Edgar Markov is one of Magic: The Gathering’s most infamous commanders. It is an incredibly powerful Mardu (red/white/black) commander that is focused on Vampires. If you want to build the best Vampire deck, Edgar Markov is the commander you want to be running.
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For the most part, Vampires are either red, white, or black, letting Edgar Markov play all of the best Vampires and Vampire support cards. Eminence is one of the most powerful mechanics in all of Magic, and Edgar Markov has one of the best eminence effects, so much so you could just play Vampire cards you found in a bulk bin and still have a great deck.
Decklist
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Commander: Edgar Markov |
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Bartolome del Presidio |
Blood Artist |
Bloodline Keeper // Lord of Lineage |
Captivating Vampire |
Champion of Dusk |
Charismatic Conqueror |
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Clavileno, First of the Blessed |
Cordial Vampire |
Cruel Celebrant |
Drana, Liberator of Malakir |
Elenda, the Dusk Rose |
Falkenrath Noble |
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Forerunner of the Legion |
Gifted Aetherborn |
Indulgent Aristocrat |
Knight of the Ebon Legion |
Legion Lieutenant |
Malakir Bloodwitch |
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Markov Baron |
Master of Dark Rites |
Nighthawk Scavenger |
Patron of the Vein |
Rakis Heir |
Sanctum Seeker |
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Stromkirk Captain |
Twilight Prophet |
Vampire of the Dire Moon |
Vampire Socialite |
Vein Ripper |
Vengeful Bloodwitch |
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Viscera Seer |
Welcoming Vampire |
Blasphemous Act |
Damn |
Gift of Estates |
Olivia’s Wrath |
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Pact of the Serpent |
Toxic Deluge |
Vanquish the Horde |
And They Shall Know No Fear |
Anguished Unmaking |
Boros Charm |
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Chaos Warp |
Corrupted Conviction |
Deadly Dispute |
Generous Gift |
Path to Exile |
Swords to Plowshares |
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Urge to Feed |
Village Rites |
Arcane Signet |
Ashnod’s Altar |
Banner of Kinship |
Coat of Arms |
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Eldrazi Monument |
Fellwar Stone |
Patchwork Banner |
Skullclamp |
Sol Ring |
Talisman of Conviction |
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Talisman of Hierarchy |
Talisman of Indulgence |
Vanqusiher’s Banner |
Impact Tremors |
Shared Animosity |
Battlefield Forge |
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Castle Locthwain |
Caves of Kolios |
Clifftop Retreat |
Command Tower |
Dragonskull Summit |
Exotic Orchard |
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Fetid Heath |
Graven Cairns |
Haunted Ridge |
Isolated Chapel |
Minas Tirith |
x2 Mountian |
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Nomad Outpost |
Path of Ancestry |
x4 Plains |
Secluded Courtyard |
Smoldering Marsh |
Sulfurous Springs |
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Sundown Pass |
x6 Swamp |
Tainted Field |
Unclaimed Territory |
Voldaren Estate |
Windbrisk Heights |
The decklist contains 32 creatures, seven sorceries, 11 instants, 13 artifacts, two enchantments, and 34 lands. Since the deck is heavily focused on creatures, they make up most of the deck, with the remaining permanents supporting the Vampire creature type.
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Key Cards
Edgar Markov
Edgar Markov is the commander of the deck (and one of the best commanders of all time). No matter if it’s on the battlefield or in the command zone, Edgar Markov will make a 1/1 Vampire token whenever a Vampire is cast. This leads to your battlefield growing exponentially fast and gaining a large presence very early in the game.
Since eminence triggers in the command zone, you don’t have to rush to cast it. You’ll be able to amass a ton of Vampires quickly without ever needing to cast Edgar. It’s often better to wait to cast Edgar until you’re ready to push toward victory at the endgame.
On the battlefield, Edgar Markov can grow the stats of all the Vampires. It triggers on attack, so as long as Edgar Markov makes it to combat, all Vampires will become +1/+1 larger. Edgar has haste, so you’ll be able to take advantage of its second effect immediately.
Malakir Bloodwitch
Malakir Bloodwitch is the best way to get yourself back in the game while hurting everyone else in it. When it enters the battlefield, all opponents lose life equal to the number of Vampires you control and you gain that much life.
The strength of Malakir Bloodwitch is that all the life is lost from your opponent’s stack. So if you have five Vampires, each opponent will lose five life and you’ll gain a total of 15. With an Edgar Markov deck, you’ll likely become public enemy right away, so Malakir Bloodwitch is a vital piece of staying in the game and undoing the life loss while you started building your battlefield.
Indulgent Aristocrat
The cards that spread +1/+1 counters to all your Vampires are the main way to turn your simple tokens into massive threats. Indulgent Aristocrat is one of those ways, giving each Vampire a +1/+1 counter for two mana and the sacrifice of a creature.
The strength of Indulgent Aristocrat comes from the effect not being triggered just once per turn. So long as you have creatures to sacrifice and mana to pay, you can keep pumping up your Vampires. Since Edgar Markov makes so many Vampire tokens, you’ll have plenty of creatures to sacrifice to Indulgent Aristocrat.
Captivating Vampire
Captivating Vampire is one of the best Vampire support cards. It’ll give them all a minor stat boost as a static ability, but also let you steal any creatures your opponents control by tapping five Vampires. There are no restrictions on the type of creature, and you permanently gain control of the stolen creature.
Captivating Vampire can be used at the end step before your turn starts, tapping your Vampires to steal as many creatures as possible since they will untap as soon as you start your actual turn.
With Edgar Markov, you’ll have a giant battlefield of creatures. This allows Captivating Vampire to tap your Vampire tokens to take your opponent’s best creatures. The effect can be used as much as you like and can be done at instant speed, letting you take a key card during an opponent’s turn to potentially cut off a combo.
Coat Of Arms
Coat of Arms is the easiest way to give all your creatures a massive stat boost. Each Vampire will get +1/+1 for every other Vampire. So, if you have four Vampires, they’ll be boosted by +3/+3 (as they do not count themselves in the stat boost).
You want your creatures to have the highest stats possible, as your battlefield is likely to be among the biggest in your game. Coat of Arms is the perfect way to keep those creatures boosted up without having to do anything extra, unlike other stat-boosting effects.
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How To Play The Deck
An Edgar Markov Commander deck is all about flooding the battlefield with Vampire tokens and overrunning your opponents. You want to generate tokens quickly and get in for damage before your opponents even get a chance to set up any defenses. Thanks to eminence, this is something that is easily done with your low mana-value Vampires.
The deck is heavily combat-focused, so you want to be boosting the stats of all your Vampires. Edgar Markov does that on attack, Drana, Liberator of Malakir will give +1/+1 counters to all attacking creatures when it deals combat damage, and Rakish Heir gives all Vampires the ability that when they deal combat damage, they get a +1+/+1 counter.
Artifacts are great stat boosters and are harder to get rid of than creatures. Vanquisher’s Banner, Coat of Arms, and Banner of Kinship are all artifacts that’ll boost your Vampires drastically.
The primary win condition of the deck is winning through combat. You will make a significant amount of Vampire tokens thanks to Edgar’s eminence ability, which are then boosted up by other permanents. There’s a lot of draw power in the deck, making it easier to get to your key cards faster. With how quickly you can generate Vampires, you can reach victory rather quickly by simply casting Vampire spells.
The biggest downside of the deck is you’ll be attacked right away. When a commander has eminence, it immediately puts you ahead of your opponents. In just a few turns, your opponents will likely look to get you out of the game, if they don’t you will just run away with the game.
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