Vampire Nighthawk: Why Not In Jund?

Credit: WOTC & Jason Chan

Vampire Nighthawk
1BB
Creature - Vampire Shaman
Flying, Deathtouch, Lifelink
2/3
Artist: Jason Chan

Although I wasn't playing MTG when this guy was first released in Zendikar block, I have heard the stories of his dominance in limited. It isn't hard to believe: this uncommon packs more board value than most bulk rares, even most mythic rares now that they are a thing.

But you virtually never see this guy in a modern jund deck. In all my scouring of decklists online, I think I've only ever spotted this draft all-star once, and it was as a 'fun-of' in the sideboard.

Of course, we're all aware that cards that are great in limited are not necessarily great in constructed formats, especially older constructed formats.

And yet, any card that was this dominant in any format is worth talking about in others. So let's talk about what this vampire shaman can offer jund. Let's start by discussing the obvious downsides to nighthawk in modern constructed. I think that will create a better context to then discuss his strengths in.

Weaknesses

3-mana cost: Any creature that is (ideally) coming down on turn three competes with lili of the veil in our typical jund sequencing. Lili is a card that just cannot be compared to other cards. She is the definition of maximum value for your mana. Jund is effectively built around her abilities. While there is no rule saying you have to play nighthawk on turn three, he starts looking awful small when your opponent's four and five drop creatures start hitting the field.

(3-mana also means he dies to fatal push when revolt is active, but that goes for virtually every creature jund runs, so you can't really hold it against nighthawk in particular.)

Mediocre body: A 3-mana 2/3 feels kinda lame in a deck that strives to play 2-mana 4/5s and 5/6s every game. He dies to bolt, although bolt continues to be rarely used removal in the modern meta. The 2 power means he's a 10 turn clock, where 4-drops like Kalitas are 7 turn clocks at most, and Kalitas even has lifelink as well, so if we're looking to simply gain lots of life, nighthawk isn't our only choice. At 3 toughness, he doesn't survive many blocks, though it's worth mentioning here that his combination of flying and deathtouch makes blocking him not only difficult, but painful for your opponent. All three of his keywords combined position him as a much better blocker than a vanilla 2/3.

Finite value: I'll discuss this in the strengths section as well, but since jund is a deck that aims to get some guaranteed value each time they play a creature above a 2-drop, nighthawk can be an awkward choice. Huntmaster of the Fells, for example, despite his slightly smaller body, leaves a 2/2 wolf and gains you 2 life even if he is immediately spot-removed. Nighthawk's "floor" value is just a 1-for-1 with your opponent's removal spell of choice. When jund has moved the game to a top-deck attrition grind (our ideal scenario in most matchups), playing a guaranteed value creature, even if more expensive, can be the difference between a win and a loss.

Finite value, PART 2: The shaman's value is also finite insofar as he doesn't help take over the game in any major way but attacking each turn (which virtually any creature can do). He does gain you 2 life per hit, so that is a small amount of 'emergent' value that comes with him sticking to the board. But compared to the potential value of a Kalitas's token generation, yard control, and self-buffing capabilities, or a huntmaster's token generation, free shocks, and 4/4 trampling werewolf body... vampire nighthawk seems like a weak investment.

So what does this limited-format nightmare have going for it in the context of modern jund?

Strengths

Concentrated (finite) keyword value: There is no denying the sheer number of keywords that nighthawk has. And they aren't the half-ass value keywords like menace or (2-power) first strike, either. Outside of hexproof and indestructible, he's pretty much got the rest of the top 5.

• Flying threats in modern cannot be underestimated, especially in this meta where the creature value is entirely ground-based and body-based. 4/5s, 5/5s, 6/6s, etc. No evasion to be seen. Nighthawk is very unlikely to be blockable on your average modern board state these days.
• Even if he can be blocked, his deathtouch makes that costly. In a meta where every 4-drop that jund plays is too small to trade with the top end of most decks, a deathtouch creature momentarily levels the playing field, and may help jund stall a losing board state. Playing Kalitas onto a board with an 8/8 death's shadow feels hopeless, but a nighthawk in the same situation can at least trade.
• What's there to say about lifelink that hasn't been said? Get a few hits in and suddenly those shock lands aren't as bad as you thought. He helps undo the damage bob did to you. It's just gravy.

Non-legendary: Your two copies of Kalitas can't both share the board, but his non-legendary vampire cousin has no problem there. Drawing Kalitas while your other copy is in play feels bad, but drawing a second (or third!) nighthawk while one or two are in play feels great.

Lower mana cost: Double black mana is no problem for jund, so casting nighthawk on curve is not an issue. Costing 3 instead of 4 means he hurts a little less if you draw him with bob, and he lets you start playing two spells per turn a whole turn earlier than a 4-drop curve-topper would, another classic strategy and strength of jund. This may not be as fantastic as you might hope, since our 1-mana removal is not terribly effective in the current meta. However, playing an extra discard spell to get rid of any removal your opponent may have in hand, and then dropping nighthawk is a safer use of 4 mana than playing a Kalitas with no protection.

The lower cost compounds with the deathtouch to make nighthawk an ideal target for lili the last hope's -2 ability, or kolaghan's command's first mode. He's easier to immediately play, and even if all he does is block a creature, you're guaranteed a trade and 2 life. That can't be said for goyf or many of our 4-drops.

Conclusion

Vampire Nighthawk's combination of cost and keywords means he is positioned to excel in an attrition-based strategy where you are happy to trade your three drops for your opponents' four and five drops to keep the board clear and force a top-deck scenario.

The shaman is at a disadvantage in a meta where jund thrives: small creature-based strategies like CoCo, affinity, etc. Trading for your opponent's two or three drop feels really bad, and swinging for 2 points of lifelink damage each turn isn't enough to out-race three or four 2/2s and 3/2s.

The silver lining, of course, is that we are in the first kind of meta right now (September 2017), so maybe Vampire Nighthawk is a secret savior for jund. Not the hero we wanted. But the one we need.

Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector.

A Vampire Night(hawk).