Alongside zombies, vampires have long been one of the most popular black tribes within Magic: The Gathering. Though other black tribes such as rats provide access to more swarm-based strategies, few of the colors' tribes are as diverse as vampires. Across Magic's multiverse, vampires have been depicted in numerous lights, such as the aristocratic vampires of Innistrad, to the conquistadores of Ixalon. With each incarnation of vampires, the tribe has received new abilities and even new colors to their identity, dipping their toes into red, white, and sometimes even blue. This has led them to be a very diverse and multifarious tribe that thrives in formats with large card pools like Commander.
So today we're going to talk about the best the tribe has to offer in regards to the Commander format in our look at the strongest cards for a vampire tribal Commander deck!
Updated March 3, 2022 by Paul DiSalvo: With the release of Innistrad: Crimson Vow in 2021, Vampire-Tribal decks were bestowed with a litany of new tools to utilize within the Commander format. While it's hard to talk about Vampire-Tribal decks without the discussion of Edgar Markov, great new commander options for the tribe have been added for those looking for an alternative, while potent new non-legendary vampires are an excellent addition in any Vampire deck, regardless of the commander.
15 Strefan, Maurer Progenitor
A legendary Rakdos vampire for four mana, Strefan, Maurer Progenitor allows players to potentially cheat high-costed vampires into play without requiring their mana costs to be paid. A 3/2 with flying, at the beginning of its controller's end step, Strefan creates a blood token for each player who lost life that turn. Once a Strefan player has amassed several blood tokens, when Strefan attacks, two blood tokens can be sacrificed in order to put a vampire from its controller's hand directly onto the battlefield, tapped and attacking
14 Olivia's Wrath
The use of Board Wipes is key in Commander in order for players to clear out an opponent's overwhelming board state. While many Board Wipes offer symmetrical effects that impact each player, Olivia's Wrath is a one-sided Board Wipe that converts Vampires into mass removal. For five mana, this sorcery causes each non-vampire creature to get -X/-X until the end of the turn where X is equal to the number of vampires its caster controls. This allows a vampire player to easily clear a path for their vampires while depriving opponents of their key creatures.
13 Cordial Vampire
For the cost of two black mana, Cordial Vampire is perhaps one of the most efficient creatures of this tribe in all of Magic. Though only a 1/1, when Cordial Vampire or any other creature on the battlefield dies, its controller puts a +1/+1 counter on each vampire they control. When paired with a strong sacrifice outlet such as an Ashnods Altar or even when paired with removal spells, Cordial Vampire can be used to increase the potency of its controller's forces.
12 Malakir Bloodwitch
Though many Vampire-Tribal decks rely heavily on the aggressive use of combat to defeat their opponents in Commander, Malakir Bloodwitch is a creature that can be used to close out a game when paired with an established board state. For five mana, this creature is a respectable 4/4 with flying that notably has protection from white. Upon entering the battlefield, each opponent loses life equal to the number of vampires under its owner's control, while its owner gains life equal to the total amount of life lost this way. Even if Malakir Bloodwitch doesn't end a game outright, it can be used to create a massive divide in life totals that can be difficult for opponents to recover from.
11 Olivia, Crimson Bride
Olivia, Crimson Bride is the central figure of Innistrad: Crimson Vow and is a card capable of providing excellent value within a Vampire-based deck. A Rakdos 3/4 with flying and haste for six mana, whenever Olivia attacks, it can be used to return another creature from its controller's graveyard to the battlefield, tapped and attacking. While creatures put into play with Olivia are exiled if their controller doesn't control a legendary vampire, this is an excellent source of repeatable graveyard recursion.
10 New Blood
New Blood is a four-mana sorcery that gains control of target creature, replacing all instances of a creature type of your choice in its text with "vampire."
This is an incredibly useful card when playing against another tribal deck, as you'll be able to steal many tribe-specific powerhouses, retooling them to benefit your vampire brood. There are very few other cards in Magic that can retool cards in such a warping manner, providing vampires a flavorful and unique trick up their sleeves.
9 Captivating Vampire
Captivating Vampire is a straightforward and flavorful creature that helps to double down on many goals of Vampire-Tribal decks. For a low cost of three mana, Captivating Vampire provides each other vampire you control with +1/+1, bolstering the might and resiliency of your forces.
However, the primary appeal of this card is its ability to repeatedly steal opponents' creatures. By tapping any five vampires you control, Captivating Vampire allows you to gain control of target creature, turning it into a vampire in addition to its other types. Not only does this effect deprive an opponent of a creature, but it provides a vampire player with an improved version of it through Captivating Vampire's own anthem effect.
