Viscera/Bloodthrone: I need some free sac outlets. It's required for the
Pitiless Plunderer/
Bontu's Monument combo, but I also have some cards with abilities that trigger on creature deaths (the most important is
Cordial Vampire). Also, if I have anything on the BF that pumps vampires,
Skullclamp won't work without a sac outlet. On the other hand, I currently have 3 free sac outlets (Viscera, Bloodthrone and Yahenni). I suppose I don't need that many. I'll drop Bloodthrone because the +2/+2 is not really a big deal with all the other pumps I have, but I'll keep Viscera.
Oathsworn is important for the same reason. If I have
Herald's Horn or
Bontu's Monument and a free sac outlet on the BF, I can activate any death trigger as long as I have black mana - and if I have
Pitiless Plunderer, I don't even need that. (And, as I'm sure you are aware,
Oathsworn Vampire,
Pitiless Plunderer,
Bontu's Monument and a free sac outlet let me enter an endless loop that kills all opponents)
Pitiless Pontiff isn't very important, so I suppose I could let her go. Still, I love to spring that trap on an overeager opponent, and it's hard to find any REALLY powerful 1- or 2-drop vampires. I'll have to think about it
At some game nights I've used
Filth and
Blanket of Night to allow my vamps to attack unblocked, but it's a two-card combo which is unreliable in my deck.
Cover of Darkness is much easier. It's a bit expensive, but I'll concider it for my shopping list.
Fervor is in my collection. I have used it from time to time, and it's awesome to suddenly drop 3 or 4 vampires and the same number of tokens, especially if I have
Coat of Arms on the field
If I also have
Anointed Procession the game's as good as won. I'll put him back in. I'll also concider getting
Mass Hysteria.
Vampire Hexmage is situational. If I know some in may playgroup will play planeswalkers I might slip it in, but I agree that otherwise she's not very important. She's out.
Dark Ritual (which I own) and
Culling the Weak (which I don't) are great, but only if I draw them early. At turn 10 they're almost inconsequential. Both of those cards are very good with 4 copies in a 60-card deck, but not as great in a commander deck. I think it's better to focus on a good mana base, which is the next thing I'll discuss:
I agree that lands should be fast for this kind of decks, and the scry-lands are not really pulling their weight. I'll keep
Temple of Silence for the white mana, but I only need a splash of red so I'll drop
Temple of Malice.
The Hideaway lands are very unreliable. To work optimally I have to draw an expensive card to
exile, and with my avg cmc going down this becomes even more unlikely. On the other hand,
Spinerock Knoll lets me play any card at instant speed on an opponents turn. That comes in handy sometimes. I'll leave Spinerock in but drop Windbrisk.
Cascading Cataracts is in my deck mainly because of
Kheru Mind-Eater (and also Olivia when I had her), but it also gives excellent mana fixing. It's almost like having
Vizier of the Menagerie on the field. And it's indestructible to boot. I think I prefer it over
Fellwar Stone. The main problem with
Cascading Cataracts is that it's unusable before I aquire enough mana, so
Exotic Orchard is a nice addition (and I have it in my collection, yay)
Luxury Suite is an excellent replacement for
Temple of Malice. A bit expensive, but it goes on the shopping list.
The bounce lands slow me down, but not by much. Also, I save space in the deck. With 3 fast lands i get 1,2 and 3 mana on the first 3 turns for a total of 6. With a bounce land I get 1,1 and 3 for a total of 5 (Turn 1:play and tap
swamp. Turn 2:tap
swamp, play bounce, return
swamp. Turn 3:Play
swamp, tap bounce and
swamp). I now have 3 mana on the BF that only required 2 cards in my deck, at the cost of 1 less mana on turn 2. I believe it's worth it.
I agree about
Everflowing Chalice. It's out.
I also have doubts about
Concealed Courtyard. It's almost never fast! I'll replace it with
Nomad Outpost for more flexibility even if it's no speed gain. When I inherit some money from a long lost uncle I'll buy
Scrubland and
Badlands, I promise.
As a last little tweak, I'll drop
Stromkirk Noble for
Skymarcher Aspirant. It makes me even less dependant on red mana, and it's nice with another flyer.
For now I'll work with the cards in my collection, so these are my changes for this iteration:
-
Temple of Malice -
Everflowing Chalice -
Stromkirk Noble -
Windbrisk Heights -
Bloodthrone Vampire -
Concealed Courtyard -
Vampire Hexmage +
Fervor +
Plains +
Swamp +
Exotic Orchard +
Nomad Outpost +
Skymarcher Aspirant +
Oversold Cemetery (cheap, and I have no other recursion)
I'm at about 3 avg cmc and have 25 fast lands and only 9 slow/bounce/transform lands. I'm down to 40 creatures (38 vamps), which is as low as I'll go. After some testing I might drop a land for another cheap vampire. I may also decide to drop
Sorin, Grim Nemesis for another vamp, but for now he'll stay.
I officially declare this deck to be the ultimate killing machine, unbeatable and superiour under any conceivable circumstances - thank's for all your help
It really helps to have some input. When I sit by myself, mulling over my deck, it's easy to overlook some glaring truths.