When Reid Duke brought his Grixis Vampires to the testing team Discord for the Streets of New Capenna Championship a few weeks ago, we were at first skeptical.

Evelyn, the Covetous was a super cool card that had done some nasty things in Limited, but a five-mana 2/5 in Constructed? And was Corpse Appraiser really a good card outside of draft?

The answers to both were resoundingly "yes!"

Time Stamps:

04:47 - Match 1

18:00 - Match 2

50:30 - Match 3

Grixis Vampires | SNC Standard | Mike Sigrist | Top 8 New Capenna Championship

• Creatures (14)
• 2 Bloodthirsty Adversary
• 2 Evelyn, the Covetous
• 2 Tenacious Underdog
• 4 Bloodtithe Harvester
• 4 Corpse Appraiser

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 1 Sorin the Mirthless
• 3 Kaito Shizuki

• Instants (8)
• 1 Ray of Enfeeblement
• 1 Spell Pierce
• 2 Infernal Grasp
• 4 Voltage Surge

• Sorceries (2)
• 1 Duress
• 1 Soul Transfer

• Enchantments (6)
• 2 The Meathook Massacre
• 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki

• Lands (26)
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Shipwreck Marsh
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 2 Haunted Ridge
• 2 Hive of the Eye Tyrant
• 3 Clearwater Pathway // Murkwater Pathway
• 3 Stormcarved Coast
• 4 Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathway
• 4 Riverglide Pathway // Lavaglide Pathway
• 4 Xander's Lounge

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Soul Transfer
• 1 Go Blank
• 3 Ray of Enfeeblement
• 1 Mind Flayer
• 1 Negate
• 1 Duress
• 1 Evelyn, the Covetous
• 1 The Meathook Massacre
• 1 Abrade
• 1 Disdainful Stroke
• 3 Annul

Buy This Deck Export text format Export Arena format

At its core, Grixis Vampires is just a really good midrange deck.

Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki is the best card in Standard and at its absolute best here, providing card advantage, mana advantage, the ability to sift through conditional cards, and most importantly the ability to copy a whole host of excellent targets. Kaito Shizuki is similar in that it provides a card draw engine that keeps on going, while excellent removal like Voltage Surge and Infernal Grasp keep your opponent at bay.

But it really is the vampire squad that holds this deck together.

All three of these cards provide excellent advantage and rate, all in their different ways, while being phenomenal targets for Reflection of Kiki-Jiki. Corpse Appraiser is the best of the bunch, giving you a good body, graveyard hate, and card advantage all for only 3 mana. Bloodtithe Harvester needs little introduction at this point, while Bloodthirsty Adversary can get in early if needed to provide an attacker for Kaito or be a five or even eight-drop when needed.

And topping it all off is the one true vampire payoff in the deck, Evelyn, the Covetous. Evelyn is a fairly powerful card in a vacuum in that she can provide a constant stream of cards from both you and your opponent's decks, but the real thing that makes her great is how hard she is to kill. Being multicolored dodges Vanishing Verse, while the fifth point of toughness means she dodges Voltage Surge, Dragon's Fire, Thundering Rebuke, and more. She also doesn't need to get into combat to be useful, helping to nullify The Wandering Emperor as an answer.

This is one of the best decks in Standard, while also being a ton of fun to play as a very powerful midrange deck with a nice synergistic slant. And don't underestimate those Annul in the sideboard either!