8 Blood Tribute
A sorcery that truly encapsulates the concept of vampirism, Blood Tribute allows you to deal damage to an opponent equal to half their life total rounded down. Though halving an opponent's life total would already be a potent effect, this spell possesses Kicker. While most Kicker costs require their controller to pay additional mana, Blood Tribute merely requires its controller to tap a vampire they control. If they do, not only does an opponent lose half their life total, but this spell's caster gains life equal to the amount that was lost, swinging the game into that player's favor.
7 Bloodline Keeper/Lord Of Lineage
A double-sided creature from the original Innistrad, Bloodline keeper is a card capable of amassing a great deal of value for its controller if left unchecked. A flying 3/3 for four mana, Bloodline Keeper can be tapped to create a 2/2 flying vampire token. While this is a consistent means of growing your vampire brood, as long as you control at least five vampires, you can pay one black mana to transform Bloodline Keeper, flipping it into Lord of Lineage.
As Lord of Lineage, this creature becomes a 5/5, maintains its ability to tap to create a vampire token, while constantly providing other vampires its owner controls with +2/+2.
6 Blade Of The Bloodchief
Vampires have the distinction of being one of the only tribes in Magic to have access to a tribe-specific equipment card. For a single mana, Blade of the Bloodchief is an equipment toting an equip cost of one. While it normally provides the equipped creature with a +1/+1 counter whenever another creature dies if the equipped creature is a vampire, this number of counters gained this way is doubled, allowing for a single vampire to grow into a massive threat for a minimal cost.
5 Blood Artist
While not necessarily a Vampire-Tribal card, Blood Artist is a two-mana creature that no vampire deck would want to be without. With the ability to drain a player of one life whenever a creature dies, Blood Artist allows for its controller to weaponize the deaths of creatures on the battlefield.
A multifarious creature, Blood Artist puts opponents in tough situations in which sacrificing their own creatures or destroying those controlled by Blood Artist's owner can be incredibly costly.
4 Sanguine Blood And Exquisite Blood
Sanguine Blood and Exquisite Blood are two sides of the same coin. Both cards are black enchantments with static abilities that synergize in fantastic fashion with Vampire-Tribal decks due to the manner in which they manipulate life. While Sanguine Blood causes opponents to lose life equal to the amounts of life you gain over the course of a game, Exquisite Blood does the opposite, causing you to gain life equal to the amounts lost by opponents. While they each function well by themselves, if a player is able to control these two enchantments at once, they can create an infinite, game-winning loop.
3 Olivia Voldaren
Once the top contender for best Vampire-Tribal commander, Olivia Voldaren possesses two flavorful abilities that allow you to bolster your vampire horde. Firstly, for two mana, Olivia can deal one damage to a creature, turning that creature into a vampire while putting a +1/+1 counter on Olivia. While this flavorful ability is quite evocative, or five mana, Olivia can be used to gain control of any other vampire, allowing you to utilize an opponent's key creatures whom you've converted.
When working in conjunction with a plenitude of mana, few vampires are as scary for a commander table as Olivia Voldaren.
2 Any And All Sorins
The vampiric lord of Innistrad, Sorin Markov has seen many incarnations since his introduction in 2009. Luckily for Vampire-Tribal players, nearly every incarnation of Sorin synergizes with Vampire-Tribal decks to some degree.
Notably, Sorin Imperious Bloodlord can buff vampires whilst also allowing them to be played from your hand for free, while Sorin Lord of Innistrad can create vampire tokens or buff those you already have through his emblem. Alternatively, Sorin Vengeful Bloodlord provides all of your vampires with lifelink, while the original Sorin Markov can infamously drop a player's life total to ten in an instant.
1 Edgar Markov
Not just the most powerful vampire commander, but one of the most powerful aggressive commanders in the entire Commander format, other vampire commanders wish they were Edgar Markov. Possessing the incredibly strong (albeit a bit broken) Eminence ability that triggers even when Edgar is still in the Command Zone, Edgar Markov creates a 1/1 black vampire token every time you cast a vampire spell. As if that weren't enough, Edgar is a 4/4 who comes along with haste, first strike, and the added benefit of putting a +1/+1 counter on each vampire you control (including himself) whenever it attacks.
To tie the vampire lord together, Edgar Markov possesses a Mardu color identity, meaning one is able to play any and all vampires from black, red, and white, allowing access to the strongest vampires the game has to offer.