We've been monitoring the prices of Murders in Karlov Manor cards since pre-release and launch week, and Vein Ripper figured on our list during pre-release and actual release. Now, the speculations have borne fruit as we saw the rise of Vein Ripper in competitive Magic, making itself the newest Vampire Lord to rule Pioneer with the Rakdos Vampires deck.
Two of the Pioneer decks that reached Top 8 in Pro Tour Murders in Karlov Manor in Chicago this past weekend featured Vein Ripper, with 2015 World Champion and Hall of Famer Seth Manfield running four copies of the card and Pro Tour veteran Sam Pardee also running four copies, in two versions of the Rakdos Vampires archetype deck.
The use of the card led to its prominence, and it quickly became sought-after, rising in price from $8 at launch to now about $23 apiece. That's almost a 200% increase in price! We don't see this price going down any time soon unless the card gets banned in formats, which is likely if ever no one finds a suitable answer to this piece.
Vein Ripper became an essential piece in their decks. Both versions of the deck run four copies of Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord which can cheat Vein Ripper into the battlefield. The 3BBB Vampire Assassin can then be played as early as turn three. The card is powerful because it punishes opponents who don't go wide, as the Ward cost of sacrificing a single creature is steep enough.
On top of that, paying the Ward cost swings net 4 Life Total to the owner of the Vampire. But if you're sneaky enough, you can also respond to the opponent's removal spell by casting your own removal spell. If the opponent only has one creature, you can target it, resulting in their removal spell fizzling. If they have two, you can go two for one. It's an insanely steep Ward cost.
Additional removal spells and hand disruption help keep Vein Ripper on the battlefield longer, and as it is a flying 6/5 creature, it can wreak havoc early and finish unprepared opponents quite fast.
Outside of Pioneer, the card also has potential, but we're yet to see it rise in other formats. We're excited to further see the rise of this card, as it's not only fun to play, it's super powerful, and can turn the tide of battle quickly for cheaps.
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