Blood Servitor by Jason Engle

Four out of five vampires can't tell the difference!

Weddings can be a polarizing affair. Sure, for bride and groom, the day holds promise of a new chapter in life. Parents of the newlyweds toast at the prospect of future grandchildren. Even the kids get to sneak a sip of champagne. But for each celebrant, there's another who wishes they were elsewhere. Out of that stuffy tux or dress they'll never wear again. Or conversely, wishing it were them up on that altar. Now just imagine if fangs were part of that irritated equation, and you get an idea just how nasty a Commander Anje, Maid of Dishonor can be.

Among Innistrad's four blood-hungry lineages, Anje stands as the current heir to House Falkenrath. Her 'family' is less known for its opulence (that's more House Volderan) or brooding (Team Markov) than it is utter brutality. Embracing the savage side of their curse, Falkenraths are more apt to drink their dinner from a victim's severed head rather than their neck. They also partake in an occasional bout of blood-crazed insanity, as evident in Anje Falkenrath's original appearance.

I'm guessing they're messy eaters.

When you take that vicious streak and combine it with calculating sadism, you wind up with Anje, Maid of Dishonor, subject of today's Commander article. She's just as cruel as her kin, but being the scion of her house, also well versed in political combat. The Falkenrath have long resented the Voldaren and their flamboyant leader, but realize that Olivia Volderan is no fool. Her smile contains both literal and metaphorical fangs, especially when it comes to seizing power. The grand wedding planned between Olivia, Crimson Bride and Edgar, Charmed Groom // Edgar Markov's Coffin may seem an effort to unite vampire houses, but it's all a play for dominance. The 'honor' of being chosen to serve in the Markov/Voldaren wedding party is a political slap in the face to Anje, Maid of Dishonor. Anje begrudgingly plays along, lest House Falkenrath appear opposed to the idea of vampire unity, but she really wants nothing more than the blushing bride's head on a spike.

Olivia, Crimson Bride by Anna Steinbauer

I'm sure the feeling is mutual.

As a general, Anje, Maid of Dishonor brings this bitterness with her to the Commander table. She acts as token generator, discard engine, and sacrifice outlet for creature-heavy vampire builds. These abilities synergize well and open different pathways for deck-building, depending on which strategy we prefer to explore.

1. Much like her previous incarnation (Anje Falkenrath), Anje, Maid of Dishonor acts as a discard outlet, with Blood tokens replacing a built-in tap ability. As such, cards with Madness (Revolutionist, Terminal Agony, Shadowgrange Archfiend) become very attractive, as they can be cast off of Blood token activations and we still get a card out of the deal. Madness also makes other discard outlets (Necrogoyf) and cycling lands (Canyon Slough, Barren Moor, Forgotten Cave) more appealing.

2. In order to maximize Blood token production, we'll want to recruit many vampires to the cause. Production is amplified further when other vampires bring their own Blood with them (Markov Enforcer, Falkenrath Forebear, Bloodtithe Harvester). An ever-increasing supply of blood tokens helps the aforementioned Madness, but also gives Anje, Maid of Dishonor a lot of fuel to sacrifice and drain opposing life totals with. On that note...

3. Anje's taste for both artifacts and creatures means she has to potential to feast on pilfered foes, or simply eat her own troops for value. Creature-stealing cards like Dominating Vampire, New Blood, and Captivating Vampire become even better when the stolen creatures can be sacrificed for profit. Though, if she gets hungry enough, Anje, Maid of Dishonor isn't above snacking on her own employees, allowing cards like Cordial Vampire to really go off.

4. Running a critical-mass of vampires also maximizes payoff potential for tribal synergies. Outside of generic support (Icon of Ancestry, Herald's Horn), a host of blood-flavored options are available for our team. Vampire Nocturnus, Olivia's Wrath, Midnight Arsonist and the like all get better with an increasing vampire count. Given that large armies of creatures are vulnerable to mass-removal, we incorporate plenty of mass-recursion (Living Death, Thrilling Encore, Rise of the Dark Realms, Patriarch's Bidding) and creatures with inherent card advantage (Twilight Prophet, Champion of Dusk, Stromkirk Occultist, Crossway Troublemakers) to avoid or offset any fallout. Cycling through tokens also helps ensure relevant cards are drawn often.

