Discussion Forum

Mirri is a fun general, as holding her off with creatures just makes her meaner when she does connect. Plus, evasion and haste are both great abilities to have on a general. She may not be the most powerful general out there, but she's a long way from the worst. I think you can make a fun deck that still stands a chance at winning some games.

First, I'd cut all the smaller creatures in your deck that lack a utility function. Those are: Guul Draz Vampire, Pulse Tracker, Ruthless Cullblade, Bloodrage Vampire, Child of Night, and Vampire Outcasts. In EDH, the creatures people play are bigger, and the players themselves have more life; these creatures simply won't deal an appreciable amount damage in this format. While they are all vampires that support your deck's theme, there are bigger and better vampires that you could run instead.

I would look at running some larger creatures, like Butcher of Malakir, Nirkana Revenant, and Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief. Some more vampire 'lords' (Ascendant Evincar, Bloodlord of Vaasgoth, Vampire Nocturnus, ect) would also be welcome.

Similar to what I suggested about the creatures, I'd also replace some of the smaller single-target spells. What I'd cut are: Coercion, Disfigure, Grasp of Darkness, Psychic Miasma, Dismember, and Death Mark. Once again, the scaled-up scope of EDH games demands bigger effects.

Grave Pact would be great with all your sacrifice effects. I'd also suggest some more global effects like Innocent Blood, Barter In Blood, Syphon Flesh, Exsanguinate, Damnation, Mutilate, and Plague Wind.

The other matter to address is card advantage. Games go long in this format, so you want was to outdraw your opponents and / or get additional usage out of your own cards. For card draw, I would look into some of the following options: Phyrexian Arena, Necropotence, Greed, Mind's Eye, Ambition's Cost, Ancient Craving, and Promise of Power. For recursion, I'd look to any of the following: Aphetto Dredging, Phyrexian Reclamation, Haunted Crossroads, Patriarch's Bidding, Profane Command, Living Death, and Yawgmoth's Will.

I realize some of the cards I've mentioned are not cheap, but I still decided to mention them. I figure you can pick out what works for your budget now, as I don't know exactly what your finances are. Hopefully there are a few cheap options that help you immediately, and some format staples you can keep an eye out for in the future.

Thank you for your comments.

A lot of the cards you mentioned I have thought about but have also deemed them to be out of my budget. Usually I don't spend over 5$ on a single card unless that card is essential or I really (really like it ie: Mirra and Sorin)

Drana is one I already intend on buying (thought she was in the deck already), but most of the vampire lords (I should be able to get a hold of Bloodlord of Vaasgoth easily enough) are rather expensive. I already own all of those smaller vampires you mentioned and I had them in there for Coat of Arms, but I forgot to add it into the deck.

I was thinking I could use the small kill spells to elimate the threats that can actually block Mirri which goes along with coat of arms as the other vampires will be really big. I guess my plan for the deck is going for general damage which is really easy to get a hold of with Mirri.

I realize I need more overall effects, but right now I'm pretty much limited to Exanguinate (which isn't removal), Shrivel (which doesn't do enough), Life's Finally (Which kills everything, including my vampires), and Black Sun's Zenith (which is even worse because it would get around indestructable... but it the effects would be diminished with Coat of Arms so...). What I really need is Plague Wind because its so awesome... But I don't have a pricing on it so I'll check before I make an attempt to get it.

The only card advantage I actually own or is cheap is two tutors and Sign in Blood, I know it's not exactly the best engine. But stuff like Yawgmoth's Will is a bit out of my budget. I'll definitely change it as I go though. Thanks for your comments.

First off, a piece of advise: Never be a slave to your theme. Unless you are running Anowon as your general, having non-vamps in the deck isn't necessarily a bad thing (and you can even use it to your advantage then, with something like Grave Pact or Butcher of Malakir). How often do you play him, really? I run a deck that is very similar, but wins by black/artifact combos rather than creature overrun. That being said, there are a ton of black cards that this deck would love.

Sheoldred, Whispering One reinforces the sac mechanics of Anowon, and gives you massive creature advantage. Grave Titan seems like it'd die quickly because it's not a vampire, but provides other creatures to sac each turn. Hex Parasite works similarly to your Vampire Hexmage in dealing with Planeswalkers, and gets a nice buff to smack your opponents around in the process. Dark Impostor is going to be interesting when it comes out, as it not only is removal it steals abilities as well. You should also have Gatekeeper of Malakir and Royal Assassin in the deck for removal.

I see you're running Leyline of the Void. Why not throw in an alternate win condition that uses it, like Helm of Obedience? Other win conditions mono black EDH has at it's disposal include Bloodchief Ascension/Mindcrank, and the new Exquisite Blood/Sanguine Bond. They even fit your vampire theme! A word of warning though, use these things against your friends and they may not like you much longer lol.

As far as card advantage goes... you need it. Badly. I recommend using Necropotence, and if you want to get janky add a Venser's Journal to it. Skulltap and Altar's Reap are interesting card draw spells that can double as removal with Grave Pact effects in play. Tutors are one of blacks best features, and a few of them are pretty cheap and even reusable. If you can't afford Imperial Seal (expensive!!!), or it's cheaper counterpart Vampiric Tutor (still $20-25), then maybe you should consider Demonic Collusion or Increasing Ambition at just a few dollars each. They'll go along great with your Beseech the Queen and Diabolic Tutor.