Hi, and welcome back to the Single Spotlight – the series in which I cover some of the most powerful cards to show up in Standard, and break down what they have to offer the format.

Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan made it’s mark last weekend, and it dutifully showcased the variety that Modern has to offer. From Reid Duke’s signature GB Rock – this time flavoured with a splash of White – to the new kids on the block with Andrea Mengucci’s five-colour Humans and Gerry Thompson’s Mardu Pyromancer, seven different archetypes made their way to the Sunday stage and a shot at the trophy.

The talk of the tournament and eventual victory, however, was claimed by Luis Salvatto and the hugely divisive strategy: Lantern Control. Lantern does it’s best to turn Magic into Solitaire, to the love of the same and the hatred of others. Either way, we now have a competitor for the slot of Best LSV on the Pro Tour!

Now that’s covered, it’s time to shift our attention back to Standard, and I’ve one tribe left to cover. The giant nine drop beasties did well for me at GP London, and I’ve already got mono-Red Pirates sleeved up ready to go. The fish course of Kumena and his schools of Merfolk have taken many an opponent for an unwelcome swim, but the absolutely most aggressive of the new tribes is yet to join in making waves. This week, we’re looking at the children of the night; Vampires.

The Cards

Some years ago, Savannah Lions was printed, and the Magic world shouted aloud ‘power creep’. How far we’ve come.

Skymarcher is a tremendous aggro creature. Two power one drops for a single mana are always at a premium in Standard, and getting one that’s in a relevant tribe and with upside turns a premium card into a must-play. The Aspirant comes down early, beats face, and takes to the sky once the board has clogged up. There’s not too much to say here – if you’re playing Vampires, play four of this.

I feel like the conversation in the design room for this one was pretty straightforward.

‘We want to make a Black Elvish Visionary.’

‘Black doesn’t really do creatures with ETB: draw a card. Unless, of course –‘

‘-it pays life?’

‘It pays life.’

Dusk Legion Zealot is an interesting card. Like the Visionary that came before it, it helps smooth your draw in the early game and cycles for something more powerful later. What makes this card so intriguing is that I think it’s likely better served up in an Aristocrats shell of sorts, as a Zealot with only one buff is still not much of a threat. Time will tell where this lands, but as a common, I’d suggest you pick up a set before Dominaria sees a Nantuko Husk reprint and Abzan Aristocrats becomes the nut.

Another candidate for my imaginary Aristocrats deck, Martyr of Dusk is another common with Standard potential. A 2/1 that dies into a 1/1 Lifelink is close to constructed viability by itself, but it’s real power lies in the synergy with both anthem effects and exploitation of the multiple bodies it serves up.

Unlike the Zealot, however, I could see this in an aggressive Vampires shell. Your opponent will be hard pressed to ignore an attacking 3/2 with some help from a Metallic Mimic or Radiant Destiny, and a 3/2 that dies into a 2/2 Lifelink is a serious game. If your opponent circumvents the trigger by firing off a Cast Out or Vraska’s Contempt, then good for them; they used a premium removal spell on likely the worst creature on your board! I expect this card will sit on the fringe of Standard for some time.

Now we’re talking. As many Modern fish players can attest, two mana Lords are where it’s at. Legion Lieutenant is a two drop that will often add three power to the board on turn two, and can add a whole lot more than that on turns three or four. I only have one concern with Legion Lieutenant in Standard at present; Standard mana sucks.

The Vampires deck looks like it wants to be highly aggressive and base White, reminiscent of Shadows Over Innistrad Standard’s Mono White Humans deck. With only Concealed Courtyard to offer up zero frills BW on turn one and Unclaimed Territory disallowing the addition of many spells in your secondary colour, the addition of Lieutenant to your deck may actually be doing more damage than good.

Now, this whole issue could be resolved sharpish. As we’re going back to Dominaria – the Plane of the painlands – I’d put dollars to donuts that Caves of Koilos will be with us come April (or even a newly illustrated and flavoured Godless Shrine)! Either way, once this happens, including Lieutenant, Fatal Push, Duress and even Sanctum Seeker in your BW deck seems like a no-brainer.

Bishop of Binding: the answer to the question ‘what happens when you introduce Banisher Priest to a blood-starved Mavrin Fein’?