In review, Anje, Maid of Dishonor wants us to run many vampire minions, both for blood tokens and the blood price of her sacrifice ability. This combination of token value, life drain, and vampire aggression all work in conjunction to grind down our feeble human opponents. An elegant, yet ruthless strategy. Our lineage would be proud.

With the basics covered, let's get to deck-building!

Anje, Maid of Dishonor by Yongjae Choi

Anje's Taste for True Blood Tokens | Commander | Matthew Lotti

• Commander (1)
• 1 Anje, Maid of Dishonor

• Creatures (27)
• 1 Anje Falkenrath
• 1 Archfiend of Spite
• 1 Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar
• 1 Big Game Hunter
• 1 Bloodtithe Harvester
• 1 Captivating Vampire
• 1 Champion of Dusk
• 1 Cordial Vampire
• 1 Crossway Troublemakers
• 1 Dominating Vampire
• 1 Falkenrath Forebear
• 1 Falkenrath Gorger
• 1 Kamber, the Plunderer
• 1 Laurine, the Diversion
• 1 Marionette Master
• 1 Markov Enforcer
• 1 Midnight Arsonist
• 1 Muck Drubb
• 1 Necrogoyf
• 1 Nirkana Revenant
• 1 Revolutionist
• 1 Shadowgrange Archfiend
• 1 Strefan, Maurer Progenitor
• 1 Stromkirk Occultist
• 1 Twilight Prophet
• 1 Vampire Nocturnus
• 1 Voldaren Bloodcaster // Bloodbat Summoner

• Instants (6)
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Dark Withering
• 1 Deadly Dispute
• 1 Rakdos Charm
• 1 Thrilling Encore
• 1 Vampires' Vengeance

• Sorceries (10)
• 1 Alchemist's Greeting
• 1 Avacyn's Judgment
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Living Death
• 1 New Blood
• 1 Olivia's Wrath
• 1 Patriarch's Bidding
• 1 Rise of the Dark Realms
• 1 Terminal Agony
• 1 Toxic Deluge

• Enchantments (4)
• 1 Arterial Alchemy
• 1 Curse of Hospitality
• 1 Stensia Masquerade
• 1 The Meathook Massacre

• Artifacts (15)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Bag of Holding
• 1 Everflowing Chalice
• 1 Expedition Map
• 1 Glass-Cast Heart
• 1 Heirloom Blade
• 1 Herald's Horn
• 1 Icon of Ancestry
• 1 Inspiring Statuary
• 1 Lantern of the Lost
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Talisman of Indulgence
• 1 The Underworld Cookbook
• 1 Worn Powerstone

• Lands (37)
• 6 Mountain
• 11 Swamp
• 1 Ancient Tomb
• 1 Barren Moor
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Cabal Coffers
• 1 Cabal Stronghold
• 1 Canyon Slough
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Forgotten Cave
• 1 Graven Cairns
• 1 Luxury Suite
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Path of Ancestry
• 1 Polluted Mire
• 1 Smoldering Crater
• 1 Smoldering Marsh
• 1 Tainted Peak
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1 Voldaren Estate

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Our primary strategy is to maintain a steady stream of bloodsuckers. Doing so not only increases our threat count, but fuels Blood token support, and with it, the options for either life drain or card cycling. Beat-down and life drain make up the offensive angle. Blood token cycling in conjunction with Madness value helps keep the resources coming. Once we get enough pieces, even recovering from mass removal shouldn't take long. And because we're proudly in the Rakdos camp, a veritable blood fountain's worth of removal dances at our fingertips.

Ah, the Children of the Night: And what sweet music they shall make. As they descend upon your hapless foes! Our army is composed of three units: Blood-Token Support, Madness/Discard Support, and Vampire Tribal Support. The first two elements are important to honing the lethality of the third, as they'll enable us to dig for pieces that power up the team en-masse.

Starting off with Blood token support, these players are meant to further enhance Anje, Maid of Dishonor and provide even more outlets for Madness. Volaren Bloodcaster // Bloodbat Summoner, Strefan, Maurer Progenitor, Falkenrath Forebear, and Kamber, the Plunderer all have the capacity to produce multiple Blood tokens. In the case of Markov Enforcer and Bloodtithe Harvester, Blood and removal go hand in hand. Finally, although not a vampire herself, Marionette Master turns each token into 4 points of life loss, a feat even the mighty Anje, Maid of Dishonor would find impressive!

