Rate my Deck - Newbie seeking better deck tips

[Gbot]

Hi, I'm fairly new to Magic (started during Dark Ascension)and even more so to the LRR forums. With that in mind I'd hope to get some reasonable and helpful criticism of my Deck from this thread.
I've spent a bit of time and money on boosters and trades to get this deck up to what I'd consider a reasonable state and am pleased with how it plays at the moment but I'd like to know how to improve it further.

Deck list is as follows:

Creatures
2x Bloodcrazed Neonate
2x Crossway Vampire
2x Rakish Heir
3x Stromkirk Captain
2x Pyreheart Wolf
2x Necropolis Regent
2x Falkenrath Exterminator
2x Vampire Nighthawk
1x Bloodline Keeper
1x Markov Blademaster
1x Havengul Vampire (currently being tested, may replace)

Spells
4x Murder
3x Curse of Stalked Prey
2x Curse of Bloodletting
2x Vampiric Fury
2x Searing Spear
2x Auger Spree

Lands
1x Blood Crypt
1x Rakdos Guildgate
13x Swamps
11x Mountains


It's a fairly aggressive RB Vampires tribal deck, originally based on the "Carnival of blood" Intro deck but has since been embellished with a few things.

I've also not decided on a sideboard yet, so any help with that would also be a great help.

Looking forward to responses

[Utilitarian]

Well there are some obvious answers but it really boils down to how much more money you want to put into the deck. Given that this seems like a fairly aggressive deck, I would advise a swap from the Necropolis Reagent to Olivia, but that's an expensive proposition.

The same can be said for Falkenrath Artistocrat, which is a premium choice for aggressive BR decks, but cost a pretty penny.

You might want to consider putting in some Dragonskull Summits in your lands to ensure you're hitting both your colors fast, especially given that you've got plenty of multi and double color spells you want to cast on time. (they're not even all that expensive now)

I'd consider switching out your Curses for slightly more versatile spells. For instance, Curse of Bloodletting is fun but it feels like your deck really wants to be either adding to your board or subtracting from your opponent's board every turn. For the same cost you could have some Falkenrath Marauders, for instance, which seem like they would be right at home in your deck.

(I might consider just two more Searing Spears rather than the Auger Sprees, maybe just keep the Sprees in the sideboard if you like em)

[Kapol]

First thing you're gonna want to get in there is a fully playset of Stormkirk Nobles. They're a R cost 1/1 which has the "whenever this deals combat damage, put a +1/+1 counter on it" effect. It also can't be blocked by humans. It's a great start for red agro and belongs and every vampire deck in standard that I can think of.

You have a problem where your deck is kind of scattered. I started out doing the same thing. It feels like variety would be good. Yet it makes the deck inconsistent.

I'd say take the curse of bloodletting out for sure. It's too high cost for your deck. You're going to want to be more agro than that I think. It might be worth putting in the sideboard for mirror aggro, but that's a bit iffy. The curse of stalked prey isn't bad, but I think you'd rather have some burn or something similar taking up that spot.

Vampiric Fury isn't necessary for this deck. You want to take those out in my opinion and throw in a fourth Stormkirk Captain. Those will save you, and they combo wonderfully with Vampire Nighthawk.

Realistically, if you can get a hold of them, you're going to want to swap out the Murder for Dreadbores. Maybe only three though, since you should put in more burn. You lose instant speed, but gain more versatility and a lower cost. The R/B cost isn't that bad either consider you need 2 Black for Murder anyways.

I'd say swap the Auger Spree for more Searing Spears. Auger Spree isn't bad (and is nice in dealing with indestructible creatures). But it cost more and will bite you if they have pump.

A playset of Vampire Nighthawk should be a pretty easy goal. It's an amazing card and belongs in the playset slot.

