Overview

Blood Rites is a Vampire tribal deck built around trading creatures for value. Clavileño, First of the Blessed is a Vampire Cleric, and whenever you attack, he makes target attacking Vampire that is not a Demon a Demon as well. That Vampire gains "When this creature dies, draw a card and create a tapped 4/3 white and black Vampire Demon creature token with flying." Every attack therefore sets up a creature that is worth more dead than alive.

The 99 cards are 35 creatures, 1 planeswalker, 11 artifacts, 6 enchantments, 4 instants, 5 sorceries and 37 lands. Every one of the creatures is a Vampire, which lets the tribal payoffs such as Legion Lieutenant, Etchings of the Chosen and Olivia's Wrath work with almost the whole deck. The deck is full of sacrifice outlets, such as Viscera Seer, Indulgent Aristocrat and Village Rites, and of cards that drain opponents whenever a creature dies.

Key Cards

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Elenda, the Dusk Rose
Counters · Death Trigger
A 1/1 for {2}{W}{B}. It has lifelink and gets a +1/+1 counter whenever another creature dies. When it dies it creates X 1/1 white Vampire creature tokens with lifelink, where X is its power, so a big Elenda leaves a whole army behind.
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Patron of the Vein
Removal · Team Growth
A 4/4 for {4}{B}{B}. It has flying. When it enters, destroy target creature an opponent controls, and whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, exile it and put a +1/+1 counter on each Vampire you control.
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Olivia's Wrath
One-Sided Sweeper
A sorcery for {4}{B}. Each non-Vampire creature gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the number of Vampires you control. Because every creature in the deck is a Vampire, it only hits your opponents.
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Vona, Butcher of Magan
Removal Engine · Lifelink
A 4/4 for {3}{W}{B}. It has vigilance and lifelink. For a tap and 7 life, destroy target nonland permanent, but only during your turn, so it keeps gaining life and then spends it on removal.

Playing the Deck

The early game is about cheap Vampires and mana. Indulgent Aristocrat, Viscera Seer and Master of Dark Rites cost one mana, Dusk Legion Zealot draws a card, and Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Orzhov Signet, Talisman of Hierarchy, Mind Stone and Commander's Sphere help you reach the expensive cards. Legion Lieutenant gives your other Vampires +1/+1 from two mana.

The middle of the game is about building a drain engine. Blood Artist and Falkenrath Noble drain whenever any creature dies, Cruel Celebrant drains whenever one of your creatures or planeswalkers dies, Sanctum Seeker drains whenever a Vampire attacks, and Glass-Cast Heart makes Blood tokens and lifelink Vampire tokens. March of the Canonized makes X Vampire tokens with lifelink at once, and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad makes one every turn. Timothar, Baron of Bats and Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher bring back Vampires that die.

The deck closes with a big drain or a big attack. Butcher of Malakir makes each opponent sacrifice a creature whenever a creature you control dies, Twilight Prophet drains for the mana value of the top card of your library once you have the city's blessing, and Order of Sacred Dusk is a flying, lifelink, haste Vampire that convoke makes cheap. Austere Command, Damn and Olivia's Wrath reset the board, and Utter End and Swords to Plowshares remove single threats.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths: The deck is consistent: every creature is on theme, so almost every tribal payoff works on almost every card, and the drain effects mean that trades and sweepers never leave you without value. It also has a lot of removal and protection for a precon, including Swords to Plowshares, Utter End, Damn and Swiftfoot Boots.

Weaknesses: A deck that wants to trade creatures does poorly against an opponent who simply does not attack or block, and many of its payoffs need creatures to die. A planeswalker-heavy or noncreature opponent also gives its drain engines less to work with, and exile effects take away the death triggers it depends on.

Want to improve it? See the Blood Rites upgrade guide: eight swaps with the data behind each one.

Verdict
Blood Rites is a focused Vampire deck with a clear plan and plenty of ways to get value from every creature. It is a good fit for players who enjoy sacrifice and drain, and its mana and removal make it straightforward to pilot straight out of the box.

Want to see what a fully optimised Clavileño, First of the Blessed build looks like? Try the Oracle.

✦ Build with The Oracle

Frequently Asked Questions

What cards are in the Blood Rites decklist?
The Blood Rites precon is a 100-card Commander deck led by Clavileño, First of the Blessed. The full Blood Rites decklist, with every card, current prices and a button to copy the list into your deck builder, is on this page.

When was Blood Rites released?
Blood Rites was released on November 17, 2023 as part of Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander.

Who is the commander of Blood Rites?
Blood Rites is led by Clavileño, First of the Blessed, a Orzhov (W/B) legendary creature.

How many creatures are in Blood Rites?
The 99 cards besides Clavileño, First of the Blessed include 35 creatures.

How many lands does Blood Rites have?
Blood Rites has 37 lands in the 99 cards besides Clavileño, First of the Blessed, including basic lands.

Full Decklist

All 100 cards from the out-of-the-box Blood Rites precon, with current prices. Click any card to expand it.

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