Lost Caverns of Ixalan brings back Vampires, one of MTG’s most frightening tribes. Known for their thirst for blood and blatant disregard for human life, these creatures of the night will stop at nothing for their conquest of Ixalan.
Ixalan’s vampires have a distinguished armor style inspired by the Spanish conquistadores of the 16th and 17th centuries. These vampires are back with a vengeance and more powerful than ever thanks to their allegiance with Ixalan’s evil bat god, Aclazotz.
7. Bringer of the Last Gift
- Mana Cost: 6BB
- Type: Creature – Vampire Demon
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: When Bringer of the Last Gift enters the battlefield, if you cast it, each player sacrifices all other creatures they control. Then each player returns all creature cards from their graveyard that weren’t put there this way to the battlefield.
Bringer of the Last Gift forces all players to sacrifice their creatures and bring back the ones sitting in their graveyard. This creature’s ETB ability is reminiscent of infamous sorceries like Living Death and Living End, both of which are very powerful in games of Commander. The downside is that it costs a whopping eight mana, and its ability only triggers if it’s been cast. If it’s “cheated” into play with a reanimation spell, for example, its ability won’t trigger. Still, the player does get a flying 6/6 Vampire Demon. Very cool creature type, by the way.
6. Queen’s Bay Paladin
- Mana Cost: 3BB
- Type: Creature – Vampire Knight
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: Whenever Queen’s Bay Paladin enters the battlefield or attacks, return up to one target Vampire card from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. You lose life equal to its mana value.
Most common reanimation sorcery spells cost five mana to cast, but this one additionally gives you a 5/4 Vampire Knight. Queen’s Bay Paladin may lack keyword abilities, but it makes up for it by bringing a Vampire back from the dead when it enters the battlefield and each time it attacks. This Vampire Knight is a solid inclusion in Vampire Commander Decks as well as Limited decks with a heavy focus on Vampires.
5. Sanguine Evangelist
- Mana Cost: 2W
- Type: Creature – Vampire Cleric
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: Battle Cry (Whenever this creature attacks, each other attacking creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.) When Sanguine Evangelist enters the battlefield or dies, create a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying.
Sanguine Evangelist brings back the keyword ability Battle Cry, a very potent on-attack triggered ability. This ability is especially useful in “go-wide” strategies that try to get as many tokens into play or cast as many mana-efficient creatures as possible. Sanguine Evangelist then boosts those small creatures with +1/+0, which might not sound like much, but players on the receiving end of the attack will beg to differ. Luckily, she puts a 1/1 bat token with flying into play, thus dealing four damage at the very least for only three mana.
4. Preacher of the Schism
- Mana Cost: 2B
- Type: Creature – Vampire Cleric
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: Deathtouch. Whenever Preacher of the Schism attack the player with the most life or tied for the most life, create a 1/1 white Vampire creature token with lifelink. Whenever Preacher of the Schism attacks while you have the most life or are tied for most life, you draw a card and you lose 1 life.
Preacher of the Schism is a versatile card that always helps the player with what they need the most at the moment. If they are behind on life points, it will create a 1/1 Vampire with lifelink. If they are ahead on life points, it will use some life to draw more cards. Plus, its deathtouch makes it awkward for opponents to attack into it. It’s a well rounded card with very few, if any, downsides.
3. Amalia Benavides Aguirre
- Mana Cost: WB
- Type: Legendary Creature – Vampire Scout
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: Ward – Pay 3 life. Whenever you gain life, Amalia Benavides Aguirre explores. Then destroy all other creatures if its power is exactly 20.
Amalia Benavides Aguirre is a fantastic option for budget Commander decks looking to gain tons of life and wipe the board multiple times. For Amalia’s ability to trigger, she needs 20 power, which at first might seem hard to reach. Thankfully, there is an abundance of ways to gain life in MTG, from lands that gain you life upon entering the game, to creatures that gain you life each time another creature enters the battlefield or whenever another creature dies. Amalia’s ability can turn into a one-sided board wipe when timed right with instant spells like Flawless Maneuver that make all your creatures indestructible.
2. Bloodletter of Aclazotz
- Mana Cost: 1BBB
- Type: Creature – Vampire Demon
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: Flying. If an opponent would lose life during your turn, they lose twice that much life instead.
This lovely-looking Vampire Demon is a menace to society. Bloodletter of Aclazotz is the dream creature for any mono-Black or Rakdos deck looking to maximize life loss. Many Commander decks strategize to cause as much damage or life loss as possible through either direct spells or combat damage. This beautiful giant bat helps those strategies by doubling the life loss. For Rakdos decks it might be a bit difficult to cast a creature with triple black mana, but it’s definitely worth including. Bloodletter of Aclazotz is possibly one of the best cards from the set for Commander.
1. Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz
- Mana Cost: Vito, Fanatic of Aclazotz
- Type: Legendary Creature – Vampire Demon
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: Flying. Whenever you sacrifice another permanent, you gain 2 life if this is the first time this ability resolved this turn. If it’s the second time, each opponent loses 2 life. If it’s the third time, create a 4/3 white and black Vampire Demon creature token with flying.
Vito is the real deal. A 4/4 flyer for four mana is what most players would cosinder a “bomb” rare in Limited game play. Nonetheless, it’s his ability that makes him an obvious choice for Commander. Similar to Omnath, Locus of Creation, Vito’s ability can trigger up to three times, and each time it triggers is stronger than the last. There are a plethora of ways to sacrifice creatures in Commander, making it all too easy to activate his ability over and over again. The difficult task will be to keep feeding Vito enough permanents to activate three times each turn.
