At this point, the combination of Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Vein Ripper has proven to be a dominant force in Pioneer. By far the most common shell for these cards is Rakdos Vampires. Both Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Bloodtithe Harvester are elite support cards that help keep the deck powerful and consistent.
Over time, we’ve seen players try to implement Sorin and Vein Ripper into other archetypes, such as unique Fight Rigging builds. Generally, though, these strategies have failed to stick the way Rakdos Vampires has. Well, this narrative may change.
This weekend, one player won a Magic Online Pioneer Challenge with a Dimir control list featuring the Sorin+Vein Ripper package. Every other card in the maindeck is either an instant, sorcery, or land. The goal is to drag the game out and use Vein Ripper as a way to shut the door. The deck’s sudden success is exciting in a format that has grown a bit stale in recent months, and we felt it deserved to be recognized.
Typical Control Elements
- Mana Value: B
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Text: Destroy target creature if it has converted mana cost 2 or less. Revolt- Destroy that creature if it has converted mana cost 4 or less instead if a permanent you controlled left the battlefield this turn.
At heart, this deck functions like a typical Dimir control deck in the vast majority of games. Playing black gives you access to two of the best interactive one-mana spells in the format: Fatal Push and Thoughtseize. In the two-mana slot, Sheoldred’s Edict provides the deck with answers to opposing copies of Vein Ripper. Meanwhile, Negate acts as disruption for top-end spells in the format, such as Treasure Cruise or Storm the Festival.
From there, Extinction Event and Deadly Cover-Up can clean up a bunch of problematic creatures at once. Extinction Event is particularly powerful against mono-green Devotion, letting you exile copies of Old-Growth Troll and Cavalier of Thorns. Deadly Cover-Up, on the other hand, shines versus Abzan Amalia by potentially letting you exile a combo piece from their deck in the process.
On turns where you have some breathing room, Deduce and Memory Deluge help you pull ahead on resources. They simultaneously dig you closer to Sorin and Vein Ripper. As we will see, Sorin and Vein Ripper add a sweet angle that helps in a variety of matchups.
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Vampire Package
- Mana Value: 3BBB
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 6/5
- Text: Flying. Ward- Sacrifice a creature. Whenever a creature dies, target opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.
What’s nice about this strategy is that, because of the presence of Sorin, your opponent has to respect the possibility of Vein Ripper coming down as early as turn three. These starts are undoubtedly strong, especially in game one. Against mono-green Devotion and fast aggro decks, Sorin and Vein Ripper allow you to win games you would never win otherwise.
At the same time, if the opponent isn’t pressuring you a ton, you can often wait to find a window to play Sorin and protect your Vein Ripper with Negate on the same turn. The opponent may feel forced to sideboard in reactive cards like Pick Your Poison to deal with Vein Ripper, but this only makes it more likely you’ll have time to hit your land drops and keep the opponent off-balance.
Hard-casting Vein Ripper is very realistic for this deck. Sorin also pairs nicely with Mutavault, which this deck plays a playset of. It may seem strange to feature Sorin and Vein Ripper in a deck with so few Vampires, but having access to such a powerful combo that you can dig for as the game goes on is extremely valuable.
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Appealing Choices
- Mana Value: 1UU
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Stats: 5 Loyalty
- Text: Each opponent can’t draw than one card each turn. -2: Look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal a noncreature, nonland card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Typically, Dimir control decks make use of cards like Narset, Parter of Veils and Shark Typhoon in these slots. These cards definitely have their tradeoffs. Narset is stellar against Izzet Phoenix, while Shark Typhoon is good in grindy matchups. The problem is that neither of these cards are particularly good against Abzan Amalia or mono-green Devotion, which are both surging currently. Narset is also very poor against aggro decks.
This is where Sorin and Vein Ripper get their biggest edge. Vein Ripper is tough to answer, closes games extremely quickly, and is a nightmare for aggro decks to fight through. You certainly lose some percentage points against Azorius control and the like, but given where the metagame has settled, this build of Dimir control is rather appealing.
Having access to lots of interaction and card advantage is also quite nice when facing down Rakdos Vampires. Giving up Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is definitely costly, but as the game stalls out, Memory Deluge begins to flex its muscles. Ultimately, if you’re a fan of Dimir control, this variant provides a unique angle of attack that can be helpful depending on the metagame at hand. Consider giving this deck a try at your next FNM. You may catch a lot of players off guard.
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