TC's 101 - Child of the Night

[TopCat]

I'm sure a lot of people out there like Vampire. What's not to like? He's a 40/40 with First Strike and HP drain. Great creature, right? But let's take a closer look at our undead friend. First off he has a green land requirement. Not so bad, maybe you can get him out on turn 2. Moreover, he has a double land limit and he can't use any armor! In the grand scheme of things, he has some very exploitable weaknesses. You might not be able to get him out when you want to (cost and land limit), and he may not be able to hold the land without the use of an armor card you may have in your hand (not the biggest disadvantage since he can still use tools and item creatures).

Now comes the good part. There's a way to exploit all that's good about Vampire without having to suffer most of his weaknesses, and the key is Revenant. Revenant's ability allows him to turn into a Vampire if the land is cursed. So basically you can throw a Land Protection on the land and you've got yourself a Vampire in play. Seems like a lot of work? Let's look more closely at what we get with this method.

First off, he's a normal rarity (meaning Ivory Idol doesn't affect him), is cheaper (70 opposed to 80+G) and has lesser land limit (Y opposed to BY). Since abilities come into play after you select items and initiate battle you can have a Vampire that can use armor. What's more, this Vampire has a fake regeneration since he'll always be 40/40 at the start of a battle due to the transformation from/to Revenant. Revenant can also paralyze on a successful attack as an offensive creature and has more HP than Vampire so he's a little more resistant to blasts in addition to being a generally lower profile creature (though perhaps not for much longer).

It's not perfect, though. The one real disadvantage is that you can never augment the Vampire since he's a temporary creature. In the end, though, it's a fairly small price to pay for the increased utility. This method also adheres well to rule 3 of my 5 Tips to a Better Game.

Try it out and post any thoughts.

[Lizardman]

It seems like they added a lot of cards that transform into more powerful creatures. Some examples of this are Mesozoic Song, Metamorph Belt(thing that makes Grass Strider), Dragon Newt, Sword Princess, and all of the other evolution creatures. I noticed with this game I am using the territory command more often instead of just ending my turn. They also added some really powerful territory abilities to many of the new creatures. With Revenant I can see building a deck around him and Kasha. Curses like Hustle, Fat Body, Mutation, etc. might work well with him. Paralyze is a great ability for making an opponent's best land defenseless so he is nice to send into battle too. I will have to try him out.

[TopCat]

You bring up an interesting scenario. If Revenant is cursed with Hustle does the Vampire still get the +30/30 bonus. This could work well against US books if that's the case.

I can see a concept involving Vampires now. A book centered on Vampire, Revenant, and Fay. Use Fay to beef up the real Vampires and use Revenants as fake Vampires to hold land.

[EDIT]
Alright, I can tell you that it does in fact work. I should have known this since creature effects occur before item or spell effects. This is why Saint + Abyssal Tome doesn't work but Medusa + Battering Ram does. On a green land at level 1, unless they have a first striker or avoid damage he's a 70/150 creature. It's pretty hilarious. Someone needs to make a book and play it for real.

Basic concept:

Fay the real Vamps, Hustle the Revs, and have a bunch of Crusher Storms to eliminate shields and weapons that first strikers might use (you won't need many items). Include a couple of Shatters to break any first strike creatures who might give you problems. Hold Curse to keep your land from being recursed at an inopportune moment.