Any suggestions on cuts? Because that's the thing, I see its utility, but I'm not convinced it's worth cutting something for it. Currently, it looks like I'll be cutting the Guildmage/Mindcrank combo, but those slots will be filled by Reanimate (which I still need to acquire) and Sword of War and Peace, which I'm still testing but feeling pretty good about.
Cuts… Well, it’s a little hit and miss with cuts in EDH, because lots of players include cards just because they want to play them, myself included. I usually recommend cutting cards with a low ceiling of performance, but these cards also tend to have a high floor of performance too – i.e. staple cards. Maybe take a look at the below to see what you think?
Sakashima the Impostor – I usually see her in decks like Grand Arbiter that really want to clone their general. I see the benefit to cloning Dralnu, but if that is the main goal is seems this is the most interchangeable card with Pemmin’s Aura. Obviously, Sakashima has a higher performance floor, but it’s the third activation and the shroud that it doesn’t offer. Also having Sakashima out copying Dralnu would tend to overload the land-based sacrifice outlets you have for those nightmare scenarios where there is a damage-based wipe.
Clever Impersonator – Another low ceiling, high floor, never bad kind of card that just doesn’t seem to fit, to me. If you play against some specific non-creature cards from opponents’ decks that you’d want to clone a lot, maybe, but otherwise what I’d expect to see in this deck for clone-type effects would be something like Body Double or Rite of Replication . Otherwise, Cackling Counterpart, Supplant Form, or Rescue from the Underworld are Instants, and they give you a way to get rid of Dralnu against Red spot removal (the Blue ones won’t work against damage-based wipes though).
Vedalken Orrery – I love the effect once in play, but the tempo loss of getting it out there leaves it stuck in my hand a lot of the time. Also, I’m not sure it’s not just worse than Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir or Leyline of Anticipation besides, since you’ve got no Artifact tutors here. Teferi would also be good if you ever wanted to run Mystical Teachings, since that’s a tutor for him.
Countersquall – I’ve never really liked the color restriction over Negate. And, I usually find it safe to go down to 7 counters in an EDH Control deck, depending on the draw power and other spot removal, which this deck has plenty of.
Forbidden Alchemy – I understand putting cards into the graveyard for reanimator, but this card is pretty low impact compared to other options. I’d either look to something like Attunement or Frantic Search or cut it.
I'd mainly suggest considering it on top of the Elixir, not replacing it. You're right, the Haste, being able to play it when mana permits, and not losing it when Dralnu dies make it the best of the three for a non-Storm setup. But maybe a second slot for this effect would be worth it?
I love Dralnu. The risky feeling of playing him down against a Red opponent keeps things exciting.
I’m still not quite convinced it’s a good idea to cut Freed from the Real here. I would never go without Thousand-Year Elixir, but IMO it doesn’t seem like you can ever have enough of these effects that turn Dralnu into something like Yawgmoth’s Will. Especially with things like High Tide, Turnabout, Cabal Ritual and other mana-producing cards possible in these colors. One that I see rarely but that seems to me to be one of the better of the set – Pemmin’s Aura. On top of the untap, it provides some protection for Dralnu, particularly important now that Green has been getting stuff like Ulvenwald Tracker for a long time now.
IMO, a deck that cares about casting multiple spells per turn (esp. Storm) would want all of them it could get, and nearly every Dralnu deck would still probably want both Elixir and Pemmin’s Aura. Just too good, even if all you’ve got is the more traditional stuff like Rewind.
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Cuts… Well, it’s a little hit and miss with cuts in EDH, because lots of players include cards just because they want to play them, myself included. I usually recommend cutting cards with a low ceiling of performance, but these cards also tend to have a high floor of performance too – i.e. staple cards. Maybe take a look at the below to see what you think?
Sakashima the Impostor – I usually see her in decks like Grand Arbiter that really want to clone their general. I see the benefit to cloning Dralnu, but if that is the main goal is seems this is the most interchangeable card with Pemmin’s Aura. Obviously, Sakashima has a higher performance floor, but it’s the third activation and the shroud that it doesn’t offer. Also having Sakashima out copying Dralnu would tend to overload the land-based sacrifice outlets you have for those nightmare scenarios where there is a damage-based wipe.
Clever Impersonator – Another low ceiling, high floor, never bad kind of card that just doesn’t seem to fit, to me. If you play against some specific non-creature cards from opponents’ decks that you’d want to clone a lot, maybe, but otherwise what I’d expect to see in this deck for clone-type effects would be something like Body Double or Rite of Replication . Otherwise, Cackling Counterpart, Supplant Form, or Rescue from the Underworld are Instants, and they give you a way to get rid of Dralnu against Red spot removal (the Blue ones won’t work against damage-based wipes though).
Vedalken Orrery – I love the effect once in play, but the tempo loss of getting it out there leaves it stuck in my hand a lot of the time. Also, I’m not sure it’s not just worse than Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir or Leyline of Anticipation besides, since you’ve got no Artifact tutors here. Teferi would also be good if you ever wanted to run Mystical Teachings, since that’s a tutor for him.
Countersquall – I’ve never really liked the color restriction over Negate. And, I usually find it safe to go down to 7 counters in an EDH Control deck, depending on the draw power and other spot removal, which this deck has plenty of.
Forbidden Alchemy – I understand putting cards into the graveyard for reanimator, but this card is pretty low impact compared to other options. I’d either look to something like Attunement or Frantic Search or cut it.
I’m still not quite convinced it’s a good idea to cut Freed from the Real here. I would never go without Thousand-Year Elixir, but IMO it doesn’t seem like you can ever have enough of these effects that turn Dralnu into something like Yawgmoth’s Will. Especially with things like High Tide, Turnabout, Cabal Ritual and other mana-producing cards possible in these colors. One that I see rarely but that seems to me to be one of the better of the set – Pemmin’s Aura. On top of the untap, it provides some protection for Dralnu, particularly important now that Green has been getting stuff like Ulvenwald Tracker for a long time now.
IMO, a deck that cares about casting multiple spells per turn (esp. Storm) would want all of them it could get, and nearly every Dralnu deck would still probably want both Elixir and Pemmin’s Aura. Just too good, even if all you’ve got is the more traditional stuff like Rewind.