Hey all. This is my third take on the possible decks in post Zendikar Standard metagame. Previously I’ve discussed about the Ally class in Zendikar and for this post we will go with the deck that may possibly give rise to Black to be a Tier 1 deck in Standard. I’m referring to the Mono black Vampires deck.

To recall, Magic 2010 core set has given us a hint on the Vampire tribe with Vampire Aristocrat and the mythic rare Vampire Nocturnus. Let us see what Zendikar vampires we could use for the deck. (Refer to the Zendikar spoilers for card info.)

Bloodghast – this Vampire Spirit has a high chance to be included in the deck because of its cheap summoning cost and recursion ability via Landfall.

Gatekeeper of Malakir – its comes-into-the-battlefield Edict effect is a good board advantage and can even deal with protection from black creatures like Great Stable Stag. It is another standard component of a Vampires deck.

Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet – high-costed but has a efficient body and a built-in creature kill. I could run a single copy of this for mascot purposes. 😀

Malakir Bloodwitch – this recent spoiled Vampire which is included in the black intro pack is possible for curving the deck’s mana, taking the five-mana slot and is pretty powerful if you got out an early Vampire beats.

Vampire Hexmage – this vampire I think has no other great effect on the battlefield aside from the two power first strike and killing planeswalkers. Its a potential sideboard card.

Vampire Lacerator – the first-drop slot of the deck is given to this card and the lose life is a little drawback for the 2 damage it could deal each turn.

Vampire Nighthawk – three abilities for the cost of three mana is a good deal with this card and even negates the life lost on the lacerator.

My card choices are Bloodghast, Gatekeeper of Malakir, Vampire Lacerator and Vampire Nighthawk. Lets check out other possible Zendikar black card inclusions for the deck.

Blood Tribute – this is pretty good with the kicker but the six mana cost gives me second thoughts of including this on the deck. It could be good as a sideboard for life gain decks.

Disfigure – Black’s version of Shock. A good kill but is overpowered by Doom Blade.

Feast of Blood – another good kill and gains you life but the condition of at least two Vampires makes it less effective.

Hideous End – the additional cost for the 2 life loss is not enough for me to play this card. I’d still go with Doom Blade.

Quest for the Gravelord – this quest enchantment effectiveness may vary depending on the deck theme if you will go with more cheap creature beatdown. I personally want this on the main board against a lot of spot and mass removals in Standard.

Sorin Markov – If you want to pimp out your Vampires deck then you can include him in the main board but seriously he can get one or two slot main.

My choice of black spells for Zen are Disfigure, Quest for the Gravelord and Sorin Markov.

With these and a few components from M10, here is the initial build of Mono Black Vampires in Post Zendikar Standard. This was also based from my teammates card by card analysis.

Vampires

A potential post Zendikar Standard deck
Mainboard
4 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Vampire Nocturnus

4 Quest for the Gravelord
4 Duress
4 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Doom Blade

Lands
4 Verdant Catacombs (or any other fetch on a Swamp)
20 Swamp

Let me know what you think of my list. Hit the comments below. Suggestions, recommendations and rants are welcome. 😀