The Bishop is certainly fragile, but offers quite the effect. Any time the Bishop is unanswered, you’re often going to get an attacking 5/5 that killed a creature for four mana. So, the best-case scenario is clearly fantastic. What about the worst case? Disregarding the times your low-land-count aggro deck doesn’t reach four mana, you’ve a curve-topping 1/1 that trades for literally every removal spell in Standard, including huge tempo losses to an enabled Fatal Push, Magma Spray or Shock. That is quite the gap between floor and ceiling!

I don’t think the Bishop is quite good enough for main-deck play, but I could potentially see it out of the sideboard against extremely removal light decks and/or paired with disruptive elements like Duress, Lay Bare the Heart and Doomfall. If your opponent is spending their removal on your cheap creatures and looking to stabilise with a powerful four-drop, the Bishop could potentially make a believer out of the opponent.

Next up, we’ve reverse Bob (still Bob, for those lovers of palindromes).

Twilight Prophet is a far-cry from most of the cards on this list, as a four mana 2/4 flier isn’t much of an aggressive creature! While it’s effect does punish the opponent’s life total, unlike The Great One, the Prophet rewards you for having a high mana curve. If your deck’s average CMC is three, Prophet will clock the opponent pretty quickly without even adding it’s own pecks for two – an average CMC of 1.5, on the other hand, is less impressive.

Further, a deck packing removal and disruption both utilises extra cards better and does a better job of drawing the game out to achieve the City’s Blessing. An aggro deck drawing an extra one drop on turn six is quite a lot less impressive than a grindy midrange shell finding a Vraska, Relic Seeker!

I don’t think the Prophet will find a home in Standard, but I wouldn’t rule it out completely; the effect is extremely powerful, and the cost of casting a four mana 2/4 flier isn’t completely prohibitive. Now, on the theme of powerful but currently homeless bloodsuckers…

Would an Elenda by any other name smell as sweet? Kalitas, Traitor of the Undying Partisan Walker doesn’t quite have the same ring to it!

Much like the Prophet, Elenda looks like it’ll excel in a deck that’s well placed to trigger her early and often – that means a lot of self-replacing creatures and removal. That said, a dedicated Vampire deck focused on augmenting it’s weenie creatures utilises the tokens she leaves behind more efficiently, so who knows! The power level is there, and I’m eager to see if Elenda finds herself a place in Rivals’ Standard.

Azor, the Lawbringer may come with his famous Sphinx’s Revelation attached, but he’s got competition. Here we have a Vampiric Revelation on a stick!

Champion of Dusk is a difficult card to evaluate. At five mana, it’s a push to see this card in an aggressive deck, but the aggressive decks are the most efficient at deploying several creatures to the board. Moreover, the life loss can hurt in midrange, as a 4/4 that loses life on entry is a pretty horrendous play when you’re far behind on board. I could potentially see some kind of big midrange Vampire deck pairing this with Gifted Aetherborn, Zealot, Yahenni and Elenda, but that seems like a stretch.

All of this aside, I’m a huge fan of bargaining, and a 4/4 that bargains for three or more on entry is a pretty sweet deal. I’ll be Championing this one’s cause while it clings to the throat of Standard.

The Deck

So, we’ve looked at a whole bunch of new toys for the fans of the nightstalkers. As mentioned above, the natural home for the pool we have right now seems to be a low to the ground aggro shell. What would that look like? Let’s take a look!

Mono White Vampires

A lot of the tools for this deck are there. Twelve one drops? Check. Eleven ‘Vampires matter’ cards? Check. Several anthem effects? Check and check!

Still, I don’t feel there is quite enough for mono White to take down the midrange giants quite yet. Having to resort to so many removal spells to fill out the shell doesn’t feel great, and the omission of powerful Black options like Legion Lieutenant and sideboard Duress hurts. Once we have Dominaria and the Caves of Koilos (I called it here and now), I think Vampires could be the reason you stay indoors at night.

Summary

And that’s the Vampires of Ixalan. Whether you’re planning to give into the temptation of immortality or go full Joss Whedon and Buffy your way through their ranks, I hope this article has prepared you to handle the one drop bumps in the night!

Now I’m done with the various tribes of Ixalan, I think it’s time I took a look at the wider Standard environment. Whether that means Glorybringers, Fumigates or Bomat Couriers, I’ll be back next week with a fresh viewpoint. If you’ve any questions, comments or suggestions, please leave them below.

As always, thanks for reading, and good luck.