Crossway Vampires don't do enough in my opinion to justify being in there. They are vampires, and they aren't too bad, but there are much better things to take their place. I don't think the Falkenwrath Exterminators or Bloodcraze Neonate. Necropolis Regant is also pretty high for your deck and should likely come out. Replace them with Bloodline Keepers if possible.

If you can get them, I'd say pump up Markov Blademaster to a 3-of card. It's pretty solid in my opinion and can get nasty fast. A playset of Pillar of Flame would also be helpful. They help deal with early creatures (especially mana-dorks) and can be enough to finish off bigger creatures of clear a path for attack. A playset of Pyreheart Wolves would help get your through too. Then I'd swap out the Rakish Heir for three Mizzium Morters if possible.

Then there's the mana. Your first goal should be more blood crypts I think. The gate should just comes out, it's too slow for your deck. That's a card you never want to draw into I think. The Crypts allow you the choice to play untapped if you need to, and you'll want to early game. Then a set of Dragonskull Summits would be a nice way to finish it off. But those aren't as necessary.

Here's what it'd look like at this point with my changes:

4 Blood Crypt
8 Swamp
7 Mountain
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Stromkirk Captain
4 Pyreheart Wolf
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Markov Blademaster
4 Bloodline Keeper // Lord of Lineage
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Searing Spear
3 Dreadbore
3 Pillar of Flame
3 Mizzium Mortars

But you really want to put in likely 3 Olivias (maybe 4) and a full playset of Falkenrath Aristocrat in there too. Those would likely be the most expensive part. But they'd make the deck a lot better. Maybe take out some of the burn for them. You want more creatures then what I put. Though keep it roughly even, I'd say a markov blademaster and a bloodline keeper, and likely some other stuff too.

Of course, I don't expect you to just buy these cards. I'd recommend trying to trade for them if you can, or something similar.

[Lord Hosk]

I am a huge fan of having 4 Havengul Vampires between your deck and your sideboard, if you come up against a deck with a lot of creatures he can destroy things fast.

[Kapol]

I am a huge fan of having 4 Havengul Vampires between your deck and your sideboard, if you come up against a deck with a lot of creatures he can destroy things fast.

I could see it as a sideboard card. Play it against mirror aggro or maybe midrange. And then you can turn-4 him, and then turn-6 overload a Mizzium Mortars to destroy all of their creatures, make the Havengul huge, and swing in without blockers most likely.

[Del]

In terms of generalities, Stromkirk nobles are relatively cheap and an amazing upgrade.
Volcanic Strengths are cheap and will hit most of the time too.

[DSmaster21]

If anyone starts suggesting sideboard ideas, take it with a grain of salt. Most of the time your sideboard will be based on whatever you see going wrong when you play. You want a sideboard that follows your already planned strategies while helping to defend your weaknesses. A lot of people will tell to sideboard card xxname because it hates graveyard based strategies or some such. One problem with this is that each FNM group (main place/time I play) is different. Try reading what Wizards says about a sideboard.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/rc/222

[Volafortis]

snip

Mostly good advice here, but running a playset of Aristocrats, 3 Olivias AND 4 Bloodline Keepers? That'll completely ruin the deck's curve.

A good starting point is determining what you want to have be the deck's focus, which you have done. A Red/Black aggro deck.

A very important thing to consider now, do you wish for your deck to remain tribal, or do you want to be general aggro? This is the next big decision to make, and there's not much reason for you to stay tribal with the lists being posted. (I'm really only seeing Stromkirk Captain, which can be replaced.)

[Kapol]

Mostly good advice here, but running a playset of Aristocrats, 3 Olivias AND 4 Bloodline Keepers? That'll completely ruin the deck's curve.

A good starting point is determining what you want to have be the deck's focus, which you have done. A Red/Black aggro deck.

A very important thing to consider now, do you wish for your deck to remain tribal, or do you want to be general aggro? This is the next big decision to make, and there's not much reason for you to stay tribal with the lists being posted. (I'm really only seeing Stromkirk Captain, which can be replaced.)

