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Thread: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

  1. #1
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    Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

    Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose is very likely to see play in Legacy.
    Lifelink / Life Gain is a nice ability to have in your deck but it doesn't finish the opponent.
    When that life gain also turns into life loss for the opponent however, you have a winner IMHO.

    How to build around him ?


    Obviously he'll need protection.
    That's where Mother of Runes comes in.
    A tried and tested creature that excels in keeping other vital creatures alive.
    Our preferred T1 drop.


    If you don't have a Mother in your opening hand, Thoughtseize is a nice alternative on T1.
    Arguably even better on T2 to see if you can safely play Vito on T3.
    Thoughtseize rates slightly better in this deck IMO due to the fact that the life loss won't sting as much as in decks that don't have Life Gain.


    Dark Confidant is another A+ card that is just a perfect play right after casting a Mother.
    The average life loss inflicted by him will be 72/59=1.22 which is very acceptable.
    Just like Thoughtseize, his drawback is reduced by the Life Gain, resulting in another "better than normal" top card.

    These 16 cards are the core of the deck.


    Sunspring Expedition is an absolute bomb with Vito.
    For just 1 mana you can gain 8 life and deal 8 life loss to the opponent.
    Ideally played on T2.
    If you started with a Thoughtseize on T1 try to play a Scrubland first as you need it to cast Sunspring Expedition with it as well on T2 BEFORE you play your second land to maximize you quest counters.
    A fetchland on T3 will put 3 quest counters on it as you play Vito.
    Since you only have to sacrifice the enchantment to trigger its effect it will be very hard to stop it once there are 3+ counters on it.


    Sunbeam Spellbomb gives you another serious life gain/loss card with the added ability to be used as card draw.
    Can be played for just 1 mana and used at the appropriate time. Great Synergy with Vito.


    Elixir of Immortality is very similar to the Spellbomb but costs 1 more mana to trigger.
    It does allow you to put your lost Vito's or Sunspring Expeditions or even fetchlands back into your deck though.


    I don't want to run on just noncreature cards, so I need creatures/alternatives in case Vito should not come online.


    The most intimidating creature in this setup seems to me Lone Rider.
    With all the life gain, he'll just transform sooner rather than later and he becomes an abolute beast when that happens.
    4/4 Lifelink Trampling First Striker.


    Kunoros, Hound of Athreos seems just too good to pass up.
    3/3 with Vigilance, Menace and lifelink for just 3CMC is just great in this deck already but with his added abilities to restrict graveyard shenanigans ( Uro, anyone ? ) he's a must have imo.


    Murderous Rider // Swift End is another perfect fit.
    Able to put a swift end to blockers or problematic creatures AND planeswalkers first and then add a body to the life gain/loss strategy.


    While we're on to removal, Vindicate also has a place in this deck as well as Swords to Plowshares of course.
    StP has the added ability that , in the right situation, it can just sword one of your own creatures ( say a 4/4 It ) to deal 4 life loss to your opponent and finish the game.


    For the mana base I suggest at least 9 fetches, preferably probably even 10, to reliably trigger the Expedition as fast as possible and because the damage will likely be offset by all the life gain anyway.


    Add a Karakas for more Vito protection and a Volrath's Stronghold.


    SB is still a work in progress.

    Thanks for reading this post.


    //CC1
    4 Thoughtseize
    4 Sunspring Expedition
    4 Sunbeam Spellbomb
    4 Mother of Runes
    3 Swords to Plowshares
    1 Elixir of Immortality

    //CC2
    4 Lone Rider // It That Rides as One
    4 Dark Confidant

    //CC3
    4 Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
    4 Murderous Rider // Swift End
    3 Vindicate
    1 Kunoros, Hound of Athreos

    //Lands
    4 Scrubland
    4 Marsh Flats
    3 Flooded Strand
    3 Bloodstained Mire
    2 Swamp
    2 Plains
    1 Volrath's Stronghold
    1 Karakas

    //Sideboard
    4 Leyline of the Void
    2 Plague Engineer
    3 Disenchant
    2 Pithing Needle
    1 Tormod's Crypt
    1 Null Rod
    1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
    1 Kunoros, Hound of Athreos

  2. #2

    Re: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

    I think Vito could be interesting in nourishing Lich.
    Quote Originally Posted by Laser Brains View Post
    With the printing of Gigantosaurus, Thrashing Brontodon and Steel Leaf Champion the deck has evolved from good to very competitive. Anyway, give it a few play tests if you are interested and let me know what you think.

    Winter Maze
    Quote Originally Posted by CptHaddock View Post
    With veteran explorer I know that I 100% will not enjoy a 30 minute grindfest against someone who can barely afford dual lands and believes that their deck can cast a 10 mana 8/8.

  3. #3
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    Re: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

    Some of those lifegain cards look really bad. The most efficient lifegain in Legacy is:

    Martyr of Sands + white cards (+9-15 life easily)

    Nourishing combo: Nourishing Shoal+Autochthon Wurm (+15 life for 0 mana, but 2-card combo)

    Clerics Combo: Nomads en-Kor + Daru Spiritualist + Worthy Cause/Starlit Sanctum (infinite life, but 3-card combo)

    Life Goes On (+8 life for 1 mana)

    Children of Korlis (gets ridiculous if you have a way to pay life for value)

    Cling to Dust seems worth it at least for the SB for the value and recursion.

