Vampire Killmonger: Decks & Tips for the New Card
Ah, ah, ah, one, two, three. Bloodthirsty Erik Killmonger is here to steal your Power, grow to unreasonable size, and use his Spears to get into all kinds of trouble. Here is everything I want to try with the new Vampire Killmonger card.
The Scaling
Vampire Killmonger Investment Chart
| Energy Spent | Potential Output |
|---|---|
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 4-6 |
| 4 | 6-10 |
| 5 | 8-12 |
| 6 | 10-16 |
As long as you spend all of your Energy each turn, you have the opportunity to scale up your Vampire Killmonger at a rate of 1 Energy to 2 Power. There is the added (but inconsistent) effect of stealing that Power from your opponent's cards – sometimes they'll play them out, sometimes they won't. Scaling a card at a 1:2 rate is nothing special, especially when it starts as a 2/2. Plus, cards like Luke Cage and Shadow King can spoil the party. The scaling on this card is fine, but the real strength of this card comes elsewhere. There are a variety of synergy hooks that more than make up for the low-rate scaling of this card. This is a synergy card, not a generic 2-Cost scaler.
Synergy Hooks
Luckily, there are a ton of attractive synergy hooks and currently powerful cards that pair nicely with VK and his Spears.
Zombies
Right out of the gates we can combine the two sides of this season. The Spears can help us fill our curve and provides the precious cheap fodder to grow our Horde. Any card that wants more cards played onto it like ZSW or Hope Summers can get extra value from the Spears.
Werewolf By Night
For the second time in two weeks WWBN gets a powerful new enabler. Very appropriately, October could be a huge month for old Jack Russel. I know I've been having a blast playing him with the Queen of Chaos.
Stolen Power
There is a new archetype on the horizon. Stealing is the name of the game this month and our Season Pass card is going to go hand in hand with this season's big new build-around, Deacon Frost, who comes out near the end of October.
Skills Matter
While Scarlet Witch, Queen of Chaos is the better enabler for Nicholas Scratch, Vampire Killmonger provides even more Skills to grow a big Nick. Plus, the way the skills decks tend to work, we usually have a variety of reliable ways to ensure we're spending all of our Energy each turn to keep getting Spears.
Invisible Woman
This is the first End of Turn card we've gotten since Fractured Frontier Hellcow. (Hey, they both Afflict!) Usually, Invisible Woman decks want to save her for the final Turn, but VK provides the type of effect for which you might want to set her off a turn early.
1s Matter
The most exciting thing to happen to Lockheed since his last trip to Japan, the Vampiric spears pair perfectly with Lockheed to add up to a significant degradation of your opponent's Power both on board and in hand. Even more likely to have a meta impact, Joaquin Torres can really make those Spear pokes hurt.
Played Cards Matter
There are plenty of cards that just want cheap options to fulfill their various "play cards" requirements and Vampire Killmonger can find a home alongside any of them.
Affliction
There are plenty of Affliction payoffs that can further punish your opponent for playing out what the Spear hits. Could Vampire Killmonger's best home be in a dedicated Affliction shell?
Vulnerable Targets
It's probably best when building a Vampire Killmonger deck to view the Affliction Power on opposing cards as mostly incidental. Sometimes it will contribute to a win, but you can't count on it. That being said, there are some juicy targets that your opponent will hate to see hit, and there will be metas that are more target rich for VK.
Scosco's Day One Vampire Killmonger Decks
Scratch the Same Old Itch
We can make excellent use of Thanos' red Reality Shot to copy whichever scaler between Scratch and VK that gets bigger. We can follow that up with plenty of Power on Turn 6 between our Skills, Shou-Lao, and Superior Iron Man.
Ending Affliction
I'm not saying you're always going to want to Activate your Invisible Woman on Turn 4 or 5, but between Mr. Fantastic First Steps and Vampire Killmonger, there are definitely games where you will want to do just that to set up a killer Turn 6.
Is He Worth It?
The Season Pass is always worth it, but this card is good. You're going to see a lot of decks utilizing this card and you're going to want access to it. Not every card is a Thanos-level threat, but Vampire Killmonger is on the short list for best cards of the Season.
Once enough data has accumulated, check out SnapComplete for the best performing Vampire Killmonger decks. As always, special thanks to SnapComplete for card and deck art found in this article.
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