I know. The main reason I didn't go more in-depth into adding them is that that's a fairly large step. Olivia and Aristocrat are both pretty expensive cards right now, and by the looks of it, he's just getting into Magic. I'm not comfortable assuming he's fine with trying to get some of those high-value cards. I'm not even that happy about including the Blood Crypts, but those are a bit cheaper now if I'm not mistaken. And they're very important for R/B aggro decks.

But staying tribal may be just a flavor choice too. Mind you, if you are fine with breaking a bit out of the flavor Gbot (And judging by Pyreheart, you are), it'd be worth throwing in some Cacklers and similar R/B aggro cards if you intend to go all-in on that game plan. And you'll definitely want to try getting Hellriders if possible. Those things are just absurd in aggro decks right now.

[Gbot]

Thank you for the replies. Taking on board the general views so far I'd like to consider some points:

1. Find some Stromkirk Nobles, Mortars, maybe get lucky with the mythics and premium removal.

Very true, these would be great additions, lower the need for murders and fill out the curve nicely. That said, I'd prefer Olivia to the Aristocrat as I'm not so keen to be implementing sacrificing and humans to make her more effective.

2. Remove the Crossway vampires, Rakish Heirs, and Curse of Bloodlettings

I understand dropping the crossways and the heirs but I'm still keen on using the Curses. They apply serious threat if not lethal damage on a turn where I've not really got many other plays to fit the curve. The regent fills a similar role in that regard but if I Could get some Mortars or Olivia then that would nicely fit the gap.

3. some of the other card suggestions

I see what you're saying with the Havengul vampire and agree, I'd like to try out a couple more probly and the Bloodline keeper is just so good, If I can get more I will.
I'm less keen on playing the Falkenrath marauders in much of a considerable way, they're good if they can get that first attack in but at 5 mana for a 2/2 flyer they can just be really easily turned into a non-threat by so many cheaper spells.
The volcanic strength is a suggestion I find a little odd, I like the idea but I'm not as sold on creature enchants as I am more removal or some burn. I'd considered Deviant glee for a while but came to a similar conclusion - add more guys or take more away rather than buff the ones which are already getting fat through damage.
The Markov Blademaster is one I find a bit awkward. If I can get another to try out then I will but I feel that rather than play a 1/1 doublestrike turn 3 I'd rather play a captain and buff that turn 2 exterminator or neonate.

on that point, I'm a fan of the Exterminators and Neonates in the 2 mana slot. The exterminators quickly grow to be able to shoot down any threats i don't have answers for yet and the I find the neonate to be reasonable for the cost. If I hit the likely captain on turn 3 then al the better.

I've got some pillars of flame, searing spears and 2 more of the pyreheart wolves (probably to replace the crossways). I'd say that other than buffing the numbers of certain things to 4 to get better efficiency I'm probably just looking for some better multi-colour lands and some of the rarer 4 drops and removal spells.

The sideboard will probably have some various burn spells or alternative removal options. was considering havoc festival for the side just for fun and to add to the damage clock angle I've got with the curses but that's not a high priority.

Thank you for the contributions thus far. I'll be trying out your suggestions when I get the chance and am not so strapped for cash.

[Elomin Sha]

[Insert Alex speech to Paul from Friday Nights Here]

[Gbot]

yeah but we're not in the mirrodin/phyrexia block at the moment, and they've not re-printed grave titan in standard yet.

[Kapol]

Alright, a few things:

The curses are just too high cost for an aggro deck. You want to have your opponents either dead, or close enough that doubling the damage at that point won't matter. Plus, you'd also rather have creatures out most of the time. Playing anything that can bring out blockers by turn 5 (tokens, mirror aggro, etc), once you bring that down you will not be getting any attackers through. Most decks will buy themselves time with blocking, giving them more time to draw into their answers (which anything besides mirror aggro will likely have).