Our next battalion deals in all things discard. Falkenrath Gorger, Revolutionist, Big Game Hunter, Muck Drubb, Archfiend of Spite, Shadowgrange Archfiend, Stromkirk Occultist, and Necrogoyf all provide Madness payoffs for your Blood tokens. Necrogoyf and the original Anje Falkenrath also both provide direct discard outlets in case tokens are not available.

No wedding would be complete without a caterer, so we hired Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar to cook up a feast. With all the discard afoot, getting her and The Underworld Cookbook into play should be a piece of Stone Gargoyle pie.

The remainder of the bridal party consists of tribal support. Some, like Nirkana Revenant and Twilight Prophet are simply excellent creatures in their own right, with the inherent vampirism being red icing on the cake. Others, like Midnight Arsonist, Champion of Dusk, Cordial Vampire, Dominating Vampire, Crossway Troublemakers, Captivating Vampire, and Vampire Nocturnus reward us for having as many vampires in play as possible. In regards to Vampire Nocturnus, that our deck is two-thirds black and frequently cycles blood tokens means keeping a black card atop our library shouldn't be too difficult.

Wedding Favors: As with our creatures, our spellbook employs a combo meal of blood token support, discard payoffs, and tribal effects. Starting with blood-synergies, Vampire's Vengeance, Arterial Alchemy, and Glass-Cast Heart produce or elevate our Blood tokens into more than just cycling triggers. Each of these supports the aggressive angle of our plan, removing blockers, creating more attackers, or enhancing those attackers. Deadly Dispute can also recycle a Blood token into a Divination + Treasure at Instant speed. Or do the same for a stolen enemy creature off the back of Dominating Vampire.

Feeling a tad insane? Probably all the Madness-inducing spells we bring in. Alchemist's Greeting, Dark Withering, Terminal Agony, and Avacyn's Judgment turns discard into pure removal. When it comes to combat, surprise Stensia Masquerade can turn even a small army of vampires into a devastating force. The Underworld Cookbook and Bag of Holding are included as backup discard outlets, not only enabling Madness but also recycling unneeded cards and/or excess lands.

Finally, we'll bolster our vamps via cards like Icon of Ancestry, Heirloom Blade, and Herald's Horn. These provide card advantage, but also help us cast more vampires, or work to make vampires better in combat. Combine these tools with an already-high creature count, and Curse of Hospitality stands a strong chance of stealing multiple cards from opponents. What's a wedding without hospitality, after all?

Supporting Spells: With such a high creature count, mass removal has the potential to be crippling. It's the case with nearly all creature-heavy Commander decks. Tools for either protection or a quick recovery are vital. The built-in card advantage of Champion of Dusk, Heirloom Blade, etc. helps mitigate mass removal, but it to fully blunt the edge of a sweeper, we'll need mass-recursion. Patriarch's Bidding, Living Death, Thrilling Encore, and Rise of the Dark Realms can all turn a slaughter into an immediate comeback. Sometimes, a game-winning one with the right timing.

Mass-recursion also helps offset the negative impact of our own mass-removal. Toxic Deluge and Blasphemous Act are efficient reset buttons if opposing boards get out of control, The Meathook Massacre is bound to help the life-drain plan we're already on, and the aforementioned Living Death can essentially play double-duty, reviving dead teammates while nuking the rest of the board from orbit.

Lastly, we'll round out our arsenal with utility tools. Flexible answers for a variety of situations. Rakdos Charm and Lantern of the Lost nix opposing graveyards while being able to replace themselves or answer other threats. And the Commander staple that is Chaos Warp can simply hit anything, most often turning it into a land.

Mana Support and Rocks: Though most of our ramp comes via the usual rocky suspects (Arcane Signet, Sol Ring, Talisman of Indulgence), our proclivity toward Blood tokens does enable a unique option in Inspiring Statuary. With this humble artifact, each tokens becomes mana rock, making Anje, Maid of Dishonor and her entire blood-generating crew into ramp machines. Speaking of copious mana, our Swamp-heavy build makes Expedition Map an auto-include. I think you and can guess why...

