Deck Doctors: Elenda Dusk Rose

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The Deck Doctors are back in this week, with Kevin and Pat’s Games staff member Morgan taking a deck built around Elenda, The Dusk Rose under the knife!

The Prognosis

Michael in South Bend, Indiana, has been struggling with his vampire token deck. Although Elenda can be great for creating tokens and pumping up the player’s life, its 4-mana cost means that Elenda often can’t get out on the field early enough to pump itself up as other creatures die.

Thanks to the use of “Mirror Gallery”, Michael is able to avoid the one-play limit Elenda typically has to deal with, and he is curious as to whether more copies of Elenda might be the solution. Finally, he would like to stick to the white/black theme, and needs to keep his deck under $150.
Michael’s full deck list currently includes:

Creatures (27)

  • 2 Bishop of the Bloodstained
  • 4 Bishop’s Soldier
  • 1 Elenda, the Dusk Rose
  • 4 Famished Paladin
  • 4 Legion Conquistador
  • 4 Legion Lieutenant
  • 3 Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle
  • 4 Sanctum Seeker
  • 1 Vona, Butcher of Magan

Lands (20)

  • 4 Isolated Chapel
  • 8 Plains
  • 8 Swamp

Sorceries (6)

  • 3 Call to the Feast
  • 3 Queen’s Commission

Artifacts (3)

  • 2 Mirror Gallery
  • 1 Vanquisher’s Banner

Enchantments (4)

  • 4 Legion’s Landing

Doctor’s Orders

The first recommended step for this deck is the removal of mirror gallery. Since this deck only has a small number of legendary cards (at fairly low-cost, as well), it’s likely that the opponent will remove them from the board fairly quickly. While having multiple copies of Elenda is indeed essential, it’s more an issue of having more in the deck rather than necessarily wanting more of them on the field. So, the first recommendation is to remove Mirror Gallery while also adding two more Elendas.
The next step for this deck deals with the creatures. Right now, Michael has filled his deck with relatively low-cost vampires. Here, the Doctors recommend to replace some of these with more powerful creatures, allowing them to hit a bit harder when the time is right.

With that said, several cards in the deck, such as Legion’s Landing, Legion Lieutenant, and Call To The Feast, should likely include more copies, as they’re a low-cost and versatile option for creating tokens and buffing them up.

The first recommendation for creatures to add would be Martyr of Dusk, which allows for easy token creation and a bit of lifelink redundancy.

Next up is Captivating Vampire, which provides a buff to your other vampires while also turning your vampire tokens into a tool with which you can enthrall your enemies!

Another great addition is Vampire Nighthawk, and while it doesn’t have any major tricks with it, it’s simply a versatile flyer that combines deathtouch and flying into one lethal package. Its superior blocking ability and 4-point life swing every turn means it something that can easily turn the tide of the battle.

In order to provide a bit of removal for a deck that isn’t great at it, several copies of Cast Out are recommended as ways to limit your opponent’s use of of artifacts and enchantments.

And, just as a precaution, a few more lands are also a solid idea at this point, ensuring that Michael has everything he needs to fire off his best creatures.

One additional issue with this deck is a relative lack of draw power. However, that is quickly fixed by including Champion of Dusk, which allows you to draw as many cards as you have vampires.

Another heavy-hitter suggested for inclusion in this deck is Bloodline Keeper, a versatile card that can also transform into Lord of Lineage, a 5/5 flyer that buffs other vampires +2/+2 while also tapping to create 2/2 flying tokens.

And finally, to finish out the versatility boost in this deck, Indulgent Aristocrat allows for the quick sacrifice of a token to further buff your creatures.
Thanks to all the buffs and abilities now included in this deck, it’s entirely possible for Michael to flood the field with absurdly powerful flying tokens to easily turn the tide in his favor.
This new deck list includes:

Creatures (27)

  • 2 Bloodline Keeper
  • 4 Captivating Vampire
  • 2 Champion of Dusk
  • 3 Elenda, the Dusk Rose
  • 2 Indulgent Aristocrat
  • 4 Legion Lieutenant
  • 4 Martyr of Dusk
  • 1 Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle
  • 4 Vampire Nighthawk
  • 1 Vona, Butcher of Magan

Lands (24)

  • 2 Concealed Courtyard
  • 4 Isolated Chapel
  • 9 Plains
  • 9 Swamp

Enchantments (6)

  • 2 Cast Out
  • 4 Legion’s Landing

Sorceries (3)

  • 3 Call to the Feast

To see how all these horrific vampires came together, watch the Deck Doctors episode below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLm5p3WKCkI
And to have YOUR deck featured on Deck Doctors, be sure to email us at [email protected]!

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