Tomorrow we can finally ship out the new MTG event decks! These are pretty exciting, since they're a lot stronger than some event deck releases we've seen in the past.
[caption id="attachment_1283" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Wizards vs. Vampires in the Ultimate Battle for the division! *It's like high fantasy UFC...kinda. In my mind. A little."]
![Magic the Gathering Set of Both M12 Magic 2012 Event Decks [Illusionary Might & Vampire Onslaught]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_ugEut5tYeh-qV38bBo3inkEaoN3Y8ohT3wwruYZFSN5ZgpMymH_5VL-DIihJLur4B3Pztj6bHNfW6PEVjg7gujoKzD9Q83A6UnNv4jn0lUaVZn8CVegmisslbeW9Y_qgmD5x3Fcda8KtjWGtOcBd_8uC13aA=s0-d "Magic the Gathering Set of Both M12 Magic 2012 Event Decks [Illusionary Might & Vampire Onslaught]")
[/caption]From Ian, our resident Magic the Gathering Expert:
Vampire Onslaught is a take on the mono-black vampires deck that has been popular in Standard tournaments since Zendikar's release. On the surface it is a fast beatdown deck, capable of steamrolling a defenseless opponent by turn 5.
But this deck also packs a powerful late game strategy by exploiting the synergy between sacrifice costs, recursion and token generation. Imagine sacrificing your Bloodghast to Bloodthrone Vampire, using Kalastria Highborne to drain 2 life from your opponent, then playing a land to return a hasty Bloodghast from the graveyard and attack for 8! Things get even crazier when you add in Pawn of Ulamog tokens and Blade of the Bloodchief to benefit from your sacrifices. Black removal spells and powerful uncommons like Vampire Nighthawk, Gatekeeper of Malakir and Skinrender give you a great matchup against other creature-based decks.
But this deck also packs a powerful late game strategy by exploiting the synergy between sacrifice costs, recursion and token generation. Imagine sacrificing your Bloodghast to Bloodthrone Vampire, using Kalastria Highborne to drain 2 life from your opponent, then playing a land to return a hasty Bloodghast from the graveyard and attack for 8! Things get even crazier when you add in Pawn of Ulamog tokens and Blade of the Bloodchief to benefit from your sacrifices. Black removal spells and powerful uncommons like Vampire Nighthawk, Gatekeeper of Malakir and Skinrender give you a great matchup against other creature-based decks.
23 Swamp
1 Verdant Catacombs
24 lands
1 Verdant Catacombs
24 lands
2 Bloodghast
4 Bloodthrone Vampire
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Kalastria Highborn
4 Pawn of Ulamog
1 Vampire Hexmage
4 Vampire Lacerator
2 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Vampire Outcasts
4 Viscera Seer
29 creatures
4 Bloodthrone Vampire
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Kalastria Highborn
4 Pawn of Ulamog
1 Vampire Hexmage
4 Vampire Lacerator
2 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Vampire Outcasts
4 Viscera Seer
29 creatures
Illusionary Might is a take on the classic aggro-control strategy. This deck has efficient early plays like M12's phantasmal creatures and Porcelain Legionnaire backed up with bounce and counterspells. Lord of the Unreal and Grand Architect power up your aggressive gameplan while protecting your illusions and ramping your mana up to big bombs like Precursor Golem and Steel Hellkite. If your opponent manages to stabilize with a large blocker, Mind Control will instantly turn the tables. The sideboard gives you a boost against mana ramp decks with additional counterspells (Negate and Flashfreeze) and against control with the back-breaking Neurok Commando.
4 Æther Adept
2 Grand Architect
1 Lord of the Unreal
4 Phantasmal Bear
3 Phantasmal Dragon
1 Phantasmal Image
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
1 Precursor Golem
4 Spined Thopter
1 Steel Hellkite
25 creatures
2 Grand Architect
1 Lord of the Unreal
4 Phantasmal Bear
3 Phantasmal Dragon
1 Phantasmal Image
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
1 Precursor Golem
4 Spined Thopter
1 Steel Hellkite
25 creatures
Sideboard
2 Flashfreeze
2 Frost Breath
3 Master Thief
1 Mind Control
2 Negate
4 Neurok Commando
1 Stoic Rebuttal
2 Flashfreeze
2 Frost Breath
3 Master Thief
1 Mind Control
2 Negate
4 Neurok Commando
1 Stoic Rebuttal
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