In my last “Brainstorming” article, I shared my own take on a self-mill strategy with Tamiyo, Collector of Tales and Noxious Revival, which you can find here. This week’s deck is similar to the Tamiyo list in that it’s built to accumulate graveyard value over the course of a game, but its approach to doing so is very different from a self-mill strategy. Instead of going all-in on filling our graveyard as soon as possible, this list is looking to use its recursion to add some inevitability to its array of threats and value-creatures. This deck is also in an entirely different color combination, and it uses a Signature Spell that I actually have some previous experience with in Oathbreaker.
The Oathbreaker & Signature Spell
Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord is currently the most popular white/black Oathbreaker on EDHrec by a pretty wide margin with a whopping 276 decks, with the second most popular being Kaya, Orzhov Usurper at an even 100 decks. There are a lot of factors that makes this iteration of Sorin an appealing Oathbreaker for a variety of different strategies, so it’s no surprise to see him so high up in the rankings. At the moment, he’s even the 7th most popular Oathbreaker overall!
Sorin’s static ability may not be especially flashy, but it’s arguably the most powerful part of the entire card, at least for Oathbreaker. Incidental lifegain is a pretty powerful effect in Oathbreaker, and Sorin has the potential to net you a ton of extra life just by being on the board. His +2 ability can also make him useful for keeping an opposing Oathbreaker’s loyalty count low, and it even nets you a bit of lifegain because of Sorin’s static ability. With all that said, the part of Sorin that excites me the most is his -X ability, a very handy recursion effect that can provide some solid extra value. The “vampire creature-type” part of the ability is also very interesting, and it could open up the opportunity to play certain vampire-themed spells alongside Sorin.
Brought Back is an interesting Signature Spell option that I think may be a little underplayed. Like many Signature Spells, this card probably won’t be cast more than two times in a game, but Brought Back can provide some very solid value even if you only cast it once. It can act as some nice insurance against board wipes, and the fact that it can recur any type of permanent makes the spell surprisingly flexible. Brought Back doesn’t have any particular synergy with Sorin himself, but they do pair well together in the sense that they’re both useful means of recursion to have in the command zone.
The Deck
Decklist: Brought Back Sorin
This deck may be, admittedly, the least focused list I’ve ever done a “Brainstorming” article on. I’ve more or less aimed to build a “goodstuff” list built around Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord, with Brought Back just being an extra layer of protection/recursion. In other words, this deck is essentially a midrange deck with a small sacrifice subtheme. I’m especially looking to take advantage of Sorin’s static and -X abilities.
The list is largely creature-based (22 creatures), with a fair number of the creatures being ones that either provide value upon death or sacrifice themselves for some kind of ability. These kinds of creatures pair particularly well with our Oathbreaker/Signature Spell since we can use either to reanimate a value-creature right after we sacrifice it. The remainder of our creatures is made up of an interesting mix of threats, protection, and redundant recursion.
Now that you have a general idea of what this deck is trying to do, let’s look at some of the specific card choices.
- The New Tech: This deck is the first Oathbreaker list I’ve made from scratch since Ikoria/C20 previews finished, so I decided to use this opportunity to try out a number of new cards from the sets. The two most blatantly powerful cards in this category are definitely Luminous Broodmoth and Lurrus of the Dream-Den, each of which will make all of our creatures even more resilient. The companion mechanic may not function in Oathbreaker, but that won’t stop Lurrus from proving themselves in the 58 of this deck (with 18 nonland permanents with CMC 2 or less). Hunted Nightmare is a pretty straightforward beater whose high power and low CMC pair well with Sorin’s static and -X abilities, respectively. The most subtly powerful addition from Ikoria is likely Serrated Scorpion, which makes excellent sacrifice fodder and can drain a lot of life over the course of a game. Verge Rangers is the only new creature from C20 in this list, with its only justification being that it provides some solid card advantage (by white’s standards, anyways) and will help ensure that we hit all of our land drops. I’ve also decided to try out Netherborn Altar here since I suspect that Sorin’s static ability will help make up the difference in life loss.
- The Staples: Cliffside Rescuer and Selfless Spirit have proven to be strong in many white creature-based strategies in Oathbreaker, and they’re even more effective here thanks to our Oathbreaker/Signature Spell. Vampire Hexmage is another creature with a very relevant sacrifice ability, and with the help of Sorin, the Hexmage can even remove multiple opposing Oathbreakers from the table in a single turn when necessary. We can also turn any of our creatures into a one-time removal spell with Spark Harvest (RIP Domri), and at the low cost of only one mana. We’re also running some staple repeatable sacrifice outlets like Phyrexian Tower and Recurring Nightmare, all of which pair very well with good old Skullclamp. Elspeth, Knight-Errant is one inclusion that may seem odd at first glance, but she fills multiple roles in this deck. Her 1/1 tokens make excellent chump blockers and sacrifice fodder, and the big boost from her second +1 ability will double as some additional lifegain whenever we have Sorin in play.
- The Spice: Grafted Wargear is a card I’ve been playing more and more in Oathbreaker decks lately, and it fits especially well in this kind of list. Not only does its power buff further increase how much life we can gain off of Sorin’s static ability, it can also be used as a pseudo-sacrifice outlet by reequipping it to any of our creatures. Doom Whisperer is a pretty huge threat on its own, and after we give it lifelink and attack with it, we’ll have plenty of spare life to spend on its surveil ability. The lifelink granted by Sorin will also help balance out the small life tax from Bitterblossom. Another way we can take advantage of our lifegain is with Crested Sunmare, a creature that can quickly fill up our board with an army of shining stallions to pressure our opponents with (note that it triggers on each end step, not just our own). As for cards to pair with Sorin’s -X ability, little creatures like Loyal Sentry and High Priest of Penance can become quite the nuisance when they can be recurred repeatably. Standard Bearer can also prove to be pretty annoying for our opponents since it can redirect removal spells and targeted-removal loyalty abilities alike. Each of these little pests also pair particularly well with additional protection effects like Mother of Runes and Giver of Runes.
