d Qawiyya Caine
Highlights
This is a rush deck built around Qawiyya el‑Ghaduba as a star. She does all the work: the rest of the crypt is Andre LeRoux and a handful of 1 and 2 capacity utility vampires used for a bit of additional bleed for the ousts.
The engine is lots of Freak Drive on top of her built-in unlock: she rushes, unlocks, and rushes again, easily grinding through three or more combats a turn. Sense Death is the premium rush, granting both a press and a maneuver at superior , backed by Nose of the Hound and a spread of singleton rush actions. The Twisted Bloodhound retainers — the eponymous kennel — provide a rush every turn without spending a single card.
The combat package is brutally simple: Immortal Grapple against S:CE and other defenses, where her strikes start at 3 damage and climb to 5 and beyond with Rage of Apedemak, Soulgrinder, or a permanent boost like Heroic Might. Rolling with the Punches and Unflinching Persistence prevent on , Death Seeker cancels the one combat card the opponent was counting on, and Taste of Vitae refill her after every beating.
Winning combats is also how the deck ousts: Abuse of Power and Augury of Doom drain pool, and Righteous Aura sticks a +2 bleed on Qawiyya for the finish. With 6 Ashur Tablets recycling what's needed, the deck can keep up for a long game and only gets better as it goes on.
Tips & Tricks
Blood management is the real skill test: the unlock ability costs 2 blood and prevention is not free, so every combat should end with Taste of Vitae when possible. Against empty or low-blood vampires, Pulled Fangs ensures they never come back: unable to hunt, they go straight back to torpor.
Secure Haven is only here to contest a cumbersome copy played by an opponent.
The deck runs zero reaction cards: defense is preemptive violence, so keep the predator's minions in torpor too, not just the prey's. Maneuvers from IR Goggles and superior Unflinching Persistence help drag gun decks back to close range where Immortal Grapple applies, and The Book of Going Forth by Night turns ally-based defenses into recruits.
Do not overlook Andre LeRoux: once the prey loses all their minions, he can shine and bleed for 2 or 4 every turn.
Variants
This is a brand-new archetype with only two tournament wins, both in 2026, and the lists are nearly identical. The first win was Bram Van Stappen's deck, with Giant's Blood over Secure Haven, adds Harass and Charge of the Buffalo as extra rushes, plus Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers as an alternative ousting tool, forgoing Soulgrinder.