous. Hey look! He gets dice on him! Sweet, he's a keeper. In all fairness, I am not a fan of Sorin in a casual environment. If you want to win games, play Sorin. If you want to make friends, play Lilliana Vess.
Instants and Sorceries
Urge to Feed - A removal spell that can also put dice on your cards. Hey yo!
Damnation - The big reset button is case things really get out of hand. Also, a great combo card with Blood Artist and Falkenrath Noble.
Bituminous Blast - I'm looking for a better card than this, but I have always been a fan of cascade and getting two for ones out of my spells.
Vampiric Fury - This seems obvious.
Wrecking Ball - Dealing with pesky Maze of Iths, Gaea's Cradles or just destroying a creature.
Undying Evil - Removal spell? NOPE! Comes back with a dice on card. This card is just flavor. I know there are better cards, but saving an important creature through a Wrath is awesome.
Blood Tribute - Doing a forty life swing is sometimes just back breaking.
Lands
Cavern of Souls - *Takes out soap box* This card should be in EVERY Elder Dragon Highlander deck. Period. I don't care if your general is the only creature type you will name with it, being able to get around every counter spell in the game is huge. Seriously. I am not kidding here. You know how awful you feel when you play your general and someone plays Spell Crumple or Hinder? You feel like someone took away Christmas...at least you have solace in the fact your presents were given to charity.
Your presents were burned.
Put Cavern of Souls into your EDH decks. You don't want your Christmas presents burned.
Reflecting Pool - Fixing
Blood Crypt - Fixing
Bojuka Bog - Remove pesky graveyards and get some black mana out of it.
Blackcleave Cliffs - Fixing
Badlands - Fixing
Rakdos Carnarium - I am always a bit scared putting these into decks, but it takes a true jerk to destroy lands in EDH. A true, soulless jerk.
Bloodstained Mire - Search out fixing
Command Tower - You put these in but not Cavern of Souls? Shame!
Dragonskull Summit - Fixing
Molten Slagheap - Dice on cards + fixing = Happy days!
Lavaclaw Reaches - Fixing plus a body
Akoum Refuge - Fixing
Graven Cairns - Fixing
Auntie's Hovel - It'll come up once in a blue moon, but the Taurean Mauler is a goblin too. Otherwise, consider this another Tresserhorn Sinks.
Tresserhorn Sinks - Fixing
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Wait for it....
Cabal Coffers - There it is.
9x Swamp 8x Mountains.
There you have it boys and girls. A competitive EDH deck that has some appropriate sub-themes that won't leave your blood cold. Until next time, I hope your draws suck (get it?!) with this deck and remember: Trade Smart, Trade Fair, Trade Here.
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