commander · Edgar Markov
Vampiric Bloodlust (C17).
A Mardu vampire tribal deck from Commander 2017, led by Edgar Markov — flood the board with vampire tokens from the command zone on every vampire spell cast, then swing wide for massive lifelink damage.
The Commander
Vampiric Bloodlust is the most linear and explosive of the Commander 2017 tribal decks. Edgar Markov has eminence — every time you cast a vampire spell, you create a 1/1 vampire token from the command zone. You never need to cast Edgar to generate value. The tokens accumulate every single turn, and because they're vampires, they trigger Edgar's eminence again on any spell you cast. By the mid-game you have eight to twelve tokens plus your actual vampires, and Edgar's eminence doubles that board.
Edgar Markov himself costs six mana and has haste, so he attacks immediately on the turn he lands. He pumps the entire vampire team with +1/+1 counters whenever he attacks. A board of twelve vampires all getting +1/+1 counters on a single attack is enough to kill the table.
Key Cards
Licia, Sanguine Tribune
Licia costs five mana normally, but she gets one mana cheaper for each life you gained this turn — to a minimum of three. In a vampire deck with multiple lifelink creatures, she frequently costs three mana on turn four. She's a 4/4 first striker with lifelink, and you can pay life to give her +1/+1 counters until end of turn. Stack three counters and she's a 7/7 lifelinker swinging for seven life gained, which pays for the next activation.
Patron of the Vein
When Patron of the Vein enters, exile a creature from an opponent's graveyard and put a +1/+1 counter on each vampire you control. Whenever another creature dies, your vampires get another counter. Combined with Edgar's eminence token generation, Patron of the Vein turns opponents' creature deaths into permanent pumps across your entire board. One board wipe followed by a Patron of the Vein rebuild leaves you with a much larger team than before the wipe.
Mathas, Fiend Seeker
Mathas places bounty counters on creatures at the beginning of your end step. When a bounty-marked creature dies, its controller draws a card and gains two life. This creates a political dynamic — opponents often want to kill the marked creatures themselves for the reward, targeting your problem permanents for free. Use Mathas to incentivize opponents to handle threats for you while generating goodwill around the table before you go for the kill.
Crimson Honor Guard
A 4/5 vampire with haste that punishes opponents who lack a commander in play. At the beginning of each player's upkeep, Crimson Honor Guard deals four damage to any player without a commander on the battlefield. In a pod where commanders have been removed or not yet cast, this card deals eight to twelve damage per turn cycle at no cost to you. It pressures opponents to deploy their commanders early, often at the wrong time.
Bloodline Necromancer
When Bloodline Necromancer enters the battlefield, return a vampire or cleric from your graveyard to the battlefield. In a creature-heavy deck that runs lots of vampires, this is a recursive engine. Recur Patron of the Vein to pump the whole team again. Recur a Licia activation for another lifelink threat. Edgar's eminence triggers on Bloodline Necromancer's cast, so entering it creates a token before the ETB even resolves.
How to Play
Play cheap vampires every turn. Edgar's eminence creates a 1/1 token for every vampire cast, so a two-mana vampire is actually three bodies for two mana. Get Edgar into play when you can afford to spend six mana — he attacks immediately, gives the whole team +1/+1 counters, and turns the board from threatening into lethal. Licia coming down early as a discount lifelinker extends your life buffer and lets you absorb incoming damage while building the army. Win by swinging with the entire vampire army in one wide attack. In a deck running multiple lifelink creatures, the life total swings from a single alpha strike are enough to take players from forty to zero before they stabilize.