The Legion of Dusk is the vampires' conquering fleet on Ixalan, and they hunger for eternal life and the blood of the living.

In Magic: The Gathering, vampires exist on most planes, from Innistrad to Dominaria to Mirrodin. On Ixalan, they are on a ruthless crusade for true immortality.

Vampires are one of the major races on Ixalan, and they are locked in a four-way battle with the pirate coalition, the native Sun Empire and the merfolk. The vampires plan to use their zealous conviction, blood hunger and disciplined military to gain supremacy in this wild land. And they are getting close to victory.

RELATED: Magic: The Gathering - How to Sideboard Against Modern Burn Decks

The vampires of the Legion are native to the Ixalan continent known as Torrezon. It is not depicted in the game, but a few key events are clear. A few centuries ago, the Immortal Sun was held in a mountaintop monastery there, and its influence strengthened the nearby nobles. Eventually, the people of the Torrezon kingdom fought a civil war, and a queen emerged triumphantly. Elenda of Garrano undertook a ritual to become the plane's first-ever vampire, hungry for blood, and her followers did the same.

Elenda's crown and church spread its influence across Torrezon and conquered the other kingdoms out of sheer hunger in a holy crusade, and the other kingdoms fell to the Legion of Dusk. Thos drove off the last free humans, who formed an informal pirate fleet called the Brazen Coalition and fled Torrezon. However,at some point, a great winged beast took away the Immortal Sun and transported it to a continent across the vast ocean. The Legion of Dusk's vampires wanted it badly, so they assembled their own vast fleet made up of many caravels and a handful of massive, cathedral-style galleons.

Related:Wizards of the Coast Announces Magic: The Gathering Release Timeline Through 2021

Hundreds of clerics and knights of the Legion boarded the ships and made the journey to the new land, where the Brazen Coalition had fled earlier. Unlike the opportunistic and self-centered pirates, however, the Legion's members are highly trained, disciplined and zealous, fighting for their queen and church against all enemies. But this crusade has an edge of desperation about it; the vampires can't stand their constant blood hunger, so they crave the Immortal Sun and its powers. The Legion believes that the Immortal Sun, if they can claim it, will give them true immortality, free from the mundane hunger for blood.

The Legion arrived at the new continent and set up their forts and bases in an area known as Miraldanor. It includes fortresses such as Adanto (the first and largest), Leor, Durran and Conquerer's Foothold. The Legion enjoys a number of advantages over the native Sun Empire, the merfolk and the pirates, but they do have their work cut out for them.

RELATED: Magic: The Gathering - The Cult of Rakdos Guild, Explained

No one is willing to ally with them against the other races, and the Legion's forts and camp walls can't handle the sheer strength of a dinosaur's charge. Worse yet, the merfolk and Sun Empire natives know the land much better than the Legion's troops do, and they can trap, divert or even slay Legion soldiers and clerics with the power of the wilds. Only the Legion's advanced skills, zealotry and vampiric strength will keep them in the game and give them a chance of finding the lost city of gold and the Immortal Sun inside it

The Legion of Dusk is representedwith black and white cards in the Ixalan and Rivals of Ixalan sets, and their most common creature types are Vampire, Cleric, Soldier and Knight. Strategy-wise, the Legion wants to go on the offensive and stay that way, using the white-weenie power of their creatures and effective removal in both colors to push damage turn after turn. These creatures tend to have high power and may have abilities such as first strike, lifelink, deathtouch and the ability to become temporarily indestructible, a replacement for regeneration.

Related: Magic: The Gathering - Zendikar Rising Showcases Exciting Legendary Creatures

Many Legion of Dusk cards like to create 1/1 white Vampire creature tokens with lifelink, and many of these cards can pump up allied creatures either individually, or the entire board at once. Vampire spells may also force opponents to discard card or lose life, and the vampires make modest use of Treasure artifact tokens. These decks can't match the Dinosaurs pound for pound, so they kill off the strongest enemy creatures and attack with its small aggro creatures, gaining life the entire time. In short, these decks are ruthless and precise, and they should be used that way.

A few notable Legion cards have appeared in the Ixalan sets. Twilight Prophet is a 2/4 for 2BB that has flying and Ascend. If its controller has the city's blessing, then they may (on their upkeep) reveal the top card of their library and put it into their hand. Then each opponent loses life equal to its CMC while Twilight Prophet's controller gains life equal to the revealed card's CMC. This is like a stronger version of Dark Confidant: drawing an extra card, but gaining life equal to its CMC while other players lose that much life.

Elenda, the Dusk Rose is a legendary 1/1 Vampire that costs 2WB and has lifelink. Anytime another creature dies, Elenda gets a +1/+1 counter, and when it dies, its controller gets a number of 1/1 white Vampire creature tokens with lifelink equal to however many +1/+1 counters it had. This creature can make for an effective commander in the Commander format with tribal Vampire support.

KEEP READING: How to Build Inspired Magic: The Gathering Decks

Marvel's Avengers SHATTERS the Team Like NEVER Before - That's Why It Works

I graduated high school in Kansas City in 2009, then earned my Associate's in Arts in 2011 at MCC Longview, then my BA in Creative Writing at UMKC in 2013. I have a passion for creative fiction and I've studied and practiced my craft for over ten years. Currently, I'm expanding my resume and skill set with jobs such as SEO writing and journalism.

View post:

Magic: The Gathering - Who Are the Vampire Conquistadors in the Legion of Dusk? - CBR - Comic Book Resources