Realistically, you'd rather be bringing out a captain turn 3. But that isn't always an option. Blademaster can handle smaller creatures without much trouble, combos well with captain, and gets huge (don't forget that it adds on a 1/1 counter after first strike, and again for main damage, each time it hits).

Falkenrath Marauders aren't that good. You'd rather have Olivia or Noble, or a lower-drop creature in.


Volcanic Strength might be good for the sideboard. A +2/+2 for 2 isn't bad, and if you're playing red mirror, it'll make sure your vampires will get through. Imagine putting that on Markov Blademaster when facing red aggro.

There's just much better stuff to put in the two slot. Exterminators have to be attacking to keep getting stronger. The fact you're paying 3 mana to kill something that isn't that strong is bad. You're unlikely to run into many instances where his ability is any better than a searing spear (especially since the spear can hit players). I'd rather just play a 3-drop the next turn like Markov, then searing spear something out of the way and attack the turn after. Plus, the secondary ability isn't helped by Captain.

I'm not a big fan of the Neonate. Attacking every turn is a major downside in my opinion, even in an aggro deck. A better card would be Shred-Freak, a two-drop that you can use to block if need be and attacks the turn it comes out. Or Cacklers, which are first-turn 2/2s that you'll be swinging with all the time. These aren't helped by captains, but you can't count on always having a captain either.

Another good 1-drop to look into would be Legion Loyalist. He can help against tokens, give everything first-strike if you need it, or just be a body that's swinging on turn-1 worst case scenario.

[Gbot]

Yeah, Those are good points. I have no problems with them though I may have less volcanic stengths in side in favour of a deviant glee, I just like having trample in red/black.
On that point I like the idea of adding Loyalist or other battalion cards - maybe firefist striker? - into the deck potentially. Also, fair points with the shred freaks / cacklers, when I have to move out of the Innistrad block eventually I'll make the switch to freaks, I haven't got cacklers at the moment so I'll see if I can get some, If I can though I'm going to try for some Stromkirk nobles. Other Rakdos stuff I'd like to try would probably be bloofray giant or splatter thug. I'm just reluctant to leave the Innistrad block I guess.

It's true the blademaster deals well with smaller guys, and I knew about gaining 2 counters. I dunno, maybe if I can get some more, I've not had much chance to try them on turn 3 consistently.

When it comes to the curses though, sure it may not fit a fast aggro deck so well but I like them in the deck. It's true they'd be better off in a proper burn deck and if I've not got double red by turn 5 it's not much use but then I still like to play them for fun, it may not be optimal but I don't really play hugely competitively often. given the option, I'd probably swap them out for Wrecking Ogres, Five-Alarm Fire or some copies of Mark for death.

[Kapol]

There's not a lot of good mono-red battalion honestly. I mean, most of the ones that are mono-red have very unimpressive abilities outside of limited. I think that white got some of the better battalion abilities, though I think white/red has the best (I'm a big fan of Firemane Avenger).

I'm not sure about blademasters either. They're just a card I think has potential. If you can get it through even once, it becomes worth it.

I think volcanic strength is a better sideboard card than deviant glee. Mostly because, while trample is good, unblockable is better. Especially since you don't have to consistently pay for it. I just don't see the need for deviant glee in your deck to be honest. It's not a bad card, it just doesn't seem necessary. Though you can throw it in to test it out.

If you want to keep the curses, keep them in. There's nothing wrong with wanting to have the deck how you like it. I'm just making sure to cover my bases and make my points. I think Wrecking Ogre or Five-Alarm Fire could be good for your deck. Double strike at uncounterable instant-speed is useful, and you should be attacking enough to make Five-Alarm work in theory.

[Gbot]

So I've found a fairly decent rare for the deck today: Glaring spotlight. It's a one drop, makes my removal much more reliable and as early as turn 3 I can sac it for an UNSTOPPABLE Attack. How I missed this card before I've no idea. It's insane for Aggro.

So yeah, I'm gonna seek out more of these beauties.