The Brainstorming
To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure where exactly this deck was headed when I first started working on it, but I’ve had a fun time finding all of these different ways to utilize Sorin. Unfortunately, this variance in how the deck capitalizes on its Oathbreaker has also made it pretty difficult for me to pinpoint on what exactly I want a finalized version of the deck to look like. I’m largely satisfied with the list as a whole, though there are still some cards I wouldn’t mind trying out. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there are a number of spicy possible inclusions that I’m sleeping on given how many different ways there are for creatures to benefit from having Sorin in play. In addition to discussing some other possible inclusions for the list, let’s take a look at the current inclusions that I’m most skeptical of, previous inclusions that I cut from the list, and the cuts that I may end up putting back in the list.
- Cards I’m skeptical of: Orzhov Signet is a somewhat last-minute change I made to this list after the recent ban of Dark Ritual, but I would love to find a more impactful two-drop to replace it with. I haven’t been especially impressed with Always Watching in this deck either, despite the power of vigilance in Oathbreaker. Although there are certainly situations where Always Watching comes in handy, this deck isn’t a dedicated aggro deck, making this kind of card a little less appealing. Vindicate is another card that I’m not especially excited to run, though I expect it may be a necessary inclusion as additional spot-removal (and there’s a version with Sorin art/flavor text, so there’s that flavor win too). I’m also a little worried that the current iteration of this list may not run quite enough support for Crested Sunmare. Sorin can net us a lot of extra life, but aside from him, there are only two other cards in the deck that enable any incidental lifegain.
- Cards I cut: I ultimately cut Bloodthirsty Aerialist from this deck for the same reason that I’m currently skeptical of Crested Sunmare, and I decided that the life-cost on Adanto Vanguard‘s ability was a little too high for my tastes. Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim is another lifegain payoff that I tried out and found to be okay, but it was functionally just a 2/3 with deathtouch more often than not. I briefly tried out Wingmate Roc as another lifegain enabler before deciding its mana-cost was a bit too high for this list. There were earlier iterations of the deck that were a bit more aggressive, running cards like Silverblade Paladin and Gideon of the Trials. I even had Traxos, Scourge of Kroog in the deck at one point, but I quickly decided to lean into more of a value-based gameplan. Despite this decision, I also eventually took Smothering Tithe out of the deck, which might be a first for me with white decks in Oathbreaker. Smothering Tithe always generates a lot of treasure tokens, in my playgroup especially, but the abundance of extra mana often felt fairly useless with this particular deck, oddly enough.
- Cards I may try again: For now I’ve decided that Alseid of Life’s Bounty isn’t necessary since the deck already has access to cards like Mother of Runes and Giver of Runes, though I have underestimated the alseid before. I’ve also put Loyal Unicorn on the bench since, as I’ve mentioned, this deck isn’t particularly aggressive. That being said, the effect offered by Loyal Unicorn is very powerful, so it may be worth it as a “goodstuff” include that can be reanimated by Sorin when necessary. Gideon Blackblade is another possible way give our creatures lifelink, and it’s essentially a free 4/4 attacker every subsequent turn to boot. Liliana, Death’s Majesty is another means of recursion that I’ve always enjoyed playing, and the only reason I haven’t tried it out in this deck yet is its high mana-cost of five. As far as other possible sacrifice outlets, I’m keeping my eye on Yahenni, Undying Partisan given its resiliency and greatened potency in multiplayer formats. This deck could also probably use another board wipe or two given its access to recursion, and Kaya’s Wrath is a four-mana wrath-effect that is very well-suited for this kind of deck.
- Other considerations: The deck is currently lacking any kind of graveyard hate, so Remorseful Cleric might have a place here as a potentially repeatable way to exile graveyards. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet also offers some light, incidental graveyard hate for creatures, and it will be particularly easy to trigger his ability in a multiplayer format like Oathbreaker. Basilica Bell-Haunt‘s enter-the-battlefield trigger is also pretty appealing, though I suspect it may belong in more of a dedicated blink-style deck. The sacrifice ability and low mana-cost on Kami of False Hope means it could potentially be very strong next to Sorin and Brought Back, and I have always enjoyed recurring Spore Frog in other decks. Another card I often enjoy including in sacrifice-based strategies is Westvale Abbey/Ormendahl, Profane Prince, though I’m not sure how often I would actually get to transform it in this particular deck. I’ve also considered trying out New Blood, more for fun than anything else. There’s only one actual vampire in this build, but Sorin’s -X ability does turn the targeted creature into a vampire, so it may not be the craziest idea in the world.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Coming up with different ways to build around Sorin’s various abilities has been an interesting thought experiment. Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord is commonly put at the helm of aristocrat and/or vampire tribal decks, so my biggest challenge with this list has been finding solid individual inclusions that don’t heavily rely on an abundance of thematic synergy. There are certainly plenty of cards in the deck that synergize well with Sorin, but many of them also function well enough without him in play.
Have you built any Oathbreaker decks around Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord? Are there any particular cards you’d try out in this kind of list? Send me your brews/suggestions in the comments or on Twitter, and I’ll highlight my favorite responses at the beginning of my next “Brainstorming” article!
About the author: My name is Alex Enders. I am a college student that’s been playing MTG for almost eight years, though I only recently began experimenting with writing content. My personal formats of choice are Oathbreaker, EDH, and draft. My other interests include music, education, and most things nerdy. You can find me on Twitter (@AAAEnders) or email me at aenders2112@gmail.com