Numerous Swamps, both of the basic and non-variety (Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Blood Crypt, Canyon Slough, Smoldering Marsh) help power up the likes of Cabal Stronghold and Cabal Coffers to ridiculous levels.

We round out our lands with a set of cyclers (Barren Moor, Polluted Mire, Forgotten Cave, Smoldering Crater, and the aforementioned Canyon Slough) to work alongside our Madness cards. Also included is additional tribal support via Path of Ancestry, Cavern of Souls, and Voldaren Estate to further sate our taste for blood.

Stensia Masquerade by Willian Murai

Some folks really get mad when they hear the punch is spiked

Budget Options: Having planned a wedding, I can tell you from experience: It ain't cheap. And that was a human wedding! My pitiful mortal brain can't possibly comprehend the heights of opulence immortal aristocrats revel in. I hardly be able to afford a wedding present, or at least one nice enough to leave my neck intact, unless I did some serious budgeting. As such, let's look into how we can save a few bucks on cardboard. All cards over $20 will be noted and recommended for swap-outs. If anything seems interesting, regardless of price tag, give it a roll in the 99. Creativity is a oft-forgotten cornerstone of Commander. Embrace the oddball, the bizarre, the whatever-the-heck-makes-you-happy!

Creatures: Twilight Prophet: $40.00

Yikes, I knew Twilight Prophet was good, but I wasn't aware it had ascended to forty-dollar heights. The Prophet is excellent, but easily replaceable with a plethora of other vampires. If you're interested in more Madness, check out Asylum Visitor, Anje's Ravager, and Voldaren Pariah. Or, if you'd rather boost your tribal-synergies, try out Stromkirk Captain, Anowan, the Ruin Sage, Bloodlord of Vaasgoth, Vampire Socialite, or even Olivia, Crimson Bride (though I don't think Anje, Maid of Dishonor would appreciate it).

Supporting Spells: The Meathook Massacre: $45.00, Toxic Deluge: $23.00

While The Meathook Massacre and Toxic Deluge are excellent sweepers, losing them does nothing to damage our strategy. Plenty of budget sweepers are available. Void and Nightmare Unmaking are customizable, Mutilate scales well with Swamps, or we can keep it simple and wipe out everything via Life's Finale, Necromantic Selection, or Deadly Tempest.

Mana Options: Cavern of Souls: $90.00, Ancient Tomb: $55.00, Bloodstained Mire: $40.00, Luxury Suite: $30.00, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: $29.00, Cabal Coffers: $21.00

It's no great surprise that all-stars Cavern of Souls, Ancient Tomb, and Bloodstained Mire are as expensive as they are. With only one printing to its name, the thirty dollar price tag on Luxury Suite also makes sense. Hopefully that cycle is due for a reprint soon.

What does surprise me is how the mighty Cabal Coffers is right above our $20 limit, the cheapest it's been in ages. While technically outside budget, I'd heavily recommend picking up a copy now, if you can. Without another reprint in the near future, I can't imagine Cabal Coffers staying at twenty dollars for very long. It's too big of a format staple.

That said, the loss of Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth does eat into our ability to generate obscene amounts of mana. As backup, Magus of the Coffers pulls off an impression in creature form. Black Market frequently piles up on the charge counters, too. If you still want to keep your Swamp count high for Cabal Stronghold, consider cards like Fabled Passage, Rocky Tar Pit, and even Terramorphic Expanse. If you're more interesting in pure color-fixing, solid budget options for Rakdos include Dragonskull Summit, Haunted Ridge, Rakdos Carnarium, Blightstep Pathway, and Temple of Malice.

Voldaren Bloodcaster // Bloodbat Summoner

Even the flower girl is frickin' creepy

Now that you've prepared, I hope you have a fantastic time at the wedding ceremony. And that you survive the reception. From what I hear, vampires throw a killer party. I'll let you interpret that however you wish. Take solace in knowing that if things get too crazy, Anje, Maid of Dishonor will be seated quietly in the corner, eager to share a drink with someone. I'm sure she'd appreciate your company. Or, if you're feeling shy, you could always point her in the direction of your opponents.

Thanks for reading, and hope you catch that bouquet!

Just watch out for thorns, lest the concept of wedding feast take a sudden, unfortunate turn.

-Matt-

@Intrepid_Tautog