  4. #4
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    Re: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

    Vito+Illusions of Granduer
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Safety View Post
    You sir are a ninja of fine quality.

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    Re: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

    Quote Originally Posted by Cire View Post
    Vito+Illusions of Granduer
    so much jank, but sweet jank.

    collective brutality?
    peace of mind and ensnaring bridge and cursed scroll?
    timely reinforcements?
    i'm pretty sure when your life total is reset upwards, game state will see you "gained" life: mirror universe
    Last edited by non-inflammable; 07-10-2020 at 01:52 PM.

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    Re: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

    Illusions of Grandeur might work in some janky UB Stompy deck. 2-card combo to end the game. On its own Illusions can buy you time. Or you can Donate it or pitch it to Force of Will or Chrome Mox.

    In Borg's Deadguy Ale strategy, I think Martyr of Sands would fit well. You can also run Phyrexian Reclamation to loop Martyr, refill your hand with white cards, or just general grindy recursion on your creature-based combo pieces. Reclamation also lets you loop Children of Korlis for increasing value on each activation.

    Recruiter of the Guard and Ranger-Captain of Eos can find a lot of cards, but unfortunately they don't get Vito. You'd need something like Imperial Recruiter.

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    Re: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

    Martyr of Sands is a nice suggestion.
    Compared to Sunbeam Spellbomb it has the same total use cost (2), a higher ceiling but also a lower floor while the Spellbomb offers a steady 5 and the option to be used as card draw.

    My first tries didn't go as I would have liked and I've been moving away from the one shot combo pieces to a more grindy deck ( if that is the right word ).

    I added SFM since Batterskull and Umezawa's Jitte fit in the strategy but also Shadowspear. The Spear lets the non-lifelink creatures - including Vito - join in the strategy.
    Batterskull is great already but with Vito ...
    The Jitte and SoFI are awesome on Kunoros, Hound of Athreos and Murderous Rider

    SFM also introduced Charming Prince, a card that offers so much diversity.
    Early Game you can use him to scry or set up the Confidant card draw.
    With SFM in play you can flicker her.
    With Vito in play you take the life gain.

    I understand Vito invites combo set-ups however and the cards mentioned in the posts above are good examples of that.
    In the meantime, my deck looks like this :
    Feel free to comment /disect


    //CC1 : 12
    4 Thoughtseize
    4 Mother of Runes
    3 Swords to Plowshares
    1 Shadowspear

    //CC2 : 12
    4 Stoneforge Mystic
    4 Charming Prince
    3 Dark Confidant
    1 Umezawa's Jitte

    //CC3 : 12
    4 Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
    3 Murderous Rider // Swift End
    2 Vindicate
    1 Kunoros, Hound of Athreos
    1 Invoke the Divine
    1 Sword of Fire and Ice

    //CC4
    1 Kaya, Ghost Assassin

    //CC5
    1 Batterskull

    //Lands : 22
    4 Scrubland
    4 Marsh Flats
    3 Flooded Strand
    3 Bloodstained Mire
    2 Swamp
    2 Plains
    2 Fetid Heath
    1 Volrath's Stronghold
    1 Karakas

    //Sideboard : 15
    4 Leyline of the Void
    3 Invoke the Divine
    2 Plague Engineer
    2 Pithing Needle
    1 Tormod's Crypt
    1 Null Rod
    1 Kunoros, Hound of Athreos
    1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
    Last edited by Borg; 07-11-2020 at 07:13 AM.

  8. #8
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    Re: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

    Have you tried 3cc sorin? Lifelink is nice. Could also try him in mono b vampires. I saw a deck like that with some results already.

    Other option is BW soul sisters.
    -rob

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    Re: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose


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    Re: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

    I'll look for the vampire tribal deck that was posted for mtgo a few weeks ago later. :)
    -rob

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    Re: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

    https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/3103331#online

    Whatever your deck does Vito needs to work with it, but the deck needs to function flawlessly without him. The above deck is more for legacy achievement badge hunting, but the themes are serious:
    1-Arguel’s Blood Fast turns into Diamond Valley; this is the card for any deck that turns life gain into drain.
    2-the biggest stat lines for 1cmc are Dreadnought and Shadow (Orzhov Charm is a very good card in this context. A more serious build would be UBW)
    3-you only want 1x Vito (use Entomb, Reanimate, and 1x Grisel)

    You have value, synergy, and no specific sequence to disrupt. This isn’t A -> B combo, it’s just a sea of piece As that can be added together in as many combinations as possible. The combo in any deck with Vito’s passive will be to violently spike and depress their own life total, surrounded by cards that care about this novel resource use.

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    Re: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

    If you're using Entomb, Reanimate and Grisel then what about just playing Vito as a 1-of wincon in Tin Fins?

    A single Children of Korlis can gain 21 life in that deck (counts total life loss over the turn despite lifegain), which is a 1-shot with Vito (which can be Ritualed out or Reanimated)

    Even outside Tin Fins, if you're Reanimating Griselbrand then you can still exploit Children of Korlis as a 1-mana "gain 14+ life". Children is bonkers once you have a way to pay life for free.

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    Re: Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

    It's a bit overkill in TinFins since you'd already be going off. There you would rather Vito was a Mentor.

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