In honor of his buff in the upcoming patch, I thought I'd share what I think is the best Vlad deck. Note that it is an evergreen deck with no Rising Tides cards--not by intention, but because I honestly don't like any of the new cards in this decklist.
Cards I considered but ultimately cut:
Ember Maiden has some potential, but I don't like the downsides: you can't stop it, it hurts your own nexus, it triggers opposing Crimson Disciples, and it usually only lives 1.5 rounds.
Kindly Tavernkeeper is popular in other decks but I just hate the slow speed and meager effect. Even with the upcoming attack buff, I think he's just too underwhelming
Mogwai loves Noxian Fervor in this archetype. For me, I just really hate dealing 3 to my own units here: it usually means the unit will die, and this deck succeeds or fails based on maintaining board presence.
An earlier version of this decklist ran Noxian Guillotine. While its definitely an underrated card in general, I think this deck needs units and buffs a lot more than it needs a conditional removal spell.
I played a little with Stalking Wolf: it often can kill its own rabbit for free progression, and a 3-attack challenger threatens many key backline units. Ultimately I cut it because I didn't like its lineup against P&Z/Noxus burn, but that may no longer be a factor
I'd love to incorporate Avarosan Hearthguard--everything in this deck really loves buffs--but its just too greed. The current 4-6 drops all have more immediate impact due to synergies and the 1-3 drops and buffs are necessary to contest early game.
Cards currently in which I could reconsider:
Starlit Seer is in mostly to provide a couple more 2-drops in case we miss Crimson Disciple. This was necessary with the prevalence of Noxus/P&Z decks; if aggro's popularity goes down, I could see cutting it.
I have a 1-of Bloodsworn Pledge carried over from my original list. There are times when it wins me the game--e.g., land it on a regenerating unit, or a disciple which my opponent assumed was going to die. Other times, it just feels like worse version of Take Heart. As a result, I don't feel strongly for or against it.
Babbling Bjerg is a similar carried-over 1-of. He tutors the Vlad, which means you can either play Vlad on board (which is usually a good thing) or if you have an existing Vlad he's a Transfusion (which is always a great thing). In practice, though, he feels slow: there's almost something more interesting I'd rather do with my mana.
In honor of his buff in the upcoming patch, I thought I'd share what I think is the best Vlad deck. Note that it is an evergreen deck with no Rising Tides cards--not by intention, but because I honestly don't like any of the new cards in this decklist.
Cards I considered but ultimately cut:
Cards currently in which I could reconsider: