The Vampire tribe received a nice boost in Dark Ascension— a new uncommon lord as well as a new, rare Vampire with double strike. These two, especially when combined, make Vampire decks a force to be reckoned with. Here's the deck I put together to take advantage of these new cards:

"Dark Ascension Vampires"

• Creatures (24)
• 4 Bloodcrazed Neonate
• 4 Markov Blademaster
• 4 Stromkirk Captain
• 4 Rakish Heir
• 4 Stromkirk Noble
• 4 Vampire Interloper

• Spells (14)
• 2 Galvanic Blast
• 2 Shock
• 4 Gut Shot
• 4 Volt Charge
• 2 Nightbird's Clutches

• Lands (22)
• 12 Mountain
• 6 Swamp
• 4 Dragonskull Summit

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Arc Trail
• 4 Go for the Throat
• 4 Traitorous Blood
• 3 Manic Vandal

Buy This Deck

The Vampires

Stromkirk Noble has already proved its worth as a 1-drop in Red Deck Wins, and it's even better here. Unfortunately, we don't have another good 1-drop to back it up, but the games in which you have this on turn one are likely to go very well for you. Stromkirk Noble can become very big very quickly—especially when you're burning out any creature your opponent casts.

Bloodcrazed Neonate is a somewhat less effective version of Stromkirk Noble, but it's still a very effective threat that can become more and more dangerous as it hits the opponent. In this deck, the requirement to attack every turn isn't much of a drawback at all. Although it may occasionally burn you, most of the time, you'll be attacking with it every turn anyway.

Vampires are a bit light on the 2-drops as well, but Vampire Interloper is a reasonable threat against many decks. It has evasion to help it make it through a cluttered field, and with Rakish Heir or Stromkirk Captain in play, it can deal some serious damage.

Stromkirk Captain not only pumps all your Vampires, but it gives them first strike as well. First strike makes blocking a losing proposition for your opponent, and the fact that most of your Vampires become bigger when they deal damage to a player makes things even worse.

Markov Blademaster is an extremely powerful card if it can make it through even once. Alone, it can hit for 3 on the first swing and 7 on the second, dealing 10 damage all by itself. With the help of Stromkirk Captain or Rakish Heir, it becomes even more insane.

Rakish Heir is a very great lord for this deck, letting your Vampire Sliths double up on counters. With this on the board, even one hit can send your creatures well out of range of your opponent's blockers.

The Spells

Gut Shot kills a lot of things in this format, and the ability to cast it for free means that you can kill a potential blocker without sacrificing your ability to play more creatures. It lets you play very aggressively without worrying about your opponent trading for one of your creatures with a surprise Snapcaster Mage or Midnight Haunting.

Galvanic Blast and Shock kill everything Gut Shot does and more, and 1 mana isn't too much to ask for the ability to kill almost any early creature. Although there's essentially no difference between the two cards in this deck, playing two of each can make your opponent fear that you have more copies than you actually do.

Volt Charge is fairly insane in this deck, killing one of your opponent's creatures and putting another +1/+1 counter on most—if not all—of yours. With so many Sliths in the deck—and Rakish Heir handing out some counters to the rest—Volt Charge can often pump three or four creatures in one shot.

Nightbird's Clutches is rather experimental, but the ability to make sure your creatures make it through for damage is much more valuable in this deck than almost any other. The flashback on this is what really puts it into playable range, letting you smash through again if the board becomes clogged up.

The Sideboard

Arc Trail is extremely valuable against token decks, clearing the way for your initially fragile creatures. It can also help out against other very aggressive decks, giving you some card advantage as an additional bonus.

Go for the Throat helps out against decks like ramp that can present reasonably early threats that can't be killed by quick burn spells. Killing a Titan can often let you swing through for those last few points of damage you need to win the game.

Traitorous Blood also helps against the titans, letting you steal one and just kill your opponent immediately. The 6 extra damage will almost always be enough to destroy any player who manages to survive your initial onslaught.

Manic Vandal is a valuable tool for stopping Sword of War and Peace, which can be very difficult to deal with for an almost mono-red deck like this one. It also helps out against any other artifacts you may come across, such as Birthing Pod and various parts of the Tempered Steel deck.

Playtesting

Esper Control – Game 1

I lost the roll and kept a hand of a Mountain, a Swamp, Dragonskull Summit, two Markov Blademasters, Stromkirk Captain, and Volt Charge. My opponent led with an Isolated Chapel, and I drew and played a Dragonskull Summit before passing the turn. My opponent played a Seachrome Coast and passed.

I drew a Mountain and played my other Dragonskull Summit before ending my turn. My opponent played an Island and passed the turn. I drew Stromkirk Captain, played a Mountain, and cast Markov Blademaster, which was met with a Mana Leak. I passed the turn. My opponent played a Plains and passed the turn.

I drew another Stromkirk Captain and cast the second Markov Blademaster. It resolved, and my opponent cast Forbidden Alchemy during my end step. He put a Curse of Death's Hold, a Doom Blade, and a Glacial Fortress in his graveyard. On his turn, he played a Seachrome Coast and passed. I drew another Markov Blademaster, cast Stromkirk Captain, and swung for a total of 5 damage. I ended my turn. My opponent cast Day of Judgment and passed the turn.

I drew Dragonskull Summit, played it, and cast Markov Blademaster. I then cast Stromkirk Captain and passed the turn. My opponent played a Plains, then cast Consecrated Sphinx and passed the turn. I drew yet another Markov Blademaster, cast another Stromkirk Captain, and attacked with both creatures. Consecrated Sphinx traded with Markov Blademaster, and my opponent took 6. I cast another Markov Blademaster and passed the turn.

My opponent played a Plains and cast Elspeth Tirel, removing 2 loyalty counters to make a trio of Soldier tokens. He ended his turn. I drew Bloodcrazed Neonate and attacked with my three creatures, each of which was chump-blocked by a Soldier token. I killed Elspeth with Volt Charge, then cast Bloodcrazed Neonate and passed the turn. My opponent cast Think Twice during my end step, then played Seachrome Coast on his turn and cast Gideon Jura, activating his +2 ability to force my creatures to attack him. He passed the turn.

I drew a Mountain, and my army attacked and killed Gideon. My opponent cast another Think Twice at the end of my turn. On his turn, he flashed back both copies of Think Twice and conceded.

Sideboarding:

−4 Gut Shot

−4 Galvanic Blast

+4 Traitorous Blood

+4 Go for the Throat

Esper Control – Game 2

I kept a hand of a Mountain, a Swamp, Dragonskull Summit, Vampire Interloper, Go for the Throat, and two Rakish Heirs. My opponent opened with an Isolated Chapel again, and I drew Traitorous Blood and played Dragonskull Summit. My opponent played an Island and passed the turn. I drew Go for the Throat, played a Mountain, and cast Vampire Interloper, which was countered by Mana Leak. I passed the turn, and my opponent played a Swamp before passing back.

I played a Swamp and cast Rakish Heir, and my opponent killed it with Go for the Throat at the end of my turn. He played a Drowned Catacomb and ended his turn. I drew a Swamp, played it, and cast Bloodcrazed Neonate before passing the turn. My opponent played Evolving Wilds and passed the turn. I drew a Mountain, played it, and cast Rakish Heir. I then attacked with the Neonate, dealing 2 damage and putting 2 +1/+1 counters on it. I passed the turn. My opponent cracked the Wilds for an Island at the end of my turn, then he played a Plains, cast Day of Judgment, and passed the turn.

I drew a Mountain, played it, and ended my turn. My opponent cast Think Twice during my end step. On his turn, he cast Consecrated Sphinx, which I killed with Go for the Throat during his end step. I drew Stromkirk Noble, played it, and passed the turn. My opponent cast Timely Reinforcements, going up to 24 and making three Soldier tokens. He ended his turn. I drew Stromkirk Captain, cast it, and attacked with my Stromkirk Noble. My opponent blocked with a Soldier token, and I passed the turn.

He flashed back Think Twice during my end step. On his turn, he played a Seachrome Coast and passed. I drew a Mountain, played it, and attacked with both Vampires, which were blocked by the remaining two Soldier tokens. I ended my turn. My opponent cast and flashed back Think Twice during my end step, then cast Black Sun's Zenith for 2 on his turn, killing both of my creatures. He passed the turn. I drew Bloodcrazed Neonate and cast it, but my opponent killed it with Go for the Throat at the end of my turn.

He cast Gideon Jura on his turn, used the +2 ability, and passed. I drew another Go for the Throat and passed the turn. My opponent animated Gideon and attacked, and I killed it with Go for the Throat. He then cast Sorin, Lord of Innistrad and made a Vampire token. I drew Stromkirk Captain and cast it, but my opponent had a Celestial Purge for it at the end of my turn.

I decided that my chances of winning this game were long gone and conceded.

Esper Control – Game 3

I kept a hand of two Dragonskull Summits, a Swamp, Vampire Interloper, Stromkirk Captain, Rakish Heir, and Go for the Throat. I played a Dragonskull Summit, and my opponent played an Evolving Wilds before passing the turn. I drew another Rakish Heir, played a Swamp, and cast Vampire Interloper.

I passed the turn, and my opponent cracked his Evolving Wilds for a Swamp. On his turn, he played a Seachrome Coast and passed. I drew a Mountain, played Dragonskull Summit, and cast Rakish Heir. I then attacked for 2 with my Vampire Interloper. My opponent cast Doom Blade on Rakish Heir before damage, and then he took the 2. I passed the turn. My opponent played another Seachrome Coast and passed the turn.

I drew yet another Rakish Heir, played my Mountain, and cast the Heir. I then attacked with Vampire Interloper, dealing another 2 damage and putting a +1/+1 counter on it. I ended my turn, and my opponent cast Think Twice to draw a card. He then played a Drowned Catacomb and cast Day of Judgment before passing the turn.

I drew Vampire Interloper, cast Rakish Heir, and passed the turn. My opponent played an Island and cast Batterskull. He then ended his turn. I drew a Mountain, played it, and cast Stromkirk Captain. I then cast Go for the Throat on the Germ token and swung for 3, dropping my opponent to 13 and putting a +1/+1 counter on Rakish Heir.

My opponent played Drowned Catacomb, cast another Batterskull, and passed the turn. I drew Traitorous Blood, cast it on the Germ token, and attacked with everything. My opponent dropped to 3, and I gained 4 life and put counters on my Vampires. I then cast Vampire Interloper and passed the turn. My opponent attacked with the Germ token, going up to 7, and he passed the turn.

I drew Stromkirk Captain, cast it, and attacked with everything. The Germ token blocked Rakish Heir, but my opponent and his Germ died to first strike damage before he could gain any life.

This deck is a bit vulnerable to large amounts of removal, but if you can stick two or three creatures on the board, you can usually win the game in short order. The first strike from Stromkirk Captain does a lot of work toward ensuring that your opponent can't trade with your creatures, and it’s especially effective against tokens, making an opponent block with twice as many if he wants to kill your Vampire. If you're looking for a fun tribal deck to try out, this is certainly a great choice.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, you can find me on the forums under Twinblaze, on Twitter under @Twinblaze2, or simply leave a comment below.