Sunday 11 November 2012

MtG FNM Report - RBU Vampires

Another weeks FNM at Outer Limits in Melville.

My Deck:

Mainboard
Sideboard
4x Stromkirk Noble
4 Smelt
4x Falkenrath Exterminator
4 Negate
4x Stromkirk Captain
4 Brimstone Volley
4x Vampire Nighthawk
3 Flames of the Firebrand
3 Olivia Voldaren

3 Bloodline Keeper

4 Pillar of Flame

4 Mizzium Mortars

3 Murder

4 Call to the Kindred

5 Swamp

6 Mountain

4 Island

1 Steam Vents

3 Blood Crypt

4 Dragonskull Summit


So this particular build of my Vampires is strange. Splashing blue just for Call to the Kindred and Negates in the sideboard. I had originally tried this with two Nicol Bolas plainswalker but found that they were too slow. By that state of the game, I'm usually two or three life points off the win.

Round 1: 2-0 vs Selesna
My opponents deck came out very slowly and I just beat down with vampires. I didn't see a Call to the Kindred but the blue mana didn't mess me up too much, so it was fine.

Round 2: 2-1 vs BW Exalted
Pretty much the same deck I played against last week with much the same result. Played a Call to the Kindred game one, but the creature got snuffed before it activated. I also had to mulligan down the second game to 5 cards because of blue lands, which lost me the game. Not great, but took the win anyway.

Round 3: 2-0 vs Golgari
Quite a tough deck, but the vamps came out nicely both games without the blue splash messing me up. In a creature vs creature match, the first striking vampires (thank you Stromkirk Captain) take the game away from the opponent.

Round 4: 2-1 vs Golgari Zombies
Wow, these things are tough! I think this is the first time I've come up against a true Tier 1 deck and it was a serious battle. Blue land caused just enough problems first game to throw it but the deck behaved in games two and three with Olivia swooping in to save me on 2 and then 5 life. This was a great match... lots of fun.

Round 5: 1-2 vs Selesna 
Once again I was forced to mulligan to 5 in the first game, which I lost. Second game went well for me but lost the last game to the 5/5 hexproof flying Sigarda, Host of Herons. I was a little disappointed that I didn't see any Captains in these games, by my opponent played well and beat me fair and square.

Learning Points:
Call of the Kindred is not a competetive card. I knew this going in... but thought it would come off at least once. The problem is that it makes the enchanted creature a massive target and sets up an easy 2-for-1 for my opponent. It's also at 4 mana, at which point I'd really much rather be dropping an Olivia or a Bloodline Keeper.

I will still be using the Calls for my casual version of the Vampires as I want to play a Blood Tyrant and a Garza Zol in that.


Moral of the story: Vampires kick ass on their own and I really don't need to mess with the deck too much. I should just stick to what they do well and concentrate on keeping the deck streamlined and efficient. Having said that... I did come in second and came within an inch of winning the tournament undefeated, so I really can't complain.

-Odd
"No slinking in the dark for them, no luring whispers. They claim their prey in the speed and glory of the hunt" -Falkenrath Marauders (flavor text)

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