[EDH] Vampires! Drana the Bloodchief.

[Atwa]

I started to get back interest in EDH again since I took my Roffelos apart (stupid banning), my newest project will be to build a vampire themed EDH deck.

The goal is to make the deck as competitive possible while keeping the vampire theme up. This will mean some choices will be suboptimal to keep the theme up, but then again, I don’t play EDH to win.

I just trew the list together, I have no real strategy behind it yet, so I can still take the list in many directions. Right now it functions as a weak mid-range deck.

Here is the list:
General:
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief

Lands:
27 Swamp
Shizo, Death's Storehouse
Barren Moor
Dark Depths
Bojuka Bog
Urborg
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Volrath's Stronghold

Vampires:
Viscera Seer
Pulse Tracker
Quag Vampires
Guul Draz Assassin
Gatekeeper of Malakir
Bloodghast
Vampire Hexmage
Blood Seeker
Child of Night
Kalastria Highborn
Barony Vampire Weak I know, might be replaced
Vampire Nighthawk
Arrogant Bloodlord
Nirkana Cutthroat
Bloodrite Invoker
Mirri the Cursed
Irini Sengir
Arrogant Vampire
Anowon, the Ruin Sage
Skyshroud Vampire Might be replaced
Krovikan Vampire
Sengir Vampire
Cairn Wanderer
Sengir Nosferatu
Malakir Bloodwitch
Mephidross Vampire
Stalking Bloodsucker
Ascendant Evincar
Baron Sengir

Other Creatures:
Wall of Souls
Stinkweed Imp
Shriekmaw
Halo Hunter
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
Visara the Dreadful
Dread
Kokusho, the Evening Star

Removal:
Innocent Blood
Feast of Blood
Chainer's Edict
Consuming Vapors
Damnation
Nevinyrral's Disk
Brainspoil
Phthisis
Dregs of Sorrow
Plague Wind

Tutors/Draw:
Demonic Tutor
Phyrexian Arena
Beseech the Queen--> Will be replaced with Vampiric Tutor when I get mine
Ambition's Cost
Ancient Craving
Promise of Power

Drain effects:
Drain Life
Consume Spirit
Blood Tribute
Corrupt
Blood Tithe

Others:
Dance of the Dead
Animate Dead
Cabal Conditioning
Baneful Omen
Liliana Vess
Grim Harvest

Cards that will be added when I get them from the mail:
Living Death
Vampiric Tutor
Captivating Vampire
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
Skeletal Vampire
Soul Collector
Vampire Nocturnus
Nirkana Revenant
Pawn of Ulamog
Sorin Markov

Does anyone have any ideas on the cards which I should cut? Or does anyone have any other card suggestions? I normally avoid playing black like the plague, so I’m sure I missed something.

[Malchar]

Drana is a great general. You might want to take out some of the sub-par vampires and try
gauntlet of power
extraplanar lens
nirkana revenant
Drana is great for a mono black control style deck, so just put in plenty of solid black creatures and spells to compliment her. Her activated ability is just sick for general damage and spot removal, especially once you resolve a mana doubling effect.

[Atwa]

Nirkana is already on my "to add" list, she is just sick.

Both "chose a color Wakes" seem strong indeed, I am afraid however I'll already have to cut most of the non-vampire creatures and some subpar ones to add in the cards I'll get in the mail in a few days. Any suggestions on non-creature cards I can easily cut from the list?

Normally I'm a Green/White mage, so I have no idea on the correct amount of removal, utility and draw spells for this kind of deck. Being a primarily green mage also makes me a little afraid to cut too many creatures.

[Jeff Kruchkow]

Blade of the Bloodchief
Urge to Feed
Coat of Arms

Blade seems ok since dudes are always dying in EDH and +2/+2 everytime one dies is decent.
Urge might not be the best removal but the ability to mass grow your team EOT seems kinda good.
And since youre doing the tribal thing, I guess Coat should be here.

[Atwa]

Blade seems like a good plan, I totally forgot about it.

Urge however seems pretty weak, for 2 mana I can already make sure I actually kill a guy without any limits on the size of the actual creature. The boost is pretty neat, however with already 2 lords, and the future inclusion of Gauntlet of Power it seems like overkill. At least the Gauntlet will give it's bonus for a future vampires where Urge only gives his bonus to the cards you already have in play. I'll have to think about it.

Coat is tempting, really tempting. I am afraid however you'll help out your opponents out as well. An opposing Decree of Justice suddenly becomes a great thread.

Thanks for the suggestions though, keep them comming.

[Malchar]

I'm not sure how committed you are to the tribal theme, but it's not my favorite. I just don't see vampires having enough special synergy to justify using so many sub par creatures. Also, with coat of arms, you just have to make sure that it won't help your opponent's deck more than it helps yours.

As for other cards to take out, you could try slimming down the drain effects and removal to only the most efficient cards. Since you have a number of good tutors, you can probably get access to whatever you need. Also, your general provides removal, and you'll usually be able to cast her a number of times.

Other than that, you can try taking out some of the weenies. I'm currently playing BR goblins with wort as the general, and even with such an aggressive tribe, I can usually only do 30 damage at most before an opponent drops a huge bomb on the board, at which point all my weenies turn into massive card disadvantage. Just play it a lot and you should be able to figure out if you need to make any changes though.